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Rock Guitarist Relies on Celestion IR technology to Re-create the Sounds of his Beloved Guitar Cabinets
Los Angeles CA (December 2017) — Precious few hard rock guitarists are more accomplished than Steve Stevens. From his prolific work with punk-crossover pioneer Billy Idol, to his lead on Harold Faltermeyer’s instrumental anthem from the blockbuster movie Top Gun, to playing on a track with legendary songwriter Joni Mitchell, his sound and style unmistakably announces itself. To achieve that sound in the studio, Stevens is a fan of using Celestion Impulse Responses[1], and he describes how they respond and sound great at times when you can’t necessarily mike up a vintage guitar cabinet — and often, even when you can.
“I’ve been into the idea of using impulse responses for quite some time,” Stevens explains. “I have a Kemper profiling amp at home, and a Fractal Audio Axe-FX. I’d used some IRs from other companies, but I gotta say the ones from Celestion are on a whole other level. The descriptions of them sound exactly like the speaker drivers I’m used to. The other thing is that they’re totally phase-correct. I can treat them the way I’d treat combining real guitar cabinets, bringing them up on two channels on my mixing board. They just sound great. They’re full, and the best that there are. And I’ve used them all!”
A guitarist at Stevens’ level of accomplishment has access to an enviable buffet of new and vintage amp heads and cabinets. In Stevens’ case, this even includes a Marshall 4 x 12 “with Jim Marshall’s signature in pencil on the inside.” But as he points out, the Celestion Impulse Reponses are preferable when you don’t have the option of miking up a cabinet — and often, even