The Most Essential Guitar Tones For Session Players w/ Rob McNelley
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Today we sat down with Nashville’s premiere session guitarist, Rob McNelley, to discuss what makes a great session player. In this episode, Rob dives deep into capturing the right feel on the first take, the nuances of tone, time, and touch, and how the best players enhance a song without overshadowing it. Learn about Rob’s journey from playing bars in Ohio to becoming the go-to guitarist for top producers in Nashville. Discover essential tones, amps, and pedals that every session player should have, and get insights into creative projects and industry work.
00:00 Introduction to Rob McNelley
01:20 Rob’s Early Career and Move to Nashville
04:22 First Big Breaks and Touring Experiences
11:01 Transition to Session Work
19:02 Crafting the Perfect Guitar Tone
27:32 Exploring Gain Staging and Pedalboard Essentials
39:29 Dialing in Clean and R&B Tones
44:35 Mastering Delay and Slapback Effects
47:11 Exploring the Analog Man Pedal
47:34 Slapback Delay Techniques
48:19 Room Mics and Guitar Sound
50:12 Ethereal Guitar Effects
52:36 Volume Pedal Tricks
56:31 Cowboy Guitar Parts
59:52 Telecaster Sounds and Compression
01:08:15 Distortion vs. Fuzz
01:15:16 Essential Session Guitar Tones
01:28:40 Creative Projects and Collaborations
???? Filmed live at Carter Vintage Guitars in Nashville, Tennessee.
???? Follow us on IG: @playbacksessions
???? Filmed at Carter Vintage Guitars
Host: Spencer Handley
Guest: Rob McNelley
Executive Producers: Spencer Handley
Editor: Carl Reeverts
Camera/Sound: Mitch Goudy
#Essential #Guitar #Tones #Session #Players #Rob #McNelley
Originally posted by UCKM-JZASMCXom8lE6yHF7jw at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BabUr28LXuE
The guy interviewing is really really good.
Fantastic interview with so many awesome tips & ideas from a super nice genuine guy as well as some fab learning curve questions, but I really don't want to learn German, I don't want to buy products, I just want to enjoy, watch & listen to this fab player – So way way too many ads for me that spoil things as it takes your enjoyment & concentration away from the narrative
Rob is a dude!
Boring.
These are actually incredible questions about how a session player finds sounds on the fly. Great video!
I know this is off topic a bit, but the colors of this video are just off. Maybe your video editor needs to get his monitor calibrated. It’s very green. That aside, I’m loving the content. Thank you!
Amazing thank you
5- Stars! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ???? ????
I truly admire Rob, along with his playing. Even though the "You Know" count during this interview was through the roof, it is very informative… NO, I do not know! If I knew, I wouldn’t have to ask!
Nice!
First Thing: A Humble guy and an absolute professional.
Caviat: Him not being able to saturate the Deluxe made the whole demonstration way more difficult. You just don't get the nuances that you want to deliver, it always turns out way flatter than what you're trying to achive.
Greetings from Germany, your videos reached me here algorithmwise and im looking forward to what is coming next ????????
This was an awesome interview. Rob is the best!! ????
Thanks for this!! Rob is one of my favorites!
Informative in every way. Thanks guys.
Rob is my inspiration. Its funny, the better guitarist they are, the less arrogant they are. (Think about that ????????)
Loved the comment about your tone not being right if you're having to turn up too much to hear yourself – food for thought. You might love the sound your getting when you are all alone, but that doesn't mean it's right when everyone is playing…
Great video guys!