We have all had our Iron Maiden phase right? I know I have… It came just slightly after my Metallica phase and just before my Zakk Wylde phase… Although, I don’t know if I can call it a Zakk Wylde phase if it never ended. Anyway… back to Adrian Smith. Maiden was always known for their harmonizing guitar licks. So lets see what Adrian uses today to bring his music to the ear.

Adrian Smith’s Guitar Rig

Adrian uses a combination of Marshall all tube heads (30th Anniversary) and digital effects to create his sound. One thing that is uncommon is for a guitarist to go both ways… thats right, I’m talking about Fender and Gibson. Adrian uses both American Fender Stratocaster’s (with Floyd Rose) and Gibson SG Standard’s. He has two of both, a main and a backup. The SG is usually tuned to drop-D and is stock. The Strat has SRV Texas Special pickups in the neck and middle pickups with a DiMarzio in the bridge and is in standard tuning. Adrian says that he prefers to use a patch cable to connect his setup to his guitar as opposed to wireless. In fact, he usese a 60-foot Peter Cornish patch cable. He says that he just prefers the sound, whether it actually makes a difference or not, he’s not sure.

From Adrian’s guitar he hooks into a Whirlwind Multi-Selector 4-channel selector which is then fed into a Dunlop DCR-1SR Rack WAH. From there he hooks in a Mike Hill B.I.S. Isolation box, a Digitech Whammy Pedal, an Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer, and ends on his Marshall 6100LM 100-Watt All-Tube Head. On the FX loop of the Marshall head he has a Peavy Tubefex Tube Preamp & Multi-FX Unit. The FX unit hooks into a Yamaha MFC10 Midi Foot Controller which also allows him to switch channels on the head via the head’s MIDI facility. This MIDI function is exclusive to the 30th Anniversary Head.

Finally everything is broadcast using two 300-watt Marshall 1960A angled-front 4×12 cabs sporting 75-watt Celestion G12-T75 Speakers. All in all it is a pretty impressive setup.