Date: 25/06/2026

Mood: excited

Listening to: Domination - Pantera

Paul Landers Guitar Gear and Electronics

An overview of everything I know about Paul's electronic gear and guitar equipment. Please use the navigation to jump to your preferred subject. I cover: SansAmp's PSA-1 and GT2, the PL1's creation, other odd gear allusions, and DDR era obsolete equipment I could find.

Because this page is where I get really granular the more you scroll down. All business up top. Then about halfway through this article, around the PL1 section, you start double checking the scrollbar. By the time you see the word Vermona, you start questioning your choice to read downward. If Paul reads this page, I'm pretty sure the footswitch segment is where he'd personally go, "all right, she got me good that time. well played."

Was this an excuse to talk about the PL1? Actually, no. I wanted to ramble about his artistic rendition of BOSS pedals. I justified my urge by covering it in a Tech 21 glitter filter. I'm a normal girl and I have a normal relationship with Music Man Axis, and the GT2 also.

Quick guide to Paul Landers' guitar gear

Paul doesn't use long chains of equipment, no rectifiers, and doesn't prefer/use amps in a majority of cases. He prefers a consistent reduced signal-chain minimalist approach across decades, specifies a preference for transistor circuits, and relies upon direct / emulation based devices to achieve this. He prefers Tech 21's GT2 the most of any device ever known. He was known to use a PSA-1 on a rack mount prior. Paul insinuates in interviews his sound is: direct, transistor, aggressive, quick/fast, thinner, controlled, and emphasizes his unique approach to the instrument's sound. If I personally told you the "secret" to the Paul sound in my humble view, it's this: the midrange matters way more than you think. He cares very strongly about his mids. And I would say the other half of the battle with him is grasping his unique pick attack and hand tension. He is self-taught and developed peculiar habits in playing from his hands. His palm mutes, a metal staple, are quite unique to his hand positioning, among other quirks. I suspect half the uniqueness of his playing one would struggle to replicate is his personal hand tension.

Guitar model info

• Dirty answer: Use a Gibson Les Paul and passive pickups. His own PL1 OM suggests to.
• Hot tip: Use bridge pickup.

Go here if you are looking for the guitar model names per era.

→ See the guitar guide

Short answer: Tech 21 SansAmp

The most consistent piece of evidence across the years is Paul's use of Tech 21 SansAmp amp simulation devices. Especially the GT2 and PSA-1.

• Documented in: 1994, 1998, 1999, 2008, 2019. (Corroborated by Andrew Barta regarding 1998.)

• ➟ Dirty answer for GT2:
• ✅ California main
• ✅ Center
• ✅ Hi Gain main
• ✅ High/Drive elevated
• ○ Test Level per song
• ○ GT2 has sensitive EQ - a bit goes a long way on all knobs
• ○ Start High/Drive at noon and work forward slow
• ○ Adjust Lows and clean out your bass mud

→ Jump to SansAmp evidence/sources

Modern rack / backup gear

2016-2017 based source photo that people may find online, points toward a "high end emulation device" as the main live system. With the GT2 kept as a practical backup. This may have changed from past/future tours. A majority of his live setup is not publicized.

→ Jump to rack photo notes

SansAmp, GT2, and amp simulation

The most widely famous piece of Paul equipment ever. Unfortunately, the materials do not explain how Paul discovered this brand. However, based on my research, it had to be just before or around 1994 in some way. He strongly appears to have the PSA-1 on this rack while on stage in 1994 footage. This matches future descriptions from Paul and Andrew Barta about a rack mount being in use.

The GT2 "Not-Main" rack photo explained

This isn't the English word "Not". It's German for backup/emergency. All of these labels have to be interpreted with this context. This photograph was used in Tech 21 promotional articles because it appears to be providing context for the emulation story.

Paul: In the meanwhile, I used digital emulation live but when it was defective, I turned on the GT2 again - the light came on like salvation.

The elephant in the room is, I haven't explained what "Axe Main" is. Any guitar enthusiast would come up with two answers easily.

• Axe = guitar slang (generic)
• Axe = Fractal Axe-Fx family device (specific, and very interesting)

During the Tech 21 promotions of this "high end emulation device" failure story, they were being polite to not name the product. They also showed this photo indicating the GT2 was the backup system for any further failures.

Just prior to serious discussions on the development, Rammstein were in rehearsals for their 2017 tour. Paul initially opted for, dare we say, a very high-end digital emulator/effects processor. When it unexpectedly went down, he grabbed his trusty SansAmp GT2. It was unanimously agreed by the crew, sound engineers, fellow band members, and Paul himself, the GT2 had more “air” and liveliness. This marked the initial design foundation for Paul’s Signature Fly Rig.

• Generic: "Emergency [GT2 box], plug in behind guitar main [signal] to adapter".
• Specific: "Emergency [GT2 box], plug in behind [Fractal] Axe main [signal] to adapter".

The kicker? Fractal Axe-Fx family devices are the type of "high end emulation devices" alluded to and are common for professional touring musicians to use. I CANNOT responsibly say he used a Fractal Axe-Fx family device. I would simply like to draw attention to this odd wording and an emergency GT2 photo that overlaps. There are several devices possible though (eg Kemper Profiler), so I can't be sure what it was. However, these cable labels, the Palmer ybox splitter, and instructions strongly indicate this is a backup rerouting signal rack drawer photo and not the "main rack setup".

As for why he would opt for a high end digital emulation device, it's pretty obvious to me as someone following his career patterns. He likes directly repeatable and consistent output from a device. Devices like Fractal Axe and Kemper Profiler this do that very well.

More and more guitarists today are running a modeller straight into the desk and this method takes a lot of uncertainty out of live shows because, quite simply, the sound you programmed at home or at rehearsal will be identical to the tone coming through the PA (as this reviewer can attest).

Tech 21's PL1 Signature Fly Rig

From the long Tech 21 related affinity, grew a potential collaborative project. This product strongly leaned into his strengths and understanding of working with Tech 21 devices to crystallize it. That being his preferred SansAmp distortion, his clean sound needs, and numerous preferences and settings for fast, direct control with the guitar signal-chain chaff cut out.

First suggested by Stefan Kuhn of Sound Service to Paul in early 2016 , he helped connect him to the guys at Tech 21 to propose ideas for a signature pedal. Paul credits Stefan strongly with helping this project come along during the making and prototyping stage regarding communicating his vision of the pedal to the correct terminology to avoid miscommunicating. The sound basis of the pedal's distortion was shifted to the GT2's base partway through. Then deeply expanded upon to include the many added functions he wanted regarding EQ, mids, bass, and other compression and shaping tools. Including the addition of his preferred clean from the Roland Jazz Chorus. The rough estimate of prototypes was about 9 to 11 and it was tested live several times in 2017.

"So is it a repackaged GT2 then??" "It was just for travel?"

Absolutely not. No. The marketing to this device is... very confused and underselling what it does. (A story for another post coming soon™.) There's numerous options here you can't have in any base GT2. Including options that make no sense at all for any traveling leisure pedal.

They marketed as the fun hotel pedal traveling to the beach to surf and have portable studio sound. But inside it's fully loaded, armed to the teeth ready to fight the guitar's live/band mix at a moment's notice and win. Any FOH would adore this pedal for having so many live ready features. Ones that are critical to helping replicate Rammstein related sounds that would require further equipment purchases or be otherwise impossible/unknown to achieve to an outsider too. As Paul's equipment and racks are guarded secrets hidden in a vault with a 24/7 security for many years.

I would hesitantly describe the PL1, in my opinion, as a pedal that focuses on replicating Paul's entire working environment and SansAmp simulation he loves to use but has all of the portability that makes it versatile like a Fly Rig as a bonus feature and why he would choose that presentation for the pedal visually. In that you can end the show or leave band rehearsal or work-shopping in a group, and then reuse it in your hotel or home studio by yourself not needing separate equipment. When you frame the PL1 that way, it finally causes Paul's promotional quote on the flyers to make sense instead of disconnected marketing.

Paul: With the PL1, I have everything I need in my pocket. Home, hotel, rehearsal, studio, concert - I just plug my guitar in and here we go. Although it is so tiny, I can dial in all the sounds I need for my band. You won't believe the flexibility of this small thing. I love the fact that I have an analog path that is not a digital animation. It is real! And what I love most is I can plug it straight into the mixer or computer! No amp needed for the best distortion sound I know of."

Key differences between the GT2 and PL1

Some key differences are choices you can't find elsewhere, but are functions built around his practical live and studio needs when fully mixed into a band. Paul's pedal is not focused on "me, me I am the loudest, boost me up" alone. It's very deeply focused on making itself work in a band, mix, and live setting. You will find numerous tools and EQ here meant for assisting playing in a group because that is his philosophy and preference.

• Feuer builds from the GT2 distortion foundation but adds Paul's specific control over EQ and feel.
• Wasser builds from the Jazz Chorus' clean and matters in some songs (eg - Mann gegen mann, Mutter, Haifisch)
• Analog delay emulation, with the basis of the PL1 being from the MXR Carbon Copy. With tap tempo (very useful in venues) and critical in Rammstein's strict sequencer and click structures.
• Active EQ (often called sensitive in reviews) / mid control / mid shift gives more shaping options than basic GT2 controls. He wanted control over what lets him stay defined beside others without simply becoming louder than them.
• Low-cut / High-pass filter supports his practical view that uncontrolled bass mud gets cut by a good mixer to strengthen midrange. If you've never cut this out of your Rammstein rhythm guitar covers, now is the best time to start.
• Onboard delay/vibrato/ambiance to cover his parts with immediate movement and space in a mix between songs without menus/settings on a separate setup. It's right in front of you, use it.
• Both negative and positive boosts for balancing parts or being in the whole band mix properly. He knows when he needs to step down in the mix for other instruments.
• Direct XLR / PA / computer usage makes it easier/quicker and replicates his signal-chain reduction philosophy that wants to be repeatable and consistent.

Paul: I built this pedal so I could have it covering all the songs I have to play with Rammstein. For example, there are some with guitars in the verses at a lower level - so I built a negative boost to get my guitars sounding quieter. Then there's the punch option, which adds more mids if I want to play lead.

He legitimately wanted Rammstein songs to be playable with it. That's a big reason why the live mix tests and making sure it can work with the band, without overpowering them, mattered to his prototypes. This pedal needed to not only replicate his sound and vision with these upgrades, but also sound like him within Rammstein functionally.

However, Paul is a huge "no genre" and "it has to be unique" guy. He actually catered his pedal to do functions for many genres and things he doesn't personally prefer or play. He seemed rather proud of this aspect, but reviewers were too focused on the metal guitarist element to bother. Paul really isn't a 'selfish' guitarist - he thinks about uniqueness, range, and full band mixes. The PL1 reflects it.

(I'm not sorry I turned into the PL1 saleswoman representative. At all. That photo of it above, was my own personal model...)

Was the PL1 ever used live?

This isn't fully publicly known information. It was live tested within 2017 during several prototypes, but there is no known evidence of being used in any later Rammstein Stadium tour show rig and is not clearly documented. If any evidence of this shows up someday, I'd be the first to make a note of it. (You know I would.)

GT2 or PL1 for covers?

The answer to this question is more like: "how far are you willing to go for accurate replication?" I suppose that answer would be how serious or regularly you're trying to replicate Rammstein's sound or music. Someone in a cover band or trying to genuinely study their music closely, would be wise to bite the bullet and get a PL1. Someone who is casually trying a few songs for fun, and already has a GT2 in a drawer or has purposes for other bands they want to cover that use SansAmp too, can stick by it.

While aiming for the GT2 seems like an obvious choice, the PL1 actually has numerous accounted for factors of Rammstein's music accommodated within and more feature rich choices with EQ, Bite switch - based on the description it's his indispensable R+ trait of upper-mid aggression, Compression switch, more midrange control than ever, etc. Look at how many knobs are on this pedal, and you'll know he likes tweaking things audible only to cats like any amp person - just another guitar religion than signal-chaining things. The PL1 does have these added functions and references that have been hidden from the public.

The PL1 is arguably the most complete modern shortcut to replicating Paul's sound or doing cover songs with consistency, numerous available tools customized, tools for making him sit inside the full band mix properly, and many niche aspects of the songs considered. He genuinely did want the Rammstein discography to be usable from it.

However, if you already have a GT2 available (it's quite popular after all), I have no doubt you could do well. But you should keep in mind certain quirks, specialized settings in some songs, or clean tones for specific songs you're after may not be fully replicated. Have realistic expectations with it. Try fussing with British and California the most. Extra emphasis on California. Mic should be Center. Then play with Mod's Hot Wired and Hi Gain a lot. (Very relevant noise coming from Hi Gain imo.) I don't think his High knob is hardly ever below the pedal's arrow markers lol. Whenever that thing is higher, it's closer to him. Raising it after the gain structure can bring out the pick attack/scrape and upper mid's bite. You'll really get that "serrated edge knife" Paul feeling. Pay attention to your Lows after you do that. And Drive will definitely impact it where you want in a good way if you turn it gently for saturation and more compression. Also, like I said at the start of this post: bridge pickup only. That should get you where you need as a starting base, and then go from there as you feel you need to per song. Good luck and have fun.

By the way, the GT2 emergency rack photo reveals this too. It has California selected, Mic at Center, Mod on Hi Gain. That's the "I'm an aggressive high gain rhythm guitarist here to present bricks to the face that bite when they hit" recipe.

Other amps and equipment references

Guitar Rig's 'Ultrasonic'

Inside that 2008 Native Instruments interview, he also revealed this juicy bit.

I tried to simply combine the SansAmp and tube amp here. However, I didn't use the Rectifier that's in there because I thought the Ultrasonic sounds somehow even better. And I liked it so much in Guitar Rig, I immediately bought the real thing for live performances because it sounds just right.

You bought an amp? And you liked it?? If you didn't know Guitar Rig software are based on real equipment and uses quirky referential nicknames, now you do. (They call SansAmp as 'TransAmp' in the programs.) What is an Ultrasonic? Bogner Uberschall, because Uberschall means Supersonic to "Ultrasonic" = U and S = Uber-Schall. He was so serious about this moment, he brought it up again a year later when asked.

Interesting thing: by working with "Guitar Rig" I turned more towards hardware simulated by software, and as a result I ended up using real hardware. In a sense, the result turned out to be more traditional, and I'm using more and more old-fashioned equipment.

Keine Lust's Engl Powerball

Speaking of high gain amps, here's a reference that sent me spiraling. So much so, I'm citing the raw German.

Fan: What’s the price of the engl Powerball (Amplifier) you play in "Keine Lust"? (was bezahlt man für einen engl powerball den du in keine lust spielst?)

Paul: I haven’t paid the Engl Powerball. By the way, very well observed. (Engl Powerball wurde ich nicht bezahlt. Übrigens: sehr gut beobachtet.)

I feel like this fanchat quote is like staring into the German language abyss. Do you think Paul purposefully invents sentences to mess with me specifically? What's a king to a god? Für den Engl Powerball musste ich nichts bezahlen? What's god to a non-believer? Für den Engl Powerball wurde ich nicht bezahlt? This fan translation of it makes no sense either.

Fan: What was the price (they) paid (you) for the Engl Powerball you play in Keine Lust?

Paul: (The) Engl Powerball I wasn't paid (for). By the way: very good observation.

He has time to create Übrigens but no time to write würde. I love him so much. It's bezahlt (paid), bezahlen (payment). Even I felt confused too if the fan is asking: "how much did you pay for the amp?" or "how much were you paid to use the amp?"

Paul says, "I wasn't paid". Meaning, "I wasn't compensated". The assumption of being an endorsement so he reads bezahlt as significant wording. Interestingly, the amp is the type of thing he likes with notable high gain. However the brief chat answer does not clarify whether the amp was his personal amp or a studio/video rental unit. Only that he wasn't paid to endorse it being placed there.

Gallien-Krueger & Blackstar

And another two obscure amps he referenced:

I found that I loved the little transistor amp from Gallien-Krueger which looked like a radiator, and actually sounded thin. I never really clicked with tubes, though. I didn't like tube amps, and obviously they didn't like me either. Maybe I was too stupid to set up a good sound. I could have made friends with the Blackstar, however I felt too old to get committed with it again.

After some deep soul searching on equipboard.com about "little radiator" while pondering an entire amp maker's catalog front to back (don't do this), the most plausible candidate is the Gallien-Krueger 250ML or a related ML series model. Those look like what he's described most closely and really do look like radiator cover rectangles. I see his artistic vision. The other reason I settled here was "little" being a descriptive word. The GK 250ML are described as small and "lunchbox" shaped. As for "sounded thin", the 250ML fits this bill between the ones I was studying via YouTube from demos.

• ❌ refuses to stop mentioning high gain amps
• ❌ too old for Blackstar
• ✅ not too old for Bogner Uberschall
• ✅ possibly not too old for Gallien-Krueger radiators
• ✅ buying amps and doesn't think Bree will publish this post outing him if he mentions it in some throwaway sentence

This man is an enigma over amps, truly. Because deep down, can we not say that 80% of amps look like radiators?? Are they not heatsinks anyway? But what do I know. However, this is 100% funny speculation based on Paul's imagination and descriptive words. Not facts. We're only having fun in this section! Because as for Blackstar... who the heck knows. "The Blackstar" - sir, do you mind sharing which one...?

2002's mysterious footswitch

During parts of the early 2002 Mutter tour footage, Paul appears to use a floor mounted footswitch near his position. The footage is too low quality VHS to identify fully. But his behavior suggests a latching footswitch. He presses it during select sections, then steps off or away. Then again to turn off. With the guitar tone seeming to become rougher, deeper, or more distorted when pressed on than off. (Reminder: it's 2002 era bootleg audio condition.) It may have been controlling a temporary distortion or a booster effect, or amp/rack switch to toggle a pedal's effects when desired. There's a lot of things it can be.

I noted its usage based on available camera footage:

• solo start of Adios
• choruses of Mutter
• Halleluja
• Zwitter (major visible foot press)
• Bück dich (press + very audible change)
• Start of Sonne, techs move a black rectangle from Paul's foot pressing area...?

DDR era gear: Vermona, "Sound City", Yamaha, BOSS pedals, etc

Off to a good start already with the "I researched this on my own" vibes. Thankfully, Paul himself drew me a treasure hunting map that started it all. Because you can be assured, this girl here (me) stared at this photo and said, "...what's a Vermona???" It was impossible to be a guitarist back then and not know the word Vermona, for better or worse on that sentiment. Vermona has a modern cult following for their drum machines and graphic equalizers.

Breaking down Paul’s Feeling B amp sketch

Based on what is drawn, we're looking at a multi-amp/cab setup in two variants. According to Flake (2007, Grün & Blau book version), this was used for the recording of the first Feeling B album in the Amiga studio. After studying the sketches, I realized I can identify parts with educated guesses.

1 2 3 4 5 6

1 Left amp: "Sound City"

This brand has connections to Vermona. Some supposed SC models in this era are repackaged Vermona products. Most SC have the logo in the upper right. He thinks it's the bottom left and rft-hifigeraete.de makes note of Vermona / SC ones having changed faceplates. For example, here is a rare Vermona product with Sound City on the external faceplate on the upper left and not lower. Similar to Paul's drawing idea being left side. I believe the "Sound City" logo Vermona products are the rarest to be photographed. There's almost nothing of them online but model numbers.

After closely scrutinizing Feeling B stage photos, I believe this amp may be a part of the DDR "Sound City" mysteries or similar to what he tried to draw. It has many of the SC design principles that were strongly imitated, but it's also oddly bootleg-like. It has too many knobs...

Some design mirrors to the SC-120 family are:

• three tiny black input area for cables on the furthest left
• then a row of knobs, white instead of black
• long, rectangle box design concept

2 Center amp: unknown Vermona

The Vermona here is unknown due to vagueness, but any Regent model that is a VCR-like box shape would cover potential matches. (Some are more square box and unrelated visually.) I wondered if it's the same one as pictured on the variant two drawing. Due to a less detailed drawing, it's unfortunately not clear enough to know.

His notes below that "BASS A 100 Watt Vermona" may explain what the middle object is supposed to be as well, further muddying the answers. It's unclear what "BASSA" or "BASS A" is in particular. One worry is that it's shorthand for "Bassanlage" (bass system/rig). Or the alternative: "Bass Amp". Vermona does have 100 watt bass amp variant products of Regent models. It's compelling, but I can't be certain.

3 Right amp: Marshall

He has a Marshall amp that is visually close to the popular JCM800 family atop speakers labeled with another word nearby that I guess is "Schalle". An acoustics/sound related term. It's unknown why he wrote it there.

4 Bottom pedal: unresolved scrawl

The pedal on the guitar at the bottom is basically his cursive scrawl that drove me crazy. (His capitals and print? Beautiful. His cursive? Nightmare.) Even now, typing this post, I caught myself obsessed with it all over again. It has like "S" and then... who knows. The structure of the pedal screams "it's probably a BOSS product" though.

I have been through every BOSS product from this era and nothing comes anywhere close except a bunch of pedals that start with "Super". Your guess is as good as mine.

5 Variant two: Vermona Regent mixer-amplifier

It's either a Vermona Regent 620/1020 family amp atop speakers. Those models are the same on the outside and only differ electronically according to the manual. He drew so many details of the buttons and cable jacks, I could get a whole model number. Great work!

I wonder if I showed him a photo of this hunking box, if he'd cringe and laugh at it? I find old stuff like this charming. If there's anything I liked about them from my research, it's how physical the sliders and buttons are. They just don't make equipment this touch-feel anymore.

6 Pedal chain: BOSS

They're BOSS pedals specifically: Distortion, Overdrive, and Chorus. The knobs he drew in, align with their products perfectly. He even detailed that Chorus is a straight row lol.

As for his pedal chaining skills, he absolutely knows what he's doing. These labels are trying to explain his frequency roles in his native language than BOSS' vague English.

Tief (distortion) = "deep/lower" for deep and bass heavy

Hell (overdrive) = "bright/light" lighter, sharper, or treble bright

Chorus = modulation after dirt

BOSS' modern documentation agrees with his chain structure. This is why they're in this order and why Chorus is not plugged into the amp specifically. It's not randomized, but deliberate intellect.

Distortion sits in the same place as an overdrive in the signal chain. It should be one of the first to receive the guitar’s raw signal. [...] A distortion can enhance and define all of the effects that follow it. [...] Think of it as the base upon which to build other sounds. [...] When positioned later in the signal path, distortion can muddy any time-based or modulation effects. These should remain as clean and pure as possible to function at their fullest.

Other 1980's equipment finds

In this photo is a probable Vermona Regent 660/1060 family model mixer-amplifier. It's atop speakers properly, so it feels likely to be this model, but the brand is obscured. The design principles align with Vermona very strongly, however.

Paul appears to be playing a Yamaha JX series rather than DDR made equipment. The exact model is unclear, but the amp's Yamaha logo, compact shape, and button layout resemble Yamaha JXs such as the JX35 and JX50 family.