Steve Morse Takes PreSonus on the Road

Steve Morse may not be a household name among the younger set but there's hardly a guitarist alive who hasn't been knocked out by his playing. The instrumental group he founded in 1973, the Dixie Dregs, continues to win acclaim and pack halls to this day. But that's hardly enough for Morse, who ranks as one of the busiest men in show business. For the past 15 years, he's also toured and recorded with Deep Purple, as well as his own Steve Morse Band, Angelfire, and his latest project, Flying Colors. 

Not surprisingly, a lot of Steve's writing and recording is squeezed in on the road. "I carry everything I need with me, in my shoulder bag," he says. It's a compact but powerful rig that includes a PreSonus^® ADL 600 preamp and a FireStudio™ Mobile.

In fact, says Morse, his PreSonus rig has become his signal chain of choice. "In my studio, I've essentially been able to replace my gigantic mixing console; even though it still lives in the studio, it's kind of become a table. The FireStudio Mobile gives me enough outputs for anything I need to get done."

Many of the tracks for the Flying Colors album, as well as some of the Deep Purple overdubs, were recorded on the road through his PreSonus rig. "The ADL 600 preamp is incredibly versatile," he adds. "It's got EQ, compression, and it helps shape the sound so I don't have to do it after the fact. It just sounds better. It's got that little tiny edge that I would get when I go into a studio and run through some exotic handmade British console."