Genesis Abacab equipment

Abacab was Genesis' eleventh studio album, released in September 1981 on Charisma Records. This album was part of a "rethink" of Genesis' approach, with greater emphasis on group-written songs through jams and improvisations compared to Duke. There are only three individually-written songs included (one from each member). It's also the only album completely self-produced by Genesis.

The group purchased the Fisher Lane Farm premises in November 1980, where they built their private recording facility in an old cowshed. It was still in construction when writing began, so they'd use the cottage. Recording officially began once the studio was complete in March 1981, with engineer Hugh Padgham brought into the fold. He'd worked with Phil Collins on Peter Gabriel's third album and his own debut album Face Value by that point, so Hugh seemed the logical choice. Compared to Duke, the drums were brought to the forefront to the mix, sparser instrumentation etc.

Regarding specifics, however, little precise information is available concerning outboard gear available during the making of the album. So information is based off existing sources, including footage of making their next (self-titled) album. Same for Mike's guitars. Although he probably had more effects pedals and guitars at his disposal, gear didn't differ much to what he used on tour so it was easier to reconstruct...

Studio production details (including outboard equipment) included on this page are true to the original 1981 mixes of Abacab.

Phil Collins
Drums:
 * Premier 717 Elite Black custom kit

Cymbals:
 * Zildjian & possibly Paiste

Misc.
 * Roland TR-808 drum machine ("Man On The Corner", "Me And Sarah Jane", percussion on "No Reply At All")
 * Slingerland timbales ("You Might Recall" on 3x3 EP)

Tony Banks
Keyboards & Synthesizers
 * ARP Quadra
 * Moog Polymoog 203a
 * Sequential Circuits Prophet-5
 * Sequential Circuits Prophet-10: main synth on Abacab
 * Roland VP-330 Vocoder Plus
 * Yamaha CS-80
 * Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano
 * unknown acoustic grand piano ("No Reply At All") (possibly Steinway?)

Effects:
 * Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble - on CP-70
 * Colorsound Tonebender Fuzz fuzz boxes
 * MXR MX-134 Stereo Chorus
 * MXR MX-107 Phase 100
 * MXR Distortion?

''Note: It was long rumoured that an EDP Wasp synthesizer was used on this album. The origins of this are unclear, especially as it has hardly been mentioned in interviews. However, a fan who was fortunate to ask Tony Banks about the EDP Wasp in the early 2000's confirmed Tony had "never heard of such an instrument". Hence its exclusion from this list.''

Sources: Joachim Verghese, Tony Banks keyboard rigs through the ages on lakeofsilence.de, International Musician & Recording World February 1982 issue, Musician March 1982 issue, Various

Mike Rutherford
Guitars:
 * Gibson SG Melody Maker 12-string
 * Shergold double neck (assumed)
 * Ibanez Artist 2622 (assumed)
 * 1975 Fender Stratocaster USA sunburst

Basses
 * Shergold bass (assumed) - part of double neck
 * Alembic Series I

Amplification:
 * Yamaha G100 212

Effects more effects to be identified
 * MXR MX-117 Flanger pedal
 * MXR MX-113 Digital Delay (Moog Taurus)

Other:
 * ARP Avatar guitar synthesizer
 * Roland GR-500 guitar synthesizer /w GS-500 controller
 * Moog Taurus I
 * Moog String Filter

Microphones
Although microphone setups may have varied, the following was Hugh Padgham's typical setup:

Drums:
 * Bass drum:
 * Neumann U47 FET
 * Snare:
 * Shure SM57
 * Tom-toms:
 * Sennheiser MD421's or Shure SM57's (or SM56's)
 * Overheads:
 * Neumann U67/U87/U47 FET or STC 4038 ribbon pair
 * Room mics:
 * Neumann U87 (x2)

Vocals:
 * Beyerdynamic M88 through Allen & Heath Mini Limiter

Outboard

 * EMT Echo Plates
 * Lexicon PCM-41 digital delay
 * Roland RE-201 Space Echo(?)
 * UREI 1178 compressor
 * Valley People Kepex II noise gates

Sundry equipment

 * AMEK M2000A mixing console
 * Studer A80 24-track tape machine
 * Studer A80 2-track tape machine
 * UREI monitors powered by Crown amps