Ken Micallef is a New York-based music journalist. He wishes to thank Susan Markheim and Brian Tomasini from Azoff Music Management, Luke Burland, Bob Bradshaw, Wayne Williams, Skip Gildersleave, Ted Baker, Jon Herington, Tom Barney, and Keith Carlock.

Walter Becker's setup on the Two Against Nature tour, consisted of two Sadowsky solid-body electrics, a fairly complex effects rack/switching system designed by electronics guru Bob Bradshaw (customaudioelectronics.com), as well as Bogner Ecstasy and Mesa/Boogie Maverick amplifiers. Despite having a rackfull of effects at his disposal (including a Lexicon PCM 80, a Lexicon Reflex, two Roland SE-70s, a CAE Super Tremolo, and more), Becker says he doesn't use that many effects onstage. “The reality is that, most of the time when you are playing in a venue, unless it is a concert hall, there's already more ambience and diffusion and more repeats than you want,” he says. “So you're trying to get clarity rather than lushness.” (There was talk in the Steely Dan camp that Becker's setup would be changing for this tour, but no firm details were available at press time.)

Donald Fagen's rig is relatively simple (see Fig. A), consisting of a Fender Rhodes 88-key suitcase model piano going direct through an MXR Phase 90 phaser pedal. He also uses a Lync LN4 MIDI controller (now out of production) that's MIDI'd to a Roland JV-1080 module (which he sets to a jazz-guitar type of patch). “I am in big trouble now because I only have one and a half Lync's left,” says Fagen. At which point Becker retorts: “In other words, our performing career can't go on indefinitely unless somebody is going to resume manufacturing this keyboard.”

Ted Baker, the band's other keyboardist, uses a setup that features a Steinway baby grand piano (typically miked with two Shure SM82s) and an organ (either a Roland VK-7 or a Hammond B-3) through a Leslie 122 cabinet.

Drummer Keith Carlock plays a six-piece Yamaha Maple Custom Absolute drum kit consisting of either a 14" × 5.5" or 14" × 3.5" snare, a 20" 5 14" kick, 10" × 7.5" and 12" × 8" rack toms, and 14" × 14" and 16" × 16" floor toms. His cymbals include K. Zildjian 14" hi-hats, a K. Zildjian 20" Constantinople Medium Ride, and A. Zildjian 19" and 18" Custom Crashes.

Guitarist Jon Herington's rig consists of Gibson ES-335 and ES-336 guitars and a Fender Telecaster and a Hamer Artist Korina. He uses a Guytron GT100 amplifier with a Guytron 2×12 cabinet. He also has a Digital Music Corporation GCX Guitar Audio Switcher to control his stompboxes, which include a Boss EQ pedal, a Boss TU-2 tuner pedal, an Ibanez Modulation Delay pedal (for a delay or a flanging effect), an MXR Phase 90, a Voodoo Labs Tremolo pedal, an MXR DynaComp, an Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer, a Boss BD-2 Blues Driver (both modified by Robert Keeley), an Ernie Ball volume pedal, and a Real McCoy Wizard Wah.

Although bassist Tom Barney normally uses (and endorses) Aguilar amps, he's opted for an Eden rig on this tour to get the sound he needs for the Steely Dan material. It consists of a Navigator preamp, a WT-1000 power amp, and four D410XST cabinets. He's playing ESP J-1005 LTD Deluxe and Celinder 5-string basses.

In the annals of '70s and '80s rock, the guitar solos of Steely Dan reign supreme. “Peg” (Jay Graydon), “Reeling in the Years” (Elliot Randall), “Third World Man,” and “Kid Charlemagne” (both Larry Carlton) feature some of the most well-known and hotly executed fingerings since Eric Clapton burned up “Crossroads.” Through the years, Steely Dan has hired a number of mighty guitar slingers to execute these renowned plectrum blowouts in concert. None of them, however, has been more successful (or enjoyed such continual road employment by the band) than Jon Herington.

“I figured out that I had two choices here: I could play this gig the way I wanted to play it, or I could try to second-guess what Donald and Walter wanted me to play,” says Herington. “They're very fussy, but they give you a lot of room. I think I got two comments the entire year I worked with them.”

Herington tried to maintain the essence of the famous recorded solos while adding something of himself. “I wanted to be true to what the fans loved about the original solos, but without constricting my musical instincts. I didn't want it to be a cover-band experience. Instead, I wanted to make it my own and communicate what I loved about the original tracks.”

“I would start with a sonic concept. [For instance] if the tone of the solo was important, I would go from that.” Like “Peg,” for instance. “That solo is so unique, it was hard to play,” laughs Herington. “I didn't want to treat it like an etude. I wanted to be able to improvise. I used the open-G string from the original, and I would play and explore ideas that somehow connected to it. And I would do it with a similar sound, so I could adopt the character of the solo without having to adopt every single note. Sometimes I would quote the beginning of the solo — it seems like part of the composition.”

According to Herington, part of the fun in playing Steely Dan tunes live comes from making such carefully crafted events sound free and spontaneous. “The most important thing is to trust my instincts. They're going to use somebody who comes across with strength and confidence. For me it's about keeping the big picture in mind, and not getting lost in some guitar-playing adventure that's my own agenda and not the music's.”