Guitar Gear Rundown: Florestan Durand (Novelists FR)

About Florestan

Florestan is a guitarist for the French Progressive Metal band, “Novelists FR” which was formed in 2013. Florestan has really changed the game with his playing style and wide chords which he uses frequently in his many songs, as well as his amazing tone that helps him achieve that signature sound. I was always curious as to what Florestan uses for gear to achieve those sounds, so I thought I’d share my research with you which would save you a lot of time, in case you were a fan of him as much as I am! I will be dividing the Gear into different categories which will be updated frequently.

Guitars

Schecter PT-7 Chris Garza Signature (Gloss Black): We can see Florestan using this guitar in his First Guitar Playthrough of the song “Twenty Years” which is the first ever song they released as mentioned in his Instagram Post.
Ibanez RG1450: Florestan uses this guitar in the guitar playthrough of their own song, “Antares”.
Ibanez RG1527: He can be seen using this guitar in many of the video playthroughs Novelists has received, most notably the Guitar Playthrough of their song “Gravity”. Florestan has swapped the stock pickups on this guitar with Bareknuckle Aftermath Pickups.
Ernie Ball Music Man JP Signature Model: They later on released a song called Echoes, and Florestan is using this particular guitar in the Official Video of the song.
Aristides 060: After using different guitars during their first album Souvenirs, Florestan mainly used Aristides guitars in the second album, Noir. He can be see using his Aristides 060 Guitar in the Guitar Playthrough of “Heal the Wound”.
Aristides 070: Another guitar used in his band’s Second Album Noir, is the Aristides 070, which can be seen in their Guitar Playthrough of Under Different Welkins.
Von Stein Guitars Nova 6 (Signature Guitar): After trying many different guitars, Florestan now has his Own Signature Guitar with Vonstein Guitars. This particular Guitar can be seen used in the band’s Official Guitar Playthrough “Somebody Else” and other Guitar Playthroughs on the Band’s Official Youtube Channel. You can check the guitar on the Official Website of Von Stein Guitars Here.
Von Stein Guitars Nova 7 and Nova 7 MS (Signature Guitar): These are 2 additional Signature Models made for Florestan, specifically to tailor to his 7 Strings Songs that hey have in their repertoire. The only difference between the Nova 7 and Nova 7 MS is that the Nova 7 MS guitar is a multiscale guitar with slightly fanned frets (hence the word MS) whereas the Nova 7 is a Standard Scale Guitar. You can See Florestan using the Nova 7/Nova 7 MS in many of his Instagram Videos, like this one here. You can check the Nova 7 on the Official Website of Von Stein Guitars Here as well as the Nova 7 MS here.

Fractal Audio Axe FX II: Florestan has been using the Axe FX II since the early days as can be seen in the guitar playthrough of their own song, “Antares” and has also released an Axe FX II Presets Pack which he demos in this Video on their Youtube Channel.

Amp Simulators

Neural DSP Archetype Plini: He can be seen using the Archetype Plini plugin in this Instagram Post on his Official Account as well as this Instagram Post using his Presets of the Plugin. He also Demos his Presets in this post.
Neural DSP Soldano: He can be seen using the Neural DSP Soldano Plugin in the IG Guitar Playthrough of “Echoes” that he posted on his official IG Account.
Neural DSP Cory Wong: He can be seen using this plugin in one of his IG Posts, but it is not one he frequently uses.

Accessories

We Know for sure that Florestan endorses D’addario

D’addario NYXL Strings: We can see Florestan in his Instagram Post mentioning using D’addario Strings. In this post and this post, it shows that Florestan is using D’addario NYXL Strings 11-56 Gauge for his 6 Strings Guitars, and 10-46 + 64 on the 7 Strings.
Dunlop Jazz III Picks (Red): This can be seen in his Video Post here.
Gruv Grear Fret Wraps: The Gruv Gear Fretwrap can be seen on his guitar in this video here.
D’addario Instrument Cables: can be seen in this post.
Other Accessories: Accessories like Maintenance and care are all coming from the D’addario brand as well as can be seen in this post.

I hope you enjoyed this Rig Rundown! If you know of any gear that have not been listed here, please leave us a comment below or e-mail us at info@themetalblog.net