Anthimos Manti is a highly experienced guitar player with a powerful rock sound. He has worked with many Greek and other musicians over the years and he has toured extensively. He also has his own personal discography, full of great rock songs.

At Soto Onstage we are happy to help musicians like Anthimos Manti with the tools they need to have the best sound, both live and in the studio.

– How do you work on getting great guitar tones?

Basically, I listen to lots of music during the entire day until I get exactly what I want in my head. Most of the time, I use a combination between pedals and amp, gain from the pedals and gain from the amp and at the same time volume, various reverbs and EQ and of course always a combination between the pedals and the amp

– What kind of process do you prefer to follow when you set up your amplifiers and other gear in the studio? Is it different than when you are performing live?

It’s totally different, yes. It’s much simpler in the studio. You have all your gear in front of you and the sound is directly “on” your ears. On stage it’s different as most of the time, your gear is some distance away, behind you or behind the stage and you hear your sound from your in-ear monitor, so the process I follow is to get off the stage and set up my sound on the P.A. along with the sound engineer, by my side, of course. But I work this way only for the bigger stages and only when and if I have the time to do so.

– What do you like about Tech 21 pedals, such as the Fly Rig series? How do you use the SansAmp technology live and in the studio?

First of all, I love the distortion tones from the Tech 21 pedals. When I was young and touring with my first band all over Greece, I had just gotten my first Tech 21 pedal, the SansAmp Tri-AC. I still love this pedal to date: 3 channels, with great amp tone. Next, when I was touring with Paul Dianno I had just gotten the SansAmp XXL, the one with the silver face and blue logo!!! One of my favorites, so vintage and modern tone, less and high gain at the same time. I also recorded my second album “Time to Turn” with this pedal and I used it on stage with Vinnie Moore and Paul Gilbert. Now I am a huge lover of the RK5 Fly Rig: such a small box with everything you need along with a giant tone. You don’t need an amp. Just plug into the P.A. mixer and that’s it. This period, during my Winter gig season, this is the way I am using the SansAmp technology. But in my studio I plug in, with it, in front of my amp and enjoy all different tones of drives, overdrives and distortion tones all inside of this little box.

– What kind of strings and picks do you prefer?

I prefer Elixir strings for years until now and recently I got an endorsement from them. They are the only strings with the longest lifetime and the same tone as the first day I put them on. My picks from the first minute I got a guitar in my hands are from Jim Dunlop: the green one with the turtle on it, 88mm.

– What’s your approach to soloing?

Soloing must be a beautiful melody that the audience will be able to sing along with. So if your music requires it and you have the proper skills and licks, I like to use both, to build a beautiful solo that the listener can memorize!

– How do you approach guitar practice? Do you have a particular practice schedule that you follow daily?

No, I don’t have a particular practice schedule. Usually for starters, I will be jamming over some backing tracks for a few hours, followed by a giant list of licks that I have to practice along with!!!

– Are there any guitar players or other musicians that inspired you throughout your career?

Of course. When I was young I had all of the 80s and 90s shred guitarists in my set list like Vai, Malmsteen, Howe, Satriani, Gilbert, and many more, but in recent years guitarists like Keith Urban, Phillip Sayce and Richie Kotzen are at the top of my list.

– What kind of music do you listen to when you’re not working? Any albums you listened to lately, that you really enjoyed?

I love the style of pop-country like Keith Urban music and lots of blues rock players like Joe Bonamassa, Phillip Sayce, Richie Kotzen and lots of 70s albums of Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Whitesnake and many many more to no end!

– What is the most difficult issue you have to deal with as a Greek musician?

It is, absolutely, the deal of booking gigs and surviving in life from this “thing” as a job!

– What is your advice to young guitar players who are just starting, dreaming of a career in music?

My advice is to “listen to a lot of music, every day and every hour, practice every minute, eat, sleep and repeat”. Everything else is just luck and “smart moves” in your music life!