As guitarist for Rammstein, Richard Z. Kruspe is a very busy man. Only in 2024 the band wrapped up an extended tour, and at the same time the NDH string wizard was fitted with yet another signature model, the ESP/LTD RZK-III. In our conversation the musician offers deep insights into his new instrument, his studio gear and recording processes. In addition, he speaks surprisingly openly about his future with both Rammstein and his solo project Emigrate.

This year you received a new signature guitar, the ESP LTD RZK-III. The body shape is based on the ESP Phoenix. How did it come about that you chose this template, and what distinguishes your model?

The next problem was that, because of the Phoenix headstock, the guitar as a whole was too long for me. However, I also knew it needed that for balance, since the guitar has an extremely heavy body. In the end I nevertheless opted for my original headstock and we managed to keep the weight distribution balanced. Choosing the body wood was easier – I stuck with the tonewoods I already know (editor’s note: alder).

Your model comes with a switchable, invertible kill switch. Why did you want to have both variants in the RZK-III?

Basically, the American version is that pressing the kill switch mutes the sound. I call the inverted version the “German” variant, where pressing the switch activates the sound. That creates a new way of playing but also a different sense of rhythm. It’s analogous to language: American always sounds a bit “in between”, whereas in Germany everything is very direct and “on the 1”. That simply suits me better, especially when you’re working with feedback. In fact, I use both variants, live as well as in the studio.

You use signature Fishman RZK Fluence pickups. How do these differ from the standard Fluence model?

My signature set differs in essentially two ways. On the one hand I wanted the pole pieces of the humbuckers to be visible, and on the other the frequency response is a bit different. I like to boost around 1.5 kHz, which is certainly due to my changing listening habits. Compared with active pickups from other manufacturers, Fishman pickups offer very consistent quality and there are no tonal variations within a production run.

I remember an interview a few years ago with Native Instruments in which you talked about your studio setup with automated mic stands and your Rectifier amps. Has anything changed in that regard?

The Native Instruments interview was done at a time when profiling was still in its infancy. In the meantime I’m working closely with Christoph Kemper, discussing profiling at length with him. For a long time I had the problem that profiling always lacked a bit of three-dimensionality for me. I wanted to hear the speaker move. Digitally that’s not quite realizable yet, but it will come! Still, it was important to me to be able to create my own profiles for live use. Thanks to the Profiler I’ve also made a lot of friends in the crew (laughs). Of course you still need the analogue amps for profiling.

Nothing has really changed in my studio setup. I still have my favorite Rectifiers, including some very early ’90s models. On the last tour, for example, I took my old Rectifiers with me and worked a bit on the micing. I use a Neumann M149 as the main microphone as well as a Microtech Gefell CMV 563, which gives me a bit more mid presence. The third is a Neumann U87 to get more low end. My preamps are a Neve 1081, a Neve Shelford Channel and I recently discovered Great River pres, which I find super-lovely. And that’s basically it.

Do you also sometimes use boost, drive, or EQ pedals? In metal it’s quite common to put something like a Tube Screamer or a Boss SD-1 in front of the amp to tidy up the low end.

I don’t do that at all. If I do, I handle it in the channel strip when capturing the cabinet. A lot also happens through the mic placement. I still have my mic robots that allow me to control the mic alignment from the control room. It’s basically a console with three knobs, and I can even save various presets. In that sense, a lot of the EQing happens right at the speaker.

What does the recording process for the Rammstein and Emigrate albums look like? Do you track the guitars completely in your own studio? Is a producer present or do you handle everything yourself?

These days Sky Van Hoff sits with me – I trust him and we have mixed all the Emigrate albums together. In the guitar department our ideas are pretty much in line. We recorded the guitars together for the last two Rammstein albums as well. I hate editing and he helps me a lot with that. I always do solos on my own. In the past you had to have everything completely in your head and then you’d just play a few takes. Nowadays I just start improvising and record right away. Then I can pick out certain passages from individual takes and from that a melody or a solo emerges that I would never have come up with otherwise. It’s a very creative process for me and very exciting.

Besides Rammstein you have your own side project Emigrate, whose last release came out in 2021. Are you working on another album and what does the band’s future look like?

Yes, there are always plans, but there’s the nice saying: “If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.” Ideas keep popping up, but I’m fortunately in the position that I’m not under any pressure from outside or from myself. I also feel that creative time changes a bit with age – and also becomes less. You’ve already done a lot of things, so I wait for the moment when something comes along that I really want to realize. Just recording an album because it would be due – I lack the motivation for that. At the moment there’s no spark of an idea that would be worth pursuing further.

In the past I put that pressure on myself and it was extremely damaging to my health. Having no pressure or deadlines is of course sometimes a problem too, because you often have an insane amount of time. I own two studios and sometimes I just play with my gear “just for fun.” I often ask myself whether making music is still what I want to keep doing or something that will continue to have a place in my life – but I haven’t yet found a definitive answer. For example, I also haven’t managed to find a real hobby yet. That’s definitely still on my list (laughs).

What can Rammstein fans look forward to in the near future? Are there new releases in the pipeline?

Nothing concrete is planned. I always explain it like this: Rammstein is a house that was built a long time ago. There are six apartments in the house and at the moment a couple of them have moved out. Maybe they’ll come back, maybe they won’t – but the house will always be there. However, we have been working for two years on a live DVD that we recorded in Mexico. That will be out soon and we are currently mixing it. Everything else is far in the future and I’m glad I don’t know what will happen. It’s an open-ended story, which is a very nice feeling.

You also have to be grateful for what you have achieved in life. That’s not always easy, because you also always make music to feel valuable. If that falls away, other problems arise that you have to solve – for example you ask yourself: “What am I worth now?” You shouldn’t give in to that pressure. But of course everyone sees that differently. In any case, I’m currently on a search and I don’t yet know what I will find. For example, I haven’t yet managed to find a real hobby either. That’s definitely still on my list (laughs).

Richard, thank you very much for the conversation!