Rig Rundowns

“Will the next Tool album take more than 10,000 days?”That was an ongoing (and agonizing) joke for Tool fans that awaited the band’s fifth album following the release of 2006’s 10,000 Days. (A cruel clairvoyance of a title.) For those counting, when Fear Inoculum was finally delivered on August 30, 2019, it was just 4,868 days from their previous album. All crummy jokes aside, the anticipation of the album was real for a reason: the music. And the rhythmic cog of their constant contorting of depth and darkness is bassist Justin Chancellor.Sure, drummer Danny Carey is a living legend bashing everything his large frame can smash and crash. Adam Jones transforms his guitar into a Hans Zimmer production with varied textures, temperaments, and traits his tone expresses. During shows, singer and lyricist Maynard James Keenan prowls in the shadows adding to the band’s musical mysticism. This triumvirate core dished out the punishing EP Opiate in 1992, and their 1993 debut full-length Un

Buffalo Nichols believes in the power of acoustic country blues. He also believes it’s not a fossil, trapped in amber, but a living, breathing musical genre. Which is why he blends elements of the tradition—slide guitar, resonator, open tunings, themes of loss, redemption, and struggle—with loops, samples, drum machines, myriad effects, and modern-day narratives. His new album, The Fatalist, is the culmination of his art to date. Listening to its echoes of Skip James, John Hurt, Pink Floyd, and Dr. Dre is an even stranger experience when you know Nichols started his career in the thundering, downstroke-chiseled trenches of the Midwest metal scene.When you watch this Rig Rundown, Nichols will explain, and play, it all—it's a fascinating story. And the gear! Get ready for a feast, full of the trad and the rad.Brought to you by D'Addario: https://ddar.io/wykyk-rrand D'Addario XS Strings: https://ddar.io/xs-rr

Full Rig Details: https://www.premierguitar.com/videos/rig-rundowns/wolfmotherSubscribe to PG's Channel: http://bit.ly/SubscribePGYouTubeWhen we walked into Nashville’s Eastside Bowl for this Rig Rundown with Wolfmother’s alpha canine, Andrew Stockdale, it sounded like he was playing his SG through a Marshall stack at head-ripping volume. Nope! Stockdale was blasting skulls apart with a Line 6 HX stomp doing the heavy tonal lifting. Surprise! It's part of his strategy for traveling lite in support of Rock Out, the Australian outfit’s 2021 album, on a make-up tour of the States that was preempted by the Covid shutdown. For Stockdale, the rest of his formula for playing his blood-and-guys rock 'n' roll live includes an SG, a White Falcon, and a vintage Supro, and … no traditional amps. “I used to have, like, three Voxes–cabs and everything up there. And we had a trailer behind the bus and two guys to carry it, who'd have a beer and high-five each other after they loaded out,” Stockdale recounts. “Now they‘re go

The Menzingers’ albums are storied time capsules. Starting in 2007 with teen angst and rebellion, they’ve refined and reshaped their narratives into self-reflective numbers that continue to balance melody and might. Their most-recent installment—2023’s Some of It Was True—was their eighth chapter that stares down aging with acceptance rather than anger. But don’t get it twisted, these rockers will still charge.“This record just feels different for us,” Barnett explains. “It’s a really important one in our catalog, and a pivotal moment in our history. We have the liberty of our fans growing with us now, and after writing these lyrical songs about where we are in life, we decided to take other peoples’ stories and make something bigger out of it.” “It brought us back to our energetic side as a band,” May concurs. “We got to let loose, which is what drew us to the energy of being in a band in the first place. This is a live band—why shouldn’t we record live songs? As a result, we’re back to why we started this b

Robert’s Western World on Nashville’s Lower Broadway was home to the Don Kelley Band for as long as anyone can remember. Kelley’s band was an institution in Nashville, serving as a stepping stone for super-pickers like Guthrie Trapp, Brent Mason, Johnny Hiland, Daniel Donato, JD Simo, and more. “Slick” Joe Fick and Luke McQueary also came up through the ranks of the Don Kelley Band. After Don retired in 2020, Fick and McQueary enlisted drummer/vocalist Billy Van Vleet and kept Don’s old shift going, throwing down at Robert's Western World each night from Wednesday through Saturday. John Bohlinger and the PG team joined Kelley’s Heroes pre-shift at Robert’s to rundown their rigs.Brought to you by D'Addario:https://ddar.io/wykyk-rrhttps://www.daddario.com/XPNDRR

Jason Isbell’s last Rundown was in 2019. The guitarist and songwriter, who we’ve called “Americana’s poet laureate,” is a huge gearhead though—and his collection is truly the stuff of dreams—so a lot can happen in a few years. Currently touring with his acclaimed 400 Unit band in support of the highly acclaimed Weathervanes album, he rolls with a stash of vintage Fenders and Gibsons that would make even the least gear-motivated among us blush. That’s not to mention his enviable traveling amp and effect closets. Isbell invited Perry Bean and the PG team to the Ryman for a look at his current touring rig and that of Sadler Vaden, the band’s ripping co-guitarist whose relatively more modest collection is still quite the enviable one!Brought to you by D'Addario:https://ddar.io/wykyk-rrhttps://www.daddario.com/XPNDRR

Full Rig Details: https://www.premierguitar.com/videos/rig-rundowns/kingfish-2024Subscribe to PG's Channel: http://bit.ly/SubscribePGYouTubeChristone "Kingfish" Ingram’s 2019 debut album, Kingfish, hit No. 1 on the Billboard blues album chart and remained on it for an astonishing 91 weeks. From then on, he’s been roaring around the world, bringing his mix of downhome Delta-informed blues and sophisticated turns incorporating funk licks, Hendrix fantasias, jazz runs, and inspired improvisation to club and festival audiences. Late last year, he was a guest performer at BMI’s Troubadour Awards presentation for fan Billy Gibbons. His second album, 662, named after his hometown’s area code, also topped the blues chart and won him a Grammy. For this Rig Rundown, at Nashville’s sold-out Brooklyn Bowl, he was on the run behind his third album, Live in London, which captures the fire and invention of his guitar work onstage. You’ll be hearing more from Kingfish, but right now, check out his live rig.Shop the Rig: Fend

Full Rig Details: https://www.premierguitar.com/videos/rig-rundowns/mssv-2024Subscribe to PG's Channel: http://bit.ly/SubscribePGYouTubeThe trio mssv is an underground supergroup. They’re not playing the local enormodome, but each musician has a storied career and the ability to leap musical conventions in a single bound, even while rocking like hell … or playing compositions with sections that ricochet from Coltrane to Martian terrain.The group sprung from guitarist Mike Baggetta’s dream of an ideal, omnivorous band—one that could navigate any kind of musical or sonic path, much as Baggetta has done himself, whether playing with other artists or solo. His first choice of bassist was Mike Watt, a legendary indie music figure who has been releasing daring rock and improv albums for decades, starting with the highly influential ’80s and ’90s outfits the Minutemen and fIREHOSE. And while mssv’s debut album, 2019’s Wall of Flowers, was recorded with the foundational rock drummer Jim Keltner, Keltner’s disinterest

Universe: “Super Fuzz or Big Muff?”Mudhoney: “Both!”What else would you expect from a band that titled their mischievously visceral ’88 debut EP after both pedals (Superfuzz Bigmuff)?Formed in the late ’80s by guitarists Mark Arm and Steve Turner after the dissolution of their band Green River (which included future Mother Love Bone and Pearl Jam cofounders Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard), Mudhoney long ago solidified themselves as the Seattle scene’s big brothers and tightest pack. Through their 11 LPs, five EPs, and six live albums, Mudhoney has routinely diversified and further defined their eccentric brand of raucous, aggressive, unfiltered rock ’n’ roll. Possibly more impressive than the band’s wide influence and devoted authenticity is the foursome’s bond. Drummer Dan Peters and bassist Matt Lukin (also a founding member of the Melvins) were the rhythmic bedrock for Arm and Turner’s exploding-M-80 tones since the beginning. (Arm and Turner have been friends since high school and have been playin

Full Rig Details: https://bit.ly/RyanLermanRRSubscribe to PG's Channel: http://bit.ly/SubscribePGYouTubeRyan Lerman is the cofounder of L.A.-based dynamic funk project  @ScaryPockets . The musical collective has been crushing it on Youtube since 2017, leading to their taking the show on the road as a successful touring act. Lerman met with PG’s John Bohlinger before the Scary Pockets’ Nashville show at the Brooklyn Bowl to talk through his current touring rig.Shop the Rig:Fender '68 Custom Deluxe Reverb - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/9gQO6WElectro-Harmonix Superego - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/nLVZB7Eventide H9 - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/baQr0xLehle Mono Volume - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/OrEvWNRoss Compressor - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/R5ENWgStrymon Flint - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/QyAKk9Full Rig Details: https://bit.ly/RyanLermanRRSubscribe to PG's Channel: http://bit.ly/SubscribePGYouTubeWin Guitar Gear: https://bit.ly/GiveawaysPG Don't Miss a Rundown: http://bit.ly/RIgRundownENLMerch & Magaz

Full Rig Details: https://bit.ly/47JQxD9Subscribe to PG's Channel: http://bit.ly/SubscribePGYouTubeJazz guitar god Pat Metheny recently played Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on his solo tour supporting his latest record, Dream Box. Ahead of the show, PG’s John Bohlinger met with Metheny’s tech Andre' Cholmondeley, who pulled back the curtain on what just might be the most complex solo rig ever devised. Afterward, Cholmondeley painstakingly wrote out Metheny’s signal path to help clarify the rig. Buckle up, and keep up if you can.Follow Andre' Cholmondeley: https://www.instagram.com/guitartour/Shop the Rig:Ibanez PM 200 - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/NkY0bbD’Addario NYXL 10s - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/B0Yy2WEHX Hum Debugger - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/xkbQG5IK Multimedia TONEX Pedal Amplifier/Cabinet/Pedal Modeler - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/MmYBb2Squier Classic Vibe Bass VI - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/k0PMW3LR Baggs M1 Active Acoustic Guitar Soundhole Humbucker Pickup - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/DKMe3aBose L1 Pro

Full Rig Details: https://bit.ly/SteveHackettRRSubscribe to PG's Channel: http://bit.ly/SubscribePGYouTube “I always apologize to the two Erics [Clapton and Johnson], ‘You have no idea how much I’ve ripped from you,’” joked Joe Bonamassa during a recent video with YouTuber Rick Beato. The Grammy-winning bluesman followed that up with a gracious response: “We all get it from somewhere.”That “somewhere” is a muse that molds every guitarist’s individualistic style and voice. For example, Eddie Van Halen shook the world and confounded guitarists with his explosive two-hand, finger-tapped “Eruption” performance on Van Halen’s 1978 debut. Yngwie Malmsteen put listeners in awe with his dazzlingly clean and swift sweep arpeggios. They both became synonymous with those talented techniques, and were heralded as pioneering groundbreakers. But where did they get the ideas from before expressing and executing them it in their signature style? Both took a page out Steve Hackett’s prog-rock playbook. Hackett’s two-hand tapp

“Gear is meant to be destroyed in the line of duty,” laughs Ruban Nielson. “I realize I prefer to see my equipment all dinged up rather than sitting perfect in my basement—that’s a dorky thing to do.”That doesn’t mean Nielson doesn’t care about his sound. He noted in a 2015 interview with PG that he spends countless hours in his basement tinkering on breadboard circuits and swapping out components, trying to maximize a pedal for his needs. “I like the idea that instead of buying your sound, you’re building your sound,” he said.Over the course of 14 years, five albums, and thousands of touring miles, Nielsen has been custom-fabricating his guitar voice. But as we all know, the quest is never-ending, like trying to catch the horizon. After all, isn’t it the journey, not the destination, that matters?“I used to be too much of a savage to care about a clean boost or headroom,” says Nielson. “‘Just give me a distortion pedal already!’ But now I’m exploring the intricacies, subtleties, and nuances of

Guitarist and singer-songwriter David Ryan Harris rose to prominence as a key part of John Mayer’s band between 2004 and 2012, and he’s backed everyone from Santana to Dave Matthews to Nick Jonas. But as a solo artist and bandleader, Harris has been spinning gorgeous R&B, blues, and funk for decades. Harris took PG's John Bohlinger through his current touring rig before a stop with Scary Pockets at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl on October 5.Brought to you by the D'Addario XPND.

Two-time Grammy Award-winning rockabilly hero Brian Setzer recently played a sold-out show at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium in support of his new solo album, The Devil Always Collects. Tyler Sweet, who has teched for Setzer for 17 years, took PG’s John Bohlinger through the rig that rocked this town, and just about every other town in the world over Setzer’s 40 years of twanging and sanging.Brought to you by D'Addario XSRR Strings.

Formed in 1969 by slide guitar juggernaut Lowell George, disbanded after his death in ’79, then revitalized in 1987, Little Feet combines George’s bandmate and co-writer Fred Tacket along with virtuoso Scott Sharrad in their new recording and touring lineup. Tacket and Sharrad invited PG’s John Bohlinger to their soundcheck at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium to talk gear and tell classic stories from Little Feet’s early days.Brought to you by D'Addario XSRR Strings.

Irish rock band Fontaines D.C. is a dual-guitar ensemble featuring Carlos O’Connell and Conor Curley. At first, the duo used similar guitars, amps, and settings in an effort to work as a symbiotic saw buzzing their way through songs. The indistinguishable incisions lacerated their earliest work with angsty piss and vinegar. But as the quintet’s musicianship has evolved, they’ve embraced wider influences, adding different knives to their collection of cutlery. And more specifically, they’ve learned when to slice, when to dice, and how to work off each other.“I think we’re trying to be more patient and more conscious of the texture,” Curley told PG in 2022, describing how he and O’Connell have worked together to refine their sound. “The first album was very much in a fighting mode,” he continues, “with the two guitars EQ’d the same and just smashing off each other. On the second one, we learned to play together a little better. We’re still working on it, and sometimes we still try to become as on

“‘Stumbled into guitar’ is a good way of putting our start with the instrument. [Spencer Stewart] and I formed the band in 2015 and that’s when I got my first electric guitar,” admits The Band CAMINO’s vocalist and guitarist Jeffery Jordan.That sort of sideways T-bone collision into guitardom allows this pop-minded duo to avoid typical tonal tropes like worrying about tubes versus modeling, or imports versus custom. Their focus was and continues to be translating their danceable melodies into guitar-driven rompers and producing the best live show possible.“We definitely enjoyed a pedalboard-and-amp-era of the band, but the tech has come so far and we’re able to eliminate so much room for error and potential inconsistencies, allowing for a freer performance,” adds Jordan.As we quickly found out in our Rundown with Jordan and Stewart, the band’s approach favors execution over exhibitionism.In mid-September, just before the band commenced their headlining Screaming in the Dark tour, in support of the just-releas

The 15-year history of Rig Rundown has established that guitar gear fascination (and obsession) runs deep in our community. It’s the life blood of our show. But if there was ever antithetical example to guitar gluttony and equipment idolatry, it would be American Football. Their original self-proclaimed “bedroom college project” focused on self-expression, musical creativity, and working with what you had, which wasn’t much.For the recording of their pioneering American Football album released in 1999, they borrowed most of their gear, shared a single guitar cable and tuner, didn’t use bass, and formulated odd open tunings that allowed for sinuously melodic cinematic passages between Kinsella and Holmes. Their exploration of unique open tunings inspire a legion of players include 6-string virtuoso Yvette Young. (She now ships all her signature Ibanez guitars in a tricky open tuning—F–A–C–G–B–E—derived from American Football.) Their ingenious and scrappy methods went on to inform the b

PG’s John Bohlinger hung with Alter Bridge’s two-man guitar army, Mark Tremonti and Myles Kennedy, before their sold-out show at The Orpheum Theater in Memphis. Tremonti and Kennedy showcased some beautiful signature Paul Reed Smith guitars, as well as a not-yet-released PRS signature amp.Thanks to techs Dave Pate and Scott Davis for their help with the details.Brought to you by D’Addario Strings.