Jonny Lang
Wielding his Gibson Custom Shop 1958 Les Paul reissue,
Jonny Lang rips through the Hendrix classic “Fire.”
Jonny Lang first got attention for being something
of a prodigy. Between the time he picked up the
guitar at age 12 and the 2010 Experience Hendrix
Tour, he’s accomplished more than most musicians
twice his age. His aggressive, soulful playing and
gritty vocals have earned him a Grammy nomination,
tour slots with the likes of the Rolling Stones
and Jeff Beck, and even a call from Eric Clapton
himself to play at the Crossroads Festival. His obvious
Hendrix influence makes him a perfect fit for
the Experience Hendrix Tour.
However, of all the guitarists on the tour, Lang
was a standout because he didn’t use Strats,
single-coils,
or Marshalls. “I was thinking about
taking out a Fender Strat with a Marshall and
a Fuzz Face, but I just couldn’t do it without
feeling like I was trying to copy Jimi,” he confessed.
“So, I just brought out the rig that I
would normally use for my own music. It makes
me interpret his music in a way that sounds like
me. That’s what makes a tour like this really
cool, because everybody interprets Jimi’s music
in their own way.”
Still, Lang has a rather traditional rig for a blues-rock
guitarist. “For guitars, I normally use my
Custom Shop Fender Thinline Telecaster with
humbuckers,” he said. “I’ve recently been using
a ’58 Gibson Les Paul Standard reissue that was
custom made for me. I’m running them through
two Fender Deluxe Reverbs, and the sound of
that setup kills me!” For effects, he turned away
from an old friend—the Ibanez TS808—
and
plugged into a Route 66 Overdrive. “They’re similar,
but the Route 66 has more headroom.”
Lang’s pedalboard was a rather simple one: It featured
a Boss TU-2 Tuner, a Visual Sound Route 66 Overdrive, a Vox
reissue wah, and a Boss DW-3 Dynamic Wah.
Lang’s amp setup consisted of two handwired Fender Deluxe Reverb reissues. This one is
mic’d with a Shure SM57. He plugged into both the Normal and Vibrato channels simultaneously
for extra thickness and texture.
Lang’s second Deluxe Reverb reissue was mic’d with a Shure SM27. He prefers to have
the amps facing to his left, not directly to his back.