Late Night Gear, part 1
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
NBC, nightly 11:30 p.m. EST
THE PLAYERS Rickey Minor (bass), Paul
Jackson Jr. (guitar), Dave Delhomme (guitar)
YEARS ON THE GIG Two. Prior to joining
The Tonight Show in 2010, the band worked
together on American Idol for five seasons.
GEAR
Rickey Minor: Three Sadowsky J-style,
one P-style, and one 5-string, Ken Smith 4-,
5-, and 6-strings, ’68 Gretsch 6071, A-Designs
REDDI tube DI, Boss FV-500, and Lehle 3@1.
Paul Jackson Jr.: PRS SC 250 with 245
pickups, PRS JA-15, custom PRS baritone,
Takamine acoustics, Veillette Gryphon,
Fuchs ODS-100, Evil Robot, Kasha RM100H
Rockmod, CAE 3+ SE, Fractal Audio MFC-101,
Xotic BB Preamp, AC Booster, and RC Booster,
MXR Dyna Comp, Bass Compressor, and CAE
MC-402, Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde, Hartman
Analog Flanger, Fulltone Deja’Vibe, Tanabe
Zenkudo, XTS Atomic Overdrive, Strymon El
Capistan, Yamaha AG Stomp, Dunlop Cry Baby,
Boss FV-500, and Boss TU-2.
Dave Delhomme: Custom PRS solidbody and
semi-hollow with piezo and stereo outputs,
PRS 305, Line 6 JTV-59, EVH 5150III, Palmer
PDI-03, Joe Meek floorQ, Demeter Compulator,
Dunlop EVH95 wah, MXR EVH Phase 90, MXR
Carbon Copy Analog Delay, Planet Waves
Chromatic Tuner, Line 6 POD HD500.
Conan
TBS, Mon–Thurs 11 p.m. EST
THE PLAYERS Jimmy Vivino (guitar),
Mike Merritt (bass)
YEARS ON THE GIG Nineteen. Both Vivino
and Merritt were members of the band that
premiered with O’Brien when he started Late
Night with Conan O’Brien on NBC in 1993
GEAR
Jimmy Vivino: 1953 Gibson Les
Paul goldtop, Gibson Super 400 CES, Fender
American Vintage ’72 Telecaster Custom,
vintage Grazioso/Futurama (modified), and
a vast collection of 100+ guitars. Vox AC15
Hand-Wired, Fender Eric Clapton Twinolux,
Visual Sound Visual Volume, Visual Sound Dual
Tap Delay, Visual Sound Double Trouble, Visual
Sound Angry Fuzz, Visual Sound Liquid Chorus,
Fulltone Supa-Trem, and Dunlop Cry Baby.
Mike Merritt: Sadowsky Vintage 4 (with
Hipshot Xtender), Aguilar DB 750, ported
Aguilar DB 115 cab, Aguilar Agro, Aguilar
Octamizer, Aguilar Filter Twin, and Boss TU-2.
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
ABC, nightly 12 a.m. EST
THE PLAYERS Toshi Yanagi (guitar),
Jimmy Earl (bass)
YEARS ON THE GIG Nine. Yanagi and Earl
were in the original band that launched with
the show in 2003.
GEAR
Toshi Yanagi: Gibson USA Flying V
with Burstbuckers, Gibson Les Paul goldtop,
Gibson Angus Young SG, 1964 Gibson Firebird
I, Taylor acoustics, Morgan Amps AC20, PRS
50-watt, 2-channel “H” amp, Star Amplifiers
cab (with Celestion Golds), Morgan cab (with
Celestion Greenbacks), Keeley-modded Line
6 DL4, Line 6 MM4, Xotic BB Plus, Xotic EP
Booster, Fulltone OCD, Lovepedal COT 50,
Fulltone Ultimate Octave prototype, Z.Vex
Distortron, Vox wah, and DigiTech Whammy II.
Jimmy Earl: 1966 Fender Jazz bass (with
Badass bridge and Hipshot Bass Xtender),
Warwick Jimmy Earl Signature, Gallien
Krueger 800RB, Ampeg SVT 4x10 cab, custom
high-end cabinet made by Steve W. Rabe (of
SWR fame) that’s stocked with only tweeters.