Premier Guitar met with Eric Peterson, Alex Skolnick, and Steve DiGiorgio before Testament’s April 22, 2015, show at the Cannery Ballroom in Nashville to get the scoop on what gear the Bay Area thrashers rely on for maximum oomph and practicality.
Alex Skolnick tours exclusively with his new ESP signature models, which feature splittable Seymour Duncan humbuckers, TonePros bridge and tailpiece, 22XJ frets, and a 12" fretboard radius.
Skolnick runs his 120-watt signature Budda AS Preceptor head into a matching Budda 4x12 cab. For gigs abroad that require smaller rigs, he uses a Kemper Profiler PowerHead.
Skolnick’s guitar signal first hits a Boss TU3 tuner, then runs into a Jam Pedals TubeDreamer 88, a Tone Concepts Distillery, a Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor, a Dunlop EVH Phase 90, and then into either a Boss DD-20 or a Rocktron Reaction digital delay patched through the amp’s effects loop. When using his Kemper, Skolnick changes presets with a Behringer FCB1010 MIDI foot controller.
Eric Peterson’s No. 1 guitar is a signature Dean Old Skull V outfitted with a set of EMG 57/66 humbuckers. (Peterson is currently working with EMG on a set of signature PAF-style pickups.)
Peterson also plays a Dean Z with an EMG 57/66 pickup set. He strings both Deans with .010–.052 D’Addario NY XL sets, and tunes down to Eb.
Peterson keeps it consistent and affordable on tour by leaving his Marshalls at home and running his guitars into a Line 6 Relay G55 wireless feeding a Kemper Profiler PowerHead that’s driving an EVH 5150III 4x12 loaded with Celestion Vintage 30s. All his effects—including wah—come from the Kemper, which Peterson controls with a Behringer FC1010 MIDI foot controller.
Testament bassist Steve DiGiorgio’s No. 1 axe is a fretless Thor Bass modified from five strings down to three that’s stocked with passive Nordstrand humbuckers.
DiGiorgio also plays a 2014 walnut Rickenbacker 4003 4-string with a custom metal pickguard by Snake Bite Custom Guitardesign. His basses are strung with .035–.130 Rotosound Swing Bass 66 sets.
DiGiorgio plugs into an EBS Fafner II two-channel head feeding both a Hughes & Kettner Red Box Pro DI/cab simulator and an 8x10 cab.
John Bohlinger is a Nashville-based multi-instrumentalist best known for leading the band on NBC's Nashville Star, serving as music director for the CMT Awards and specials on PBS and GAC, and of course for his appearances in PG Rig Rundown, Review Demo, Axes & Artifacts, and What Bohlinger Plays videos.
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