Richie Kotzen and Billy Sheehan took a breather after soundcheck at the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville to speak with Premier Guitar’s John Bohlinger about their signature rigs.
Even during the era of pointed headstocks, Richie played a Tele and just recently his signature model became available in the U.S. It features a contoured ash body, maple top and neck, and sports a pair of DiMarzio pickups—the Twang King in the neck and Chopper T in the bridge. Kotzen also expanded the traditional 3-way Tele wiring to include a rotary series/parallel knob. Plus, the small switch between the two knobs activates a tuner that lives around his volume knob. Finally, there’s a Hipshot GT2 Electric Xtender that allows Kotzen to quickly move to drop D. He strings up his Tele with D’Addario .011–.049 strings.
Kotzen uses his signature Tech21 RK5 Fly Rig in front of amp No. 1. He runs a second RK5 through the effects loop of amp No. 2 to give him some extra sonic mayhem when needed. (Both amps are signature Cornford heads.) The RK5 sends phantom power to his Bobber Wah by Fire Custom Shop (the RK5 is able to power the wah via a 1/4" cable). A Line 6 G50 wireless unit lives by his pedal board and it shares a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power with the RK5s.
Kotzen runs through two of his Cornford signature RK100 heads. The one on the left simply acts as a power amp for the left cab while Kotzen plugs straight into the one on the right. Each head runs on a quartet of EL34 tubes and the matching cabs are loaded with Celestion 35 speakers.
Sheehan tours with the prototype of the third version of his signature Yamaha Attitude bass. He also has an identical production model as a backup. (Sheehan claims that the production model is “tighter” than the prototype.)
Sheehan is an all about headroom as he runs three Hartke LH1000s for a paint-peeling 3,000 watts.
The amps run into three Hartke HyDrive 115 cabs. Sheehan carries two extra cabs and an amp as spares.
Although Sheehan has a modest pedalboard, he rarely touches it during a Winery Dogs set. At first glance, there might be some redundancy with his stomps, but they all serve a distinct purpose. His main effect is the EBS Billy Sheehan signature drive pedal which houses an identical pedal in its effects loop. From there, the signal goes into a Keeley Compressor Pro before hitting an ISP Decimator that keeps any extra noise down. (Another Compressor Pro handles the second pickup from Sheehan’s bass.) Next up is the Rolls SX21 Tiny Two-Way Crossover that rolls out low frequencies and gives his sound more clarity and punch. An Electro-Harmonix Micro POG and EBS OctaBass are on the board, but Sheehan “hasn’t had enough time” to turn them on during the Dogs’ set. Rounding out the board is a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus and a Line 6 G50 wireless system.
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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