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Rig Rundown: Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit

December 02, 2015

Intro — Americana troubadour, Jason Isbell met with Premier Guitar’s Perry Bean at the Tivoli Theatre in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to go deep about his guitars, Dumble-modified amps, and why his wife is the best at picking out gifts.

This 1961 Gibson ES-335 is the first really old and really awesome guitar that Isbell obtained and is mostly original with a few key upgrades. Isbell had famed Nashville luthier Joe Glaser give the guitar a refret and install a TonePros tailpiece along with new tuners because after years of use the originals started to look like “a dead man’s toe.”

A 2014 Gibson Collector’s Choice Les Paul goldtop (#12) is patterned after a ’57—scratches and all. After loading up the guitar with a pair of OX4 PAF-style pickups, Isbell considers this the best “new” Les Paul he’s played.

Isbell tweaked this 2014 Fender Custom Shop ’60 Tele Custom (which was built by Master Builder Paul Waller) by adding a black pickguard and a Twisted Tele pickup in the neck position.

This Duesenberg Starplayer TV has been Isbell’s main guitar for quite some time. He had one just like it that was stolen, so Isbell ordered this one sight unseen and it came out perfectly. Isbell strings up all his electrics with Ernie Ball strings (.010–.046).

A second Duesenberg, this time a Fullerton Elite, stands by and features a longer scale and a humbucker in the bridge with a coil-tap. It’s the first Fullerton Elite that Duesenberg has made in black and “It looks Roy Orbison as hell,” mentions Isbell.

“This guitar will actually get me gigs,” says Isbell. It’s a “Cooder-caster” that was built by Nashville luthier Tom Stadler from Carter Vintage Guitars. The idea behind the guitar came from legendary slide guru Ry Cooder’s main guitar. Stadler salvaged the “gold foil” neck pickup from an old Teisco guitar and held onto to for about a year before Isbell’s wife commissioned the guitar for his birthday. Stadler also installed a Lollar lap steel pickup that’s based on an old Supro model in the bridge position. Based on a recommendation from Blake Mills, Isbell strings this guitar up with flatwound strings.

This 2015 Martin D-18 Authentic 1939 is the guitar that Isbell probably plays the most during a typical set. When Isbell gets a new guitar he has a specific method of getting them to open up: He sets them in front of a stereo speaker and blasts Outkast. He strings up this guitar with Martin SP medium-gauge strings (.013–.056).

On one or two songs a night Isbell pulls out this 2015 Martin D-28 12-string. Although not a big fan of 12-strings in general, Isbell uses this live to emulate a “Nashville”-tuned guitar that he uses in the studio.

Isbell saw this Castle Creek Dobrato Respohonic at Corner Music in Nashville and bought it immediately because he thought it was the “stupidest idea in the world.” But once he got it home he quickly realized how great it is.

A trio of old and new amps fuel Isbell’s backline and each one gives him a distinct flavor. The Magnatone Super Fifty-Nine is a 45-watt beast that’s powered by a pair of EL34 tubes. In order to keep the volume somewhat reasonable, a Dr. Z Z Air Brake is used. Isbell’s primary amp is this Sommatone Roaring 40 and gives the rig a very Vox-style element.

This ’64 Fender Pro came from producer Dave Cobb. It’s a 1x15 combo that has been worked on by reclusive amp mystic Alexander Dumble. “It’s supposed to be as good as a Fender Pro as you can get,” says Isbell.

Since the Fender Pro doesn’t feature reverb, Isbell employs a ’65 Fender blackface reverb tank.

Isbell’s guitar tech, Michael Bethancourt, designed a bulletproof rig that is not only versatile, but also powerful. All of Isbell’s pedals are housed in drawers in his rack and the first one contains an Analog Man Sun Lion—a four-knob compressor—Origin Effects SlideRIG, and a Greer Amps Lightspeed Organic Overdrive. A Voodoo Lab Pedal Power ISO 5 powers this drawer.

The second drawer contains a pair of Fishman Aura Spectrum DIs and an original silver-faced Klon Centaur (which was yet another gift from his wife). Another Voodoo Lab power supply, this time a Pedal Power Digital keeps things up and running.

A final drawer is home to a pair of Strymon pedals (Flint and Deco), Greer Amps Southland, Electro-Harmonix POG, Wampler Faux Tape Echo, and a Wampler Faux Spring Reverb.

FX-Controller — Tech Michael Bethancourt designed and built Isbell’s effect system. Pedals live in drawers, not the floors. At his feet is a RJM Mastermind GT22 Midi Controller, Selah Effects Quartz Timer, Mission Engineering Expression Pedal and a TC Electronic PolyTune 2 Noir that live on a Trailer Trash ProSeries 30”x18” Pedalboard w a built junction box featuring six inputs, seven outputs. Ac provided by a T-Rex. The junction box on Isbell’s pedalboard was built by Randy Gabbard, at Tour Supply Nashville. Wampler Faux Tape Echo was modded by Eastside Music Supply in Nashville, TN. Best-Tronics Pro Audio in Chicago assembled all pedalboard looms. Jason’s loom and junction box were my design, and all else (regarding Jason’s rig only) was designed, built, wired, etc. by me personally.

400 Unit guitarist Sadler Vaden has been using this ’05 Gibson SG Standard as his main ride. It's loaded with a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates humbucker in the bridge, a '59 in the neck, and is strung with Ernie Ball Regular Slinky strings.

Sadler's newest guitar is this 2015 Fender Custom Shop Stratocaster.

His only semi-hollowbody is this 2007 Gibson ES-335—and at the behest of Isbell, Vaden dropped in OX4 PAF-style pickups, a Duesenberg Tremolo system, and is strung with Ernie Ball Regular Slinky strings, too.

Here is Vaden's 1999 Fender Tele Deluxe ’72 Reissue (made in Mexico) that was upgraded with a Lindy Fralin Tele Split-blade in the bridge and a Fralin P-92 in the neck position.

His oldest guitar on tour is this stock—aside from the replacement Grover tuners—’73 Gibson Les Paul Custom.

This Danelectro 12SDC 12-string has Ernie Ball 12-String Slinky (.008-.040) strings and is busted out nightly for "24 Frames" off Something More Than Free.

In love with the Bristish-rock tones of yesterday, but the reliability of new amps, Vaden treks out with two combos—a Vox AC30 Hardwired and a 3rd Power British Dream.

Here is the signal path for Vaden's board: MXR Dyna Comp, Dunlop Volume Pedal, Korg Pitchblack Tuner (from tuner output of VP), Greer Amplification Lightspeed (from main output of VP), a ZVEX Box of Rock, a Line 6 MM4 Modulation Modeler (stereo signal out), an Analog Man ARDX20 Dual Analog Delay (stereo signal in/out), a Strymon Blue Sky Reverb (stereo signal in, right output to Vox AC30 Handwired), and a 3rd Power Line Selector (mono input from verb, dual mono out, to channels 1/2 on 3rd Power British Dream amp).

Jimbo Hart's main ride is a 1970 Fender Precision Bass strung with Ernie Ball Flatwound strings (.045-.105). He's had it for over 7 years and he recorded Jason's last record Something More Than Free almost exclusively with this 4-string.

While not his #1, this might be Hart's favorite bass—a 1963 Fender Precision Bass strung with Ernie Ball Flatwound strings (.045-.105). The reason it means so much to him is because this is the bass he practiced and marched with during his time participating in his high school's marching band. His hometown musical director recently sold it to him.

Hart's current amp rig is clean-cut simple: an Ashdown CTM-300 head into an Ashdown CL-610 6x10 cab.

Here's Hart's signal path on his board: Walrus Audio Aetos Power Supply, a Loopmaster A/B box, a TC Electronic Polytune (from A of A/B), a Lehle D Loop (from B of A/B), Loop A from Lehle unit - [Greer Amplification Tar Pit Fuzz - Greer Amplification Peacemaker - Walrus Audio Voyager], Loop B from Lehle unit - Walrus Audio Janus Fuzz/Tremolo], a Boss OC-3 Super Octave, a Puretone Buffer, and a Noble Dual Vacuum Tube Preamp.

Special thanks to Tech Michael Bethancourt for taking PG through the nuts and bolts.

Perry cut his teeth touring and playing in punk rock and hardcore bands, before he got his start in film. He worked his way up from lowly production assistant to become a producer, art director, and most recently, a music video director nominated for ACM, CMT, and CMA awards. Premier Guitar was a perfect fit for him, combining his two favorite things, guitars and cameras. Perry doesn't have free time, but his massive dog Beef pays his rent by being Perry's intern.

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