Skip to content

Dann Huff Rig Rundown

Search

Latest Stories

Premier Guitar features affiliate links to help support our content. We may earn a commission on any affiliated purchases.

Rig Rundown: Johnny Hiland

One of Nashville’s hottest pickers demonstrates how he moves from snappy twang licks to ’80s rock and more.

John Bohlinger
By John BohlingerApr 27, 2016
John Bohlinger
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.
See Full Bio

  

High above the Nashville skyline, guitar slinger Johnny Hiland met with PG’s John Bohlinger for a pre-show Rig Rundown. Hiland showed off a diverse cache of 6-strings, two cool amps and a larger—yet practical—board that makes for a killer setup for both the studio and live gigs.

SWShopTheRigButton

rig-rundownfeatured-storiesgearvideosmusic-manjohnny-hilandguitarsartistsspecial-featured-storieswhats-newguitarists

The Latest

Editors' Choice: Fuzz That Fuels PG Staff's Most Ripping Reveries
Gear

Editors' Choice: Fuzz That Fuels PG Staff's Most Ripping Reveries

Prime Day Deal Rundown: Top Picks for 2024!
Gear

Prime Day Deal Rundown: Top Picks for 2024!

Top 10 Prime Day Deals, Amazon Prime
Gear

Top 10 Prime Day Guitar Deals​

Amazon prime guitar deals
Gear

Prime Big Deal Days Rundown: Top Picks for 2023!

More for you

Keeley Manis Review

Keeley Manis Review

Like so many pedals that became legends, the Klon Centaur spawned legions of copies and imitators that possess unique virtues all their own. You can now count Keeley’s new Manis among the Klon-inspired stomps that took a great idea and shaped something uniquely awesome in the process. As far as klones go, it’s a great one. Tested alongside a very accurate klone that I use as a benchmark in Klon tests (it was A/B tested with a real-deal Klon once owned by my colleague Joe Gore), the Manis was virtually a mirror image, and often a more satisfying one for its slightly less compressed voice.

Keep ReadingShow less

Most Popular

Roland Announces BOSS Effects Pedals Plug-In
News

Roland Announces BOSS Effects Pedals Plug-In

Supro Announces New Airwave Tube Amp
News

Supro Announces New Airwave Tube Amp

Win a KERNOM RIDGE Analog Morphing Drive Pedal – Enter by June 24!
PG Giveaways

Win a KERNOM RIDGE Analog Morphing Drive Pedal – Enter by June 24!

Fender Introduces Khruangbin Signature Guitar and Bass
News

Fender Introduces Khruangbin Signature Guitar and Bass

Did Hendrix Play This Rare 1968 SG Custom?
Vintage Vault

Did Hendrix Play This Rare 1968 SG Custom?

George Harrison’s Sweet Guitar Melodies
Lessons

George Harrison’s Sweet Guitar Melodies

EarthQuaker Chelsea Low End Fuzz Driver Review

EarthQuaker Chelsea Low End Fuzz Driver Review

Wanna talk about rabbit holes? Well, few are deeper or darker than one that awaits when you compare the virtues, shortcomings, and construction peculiarities of Big Muffs. Make no mistake, I love the things. And studying real, audible differences among Big Muff variants is fun. But I would happily take back many hours I’ve spent contrasting Ram’s Head, Triangle, and Sovtek versions, and their clones—all to arrive at the conclusion that they all sound awesome in their own right. One dude that has spent about a million hours dissecting Muff tone minutiae is EarthQuaker Devices founder Jamie Stillman. Hisefforts to reverse engineer his pal Dan Auerbach’s unique-sounding Sovtek Muff begat theHoof, which remains among EarthQuaker’s most enduring and successful products.

Keep ReadingShow less

Upgrade Les Paul: Active Humbuckers!

DIY: Installing Active Humbuckers in a Gibson Les Paul
- YouTube
www.youtube.com

Previously, John Bohlinger was curious about what active pickups could do for his anemic 1994 Stratocaster and EMG offered their drop-and-go Steve Lukather SL20 Pickguard set. JB was floored with the guitar's fresh voice and responsive dynamics he wanted to expand the active experiment to his beloved 2003 Gibson Les Paul. So we got a set of EMG Fat 55 Retro Active Humbuckers that required a full install and our luthier friend Dave Johnson walks us through the whole process before John got to test out his old friend's tonal makeover.

Learn more about EMG Fat 55 Retro Active Humbuckers here.

Fontaines D.C. Rig Rundown [2025]

Fontaines D.C. Rig Rundown [2025]

The Irish post-punk band’s three guitarists go for Fairlane, Fenders, and a fake on their spring American tour.

Keep ReadingShow less

The Songs That We Hear: Capturing Jerry Garcia’s Tone

The Songs That We Hear: Capturing Jerry Garcia’s Tone

Milkman’s Jerry Garcia-style JG-40 combo.

Guitar players wanting to catch the Grateful Dead’s particular lightning in a bottle exist along a spectrum. Some are content to take inspiration from Jerry Garcia’s playing but make their own way regarding guitar choice and signal path. Others strive to emulate Garcia’s sonic decisions down to the most minor details and create signal paths as close to Jerry’s as possible. In recent years, an ecosystem of gear has developed around fostering Jerry Garcia’s electric tone, including everything from guitars, amps, and stompboxes to on-board preamps and speakers.

Keep ReadingShow less