PG’s John Bohlinger hung with Chris Robinson and Neal Casal (above) before the sold-out show at Nashville’s Cannery Ballroom. And as both guitar slingers explain, they get to stretch out more in the CRB than in any of their previous projects.
Chris Robinson’s main guitar is a custom Vox Virage in deep cherry finish that features a trio of Vox’s proprietary P-90-style pickups. The guitar is nicknamed “Peace Pipe” because of the beautiful inlay done by concert-poster wizard Alan Forbes. His main ride is strung up with Curt Mangan strings (.0105–.048).
This 60-watt Divided By 13 RKL 57 gives Robinson the full, clean sound he prefers for rhythm work. It feeds it through a Divided By 13 4x12 cab with Celestion Greenback speakers.
Robinson runs a cable from his guitar into his Boss TU-3 tuner. From there it hits a Vox Double Deca delay, MXR Phase 99, Lovepedal Eternity Drive, BearFoot FX Model H, and an MXR Carbon Copy delay.
Neal Casal’s No. 1 is a 2014 Scott Walker Santa Cruz Model featuring a maple top, mahogany back, rosewood neck, ebony fretboard, and Lollar High Wind Imperial pickups.
For a bit more snap Casal goes with his stock 2014 Fender Telecaster that sports a Parsons/Green B-Bender.
Casal runs a dual-amp setup that includes this Divided by 13 FTR 100, which has two channels. The preferred channel for Casal is the Fender-style side while the other side reminds him of a Marshall Super Bass. Both amps feed a 1971 Marshall 4x12 cab with Celestion greenback speakers.
The other half of his amp rig is this custom 100-watt Booya head.
Jordan Rigg at JRIG Pedalboards built the tone station that sits at Casal’s feet every night. Before hitting the board, his signal goes through a Sarno Steel Guitar Black Box tube buffer. From there, it goes to a Road Rage looper that accesses various combinations from a big pile of effects, including several pedals from BearFoot FX, Catalinbread, EarthQuaker Devices, Strymon, and more. All the cables were built by Kidd Candelario.