PG’s Chris Kies hung with guitarist Jade Puget and bassist Hunter Burgan (above right) before the band’s recent Nashville gig at War Memorial Auditorium. Jade explains why he goes with Gibson Les Paul Studios while Hunter describes his need for big-and-bulky tube heads in a world of on-the-go mini bass heads.
As the band’s lone guitarist, Jade has two duties: fill a large sonic space and run wild during the band’s shows. He’s been doing that for years thanks to this back-friendly Gibson Les Paul Studio. That being said, this Studio is heavier than most and it’s his main one because it was the best out of his litter of a dozen black Studios. (Jade jokingly questions if it’s made of solid ebony, but feels the guitar’s density is what gives the instrument its undeniable live tone that’s resonant and very warm.) Aside from the upgrade on the tuners and the Crash Love logo by the bridge, this 6-string is all stock and typically goes to stage in tuned down a half step. All of his guitars use Ernie Ball Slinky .010–.046 strings and he plays with Dunlop Tortex .60 mm picks.
This alpine white Studio is typically in standard tuning for material from Crash Love, Burials, and The Blood Album.
Surprisingly, this Les Paul Standard is a backup for the heavier Crash Love Studio because it’s much lighter and gives his back a break each night.
As you can imagine (or if you’re an AFI super fan), this dropped-D Studio gets busted out for “Girl’s Not Grey” and “Paper Airplanes.”
The last Studio has been hollowed out and outfitted with an LED light to recreate the logo off their 2013 album, Burials. The light is controlled by a push-pull pot on his tone knob.
Puget tours with two Diamond Nitrox heads that are always on—one is set to a dirty, overdriven sound while the other is dialed up for “cleaner,” gritty tones. He prefers the Nitrox amps because they bridge the gap between Mesa/Boogie and Marshall and they don’t sound like metal amps.
Both heads run out to their own 4x12 offstage—one hits a Marshall 1960AHW and the other goes through a Diamond cab.
Leaving the floor clean—aside from his Custom Audio Electronics RS-10 MIDI controller out front—Jade keeps his few stomps in the rack including two Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamers (one is set for moderate gain while the second has the level control dimed), a Boss RV-5 Digital Reverb, DigiTech DigiDelay, and a Korg KP2 Kaoss Pad for the middle breakdown part of “Girl’s Not Grey” where he needs to reproduce a “twinkly” sound.
For clean and chorus-y tones Puget used to tour with a Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus combo, but due to constant maintenance needs and looking to streamline his setup he now opts to use a rackmount Line 6 POD Pro. For additional time-bending needs—especially triplet settings—Jade goes with the TC Electronic D-Two Multi-Tap Rhythm Delay. Because Jade is an active onstage guitarist, he goes with the Shure UR4D and keeps everything in tune with the Korg DTR-2000 rackmount tuner.
Bassist Hunter Burgan’s No. 1 is the only 4-string he uses on the road and in the studio—it’s a 2012 Fender American Standard Precision bass. He uses Ernie Ball Slinky Bass strings that are gauged .045–.105. He uses a pick 90 percent of the time, 9 percent he’ll pluck away with his fingers for moodier parts, and 1 percent is where you’ll see him make a fist a hammer his bass during the second verse of “Miss Murder.”
For more of the band’s recent material, Hunter will grab this nearly identical Fender P for songs in standard tuning.
This new Fender American Professional Series P is the “party” bass that’s tuned to down a whole step and is relegated for the oldest material. It’s called the party bass, because as Hunter explains, this is the lowest tuning they’ve ever played and it was put in place so lead singer Davy Havok could nail the older material.
Rolling heavy with tube tone, Burgan rocks three Ampeg SVT Classic heads that run through three matching SVT 8x10 cabs.
His sparse board is home to all Electro-Harmonix boxes: Graphic Fuzz EQ/Distortion/Sustainer, Bass Micro Synth, and a Bass Big Muff.
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Chris Kies has degrees in Journalism and History from the University of Iowa and has been with PG dating back to his days as an intern in 2007. He's now the multimedia manager maintaining the website and social media accounts, coordinating Rig Rundown shoots (also hosting and/or filming them) and product demos, and occasionally writing an artist feature, all while still shooting/editing video for NAMM-show coverage. Other than that, he spends time with his pitbull and enjoys non-guitar-related hobbies.
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