PG’s Chris Kies spent some time with Tarra Thiessen, Natalie Kirch (above right), and Chris Nunez of Sharkmuffin before their rambunctious set at Nashville’s Radio Cafe.
Most of the band’s recorded material has been created thanks to Thiessen's beloved (and battered) 2009 Fender Jaguar Special HH. As she put it, “The Jaguar has been through a lot of shit,” and it’s become a headache on the road with tuning issues and having to shim the pickups, so she’s currently touring with this MIM Fender Standard Telecaster that she bought in college. The only thing she’s done to the blonde Tele was she repainted it with silver fingernail polish. She uses Augustine Spectra Light Electric strings (.011–.048) and blue Fender 1 mm picks.
For songs like “Mondays,” “Ghost Beads,” and “Chartreuse” you’ll see Thiessen grab this Danelectro 12SDC 12-string.
Most of Thiessen's output with Sharkmuffin was with a 1966 Fender Pro Reverb behind her, but before this tour her stepdad bought her this Fender Super-Sonic 22 that she has been digging because it’s not breaking her back like the Pro Reverb, it can be cranked up higher than 2, and it has a few more controls so she can dial in her sound from room to room.
Thiessen covers a lot of sonic ground throughout Sharkmuffin’s intense sets, but she only needs a trio of noise benders like a Death By Audio Echo Dream, smallsound/bigsound buzzz, and a Seymour Duncan Shape Shifter. For tuning and muting purposes, she has a Boss TU-3 Tuner.
Kirch's lone bass for this tour was a gift from Thiessen. She surprised Kirch for her 26th birthday by having Richie the Guitar Doctor—who only takes on clients by word-of-mouth reference and operates out of his Lower East Side Manhattan apartment—build this P-style bass that has replaced her longtime No.1, which was a semi-hollow Series 10 model. She prefers to use the thickest bass strings from Augustine because she plays with a pick and Kirch feels that gives her tone some added aggression and bite.
For amplifying needs, Kirch rolls with this Ampeg B-100R that is built like a tank and rumbles low and hard.
Besides a Boss tuner, she gets all the gnarly, spitty, and speaker-blowing tones she needs from this Death By Audio Apocalypse that is home to five unique fuzz circuits.
Back in 2007, guitarist Chris Nunez scored this 50th Anniversary Fender Stratocaster at a local pawnshop for around 200 bones. He hasn’t done anything special to make it his own and he prefers Augustine strings that are gauged either .010 or .011. This was the first guitar he bought and felt like he was a musician, so this one will hopefully stay in his possession for many gigs to come.
Normally onstage with a Peavey ValveKing, he opted to go light on the touring costs and has been sharing this Fender Hot Rod DeVille from road companions, Wild Moon.
Nunez's board consists of Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor, Boss PS-6 Harmonist, Boss DD-6 Digital Delay, Fulltone OCD, TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb, and a TC Electronic PolyTune keeps everything in check.
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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 maintains the website and social media, occasionally writes an artist feature, regularly hosts Rig Rundowns, and shoots/edits video for NAMM show coverage. Other than that, he spends time with his pitbull and enjoys non-guitar-related hobbies.
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