From their gritty garage roots in 1986, to multiple major deals, world tours, breaks-ups and reunions, The Afghan Whigs—including longtime bassist John Curley (above right)—hung with Premier Guitar prior to their jet-fueled gig in Nashville.
Curley’s main live bass is a 1979 Rickenbacker 4001. He has played Ricks off and on since the Whigs began touring in the late 1980s. The bright, aggressive tone cuts through the heavy guitars while still providing plenty of tight low end. Curley’s backup on tour is a 1978 Fender Jazz, which is his first choice in the studio.
Curley runs a Mesa/Boogie Big Block 750, “the best bass amp I’ve ever owned both in terms of sound and reliability,” Curley claims. The cabinet is a Mesa/Boogie PowerHouse PH1000 that sports a quartet of 10” speakers around a 15” center cone.
The bassist runs his signal into a Mesa/Boogie Subway DI, sending the clean bass signal to FOH post EQ and post gain. Curley feels the 4001 signal off the pickup is harsh going straight into a standard DI. A TC Electronic PolyTune 2 runs between the bass and the DI so the FOH and amp signals are muted during tuning. After the DI, the signal hits an Electro-Harmonix POG2 for low octave stuff on “Toy Automatic,” “Matamoros,” and “Crazy.” Next in line is a Sub Buzz by Union Tube & Transistor. Next up is a Keeley Compressor Pro, which is capable of subtle compression at low ratios with great control over the attack and release. Curley says “It’s like having an 1176 on my pedalboard.” After that is the Wampler Pedals Low Blow, the heavy fuzz pedal used on “Copernicus.”
Last in the chain is the Keeley Bassist Limiter which usually doesn’t come into play unless Curley is really hammering the bass. The limiter also serves an overall gain control for the pedalboard. The net effect is that Curley’s tone can sound a lot louder without being that much louder, which keeps the FOH engineer and rest of the band happy. A DigiTech JamMan stereo pedal is used to store and trigger loops on the songs where Curley needs them. One side of the stereo image has the loop for FOH and monitors. The other side has drummer Patrick Keeler’s headphone loop that also has a click track.
Dulli, a loyal Gibson man, rotates between two Gibsons—this 2005 Gibson ES-335.
And his 2006 335.
On this tour, Dulli rocks a Mesa/Boogie Lone Star 2x12 combo that weighs in at 100 watts and is based around 6L6 tubes.
Dulli runs a Shure wireless unit that sends the signal to a Boss TU-3 tuner, MXR GT-OD, J. Rockett Archer, Alexander Pedals Royal Cream (with artwork designed by Greg Dulli), and a Boss DD-7 with tap tempo. These live on a Pedaltrain board and is powered by a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2+.
Skibic's No. 1 is this chambered 2012 Gibson Les Paul Standard. This LP has been upgraded with Mojotone '59 Clone humbuckers with a Mojotone harness and Grover tuners.
His backup is a 2016 Yamaha Revstar RSP20CR with Lollar Imperials and TonePros hardware. Both guitars are strung with Ernie Ball RPS Regular Slinky strings.
Skibic uses Herco Holy Grails picks, Dunlop glass, nickel-plated Rock Slides, and a brass Latch Lake Slide Rite.
Skibic runs a Mesa/Boogie RA-100 Royal Atlantic with EL34s. The amp runs into a Mesa/Boogie 4x12 cab with Celestion Vintage 30 speakers. If something stops working, an Orange CR120 steps in as a backup.
Skibic changes pedals depending on room. Typically, his signal runs from his guitar to a Red Sun FX White Fuzz, then an Origin Effects SlideRIG compact deluxe, a CAE MC404 Wah, a Robert Keeley Super Phat Mod overdrive, a Lehle D. Loop SGOS with Electo-Harmonix Superego and Empress Tremolo 2 in the loop, a Lehle Mono Volume pedal, (Lehle’s tuner out to MXR Talk Box into TC Electronics PolyTune. The Lehle’s output hits a Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork with EHX Dual Expression pedal, a Robert Keeley Dyno My Roto, a T-Rex Mollar overdrive, a Red Panda Particle, a Hudson Electonics UK Sidecar overdrive, a Mr. Black Gold Eterna, an Alexander Pedals SkyFi, and an Electo-Harmonix Canyon with MXR Tap. All is powered by two Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 units and everything lives on two Pedaltrain boards. The last of his effects, Skibic uses an EBow on some songs, and a Lehle mono volume tuner out to MXR TalkBox into TC Polytune2.
Nelson’s No. 1 is his 2013 Joe Parker Spectre Gold featuring a pair of mini humbuckers and strung with Ernie Ball .010s.
Nelson goes with a loud and proud Mesa/Boogie Lone Star.
Nelson runs his violin and cello into a Radial Tonebone PZ-Pre, then into an MXR M108 EQ pedal right before a Morley A/B switch where guitar enters the chain. The guitar side starts with an Xotic EP Booster before going into a Malekko Sloika, Way Huge Green Rhino, Malekko Ekko 616, Way Huge Supa-Puss, Electro-Harmonix POG2, Boss RV-5, Mr. Black Eterna, Sabine NexFx Tuner, and an Ernie Ball volume pedal.
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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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