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In November at Nashville’s Marathon Music Works, PG’s Rig Rundown team got to hang with Pelekh to see how he uses minimal gear for maximum tone.
Pelekh loves gear, but does not burden his road crew with a monstrous setup with boats full of guitars, instead he has his No. 1—a Reverend Bayonet RA HC—and a nearly identical backup (its finish is black). The Swiss Army-Knife guitarist covers everything from gypsy jazz and cabaret-style jams to four-on-the-floor punk rock. He landed on the Bayonet after talking with Ken Haas of Reverend. Boris said this about the instrument: “Ken Haas and I were very meticulous about finding the right guitar for my playing style and one that really suits the music of Gogol Bordello. I went with the Bayonet because it has a set neck, solidbody setup with a humbucker in the bridge, and a noiseless P-90 in the neck. Using these two specific pickups both in combination and standalone provides me the tonal range to cover all the spectrums of the sound that lights up the Gogol Bordello party.”
Boris admits to playing as many amps as possible, but also felt he was compromising his tone in one way or another, as he put it, he needs something that can be crystal clear with bell-like clarity for a Fender-y clean, but an amp that can also “bark like a mother-f*cker.” Enter the Orange Rockerverb 100 MkIII. The reason he hasn’t looked back since plugging into the MkIII is because of its attenuation circuit. It’s located after the master volume controls and determines when and how the amp distorts after the preamp stage, thus allowing him to retain his tone, no matter the venue.
He wired and routed this beauty himself, which currently has a TC Electronic PolyTune Noir Mini 2, Keeley Katana, Big Ear N.Y.C.’s Frank and Chaka Octave Fuzz, MXR EVH 5150 Overdrive, TC Electronic Spark Mini, a pair of Mooer Ana Echo units for varied delay times, MXR Carbon Copy, and an MXR Smart Gate. He controls all his pedals with a Carl Martin Octa-Switch MkIII and they’re all juiced up thanks to a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power Mondo.
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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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