Guitarists Misha Mansoor, Jake Bowen, and Mark Holcomb explain the changes they've made to their namesake gear since our 2014 episode.
Here’s something that looks familiar, but is just a little different. This is Misha’s latest iteration of his signature collaboration with Jackson. The Juggernaut shown above features a new satin, matte finish on a flame maple top with an “amber tiger eye” coloring. The thicker maple cap is put on top of a solid mahogany body. This go ’round, he decided to allow the natural beauty of the wood to shine. Other fresh looks on the guitar are its caramelized flame maple fretboard and caramelized hard-rock maple neck. (The “caramelizing” process is Jackson’s version of roasting or cooking the neck to dry it of any moisture, make it lighter, and give the wood an aged feel and tone.) The 6-string is loaded with Misha’s signature Bare Knuckle Juggernaut humbuckers. It typically rides in dropped-C tuning (C–G–C–F–A–D) and is laced up with D’Addario NYXL .011–.056 strings.
Misha has been on a Strat kick lately, and here is a project that Misha commissioned from Jackson as he is settling into his “dad-rock” era of life. It is similar to Jackson’s San Dimas or Dinky S-Style shape, came worn and torn (actually done by the Fender Custom Shop), and is loaded with a single Bare Knuckle Ragnarok humbucker in the bridge and custom-wound Back Knuckle single-coils in the middle and neck positions.
This is a 7-string version of Misha’s signature Jackson that’s built with a basswood body, equipped with a Floyd Rose trem, and is used during “Icarus Lives.” It also takes D’Addario NYXL .011–.056 strings with a .064 on the 7th string.
Misha and Peavey worked over a year on developing the Invective 120 head. It has three independent channels and runs off 6L6 tubes. The preamp is based around the 6505 circuitry and includes a half-power switch, MIDI ins and outs, the ability to power two pedals if you want them to sit on the amp, a noise gate, cab-simulated DI, an internal Tube Screamer-style boost for the crunch and lead channels, and even incorporates two footswitchable effects loops. While it doesn’t provide much oomph to Misha’s live sound, it does actually power his Fractal Audio Axe-Fx II XL+ (something he insisted on having on the amp).
Doing most of Misha’s heavy lifting for his live tone is the Fractal Axe-Fx II XL+. It runs through two Peavey cabs made from pine—a 2x12 and a 4x12 that are each loaded with a Celestion Vintage 30 and a Celestion G12H Creamback. (The 4x12 features two speakers of each model in a “X” pattern.)
Jake Bowen has been a longtime Ibanez user and has several variants of his own signature model, but his current favorite is this RG Series S7420 7-string he first bought when he was welcomed into Periphery. It used to have a blue/green flame maple top and the back and neck was unfinished. The company gladly ran with his request to refinish it in white and outfitted it with his signature DiMarzio Titan humubckers. While all of his guitars feature floating bridges, this is the only one that isn’t locked down so he can divebomb for “Motormouth.” For this 7-string, he uses D’Addario NYXL .011–.064 strings and the rest of his 6-strings use NYXL .011 –.056 sets. And he shreds with Jim Dunlop .88 mm Tortex picks. (Jake also uses the identical setup as Misha—Peavey Invective 120 powering a Fractal Axe-Fx II XL+ into a Peavey 2x12 and a 4x12 that are each loaded with a Celestion Vintage 30 and a Celestion G12H Creamback.)
Here is Jake’s signature Ibanez JBM100 including his signature DiMarzio Titan ’buckers. The standard sig model is generally done in a matte black finish (you’ll see in the next slide), but he wanted something special and felt the gold pickup covers would really pop with the white finish. All of Jake’s signature guitars currently have a mahogany body/maple top configuration.
Here is a prototype of Jake’s Ibanez sig model that was actually manufactured in Indonesia resulting in a much lower price point.
The third guitarist of the band, Mark Holcomb, had a 7-string, baritone predicament for the jam “Motormouth” when entering this joint tour with Animals as Leaders. Solution: An Aristides 070 model that is wrapped in an amazing sparkle-purple finish. The guitar features no wood as it’s made of arium, richlite (fretboard), and standard metal for the hardware. The pickups on this beauty are Mark’s signature Seymour Duncan Alpha & Omega set.
Here is Holcomb’s 2017 signature PRS SE model that also features his signature Seymour Duncan Alpha & Omega pickups and has a tasty “brisket-burst” finish.
And here is his signature PRS 7-string, again, using his signature Seymour Duncan Alpha & Omega pickups.
Like his guitar brethren, he relies on the Fractal Axe-Fx II XL+ for his various tones, but he uses a Seymour Duncan PowerStage 700 to power the unit.
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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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