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Guitarists Josh Rand, Christian Martucci (above right), and bassist Johny Chow spent over an hour with PG’s Chris Kies before the band’s gig at Nashville’s War Memorial Auditorium. Josh and Christian show off a whole new lineup of gear, including cherry axes making their live debut and revamps on their boards, while Johny proves you don’t need amps to rock out the low-end rumble.
Meet Shandy, Stone Sour guitarist Christian Martucci’s main baby—a 1980 Gibson Les Paul Custom that actually came to his quiver by way of Nashville guitarist RJ Ronquillo. He’s updated it with a DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge, an Air Norton in the neck, and increased its playability with jumbo frets. This is his go-to for songs that are tuned down a half-step to Eb. All of his Eb axes use D’Addario NYXL .010–.046 strings.
This is Christian Martucci’s 1997 Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Custom he calls “Tweet.” It has all new knobs, pickup selector, and is outfitted with DiMarzio Breed (bridge) and Illuminator (neck) pickups.
Christian Martucci spent some time playing alongside Ramones’ bassist Dee Dee Ramone so this Mosrite-inspired gem represents the full-circle path of his travels with guitar. This purple Ventures-esque beaut is a custom build by Marvin Guitars out of Los Angeles, California and is his top C# guitar. Martucci told luthier Keith Horn he wanted a ’60s Mosrite that played like a Les Paul, and this 6-string was the result. Like the others, it’s all DiMarzio, all day, as this one has an Air Norton (neck) and D Sonic (bridge).
Another custom build from Marvin Guitars for Christian Martucci is a doublecut version of the company’s Fillmore model with some strong Les Paul Jr. vibes. And like the other Marvin, this one is rocking an Air Norton (neck) and D Sonic (bridge).
Christian Martucci’s Zemaitis Custom Shop CS24WL is his main drop-B guitar because of its 25” scale that can handle the lower tuning while retaining some string tension. Again, this one is equipped with an Air Norton (neck) and D Sonic (bridge). For the lowered-tuned guitars like the Marvins and Zemaitis models, he uses D’Addario NYXL .011–.056 strings.
Another one of Christian Martucci’s Zemaitis models is this Custom Shop CS24MF model loaded with an Air Norton (neck) and D Sonic (bridge).
Ever since 1982, Christian Martucci has always had a Marshall JCM 800 in his arsenal. (He scored his first one when he was 13 years old from his sister’s boyfriend.) This particular 800 is a reissue unit and has EL34s.
Christian Martucci’s stomp station is home to necessities that include a Boss SD‑1W Waza Craft Super Overdrive that is always on and hits the front of his amp. Another key element (especially since switching to wireless) is his ISP Decimator II Noise Reduction Pedal that helps kill any buzz from noisy venues and power. The rest of his boxes are a TC Electronic PolyTune, MXR M108 Ten Band EQ, MXR Phase 90, Seymour Duncan Catalina Chorus, and an Electro-Harmonix Micro POG.
Bassist Johny Chow covers the low end with just two Warwick basses. His main one for drop-C and drop-B songs is this Warwick Custom Shop Streamer Stage II model that has a few Chow-approved tweaks like different tonewoods (bubinga, wenge, rosewood) and a neck-through design he went with because he feels it upholds the note definition when played in dropped tunings.
Johny Chow’s other Warwick Streamer Stage II is a more traditional J-style 4-string with a swamp ash body and bolt-on maple neck. It gets worked out for songs in Eb standard and was overhauled with Nordstrand Big J-Blade 4 pickups.
Amps? Amps?! Johny Chow don’t need no stinkin’ amps! After the band’s FOH engineer and Chow A-B’d their live sound mix with him going direct and using a amp head/cab that was mic’d, they quickly agreed the tone was sharper and more focused with the direct setup. That was several years ago and he’s still rocking the barebones signal chain. It starts from the bass into his Shure wireless unit, then into a TC Electronic PolyTune2 Mini, into a Darkglass Alpha · Omega (dirty signal to FOH) and an Eden Terra Nova Module Bass Preamp (clean signal to FOH). Other noisemakers include a Darkglass Electronics Microtubes 900, Darkglass Super Symmetry (for compression), an EarthQuaker Devices Sea Machine (chorus to thicken up parts). Everything is juiced up thanks to the MXR M238 Iso‑Brick.
Co-founding guitarist Josh Rand started with Ibanez, dabbled with some other brands, but came back home to Ibanez a few years ago. His main C# guitar is this Ibanez Custom Shop Talman that was painted by hot-rod mastermind Dan Lawrence. This one he calls Rizzo 2.0. (Rizzo 1.0 was an RG and was busted on ShipRocked a few years ago—it’s named after the character in Grease, not the Chicago Cubs first baseman.) After being a longtime user of EMGs, Rand outfitted all his guitars with DiMarzio pickups (this one features Steve Vai Evolution humbuckers) and all his guitars have been upgraded with Gotoh locking tuners. All his shred machines, regardless of tunings, use D’Addario NYXL .011–056 strings.
This Ibanez Talman in Josh Rand’s arsenal is extra special. He makes no qualms about it, this is his favorite guitar. A few years back, Rand asked his fans on social media to submit names (and stories) for the guitar and he dedicated it to a fan named Jasper who suffered from depression and ultimately took his life. The phone number on the strap is the hotline for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and Rand proudly wears this guitar each night as onstage PSA and reminder of overcoming his own dark demons. It’s tuned to Eb standard, and it gets used on “Tired,” “Song 3,” and “Through Glass.”
Josh Rand’s lead drop-B guitar is this Ibanez PGM900TR from 1998. He was gifted the guitar from Paul Gilbert a few years ago and PG used it during his 20th anniversary show for Ibanez at the Whisky in Hollywood.
And because Paul Gilbert is awesome, he signed the back with this cool message for Josh Rand.
Josh Rand’s backup C# axe is this Ibanez PGM100 JB from 1991. This was one of Josh’s first guitars he ever owned but sold it after only having it a few years. Thankfully, he was able to get it back and now uses it every night onstage. He updated it with the Gotoh locking tuners and decked the floating bridge.
Keeping up with the Paul Gilbert phase, here is Josh Rand’s Ibanez PGM700 WH that’s from 1996. He found it in the Netherlands while on tour and had to have it since only 50 of them were made in the Japan Custom Shop. This one is #25.
Josh Rand’s reserve drop-B guitar is this Japanese-built Ibanez RG421. He spent over 20 hours adding this aluminum plating (with over 130 hand-drilled rivets) to the guitar’s body. To go along with the metal theme, he dropped in a set of DiMarzio Steve Vai Dark Matter humbuckers.
For amplification, Josh Rand leans on the Hughes & Kettner TriAmp Mk III. (He was one of the first endorsees of the Mk II and has a second Mk III in his rack for backup duties.) He really loves the latest TriAmp for its enhanced clean channel and onboard noise gate.
To change the colors of his core Ibanez-into-Hughes-and-Kettner tone, Josh Rand uses a robust board with tone treats like Strymon BigSky, Eventide H9, Electro-Harmonix Ravish Sitar, Strymon Mobius, Strymon Orbit, Third Man Records Bumble Fuzz, MXR Sub Machine, Xotic EP Booster, Xotic SP Compressor, Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor, and a Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner. Everything is running thanks to either the Strymon Ojai or Zuma power supplies.
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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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