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The Portland, Oregon, rockers rolled into Nashville, and before their show at the Exit/In, guitarists Bryan Giles and David Sullivan, along with bassist Aaron Beam (above right), spoke with PG’s Perry Bean about how a lot of their gear decisions have two common factors: Delta and keeping up with hard-hitting drummer John Sherman.
In a 2016 interview with PG, and for most of Bryan Giles guitar-playing life in Red Fang, he was seen with a heavily-modified 5-string Fender Mustang from the mid ’60s. That all changed when the band did a quick jaunt over to Europe for a few festival dates and Delta misplaced Giles’ guitars and ultimately shipped them back to the band’s HQ in Oregon. Giles, being the true professional, used his bandmate David Sullivan’s backup—the Nik Huber Krautster II you see above—and it’s been his main jammer ever since. Still not using the high-E string, Giles uses Dunlop Heavy Core strings (.014–.049) and Dunlop Tortex 1 mm picks.
Bryan Giles long believed in the tube-tone-is-better narrative and worked out countless 50-watt and 100-watt heads to keep up with booming drummer John Sherman. Finally eschewing his tone-snob tendencies, he again looked to a bandmate (this time bassist Aaron Beam) for an adequate, screaming upgrade—this Sunn Beta Bass head that goes through an Orange 4x12. He doesn’t use any dirt or drive pedals as he dimes the gain knob on the head.
Besides a tuner, the only pedal Bryan Giles uses is the Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork that adds a bit of octave to some parts and rather than having a separate guitar riding in drop-C tuning, he dimes the shift knob to mimic the lowered riffage.
Bassist Aaron Beam gets all his work done with this 1986 G&L SB-1. He generally uses any brand strings that are gauged .045–.105.
Like his other bandmates, Aaron Beam rocks nothing but the power of the Sunn—in this case, the Beta Bass head.
The only pedals in his chain are the Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner and a Radial JDX 48 1-channel Active Instrument Direct Box. All the gristle and filth comes straight from the Sunn head.
David Sullivan was an early rider on the Nik Huber bandwagon and his main hog right now is this single-pickup Krautster. The pickup is a Häussel VIN+ B A5 Bridge model. And like his 6-string bandmate, he uses Dunlop Heavy Core strings (but are gauged .010–.048) and Dunlop Tortex picks (.73 mm).
Keeping the solid-state Sunn theme rolling, David Sullivan uses the Sunn Beta Lead that is very similar to the Beta Bass except for the Bass is tuned down an octave and the Lead has onboard reverb.
David Sullivan provided this photo of just a few of his Sunn heads that are in his amp collection to back up the claim he makes in the video.
Here is David “Pedal Junkie” Sullivan’s (at least compared to Bryan and Aaron) board with a few choice stomps including a Mr. Black ThunderClaw, EarthQuaker Devices Dispatch Master, MXR Phase 95, DigiTech Drop, and a TC Electronic PolyTune 2 Mini.
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Perry Bean 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. Being Premier Guitar's Chief Videographer 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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