Mike Scott (left) and Elliott Ives create a guitar tandem behind pop powerhouse Justin Timberlake for his The Man of the Woods tour. When Timberlake and the Tennessee Kids were at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, Ives and Scott talked to PG’s John Bohlinger about their gear.
Mike Scott has to cover a lot of sonic territory on the tour, and it takes a lot of guitars to do it. Here is his 2007 Paul Reed Smith Hollowbody II that is strung with DR Hi-Beam strings (.009–.046).
Next up is Scott’s 2014 PRS Hollowbody II in a blue fade finish.
By this point, can you tell that Scott is a huge PRS fan? This is his PRS NS-15 Neal Schon signature model.
For something with a more traditional flavor, Scott reaches for this Godin 5th Avenue Uptown GT LTD loaded with TV Jones pickups.
On the acoustic end, Scott uses this Martin GPCPA1 Plus with a Fishman F1 Aura+ pickup and DR Veritas (.012–.054) strings.
The only Gibson in Scott’s vault is a 2012 Les Paul Studio loaded with a Seymour Duncan Custom humbucker in the bridge slot and a Floyd Rose vibrato.
Scott tours with a pair of hot-rodded Fender Eric Johnson Strats. Both have identical setups, with a special mod to the controls that Scott and his tech refuse to disclose. They are strung with DR Hi-Beam (.009–.046) strings.
For a Tele-style tone, Scott goes with this 2018 Ferner Custom T Deluxe with Lollar Regal Humbuckers.
Scott runs two Custom Audio Amplifiers PT100 heads that live in a rack with a Vans Evers Clean Line power conditioner. The amps power two custom-made 2x12 wedge guitar cabs with unknown speakers.
Mike Scott plugs his guitars into a Shure Axient wireless that feeds his Truetone Visual Volume pedal VV10, a Dunlop Rotovibe, Friedman BE-OD, Suhr Koko Boost, EBS Red Twister Chorus, EBS Bass IQ Triple Envelope Filter, and a Boss TU-3 tuner. His amp effects loop feeds his Dunlop Cry Baby 95Q wah, EBS DynaVerb reverb, Electro-Harmonix Nano POG, and a Visual Sound V3 Dual Tap Delay. In his rack sits an ISP Decimator Pro Rack noise reduction system, and his pedals dwell on a Pedaltrain Grande board.
Elliott Ives has recorded and toured with Timberlake since 2013. He carries an ample rack of delectable axes. All of his electrics are strung with Ernie Ball .010–.052 sets and his acoustic steel strings use Ernie Ball .013–.056 sets. Ives’ longtime No. 1 is a beefy 1978 Gibson Les Paul Custom with a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge and a Seymour Duncan Seth Lover in the neck.
Ives’ backup is this 1981 Gibson Les Paul Custom “Black Beauty” with 3rd Power Mag-Frag pickups in the neck and bridge positions.
For Strat tones, Ives goes with his Fender American Standard Stratocaster with three custom-wound Seymour Duncan Antiquity Texas Hot pickups.
Ives also rocks a Ferner T-style. Here’s his Power T that features a Lollar Staple P-90 in the neck and a J-Street single-coil in the bridge. The guitar features a 4-way switch with the fourth position running the pickups in series.
For the acoustic set, Ives goes with his Gibson HP 835 with an L.R. Baggs M1 active pickup mounted in the soundhole.
Next in his acoustic line-up is a Martin M-36 with an L.R. Baggs Anthem pickup and microphone system.
For a more traditional dreadnought, Ives goes with his Martin D-18 acoustic with a L.R. Baggs Anthem system.
For a nylon string, Ives plays his Godin Multiac Nylon with a Godin piezo system, strung with Ernie Ball Ernesto Palla strings, gauged .028–.042.
Ives tours with two 3rd Power Citizen Gain CSR heads running into a 3rd Power Dream Series 212 cab loaded with Celestion Vintage 30 speakers.
A Hughes & Kettner ERA 1 amp covers all of Elliot’s acoustic tones.
Ives runs his guitars into a Shure Axient wireless system that sends the signal to his effects. The signal chain is: Ernie Ball VP Jr. volume pedal, EarthQuaker Devices Palisades overdrive, Dunlop Cry Baby 95Q wah (A second wah is operated by a tech when Elliott’s away from the board.), Decimator rackmount noise-reduction unit, and an Xotic EP Boost. In the effects loop, Ives runs an Eventide ModFactor, an Eventide TimeFactor delay, an EarthQuaker Devices Dispatch Master delay/reverb, and a DigiTech Whammy. The acoustic guitars run into a Shure Axient system and then go to a Boss TU-3W before hitting a Neve RNDI. A Vans Evers power conditioner keeps everything running smooth.
Timberlake tours with two Gibson SJ-200 True Vintage models featuring Fishman Matrix pickup systems and strung with Dunlop Phosphor Bronze (.011–.052) strings. He uses Dunlop picks, Thalia capos, and custom The Man of the Woods guitar straps from Heavy Leather.
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John Bohlinger is a Nashville-based multi-instrumentalist best known for leading the band on NBC's Nashville Star, serving as music director for the CMT Awards and specials on PBS and GAC, and of course for his appearances in PG Rig Rundown, Review Demo, Axes & Artifacts, and What Bohlinger Plays videos.
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