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Pelican guitarists Dallas Thomas and Trevor de Brauw (above left) spoke with PG’s Chris Kies before their show at Louisville’s Zanzabar. The instrumental duo broke down their tonal philosophy and introduced the tools they depend on to make beautiful chaos onstage and in the studio.
Luthier Dave Johnson built this mean machine for Dallas Thomas, who proposed a crazy concept of combining three of his favorite Gibsons into one guitar. The creation is an SG body, Les Paul Custom neck, and a Flying V headstock. (Fun fact: Johnson got his foot in the luthier door at Nashville’s Gruhn Guitars, before founding Scale Model Guitars.)
The lone pickup is a Lace Finger Burner and it is equipped with D’Aaddario XL EPS600 Pro Steel .013–.056 strings that are tuned to B. He used to play steel picks but was shredding through too many strings so he now goes with the Dunlop Jazz IIIs.
Another SG-LP-V mashup for Dallas, but this one is built with ash body, maple neck, and rosewood fretboard, whereas the first one has a mahogany body, mahogany neck, and ebony fretboard.
Dallas’ touring loaner is a chambered, walnut-bodied Versus Guitars and Audio Custom Blackburst.
Dallas’ go-to amp right now actually belonged to fellow Rig Rundown alum, Peter Frampton. This Marshall is a handwired 2006 Marshall JMP Super Lead reissue. It pumps through a Marshall 4x12 loaded with Celestion 30s.
Dallas’ brings two boards on the road as he’s live-testing a fly board for festival gigs and European tours. The main stomp station holds a Soldano Supercharger G.T.O., Boss DD-6 Digital Delay, EarthQuaker Devices Dispatch Master, Homebrew Electronics Paul Gilbert Detox EQ, Bogner La Grange, and a Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner. Everything is controlled by a Carl Martin Octa-Switch MK3. His smaller board houses a Bogner La Grange, EarthQuaker Devices Tone Job, EQD Dispatch Master, and a Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner. (The main board was built by Chicago's Rock N Roll Vintage.)
Trevor de Brauw found his longtime No. 1 guitar in a Chicago pawnshop. He was told it was a ’71 Gibson SG, but after checking several serial-number databases, he wasn’t able to concretely identify its birth year. And just like Dallas, he uses D’Aaddario XL EPS600 Pro Steel .013–.056 strings.
If you’ve seen Pelican live, you associate either a Marshall JCM800 or JCM900 with Trevor, but by way of a Sunn-Rat tonal discovery, he realized he liked a beefier, thicker tone so he’s been auditioning amps for a bit. Currently, his main squeeze is an Ampeg V4.
Pelican is a very dynamic band that relies on a crucial control of volume to create the ebb and flow of their musical journeys, and that’s why for Trevor, everything starts with a volume pedal. He’s tried them all, but he has found a friend in the Dunlop Volume X because of its wide throw. The noisemakers include a ProCo Rat, MXR Micro Amp, EQD Organizer, Boss PH-3 Phase Shifter, EQD Avalanche Run, TC Electronic Nova Delay, Boomergang III Phrase Sampler, and a Strymon Big Sky. His tuning is kept in check with a Boss TU-2 and everything comes alive thanks to a Voodoo Lab 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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