Before soundcheck, PG’s Chris Kies swooped into Nashville’s Cowan music venue to speak with sarcastic (and sweet) Scott LePage, one-half of the blistering guitar duo that mobilizes the genre-morphing band.
Not a stranger to Ibanez guitars, Scott LePage has played them his whole career. He’s used models from the RG, Prestige, AZ, Talman, and Iron Label families, but at the 2019 NAMM Show he (and bandmate Tim Henson) announced a signature model that incorporates elements from all of them. The body is based on a AZ (American basswood with quilted maple top). It includes Ibanez’s heat-treated roasted maple neck and fretboard with only 22 frets because Scott feels the extra frets are useless and giving a little space between the neck single-coil and fretboard produces the “sweet spot.” Another signature part of the instrument is Scott’s collaboration with DiMarzio, which produces his own alnico humbucker—the IGNO. The middle and neck pickups are DiMarzio True Velvets and are a nod to the Talman setup he previously played and provide a springier sound for the band’s funk-meets-hip-hop-influenced tones. Lastly, gold Ibanez hardware, a Gotoh T1502 trem bridge, and GraphTech nut round out the SLM10. This one typically is tuned to standard and uses Dunlop Nickel Coated Plated .010–.052 strings.
On older material like songs found on Muse or even Renaissance, Scott LePage uses dual-humbucker guitars like this 24-fret AZ model that’s tuned to drop D. And like the SLM10, it’s wrapped up in Dunlop Nickel Coated Plated .010–.052 strings.
While the band is pushing towards cleaner, bouncier tones, they still have a few chuggers in the setlist to appease the fans from the days of Resurrect and Inspire, so that’s when you’ll see Scott LePage grab this Ibanez S Prestige Series S5528LW 8-string.
The band recorded 2018’s New Levels New Devils exclusively on a Fractal Audio Axe-Fx II, so while Scott LePage has toured with tube amps and analog pedals, he actually prefers the simplicity and tones living inside the Fractal Audio AX8.
To power his AX8, Scott LePage uses an Orange Dark Terror.
And everything hits the crowd thanks to some custom-painted Orange PPC412 cabinets.
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 occasionally writing an artist feature. Other than that, he spends time with his pitbull and enjoys non-guitar-related hobbies. Follow him on Instagram & Twitter.
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