Rig Rundown: Elder

Facing a mandatory shelter-in ordinance to limit the spread of COVID-19, PG enacted a hybrid approach to filming and producing Rig Rundowns. This is the second video in that format, and we stand behind the final product.

Since its inception with their self-titled debut in 2008, the band never succumbed to a singular sound. Pushing forward is their only direction. While Elder’s early work (including their second album, Dead Roots Stirring, released in 2011) was akin to a relentless “Iron” Mike Tyson with overpowering attack and devastating delivery, they still allowed for dynamic shifts and sonic sabbaticals during calmer passages heard in “III” and the end of “Hexe.”

And if Dead Roots Stirring was Tyson KO’ing people in 30 seconds, 2015’s Lore saw Elder becoming a cerebral, manipulative, rope-a-dope Muhammad Ali from the Rumble in the Jungle. They graduated beyond worshipping the intimidating, hypnotic riff and explored the outer realms of stoner metal by including psychedelia from Colour Haze, jazzy progressions from Motorpsycho, and moodier, atmospheric Bo Hansson-y layers with mellotron, keyboards, and cleaner guitar tones.

Melody, space, and as an inverse result, power continued to blossom in 2017’s Reflections of a Floating World. In any given song or moment of an album, those rooted pillars complementarily pull the band in various directions, but cohesively, it still moves them forward. To foster that perpetual growth, you need to put yourself in unusual scenarios.

2019’s The Gold & Silver Sessions did just that by removing lyrics and putting the quartet in an experimental scenario focused heavily on organic jamming. Possibly indirectly, the exercise unlocked avenues echoed and embellished (with precise polish) that are felt throughout the just-released Omens. Allowing other instruments to lead and flourish (keyboards in “Embers” and synths in “Halcyon”) help avoid the guitar fatigue when the shortest song is over nine minutes.

Each album and collection of music created by Elder advances their sound. Some fans argue they’ve departed from a genre they helped define. Others have enjoyed the expansion of their spacey storytelling. Both opinions are debatable. The fact of the matter is we should withhold cemented judgement and rather enjoy the unraveling metamorphosis until all their patterns of the kaleidoscopic have been visualized.

In this episode, Elder guitarist Michael Risberg (left) and founding guitarist/singer Nick DiSalvo (right) interview each other about their live setups. Each configuration centers around a custom instrument, blaring British heads, and scores of stomps that will eventually support the band’s brand-new album, Omens. Later on in the video, bassist Jack Donovan runs us through his meat-and-potatoes, bass-battle station.

Before landing his gig with Elder, Michael Risberg spent a lot of time at Spindrift Guitars in Connecticut. (Luckily, he was paid to do so.) The shop has a luthier team of Mark Stoleson and Michael Whitney who build guitars under the Stol Guitars moniker. The classic T has a one-piece swamp ash body, Brazilian rosewood fretboard, a one-piece torrefied maple neck, Bakelite pickguard, and Michael and “Whit” handwound the single-coils. He was given the guitar just before joining Elder and it’s been his only axe used on the gig. Michael admits that he’s been obsessed with Tele ticklers Bill Frisell and Julian Lage for years (hence the order of the blackguard T) and it’s probably not the typical guitar you’d use for the Elder’s heavy and psychedelic stylings, but he thinks it a Swiss-army instrument that sounds killer and meshes well with Nick’s dual-humbucker sweetie.

Along with his custom guitar, Michael Risberg made the most of his time at Spindrift guitars by co-building this “versatile” Marshall-based circuit with Michael Whitney. The DV66R (Duo Voice) is a 50-watt, EL34-based head that is loosely based around a JTM45 platform. For added anger, he wired in a (footswitchable) second gain stage that barks like a JCM800. On top of that, he put in a spring reverb that is harnessed by three controls—mix, tone, and dwell—just like the ’60s Fender 6G15 units that inspired it.

Michael Risberg’s custom DV66R goes into a straight Hiwatt 4x12 with Warehouse Guitar Speakers—a pair of Invader 50s with a pair of American Vintage G12C/S set in an “X” pattern.

Pedal pleasures for Michael Risberg start with the Tapestry Audio Bloomery volume pedal. Then the tone coloring happens with a Teese RMC3 wah, ZVEX Distortron (used as a preamp to excite the low-output single-coils), an Electronic Orange Moon-Vibe (that can footswitch between chorus and vibe modes), a Hudson Electronics Broadcast for lighter distortion, a Creepy Fingers Sound Distorter (modernized interpretation of a German Schaller fuzz), a Basic Audio Scarab Deluxe, a Strymon El Capistan, and a Strymon Flint. And the last box in the chain is a mysterious grey unit that is a Fender Twin-style preamp based on the AB763 circuit. And Michael’s T-style is kept in check with a TC Electronic PolyTune 2 Mini. Pedals that have been used on tour or on Elder albums, but currently on the bench are the EarthQuaker Devices Arapnoid, Source Audio Ventris, DigiTech Whammy, Fjord Fuzz GJALLARHORN, Montreal Assembly Count to Five, Park Fuzz Sound, EQD Westwood, Basic Audio Futureman, and Gamechanger Audio Plasma Pedal.

Founding guitarist/singer Nick DiSalvo only played a Dunable once before knowing he had to have his own weapon of tonal destruction. His custom order starts with the Dunable Yeti framework and includes personal touches like swamp ash body, maple neck with jumbo frets, and while DiSalvo does enjoy the ferocious stock Dunable Direwolf pickups, he did swap them out for Lollar Imperial ’buckers that are voiced more like classic PAFs offering wider dynamics since the band typically roars onstage.

Nick DiSalvo’s first tube amp was a Sound City 120. He was “told” that amp was modded to sound like a screaming Hiwatt DR103. (Spoiler: it didn’t.) Regardless, the initial misstep led him down a Hiwatt hole and now he uses a pair of ’70s Custom 50s in his European backline. (The Sound City 120 is part of his US setup.) The one shown here (and heard in the Rundown) is a 1974 model that Nick prefers because it has four inputs he jumps for increased gain and EQ possibilities.

The 1974 Hiwatt Custom 50 gets pumped through a Hiwatt 4x12 that had its stock Fane speakers replaced with WGS Veteran 30s and British Invasion ET65s in an “X” pattern.

The first thing in Nick DiSalvo’s signal chain after the guitar is the Gamechanger Audio Plus pedal (not shown) that is used to sustain a droning note or chord like at the open of “The Falling Veil.” The Plus feeds a Benson Preamp acts like a separate channel on the amp that gives Nick increased grit and gain. Then he has two full-foot pedals—a Lehle Mono Volume pedal and a Dunlop MC404 CAE Wah. Next in line is a diabolical duo of Black Arts Toneworks Coven and Stomp Under Foot Ram’s Head ’75. And the final batch of pedals currently on his board belong in the weird and wild category as it includes a Moog MF-103 12-Stage Phaser, Empress Echosystem, Meris Polymoon, and Empress Reverb. Nick’s Dunable is kept in step with a TC Electronic PolyTune 2 Mini.