Facing a mandatory shelter-in-place ordinance to limit the spread of COVID-19, PG enacted a hybrid approach to filming and producing Rig Rundowns. This is the 24th video in that format.
Jessica Dobson started her music career early as she was signed to Atlantic at just 19. She recorded two solo albums, but both her and the label did not like the end result, so they were ultimately shelved. Some would see this one-two punch of disappointment a crippling blow, but she took it in stride focusing on her more indie-orientated jams. This led her to a string of supporting guitar roles with Beck, the Shins, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Spoon, and Conor Oberst. Each of these stops gave her the stripes and positive energy to revisit a solo career that was earlier stifled.
In 2009, the hired gun transformed into a bandleader under the Deep Sea Diver moniker and alongside husband Peter Mansen (drums), she released the NewCaves EP. Garrett Gue (bass), and Elliot Jackson (guitar/synth) joined them and quartet self-released their full-length debut, History Speaks, in 2012 (while she was still in the Shins). 2014 was the year for DSD’s AlwaysWaiting EP that was succeeded by 2016’s Secrets.
Just ahead of Deep Sea Diver’s third full-length release, Impossible Weight, Dobson virtually welcomed PG’s Chris Kies into her friend’s Seattle-based studio. The Deep Sea Diver captain opens up about aligning her offset guitar choices to indie icons Elvis Costello, Johnny Marr, and Jonny Greenwood, crediting Nels Cline for introducing her to a must-have pedal, and twisting her band’s sound from “strangled cats to glassy Johnny Greenwood” and everywhere in between.
Dobson’s connection with the Jazzmaster started during her time with Beck. He opened up his vault of vintage instruments for her to use onstage and the one that stole her heart was a ’63 or ’64 sunburst Jazzmaster. After leaving his camp, she knew she had to land her own, so she ventured down to her local Huntington Beach guitar store and she saw the above Fender Elvis Costello Jazzmaster. The only two changes she has made to the instrument was updating the bridge with a Mastery and at some point she lost the long-armed trem bar and has since replaced it with a shorter, non-Jazzmaster arm. “For Deep Sea Diver, I play a lot of melodic, single-note jangly stuff,” says Dobson of her favored instrument. “I have really small hands, but the setup of this guitar makes playing really easy. I can make it sound like a strangled cat or smooth and glassy like Jonny Greenwood.” All of her guitars take D’Addario NYXLs (.011–.052) and she plucks away with Jim Dunlop Tortex .60 mm picks.
This 1964 Fender Jaguar was Jessica’s first vintage-guitar purchase and was eventually used as a sort-of business card when auditioning for the Beck gig. Coming through a Smiths phase and loving Johnny Marr’s guitar work, she scored it from a humble music store in her hometown of Fullerton, CA. “I really like that they’re similar to a Jazzmaster in feel and appearance,” says Dobson. “But I think the Jaguar is a bridge towards a Strat—this one has a buttery midrange to it—and I grew up playing a Strat-style Yamaha Pacifica, so I instantly felt comfortable with the ’64.” The only change she’s made on the instrument has been upgrading the stock bridge to a Mastery. (This decision was partly made because during her audition for Beck, she was playing “Devils Haircut” and the 6th string flicked right off the bridge. Luckily, she had worked through a few other songs and wasn’t seen as a deterrent as she still got the job.)
“When I got turned onto BilT by Nels, I started talking to them about guitars and I really wanted to create a marriage between my Jazzmaster and Starcaster,” says Dobson. “The weight of the Starcaster became an issue for me, so the S.S. Zaftig, being a lighter semi-hollow, was the perfect solution.” Working with the BilT crew, Jessica dropped in a set of Lollar El Rayos (“their most single-coil-sounding humbuckers,” adds Dobson).
As an unabashed Jonny Greenwood and Radiohead devotee, it’d almost be a sin if she didn’t have a Fender Starcaster in her guitar boat. The reissue is completely stock aside from swapping in a set of Lollar’s Regal humbuckers (the company’s take on Fender’s heralded Wide Range set).
The amp you heard throughout the Rundown is this Benson Chimera 2x12 combo. The standard Chimera is a 30-watt combo, but she had the Portland outfit mod it down to a 15-watt power level so she could have more compression coming off the speakers while onstage.
This ’90s handwired AC30 reissue used to be her workhorse.
And the last of her four combos is the above ’60s Supro Thunderbolt (designed as a 1x15 bass combo).
When asked what her favorite or must-have pedal was, Dobson waffled between the Sarno Music Solutions Earth Drive (turned onto her by Nels Cline) and an Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man (actually Shins’ James Mercer’s DMM—they accidentally swapped stomps years ago). Other staples include a pair of Chase Bliss boxes (Brothers and Warped Vinyl) and a trio of JHS devices (Pulp 'N' Peel V4, Prestige, and Mini Foot Fuzz V2). Two other heavily used effects are the EHX POG2 and Strymon blueSky. The rest of her noisemakers and sonic warpers are a Menatone Pleasure Trem 5000, Diamond Memory Lane Jr., Benson Preamp, and a Beetronics Whoctahell Low Octave Fuzz (her “Jack White” pedal). She recently broke down to organize and simplify her tap-dancing ways by corralling her colors with a Boss ES-8 Effects Switching System. Other utilitarian tools are a Boss EV-5 Expression Pedal and a TC Electronic PolyTune2 Noir Mini.
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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 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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