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 34th video in that format.
Founding Here Lies Man guitarist/frontman Marcos Garcia set aside some gear time and virtually welcomed PG’s Chris Kies into his California tone zone. In this Rig Rundown, he goes over all the surgeries and upgrades his Les Pauls have undergone, details why he broke up with the Ampeg V4 in lieu of other foundation-cracking amps, and explains that his discerning ear is always chasing the sounds (and frequencies) in his head, and because of this, nothing in his setup is sacred or safe.
For the riffage in Here Lies Man, the above 2006 Gibson Les Paul Custom ’68 Tri-Burst reissue is his sweet baby. He’s swapped out the stock ’buckers for a set of Bare Knuckle Juggernauts. (Garcia swears they’re humbuckers as their toaster tops give them a Filter’Tron appearance.)
Since our 2018 interview, Garcia has eased on his fingers and gone down to .010s but he still plays D’Addario ECG25 Chrome Flatwounds and uses Clayton bass picks (1.26 mm or 1.52 mm).
His newest addition is this Gibson Bill Kelliher “Golden Axe” Explorer. It’s still all stock including the Lace Nitro Hemi humbuckers.
Following Here Lies Man’s second show ever in Edmonton, Garcia went into shark mode and sniped this Ibanez PF-400 off eBay. It was in complete disrepair—no pickups, no knobs, and binding flaking off—and upon receiving the downtrodden instrument, he took it to his guitar guru at Future Music. He was floored when he got it back.
The extra knob was a request from Garcia so he could control the volume of both pickups when in the middle position. Like the ’68 Tri-Burst, it has Bare Knuckle Juggernauts (with the toaster covers).
During a Japan tour with his other band Antibalas, Garcia hit Tokyo’s “guitar-store alley” and scored this Orville by Gibson Les Paul Custom. (Orville by Gibson was a brand of guitars managed by the American company, but were produced in and geared for the Japanese market from 1988–1998.) This one was upgraded with Bare Knuckle Warpig humbuckers.
The first part of his current one-two punch is a Hiwatt Custom Super-Hi 50. Garcia says that when it’s combined with the Orange they sound massive and “it’s satisfying” to have complementarily different midrange peaks work together. The matching Hiwatt 2x12 is loaded with Fane Octapulse speakers.
During our 2018 interview, he spoke about plugging into Ampeg V4s because they gel well with pedals, but after several tours he found their dependability to be lacking. Then while touring Europe he rented an Orange Rockerverb, fell in love, and eventually brought home the above Rockerverb 100 MKIII. The Orange goes into a matching 2x12 cab that has Electro-Voice EVM12L speakers.
“This is the loudest 50-watt amp mankind has ever known,” proclaims Garcia. The heavyweight is Bridge City Sound Steel Bridge. Originally the tone stack was loosely aiming for a Soldano circuit, but Garcia had it shifted into Marshall territory because it blends better with the Orange and Hiwatt midrange voices. (Amp designer Caleb Barton shut down Bridge City, but is creating new designs under the Barton High Voltage name.)
For fly gigs, this would be a board Garcia would pack into his carry-on luggage. It holds TC Electronic Hall of Fame, MXR Carbon Copy, Dunlop CBM95 Cry Baby Mini Wah, Laney Tony Iommi Signature Boost Pedal TI-Boost, WMD Utility Parametric EQ, Tech 21 Q\Strip Parametric EQ, and a Boss FB-2 Feedbacker/Booster. His guitars are kept in check by the Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner.
At a quick glance, you’ll notice another TC Electronic Hall of Fame on his “touring” board. Of course, it’s a great reverb, but it’s because he stumbled on an unknown functionality that allows him to run his signal into two amps and reduces the 60-cyle hum that arises when he used conventional splitter boxes. Win win! Other than that and a SiB Effects Mr. Echo delay, the rest of stomps bring the volume, fury, and mids: Loe Sounds Super Fuzz, Wampler Tumnus Deluxe, a pair of Orange destroyers (Bax Bangeetar and Two Stroke), and a Stone Deaf PDF-2 Parametric EQ. And like his fly board, his main one employs a Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner to keep his guitars in line.
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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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