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He’s scored over 10 million album sales, 14 No.1 hits, boasts a virtual army of fans that cuts across generations, and sells out wherever he performs. He has won three Grammys and multiple Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music awards. As of this writing, he has been nominated for seven more CMA trophies.
From the beginning, Brad managed to use his road band in the studio—no small accomplishment in Nashville—and he’s charted his own course every step of the way, fortunate to have management and a record label that have given him free reign to do as he pleases. Very few Nashville artists can boast his accomplishments as a singer, songwriter and prodigious instrumentalist. Unlike People, however, we’ll focus on Brad Paisley, guitarist and gearhead extraordinaire. From his home in Franklin, TN, Brad and I spoke about equipment, his influences, his equipment, tone, his wife’s tolerance of that peculiar affliction known as G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome), his equipment … and more equipment, his trademark pink ’68 Fender Paisley Telecaster. And by the way, his last name really is Paisley.
Let’s start by talking about the Play album. Can you tell us how that came about and what you had to do to make it happen?
Not a lot. I did a Christmas album between Time Well Wasted and 5th Gear, and I had such a good time making it that I wanted to do another low-pressure record and not have to worry about hit singles. I enjoy making commercially viable records, but there’s something to be said about making an album that’s selfish in a way. I had always wanted to do an instrumental record. The records that stand the test of time to me are instrumental albums, like Ah Via Musicom by Eric Johnson. We didn’t want to do something that was self-important, and we weren’t out to save the world or win song of the year.
It sounds like there was some compromising that must have occurred with that record. I’m sure your record company wanted hit singles, didn’t they?
They didn’t expect any singles. It was really easy. They said, “Here’s your budget. It’s lower than usual, but if you can make the album for that much, go do it.” After we finished it, they were ecstatic. Joe Galante, the president of my record company, believes that artists need to grow, and I respect him for that. Of course, we had a hit with that track with Keith Urban, “Start A Band,” but it wasn’t a preconceived thing to try and have a hit. Doing an instrumental album was great for me personally. We played on The David Letterman Show around that time, and their guitarist Sid McGinnis came out and talked with me, along with Paul Shaffer, so it did a lot for me as a guitarist.
 Photo by Ben Enos, 2008 |
Those were my top seven guys: James Burton, Albert Lee, Redd Volkaert, John Jorgenson, Vince Gill, Steve Wariner and Brent Mason. If you put them all in a blender, it would probably come out as me. They were all influences. I think all of us try to emulate our heroes, but we’re never as good as they are. It was a real thrill to have them all participate. James Burton is the father of all those great Telecaster licks, and it was an honor to have him as part of that track. He had requested to meet me because he’d seen me on TV. James played that Paisley Tele with Elvis and Emmylou Harris and made it a very collectible instrument. Today, those original Paisley Teles go for about $15,000.
I just saw his original Paisley Telecaster in the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
They have so many great guitars on display there.
Do you agree or disagree with the Nashville tradition of using studio musicians versus an artist’s road band in the studio?
I definitely disagree. I use my band and have from the beginning. My band is highly capable, and I have great drummer, but I can understand that if you go into the studio with your road drummer or any musician who isn’t familiar with the recording studio, you will have problem. There are a lot of reasons why they use studio musicians. Nashville is a very small, tight-knit community. It’s also because those studio cats are just such great players.
 Photo by Ben Enos, 2008 |
How did you get started playing guitar?
It was my grandfather. He used to sit in a chair on the front porch and play guitar. He worked for the railroad and didn’t go to work until 1 pm, so he sat and played one song after another. He was in love with the guitar, and used to give me advice and tell me that playing guitar would be a life-changing thingfor me. He taught me how to play initially, and then I took lessons.
One of the reasons we wanted to feature you in Premier Guitar is because you’re a self-admitted “Gear Hound.” What were your first instruments?
I had a Sears Silvertone my grandfather gave me, then a Sekova ES-335 copy. I didn’t have a high-quality instrument until I got a Tokai electric. You know how it is—you want a guitar that’s different, one your friend doesn’t have, so you buy it. Then your friend gets something really cool and you have to have one like that, so you buy one. Next thing you know, you have a house full of guitars.
It’s Teles in the studio and onstage, of course, but do you use any other acoustics and electrics either live or in the studio?
I’m identified with that Tele sound, but I use lots of stuff. I use an old Gretsch. I have a Gibson ES-335 that I use in the studio. I have a Music Man Albert Lee model that’s like a Strat. I love Gibson hollowbody guitars: ES-335s, Byrdlands, and those later Chet Atkins models that Gibson made. It makes me look like I have some class! For acoustics, I like older Gibsons and Martins, as well some newer handmade guitars.
I have a ‘70s Les Paul, but I have never felt comfortable with it for some reason. It’s never felt right to me. It isn’t nimble, if that’s the right word.
It’s been said you were responsible for bringing the Telecaster back to country music after it seemed to disappear. Do you think that’s true?
Is it back? I don’t think it’s really back. I don’t hear a lot of Tele-heavy stuff going on. I was a big fan of Buck Owens and Don Rich, and most of my heroes play Teles, so it was natural for me. I was just hoping they didn’t laugh me out of town! Country music runs such a wide gamut these days, from stuff like mine to harder-edged music, so you have guys using different guitars.
Keith Urban plays a Les Paul Junior; that’s never been considered a country guitar.
That’s right, but it works for him. I can’t take credit for bringing the Tele back.
I saw the photo of you with an old non-reverse Firebird in the booklet of Play. Was that the guitar you borrowed for that track with Steve Wariner, “More Than Just This Song?”
Yes, that Firebird belonged to my guitar teacher, Hank Goddard, from Wheeling, WV. He was a fantastic jazz player and a great teacher. Had he gone to Nashville at the right time, I’m sure he would have done very well, made a lot of money, and would have provided a better life for himself and his family. But he wouldn’t leave West Virginia. He had this idea that Nashville musicians were always on tour, but session musicians do their playing like a normal job and go home and have dinner with their families.
 Photo by Ben Enos, 2008 |
I use my ’68 Paisley Telecaster, and the rest of them are custom made for me by Bill Crook, except for my “mutt” Tele that has a ’52 refinished body with a ’56 neck. The ones Bill has made for me include a black paisley Tele, a blue paisley Esquire, and a new blue sparkle paisley Esquire. I also use a Gibson Country Gentleman and a Music Man Albert Lee.
What is it about Bill’s guitars you like?
Bill makes guitars the way you want them. You might wait eight months for one, but if you’re willing to spend two to three grand for one of his guitars, you’ll get one exactly the way you want it. I’ve known Bill since I was eight years old. He worked in a music store in West Virginia. That was a nice write-up you did in your magazine on Bill a while ago.
Thank you. You’ve mentioned that you prefer using a G-Bender versus a B-Bender. Why is that?
I just like the sound better. It’s less piercing and trebly—more subtle and again, different. I wanted to sound like myself and not be compared to Steve Wariner or Clarence White. People think I thought up the G-Bender, but it was Joe Glaser who came up with the idea of a double bender years ago. My G-Bender guitar pretty much stays at home now.
Was that the guitar you used on “Waitin’ On A Woman?”
Yes, that was the one.
| Click here to read Bill Crook, Dr. Z and Robert Keeley's take on Brad Paisley and his gear. |
I always loved the sound of AC30s, but after my first major tour and a few good falls down the steps, I decided I should find something with that British sound that could withstand the road. I tried a Dr. Z with 10” speakers, and it sounded like my old AC30. Mike Zaite has a philosophy: make world-class amps and make them affordable. I think they’re just about the least expensive of all the boutique amps out there. I’ve used Mike’s amps on TV and on tour, and he sends me amps to try at home, things he’s working on. It’s been fun to watch the company grow.
Live, I use the Dr. Z Remedy and a special Z-Wreck that was made for me. Mike, Ken Fischer and I collaborated on that. I actually use all kinds of amps in the studio, including old Marshalls with 6V6s. I always am on the lookout for something that’s different. I’m always looking for that angle. I like to switch amps onstage for different things.
Did you ever think it might be easier to simplify your live rig, and if so, how would you do that?
It’s pretty involved onstage just because it can be. I can get away with it. Sure, I could do a show with one amp and two pedals, but it wouldn’t be too good for the people in the back rows.
Talk to us about your stompboxes.
I use Keeley pedals and Keeley-modded pedals, as well as a few other things, like the Fulltone Echodrive and a modded 808 Tube Screamer. I don’t use compression on my Tele, but I do use a lot of delay. Robert Keeley is just great at tweaking pedals and building new ones based on older designs. He’ll hear something, take it into his shop and change the character completely. It goes back to what we said about not sounding like anybody else, about having a different guitar than your friend. It’s the same way with pedals. You always want to sound different. Robert takes things to sonic places where no one has gone before. He’s very passionate about his work, and I like passionate people.
I hear a lot of jazzy chord changes and riffs going on in your music. Is that true?
The catch phrase at Premier Guitar is “The relentless pursuit of tone.” How would you define great tone, and do you agree it’s a very subjective thing?
It is very subjective. But to me, when someone says, “I love that,” then that’s great tone. I’m very picky about little stuff. If I’m playing a clean sound with my Tele, I can tell if a cable has been changed. You really can hear those things. I’d say that great tone is when raw emotion is allowed to pass unencumbered from your hands to the speakers so people can relate to it. I love tone when it’s allowed to bloom.
Does your wife understand your obsession with gear?
Yes, she does, fortunately. It’s not a big issue because these are the tools of my trade and I can afford what I want. This is how I make my living. If you’re in the construction business you need to buy bulldozers and tools. I’m a musician, so I buy musical equipment. [Authors Note: try that explanation on your wife next time you plan to drop a few grand on a custom shop axe!]
My wife is so jealous. The other night, Vince Gill and I went to the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville to see Robben Ford, and we went onstage and sat in. My wife was in the audience. Later on, she said to me, “You guys had the most amazing conversation up there and you never said a word.”
She and I have always had an agreement that if either one of us spends more than $5000 on anything, we discuss it first … you can buy a lot of cool stuff for less than five thousand bucks!
The author would like to thank Bill Crook, Mike “Dr. Z” Zaite, Robert Keeley and Brad’s tech, Chad Weaver, for their help in preparing this article.
Duane Denison of the Jesus Lizard, EGC Chessie in hands, coaxing some nasty tones from his Hiwatt.
The Jesus Lizard’s sixth album, Blue, served as the band’s final statement from the frontlines of noisy rock for the next 26 years. By the time of their dissolution in 1999, they’d earned a reputation for extreme performances chock full of hard-hitting, machine-like grooves delivered by bassist David Wm. Sims and, at their conclusion, drummer Mac McNeilly, at times aided and at other times punctured by the frontline of guitarist Duane Denison’s incisive, dissonant riffing, and presided over by the cantankerous howl of vocalist David Yow. In the years since, performative, thrilling bands such as Pissed Jeans, METZ, and Idles have built upon the Lizard’s musical foundation.
Denison has kept himself plenty busy over the last couple decades, forming the avant-rock supergroup Tomahawk—with vocalist Mike Patton, bassist Trevor Dunn (both from Mr. Bungle), and drummer John Stanier of Helmet—and alongside various other projects including Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers and Hank Williams III. The Jesus Lizard eventually reunited, but until now have only celebrated their catalog, never releasing new jams.
The Jesus Lizard, from left: bassist David Wm. Sims, singer David Yow, drummer Mac McNeilly, and guitarist Duane Denison.
Photo by Joshua Black Wilkins
Back in 2018, Denison, hanging in a hotel room with Yow, played a riff on his unplugged electric guitar that caught the singer’s ear. That song, called “West Side,” will remain unreleased for now, but Denison explains: “He said, ‘Wow, that’s really good. What is that?’ And I said, ‘It’s just some new thing. Why don’t we do an album?’” From those unassuming beginnings, the Jesus Lizard’s creative juices started flowing.
So, how does a band—especially one who so indelibly captured the ineffable energy of live rock performance—prepare to get a new record together 26 years after their last? Back in their earlier days, the members all lived together in a band house, collectively tending to the creative fire when inspiration struck. All these years later, they reside in different cities, so their process requires sending files back and forth and only meeting up for occasional demo sessions over the course of “three or four years.”
“When the time comes to get more in performance mode, I have a practice space. I go there by myself and crank it up. I turn that amp up and turn the metronome up and play loud.” —Duane Denison
the Jesus Lizard "Alexis Feels Sick"
Distance creates an obstacle to striking while the proverbial iron is hot, but Denison has a method to keep things energized: “Practice loud.” The guitarist professes the importance of practice, in general, and especially with a metronome. “We keep very detailed records of what the beats per minute of these songs are,” he explains. “To me, the way to do it is to run it to a Bluetooth speaker and crank it, and then crank your amp. I play a little at home, but when the time comes to get more in performance mode, I have a practice space. I go there by myself and crank it up. I turn that amp up and turn the metronome up and play loud.”
It’s a proven solution. On Rack—recorded at Patrick Carney’s Audio Eagle studio with producer Paul Allen—the band sound as vigorous as ever, proving they’ve not only remained in step with their younger selves, but they may have surpassed it with faders cranked. “Duane’s approach, both as a guitarist and writer, has an angular and menacing fingerprint that is his own unique style,” explains Allen. “The conviction in his playing that he is known for from his recordings in the ’80s and ’90s is still 100-percent intact and still driving full throttle today.”
“I try to be really, really precise,” he says. “I think we all do when it comes to the basic tracks, especially the rhythm parts. The band has always been this machine-like thing.” Together, they build a tension with Yow’s careening voice. “The vocals tend to be all over the place—in and out of tune, in and out of time,” he points out. “You’ve got this very free thing moving around in the foreground, and then you’ve got this very precise, detailed band playing behind it. That’s why it works.”
Before Rack, the Jesus Lizard hadn’t released a new record since 1998’s Blue.
Denison’s guitar also serves as the foreground foil to Yow’s unhinged raving, as on “Alexis Feels Sick,” where they form a demented harmony, or on the midnight creep of “What If,” where his vibrato-laden melodies bolster the singer’s unsettled, maniacal display. As precise as his riffs might be, his playing doesn’t stay strictly on the grid. On the slow, skulking “Armistice Day,” his percussive chording goes off the rails, giving way to a solo that slices that groove like a chef’s knife through warm butter as he reorganizes rock ’n’ roll histrionics into his own cut-up vocabulary.
“During recording sessions, his first solo takes are usually what we decide to keep,” explains Allen. “Listen to Duane’s guitar solos on Jack White’s ‘Morning, Noon, and Night,’ Tomahawk’s ‘Fatback,’ and ‘Grind’ off Rack. There’s a common ‘contained chaos’ thread among them that sounds like a harmonic Rubik’s cube that could only be solved by Duane.”
“Duane’s approach, both as a guitarist and writer, has an angular and menacing fingerprint that is his own unique style.” —Rack producer Paul Allen
To encapsulate just the right amount of intensity, “I don’t over practice everything,” the guitarist says. Instead, once he’s created a part, “I set it aside and don’t wear it out.” On Rack, it’s obvious not a single kilowatt of musical energy was lost in the rehearsal process.
Denison issues his noisy masterclass with assertive, overdriven tones supporting his dissonant voicings like barbed wire on top of an electric fence. The occasional application of slapback delay adds a threatening aura to his exacting riffage. His tones were just as carefully crafted as the parts he plays, and he relied mostly on his signature Electrical Guitar Company Chessie for the sessions, though a Fender Uptown Strat also appears, as well as a Taylor T5Z, which he chose for its “cleaner, hyper-articulated sound” on “Swan the Dog.” Though he’s been spotted at recent Jesus Lizard shows with a brand-new Powers Electric—he points out he played a demo model and says, “I just couldn’t let go of it,” so he ordered his own—that wasn’t until tracking was complete.
Duane Denison's Gear
Denison wields his Powers Electric at the Blue Room in Nashville last June.
Photo by Doug Coombe
Guitars
- Electrical Guitar Company Chessie
- Fender Uptown Strat
- Taylor T5Z
- Gibson ES-135
- Powers Electric
Amps
- Hiwatt Little J
- Hiwatt 2x12 cab with Fane F75 speakers
- Fender Super-Sonic combo
- Early ’60s Fender Bassman
- Marshall 1987X Plexi Reissue
- Victory Super Sheriff head
- Blackstar HT Stage 60—2 combos in stereo with Celestion Neo Creamback speakers and Mullard tubes
Effects
- Line 6 Helix
- Mantic Flex Pro
- TC Electronic G-Force
- Menatone Red Snapper
Strings and Picks
- Stringjoy Orbiters .0105 and .011 sets
- Dunlop celluloid white medium
- Sun Studios yellow picks
He ran through various amps—Marshalls, a Fender Bassman, two Fender Super-Sonic combos, and a Hiwatt Little J—at Audio Eagle. Live, if he’s not on backline gear, you’ll catch him mostly using 60-watt Blackstar HT Stage 60s loaded with Celestion Neo Creambacks. And while some boxes were stomped, he got most of his effects from a Line 6 Helix. “All of those sounds [in the Helix] are modeled on analog sounds, and you can tweak them endlessly,” he explains. “It’s just so practical and easy.”
The tools have only changed slightly since the band’s earlier days, when he favored Travis Beans and Hiwatts. Though he’s started to prefer higher gain sounds, Allen points out that “his guitar sound has always had teeth with a slightly bright sheen, and still does.”
“Honestly, I don’t think my tone has changed much over the past 30-something years,” Denison says. “I tend to favor a brighter, sharper sound with articulation. Someone sent me a video I had never seen of myself playing in the ’80s. I had a band called Cargo Cult in Austin, Texas. What struck me about it is it didn’t sound terribly different than what I sound like right now as far as the guitar sound and the approach. I don’t know what that tells you—I’m consistent?”
YouTube It
The Jesus Lizard take off at Nashville’s Blue Room this past June with “Hide & Seek” from Rack.
Phat Machine
The Phat Machine
The Phat Machine is designed to deliver the tone and responsiveness of a vintage germanium fuzz with improved temperature stability with no weird powering issues. Loaded with both a germanium and a silicon transistor, the Phat Machine offers the warmth and cleanup of a germanium fuzz but with the bite of a silicon pedal. It utilizes classic Volume and Fuzz control knobs, as well as a four-position Thickness control to dial-in any guitar and amp combo. Also included is a Bias trim pot and a Kill switch that allows battery lovers to shut off the battery without pulling the input cord.
Silk Worm Deluxe Overdrive
The Silk Worm Deluxe -- along with its standard Volume/Gain/Tone controls -- has a Bottom trim pot to dial in "just the right amount of thud with no mud at all: it’s felt more than heard." It also offers a Studio/Stage diode switch that allows you to select three levels of compression.
Both pedals offer the following features:
- 9-volt operation via standard DC external supply or internal battery compartment
- True bypass switching with LED indicator
- Pedalboard-friendly top mount jacks
- Rugged, tour-ready construction and super durable powder coated finish
- Made in the USA
Static Effectors’ Street Series pedals carry a street price of $149 each. They are available at select retailers and can also be purchased directly from the Static Effectors online store at www.staticeffectors.com.
Galloup’s Plek tech Adam Winarski preps a Yamaha acoustic for the machine.
Presently, many certified guitar-repair specialists possess the expertise required to deliver an instrument that both sounds and plays wonderfully. The standards set by manufacturers and distributors have significantly risen, safeguarded by rigorous quality protocols to guarantee the best possible acoustic experience for customers. Additionally, lutherie training has raised the bar for critical processes, and one of the most tricky is fretwork.
Traditional fretwork once involved manual labor, with technicians utilizing sandbags or similar supports to steady the neck as they straightened it with a truss rod during the filing process. A notable advancement in this field came in the mid 1970s when Don Teeter, an author and repair expert, imposed a new method: fixing the guitar body to the bench and using blocks to maintain the neck in a playing position. This refinement was one of many in the continued quest to produce superior instruments by standardized methods.
An example of the Plek’s readings from an acoustic guitar.
Photo courtesy of Galloup Guitars
In the late 1970s, another pivotal innovation was introduced by Dan Erlewine. He created an advanced fret jig with a specialized body-holding system and neck supports, adding another layer of precision to the repair process. During my collaboration with Dan in 1985, we developed a rotating neck jig that counterbalanced the forces of gravity, keeping the instrument in its playing orientation while adjusting the neck supports. This step represented a significant leap in establishing control and standardization of fretwork procedures in our industry. By 1986, our approach had evolved into a freestanding workstation coupled with a sophisticated hold-down mechanism and enhanced neck supports, culminating in increased accuracy, efficiency, and consistency. Over the decades, the Erlewine/Galloup rotating neck jig has become a benchmark in numerous shops, enhancing fretwork performance.
"This step represented a significant leap in establishing control and standardization of fretwork procedures in our industry."
By the 1990s, automated and computerized technologies permeated the guitar manufacturing and repair sectors. Initially applied by import companies in the mass production of guitars, the technology, although expediting processes, did not immediately achieve high execution standards. However, the tech dramatically improved over time, with computer-driven systems eventually transforming the industry. Contemporary automated production utilizing such advancements meets exceedingly high standards of precision. Some bespoke guitar manufacturers, such as Steve Andersen, were pioneers in adopting these methods, but it was companies like Taylor that established them in the modern era.
Inevitably, the progression of technology extended beyond the mere production of parts. Around 1995, German engineer Gerd Anke envisioned the integration of computer-assisted technology into enhancing instrument playability, giving rise to Plek technology, which uses computers to precisely measure and analyze the various components of a guitar, like neck relief, fret height, nut and bridge specs, and more. Nashville guitar-repair tech Joe Glaser was among the first to recognize the machine’s value, followed by San Francisco luthier Gary Brawer. When Heritage Guitar Inc. invested in a Plek machine, the guitar industry could no longer disregard the significance of this innovation.
“The machine’s scanning data confirmed that there was one nature of an ideal fret plane, done by hand or machine, and unsurprisingly, it conformed exactly to what physics predicts, not personal mojo.”
In the spring of 2022, Galloup Guitars obtained its first Plek machine. Promptly, our technician Adam Winarski paved the way for the Plek’s integration in our shop. Now, it’s a rarity for an instrument to leave our shop without having undergone Plek analysis and machining. Impressed by the results of our integration, we created “Intro to Plek” as a course for all students enrolled at the Galloup School of Lutherie, offering our students a practical introduction to this technology. We furthered this educational initiative with a comprehensive one-week intensive “Plek Certification Training Course” for both students and the public. This advanced Plek course serves those seeking to boost their knowledge base and employability in this high-precision field.
Plek is rapidly becoming an industry standard for major manufacturers and smaller shops alike. However, this does not mean that those without access to this technology cannot execute proficient fretwork. Personally, I continue to use my Erlewine/Galloup neck jig—not only out of nostalgia, but also because it remains an excellent method for delivering accurate and reliable guitars. Still, it’s undeniable that the process of fretting, fret dressing, and analytics of fretted instruments has undergone significant transformation, resulting in better sounding—and playing—guitars. And ultimately, that’s what it’s all about.