The prolific Australian guitarist brought his mastery to east Nashville, where we got a look at the gear he’s trusting overseas.
Adam Miller has been compared to plenty of his most sacred influences—Tommy Emmanuel, Chet Atkins, Charlie Hunter, Bill Frissell—but he’s certainly carved a path of his own. This year alone, he’s released three records and undertook a U.S. tour to bring his delightful mix of jazz, groove, and beyond to eager listeners.
Before his show at the Underdog in east Nashville, Miller took some time to show PG’s Chris Kies around his trusted tools for international touring, including a gorgeous custom Huber electric, a Collings acoustic, and some key items on loan.
Calling a Huber
This custom-built Huber electric, by German luthier Nik Huber, was crafted over the last five years, working in elements of Miller’s previous Huber and several other designs. It has a heavily chambered mahogany back and redwood top, bolt-on maple neck, rosewood fretboard, trapeze tailpiece, and nylon saddles, plus Kloppmann Electrics mini humbuckers and a single 250k volume pot, which rolls off for a jazzy archtop sound. Miller strings it with D’Addario NYXLs (.011–.049s).
Borrowed Bari
Since Miller can’t bring all his favorite instruments on tour, he often borrows guitars from local friends and fans on tour, like this baritone Novo Serus J.
Collings Calling
Miller bought this Collings acoustic at Gladesville Guitar Factory, just outside Sydney, about 10 years ago. He runs it with a Seymour Duncan Wavelength duo pickup system, but swapped out the kit’s undersaddle piece for soundboard transducers and modified “the circuit so they’re at a crossover, so you’re only hearing the bottom end of them and all the top end’s coming from the condenser mic.” He uses D’Addario Nickel Bronze (.012–0.53s) on his acoustic.
Can I Bum a Studio Sig?
Miller has been a Two-Rock devotee since 2007, and on one of his first trips to the U.S., he visited the factory and picked one up. He doesn’t travel with his unit, so he borrowed this one from Nashville legend Cory Congilio. For Miller, an amp is the soundboard for an electric guitar; if he doesn’t have a Two-Rock, he struggles.
Adam Miller’s Pedalboard
Miller’s Collings runs into a Grace Design ALiX preamp, which helps him fine-tune his EQ and level out pickups with varying output when he switches instruments. For reverb, sometimes he’ll tap the Strymon Flint, but often he’ll let the front of house weave it in.
Aside from the ALiX and Flint, Miller relies on a Vemuram Jan Ray, Free the Tone SOV-2 Overdrive, Chase Bliss Mood, and Line 6 DL4 Mk II.
The TikTok star goes legit on his latest tour with some plum Strats, a Two-Rock, and a masterbuilt pedalboard.
When Ty Myers got injured a few years back and couldn’t play sports, he took to posting videos of himself on TikTok. Before long, his song “Tie That Binds” went viral on the platform, blasting him to overnight-star status. Now, with his debut album, The Select, under his belt, the 18-year-old is taking his songs on the road to packed-out rooms.
PG’s John Bohlinger linked with country’s newest wunderkind at the Egyptian Room in Indianapolis to see how he brings his old-time-meets-new-world country to life onstage.
This FenderStratocaster, the first nice guitar Myers bought himself, was purchased from a guy in a Home Depot parking lot in San Antonio, Texas. Myers swapped in Fender Custom Shop Fat ’50s pickups, and he strings it with Stringjoy .010s.
Eye-Catching Custom
If Myers played slide, it’d be with this Custom Shop Master Built Strat, built by Dale Wilson. He went to Carter’s Vintage in Nashville with another instrument in mind, but this one caught his eye, and he had to have it. He kept the pickups it came with, and pretty soon he intends to have the action lowered.
Barry’s Bond
Myers got his first Gibson SJ-200 around the age of 10, and this one, a gift from label executive Barry Weiss, is his current go-to. It’s got an LR Baggs pickup system and goes direct to front-of-house.
Package Deal
Myers’ biggest hero is John Mayer, so it tracks that he went after this Two-Rock Silver Sterling Signature. He saw this one at Carter the same day he bought his Custom Shop Strat, and didn’t even plug it in—he just bought it along with the Master Built.
Ty Myers’ Pedalboard
Myers’ stomp station was built by the pedal professors at XAct Tone Solutions in Nashville. After the Dunlop Volume (X) Mini and the Peterson StroboStomp LE, Myers’ signal hits an Origin Effects Cali76, JHS Pedals Berkeley, Keeley Katana, Analog Man/Boss GE-7, Greer Lightspeed, MXR Duke of Tone, Browne Amplification Protein, Keeley Noble Screamer, Boss VB-2w, Boss TR-2, JHS Flight Delay, and EarthQuaker Devices Dispatch Master. A Strymon Zuma and Strymon Ojai keep the lights on.
Frontwoman Jessica Dobson plunges into the depths of her Benson-powered road rig.
Seattle indie rockers Deep Sea Diver released their fourth full-length record, BillboardHeart, earlier this year via Sub Pop, and their supporting cross-country tour took them to downtown Nashville’s Blue Room at Jack White’s Third Man Records.
PG’s Chris Kies connected with singer and guitarist Jessica Dobson in 2020 for a virtual Rig Rundown, but this time we get a close-up, in-person look at Dobson’s tour kit, including her signature Benson stomp box and a custom guitar.
Dobson picked up this slick Bilt S.S. Zaftig to replace her beloved but terribly heavy Fender Starcaster. This one has Lollar Regal Wide-Range humbuckers in it.
Regrets, I’ve Had a Few
Dobson purchased this used Fender Elvis Costello Jazzmaster in 2010, and has since met the person who sold it—and totally regrets it. It’s strung with D’Addario .011–.052s, and tuned to E standard.
Blue Benz
U.K.-based builder Elliott Trent modeled this custom Trent guitar for Dobson on her mother’s old blue Mercedes, and loaded it with P-90s.
Benson Boom Box
Dobson’s amp of choice, taped to perfection, is this 30-watt Benson Chimera 2x12 combo.
Jessica Dobson’s Pedalboard
Dobson runs a busy board powered by a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2 Plus and operated via a Boss ES-8. There’s also her signature Benson Deep Sea Diver, plus a Benson Germanium Preamp, JHS Pulp N Peel, Sarno Music Solutions Earth Drive, Benson Germanium Boost, EHX Deluxe Memory Man, Strymon blueSky, EHX POG2, Chase Bliss Brothers Analog Gainstage, and Menatone Pleasure Trem 5000, plus a TC Electronic PolyTune 2 Noir.
The doomgaze titans from Texas hit the road this year to celebrate more than two decades together, and they brought some of their favorite noisemakers for the occasion.
Post-rock/doomgaze outfit This Will Destroy You, formed in San Marcos, Texas, in 2004, are marking 21 years together, and 20 years of their self-recorded debut Young Mountain, with an anniversary tour. In late June, the band played Nashville’s Basement East, where guitarists Jeremy Galindo and Nicholas Huft and bassist Ethan Billips met up with PG’s Chris Kies to share what gear they packed for the roadtrip.
Galindo started off playing electric on his brother’s FenderTelecaster, and he’s never looked back. He’s played various models over the years, but got this Fender American Performer Telecaster two years ago. He strings it with .011–.052 strings for slightly more body and fullness, and tunes it to E-flat standard. Galindo mostly plays with his fingers, but when he picks he uses some of the thinnest picks he can find.
No Tubes? No Problems
A Music Man HD-130 is Galindo’s always-and-forever, but on the road, he likes this Roland Jazz Chorus 120 for its tubeless reliability and easy clean sounds.
Jeremy Galindo’s Pedalboard
The Boss DD-20 Giga Delay and Tech 21 Boost R.V.B. have been with Galindo since the early days, and he considers the Tech 21 to be the most essential tool of his kit. Aside from those, there’s a Walrus Canvas Tuner, Ernie Ball VP JR, Friday Club Fury 6-Six, Walrus Jupiter, Walrus Fundamental Ambient, Boss RE-20, and Mr. Black Deluxe Plus. A Walrus Aetos powers the party.
Smooth as Sandpaper
This Fender Jazzmaster, Huft’s first, was bought from Full of Hell guitarist Spencer Hazard, who equipped it with its “awful sandpaper texture” finish. Huft doesn’t use the rhythm circuit, so he’s taped it off. He plays with both pickups engaged at all times, including the humbucker rail pickup in the bridge.
United Solid-States
Huft has a soft spot for 1970s solid-state amplification, which makes this Peavey Standard Mark III series a perfect match for TWDY: It’s cheap, and it’s loud.
Nicholas Huft’s Pedalboard
Along with an ABY switcher, Huft runs a Boss TU-3, Ernie Ball VP JR, Gremlin Machine Shop Worshiper, Dead Air Portrayal of Guilt/Matt King Dual Drive, Boss DD-200, Boss RC-500, Red Panda Context, Boss DD-3T, Beautiful Noise Exploder, and Walrus Slo.
Cheap and Cheerful
Billips explains that he and his bandmates grew up on cheap instruments, and they still feel like home, so that’s why he rocks with this Marcus Miller Sire bass.
Community Cranker
Billips and his bandmates split on this Darkglass Electronics Microtubes 500 v2 head, which they share collectively.
Ethan Billips’ Pedalboard
Billips runs an Ernie Ball VP JR Tuner, a prototype bass overdrive from Mr. Black, a Death by Audio Bass War, Walrus Badwater, Danelectro Talk Back, Catalinbread Topanga, and a Radial BigShot ABY.
In this video, some of your favorite players—Marty Friedman, Jared James Nichols, Steve Reis, and Nate Garrett—share personal stories that go back to the beginning of their guitar journeys when Black Sabbath riffs constructed their musical foundation.
Miller’s Collings runs into a Grace Design ALiX preamp, which helps him fine-tune his EQ and level out pickups with varying output when he switches instruments. For reverb, sometimes he’ll tap the 
