Knowing the style of heavy music Adam Christianson and the rest of Architects play would lead you to believe his main influence for his signature LSL Bari Bone T-style would be Jim Root of Slipknot but pump the brakes. The native Canuck actually is a staunch Merle Haggard fan. Furthermore, his T-style is a 24-fret, 27.5"-scale baritone to compensate for the band’s low tunings and the saggy string tension. The tonewoods include a roasted ash body with a roasted maple neck. This one is loaded with a set of Bare Knuckle Ragnarok pickups and sees action during songs tuned down to F#. He picks with Dunlop Jazz IIIs, and all of his guitars implement sets of custom-gauged D’Addario strings. For F# guitars, he uses .011–.015–.020w–.030–.042–.072 and for G# he swaps the 6th string for a .070, and for C# he uses a .060.
Here is the original prototype of Adam Christianson’s signature LSL Bari Bone that has a slightly different neck profile, only 22 frets, an alder body, and Bare Knuckle Impulse pickups.
This is Adam Christianson’s main G# ride and it’s a Mayones Setius. Like the others, it has a set of Bare Knuckles, but its body wood is mahogany for a darker, robust tone.
This is the first custom baritone that Adam Christianson received from Mayones. It is a Regius model that has a 11-ply, neck-through design.
During this U.S. run of dates, Architects’ second guitarist Josh Middleton stayed back in the U.K. to welcome his first child into the world, so his tech Martyn Evans filled in using Josh’s gear. Above is Josh’s main F# machine—an ESP LTD MH-401B FM that is completely stock aside from the Fishman Fluence Modern pickups. Like Adam’s guitars, Josh/Martyn use custom-gauged sets of D’Addario. For F# they use .011–.015–.019–.032–.044–.072, for G# guitars they go with a .070 on the 6th string, and for C# guitars they use a .060. (Josh became the band’s full-time replacement in 2017 following the untimely death of cofounding guitarist Tom Searle in 2016.)
For G# duties, Josh Middleton and Martyn Evans depend on this ESP Horizon E-II that has been upgraded with a pair of the Fishman Fluence Killswitch Engage pickups.
To honor their fallen brother and cofounding member, Tom Searle, the band busted out his ESP Horizon.
Bassist Alex “Ali” Dean got introduced to Dingwall basses by friend and fellow low-end bruiser Adam “Nolly” Getgood of Periphery. One of his go-to live basses is this Dingwall Super P that can handles both G# and F# songs.
The ying to Alex Dean’s Dingwall P’s yang is this Dingwall D-Bird that also handles G# and F# songs. Both basses use custom-gauged D’Addario strings that run .050–.070–.090–.145. The Super P uses Long Scales while the D-Bird above rocks Super Long Scales.
And Alex Dean’s Fender Deluxe Active P bass handles C# songs and is equipped with D’Addario strings gauged .050–.125.
Everyone in the band trusts their live tone to the Kemper Profiler amp. Alex Dean also sends a direct signal to FOH via the Avalon U5 DI and gets some filth thanks to the Darkglass MTB7K Microtubes B7K Ultra Overdrive (not pictured).
Out onstage, Adam Christianson cooks with a few extra spices that live on his board including some Strymons (TimeLine, BigSky, and Mobius), Maxon OD-9, an ISP Decimator kills any unwanted noise, the Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner keeps everything in check, and the RJM Mastermind PBC is the brains of the operation.
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D'Addario DIY Solderless Power Cable Kit:https://www.daddario.com/PowerSolutionsRR
Universal Audio UAFX Anti 1992 High Gain Amp Pedal
Early 1990s metal tones were iconic. The Anti 1992 offers that unique mix of overdrive and distortion in a feature-packed pedal. You get a 3-band EQ, noise gate, multiple cab and speaker combos, presets, and full control through the mobile app.
Revv G4 Red Channel Preamp/Overdrive/Distortion Pedal - Anniversary Edition
Based upon the red channel of the company’s Generator 120, this finely tuned circuit offers gain variation with its 3-position aggression switch.
MXR Yngwie Malmsteen Overdrive Pedal - Red
The Viking king of shred guitar has distilled his high-octane tone into a simple, two-knob overdrive. Designed for going into an already dirty amp, this stomp offers clarity, harmonics, and more.
Empress Effects Heavy Menace Distortion Pedal
Arguably the company’s most versatile dirt box, this iteration is all about EQ. It’s loaded with an immensely powerful 3-band EQ with a sweepable mid control, footswitchable noise gate, a low-end sculpting control, and three different distortion modes.
JHS Hard Drive Distortion Pedal - Tan
Designed by late JHS R&D engineer Cliff Smith, the Hard Drive is a powerful and heavy ode to the post-grunge sounds of the late ’90s and early ’00s. This original circuit takes inspiration from many places by including cascading gain stages and Baxandall bass and treble controls.
Boss HM-2W Waza Craft Heavy Metal Distortion Pedal
Few pedals captured the sound of Swedish death metal like the HM-2. The go-to setting is simple—all knobs maxed out. Flip over to the custom mode for more tonal range, higher gain, and thicker low end.
Electro-Harmonix Nano Metal Muff Distortion Pedal
Voiced with an aggressive, heavy tone with a tight low end, this pedal offers +/- 14 dB of bass, a powerful noise gate, and an LED to let you know when the gate is on.
Soldano Super Lead Overdrive Plus Pedal
Aimed to capture the sound of Mike Soldano’s flagship tube amp, the SLO uses the same cascading gain stages as the 100-watt head. It also has a side-mounted deep switch to add low-end punch.
In the early ’60s, some of the British guitarists who would shape the direction of our instrument for decades to come all found themselves at a concert by Sister Rosetta Tharpe. What they heard from Tharpe and what made her performances so special—her sound, her energy—must have resonated. Back at home in the U.S., she was a captivating presence, wowing audiences going back to her early days in church through performing the first stadium rock ‘n’ roll concert—which was also one of her weddings—and beyond. Her guitar playing was incendiary, energetic, and a force to be reckoned with.
On this episode of 100 Guitarists, we’re joined by guitarist Molly Miller, who in addition to being a fantastic guitarist, educator, bandleader, and performing with Jason Mraz, is a bit of a Sister Rosetta scholar. We chat with Molly about Sister Rosetta’s “immediately impressive” playing, which blends jazz, gospel, chromaticism, and blues into an early rock ‘n’ roll style that was not only way ahead of its time but was also truly rockin’.
