Bassist and vocalist Toby Leaman has always been partial to J basses. Early on in the band’s career, Toby was using a cheap J and had it stolen. Being resourceful with what funding he had, he opted to build his own from various parts from StewMac. The only thing he really wanted when compiling the various appointments was finding a very thin neck. At some point the J-style pickups were swapped out by a former tech (Toby is unsure of the models) and he replaced its original knobs with those from his Orange OB1-500. Other than that, it’s been the same go-to beast for nearly 20 years.
He is open to change and forcing himself to acclimate to a “foreign-feeling instrument”, Scott McMicken couldn’t hit the road without something light, airy, and ready to feedback at any given step or twist. This curvaceous semi-hollow number is a Hopf Saturn 63. To his knowledge, the guitar is completely stock other than minor repair and maintenance.
Scott McMicken loves a lively guitar. Because of this, he’s spent most nights with a varying combination of a Fender Coronado, Epiphone Sheraton, and since 2014, his black-eyed bestie—a Silvertone 1446. This tour saw the black bomber left back at home, as Scott was looking to push his playing in a different, more expressive direction, and he thought taking the above solidbody—a Lil Trees Tall Friend—would provoke a positive reaction. Some specifics about the model include a swamp ash body with an arched Douglas fir cap (and contoured back), mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard, and a 24.9" scale length. While Scott can’t recall the pickup installed in this Tall Friend, the most notable features in this guitar have to be the control knobs—one is a master volume, but the two matching knobs are treble and bass. Scott really likes how these controls enable him to slightly dial back his drive and fuzz for nuanced, articulate sounds when he’s not looking to roar.
Toby Leaman has entrusted his live tone to Orange for most of his Dr. Dog days. He has been using a 1000-watt Orange head, but that had been discontinued and repairing it became too costly. He was then turned onto the OB1-500 that offered him a footswitchable distortion sound that alleviated the need for any pedalboard (other than a tuner and A/B box). The band’s FOH engineer takes a DI signal from the stage and Leaman uses this unknown 4x10 for stage sound.
When he gets a few moments to step out and lead the band on acoustic for jams like “Broken Heart,” Toby Leaman strums on this Guild D-40.
Always looking for a clean, high-headroom amp, Scott McMicken hasn’t found anything purer, or robust as this handwired solid-state Peavey Vulcan. During the Rundown, Scott mentions that he believes this might be from the first run of the amp as it was the company’s test drive into solid-state designs. He suggests that Hartley Peavey could’ve made this god of fire.
No, Scott McMicken isn’t big-timing us by painting over his pedals, he just opted for a clean look. For inquiring minds, the top right is an Electro-Harmonix Micro Synth, and those pedal gurus will quickly recognize the bottom row as Strymon stomps (L to R: Flint, Ola, Riverside, and Deco).
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D'Addario XT Strings:https://www.daddario.com/XTRR
“All the kids in all L.A. / Come to hear Dick Dale play,” or so goes the title track from Dick Dale’s Wrecking Crew-heavy 1963 album, King of the Surf Guitar. Immodest though it might seem to proclaim such a status, he was indeed at the top of the heap.
For many, Dale’s legend precedes him. His sound, first heard in a So Cal beach ballroom, created the surf guitar vocabulary and transformed the guitar universe, starting with the 1962 release of his take on the traditional song “Misrlou.” Ever the showman, he worked closely with Leo Fender developing the right gear for the gig as he played his ripping instrumentals to larger and larger audiences. He also inspired a Hendrix lyric and had a late-career renaissance thanks to Quentin Tarantino.
In this episode of 100 Guitarists, we’re talking all things surf rock, from reverb to tremolo picking and much more. And while “Misrlou” is undisputedly his most influential work, maybe Dale’s best records didn’t come until a few decades later.
This episode is sponsored byTraveler Guitar.
