We get the lowdown on the guitars and basses used by Nancy and Ann Wilson, Craig Bartock, and Dan Rothchild.
Lead guitarist Craig Bartock uses a variety of Fender and Fender-inspired instruments, including an Albert E. Custom S-style with Seymour Duncan pickups and a blend knob in place of a second tone control. He uses a Line 6 JTV-69S-US James Tyler Variax (via DI) for banjo sounds on “Steamboat Annie.” He plays a Jason Stockwell-built T-style strung with heavier .010 sets (he normally uses .009s) for the band’s frequent cover of Zeppelin’s “The Rain Song,” and uses a circa-’73 Fender Strat (shown here) with Sperzel locking tuners for “Magic Man” and to cover Trower’s “Day of the Eagle.”
Premier Guitar’s Shawn Hammond met with Ann and Nancy Wilson’s guitar tech, Jeff Ousley, lead guitarist Craig Bartock, and bassist Dan Rothchild before Heart’s show at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on March 21, 2015. Ousley—who’s been maintaining the Wilson sisters’ gear (and making them mean cups of coffee) for more than 20 years—walked us through everything from Ann’s custom Martin acoustics to Nancy’s vintage SG and Tele, while Bartock and Rothchild shared their cool customized instruments.
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