Skip to content

Taylor Partners with Trey Hensley on First Gold Label Artist Model

Search

Latest Stories

Premier Guitar features affiliate links to help support our content. We may earn a commission on any affiliated purchases.

Rig Rundown: Johnny A.

Get inside the fuzz-laden setup used by one of guitardom’s most respected instrumentalists during his recent stint with the Yardbirds.

John Bohlinger
By John BohlingerJul 25, 2018
John Bohlinger
John Bohlinger is a Nashville-based multi-instrumentalist best known for leading the band on NBC's Nashville Star, serving as music director for the CMT Awards and specials on PBS and GAC, and of course for his appearances in PG Rig Rundown, Review Demo, Axes & Artifacts, and What Bohlinger Plays videos.
See Full Bio

A respected act in his own right, Johnny A. took a break from his jazz-tinged solo shows to tour briefly with The Yardbirds, a band whose has previously employed some of Johnny’s most prominent influences. Before a recent gig at Nashville’s City Winery, Johnny took John Bohlinger through his lean-and-mean rig.

Click to subscribe to our weekly Rig Rundown podcast:

Company
 

Barn3 OX9

CheckItOut
Company
 

Eventide H9

CheckItOut
Company
 

Temple Audio Pedalboard

CheckItOut
Company
 

Vox AC30

CheckItOut
Company
 

Xotic EP Booster

CheckItOut
Company
 

Xotic SL Drive

CheckItOut
Company
 

Xotic Wah

CheckItOut
epiphonerig-rundownfeatured-storieslp-stylewhats-newgibsonxotic-effectsjohnny-aanalog-mangearartistsspecial-featured-storiesdaddarioguitaristsvideos

The Latest

Way Huge Doom Hammer Review
Gear

Way Huge Doom Hammer Review

Blackstar guitar amplifier with a woven front and bold logo, featuring control knobs.
Gear

Blackstar Debut Bass 25 Review

Editors' Choice: Fuzz That Fuels PG Staff's Most Ripping Reveries
Gear

Editors' Choice: Fuzz That Fuels PG Staff's Most Ripping Reveries

Prime Day Deal Rundown: Top Picks for 2024!
Gear

Prime Day Deal Rundown: Top Picks for 2024!

Sponsored

Holiday Gift Guide 2025

Guitars

Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Custom 1960 Les Paul Special Review

More for you

Warm Audio Throne of Tone Review

Warm Audio Throne of Tone Review

Though the business of cloning pedals is competitive (and endless fodder for frothing Reddit denizens), I appreciate when a pedal company offers a useful twist on an established formula. Warm Audio accomplishes this with the Throne of Tone. It is clearly inspired by the Analog Man King of Tone. But it is also very obviously a nod to the Marshall Bluesbreaker, the pedal that Mike Piera used as a departure point for his KOT design. The Throne of Tone, though, might mark the point at which the snake bites its tail. It cross-pollinates the circuits in a dual overdrive that opens up many, many tone-coloring avenues and options.

Keep ReadingShow less

Most Popular

Anygig Guitar Releases A Beast Of A Travel Guitar
News

Anygig Guitar Releases A Beast Of A Travel Guitar

The Mandolin That Chose Sierra Hull
Videos

The Mandolin That Chose Sierra Hull

Guitar Shopping with John Bohlinger (at Chicago Music Exchange)
Videos

Guitar Shopping with John Bohlinger (at Chicago Music Exchange)

Gibson Custom  Partners With Dave Grohl to Release the DG-335 Limited-Edition
News

Gibson Custom  Partners With Dave Grohl to Release the DG-335 Limited-Edition

Rig Rundown: AFI [2025]
Rig Rundown

Rig Rundown: AFI [2025]

Vintage Tone Options Reborn! New Warm Audio Drives + Solo Dallas EX Tower
Gear Roundups

Vintage Tone Options Reborn! New Warm Audio Drives + Solo Dallas EX Tower

Warm Audio Throne of Tone Review

Warm Audio Throne of Tone Review

Though the business of cloning pedals is competitive (and endless fodder for frothing Reddit denizens), I appreciate when a pedal company offers a useful twist on an established formula. Warm Audio accomplishes this with the Throne of Tone. It is clearly inspired by the Analog Man King of Tone. But it is also very obviously a nod to the Marshall Bluesbreaker, the pedal that Mike Piera used as a departure point for his KOT design. The Throne of Tone, though, might mark the point at which the snake bites its tail. It cross-pollinates the circuits in a dual overdrive that opens up many, many tone-coloring avenues and options.

Keep ReadingShow less

Electro-Harmonix Swello Attack Envelope Review

Electro-Harmonix Swello Attack Envelope Review

Attack—essentially the rate and intensity with which a note rises in volume from its point of creation—is one of the coolest musical expressions you can mess with. If you play an instrument from the violin family it’s a fundamental part of your vocabulary. It’s used frequently in synthesis to conjure spooky, low-gravity atmospherics, and it’s an essential tool for taking the front end off some psychotic Moog sound that might otherwise explode like a foghorn six inches from your ear.

Keep ReadingShow less

How MTV Unplugged Saved the Acoustic Guitar

How MTV Unplugged Saved the Acoustic Guitar

On November 14, 2025, I’ll be giving a presentation at the Royal College of Music in London. It’s in conjunction with a unique guitar they have on display: Kurt Cobain’s 1959 Martin D-18E, the one he played on MTV Unplugged. To honor the occasion, we’ve built a modern reproduction of that particular guitar for my friend Craig Thatcher to play at the event—because I don’t think they’ll let him play the original. (Yes, that one … the guitar that sold for $6 million at auction in 2020.)

Keep ReadingShow less

Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster Review Mini

Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster Mini pedal with gain knob and LED indicator.

If there’s any company you’d expect to understand the delicate relationship between pickups and pedals, it’s Seymour Duncan. The company’s Pickup Booster Mini, an evolution of the Pickup Booster that’s been around for roughly two decades, certainly reflects a less-is-more philosophy about what you should stick between a good pickup and your amplifier. But while the Pickup Booster is simple, it’s far from inflexible, nor, in most cases, does it sound very “mini.”

Keep ReadingShow less