In the midst of working on her first album, the 17-year-old guitar star takes PG through her rig.
Guitarist Grace Bowers is a 17-year old California transplant tearing it up in Nashville. Currently working on her first album with producer John Osborne of the Brothers Osborne, Bowers invited John Bohlinger and the PG team to walk through her studio and live rig.
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Mostly Stock Special
Bowers’ number-one is her mostly stock 1961 Gibson SG Special. The P90s and the skinny neck are a perfect fit for her style. The tuners were changed at some point, and the whammy is no longer attached, but the rest of the axe is original. This guitar and all others are strung with D’Addario .010s.
Osbourne's ES
For PAF humbucker tone on the album, Grace plays John Osborne’s all-stock 1960 Gibson ES-335.
With a Little Help From Her Friends
The one acoustic on the album is this 1968 Gibson 12-string acoustic, on loan from a friend.
Deluxe Simplicity
Bowers keeps it simple with a stock, new-ish Fender Deluxe Reverb amp.
It's Not a Phase, Mom!
Bowers’ pedal setup includes a Dunlop Crybaby Wah, Grindstone Audio Solutions Night Shade Drive, EarthQuaker Devices Tone Job, MXR Phase 90, MXR Phase 95, and Boss DD-2. Bowers powers them with a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power ISO-5.
Shop Grace Bowers' Rig
Gibson SG Special - Vintage Cherry
Gibson ES-335 Semi-Hollowbody Electric Guitar
Gibson Acoustic J-45 12-string Acoustic-Electric Guitar
Fender '68 Custom Deluxe Reverb 1x12" Combo Amp
Dunlop CBJ95 Cry Baby Junior Wah Pedal
MXR Phase 90
Boss DD-3T
EarthQuaker Devices Tone Job V2
Voodoo Lab Pedal Power ISO-5
D'Addario NYXL1046 NYXL Nickel Wound Electric Guitar Strings - .010-.046 Regular Light
A clever compensated string pad improves intonation.
RatingsPros:Sturdy. Smooth lever and latching action. Effective tension screw. Improves intonation on flatter necks. Cons: Doesn’t work well with more curvaceous radii or Rickenbacker 12s. Street: $34 G7th Newport 12-String Capo g7th.com | Ease of Use: Build/Design: Value: |
Capoing a 12 string is tricky. Most capos aren’t built specifically for 12 strings, and fail to apply adequate tension to octave strings. And if you try to compensate with greater tension, you tend to pull the regular strings horribly sharp. I’ve lucked into trigger capos that work well. But losing one that does work can induce panic.
G7th has taken a clever approach to solving the 12-string capo problem by adapting a compensated string pad to its excellent Newport capo. The pad looks serrated in profile—enabling fatter bass strings to tuck into the deepest nooks of the sawtooth while octave strings nestle against the pad closer to the tip of the tooth. When it works right, you’re rewarded with intonation and chime that’s audibly superior to most standard capos.
The Newport 12 works best with flattish acoustic fretboards. Some electric 12 strings are trickier. G7th specifies that the Newport is incompatible with Rickenbacker 12s (which are reverse strung). But the curvaceous 7 1/4" radius on my Fender Electric XII also confounded the Newport, which couldn’t hold down the high E strings. My Danelectro Hodad 12, with its flatter radius, fared much better. The Newport 12 will thrill most acoustic players. Electric players should definitely test before they buy. But when the Newport 12 string works, it works brilliantly.