The legendary Alice in Chains axeman gives us a look at his updated solo touring setup.
Jerry Cantrellās forthcoming solo record, I Want Blood, is a return to beastly form for the legendary grunge guitarist. Featuring spots from Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo and Faith No More drummer Mike Bordinātwo old friends who played on Cantrellās 2002 solo release, Degradation Tripāalong with Duff McKagan and more, itās a glorious, riff-filled reunion.
Ahead of the recordās release, PGās Perry Bean caught up with Cantrell for an updated rundown of his current touring rig. Watch the whole Rig Rundown to catch all the details, and hear some special stories about how late Alice in Chains vocalist Layne Staley encouraged Cantrellās singing.
Brought to you by DāAddario.The Ones You Know
The G&L Rampage has been one of Cantrellās top choices for decades, and he brings his vintage, well-used, and colorfully decorated iterations on the road along with his newer signature models. G&L announced earlier this year that they were reviving the Rampageāthanks largely to Cantrellās impact.
Feel the Champagne
This Gibson Flying V finished in champagne sparkle is another of Cantrellās go-to stage axes.
Amp in the Box
Cantrell tours with this rack amplifier setup, which features a Fryette Two/Ninety/Two Stereo Power Amp, a Fryette LX II Stereo Power Amp, and a Bogner Fish All Tube Preamp.
Rack 'Em Up
Save for his signature MXR Jerry Cantrell Firefly Talk Box and his Dunlop Jerry Cantrell Firefly Cry Baby Wah which stay at his feet, Cantrell keeps his pedals in a rack configuration, including a handful of MXR Smart Gates, MXR Timmy, Strymon Ola, MXR Six Band EQ, MXR Ten Band EQ, Barber Electronics Direct Drive, Boss DD-500, MXR EVH Flanger, Boss CE-5, MXR Poly Blue Octave, Ibanez TS808HW, MXR Reverb, Line 6 MM4 Modulation Modeler, and MXR Talk Box. A Custom Audio Electronics RS-T MIDI Foot Controller, manned by Cantrellās tech, handles the behind-the-scenes switching.
From walls of 4x12s to modern modeling tech, heavy tones have come a long way since the age of Iommi.
No style of amp is so definitively a part of a musical genre and culture as high-gain amplifiers. In the modern amp market, thereās a wide range of amps that can achieve a heavy tone, from hulking stacks to lunchbox heads, but their objective unites them. High-gain amps are a cornerstone of electric guitar, and their aggression is heard in every style of music under the sun.
The debate about where high-gain started rages on, but thereās a strong consensus that Tony Iommi and Black Sabbath had more than a little to do with it.
āThe first record that really had an impact on me, with regards to that aspect of tone, was Sabbath Bloody Sabbath,ā says Sweetwater hard content creator and former Grim Reaper guitarist Nick Bowcott. āIt was a brutal sounding record. Iommi was so ahead of his game.ā
Keep in mind that there were no high-gain amps when Iommi got his start. Instead, Bowcott explains, āHe was doing his thing with a modded Dallas Rangemaster (treble booster) and running into a (Laney) Supergroup while often tuning down to C#. Thatās how far ahead of the curve he was.ā
Iommiās tone and Sabbathās influence were so dramatic that guitarists worldwide adopted it while honing it into a faster, more streamlined style. It was the beginning of heavy metal, and even the worldās biggest rockers claim itās still unmatched. āRob Zombie said, āThe reason there aren't any more good heavy metal riffs today is because Iommi wrote them all,āā Bowcott adds. āIt reminds you of how brilliant those songs are.ā
The Marshall JCM800
Introduced in 1981, the Marshall JCM800 series kicked open the doors to the high-gain amp market.
Like Iommiās Laneys, the tube amplifiers of the time didnāt offer the quick response, tight low end, and increased distortion those players required. The closest thing on the market was Marshallās 1959 Super Lead, aka the plexi. While definitely distorted, these amps only gave up their saturated tones when played much too loud for most performances.
Guitarists begged for an amp that gave them the tones of Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, while still being something they could use. Over in England, Jim Marshall responded. In 1981, he released one of the most iconic electric guitar amplifiers of all time, the master-volume-equipped Marshall JCM800 2203.
āTo me, the (JCM)800 is a foundational piece with regard to high gain. They owned the ā80s.ā āNick Bowcott
For the first time, the famous Marshall kerrang could be had at gig-appropriate volumes. The amp was a hit, and the JCM800 quickly laid the foundation for what would come. āTo me, the 800 is a foundational piece with regard to high gain,ā remarks Bowcott. āThey owned the ā80s.ā
The Mesa Engineering Mark Series
The first Boogies were created when Mesaās Randall Smith āboosted the daylights out of a little (Fender) Princeton.ā
However, Marshall wasnāt the only one pushing overdrive into the modern era. Randall Smith and Mesa Engineeringās first ampsāhot-rodded Fender-style combos which Smith called āBoogiesāāalso marked the transition between vintage and modern with a high-gain voice of their own.
āEarly on, I boosted the daylights out of a little [Fender] Princeton,ā Smith notes. āIt was 80 times the gain of the normal amp! It had this amazing crunch. Power chords and single-note riffs had that vocal, singing thing that made Carlos (Santana) so famous. You could go from the biggest, most amazing Fender clean sound to this level of distortion that nobody had ever heard before.ā
Those first Boogies launched one of the most respected names in guitar amplification. Now known as the Mark I, Smithās amps were soon a favorite of plenty of well-known guitarists.
The Boogie has had multiple variations and feature sets over the years. Each one was given a numeral to differentiate its designs, and the Mark II, with its tighter, more aggressive tone, is where the heavy metal world took notice.
One band, in particular, would launch themselves and the amps to incredible heights after stopping by Smithās shop in the 1980s.
āMetallica, I remember them coming up,ā laughs Smith. āThey were young guys. They came up to the factory and grabbed some IIC+s. That was it. That was what they were looking for sonically. They said, āOkay, this is what weāve been hearing in our heads.āā
Smith never considered his Boogie to be a heavy metal guitar amplifier,, but the enormous Mark IIC+-fueled success of Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets changed that forever.The Amp Modding Craze
Together, the JCM800 and Mesaās Mark series kicked off a new era in guitar amplification. But, as is always the case, players still wanted more. Many players even modified their amps in search of new, heavier tones.
Before long, the amp-modding community had grown into its own industry with famed amp techs such as JosĆ© Arredondo, Lee Jackson, and CĆ©sar DĆaz squeezing the most tone and gain from the circuits as possible. Those modded amps were the go-to high-gain rigs for everyone from Steve Vai and Paul Gilbert to Alice In Chainsā Jerry Cantrell.
The modification game became so popular, and the modders so well respected, that many began producing their own amp designs. Brands like Bogner, Friedman, and Rivera are just a few that owe a lot of their early success to the mod craze. Even Mike Soldano got in on it.
āI did Marshall mods just like all those other guys,ā he admits. āAs I started gaining notoriety around L.A., people would bring me their Marshalls and say, āHey, can you make my Marshall sound like this?āā
The Soldano SLO-100
Mike Soldano says he built his first high-gain amp for himself, but soon learned that other players wanted one too.
Soldanoās notoriety was well-earned. As the father of the Soldano Super Lead Overdrive (SLO) 100, many credit him for starting the modern high-end, high-gain tube-amp market.
As a young guitarist, he had faced the same gain-to-volume dilemma that plagued all aspiring rockers of the time. An early adopter of Mesaās Boogie amps, he thought he had solved the issue, but while the Boogie had a high level of gain, it wasnāt a āhigh-gain amp.ā Unsatisfied with the Mesa and wanting to avoid wrestling with a non-master volume Marshall, he built his own.
āI already knew what I wanted my guitar to sound like,ā he says. āI heard it on records, but I knew they were getting that with post-effects and using plexis and big, giant rooms with the volume cranked to 11. I was determined to create an amp that would give me that sound at any volume, at any time, in any place.
āI got a bunch of old radio manuals from the ā40s and ā50s, and every night when Iād come home from work, Iād sit in my room and tinker around, build circuits, and try different things out.ā
Soldano was excited about his new creation, but it was other guitaristsā reactions to the amp that told him he was onto something special.
āIn order to crank the thing up, I needed to take it down to my friendās rehearsal space. Every time I did, everybody in the place would start flocking to the room, and theyād be like, āWhat are you guys playing in there? I want to try it!ā I realized then that that sound wasnāt just the sound I wanted. There were other people who wanted it, too.ā
āI already knew what I wanted my guitar to sound likeā¦. I was determined to create an amp that would give me that sound at any volume, at any time, in any place.ā āMike Soldano
It took a while, but eventually, Soldanoās new amp started turning the heads of all the right people. āWhen I first got to L.A., I met Howard Leese,ā he remembers. āThe next morning, I shot out to meet him at Rumbo Recorders and took my amp with me. He plugs it in, plays about two notes, and heās like, āThis is awesome, I'm buying this.ā Then, this guy Tony managed to get an amp in front of Steve Lukather, and Steve went nuts for the thing. Then, I was checking my message machine one day, and there were calls from Lou Reed, from Vivian Campbell, and from Michael Landau. They all were asking about that SLO!ā
If the JCM800 started high-gain amps, the SLO-100 was the first tube amp designed for the job. It completely changed the amp industry, and, like Leo Fenderās Telecaster, it remains an industry standard that's largely unchanged today.
The German High-Gain Explosion
Inspired by the SLOās searing gain, sustain, and versatile volume control, manufacturers began cranking up their ampsā performance worldwide. Builders were finally delivering all the gain and control players wanted.
German makers like ENGL, Diezel, Hughes & Kettner, and L.A.-based Bogner made names for themselves with legendary high-gain heads like their Savage, VH4, TRIAMP, and Uberschall. For European metal guitarists, this was the dawn of a new era.
āThe ENGL Savage was my main live amplifier for maybe seven years,ā says Haunted guitarist, YouTube personality, and Solar Guitars owner Ola Englund. āNot too many other brands at that time could give you this insanely tight, modern metal sound without using a boost. You just hook up your guitar, and it sounds incredible.āThe Mesa Rectifier Series
āThe Dual Rectifier just completely proliferated all of the grunge years,ā says Mike Soldano.
Between the Marshalls, Mesas, a flood of modded amps, and the amps coming out of Germany, the late ā80s and 1990s had a lot of high-gain to offer. Still, a new amp from a familiar face defined the next couple of decades.
āThe (Mesa) Rectifier was the one in the ā90s,ā Bowcott says, point blank. āThe ā80s were the JCM800, and the ā90s were the Rectifiers.ā
āThe Dual Rectifier just completely proliferated all of the grunge years,ā echoes Soldano. āThere wasnāt a band out there that wasnāt playing a Rectifier.ā
āWe had no expectation that the Rectifiers would end up being so popular.ā āRandall Smith
Today, Randall Smithās Mesa Rectifiers are definitive high-gain amps. Everyone from Metallica and Korn to Soundgarden and Cannibal Corpse uses them to create the heaviest tones in rock history. So itās surprising they were designed by someone more Santana than Sepultura. According to Smith, he was as surprised as anyone.
āWe had no expectation that the Rectifiers would end up being so popular,ā he said. āIt was to the point that we had to fight that image. Players are like, āMesa, those are the high-gain metal guys. Iām not interested in that.ā But it was only one product! (Laughs)ā
The Peavey 5150 And Beyond
The Peavey 6505 and EVH 5150 are both descendants of the original Peavey 5150 designed by Eddie Van Halen and amp designer James Brown.
While Mesaās Rectifiers had no equal in terms of popularity, one amp did give it a run for its money in impact and aggression: the Peavey 5150. Created by amp designer James Brown and Eddie Van Halenāwho had been playing SLO-100sāthe 5150 quickly transcended classic-rock heroics and laid the foundation for a new breed of extreme high-gain tone.
Machine Headās Burn My Eyes was arguably the first release to put the amp on the metal map, while producer/engineer Andy Sneapās legendary use on countless records cemented it in place. Bands like In Flames, Killswitch Engage, and Arch Enemy also used the amps to great effect.
āThe 5150 was probably the most aggressive amplifier out there,ā says Englund. āI remember it was either the 5150 or the Rectifier, (those were) the ā90s choices right there. If you played in a serious metal band, itās one of these.ā
Like the Rectifier, the 5150 has seen multiple tweaks and changes since its inception. The most notable came when Eddie took his 5150 trademark to Fender to launch EVH and the 5150 III amp line. Not wanting to drop one of the most popular high-gain amps ever, Peavey gave theirs a facelift and renamed it the 6505. The world lost a hero when Eddie passed away in 2020, but he left us with two amp lines that will go down in high-gain history.
Solid-State High Gain and Dimebag Darrell
The ā90s and 2000s were all about high-gain tube heads. But a handful of solid-state and hybrid amps also drove some of the eraās most intense music. The most famous of these amps was the Marshall Valvestate 8100. While many players denounced its cold, toothy voice, Bowcott says others built a career around it.
āMarshall came out with Valvestate in the early ā90s, and people like (Prong guitarist and singer) Tommy Victor adopted that amp. It was his sound on āSnap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck.āā
Victor wasnāt the only one using the 8100; itās also the sound of Static-X's Wisconsin Death Trip and, reportedly, shaped the sound of early Meshuggah. No other 8100 player, however, is credited with having the influence and savagery of Deathās Chuck Schuldiner. Plugging into his 8100, heās widely regarded as creating death metal.
Of course, there was one other high-gain hero who more than deserves a mention when it comes to ā90s solid-state. Panteraās Dimebag Darrell and his Randall RG100 and Century 200 amps sounded so heavy, singular, and next-level that few have even tried to cop his sound.
āDimebag had the most distinctive metal tone, and I donāt think anyone has managed to break that,ā comments Englund. āIt was his and no one elseās. He would just overdrive it to hell and back and add all these doublers and flight flangers and stuff. That was a solid-state tone right there.ā
The Rise of Digital Modeling
The legacy of the Line 6 Pod lives on, elevated to stages everywhere, in the Helix.
How guitarists get their high-gain tones has changed drastically over the years, and thatās never been more true than in the last couple of decades. Instead of walls of amps and 4x12 cabinets, these days, we get remarkably similar sounds from compact digital rack and floor processors. Evolving from the original Line 6 POD, digital modeling now defines this era of guitar.
Initially relegated to practice tools for home use, starting in the late 2000s, bands like Periphery and Animals As Leaders have increasingly embraced modeling units like the Fractal AXE-FX, the Kemper Profiler, the Neural QuadCortex, and Line 6ās flagship Helix. The bandsā pristine tones, impressive musicianship, and pummeling riffs opened the floodgates of high-gain for a new generation. Theyāve established modeling as a legitimate tone tool for professionals and even won over old-school rockers like Bowcott. āThereās some amazing stuff out there,ā he says. āYou can argue that thereās never been a better time to be a guitar player, apart from maybe decision paralysis.ā
The impact of digital amp modeling canāt be overstated. Whether a physical unit or the countless inexpensive software amp sims, they all sound realistic, respond remarkably well, and open a world of routing and control options. Theyāre so prevalent that many younger guitarists have never even owned a tube amp.
Tube Amps and Impulse Responses
The Revv G20 is one of a growing number of modern lunchbox-style heads with IR capabilities combining portability and high-gain tone.
So, will digital modeling actually kill high-gain amplifiers? The consensus is probably not, but tube amps do have to evolve. The answer may lie in impulse responses (IRs).
Impulse responses are digital snapshots of real speaker cabinets and microphones loaded onto a modeler or computer. They let you hear a well-recorded cab without plugging into an actual speaker.
More and more brands are adding IR capabilities to smaller, lunchbox-style tube amps. Heads like the Revv G20 and ENGL Ironball Special Edition are pioneering this approach and striking the perfect balance of tradition and convenience. Randall Smith is a fan, and Soldano even joined the party with his Astro-20.
āI think itās a great evolutionary step. Thatās ultimate if you ask me,ā says Smith. āThe important thing is that you have your tube amp. Youāre not sacrificing that in order to get the virtues of digital and modeling.ā
Soldano echoes Smithās enthusiasm, saying, āI think for home recording, itās going to completely take over. Itās a perfect recording amp. You can set this thing on your desktop. You donāt even have to plug in a speaker cabinet. You can run it straight into your digital mixing world, and you can bring up these different IRs. You can do amazing stuff without even a single dB of sound in the room.ā
Long Live High-Gain Tube Amps
Hybrid tube designs are helping ensure a bright future for high-gain tube amps. Still, Soldano, Smith, Englund, and Bowcott agree that tube rigs werenāt going anywhere anyway.
āOn any Friday night, in any bar in any town, youāre still going to see some guy up there or some gal with a 50-watt half stack rocking it out,ā says Soldano.
āThe metal community, they still want moving air,ā adds Englund. āThat's something that canāt be modeled. You canāt explain it, but when you stand in front of an amplifier, itās so easy to justify.ā
Bowcott also agrees but says the experience extends beyond plugging in. āI remember, back in the day, going to see Diamond Head and Judas Priest. They had that huge wall (of amps) that, before they played a note, youāre like, āThis is going to be cool!ā There was something visually visceral.ā
High-gain tone has taken many forms over the decades. From Iommiās influence to the tech-death insanity of bands like Archspire, itās forever part of the electric guitar lexicon. As it evolves, so do the tools we use to achieve it.
Nothing will replace the physical interaction of a cranked tube head. At the same time, nothing today matches the convenience and possibilities of digital modeling. Then again, maybe the hybrid approach is the future. Whatever's next for our favorite heavy sounds, there are still plenty of legendary builders, technological innovators, and boundary-pushing players working hard to ensure high-gain guitar tone is here to stay.
These party-rockinā tone hunters plug their idiosyncratic axes into gifted Klons, helping them turn Music City into riff city.
Nashville has long been the hub for all things country music but in the last two decades, transplant rockers like Jack White, the Black Keys, Megadethās Dave Mustaine, Judas Priestās Richie Faulkner and others, have all have made the 615 home. Adding to its growth is the organic blossoms generated via the rock block, cultivating names like Paramore, All Them Witches, Bully, Moon Taxi, The Wild Feathers, The Band Camino, and the guitar extraordinaires that make up Diarrhea Planet.
We got caught up with the semi-retired fearsome foursome for their first headlining performance at the Ryman Auditorium ahead of their return to Bonnaroo. We covered why neck humbuckers are useless (but neck dives rule), how the whole band was gifted Klon KTRs, and what each shredator does to stand in and out among their collective guitarmegeddon.Brought to you by DāAddario dBud Earplugs.
73
Diarrhea Planetās unofficial 7th member is longtime tech and friend Dave Johnson of Scale Model Guitars. (Johnson has done several DIY features for PG, check them out!) Here is his 73rd build based on the Solid Guitar design. Constructed in 2015 it has an alder body, maple neck, and ebony fretboard. The alder was selected to keep the guitarās weight under five pounds, the neck shape is based on a ā61 Melody Maker, and the fireworks ignite by way of the single Greer Wind humbucker wound by Porter Pickups. He opted for this one because it walks a fine line between a P-90 and PAF for a bouncy, rounder, snappier sound that sits best in DP. The switch is for a āhigh-octaneā mod that bypasses the tone and volume controls and for a direct connection to the output jack for highway-to-the-danger-zone moments. Heās been loyal to DāAddario Medium Balanced Tension strings (.011 ā.050) and Dunlop Tortex picks (.88 mm).
Diarrhea Planet Special
This bargain-bin bruiser is a Kramer Striker that cost Smith a mere $349. It has been overhauled by Dave Johnson in a recurring manner that includes Gotoh locking tuners, Graph Tech ResoMax bridge, removed the middle and neck pickups and dropped in a Bare Knuckle Nailbomb, and got a proper fret job and setup.
800 Killer
Smith has always been chasing a ābigger, more low-mid focused JCM 800ā and this striking steal of a deal he scored fit the bill. The 120-watt Peavey 6505 runs into a Tyrant Tone 1x12 cabinet loaded with a single Electro-Voice Electro-Voice EVM12L Black Label Zakk Wylde speaker.
Jordan Smithās Pedalboard
Smithās board holds the staples for DP gigs. It starts with a Spaceman Effects Explorer Phaser, an Electronic Audio Experiments 0xEAE Boost (his favorite pedal on the planet), Boss SD-1 SuperOverdrive, and a Mr. Black Tapex 2. Diarrhea Planet might be the only band to earn KTRs. Back in 2014 or ā15, Klon creator Bill Finnegan and his employee Matt visited DP during a soundcheck near their East Coast-based shop. Finnegan loaned the foursome their own KTR to test out during the run-through. They plugged into them and instantly realized this was the sound theyāve been missing. Finnegan enjoyed the soundcheck so much that he told the band they deserved the magical red boxes and theyāve been on their boards ever since. āIāll never sell it because we somehow impressed the guy that built one of the most influential pedals ever. Itās an honor and it means so much to me,ā admits Smith. Everything rides on a Pedaltrain Classic Jr and is brought to life with a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus.
Dave Does It Again!
Brent Toler hit the Ryman stage with one guitarāhis partscaster baby. Brent sourced all the parts (including painting the body in his parentsā garage) and luthier pal Dave Johnson helped put the pieces together. The single humbucker (with a push-pull pot engaging single-coil mode) was handwound by Alex Avedissian out of Atlanta. It has a HipShot bridge with an upgraded Hipshot Tremsetter Strat tremolo Stabilizer 401000. The roasted maple neck and dazzling pickguard was scooped off eBay. He recently switched from DāAddario strings to local faves Stringjoy.
Steal of a Deal
Traveling into town for this pair of shows, Toler packed light with just his partscaster and a pedalboard. He borrowed this Laney LC30 from bassist Mike Boyle who scored the 1x12 tube combo for $200.
Brent Tolerās Pedalboard
Paring down for carry-on limits, Toler returned to Guitar Town with a svelte pedal platform home to five effects and a tuner: a MXR Carbon Copy, a Mooer Yellow Comp, a Bogner Ecstasy Blue, Klon KTR, a MXR Phase 95, and an Electro-Harmonix EHX-2020 Tuner Pedal.
Motherās Mark
Standing out is a must when youāre battling frequencies with three other guitarists. Emmett Miller takes a left when his brethren take a right. His custom guitar (again built by Scale Model Guitarsā Dave Johnson) is a loving recreation of a ā80s Fender Performer. Miller first got a taste of the futuristic axe when studying at the National Guitar Workshop under Shane Roberts. He posted on Craigslist in the hopes of borrowing a Performer to copy for Dave to build from. He quickly received an anonymous response that included a complete blueprint of the instrument. It has 24 scalloped frets on an ebony fretboard, a Wilkinson/Gotoh VS-100N Tremolo bridge the middle and neck pickups are Hot Stack Plus Strat hum-canceling single-coils, a handwound Avedissian humbucker in the bridge (with a coil-spot mod), and the smaller dip switch adds in the neck pickup with the bridge humbucker. And the best part of the whole thing, the night-sky artwork was painted by Emmettās mother.
Tone School
When DP first disbanded in 2018, Miller went off to school to study electrical engineering and digital signal processing, and in doing so, he āhad to play through a computer now.ā He landed on the Kemper Profiler and hasnāt looked back. He avoids cabling and routes his guitar through a Line 6 Relay G55 Wireless unit.
Emmett Millerās Pedalboard
Keeping the Kemper on amp-only duties, Miller has a standard pedal playground comprised of a Strymon El Capistan, a Klon KTR, a JHS Sweet Tea V3, Dunlop Cry Baby wah, a Moog EP-3 Expression pedal, a MXR Uni-Vibe, and a TC Electronic PolyTune. Up top you might notice what appears to be a Boss pedal enclosure, but thatās just a goof gift from fellow guitarist Evan Bird.
The Classiest and Nastiest
āI think, in my arms anymore, anything but a Tele feels weird. I do like other guitars, but these are the only ones I can throw around and then still pick back up and play,ā concedes DPās fourth guitarist Evan Bird. This MIM Fender Telecaster Thinline Deluxe was facelifted by Dave Johnson (shocker). It got a refret, improved hardwareāincluding a 3-barrel brass bridge, Gotoh locking tuners, and strap locksāplus a fresh set of Avedissian Night Prowler humbuckers (with a push-pull coil-split mod on the bridge ābucker). Both his Teles take DāAddario NYXL1052 Light Top/Heavy Bottom strings.
Thatās Gold, Jerry, Gold!
Supplementing duties with Thinline is this Squier John 5 signature thatās finished in Frost Gold. It got the Dave Johnson Scale Model treatment and also features Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates with Les Paul-wiring and CTS pots.
Tubes, Schmubes
After toting around a hefty Twin Reverb for years, Bird made the back-saving switch to a Fender Tone Master Twin Reverb that knocks off half the weight. Another issue he was having with the OG tube Twin was blowing up the preamp section by hitting it too hard with pedals. Since making the move to the Tone Master, heās been flying clear of any meltdowns. And keeping the cables away from his feet is the Sennheiser EW-DX EM 2 Two-Channel wireless unit.
Evan Birdās Pedalboard
Bird keeps it lean and mean with a 4-stomp pedalboard that includes an EarthQuaker Devices Dispatch Master, XTS Winford Drive, Greer Amps Supa Cobra, and a Klon KTR. Occasional tuning is assisted by the Boss TU-3 and a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus brings the juice.