Theo Katzman plays with a fluency and fire that makes this guitarist, producer, singer, and songwriter an MVP of modern, funk-fueled rock and pop. At a recent gig at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl outpost, Katzman—who’s also a member of the formidable Vulfpeck collective—invited PG’s Rig Rundown team to soundcheck, to see the gear that makes his tone sing. And Katzman’s tech, Nick “Turk” Nagurka, provided assistance.
Brought to you by D’Addario XS Strings.
Stripped Strat
Theo Katzman’s No. 1 is a Fender 1962 reissue that he’s had since he was 16. He stripped the Strat’s finish down to the bare wood, and then added an Ilitch Back Plate Hum Canceling system, which takes the noise out of the stock single-coil pickups. The Strat stays strung with D’Addario NYXL .010 sets. When Katzman plays with a pick, he uses Strum-N-Comfort SNC-ST/EXH/6 Sharktooth 1.5 mm Heavy Pearl Celluloids.
Hole-y Moley!
Katzman’s Tele is an $800 parts guitar with TV Jones pickups that he purchased on Reverb. It lives in open Eb and also has D’Addario NYXL .010s.
Black Hat Strat
This Japan-built ’62 reissue Strat has an oddball headstock, with what looks like black epoxy or resin covering most of what’s at the top of its Mike Cornwall neck. It’s tuned in open D and is used primarily for slide. The stings? Yep, D’Addario NYXL .010s.
Princeton Grad
Katzman uses two amps, sending a dry signal to his Benson Nathan Junior and a wet signal to his 1968 Fender Princeton Reverb loaded with a Celestion Greenback 12. Both amps face 90 degrees offstage, to prevent hitting the front row with a laser beam of awesome. The Princeton gets a Beyerdynamic M88, which complements the punchy midrange of the amp with a healthy proximity effect and rounds the top end out a bit.
Benson, Benson, Benson
The Benson has a bit more grind and a more controlled tone. He uses a Sennheiser 906 for a dry, clear sound with minimal proximity effect. Both amps feed into the in-ear-monitor mix, hard panned left and right. Since there’s some degree of modulation from the pedalboard, that helps Katzman enjoy a sense of space in his sound. The front-of-house mix typically uses the Benson, too, since it has a more refined sound.
Theo Katzman's Pedalboard
Bird of Prey
The Hailfire’s debt to the Firebird is obvious both in its body profile and the raised center section. The construction, however, is very different from a Firebird. Instead of a multi-ply walnut neck-through design, the Hailfire SM is built with a relatively light mahogany body that’s capped with a dramatically carved and striking spalted-maple top. Its painted wings and raised, natural center area give the illusion that it’s a neck-through model, but in reality the guitar’s 22-fret, rosewood-capped mahogany neck uses set-neck construction and a contoured heel that enables access to the upper frets.
In terms of hardware and electronics, the Hailfire keeps things pretty lean. The through-body stringing negates the need for a tailpiece and improves sustain, and a Tune-o-matic-style bridge and Grover tuners help you keep intonation correct and the guitar in tune. Two Seymour Duncan humbuckers—a ’59 in the neck and a JB in the bridge—are responsible for the guitar’s considerable output. Both pickups are controlled by a 3-way switch and master volume and tone controls. This setup is nice and streamlined, though it may be limiting for players who like to switch between, say, a super-dark neck-pickup sound and a bright, spunky bridge pickup.
Open Fire
After warming up a Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier half-stack and strapping on the Hailfire, I was blown away by how light the guitar is. At a hair over 6 pounds, it doesn't put as much strain on your shoulder as most guitars of this size—and nowhere near as much as your typical maple-capped mahogany guitars. The neck-to-body balance is pretty even, too, and the weight of the headstock doesn't pull the neck down to the floor when standing.
Ratings
Pros: Light and comfortable. Tried-and-true Duncan pickup combo offers a plethora of tones. Wide neck eases simple and complex chording.
Cons: Master volume and tone controls might be limiting to some. Bridge position gets muddy with a lot of gain. Shredders might prefer a narrower neck.
Tones:
Playability:
Build/Design:
Value:
Street: $849
DBZ/Diamond
dbzguitars.com
Most players know of the huge tonal range you can get by combining a Duncan '59 and JB model—it’s one of the most popular humbucker combinations on the planet—and they live up to their considerable reputation in the Hailfire SM. The neck pickup produces super-smooth mids and thick, even lows for jazzy clean work, and digging in coaxes out a rich high end without any harsh edginess. When output is clean or colored by slight overdrive, the neck pickup has a response and warm array of tones that are very similar to a Gibson SG, but with tighter, more focused mids and highs (a point that is likely attributable in part to the Hailfire's maple top). The neck's slightly wider feel toward the headstock makes chords comfortable, but it’s a little tougher to pull off lightning-quick legato leads and clean, string-skipping melodies.
With light to moderate overdrive, the Hailfire SM yields a muscular array of rhythm and lead tones. The JB's characteristic detailed highs cut like a knife, and its raw midrange and thick low end provide a solid foundation for everything from classic-rock rhythms to late-’80s hard-rock riffing. Turning up the gain on my Mesa's orange channel added a little congestion in the midrange and dampened the presence a touch, and I experienced the same problem after switching over to a more mid-heavy Marshall JCM800. So when using the Hailfire's bridge pickup for heavier tones, it's best to set the amp's gain right at the point where the tone is both saturated and balanced, and then to use the amp's EQ to add low-end punch and more blistering highs.
The Verdict
The DBZ/Diamond Hailfire SM is solid guitar capable of covering much more musical ground than its flashy looks might suggest. Its lightweight, balanced construction alone make it a winner in a world that's constantly demanding lighter, more comfortable guitars, and the solid build and pickup complement are capable of handling everything from jazz to rock, blues, country, metal, and beyond. Shredders might prefer a narrower neck, but if you're in the market for a guitar with hot-rodded tone and custom looks to match—and at a pretty damn reasonable price—the DBZ/Diamond Hailfire SM offers a lot of compelling selling points.