![Rig Rundown: Blackberry Smoke's Charlie Starr & Paul Jackson [2023]](https://www.premierguitar.com/media-library/rig-rundown-blackberry-smoke-s-charlie-starr-and-paul-jackson-2023.jpg?id=33228971&width=1245&height=700&quality=85&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0)
Right now, they’re in Europe, but Atlanta-based rockers with a distinctly Southern musical accent, Blackberry Smoke, smoked Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium for two nights in February before jumping the pond.
Their latest album, You Hear Georgia, was produced by Dave Cobb in Nashville, and hit the top of the Billboard Americana/Folk chart when it was released in mid-2021. PG’s John Bohlinger caught up with guitarists Charlie Starr and Paul Jackson before their sold-out show at the Ryman to run down their ever-expanding universe of gear.
Brought to you by D’Addario XS Strings.
Battered, Not Fried
This 1956 Gibson Les Paul Junior was professionally refinished in the ’70s, but Charlie Starr has put some serious miles on this one-pickup wonder. The battered badass with a dog ear P-90 and all his electrics are strung with D’Addario XL Nickel Wound strings, .010–.046. He uses InTuneGP Heavy picks and a ceramic Charlie Starr Signature Osanippa Creek Slide.
Like Ernest Tubb and other guitarists from the classic annals of entertainment, Starr has a greeting on the back of his ’56 Junior for the fans.
Barnburner
For some semi-hollow tone and feel, Starr goes with his stock 1964 Gibson ES-335 in Cherry Red with a Bigsby. The guitar belonged to a friend’s grandfather, and when Starr acquired it, he says, “It had gouges at the C, G, and D,” positioning his hand over the open chord shapes. He had it re-fretted by Stan Williams in Georgia, who told Starr, “This guitar looks like it's been sitting outside in a barn since 1964. And I don't know how the dude was able to get a bird to shit inside that f-hole.”
Physical Advantage
Starr maintains that this 1965 Fender Esquire in factory black, like his other single pickup guitars, sounds larger than most as there are less magnets interfering with the string vibration. He adds, “I’m told that it’s a physics thing. And I’m a physicist, so I subscribe to that theory.”
The Rest of the Best
Here are the Starr's other main stage rides (clockwise from the top left): a 1956 Gibson Les Paul Jr., a 1963 Fender Esquire, a Fender American Nashville B-Bender Telecaster, and a 1964 Gibson SG Jr..
Tone Trifecta
“This is on all the time,” Starr says of his Echopark Vibramatic 23, which he pairs with a tall cab. “It's basically a tweed Deluxe, and it adds that 6V6 creamy sweetness all the time.” The maker of Blackberry Smoke’s 50-watt Germino heads, Greg Germino, personally recommended this Germino Lead 55LV (left) to Starr, and is paired with a 4x12 cab. And the other Germino is a Master Model 50.
Charlie Starr's Pedalboard
Starr’s pedalboard features a Cry Baby Wah, a PCE-FX Aluminum Falcon Klon clone, an Analog Man Sun Face, Chase Tone Secret Preamp—“a preamp that accidentally made everyone’s signal a little sweeter,”—Wampler Faux Tape Echo, Fulltone Supa-Trem, DryBell Vibe Machine, Analog Man-modded MXR Phase 45, and a Polytune 3. XTS XAct Tone Solutions supplies the juice. Starr tapes a few of the pedals’ knobs to make sure his settings don’t go missing in action.
Paul Jackson's Ol’ Reliable
Paul Jackson’s number one is his 1979 Les Paul, which has been modded with a Seymour Duncan ’59 neck pickup and a Pearly Gates bridge pickup. He says he got it at a Guitar Center in Atlanta about 18 years ago—it also sports Dickey Betts’ autograph. Jackson strings this and all his electrics with D’Addario .010-.046s.
Black Magic
This black Gibson SG Standard—one of Jackson’s pair of SGs—was a gift from Frank Hannon of the band Tesla, who signed the back of it.
Gibsons Galore
The other three touring staples for Jackson include a 1978 ES-335, a 40th Anniversary Les Paul Ebony 1991, and a 1998 Gibson SG Les Paul Custom Shop Historic.
De-Modded For Classic Tones
One of the two amps Jackson tours with is a pre-’85 Marshall JCM800 50-watt with a stock 4x12 cab. You’ll see it has a sticker that says “Paul Jackson Mod”—he had it modded at one point, but later took it to Andrews Amp Lab in Atlanta to have them “turn it back into a Marshall.” Along with the Marshall, Jackson’s Vox AC30 is on “all the time.”
Paul Jackson's Pedalboard
Jackson and Starr’s pedalboards have more than a few things in common—Jackson’s also equips his with a Cry Baby Wah, Wampler Faux Tape Echo, and a PCE-FX Aluminum Falcon Klon clone—although Jackson’s is an Aluminum Falcon III. Other pedals on his board include a Radial Twin-City ABY Amp Switcher, JHS 3 Series Reverb, MXR EVH Phase 90, Way Huge Overrated Special Overdrive, and an Ibanez Mini Tube Screamer. Power comes from a Truetone power supply. Of the EVH Phaser, Jackson says, “If you don’t know what you’re doing, hit the phase pedal. nobody will ever know.”
Eagles of Death Metal (left to right): lead guitarist Dave Catching, guitarist/frontman Jesse Hughes, and bassist Matt McJunkins.
1970s Gibson Flying V
Dave Catching has recorded and toured with Eagles of Death Metal since the early days of the band’s existence and about a decade of that time was spent with this 1970s Gibson Flying V as his No. 1. He believes the neck pickup is from Cort and the bridge humbucker is a DiMarzio. Now that he’s acquired the Echopark Albert V this beauty is a backup.
Echopark Guitars '58 Albert V
Catching quickly became friends with luthier Gabriel Currie who opened his Echopark Guitars shop across from the band’s rehearsal studio. Currie, a big fan of the guitarist and his many bands, built a replica of a 1958 Gibson Flying V that Catching uses throughout most EODM sets because “it plays perfect and never goes out of tune.” He strings up all his guitars with Ernie Ball Slinkys .010–0.48. Also, he and Hughes play the same open-G tuning (G–G–D–G–B–D) all night.
Normandy Guitars Alumicaster
The lone non-V on the road with Catching is a Normandy Guitars Alumicaster. This aluminum-bodied guitar has a Seymour Duncan SH-5 humbucker in the bridge and a STL-2 Hot Tele single-coil in the neck and is used on songs like “Complexity” and “Now I’m the Fool.”
Orange Amps OR50s
Dave brings his favorite Orange amp—the OR50—out on the road with him because it’s “simple, straight-forward and rocks.” Catching keeps the volume and gain dialed back—right about half—with plenty of bass on the amp because he gets the fuzz and dirt from his stompboxes.
Dave Catching's Pedalboard
The EODM touring lead guitarist picks up the pedal slack since 6-string counterpart Jesse Hughes doesn’t use any live and brings out a full board that’s stacked with a TC Electronic PolyTune 2 Noir, Jim Dunop Cry Baby Wah—he really loves to leave the pedal cocked open for nasally solos and cutting riffs—a Jim Dunlop Rotovibe, an EarthQuaker Devices Palisades that he uses for solo boosts, Fulltone Ultimate Octave Fuzz, TC Electronic T2 Hall of Fame Reverb, EarthQuaker Devices Dispatch Master, TC Electronic Flashback Triple Delay, Mantic Flex, and a Malekko Scrutator that is a bit crusher that Catching uses at the end of sets while dueling 6-strings with Hughes.
Matt McJunkins 2010 Fender American Deluxe Precision Bass
Bassist Matt McJunkins uses his 2010 Fender American Deluxe Precision Bass for the entire show. His preferred setting with the pickups is to have them blended so he can make tonal adjustments to his amp and pedals knowing that he has a core, distinguished bass tone.
Matt McJunkins Pedalboard
Because McJunkins runs his amps hot, he looks to get extremely overdriven and wonky sounds out of his three pedals—including a germanium Malekko B:Assmaster that “smoothly adds some bass, girth, and fatness” to his core sound, a ZVEX Mastotron that is used on newer songs like “Complexity” because of the pedal’s ability to give “stellar synth-like tones,” and a Malekko Scrutator that brings on the destruction. Other utility pedals include a Boss TU-3 Tuner, Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus power supply, and a Radial J48 Active Direct Box that allows the EODM soundman to get a clean signal before McJunkins colors it with his stomps.
Orange AD200Bass MKIII Heads
Like the guitarists in the band, McJunkins keeps everything covered in Orange Tolex as he rocks a pair of AD200Bass MKIII heads.
Jesse Hughes' Maton MS500s
Loyal to one brand, boogie-master frontman/guitarist Jesse Hughes plays nothing but Maton 6-strings live. The one on the left is a custom-made MS500 that features lightning bolts instead of f-holes and hotter-wound humbuckers that free Hughes from having any pedals at his feet due to the pickup’s ability to get him right to edge where clean and distortion meet.
The silverbust axe on the right is another custom-made creation—this is a baritone version of Maton’s MS T-Byrd that the Australian company gifted Hughes when they heard he recorded some baritone tracks on the just-released album Zipper Down. (The MS T-Byrd also features a single lightning bolt and hotter pickups.)
Jesse's Orange Rockverb 50 MKIII
Hughes asserts setting up his two amps on both sides of the drummer helps give the band a true stereo sound onstage. On one side is an Orange Rockerverb 50 MKIII.
Jesse's Orange Dual Dark 50
And on the other side of the drummer rests an Orange Dual Dark 50. While the guitarist records direct with a vintage Mosrite Fuzzrite and an original Orange Roger Mayer Axis Fuzz, Hughes feels the combination of the custom-made Matons and Orange tube powerhouses give him all the rock ’n’ roll tone he needs live.
[Updated 7/4/21]
