The blues-rocker takes us inside his remarkable gear sanctuary to show off classic Gibsons, a heaping helping of Hiwatts, and a bunch of rare Pete Cornish pedals.
Facing a mandatory shelter-in-place ordinance to limit the spread of COVID-19, PG enacted a hybrid approach to filming and producing Rig Rundowns. This is the 42nd video in that format.
For nearly two decades, Caleb “Bones” Owens has been fulfilling other artists’ and bandmates’ visions. He was a member of moody hard rockers The Becoming and longtime collaborator with dirty-south rapper Yelawolf. Other notable credits include working alongside Mikky Ekko, composing credits for Rose Falcon and Mike Mains & the Branches, and other contributions to Nashville-based acts. Now primed to take the wheel on his own musical excursion, Bones’ journey starts with his brand-new, self-titled debut album via Black Ranch Records/Thirty Tigers.
Just before releasing the his tight, rollicking 12-song collection, the frontman guitarist (and faux bassist) virtually welcomed PG’s Chris Kies into his Tennessee home jam space (that could double as a Kustom Amplification museum).
In this episode, we find out why Gibsons just fit Bones Owens (and his sound), he explains his Hiwatt-heavy and Echopark-rich amp pairings, and details the Pete Cornish-heavy pedalboards that enable him to punch with the guitar and rumble like a bass.
“This is one is special to me,” admits Bones Owens. “It’s been my main touring guitar for the last few years because it’s a Swiss-Army knife.” Above you’ll see his 2002 Gibson ES-355. If you recognize it from a previous Rig Rundown, you’re not wrong because it belonged to Guster’s Luke Reynolds before Owens bought it off him. Reynolds upgraded the 355 with Lollar pickups—an Imperial humbucker in the bridge, and a Charlie Christian in the neck—replaced the nut, added a Tune-o-matic bridge, a Bigsby, and swapped in Grover Vintage Deluxe tuners. Since purchasing it, Owens hasn’t done anything to the instrument and even hesitates to re-string it. Speaking of strings, Owens used to beat himself up with .012s but now loosens up with Ernie Ball Slinky .010s for most of his instruments.
A close-up of Owens' 2002 Gibson ES-355.
Owens’ favorite over quarantine has become this 2018 Gibson ES-355 “Black Beauty” that he picked up at Nashville guitar store Rumble Seat Music. It was aged by Rock N Roll Relics and was enhanced with Monty’s PAF pickups.
A close-up of Owen's 2018 Gibson ES-355 “Black Beauty”.
Here is Bones’ cherry 2015 Gibson Custom Collector’s Choice 1959 Les Paul Standard R9. While he mostly sticks to the bridge pickup, Owens says this ’burst begs to be in the neck position thanks to its warm alnico-III Custom Buckers.
A close-up of Bones' 2015 Gibson Custom Collector’s Choice 1959 Les Paul Standard R9.
For the oddball lovers, Owens busted out his 1972 Gibson Les Paul Recording singlecut. Before he bought the weirdo from J Gravity Strings in St. Louis, someone gave it the Ace Frehley treatment and dropped in three DiMarzio Super Distortions and stripped out all the crazy original wiring.
A close-up of his 1972 Gibson Les Paul Recording singlecut.
Meet “Ashtray,” Owens’ beloved 2000s Gibson Firebird non-reverse reissue (similar to the original run from mid-’65 through 1969) that is loaded with three mini-humbuckers. The nickname stems from the cigarette stench caked into the guitar when he bought it off a fine southern gentleman at an Alabama truck stop.
A close-up of Bones' 2000s Gibson Firebird non-reverse reissue.
The only non-Gibson in Owens’ Rundown is actually a licensed Gibson copy. Banker Custom Guitars is one of select few luthier shops that have been handpicked and authorized by Gibson to faithfully recreate their iconic instruments. Above is Banker’s ’58 V that has a period-correct two-piece korina body and neck, Indian rosewood fretboard, vintage-specific brass string plate, brad nails, and ferrules, and it came loaded with a set of OX4 Hot Duane PAFs.
A close-up of his Banker ’58 V.
For most of today’s Rundown, we were hearing this Echopark Vibramatic 4T5A. Owens mentions it is loosely based on a brown-panel Fender, but it does have a voice switch that kicks it into an earlier JTM45-style tone. This is supposedly one of 10 4T5A heads ever built.
The Vibramatic head runs into a matching Echopark cab that has three ceramic Warehouse Speakers—two 10" up top and a 12" on the bottom.
For a “bass” tone during his gritty blues-rock duo gigs, Owens will run this ’90s (Audio Brothers) Hiwatt Custom 100 DR103 alongside the Vibramatic. The DR103 rocks through an early ’70s Marshall 2034 cabinet. In a previous life, the 2034 was an 8x10 but now it’s home to two 15s.
Just a fraction of Bones' immense amp collection.
Owens’ signal out of the guitar hits his first board that’s dedicated to his “bass” sound that colors the DR103. The Spaceman Effects Saturn V Harmonic Booster is an always-on, no-matter-what pedal. Then it hits the Pete Cornish A/B/C amp splitter box. Out of that it runs into the Electro-Harmonix Micro POG (just for octave down) and then goes through a “tall font” EHX Big Muff that was rehoused by Mike Hill. From there, he has the Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver/DI. If things are cooking onstage, Owens will leave the Saturn V, Micro POG, Big Muff, and SansAmp all on, all the time.
The B signal path is much shorter—it incorporates the Echopark Echodriver that awakens the Echopark Vibramatic 4T5A.
(Typically, the C patch would hit a third amp and handle the bulk of effects, but for at-home-recording purposes, Owens routed all the stomps through the Echopark head.) Before jumping over to the second board on the left, the C path routes through the Cornish TB-83 Extra Treble Booster. Then we have plethora of Pete Cornish pedals—NG-3 (“imminent amp death” fuzz), a SS-3 (overdrive/distortion) & P-2 (distortion) housed together, CC-1 (boost/overdrive) that uses two fixed, low-gain, soft-clipping stages, and a NB-3 (linear boost). The other noisemakers and rebel rousers at Owens’ feet include a silver Klon Centaur, Endangered Audio Research AD4096 Analog Delay, a Skreddy Pedals Skreddy Echo, a JHS-modded Boss TR-2 Tremolo (rehoused by PG columnist Barry O’Neal over at XTS—XACT Tone Solutions), and in the top left is a Toneczar Effects Halophaze.
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The self-taught songstress joins us from Chicago to show off a modded ES-345 and hip us to her Irish alt-folk hero.
Whether backing Jason Mraz or fronting her trio, she just needs a 335, a Princeton Reverb, and a plane-ready pedalboard to make the world a groovier place.
Facing a mandatory shelter-in-place ordinance to limit the spread of COVID-19, PG enacted a hybrid approach to filming and producing Rig Rundowns. This is the 39th video in that format.
The doctor is in! Dr. Molly Miller has been backing up Jason Mraz for years (she has been featured on Know. and Look for the Good), worked with the Black-Eyed Peas, Donna Missal, and Morgxn, fronts her own trio, and is part of ABC’s house band for The Bachelor’s Listen To Your Heart. Oh yeah, and that doctor thing, she earned a Doctorate in Musical Arts from the University of Southern California in 2016 and soon after she became the chair of the Guitar Department at Los Angeles College of Music.
In between recording projects, livestreaming performances, and producing gear demos (she’s clearly not letting the pandemic slow her down), Miller virtually welcomed PG’s Chris Kies into her home jam space in Los Angeles, CA. In this Rig Rundown, Miller details her “soulmate” semi-hollow and the dependable Fender Tele (with a brand new neck) that have taken her around the world. Then the self-proclaimed stomp simpleton shows off her favorite pedal pairings that range from subtle, spacy pulsing to a spicy, snarky punch. And she explains why guitar diarrhea isn’t ok.
Molly Miller has a forthcoming trio album entitled St. George, which will be released on GSI records on June 4. The album’s first single “Spry” is out now. Or check out a live version.
“This is kinda my baby—it’s sorta my soulmate of guitars. There’s a lot of attachment here and it’s become a limb,” swoons Molly Miller when introducing her 1978 Gibson ES-335 finished in the subdued walnut. She’s been with this semi-hollowbody since Miller was 17 and scooped it up at her home base guitar store, Rhythm & Notes, in Redondo Beach.
The last gig before quarantine earned the 335 a battle scar (replacement G-string tuner) after she dropped it onstage. She’s had a refret done to it, but other than that it’s like the day she bought it. For strings, Miller rocks .011s from either Ernie Ball (Slinkys) or Gabriel Tenorio and she uses Copperpeace leather straps.
Originally sourced as a road dog fill-in for the 335, this run-of-the-mill Fender Tele has become a reliable ally for Miller. Her bond with the flexible workhorse has appreciated because it keeps her out of more boxes or redundant traps than the 335.
Just before filming the Rundown, the Tele returned with a new neck made by L.A. tech Mike Cornwall. She describes it in the video as “the top part is angular and the bottom half is rounded, but it plays like butter and is silk [laughs].”
Here is Miller’s Taylor Grand Auditorium Builder's Edition 614ce.
Another semi-hollow sweetie is this Taylor T3 that offers Molly a smaller-bodied option to her beefier 335.
Always on the hunt to find a road replacement for her ’78 ES, she scored one from where the 335s were originally built in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She says the newer Heritage H535 (loaded with Seymour Duncan ’59 humbuckers) is a bit brighter than her main semi-hollow, but it certainly could see stage time when touring resumes (hopefully in 2021).
[Editor’s note: Gibson HQ was founded by Orville Gibson in Kalamazoo in the late 1800s. He eventually moved production to 225 Parsons Street in 1917 and produced instruments until 1984 when Gibson moved to Nashville. A few former Gibson employees banded together and started Heritage in 1985 on those same hallowed grounds.]
While Molly waits for her own semi-hollow Ashbord to be built by luthier Kevin Equitz, she's taking good care of her friend's lovely 6-string.
If she’s amplified, she’s probably plugging into this modern reissue Fender Princeton Reverb combo that was modded at some point to make its narrow midrange voice a “wider” sound.
As you see here, Molly Miller is one for maximizing space. Not a wasted inch on this A3 Stompbox-built board that is home to a Chase Bliss Dark World, a couple of Keeleys (Mag Echo and Oxblood), a pair of EarthQuaker Devices (Dunes and Dispatch Master), A3 Stompbox Awesome overdrive, and Voodoo Lab Tremolo. Her two foot-controlled pedals are a A3 Stompbox custom volume pedal (left) and Fulltone Clyde Standard Wah (right). Molly’s guitars are kept in check with a TC Electronic PolyTune 2 Mini and she added the brand new EarthQuaker Devices Astral Destiny for some freaky tones during the Rundown.