It’s been a busy year for Jack White. The enigmatic artist and Third Man Records boss rolled out his sixth solo album, No Name, this summer, first as secret, unmarked vinyls distributed to Third Man customers, then with a full-blown digital release on August 2. He celebrated the record with a tour of last-minute-notice, small-room gigs around the U.S., proving that mystery and randomness can still exist in the world of algorithms and overblown marketing.
That’s not all. In September, Fender and White launched a line of signature products that were years in the making, including the eye-popping Pano Verb amplifier and feature-packed Triplecaster. PG’s John Bohlinger scored an invite to White’s Nashville headquarters to do a full walk-through of White’s current touring rig, courtesy of tech and collaborator Dan Mancini.
Here’s a sneak peek at some key pieces of White’s arsenal, but you’ll have to watch the full rundown to catch Jack’s custom Jazzmaster with some Mancini-executed “redneck engineering,” his new Triplesonic Acoustasonic model, and a cameo from the Third Man himself—right after Bohlinger accidentally breaks one of his guitars.
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This Jack White Triplecaster Telecaster is the culmination of White’s career of tinkering, tweaking, and optimizing his favorite pieces of gear. This Frankenstein’s monster is packed with features, like a kill switch on the lower bout, a Bigsby B5 Vibrato, a Hipshot Xtender to jump into drop-D tuning, and a three-way switch that can kill the signal or bypass the guitar’s tone circuit. White’s personal model, though, also counts a B-bender system he started using on the Raconteurs’ 2019 tour, which doesn’t come with the production-line models.
White worked with Fender pickup guru Tim Shaw to build the three-pickup arrangement. The custom Jack White Humbucker in the bridge was inspired by a Shaw-built pickup Jack heard in his wife’s guitar; the middle JW-90 is a Shaw-voiced, P-90-inspired unit; and the neck bears a Jack White Cunife Wide-Range Humbucker.
Two other Triplecasters, finished in sparkle blue, lurk near at hand, too. They’re all strung with .010–.046 strings.
A special, Mancini-modded Fender Jazzmaster in sparkle blue also figures into White’s current rotation. It’s loaded with Tim Shaw Firebird pickups, and Mancini managed to squeeze the guts of an Electro-Harmonix Pitchfork pedal into the body, along with the required controls. It takes .011–.049 strings.
Kay.O.
According to Mancini, White has had this vintage Kay Archtop since he was 20 years old—he shares its origin story in the 2008 documentary It Might Get Loud. With 25 years of service to one of rock’s most heavy-handed guitarists, it’s been through the ringer. Mancini has executed fix-ups over the years as needed, including a binding patch he whipped up at BBC’s Maida Vale studios using old console knobs.
For other acoustic-ish set pieces, White calls on his signature Triplesonic Acoustasonic Telecaster, strung with .012–0.53s.
Jack White's 2024 Pedalboard and Amp
White’s signature Fender Pano Verb combines some of his favorite amps into a dream scenario, where the best vintage elements are housed alongside modern capabilities. Influenced in large part by his 1964 Fender Vibroverb, the 70-watt Pano Verb uses two 6L6 and two 6V6 power tubes to deliver its stereo sound, which is realized via one 15" Jensen C15N and one 10" Jensen P10R speaker. The onboard spring reverb can be sent to both speakers, or just the P10R for a different flavor. The tremolo can be split up to run in either stereo or mono, and there’s a built-in boost to drive the amp even harder.
Currently, White has three Pano Verbs onstage, and runs one amp at a time: The center-stage amp for his electric, the stage-right one for his Kay, and the stage-left box as a backup.
White builds on that substantial base sound with what Mancini describes as a “modular” pedalboard setup, consisting of two boards. The first is White’s “burger and drink” board, the things he has to have; the other is his “fries and milkshake” board, the things that would be nice to bring along but aren’t 100 percent necessary.
There are a few prototype and unreleased boxes that Mancini skips over, but aside from those, White’s stomp setup, from nose to tail, includes a Boss TU-3W, Radial BigShot ABY, Dunlop Cry Baby, DigiTech Whammy, MXR x Third Man Hardware Double Down Pedal, rehoused Electro-Harmonix Big Muff, Donner x Third Man Hardware Triple Threat, rehoused Klon Centaur, ISP Technologies Deci-Mate, CopperSound Pedals Triplegraph, Anasounds La Grotte, Eventide Knife Drop, Union Tube & Transistor Bumble Buzz, Third Man Records x Mantic Flex, and Third Man Records x Gamechanger Audio Plasma Coil.
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Jack White Triplesonic Acoustasonic Telecaster
Jack White Triplecaster Telecaster
Third Man Records x Gamechanger Audio Plasma Coil
This rare 1941 Kay Carson Robison guitar bears traces of multiple repairs done over time.
Today, we’re familiar with the names Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, but back then, any cowboy fan would have also known Carson Robison. Robison was born in 1890 to a champion-fiddler father and a dance-caller mother. In the 1920s, he was one of the first cowboy singers to become a radio performer, famous for his virtuosic whistling ability. He wrote over 300 songs in his career, including his 1948 hit, “Life Gets Tee-Jus, Don’t It,” featured in episode 123 of the original Muppet Show, which is how I first heard of him.
The Montgomery Ward catalog offered Carson Robison-model guitars from 1930 through 1941. The 6-string changed a little every couple of years, ultimately ending up with eight different variations. The subject of this month’s column is the rare eighth variation, also called Model 964, made only for a short time in the fall of 1941 by the Kay Musical Instrument Company. According to the original catalog, it has a “Selected Spruce Top” and mahogany back and sides, and the top is solid wood as far as we can tell. The back and sides, however, are made of a few disparate pieces. The body on this guitar was shrunk from the previous grand auditorium size (41 1/4 x 16 1/4) to a smaller grand concert size (39 1/2 x 14), and it has a distinctive oval-shaped soundhole. Like the other Carson Robison guitars, it has his signature painted on the body, below the bridge.
Also known as Model 964, this version of the Carson Robison is the eighth variation on the original.
Photo by Madison Thorn
This particular example has had a number of repairs over the years. The tuners are newer, and it’s had a bone saddle installed. Its amber sunburst finish has some overspray, likely covering a past repair. It’s also had a refret and a neck reset, and it’s playing better than ever. The neck has a chunky V-shape, which is typical for these early-20th century guitars that were made before truss rods. It’s got a bunch of dings, finish-checking, and evidence of past repairs, which I think adds character. I like to imagine this guitar had a dynamic early life, being played and loved by some rowdy siblings.
While researching this model, we at Fanny’s House of Music in Nashville came across a clipping of the 1941 Montgomery Ward catalog this guitar was listed in and found something curious cut off on the left side of the page. Featured right next to the Carson Robison guitar was a 6-string bearing the name of Louise Massey. Could it be that not all singing cowboys were boys? I found myself in the throes of a deep Google search when our old friend Frank Hall came to the rescue.
“I like to imagine this guitar had a dynamic early life, being played and loved by some rowdy siblings.”
Frank Hall was a fixture here in Nashville. He was a member of the Serendipity Singers, a folk group that performed at Woodstock. He was also a lifelong guitar collector and one of the world’s preeminent “catalog guitar” experts. He came into Fanny’s often to tell us stories about these old guitars, and when we were lucky, he’d play us a song. Frank passed away in early 2021, but he left us with a wealth of knowledge, and importantly, for our purposes today, a tome called Cowboy Guitars by Steve Evans and Ron Middlebrook.
Time and wear have given this guitar a character as craggy as the old West.
Photo by Madison Thorn
The owners of Fanny’s, Pamela Cole and Leigh Maples, plopped it open on our front desk to page 106, where I read the history of Louise Massey and the Kay-made Montgomery Ward guitar that bears her name. Louise was known for her hit song “My Adobe Hacienda,” a beautiful tune calling back to the real heroes of cowboy culture, Mexican vaqueros. Her signature guitar was only made for a few short months in the fall of 1941, at the same time as our Carson Robison. As far as we know, it is the only cowboy guitar to feature a woman artist. Not even the Queen of the West, Dale Evans, had that honor!
This wonderful Kay acoustic took us on quite a journey. We love the stories in these old guitars, and we especially love seeing them write new stories with new owners. Sometimes all it takes is a neck set, and a little flattop like this one is all ready to inspire a new generation. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must go scour eBay for a Louise Massey guitar.
