This 1953 Fender Esquire belonged to Luther Perkins, who was a member of Cashās first recording bands and played on all of the Man in Blackās foundational recordings for Sun Recordsālikely with this guitar. Perkins played this instrument during the period when Cash classics from āI Walk the Lineā to āFolsom Prison Bluesā were cut. John Carter Cash bought this 1959 GibsonĀ Les Paul at Gruhnās in Nashville. It has a neck that is atypically slim for its vintage and appears as part of the psychedelic guitar interplay on the Songwriter song āDrive On.ā
Johnny Cashās āLostā Songwriter Album Arrivesā30 Years After It Was First Recorded
Photo by Alan Messer
āThe Man Comes Aroundā is a much-played song from the final album Johnny Cash recorded before his death in 2003, American IV: The Man Comes Around. Now, the Man in Black himself has come around again, as the voice and soul of a just-released album he initially cut in 1993, titled Songwriter.
Guitarist extraordinaire Joe Robinsonātouring behind his new mostly acoustic album, The Prizeāshows PGās John Bohlinger some of his prized 6-strings, ā60s Fender amps, and effects.
When Joe Robinson was learning to play in the remote village of Temagog, New South Wales, Australia, YouTube was his teacher. Then he discovered Tommy and Phil EmmanuelāAustraliaās sibling 6-string slicersāand set out on a path that would lead him to Nashville, where heās been a part of the cityās guitar cognoscenti for the past 13 years.
At 31, Robinsonās fans include Tommy Emmanuel (whoās been a committed mentor), Steve Vai, Robben Ford, Eric Johnson, Steve Lukather, Albert Lee, Steve Morse, and Lee Ritenour. Heās released six acclaimed albums, performed in 40-plus countries, and continues to serve a large online audience through livestream concerts and his own popular YouTube channel. Robinson shared his current touring rig before an October 18 show at his adopted hometownās City Winery.
Brought to you by DāAddario XS Coated Strings.
Aussie Pride
Robinson is equally at home playing fingerstyle on acoustic or flatpicking electric. When heās on acoustic, Joe plays his 2020 Maton signature model, which features a AA Sitka spruce top, Tasmanian myrtle back and sides, stainless steel frets, and proprietary Maton electronics. It wears Ernie Ball Paradigm or Earthwood sets, gauged .012ā.054, but Joe replaces the high E with a heftier .014.
Fender T-Zer
Hereās Joeās Fender Custom Shop Telecaster styled after a ā53, with 52T pickups designed by Ron Ellis (originally, for Julian Lage), a swamp ash body, and a 9.5" radius neck. It is typically strung Ernie Ball Slinky sets (.010ā.046), or, sometimes, Mega Slinkys (.0105ā.048).
The āBlessing āBurstā
This 1960 Les Paul, called the āBlessing Burst,ā is being auctioned off for Homes for Our Troops, a nonprofit organization that builds and donates specially adapted custom homes nationwide for severely injured post-9/11 veterans, to enable them to rebuild their lives. HFOT has built more than 345 homes to date, with another 65-plus projects underway nationwide. Robinson played the āBlessing Burstā on this gig, and before that it was on tour with Joe Bonamassa and Marcus King, among others
Fly AER Joe!
Joe usually uses the Udo Roesner Da Capo 75 amp, but on this tour heās using his tiny but mighty AER alpha because it fits in his flight case.
Lilā Champ
This 3-dial Fender toughie is from 1967, and Joe uses it for recording electric guitars as well as solo gigs, since it fits, well, just about anywhere!
Dynamite Duo
His burlier amps are a 1966 Fender Deluxe and a Magic Amplification tweed-style. If he needs to get really loud, Joe also has a 1967 Fender Showman that was modded by tube amp guru Kye Kennedy that he runs with a 1x15. Oh, and thatās an Amp RX Brown Box input voltage attenuator out front.
Yes, This is JRās āBoard
Robinsonās pedals sit on a Pedaltrain Metro 20 with a CIOKS DC-5 power supply hidden underneath. Itās divided into acoustic and electric sides. The acoustic domain houses a TC Electronic PolyTune Mini and a Boss RC-1 Loop Station. For electrics: another TC PolyTune Mini, a Dunlop Cry Baby Mini, a Nobels ODR-1 mini (run at 18v), another Boss RC-1, and a TC Hall of Fame mini.