Fourteen years after their Grammy-winning debut, Raising Sand, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss followed up with Raise the Roof—which was nominated for three more Grammys. Now on tour, the duo also has a new band that includes bassist Viktor Krauss, guitarist JD McPherson, and utility player Stuart Duncan. But before they hit the road, Krause, Duncan, and McPherson—and their techs Paul Ackling and Kevin Devogel— invited the PG team to a rehearsal at Soundcheck Nashville for a look behind the gear curtain. Here’s a sampling of what our team of John Bohlinger, Chris Kies, and Perry Bean saw. Watch the Rundown for the whole picture.
Brought to you by D’Addario XPND Pedalboard.
Fender Bender
This Fender Squier Telecaster—property of Stuart Duncan—has a palm bender for a steel-like effect, and wears Ernie Ball M Steel 2915s, gauged .010–.052.
Brown Silver
Duncan’s vintage Silvertone is strung with Ernie Ball Power Slinky nickelwound 2220 strings, gauged .011–.048.
Lil’ Git
Stuart’s Yamaha Guitalele uses Ernie Ball Ernesto Palla 2403 classical-style guitar strings. Also in his acoustic line-up is a Gibson J-45 and a Martin D-28, which both take Ernie Ball Earthwood phosphor bronze strings.
The Giraffe
This Gibson long-neck banjo uses Ernie Ball 5-string Banjo Frailing strings gauged at .010–.024, with loop ends.
Resophonic Rouser
Duncan’s Gold Tone Paul Beard Signature Series Resonator wears Ernie Ball bronze-alloy Earthwood light acoustic strings.
Stuart Duncan's Pedalboard
This comparatively stripped board does the job for Duncan. It’s got two Boss TU-3 tuners, an IndyGuitarist Effects custom OD, a Carl Martin TremO’vibe, and a Benado multi-effects with a Steel-Verb, Echo-Zen delay, and NutraDrive OD.
Tone Tools
Victor Krauss has a distinctive sonic setup, since he covers both bass and guitar in the band. One of his main instruments is this 1967 Galanti Grand Prix.
Towers
And a Yamaha RA-200R rotating speaker cabinet driven by a Groove Tubes GT Trio preamp.
Meet the
Here’s Krauss’ stock 1964 Gibson SG Standard.
Solid Guitars
He also plays a high-mileage 1961 Gibson Les Paul—a double-cutaway from the era before this body design became tagged as the SG.
Get Shorty!
This ’60s Vox Octave 12—a short-scale instrument also called a mando-guitar—has been modified to a 6 string.
Dano Dancer
Among his other vintage instruments is a 1957 Danelectro UB-2 6-string bass that’s still stock.
Twang Thang
One of the few new axes in his arsenal is this 2022 Gretsch Duane Eddy Bass VI.
The Organic
For acoustic, Kraus chases two options: this 1943 Gibson LG-2.
Fantastics
And the other is a velvety 1953 Martin 0-18.
Viktor Krauss' Pedalboard
From his hands and instruments’ strings, the signal goes to a Boss TU-3W tuner, an Xotic EP Booster, a Guyatone ST2 compressor, another EP Booster, a Boss LS-2 Line Selector (with a send/return to an EHX Pitch Fork and a Danelectro Back Talk), a Nobles ODR-1, a Mostortion MT10, a Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor, a Klon KTR, a Game Changer Audio Plus Sustain (controlling a Boss RE-2 Space Echo), a Fulltone Supa-Trem2, a Strymon Volante, a Hologram Microcosm Granular Looper & Glitch pedal, a Line 6 DL4 MkII delay, a Strymon blueSky, and an Ernie Ball volume pedal for the Yamaha RA-200R, another Strymon blueSky, and a Demeter VTDB-2B Tube DI for the Danelectro.
Pink Panther
This Fender Jazzmaster features some custom work by guitar maker TK Smith and the Fender Custom Shop. All JD’s guitars are strung with D’Addarios.
Flex-Able Flyer
This Supro Dual Tone stays dropped down a half-step.
This custom TK Smith 6-string has long been one of McPherson’s favorites. Groove on those pickup covers and that whammy bar!
The Rest of the Best
The remaining gunslingers in McPherson's holster including a Fender Custom Shop Tele, a Gretsch G6134T-58 Vintage Select '58 Penguin with Bigsby, and a pair of TK Smith creations (right side)
Amp Trinity
McPherson plays through a Fender tweed Pro-Amp reissue and a ’68 Vibrolux, while a Texotica Presidio 15 hangs in as a backup, but gets used as his main sound source when he does his own opening set.
JD McPherson's Pedalboard
McPherson runs his guitars into a D’Addario tuner. From there, the signal hits an Echoplex preamp, a Fender ’65 Deluxe pedal, a Crowther Hot Cake, a Way Huge Havelina Fuzz, a Tsakalis AudioWorks Six, an MXR Tremolo, a Fender MTG Tube tremolo, an Echoplex delay, an EHX Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai, and a Dr. Scientist Reverberator and Reverberato—all into a Live Wire Solutions ABY box leading to JD’s amps.
“You have to push the boundaries of your creativity, and challenge yourself sonically, and that’s what’s exciting about this album: It’s how uncomfortable it is.”
On his mother’s side, his ancestor was a woman from Scotland sold to work in 1750s colonial Virginia. She lived, somehow, in a common-law marriage with her enslaved Black husband. For Fantastic Negrito, that discovery was transformative. “I felt like my ancestors were tapping me, like, ‘Hey man, we’ve got this amazing story. We’re not on the left. We’re not on the right. We’re not entrenched in some ideology. We’re just two people from the opposite sides of the spectrum who found love together at a time when that was impossible.’ I am the result of that, seven generations later. I didn’t know who I was, but I guess I am exactly who I need to be.”
Fantastic Negrito - White Jesus Black Problems (Full Film)
On record, Fantastic Negrito’s main guitar foil is Japan’s Masa Kohama. When Kohama auditioned for the band, he could barely speak English and Fantastic Negrito was skeptical. He thought, “‘This is going to be quick. Let’s audition.’ And he blew me away. I was like, ‘Wow, maybe I was being prejudiced?’”
That story and the accompanying awe that sprang from unearthing his roots permeate his latest release, White Jesus Black Problems. But it’s not just an audio album—it’s a visual work of art that combines many of the songs’ videos into a seamless, Broadway-like production that’s essentially a companion film for the 12-song record. Both are a rich, high-energy explorations of identity, race, love, determination, freedom, and history.
But there’s another level to Fantastic Negrito’s artistry—something he wrestles with, ironically, because of his fabulous success. Winning a Best Contemporary Blues Album Grammy for each of his last three albums left him with a conundrum: Should he give fans what they expect or forge ahead with his constantly evolving musical vision, wherever that may lead?
“I always start by myself. I have an $89 Rogue bass—it’s like an old violin bass. I start out on that a lot of times.”
He chose the latter. “I am going to answer to the music,” he says. “You can’t win three Grammys in a row and then not push to make something that’s outside the box, something that’s brave, outrageous, bombastic. It was like my grandparent’s story. That story’s real, and that meant the album had to be out there—as far as I could push—because my grandparents are obviously out there. You have to push the boundaries of your creativity and challenge yourself sonically, and that’s what’s exciting about this album: It’s how uncomfortable it is. The artists that I loved were always the ones that were a little uncomfortable. You hear the record and think, ‘Is it okay that this is happening?’ I always strive for that.”
White Jesus Black Problems oozes catchy melodies and is eminently singable, although it’s anything but conventional. It starts with “Venomous Dogma,” which eschews the standard verse/chorus formula and feels almost through-composed, morphing trippy psychedelia into a heavy, riff-centric romp.
“That song was fun,” Fantastic Negrito says. “I wrote that and thought, ‘My grandmother must have been a little girl in Scotland when, one day, boom, now you’re an indentured servant for seven years. What the hell?’ The tumultuous energy in that song—complete bliss turning to complete hardship, which must have been the same for my grandfather—I wanted to tell that story and capture that energy. It was very cathartic and that’s why it does what it does.”
While this Epiphone Dot wasn’t on the new album, Fantastic Negrito’s Epiphone Masterbilt Zenith was one of his go-to instruments for the sessions.
Other songs on the album, like the funky “Highest Bidder,” or “Trudoo,” which owes something to classic P-Funk (or maybe Prince), go in a very different direction. The same is true for the doo-wop feel of “Nibbadip” and the ’70s-era riffage of “Oh Betty” and “Man with No Name.” Yet White Jesus Black Problems feels cohesive because its story has twists and turns of the sort we encounter in real life.
“With me, it’s completely organic,” he says. “A song could start out with a beat that I clap, or a groove, or a poem, or with a guitar or piano or bass. I have no routine. The routine is to let the song write itself, let it happen. Tune into this channel—this frequency of the universe—and let it happen. Maybe most of it’s not great, but 10 percent of it may be pretty good, and that’s when you tell the story.
“One of the most important things to me as an artist or songwriter, regardless of genre—roots, Americana, the blues, whatever—is the stories the songs are telling. That’s it. Really. That gets lost, the stories, but it’s about the stories. People needed those stories to keep making it through the generations, whether it was bondage, Jim Crow, segregation—they needed the story, the music was the medicine. There’s a reason why African-Americans created all this music—all these genres for the whole world to enjoy: They had to survive some of the most challenging situations in this country, and the music has all that feeling because people were trying to save themselves.”
“I can’t paint these pictures without these other musicians. They have completely different tastes than I do, too, which is good.”
Part of keeping it organic is making sure he’s always prepared for when the muse strikes. Fantastic sleeps with an Epiphone Masterbilt acoustic-electric next to his bed and always has an iPhone on hand to record ideas when they hit. “I am full of ideas,” he says. “I wake up in the middle of the night—I live on a farm—you walk out and clean out the chicken coop and then, ‘Oh no! I got something!’ I always have my guitar. That Epiphone is a good friend. It’s fed me and my tribe.”
When he gets to the studio, he scrolls through the audio files on his phone, picks out the gems, and presses record. “I always start by myself,” he says. “I have an $89 Rogue bass—it’s like an old violin bass [the instrument makes an appearance in the video for “Venomous Dogma”]. I start out on that a lot of times. I start tracking, lay down everything, and then I get the boys in, because I am really a songwriter first.”
But he’s also an arranger with a keen ear for orchestration and interwoven parts. Layers of guitars—and an occasional Minimoog—weave their way in and out of the various songs off White Jesus Black Problems. And once a song starts taking shape, his artistic vision is crystal clear. “That’s what makes the records go fast and easy,” he says. “But I can’t paint these pictures without these other musicians. Their contribution is massive and I give full credit to them, always. They have completely different tastes than I do, too, which is good.”
Fantastic Negrito’s Gear
Fantastic Negrito atop his preferred amplifier, an Orange TremLord 30, with a P-90-stocked Chapman T-style.
Guitars
- Epiphone Masterbilt Zenith acoustic-electric
- Gibson Les Paul Signature semi-hollow goldtop
- Chapman ML3 Pro Traditional
- Gibson Hummingbird
- ESP 400 Series T-style
Strings
- DR Strings .009 sets
Amps
- Orange TremLord 30 combo
Effects
- EarthQuaker Devices Sea Machine V3 Chorus
- EarthQuaker Devices Park Fuzz Sound
Masa Kohama plays lead guitar on almost every track on the album, while he and Fantastic cover rhythm-guitar chores together. They’ve been a guitar team for almost 25 years, since a young Xavier Dphrepaulezz first signed to Interscope Records (as simply Xavier) for his ill-fated first outing with a major label, 1996’s The X Factor.“
I was looking for a guitar player who could play all the different styles that I play and, boom, here comes this Japanese guy who can barely speak English,” he remembers. “I thought, ‘This is going to be quick. Let’s audition.’ But he blew me away. I was like, ‘Wow, maybe I was being prejudiced?’ I didn’t expect that from him. He’s such a great player, and I’ve never made a record without him.”
The pair gets together to write and bounce ideas off one another in the same room at least once a year—Kohama is still based in Japan—and they share files across continents the rest of the time. But after so long, their natural synergistic relationship is at a point where they know what to expect. “We can read each other’s minds. Absolutely. He knows and I know, and that’s how it goes.”
Fantastic onstage with a slope-shouldered Epiphone Masterbilt dreadnought.
Photo by Debi Del Grande
Kohama doesn’t tour with Fantastic, though. That job is filled by Tomas Salcedo, who’s been on the road with the group for years. He’s also the guitarist you see in most of the live clips and videos. He makes an appearance on White Jesus Black Problems, too.
“I always let Tomas get on the records, and he brings something different than Masa,” Fantastic Negrito says. “He’s on the song ‘Virginia Soil,’ and I needed him on that song because he does less a lot, and that’s amazing. That song is empty, open, beautiful, and a lot of it is breathing.”
Fantastic’s affinity for “less” applies to his tonal approach, as well. He primarily uses just a guitar, an amp, and mics. Pedals are not a big part of his sound—although he does have two EarthQuaker Devices units, a Sea Machine V3 Chorus and a Park Fuzz Sound, that sit on his mixing console for use in post-production. But for the most part, he records guitars clean.
“I tell Masa to play completely dry. No effects. I say, ‘Even play direct if you have to,’ because then you can reamp it. Or you can use board distortion. I love that—where you’re just pushing it from the board. I’ll use the mics that are in the piano to catch part of the guitar. I love reamping. You can be more creative and get more interesting sounds.”
But, again, those great sounds, those recording techniques, and that gear are just tools for conveying the all-important stories, whether they’re about reaching majestic heights or sinking to painful lows—like the debilitating car accident that put Fantastic in a coma for three weeks and cost him both his first record deal and much of the use of his right hand. That he rekindled his will, stormed back from career death, and can still lay down an infectious guitar groove makes him a bona fide inspiration. Perhaps it’s because he never ceases lookingfor inspiration from something he feels was always embedded within him.
“I hate to keep talking about my seventh-generation grandparents, but it’s from them,” he says. “You find a way. The most challenging situation, the most insurmountable odds were against me to play again, but I found a way. I figured out all this came from these people—these incredible people who lived in the 1700s. I feel there’s something about DNA and blood, and I always had this attitude that no matter what, we can do it. And that’s from them.”
Fantastic Negrito performs a short acoustic set and talks about the family history behind White Jesus Black Problems at South by Southwest 2022. Note the technique he has developed with his accident-damaged picking hand, which he calls “the claw.”
Q: Do you own or use more than one amp—why or why not?
Kevin Morby — Guest Picker
Photo by Johnny Eastlund
A: I technically own four different amps. Two different Orange 15-watt practice amps that are great for recording and running vocals through in my living room. I also own a Supro and Fender Vibrolux. The Fender Vibrolux is my most used amp, and the Supro is good if I ever want a lot of overdrive.
Kevin Morby's Current Obsession:
My current musical obsession is MJ Lenderman, a young artist from Asheville, North Carolina, who is making incredible music. If I didn’t know his backstory, I would maybe think I was listening to a lost demo from the early ’90s Drag City submissions bin. But it’s not from then, it’s from now, and it’s amazing. I listened to it while mowing the lawn recently and it was perfect lawn-mowing music. He is also incredible at guitar. Go listen!
Joseph Müs Contento's — Reader of the Month
A: Yep, and I use them both at the same time. Got a Vox Night Train combo set clean and a Marshall Class 5 set dirty, and the resulting sound is a sparkly, gritty mix. Chimey and articulate, while warm and meaty. Best of both worlds.
Eventually I want a Fender ’65 Princeton Reissue and a Marshall Silver Jubilee 20-watt combo to really accentuate those qualities. I also use stereo delay and ping-pong the signal between the two amps. The further I physically keep the amps away from each other, the more dramatic the effect. It’s trippy and atmospheric AF, fills out the space between notes, and I love it.
Joseph Müs Contento Current Obsession:
Continuing to build the coolest guitars I can. I’ve settled into my job at Gibson Custom and have slowly built up a woodshop of my very own. The inaugural build that I just started this spring is my entry to this year’s Great Guitar Build-Off. I’m excited to dig my teeth into my new tools and techniques and to see how far I’ve come as a luthier in the past two years!
Shawn Hammond — Chief Content Officer
A: Yes! I love the variety of tones and textures imparted by different types of power tubes—and that you can further tweak responsiveness with preamp-tube swaps.
My ’76 Fender Vibrolux Reverb (6L6 tubes) is a killer pedal platform and pairing it with a Fender Rumble 200 bass amp adds massive oomph. An old Fender Vibro Champ (6V6) is great for middle-of-the-night playing that still sounds nice (I hate headphones).
A Sound City SC30 (KT66s) yields a huge array of British tones with killer reverb, a Goodsell Valpreux 21 (6973s) is great for soulful, old-school tones at a reasonable volume, while a Jaguar HC50 (EL34s) combo has big, brawny sounds, thanks to its Hiwatt-esque circuit and oversized cab.
Shawn Hammond's Current Obsession:
Current obsession: Fontaines D.C.’s new album, Skinty Fia.
Ted Drozdowski — Senior Editor
Photo by Johnny Hubbard
A: I’ve curated my amps for a wide variety of tones, and I love having Marshall, Fender, Carr, Supro, Orange, and Quilter sounds at ready for the stage—where I run in stereo—and studio.
After many years, I’ve found a voice as a guitarist that’s my own, and blending a variety of amps, guitars, and effects is part of it.
Ted Drozdowski's Current Obsession:
Germanium fuzz and octave fuzz pedals. Over the past year I’ve gone deep into fuzzworld and acquired a pile of stomps, including three custom builds (my one-off Burns Buzzaround clone with four germanium chips is satanically heavenly), and they’ve expanded my sonic vocabulary even more. I want to keep it expanding, like the universe.