Stovall, in 2014, saw him question his Mormon missionary upbringing. Two years later, Much Love focused on realities versus the romance of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle. And 2019's Death Is a Warm Blanket is a dark, heavier, raging deep dive into his nihilistic thoughts. All three albums are honest, coarse evaluations of the pushing and pulling in Hardy's head and heart.
Musically, the band has matured alongside Hardy's contemplative subject matter. Stovall and Much Love harness the teeter-totter dynamics mastered by Nirvana and also felt in Microwave's post-hardcore contemporaries like early Citizen and Turnover.
While their loudest, most aggressive tendencies were unleashed in Death Is a Warm Blanket, Microwave's melodies and hooks can still be sticky and sweet as honey. Finally able to tour in support of that album, Microwave packed Nashville's Mercy Lounge on October 15. Just after soundcheck, Hardy and guitarist Travis Hill introduced PG to their favorite battle axes, walked us through their Odd Couple pedalboards, and Hill explained how an outdated laptop and trial version of Logic Pro provides a universal "poor man's Kemper" for guitars and bass.
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Classic Cruiser
Travis Hill took just one guitar with him during Microwave's fall U.S. tour—his beloved early 2000s Gibson Les Paul Classic 1960 reissue. (A guitar he swears he'll never sell.) The wine red beaut is completely stock including its 496R and 500T humbuckers. It takes Ernie Ball 2215 Nickel Skinny Top/Heavy Bottom strings (.010–.052).
Logic-al Logistics
The band practices in Atlanta using the Overloud plug-in on Pro Tools, and they're accustomed to its amp tones. Nathan wanted to travel with Kempers, but Travis suggested he could run guitars and bass through a free, bundled Slate version of Overloud via a trial version of Logic Pro and an old Focusrite Saffire Pro. Bass has one track, Nathan has two, and Travis has three with two going to FOH and one hitting his onstage cab for monitoring and feedback.
I Gotta Be Heard
While most of Hill's tone gets pumped through the PA and into his in-ear monitors, he still does require stage noise for live monitoring and feedback. He takes out the Orange Rockerverb 50 combo (bypassing its circuitry) and treats it like an extension cab. He prefers the open-back design and hasn't touched the stock Celestion Vintage 30s.
Organized Filth
The majority of Travis' tone comes from here. And at a quick glance you have two takeaways: He loves grimy gain (see the top row) and keeps a tidy workspace. His Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer is always on. ("It's just a slight push, but you notice it when it's not there.") The other top-row terrorizers are a Fulltone OCD, Fuzzrocious Cat Tail, Way Huge Swollen Pickle, Fuzzrocious Demon King, Walrus Audio Iron Horse, and, off to the side, an EarthQuaker Devices Data Corrupter. Anything that includes repeats, modulation, and clean sounds is supplied by the Boss GT-1000CORE. For maximum control, he has a Boss ES-8 Switching System and Boss EV-30 Dual Expression pedal.
Addendum Effects
Off Travis' main stomp station is an auxiliary board that holds a RapcoHorizon Straightline Passive Direct Box and an Electro-Harmonix 22500 Dual Stereo Looper that keeps some pre-recorded tracks.
Go For the Gold!
Frontman and Microwave cofounder Nathan Hardy unsuspectedly strolled into Atlanta's Earthshaking Music and walked out with this Rivolta Guitars Mondata II HB finished in a marvelous capo gold. The used score still has its original Rivolta "Brevetto" PAF-style humbuckers. Other highlights include a mahogany body—with a raised center block à la a Firebird—and a maple neck paired with a pau ferro fretboard.
Baritone Bruiser
Microwave's 2019 album Death Is a Warm Blanket requires some beefy bari parts, so Hardy found this Fender Blacktop Baritone Telecaster that originally started life in an HSS format. When he bought it, the previous owner had swapped in a set of TV Jones Filter'Trons. To better fit the crisp heaviness Microwave heats the stage with, Hardy had a tech friend drop in a set of EMG 81/85s. Nathan employs Ernie Ball 2220 Power Slinkys (.011–.048).
Nothing Stays Forever
If Travis Hill's pedalboard is Felix Unger, then Hardy's has to be Oscar Madison. Nathan admits in the Rundown that everything on his board has an expiration date. He loves swapping in and out stomps, chasing perfect pedal pairings. The current construct of his tone-tweaking platform harbors some powerfully paranormal boxes—specifically the Gamechanger Audio Plasma (high-voltage distortion pedal) and the Hologram Electronics Dream Sequence (sequencer, envelope shaper, pitch shifter, sampler, and more). The rest of the pedals are fairly standard: Boss BF-3 Flanger, DigiTech Whammy, Ibanez TS Mini Tube Screamer, EarthQuaker Devices Gray Channel, Greer Amps Super Hornet, Boss PH-3 Phase Shifter, Boss DD-500 Digital Delay, Boss GE-7 Equalizer, and TC Electronic Mimiq. The pair of guitars are kept in check by the Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner and a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus juices the pedals.
Singing Stomps
Hardy hits his voice with some effects from the Line 6 DL4, Electro-Harmonix Small Clone, and Pro Co RAT.
![Rig Rundown: The Dead Daisies [2021]](https://www.premierguitar.com/media-library/rig-rundown-the-dead-daisies-doug-aldrich-glenn-hughes.jpg?id=27077708&width=1245&height=700&quality=85&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0)
When we rolled into Nashville's Mercy Lounge during soundcheck, the band was roaring through the Deep Purple classic "Mistreated," with Glenn Hughes hitting all the requisite high notes and Doug Aldrich laying down the song's heavy riff. Drummer Tommy Clufetos and bassist Hughes had the groove in a headlock, and guitarist David Lowy—who leads this musical collective—was grinding out the rhythm.
After the check, we talked to legends Aldrich, of Whitesnake and Dio fame, and Hughes, whose bona fides include Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, and Black Country Communion, about the gear they're using to push up Daisies, who have a new album called Holy Ground. So, get ready for gold tops, Marshalls, a killer Nash bass, and a couple stacks of Orange-flavored goodness.
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Doug’s Gold and Black Beauty
For the Dead Daisies' current tour, Doug Aldrich is slinging three LP-style gold tops. His main instrument is this black-pickguard-wearing road-warrior. It's his favorite among the six gold tops he owns, yielding what he describes as a "big, open sound." (True that!) He acquired this '57 Gibson Custom Shop reissue in 2008 and replaced the pickups with his Suhr signature high-outputs. The tuners are by TonePros and the well-played axe has been refretted by Bruce Nelson of L.A.'s Nelson Guitar Works. Otherwise, it's stock. And he uses .11–.50 Dunlop strings and tunes down a whole step on all his guitars for Dead Daisies.
The Golden Ruby
The Golden Ruby was built by Leo Scala and named for Aldrich's pre-school-aged daughter. In addition to being onstage, it's gone to class with her for show-and-tell. It's a bit different from his Gibsons, although it also sports his Suhr signature pickups, in that the neck's got a slightly thinner profile—"but still chunky," Doug adds. "I like a chunky neck." There's also a wraparound bridge and, like most L.P.-style guitars, it's got a mahogany body and maple top.
Head Games
The most immediately noticeable difference on Aldrich's Scala L.P.-style is its hand-tooled headstock, which features a distinctive top cut and Scala's signature logo.
A Real Signature Model
And Ruby's done a little customizing on this Scala herself. It took a few practice runs to nail this autograph for daddy.
Born on the Sunburst
It was love at first site when Aldrich saw this '59 reissue at a friend's house during the COVID lockdown. It was sent to his pal by Gibson, and the high eye-appeal of its flame top made it a must-have. This one has Gibson tuners and his signature Suhr pickups. He also had it refretted. And there's another customization—tooth marks on its bottom, top, and one dial courtesy of another COVID acquisition: a Boston terrier puppy. This guitar's voice accents the high-mids a bit, making it perfect for covering Ritchie Blackmore leads.
Did You Say Marshall?
You want rock tone? You get rock amps. Aldrich plays a pair of John Suhr-modded 100-watt Marshal JMP heads. The one on the left is from 1978 and was a one-master 4-input head until Suhr added another master "so I can kick it up a little bit for solos," the guitarist explains. There's also an effects loop. In that loop resides an Eventide H9, set only on 27.DIGD to provide a reverb sound its owner loves.
On the right, a 1979 model with an added master. It's the first amp Doug bought when he moved to Los Angeles in 1981. The 4x12 cabs are both reissues, with Celestion Vintage 25s. The cabs are always miked live with SM57s and behind them lurks a Palmer line driver.
Doug Aldrich's Pedalboard
Aldrich is big fan of the tried-and-true sounds of MXR pedals. First stop on his board is a Phase 90 set slow, and then a Dunlop-made Custom Audio Electronics (CAE) wah, a CAE Boost/Overdrive, a DVK GoldTop (which was standing in until his preferred Dunlop Authentic Hendrix '69 Psych Series Uni-Vibe Chorus/Vibrato pedal arrived just in time for the gig), a Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner, an MXR Talk Box, an on/off for the Eventide, and a boost switch for the amps. His wireless is a Lectrosonics.
Glenn Hughes' Main Bass
This custom Bill Nash-built bass has traveled with Glenn Hughes for 12 years. It's a JB model with Lollar pickups and a custom thin neck. And has it got a voice!
Orange Squeezers
Hughes powers up two Orange AD200B MKIII heads running through two 8x10 Orange OBC810 cabinets.
(A second tower is at stage right of the drum kit, and those are David Lowy's Friedmans at front-view right.)
Glenn Hughes' Pedalboard
It's a short but sweet affair: a Black Cat Bass Octave Fuzz, a Nice Rack Y-boost, and a DigiTech X-Series delay.