Rig Rundown: Julian Lage
When it comes to jazz virtuoso Julian Lage, you’d be hard-pressed to find an electric guitarist who uses less gear. “Any time I’ve [used too much equipment], there’s an awkwardness where I’m still grappling with the fact that I play here,” he says, gesturing to his guitar, then gesturing to his amp, “but the sound comes out there.” He continues, “It sounds like a joke, but it’s been a struggle for me. Any time there’s layers or filters or anything, I feel dissociated.” Of course, Lage’s rig, which buoys his clean, no-frills tone, makes sense for a musician like himself—whose playing often comes across fluidly, and as gently as his personality.
For Lage, that fluidity stems from his conception of music as a language. “I think that the way people speak is often more unfettered,” Lage told Premier Guitar in 2021. “There might not be an obvious correlation between the way people speak in a lecture and the notes on the guitar. But it's just a little stretch of the imagination to see that those are pitches, those are rhythms, those are phrases."
On View with a Room, Lage’s second release on the hallowed Blue Note Records, he’s offering a fresh, bold continuation of the conversation he’s created over the years. The album features his latest ensemble, made up of himself, bassist Jorge Roeder, and drummer Dave King—but this time, he’s added the legendary Bill Frisell. Together, the musicians help to expand Lage’s body of work with performances of 10 of his original compositions.
While on tour for the album, Lage invited PG’s John Bohlinger to the soundcheck before his show at Brooklyn Bowl inn Nashville to share his insights into why he likes a straightforward rig and “honest” tone. In the interview, Lage elaborates on his three main guitars (his Nachocaster, Collings signature, and ’55 Les Paul), explains why he prefers low volume on his amps, and offers a remarkably brief tour of his pedalboard.
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Not Your Caster
As a bit of an anomaly in the world of jazz guitarists, Lage prefers Telecasters. His number one T-style is his Nachoguitars 1657 “Nachocaster”—a saffron-colored guitar equipped with an Ellisonic P-90-size neck pickup and Fatpups Blackguard bridge pickup, built by Spanish luthier Nacho Baños. However, Lage states that he never changes from the neck position. The Ellisonic pickup, which was created by Ron Ellis for Lage’s other primary instrument, the Collings Julian Lage 470 JL, captures the clarity and acoustic-like feel of vintage single-coils. The guitar is strung with D’Addario Flatwound Electric ECG24 Chromes (.011-.050) with a .020 unwound G string. Lage also uses Tortex .88 mm picks.
Lage’s Signature
The Collings 470 JL signature was built as a collaboration between Lage and Collings. It features a solid Honduran mahogany body with a laminated maple top, Ellisonic pickups, and a Bigsby B3 tailpiece. He shares that the Bigsby was added mainly for weight, as the guitar was 5 lbs. before its addition and 6 lbs. after. “That gets you right to this place where the fundamental is still there, and you have this brilliant overtone,” says Lage, who adds that much like the bridge pickup on the Nachocaster, he doesn’t touch the Bigsby. He strings this guitar with .011-.049 D’Addario flatwounds. “Honestly, I think it’s more of a rock machine than anything,” he adds.
1955 Lester
Lage’s 1955 Les Paul goldtop was a gift from Spinal Tap’s Christopher Guest, and sports the actor/guitarist’s signature. “I feel very much like a steward of it,” Lage says of the guitar. “I’m learning how to play it constantly. It’s so luxurious. Anything’s possible, so it really comes down to what do you hear, what do you want to play, what’s the voice of the music … and this guitar will be 8,000 percent there for you.”
Les Paul's handwritten message to Christopher Guest.
It’s Magic!
Lage is a longtime fan of low-watt, vintage Fender amps, in the past having remained ardently loyal to his Fender Tweed Champ, until it became impractical to bring it everywhere. On this tour, he’s playing a Magic Amps Vibro Deluxe, reminiscent of a 1964 Fender Deluxe Reverb. He plugs into the normal channel and sets his volume to 3, treble to 2, and bass to 2. As he describes, “This one has this miraculous thing where it feels like it’s being pushed at a lower volume. It’s not terribly interesting, but it is what I do.”
Julian Lage’s Pedalboard
Lage’s stripped-down pedalboard includes a Strymon Flint Tremolo & Reverb (just for reverb), a Shin-ei B1G 1 Preamp Gain Boost, and a Sonic Research ST-300 Mini Stomp Box Strobe Tuner.
Rig Rundown: Marcus King [2022]
Since Marcus King’s previous Rig Rundown in 2017, he’s made two albums—produced by the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach—and scored a Grammy nomination. He’s also busted out his own signature Orange amp with an allusive name, and upped his profile, stepping from clubs to big halls. Not bad for a South Carolina kid with blues in his bloodline.
And, really, not entirely unexpected. King hit the scene in his teens as a full-blown virtuoso, playing club gigs at night and going to high school by day. He was initially championed by Warren Haynes, who was so impressed that he released the Marcus King Band’s 2015 debut, Soul Insight, on his Evil Teen Records label. And then the hard-playing young roots genre-blender rode that wind under his wings.
Before his September 29 gig at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, touring behind his recent release Young Blood, he entertained PG’s John Bohlinger—with some help with the details from guitar tech Cody Bates—with a close-up look at his current touring rig. Dig in!
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Granddad’s Joy
If you’ve seen Marcus King play, you’ve noticed this beautiful all-stock 1962 Gibson ES-345. The model debuted in 1958 and was immediately used by Chuck Berry, Freddie King, and, later, B.B. King (pre-ES-355) and Eric Clapton, among others. This particular guitar was purchased new by King’s grandfather and it’s been Marcus’ No. 1 since the family put it in his hands. The big red rocker and all of King’s electric guitars stay strung with Elixir Optiweb Nickel Plated Steel mediums, .011-.049.
The New Red Rider of the Playful Stage
In order to save wear and tear on his grandfather’s ES-345, King usually leaves that one at home and tours with the No. 1 prototype of his Gibson Marcus King Signature ES- 345 Custom, which was unveiled in early 2021. But since he lives in Nashville now, both attended the Ryman show.
Back in Black
King picked this 1962 Fender Strat up at Nashville’s Carter Vintage Guitars. He describes the neck as “sweet as pie.” After he took it home, he sent it to Matt Hughes at Banker Fine Handcrafted Guitars in Atlanta for some work: a refin and a swap of the original 3-way switch for a 5-way.
Not Quite a Beauty …
But a beautiful instrument. This weathered 1958 Gibson Les Paul Custom is a vintage parts guitar, featuring a ’58 body merged with a 1970s neck and hardware. Dig the tone in the video!
Shady Character
Here’s another beauty—a 1939 Martin D-18 shade top that was a gift from Zac Brown. Body crack repairs in the top display in the photo, as does the wear of many miles over the years. This exceptional vintage working-player’s acoustic stays strung with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze mediums, gauged .013–.056.
These Three King’s
Unveiled by Orange in 2021, King’s signature heads bear the name MK Ultra—maybe … or maybe not named after a top-secret government experiment with LSD and other substances. (Insert smiley emoji!) It’s a rad amp, with 30 watts output from 6L6s, one volume control, a treble dial marked SING and a bass knob tagged DEEP. Each of his two MK Ultra heads runs into its own Orange slanted 8x10 with Celestion Vintage 30s. In between those citrus commandos sits a 1968 Fender Bandmaster TFL5005D powering up a Fender Bassman cab with two Celestion 15s—the company’s G15B-100 speakers, which hone in on the deep end.
Marcus King's Pedalboard
King runs his guitar’s cable into a Dunlop Volume (X) 8, and then his signal hits a Dunlop Cry Baby wah, an MXR Booster, an Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer, a Tru-Fi Two Face fuzz, MXR Micro Chorus, Dunlop Rotovibe chorus/vibrato, MXR Phase 100, Tru-Fi Ultra Tremolo, Dunlop Echoplex Delay, MXR reverb, and a Radial Shotgun signal splitter and buffer. Juice? That comes from a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 3 plus.