Top 10 Rig Rundowns of 2016

10. Living Colour's Vernon Reid & Doug Wimbish

Before their Nashville gig in April of 2016, Living Colour’s Vernon Reid and Doug Wimbish met with PG’s John Bohlinger to talk about their combined sorcery that makes guitar, bass and drums sounds like an army of instruments. Reid and Wimbish utilize killer chops and miles of pedals and cables—making their tech Jeff Cummings the hardest-working man in show business. During the interview, bass legend Billy Cox crashes the party for some avuncular bass commentary.

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9. The Darkness

PG’s Chris Kies hung out with Dan Hawkins, Frankie Poullain, and Justin Hawkins of The Darkness before their gig at the War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.

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8. Children of Bodom

Alexi Laiho, frontman and guitarist for melodic death metal band Children of Bodom, took us through his sparse, but powerful, setup before the band’s Nashville show at the Exit/In. A combination of ESP guitars, Marshall amps, and a few Boss pedals help create Laiho’s lightning-fast leads and bone-rattling rhythms.

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7. Steve Lukather

Premier Guitar’s John Bohlinger hung with Steve Lukather and his tech, Jon Gosnell, shortly before Toto’s show at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. While Gosnell covered the nuts and bolts of the pedalboard and amp, Lukather showed what his signature Music Man guitars are capable of.

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6. Don Felder

Shortly before a recent show at Nashville’s City Winery, Don Felder took a few minutes to talk to Premier Guitar’s John Bohlinger about everything from his first garage band with Stephen Stills to his years with the Eagles and beyond.

5. Peter Frampton

Guitar icon Peter Frampton invites Premier Guitar’s John Bohlinger to his Nashville rehearsal studio to talk and demonstrate his sprawling live setup.

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4. Andy Timmons

Andy Timmons is currently on the Ultimate Guitar Experience tour with fellow 6-stringers Jennifer Batten and Uli John Roth. Before their soundcheck in Nashville at the Basement East, Timmons demonstrated how he gets studio-quality tones onstage.

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3. Zakk Wylde

PG’s John Bohlinger hung with Zakk Wylde before soundcheck during the Nashville stop of the Generation Axe tour. Wylde, an intimidating muscle-bound shred monster turned out to be perhaps the nicest guy on the planet, is a renaissance man, and a titian of industry. Zakk humbly took us through his rig full of newly-launched Wylde Audio wares.

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2. Johnny Hiland

High above the Nashville skyline, guitar slinger Johnny Hiland met with PG’s John Bohlinger for a pre-show Rig Rundown. Hiland showed off a diverse cache of 6-strings, two cool amps and a larger—yet practical—board that makes for a killer setup for both the studio and live gigs.

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1. AC/DC

Premier Guitar’s Chris Kies traveled south to hang with AC/DC techs Trace Foster and Greg Howard before their show at Atlanta’s Phillips Arena. As you watch this video, you’ll slowly understand why both techs claim that this is both the easiest gig (because of the light load of equipment) and the hardest gig (no pedals or effects to hide behind) they’ve ever had.