See how three different gear philosophies—powered by crunchy combos, classic guitars, piles of pedals, studio outboard gear, and a Beatles DI console fuzz—work together to bridge the band’s brash, punkified roots with their polished pop hooks.
Cage the Elephant was formed nearly 20 years ago in Bowling Green by vocalist Matt Shultz, guitarists Brad Shultz and Lincoln Parish, drummer Jared Champion, and bassist Daniel Tichenor. That core lineup has only changed once, with Nick Bockrath replacing Parish onstage in 2013 and officially in 2017. CTE’s earliest albums—2008’s Cage the Elephant and 2011’s Thank You, Happy Birthday—captured their punk-rock pandemonium that turned venues into hurricanes. Cage’s mayhem cloaked melodies, like a Trojan horse creating early-career earworms and sing-alongs out of hits “In One Ear,” “Ain't No Rest for the Wicked,” “Shake Me Down,” and “Aberdeen.”
2013’s Melophobia brandished a trio of mellower, melodious singles: “Come A Little Closer,” “Take It or Leave It,” and “Cigarette Daydreams.” Then, 2015’s Tell Me I’m Pretty saw the band enter Easy Eye Sound to work with Dan Auerbach, sending the band’s sonics back to the ’60s with an emphasis on direct, pointed performances and console-driven fuzz. Their last two albums, 2019’s Social Cues and 2024’s Neon Pill, partnered them with producer John Hill, who helped wrap their memorable hooks in a smokier, after-hours backdrop that incorporated ’80s sheen with drum machines, shifting synth textures, and sleek production that pulses with flow and emotion.
The constant glue that holds these albums together (aside from the members' cohesive creativity) is the constant application—in varied amounts—of garage rock, psychedelia, and a little bit of danger. Even their softest, smoothest work portrays these gripping vibes. And while the velvet packaging of their songs have them sounding more Abbey Road than Albini—earning the group back-to-back Grammys for Best Rock Album for Tell Me I’m Pretty and Social Cues—the Shultz brothers still bring their signature piss-and-vinegar performances to the stage, where the front row will likely play host to both throughout any given setlist.
Before the band’s Bonnaroo set on Saturday June 15, Cage the Elephant invited PG’s video team to their rehearsals inside East Nashville’s Steel Mill space to cover the gear they’d be touring with in support of their sixth album, Neon Pill. On guitar, lap steel, and pedal steel, Nick Bockrath starts off the Rundown going through his sizzling setup that includes custom guitars, a bountiful pedalboard, and a special instrument from a deceased friend and Nashville legend. Then, tech Mason Osman details how Brad Shultz transformed his rig to mimic his preferred recording setup that relies on studio tube preamps and compressors for a direct, broiling sound. Lastly, tech Bailey Griffith shows a simplified-but-tsunami-sounding bass setup that includes two Fender 4-strings and 300W tube heads that kick like a mule.
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Some Like It Hot
Guitarist Nick Bockrath was approached by luthier Jacob Harper to collaborate on his “dream” guitar. The fellas landed on Harper’s existing Marilyn model with some key requests: a Bigsby vibrato, gold hardware, a Bockrath-drawn dude on the truss-rod cover, and the striking red-sparkle finish. Harper was the brains behind the pinball-flapper-button kill switch (with Bockrath’s blessing). The semi-hollow has a chimey, jangly tone thanks to its TV Jones Filter’Tron pickups. All the knobs were originally identical, but as Nick says, “we just keep it moving,” so he’s been replacing the road thrash with random knobs from his personal collection as needed. All his electrics take Ernie Ball Power Slinkys (.011–.048).
Sniped
Los Angeles-based producer John Hill, who worked with Cage the Elephant on Social Cues and their brand-new Neon Pill, had his eye on this early 1990s Gibson Les Paul Deluxe goldtop that was for sale at Carter’s Vintage Guitars. He sent the listing link to Nick Bockrath, who was going to visit the store to inspect the goldie. Bockrath called Hill from the shop, who wondered how the guitar sounded. Nick’s sly response: “It sounds like I’m gonna buy it in five minutes [laughs].” The previous owner removed the original pickups and dropped in a P-90 in the bridge and a gold-foil in the neck.
Torn and Frayed
Bockrath scooped this on a trade from Blues Vintage Guitars in Donelson. He can’t quite nail down its birth year, but from the serial number and similar online listings, he’s been able to deduce that it’s a SG Custom from 1969–’71. This is a bus companion that travels with Nick because he doesn’t want it out of his sight.
Trust in Russ
Russ Pahl is a pedal-steel guitar icon. He’s on a short list of first calls when an artist needs that classic country sound. On top of being an ace musician, Pahl builds partscaster guitars, and he assembled this mean T with Nick in mind. It has a standard T-style bridge pickup, but to give Bockrath a bit more bite, he opted for a Firebird-style mini humbucker for the neck slot.
Knockin' on Heaven's Door
Nick’s early Nashville mentor and a friend’s father William "Bucky" Baxter played lap- and pedal-steel guitar for Bob Dylan and Steve Earle. This century-old Gibson BR-6 lap steel toured with both iconic songwriters. Bucky sold this to Bockrath because, he said, “if you were ever gonna play lap steel in a rock ’n’ roll band, this would be the one,” so Nick honors his old pal every night.
Steeler
Bucky Baxter got Bockrath hip to the GFI pedal-steel guitars when he first expressed interest in the slide instrument. Nick landed on the single-neck GFI Ultra 10-string model that’s added fresh elements to Cage’s sound on their last two albums and subsequent tours.
Royale with Cheese
Nick Bockrath's Pedalboard
Bockrath has everything but the kitchen sink on his stomp station, but he assured us that each pedal has its role and it’s all very organized. Starting on the left there are four separate time machines—a duo of Boss DD-8 Digital Delays, EarthQuaker Devices Disaster Transport, and a Death By Audio Echo Dream 2. Modulation and weirdo effects include a Moog Moogerfooger MF-108M Cluster Flux, a Boss TR-2 Tremolo, an Electro-Harmonix Mel9, and a Malekko Omicron Vibrato. His pair of fuzzes are the single-knob Big Ear Pedals Betty White and the Malekko Diabolik. Reverb comes from the amps and the Malekko Spring Chicken, pitch-shifting is handled by the venerable DigiTech Whammy, and spicing up his signal is either an Analog Man Comprossor or a Pedal Projects Growly boost. All the pedals are routed through the GigRig G2, a Lehle 3at1 Instrument Switcher allows him to quickly bounce around his three string-bending roles, and a Boss TU-3S keeps his guitars in check.
Tuxedo
When we last spoke with Cage in 2014 and for most of the band’s earliest years, Brad Shultz destroyed and revived import Fender Mustangs. He preferred the short-scale studs for their thin, bright sound, compact frame, and their ability to handle several surgeries. Since working with Dan Auerbach and John Hill in the studio, Shultz has broadened his stable to include models from Gretsch, Kay, Gibson, and others depending on what the song needs. For the band’s summer tour, he’s slimmed down his options to three main instruments. First up is a Silvertone 1449 BSF that employs the company’s “lipstick” single-coils that offer Brad a similar bitey, high-end snarl he’s used to with the Mustangs. Both of Shultz’s electrics take Ernie Ball Power Slinkys (.011–.048) and he hits them with Dunlop Tortex .50 mm picks.
Spacely Space Sprockets
If his Silvertone 1449 is a blast from the past, this Baranik RE-1 is one of the most futuristic designs guitardom has seen in years. Luthier Mike Baranik specializes in refurbishing and repurposing recycled parts with a modern eye, while maintaining a strict focus on tone and playability. This RE-1 features his handwound gold-foil pickup that slides, in real time, to provide maximum sonic flexibility. Other interesting bits include a wood-intonated saddle, glow-in-the-dark fret markers, illuminated control pod, and a total weight of six pounds.
Bell Curve
A handful of songs during Cage shows will put Shultz on this Gibson J-45 Standard, including “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked,” “Trouble,” and the title track off their newest album Neon Pill. To avoid any feedback or howling buzz, his tech Mason Osman slid in a D’Addario Screeching Halt Soundhole Plug. And this burst beauty takes Ernie Ball 2004 Earthwood 80/20 Bronze strings (.011–.052).
From the Studio to the Stage
We interviewed Brad around the Tell Me I’m Pretty sessions that were recorded with Dan Auerbach in his Nashville Easy Eye Studio, and that’s where the band first explored plugging straight into a console. “As a guitarist, the whole approach of going direct really appealed to me, and I got that from [’60s] bands. A lot of them did the exact same thing—went right into the console. But I think the thing that influenced us the most about those bands was the separation of their tracks. When you sit and really listen to their recordings, you notice how each instrument is doing something very specific. Each part is so thought-out and placed so deliberately. I really drew from that.”
That immediate connection between instrument and player resonated with Shultz so much that he revamped his live rig to include studio gear. He tours with no amps and no modelers; instead, he plugs his guitars into a pair of rack-mounted Thermionic Culture devices for his pure, lively tone—a Phoenix SB stereo valve compressor and The Rooster 2 preamp.
Back in 2016, Shultz explained that this synergy provides a different playing experience. “It feels more human. When I hear that, I really hear the person playing, not so much this amp sound. The strings speak for themselves, almost, if that makes any sense. You can hear the pick actually hitting each individual string as you strum a chord, or you can hear each individual stroke of a lead part. So that was really appealing to me, maybe because I'm such a raw player. I basically beat the shit out of a guitar. I'm very heavy-handed. I want to hear the separation between each string when I'm strumming a chord.”
Brad Shultz's Pedalboard
All his filth, fury, and ferociousness come from hitting the rack gear with as much input signal as possible. The incremental levels of destruction are handled by five agitators—a JHS Colour Box V1, a JHS Crayon, a JHS Colour Box V2, an EarthQuaker Devices Tone Job, and a Jext Telez White Pedal. The rest of his pedal roster contains a Boss DD-7 Digital Delay, MXR Phase 100, a pair of MXR Reverbs, Caroline Kilobyte lo-fi delay, and a Boss AW-3 Dynamic Wah. Shultz’s utility boxes are a Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor, a couple of Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuners, a Radial Engineering BigShot ABY, and a Voodoo Labs PX-8 switcher simplifies all his changes.
Big Cat Growl
Original bassist Daniel Tichenor has been a Fender-heavy thumper. When we saw his rig in 2014, he was using a Jazz and P basses; when he spoke with PG about Tell Me I’m Pretty, he recorded with P, Jag, and Mustang 4-stringers. For this 2024 run supporting Neon Pill, he’s mainly laying down the groove with the above Fender American Standard Jaguar bass that uses La Bella RX-S4D Rx Stainless Roundwound Bass strings (.045–.105). Tichenor bounces back and forth between fingerstyle and using a pick, but when he does the latter, he rakes the strings with Dunlop Tortex .88 mm picks.
'Stang Stinger
For Cage’s mellower numbers, Tichenor will saddle up on this Fender Player Mustang bass that rides with La Bella 760FS Deep Talkin' Bass Flatwound strings (.045–.105).
Tower of Power
The Jag and ’Stang go through a Fender Super Bassman 300W head (the second is a backup) that feeds two Fender Bassman 810 Neo cabinets.
Daniel Tichenor's Pedalboard
The lone effect that colors Tich’s tone is a Fender Engager Boost that spurs the flatwound Mustang with a punch of dBs. The other boxes on the Pedaltrain Nano+ board are DIs for FOH, and the boost is powered with a Truetone 1 Spot Pro CS6.
Shop Cage the Elephant's Rig
Gibson Les Paul Deluxe Goldtop
Gibson Custom 1963 Les Paul SG Custom Reissue
Supro 1933R Royale 2x12 Combos
Boss DD-8 Digital Delay
EarthQuaker Devices Disaster Transport
Boss TR-2 Tremolo
Electro-Harmonix Mel9
Lehle 3at1 SGoS Instrument Switcher
Gibson J-45 Standard
JHS Colour Box V2 Preamp Pedal
EarthQuaker Devices Tone Job
MXR M107 Phase 100 Phaser Pedal
MXR Reverb
Boss AW-3 Dynamic Wah
Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor
Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner
Radial Engineering BigShot ABY
Voodoo Labs PX-8 Switcher
Fender Player Mustang Bass
Fender Engager Boost
Fender Super Bassman 300W Head
Fender Bassman 810 Neo Cabinet
Ernie Ball Power Slinkys (.011–.048)
Ernie Ball 2004 Earthwood 80/20 Bronze Strings (.011–.052)
La Bella RX-S4D Rx Stainless Roundwound Bass Strings (.045–.105)
La Bella 760FS Deep Talkin' Bass Flatwound Strings (.045–.105)
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A rig meant to inspire! That’s Jerry Garcia with his Doug Irwin-built Tiger guitar, in front of his Twin Reverb + McIntosh + JBL amp rig.
“I met Jerry Garcia once, in 1992, at the bar at the Ritz Carlton in New York,” Dark Star Orchestra guitarist Jeff Mattson tells me over the phone. Nearly sixty-seven years old, Mattson is one of the longest-running members of the Grateful Dead tribute band scene, which encompasses hundreds of groups worldwide. The guitarist is old enough to have lived through most of the arc ofthe actual Grateful Dead’s career. As a young teen, he first absorbed their music by borrowing their seminal records, American Beauty and Workingman’s Dead, brand new then, from his local library to spin on his turntable. Around that same moment, he started studying jazz guitar. Between 1973 and 1995, Mattson saw the Dead play live hundreds of times, formed the landmark jam bandZen Tricksters, and later stepped into theJerry Garcia lead guitarist role with the Dark Star Orchestra (DSO), one of the leading Dead tribute acts.
“At the bar, I didn’t even tellGarcia I was a guitar player,” Mattson explains. “I had just heard him play the new song ‘Days Between’ and I told him how excited I was by it, and he told me he was excited too. It wasn’t that long of a conversation, but I got to shake his hand and tell him how much his music meant to me. It’s a very sweet memory.”
The Grateful Dead’s final studio album was 1989’sBuilt to Last, and that title was prophetic. From 1965 to 1995, the band combined psychedelic rock with folk, blues, country, jazz, and even touches of prog rock and funk, placing a premium on improvisation and pushing into their own unique musical spaces. Along the way, they earned a reputation that placed them among the greatest American bands in rock ’n’ roll history—to many, the ultimate. Although no one member was more important than another, the heart and soul of the ensemble was Garcia. After his death in 1995, the surviving members retired the name the Grateful Dead.
“I think Jerry Garcia was the most creative guitarist of the 20th century because he had the widest ears and the sharpest instincts,” opines historian, author, and official Grateful Dead biographer Dennis McNally, over the phone. “What we see after his death are the Deadheads coming to terms with his passing but indicating that it’s the music that was most important to them. And who plays the music now becomes simply a matter of taste.”
Dark Star Orchestra guitarist Jeff Mattson, seen here with Garcia’s Alligator Stratocaster (yes, the real one).
Photo by Susana Millman
This year marks 30 years since Garcia’s passing and 60 years since the band formed in the San Francisco Bay Area. Today, the guitarist’s musical vocabulary and unique, personal tone manifests in new generations of players. Perhaps the most visible of these musicians is John Mayer, anointed as Garcia’s “replacement” in Dead and Co. But dozens of others, like Mattson, Tom Hamilton Jr., and a young new artist named Bella Rayne, strive to keep the Dead alive.
The first few Grateful Dead tribute bands began emerging in local dive bars by the late ’70s. More than mere cover bands, these groups devoted themselves entirely to playing the Dead. A few of these early groups eventually toured the country, playing in college towns, ski resorts, and small theatres across the United States. Mattson started one on Long Island, New York. He tells me, “The first band I was in that played exclusively Grateful Dead was Wild Oats. It was 1977, and we played local bars. Then, in 1979, I joined a band called the Volunteers. We also played almost exclusively the Grateful Dead, and that was a much more professional outfit—we had a good PA and lights and a truck, the whole nine yards.” The Volunteers eventually morphed into the Zen Tricksters.
Garcia’s death turbocharged the Dead tribute band landscape. Fanbases grew, and some bands reached the point where big-time agents booked them into blue-chip venues like Red Rocks and the Beacon Theatre. Summer festivals devoted to these bands evolved.
“The first band I was in that played exclusively Grateful Dead was Wild Oats. It was 1977, and we played local bars.” —Jeff Mattson
Dark Star Orchestra launched in 1997, and they do something particular, taking an individual show from somewhere out of Grateful Dead history and recreating that evening’s setlist. It’s musically and sonically challenging. They try to use era-specific gear, so on any given night, they may be playing through recreations of the Grateful Dead’s backline from 1971 or 1981, for example. It all depends on the show they choose to present. Mattson joined DSO as its lead guitar player in 2009.
Something else significant happened after Jerry died: The remaining living members of the Grateful Dead and other musicians from Garcia’s inner circle embraced the tribute scene, inviting musicians steeped in their music to step up and sit in with them. For Mattson, it’s meant playing over the years with all the core members of the band, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart, plus former members Donna Jean Godchaux, who sang in the band from 1971 to 1979, and Tom Constanten, who played keyboards with the Dead from 1968 to 1970.
Tom Hamilton’s Lotto custom built had a Doug Irwin-inspired upper horn.
In the newest post-Garcia tribute bands, many guitar players aren’t old enough to have seen Garcia perform live—or if they did, it was towards the end of his life and career. One of those guys sitting today at the top of the Garcia pyramid, along with Mattson, is Tom Hamilton Jr. Growing up in a musical family in Philadelphia, Hamilton saw Garcia play live only three times. Early on, he was influenced by Stevie Ray Vaughan, but Hamilton’s older brother, who was also a guitar player, loved the Dead and Garcia. “My brother wanted to play like Jerry,” he recalls, “so he roped me in because he needed me to play ‘Bob Weir’ and be his rhythm guitar sidekick.” Eventually, Hamilton leaned more into the Jerry role himself. “Then I spent my entire twenties trying to develop my own voice as a songwriter and as a guitar player. And I did,” Hamilton says. “And during that time, I met Joe Russo. He was not so much into the Dead then, but he knew I was.”
A drummer from Brooklyn, by about 2006, Russo found himself collaborating on projects with members of Phish and Ween. That put him on the radar of Lesh and Weir, who invited Russo to be a part of their post-Dead project Furthur in 2009. (And on guitar, they chose DSO founding member John Kadlecik, opening that role up for Mattson.)
“When Joe played in Furthur, he got under the hood of the Grateful Dead’s music and started to understand how special it was,” Hamilton points out. “After Furthur wound down, we decided to form JRAD. We weren’t trying to do something academic, not some note-for-note recreation. We were coming at it through the pure joy of the songs, and the fact that the five of us in JRAD were improvisers ourselves.”
“We were coming at it through the pure joy of the songs, and the fact that the five of us in JRAD were improvisers ourselves.” —Tom Hamilton Jr.
Today, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead (JRAD) is considered to be one of the premier Grateful Dead tribute bands. They formed in 2013, with Hamilton and Scott Metzger as the band’s guitar frontline, with Hamilton handling Garcia’s vocal roles. Eventually, Hamilton, too, found himself jamming onstage with the ever-evolving Phil Lesh and Friends. That, of course, further enmeshed him in the scene, and in 2015, he started a band with Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann calledBilly and the Kids.
Now, there’s a new kid on the block, literally. Bella Rayne recently turned 18 and grew up in Mendocino, California. Her parents were into the Dead, but even they were too young to have really followed the original band around the country. At her age, they were big into Phish. By the pandemic, Bella started embracing the guitar out of boredom, woodshedding while social distancing in quarantine. She explains, “Like any other teen, I was bored out of my mind looking for anything to do.” Rummaging through her garage, she came across her mom’s old Strat. “At the time, I was really into ’90s Seattle grunge. I put new strings on the Strat, and then I tried to teach myself Pearl Jam songs, and I learned how to play them by watching YouTube videos. Then, I started posting videos of my journey online as I became more serious about it. I hit a point where I knew it would be my thing. The next thing I knew, one of the Bay Area Dead bands [China Dolls] reached out to me and asked me to sit in. I thought, ‘no way.’“My parents are huge Deadheads,” she continues. “That’s theirthing. I grew up with the Dead being pushed on me my whole life. But I ended up going, and it’s just been this awesome spiral ever since.” Bella calls her current Dead-related project Bella Rayne and Friends, and she, too, has been recognized not only by the new generation of Garcia players in the Dead tribute bands, but also by Melvin Seals, the Hammond organist who played for years in theJerry Garcia Band. “I was hired to just sit-in for a couple of numbers withMelvin and his JGB band,” she recalls, “and we were having so much fun he said to me, ‘Why don’t you just sit in for the whole second set.’ It was an amazing night.”
Bella Rayne with her Alligator-inspired Strat, with a JGB Cats Under the Starssticker on the body.
Photo by Sean Reiter
Jerry Garcia played many different guitars. But for those guitarists wanting to emulate Garcia’s tone, the focus is on four instruments in particular. One is a1955 Fender Stratocaster known as “Alligator,” which Garcia had heavily modified and began playing in 1971. The other three guitars were hand built in Northern California by luthier Doug Irwin: Wolf, Tiger, and Rosebud. Garcia introduced them in 1973, 1979, and 1989, respectively. Sometimes, in a jam-band version of being knighted by the Excalibur sword, a chosen member of this next generation of Dead players is handed one of Garcia’s personal guitars to play onstage for a few songs or even an entire set.
Although they started their journeys at different times and in separate ways, Mattson, Hamilton, and Rayne all have “knighthood” in common. Rayne remembers, “In March of 2024, I was sitting in one night with anall-girl Dead tribute band called the China Dolls, and no one had told me that Jerry’s actual 1955 Strat, Alligator, was there that evening. My friend [roots musician] Alex Jordan handed me the guitar unannounced. It’s something I’ll never forget.”What’s it like to strap on one of Jerry Garcia’s iconic instruments? Tom Hamilton recalls, “It wasRed Rocks in 2017, and I played with Bob Weir, Melvin Seals, and JGB at a tribute show for Jerry’s 75th birthday. I got to play both Wolf and Tiger that night. I was in my head with it for about one song, but then you sort of have a job to do. But I do recall that we were playing the song ‘Deal.’ I have a [DigiTech] Whammy pedal that has a two-octave pitch raise on it, real high gain that gives me a lot of sustain, and it’s a trick I use that really peaks a jam. That night, while I am doing it, I had the thought of, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I am doing this trick of mine on Garcia’s guitar.’ Jerry would have thought what I was doing was the greatest thing in the world or the absolute worst, but either way, I’m cool with it!”
“I was sitting in one night with an all-girl Dead tribute band called the China Dolls, and no one had told me that Jerry’s actual 1955 Strat, Alligator, was there that evening. My friend [roots musician] Alex Jordan handed me the guitar unannounced. It’s something I’ll never forget.” —Bella Rayne
Jeff Mattson has played Alligator, Wolf, Garcia’s Travis Bean 500, and his Martin D-28. He sums it up this way: “I used to have posters up in my childhood bedroom of Garcia playing his Alligator guitar. I would stare at those images all the time. And sowhen I got a chance to play it and plug it in, suddenly there were those distinctive tones. Those guitars of his all have a certain mojo. It’s so great to play those guitars that you have to stop in the moment and remind yourself to take a mental picture, so it doesn’t just fly by. It’s just a tremendous pleasure and an honor. I never imagined I would get to play four of Jerry Garcia’s guitars.”
With young people like Bella Rayne dedicating herself at the tender age of 18 to keeping the Dead’s music going, it feels like what the band called their “long strange trip” will keep rolling down the tracks and far over the horizon. “People will be listening to the Grateful Dead in one hundred years the same way they will be listening to John Coltrane, too,” predicts McNally. “Improvisational music is like jumping off a cliff. Sometimes you fly, and sometimes you land on the rocks. When you take that risk, there’s an opportunity for magic to happen. And that will always appeal to a certain segment of people who don’t want predictability in the music they listen to. The Grateful Dead is for people who want complete craziness in their music—sometimes leading to disaster and oftentimes leading to something wonderful. It’s music for people who want to be surprised.”
“Earthwood Bell Bronze strings are a giant leap forward in tone, playability, and durability. They’re great in any musical setting but really shine when played solo. There’s an orchestral quality to them.” -John Mayer
Product Features:
- Developed in collaboration with John Mayer
- Big, bold sound
- Inspired by alloys used for bells and cymbals
- Increased resonance with improved projection and sustain
- Patent-pending alloy unique to Ernie Ball stringsHow is Bell Bronze different?
- Richer and fuller sound than 80/20 and Phosphor Bronze without sounding dark
- Similar top end to 80/20 Bronze with richer low end than Phosphor Bronze
We caught up with guitarists Carlos O’Connell and Conor Curley from red-hot Dublin indie rock outfit Fontaines D.C. for a Rig Rundown in 2023, but we felt bad missing bassist Conor “Deego” Deegan III, so we’ve been waiting for the lads to make their way back.
This time, riding the success of their fourth LP, 2024’s Romance, we caught up with all three of them at Nashville’s Marathon Music Works ahead of their April 30 gig to see what they brought across the pond.
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All’s Fairlane
Curley’s go-to is this Fairlane Zephyr, loaded with Monty’s P-90s and a Mastery bridge. It mostly stays in standard tuning and, like his other axes, has Ernie Ball Burly Slinky strings.
Blue Boy
Fender sent Curley this Jazzmaster a couple of years ago, and since then, he’s turned to it for heavier, more driven sounds. It’s tuned to E flat, but Curley also tunes it to a unique shoegaze-y tuning for their tune “Sundowner.”
You can also catch Curley playing a Fender Johnny Marr Jaguar.
Twin Win
Fender Twin Reverbs are where Conor Curley feels most comfortable, so they’re his go-to backline. The amps are EQ’d fairly flat to operate as pedal platforms.
Conor Curley’s Pedalboard
Curley’s pedalboard for this tour includes a TC Electronic PolyTune3 Noir, Strymon Timeline, Boss RV-6, Boss PN-2, Boss BF-3, Keeley Loomer, Death by Audio Echo Dream, Fairfield Circuitry Hors d'Ouevre?, Strymon Sunset, Strymon Deco, DigiTech Hardwire RV-7, Electro-Harmonix Nano POG, and Lehle Little Dual.
Fake Out
Connor Deegan didn’t own a bass when Fontaines D.C. began, and his first purchase was the black Fender Jazz bass (right)—or so he thought. He later discovered it was a total knock-off, with a China-made body, Mexico-made neck, and a serial number that belongs to a Jaguar. But he fell in love with it, and its sound—nasal on the high strings, with cheap high-output pickups—is all over the band’s first record, Dogrel. Deego plays with orange Dunlop .60 mm picks, and uses Rotosound Swing Bass 66 strings.
Deegan picked up the Squier Bass VI (left) for its “surfy vibes,” and upgraded the pickups and bridge.
Also in his arsenal is this 1972 Fender P-bass (middle). (He’s a bit nervous to check the serial number.)
V-4 You Go
Deego plays through an Ampeg V-4B head into a Fender 6x10 cabinet.
Conor Deegan’s Pedalboard
Deegan’s board includes a Boss TU-3, Electro-Harmonix Hum Debugger, Boss TR-2, modded Ibanez Analog Delay, Death by Audio Reverberation Machine, Boss CE-2w, Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI, Darkglass Electronics Alpha Omega Ultra, and Dunlop Volume (X) Mini pedal. A GigRig QuarterMaster helps him switch sounds.
Mustang Muscle
Carlos O’Connell favors this 1964 Fender Mustang, which has been upgraded with a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails pickup since Romance. It’s set up so that the single-coil pickup is always on, and he’ll add in the Hot Rails signal for particular moments.
Ghost of Gallagher
Mustang MuscleAfter getting to play a number of Rory Gallagher’s guitars thanks to a private invitation from the guitarist’s estate, O’Connell picked up this Fender Custom Shop Rory Gallagher Signature Stratocaster. The jangly, direct tone of this one is all over tunes like “Boys in the Better Land.”
More Fender Friends
O’Connell runs his guitars, including a vintage Martin acoustic which he picked up in Nashville, through a Fender Twin Reverb and Deluxe Reverb.
Carlos O’Connell’s Pedalboard
The gem of O’Connell’s board is this Soundgas 636p, an imitation of the infamous Grampian 636 mic preamp’s breakup. Alongside it are a TC Electronic PolyTune, Ceriatone Centura, Strymon Volante, Eventide H9, Orchid Electronics Audio 1:1 Isolator, Vein-Tap Murder One, MXR Micro Amp, Moog MF Flange, MXR Smart Gate, and Freqscene Koldwave Analog Chorus. A Radial BigShot ABY navigates between the Twin and Deluxe Reverb.
