![Rig Rundown: Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale and Joe Hottinger [2021]](https://www.premierguitar.com/media-library/rig-rundown-halestorm.jpg?id=27242352&width=1245&height=700&quality=85&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0)
Lzzy Hale and Joe Hottinger of the Grammy-winning rock band Halestorm recently took a break from rehearsals for their 2021 tour to talk rigs with Premier Guitar's John Bohlinger.
Shortly before this interview, Hale had become the first woman to be named a brand ambassador by Gibson. With several signature models under her name, and Hottinger's apparent obsession with SGs, it's not surprising this rundown features some primo Gibsons.
[Brought to you by D'Addario XPND Pedalboard: https://www.daddario.com/XPNDRR]
Lzzy’s No. 1
The Halestorm frontwoman's top dog is her Lzzy Hale Explorer in alpine white with gold hardware, featuring '57 Classic humbuckers, a mahogany body/neck, a rosewood bound fretboard, three control knobs (independent volumes and a master tone), and a 3-way pickup switch.
Black Dog
A study in contrast to her No. 1, this Lzzy Hale Dark Explorer in black and gold has '57 Classic humbuckers, an ebony finish, block inlays, and a solid mahogany body.
Head's Up
And here's the distinctive Explorer headstock.
Up on the Low-Down
When Lzzy wants to go low and rumbly, she plays her Custom Baritone Gibson Explorer gold top. It's got a 28" scale neck and her preferred two-tone-one-volume control setup.
Lzzy Bird
For something truly different, Hale plays her custom Explorer with a Firebird headstock, decked in black and red, with gold hardware and a pair of humbuckers from the 1970s.
Rock x 2
This EDS-1275 is literally the heaviest guitar in the Halestorm arsenal, with a standard top and baritone bottom, in SG white. It's strung with Ernie Ball paradigms (.10–.52) on top and the company's Not Even Slinky .12s for the bari half. The pickups are her preferred '57 classics.
Anyone for Chess?
If amplification were a match game, Hale would be ready. She tours with two custom Marshall custom JCM800s—one white, one black.
White On
Here's one of her 4x12 cabinets—geared up in a finish to match the head that drives it.
Lzzy's Pedalstorm
The signal runs from Hale's guitars into a Jerry Cantrell JC95 Dunlop Cry Baby wah. Then it hits a Boss TU-3, an EHX POG2, an MXR/CAE Boost/Line Driver, a vintage Klon Centaur, and a Way Huge Aqua-Puss Analog Delay Pedal. The power supply is a Strymon Zuma.
You Want SGs?
Joe Hottinger's got SGs—a fat roadcase full when he tours. He bought this 2003 SG Standard new when he joined the band that year. The pickups were changed to Burstbuckers when the originals died while on tour in Europe.
The Green Monster
This is a great shade of green, allowing the character on the wood in this kornia-body SG to emerge. It's a 2001 Gibson Custom Shop creature with custom '57 Classic humbuckers.
Double ... or Something
Not to be outshined, Joe's EDS-1275 is in super-shiny Brunswick blue sparkle. The pickups on the 6-string side are a Burstbucker 1 and 2 set. On the 12-string side, they're a 2 and 3 set. Burstbuckers 1s are low output, 2s are medium output, and 3s are overwound and hot.
Give It Up for Lester
This white silverburst '61 reissue has a Maestro tailpiece and its design comes from the era when it was called the Les Paul SG. It is stock and was built in 2010.
It's Not Easy Being Green
But it rocks—at least on this 2020 Custom Shop '61/'59 Fat Neck SG Limited Edition with three humbuckers, just like Jimi's famed white "Dick Cavett" model.
Single-Coils Going Steady
When it's time for that P-90 sound, Hottinger reaches for his 2011 50th Anniversary Pete Townshend alpine white SG. Windmilling lessons not included!
Bari or Bust
This limited edition 2013 Gibson SG Baritone has a 27"-scale neck, a Richlite fretboard, 496R and 500T humbuckers, and push-pull volume pots.
Chet's Mix
Yes, this is also a Gibson—a 1999 Custom Shop Chet Atkins SST. It has a solid top and a mahogany body, and a bridge transducer with an active preamp. Strings: Ernie Ball Acoustic Paradigm .12 sets. His electric guitars have Paradigm .10–.52 sets, mostly, and the company's Not Even Slinky .12s are on the baritone.
Amps? You Betcha
These two 2020 Marshall SV20H Studio Vintage plexi-style heads are just the tip of the iceberg of Joe's amplification setup.
Blasting from the Past
These two Marshall Super Leads are also in the game. The red one is from 1971 and the purple head is from 1973. Note the jumped inputs.
Big, Bad Bogner
This Bogner 4x12—one of two in Joe's rig—features Beyma Liberty 8-ohm speakers, which are super versatile, sonically.
Clean Stomp Space
Hottinger keeps a neat pedalboard, running cable into an Xotic XW1 wah to a Xotic XVP 250K High Impedance Volume Pedal. From there, it's a Tru-Fi Octavia Fuzz, Bogner La Grange, overdrive, Tru-Fi Colordriver 18V, Keely 30 ms Automatic Double Tracker, Electro-Harmonix POG2, Earthquaker Devices Afterneath, and Strymon TimeLine. It's all juiced by a Strymon Zuma power box.
- Gibson Announces the Grand Opening of the Gibson Garage ... ›
- Rig Rundown: Nick Raskulinecz - Premier Guitar ›
- Halestorm's Lzzy Hale and Joe Hottinger: The "Woo" Factor ... ›
- Gibson Unveils the Lzzy Hale Signature Explorerbird - Premier Guitar ›
- Lzzy Hale's Signature Kramer Voyager Guitar ›
Huge shocker incoming: Zach Broyles made a Tube Screamer. The Mythos Envy Pro Overdrive is Zach’s take on the green apple of his eye, with some special tweaks including increased output, more drive sounds, and a low-end boost option. Does this mean he can clear out his collection of TS-9s? Of course not.
This time on Dipped in Tone, Rhett and Zach welcome Tyler Bryant, the Texas-bred and Nashville-based rocker who has made waves with his band the Shakedown, who Rhett credits as one of his favorite groups. Bryant, it turns out, is a TS-head himself, having learned to love the pedal thanks to its being found everywhere in Texas guitar circles.Bryant shares how he scraped together a band after dropping out of high school and moving to Nashville, including the rigors of 15-hour drives for 30-minute sets in a trusty Ford Expedition. He’s lived the dream (or nightmare, depending on the day) and has the wisdom to show it.
Throughout the chat, the gang covers modeling amps and why modern rock bands still need amps on stage; the ins and outs of recording-gear rabbit holes and getting great sounds; and the differences between American and European audiences. Tune in to hear it all.
Get 10% off your order at stewmac.com/dippedintone
Hats off to Carmen Vandenberg of Bones UK, our celebrity Question of the Month respondent.
Guest Picker - Carmen Vandenberg, Bones UK
The cover of Soft, Bones UK’s new album, due in mid-September.
A: My favorite method these days (and to be honest, from when I started playing) is to put on my favorite blues records, listen with my eyes closed, and, at the end, see what my brain compartmentalizes and keeps stored away. Then, I try and play back what I heard and what my fingers or brain decided they liked!
Bone UK’s labelmade, Des Rocks.
Obsession: Right now, I am into anyone trying to create sounds that haven’t been made before—bands like Queens of the Stone Age, Jack White, and our labelmate, Des Rocs! There’s a Colombian band called Diamanté Electrico who I’ve been really into recently. Really anyone who’s trying to create innovative and inspiring sounds.
Reader of the Month - Sam C. Schiff.
Sam spent endless hours trying to learn the solo Leslie West played on “Long Red,” off of The Road Goes Ever On.
A: The best way to learn guitar is to listen to some good guitar playing! Put on a record, hear something tasty, and play on repeat until it comes out of your fingers. For me, it was Leslie West playing “Long Red” on the Mountain album, The Road Goes Ever On. I stayed up all night listening to that track until I could match Leslie’s phrasing. I still can’t, no one can, but I learned a lot!
Smith’s own low-wattage amp build.
Obsession: My latest musical obsession is low-wattage tube amps like the 5-watt Fender Champ heard on the Laylaalbum. Crank it up all the way for great tube distortion and sustain, and it’s still not loud enough to wake up the neighbors!
Gear Editor - Charles Saufley
Charles Saufley takes to gear like a duck to water!
A: Learning by ear and feel is most fun for me. I write and free-form jam more than I learn other people’s licks. When I do want to learn something specific, I’ll poke around on YouTube for a demo or a lesson or watch films of a player I like, and then typically mangle that in my own “special” way that yields something else. But I rarely have patience for tabs or notation.
The Grateful Dead’s 1967 debut album.
Obsession: Distorted and overdriven sounds with very little sustain—Keith Richards’ Between the Buttons tones, for example. Jerry Garcia’s plonky tones on the first Grateful Dead LP are another cool, less-fuzzy version of that texture.
Publisher - Jon Levy
A: I’m a primitive beast: The only way I can learn new music is by ear, so it’s a good thing I find that method enjoyable. I’m entirely illiterate with staff notation. Put sheet music in front of me and I’ll stare at it with twitchy, fearful incomprehension like an ape gaping at the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey. I’m almost as clueless with tab, but I can follow along with chord charts if I’m under duress.
The two-hit wonders behind the early ’70s soft-rock hits, “Fallin’ in Love” and “Don't Pull Your Love.”
Obsession: Revisiting and learning AM-radio pop hits circa 1966–1972. The Grass Roots, Edison Lighthouse, the Association, the Archies, and Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds—nothing is too cheesy for me to dissect and savor. Yes, I admit I have a serious problem.
