![Rig Rundown: Jason Isbell & Sadler Vaden [2024]](https://www.premierguitar.com/media-library/rig-rundown-jason-isbell-the-400-unit-with-sadler-vaden-2024.jpg?id=51106877&width=1245&height=700&quality=85&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0)
With four Grammys, loads of gear, and millions of tour bus miles, Isbell is back for an updated Rig Rundown with his 400 Unit co-guitarist, Sadler Vaden.
Jason Isbell’s last Rundown was in 2019. The guitarist and songwriter, who we’ve called “Americana’s poet laureate,” is a huge gearhead though—and his collection is truly the stuff of dreams—so a lot can happen in a few years. Currently touring with his acclaimed 400 Unit band in support of the highly acclaimed Weathervanes album, he rolls with a stash of vintage Fenders and Gibsons that would make even the least gear-motivated among us blush. That’s not to mention his enviable traveling amp and effect closets. Isbell invited Perry Bean and the PG team to the Ryman for a look at his current touring rig and that of Sadler Vaden, the band’s ripping co-guitarist whose relatively more modest collection is still quite the enviable one!
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The Finest of Fenders
The guitarist’s own Jason Isbell Custom Telecaster features a sunburst finish and cream double-binding on its ’59-style Tele Custom body, a mid-’60s C-shaped maple neck, a 21-fret rosewood fingerboard, custom Jason Isbell Telecaster Pickups, and a modified bridge.
Way back in April 1965, this candy-apple-red Tele came out of the Fender factory, and its bridge pickup and neck profile were the inspiration/template for Isbell’s signature instrument.
While it boasts many 1957 features, like a V-shaped neck and ’57-like finish, this sunburst Strat is a ’58. Isbell has updated it with a 5-way switch.
The Greatest of Gibsons
This 1961 Gibson ES-335 is the first really old, really awesome guitar that Isbell obtained. It’s mostly original with a few key upgrades: Isbell had famed Nashville luthier Joe Glaser give the guitar a refret and install a TonePros tailpiece along with new tuners since, after years of use, the originals started to look like “a dead man’s toe.”
Old Gold? The Bigsby and tailpiece on Isbell’s 1953 goldtop Les Paul were installed by longtime Neil Young tech Larry Cragg, which makes it kin with Neil’s Old Black.
This 1961 SG has lived a long life playing and managed to avoid any neck breaks. It features the original PAFs.
This rockin’ 1960 Les Paul Custom features at trio of original PAFs, an all mahogany body, and a “Red Beauty” custom finish. It’s been refretted with bigger frets. All of Jason’s electrics take Ernie Ball Slinky .010–.046s. He hammers away with Dunlop Tortex 1.14 mm picks and gets slippery with Dunlop 218 slides.
And a Pair of Martins
Isbell tours with two new Martin Modern Deluxe dreads. One is tuned down to Eb, the other in standard. Both acoustics stay strung with Martin Lifespan 2.0 medium (.013–.056) strings.
Amp Army
Stage right of the Dumble lives Isbell’s 1964 Fender Vibroverb with a “Diaz” mod (named SRV tech Cesar Diaz), which means they pulled the preamp tube in the vibrato channel. (For what it’s worth, this mod can be done to the normal channel, too. You just need to pull the V1 preamp instead.) The impact of the mod is summarized best by PG columnist Jens Mosbergvik on his Fenderguru site: “The other channel’s tube will be hotter biased and offers more gain. The amp will play louder than before given the same volume knob setting. The stronger signal will push the second gain stage (V4 tube) harder and give you increased sustain, compression and harmonics.” It has a 15" JBL speaker and was a Christmas gift from wife Amanda Shires.
Above the Dumbles, Isbell runs two 22-watt Magnatone Twilighter Stereo 2x12 Combos in stereo. Not pictured is Isbell’s Fender ’59 Twin-Amp High-Powered Tweed 80 Watt, which sits stage left of the Dumble.
Along for the ride is this 1971 50-watt Marshall and a 1964 Marshall.
Effects Heaven
While many of the effects from Isbell’s 2019 Rundown are still in the rack, several have been removed and many have been added. Additionally, the rig can be used in a wet/dry/wet configuration (it toggles throughout the show), with the two Magnatones carrying the weight of any all-wet effects. Tech Michael Bethancourt points out, “TheMagnatones we have are one of a kind, or three of a kind I guess. We wanted to retain the Magnatone vibrato we love, but I wanted it to pan between the two active amps. After some time spent speaking with Obeid Khan, someone who has worked closely with Magnatone for a long time, we came up with a plan to mod the amps in a way that would drag the vibrato through the stereo field. The LFO from one amp is ‘hijacked’ and sent to the other amp’s vibrato circuit in reverse phase, so when the vibrato is engaged via the expression pedal on the pedalboard, the vibrato pans from side to side. In the wet/dry/wet mode, that vibrato swirls up big reverbs or can be set to mimic the world’s goofiest ADT, lots of options there. In dry/dry mode, the vibrato is the classic pitch-shifting stuff that Magnatone has produced for years to great effect.”
On the floor, the pedalboard itself is a little different from last time. It’s a simpler layout now, no effects on board, just a PolyTune tuner, MXR Custom Audio Electronics buffer, his RHM Mastermind GT controller with expansion and a few Mission expression pedals. A Strymon Zuma delivers power.
Also new to the rig is the Radial JX44v2, which serves as the core signal manager. If the RJM Mastermind is the brain, this is the beating heart. Above on the rack is an Echo Fix Chorus Echo EF-X3R.
Moving up the rack, this drawer includes an Ibanez DML10 Modulation Delay II, Earthquaker Devices Tentacle, and a trio of stereo-field-only effects: Boss MD-500, Strymon Volante, Hologram Electronics Microcosm.
Continuing upward, Isbell’s stash includes a Chase Bliss Preamp Mk II, Chase Bliss Tonal Recall Delay, Chase Bliss Dark World Reverb, Chase Bliss Condor EQ/Filter, Chase Bliss Gravitas Tremolo, Chase Bliss CXM-1978 Reverb (stereo-field only), Keeley 30ms, gold Klon Centaur, Analog Man Sun Lion Fuzz/Treble Booster, Analog Man King of Tone with four-jack mod, Keeley four-knob CompROSSor, Pete Cornish OC-1 Optical Compressor, EHX Micro POG, AnalogMan ARDX20 Delay, and a trio of Fishman Aura Spectrum DIs.
Sadler Vaden's Acoustic Duo
Tele Trio, Strat Stash, a Glut of Gibsons, and a Rick
Sadler picked up this 1968 non-reverse Firebird this year, and it’s all original as far as we know.
On the rockers, like “Honeysuckle Blue” and “Deathwish,” Sadler reaches for his all-stock Murphy Lab Les Paul Standard. All of his electrics wear Ernie Ball .010s. Sadler uses Dunlop .88s for picks and Dunlop Blues Bottles for slide.
Finally, here’s Sadler’s 1992 12-string Rickenbacker 360-12.
Amp Duo—and More
Sadler runs a more svelte (it’s all relative!) two-amp rig. At stage left is a black flag-era Marshall plexi head into a Craigslist-find, 2x12 cab with Celestion Vintage 30s. The plexi is attenuated with a Weber MASS 200. At stage right sits a 3rd Power British Dream combo with a Celestion Alnico Gold 12" speaker. Sadler also carries a ’60s Vox Pacemaker and a Vox AC30HW, which are on stage but primarily there as backups. Occasionally the Pacemaker gets the call for more stage volume and flavor.
Pedal Posse
Vaden’s pedalboard chain starts with a Dunlop Clyde McCoy Wah, then a Lehle volume pedal, which feeds the Gig Rig. Vaden has a few patches setup for songs like “24 Frames,” which save him from tap dancing too much, but he mainly works it like an old-school board. He uses a Line 6 M5 with a Dunlop expression pedal for a lot of his modulation effects. Other pedals include a Crowther Prunes & Custard, Nordvang No.1, and an Analog Man Dual Analog Delay, Comp, and King of Tone, a Strymon BlueSky, and a Greer Lightspeed. Every effect is isolated into the Gig Rig. The board has four outputs, two for each side of the British Dream, one for the plexi, and one that goes to an aux line and splits to the Pacemaker.
The aux line serves as a backup in case Sadler’s amps go down. It consists of a Strymon Iridium into a Seymour Duncan Power Stage that goes to FOH.
Sadler’s acoustic pedalboard consists of a Shure wireless running into an ART Tube MP/C preamp into a LR Baggs Venue DI, with a Radial Engineering Bigshot selector.
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Grace Bowers has quickly won a reputation for high-energy guitar heroics.
While she appreciates the sentiment, Bowers doesn’t love being called a guitar prodigy, saying it dismisses the eight years she’s put into studying the instrument.
Photo by Cedric Jones
“I was living in California at the time, in a small town outside of San Francisco,” she reflects. “And there’s absolutely no live music there, whatsoever. I didn’t even know any people my age who played an instrument. So, I pretty much had no hope. And I would always dream that I’d be playing on a stage, or just anywhere, honestly. It always felt super unrealistic and like, ‘Oh, that would never happen.’”
When the pandemic hit, the now 18-year-old Bowers was finishing the seventh grade, and the abrupt separation from her peers didn’t exactly help to improve her sense of belonging. Pretty soon, however, things took a major, positive turn: “I started posting videos online, and it got some momentum,” she shares. Gibson took notice, and offered her an endorsement when she was just 14. Then,“We moved to Nashville, and I was playing onstage almost every night.”
The sudden wealth of opportunity that came with the move changed everything. “It was the biggest motivation ever,” she continues. “Made me want to do it more than I ever have [laughs].”
Grace Bower's Gear
One of Bowers’ main guitars is this 1961 Gibson SG Special. She also plays a Murphy Lab version of the model.
Effects
- Analog Man King of Tone
- Wah
- Boost
- Gain
Strings & Picks
- Ernie Ball .010s
- Dunlop 2.0 mm
By now, Bowers’ résumé has gathered more than just moss. Earlier this year, she was recruited by Dolly Parton to perform on Dolly Parton’s Pet Gala; she’s played with Devon Allman, Tyler Childers, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, and Susan Tedeschi; and in August, shared a bill with her first guitar hero, Slash. And, on the tails of all this success, she’s just released her debut album, Wine on Venus.
Produced by John Osborne of the Brothers Osborne, the album is a collection of eight original tracks, written by Bowers in collaboration with her band the Hodge Podge, and one cover—Sly & the Family Stone’s “Dance to the Music.” Although she has been playing for nine years, the grasp Bowers has on her instrument at 18 is rare. She knows just what notes to play and when to play them, saying very much with very little. She also wields a tone that’s just fuzzy enough, just singing enough, and just wailing enough—when she feels like it. Wine on Venus is the perfect showcase of her wisdom on guitar, antecedent to her being even a quarter century of age. It was recorded live in the studio over the span of one week, and Bowers knew going in just which shots she was going to call.
The eight original songs on Wine on Venus were written by Bowers in collaboration with Esther Okai-Tetteh and the rest of her band, the Hodge Podge.
She shares that she’s highly averse to recording in an isolated booth, unable to see the rest of the band—something she’s done a lot as a session guitarist. “Before we went into the studio, I told John, if I’m wearing headphones, it’s over,” she says. “And when we’re playing live, eye contact is one of the most important things. So, the band was live in the room, and then I was outside looking through a window in the control room with John. We put my amp upstairs on this balcony—it’s like a house, the studio—and turned it to 10, and for the entire record, my guitar was recorded in the control room. It was very loud; I’ll tell you that.”
Carving out your own voice as an individual artist in improv-based genres can be a significant challenge, and Bowers kept that in mind. “I’d say [that difficulty comes from] oversaturation. There’s a lot of jam bands out there right now. And don’t get me wrong; I love that kind of music, but what a lot of them lack is songs. When we went into the studio, I wanted to make sure that we wrote songs and didn’t just jam. I was very intentional in the writing process with Esther [Okai-Tetteh, vocalist]—to write catchy hooks and make sure that the lyrics meant something.”
Okai-Tetteh, whose first name is pronounced “Acey,” was Bowers’ primary writing partner in the development of the album’s material. “A lot of it [came together] sitting on my bedroom floor, writing songs every night. She wrote a lot of the [vocal] melody, which is where I struggle. Whereas I wrote all of the music, and then we both collaborated on the lyrics.” The other members of the Hodge Podge, who include keyboardist Joshua Blaylock, drummer Brandon Combs, bassist Eric Fortaleza, and co-guitarist Prince Parker, each fleshed out the arrangements with their own contributions.
Bowers picked up guitar at age 9 after discovering Slash, and fully fell in love with it at 13, after hearing B.B. King for the first time.
Photo by David McClister
Blues guitarists are typically working with the starkest templates (three or four chords) and the most concise vocabulary (the minor pentatonic scale), which, in many albeit honest, dedicated hands, often sound commonplace. But in the best hands, the blues can be some of the most powerful music out there. As Bowers puts it, “The blues comes from your heart, and you’re not just playing it, if that makes sense. I’m not the best at expressing emotions.... It comes out better for me on guitar.”
“As long as I have a very clean-toned amp and my pedalboard, I’m pretty much good to go.”
Bowers owns three different SGs, and her two main choices are her ’61 model with P-90s—“That’s like my baby”—and a newer model with humbuckers. Her pedalboard is a “basic setup,” and she doesn’t know all the names of her pedals off the top of her head. But in classic funk fashion, she does like to employ her wah while playing rhythm parts. As for amps for live shows, she doesn’t yet have her own tour bus, so she’s been relying on backlines. “As long as I have a very clean-toned amp and my pedalboard, I’m pretty much good to go,” she says. Her greatest inspirations on guitar, aside from Slash, are Leslie West, Eddie Hazel, Carlos Santana, and Marc Bolan. “I have a huge Electric Warrior poster above my bed right now,” she tells me.
As for the future, Bowers says she doesn’t really have long-term goals, exactly. “I don’t like to set expectations for myself, because I just want to see where things are going to bring me naturally. I love doing what feels right in the moment.
“Before, I was super shy and didn’t have a lot of confidence,” she continues. “Guitar really helped me build that up, and now I’m doing things that I would have been horrified to do three years ago. It’s definitely helped me come out of my shell.”
YouTube It
In this brief live clip, Grace Bowers breaks down the blues and builds it back up with incredible tone, feel, and taste.
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The plexi-in-a-pedal format won’t work for players that need every amp and effect model under the sun. But if you relish Marshall tones, the Lion ’68 is a brilliant solution for tracking or gigging when the stack can’t make the trip. It offers an expansive tone palette, too. Super Bass and Super Lead models have ample headroom and reproduce the rich, underrated clean sounds of those amps as easily as they kick out Ramones walls of grind or Jimmy Page lead sizzle. The Lion ’68 exhibits lifelike dynamic response. It also reacts to gain devices as hectic as a Super-Fuzz with authenticity. The three amp models, six speaker cabs, and room ambience control offer scads of tone and dynamic variations. You can even jumper the two channels with realistic results. I still think I’d feel weird blasting MC5 riffs through a coffee house PA with the Lion ’68. But I would certainly try it in a bigger room and wouldn’t hesitate to record with this impressive plexi stand-in.
