Checking in with one of the first families of country-rock.
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American music legend—a Grammy-winning outfit that’s also been inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame. In this group’s case, what becomes a legend most is still working as hard as when Jeff Hanna co-founded the NGBD in 1966.
So, when PG’s John Bohlinger recently checked in with Hanna and his guitar-playing son, Jaime Hanna, they were rehearsing at Nashville’s SIR for an ambitious spring and summer Nitty Gritty Dirt Band tour supporting a new album, Dirt Does Dylan, to be released May 20. The Hannas took us through their touring gear and gave us a close-up look at some guitars that Jeff has played since the beginning.
Brought to you by D’Addario XS Electric Strings.
The Original
This 1960 Les Paul, owned and long played by Jeff Hanna, was the inspiration for the Gibson Custom Shop’s Collector’s Choice #33 Jeff Hanna 1960 Les Paul Standard reissue, which lists for a mere $10,299. (Yikes!) It’s strung with D’Addario EXL-125s (.009–.046). Hanna has a great story about how he got this guitar, but for that you’ll have to watch the Rig Rundown!
The Reproduction
And here’s that Gibson Custom Shop reproduction—a made-in-2017 #33 Jeff Hanna Les Paul with Ron Ellis PAF pickups. Like its inspiration, the guitar wears a set of D’Addario EXL-125s.
Light, in White
Jeff does a little less lifting onstage with his 1962 reissue Fender Stratocaster in Olympic white. It sports the neck from an earlier ’62 reissue he owned, which was made in 1989, and has samarium-cobalt-magnet pickups. The Hipshot Key Xtender is set up to take his low E string to D. And it’s wearing D’Addario EXL-125s.
Workhorse
No country-rock band is complete without a Gibson Jumbo. This long-serving 1955 J185 is just a little smaller than a SL-200, and has a Sitka spruce top and maple back and sides. Jeff has it strung with D’Addario EJ-16s (.012–.053).
Open D for Dan-o
This 1990s Danelectro U2 reissue—based on the model that debuted in 1956—stays tuned to open D and strung with D’Addario EXL-125s. With its lipstick pickups and hardboard/plywood body, this thing’s a midrange machine.
It’s Got the Bump
After years of using his beloved 1965 Fender Deluxe Reverb, Jeff has moved to a SoHo 65 Amp with a matching 2x12 cab, although Jeff usually only runs one speaker. This amp has a secret weapon: a “bump” function that allows a switch from American to British classic tone.
Board To Run
Jeff runs his acoustic through a Fishman Aura Spectrum DI and a Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner. The electric side of his board includes another Boss TU-3, a Paul Cochrane Tim overdrive, a Keeley Katana Clean Boost, a J. Rockett GTO, a Keeley-modded Boss TR-2 Tremolo, and a Keeley Mag Echo.
The Veteran
Jaime’s No. 1 acoustic is his 1964 Martin D-28 with Brazilian rosewood sides and back. It’s been aesthetically modified, with a bound headstock and delicate inlay work on the neck. This D-28 appeared on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s eponymous debut in 1967. Although this guitar was at the rehearsal, it no longer hits the road.
The Tour Flattop
While on tour with Gary Allan in Canada, some bad weather and a faulty stage ruined several of Jaime’s guitars. So now he leaves the 1964 D-28 at home and brings his new Martin 2021 D-18 Standard with an LR Baggs Anthem SL soundhole mike on tour.
Wide Range Twang
This 1973 Fender Telecaster Custom offers all the twang of an older vintage Tele in the bridge pickup but opens up big with a Seth Lover Wide Range neck humbucker. It stays strung with D’Addario EXL140s (.010–.052).
TV Winner
This 2009 Gretsch G6128T-1957 Duo Jet with Alamo neck inlays has TV Jones Classic humbuckers and a Bigsby, and stays tight with D’Addario EXL140s. That’s Jaime’s brother Chris’ decal on the body.
Prototypical Paul
Here’s the prototype for the Jeff Hanna Gibson Collectors Choice #33 1960 Les Paul Standard. These reissues come with Custom Buckers, but Jaime put PAFs in this guitar to get closer to vintage tone.
Deluxe Redux
Jaime uses a reissue 1968 Fender Custom Deluxe Reverb amp modified with a Celestion Cream alnico 12". His summary: “It sings!”
Pedals Du Jour
Like his dad, Jaime combines his acoustic and electric pedals on one board. The acoustic side features a Fishman Aura Spectrum DI, Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner, and a Radial JDI direct box as a back-up. For electric, there’s an Ernie ball volume pedal that feeds a TC Electronic tuner. The main out hits a Mesa/Boogie Stowaway Class A Input Buffer, a Keeley Compressor, a Paul Cochrane Tim, a J. Rockett Archer boost/overdrive pedal, an MXR Super Badass Distortion, a Boss GE-7 equalizer modded by XTS, and a Line 6 M-9 multi-effects pedal. A Truetone 1 SPOT PRO CS12 provides the juice.
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Diamond Pedals Dark Cloud
True to the Diamond design ethos of our dBBD’s hybrid analog architecture, Dark Cloud unlocks a new frontier in delay technology which was once deemed unobtainable by standard BBD circuit.
Powered by an embedded system, the Dark Cloud seamlessly blends input and output signals, crafting Tape, Harmonic, and Reverse delays with the organic warmth of analog companding and the meticulous precision of digital control.
Where analog warmth meets digital precision, the Dark Cloud redefines delay effects to create a pedal like no other
But by gosh, if delay—and its sister effect, reverb—haven’t always been perfect for the music I like to write and play. Which brings us to the Fishman EchoBack Mini Delay. The EchoBack, along with the standard delay controls of level, time, and repeats—as well as a tap tempo—has a toggle to alternate between analog, tape, and digital-delay voices.
I hooked up my Washburn Bella Tono Elegante to my Blues Junior to give the EchoBack a test run. We love a medium delay—my usual preference for delay settings is to have both level and repeats at 1 o’clock, and time at 11 o’clock. With the analog voice switched on, I heard some pillowy warmth in the processed signal, as well as a familiar degradation with each repeat—until their wake gave way to a gentle, distant, crinkly ticking. Staying on analog and adjusting delay time down to 8 o’clock and repeats to about 11:30, some cozy slapback enveloped my rendition of Johnny Marr’s part to “Back to the Old House,” conjuring up thoughts of Elvis trapped in a small chamber, but in a good way. It sounded indubitably authentic. The one drawback of analog delay for me, generally, is that its roundness can feel a bit under water at times.
Switching over to tape, that pillowy warmth evaporated, and in its place came a very clear replication of my tone—but with just a bit of the highs shaved off the top. With the settings at the medium-length mode listed above, I could see the empty, glass hall the pedal sent my sound bouncing down. I heard several pronounced pings of repeats before the signal fully faded out. On slapback settings (time at 8 o’clock, repeats at 11:30), rather than Elvis, I heard something more along the lines of a honky-tonk mic in a glass bottle. Still relatively crystalline, which actually was not my favorite. I like a bit more crinkle—so maybe analog is my bag....“That pillowy warmth evaporated, and in its place came a very clear, pristine replication of my tone—but with just a bit of the highs shaved off the top.”
Next up, digital. Here we have the brightest voice, and as expected, the most faithful repeats. They ping just a few times before shifting to a smooth, single undulating wave. When putting its slapback hat on, I found that the effect was a bit less alluring than I’d observed for the analog and tape voices. This is where the digital delay felt a little too sterile, with the cleanly preserved signal feeling a bit unnatural.
All in all, I dig the EchoBack for its replications of analog and tape voices, and ultimately, lean towards tape. While it’s nice having the digital delay there as an option, it feels a bit too clean when meddling with time of any given length. Nonetheless, this is surely a handy stomp for any acoustic player looking to venture into the land of live effects, or for those who are already there.
