Marshall Gallagher is typically seen onstage adorned with a classic Fender. Above he’s posing with his current main squeeze (and the heavy lifter on 2021’s Earth Is a Black Hole)—a Fender Ultra Stratocaster HSS. Gallagher mentions that the noiseless HSS setup may lack a bit of the Strat’s tonal hallmarks, but he really enjoys how quiet the guitar is even when plugged into a his two-amp setup.
To cover the all the material on their two LPs and two EPs, Gallagher says he employs several tunings—standard, drop D, D standard, and drop C. And for moments within Earth Is a Black Hole, he’d place a capo on the 2nd fret to unlock more inspiration.
“This is my signature model,” jokes Gallagher. It’s actually a 1981 Ibanez Roadstar II that was a hand-me-down from his pops and the first electric Marshall ever owned. The stock bridge single-coil didn’t have enough gain for his teenage angst, so he dropped in a Seymour Duncan Invader.
If you liked Teenage Wrist’s 2019 EP Counting Flies, then you’ll be familiar with this Fender Player Series Jaguar (read our review with video) that inspired much of the package’s three songs. During the Rundown, Gallagher jokes that “this time period was where I learned how to use a whammy bar [laughs] … that lives somewhere between Kevin Shields and EVH.”
For recording Earth Is a Block Hole, the most-used amps were a ’70s Marshall Plexi and a Friedman BE-100. In order to approximate that Marshall heft on the road (plus keeping costs and worries lower), Gallagher landed this 1987 Marshall JCM 800 and matching 4x12 cab.
To complement the JCM 800’s beef, Marshall is still relying on his trusty Orange Rockerverb 50 MkII for its strong, creamy midrange.
Marshall Gallagher’s pedal playground keeps it simple and only has room for tone-changing stomps. The signal hits the Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner that then feeds into the Ernie Ball VPJR. He positions the volume pedal ahead of all the coloration so he can fully rein in the dynamics with the sweep of his foot. The fun begins when the VPJR goes into a trifecta of trouble—Xotic BB Preamp, Fuzzrocious Heliotropic, and Way Huge Swollen Pickle. The spacy, ethereal note bending occurs when he engages the Strymon blueSky and an ’80s DOD FX65 Stereo Chorus. Everything rests on an OG Pedaltrain PT-1 board and is juiced up by the Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus.
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D'Addario Backline Gear Pack:https://ddar.io/GigBackpack-RR
Celebrating 10 years of Revv & 5 years since the release of the G2, Revv is debuting V2 circuit revisions of the G2, G3, & G4, implementing new designs for more tone in 3 little pedals, in a limited edition colorway.
The Revv Amplification 5th Anniversary G-Series V2 Lineup features:
- 3 Fresh Flavors of Boutique Canadian Tone - G-Series pedals are sonic recreations of 3 of Revv’s boutique amp channels used by Nashville session stars & metal touring artists alike.
- The Standard, Redefined - V2 circuit revisions are based on the Generator 120 MK3 Rev. B & incorporate new design elements for the most tube-like response & tone ever.
- Limited Edition - Exclusive new colorway featuring a black enclosure w/ custom graphics, embossed Revv badge, & color-coded knobs.
- Find Your Sound - The G2 is a powerful & versatile overdrive capable of everything from touch-sensitive boost to organic vintage stack tones, taken from Revv’s Green Channel.
- High Gain Clarity - The G3 utilizes Revv’s legendary Purple Channel, a tight & responsive high gain tone perfect for drop tuning & cutting through any mix.
- Fat Solo Tones - The G4 is based on Revv’s thick & saturated Red Channel, the ideal sound for chewy crunch, modern rock wall of sound, & liquid sustaining solos.
- Made in Canada - 100% analog circuit w/ top jacks, true bypass, & 2 year warranty.
Revv’s G-Series pedals have a street price of $229 & can be ordered immediately through many fine dealers worldwide.
For more information, please visit revvamplification.com.
Revv G3 Purple Channel Preamp/Overdrive/Distortion Pedal - Anniversary Edition
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.
