![Rig Rundown: The Hives [2021]](https://www.premierguitar.com/media-library/rig-rundown-the-hives-2021.jpg?id=28235821&width=1245&height=700&quality=85&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0)
The Hives are a ripping quintet that formed in Fagersta, Sweden, during the early ’90s. They exploded into American pop-culture consciousness during the garage-rock revival with a pair of chart-splashing, straight-forward stingers (2000’s Veni Vidi Vicious and 2004’s Tyrannosaurus Hives). And while they did take a hiatus in the mid-2010s, they’ve continued rocking the thin line between ragged and refined for nearly 30 years with a total of five albums, four EPs, and a 2020 live set recorded at Nashville’s Third Man Records.
Just after soundcheck wrapped at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl, the Hives’ redlining guitar duo of Nicholaus Arson and Vigilante Carlstroem welcomed PG’s Chris Kies onstage to talk gear. The resulting chat covered just how and why Carlstroem’s Flying V has split so many times (supposedly sounding better after each repair), and the reasons why Arson explains his vintage, bridge-pickup-only Fender Telecaster Custom is still the one. Both also quickly detail the torrid fuzzes that will never leave their respective boards.
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Carlstroem’s Corroding Coronet
The band has several rigs situated across the globe with varying differences. However, for Vigilante Carlstroem this early 1959 Epiphone Coronet never leaves his side and tours everywhere. He’s had the stripped-down, rock-’n’-roll machine for 20 years, but when he first acquired the Epi it was “in fucking mint condition.” Prior to owning this one, he fell for its shape and vibe in the form of the similar (3-pickup) Epiphone Crestwood Deluxe. The stage staple has endured two different headstock fractures. Since getting his mitts on the axe, he’s played every Hives show with it. And he keeps everything decked out with Ernie Ball Paradigm Not Even Slinkys (.012–.056) and punishes the strings with Dunlop Tortex 1.14 mm picks.
Come Fly with V
When Carlstroem does need a neck pickup, he’ll put on this ’90s Gibson Flying V (with Lollar pickups) that’s been snapped in half and splintered several times. He swears that both this and the Coronet sound better after their rehabs.
V Marks the Spot
Here’s a glimpse of just some of the V’s battle scars.
Transatlantic Tones
Just like in our 2013 Rundown with the Hives, Carlstroem is still bringing the might with a one-two amp punch. He’s using a Divided by 13 JJN 50/100 that runs into an Orange PPC412 equipped with Celestion Vintage 30s (last time he was running Celestion Heritage Greenbacks in a different cab) and a Fender Vibro-King that pumps through three 25-watt alnico Jensen P10R-Fs. The amps’ controls and circuitry are shielded with foil because they and the Epiphone are sensitive to interference. (And an Orange Custom Shop 50 lurks in the background, as a backup for either amp.)
Old and New
When it comes to Carlstroem’s pedalboard, some things have changed while others have remained the same. Holdovers include a Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay (set to slapback setting), an Electro-Harmonix POG2 (used for an octave down or to imitate the saxophone on “Go Right Ahead” or organ on “My Time is Coming”), a custom Frantone Vigilantron tremolo, and a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus. Newcomers include a Skrydstrup R&D BF2M buffer (helping with the long cable runs) and a ZVEX Fuzz Factory Vertical. (To be fair, Carlstroem had an original Fuzz Factory—his favorite pedal—last time but has since opted for the compact version.)
T Time for Arson
Similar to Carlstroem, guitar mate Nicholaus Arson travels light when Stateside. Again, his No. 1 is a 1970s Fender Telecaster Custom that has just its overwound (stock) bridge pickup wired up. The vintage Tele once belonged to frontman Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist, who generously sold it to Arson. Both his Ts take Ernie Ball Paradigm 2020 Power Slinkys (.011–.048).
Crack My Back
Arson’s main axe has suffered several splits—none more impressive (or worrisome) than the re-glued fault line running from the cutaway to the body’s bottom.
T-Bird
His U.S. backup is this Sundberg The Arsonette that was designed by the guitarist. He aimed to make a crossbreed of a Telecaster and a Firebird by giving the single-cut a raised center block. (The neck still uses Fender-style, bolt-on construction.) The lone pickup is a Lace Sensor T-150 single-coil. The upper bout is chambered producing a deader, more-direct sound that Arson likens to a banjo or drum. He strives for a tone that is immediate and rhythmic, eschewing any sustain or lingering notes.
Eko-T
Up top, the hybrid 6-string has another cross-pollination feature: the traditional T-style headstock is elongated, similar to the old Italian Eko designs. The small text on the headstock reads: “Built by D Sundberg in favour of the hands of N Arson.”
Black-panel + Silver-panel = Fender Bliss
Keeping it all Fender, all the time, Arson plugs into both cherished time periods of Fullerton amp lore. Side A is a black-panel Bandmaster that hits a vintage Hiwatt cab outfitted with Celestion Heritage Greenback speakers. Side B is a silver-panel 1976 Fender Vibrolux. Notice Arson is plugging into the vibrato channels of both amps and each has its bright switch engaged.
Arson’s Antics
Three of Arson’s pedals are exactly as they were in 2013: a Crowther Audio Prunes & Custard fuzz for songs like “Tick Tick Boom,” a Boss DD-3 Digital Delay for short echo on “Take Back the Toys” and “Bigger Hole to Fill,” and a Boss AW-3 Dynamic Wah used for the intro to “Hate to Say I Told You So.” Last time he had an EHX Micro POG, but because the band was playing a fresh set of jams, he swapped it out for a TC Electronic Classic TC XII Phaser.
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.
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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.
