Rig Rundown: Umphrey’s McGee [2025]

It’s been just over 10 years since we had legendary South Bend, Indiana, jam band Umphrey’s McGee on Rig Rundown, so when we saw that they were coming to play at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium in early April, we figured it was time to reconnect.

Guitarists Jake Cinninger and Brendan Bayliss showed PG’s John Bohlinger what pieces of kit they’re digging these days, and how they orchestrate their incredibly broad range of sounds.

Brought to you by D’Addario.

Simply Z Best

Here’s an up-close look at Cinninger’s No. 1, a G&L Comanche. The Z-coil pickups do away with typical single-coil 60-cycle hum issues at high-gain settings. It’s an all-purpose workhorse.

Cinninger replaced the stock trem bar with a Jake Blade, a custom-made replacement patented by Mark Benjamin of RoughGauge LLC. Compared to a regular trem bar, it’s out of the way and allows for more expressive playing.

For strings, Cinninger uses D’Addario .10s, and he swears by his beveled-edge Telefunken 2 mm picks.

Special S

Cinninger says only 50 of these G&L S-styles were made, with remarkable pieces of wood and specially designed pickups. This one cuts closer to a classic, throaty Stratocaster sound, and if a venue has quiet, clean power that won’t present excessive noise issues, it’s more likely to be called into action.

Two by Two

Cinninger’s signal runs to one amp at a time. The Schroeder head, which is used for cleans, was built with military-spec durability by Tim Schroeder in Chicago and is one of 10. Cinninger says it’s got some Dumble qualities, with its clarity, power, consistency, and speed to the speaker, and it connects to a Schroeder cabinet and custom speaker.

The Oldfield Marquis 100-JC, built by Paul Gussler in Charlotte, North Carolina, is the Marshall-flavored side of Cinninger’s rig. It handles dirty signals and is connected to classic Electro-Voice drivers.

Jake Cinninger’s Pedalboard

Cinninger’s board, which he made with his dad, is 25 years old, and it’s constantly changing. His always-on boxes include a Banzai Cold Fusion Overdrive, Fuchs Royal Plush Compressor, and Mesa Boogie Five-Band Graphic EQ, plus a Steel Guitar Black Box tube buffer that adds some “air” in the high end.

On top of those, there’s a Boss TU-3, MXR Smart Gate, Radial Tonebone Hot British, MXR Distortion III, Sarno Earth Drive, TC Electronic Flashback, Boss PS-5, Source Audio Soundblox 2 Multiwave Distortion, Malekko Fuzz, Guyatone MD2, Boss PH-3, Morley Bad Horsie, BBE Mind Bender, and a custom “FuzzBucket” fuzz made by a friend.

Utility units include a Lily P4D, Radial BigShot ABY, and Ebtech Hum Eliminator, plus a 9-channel effects switching system.

Sorry, Mark

Meet Miss Lucy. This is a PRS Mark Tremonti Signature, albeit without Tremonti’s name on the headstock, and tricked out with the Jake Blade. This one runs a bit hotter than Brendan Bayliss’ other PRS guitars, and his tech changes the strings on it—D’Addario XL .010s—every day. Like Cinninger, he digs the Telefunken 2 mm picks.

Also in the stable are another PRS single-cutaway and a double-cut PRS McCarty.

Doubles of the Oldfield

Bayliss runs both a Mesa Boogie Lonestar head and a Gussler-built Oldfield head (which sounds similar to his Lonestar) at the same time. The Mesa runs to a cab with Celestion 12″ speakers.

Brendan Bayliss’ Board

Bayliss’ board also features the Steel Guitar Black Box, a Lily P4D, Radial BigShot ABY, a Boss TU-3, and a Morley 20/20 Bad Horsie wah.

Aside from those, there’s a Keeley Compressor, MXR Custom Badass Modified O.D., Cusack Screamer, MXR Timmy, Cusack Tap-A-Whirl, Audio Blend Edge EQ, Boss OC-5, Boss CE-5, MXR Phase 95, Eventide H9, Stigtronics Delay, and Boss DD-20.

Boss TU-3

MXR Smart Gate

MXR Distortion III

TC Electronic Flashback

Boss PH-3

Morley Bad Horsie

Morley 20/20 Bad Horsie Wah

Keeley Compressor

MXR Custom Badass Modified OD

MXR Timmy

Boss OC-5

Boss CE-5

MXR Phase 95

Eventide H9

Boss DD-20

Celestion 12″ Speakers

G&L Comanche

PRS McCarty

PRS Mark Tremonti Signature

D'Addario XL Strings