Full Rig Info: https://www.premierguitar.com/videos/rig-rundown/cage-the-elephant

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Cage the Elephant was formed nearly 20 years ago in Bowling Green by vocalist Matt Shultz, guitarists Brad Shultz and Lincoln Parish, drummer Jared Champion, and bassist Daniel Tichenor. That core lineup has only changed once, with Nick Bockrath replacing Parish onstage in 2013 and officially in 2017. CTE’s earliest albums—2008’s Cage the Elephant and 2011’s Thank You, Happy Birthday—captured their punk-rock pandemonium that turned venues into hurricanes. Cage’s mayhem cloaked melodies, like a Trojan horse creating early-career earworms and sing-alongs out of hits “In One Ear,” “Ain't No Rest for the Wicked,” “Shake Me Down,” and “Aberdeen.”

2013’s Melophobia brandished a trio of mellower, melodious singles: “Come A Little Closer,” “Take It or Leave It,” and “Cigarette Daydreams.” Then, 2015’s Tell Me I’m Pretty saw the band enter Easy Eye Sound to work with Dan Auerbach, sending the band’s sonics back to the ’60s with an emphasis on direct, pointed performances and console-driven fuzz. Their last two albums, 2019’s Social Cues and 2024’s Neon Pill, partnered them with producer John Hill, who helped wrap their memorable hooks in a smokier, after-hours backdrop that incorporated ’80s sheen with drum machines, shifting synth textures, and sleek production that pulses with flow and emotion.

The constant glue that holds these albums together (aside from the members' cohesive creativity) is the constant application—in varied amounts—of garage rock, psychedelia, and a little bit of danger. Even their softest, smoothest work portrays these gripping vibes. And while the velvet packaging of their songs have them sounding more Abbey Road than Albini—earning the group back-to-back Grammys for Best Rock Album for Tell Me I’m Pretty and Social Cues—the Shultz brothers still bring their signature piss-and-vinegar performances to the stage, where the front row will likely play host to both throughout any given setlist.

Before the band’s Bonnaroo set on Saturday June 15, Cage the Elephant invited PG’s video team to their rehearsals inside East Nashville’s Steel Mill space to cover the gear they’d be touring with in support of their sixth album, Neon Pill. On guitar, lap steel, and pedal steel, Nick Bockrath starts off the Rundown going through his sizzling setup that includes custom guitars, a bountiful pedalboard, and a special instrument from a deceased friend and Nashville legend. Then, tech Mason Osman details how Brad Shultz transformed his rig to mimic his preferred recording setup that relies on studio tube preamps and compressors for a direct, broiling sound. Lastly, tech Bailey Griffith shows a simplified-but-tsunami-sounding bass setup that includes two Fender 4-strings and 300W tube heads that kick like a mule.

(Thumbnail photos by Neil Krug.)

Full Rig Info: https://www.premierguitar.com/videos/rig-rundown/cage-the-elephant

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0:00 - D'Addario Strings

0:15 - Nick Bockrath Intro

1:58 - Chris Kies Intro

2:17 - Neon Pill & Working with John Hill Again

6:00 - Nick Bockrath's Harper Guitars Marilyn

11:20 - Nick Bockrath's 1990s Gibson Les Paul Deluxe

15:23 -...

Full Rig Info: https://www.premierguitar.com/videos/rig-rundown/in-flames

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If In Flames didn’t invent melodic death metal, they cemented the genre’s arrival with Lunar Strain and Subterranean, and if those were early blueprints to the burgeoning style, the Swedes’ The Jester Race and Whoracle were the impeccable benchmarks that made the aggressive artform matter. They’ve continued to push the genre forward with ten subsequent releases—including 2023’s raw, visceral Foregone—further strengthening their core sound that, at its heart, is a modernized blend of intensified Iron Maiden and accelerated Black Sabbath.

Before the band’s headlining show at Nashville’s Marathon Music Works, In Flames’ Björn Gelotte, Chris Broderick, and Liam Wilson welcomed PG’s Perry Bean for a conversation about their powerful setups. Gelotte detailed his workingman’s signature Epiphone Les Paul Custom before his tech Greg Winn showcased a pair of unknown Marshall prototype amps never featured on a Rundown. Shredmeister general Chris Broderick discussed hands-on approach to designing his signature sound that includes a beveled Jackson Diabolic CB2, modified DiMarzio humbuckers, and a thumbpick he invented. Lastly, Wilson compared the requirements and difficulties between playing bass with Dillinger Escape and In Flames before dissecting his morphing setup that’s trying to feel like home but honor Peter Iwers and Bryce Paul thunderous footsteps.

Full Rig Info: https://www.premierguitar.com/videos/rig-rundown/in-flames

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[Brought to you by D’Addario: http://ddar.io/wykyk-rr]

0:00 - D'Addario & Nita Strauss

0:15 - Perry Bean Intro

1:52 - Björn Gelotte Intro

2:20 - Epiphone Björn Gelotte Les Paul Custom

4:36 - Using EMG 81/85 Pickups

6:30 - In Flames Tunings

8:32 - Tech Greg Winn & Marshall MD61 Amps

14:24 - Björn Gelotte's Effects

17:41 - Björn Gelotte's Strings & Picks

18:55 - D'Addario & Yvette Young

19:10 - Chris Broderick Joining In Flames

20:48 - Jackson Chris Broderick Diabolic CB2 (Black)

22:06 - Jackson USA Signature Chris Broderick Soloist 7

23:57 - Custom DiMarzio Humbuckers

25:02 - Jackson Chris Broderick Diabolic CB2 (White)

26:52 - Jackson Pro Series Chris Broderick Signature HT7 Soloist

27:13 - Chris Broderick's Custom Thumbpick

29:30 - Chris Broderick Engl Savage 100

34:27 - Chris Broderick's Effects

36:43 - Chris Broderick's Strings & Tunings

38:21 - Liam Wilson Playing in Dillinger Escape Plan & In Flames

40:55 - Liam Wilson's Zon Sonus Special 4 Basses

46:54 - Liam Wilson's Amps & Effects

54:40 - D'Addario Strings

#guitar #rigrundown #inflames #guitarist #guitarplayer #deathmetal #heavymetal

Full Rig Info: https://www.premierguitar.com/videos/rig-rundown/helmet-2024

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“I could not exist without guitar,” admits Helmet founding lead guitarist and singer Page Hamilton. “I know this to be true because I’m a miserable asshole if I don’t play guitar. When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is play guitar. It’s an incredible instrument and I just love it.”

But what does one do with that creative codependency? Page Hamilton’s impactful contributions to rock music were cemented when Helmet wrote and recorded a pair of back-to-back blisters with 1992’s Meantime and 1994’s Betty. Those pillars of ’90s alternative metal and guitar granite forever chiseled out his place in hard-rock history.

Since 1989, Hamilton and Helmet have dished out a total of nine studio albums (plus a live set) that balance punishing, fastened-down ferocity with mercurial moments of melody that make their sledgehammer fall harder.

Beyond that legacy, Page was a part of David Bowie’s band for the 1999 Hours tour, playing Saturday Night Live and being included on two live albums from the Starman. Further diversifying his guitar vocabulary, he’s contributed to several film scores for Heat, Titus, In Dreams, Catwoman, and Chicago Cab. He’s explored the instrument’s outer realms with German avant-garde guitarist Caspar Brötzmann on a live improv album (1996’s Zulutime), and expanded his vocabulary by diving into jazz guitar, noting in our Rundown he’ll release an album next year. Hamilton has even put out a guitar instruction DVD, Sonic Shapes: Expanding Rock Guitar Vocabulary for Hal Leonard. All of this (and more) accomplished because guitar is his lifeblood.

And we found out during our Rig Rundown—filmed May 7, 2024 at Nashville’s Exit/In—that most of this material was spawned from three key ingredients, all still in his rig: ESP Horizon guitars, Fryette amps, and DiMarzio humbuckers. These partnerships with each company are not gratuitous or grifting. He’s been aligned with ESP since 1989. He started working with DiMarzio in the early ’90s, and he and Steven Fryette have sharpened his sound since 1996. These three friendships have fostered an integral strand in Page’s tonal DNA, and Hamilton covers each at length with us. Plus, he breaks down the simplifying move from a complicated Bradshaw rack-switching system to something more modern and efficient, with five Boss boxes and a duo of H9s.

Shop Page Hamilton's Gear:

ESP LTD Horizon 87 Solidbody Electric Guitar - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/9gKdg4

DiMarzio Air Norton - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/k0x2O0

D'Addario EXL140 XL Strings - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/anEGON

Eventide H9 - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/baQr0x

Boss MT-2W Metal Zone Waza Craft - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/AW4MPK

Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/1r4d9D

Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/JzDdK2

Boss ES-5 Effects Switching System - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/ZQgj6K

Pedaltrain Nano+ - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/XYJ9mG

Full Rig Info: https://www.premierguitar.com/videos/rig-rundown/helmet-2024

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0:00 - D'Addario Strings

0:15 - Chris Kies Intro

1:43 - Page Hamilton Intro

3:09 - ESP LTD PH-600

4:23 - ESP LTD...