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The 26-year-old roots guitar titan show off his prime stage axes, including his signature ES-345 and a vintage parts Les Paul, plus he reveals the secrets of his personal MK Ultra.Since Marcus King’s previous Rig Rundown in 2017, he’s made two albums—produced by the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach—and scored a Grammy nomination. He’s also busted out his own signature Orange amp with an allusive name, and upped his profile, stepping from clubs to big halls. Not bad for a North Carolina kid with blues in his bloodline.And, really, not entirely unexpected. King hit the scene in his teens as a full-blown virtuoso, playing club gigs at night and going to high school by day. He was initially championed by Warren Haynes, who was so impressed that he released the Marcus King Band’s 2015 debut, Soul Insight, on his Evil Teen Records label. And then the hard-playing young roots genre-blender rode that wind under his wings.Before his September 29 gig at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, touring behind his recent release Young Blood, he entertained PG’s John Bohlinger—with some help with the details from guitar tech Cody Bates—with a close-up look at his current touring rig. Dig in!Brought to you by D’Addario DS XS Strings.Granddad’s JoyIf you’ve seen Marcus King play, you’ve noticed this beautiful all-stock 1962 Gibson ES-345. The model debuted in 1958 and was immediately used by Chuck Berry, Freddie King, and, later, B.B. King (pre-ES-355) and Eric Clapton, among others. This particular guitar was purchased new by King’s grandfather and it’s been Marcus’ No. 1 since the family put it in his hands. The big red rocker and all of King’s electric guitars stay strung with Elixir Optiweb Nickel Plated Steel mediums, .011-.049.The New Red Rider of the Playful StageIn order to save wear and tear on his grandfather’s ES-345, King usually leaves that one at home and tours with the No. 1 prototype of his Gibson Marcus King Signature ES- 345 Custom, which was unveiled in early 2021. But since he lives in Nashville now, both attended the Ryman show.Back in BlackKing picked this 1962 Fender Strat up at Nashville’s Carter Vintage Guitars. He describes the neck as “sweet as pie.” After he took it home, he sent it to Matt Hughes at Banker Fine Handcrafted Guitars in Atlanta for some work: a refin and a swap of the original 3-way switch for a 5-way.Not Quite a Beauty …But a beautiful instrument. This weathered 1958 Gibson Les Paul Custom is a vintage parts guitar, featuring a ’58 body merged with a 1970s neck and hardware. Dig the tone in the video!Shady CharacterHere’s another beauty—a 1939 Martin D-18 shade top that was a gift from Zac Brown. Body crack repairs in the top display in the photo, as does the wear of many miles over the years. This exceptional vintage working-player’s acoustic stays strung with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze mediums, gauged .013–.056.These Three King’sUnveiled by Orange in 2021, King’s signature heads bear the name MK Ultra—maybe … or maybe not named after a top-secret government experiment with LSD and other substances. (Insert smiley emoji!) It’s a rad amp, with 30 watts output from 6L6s, one volume control, a treble dial marked SING and a bass knob tagged DEEP. Each of his two MK Ultra heads runs into its own Orange slanted 8×10 with Celestion Vintage 30s. In between those citrus commandos sits a 1968 Fender Bandmaster TFL5005D powering up a Fender Bassman cab with two Celestion 15s—the company’s G15B-100 speakers, which hone in on the deep end.Marcus King’s PedalboardKing runs his guitar’s cable into a Dunlop Volume (X) 8, and then his signal hits a Dunlop Cry Baby wah, an MXR Booster, an Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer, a Tru-Fi Two Face fuzz, MXR Micro Chorus, Dunlop Rotovibe chorus/vibrato, MXR Phase 100, Tru-Fi Ultra Tremolo, Dunlop Echoplex Delay, MXR reverb, and a Radial Shotgun signal splitter and buffer. Juice? That comes from a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 3 plus.

After four acclaimed albums and nearly a decade of active service, the idea that AVATARIUM were ever just another side project for the endlessly prolific Leif Edling now seems ridiculous. If 2013’s self-titled debut occasionally strayed a little too close to the CANDLEMASS mothership in terms of rif…

Atlantic Records has announced an exclusive partnership with Gold Tooth Records, founded by Grammy Award-winning and multi-platinum producer Andrew Watt. In addition, the one and only Iggy Pop is the first artist signed to this joint venture. The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award honoree and godfath…

Matt Sorum, the Grammy-winning drummer of GUNS N’ ROSES and VELVET REVOLVER, has signed with AFM Records for his first-ever album with his all-star musical collective KINGS OF CHAOS.
From the Sunset Strip to South Africa, Argentina and Brazil, KINGS OF CHAOS have enthralled fans around the world wit…

Day #19 is here! Enter below for your chance to win a Hotone Ampero Control!Ampero ControlAmpero Control is a compact, sturdy, fully programmable Bluetooth MIDI controller, that gives musicians flexible MIDI-based control via MIDI port, USB jack and Bluetooth. It features 4 footswitches, with each footswitch, you can send up to 16 different MIDI messages by different actions. You can also attach expression pedals or more footswitches to your Ampero Control depending on your needs. Furthermore, a dedicated smart mobile app lets you set every detail of your Ampero Control without any confusion.Stompboxtober Day 19 Hotone

In a new interview with Australia’s Noise11.com, HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale confirmed that she and her bandmates recently “finished recording two new covers.” She added: “Whether or not we’re going to just release those as individual songs or have a cover EP, I have no idea what we’re gonna do w…

Canadian sci-fi metal innovators VOIVOD have released a music video for “Quest For Nothing”, a song off their latest album, “Synchro Anarchy”. One of the first clips created with AI technology, the video was produced by Luc Leclerc of Above The Void.
VOIVOD drummer Michel “Away” Langevin comments: “…

Michael Sweet has once again claimed that STRYPER was never a “Christian” band despite the fact that the lyrics in a number of STRYPER songs explicitly point to Christ. During a new interview with Effect Radio, the 59-year-old guitarist/vocalist, who is STRYPER’s primary songwriter, explained (as tr…

If you don’t have time to binge the new Rings of Power trilogy, get lost in the fantasy for just a few minutes with Spell’s latest track and video, “Fever Dream.”
The post Video Premiere: Spell – “Fever Dream” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.