Premier Guitar | 8 years ago
Article & photos: http://bit.ly/RoyalThunderRR
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Premier Guitar swooped in on Royal Thunder after their soundcheck at Nashville’s the End to learn about the roadworthy, tour-tested gear Josh Weaver, Mel Parsons, and Will Fiore rely on to pull off their live shows.
Lead guitarist and band co-founder Josh Weaver recently got this Gibson 1961 Les Paul Tribute—which he received in a trade for his SG Custom—and hasn’t been able to keep his mitts off it. The previous owner put on the Crazy Parts Vibrola tailpiece, but Josh has since dropped in a set of Bare Knuckle Stormy Monday humbuckers. For all his rides, he uses Dunlop Nickel Wound strings (.011–.050), hammers away with Dunlop Tortex .73 mm picks, and plays strictly in D-standard tuning.
Bassist and lead singer Mel Parsons was a longtime lover of Guild B-301 basses, but has always had the Yamaha card in her back pocket with this Yamaha BB Series 2024X that was never released in the U.S. and comes with a maple neck (which was not offered on U.S. models when it was originally introduced). This monster had the original pickups swapped for a Lollar Jazz in the bridge and a Lollar Precision Split-Coil in the neck.
Article & photos: http://bit.ly/RoyalThunderRR
