Premier Guitar | 10 years ago

Article and photos: http://bit.ly/HeartRigRundown

Premier Guitar’s Shawn Hammond met with Ann and Nancy Wilson’s guitar tech, Jeff Ousley, lead guitarist Craig Bartock, and bassist Dan Rothchild before Heart’s show at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on March 21, 2015. Ousley—who’s been maintaining the Wilson sisters’ gear (and making them mean cups of coffee) for more than 20 years—walked us through everything from Ann’s custom Martin acoustics to Nancy’s vintage SG and Tele, while Bartock and Rothchild shared their cool customized instruments.

One of Nancy Wilson’s coolest road guitars this time around is a ’63 Telecaster Custom with Sperzel locking tuners that she uses for “Straight On,” “Even It Up,” and some Paul McCartney covers. She also carries two Martin HD-35 Nancy Wilson signature dreads, as well as a Martin DCPA1 with a Fishman Aura system that she uses for “Alone.” All her acoustics (and Ann’s) use FU-Tone titanium bridge pins. Nancy also brings three or four Gibson Nighthawks—which she co-designed with Gibson—in various tunings. She uses an early-’90s version for Led Zeppelin covers, and an F-tuned one for Robin Trower’s “Day of the Eagle.” She’s also road-testing a new Epiphone version of the Nighthawk with a prototype Trem King cam-based vibrato. Nancy borrows Ousley’s Duesenberg semi-hollowbody (given to him by Elvis Costello), and her single-pickup, Bigsby-equipped ’68 Gibson SG is her go-to guitar for the smash hit “Barracuda.” A TV Jones Spectra Sonic is her axe of choice for Aretha Franklin’s “Ain’t No Way” and Zep’s “Misty Mountain Hop.” Both Bigsby vibratos feature Vibramate String Spoilers.

Like her pedalboard, Nancy’s amp rack resides offstage. A Peavey-era Budda Superdrive 30 II head is her main amp, and a Fender ToneMaster serves as a backup. Each head drives its own Orange 4x12 cab loaded with 30-watt Celestion speakers.

Ousley is in charge of both cable management and pedal switching for Nancy Wilson. Her offstage board starts with a Whirlwind A/B selector, an Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer, a Way Huge Swollen Pickle, an ancient Ibanez flanger, and a Budda Zenman OD/Boost. A Voodoo Lab Pedal Power supplies the juice, and channel switcher pedals for each of Nancy’s heads round out the board.

To learn more about the setups behind Heart's 2015 live sound, visit: http://bit.ly/HeartRigRundown