Rig Rundown – Blackberry Smoke’s Charlie Starr and Paul Jackson
Article and photos: http://bit.ly/BlackberrySmokeRR
Premier Guitar hung with Charlie Starr and Paul Jackson of Blackberry Smoke just a few hours before they blew the roof off of Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. The boys shared their recipe for Southern rock tone that’s as thick as grits and gravy. Special thanks to the band’s tech, David “Doc” Oswalt, for details.
Charlie Starr covers vocals and his share of guitar abuse both live and in the studio. Starr splits up riff duties between a modest collection of guitars. His main axe is a battle-scarred 1956 Les Paul Jr. with the original P-90 pickup. The next guitar is an Echopark Downtowner ’55 Gold Custom (nicknamed “Goldie”) loaded with an Echopark ’58 P-90 in the neck and an Echopark Echotron in the bridge. For slide, Starr uses a custom-made T-style guitar with an ornately engraved top that usually lives in open-G tuning. Naturally, Starr has a P-90 in the bridge and a “lipstick” pickup in the neck. A J. Hamilton “Elizabeth” gives Starr some semi-hollow tones and features a pair of humbuckers with matching wooden pickup rings. Finally, a Gibson Custom Shop Southern Rock Tribute 1959 Les Paul rounds out the arsenal. Recently, Starr had the chance to play J.D. Simo’s ’60 Les Paul and, according to Starr, the Southern Rock LP held up comparably.
To learn more about the gear behind Blackberry Smoke’s sound, visit: http://bit.ly/BlackberrySmokeRR
#Rig #Rundown #Blackberry #Smokes #Charlie #Starr #Paul #Jackson
Originally posted by UC5J-hZ4wNf7OlkzIn49LHoQ at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B682R8rVPLg
Nunley Wade in Unicoi tenn. Awesome builder. I have a guitar he built for me.
And Paul has a Ph.D. in guitars, too! Gear and such a sweet sound when he sings and plays. Great rig run down. Thanks again.
Charlie has a Ph.D. in guitars: both for his gear and when he's on stage. Thanks for this rig rundown… from 9 years ago (in 2024). How about a new rig run?
Your missing one gentleman, these guys are all great guitar players
You should play a foure horse man song!
Genuinely good hearted guys with excellent tastes in guitar gear.
I know kert kellum and his wife Sullivan
Simple is better, after 45 years of performing, too much shit is synthetic sounding…
Love the Germino
I'm guessing this is before everyone figured out that ghost builders made the good guitars for Echo Park.
I've always wanted to know if you bought the Tele with the engraving or if you had it done yourself! Love you all!!!
One of my favorite bands these days , Charlie Starr is the real deal .
Great band! ????????
Four horsemen were a short lived but excellent band
Muito legal cara, com um equipamento simples e objetivo os caras fazem um puta som animal, ????????????????????
Awesome, I’ve still got my JCM800 50 watt from the 80’s which I love and I had to have one of those tube rotospheres when they came out, at that time they were one of the best Leslie pedals I’d ever heard…????????????????????????
Wow. I'd love to have that one of a kind Tele. Nice!
Charlie is one of my favorite guitar players. I bet him and Dime would've gotten along. They seem to be 2 pieces of the same flame imo. The kind of person you're proud to call your friend.
Brilliant, love those guys, rock guitar as it should sound, one of the best sounding live bands I’ve heard in many years. Charlie and Paul are down to earth guys who love what they do and the result is fantastic!
Like the difference between Trump fans and Biden fans lets select Leonard Skinner or Allman Brothers. The Skins, in my humble opinion, were great top 40 songwriters not musicians (go ahead and shoot me). Why? If you are "white" from the heart of the south you grew up listening to them on the radio and consumed their music, you are what you eat they say. Being born and raised in Chicago and by pure luck meeting the right people there was a sacred electric blues scene where the very best in the country were performing. Let's face it, authentic Black blues has a unique and built in timing and space mechanism. The Allman Brothers incorporated that into there sound. That is the difference in the two bands. The Skins only knew to play on the note, very boring and white, whereas the Bros had that bluesy Black simplicity and timing groove. Have been on several "Pawn Stars" episodes and they had L S perform there for there employee annual party. Finally heard them live and in fact they even rented a vintage Fender Bass from me. Yep, boring…
Yea you sound good when you got money lol
Interesting reading these comments. They are attractive to my generation and we do not spend money like the kids do. I was recently working with BB Kings old band for the last four years since his passing. One would think people would be in line to see us but no and it was becoming difficult to even get decent bookings. Covid nailed the coffin down and it is no more. Unless you have had hit records the industry is not kind to older aged bands? That said these guys have done a fantastic job!!!