VOLBEAT

The Danish-American rock ’n’ roll machine keeps rolling on a hearty diet of Fryette KT88 crunch and the profiled treble bite of a fiddly old Marshall JCM800

- Jonathan Horsley

Those following Volbeat closely might spot some familiar choices in frontman/guitarist Michael Poulsen and lead guitarist Rob Caggiano’s rigs. This tour sees Poulsen favouring his Gibson SG GT and Caggiano sporting a Jackson prototype in vivid purple, a colour choice rolled over from his ESP days, running into a Fryette Sig:X. But as shows have got bigger, so has the demands on their gear, and rigs have grown more complex.

Poulsen’s tech Tue Bayer says that Poulsen’s beloved Marshall JCM800, a cornerstone of his sound, is “a fiddly old lady”, and so has persuaded a reluctant Poulsen that a Kemper Profiler will be more consistent. Caggiano, meanwhile, is using a custom switching and rack system built by his tech Jerry Carillo that incorporates some Neve 1073 mic preamp secret sauce and brings some studio fidelity to a live show that’s gotten so big that Carillo now does all Caggiano’s switching. All four sat in and explained how it works.

ROB CAGGIANO

JACKSON ROB CAGGIANO SIGNATURE PROTOTYPE

1 Rob: “Way back in the day, before ESP, I was playing this quirky guitar called the Outcaster, which was made by Jackson for literally one year, in the early to mid-90s. They were doing a guitar called the Surfcaster, so it’s that kinda thing. It’s just an offset body. It has an alder body, maple neck, ebony fingerboard. The bridge pickup is my signature DiMarzio that I developed with those guys back in [pauses]