When it comes to his rig, Jimmy Herring likes to keep it simple. If he needs
a certain tone for a song, he is more likely to switch guitars than to add an
extra pedal or amp. According to his tech, Joel Byron, the signal chain is
pretty straight-ahead. “The signal comes out of the guitar, through the volume pedal, and directly into the Fuchs Tripledrive,” Byron says. “Then it goes
from the effects loop of the Fuchs into a Radial Switchbone, which splits the
signal between a Fractal Axe-Fx Ultra unit and a Fuchs Verbrator tube reverb
we keep in a drawer.”
From the Verbrator, Herring’s signal goes to the effects return on a Fuchs
Clean Machine and then into a Leslie cab. Meanwhile, the stereo outputs
from the Fractal Axe-Fx Ultra are routed to one a Mesa/Boogie Simul-Class
2:Ninety stereo tube power amp, which powers two Hard Trucker 2x12 cabs.
Herring likes to be able to mix both a dry and wet sound on the fly, depending on the tune he is playing. “The main Tripledrive is totally dry through the
green Tone Tubby cab,” says Byron. “He controls the reverb from the Fractal
unit with a second volume pedal. The wet mix comes out
of the Hard Truckers cabs and he adds the Leslie in by hitting the Both
switch on the Radial Switchbone. All of the distortion comes from the different
channels on the amps—Jimmy doesn’t use any overdrive or distortion pedals.”
For variety, Herring brings out a Gene Baker B3 (left) with Lollar Imperial
pickups, in addition to a Jerry Jones Baritone (right) that he uses on “Shut
Up and Drive.” Photo by Jason Shadrick
Guitars
Jerry Jones Baritone, Fender Relic Tele with Lollar pickups, Warmoth semi-hollow Strat-style with a Seymour Duncan ’ 59 in the neck and a Rio Grande
BBQ Bucker in the bridge (tuned to drop-D for “Shut up and Drive”), Fender
Strat with Lollar Imperials, Baker b3 with Lollar Imperials and a coil-tap switch,
Fender Strat with Vintage Noiseless single-coils, sunburst Fender Strat with
Seymour Duncan ’ 59 pickups
Amps and Cabs
Fuchs Tripledrive Supreme 100-watt head through a Tone Tubby 4x12 cab
(Herring also brings a spare Tripledrive), Fuchs Clean Machine through a Leslie
G27 cab, Mesa/Boogie Simul-Class 2:Ninety stereo tube power amp (Herring
brings a backup of this, too) through two Hard Trucker 2x12 cabs
Effects
Fractal Audio Systems Axe-Fx Ultra controlled
by a Rockman MIDIPEDAL, two Ernie Ball
volume pedals
Herring controls all aspects of his monitor mix with a series
of Ernie Ball volume pedals. Each band member’s signal is
assigned to a pedal, and he mixes them in and out, depending
on the tune. The Rocktron MIDIPedal is for switching Fractal
Axe-Fx Ultra patches. Photo by Jason Shadrick
Strings and Picks
D’Addario (gauged .010–.046),
V-Pick (Large Pointed)
Miscellaneous
Planet Waves cables, Radial Tonebone
JX- 2 Pro Switchbone AB-Y switcher,
Boss TU- 2 tuner pedal
Herring’s overdrive comes exclusively
from his Fuchs amps. His main Tripledrive
Supreme (left image) powers the Tone Tubby
cab, while the backup head (right image) sits
atop two Hard Trucker 2x12 cabs for his wet
signal. Photo by Jason Shadrick
