After a long wait, Pearl Jam is finally on tour in support of 2020 Gigaton album, and eagle-eyed fans have already noticed some substantial changes to their stage installations.
Most notably, tube connoisseur Mike McCready has stacked up behind him a pair of new Fender guitar amps, both of which have a telltale Tone Master badge in the lower right corner, confirming they’re combos from the Big F’s quest for digital versions of his classic amps.
The series’ Deluxe Reverb and Blonde Twin Reverb can be found in McCready’s rig next to a Lead Custom from Seattle amp builder Rola, bumping into a Marshall 4×12. Presumably, the Fenders handle clean tones, while the Rola is turned on for dirtier sounds.
McCready’s live approval is one of the biggest hallmarks to date for the digital amplifier series. Of course, Fender undoubtedly hooked the Seattle soloist with a few combos while working on the Custom Shop replica of his ’60s Strat, which will be released as a more affordable production line model in the near future.
The tour has also delivered a few other gear surprises, not least from co-guitarists Stone Gossard and Eddie Vedder, who dug deep into their collections to bring out two rarely seen Gibsons for the run.
Gossard has been sighted with a Gibson Les Paul Signature Semi Hollow Gold Top – notable for its ES cutaway up top and Les Paul cutaway on the lower bolt.
Launched in the early 1970s, the Signature Semi Hollow was the fourth and final guitar designed by Les Paul as part of a late 1960s reunion with Gibson, and features a pair of low impedance pickups that excel at pure tones.
Judging by footage from recent shows, the rare semi-hollow has become one of Gossard’s main guitars on the trek, being used during standard tuned songs including glorified G† Not for you and Seven o’clockas well as setlist staples black and Empathize†
Eddie Vedder, meanwhile, has further admitted his love for Pete Townshend, adding the Who guitarist’s signature Gibson Les Paul Deluxe to his onstage arsenal.
A 2005 replica of Townshend’s heavily modified 1976 Cherry Sunburst #9 Les Paul, the guitar has a pair of mini humbuckers and a DiMarzio Super Distortion humbucker – only 75 were made and comes with a #9 decal, not shown on the Vedder’s model.
The guitar is currently used for standard tuned tracks, including: Corduroy† Not for you and Lightning bolt†
Both guitarists are still playing their regular squeezes alongside the new additions – so for Gossard that’s a Bigsby-equipped Les Paul Sunburst, while Vedder uses his target-stickered Telecaster for tracks that require a cleaner tone, such as better man† McCready will stick with his ’60s Stratocaster, of course, but a Les Paul with uncovered humbuckers and a P-90 equipped Firebird have seen some action too.
Pearl Jam kicked off their 2022 tour in San Diego on May 3, and the run ended in Las Vegas on May 20, after which the band headed to Europe for a series of summer dates, before returning to the US and Canada in September.
The tours will mark the tour debut of former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, who officially joined the live-up last year.
Last week, the band paid tribute to Taylor Hawkins with a cover of Foo Fighters’ Cold day in the sunled by PJ drummer Matt Cameron on guitar and vocals.