Amps
JT’s big cartage rig, 2009
JT kept many amps in storage and when hired for a session, a cartage company (Express Instrument Delivery) would bring everything to the studio and set it up.
(the amps in this picture)
–Orange AD30 single channel head (made in 2002)
–Carr Slant 6V head (made around 2007)
–VHT Pittbull 45 head (made in 1996)
–Marshall 1987XL 50W Head (likely made 2002-2004)
–Fender Twin Reverb ’65 Reissue (made in the 1990’s)
The Orange AD30 (top slot of the amp rack) is like a Vox AC30 top boost, with EL84 power tubes and 12AX7 preamp tubes.
The Carr Slant 6V (middle slot of the amp rack) is like a mid 60’s Fender Deluxe Reverb on the clean channel, and a JMP Marshall on the dirty channel. JT primarily used the clean channel.
The VHT Pittbull 45 (burgundy head on top of a roadcase to the left of the amp rack) is a 45 watt amp with a quad of EL84 power tubes.
The Marshall 1987X (far left edge of the picture) is a reissue of the 50 watt 1970’s JMP era 1987 model. Marshall’s amp model names are very confusing, because they are sometimes four digits and begin with “19”, so it looks like a year. This amp has nothing to do with the year 1987, Marshall just happened to call their 50 watt amp heads “model 1987” back in the late 60’s and into the 70’s. JT “jumpered” the two channels with a short cable from input 2 of the normal channel into input 1 of the treble channel, so he could blend the darker tone of the normal channel with the brighter tone of the treble channel using the two channels’ separate volume knobs.
The Fender Twin Reverb (under the Marshall, bottom left corner of picture) is a reissue of the 1963-1967 Fender Twins with black control panels. Both the original vintage version and the reissue are big, loud, clean amps with a quad of 6L6 power tubes producing 85 watts of power.
The amp rack case was made by Showcase Cases in Nashville, TN, sometime before 2004. Showcase Cases ceased operations around 2010.
In sessions JT would have a guitar cabinet in a different room and run a long speaker cable from a head to his cab. He would swap the speaker cable from one head to another (often between songs) if he wanted to use a different head. Combos were treated the same as a head, the internal speakers in combos were not used. Within a single song he would often switch guitars for different parts.
JT’s big cartage rig, ~2017
This is the same Showcase amp rack, same cartage situation, but over the years JT gradually started favoring different amps.
(the amps in this picture)
–Carr Viceroy head (made 2009)
–Reinhardt head (Titan or The 18, put into the rotation 2014)
–Carr Slant 6V head (made ~2007)
–Carr Artemus 2×10 combo (made 2011)
The Carr Viceroy (blue head on top of the amp case) was JT’s main amp from 2010-2020. He would often only bring the Viceroy and do the entire session on it. This amp had a pair of 6L6 power tubes producing 33 watts and was meant to have a preamp section like a 60’s Fender and an output section like a late 50’s Fender. The amp was originally called the Vincent, and changed to the Viceroy in March 2008 after Carr ran into some trademark issues.
The Reinhardt head (green and white head in the top amp case slot) is either a Reinhardt Titan or a Reinhardt The 18. In either case, it’s an EL84 Marshall style amp made by Bob Reinhardt. The 18 is Reinhardt’s first model and the Titan is a double power version of it with an extra pair of EL84 power tubes. This is a rock amp. JT “jumpered” the two channels with a short cable from the lo input of the normal channel into the hi input of the treble channel, so he could blend the darker tone of the normal channel with the brighter tone of the treble channel using the two channels’ separate volume knobs.
The Carr Slant 6V (black head in the middle amp case slot) is the same one from JT’s 2009 rig. 1963 Fender Deluxe type circuit for the clean channel and JMP Marshall style circuit for the dirty channel, and JT favored the clean channel.
The Carr Artemus (red combo on the ground) is an AC30 type amp.
JT’s big cartage rig, 2004
This is an earlier amp rack, with the VHT and Bassman in the head slots.
(amps in this picture)
–VHT Pittbull 45 head (made in 1996)
–Fender Bassman head (1963-1967)
–Carr Slant 6V combo (made in 2002)
–Orange AD30 head (made in 2002heavily modified” Fender Bandmaster head (1963-1967)
–Marshall 1987X head (2002-2004)
The VHT Pittbull 45 (burgundy head in the top slot of the amp rack) is a 45 watt amp with a quad of EL84 power tubes.
The mid 60’s Fender Bassman head (black head with silver grille cloth in middle slot of the amp rack) is a studio favorite, many Nashville session players own one. It is a loud, punchy amp with plenty of low end.
The Carr Slant 6V (combo amp in the middle of the picture) is a 1×12 combo the size of a Fender Deluxe. Steve Carr started making amps in 2000 and the Slant 6V was one of his first models. Same details as the Slant 6V head described in the other rigs on this page. Note that in this picture JT is plugged into the Slant 6V. He must have liked it and used it often enough to get the head version for his amp rack a few years later.
The Orange AD30 (top head on the left side of the picture) is the same head from JT’s 2009 rig described on this page.
The mid 60’s Fender Bandmaster (middle head on the left side of the picture) was “heavily modified” according to JT. This amp head, along with JT’s Gibson SG, was used as the main guitar on Dierks Bentley’s Come A Little Closer.
The Marshall 1987X (bottom head on the left side of the picture) is the same JMP reissue described in the 2009 rig on this page. It’s a 50 watt Marshall.
JT’s guitar cabinets
Since guitar cabinets were put in a room away from the tracking floor with the door closed, there aren’t a lot of pictures of the cabs JT used on sessions throughout the years. Here are two 2019 text messages worth of info from JT:
(when asked what cabs he uses)
“Lately a Carr 2×12 with (I think) Eminence “Red Coat” speakers. I also have a Marshall 4×12 and a couple other 2×12 cabs with Celestions and Jensens and a 1×12 with an EV speaker.”
(when asked what cabs he used on Dierks Bentley’s music in the mid 00’s)
“I had a few different 2×12 cabs back then (still do). I had a Bandmaster 2×12, I think it had Oxfords in it. I also had a custom made 2×12 with a Vintage 30 (that side closed back) and (I think) a Jensen* (that side open back). I also had another custom made with a Vintage 30** and a Celestion Gold (all open back). We were just shooting from the hip on that stuff, I just plugged into whatever I was digging at the time.”
*it actually has a Utah dated 3rd week of 1957, not a Jensen
**it’s actually a Matchless G12H30, not a Vintage 30 (Matchless altered Vintage 30s in the ’90s by taking the doping off the cone with acetone, they might also have done that to H30s when they started using those in the ’00s)
He also had a custom Blonde open back 2×12 cab with 1996 Mojo Tone M12B speakers.
He used a red Carr 1×12 Artemus open back cab with an Eminence Red White & Blues speaker on smaller sessions in the 2010’s and in 2020.
