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In the early days of bluegrass music, two companies were largely responsible for creating that sound – Martin, for its guitars, and Gibson, for its mandolins and banjos. Even today, bluegrass patriarch Del McCoury plays a Martin D-28, mandolin legend Sam Bush depends on his trusty Gibson F5 named “Hoss,” and banjo monster Bela Fleck is still jamming on his pre-war Gibson.
Things change, though, and new generations of players bring a fresh sound and different equipment preferences. That’s the case with progressive bluegrass band Greensky Bluegrass, a band that can perhaps more accurately be called an acoustic rock band that uses bluegrass instruments. While the group features mostly the same instrumentation that Bill Monroe changed the music world with, the players use instruments that are more appropriate to their own sound and who they are as individuals. For instance, upright bassist/vocalist Mike Devol uses a modern Eminence bass, known for its unique smaller body size and shape. And the other four members of the band also play instruments that are definitely 21st century axes.
Guitarist/vocalist Dave Bruzza plays a Santa Cruz VS (Vintage Southerner) model, but it’s not totally stock, as Bruzza uses a Hipshot drop tuner on the low E string. “I just like the way the guitar sounds,” he says. “I’finlve played many D-28s and I use a lot of guitars for recording, but the VS is used the most. I own a lot of guitars, and the one I used for the majority of our If Sorrows Swim album is a 1990 Brazilian sides and back Santa Cruz Tony Rice model. It’s really the definition of a bluegrass guitar to me.”
Mandolin player/singer Paul Hoffman plays a mandolin made by Paul Newson, a luthier in the band’s home state of Michigan. “My mandolin is a ‘Loar spec copy’ in that the sizing, style, etc. are copies to his original Gibson specs,” Hoffman says. “Newson made this mandolin to my paradoxical vague but specific ideas, what I liked, thought I needed and sounds I preferred. I started playing it in 2007, and it’s the only mandolin I’ve played on stage since. It’s very much ‘mine’ and unique to my tone.”
Banjo player/vocalist Michael Arlen Bont uses an instrument made by Rock Bartley, another Michigan builder. “Rock is a master woodworker and a great banjo player who has set up and built some amazing banjos,” Bont says. “My particular banjo was built from a piece of 120-plus years old mahogany he found when he was doing a remodel of a Victorian-era house. He sent some of it to Jim Cox to spin the resonator as well as a three-ply vintage style maple rim. The top-tension parts are vintage Gibson. A rare Jim Burlyle tone ring, hand-engraved and gold plated, makes it sound bell-like and even-sounding across the fretboard. The neck is built from the same piece of mahogany. This banjo sounds better than some of the best vintage banjos out there. I also have a Robinson banjo that Jake Robinson built in 2007. I designed it and did the inlay work. I also still have my first pro-style banjo, a 2001 Deering Deluxe.”
Dobro man Anders Beck plays a square neck Paul Beard instrument, also with a Hipshot, as opposed to a vintage Dobro. “In my opinion, the modern builders like Paul Beard and Tim Scheerhorn have created instruments that are much more sonically advanced than original Dobros,” he says. “They’re louder, sharper, more dynamic and often have a set of overtones that make it feel more like playing a piano than a guitar. I mostly play in standard Dobro tuning (GBDGBD), and I use the Hipshot a few times a show to change the entire tuning of the guitar to a DADF#AD. It’s a really amazing gadget, some strings stay the same while others drop at different intervals. All this happens just by moving what looks like a whammy bar. When [Dobro ace] Jerry Douglas was telling me about it, I told him that I still wouldn’t believe that it works and stays in tune until I see it for myself. Of course, he was right. I also own a Scheerhorn square neck resonator guitar that I played exclusively until Jerry was nice enough to give me the Beard guitar as a gift. Both instruments are killer, but the Beard is my current favorite to take on the road.”
