Country music is slowly taking over the UK, and Georgia singer-songwriter Kip Moore is certainly feeling the benefit, following up a sold-out May tour with a run of headline shows in September.
In advance of the gigs, Kip let us in on the gear that’s currently accompanying him onstage, including a particularly tasty Gibson and some top-notch pedalboard picks...
Gibson J-50
“For this particular tour, I’ve been using the Gibson J-50 with D’Addario strings, and I’ve been using a Hummingbird.
“I’ve been using the LR Baggs Anthem pickups, which have just been dynamite. So, so clear and clean, and the Anthem pickup helped a lot with this guitar.
“It always sounded great without being plugged in, and then I would battle with it being plugged in sometimes. Once I got the Anthem pickups in there, it changed my world.”
Pedalboard
“I use the Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2+ - that just gives you a lot more of a clean signal. You don’t have to rely on what the venue’s gonna give you; the power in it’s just a lot better for that.
I can do certain things with the guitar to make it feel like there are almost two or three people on stage, because of this Strymon pedal
“I use the LR Baggs Para DI Acoustic because it’s my sound guy. It’s a tank - when you travel as much as we do, the least little knock around and other DIs go out, and this one has been pretty much indestructible. The sound quality’s been pretty great.
“I use the Strymon BlueSky to get all my twinkly effects. I’ll come out, start the show by myself, and I can do certain things with the guitar to make it feel like there are almost two or three people on stage, because of this Strymon pedal.
“The MXR [Custom Shop Micro Amp+] boost has been the cleanest boost, and it’s been the most consistent boost pedal. Wherever I go, I’m not dealing with feedback issues like I have dealt with with a lot of other boost pedals.
“Then I use the TC PolyTune 2 electronic for my tuner. It’s been the best to me when a band is really getting loud - sometimes you’ll get distorted signals from other tuners, and this one seems to always be spot-on for me.”
Kip Moore tours the UK in September:
- 2 September - London, Roundhouse
- 4 September - Glasgow, O2 Academy
- 5 September - Belfast, Ulster Hall
“That same, authentic syrupy sound onto your pedalboard without breaking the bank!”: Having unveiled super-affordable Klon and Tone Bender clones, Behringer unveils a $69 take on the Shin-Ei Uni-Vibe
“Now you can forego the frustrating searches, the vintage pricing and the worry of aged-out parts and obtain a brand new Mark IIC+”: Mesa/Boogie reissues the Holy Grail tube amp famously used by Metallica
