What gear does Mr. Big use?
Paul Gilbert has been seen using his Ibanez Fireman signature guitar with DiMarzio pickups through Marshall Vintage Modern and 2061X heads, with an MXR Phase 90 and Boss CS-3 on his board. Billy Sheehan has said he played his Yamaha Attitude bass through two Hartke rigs, one per pickup.
Where to start with Mr. Big's gear.
What gear Mr. Big uses: a sourced gear guide
Independent research by truerecs: every item links to the public source it comes from.
Paul Gilbert: guitars
Paul Gilbert: acoustic rig
Paul Gilbert: amps
Paul Gilbert: pedalboard
“toggle between two crazies”
Billy Sheehan: basses
“I found they make it a little easier to bend the high notes.”
Billy Sheehan: amps and signal chain
“Each pickup has a dedicated amp and cabinet.”
About Mr. Big's gear.
What guitar does Paul Gilbert play in Mr. Big?
He has been seen using his Ibanez Fireman signature, a set-neck guitar he helped shape, with DiMarzio Injector pickups and an Area 67 in the middle, strung with Ernie Ball RPS strings. For acoustic songs he was seen with a Taylor 710.
What amps does Paul Gilbert use with Mr. Big?
On the 2011 tour he was seen with two Marshall Vintage Modern heads and a Marshall 2061X with both channels bridged, running into Marshall 4x12 cabinets.
What bass does Billy Sheehan play?
He has said he played his Yamaha Attitude Limited II signature 4-string, with scalloped upper frets for easier bends. He was also seen with a Yamaha double-neck and, from his Talas days, a modified two-output Fender Precision.
What amp does Billy Sheehan use?
He has said each pickup got its own amp: a Hartke LH1000 into an AK410 4x10 for the lows and a Hartke HA5500C into an AK115 1x15 for the highs, with a Pearce BC1 preamp and Ashly SC-50 compressors. In 2017 he was seen with his EBS signature preamp and drive.
What pedals does Paul Gilbert use?
His 2011 board had a Boss TU-2 and CS-3, an Ibanez Airplane Flanger, a script MXR Phase 90, a Majik Box Fuzz Universe, a Way Huge Green Rhino, a Fulltone Choralflange, a Lehle P-Split and two HBE CPR compressors.
Mr. Big are the American hard rock band of Eric Martin, Paul Gilbert, Billy Sheehan and the late Pat Torpey. This guide covers Gilbert's Ibanez Fireman guitars, Marshall heads and pedalboard, and Sheehan's Yamaha Attitude basses and dual Hartke amp rig.
truerecs put this guide together from public videos, interviews and posts. Each item says how we know and links to the source. Mr. Big didn't write it or choose anything on it. How we source gear guides.
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