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The Marshall Tucker Band Hardware Page
An ongoing list of musical gear used by MTB, from the beginning, 'til now!
by Michael B. Smith
The following equipment listings apply to the 1970's-80's Marshall
Tucker Band. It's what they were using during those years.
Toy Caldwell
A devoted Gibson man, like his father before him.
Gibson ES-335 (cream)
1974- Gibson Les Paul Standard (Red Sunburst)
(Toy had two older Les Pauls, a 1958 and a 1953, but both were stolen in
1975)
Emmons Pedal-Steel
Toy's Standard was strung with Ernie Ball Slinky Strings. (011, .013,
.017, .022, .024, and .036) The action was lowered, although it was still mildly high when compared to other players' height preferences.
Fitted with two older humbucking pickups. Except for Schaller tuning heads, the guitar was a stock model.
Two (2) Fender Twin Reverb Amps removed from their original cabinets and refitted into specially-built casings. These two amps powered two Marshall cabinets with the original speakers replaced by four K120 JBL's per cabinet. The two stacks were linked with a Y-cord.
Tommy Caldwell
Fender Precision Bass
Paul T. Riddle
Gretsch Drums
Toms: 9 X 13, 10 X 14, 16" Floor tom.
Concert Toms 8" and 10"
Penstripe Heads
White head on bottom and Penstripes on the top.
22" Bass Drum
5 X 14 Slingerland Wood Snare with three airholes (sometimes, P.T. would use Canasonic heads on his snare in the studio to achieve a dry,
crisp sound).
Zildjian Cymbals.
22" Medium Ride
Two 18" Crash Cymbals, one medium, one medium-thin
Concert Hi-Hats, 14" Quick Beats
Studio Hi-Hats, New Beats
George McCorkle
George was kind enough to e-mail us his equipment list. Thanks
George! ;)
"I started off playing with MTB with an old Ampeg head & cabinet, probably an
STV. The first good rig I got was one we bought from The Grateful Dead. It was a
Macintosh Amp (300 Watt), pre-amped with a Fender Showman Head (100 Watt, I
think) played through eight (8) cabinets with two (2) 12 -inch JBL speakers each.
Then I got a Mesa Boogie rig. It was a 100 Watt head
through (2) two Mesa Boogie cabinets with (4) JBL speakers in each. I used a Mesa Boogie
Combo withone (1) 12 inch speaker in smaller Venues.
In the early 80's I did use some Peavey amps from time to time, but never found one I just loved!
As for Guitars, I've played about everything! I mostly played my black Gibson Les Paul and my Red
Fender Stratocaster. (My son, Justin, plays the Red Strat now) I did like playing
a Gibson 335 or 347, or a Lucille every now and then!!
George with Michael B. Smith
Now if I play with my band, I use a Mesa Boogie Combo with one (1) 12 inch
speaker. It's a Mark IV, fully loaded. Most of the time I like to plug it straight in, but if I use effects I use a Digitec RP 1 through the
effects loop. I Play a Paul Reed Smith Custom Sunburst or a white 62 Stratocaster that's been modified to suit my
needs. If I play Acoustic, I use my Taylor 615 (Fishman Pick up EMG amp) or my
old Martin that I played when I played with MTB. It's a D-37K with a Baggs set up.
Michael B. would like to give special thanks to the following for
information regarding MTB's instruments: Guitar Player Magazine; Modern Drummer; George McCorkle;
Paul T. Riddle; Frank Wilkie; and Doug Gray.
Check out Michael B's great work at www.gritz.net
- an on-line magazine dedicated to southern music.
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