Rig Rundown: The Aristocrats’ Guthrie Govan & Bryan Beller [2022]

The Aristocrats Tour: Full Rig Details: “Supergroup” is a tired, overused term in music. However, when musical aces like guitarist Guthrie Govan, bassist Bryan Beller, and drummer Marco Minnemann jam… they are an unrivaled force of nature. Each player has a remarkable resume: Govan has worked with Steven Wilson, Hans Zimmer, and Asia; Beller with Satriani, Vai, Dethklok, and Dweezil Zappa; and Minnemann with the Mute Gods, Trey Gunn, H-Blockx, and Mike Keneally—among many others. What makes a supergroup novel is generally the collective’s previous endeavors and collaborations. The magic with these three cats is that their superpowers combine to become a flashy and fluent highflying act. Formed unceremoniously for a performance at the 2011 Anaheim NAMM Show, this tremendously talented trio has released nine albums (five studio and four live) in 11 years. The attraction for both the audience and the band is the same: variety. In any given performance, you can hear them shift from Return to Forever to Yes to King Crimson to Vai to Rage to Funkadelic to moments of deranged Zappa. “We’ve been a pretty strange, eclectic band to begin with, as the music we do tips our hats to a lot of different styles,” notes Govan. “All I’ve ever done over the years I’ve been playing guitar is to just listen to everything around me and absorb the aspects of it that I liked. I’ve never felt an urge to specialize. I’m happy to keep combining whatever flavorings I like and rolling them all together.” The result: These three executive chefs put on a spicy clinic that would even please Gordon Ramsay. The Aristocrats’ headlining 2022 run landed at Nashville’s City Winery on July 27. Before the musical throwdown commenced, PG’s Chris Kies hosted conversations that covered Beller’s booming setup, including some old favorites and recovered friends (via social-media sleuthing), while Govan focused on detailing the slight-but-crucial changes to his signature Charvel and explaining his live tonal evolution—modernized with an all-encompassing Fractal Audio unit. Full Rig Details: Win Guitar Gear: Subscribe to PG’s Channel: Don’t Miss a Rundown: Merch & Magazines: PG’s Facebook: PG’s Instagram: PG’s Twitter: PG’s TikTok: @premierguitar [Brought to you by D’Addario XPND Pedalboard: ] 00:00 - D’Addario XPND Pedalboard 00:15 - Bryan Beller Intro 00:42 - Damage Inc 02:12 - Bryan Beller’s 1998 Mike Lull Modern 5 Jazz Bass 03:35 - Bryan Beller’s Mike Lull PJ5 05:18 - Bryan Beller’s 1986 Tobias Basic 5-string 07:25 - Bryan Beller’s Pedalboard 11:09 - Bryan Beller’s “Low-Rent Geddy Lee“ 12:45 - Bryan Beller’s Gallien-Krueger Amps 14:06 - Guthrie Govan’s Charvel Signature MJ San Dimas SD24 CM 22:33 - Guthrie Govan’s Red Bear Signature Pick 24:20 - Guthrie Govan’s Fractal Audio FM9 Setup #rigrundown #guthriegovan #guitar