Rig Rundown - The Dear Hunter

Article & photos: bit.ly/TheDearHunterRR
Premier Guitar’s Chris Kies swooped into Nashville’s Cannery Ballroom right after soundcheck to see how Casey Crescenzo, Rob Parr, and Maxwell Tousseau reproduce their epic concept albums that will tell a narrative over six albums (five have been released this far).
Casey Crescenzo, the former member of The Receiving End of Sirens and current leader/guitarist of The Dear Hunter, is a part-time luthier when he’s not rocking onstage or locked in the studio. His fascination with building guitars can be drawn back to two things: his reluctance to cave on his ideas while collaborating with guitar companies (plus not wanting to pay over $4k) and his love for 3D CAD design work. He bought a few Fender Starcaster reissues (his preferred body shape) to reverse engineer the instrument and to further understand the finishing process. And his brand Cave and Canary was born.
Above is a Cave and Canary Solaris semi-hollow-his only touring guitar for this run and it’s the first body style that he drew. While he is a builder, two weeks before this tour he realized he didn’t currently have a guitar to play onstage, so this particular Solaris is a “parts” guitar from all the items laying around his shop. Some appointments include a Fender-style scale length, Mastery bridge and tailpiece, OX4 Humbuckers (PAF-style), and ’70s-style Schaller tuners.
Guitarist Rob Parr is an active user on the Offset Guitars forum and worked with another member and co-designed this contoured Jag-Stang offshoot that has come to be a Cave and Canary Auriga model. (Parr has said on the record-and in the video-that The Dear Hunter leader, Casey Crescenzo, did not make it mandatory for him to play a Cave and Canary instrument.) It has a short scale (24”), Mastery bridge and tailpiece, and is outfitted with custom-voiced McNelly Pickups that’s base point was the company’s gold-foil set. And from all his time spent playing on Jazzmasters, he incorporated those familiar switches-the knobs are master tone and volume. One of the knobs is a 3-way pickup selector and the other rocks between standard, mute, and a low-pass filter used for more rounded sounds. He strings up this bad boy with Ernie Ball Power Slinkys gauged .011-.054 and plays with Dunlop Tortex .73 mm picks.
Continue reading: bit.ly/TheDearHunterRR

[@alexzuniga6397]

i love how he makes the pain staking effort to build his own guitar, shave his binding, select pickups for their tonality, then when it comes to live performance and getting the job done, it all devolves into "....i just turn all of my distortions on... " lol. SO relatable

[@timesink8947]

If you're not familiar with this band, you owe it to yourself to check them out.

[@stinenormannhansen1632]

Yes. All the yes.

[@Matteo_the_Plague_Doctor]

Where's a good place to start with this band?

[@reinieden2379]

Act IV is where I started off and it was really good.

[@elliotdesgagne6934]

Mana-Ramp-Matoran maybe start from act 1 to the last one, in order, if you feel like youd be interested in the story-telling part of the band !

[@Matteo_the_Plague_Doctor]

Thanks. :D

[@brndgtl]

These guys are rad. The guitars look great and it's nice to see non-metal folks using the Helix. Checked out their album on Spotify and then immediately ordered it from my store. Good job PG!

[@craigdetroit]

"it's the greed of wanting 100 guitars" - I get it. I totally get it.

[@thisgoestoeleven]

I got to play trumpet on their first EP in Casey's basement studio and they remain one of my favorite bands to this day, idk how I missed this when it came out but holy hell I love this band.

[@DomSchu]

Great band live. Deserve way more recognition.

[@Sensates85]

Pallbearer, Earthless and now this. Some of my favorite bands back to back! Big thumbs up PG!

[@Sparland]

One of the most talented, well rounded bands out there. And all super nice dudes too!

[@alexanderdavid8441]

love this guy, and the band

[@usaflagraybans]

Yes! Thank you so much! I've been wanting this for forever. Love to see one of my favorite bands using a Helix too.

[@peterbroberg3081]

Rad. Love this. Great band, great gear, great conversation.

[@5150cl]

Looked like a BilT in the thumbnail. Always cool to see players get involved in building! These last few Rig Rundowns have been amazing.

[@variancewithin]

one of my favorite bands. damn theyre soo good

[@Niamorg1007]

Chris' rig rundowns are getting better and better. He's so relaxed and relevant in his interviews nowadays!

[@keepyourlovesafe]

If anyone is curious about the guitar pedal demo youtube channel Casey is referencing to but couldn't remember the name of, i believe it's "Knobs."

[@nojyeloot]

Love this band.

[@joeyvpoisonfree]

These guys are the absolute best

[@calvinduden1369]

I've been waiting for this for sooooooo long. It finally happened

[@kierenmoore3236]

It's not "just" the Mark 5 25w model ... it IS THE Mark 5 25w model ... Small amps can sound huge / best in the right circumstances - don't 'apologise' for being smart enough to use the right tool for the job! :)

[@variancewithin]

casey 0:00 - intro / making his own guitars 8:35 - specifics of the guitar he's holding 11:00 - the Z amp 13:35 - pedalboard - the old haunt 18:40 - pedalboard - wait 21:00 - pedal with the logo off (quiet theory prelude / delay reverb) 22:00 - cursed rob 26:00 - rob's guitar i'll get the rest later

[@richardsteffens6159]

Was NOT prepared for how good this was :0

[@patrickcarroll1754]

A very creative group.

[@michaelgibson7403]

One of the best RRs.Super cool guys!

[@mytchmacfarlane]

Frig I'm just in love with Casey.

[@dancupp3690]

Just now seeing this im super upset that guitar isn't made anymore. I really would love that.

[@venemataylor]

oh god bless you for this

[@isaiahdelacruz8703]

ooooooO o oiloooooooooooyoi

[@roccer2112]

21:10 Casey just offhandedly mentions they're working on a new album. Nice!

[@erichughes3987]

Jared Lindberg well of course they are.

[@mojuy11]

He is perpetually doing something

[@jmelara324]

They’re unfortunately not. 😫

[@filipdemeyst8842]

“Learning how to slow down”. Wise Words i think

[@neocollective]

That blue guitar is really beautiful

[@2doobsmcjubes555]

Anyone else think he was describing a Knobs video at 21 mins?

[@Chandler17447]

he was most definitely watching a Knobs video.

[@johnsander5112]

Knobs!

[@magnusohmsen2676]

2DoobsMcJubes oo

[@elijahlanning1762]

That what I thought

[@TheSonsofHorusx]

Finally, a break from the usual fender/gibson rundowns

[@dansaghin1]

great rundown and band

[@martinrking]

The "Jag-Stang Done Right" looks awesome, I want to make a reverse version :)

[@MFChickenFlipper]

Amazing video. I was always curious about what they use.

[@bengalvin9932]

28:45the shape of that blue guitar is killer! in fact that whole guitar looks killer i want one in surf green or maybe coral pink?

[@bengalvin9932]

28:45 I HAVE TO SAY IT AGAIN THE SHAPE OF THAT BLUE GUITAR IS KILLER!!!

[@tysonrinker5958]

Then get a duosonic

[@ph0kused]

very cool... if i was a professional musician with a moderate amount of success, i would get in to the same thing... making my own.

[@TimMeyerMusic]

For the non luthiers I have a Jennings Catalina hollow body that is a superbly crafted top quality components and...it’s just beautiful too.

[@cvblaylock]

One of the best bands of all time.

[@johnandkassbolles7708]

Maybe the curvature on the inside sounds different not only because it's more wood, but because it prevents the formation of standing waves(?). My youngest son is a long-time fan of this group. This is one of the most fascinating RR's I've ever watched and I'm only 10 minutes in.

[@19TheJohn93]

How tall is Casey? He always looks like a giant

[@tysonrinker5958]

86 cm

[@jgrubbs2000]

Probably around 6’2. I’m slightly taller than him and I’m around 6’4. Met him at the show in Austin.

[@usnk666]

Where's Leprous rig rundown?

[@Astral_Wave]

el-usnk OMFG YES! please

[@tysonrinker5958]

He has the best rig rundown ever

[@christianfriisjensen2055]

I have never related more to a person, than the guy saying "this is my life" about his pedalboard, and admitting that the whole helix thing scares him.

[@brucewailes7744]

Hey guys, any chance of a new Samantha Fish rig rundown? Her gear lineup is almost entirely changed since the last rundown you did on her. She is playing a SG now.

[@zackgreenwald3455]

Rob Parr is pure class over and over.

[@zackgreenwald3455]

totally relate re: bridge pickup and Vox is home.

[@andrewbeaton3302]

Of course, he's a F'ng genius! I will always wonder why treos didn't make one last baby? I'll buy that guitar.

[@elephantricity]

I wonder how Rob Parr is powering his pedalboard.

[@atariT10pt5]

Yo where can I buy one of his guitars??????????

[@o_o0_x914]

Was this the guy from Receiving End of Sirens?

[@acornhead285]

Philip Canna Yep. Great band.

[@o_o0_x914]

acornhead285 yes indeed :)

[@zacharywho5442]

Truly, anything you heard in TREOS that sounded nice was probably Casey. You may notice their quality dropped a lot at one point. . . They kind of kicked him out

[@DroneCorpse]

Jennings is awesome!

[@zacharywho5442]

LOL First time I've heard Casey mention my sister in a video

[@colinpaine1343]

48:30 Rich Evans makes an appearance

[@sonic7184]

At 7:53, when Chris said "it's like popping a zit" I literally popped a zit 5 seconds before that. Really threw me off hahahahaha

[@Nicko30able]

Mark Stowe OX4 pickups.

[@bengalvin9932]

MESA BOOGIE TRANSATLANTIC TA 30 JACK OF ALL TRADES! MASTER OF NONE!.i don't think i will be seeing this slogan any time soon!

[@kurukq]

What can't this guy do?

[@Livelaughlimpbizkit]

I’m surprised he doesn’t like amp modelling, I coulda sworn TREOS were using pod’s or something like that, at least some kind of amp similation, guess I was wrong

[@marknorris3769]

if the dr z maz 38 sr reverb mk2 is that good , $2600 seems reasonable

[@samcomfort6564]

The cone

[@dudemynameiscat]

Highly Suspect would be cool

[@alexisb3925]

Not to be confused with Deerhunter

[@caveman5692]

Lame they cut Max off. No nick feature? Otherwise epic.

[@premierguitar]

Ran out of time. The venue was opening doors soon so we had to scramble just to fit Max's setup.

[@chrisiancnnell4238]

4:00 "A nice MIDDLE GROUND" AYE?! : kzbin.info/www/bejne/hYqqfGWkeJiFbrs

[@grahamgould2732]

thought this was gonna be deerhunter

[@divided123]

So you were pleasantly surprised?

[@grahamgould2732]

nah I was trying to see some noise shit

[@pattonPwr]

no bass :(

[@joseloco5437]

METZ ZTEM I saw them live 😂 and the poor bassist was thrown in the back behind and the smoke and by the drummer

[@pattonPwr]

lol

[@joeland87]

Poor Max. Didn’t even get to give us a sample of his tone.

[@maxtousseau]

joeland87 time constraints. 🤷‍♂️

[@kierenmoore3236]

This band's name is playing hell with my ocd perfectionism ... :/

[@themuleltburden]

Kieren Moore think The Dear Child but replace child with the name Hunter and it’ll make sense.

[@dragonoftheblackpool6884]

I'm a bit late to this but there's another band with the correct spelling. I've heard stories about people hearing Deerhunter or The Dear Hunter, liking them, and then going to see the wrong band live.

[@KrAzYKaRLoS1013]

Soooooo no bass? Not kool.

[@timesink8947]

Nah they have a bassist, he's just not included in the rundown.

[@KrAzYKaRLoS1013]

Timesink that's what I complaining about, BASSIST GET NO LOVE!

[@premierguitar]

We ran out of time. We had to leave the stage/venue because doors was opening soon. Sorry!

[@DavidMorisset]

KrAzYKaRLoS1013 What’s bass? Ha!! Just kiddin.

[@bruggmanbrandon5272]

Does a bassist need a rig rundown? Its a bass guitar and a amp simple lame shit

[@jaredmatthews9403]

No bass.

[@premierguitar]

Ran out of time-that's why Max didn't play any sound samples. Sorry!

[@nigeldaddyo]

I'm a big fan of Casey and TDH but please don't call him a "luthier". Ken Parker is a luthier (seen his archtops?!). Linda Manzer is a luthier (Pikasso model anyone?). John D'Angelico was a luthier. Bill Collings was a luthier. you get the idea. Casey is a "builder" and i don't mean that as a slight (i dig his designs), nor am i trying to poop on builders cuz they have their own cool bag of tricks, not to mention 90% of my own collection is"builder" made. just felt the need to remind/inform that true lutherie is on a totally different level than building.

[@Blockheadgamer97]

I mean I haven’t “built” a guitar in a while and I’m no Ken Parker but l did go to school for it. Luthier is by definition “someone who repairs or builds stringed instruments” and a shit painter is still a painter.

[@Mooseplatoon]

To be fair, Casey's immediate reaction was to clarify what it is that he does, and while "computer luthier" isn't a very sexy term it's a better description than putting builder in quotation marks. I don't think that using such a vague term solely to distance one process from another makes much sense, personally; if anything, it strikes me as immature. If people can't use words accurately without threatening the sanctity of something you revere it might be a fault of your perspective rather than the language.

[@GrindfatherJones]

The Dear Hunter is just boneless Reign Of Kindo

[@Thumpopotamus]

Isaiah Rodriguez I’m not sure I understand that sentiment.

[@AndreBaeta1]

so let me get this straight. You had a mesa boogie that did everything great. so you decided to get rid of that amp and buy a Dr. Z amp that only does one thing AND a brand that has an amp that cant even turn on without busting de valves up. ok haha good decision making

[@JackBNimbleify]

André Baeta He liked it and he even praised Mesa Boogie,he just had a hard time dialing in a sound he liked. Doesn't matter if it can do ten things if it can't get you the sound you personally enjoy

[@Dailyvids25]

This guy is truly guitarded! He balanced the woods? One wood has more of a snappy tone? Snappy is not a tone! The snappiness does not come from woods comes from the set up man. Wtf? He is a luthier my as!!!

[@kooljules]

So lame they are trying to pull off this name. Stoops

[@Thumpopotamus]

Julian Joyce Trying? I would say that they’ve pulled it off.

[@Dailyvids25]

Exactly what the world needed. Another stupid guitar made by a " luthier" who just found out about Fender Starcaster. Read a book before you wanna become a writer! God damn!!!

[@Dailyvids25]

Toxic Potato you are speaking like he is providing treatments for sick children or food for for the homeless!!!

[@bkrendan12]

You bitter wet blanket. It seriously must suck being you