Monte Pittman has a hell of a lot of Orange amps. Well, I guess just three of them, but that’s two more than most guitarists usually play through. I guess the dude just likes threes. I even know him from three musical endeavors. Obviously there’s his own solo work. He just released the album The Power Of Three on Metal Blade Records. But there’s also the work that I’m assuming brings in the lion’s share of his income: he’s Madonna’s guitar teacher and part of her touring band. There was that viral video going around, where Madonna worked an “A New Level” riff into a song. Familiar with it? That was him. And finally, Pittman worked with Prong’s Tommy Victor in writing the Scorpio Rising album. I’m sure he’s done more, but let’s cap it at three.
His rig is based around two Orange Rockerverb 100s and an Orange TH-30. Now those Rockerverbs are either custom or some older model I’m not familiar with, because they have KT88s instead of EL34 tubes in them, which brings their sound closer to a Thunderverb 200. In fact, if there’s still four tubes in there he should put a “2” where the “1” in “100” is, because there’s no way those are just 100 watt heads. The TH-30 balances the tone with more midrange and a much quieter power section. The cabs hold a mix of Celestion Vintage 30s and Greenbacks (I’m assuming the latter are paired with the TH-30, otherwise the 200 watt power sections would blow the hell out of them).
Take a look at the rundown below where he also shows off his Jarrell guitar, the pedalboard he routes it all through, and plays some riffs from the record. And for good measure I’ve also embedded the video for “Before the Mourning Son,” for Monte Pittman’s new album.
Monte Pittman’s The Power Of Three is out now on Metal Blade.
