RIGGED: Hellbenders Guitarist/Vocalist Braz Torres

Goiânia, Brazil’s Hellbenders excel at big thick Sabbathy tones while not necessarily sticking to Sabbath in style. There’s as much rock as there is metal to the band’s sound on their newly released record Brand New Fear. Guitarist/vocalist Braz Torres gives the dirt on the components to his sound.

Hey people from Gear Gods and all the gear geeks around the world! My name is Braz Torres and I play guitar in a Brazilian heavy rock band called Hellbenders and I’m here to show you guys a little of my studio and live gear!

Well, I think the best way for me to start would be just saying some of my influences, right? You’ll definitely hear Tony Iommi, Dimebag Darrel and even some Tom Morello when listening to Hellbenders’ guitar lines.

I’m a Gibson guy. I’m currently using a Les Paul Studio ’60s Satin Black and I totally love the fat tones, well scooped mids and how it works well with the 498T bridge pick up, providing me the right amount of output I need! From this one in particular, I love how the grain texture of the black gives way to the wood.

About the amplifiers, I’ve just acquired myself a Marshall JCM2000 TSL60 and I’m really digging it. I really like how the guitar and the amp complete each other tone wise, giving me some crispy mids and the right amount of low end I need.

BUT, I’ve recorded most of the guitar tracks of Brand New Fear, our debut album, with a Bogner Shiva 20th Year Anniversary. It has a much fatter tone with those sparkled highs that you can hear a lot on Jerry Cantrell’s guitar lines. By the way, I’ve also used a Marshall JCM 900 and a Fender Twin Reverb.

And here’s the latest pic of my pedalboard:

I’m a pretty standard guy when it comes to effects. I’m really digging the Electro Harmonix Micro POG and how it can provide a clean and powerful blended octave tone. Really good for the heavy groovy riffs. Also using another 2 Electro Harmonix pedals: the Memory Boy Delay (with the crazy features that comes with it) and the Big Muff Pi Tone Wicker (It works more like and overdrive to fuzz pedal). To complete the team, I have a classic Fulltone OCD (I’m also currently trying a MXR distortion plus) and a KORG pitchblack tuner (trust me, the big display helps a lot when performing live!).