Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale Offers Rundown of Her Guitar Rig

Halestorm frontwoman Lzzy Hale recently sat down with Musician's Friend to show off her live setup in her home studio in Nashville. Hale's live guitar rig is a masterpiece of simplicity that embodies the bare-bones rock 'n' roll sound that Halestorm are known for.

The Halestorm vocalist and guitar player first went over some of the details of her signature Gibson Explorer, which is white sporting gold hardware. It has a bound neck and a double-bound body. It also features a gold pick guard and a gold truss-rod cover with an engraving of her signature. “Even though I'm in a hard-rock band and room with a bunch of smelly boys 24/7, I'm still a girl, and so it's gotta be classy,” says Hale.

She also keeps her pedal board uncluttered, using only the bare essentials. Hale uses a Dunlop Jerry Cantrell wah pedal that's been modified to engage as soon as she starts pressing on it instead of turning on with a switch. This allows her to use the wah on stage while wearing her high heels. She uses a Custom Audio Electronics boost pedal to get a little kick for solos and leads and she also has an Ibanez Tube Screamer. “It creates that little extra bit of color,” said Hale. A Boss chromatic tuner pedal rounds out her sparse board.

“For me, it's about 'plug in and play,'” said the Halestorm frontwoman. “Our philosophy in this band is very simple: You go up there, and we don't use any tracks or trickery, so what you see is what you get.”

While Hale didn't discuss her amps, she was plugged into a white-tolexed Marshall that looked very much like a JCM 800. She also had what appeared to be a Peavey EVH 5150 behind her.

“I've always said, it's a kiss in the face and a kick in the teeth,” said Hale. “I like that chunkier, broader sound, where you can really hear the fingers, you can hear the amplifier. From guitar to guitar, it sounds different.”