Keith Urban Rig Rundown for High and Alive Tour 2025

New Zealand’s number one country guitar export—and November 2024 Premier Guitar cover model—Keith Urban rolled into Cincinnati’s Riverbend Music Center last month, so John Bohlinger and the Rig Rundown team drove up to meet him. Urban travels with a friendly crew of vintage guitars, so there was much to see and play. In fact, so much that they ran out of time after getting through the axes! Later, Bohli and Co. met up with Urban tech Chris Miller to wrap their heads around the rest of the straightforward pedal-free rig he’s rockin’ this summer. Last year, Urban released High, his 12th studio record, so you’ll be sure to catch those tunes and more in his extensive jam-friendly sets. Here’s a look at what Keith is bringing with him to stages across the U.S., including a prototype signature PRS to vintage Gibsons and a pair of heavy-lifting Marshalls.Brought to you by D’AddarioSomething to Lean OnKeith shows off his latest go-to, which is the prototype for his PRS signature axe. “It started from me wanting to see if I could get a guitar that I could lean on most of the night,” Urban says of the ongoing design project. He tells Bohlinger he was looking for a better tonal response than his preferred Tele, “Clarence”—a 1989 Fender Custom 40th Anniversary model—and blended in some measurements from some of his Gibsons.
The humbucker-loaded PRS has a sunburst finish and a unique f-hole inspired by Urban’s left-forearm tattoo. This one has a Fender scale, but they’re still refining the neck details for the signature model.Here’s ClarenceAnd lest we forget. Here’s a look at Clarence, Urban’s workhorse guitar until this tour.Spirit of ’52Here‘s what an original-year-of-issue Gibson Les Paul that’s still running the miles looks like, complete with trapeze tailpiece. This ’52 goldtop and its kin established the template.Single-coil JoyApparently there was some magic in 1964, and it made its way into that year’s Stratocasters. Strats like Urban’s ’64 are considered among the best in the breed, known for their balanced tone, comfy neck profile, original black-bottom pickups, transitional logos, and the dot fretboards on models made early that year.Bass BreakThere’s one song in the set where Urban tackles bass duties, and he turns to this 1972 Fender Mustang bass, which he loves for its punchy tone. The electrical tape on the lower bout is there to ensure that the pickguard stays put! An SG You Just Have to PlayThis 1964 Gibson SG Junior is one Urban insists Bohlinger plays to understand. “I love the simplicity of it,” Urban says. The cherry red axe was a gift from session legend Dann Huff. He also rocks a ’52 Les Paul during the course of the set.
Urban turns to D’Addario NYXL strings—.010s in most cases—and he goes back and forth between his D’Addario signature Ultem pick with raised edges and D’Addario Casein picks.All AmpThis pair of 100-watt Marshall Super Lead JMPs does most of the heavy lifting to bring Urban’s tone to life—he’s rolling sans pedalboard for this tour! The bottom head is the main one and the top one is there just in case. Since these monsters have to deliver overdriven tones, they stay cranked—the gain sits around 7—and they push a vintage checkerboard Marshall 4x12 loaded with Celestion G12H-150 Redbacks.Post Amp EffectsDelays and modulation are all added to Urban’s tones after three mics capture the sound of the Marshall cab. That signal hits this Fractal Axe-Fx II XL+, which Chris Miller controls offstage. A Mission Engineering expression is the only pedal Urban utilizes, which controls a model of a Cry Baby in the Fractal.D’Addario Keith Urban Signature PickD’Addario Casein PickD’Addario NYXL