Jones gives Guitar World a guided tour of the compact pedalboard responsible for the blues-y, classic rock-esque tones on his new album, Destination Unknown
Earlier this week, British blues rock talent Laurence Jones shared his latest studio album, Destination Unknown. Released via Marshall Records, the LP’s bountiful supply of six-string action was previewed by its first two singles, Can't Keep From Loving You and Anywhere With Me.
Now, Jones has sat down with Guitar World to dissect the compact pedalboard behind the album’s blues-y, classic rock tones, and explain why he’s recently switched to John Mayer’s budget-friendly SE Silver Sky signature model as his main guitar.
Of his new-found affinity for the SE Silver Sky – specifically, the Ever Green iteration – Jones said he jumped at the opportunity to partner with PRS when the Maryland brand came knocking last year.
“PRS approached me last year to see if we wanted to collab and push this amazing guitar,” Jones says. “When they called me up they said, ‘We’ve got one color left for you, and it’s the green one.’”
Jones wasn’t deterred by the prospect of playing the seemingly less-than-popular color, noting that it was Mayer himself who initially campaigned for the inclusion of Ever Green in the SE Silver Sky’s color list.
“[It] was interesting because John Mayer said that he actually really pushed PRS to have this color,” Jones continues. “They were trying to persuade him [to go with] different colors but he was really set on this one, so I thought that was quite cool.”
As for what Jones specifically likes about the guitar, he cites the lacquered neck – which provides him extra grip during intense gigs – and the vintage-sounding John Mayer single-coil pickups as stand-out specs.
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“I was used to playing a Stratocaster before,” Jones said, “so doing this transition is cool. I know a lot of people compare the two, but I just like having this modern-built guitar which still has that vintage feeling to it.”
Jones runs his SE Silver Sky through a Marshall Origin 50 amp head and a surprisingly light pedalboard, which he says is kept deliberately compact for convenience.
The six pedal-strong rig comprises a black TC Electronic PolyTune 3, the Cry Baby Mini wah pedal and a Mooer Green Mile overdrive pedal, used as an additional drive to introduce extra dirt and sustain.
His main sound comes from the Joyo Sweet Baby Overdrive, which is always engaged to push the Origin 50 into a constant state of crunch and break-up. Rounding off the rig is a small Stagg Blaxx delay pedal and TC Electronic’s Hall of Fame 2 Mini reverb pedal.
Things are equally simple when it comes to amp settings: Jones keeps everything at around the 12 o’clock mark, but takes advantage of the Origin 50’s gain boost and Tilt functions, which push the front-end of the amp and work well with the SE Silver Sky’s single-coils.
To hear Laurence Jones's rig in action, check out his new album Destination Unknown, which is available now via Marshall Records.
Matt is a Senior Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.
