The Zac Brown Band has been a staple in the music world for decades. Their wide-reaching range and incredible musicianship have taken audiences by storm all over the world. And we got to talk to two of the guys who bring this awesome music to life.
Clay Cook and Matt Mangano (the ZBB guitarist and bassist respectively) were kind enough to lend us their time before their Atlantic City Hard Rock Live show to give us a tour of their rigs, talk about what it’s like to play with such a musically versatile band, and even introduced us to a dead opossum — who apparently wasn’t very happy to see us… Check out the interview now!
Clay Cook’s Guitar Rig for Zac Brown Band
What kind of gear does it take to play with Zac Brown Band? You KNOW we asked Clay Cook, guitarist extraordinaire. And he was more than happy to give us a tour of his guitar case.
First up was his primary player for the past 18 years: a white 1961 Fender Stratocaster equipped with Curtis Novak pickups. Clay didn’t have a problem with the original pickups in the guitar, but they just quit working one day. He popped in the Curtis Novaks and never looked back. This guitar has been on every album Clay has recorded with the Zac Brown Band.
When it comes to humbucker tone, Clay has two guitars he swaps between. For heavier songs, he uses a white and black EVH Striped Series. According to Clay, this guitar makes him “feel like a hot rod.” It might have a Strat body, but it definitely makes you feel different playing something so cool! And the guitarists in the audience always give him a nice thumbs up when he whips out the EVH.
Clay’s other humbucker guitar is a custom Frank Brothers guitar. It sports a LP-style dual-humbucker setup with a trapeze tailpiece and chambered body for a little weight relief. Trigger warning for traditionalists: This guitar replaced Clay’s Les Paul in the lineup.
Zac Brown Band isn’t just a country band; they play all sorts of music. Anything from classic country to high-gain metal is fair game, and you never know when Zac is going to call an audible. What’s Clay’s “everything” guitar? A real 1953 Fender Telecaster with (of course) butterscotch finish. Match the classic Tele with the right patch from Clay’s Fractal Axe-Fx, and he’s ready to play whatever Zac might throw his way.
In addition to all the amazing axes, Clays also has a PRS SE 277 baritone guitar and Collings mandolin to round out his arsenal.
All Clay’s guitars run straight into his Fractal modeler — no additional effects required. He said he originally wanted to create different patches for each song, but that got to be too cumbersome. Instead, he started making patches for each guitar, with a few exceptions for special songs or heavier tones.
A couple choice guitars and a Fractal, that’s how Clay Cook keeps up with the wide range of songs Zac Brown throws his way.
Matt Mangano’s Bass Rig for Zac Brown Band
Matt Mangano, bassist for the Zac Brown Band, is an Ernie Ball Music Man kind of guy. According to him, they’re the “toughest, most beautifully playing basses around.” So it’s no surprise that the Music Man Stingray Special has been his go-to bass for the past seven years.
Not only are Stingrays super light (which is helpful for playing long concerts), but the 18V pickups in an HH configuration really give him the versatility to play any genre Zac Brown asks. With both pickups active, you can get a Jazz-like feel. Swap to the neck pickup, and there’s your P-Bass.
One underrated feature on the Ernie Ball Stingray that Matt loves is the truss rod adjustment position. The adjustment screw is located at the bottom of the fretboard where the body meets the neck. If the bass feels a little off during a show, Matt can just grab his Allen key (which he always keeps on stage), give it a quick twist, and he’s back to playing.
If you dig a bit deeper into Matt’s locker, you might also come across a very rare and desirable Music Man Cutlass. It’s Music Man’s take on the Fender P Bass, but according to Matt, it’s much better. “The pickup is a beast.” It blows away most P Bass pickups that he’s heard. People keep trying to buy it off of him, but this Cutlass isn’t for sale!
Zac Brown Band typically plays a half-step down. But on the rare time they play in standard (which is approximately 10-15% of the time), Matt reaches for a gorgeous 5-string Ernie Ball Music Man BFR. Ernie Ball only releases one BFR model per year. Matt can’t remember which year this one was, but it’s definitely a looker — and a player!
When it comes time to rock an acoustic tune, Matt uses a Tacoma Thunder Chief bass, which you also won’t be able to find any time soon, since Tacoma doesn’t exist anymore…
On backup, Matt keeps a natural-finish Sterling in the case, just in case one of his beloved Stingrays go down during a show.
From the instrument, Matt Mangano’s signal chain looks a little something like this:
- Instrument
- Shure Wireless System
- RJM Mastermind Pedalboard Controller
- Noble Preamp DI
- Split to FOH and Darkglass Alpha Omega amp
- Darkglass 4x10 and custom Darkglass 2x12 cabinets.
Darkglass Electronics Alpha Omega 900 Bass Amplifier Head
Special Price $1,499.99
Matt also sends a DI to the amp’s cab simulator on the 8x10 setting. With so many people on stage and being so close to the drummer, it can be difficult to mic an amp without bleed. The cab sim cleans up the FOH sound and helps with time alignment issues.
What kind of bass pedals does Matt Mangano use to play with Zac Brown Band? Here’s a quick rundown:
- 3 Leaf Audio Octave – which is always tempting to turn it on and rumble the stage.
- Fuzzrocious Rat Tail – not to be confused with the “lesser” Fuzzrocious Cat Tail.
- Origin Effects Cali76 Compressor – used for added sustain on ballads.
- Xotic RC Booster – for the rare times when Zac asks him to take a solo.
- Spatial Delivery Autowah – rarely gets a chance to turn it on…
- Darkglass Microtubes Distortion – for some extra gain.
- Dispatch Master Reverb – everyone needs a reverb!
- Aguilar Chorusaurus – oh the sweet sounds of the ‘80s…
- Peterson Strobe Tuner – on stage is no place to tune by ear.
Since he uses the RJM Mastermind MIDI controller, all Matt’s pedals get to stay nice and safe in the rack — away from accidental bumps or knob-turners.
Keeping up with the (Zac) Browns
Contrary to popular belief, Zac Brown Band isn’t completely a country band. Yes, that’s what they’re best known for, but they play all sorts of music — anything from bluegrass and classic country all the way up to classic rock and metal. I heard them play a Rage Against the Machine Song once!
To make matters worse (for the band, at least. The audience loves it), Zac Brown likes to pull audibles. Sometimes he’ll decide just before or even during a show that he wants to add a song to the setlist, which can send the band into a panic. How to the players keep up?
Well, the first thing that happens when Zac Brown wants to swap up the setlist is talk to Clay Cook; he’s the closest on stage. Then Clay will hit a special button on his pedalboard that closes the circuit on his microphone so he can talk to the band and crew without his voice going to the PA. He explains what Zac wants to do and what he’s going to do. From that point, it sounds like it’s almost a free-for-all to decide what parts everyone is going to play.
If Zac does come up with a new song before the show, Matt Mangano typically takes it upon himself to chart it out for the band. He always keeps his AirPods nearby, just in case he has to learn a new song. He’ll listen to it a bunch of times, make charts, and share them with the band. He likes to use the Nashville Number System for charting, which seems to work well for the rest of the band.
Luckily, everyone in the band are all incredible musicians, so it doesn’t really matter who plays what; the songs always seem to come together! Matt admits there have been a few trainwrecks, but everyone has been playing together for long enough (decades, in most cases) that they’ve gotten really good at hiding any mistakes. Matt’s advice: “Just keep sliding until you hit the note.”
Thanks to Clay Cook and Matt Mangano — and the Rest of the Zac Brown Band
It’s always a good time looking at music gear, especially when it belongs to Clay Cook and Matt Mangano of the Zac Brown Band! A huge thanks to Clay, Matt, and the crew for letting us wander around backstage for a while. And it was lovely to meet Doug, even though he didn’t seem too happy to meet Ryan based on his hand gesture…
Check out Clay Cook and Matt Mangano when the Zac Brown Band comes to a stage near you. And if you want to get some of their gear for your own collection, you know where to find it — AMS of course!
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