Warren Haynes has a brand, spanking-new signature Gibson Les Paul Standard out, and his message is clear: “This guitar, and with these pickups,” he tells Guitar Player, “instantly gives you a recognizable sound — but also a variety of sounds.”
The instantly recognizable, variety-inducing pickups in question are P90s, an interesting development, seeing as Haynes has long been a humbucker devotee. Then again, veteran players using P90s in the modern era have become a trend.
Joe Bonamassa’s signature Epiphone 1955 Les Paul Standard has them, and Phil X’s impending signature Gibson SG, which is still in the advanced prototype stage, has got them, too.
As for Haynes, he’s simply looking for a six-string voice from his electric guitar that matches his own.
“When I listen to B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, and people like that, their voice and guitar sound like the same thing,” Haynes says. “It was always important to me for that aspect to be the case.”
There are other enhancements beyond the P90s to help Haynes in his tonal quest. His last humbucker-equipped signature Les Paul Standard featured what Haynes calls a “buffer preamp,” which allowed him to reclaim the guitar’s top end when the volume was rolled down.
However, this new Les Paul Standard is different: It features a 15dB boost, which Haynes refers to as a “clean boost,” which mainly impacts Les Paul’s midrange. “I just like having these choices,” Haynes says.
“I haven’t really explored all the options yet,” he adds, “but the sky is the limit. I just want to keep using it more and more and more and utilize that feature as much as possible.”
His signature Les Paul is just one big new development for Haynes, who previous told us his valuable tips for blues and rock guitarists.
On Monday, March 17, at the Capitol Theater, Haynes is paying tribute to the Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh, who died on October 24 2024, via Unbroken Chain: A Celebration of the Life and Music of Phil Lesh. “Myself, Jimmy Herring, Rob Barraco, and John Molo are bringing back the Phil Lesh quintet,” he says.
“That was the version of Phil Lesh and Friends that stayed together the longest,” he explains. “The chemistry in that band was fantastic from the very beginning. We all love that band immensely and are excited to get back together and pay tribute to Phil.”
As for how Lesh impacted Haynes specifically, he says: “We all consider ourselves to be brave souls who are willing to make changes, but when you start playing with Phil, you realize that his whole reason for being, musically speaking, is to explore the moment.”
After that, Haynes won’t have much time to reflect, as he’s hitting the stage with the Brothers, featuring Allman Brothers alumni Derek Trucks, Oteil Burbridge, and more, on April 15 and 16 at Madison Square Garden. “It’s fantastic,” Haynes says. “Our last Garden show was five years ago. Everybody is excited to do it again.”
Beyond the excitement, celebrating the Allman Brothers isn’t just about championing the band’s legacy but bringing it back to where Haynes started.
“I joined in 1989, and it was an opportunity I could never have envisioned,” says Haynes, who has previously shared with us the important role ABB guitarist Dickey Betts played in his life. “It just changed everything. It opened doors… it opened every door imaginable for me.”
“So, Derek and I have been playing together in the last six months or so,” he says. “It’s kind of just been an organic, natural progression leading up to this. We’re all really stoked.”
You’ve got a beautiful new signature Gibson Les Paul Standard out. Why did you choose the Standard?
We’ve [Haynes and Gibson] been talking for a few years now about a different signature model Les Paul, and I’ve been kind of digging P90s the last few years and thought it might be nice to switch it up, you know? It really is a beautiful instrument, and I’m very happy with it.
The Les Paul Standard typically comes with humbuckers. What led you down the P90 path?
They’re something different for me. I’ve been a humbucker guy most of my life, but everything I play a guitar with P90s, I’m like, “Wow, this sounds really good.” So a few years ago we started talking about making a Les Paul Standard with P90s. It’s just a nice combination.
How do P90s suit your tonal needs compared to humbuckers?
They’re a little brighter .They’re not quite as full range as the humbuckers. So it kind of started me wanting to find some tones that were different from my normal go-to sounds. And then, when I started experimenting more with the P90s, I was like, “Oh, this adds to my tonal range!”
How so?
With different sounds that inspire me to play differently. Because as much as we’re all happy with the sound that we work on through the years and get dialed in, I think most guitar players are also looking for other sounds to be equally inspirational.
When you say your “normal go-to sounds,” what does that mean exactly?
I always strive to get a really big, fat warm sound, you know — full range. It has more tonal bottom and low-to-midrange tone than some people are opting for. But to me, it’s always been important for my guitar sound to be similar to the sound of my voice.
P90s are interesting because if you crank them, you’ve got rock and roll; if you roll them back toward the middle, you get country; and if you roll them all the way back, you almost get clean, glassy Tele sounds. Do you feel like you’re getting a fuller spectrum of sounds and more versatility with the P90s?
Yeah, possibly. I mean, you definitely get options that aren’t there with humbuckers. Most of the sounds I enjoy come from the guitar anyway. I’m not depending on pedals for the majority of the sounds that I use. I like to change the volume knob on the guitar to get a lot of different sounds that way, and P90s are definitely great for that.
To that end, have the P90s led to any alterations to your rig as far as amps or with the minimal pedal setup you deploy?
So far I haven’t made any alterations. I’ve been doing a lot of dates with my band, promoting Million Voices Whisper, my new solo record, and I’m using different amps for that tour anyway. I’m using a Paul Reed Smith amp, a Homestead amp, and 2x12 cabinets instead of 4x12 cabinets. The translation is instant when I switch to the P90s, so I haven’t had to make any adjustments. But who knows what the future might bring?
Specifically, what does that “instant translation” sound like when you use the P90s with your current rig?
They’re not quite as hot, but the sound translates right off the bat. I’ll continue to experiment with them as time goes on. But when I switch back and forth from my first signature model guitar, which has humbuckers, and I then plug in the new guitar with the P90s, it instantly is the tonal change I’m looking for without turning knobs.
There’s a 15dB boost switch on this guitar. How did that come to be, and how do you utilize it?
That was Gibson’s idea. It was kind of in response to my last signature Les Paul that had that. I guess they called it a “buffer preamp,” a similar switch that engaged this circuitry that allowed all the top end to back when you turn the volume way down. So we wanted to do something similar but different with this modification.
How do you like it compared to your last signature guitar's “buffer preamp” option?
I really like it. I’m not exactly technically sure how it achieves what it does, but it’s a really nice tonal option. For me, just having that extra kind of tonal option is really important. With the other switch on my original Les Paul, I used it sometimes, but only in certain situations.
On a Gibson Les Paul, when you turn the volume way down, the top end kind of goes away. So the original switch on my first signature model brought all that top end back. This is different; mostly, the midrange is affected — but they’re calling it a “clean boost.”
Would you say a guitar like yours, with P90s, is best for a blues-rock-leaning player, or is it versatile enough for any genre?
It’s hard to say… they’re kind of more old-school-sounding. It’s hard to define what somebody might be looking for in the sound of their pickups, you know? To me, it’s always been kind of a “yes” or “no” kind of thing. You plug it in, and you like it, or you don’t. If you don’t, you look for something else.
There seems to be a trend happening. You, Joe Bonamassa and Phil X are working individually on Gibson/Epiphone guitars with P90s. Are we seeing a P90s renaissance?
Maybe in the way that we’re all looking for new inspiration, you know? Some of us have been playing humbuckers for a long, long time, but these P90 pickups work really well. The advent of the humbucker was based on how noisy single-coil pickups were in the old days. The task has always been to get that sound without the hum. These newer pickups really accomplish that in a surprising way.
What is old will eventually be new again…
Yeah… you know, I’m always in search of new inspiration. Sometimes, that’s an old idea, like, “Oh, I haven’t done this in a while.” You try it, and you go, “Yeah!” and it inspires you to play differently or write something, which is always welcome, too.
You’ve got two shows with the Brothers at Madison Square Garden on April 15th and 16th. Will you adjust your rig?
I’m not sure what I’m going to use yet. I may go back to an old Marshall, but Derek [Trucks] and I used a lot of Paul Reed Smith amps in the latter days of the Allman Brothers. I’m going to do some experimenting and probably won’t decide until the week of the show.
What’s your favorite Allman Brothers track to jam on?
Songs like “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” and “Whipping Post,” and the ones where we really stretch out and take into a new direction every night, are the most fun from an improvisational standpoint.
So, you know, “Mountain Jam,” and any of the ones where we take a different approach—but you never know because inspiration is coming from everywhere within that band. We’re all just kind of bouncing off each other.
What have the Allman Brothers meant for you as a guitarist?
I was always a huge fan and always utilized a lot of Allman Brothers influence, but once I became a member of the band, that aspect of my playing took on a whole ‘nother meaning. It was appropriate for me to utilize even more of that influence than I would have in any other situation, you know? Learning from those guys night after night, year after year, was just truly inspirational.
On March 17, you’re celebrating the life and career of Phil Lesh at the Capitol Theater.
Phil impacted all of us deeply. He was such an influence and inspiration not just as a musician and songwriter but from a philosophical standpoint. Musically speaking, his view of what music can be — and should be and could be — is kind of unparalleled.
Can you quantify Phil’s impact on you?
He was never afraid of where the moment might lead. It could go into dangerous territory, where the band is on the verge of falling apart, but I’ve often said that he had just as much fun in those moments as he did in the ones that were obviously coming together. That’s a beautiful thing. It’s something that we all learned from him, and he made a ton of amazing music in the process.
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