You’ll know immediately after listening to Mourners’ latest single Stalker that the band has an affinity for their tools.
Drenched in thick and gritty instrumentation, Stalker sees each Mourners bandmate combine their handiwork to create an instant doom metal classic, from Josh Maestrelli’s thunderous drums to the screechy strums of guitarists’ Alex Mokrov and Zac Borkowski.
With such emphasis on rich instrumentation, it’s little wonder the Sydney trio behind Mourners were so eager to offer a rig rundown exclusively for Happy Mag.
Below, Maestrelli, Mokrov and Borkowski share insights into their respective instruments, from “the simplest bass guitar in existence” to a snare that’s got “some girthy balls to her.”
Catch the full rig rundown below, and scroll down to listen to Mourners’ latest single, Stalker.
Alex: bass/vocals
My bass of choice here is this cool old Japanese Fender Precision, the simplest bass guitar in existence. 4 strings because I can only count to 4.
Will easily break a hole through the floor and still stay in tune. Purple pickguard is a must, that’s where most of the tone comes from.
My signal chain is pretty simple, first my bass goes into my trusty old Digitech Bad Monkey overdrive. I got mine used for $40 way before some guy on YouTube made them cool and turned them into a hyped up boutique pedal.
I don’t dial in a lot of drive, I mainly use it for the typical Tube Screamer voice with boosted mids and slightly cut lows.
Up next is my EHX Bass Big Muff Pi for an extra bit of doom, but I’ve got it running at such mild settings that it barely makes any difference.
Now, the real star of the show here is this Orange rig, OB1-300 head paired with the OBC410 cabinet.
Orange amps are loud, dirty, and the pictures above the control knobs make them easy to use for a caveman like myself. It’s got built-in distortion for extra rock’n’roll.
As for the vocals, I have zero preference for any gear, I just angrily growl and grunt into whatever mic I get. No one can understand what I’m saying anyway.
Zac: guitar
First in my chain is a 1983 Tokai LS-50. I’ve mentioned the make and model to keep my virginity safe. In the bridge is a Lace Dragonaut and in the neck is a piece of duct tape covering an empty pickup slot.
From the guitar I go into a Laney TI-Boost for some extra mids, then into an ol’ reliable Boss DS-1 for some extra extra mids, then an MXR 7-band EQ for extra extra extra mids.
At the end of my pedal chain is a Walrus ARP-87, I love the lo-fi setting on it and use it on every solo for a harsher texture/atmosphere.
From there I run my signal into 2 amps, an orange Thunderverb 50 into an Orange 4×12 and an Orange Rocker 30 into a Matamp 2×12. Both amps run with mids at 10 for some extra extra extra extra mids.
The amps make up the bulk of my tone running fairly hot with the pedals’ primary purpose being to add extra gain stages, taking the sound from a true boomer AC/DC rock n’ roll (music was REAL back in my day) tone, to a glorified Line 6 Spider on “insane” mode.
Josh: drums
Snare- DW Collector’s Steel Copper Ribbed 14×6.5”. When I first bought this snare my initial thought process was to go onto YouTube and find the closest thing to a Tama bell brass.
This isn’t quite the same but I mean jeez she’s definitely got some girthy balls to her. Soon I’ll be making my own bell brass hopefully anyway, and I will always love the collectors.
13″ & 16″ 1990’s Pearl Master toms. The 16″ in particular sounds just like a cannon. Perfect. 22″ Pearl Master kick. Ya know it thumps I suppose nothing overly special.
Sticks are usually anything in the special bin because I break too many sticks and can’t afford it. Speaking of which are my cymbals. Probably broken 10 in the last couple years most of them being rides.
I only play usually with a 20″ ride as my crash, a 22″-24″ ride and a 14″ pair of hats. However My Zildjian A ride and Paiste big beat seem to be holding up quite well to my surprise. Hats are also Zildjian A customs.
