Bill Kelliher

“Working with ESP has been a breath of fresh air,” says Bill. “When I first set eyes on this guitar, I couldn’t wait to play this mean-looking weapon of sound. After plugging it in and cranking it up, I couldn’t put it down. What a great piece of work!”

-Bill Kelliher, ESP Guitar Company

In this YouTube video for Gibson, they spotlight Bill Kelliher and his signature "Golden Axe" Explorer:

"I've always been a fan of Explorers. It's almost like you're wielding an ax or something. But this one is a blingy ax."

In another interview by Gibson, when asked about his Golden Axe and how it was doing on the road, Kelliher says, "I love it! I can't say enough good things about it. It's a great guitar. It's very pretty. Very bling-y. I brought it with me. I just put some new strings on it. It holds up great. It's been on every tour since I had it made, and I love it."

At 4:32 of this Rig Rundown for Bill Kelliher Lethargy, Today Is The Day, and Mastadon, he shows his Les Paul Signature Bill Kelliher - Halcyon.

At 8:56 in this video, Bill says "I've got a black Les Paul, I think it's a 2008...probably one of the best playing Les Pauls I have."

"1986 or '86 tobacco sunburst Les Paul Standard with a Kahler tremolo...I bought that guitar for $400 at a music store in upstate New York".

Purchased in 1990-1991, stolen in Denmark while on tour with Mastodon in 2003, was retrieved in 2011-2012.

"My white Gibson Explorer was my first guitar ever 'cause I wanted to be like James Hetfield".

Was stolen along with his Gibson Les Paul Studio in 1989 or 1990.

This guitar is owned by Bill Kelliher and used for Crack the Skye studio session. Bret Hinds use it too during the sessions but it appears that model was made for Bill. Another 12 strings model was created for Brent.

What was your principal tracking setup for The Hunter?

Kelliher: "I used a ’74 Les Paul Custom tobacco sunburst loaded with Gibson ’57 Classic humbuckers..."

Bill Kelliher of Mastodon takes you through the details of his second LTD Signature Series guitar, the Sparrowhawk. Completely designed by Bill for release in 2017, the Sparrowhawk offers set-thru construction at 24.75” scale, mahogany body, 3-piece mahogany neck, ebony fingerboard, a TonePros locking TOM bridge and tailpiece, and Kelliher’s Lace Sensor Divinator signature pickups. We'll have more information coming soon on this amazing new LTD Signature Series guitar!

In this photo, we can see Bill playing a Gibson Explorer Korina (can't tell, if it's the original 1958 Korina, or just a reissue, but it's a Korina nonetheless).

In that video (around 1:17), we can see Bill using Fender Stratocaster in the studio, while working on Emperor Of Sand album.

In this video (around 4:22), Bill can be seen with Fender Telecaster (or it's duplicate), which was used while recording of Emperor Of Sand.

In this video, Mastodon is performing "Black Tongue" at Jools Holland - and Bill is using Gibson Goth Explorer.

In this live footage, Bill is playing "The Sparrow" with a Gibson Flying V.

In this photo, Bill can be seen with his Bird Of Prey guitar, manufactured by Morgan Guitar Works.

Bill play on Yamaha 1820 on this film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPBU8YIWMSA

Kelliher also recently scored a new Yamaha, a black SG1820. "As soon as I opened the case, I flashed back on my first real guitar--an old black SG model from the '70s. I wish I still had it--it was one of the best guitars I ever owned! Actually, I usually play late-'70s and early-'80s guitars, but this new one is just beautiful, and it had a great feel right off the bat. It has a cool look; it's nice and heavy--"

“Finally a tube tester that I can test all those pesky old tubes lying around the house. I found the orange tube tester a sight for sore eyes, very easy to use and quite easy to comprehend and incorporate in the testing of all the tubes in my amp giving me a value to each and able to match tubes for best performance in a nice small package.”

For his two-amp lineup, Kelliher went with a ’80s Marshall JCM800 and a Marshall Kerry King 2203KFK JCM800, the latter of which has KT88 tubes that crank out “a chunkier, fatter, heavier sound than the standard JCM800.” The heads blast through two Mills Acoustics 4x12s loaded with Celestion Vintage 30s and a Marshall 4x12 equipped with 75-watt Celestions.

At 7:34 of this Rig Rundown for Bill Kelliher Lethargy, Today Is The Day, and Mastadon, he shows his Nad Friedman JJ100 Head Amplifier.

At 7:46 of this Rig Rundown for Bill Kelliher Lethargy, Today Is The Day, and Mastadon, he shows his Friedman BE 100 Watts Head Amplifier.

In this video Bill talks about his rig and this amp.

Bill Kelliher’s guitar playing is rooted in metal, infused with rock 'n' roll, progressive rock and sprinkled with bits and pieces of thrash, punk, and psychedelic-ness. So, when it came time for Mastodon’s guitar player to design the ultimate amp to cover the complexity of his playing, Bill decided to team with long time friend and respected tone guru, Dave Friedman.

Listed on Mastodon's official Orange endorser page.

In this video (around 3:08), Bill says, that he uses Fender Super Reverb.

Amp wise, I was using a Laney VH100R for awhile a two channel thing in combo with a JCM800 dual channel.

The TC Electronic G-System is shown among many of the TC Electronic pedals Bill Kelliher of Lethargy, Today Is The Day, and Mastadon uses, on this artist page.