Keb' Mo'

Keb' can be seen playing his now-lost Epiphone Bluesmaster in the instructional DVD The Blues Guitar of Keb' Mo' for Homespun Tapes.

Discussing the development of his signature Gibson acoustic guitar, Keb' says, "It's based on a model made by Epiphone called a Bluesmaster. I played the Bluesmaster for years, I loved it. I wrote on it. It had the best tone. I paid $800 for it. It wasn’t an expensive guitar; it's just a nice guitar, and it got stolen. And I was heartbroken. I kept trying to find a Bluesmaster and Gibson said, "Why don't we just make you one?” And that became my signature model with a few adjustments to it." (https://reverb.com/news/reverb-interview-bluesman-keb-mo)

Keb' Mo' uses a 1954 Fender Stratocaster Electric Guitar, primarily backstage and for recording sessions. According to an interview with Artisan Guitars, he appreciates the guitar's reliability and durability, stating, "I love this guitar. A good Strat like this one is reliable; I've banged it up, and there's not a dent. It sounds great in the studio with some balancing, but as you know, single coils are a pain on stage."

"I’ve got a Yamaha Red Label, an Orange Label, but I’m not into vintage; not the ones you just sit and look at. I like variety, I don’t want $50,000 tied up in one guitar. I want to play them." In an interview for Reverb published in April 2016 https://www.instagram.com/p/B_gYkY8ByvY/

During a wide-ranging interview with Reverb.com, Keb' mentions his resonator guitars: "The Reso Rocket is great, it's a single cone and it has the cutaway, which I like for playing slide. Normally I don't like the cutaway because I can hear the tone missing out of the piece that they cut away. It works really great with open tunings. I can slide way up on the neck to get that octave. That's a new model. Boy, they nailed it, man. I use that when I'm playing solo or small ensemble."

"My electric guitars are an 11-year-old Suhr Strat, a custom Paul Reed Smith, and a 3-pickup Epiphone Riviera. I switched out the Riviera’s P-90s for P-100s, because the P-90s are noisy."

Upon asking him on his 2014 tour he answered he uses Rebel 30 with the 1x12 cabinet by EGNATER AMPLIFICATION

"I've been using Boogies since way back. I like that it's a hybrid. Everybody's trying to make an amp sound like a vintage Fender, basically. I like that they put graphic EQ on their amps. The regular tone, mid and bass don't cut it for me on an amp. I can't get my tone right with just that. I need to be able to get down there under 100Hz and in the low mids to sculpt the sound better. And I can't do that with other amps."

In his interview with Reverb.com, Keb' mentions his Highway 61 resonator: "When I play with a band, I use the Republic resonator. It's nasty and it cuts through the band."

He also mentions it in an interview with Premier Guitar: "I used two resonators: a National Reso Rocket and a small-body Republic travel resonator that has a real nice, tight sound." (https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/25789-taj-mahal-and-keb-mo-team-up?page=2)

At 0:05 and throughout this video interview with Keb Mo about the Keb Mo Blues Master Guitar, he can be seen using the aforementioned model.

According to lrbaggs.com he's using this active pickup system on acoustics.

"I had brought out a very stripped down thing, a trio. I had one electric guitar with me and it kept buzzing. I got just tired of it and went to the store. I knew I wanted a semi-hollow body; I wanted it to have a single coil and a humbucker, but four knobs: separate tone and volume for each pickup.

I looked up on the wall and I saw that Gretsch, pulled it down. Did the trick perfectly. Now I have two of them [laughs]. It's a Gretsch Electromatic G5620T with a center block, a Bigsby and the TV Jones pickups."

"I'm hugely into EQ. There's an Empress five-band parametric EQ, and with that pedal I can sweep the frequencies that I want to lose in my sound. I can get microscopic with tone. Most amps have plenty of tone; around 2KHz, there's a bitey kind of sound, then there's a big harsh mid-range around 800Hz, and then there's low-mid garbage that just makes your guitar sound foggy around 250/300Hz. And I dip that. I like to play with a keyboard player and I want the low mids of my guitar not to clash with the bass and the keyboards." (https://reverb.com/news/reverb-interview-bluesman-keb-mo)

According to lrbaggs.com Keb' Mo' uses a Venue DI pedal.

"I’ve got a Yamaha Red Label, an Orange Label, but I’m not into vintage; not the ones you just sit and look at. I like variety, I don’t want $50,000 tied up in one guitar. I want to play them." In an interview for Reverb published in April 2016 https://www.instagram.com/p/B_gYkY8ByvY/

At 1:03, there is a great shot of Keb' Mo' playing a Hamer Monaco III.

According to Fishman's website Keb' Mo' is using this pickup/preamp system for his acoustics.

Keb' Mo' has been using the Keb' Mo' Signature Slide for years. As a child, he crafted his own slides, but once Jim Dunlop created this signature model for him, it became his preferred choice.

"For distortion, I use the Empire from Big Joe Stomp Box Company. I also use an MXR 6-band EQ."

At 0:52 in this clip, you can see a close up shot of the Dunlop Mudslide that Keb' is using on his pinky finger. He also has a signature slide made by Dunlop, but in this instance he is using the standard mudslide in size 266 (large).

"I want to be heard; what I want gone is everything somewhere between 150Hz and 200Hz, so that it's a really tight, fat, focused sound. That's why I use a lot of EQ. The MXR EQ on my pedalboard is for when I can't hit something with the parametric." (https://reverb.com/news/reverb-interview-bluesman-keb-mo)

"The Radial PZ-Pre is an absolute life saver for us. I can say in complete honesty that there is no way that we could produce the kind of quality acoustic show that we have been lately without the use of your fine products. It's made life on stage so much simpler."