Mike Cooley

This is his main guitar. Both he and Patterson Hood have custom guitars made by Baxendale, some acoustic, some electric.

"Mike played his Thinline Telecaster through a Jack Brossart Prescription Electronics Vibe-Unit on the chorus setting. The amp was a 20-watt Marshall 2061X Handwired Lead/Bass head driving a ’80s Marshall 4x10 1965A cabinet."

"Mike played a late-’90s Japanese-made Fender Jazzmaster Classic Player. I really like those guitars. They have a deeper neck pocket than the American Vintage ’65 Jazzmaster Reissue. The pickups are totally different—darker and harsher than the American ones. It also has a Nashville Tune-o-matic-style bridge with the Baxendale Gibson Vibrola mod. (Though designed to improve the Gibson Vibrola, the mod also works for the Jazzmaster trem, but not as well as the Mastery Bridge.) He plugged this into his wall-shaking Sound City 50 Plus (with both channels bridged and cranked) and drove that ’80s Marshall 4x10 1965A cabinet nearly to extinction. It sounded heavenly."

"Mike played either the Jazzmaster or the Cooleycaster through his Sommatone Roaring 40 head and matching 2x12 open-back cabinet. I know he was using the Prescription Electronics RX Overdriver because I put it on his board that day. He used it all weekend."

Mike uses several electric and acoustic guitars made by Scott Baxendale in Georgia. In additionl to his original 'Cooleycaster', Mike has a second model which is chambered and topped with Kauri wood which is from New Zealand and recovered from ancient timber (~50'000 years old). The neck pickup is Charlie Christian and the bridge is SD.

"The guitar has a Seymour Duncan Seth Lover in the neck position and Duncan Hot Rails at the bridge. I built it in 2006, I believe.” Mike ran straight into a Richard Goodsell Black Dog 50 connected to a ’80s Marshall 4x10 1965A cabinet."

"Mike played the Cooleycaster through an 18-watt Marshall 1974X Handwired 1x12 combo. No effects for anyone; only tube-amp generated harmonic distortion."

"Mike played his Thinline Telecaster through a Jack Brossart Prescription Electronics Vibe-Unit on the chorus setting. The amp was a 20-watt Marshall 2061X Handwired Lead/Bass head driving a ’80s Marshall 4x10 1965A cabinet."

"Mike ran the Cooleycaster into a Danelectro Reel Echo pedal (his Echoplex was too noisy for this track) and out to the Sound City 4x10 half-stack mentioned earlier."

"Mike played either the Jazzmaster or the Cooleycaster through his Sommatone Roaring 40 head and matching 2x12 open-back cabinet. I know he was using the Prescription Electronics RX Overdriver because I put it on his board that day. He used it all weekend."

"The guitar has a Seymour Duncan Seth Lover in the neck position and Duncan Hot Rails at the bridge. I built it in 2006, I believe.” Mike ran straight into a Richard Goodsell Black Dog 50 connected to a ’80s Marshall 4x10 1965A cabinet."

Premier Guitar met with Mike Cooley, Patterson Hood, and Jay Gonzalez of the Drive-By Truckers before their window-rattling show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Sharing a love of the odd, these players rely on unusual instruments to create their genre-blending sound.

Premier Guitar met with Mike Cooley, Patterson Hood, and Jay Gonzalez of the Drive-By Truckers before their window-rattling show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Sharing a love of the odd, these players rely on unusual instruments to create their genre-blending sound.

Premier Guitar met with Mike Cooley, Patterson Hood, and Jay Gonzalez of the Drive-By Truckers before their window-rattling show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Sharing a love of the odd, these players rely on unusual instruments to create their genre-blending sound. (JAN 2015)

Premier Guitar met with Mike Cooley, Patterson Hood, and Jay Gonzalez of the Drive-By Truckers before their window-rattling show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Sharing a love of the odd, these players rely on unusual instruments to create their genre-blending sound. (JAN 2015)

Premier Guitar met with Mike Cooley, Patterson Hood, and Jay Gonzalez of the Drive-By Truckers before their window-rattling show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Sharing a love of the odd, these players rely on unusual instruments to create their genre-blending sound. (JAN 2015)

In a 2003 performance, Mike Cooley is clearly shown using a Gibson Flying V, as documented in the "Rig Rundown: Drive-By Truckers" by John Bohlinger for Premier Guitar.