Mike Sullivan

In a recent Instagram post by Premier Guitar, Mike Sullivan of Russian Circles is shown with his pedalboard, which includes the Keeley True Bypass Looper.

They sound great and last for ages. They've held up great in the studio, even with my sweaty mitts abusing them daily.

2007 Gibson SG Standard Silverburst

I’m kind of inbetween guitars at the moment. A car accident caused an upper-back injury and put me in search of lighter-weight guitars. I tried several different SG Customs and some just didn’t feel right and the SG neck is not my favourite profile. But I’ve tracked this one down with a rounder neck profile, ebony ’board and mahogany body. I’m always checking out guitars and this was a really good deal. It was a Robot Guitar [a model with automated self tuning] and I knew right away I’d be stripping all that mechanism out, but at the core of it I knew this was a great guitar. In the last few years I’ve become accustomed to using lower output pickups and I put a Lollar Imperial in the neck and then a higher wound one in the bridge. And I’m sold – they’re really good. Great for distortion and having articulation. I think lower output pickups refl ect the guitar more; everything is more exposed in a cool way. I’ve had SGs that are the worst things to play live but this one felt great. Sacha Dunable from Dunable Guitars helped me set it up with a new bridge and tuners. On this tour it’s usually in C# G# D G A C# and occasionally the lower G# will go up to an A . I’ll use the Drop pedal to take that a whole step down too.

1971 Gibson SG Standard

I picked this up at a cool guitar store called Rock ’N’ Roll Vintage in Chicago. It’s a guitar I’d always see but I tried to stay away from it and not touch it. But I fell in love with it and I’ve had it for years now - and for certain songs live it has its place where no other guitar feels quite as right. There are things I would change about it, like the pickup in the bridge doesn’t quite have the tonal quality. I can’t say for certain if it is the original. This is always in the same tuning: BBEABE.

Mike Sullivan mentions on Instagram that, due to a temporary hand injury, he has turned to the Moog Sub Phatty for music creation, expressing his enjoyment of the synthesizer.

The pedals aren’t as funny but sound pretty damn good

This photo from a Premier Guitar article shows Mike Sullivan's pedal board, which includes a MXR M-133 Micro Amp pedal.

This photo from a Premier Guitar article shows Mike Sullivan's pedal board, which includes a Strymon El Capistan dTape Echo Delay pedal.

This photo from a 2013 Premier Guitar article shows Mike Sullivan's pedal board, which includes an Xotic BB Preamp pedal.

This photo from a 2013 Premier Guitar article shows Mike Sullivan's pedal board, which includes an Earthquaker Devices Grand Orbiter effects pedal.

This photo from a 2013 Premier Guitar article shows Mike Sullivan's pedal-board, which includes a Fulltone Secret Feq overdrive pedal.

At 12:55 in this rig rundown, there is a clear shot of the "Pedaltrain Pro" label on Mike Sullivan's pedal board.

"Recently, I had the pleasure of watching a performance by Chicago-based instrumental post-rock/metal trio Russian Circles. On the night I took in the show, the band’s guitarist Mike Sullivan was concocting his tone cocktail with a Gibson Les Paul Custom, a slew of effects pedals, two Sunn Model T heads, and Emperor 4x12 and 1x15 cabinets."

Recognisable due to the sanded down look of the finish, Mike has been frequently seen with his Les Paul Custom. He said in a Rig Rundown that it was a '57 Reissue, used mainly because of pains in his hands.

Edit 5-15-2019: Previous photo showed Mike's 85 Les Paul Custom in pewter (Greenish metallic color) in the new photo listed is the correct 57 Les Paul Custom in Faded Cherry finish. Also you can see better photos of it if you go onto reverb and go to Russian Circles Reverb page where Mike Sold it a few years ago!!

Mike Sullivan of Russian Circles is seen using the TC Electronic Polytune Mini during a performance at Mississippi Studios, as captured in photos by Beth Olson Creative on Facebook.

In a photo by Beth Olson Creative on Facebook, Mike Sullivan of Russian Circles is shown using the Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Nano reverb pedal during a performance at Mississippi Studios.

"There was a BOSS DD-3 for Malko to get a really syncopated soulless delay – that was great for that."

In-depth guitar talk with the instrumentalist by Rob Laing, August 11, 2010

"I used a TS-9 with a Keeley mod and that was actually Brandon's who produced the album – he brought a whole suitcase of pedals for us to play with. I had a Fulldrive 2 before that and wasn't totally happy with it but that TS-9 has some sparkle to it and all the notes ring out in a unique way. Different to a stock TS-9 for sure. That was for a milder distortion…"

"I'm into the Fulltone Minivibe right now. That thing is awesome for me when I'm looping. That pedal will sound a little higher for some reason – it colours the tone a little so when you add another loop on top they sound different."

In-depth guitar talk with the instrumentalist by Rob Laing, August 11, 2010

"My live signal path is guitar, wah, volume pedal, Fuzz Factory, OCD, PlimSoul, Micro Amp, various delay and reverb pedals, and the Akai Head Rush looping pedal."

"I used a TS-9 with a Keeley mod and that was actually Brandon's who produced the album – he brought a whole suitcase of pedals for us to play with. I had a Fulldrive 2 before that and wasn't totally happy with it…"

In-depth guitar talk with the instrumentalist by Rob Laing, August 11, 2010

"I'd also try different guitars for different takes – so if I was doing an overdub I'd look for a different tone for it. Most of it was still Les Pauls – an ebony Custom. I'm using Bare Knuckle Miracle Man pickups and for the louder, heavier songs they sounded awesome."

-Mike Sullivan; MusicRadar Interview

Pedal talk #russiancirclesalbum6

Mike Sullivan of Russian Circles is shown discussing the MXR EVH90 EVH Phase 90 in an Instagram post by russiancircles, tagged with #russiancirclesalbum6.

Mike Sullivan uses the Death By Audio Fuzz War pedal in the recording sessions for the upcoming LP6 album, as shown in a photo on the Russian Circles' Instagram.

In this Instagram photo of Mike Sullivan's pedalboard, a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 can be seen at the far left of the board.

In this Instagram photo of Mike Sullivan's pedalboard, there is a Bogner Wessex at the board.

In this Instagram photo of Mike Sullivan's pedalboard, there is a Bogner Burnley at the board.

"Recently, I had the pleasure of watching a performance by Chicago-based instrumental post-rock/metal trio Russian Circles. On the night I took in the show, the band’s guitarist Mike Sullivan was concocting his tone cocktail with a Gibson Les Paul Custom, a slew of effects pedals, two Sunn Model T heads, and Emperor 4x12 and 1x15 cabinets."

-Lyle Zaehringer, Premier Guitar

This live performance of 309 by Russian Circles shows Mike using a B.B. King Lucille electric guitar from Gibson.

In a photo shared by Premier Guitar on Instagram, Mike Sullivan of Russian Circles is shown with his pedalboard, which includes the Bogner Burnley - Bubinga Distortion Guitar Effects Pedal.