Mike Sullivan

Mike’s current main squeeze is a 1985 Gibson Les Paul Custom that he bought in his hometown of Chicago at Rock N Roll Vintage. Since acquiring the guitar, he dropped in new pickups—a high-wound Lollar Imperial in the bridge and a standard Lollar Imperial in the neck. Sullivan goes with D’Addario NYXL .011–.056 strings and tunes this one to a DADGAD variant—C#-G#-D-G-C-A#. When it comes to picks, he’s been loyal to the Dunlop Max-Grip Jazz III since he found some inside a box for an Andy Timmons pedal.

Mike’s current main squeeze is a 1985 Gibson Les Paul Custom that he bought in his hometown of Chicago at Rock N Roll Vintage. Since acquiring the guitar, he dropped in new pickups—a high-wound Lollar Imperial in the bridge and a standard Lollar Imperial in the neck. Sullivan goes with D’Addario NYXL .011–.056 strings and tunes this one to a DADGAD variant—C#-G#-D-G-C-A#. When it comes to picks, he’s been loyal to the Dunlop Max-Grip Jazz III since he found some inside a box for an Andy Timmons pedal.

*Because I’m using three amps, I got this switcher just before we came out on tour. * The fact that it’s a button switch means you can kick in the third or second amp and I think that this will be very practical in the future tours with new songs in the mix. This P-Split has a phase switch, which for some reason the 1AT3 doesn’t, so it’s essentially just to keep the Bassman in phase.

This P-Split has a phase switch, which for some reason the 1AT3 doesn’t, so it’s essentially just to keep the Bassman in phase

Right there we have a burning church [design]. It’s like a [Boss] HM-2 clone. So it’s got that gnarly midrange Swedish death metal sound. It does that exceptionally well. I used it so much on the last record it found its way onto the board

“I’ve found Strymon pedals to be well made and versatile. I like digital delay and you can change the dotted eighth notes and diff erent subdivisions that are really useful live. There’s a lot of reverb through the twins and here so I like to have a really clean delay onstage. You can use a little Strymon auxiliary switch [above left] with it - a favourite switch.”

In a post from the Pedalboards of Doom Facebook group dated February 16, Mike Sullivan is shown using the Strymon Mobius Modulator during a performance in Louisville, KY.

In the Premier Guitar video titled "How I Create Live Loops," Mike Sullivan of Russian Circles is seen using the Korg Pitchblack Custom pedal tuner.

Recent obsession: the Dunable SplatterBlaster. Independent Fuzz and HM-2 circuits with unique blending capabilities. I like this pedal most in conjunction with other gain pedals. Even at low gain settings it adds nice color.

This photo from a 2013 Premier Guitar article shows Mike Sullivan's pedal board, which includes an Akai Headrush multi-effects pedal.

This photo from a 2013 Premier Guitar article shows Mike Sullivan's pedal board, which includes a Mesa Flux Drive.

At 12:22 in this rig rundown video, guitarist Mike Sullivan says, "I'm recently using these two Mesa pedals, the Tone Burst, and Flux Drive, together at the same time...and I couldn't be happier."

This photo from a 2013 Premier Guitar article shows Mike Sullivan's pedal-bard, which includes a DigiTech JamMan looper phrase sampler pedal.

We can get a very good overlook of Mike's pedalboard here. The volume pedal he uses is an Ernie Ball VP Jr.

The Polytune can be seen outside of the board on the far right.

On the neck pickup of the '57 Les Paul is a 498 humbucker, used for brightness as well as mids.

"Sullivan’s new love is a Fano RB6 that he recently received from the boutique guitar maker’s custom shop. “It comes down to the clarity thing,” Sullivan says. “You hit a chord and you hear every note. The Lollar P-90’s in the neck and bridge just sound incredible, and just have a pure organic tone. There’s nothing to hide behind.”"

-Premier Guitar; Rig Rundown with Russian Circles

"I'm into the Fulltone Deja Vibe 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. It helps me make the distinction between different loops. As far as new toys that's my latest obsession and that's used here and there on the album too."

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

Taken from "Other Band's Stuff" Tumblr, a Boss Tremolo can be seen at the top left corner.

Taken from "Other Band's Stuff" Tumblr, the EHX Memory Toy can be seen at the bottom centre of this photograph.

For the new album, Mike's new gear setup includes a Vox wah pedal, found on the right side of his board.

In this Instagram photo of Mike Sullivan's pedalboard, a DigiTech JamMan Stereo can be seen at the board.

In this Instagram photo of Mike Sullivan's pedalboard, a Foxrox Octron2 can be seen at the board.

Taken from "Other Band's Stuff" Tumblr, this Digitech footswitch can be seen on the left to control the JamMan looper pedal.

In a recent Instagram post by Premier Guitar, Mike Sullivan of Russian Circles is shown using a DigiTech Drop on his pedalboard during a Rig Rundown session.

In an Instagram post by Premier Guitar, Mike Sullivan of Russian Circles is shown with his pedalboard, featuring the Source Audio Nemesis Delay.

In an Instagram post by Premier Guitar, Mike Sullivan of Russian Circles is shown with his pedalboard, which includes the Xotic Effects AC Booster.

In a recent Instagram post by premierguitar, Mike Sullivan of Russian Circles is shown with his pedalboard, featuring the Bogner Wessex Bubinga Overdrive.

Mike Sullivan of Russian Circles mentions in a MusicRadar interview that he occasionally uses the Outlaw Effects Vigilante Guitar Chorus Pedal, describing it as an affordable option he acquired for its decent sound despite infrequent use.

Mike Sullivan uses the TC Electronic PolyTune, as shown in his Instagram post captioned "The crucial few. Loving all of these," where he highlights his preferred gear.