Sam Kiszka

Sam’s Main bass throughout his career. It’s an 80’s reissue of a 50’s Precision Bass. He added the neck from a MIM Jazz Bass.

He used to have a Fender Jazz Bass (Made in Mexico) before. He later switched its neck with the one on his Precision bass, since he liked the Jazz neck better than the one on the P-Bass.

Used on "Age of Man", as stated by mix engineer Al Sutton in this January 2019 Sound on Sound interview.

"We set up at Blackbird with the drums in the centre of the main room. Sam and Jake were in the same space, but their amps were isolated. Sam also had a full keyboard rig set up, with a piano, B3, Wurlitzer and Fender Rhodes, and so on, which mostly were overdubbed. But he played the B3 and bass pedals live during the tracking of 'Age Of Man'. There's no bass guitar in that song. Josh was in an iso booth with a Neumann U67. We recorded the acoustic in the same booth. They played a lot of acoustic guitar! They have a lot of folk influences. It's not just blues and rock & roll."

The bass is shown in Premier Guitar's rig rundown. Kiszka also explains the instrument in the 2021 Guitar World interview.

A good number of instruments. My one and only bass is a Seafoam Green Fender Precision Bass with Jazz Bass neck; it’s a ’50s reissue made in the ’80s. That bass sounds fantastic, and it’s the most comfortable bass I’ve ever played.

The second Precision Bass Kiszka used is the 1969 Fender Precision Bass, mainly for recording.

I also used a ’72 Fender Telecaster Bass for a few songs, and a ’65 Precision owned by our producer, Al Sutton, as well as a ’69 Precision. There are flatwounds on all of them except the ’69. That’s just in case I need a roundwound sound, but I do prefer flats. That’s another area where Jamerson influenced me - I like the mellower tone of the flats. It makes me do things that are counterintuitive to the sound that I want, like cranking my tone all the way up.

The third Precision Bass Kiszka used in the 1965 Fender Precision Bass, which, according to Kiszka, was used for recording and is owned by producer Al Sutton.

Seen used in live performance

"Sam Kiszka's main axe is still his green Fender P bass with a Jazz bass neck. This bass stays strung with D'Addario flatwounds, .050–.105"

Mentioned by mix engineer Al Sutton in this January 2019 Sound on Sound interview.

"We set up at Blackbird with the drums in the centre of the main room. Sam and Jake were in the same space, but their amps were isolated. Sam also had a full keyboard rig set up, with a piano, B3, Wurlitzer and Fender Rhodes, and so on, which mostly were overdubbed. But he played the B3 and bass pedals live during the tracking of 'Age Of Man'. There's no bass guitar in that song."

It's his number 2, as he mentioned in the video. He also has it strung with D'addario flat light strings.

In a Premier Guitar Rig Rundown video, Sam Kiszka mentions using the Fender Super Bassman Pro 300W Tube Bass Amp Head, noting that it's from either 2012 or 2013.

Sam uses an Sk2 for live performance and practice. He uses the organ settings for live permance of songs like flower power. HE uses a bass footpedal controller along with it to maintain his role as bass. He says in this video that he records his performance on a true Hammond B3 tonewheel organ.

Can be seen behind Sam, with Sam also commenting "Missing my #acoustic360" On Jakes' profile and throughout early GVF's Instagram posts this amp can be seen

That bass sounds fantastic, and it’s the most comfortable bass I’ve ever played. I also used a ’72 Fender Telecaster Bass for a few songs, and a ’65 Precision owned by our producer, Al Sutton, as well as a ’69 Precision.

Used for the bass on Anthem of the Peaceful Army, as stated by mix engineer Al Sutton in this January 2019 Sound on Sound interview.

"All the guitar mics also went through the API desk, but I sent the bass through the Acme Audio MTP?66 pre and DI."

Can be seen sitting behind Sam during this live performance of 'Talk On The Street'

In Greta Van Fleet's Rig Rundown video, Sam talks about his amp head but not much about the cab. From the video, it looks a lot like the bigger 8x10 rather than the 6x10. The cabinet is also mentioned in 2021 Guitar World.

Used on the bass for "When the Curtain Falls", as stated by mix engineer Al Sutton in this January 2019 Sound on Sound interview. An image of the settings can be found here.

"I also had the Opticom in the bass for parallel compression. In this case I'll run that really dirty and blend it back in."

Uses the Martin D-28 for this acoustic performance of 'Black Smoke Rising'

Kiszka can be heard talking about the DI at around 6:05 minute mark in Premier Guitar's rig rundown. He also talks about the DI in 2021 Guitar World interview.

My main sound is the Acme Motown DI tube interface, which Al Sutton makes. It’s fantastic; it puts the sound of the bass right in the spot where you want it. It sits back enough, but you can hear all the intricacies of the tone. We run that into a silver 1964 Fender 50-watt Bassman for a little more growl. You don’t have to crank it at all.

Used for the bass and the B3 on Anthem of the Peaceful Army, as stated by mix engineer Al Sutton in this January 2019 Sound on Sound interview.

"I recorded the bass DI, and the bass cabinet with a Neumann FET 47 mic. I miked the B3 Leslie with a U87 at the top, and a Neumann FET 47 at the bottom, and I had used a DI for the small vintage guitar amp we used for the other keyboards."

Used for the B3 on Anthem of the Peaceful Army, as stated by mix engineer Al Sutton in this January 2019 Sound on Sound interview.

"I recorded the bass DI, and the bass cabinet with a Neumann FET 47 mic. I miked the B3 Leslie with a U87 at the top, and a Neumann FET 47 at the bottom, and I had used a DI for the small vintage guitar amp we used for the other keyboards."

My main sound is the Acme Motown DI tube interface, which Al Sutton makes. It’s fantastic; it puts the sound of the bass right in the spot where you want it. It sits back enough, but you can hear all the intricacies of the tone. We run that into a silver 1964 Fender 50-watt Bassman for a little more growl. You don’t have to crank it at all.

At 13:20 you can see that he used the Hammond XPK-100 as his bass pedal unit

In an Instagram post by @spinningrecs, Sam Kiszka is pictured with a Rickenbacker 4003 bass. This image was shared on March 26, 2023, the date he performed four new tracks from Greta Van Fleet's 2023 album "Starcatcher" at the final Dreams In Gold tour show.

In the video at 31:29, you can see a shot of his Nord Stage 3 in the white box under the Mellotron.

It is in his latest pedalboard!

In the video titled "Rig Rundown: Greta Van Fleet [2021]" by Premier Guitar, Sam Kiszka's pedalboard is shown, where he uses the Neo Instruments Mini Vent II Rotary Speaker Simulator. This pedal is visible next to the Mooer Tender Octaver.

Sam Kiszka uses the Fender Bassman® 810 Neo Enclosure Cabinet, as confirmed by the "Rig Rundown: Greta Van Fleet [2021]" video by John Bohlinger on Premier Guitar. The cabinet is paired with his Fender Super Bassman, which features 300 watts, four 12AX7 tubes, and six 6550 power tubes.

In the Premier Guitar Rig Rundown for Greta Van Fleet [2021], hosted by John Bohlinger, it is confirmed that Sam Kiszka uses the Beyerdynamic M88 microphone to mike his Fender Bassman 810 Neo 8x10 bass cabinet and vintage Sunn 2x15 cab during The Battle at Garden's Gate Tour.

In a Rig Rundown with Premier Guitar, Sam Kiszka is confirmed to use a vintage Sunn 2000S Amplifier Head, capable of delivering up to 280 watts. It features a solid-state rectifier and four 6550 tubes, and it is connected to a vintage Sunn 2x15 cab.

Sam Kiszka is confirmed to use a vintage Sunn 2000S amplifier head, which includes a solid-state rectifier and four 6550 tubes, paired with a Sunn 1960s Sunn 200S 2x15 Speaker Cabinet. This information is supported by the "Rig Rundown: Greta Van Fleet [2021]" by John Bohlinger on Premier Guitar.