Mo Pitney

Why Mo Pitney's Rig Sounds Like That

Mo's setup solves one problem: a bluegrass-trained right hand playing country songs. Every item on this page either serves that hand or stays out of its way.

Two Rosewood Dreadnoughts, Two Different Jobs

The D-28 Authentic 1937 is a period-correct build - Adirondack spruce over Guatemalan rosewood, forward-shifted scalloped bracing, hide glue, and an aged torrefied top. It is loud, dry, and as unforgiving as a real pre-war dreadnought, which is exactly what you want when the guitar has to carry a room with no microphone in front of it. The D-41 goes the other way: Sitka spruce over East Indian rosewood with abalone appointments, a broader and sweeter midrange that sits under a vocal instead of fighting it. Same body shape, opposite personalities. More in Martin & Co. Guitars.

The Banjo Player's Right Hand

This is the part most country gear lists leave out. Mo's picks are a banjo player's picks, and they change how a guitar attacks:

• Golden Gate GP-11 thumb pick, medium: the bluegrass standard. Ivoroid, and stiff enough to drive a roll without flexing off the beat.
• Dunlop .025-inch fingerpicks: thin brass, bright and immediate. A thin gauge lets you feel the string rather than the pick.
• Token B2-45 TAN flatpick, 1.14mm small triangle: for flatpicked lead. A small triangle gives three usable points and a shorter throw than a full-size 346.

Capos Cut to the Fingerboard

Elliott capos are machined to a specific nut width and radius rather than pulling a curved board flat, so the third string does not go sharp when you clamp down. The G16M McKinney fits a 1-11/16 inch neck at a 16 inch radius; the B450I Integrity covers 1.400 to 1.450 inch flat-radius banjo necks. The Shubb F5g FineTune and the D'Addario PW-CP-18 cradle capo handle the fast changes between songs. Browse Elliott Capos, Banjo Capos, and Guitar Capos.

Stage and Studio

The Peterson StroboClip HDC reads to a tenth of a cent, which matters most when a capo is on and the intonation is already compromised. The LR Baggs Venue DI puts preamp, EQ, notch filter, boost, tuner, and a transformer-isolated output in one pedal - one box standing between the guitar and a house system nobody in the band controls. Hercules Auto Grip stands close on the neck under the instrument's own weight, so a guitar cannot be knocked out of the yoke; the single, double, and triple all use the same mechanism. D'Addario XS coated phosphor bronze in medium buys weeks of fresh tone under hot lights, and a String Swing oak hanger keeps the banjo or mandolin off the floor between sets. The banjo-side pieces all live in Banjo Accessories.