Ask someone about their favorite heavy metal bands and it shouldn’t take long to hear Lamb of God. Since their founding in 1990 by Willie Adler, his brother Chris, Randy Blythe, Mark Morton and John Campbell, they’ve put out six studio albums and continued to tour around the world even despite recent troubles in the Czech Republic. One of the defining forces behind the band is guitar player Will Adler, who has also been a long-time user of the JB. He recently made the switch to Duncan Distortions and had some killer custom laser engraved covers created for them, so we thought it would be good to catch up with him and see what’s new.
Tell us about your new ESP model…

The new ESP model that has been unleashed this year is called the Will Adler Warbird. It’s based on the same body style as the Eclipse and that my other two signature models are based on. It’s aesthetically different, different specs on the neck, slimmed down neck and left unfinished to give it that awesome feel I’m into.

You were a big JB user for years but recently you tried out some Duncan Distortions. What did you hear differently about the JB and the Duncan Distortions?
Sonically the Duncan Distortion almost sounds like an active pickup, there is a lot more heat coming off those things. It was a noticeable difference – not to say anything bad about the ’59s, and I’ve used the JB for years. The Distortions just have that growl and crunch and bottom end and had a little more of active output from a passive pickup, so they offer me exactly what I need.
We talk with a lot of people who want that active compression and sustain but they don’t want to use a battery or don’t want an enormous amount of gain.
It’s not over the top, the Duncan Distortion is right there like you said. Active output but not so overtop where it clashes with what you are using in your amp.
We put some special engraved covers on your pickups and you said you heard a difference. A lot of people ask if they put a cover on their pickup will it sound different. What did you hear when you put the covers on?
It was a lot warmer. It added to the pickup, if that’s possible. It just had a lot more warmer undertones and the bottom end just complements that active output that Distortions have being a passive pickup.

For more information on Lamb of God, click here.