Myles Kennedy's guitar strings: the Alter Bridge and Slash rig, sourced

Myles Kennedy is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of Alter Bridge, and the touring vocalist for guitarist Slash's own band, Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators. Born Myles Richard Bass on November 27, 1969, in Boston, he grew up in Spokane, Washington, where he taught guitar lessons and worked through a string of local bands (Cosmic Dust, Citizen Swing, Bittersweet) before forming The Mayfield Four in 1996.

The Mayfield Four signed to Epic Records and released two albums, Fallout (1998) and Second Skin (2001), before dissolving in 2002. Per Wikipedia's own sourcing, tinnitus from years of high-volume studio work pushed Kennedy into a temporary break from music and back into teaching guitar. That same year, he turned down an invitation to audition for the band that would become Velvet Revolver.

Mark Tremonti called in late 2003, looking for a singer to lay down vocals on songs he'd recently written. Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, and drummer Scott Phillips became Alter Bridge with Kennedy on board, officially forming in January 2004. Kennedy joined as vocalist only at first; he's played rhythm and co-lead guitar on the band's records since 2007's Blackbird. Since 2010 he's split his calendar with Slash, fronting four studio albums with the Conspirators, and released three solo records of his own: Year of the Tiger (2018), The Ides of March (2021), and The Art of Letting Go (2024).

D'Addario's Light Top/Heavy Bottom hybrid gauge on his own PRS Myles Kennedy Signature, run through two Diezel heads.

PRS built Kennedy's first signature model around what he called "the spirit of my favorite older instruments." It's a swamp ash body with a flat top, a bolt-on 22-fret maple neck at 25.5 inch scale with a maple fretboard, and a 10 inch fretboard radius, PRS's flattest and most vintage-leaning radius, with bird inlays from the brand's long-running fretboard motif.

The two PRS Narrowfield MK pickups are the design's centerpiece. Per PRS founder Paul Reed Smith: "I watched Myles throughout his career alternate between humbucking and single coil sounds without giving anything up on either side. These pickups took us months to dial in." They're wired to a 5-way blade switch plus a push/pull tone control that isn't a coil-split: it's a preset roll-off that darkens the treble pickup's top end on command. Round out the spec with a PRS plate-style steel bridge, vintage-style locking tuners, and a bone nut.

The truss rod cover carries Kennedy's own "Geometric Owl," a logo pulled from his 2021 solo album The Ides of March to represent wisdom and adaptability, a natural fit with PRS's own bird-inlay tradition. The model launched in 2023 in Antique Natural, Antique White, Black, Hunters Green, and Tri-Color Sunburst finishes; the current lineup swaps Antique White and Black for Egyptian Gold Metallic and Platinum Metallic, alongside the three finishes that carried over. It ships from the factory strung with PRS Signature 10–46, a lighter gauge than what Kennedy actually tours with.

The Narrowfield MK pickups are built to split the difference between humbucker push and single-coil articulation, which matches Kennedy's own range: blues and jazz phrasing inside Alter Bridge's hard-rock frame. A pickup voiced for that kind of clarity rewards a string gauge that doesn't go mushy under altered tunings, which is exactly what the Light Top/Heavy Bottom hybrid is for. The light .010, .013, .017 top keeps bends and lead lines easy, while the heavier .030, .042, .052 bottom stays taut once Kennedy detunes to Eb standard, Eb with a dropped C#, or further, instead of the flappy low end a straight 10–46 set would give him at those pitches.

It's also a rig built for two jobs at once. Kennedy is singing lead vocals on almost everything he plays, so the guitar and amp need to hold a tone without demanding constant attention. Two Diezel heads with matching cabs is a set-and-forget high-gain platform that leaves his hands free to focus on his voice.

Four PRS Myles Kennedy Signatures on the road, sourced from Premier Guitar's 2023 Alter Bridge Rig Rundown, plus one retired sentimental favorite.

One notable exception: on Alter Bridge's 2022 album Pawns & Kings, Kennedy recorded through one of Mark Tremonti's Dumble amps instead, the first time a Dumble had featured on an Alter Bridge record. Per Guitar.com, Kennedy asked to try it after learning that Larry Carlton, one of his favorite session guitarists from classic yacht-rock records, played one. It's a studio choice, not part of his standing touring rig.

One hybrid gauge across all four touring guitars, no exceptions documented.