Music is the universal language
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” - Luke 2:14
Premier Guitar
Robert Keeley: 25 Years of Changing the Guitar Pedal Game
It all started with a two-knob compressor 25 year ago. Robert Keeley and his innovative team have sold over 1-million pedals developing a legendary brand that continues to influence and inspire stompbox builders and guitar players alike.
The company's founding wizard Robert Keeley sits down with PG's John Bohinger discusses the ups-and-downs of his career, details what still excites him as a designer, and shares his greatest joy as a business owner.
Sponsored by Stewmac
Visit stewmac.com Death By Audio x Rainger FX Amp Crash Review
Some of you are lucky enough to avoid bouts with the guitar doldrums. Me? I get stuck in ruts more than I would like. Death By Audio’s wares have bailed me out these troughs more than once. And the company’s new Amp Crash, designed with fellow mad scientist David Rainger of Rainger FX, is yet another device, full of surprises, that can awaken jaded musical hearts.
The Amp Crash is many things—none of which seem all that crazy on the surface. It can be an overdrive or a fuzz. It can be a reverb, delay, or chorus. As the grate on the pedal’s face suggests, it can be a little self-contained amplifier that will make your Pignose nervous. You can use it as an amp out in front of your DAW. And because it’s a real amplifier, it can drive an 8-ohm passive cabinet. So where’s the weird, you ask? Well, DBA and Rainger had the good (sick?) sense to wire a microphone into this circuit—one that picks up the sound from the tiny 2" speaker, as well as ambient room sound, and folds it back into the circuit, generating feedback, unexpected overtones, and sound warpage that can be mangled further with the onboard effects.
This opens up a lot of possibilities. At times playing the Amp Crash was like getting locked in Lee “Scratch” Perry’s lunchbox. Other times it was like wandering a house of horrors hosted by psych-punk thugs. But the Amp Crash is also very happy making sounds that fall within the range of conventional—most notably saturation that’s redolent of a vintage low-wattage amp set anywhere from warm to boil.
A Meeting of Melted Minds
DBA is not afraid of building less-than-petite effects. But given how much is stuffed in the roughly 5 ½" x 3 ½" x 2" enclosure, the Amp Crash’s dimensions don't seem like an indulgence. Like many DBA pedals, it looks like it was pinched from the Space: 1999 props department, and in this case the mutant retro-futurist styling is heightened by the speaker grate, which gives the Amp Crash the look of a vintage com-link unit.
The speaker works, of course, because the Amp Crash has a true power amp inside—two, actually. (This accounts for the relatively heavy 300-milliamp draw, and you’ll definitely need a dedicated power supply.) One drives the small speaker. The other, which drives an additional op-amp section along its own signal path, is routed via the output that you plug into a guitar amplifier or a DAW. (A second output is dedicated to driving an external 8-ohm cabinet if you want to go that route.) The pedal’s gain range spans surprisingly clean tones and filthy ones. But the drive it generates—particularly through a guitar amp—is uniquely flavored.
The output for the speaker is shaped by the gain and tone controls. The same controls configure the gain and tone profiles of the second opamp-assisted section, where they are complemented by the DI-out level and the mic-out level controls. The last of these governs how much of the onboard microphone signal is mixed with the DI-out.
Through the whole tone knob range (which is pretty extensive), the output is colored by a snorkely mid range—sometimes in hints, sometimes boldly. Living at the brightest or darkest end of the range doesn’t really eliminate this emphasis as much as it stacks something else on top of the midrange bump. I struggled to think of exact tone parallels. At various times I heard traces of DOD 250, a less screechy Tone Bender, a Way Huge Red Llama, a fixed wah pedal, and the fuzz section in a ’60s solid state Vox amplifier. More commonly, though, the midrangey-ness suggested one, or some combination, of those devices, driving a 8" speaker in a low-watt tube amp. At lower gain settings, these qualities lend the output an edgy growl. At its fuzziest settings, it is brutish and nasty but focused.
“At its fuzziest settings it is brutish and nasty but focused.”
Mutant Zones
All of these sounds can be reshaped, both subtly and radically, by adding feedback via the mic-out control, and zest from one of the three onboard effects. The mic-out control and effects (as well as the mic gate toggle) are very interactive. The feedback from the mic can generate and emphasize various overtones in the output—to subtle, pretty ends if you’re mellow with the mic-out level and effects, or with chaotic outcomes if you lay either one on too thick. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t push it, though—in true DBA and Rainger FX fashion, some of the most rewarding tones live at these nearly out-of-control extremes.
While the Amp Crash is unorthodox, it is not just a studio tool. There’s no reason you can’t use the Amp Crash as a fuzz or drive in live situations without fear of unwanted surprises. The payoff in distinctive tones could be considerable. But unique sounds are just one possible studio attribute. It’s often the methods Amp Crash encourages that yield the most interesting studio dividends. The strange tone composites you hear in the combination of onboard speaker and guitar amp speaker, for instance, can be recast by varying a microphone’s position relative to the two sources—or by miking amp and pedal speaker in different spaces entirely and sending those signals to two desk inputs. Similarly, endless variations on this effect can be enabled by miking the internal speaker and sending the output to your DAW and whatever sound processing tools live downstream.
The Verdict
We talk a lot about sliding scales here in the “verdict” section. A pedal that is a font of inspiration for one player might confound another. And like many DBA products that commit to a genuinely different approach, the Amp Crash resides in that category. Those inclined to use its tasty drive and reverb/delay/modulation section exclusively will probably find the $395 price hard to justify. Those who delve into the fullness of the Amp Crash’s potential could end up considering that a bargain—particularly if the sounds on tap here become a foundational part of their sound palette.
But that is a very plausible scenario, because the Amp Crash is as rich with distortion suited for common musical settings as it is brimming with strange, esoteric tones. For players who can make use of sounds from both sides of its flavor spectrum—and you can count me among them—the Amp Crash might merit rounding up on all the performance scores listed here.
Death By Audio x Rainger FX Amp Crash
Three Pitch Engines Running at Once, in Stereo | Hotone Freqlux
Hotone’s Freqlux runs three independent pitch voices at the same time, each with its own effects and its own position in the stereo field. PG Contributor Tom Butwin details the Tri-Pitch Engine, from polyphonic tracking and key aware harmony through to the Flux footswitch that turns the pedal into something you play rather than something you switch on.
Each voice gets assigned to one of five modes. ‘Poly’ handles polyphonic shifting that keeps chord structure intact. ‘Key’ generates harmonies that follow whatever key you set, though Tom makes the case for deliberately mismatching it. ‘Detune’ covers drop tunings and baritone territory, and with tracking at 4 to 5ms of latency it reads as a real tuning change rather than an effect. ‘ARP’ turns pitch into sequenced motion. ‘Mod’ steps away from pitch shifting and runs modulation instead. Every voice then carries its own effects and tone shaping, including drive, tremolo, chorus, delay, level and pan, which is where the stereo layouts come from. Tom builds one with crunch on the outer voices panned hard left and right and a clean voice down the middle.
The controls stay manageable despite the depth. Side buttons handle global routing and per effect editing, a knob scrolls through 200 preset slots, and the three top knobs map to the three voices. Holding both footswitches drops into Flux, where the right switch becomes a real time pitch controller for gliding shifts and arpeggiated movement. Auto Flux does the same thing from your picking dynamics instead of your foot. Connections cover stereo in and out, USB-C, MIDI in and out, and an expression pedal input, with free desktop editing software if you’d rather not dial everything in from the screen.
Freqlux Pitch-shift
Stereo Pitch-shift Guitar Pedal with H1, H2, H3, Preset, Mix, Select, Alt/Menu, and FX Controls, 3 Harmonized Voices, Delay, Modulation, Arpeggiator, MIDI, and USB
Dinosaur Jr.: Back to the Noise
J Mascis has so many guitars that at least one of them has no obvious job. “It’s not good for songwriting, playing live, or recording. It’s not good for any of the real things we do. That leaves just playing it,” says the Dinosaur Jr. frontman, sporting a gray beard and red-framed glasses, via Zoom from a St. Louis hotel. “That’s kind of interesting: to play, knowing nothing will come out of it.”
The axe in question is a Gibson Les Paul Custom that had a broken headstock when Mascis bought it. “The guy at the shop said it was his bandmate’s,” Mascis recalls. “You could tell he just played it so much that it was somehow awesome. You could feel it was worn in just right.” Mascis had the headstock repaired, but he maintained everything else about it, including the “20th anniversary” letters stamped on the fretboard and its overall battered quality. “It’s beat up, and it’s been played at shows. It has a good feel you can only get from playing all the time. Somebody’s favorite guitar for years—it’s cool.”
The guitar has almost nothing to do with the reason Mascis is on this Zoom: to promote There Near, Dinosaur Jr.’s first album in five years. For this project, Mascis mostly employed a 1959 Fender Jazzmaster, after taking a multi-year break from the model. “I’m getting back to my roots because I never seem to,” he says, “and [playing] leads with it and stuff.” He retired the Fender from touring when he realized the guitar was worth tens of thousands of dollars, which freaked him out: “I’ll just play it when I’m recording,” he says.
Befitting Dinosaur Jr. since the Amherst, Mass., trio’s debut album, Dinosaur, in 1985, There Near is packed with Mascis’ solos and distinctively slacked-out voice meandering over the din. What’s slightly different about There Near, compared to the band’s previous album, 2021’s Sweep It Into Space, is a foundation of precise, Who-like power chords; the opening track “Several Got Away” has the feel of “I Can’t Explain” or “My Generation.” Mascis has zero theories about why that might be so: “Yeah, that’s just the songs I came up with,” he says. “At the time, I’m not sure where they came from.”
One physical piece of inspiration for There Near: a Mesa/Boogie Mark I amp, similar to the one Mascis used for the Dinosaur album 41 years earlier. Mascis purchased the more recent one secondhand, learning that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame had once utilized it for bands onstage. It had hemp cone speakers, and he plugged it into a Marshall cabinet he miked for the recording. “It was an interesting, clean sound that I hadn’t gotten again—this thicker-than-a-Fender sound,” he says. In 1985, he “didn’t know anything about amps,” he adds. “I had a Yamaha solid-state amp, because I saw Bob Mould had one. I thought, ‘How bad could it be?’ But my friend, the good guitarist in town, told me how terrible it sounded. I just used the amp they had at the studio”—the Mesa/Boogie Mark I.
The band’s core—Mascis; bassist Lou Barlow, who would go on to front acclaimed indie-rock band Sebadoh; and drummer Emmett Murphy, known as Murph—has been together off and on since 1984, following the breakup of Mascis’ and Barlow’s hardcore band, Deep Wound. The new trio developed a distorted, sludgy sound that would resonate amid the ’90s alt-rock and grunge explosion.
The group put out Dinosaur on an indie label, Homestead, which employed a young Boston punk-zine publisher and show promoter named Gerard Cosloy. He had briefly managed Deep Wound and, after joining Homestead—also home to hardcore heroes Big Black and Naked Raygun—offered to release a record by Mascis’ new band. “Back then, the Minutemen were a band we liked, and they said, ‘You need an album. That’s like a flier for the gigs. It’s better to have an album than a tape if you want to get gigs,’” Mascis recalls. “It seemed more legitimate or something.”
After the first album gave Dinosaur Jr. a reputation as noise-rock innovators—their concerts reinforced this perception by cranking up the volume beyond healthy human-hearing capacity—the band shifted to a new label. Mascis had always admired SST Records, which had signed Black Flag, Hüsker Dü, Sonic Youth, and the Minutemen, so he left Homestead to go there. “That kind of ruined my relationship with Gerard,” Mascis recalls. “He kind of got pissed off and jumped ship. But I had to follow my dreams.”
In 1990, Cosloy went on to join Matador Records, which released landmark indie-rock albums by artists like Pavement, Guided By Voices, and Liz Phair. Did Mascis ever reconcile with him? “Yes and no,” he says. “I mean, we’re not great. We never were as good of friends after that. But we definitely hung out a little bit.”
Mascis’ early professional bridge-burning had little impact on Dinosaur Jr.’s career. The band’s first SST album, 1987’s You’re Living All Over Me, was simultaneously more focused, song-wise, and more insanely packed with innovative guitar leads. The guitar-rock masterpiece was one of many crucial albums that soon revolutionized MTV and radio while helping the band become a touchstone for the Lollapalooza generation. (Dinosaur Jr. was on the storied festival’s 1993 bill with Alice In Chains, Rage Against the Machine, and others.)
“As I get older, my attention span gets less and less. I can’t play guitar for eight hours straight in the studio like the old days.”
The original Dinosaur Jr. lineup, though, was fraying. Mascis and Barlow were silently feuding. Mascis maintained tight control, writing almost every song, but Barlow was evolving into the band’s George Harrison, and he needed an outlet of his own. In 1987, Barlow released a four-track cassette of home recordings under the name Sentridoh, with his friend Eric Gaffney contributing percussion; that project helped lay the groundwork for Sebadoh and the lo-fi aesthetic at the core of the band’s music. Tensions within Dinosaur Jr. continued to grow: As the story goes, Mascis informed Barlow he was disbanding the lineup, but he put a new version together instead, initially with a rotating cast of bassists.
Both entities kept moving forward: Dinosaur Jr. signed with a major record label, Sire, and released their Mascis-produced 1991 album, Green Mind; Sebadoh was prolific, peaking with 1994's electrifying Bakesale, and Barlow formed several other projects and collaborations, including the Folk Implosion, best known for the 1995 Kids soundtrack hit, “Natural One.”
Mascis and Barlow continued on their separate trajectories until 2005: Indie label Merge Records reissued their early albums, and they reunited for a tour, which led to a 2007 record, Beyond, with the original lineup.
How has the Dinosaur Jr. dynamic between Mascis, Barlow, and Murphy changed over the years? Mascis pauses for a long time before responding: “Um. It’s hard to remember. At some point, it seemed like Murph and Lou flipped. When we first started, Murph wasn’t sure he wanted to do it all the time, sometimes. He’d quit for a week, but me and Lou were super-dedicated to the band.
“When we got back to the band, it seemed like they had switched the roles. Murph was way more into it than Lou,” Mascis continues. “Other than that, it seems similar. I’d write the drum parts and Murph learns them. Or, for Lou songs, me and Murph would both drum—just try to write some drum parts, because Lou doesn’t think of drums.”
The band created There Near in bursts over the course of a year at Bisquiteen Studio, in Amherst. That’s a function of age, says the 60-year-old Mascis: “As I get older, my attention span gets less and less. I can’t play guitar for eight hours straight in the studio like the old days. Now we just figured—[don’t] push it at all. Record for an hour and a half, four days a week. At that schedule, it takes a while.”
The approach, Mascis says, tightened the album and made it easier to focus on a unifying sound. There Near follows Dinosaur Jr.’s nearly 40-year formula—moaned and mumbled Mascis lyrics set to a stomping rhythm, which is especially pronounced on the faster songs like “Several Got Away” and “Gone Off,” but slower tracks such as “Walk Me Back” open up to sharp torrents of shredding as well. “It’s good for quality control because you have time to weed out what you don’t like and see if you still like the thing four months later,” he says.
The two songs that deviate from this style are the Barlow-written “Blowin’ Up” and “No One’s Ready,” which have a softer, more melodic feel, with more space to accentuate the pointed lyrics: “You’re about as dumb as they come / and telling stupid stories every day,” he begins on “Blowin’ Up.” Mascis cedes control on Barlow’s compositions, playing guitar and bass as needed. “I just step back a bit and see what he wants me to do on the song,” he says.
“Back then, the Minutemen were a band we liked, and they said, ‘You need an album. That’s like a flier for the gigs.’”
In the early days, Dinosaur Jr. put out a new album every two or three years; more recently, in part due to the band members’ solo projects, the gap has expanded to four or five years. But there’s no strategy for the timing of There Near, according to Mascis: “We just kind of do ’em. There’s no rhyme or reason. It just feels like time to do a new album. You’ve played all these places already, so it feels like you need a new album so you can play all the same places again. I guess that’s the logic in our head. That’s how we grew up.”
During the mixing process, Mascis adds, he wrote a couple of other songs “that were on the back burner,” and recorded them in the studio living room. Eventually, Dinosaur Jr. will release a seven-inch single as an addendum—but Mascis refuses to divulge any information about these additions. “Like what? What do you say about a song?” he asks. “Songs that didn’t quite make it. The one song sounded a lot like all the other songs. There were three that were vying for the last slot on the album, and one was just slower. It seemed to be good to have a slower song.”
At one point during the half-hour interview, Mascis refers to a Fender Super Champ as his “favorite around-the-house amp,” which he uses to “just watch TV and play the guitar and hope for the best.” He adds: “It sounds really good at a low volume.”
It’s one of many public references Mascis has made over the years to his lifelong passion for watching television; in 1997, he informed this reporter, for a Billboard story, of his obsession with MTV’s The Real World. The streaming-and-bingeing era hasn’t changed his habits much—including one specific and unexpected technical characteristic of his TV time. “I still watch it on my computer. I like the computer because it’s 15 inches—and that’s the size of the TV I had when I was a kid in our kitchen,” he says. “It was an odd size back then, but somehow I’m always drawn to 15-inch screens.”
All this talk of TV leads Mascis to an even more passionate subject: guitars. He brings up his Gibson Les Paul Junior in TV Yellow, which, he says, “supposedly looks white on TV, because white guitars would get blown out. You wanted the look of a white guitar on TV, you get the TV model.”
Did Mascis ever play the “TV Model Junior,” as he calls it, on TV? Dumb question, as it turns out. “Well, it’s black-and-white TV,” he says with a small smile. “So I don’t know if that would work now.”
J Mascis’ Gear
Guitars
- 1959 Fender Jazzmaster (leads)
- Gibson Les Paul Junior, TV Yellow (rhythm)
- Rickenbacker 620-12 12-string
Amps
- Mesa/Boogie Mark I
- Marshall JCM800 Model 4104, 50-watt 2x12 vertical-input combo
- (All amps miked through a Marshall cabinet)
Pedals
- Tone Bender MkI-circuit fuzz (“I’ll use that as a base and then add other fuzzes to it.”)
MXR Flanger/Doubler Review
Some pieces of gear become legendary because everyone used them. Others become legendary because one person used them, relentlessly, until the sound became inseparable from the player. The original MXR Flanger/Doubler—the M-126 rack unit, a fixture of studios and touring rigs throughout the ’70s and ’80s—belongs mostly to the second category. Yes, it swept through countless studio sessions in its heyday, doing the jet-engine swoosh work flangers are built for.
But its most famous devotee wasn’t chasing psychedelic swirl. Dimebag Darrell, who used the M-126 as a staple of his live rig, utilized its doubler function as an always-on thickener that let his single guitar occupy the space a fleet of overdubs would otherwise fill up. That’s a strange kind of legacy for a rack unit: famous not for a given solo, but for making one guitar sound like more than one guitar, subtly of all things, in the background of some of metal’s most iconic tracks.
Of course, Dimebag’s stealth-thickener case is only one half the story this mono circuit tells. Dial the flanger mode toward more classic, chorus-style settings, and you’re squarely in the territory that defined an entirely different corner of ’80s guitar: the shimmering, liquid clean tones of Andy Summers’ work with the Police, Adrian Belew’s otherworldly textures with Bowie and King Crimson, Eddie Van Halen’s more atmospheric flourishes (think “In A Simple Rhyme”), and the deep, gothic swirl Robert Smith built entire Cure records around.
It’s a testament to the original circuit’s range that it served both the gated-guitar bombast of Pantera and the shimmering clean-tone architecture of “Walking on the Moon.” And this pedal captures that split personality faithfully.
Two Voices, One Bucket-Brigade Heart
The new Flanger/Doubler is unambiguously analog, built around genuine bucket-brigade devices rather than a digital approximation. A dedicated doubler button toggles between the pedal’s two personalities. Flanger mode delivers that sweeping, metallic, jet-engine swoosh, all shimmering comb-filter movement and swirl. Doubler mode does something subtler and, frankly, more useful for many working guitarists. It splits your signal, delays one copy just slightly, and recombines it with the dry signal to create the illusion that you tracked the part twice. There’s no pitch drift (as long as the width control is set to zero,) no irregular pick attack like you might encounter in an actual double-tracked take—just an instant, single-pass thickening that can turn a thin single-coil strum into something that sounds like it’s already been mixed.
Once you’ve picked your mode, the real sculpting happens across five very interactive controls. Manual sets your base delay time—essentially, where in the frequency spectrum the effect’s comb-filtering sweet spot sits. It works hand-in-glove with width, which determines how far that sweep travels from the manual-set center point. Speed, unsurprisingly, governs how fast that sweep oscillates back and forth, ranging from a glacial .03 Hz crawl all the way up to a frantic 18.5 Hz flutter that starts to resemble ring modulation.
“There’s no pitch drift, no irregular pick attack like you might encounter in an actual double-tracked take—just an instant, single-pass thickening that can turn a thin single-coil strum into something that sounds like it’s already been mixed.”
The Regen Generation
Regen is where the personality really lives. It’s a feedback knob, feeding a portion of the delayed signal back into itself. Pushing it from 0 toward 100 percent takes you from a smooth, mellow coloration to aggressive, metallic resonance. And then there’s invert. Flip it, and the wet signal’s polarity reverses entirely, which sounds like a spec-sheet footnote until you actually hear it. Suddenly your settings range from open and vocal to mid-heavy and filtered using the same control settings you had before you flipped polarity. It’s a clever way to expand the pedal’s usable palette without adding a single additional knob.
A mix knob blends wet and dry to taste, and MXR was smart enough to include two LEDs that visually track delay time—a small, thoughtful touch for anyone who’s ever tried to dial in a flanger sweep onstage while a screaming PA drowns you out. CV in and out jacks let the Flanger/Doubler talk to modular synths, sequencers, and CV-enabled expression pedals. And a line-level switch keeps it well-behaved when you feed it hotter studio-level signals rather than a guitar’s comparatively polite output.
The Verdict
At $333 street, the MXR Flanger/Doubler is priced somewhere between boutique premium and mass-market affordability. That said, it’s not strictly a “character” pedal that’s useful for just an occasional outré moment. Just as it did with the late, great Dimebag, it has the potential to become the very heart of your tone, and the pairing of the doubler and a tight gate is pure magic for riffs. If you’ve spent years chasing a “how did they get that thickness?” tone on a favorite record, there’s a significant chance that this box can provide an answer.
MXR Flanger/Doubler
D'Addario Introduces Artist+ Carbon Capo and Updated Artist Capo
Adding to the company’s broad range of guitar accessories, D’Addario has introduced a pair of new capo models: the new Artist+ Carbon Capo, featuring the company’s first-ever carbon fiber design, and an updated black Artist Capo.
Both capos feature D’Addario’s patented FlexFit Technology, which automatically adapts to different fretboard radii and string gauges, distributing pressure evenly across every string and fret. The net result? Improved tuning stability.
Together, the two capos are designed to give guitar players more control and fast, one-handed operation. Both capos feature an adjustable spring tension micrometer, which allows players to achieve the exact pressure they need for clean, buzz-free fretting without pulling the strings out of tune. And both capos include a built-in pick holder that keeps a spare pick conveniently within reach.
Assembled in the USA, the new Artist+ Carbon Capo pairs these features with ultra-lightweight carbon fiber construction, delivering pro-grade strength without adding unnecessary weight and bulk to the neck of the guitar. The updated Artist Capo brings the same FlexFit performance to its original design, so players have two distinct options built around the same proprietary tech.
Key features include:
- Adjustable Spring Tension Micrometer: Allows players to achieve the ideal, specific pressure they need for clean fretting and better tuning stability.
- Patented FlexFit Technology: Automatically adapts to fretboard radii and string gauges, distributing even pressure across every string.
- One-Handed Operation: Makes capo placement and position changes fast and easy.
- Built-In Pick Holder: Keeps a spare pick conveniently within reach.
- Ultra-Lightweight Carbon Fiber Construction (Artist+): Combines durability with minimal weight.
- USA Assembly (Artist+): Assembled in the U.S. for long-lasting quality.
D’Addario’s Artist+ Carbon Capo is available at a street price of $29.99. The updated Artist Capo carries a street price of $25.99. For more information visit Daddario.com.
Artist+ Carbon Capo
Adding to the company’s broad range of guitar accessories, D’Addario has introduced a pair of new capo models: the new Artist+ Carbon Capo, featuring the company’s first-ever carbon fiber design, and an updated black Artist Capo.
Rig Rundown: Chelsea Wolfe
PG’s Chris Kies caught up with Chelsea Wolfe and her longtime collaborator Ben Chisholm at Marathon Music Works in Nashville, where they were playing in support of Wolfe’s new record, The Dark. Have a look at some quick highlights below, and tune into the new Rig Rundown for all the details.
Brought to you by D’Addario.
Hollow Victory
Wolfe was given this Gretsch Broadkaster years back and keeps coming back to it—she’s drifted further into hollowbodies over time, which she says is a shame given how much she likes her solidbodies. She likes the resonant feedback and the low end, and feels a bigger guitar suits her frame. Managing that feedback is a nightly adjustment depending on the room.
Cold Comfort
The ES-335 has long been seen as Wolfe’s signature electric, and it’s still on the road, though at the moment it comes out for one song—“Cold.” She figures every tour ends up with one guitar you play the most, and this time it isn’t this one.
Dolly’s Pickguard
Her Taylor 416ce sports a custom pickguard inspired by a photo of Dolly Parton with a similar one. Taylor gave her this one and sent it to a maker in Nashville to have the pickguard made. People point out she rarely uses a pick on the acoustic. She thinks it looks beautiful anyway.
Grayscale
Wolfe’s amp is a Fender Bassbreaker combo, which she believes is discontinued. She likes how it takes pedals, and she likes the look: slightly vintage but in grayscale rather than the usual tan. She has the head and cab as well, but it’s the combo on this tour.
Chelsea Wolfe’s Pedalboard
The top row of Chelsea’s board stays on all night: a JHS NOTAKLÖN for general gain, an EarthQuaker ZEQD-Pre she landed on after a long search for the right preamp, a UAFX 1176 compressor, and an EQD Dispatch Master. The heavier end runs a JHS Hard Drive for most of the newer material, an EQD Acapulco Gold that’s been on her board since the Hiss Spun era, and a Death by Audio Apocalypse. A Korg tuner and a Dunlop volume pedal round it out.
Her Happy Place
The left half of the floor is all vocals. Wolfe’s father gave her pedals as a kid and she ran her voice through them with an adapter she rigged for the mic cable, which is where all this started. A Radial Voco-Loco gets the mic into the chain, feeding a DigiTech DigiDelay and a Boss RV-6 she calls her ride or dies, an EQD Afterneath, a JHS Octave Reverb, and a Boss RC-20XL. Not seen here: the Third Man Troika, a Jack White and JHS design built for singers—the one piece of gear she admits to impulse-buying.
Florida Man Special
Chisholm found this Peavey T-40 on Reverb, sold by Drew Storcks of Shy, Low, already fitted with an Electrical Guitar Company aluminum neck by someone he’s never identified. He’d wanted a T-40 since seeing one at a session with the Armed, and wanted an aluminum neck for the sustain. It’s brighter and meaner than anything else he’s played, enough that he had to calm down his existing tones to accommodate it.
The B Team
The Nash bass was his main for years and he used it a lot on the new album, before the Peavey turned up. It’s the backup now, and picking it up after the T-40 is a shock—mostly because of how light it is.
Quad Squad
Chisholm abandoned a full pedalboard mid-rehearsal once a Neural DSP Quad Cortex arrived. It’s running Ampeg models, fuzz, overdrive, compression, and chorus, plus the modulated-delay patch behind the whale noises he makes between songs. A clean channel runs parallel at 50 percent, so the low end survives the worst of the fuzz. A Dunlop Volume (X) 8, Korg tuner, and Walrus Audio supply round things out.
Two Fifteens
A Quilter Bass Block 802 powers the rig, with its EQ bypassed entirely — he’s using the effects return and letting the Quad Cortex do the amp work. The cab is a Tyrant 2x15 he got from Sean at Tyrant years ago, after deciding an 8x10 wasn’t delivering the sub frequencies he wanted.
Elan Audio Lab Introduces the SoundBakery Reactive Load Box, Attenuator and DI
Elan Audio Lab has released the SoundBakery, a passive analog reactive attenuator, load box, and DI designed to let players run tube amps at high output while controlling speaker volume. Handmade in the USA, SoundBakery builds on the design legacy of MetalHead Electronics.
SoundBakery uses a reactive load designed to mimic a speaker cabinet’s changing impedance. Its attenuation knob adjusts speaker output from approximately 25 percent of full level down to silence. A dedicated Attenuator Bypass switch connects the amplifier directly to the speaker cabinet for full, unattenuated output. The balanced XLR and 1/4-inch line outputs remain connected even in bypass mode.
With the reactive load engaged, SoundBakery operates without a speaker cabinet for silent recording, direct-to-PA use, and in-ear monitoring. The line outputs can also feed another amplifier. They carry the amp’s signal without cabinet simulation or EQ, allowing players to add impulse responses or cabinet simulation in their recording software. One level control adjusts both line outputs.
SoundBakery requires no batteries or power supply.
Features:
- Reactive load for tube amplifiers up to 100 watts
- Three dedicated 4-, 8-, and 16-ohm amplifier inputs
- Speaker attenuation knob
- Dedicated Attenuator Bypass switch
- One 1/4-inch speaker output
- Balanced XLR and unbalanced 1/4-inch line outputs
- Shared line-out level control
- Silent load-box operation
- Aluminum chassis, approximately 4 lb.
- Dimensions: 5.9 x 7.9 x 2.75 inches (150 x 200 x 70 mm)
SoundBakery is available directly from Elan Audio Lab for $479. For more information, visit elanaudiolab.com.
SoundBakery
Elan Audio Lab has released the SoundBakery, a passive analog reactive attenuator, load box and DI designed to let players run tube amps at high output while controlling speaker volume. Handmade in the USA, SoundBakery builds on the design legacy of MetalHead Electronics.
Boss Announces Katana-25 Guitar Amplifier
Boss has introduced the Katana-25, the latest addition to the company’s popular amplifier lineup for guitar and bass. Offering the Katana sound in a compact 25-watt amp for home playing, Katana-25 is designed for new and returning guitarists. It offers six unique amp characters and over 60 onboard Boss effects provide studio-grade sounds, while onboard Bluetooth and the companion Boss Tone Studio app enhance daily sessions with support for song streaming, effects editing, playing with YouTube videos, and downloading new sounds on Boss Tone Exchange.
The new Katana-25 expands on a well-established legacy. Introduced in 2016, the Katana series has become a go-to solution for guitarists with its responsive feel and versatile features. The new Katana-25 brings this technology to guitarists who want to explore different styles in practice and home use.
Key to the Katana series is the Boss Tube Logic design philosophy, which delivers the authentic tube sound and feel. Like classic tube designs, Katana-25’s 8” speaker, open-back configuration and 25-watt reactive analog power section work in harmony to create a highly interactive playing experience with solid bass, high-end detail, and punchy dynamic response.
Katana-25 encourages experimentation and creativity without requiring additional gear. Six unique amp characters allow players to take on any musical genre with authority, from pop, blues, and country to classic rock and high-gain metal. One amp character is tuned for acoustic-electric instruments, further increasing the amp’s versatility. Users also get access to over 60 effects from the historic Boss library (up to 5 simultaneously), with detailed sound editing available in Boss Tone Studio.
The Katana-25 panel allows users to save/recall Tone Setting memories and tweak basic preamp and effect parameters without opening the app. The amp includes 20 ready-to-play presets with dialed-in pro sounds, plus 10 empty slots for storing custom setups. There’s also a tap tempo button for delay effects and a convenient built-in tuner, an essential tool for every guitarist.
Inspired by stage-class Katana models, Katana-25 features a Power Control to achieve expressive, cranked-amp tone at modest volumes. With the flip of a switch, users can toggle between full power punch and a half-watt mode that produces bedroom-friendly levels without sacrificing sound quality or feel.
Katana-25 is equipped with onboard Bluetooth connectivity for audio streaming and communication with Boss Tone Studio. Players can connect a mobile device and jam along to songs from their device’s library, use the app to edit tones in detail, explore additional sounds on Boss Tone Exchange, and more.
Boss Tone Studio includes a powerful Session feature that lets users browse and play YouTube content in the app and set up points on a song’s timeline to trigger automatic memory changes while playing. Several hardware options are also available for controlling sounds in real time, including an FS-series wired footswitch, the FS-1-WL Wireless Footswitch, or the EV-1-WL Wireless Expression Pedal.
With its user-friendly interface, versatile tones, and integrated practice tools, Katana-25 is an easy choice for players looking to explore their sound, as well as anyone shopping for a gift on their behalf.
The Katana-25 is available at a street price of $199.99. For more information visit www.boss.info.
Epiphone Unveils Redesigned Prophecy High-Performance Series
Epiphone has introduced a redesigned Prophecy Series, its line of performance-oriented electric guitars. The series includes five sleek-looking models: the Prophecy Les Paul, Les Paul Baritone, SG, Victory FR, and Flying V. The new models feature Hyperglide necks, stainless steel frets, and custom-voiced Fishman Fluence pickups, and each comes with a Protector Ultralite case.
The Prophecy’s stealth-style visual aesthetic is a tip-off to an expansive feature set designed to enhance playability and performance. Every Prophecy guitar has a thermally aged one-piece maple neck with graphite reinforcement and a Hyperglide profile. The neck carries a bound ebony fretboard with a 10"–14" compound radius and 24 stainless steel frets. The models use extended scale lengths meant to keep lower tunings tight and defined, and each has its own hardware and ergonomic changes. Locking Grover tuners come on every model. All five have black nickel hardware and satin finishes.
Each of the new models has a pair of Fishman Fluence pickups voiced specifically for the series. They offer three voices: a high-output modern active humbucker, a vintage PAF-style humbucker, and a single-coil-style sound. The switching gives players quick access to all three. The pickups are mounted using DAPS (Dual-Axis Pickup Stabilization), Epiphone’s own body-anchored mounting system. DAPS keeps the pickups aligned and parallel to the strings while still allowing height adjustment. Stabilization wings and precision-machined pockets hold string-to-magnet spacing steady. The system also does away with conventional pickup rings.
“The Prophecy Series is built for players who expect more from their instruments,” said Aljon Go, Epiphone’s product development manager. “By pairing our iconic designs with modern performance features like custom-voiced Fishman Fluence pickups, Hyperglide necks, and stainless-steel frets, we’ve built a lineup that’s fast, versatile, reliable, and built for today’s players. Every detail was engineered to help musicians focus less on their gear and more on their performance.”
“Heavy music comes in more than one shape, and the players pushing it forward aren’t coming from just one scene,” said Lewis McKinney III, Epiphone’s marketing manager. “The rebuilt Prophecy Series gives guitarists across metal, hardcore, and beyond an instrument they can count on gig after gig, with the range to turn the sound in their heads into something you can feel in the room.”
The Prophecy models are available for a street price of $1,499 each and come with a Protector Ultralite case. Here are key details for each model.
- Prophecy Victory FR: Victory body shape in mahogany with a flamed maple veneer, a 25.5" scale, and an Explorer-style headstock. Hardware is a Floyd Rose 1000 Series locking tremolo, a Floyd Rose R3 locking nut, and locking Grover Mini Rotomatic tuners. Finishes are Obsidian Storm Satin and Aqua Smoke Satin.
- Prophecy Les Paul Baritone: 27" scale, strung at the factory with .012–.060 strings for baritone tunings such as B to B. It has an Ultra Modern weight-relieved mahogany body with a maple top and flamed maple veneer. A Modern Contoured Heel and rear belly carve make the upper frets easier to reach and the guitar more comfortable to hold. The tailpiece is a through-body design inspired by the Frequensator, meant to balance string tension and help with low-end definition and sustain. The only finish is Obsidian Storm Satin.
- Prophecy Les Paul: Ultra Modern weight-relieved mahogany body with a maple cap, flamed maple veneer, rear belly carve, and Modern Contoured Heel. Its 25.5" scale adds tension for drop tunings. Hardware is a LockTone Modern bridge and a through-body, Frequensator-inspired tailpiece. Finishes are Obsidian Storm Satin, Forest Phantom Satin, and Crimson Fog Satin.
- Prophecy SG: Mahogany SG Modern body with a maple cap, flamed maple veneer, and a 25.5" scale. It shares the series’ Hyperglide neck, compound-radius ebony fretboard, and 24 stainless steel frets. Finishes are Obsidian Storm Satin and Crimson Fog Satin.
- Prophecy Flying V: Flamed maple veneer, multi-ply binding, and a 25.5" scale. It has a bound ebony fretboard, locking Grover Rotomatic tuners, a Graph Tech nut, a LockTone Modern bridge, and a through-body tailpiece. Finishes are Obsidian Storm Satin and Orchid Bloom Satin.
Prophecy Series
Epiphone has introduced a redesigned Prophecy Series, its line of performance-oriented electric guitars. The series includes five sleek-looking models: the Prophecy Les Paul, Les Paul Baritone, SG, Victory FR and Flying V. The new models feature Hyperglide necks, stainless steel frets, and custom-voiced Fishman Fluence pickups, and each comes with a Protector Ultralite case.
Recording Dojo: What Is Phantom Power?
There’s a little button on nearly every modern mixing console marked +48V. On a live sound desk, it may be tucked into the channel settings; on a small recording interface, it might be the only button besides gain and monitor controls. This is phantom power: a clever way to run a microphone’s electronics without a separate power cable. Its name may sound mysterious, but its engineering is beautifully practical.
Life Before +48V
Remember, there are many different types of microphones. But by far the three most common are ribbon, dynamic, and condenser. It is the latter of these that really drove the development of phantom power. As transistorized microphones arrived in the 1960s, designers found they could supply power over ordinary balanced microphone wiring. From there, through a process of simple evolution, the various designs and voltage schemes gradually coalesced into the +48V standard we know today.
Put simply, condenser microphones require electrical power. Their capsules and internal electronics cannot just be plugged into a passive input and expected to work. Early condenser designs, which often used vacuum tubes, required an external power supply. This meant—and still means—connecting a specialized cable from the mic to the power supply, then running a standard XLR cable from the power supply to the equipment receiving the signal. This is still the case today with both vintage and modern professional large-diaphragm condenser mics, such as the U47, 251, or C12.
That said, certain modern active ribbon microphones, as well as some dynamic microphones with built-in electronics, also need external power, so each microphone’s manual is the final authority.
Caution: Passive ribbon mics deserve special care. A properly wired connection should not put DC across the ribbon, but faulty cables, mis-wired adapters, or making connection changes while phantom power is already on can remove that protection. Hence the old safety-first guideline: Never use +48V with a passive ribbon mic, and leave phantom power off whenever the microphone does not require it. Active ribbon mics, on the other hand, are designed to use phantom power.
What is +48V?
In short, it’s 48 volts of direct current. The + describes the positive DC voltage applied to both audio conductors—pins 2 and 3 of a conventional three-pin XLR connection, with pin 1 serving as the ground and completing the electrical circuit. Interestingly, the audio signal effectively ignores this voltage, allowing +48V and the audio signal to share the same cable. It does not mean that the audio signal itself is 48 volts, and it has nothing to do with a mic’s output level or the gain setting on a preamp. The power is there on the cable, but because the same voltage is applied to both audio conductors, it is effectively invisible to the differential audio signal. Hence the term “phantom” power.
“Never use +48V with a passive ribbon mic, and leave phantom power off whenever the microphone does not require it.”
Where the Power Comes From
In a live PA, the mixing console or stage box commonly sends phantom power to condenser microphones onstage. In a studio, the recording console or microphone preamp does the same. In a desktop setup, an audio interface with a phantom-capable XLR mic input usually supplies it.
Keep in mind that controls vary by device. One console may offer a separate +48V switch for every channel, while another may switch a group of inputs together. On an interface, a single button may cover multiple mic inputs. Know which inputs the control affects before turning it on, especially in a setup that mixes condensers, passive ribbons, and other equipment.
Best Practice
When connecting mics, make sure your monitors and headphone levels are completely down and/or muted. This helps avoid loud pops that can damage your speakers and your ears. Bring each channel’s gain all the way down, and connect all mics before switching phantom power on or off.
If a condenser is silent, +48V is one of the first things to check. If an unfamiliar ribbon, adapter, or vintage microphone is on the stand, identify its power requirements before pressing the button.
Phantom power made the condenser microphone easier to use just about everywhere: on a vocal in a bedroom, above a drum kit, at a broadcast desk, or across a stage full of microphones.
Until next time, namaste.
50 Synth Sounds and 70+ Instruments Without a MIDI Pickup | Melofty Axom Max
Melofty is a new name for most guitar players, and the Axom Max is a big first statement. The company calls it a hybrid audio processor, which in practice means an amp modeler, effects unit, guitar synth and audio interface sharing one floorboard.
Axom Max
MELOFTY Axom Max is a Hybrid Audio Processor that combines amp modeling, synthesis, instrument modeling, AI-powered tone generation, and professional recording capabilities in a single platform, bringing together a broad range of tools for tone shaping, sound exploration, and music production.
Axom Max features MELOFTY’s proprietary MFIM (Multidimensional Fusion Inverse Modeling) technology, which precisely analyzes the sonic characteristics and dynamic responses of classic amplification and audio equipment to achieve highly realistic and flexible digital tone reconstruction. Its DeepSynth technology requires no MIDI pickup, providing more than 50 electronic synthesizer tones and 70+ instrument models inspired by instruments from both Eastern and Western musical traditions. This allows guitarists to move beyond conventional guitar sounds and explore a broader range of musical expression.
The Axom Max includes 880+ professional tone resources and supports expansion through the NAM A2 open tone ecosystem. It also features an 8-in/8-out professional audio interface, a 60-minute looper, and a 7-inch high-definition color touchscreen. Its intuitive graphical interface allows users to quickly edit tones, manage signal chains, and configure performance settings, making complex audio processing functions easy to control.
Tom and Roman Morello: Fully Equipped
Tom Morello didn’t want Everyone Gets Everything They Want to feel the least bit nostalgic, and it doesn’t. Rather, it’s a contemporary, wide-ranging rock record that mixes heavy riffs, electronic elements, and modern production with stripped-down acoustic and piano songs. Not to mention the fact that several solos are played by a 15-year-old. Even so, much of the gear behind it is made up of old friends. When we asked about the guitars, amps, and pedals he used, he was, unsurprisingly, thorough and exact, even stopping to pull up the track list on his laptop so he could go through the album song by song. “Let me be professional about this,” he said with a laugh.
What were your main guitars on the new record?
Tom Morello: It was recorded over a stretch of time, so it’s a little hard to remember track by track. One was my new SG, which I also played a lot at the recent Power to the People show. It’s got a brutally heavy sound that I really enjoy. I used my “Arm the Homeless” guitar a lot too, both the original and one of the Fender ones. And there’s my first guitar, the $50 Kay I got in 1978 or so, which was refurbished maybe 15 years ago. It plays an intro on the record.
Roman plays a lot on the record too. His main drop-D guitar is the “Atlas Underground” Tele, which is basically a stock Tele I used on the Atlas Underground tour. For the songs in E, he plays the Fender Soul Power model.
What do you like about that Tele, Roman?
Roman Morello: It has a very specific tone when you play it with the bridge pickup, and it’s very easy to play.
And the Soul Power Strat?
Roman: It has a Floyd Rose, and the action is lower on the top strings, so it’s easier to play up high and fast. That made it easier to play “Everyone Gets Everything They Want” on it. It also stays in tune more easily, which is a big help.
You also used an Ibanez miKro, a short-scale model, on the record. What do you like about that one?
Roman: I have a lot of reps on that guitar, so it feels kind of close to home. It’s smaller, so you have more reach, and you can do solos better. It’s also a very good travel investment. It was given to me by my grandma, so it’ll always have a special place in my heart.
Getting back to the SG, is it anything special? A Custom Shop model?
Tom: No, it was a gift. I got it backstage on the Rage Against the Machine tour in 2022. The Gibson rep came backstage holding a Les Paul in one hand and an SG in the other, and I said, “That one’s lighter—I’ll take it!” It has a fantastic, Sabbath-y, brutal low end.
I’ve also seen you recently with an “Arm the Homeless” model in a black finish. Is that a Fender too?
Tom: Yeah, it’s a Fender, but it’s not for sale. We had a black one made for me and a pink one for Roman. The black one is my drop-D guitar, which helps me keep them straight, and we used it on “Adjourn It” on the new record. The regular blue one, the one that’s for sale everywhere, that one I use interchangeably with the original.
What amps are you running on the record?
Tom: I’m a creature of habit, so there’s nothing new. It’s my Marshall 50-watt channel-switching 2205 head with a few different cabinets: the regular Peavey 4x12, a stock Marshall 4x12, and a white 4x12. For the Back to the Beginning show [Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne’s farewell concert in July 2025, for which Morello was musical director] we recreated the “Mr. Crowley” video, and we found a white 4x12 like the one Randy Rhoads uses in that video. It’s up in my studio now, and Roman plays through it.
Roman, what do you like about the 2205?
Roman: It’s very versatile. You can be clean with it, or you can go distorted. And the one up in the studio is one of my favorite tones of all time. I can’t think of many that are better.
And pedals?
Tom: The record starts with “Beth From Electronics,” which is the Fender “Arm the Homeless” through the POG pedal. That wasn’t a written song. I just clicked the POG on and started playing a riff, and it’s about 40 seconds long. Afterward I asked the engineer, “Did you record that?” He said yeah, and I said, “We’re gonna start the record with it.” The POG sounds like two or three Black Sabbaths playing at the same time.
“It’s making heavy music in a way I haven’t made it before, while using the things I do best.”
On “Everyone Gets Everything They Want,” Roman plays the solo. He’s an Angus Young, plug-straight-in kind of guy. That song’s in E, so it’s the Soul Power guitar through the Marshall. My part is pretty straightforward, just some Jimmy Page-style guitar doubling.
On “Adjourn It,” the POG is all over the riffs again. My solo uses the toggle switch and the wah pedal. The outro solo starts with the Whammy set to an octave down and then pressed forward.
We recorded “Soldier in the Army of Love” a while ago, and it’s straight-into-the-amp riffing. Roman plays the solo on that one too, plugged straight in. On “Everything Burns,” I went back to the POG for the heaviness on several riffs. “Pretend You Remember Me” is the DigiTech Whammy, as always.
“Untethered,” that one’s played on the Tele, the “Harlem Hellfighters” guitar, through a Fender Twin and then doubled. Sam [Nelson Harris] from X Ambassadors produced it, and I was over at his house without any of my own amps. I asked him, “What do you got?” I like that it came across with a different kind of heaviness.
What are you playing on the acoustic songs?
Tom: “They Can’t Kill Us All” is my Gibson steel-string, the “Black Spartacus.” “The Last Rung on the Ladder” is my “Whatever It Takes” nylon-string.
What’s it like working with Roman?
Tom: His riffs definitely have my DNA, those heavy pentatonic riffs, but they come through a young artist’s mind. It’s not my mind, so I’m constantly surprised by them. The first surprising thing is being in a band with a little kid who happens to be your son. The second surprising thing is when that becomes completely normal. You’re just used to that guy being in the band, and you love some of his riffs, and you put them in your songs.
And how was it working with your dad?
Roman: It’s very fun, obviously, because I like the guy! But he’s also a very, very talented musician and producer, and he has great ideas, so that’s fun as well.
What did you try to bring to your guitar parts?
Roman: Mostly the riff writing. I tried to bring a classic Tom Morello feel, but with a Roman Morello twist. My dad always says it’s weird, because I write riffs that give off the same vibe as his, but they’re something he would never think to write. And some of his riffs are something I would never think to write. We have it in our DNA, I guess, but the way we put it down into a riff is different.
How would you describe Roman as a player?
Tom: At this point he’s a much more technical player than I am. He’s already put in his 10,000 or 15,000 hours. I remember when I was in the middle of learning all the Randy Rhoads solos and the David Gilmour solos, and he’s right in the middle of that now. People ask me, “Does that make you want to practice more?” I say, “No, I’m just gonna let him do that.” I’m going to curate and counsel and borrow, and try to put each of us in a position to succeed.
Do you have a favorite song on the record, Roman?
Roman: I’ll go with one of the classics, “Soldier in the Army of Love.” It was the first song we wrote together. It has a killer riff, it has some singing that will blow you away, and it has my guitar solo in it. It really has everything. Other than that, probably the title track. It has a killer riff as well, and another one of my solos.
Tom, how did you keep a riff-heavy record from sounding like the old days?
Tom: I didn’t want it to feel like I was retreading anything. What this record has in common with the first Rage record and the first Audioslave record is that it feels like being on the edge of discovery. It’s making heavy music in a way I haven’t made it before, while using the things I do best. A lot of that is thanks to the producers. Tyler Smyth and Zakk Cervini have long histories of making more modern heavy music, and Carl Restivo is my longtime musical consigliere. It couldn’t sound like what I’ve sounded like before, four guys in a room. These songs are very much rebellion as self-care, and finding a way to make that come through a Marshall half-stack was the goal.
Tom Morello’s Gear
Guitars
- Gibson SG
- Original “Arm the Homeless” custom
- Fender “Arm the Homeless” (blue, standard tuning)
- Fender “Arm the Homeless” (black, drop D)
- Fender Telecaster (w/ Harlem Hellfighters / Black Rattlers handmade pickguard by Dave Petillo)
- Kay K-20T
- Gibson J-45 “Black Spartacus” (played on “They Can’t Kill Us All”)
- Ibanez GA60SCE Galvador “Whatever It Takes” nylon-string (played on “The Last Rung on the Ladder”)
Amps
- Marshall JCM800 2205 50-watt head
- Fender Twin
- Peavey 4x12 cabinet
- Marshall 4x12 cabinet
- Marshall 4x12 cabinet (white “Mr. Crowley” replica)
Pedals and Plugins
- Electro-Harmonix POG
- DigiTech Whammy WH-1
- Dunlop Tom Morello Cry Baby
- Neural DSP Archetype: Tom Morello plugin (played on “Unconquered” solo, “Adjourn It,” “Untethered” solo, and “atmospheric stuff”)
Roman Morello’s Gear
Guitars
- Fender Tom Morello Soul Power Stratocaster (played on “Everyone Gets Everything They Want”)
- Fender Telecaster “Atlas Underground” (in drop D; played on “Adjourn It” and “Soldier in the Army of Love”)
- Ibanez miKro (used on intro to “Date Night,” taken from demo, played through Positive Grid Spark GO)
- Trussart T-style hollowbody (played on “Unconquered”)
Amps
- Marshall JCM800 2205 50-watt head
- Positive Grid Spark GO
Tom Morello is Still Catching Fire
At 27, Tom Morello was at rock bottom—or so he thought. After growing up in Chicago’s northern suburbs and attending Harvard, Morello had moved to Los Angeles to pursue his musical ambitions. His band at the time, Lock Up, had signed to Geffen Records, and his plan to make it in music had seemed to be trending up and to the right.
Then came some tough lessons. During the recording of Lock Up’s 1989 debut, the band deferred to their A&R rep and producer, only to realize afterward that the finished album wasn’t a fully accurate representation of their sound. But the experts know best, right?
Wrong.
“The record was out for about 15 seconds before they stopped returning our phone calls, and at 27 years old, I had failed,” Morello says today. “I moved to Hollywood to try to be a rock star, to make albums. I had the opportunity, and I failed.”
He continues, “So I made a solemn vow that I was never going to play another note of music that I didn't believe in. That's when I began conjuring the riffs that would in part make up the first Rage Against the Machine record.”
Over the past three decades, few, if any, artists have been as synonymous with the guitar as Morello. He’s shredded with Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, joined Bruce Springsteen on several tours and made a prominent appearance on the Boss’ 2014 album, High Hopes, showcased his singer-songwriter side with the Nightwatchman, and released music with Prophets of Rage, Street Sweeper Social Club—his project with multi-hyphenate Boots Riley—and the Atlas Underground, where he collaborates with a wide range of artists.
But don’t let the baseball-card stats fool you. Morello is as selective as he is prolific, and his sonic palette is remarkably wide.
That said, when it came time to compile the riffs that comprise his new solo album, Everyone Gets Everything They Want, he knew exactly how it would work within his vast discography.
“I wanted to make an album that took the Morellian riffs, the Morellian DNA of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, and brought it not just into the present, but into the future,” he says. “I wanted to make the heaviest record since the Rage Against the Machine debut. Then the other goalpost is my love of Springsteen's Darkness on the Edge of Town, the Woody Guthrie side, and not shying away from that. I wanted it to have the purity of vision of the acoustic records that I've made.”
Unlike his previous albums, where he approached the material with a clear creative vision, here he had to find his footing as a frontman. “I wanted to make this record kick as much ass as any record that I've made, and the bar is set pretty high,” Morello says.
“I made a solemn vow that I was never going to play another note of music that I didn't believe in.”
Inspiration, and some of the album’s biggest and baddest riffs, came from a source that surprised Morello: just down the hallway.
“There’s a great quote about Van Gogh, that he found the way to concentrate sufficiently to catch fire in a way. My son Roman, on this record, was my muse who allowed me to concentrate sufficiently to catch fire,” Morello says of the 15-year-old. “What that basically means is I stole some great riffs by listening through his bedroom door.”
In addition to his son’s bombastic riffs, the album includes longtime pals such as System of a Down singer Serj Tankian and Beartooth’s Caleb Shomo. Sonically, Everyone Gets Everything They Want showcases the many faces of Tom Morello. The album glides across genres, from the straightforward hard rock of “Soldier in the Army of Love” to the Knife-inspired electronic beats of “Unbreakable,” which features Irish rabble-rousers Kneecap, to the folky “They Can’t Kill Us All.”
Following Rage Against the Machine’s sudden halt after a successful 2022 tour, Morello has spent much of his time on the road, performing at festivals around the world and mixing battle-tested classics with new songs that appear on Everyone Gets Everything They Want. Playing the new material in front of those crowds made him confident that the songs were strong enough to anchor a proper solo album. And from a performance standpoint, Morello says, the shows captured the same high-octane energy his bands have always been known for.
For Morello, those shows also became a way to unite the disparate strands of his musical life onstage.
“Not shying away from paying tribute to Chris Cornell, not shying away from people’s love of Rage Against the Machine riffs and the timeliness in 2026, not shying away from my love of the existential dread woven into my favorite folk music and some blistering guitar solos,” he says, surveying the scope of his sets. “We’re playing in front of 80-90,000 people, with a song wholly unfamiliar to them, and they’re going absolutely ape shit. I was able to give a test run to some of these jams and really try them out in front of a discerning metal audience.”
But the album also faced another astute listener: his mother, Mary, whom he calls a “candid music critic.” She’s been a massive influence on multiple levels: Morello’s long history of activism is rooted in the lessons he learned from Mary, who was a fervent advocate for free speech, a civil rights champion, and a longtime volunteer for causes that helped the less fortunate. A presence across his platforms—she famously introduced Rage Against the Machine at a 1996 concert in Chicago and frequently appeared on Morello’s SiriusXM show One Man Revolution—she died earlier this year at age 102.
Morello says he played her his new album before she passed, noting that it earned her approval. Of all the brave things she did and all she accomplished in her life, however, one stands out to him.
“I wanted to make an album that took the Morellian riffs, the Morellian DNA of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, and brought it not just into the present, but into the future.”
“The bravest act she might have been a part of was allowing my punk band to play in her basement when I was in high school,” he says with a laugh. “In the more recent years, she lived next door, where my studio is actually in her basement. So I was once again playing in my mom's basement, where she would freely make editorial comments about whatever was going on downstairs.”
Morello is keeping his mother’s legacy alive through the Mary Morello Memorial Project, which will support many organizations that were meaningful to her, ranging from animal shelters to homeless shelters to human rights organizations.
In early October, a year after serving as musical director of the Black Sabbath tribute show Back to the Beginning, Morello curated the Power to the People festival. Billed as a “non-partisan celebration of peace, justice, solidarity, music, and community action,” the one-day festival took place at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, with a lineup including the Foo Fighters, Springsteen, Dave Matthews, Joan Baez, Public Enemy, Cypress Hill, Jack Black (performing with Roman Morello and other young musicians in a Black Sabbath cover band), Killer Mike, Serj Tankian, and others.
“This is something that we don't need to just do at Hotel Cafe [in Los Angeles] and raise 1,500 bucks for a homeless charity,” he says. “We did it on a much bigger scale here, and the artists stepped up.”
Whether through the festival or Everyone Gets Everything They Want, Morello remains focused on the same mission that has guided him for nearly four decades: using rock ’n’ roll as a vehicle for both expression and action. Along the way, he’s experienced just about every high and low the music business can offer. But as he continues forward, the lesson he took from Lock Up all those years ago—the one that ultimately led him to Rage Against the Machine—remains remarkably simple.
“There is only one barometer, there’s one North Star,” Morello says. “It’s to be true to yourself as an artist, as a musician, and not care what anybody thinks.”
Esoterica Electrica: Too Many Boxes to Check
The last time I looked into it, the Guild of American Luthiers claimed more than 3,500 registered members, but you and I know that’s just the tip of the peghead nowadays. Most of the builders I run across don’t care about, belong to, or even know about guilds, associations, or trade shows. I’ve been making instruments for over 50 years and never considered registering with any trade show outside of NAMM, and when I first did, it was the only one of its kind in America. The joke some builders tell is that there seems to be more people cutting, gluing, and screwing together guitar parts than there are guitarists, and the only people making any money are the tool and wood suppliers. That’s a little harsh, but not a total stretch. It’s one thing to make guitars, but selling them is a whole other kettle of fish.
But I’m not here to rain on guitar makers’ parade—I’m also concerned about the buyers. When it comes to the supply of instruments, we live in le bel âge of guitar building, and you would rightly imagine that’s a good thing. Today you can find guitars in every shape, color, and combination of features imaginable. There are short scales, long scales, fanned frets, compound radius necks, and every type of wood choice. Pickups are so plentiful that you could write a doctoral thesis about magnet strength, impedance, and inductance as they relate to tone shaping. Body shape, once confined to variations on the violin and lute motifs, have reached a point where the 1960s Wandre guitars of Antonio Vandrè Pioli look tame. It has gotten to where styling—not to mention hardware choice—are no longer selling points as much as just considerations. You must navigate the seemingly infinite constellation of boxes to check when deciding whose origin story resonates with you at the moment. But that’s great, right?
According to studies such as Iyengar and Lepper’s “When Choice is Demotivating” (2000), there is an inverse relationship between the number of options we are presented with and the long-range satisfaction we derive from our choice: as the former rises, the latter falls. Counterintuitively, it may be that the impulse buy might be the happier route. It seems that when you spend endless time comparing features, reviews, and alternatives, the more likely you are to doubt your decision later. People descend into a spiral of second-guessing the calculations they employed to part with their cash—revisiting every data point they scrutinized along the way. This is called the excess choice effect, and I’m as guilty of it as anyone.
I blame the internet for everything, but mostly for providing me with details, specifications, measurements, and reviews of everything I need or want to buy. Maximizing and optimizing are trendy lifestyle mantras that feed into our daily lives, and therefore our purchases. But I know that if the house was on fire I might grab the things that came to me in a flash, not ones that involved an excruciating search and mental spreadsheets. It seems that the more choice we’re given the more Faustian the bargain seems to get.
And for the sellers of musical hardware, providing endless specifications may actually be counterproductive. This explains some brands moving towards selling vibe and story, hoping that somehow they will short-circuit the decision-making process—switching it from a scientific experiment into something like a buddy movie where the guitar buyer co-star in the film. This approach is akin to the artist endorsement sales pitch, only the builder is your quasi-famous-on-the-internet buddy. Like we say in Chicago, “I got a guy.”
So in a way, it’s okay that every block has a guitar builder, even if a large number of them are screwing together Telecaster clones. Get the one with the funky pickguard or the selector switch in an unusual place. Support micro businesses and hang that butcher-block hippie guitar next to your genuine Les Paul. Buy the one that makes you happy. Don’t discriminate, collect them all.
“Every instrument has something that it does better than others. You just need to enjoy that one thing.”
I know this is starting to sound a little like a feel good-script at this point—go with your gut, follow your bliss, and my favorite, just flow into it. But the good news is something I’ve written about before: every instrument has something that it does better than others. You just need to enjoy that one thing and not get hung up with attempting to “design” a guitar that fulfills every wish. That way you’ll always need one more guitar.
Positive Grid Introduces the Spark CAB 2 Powered FRFR Cabinet
Positive Grid announces Spark CAB 2, a powered FRFR speaker cabinet designed as the rig expander for the Spark guitar amp family. Redesigned inside and out, Spark CAB 2 features re-tuned acoustics, an upgraded signal path, and a visual aesthetic matched to the Spark 2 amp. It also serves as a compatible full-range cab for any modeler, pedal or amp with a line level output, offering players a seamless solution for home, rehearsal and live performance.
The new powered cabinet brings a tighter low end, a refined signal path and a new finish matched to the Spark 2 amp, for home, rehearsal, and live performance
Refined Sound and Engineering
Spark CAB 2 features a lightweight, wood cabinet design with acoustics re-tuned for additional detail and clarity plus a tighter, more defined low end. An updated conversion stage and revised gain staging refine the signal path for cleaner, more composed sound. A 10-inch woofer and two 1" tweeters deliver clear tone from lows to highs and a full-range response suited to a wide variety of playing styles.
A Complete Rig for Spark Amps
Spark CAB 2 brings 140 watts RMS of full-range power to any Spark amp or the new Spark PEDAL, with ample headroom and room-filling sound. It also powers and charges Spark amps from a single outlet, consolidating setup into one power hub.
Connectivity for Any Setup
A dedicated Spark input provides direct connection to Spark amps, while stereo combo XLR/TRS inputs and a balanced XLR output accommodate modelers, pedals, and other amps and gear with a line-level output.
The XLR output can also feed a PA while the cabinet simultaneously functions as a personal stage monitor. Independent volume controls allow performers to set their levels and audience levels separately.
A USB-C port powers and charges Spark MINI, GO, and PEDAL, and handles firmware updates. DC output powers Spark 40 and Spark 2.
Additional controls include:
- Contour switch: Emphasizes low and high frequencies for more balanced sound at lower volumes
- Ground lift switch: Reduces unwanted hum and noise, for quieter operation
Pricing and Availability
Spark CAB 2 is available in Black or Pearl for USD $399.
Special upgrade pricing is available for current Spark CAB 1 owners (log in for details)
Find Spark CAB 2 at positivegrid.com/products/spark-cab-2, local retailers, and Amazon.
Spark CAB 2
Positive Grid announces Spark CAB 2, a powered FRFR speaker cabinet designed as the rig expander for the Spark guitar amp family. Redesigned inside and out, Spark CAB 2 features re-tuned acoustics, an upgraded signal path, and a visual aesthetic matched to the Spark 2 amp. It also serves as a compatible full-range cab for any modeler, pedal or amp with a line level output, offering players a seamless solution for home, rehearsal and live performance.
Fender and Kim Gordon Introduce Signature Jazzmaster
Fender has unveiled the Limited Edition Kim Gordon Jazzmaster, a new signature guitar created in collaboration with the iconic Sonic Youth and solo artist. Designed around Gordon’s distinctive approach to guitar, using the instrument as a vehicle for experimentation, texture and sound, the model pairs classic Jazzmaster character with the specific features and playing preferences she has developed throughout her career.
Kim Gordon has consistently challenged expectations around what an artist can sound like, look like and create. As a guitarist and bass player, she has developed an unmistakable approach to both instruments. Her relationship with the Jazzmaster reflects that same instinct for experimentation, making the instrument part of a sound and aesthetic unmistakably her own.
“One thing that’s great about the Jazzmaster, if you have a guitar that sounds good by just plugging it into an amplifier, it doesn't need effects,” said Kim Gordon. “That’s really satisfying…I just really like the sound…Electricity in the guitar is the gateway to losing yourself.”
The Limited Edition Kim Gordon Jazzmaster combines the familiar feel of the iconic offset with a versatile pickup configuration, comfortable playability and reliable hardware. An Olympic White alder body with matching headcap, Modern “C” maple neck, rosewood fingerboard and vintage-style floating tremolo combine with a Seymour Duncan JB TB-4 bridge humbucker and Alnico V Jazzmaster neck pickup, giving players a broad range of tones from articulate textures to heavier, more aggressive sounds. This Jazzmaster is designed for players across styles and sounds, reflecting the specific preferences and playing style Gordon has developed throughout her career.
Key features include:
- Olympic White alder body: Classic Fender alder construction delivers balanced resonance, punchy mids and robust low end, finished in Olympic White with a matching headcap.
- Modern “C” maple neck: A comfortable Modern “C” profile and silky-smooth back finish provide an inviting feel suited to a wide range of playing styles.
- 9.5” radius rosewood fingerboard: Rolled edges and white pearloid block inlays pair with a 9.5” radius for a smooth, broken-in feel and fluid bends.
- Seymour Duncan JB TB-4 humbucker and Alnico V Jazzmaster pickups: A chimingPlayer Series Alnico V Jazzmaster neck pickup pairs with a high-output Seymour Duncan JB TB-4 bridge humbucker for a broad range of tones, from articulate to high-output and aggressive.
- Jazzmaster bridge and floating tremolo: A Jazzmaster bridge with Mustang saddles and floating tremolo delivers expressive vibrato, precise intonation and reliable tuning stability.
- ClassicGear tuning machines: An 18:1 gear ratio combines with vintage-inspired styling for smooth, precise and reliable tuning.
Designed in collaboration with Kim Gordon. Full technical specifications are listed below.
Fender’s Kim Gordon Signature Jazzmaster carries a street price of $1,099.99.
“Kim has always used the guitar as a tool for exploration rather than following convention, and that spirit is at the heart of this Jazzmaster,” said Justin Norvell, Fender Chief Product Officer, Guitars and Basses. “Her impact reaches far beyond any one genre, with a creative practice that has shaped music, art and culture. With this new Jazzmaster, we wanted to capture that sense of individuality and experimentation while staying true to the character and feel of the Jazzmaster. With two distinct pickup types offering incredible sonic versatility, we wanted to give players the freedom to explore and approach the instrument in their own way, whether they're experimenting with texture and noise, writing songs or simply looking for new sounds.”
The launch arrives as part of The One. For All., Fender’s broader celebration of the artists, instruments and communities that continue to move music forward. The campaign brings together iconic Fender instruments and the artists who reinterpret them through their own creative voices, showing how an instrument can become something entirely different in the hands of the person playing it.
For more information, head to Fender.
Limited Edition Kim Gordon Jazzmaster
Fender has unveiled the Limited Edition Kim Gordon Jazzmaster, a new signature guitar created in collaboration with the iconic Sonic Youth and solo artist. Designed around Gordon’s distinctive approach to guitar, using the instrument as a vehicle for experimentation, texture and sound, the model pairs classic Jazzmaster character with the specific features and playing preferences she has developed throughout her career.
Seymour Duncan Unveils Iron Maiden Pickup Collection
It’s the company’s biggest and most expansive artist collaboration in years: Seymour Duncan has unleashed the new Iron Maiden Pickup Collection, featuring collectible packaging and new offerings from Janick Gers, Dave Murray, and Steve Harris.
Showcasing the pickups used by a trio of heavy metal titans, the collection includes the Dave Murray Strat Set and Loaded Pickguard, Steve Harris P-Bass pickup, and Janick Gers Strat Set and Loaded Pickguard.
Every pickup set and loaded pickguard now ships in its own individually illustrated box, each a unique twist on the band’s official artwork and featuring Eddie, Maiden’s iconic mascot.
New to the collection is the Janick Gers Signature Strat Set and Loaded Pickguard, now available for the first time. The set combines a JB Jr. for Strat in the neck and bridge with a Hot Rails for Strat pickup in the middle, delivering the same searing lead tone and hard-hitting rhythm crunch Janick has brought to Maiden’s legendary performances.
Since first joining Iron Maiden in 1990, Janick Gers’ guitar mastery and songwriting have powered the band’s legendary live performances and albums. On stage and in the studio, Janick has always gravitated towards Strat style guitars. But to get a heavy metal sound powerful enough for Maiden’s music, he experimented with several Seymour Duncan Strat-sized humbuckers. His favorite combination became a JB Jr. for Strat in the Neck and Bridge positions, paired with a Hot Rails for Strat pickup in the middle. The JB Jr. in the bridge delivers the classic JB humbucker sound – high output with plenty of punch for leads that sustain from here to eternity. In the neck it offers fullness for singing solos or delicate chime for rhythm and clean playing. Hot Rails in the Middle gives Janick the option of aggressive rhythm playing or more variety in his clean tones in the 2 & 4 positions. These pickups all use small ceramic magnets, 4-conductor lead wire, and are vacuum wax potted for squeal-free operation.
Now packaged together as a set and a loaded pickguard, each with special Iron Maiden collectible packaging, you can access Janick Gers’ signature sound in your Strat-style guitar.
Hand built in Santa Barbara, CA, this fully loaded Strat pickguard uses an 11 screw ‘USA’ pickguard pattern. Available in White or Black pickguard options - with all matching pickups or Janick’s favorite black-parchment-black pickup color scheme.
- Signature pickup configuration used by Iron Maiden’s Janick Gers: JB Jr. for Strat in the neck and bridge, and Hot Rails for Strat in the Middle
- High output humbuckers in a Strat-Sized package: Janick’s distinct distorted crunch and singing lead tones without modifying your Strat
- Color options: pickups all matching or black/parchment/black (Janick’s preferred look)
- Available in Black or White 11-hole Strat pickguards
- Smooth turning Volume and Tone Pots, 4 Conductor wiring
- Hand-built in Santa Barbara, California
- Special Collectible Iron Maiden Packaging
The Loaded Pickguard set carries a street price of $419. The Janick Gers Strat set carries a street price of $319.
The new set joins the rest of the collection, including the Dave Murray Signature Strat Set and Loaded Pickguard, capturing his iconic tone. It includes Dave Murray’s road-tested set up of a JB Jr. flanked by two Hot Rails, this Strat pickguard offers an array of classic metal and hard rock tones, all without any hum. The Hot Rails bridge delivers a fat crunch with biting harmonics. The JB Jr. in the middle lends punch and clarity in positions 2, 3 and 4. And the Hot Rails neck nails Dave’s signature expressive lead tone.
Hand built in Santa Barbara, CA, the fully loaded Strat pickguard comes in special Iron Maiden collectible packaging and uses an 11 screw ‘USA’ pickguard pattern. These pickups all use small ceramic magnets, 4-conductor lead wire, and are vacuum wax potted for squeal-free operation. Available in Pearloid, White, or Black pickguard options.
- Signature pickup configuration used by Iron Maiden’s Dave Murray: Hot Rails for Strat in the neck and bridge, and JB Jr. for Strat in the Middle
- High output humbuckers in a Strat-Sized package: Dave Murray’s fluid lead tones and hard-hitting riffs, without modifying your Strat
- Available in Black, White, or Pearloid 11-hole Strat pickguards
- Smooth turning Volume and Tone Pots, 4 Conductor wiring
- Hand-built in Santa Barbara, California
- Special Collectible Iron Maiden Packaging
The Loaded Pickguard set carries a street price of $419. The Dave Murray Strat pickup set carries a street price of $319.
Rounding out the collection is the Steve Harris Signature P-Bass pickup, a medium output pickup originally developed in the company’s Custom Shop. The P-bass pickup possesses a low-mid boost that adds punch and body while maintaining a crisp and clear high-end attack. This design uses hand-ground Alnico 5 rod magnets and a special vintage-hot custom wind of 13k DCR to achieve its uniquely aggressive bite.
“I was having some problems with the original pickups in my bass and Seymour Duncan said they could make pickups that did what I needed – and they did!” Steve said. Handcrafted in Santa Barbara, CA, the Steve Harris P-Bass pickup comes in special Iron Maiden collectible packaging and is vacuum wax potted for squeal-free operation.
- Signature P-Bass pickup voiced for Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris – Medium Output wind with plenty of low-mid punch and high-end attack
- Hand-Ground Alnico 5 rod magnets
- Aggressive tonal character suited for Metal Bass
- Drop in Replacement for split coil P Bass pickups
- Hand-built in Santa Barbara, California and Wax Potted for reduced noise
- Special Collectible Iron Maiden Packaging
The Steve Harris Signature P-Bass pickup carries a $99 street price.
For more information about Seymour Duncan’s new Iron Maiden collection visit seymourduncan.com.
Iron Maiden Pickup Collection
It’s the company’s biggest and most expansive artist collaboration in years: Seymour Duncan has unleashed the new Iron Maiden Pickup Collection, featuring collectible packaging and new offerings from Janick Gers, Dave Murray, and Steve Harris.
Vintage Vault: Abomination or Masterpiece?
Place a 1937 and 1979 Martin D-28 side by side—which is the true heirloom-quality instrument? The obvious answer, you would think, is the prized 1937 D-28. But… maybe the 1979 D-28 was dad’s beloved guitar, and it brings back memories of him picking “After the Gold Rush” or “Blackberry Blossom.” Maybe dad refinished the top and glued on his name and a new pickguard. Maybe those modifications are what make it so special.
In the 1970s, vintage guitars started circulating among a handful of folks with an appreciation for great used instruments. George Gruhn, Norman Harris, Stan Jay and “Hap” Kuffner, Fred Oster, Matt Umanov, Stan Werbin, Harry West, and others hunted for clean, original examples and did the hands-on research that laid the groundwork for where we are today. This coincided with a not-so-golden era of guitar manufacturing, when established American brands worked to increase revenue by quickly pumping out as many instruments as possible—in turn decreasing the overall quality and appeal of the finished products. This was the era of pancake bodies, three-bolt necks, active electronics, large and goofy pegheads, Indian instead of Brazilian rosewood, Rotomatic tuners installed on anything with strings, bullet truss rods, thick plastic finishes, and bridges glued in the wrong spot.
Before we opened our shop, we both worked at Gruhn Guitars in Nashville. George seems to have mellowed with age, much like a fine vintage instrument settling into excellent, mostly all-original condition, but earlier models of the Gruhn didn't mince words about pretty much any guitar made in the 1970s, or about his true nemesis: modifications to pre-1970 vintage instruments. Here are a few things we've heard him say about modified guitars:
“It’s ruined!”
“It’s an abomination!"
And the classic: “Your grandfather was an idiot!”
Lucky for George, he has always employed a small army of luthiers who spend countless hours bringing instruments back to their former glory respectfully.
It’s safe to assume some of today’s vintage buyers have shifted away from George’s opinions—our shop has found new homes for a lot of player-grade and bizarre vintage gear, as well as droves of great ’70s guitars. But his opinion still informs ours. If it’s vintage and original, do your best to preserve it. But if you’re eyeballing a guitar from the ’70s, don't be afraid to make it your own. It might become your number one until you’re vintage.
“In the 1970s, vintage guitars started getting traded around by a handful of folks with an appreciation for great used instruments.”
Guitar companies (and shop owners) have also long expressed sincere fears that people are going to fall out of love with guitars and replace them with something more modern. In the late 1970s, amid the rise of synths, Gibson worked directly with the king of them, Bob Moog, since his company was also part of the Norlin Corporation.
The model name RD is decidedly corporate in origin—it’s an abbreviation for Research and Development. Gibson researched, developed, and then briefly offered three RD models from 1977 to 1979: the RD Artist, with Moog-designed electronics and fancy bindings/inlays; the RD Custom, with less complex electronics/appointments; and the RD Standard, with passive electronics and dot inlays. People describe all three versions as either unique and underrated or undesirable and ugly. A guitar’s beauty and functionality is clearly in the eye of the beholder.
A 1978 RD Artist has been at our shop for a while. The Fireburst finish and winged-F pearl headstock inlay stand out in a crowd. It’s cool. Customers play it, talk about it, and then leave without it. Recently, we had a 1977 RD Standard for sale for just 24 hours. The neck and body were reshaped and refinished in a color we named Slime Green. We removed the active pickups and installed two Dunable Direwolf humbuckers. It was shipped out with a nice woody growl that rips through a high-gain amplifier.
We also have a wild 1956 Gibson Les Paul Special next to two Les Paul Juniors—a mostly original sunburst single-cutaway from 1956, and a refinished/reworked cherry-red double-cutaway from 1958. Someone converted the Les Paul Special to a lefty model by modifying it to an asymmetrical double-cutaway shape, and relocating the wiring harness to the other side of the body and the toggle switch to the center (!!!). The body was sprayed over in an off-yellow color, but the neck retains its original Limed Mahogany “TV Yellow” finish. Then it was switched back to right-handed. Empty holes are still in the body, and the list of mods is longer, but we suspect this quirky Les Paul will sell before the other two vintage Lesters.
With all due respect to the folks who got us all here, in 2026 we’re honestly happy to appreciate these vintage instruments for what they are. One question remains, though: Once you take something this far, how do you know when to stop? Should we leave the holes in the top of the Les Paul Special’s body open in case someone wants to switch it back to left-handed… again? Our best guess is this guitar sounds so good because the body was weight-relieved long before Gibson decided to offer that feature. Though it has been devalued, it sounds like a million bucks!
As for the RD Standard, we replaced the replacement pickups in the guitar, and to us it sounded better as a result. Now that this abomination of an RD has found a new home, what will someone do to it—or with it—next?
Wizard of Odd: A Sudden Flash
On the immediate, unshakable feeling that hits when a guitar chooses you.
Once upon a time, I knew this woman who had an incredible story. She claimed to be the only person to have ever been hit by lightning while driving in a moving car! Now, I don’t know if that’s even possible, but once you got to know her, she would tell the tale. Man, everyone knew her story about being hit with a lightning bolt, and she told the story with such conviction that she was believable. She might’ve even been struck twice? I dunno…
This leads me to tell you all that I have a long-standing theory about such sudden flashes. I call it the “Thunderbolt” theory, basically because it sounds cooler than “lightning bolt” and it pays homage to the old Supro Thunderbolt amps, which I adore. By definition, a thunderbolt is a “single flash of lightning accompanied by a loud crash of thunder, or metaphorically, a sudden, shocking, and unexpected event.” So, have you ever been hit by a thunderbolt? Once? Twice? Many times? It could be a first love, or a new car. But man, when that thunderbolt hits you, based on my theory, you just need to heed its call. A thunderbolt is going to make you forget all else and just love on that person or thing because somehow, everything clicked, and now you’re smitten. And it’s an instant feeling. A sudden flash!
I’ve been hit by the guitar bolt a few times, and I remember each one vividly. Like my first Jag-Stang, which I thought (at the time) was the finest guitar I’d ever held. Or the time I missed out on buying a rare Supro Tri Tone, an experience that had me feeling ill for a day or two. Over time there have been guitars and people who have moved me to feel a certain way, but it’s nothing like the thunderbolt. Let me explain, good people.
Last summer, when I was resetting my health and trying to live clean and simply, I happened upon this little guitar that was hidden among stock in a music store in North Carolina. I was walking around and noticed this gold glittery thing, and every time I glanced over, I became a little more interested. The details of it screamed out to me, but since I’m not buying many guitars anymore, I just ignored it in the moment. But the next morning, this guitar was still on my mind. First thing! I kept thinking about the offset lines and the gold/redburst combination finish. So, a few days later, I made the trek back down south to buy this oddity. I had no choice, really. I was hit by the thunderbolt!
Who made this guitar? Who knows? It stands within a super-bizarre family of guitars that often featured strange-looking pickups, carved aluminum pickguards, and loco headstock designs. Similar guitars were obviously made at the same factory in Japan, circa 1966, but I could never figure it out. Sometimes that’s okay because it adds to the intrigue.
The tremolo is a copy of a copy. The odd slide switches work fine but can begin sliding—even if you don’t bump them! The pickups are incredible, even though the guitar is sort of clunky and not well balanced. Of course, being hit by the thunderbolt has you overlooking flaws because you’re simply in love. And you know what? I’m still smitten by this instrument.
“Being hit by the thunderbolt has you overlooking flaws because you're simply in love.”
In the end, I was able to get a Supro Tri Tone, but I sold it because the feeling didn’t last. It just wasn’t the same as the first time I saw one. I also sold my Jag-Stang, and then, miraculously, I found it again and bought it back! As for this strange guitar, it’s still with me, because, you know, the thunderbolt!