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
Stompboxtober 2025: Lehle
Today’s spotlight pedal (okay, box) is the LEHLE P‑ISO TRS XLR Stereo — your secret weapon against hum and noise. Enter now to WIN this passive isolator/DI box that converts stereo TRS to balanced XLR while lifting the ground to banish unwanted loops. Don’t forget — new giveaways drop every day this October!
Stompboxtober 2025 - Win Pedals All Month Long!
LEHLE P-ISO TRS XLR STEREO
he LEHLE P-ISO TRS XLR STEREO brings you closer to the main mixing system. It converts your stereo audio signal not only to balanced XLR but lifts the ground so there’s no chance of unwanted noise or humming loops. Perfect for your pedal board, modeler and amp simulation in studios, clubs, bars or stadiums – all fitted into a handy size.
The combination of passive isolation with highest possible signal fidelity is only realisable thanks to its core, existing of two LEHLE TRANSFORMER HZ, which galvanically isolate the signals.
While being designed especially for high impedance signals, they process low impedance signals with the same uncompromising sound quality as well. The high coupling and flat frequency response won’t let you miss any detail in the signal.
The classic application for the LEHLE P-ISO TRS XLR STEREO is the connecting link in between your stereo device and the professional world of mixers, FOH and DAW recording systems.
It lifts the ground in between those worlds, so the devices are galvanically isolated - any hum or noise caused by a ground loop becomes a thing of the past. Offering balanced audio signals at the two male XLR sockets by Neutrik gets you protected even closer to the mixer while using simple standard XLR cables.
Not only for stereo effects, digital modeler and amp simulation devices - even keyboards, synths, playback systems or audio interfaces are in safe hands of the LEHLE P-ISO TRS XLR STEREO.
You won’t find a power connection as you get all the performance of that compact box passively, without the need for a power supply.
And due to its optimised size and low weight, it fits easily below your pedalboard or in any pocket - always installed or as flexible tool to share.
Lehle P-ISO TRS XLR Stereo Isolator and DI Box
Question of the Month: To DIY or Not to DIY
Question: What have you DIYed in your rig?
Karla Chubb (SPRINTS) - Guest Picker
A: Besides my entire playing style and mess of a pedalboard? I’d say my Jagstang, which is my main touring guitar. It’s starting to become a bit of a Frankenstein's monster purely due to use (and destruction) on the road. Originally I just modified the bridge, replacing the standard one with a Fender American Pro Mustang bridge. This was supposed to help the strings stop slipping out of tune when I struck them too hard playing live. I have since lost the original tremolo bar (and the screws) so I can’t attach a new one. Instead, I duct-tape whatever Jazzmaster/Jaguar/Mustang one we have lying around on at every show because I’m too lazy to get it fixed. I should really get around to that…
Obsession: My current obsession at the moment is terrible (and rarely not-so-terrible) true-crime documentaries on Disney+/Starz. If what they say about smart people loving reality TV is true, then I must be a genius. From The Secrets of Hillsong to Mr. & Mrs. Murder, there is nothing that helps calm my brain or shut it down more than a terrible whodunnit. I love you, true crime. Never change.
Randall Brown - Reader of the Month
A: My most in-depth DIY so far is a sad tale! I tried to upgrade my very old and beaten-up—but still very playable—Memphis Les Paul copy with new tuners, bridge, and tailpiece. While working the posts in for the new tailpiece, I heard a wooden creak and a snap. My attempt to firmly plant the poles had caused the laminate top to politely separate halfway off the body. I bought wood glue and clamps to do more serious repairs, but I haven’t trusted my (lack of) skills to actually start. If I can’t find just the right YouTube tutorial, I might have to seek professional help.
Obsession: P-90 pickups and the music of Osees. I bought a Rivolta Zenyata earlier this year, and its neck-position P-90 has won my tone-heart. I love full-on humbuckers, but when I commence repairs on the old Memphis again, I want to replace its ancient no-name HBs with P-90s. Coincidentally, I’ve been obsessing over John Dwyer’s guitar wildness with Osees, and he gets amazing sounds out of his P-90-packed Les Paul Junior.
John Bohlinger - Nashville Correspondent
A: DIY is part of the guitar’s DNA. From its humble lute origin over 1,000 years ago, players have been altering the instrument ever since to create the sounds in our heads. Les Paul and Van Halen are prime examples of players who reshaped the instrument, and in doing so, reshaped music. I’ve tweaked every instrument I’ve owned, swapping pickups, sanding bodies, adding Bigsbys, adjusting setups, or hiring luthiers to add B-benders. Honestly, many of these DIY tangents have ended in expensive, frustrating, lateral trades. That’s the thing about obsessions: They do not call reason into question.
Obsession: Of late, it’s working flatted or raised 5ths into solos. It’s fun to shoehorn in the devil’s interval, with its foreboding dissonance, and try to resolve into something sweet.
Luke Ottenhof - Associate Editor
A: I love DIYing stuff in my rig, even though I have little to no idea what I’m doing a lot of the time. Last year, I used an ill-equipped dremel to clumsily carve out space under a small aluminum pedalboard for my power supply, then superglued some rubber feet onto the board for more clearance underneath. A smarter person might have simply bought a board that could accommodate the power unit without mods, but where’s the fun in that?
Obsession: The new Alien: Earth series on FX. The major plot device is so original but totally believable, and the atmosphere is delightful: ’80s sci-fi aesthetics mixed with contemporary special effects and some bizarre, unsettling new creatures. Plus, the awesome needle drops at the end of each episode, featuring classic metal songs. TV can and should be this fun—while also still being very good.
Stompboxtober 2025: Rock N Roll Relics
Pedal lovers, today’s your chance! Enter now to WIN the Stinger Overdrive from Rock N Roll Relics — vintage mojo meets modern feel, with NOS components and smooth gain control that can take you from soft grit to fiery leads. Don’t miss it — and be sure to stop back tomorrow for another killer giveaway!
Stompboxtober 2025 - Win Pedals All Month Long!
Stinger Overdrive
The Rock N Roll Relics Stinger overdrive has all the mojo of classic yellow drive pedals, but with tonal refinements to bring it to the modern age. We use NOS construction as you’ll come to expect with the Stinger Series, which gives it that authentic, ear-pleasing tone we all want. $289 Street
Revv Launches a MK2 Update of their Groundbreaking D20 Amplifier 6 Years in the Making
Revv Amplification set the standard for clean lunchbox amplifiers in 2019 with the release of the D20: a portable all-tube amplifier & the world’s first with Two notes Torpedo-embedded direct XLR for zero-compromise tone & feel without a cabinet. 6 years later, Revv saw fit to raise the standard with the D20 MK2, featuring a host of tonal and functional upgrades based on feedback from some of the most respected recording & touring guitarists in the world. Even better - Joey Landreth is once again lending his ears to a Joey Landreth D20JL, promising the same MK2 improvements with additional headroom & top end on tap (not to mention the exclusive JL colorway); similar to the fan-favorite D25JL released earlier this year. Both heads now come standard in a new tolex lunchbox enclosure for an ideal combination of looks & weight reduction. Complete with onboard reverb & an included 2-button footswitch, the D20 MK2 & D20JL are ideal for any player looking for a single-channel clean/edge-of-breakup amp with a touch-sensitive feel & record-ready tone.
“These new D20s feel like a step towards the next generation of Revv. Getting to introduce these to the world all over again with 6 years of tone tweaks & workflow improvements is a dream come true & getting to work with Joey is always super fun. I really look forward to seeing what guitarists do with these.” - Dan Trudeau, President & Designer Revv Amplification Inc.
The D20 MK2 features:
- The award-winning D20 platform w/ new switching, reverb, & tonal updates 6 years in the making.
- All-tube design w/ 2x 12AX7 preamp + 2x 6V6 power tubes. Switchable from 20w to 4w operation.
- Gain, Treble, Middle, Bass, Volume, Reverb, & Level controls + Treble & Gain Boost switches.
- Perfect for clean & edge of breakup tones w/ an organic, touch-sensitive feel ideal for pedals.
- Pristine digital reverb, transparent buffered effects loop, MIDI control, & more.
- Two notes Torpedo-embedded reactive load & impulse response XLR out for direct performance & recording.
- Special Joey Landreth Edition D20JL features tone tweaks & exclusive aesthetics inspired by the D25JL.
- New standard tolex lunchbox design. 10” x 14.75” x 8.75” - 15.5lbs.
- Manufactured in Canada to rigorous quality standards w/ 2 year limited warranty & included 2-button footswitch.
The street price for Revv’s D20 MK2 is $1349US, & $1499 for the D20JL. Both can be ordered immediately through many fine dealers worldwide or directly at www.revvamplification.com.
Epiphone Launches Joe Bonamassa '59 Les Paul Custom
Epiphone is proud to continue its decades-long signature relationship with blues-rock legend Joe Bonamassa. Today, Epiphone has released an attainable version of Bonamassa’s pristine and rare, vintage 1959 Black Beauty Les Paul™ Custom, bringing this remarkable instrument—offering vintage tone, elegant craftsmanship, and the unmistakable spirit of Bonamassa in a guitar built to inspire—to a wider audience. The Epiphone Joe Bonamassa ’59 Les Paul Custom is a limited-edition model now available worldwide at authorized dealers, Gibson Garage locations, and on www.epiphone.com.
Joe Bonamassa is widely renowned for his guitar-playing prowess and as a world-class guitar collector. One prized gem in his collection is his 1959 Gibson Les Paul Custom. The original Les Paul Custom became known as the “Black Beauty,” and examples from the late 50s are highly sought after, but this particular guitar is quite unique. Joe’s guitar is a rare custom order with two pickups instead of the standard three-pickup configuration. Adding to its allure, it also sports Grover® Imperial™ tuners and a Bigsby® vibrato tailpiece.
Designed to be both faithful and accessible, the Epiphone Joe Bonamassa ’59 Les Paul Custom features an Antique Ebony finish over a solid mahogany body, accented by aged multi-ply binding on the top and back. The mahogany neck sports a 1959 Rounded Medium C profile and is topped with a bound ebony fretboard, complete with 22 medium jumbo frets and dressed up with pearloid block inlays. The multi-ply bound 60s Kalamazoo-style headstock features the Epiphone logo and the iconic Custom Split Diamond inlay in mother-of-pearl and is outfitted with a low-friction Graph Tech® nut for excellent tuning stability.
The Joe Bonamassa ’59 Les Paul Custom is powered by a pair of punchy-sounding Epiphone ProBucker™ Custom pickups, which are wired to individual volume and tone controls using high-quality CTS® potentiometers for outstanding tonal versatility and reliability. As is fitting for a Les Paul Custom, the hardware is gold, including a LockTone™ Tune-O-Matic™ bridge, the Grover tuners, and the Bigsby B70 vibrato tailpiece. The combination of these elements creates an instrument that is not only visually stunning but also remarkably versatile in its sound. The Epiphone Joe Bonamassa ’59 Les Paul Custom comes with a certificate of authenticity and a hardshell case with “Nerdville” graphics. This limited-edition Epiphone Joe Bonamassa ’59 Les Paul Custom is a tribute to a legendary guitarist and an iconic guitar. It represents both a lasting investment and excellence in musical instrument craftsmanship. This release will be available in a limited quantity of 1,000 exclusively through Epiphone, the Gibson Garage, and authorized Epiphone dealers. In addition, a limited run of 300, with an exclusive custom inlay on the fretboard, will be available via the Joe Bonamassa webstore.
Blues-rock superstar Joe Bonamassa is one of the most celebrated performing musicians of today. As a 4X GRAMMY®-nominated artist and 15x Blues Music Award Nominee (4X winner), he recently notched his 29th No. 1 album on the Billboard Blues Chart with his latest studio release, Breakthrough, hailed as his most adventurous and genre-defying album to date. Live at the Hollywood Bowl With Orchestra became his 28th No. 1. Bonamassa has become a living legend with an astounding multi-genre catalog, releasing more than 50 albums, including studio and live recordings, as well as collaborative projects like Black Country Communion and Rock Candy Funk Party.
Recently, Bonamassa released Blues Summit 100 — a massive 32-track project featuring multiple artists paying tribute to B.B. King; listen HERE. Bonamassa returns to the road this fall and will continue through his spring 2026 tour, dates below and HERE.
Catch Joe Bonamassa on tour in the following cities:
U.S. FALL TOUR 2025
November 3 – Columbus, OH – Palace Theatre
November 5 – Toronto, ON – The Theatre at Great Canadian Toronto
November 7 – Detroit, MI – Fox Theatre
November 8 – Fort Wayne, IN – Embassy Theatre
November 10 – Rockford, IL – Coronado Theatre
November 11 – Kansas City, MO – The Midland Theatre
November 14 – Durant, OK – Choctaw Grand Theater
November 15 – Houston, TX – Hobby Center
November 18 – Corpus Christi, TX – American Bank Center Selena Auditorium
November 19 – Abilene, TX – Abilene Auditorium
November 21 – Midland, TX – Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center
November 22 – Austin, TX – ACL Live at The Moody Theater
November 23 – Shreveport, LA – Shreveport Municipal Auditorium
November 25 – Fayetteville, AR – Walton Arts Center
November 26 – St. Louis, MO – Stifel Theatre
November 29 – New Orleans, LA – Saenger Theatre
November 30 – Montgomery, AL – Montgomery Performing Arts Centre
December 2 – Savannah, GA – Johnny Mercer Theatre
December 3 – Sarasota, FL – Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
December 5 – Estero, FL – Hertz Arena
December 6 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live
U.S. SPRING TOUR 2026
February 21 – South Bend, IN – The Morris Performing Arts Center
February 23 – Cedar Rapids, IA – Paramount Theatre
February 25 – Madison, WI – Overture Center for the Arts
February 27 – Peoria, IL – Prairie Home Alliance Theater
February 28 – Cincinnati, OH – Taft Theatre
March 2 – Wilkes-Barre, PA – F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts
March 4 – Springfield, MA – Springfield Symphony Hall
March 6 – Westbury, NY – Flagstar at Westbury Music Fair
March 7 – Pittsburgh, PA – Benedum Center
March 8 – Red Bank, NJ – Count Basie Center for the Arts
March 10 – Reading, PA – Santander Performing Arts Center
March 11 – Virginia Beach, VA – Sandler Center
March 13 – Durham, NC – DPAC
March 14 – Greenville, SC – Bon Secours Wellness Arena
March 17 – Knoxville, TN – Knoxville Civic Auditorium
March 19 – Huntsville, AL – VBC Mark C. Smith Concert Hall
March 20 – Macon, GA – Atrium Health Amphitheater
March 21 – Clearwater, FL – The BayCare Sound
March 25-29, 2026 – Miami, FL – Keeping The Blues Alive at Sea XI +
April 10-12, 2026 - Miramar Beach, FL - Sound Wave Beach Weekend +
+Sold Out
EU TOUR 2026
April 22 - Hamburg, DE - Barclays Arena
April 24 - Rotterdam, NL - Rotterdam Rtm Stage
April 25 - Paris, FR - La Seine Musicale
April 27 - Esch-sur-Alzette, LU - Luxembourg Rockhal
April 29 - Mannheim, DE - SAP Arena
May 1 - Chemnitz, DE - Stadthalle Chemnitz
May 2 - Nürnberg, DE - Psd Bank Nürnberg Arena
May 3 - Zürich, CH - Hallenstadion
May 6 - London, UK - Royal Albert Hall
May 7 - London, UK - Royal Albert Hall
October 21 - Helsinki, FL - Veikkaus Arena
October 23 - Stockholm, SE - Stockholm Avicii Arena
October 24 - Oslo, NO - Oslo Spektrum
October 25 - Gothenburg, SE - Göteborg Partille Arena
October 27 - Copenhagen, DK - K.B. Hallen København
October 29 - Rostock, DE - Stadthalle Rostock
October 30 - Berlin, DE - Uber Arena
October 31 - Dortmund, DE - Westfalenhalle
November 4 - Milan, IT - Unipol Forum
November 6 - Toulouse, FR - Zénith Toulouse Métropole
November 7 - Barcelona, ES - Barcelona Sant Jordi Club
Vernon Reid Signature Guitar Giveaway From Reverend Guitars!
Win the stunning Reverend Vernon Reid Signature “Totem” Guitar—a bold fusion of art, tone, and attitude designed with Living Colour’s trailblazing guitarist. Featuring custom Jung- and Basquiat-inspired graphics, Railhammer pickups, a Korina body, and a Floyd Rose 1000 Pro tremolo, this instrument is built for players who demand expression and power in equal measure. Enter now for your chance to own this limited masterpiece—giveaway ends November 9!
Vernon Reid Signature Guitar Giveaway From Reverend Guitars
Vernon Reid Signature Guitar
From the vivid imagination of Vernon Reid comes the Totem Series of Reverend Vernon Reid guitars. A sleek body features graphics inspired by Carl Jung’s Collective Unconscious Theory, Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey, and artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and Romare Beardon. West African Adinkra symbols adorn the pickups and headstock, while American Hobo symbols grace the fretboard. Africana and Americana symbolism meld with profound graphics, conjuring vivid images that speak to humankind’s perilous, yet necessary journeys.
While visually stunning, these instruments are also refined tools of the trade. The recipe of Korina, ebony, and Railhammer Pickups, coupled with the sheer metallic mass of the Floyd Rose, serves up a tone best described as punchy! Harmonics pop, single notes sing, and chords ring with tasty overtones – delivering that knockout punch whether you’re playing clean funk or heavy rock. Now’s your chance to own a genuinely collectible art piece that sounds and plays as amazing as it looks!
Reverend Vernon Reid Totem Electric Guitar Mystery Tramp
Martin Guitar Reissues the 00DB Jeff Tweedy and Introduces the 000 Jr E Jeff Tweedy
C. F. Martin & Co.® is proud to announce the return of a fan favorite and the launch of an exciting new model: the 00DB Jeff Tweedy and the all-new 000 Jr E Jeff Tweedy. Both signature guitars were designed in collaboration with GRAMMY® Award-winning artist, songwriter, and Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy, whose influence as a songwriter has inspired generations of musicians.
The 00DB Jeff Tweedy, first introduced in 2012, quickly became a favorite among players for its warm, balanced voice and its pioneering use of FSC®-certified tonewoods. Today, the mahogany-bodied model returns with all the features that made it iconic: a deeper 00 body for added resonance, scalloped European spruce X-bracing, a long 25.4" scale for clarity and punch, and a striking custom Tweedy Burst finish. Updates include a certified ebony fingerboard and bridge, underscoring Martin’s and Jeff’s shared commitment to sustainability.
“The thing I love about my guitar, the deep-body element of it, is that it has a warmth for a smaller body guitar,” Jeff explains. “It’s somewhere between a Dreadnought and an 0-style guitar.”
Joining the Martin lineup for the first time is the 000 Jr E Jeff Tweedy, a signature model designed to be more compact and accessible while capturing the spirit of his 00DB. Crafted from FSC®-certified sapele with the custom satin Tweedy Burst finish, it features a 000 Junior body with a full 24.9" scale length, Martin E1 electronics with a built-in tuner, and a Performing Artist neck for easy playability.
“The idea that we could do this again, and then also offer a guitar that may be a little bit more affordable to people starting out, and maybe a little smaller for smaller hands starting out—that's a thrill to me,” says Jeff.
Both models trace their inspiration back to the vintage Martin 0-18 Jeff purchased in the late 1990s, the guitar he used to write the celebrated Mermaid Avenue album with Billy Bragg, setting Woody Guthrie’s unheard lyrics to music. That instrument, he says, “became basically part of my writing voice… it’s the main acoustic I’ve had my whole life.”
For Jeff, guitars have always been tools for expression and creativity—not status symbols. “Well-made guitars, like the Martin guitars that you make, inspire creativity because they don’t present an obstacle to creativity,” he says. “Someone buys a guitar with my name on it and takes it home—I hope it becomes a part of their daily habit of making some music.”
The 00DB Jeff Tweedy and 000 Jr E Jeff Tweedy are now available through authorized Martin dealers worldwide and martinguitar.com.
Stompboxtober 2025: Radial Engineering
Today’s Stompboxtober prize is the powerhouse Radial Twin‑City amp switcher — route your guitar to two amps (or toggle between them) cleanly, noiselessly, and in phase. Enter now for your shot to win today’s gear, then keep coming back all month for new pedal giveaways!
Stompboxtober 2025 - Win Pedals All Month Long!
Twin-CityActive Amp Switcher
The Twin-City is an active amp selector that lets you connect any two guitar amps and switch between them or drive them both simultaneously without noise, loss of gain, or any degradation to your natural guitar tone.
Radial Twin-City ABY Amp Switcher Pedal
CIOKS Unveils Retro Series: A Nostalgic Nod to the 80s with Cutting-Edge Power Solutions
Power supply innovator CIOKS has introduced its Retro Series pedalboard power supplies, blending vintage aesthetics with state-of-the-art technology. Inspired by the iconic designs of the 1980s, the Retro Series introduces two limited-edition products: the CIOKS DC-7 VHS Tape and the CIOKS SOL Cassette Tape.
The Retro Series pays homage to two beloved 80s mainstays—the VHS tape and the cassette tape—while delivering CIOKS’ reliable, high-performance power.
CIOKS DC-7 VHS Tape
Featuring a meticulously crafted graphic of a classic VHS tape, the DC-7 combines nostalgic charm with cutting-edge functionality. This powerhouse delivers clean, stable power for modern pedalboards, ensuring optimal performance for musicians. It features 7 isolated DC-outlets for effect pedals each with four selectable voltages. Each of the outlets can put out 6W which corresponds to 660mA of current at 9V. Additionally the DC7 has also a 5V USB outlet and an auxiliary 24V outlet.
CIOKS SOL Cassette Tape
Inspired by the iconic audio cassette, the SOL offers a retro-cool design paired with advanced power distribution, perfect for compact setups and vintage enthusiasts alike. Featuring the same 660mA at 9V DC per outlet and four switchable voltages on each outlet as its bigger brother CIOKS DC7, SOL is the most powerful small form-factor power supply available today with a total of 30 watts of DC power available.
The Retro Series is available for a limited time exclusively through authorized CIOKS dealers. Street pricing for the DC-7 VHS is $294.00 and pricing for the SOL Cassette is $219.00. For more information visit cioks.com.
Daniel Donato Rig Rundown
The cosmic-country cowboy touts a rig inspired by the greats and powered by a mix of vintage and modern-day gear.
Hot on the heels of his new record, Horizons, Daniel Donato took PG’s John Bohlinger on a trip through his live setup, which spans more than 70 years of electric-guitar history.
Brought to you by D’Addario
Time Machine
This Fender Custom Shop 1963 Telecaster has “everything that a great traditional Telecaster needs,” says Donato.
Jack of All Trades
This DGN Custom Guitars T-style, built by Dan Neafsey, is dubbed the Epoch. Donato wanted a Tele that he could play all night without tiring of the tones, so Neafsey assembled this do-it-all electric. Its body is an eighth of an inch smaller than a traditional Tele’s, and its flame-maple neck sports a compound radius. Neafsey wound the PAF-style pickups, which can be configured as overwound single-coils via a coil-tap function. The steel ashtray bridge was cut to fit a humbucker.
Donato plays Dunlop Jazz III picks, and loads his guitars with a .010–.052 set of Ernie Ball Slinky strings.
Pro Tip
This 1966 Fender Pro Reverb is the first black-panel amp Donato ever purchased. It’s been converted to a 2x12 configuration in place of the usual 1x15, and it’s loaded with Weber 12F150 speakers.
Daniel Donato’s Pedalboard
Donato says that while the Pro Reverb is the steak, the Fender Tonemaster Pro is the best thing to season it with. His effects run into this floor unit, which is set to a black-panel Twin Reverb program, through a Radial Highline, and out to the front of house at a clean, crisp level. Donato uses some of the Tonemaster Pro’s onboard effects, too, like a graphic EQ and tape echo.
The rest of the board, designed by XAct Tone Solutions, carries a Dunlop X Volume Mini and CAE Wah, Gamechanger Audio Plus, Greer Lightspeed, a Keeley Noble Screamer, Cosmic Country Phaser, and Rotary, a Strymon TimeLine, Walrus R1, Universal Audio Max, DigiTech FreqOut, and Eventide H90.
An EHX Hum Debugger, always on, rests on top of his amp to keep his Teles in line.
Gamechanger Audio Plus Sustain Pedal
Ernie Ball Regular Slinkies Strings
Warm Audio Unleashes Dual Overdrive Powerhouses: Throne of Tone & Tube Squealer
Warm Audio pays tribute to two of the most legendary overdrive sound profiles of all time, delivering multiple sought-after vintage-accurate tones from each pedal and robust functionality to meet the demands of modern players and pedalboards.
Warm Audio, the leading manufacturer of faithful recreations of legendary recording gear and guitar pedals, today announces the release of two new effects pedals. Introducing the Tube Squealer, a faithful recreation of not one, not two, but three of the most celebrated mid-gain overdrives known for driving tube amps into blissful tonal saturation. Select between authentic 808, TS9, and TS10 circuits, each capturing the legendary Japanese designs that shaped decades of guitar tone. Additionally, Warm Audio is releasing the Throne of Tone, a dual-sided overdrive that combines two of the greatest British amp-inspired blues circuits of all time in one pedal. Designed for ultimate flexibility, Throne of Tone offers two classic voicings, low/high gain settings, and three drive modes, including boost, overdrive, and distortion, per side. The Tube Squealer (MSRP $149 | 159 € inc. VAT | 139 £ inc. VAT) is available exclusively at Guitar Center in the US and authorized retailers worldwide. Throne of Tone (MSRP $229 | € 249 inc.VAT | 219 £ inc. VAT) is available at all authorized Warm Audio retailers worldwide.
“These are two of the most popular styles of overdrive in guitar history, and we’re excited to add them to the Warm lineup. We maintained the Warm formula of vintage-accurate tone and premium components, but we went a step further to combine some of the greatest iterations of these tones along with feature-rich functionality into each,” said Bryce Young, founder & president of Warm Audio. “For Tube Squealer, we couldn’t limit ourselves to just one of the classic pedal tones so we built the most legendary three into one pedal. Then we added critical controls to make it a must-have on any pedalboard.”
Young continues, “For the Throne of Tone, we decided to honor the 3-knob vintage pedal that inspired a whole wave of boutique recreations, and added a second side plus alternative voicing to deliver the most unobtainable boutique blues OD. With these unique voicing options, plus added features for presence, gain structure, and gain amount, you can create dozens of combinations previously unavailable in addition to getting the authentic sound of the originals - all in one stomp box!”
Tube Squealer
The Tube Squealer is a faithful recreation of three legendary, tube-driving overdrives built with premium, 100% analog circuitry and loaded with modern, rig-ready features. Its three selectable voicings—808, TS9, and TS10—switch the circuitry to authentically recreate the revered Japanese designs that shaped guitar tones from the late ’70s through the late ’80s. The 808 delivers the earliest iteration of the classic overdrive, the TS9 captures the most produced and widely recognized version, and the TS10 revives an underrated circuit that continues to gain respect among tone chasers. These circuits, faithfully recreated in the Tube Squealer, have powered some of the most iconic sounds in history, heard on countless records and stages worldwide.
Taking the mid-gain, tube-amp-driving concept even further, the Tube Squealer adds modern flexibility to suit any setup. A mix knob lets players blend clean and driven signals for precise tone shaping, while a pickup-voicing selector optimizes response for single-coils or humbuckers. An external voltage booster instantly increases headroom for more dynamic tones before saturation kicks in. Inside, the Tube Squealer features JRC4558 op-amps, discrete transistors and diodes, and premium JFETs; components chosen to preserve the character and response of the originals. With asymmetrical clipping true to the first-of-its-kind topology, the Tube Squealer delivers three iconic overdrives in one pedal, making it a versatile, high-value overdrive that never needs to leave your board.
Throne of Tone
The Throne of Tone pays tribute to the greatest British Blues sonic profiles in all of guitar history, delivering the signature mid-gain amp “breaking” tone found on the most celebrated vintage amps and boutique pedal recreations. This dual-sided pedal offers two classic voicings, each with low and high gain levels and three drive modes: boost, overdrive, and distortion, making it easy to move from subtle breakup to saturated lead tones without ever diving through menus. Like the original amps and the pedals they inspired, the Throne of Tone excels at British-style breakup, with symmetrical clipping that captures the feel of classic tube amps pushed beyond their clean limits.
For even greater tone-shaping, each side of the Throne of Tone features an independent presence control (500Hz–2.3kHz) alongside the standard tone knob. A rear-mounted external voltage doubler (9V–18V) adds extra headroom on demand, while its 100% true bypass switching, including the send/return jacks, enables the ability to add a pedal in between the circuits. Every feature is externally adjustable for quick changes on the fly, with no need to open the enclosure. Inside, 24 diodes and premium JRC4580 and TL072 op-amps power two fully analog circuits, delivering uncompromising tone in a versatile, performance-ready package.
Like all Warm Audio gear, every single Tube Squealer and Throne of Tone are meticulously hand-tested and inspected by trained technicians with a passion for making music in Austin, TX.
Availability & Pricing:
- Tube Squealer: MSRP $149 | 159 € inc. VAT | 139 £ inc. VAT
- US: Guitar Center Exclusie
- Worldwide: All authorized Warm Audio retailers
- Throne of Tone: MSRP $229 | € 249 inc.VAT | 219 £ inc. VAT
- US & Worldwide: All authorized Warm Audio retailers
For more information, visit www.warmaudio.com/Tube-squealer & www.warmaudio.com/throne-of-tone.
PRS Guitars Announces New SE Models Plus a New Combo Amp Ahead of 2026 Updates
PRS Guitars today announced several new SE Series models and the David Grissom signature DGT 15 amplifier as a combo. Along with the debut of the SE version of Herman Li’s signature model Chleo, the fresh models include the SE DGT Standard and the SE CE 24 Standard Satin Stoptail. 2026 also brings a construction update to the SE Hollowbody Standard, SE Hollowbody Standard Piezo, and SE Hollowbody II Piezo. Rounding out the launch, the DGT 15 amp brings the acclaimed tone and versatility of the DGT 15 head into a convenient, combo format.
SE CHLEO
The SE Chleo is the result of an intimate collaboration between PRS Guitars and award-winning guitar player Herman Li. Best known for his work as one of the lead guitar players in the power metal band DragonForce, Li is a demanding guitarist known for his fast and precise playing style. Based on the exclusive 2025 PRS Chleo Limited Edition, this SE signature model is a unique guitar in the PRS lineup designed with the modern metal guitarist in mind. The SE Chleo boasts the same Fishman Fluence Signature Series Omniforce Herman Li pickups as the Limited Edition that preceded it. With three distinct voices and a versatile switching system, the guitar offers up to 13 unique tone combinations.
“With the PRS SE Chleo, we set out to create the best affordable guitar that delivers a unique combination of effortless playability, outstanding craftsmanship, and versatile tonal range. It combines modern innovations with classic style, giving players the tools they need to create everything from classic tones to cutting edge new sounds. The SE Chleo proves that a world-class instrument doesn’t have to break the bank—it’s a guitar that brings high-end performance within reach for everyone,” said Herman Li.
In addition to the Charcoal Purple Burst and Orchid Dusk that the Limited Edition models were offered in, the SE Chleo introduces a third color, Mantis Burst.
SE DGT STANDARD
The SE DGT Standard brings David Grissom’s signature model to a stripped-down, all-mahogany platform, delivering organic tone, rich resonance, and bold midrange presence, all at a price that comes in slightly below the SE DGT. The SE DGT Standard adds warmth and growl to the model’s signature clarity and articulation. Like the SE DGT, the SE DGT Standard offers a versatile control layout with individual volume controls for each pickup, a master tone control with push/pull coil tap, and a PRS tremolo.
SE CE 24 STANDARD SATIN STOPTAIL
The SE CE 24 Standard Satin is now offered in a stoptail option. The SE CE 24 Standard Satin Stoptail joins its tremolo counterpart as the lowest-priced guitar across all PRS models, at just $499 USD. This new version brings the snap and response of a bolt-on guitar into an all-mahogany body for a warm, focused tone, now paired with the rock-solid stability of a stoptail bridge. Loaded with 85/15 “S” pickups and a push/pull tone control for coil tapping, the SE CE 24 Standard Stoptail packs impressive versatility, whether players are chasing classic humbucking growl or snappy single-coil sparkle.
UPDATED MODELS
Through close work with Cortek, PRS has updated the construction process of the PRS SE Hollowbody models. The center section is cut from solid mahogany, as opposed to bending the sides, so the body shape is now “fully PRS.” The SE Hollowbody II Piezo’s top and back are still made with 5-ply laminated maple for strength and rigidity. The PRS SE Hollowbody Standard models keep their all-mahogany build, while also benefitting from this construction update.
This construction method also allows more color options, so Vintage Sunburst has been added into the lineup on the PRS SE Hollowbody II Piezo. With the SE Hollowbody II Piezo, players can plug into the “Mix/Piezo” jack and use the individual volume controls to blend the 58/15 LT “S” pickups with the piezo’s acoustic tones. Alternatively, players can plug into the jacks separately, so the guitar can run magnetic pickups into an amp and run the piezo through an acoustic amp or DI into the soundboard.
DGT 15 COMBO AMP
Designed in close collaboration with guitarist David Grissom, this 15-watt, single-channel amp delivers vintage-inspired tone and gig-ready portability—all in one compact package. The built-in master volume and 3-position bright switch allow for detailed tone shaping at any volume level. Additional features include a 3-band tone stack (treble, middle, bass), boost, tube-driven reverb, top cut, presence, and tremolo. Like on the head version, it is not just the controls, but the combination of the controls and control parameters that bring out this amp’s functional versatility. For example, the bright switch can be set to on, off, or on except when the boost is engaged, so players can intricately manipulate the amp’s high-end. The Master Volume can be set to be on, off, or on only with the Boost. The included 3-button footswitch allows control of the boost, reverb and tremolo.
"I’m very excited the DGT 15 is now available as a combo amp! With a tweak to the circuit and a lot of work on the cabinet design, the combo has a tight, robust low end and a slightly more open tone than the head/cab version, all in a lightweight 1x12 combo format,” said David Grissom.
PRS Guitars continues its schedule of launching new products each month in 2025. Stay tuned to see new gear and 40th Anniversary limited-edition guitars throughout the year. For all of the latest news, click www.prsguitars.com/40 and follow @prsguitars on Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook, X, and YouTube.
Stompboxtober 2025: Mr. Black Pedals
Stompboxtober rolls on! Enter today for your chance to WIN the DoubleTracker Stereo from Mr. Black — true stereo double‑tracking that brings lush depth, detune magic, and studio-grade dimension to your sound. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the next pedal giveaway!
Stompboxtober 2025 - Win Pedals All Month Long!
Mr. Black DoubleTracker Stereo
The DoubleTracker Stereo delivers lush, organic stereo doubling with adjustable delay, pitch, and spread. Featuring dual isolated paths, intuitive controls, and unique SYNC/COMP modes, it adds depth and dimension to any instrument—perfect for guitar, bass, keys, vocals, and studio work. It’s not chorus. It’s Double Tracking. $279.95 Street
Mod Garage DIY Guitar Makeover: First Steps and Needle Files
Hello, and welcome back to another installment of Mod Garage. My homework for this month’s column was to completely disassemble last month’s Harley Benton guitar, and as expected, there were some surprises under the hood.
The first surprise hit me while taking off the factory-installed strings. While doing so, all six string ferrules fell out of the body onto the floor. While it’s not a rare scenario that the ferrules on a Telecaster can be pulled out easily, this was special. It’s not a big problem, because with the strings installed, the string tension will hold them in place, but who wants to search for the string ferrules on the floor every time you need to change the strings—especially on a dark stage floor in the middle of a gig? This is not custom-shop grade, so it was the first issue on my list.
After measuring the diameter of the drilled holes in the body and the ferrules, it was clear why they fell out: The holes are a lot larger than the diameter of the ferrules. It was clear that I can’t glue them in for a better fit, nor use tape to compensate. There were only two real solutions: close the holes in the body with wooden dowels and drill them again, or use different ferrules matching the diameter of the holes in the body. The stock bullet-shaped ferrules are very cheaply made, so I decided it wasn’t worth the work to save them. I ordered a new set of ferrules with a larger diameter than the holes in the body (making an existing hole bigger is much easier and less work than filling it and starting from zero). I picked a standard set of vintage protruding ferrules—the first $12 on our bill.
This wasn’t the best start, but it is what it is! After taking the guitar apart completely, I made a game plan. Visually, I want to keep it mostly vintage looking, but with a modern twist to get the best of both worlds. I decided to age the hardware only slightly to give it a used and worn look, but with no rust or artificial damages. Same with the body and neck—while the neck already has a satin-matte look, the body is very shiny and glossy. I’ll break the shine, giving it a matte and used look but without cracks or damage. This will lend the color a much more pleasing vintage appearance, and it’ll feel much better compared to the high-gloss finish. The complete guitar weighs only 7.2 lbs (3.3kg), which is really lightweight for a Telecaster. I really like light electric guitars, so I’ll attempt to shave off even more weight during this process.
Let’s start with analyzing the body of our guitar to see what we have. It’s easy to see that saving time and cutting costs were principal directives—which is understandable given the price of the guitar. Let’s love it for what it is rather than hating it for what it isn’t. The rough-hewn body is very lightweight and made out of basswood, which is not a traditional “tonewood” for electric guitars. It’s the first choice for carving and woodturning work of all kinds because it’s relatively soft; easy to work with, but solid. From the neck pocket’s vantage point, we can tell that the body isn’t made of one or two pieces of wood, but of many, many more. In the neck pocket alone, I can count four pieces, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the body is made out of 15 pieces or even more, so I think we can call it stave-glued. We can also glean some more information from the neck pocket: It’s not only stave-glued, but also laminated horizontally in several layers, and the paint is ultra-thick—a trait you can notice around every drilled hole on the body.
With these qualities in mind, let’s repeat some common internet guitar knowledge (CIGK) and make some assumptions about this instrument:
- A lightweight electric guitar will have no sustain and a thin sound.
- Basswood isn’t tonewood, so it won’t sound very good.
- It’s a multi-piece body, which will make it sound worse.
- The ultra-thick polyurethane finish kills tone because the wood of the guitar can’t breathe and resonate freely.
According to all this online wisdom, we have the worst guitar one can think of, right? Ignoring all these assumptions, one could argue it’s an excellent body because it’s extremely solidly made (stave-glued and laminated), armored under a thick and glass-like layer of ultra-resilient polyurethane finish, yet still lightweight. By the end of our project, we’ll see what’s fact and what’s fiction, but we have plenty of work to do first.
Here is a list of fixable issues to be addressed:
1. There is a lot of paint in almost every hole in the guitar, often paired with fringed wood fibres from the drilling process.
2. There is a lot of wooden debris, primer, and paint in the neck pocket, as well as a 10mm hole.
3. The depth of the bridge pickup’s cavity is relatively shallow.
4. Inside the electronic compartment there is a massive block of wood.
These will be the first steps to enhance the quality of the body, with the first being the easiest one. You don’t need much for this, just some half-round files in different sizes, a countersink, some old newspaper, and, of course, some time.
I assume they used worn-out, blunt drill bits in the factory, which would explain this mess. They first drilled the holes, with little care for the result, then painted over afterwards, preserving all the fringed wooden fibres under a thick layer of paint. Luckily, this is easy to correct. Cover your workspace with some old newspapers, place the body on it, and clean all the holes with a half-round needle file before using a larger one to clean the hole for the output jack.
This was the meanest one on this guitar—I was really surprised how much stuff came out of it after some passes with the file. After all the holes are cleaned and free of any paint and debris, use a sharp countersink to carefully clean the tops of all the holes. Don’t use any machine for this, just a countersink, your hands, moderate pressure, and two passes for every hole. Because the paint is really thick, it’s easy to chip off some color, so it’s important that your countersink is really sharp and you don’t apply too much pressure.
This was a good start! Next month, we will continue with the second task on our list: cleaning the neck pocket, which is a very important step. Stay tuned, and remember, our $352 budget is reduced to $340 because of the new ferrules I bought.
Until next month ... keep on modding!
Own the Reimagined Mark IIC+ HRG, and the New Vintage Thiele Cabinet
MESA/Boogie is the original boutique Home of Tone, handcrafting amplifiers of uncompromising quality from the world’s finest materials in Petaluma, California, USA. Today, with reverence and pride, MESA/Boogie has announced the arrival of the Mark IIC+ HRG and the return of the 1x12 Vintage Thiele Cabinet. The new MESA/Boogie Mark IIC+ HRG and the 1x12 Vintage Thiele Cabinet are now available worldwide at authorized dealers, Gibson Garage locations, and on www.mesaboogie.com.
“HRG harkens back to the Lagunitas Shop, where Randall Smith built every amp from an expanded menu, offering the ‘Super Sixty’ Boogie as the base model platform to build upon,” says Doug West, Director, Tone Lab, Gibson Amplifiers and MESA/Boogie. “Popular options included Hundred Watts, Reverb, and Graphic EQ, along with solid hardwood cabinetry for added beauty and durability. Using chassis codes during the build process, the two main models became the ‘SRG’ and the more powerful ‘HRG’—the fully loaded amp, sans cabinetry.
We’re excited to bring back this iconic and feature-rich Mark Series, now built on the IIC+ platform for the first time since the production Mark IIIs (and the more recent JP-2C). The result is a beast: it can play clean in Rhythm Mode at high volumes before clipping, and it tracks even tighter than the Simul IIC+ in the low end in Lead Mode, all while brandishing a ferocious ‘claw’ above it all.
With a personality all its own, the IIC+ ‘HRG’ is well worth a test drive for those seeking impressive headroom for clean work, super-tight low end for modern gain sounds, and maximum girth and authority across any style. This ‘Hun’ is no joke!”
Take a deep dive with Doug West into the history of the MESA/Boogie Mark IIC+ HRG: HERE.
MARK IIC+ HRG
The Mark IIC + sits above the 1x12 Vintage Thiele Cabinet, both pictured in Wicker Grille.
In the history and lore of the Boogie® Mark IIC+, the HRG holds a firm and lofty place. While 75-watt Simul-Class™ builds surpassed both the Super Sixty™ and 100-Watt models in number during the original mid-80s Mark IIC+ production lifecycle, the original Mark I “HRG” format – Hundred-Watt/ Reverb/Graphic EQ, or Hun/Rev/Graph – was always classic Boogie.
With bold authority, maximum headroom, tight tracking low end, and detailed clarity, the HRG became a favorite among those seeking immense clean headroom as well as a truly commanding lead voice. As the years passed and styles evolved, the HRG’s aggressiveness for “crunch” rhythm work earned it a revered place in heavy rock and metal as well. A Mark IIC+ HRG has long been the model of choice for virtuoso guitarist John Petrucci throughout his career with Dream Theater and various solo projects. Hence, this 100-watt model provided the perfect platform for the signature JP2C that MESA partnered with John to create for his performance needs. With one of the most expressive preamps of all time and the mightiest of power sections, the HRG puts an exclamation point on the Mark IIC+ sound that is as exciting as it is unequaled. If your dream amp calls for total authority, knockout punch, and undeniable character, look no further than the mighty Mark IIC+ HRG.
1x12 VINTAGE THIELE CABINET
The Mark IIC + sits above the 1x12 Vintage Thiele Cabinet, both pictured in Wicker Grille.
Back by popular demand, fat tone’s secret weapon, the 1x12 Vintage Thiele Cabinet. The seen-everywhere companion to Boogie® combos and small heads in the day, this little cabinet set the tone for compact rigs, club to concert arena, throughout the decade of decadence. This compact, ported 1x12 extension—available in black vinyl grille and wicker grille—is the perfect enhancement to our latest “second build” Mark IIC+ or any Mark Series combo or head and open-back cab rig, adding focused fundamental and thumping, gut-punch low end to those exciting sounds.
While initially designed for an Electro-Voice® EVM12L speaker and introduced (under Boogie banners) in the early 80s, the Thiele’s signature sound and relevance are timeless for anyone wanting to add girth and strategic percussive lows regardless of the amp’s origin or stylistic leanings. Now loaded with our era-appropriate proprietary Celestion® C90 speaker, the 1x12 Thiele delivers more than ample low-end punch yet responds with a forgiving, overdrive-friendly voice that adds today’s heavier styles to its originally versatile can-do list.
“While we’re feeling nostalgic, we wanted to bring back one of the iconic 1x12 Boogie cabinets to celebrate the excitement surrounding the IIC+—the Boogie Thiele 1x12 Extension,” says Doug West, Director, Tone Lab, Gibson Amplifiers and MESA/Boogie. “This sealed and ported design became synonymous with huge tone in the ’80s, when players and artists alike discovered it was a secret weapon for delivering massive low end far beyond its physical footprint, along with a tight, punchy overall sound.
We’re excited to offer this mighty little cab once again, now paired with a more forgiving and era-appropriate speaker—our proprietary Celestion C90—to complement the ‘HRG’ IIC+ and other compact Boogie rigs, especially as easy transport becomes increasingly important to players.”
Stompboxtober 2025: Gator Cases
Go big or go home! Today’s Stompboxtober prize is the Gator Kicker Series large pedalboard—a road-ready rig with space for your entire arsenal. Enter now for a chance to win, and don’t forget to stomp back tomorrow for another giveaway!
Stompboxtober 2025 - Win Pedals All Month Long!
Gator Cases Black Aluminum Pedal Board; Large w/ Carry Bag
Black Large aluminum pedal board with Gator carry bag and bottom mounting power supply bracket. *Power supply not included.
The Kicker Series Pedalboards bring style and function to your setup with bold color options—black, orange, green, and white. Built from lightweight aluminum, the large board offers a roomy 23.75" x 10.66" surface angled for easy pedal access and designed with cable-routing perforations to keep your rig clean. A universal mounting bracket fits most common power supplies beneath the board, while no-slip rubber feet keep everything stable. Every Kicker board comes ready to hit the stage with adhesive Velcro strips and a deluxe carry bag featuring a reinforced top and bottom, plus a removable shoulder strap. $199.99 Street Price
Gator Large Pedalboard with Bag - 23.75x10.6-inch Black
Bezard Guitars Introduces the Famine 6 Electric Guitar
Bezard Guitars has introduced the Famine 6, a striking new electric guitar that is built to be as visually captivating as it is sonically versatile. Its name is derived from the second horseman of the apocalypse, and the Famine 6’s ultra-light, slim design is crafted to melt seamlessly into the player’s body.
The body of the Famine 6 features a carefully chosen blend of tonewoods. Its mahogany body is complemented by Port Orford Cedar decorative veneers, with a tobacco sunburst finish enriched by striking red and gold resin inlay. As each guitar is built to order, other wood options and finishes are available. The back is radiused at 47 inches, while the top carries a 23.5-inch projection radius that mirrors the compound fretboard radius. The neck is a graphite-reinforced mahogany laminate construction, built for strength and stability. It carries a 25.5”–25” multiscale rosewood fretboard with a 12”–20” compound radius, either stainless steel or phosphor bronze fret wire, and a custom brass or aluminum nut, combining durability, smooth playability, and elegant detail.
For electronics, the Famine 6 comes equipped with Fishman Fluence pickups, offering modern tonal versatility and clarity. Once again, as each guitar is custom built, other pickups are available depending on the player’s preference. These are wired to a three-way selector switch with volume and tone controls, providing players with dynamic tonal options suitable for a wide range of styles and genres.
The guitar is finished with gold Hipshot hardware that ensures stability, precision, and a refined aesthetic. Each Famine 6 ships in a form-fitting custom TKL hard case, designed to protect the instrument with the same care and craftsmanship invested in its construction.
The debut of the Famine 6 reflects the vision of luthier Will Bezard, founder of Bezard Guitars. Bezard’s journey began with studies at the Galloup School of Lutherie, followed by six years working alongside the legendary Rick Turner, where he refined his expertise in every facet of guitar construction. Today, he continues his work at Galloup while building his own guitars, blending technical precision with artistic expression. Bezard is dedicated to creating instruments that inspire, endure, and resonate with players on every level.
The Bezard Guitars Famine 6 is available for a base price of $7000 USD. For more information please visit www.bezardguitars.com
Winnipeg’s Living Hour Control the Chaos
“Stainless Steel Dream,” the leadoff track from Living Hour’s fourth record, Internal Drone Infinity, begins with a manic, glitchy din. The sonic assault ends abruptly, swiftly contained, giving way to a lone bass and singer Sam Sarty's hushed opening lines: “Pink hair straightener, baby, messy messy dresser in a dark room, empty.” Less than 60 seconds goes by before the Winnipeg-based band ascends into a squall of noise and just as quickly calms themselves again. Internal Drone Infinity is defined sonically and lyrically by this tension—the push-and-pull between order and chaos, quiet and loud, inner and outer universes.
“I was thinking a lot about how anxiety and thoughts exist in your body and in the small decisions you make everyday and in what you see in the world,” Sarty says over the phone from her grandfather's house on Vancouver Island. “Your whole life is based on your perception of what you’re seeing. Then I thought about how anxiety and busy thoughts color that and affect it and change your whole life. When I’m feeling really extreme, I think, ‘Oh yeah, you could just die because a bee would buzz into your face and you’d freak out and fall off a cliff or something.’”
A typical response to existential dread is often grasping for control. On Internal Drone Infinity, this manifests in Living Hour’s gravitation toward precision in the midst of turbulence—in moments like the spiralling outro of “Wheel” or the feedback-heavy ease-in to “Big Shadow,” it’s as if the band has simply figured out how to put their hands around noise and turmoil and shape them to their whim. This move toward punchiness and away from the gentler, gauzier sounds of 2022’s Someday Is Today could be attributed to a number of things—the scientific rigor with which guitarists Gil Carroll and Adam Soloway tend to their tones, Sarty’s writing more guitar parts, or Carroll’s shift from mostly clean sounds to incorporating fuzz, distortion, and overdrive. (“Swiss army knife” multi-instrumentalist Brett Ticzon also handles a few guitar details, while drummer Isaac Tate plays one upside down on “Big Shadow”).
“We were kind of inspired by the band Superheaven, who I’m sure play their guitars through these massive stacks and get huge, huge guitar chord tones,” Soloway says. “But we were still working with our little amps, so we would be recording six different guitars doing different versions of a chord to try to make it sound as huge as possible, stacking them on top of each other.”
It’s likely, though, that the most significant change is that Sarty is confronting some of that aforementioned dread defiantly instead of turning away or opting for resignation. “Everyone’s kind of angry, we’re getting pissed, the world is fucked, and sometimes it feels like I can’t just be in a nice indie rock band anymore playing twinkly things,” Sarty says. “It’s still nice to do that, but I think there needs to be a release, a scream or a grunt or something.”
Internal Drone Infinity offers a lot of moments for that kind of release, often in the shape of incredibly sharp, layered, fuzzy freakouts—like on “Firetrap,” a Soloway joint that wrestles with the weight of the onslaught of violent images and videos online, or “Half Can,” which adds Jenna Wittman’s unsettling violin to the commotion.
Sarty’s precise sense of composition, tone, and execution likely stems from an obsessive impulse she’s had since childhood—to photograph and write about whatever catches her eye, whether it’s garbage or cheese. Combined with the fact she was writing these songs while working as a projectionist at Winnipeg’s independent movie theatre (“It’s a really cool job, because you can watch so many movies for free and you feel like a weird, twisted Gremlin”), Sarty has long been tuning her attention to small details, a practice which, like auteur cinema, creates its own dreaminess.
Gil Carroll’s Gear
Guitars
Fender American Telecaster
Epiphone Les Paul
Amps
Fender Vibrolux
Effects
Boss TU-3
Boss VB-2W
JHS 3 Series Distortion
Xotic EP Booster
Strymon Big Sky
Strymon El Capistan
Strings & Picks
Rotosound Roto Reds (.011–.048)
Adam Soloway’s Gear
Guitars
2015 Fender Classic Series ’60s Jazzmaster Lacquer with Mastery bridge
2020 Gibson SG Tribute
Amps
Fender ’68 Custom Deluxe Reverb Reissue
Effects
Boss TU-3
Electro-Harmonix POG
Fairfield Barbershop
Pro Co RAT
EarthQuaker Colby Fuzz
Boss TR-2
MXR Carbon Copy
Strymon Blue Sky
Electro-Harmonix Freeze
ZVex Instant Lo-Fi Junky
Strings & Picks
.88 mm guitar picks
.011-gauge string sets
Sam Sarty’s Gear List
Guitars & Basses
Fender Baritone Telecaster
Squier Jazz Bass
Amp
Ampeg Micro-CL
Effects
Electro-Harmonix Bass Big Muff
Korg Pitchblack XS
Way Huge Echo-Puss
Pro Co RAT
Brett Ticzon’s Gear
Guitar
Gibson SG Tribute
Effects
TC Electronic PolyTune
Electro-Harmonix Op Amp Big Muff
Boss DS-1
Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail
The low-key “Texting” maybe the most pining song on the record—which is saying something for a band that calls their music “yearn-core”—provides a poignant example of this phenomenon. The accumulation of mundane observations produces a strangeness much like that which emerges when you simply gather the seemingly disparate fragments of reality around you: “Sunwashed plastic garbage bin, blue now from the cornflower sun, handles like madonna’s nails; picking zits in Home Depot, and the tread in your shoes.” Elsewhere, there are isolated non-sequiturs (“soft chorus of cellos,” “rabbits looking”) and painful clarity: “I walk home from the movies ’cause I don’t have a car anymore / At 29, I feel sick, but I’m just getting started on my medicine.” It’s kind of like if the poet Mary Oliver had strolled the garbage-strewn and overgrown, busted-concrete back alleys of Manitoba’s capital instead of her peaceful Cape Cod forests.
“‘Texting’ is very much about Winnipeg,” Sarty says. “I was really thinking about moving during Covid, and then after I was like, ‘Okay, it’s my moment.’ But then I can never really leave. It just gets sticky.”
Stickiness—in this case, the stickiness of long-running relationships—is the tacit catalyst in this mixture that’s allowed Sarty to “come into her own as a songwriter” or for the band to record their “funnest album yet,” as Carroll notes. Closeness and intimacy—Carroll lives on the top floor in the same duplex as Sarty, whose apartment is also the band’s jamspace—plus time creates intangible and fluid dynamism. And at this point in their long collaboration, the band members are comfortable with taking the chaos of their 21st-century lives and, with each other’s help, making some order out of it.
“I can imagine a lot of bands struggle with delivering feedback about parts or when they want things to change in a song,” Carroll says. “And obviously we still have those conversations with care, and we’re gentle, but like, Solly can tell me, ‘That tone’s not working.’ Or we can say, ‘Sam, you need to tune your guitar.’ It’s good—that makes the song and the band better, and people are able to receive feedback, which I think has made our songs better, too. It’s like The Rehearsal season two. I’m Captain All-Ears when it comes to my tone.”
Winnipeg’s Living Hour Control the Chaos
“Stainless Steel Dream,” the leadoff track from Living Hour’s fourth record, Internal Drone Infinity, begins with a manic, glitchy din. The sonic assault ends abruptly, swiftly contained, giving way to a lone bass and singer Sam Sarty's hushed opening lines: “Pink hair straightener, baby, messy messy dresser in a dark room, empty.” Less than 60 seconds goes by before the Winnipeg-based band ascends into a squall of noise and just as quickly calms themselves again. Internal Drone Infinity is defined sonically and lyrically by this tension—the push-and-pull between order and chaos, quiet and loud, inner and outer universes.
“I was thinking a lot about how anxiety and thoughts exist in your body and in the small decisions you make everyday and in what you see in the world,” Sarty says over the phone from her grandfather's house on Vancouver Island. “Your whole life is based on your perception of what you’re seeing. Then I thought about how anxiety and busy thoughts color that and affect it and change your whole life. When I’m feeling really extreme, I think, ‘Oh yeah, you could just die because a bee would buzz into your face and you’d freak out and fall off a cliff or something.’”
A typical response to existential dread is often grasping for control. On Internal Drone Infinity, this manifests in Living Hour’s gravitation toward precision in the midst of turbulence—in moments like the spiralling outro of “Wheel” or the feedback-heavy ease-in to “Big Shadow,” it’s as if the band has simply figured out how to put their hands around noise and turmoil and shape them to their whim. This move toward punchiness and away from the gentler, gauzier sounds of 2022’s Someday Is Today could be attributed to a number of things—the scientific rigor with which guitarists Gil Carroll and Adam Soloway tend to their tones, Sarty’s writing more guitar parts, or Carroll’s shift from mostly clean sounds to incorporating fuzz, distortion, and overdrive. (“Swiss army knife” multi-instrumentalist Brett Ticzon also handles a few guitar details, while drummer Isaac Tate plays one upside down on “Big Shadow”).
“We were kind of inspired by the band Superheaven, who I’m sure play their guitars through these massive stacks and get huge, huge guitar chord tones,” Soloway says. “But we were still working with our little amps, so we would be recording six different guitars doing different versions of a chord to try to make it sound as huge as possible, stacking them on top of each other.”
It’s likely, though, that the most significant change is that Sarty is confronting some of that aforementioned dread defiantly instead of turning away or opting for resignation. “Everyone’s kind of angry, we’re getting pissed, the world is fucked, and sometimes it feels like I can’t just be in a nice indie rock band anymore playing twinkly things,” Sarty says. “It’s still nice to do that, but I think there needs to be a release, a scream or a grunt or something.”
Internal Drone Infinity offers a lot of moments for that kind of release, often in the shape of incredibly sharp, layered, fuzzy freakouts—like on “Firetrap,” a Soloway joint that wrestles with the weight of the onslaught of violent images and videos online, or “Half Can,” which adds Jenna Wittman’s unsettling violin to the commotion.
Sarty’s precise sense of composition, tone, and execution likely stems from an obsessive impulse she’s had since childhood—to photograph and write about whatever catches her eye, whether it’s garbage or cheese. Combined with the fact she was writing these songs while working as a projectionist at Winnipeg’s independent movie theatre (“It’s a really cool job, because you can watch so many movies for free and you feel like a weird, twisted Gremlin”), Sarty has long been tuning her attention to small details, a practice which, like auteur cinema, creates its own dreaminess.
Gil Carroll’s Gear
Guitars
Fender American Telecaster
Epiphone Les Paul
Amps
Fender Vibrolux
Effects
Boss TU-3
Boss VB-2W
JHS 3 Series Distortion
Xotic EP Booster
Strymon Big Sky
Strymon El Capistan
Strings & Picks
Rotosound Roto Reds (.011–.048)
Adam Soloway’s Gear
Guitars
2015 Fender Classic Series ’60s Jazzmaster Lacquer with Mastery bridge
2020 Gibson SG Tribute
Amps
Fender ’68 Custom Deluxe Reverb Reissue
Effects
Boss TU-3
Electro-Harmonix POG
Fairfield Barbershop
Pro Co RAT
EarthQuaker Colby Fuzz
Boss TR-2
MXR Carbon Copy
Strymon Blue Sky
Electro-Harmonix Freeze
ZVex Instant Lo-Fi Junky
Strings & Picks
.88 mm guitar picks
.011-gauge string sets
Sam Sarty’s Gear List
Guitars & Basses
Fender Baritone Telecaster
Squier Jazz Bass
Amp
Ampeg Micro-CL
Effects
Electro-Harmonix Bass Big Muff
Korg Pitchblack XS
Way Huge Echo-Puss
Pro Co RAT
Brett Ticzon’s Gear
Guitar
Gibson SG Tribute
Effects
TC Electronic PolyTune
Electro-Harmonix Op Amp Big Muff
Boss DS-1
Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail
The low-key “Texting” maybe the most pining song on the record—which is saying something for a band that calls their music “yearn-core”—provides a poignant example of this phenomenon. The accumulation of mundane observations produces a strangeness much like that which emerges when you simply gather the seemingly disparate fragments of reality around you: “Sunwashed plastic garbage bin, blue now from the cornflower sun, handles like madonna’s nails; picking zits in Home Depot, and the tread in your shoes.” Elsewhere, there are isolated non-sequiturs (“soft chorus of cellos,” “rabbits looking”) and painful clarity: “I walk home from the movies ’cause I don’t have a car anymore / At 29, I feel sick, but I’m just getting started on my medicine.” It’s kind of like if the poet Mary Oliver had strolled the garbage-strewn and overgrown, busted-concrete back alleys of Manitoba’s capital instead of her peaceful Cape Cod forests.
“‘Texting’ is very much about Winnipeg,” Sarty says. “I was really thinking about moving during Covid, and then after I was like, ‘Okay, it’s my moment.’ But then I can never really leave. It just gets sticky.”
Stickiness—in this case, the stickiness of long-running relationships—is the tacit catalyst in this mixture that’s allowed Sarty to “come into her own as a songwriter” or for the band to record their “funnest album yet,” as Carroll notes. Closeness and intimacy—Carroll lives on the top floor in the same duplex as Sarty, whose apartment is also the band’s jamspace—plus time creates intangible and fluid dynamism. And at this point in their long collaboration, the band members are comfortable with taking the chaos of their 21st-century lives and, with each other’s help, making some order out of it.
“I can imagine a lot of bands struggle with delivering feedback about parts or when they want things to change in a song,” Carroll says. “And obviously we still have those conversations with care, and we’re gentle, but like, Solly can tell me, ‘That tone’s not working.’ Or we can say, ‘Sam, you need to tune your guitar.’ It’s good—that makes the song and the band better, and people are able to receive feedback, which I think has made our songs better, too. It’s like The Rehearsal season two. I’m Captain All-Ears when it comes to my tone.”
Are Widespread Panic the Most Rocking Jam Band?
On the latest episode of 100 Guitarists, we're talking about the great Jimmy Herring with guitarists Rob Compa of the band Neighbor. Here, we discuss Widespread Panic -- are they the rocking-est of all?
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