Premier Guitar

Line 6, Inc. has introduced the Powercab® CL family of open-back multi-voice active guitar speaker systems designed to provide exceptional amplification for all modelers and even compact amp-simulation pedals.

“Both the Powercab CL 212 and Powercab CL 112 are perfect for practice and live performance,” said Rick Gagliano, Senior Director of Products. “Unlike FRFR cabs, they are loaded with custom-designed guitar speakers, providing a playing experience more like plugging into a guitar amplifier with a traditional open-back cabinet.”

The 200-watt Powercab CL 212 boasts dual 12" speakers, while the 100-watt Powercab CL 112 has a single 12" speaker. These lightweight open-back cabinets feature simple, straightforward controls—including a 3-band room EQ with Low, Mid, and High boost/cut. MIDI control and USB connectivity are also supported. Powercab CL cabs operate in either of two modes:

In Speaker Voicing mode, you can select Speaker Voicings that interact with the internal speakers to make them sound and respond more like one of six legendary speakers. In Power Amp In mode, they function as high-quality powered guitar cabs; In either mode, disable your modeler’s cab block and simply plug in and play.

While in either mode, you can insert a speaker IR into the XLR Out signal, creating an independent virtual cab when routing it to a front-of-house mixer or an audio interface. Six Factory IRs are included, and you can also load your own IRs using the free Powercab CL IR Loader application, select the default/neutral speaker IR, or bypass the IR on the XLR output.

No matter how you use them, Powercab CL speaker systems deliver consistent tone and feel at any volume.

Pricing & Availability

Powercab CL 212 is $549.99 USD (MSRP) and Powercab CL 112 is $449.99 USD (MSRP). Both are available worldwide.

OC Pedal Co. was formed in 2024 by Santa Ana native Evan Haymond, a session ace who toured with Jack Russell of Great White in the 2010s. Not surprisingly, OC Pedal Co.’s U.S.A.-made LA HABRA Hard Clipper evokes many of the crunchy sounds from that era.

Less is More

The LA HABRA’s control panel is minimal, with just two knobs—volume and tone. There’s no gain knob, instead you get a gain switch that lets you choose between two clipping profiles. In the right position the pedal employs op-amp clipping. Set it to the left and a set of LED diodes are activated. With humbuckers, the gain switch set to LED mode, and the tone knob at 11:00, the LA HABRA produced a toothy sound that, sure enough, produced power chord sounds that sounded more than a little like Great White’s cover of “Once Bitten, Twice Shy.”

Though the lack of a gain knob may leave some players feeling limited, the tone knob is a powerful tool for shaping the characteristics of the distortion, and with the tone knob at its darkest setting, the LA HABRA still delivers ample definition. Move the tone knob up to around 3:00, though, and there’s enough clarity and treble detail to make leads sizzle. To my ears this is where the pedal shines, and bumping the tone knob all the way up (with the gain switch still set to the LED clipping mode), the sound is super aggressive without being over-saturated.

In general, with the gain switch set to LED clipping you get a high-end boost and hear and feel more compression. Op-amp clipping tames some of the highs yielding a more balanced output, which is particularly noticeable when the tone knob is set to 3:00 and above. I generally preferred the gain switch set to op-amp clipping but each clipping mode yields sounds that can work in many contexts.

The Verdict

The LA HABRA has plenty of definition for melodic parts and is tough enough for bluesy riffs. For legato shred-type playing, there were times when I wished the pedal had a little more gain. But LA HABRA has a knack for feeling amp-like, particularly in terms of dynamics and touch sensitivity—much more so than many pedals that occupy this mid- to high-mid-gain category.

Hello, and welcome back to Mod Garage! Let’s pick up where we left off with our Telecaster.

Our next step will be to take care of the neck pocket, which is a very important and crucial task. This is the contact point of the body and the neck, so we want a tight, precise connection for maximum tuning stability and playing comfort.

I don’t know if it’s the same on all Harley Benton T-styles, but the fitting accuracy of the Harley Benton’s neck and neck pocket is perfect—I wish I saw this kind of quality on guitars which cost more than 10 times the price of this one! No need to modify our neck pocket by gluing in some wooden veneer to make it tighter; we can leave it just the way it is.

While the fitting is commendable, unfortunately the craftsmanship of the neck pocket itself is not that good. Besides wooden debris and chips, there’s a lot of “stuff” inside that I can’t identify for certain, but it’s likely some grain filler and clear coat. We’ll need to remove a fair amount from the neck pocket to ensure the heel of the neck has a completely level surface for installation.

I decided to use a simple razor blade, a Japanese carving knife, and a razor knife to scrape all the junk away. You can also use some micro chisels, or even simply sanding paper. Special knives that are used for guitar lutherie as well as violin-making are ultra-sharp, and with some practice, it’s easy and fast to use them for such tasks. I was surprised by how much material there was in the neck pocket; it had a strong chemical smell to it, so it went immediately into the garbage.

Next, I took some sandpaper of different grits to make the surface as smooth as possible. I started with 150-grit and worked my way up to 1000-grit. After blowing away all dust, the neck pocket was absolutely even and clean, offering the perfect surface for the neck heel. Pleased with the result, I moved on to the next task.

For some reason, there was a big hole in the neck pocket, which I think has something to do with the CNC routing or the painting process. While this hole is not a problem regarding stability, and it’s invisible after the neck is installed, it’s not in the original Fender design, and my inner monk can’t live with this, so it had to be closed with a wooden dowel. After measuring, it turned out to be a metric 10 mm hole, and I knew luck was on my side—as is often the case, IKEA would be my best friend. You’re probably familiar with the bevelled wooden dowels used on almost every IKEA product to attach two parts together. They’re made out of strong beech wood and available as individual spare parts with an 8 or 10 mm diameter, so I always have a good collection in the shop. This was easy going: I simply cut the dowel to length and put it in a cup of warm water for a couple minutes so it expanded a little bit for a tight fit. After drying it for a short time, I put some wood glue on it, plus some in the hole, before pushing it in and wiping away the excess glue with a damp cloth.

A tip from the shop: Ask your local optical store what they are doing with the old lenses from their customers. If there’s a chance you can get some for free, this is the perfect helper for any glue job—I always have a good collection of such lenses in the shop, and they’re easy to clean with a bit of rubbing alcohol. Put the wood glue on the concave side of the lens and use a toothpick to apply the glue to the dowel and hole. Afterwards, wipe the rest of the glue away, clean the lens with water, and it’s ready for the next time. This also works for super glue, but you’ll have to throw away the lens afterwards.

Here, we can clearly see how many different pieces of wood are glued together for the body (I count four pieces alone in the small neck pocket), that the body is laminated horizontally, and the thickness of the paint.

As you can see, the routings for the bridge pickup and the electronics are a little bit strange. The bridge pickup’s cavity is relatively shallow, and a Forstner drill bit was used to create deeper spots for the three screws holding the pickup in place. At the bottom of the electronics compartment is a block of wood, which I’d guess was there to shorten routing time and reduce production costs. I still haven’t decided on the pickups and electronics I’ll use for this guitar, but I certainly don’t want to run into any trouble making them fit. The wooden obstruction here could limit what sorts of pots and pickup-selected switches we can use, so it’s best to get ahead of that and remove it from the equation. (Even if it doesn’t end up being 100 percent necessary, it’ll remove a bit of excess weight!) So, let’s carve out some space here.

The professional way would be to mask the whole body with tape and use a handheld router to remove the wood. Since I bet most of you don’t have that sort of tool, we’ll do it the old-fashioned way, using a Forstner drill bit and a drill press. I don’t recommend any handheld drilling device for this—if you don’t have access to a drill press or a handheld router, ask your local carpenter if he can do the work for you. After masking the body, the drilling process is easy to do with a sharp Forstner bit. I used a smaller one for the edges and a bigger one for the rest.

It’s a crude but effective—and fast—way to remove the wood. After the drilling, I used some sandpaper to smooth out the surface and put some shellac on the bare wood, but this isn’t mandatory—my inner monk, you know? Take care to not drill too deep, which happened to me years ago on a custom-made Jaguar body with a very special paintjob. That wasn’t fun to explain to the customer.

Next month, we’ll finish the work on the body, before moving on to the hardware and electronics. The good news is that our $340 budget is still in hand for future investments, so stay tuned.

Hello, and welcome back to Mod Garage! Let’s pick up where we left off with our Telecaster.

Our next step will be to take care of the neck pocket, which is a very important and crucial task. This is the contact point of the body and the neck, so we want a tight, precise connection for maximum tuning stability and playing comfort.

I don’t know if it’s the same on all Harley Benton T-styles, but the fitting accuracy of the Harley Benton’s neck and neck pocket is perfect—I wish I saw this kind of quality on guitars which cost more than 10 times the price of this one! No need to modify our neck pocket by gluing in some wooden veneer to make it tighter; we can leave it just the way it is.

While the fitting is commendable, unfortunately the craftsmanship of the neck pocket itself is not that good. Besides wooden debris and chips, there’s a lot of “stuff” inside that I can’t identify for certain, but it’s likely some grain filler and clear coat. We’ll need to remove a fair amount from the neck pocket to ensure the heel of the neck has a completely level surface for installation.

I decided to use a simple razor blade, a Japanese carving knife, and a razor knife to scrape all the junk away. You can also use some micro chisels, or even simply sanding paper. Special knives that are used for guitar lutherie as well as violin-making are ultra-sharp, and with some practice, it’s easy and fast to use them for such tasks. I was surprised by how much material there was in the neck pocket; it had a strong chemical smell to it, so it went immediately into the garbage.

Next, I took some sandpaper of different grits to make the surface as smooth as possible. I started with 150-grit and worked my way up to 1000-grit. After blowing away all dust, the neck pocket was absolutely even and clean, offering the perfect surface for the neck heel. Pleased with the result, I moved on to the next task.

For some reason, there was a big hole in the neck pocket, which I think has something to do with the CNC routing or the painting process. While this hole is not a problem regarding stability, and it’s invisible after the neck is installed, it’s not in the original Fender design, and my inner monk can’t live with this, so it had to be closed with a wooden dowel. After measuring, it turned out to be a metric 10 mm hole, and I knew luck was on my side—as is often the case, IKEA would be my best friend. You’re probably familiar with the bevelled wooden dowels used on almost every IKEA product to attach two parts together. They’re made out of strong beech wood and available as individual spare parts with an 8 or 10 mm diameter, so I always have a good collection in the shop. This was easy going: I simply cut the dowel to length and put it in a cup of warm water for a couple minutes so it expanded a little bit for a tight fit. After drying it for a short time, I put some wood glue on it, plus some in the hole, before pushing it in and wiping away the excess glue with a damp cloth.

A tip from the shop: Ask your local optical store what they are doing with the old lenses from their customers. If there’s a chance you can get some for free, this is the perfect helper for any glue job—I always have a good collection of such lenses in the shop, and they’re easy to clean with a bit of rubbing alcohol. Put the wood glue on the concave side of the lens and use a toothpick to apply the glue to the dowel and hole. Afterwards, wipe the rest of the glue away, clean the lens with water, and it’s ready for the next time. This also works for super glue, but you’ll have to throw away the lens afterwards.

Here, we can clearly see how many different pieces of wood are glued together for the body (I count four pieces alone in the small neck pocket), that the body is laminated horizontally, and the thickness of the paint.

As you can see, the routings for the bridge pickup and the electronics are a little bit strange. The bridge pickup’s cavity is relatively shallow, and a Forstner drill bit was used to create deeper spots for the three screws holding the pickup in place. At the bottom of the electronics compartment is a block of wood, which I’d guess was there to shorten routing time and reduce production costs. I still haven’t decided on the pickups and electronics I’ll use for this guitar, but I certainly don’t want to run into any trouble making them fit. The wooden obstruction here could limit what sorts of pots and pickup-selected switches we can use, so it’s best to get ahead of that and remove it from the equation. (Even if it doesn’t end up being 100 percent necessary, it’ll remove a bit of excess weight!) So, let’s carve out some space here.

The professional way would be to mask the whole body with tape and use a handheld router to remove the wood. Since I bet most of you don’t have that sort of tool, we’ll do it the old-fashioned way, using a Forstner drill bit and a drill press. I don’t recommend any handheld drilling device for this—if you don’t have access to a drill press or a handheld router, ask your local carpenter if he can do the work for you. After masking the body, the drilling process is easy to do with a sharp Forstner bit. I used a smaller one for the edges and a bigger one for the rest.

It’s a crude but effective—and fast—way to remove the wood. After the drilling, I used some sandpaper to smooth out the surface and put some shellac on the bare wood, but this isn’t mandatory—my inner monk, you know? Take care to not drill too deep, which happened to me years ago on a custom-made Jaguar body with a very special paintjob. That wasn’t fun to explain to the customer.

Next month, we’ll finish the work on the body, before moving on to the hardware and electronics. The good news is that our $340 budget is still in hand for future investments, so stay tuned.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame® Inductees, GRAMMY® Award-nominated icons, and RUSH Co-Founders Geddy Lee [bass, keys, vocals] and Alex Lifeson [guitar, vocals] have announced their return to the stage for a very special 2026 headline tour, Fifty Something, in celebration of RUSH’s music, legacy, and the life of late drummer and lyricist Neil Peart. It notably marks the first time Lee and Lifeson have toured together in eleven years since the finale of RUSH’s R40 Tour on August 1, 2015 at the Forum in Los Angeles, CA, bringing it full circle with a return to the Forum to embark upon these special shows.Of the tour, Geddy Lee says:

“It’s been over 10 years since Alex and I have performed the music of RUSH alongside our fallen bandmate and friend Neil. A lifetime’s worth of songs that we had put our cumulative hearts and souls into writing, recording and playing together onstage. And so, after all that has gone down since that last show, Alex and I have done some serious soul searching and come to the decision that we fucking miss it, and that it’s time for a celebration of 50-something years of RUSH music. So in 2026, my BFF Lerxst (aka Alex Lifeson) and I are going to hit the road once again to pay tribute to our past and to Neil by performing a vast selection of RUSH songs in a handful of cities. No small task, because as we all know Neil was irreplaceable.

Yet life is full of surprises, and we have been introduced to another remarkable person; an incredible drummer and musician who is adding another chapter to our story while continuing her own fascinating musical journey. Her name is Anika Nilles, and we could not be more excited to introduce her to our loyal and dedicated RUSH fanbase, whom, we know, will give her every chance to live up to that near impossible role. Before we hit the stage, we also hope to add another musician or two to expand our sound a wee bit and free up Alex and I, in order to show off some of our new fancy dance steps.

Lerxst, Anika and myself, along with many of our longstanding crew members have been hard at work rehearsing and designing the kind of RUSH show you’ve grown accustomed to expect from us. We dearly hope you will come along and help us celebrate our history together.”

Carrie Nuttall-Peart and Olivia Peart, Neil’s widow and daughter share:

“We are thrilled to support the Fifty Something tour, celebrating a band whose music has resonated and inspired fans for generations, and to honor Neil’s extraordinary legacy as both a drummer and lyricist.

Neil’s musicianship was singular. Compositions of intricacy and power that expanded what rhythm itself could express. As both drummer and lyricist, he was irreplaceable. Inimitable in his artistry, and unmatched in the depth and imagination he brought to the lyrics that inspired and moved so many, he profoundly shaped how fans connected with him and the band, giving voice and meaning to their own lives.

As the band enters this new chapter, it promises to be truly unforgettable. We are excited to see how their new vision unfolds, and to hear this legendary music played live once again.”

Earlier today, fans got the news via a Rush newsletter from a home video that announced the celebration of upcoming dates with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson at Geddy Lee’s home studio. Watch here.

Last night the band celebrated in a private event at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland with this on-stage interview and Q&A. Watch full clip here.RUSH will perform multiple shows in 7 cities across Canada, the United States and Mexico, beginning June 7, 2026 at The Kia Forum in Los Angeles. These special “evening with” shows will find the band playing two sets each night. Each show will feature a distinct selection of songs and RUSH will build each night’s setlist from a catalogue of 35 songs including their greatest hits and fan favorites.

For Fifty Something, Lee and Lifeson will be accompanied by German drummer, composer, and producer Anika Nilles, who has performed as Jeff Beck’s drummer for over 60 shows and has released four solo albums.

Fans will be able to participate in the RUSH Artist Presale by signing up at https://livemu.sc/rush by Thursday, October 9 at 11:59pm ET.

Artist Presales for this tour are hosted by multiple ticketing sites but anyone who signs up can join the sale. For Artist Presales on Ticketmaster, no code is needed – access is tied to your account. The Artist Presale on SeatGeek for Cleveland will require a code. The Artist Presale begins on Monday, October 13 at 12PM local time in the US and Canada and Thursday, October 16 at 12PM local time in Mexico. General onsale begins here on Friday, October 17th at 12pm local time for the US & Canada, and 11am local time for Mexico.

Additionally, these pre-sales will be available:

• Citi for US shows: Citi is the official card of the RUSH 2026 tour. Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets in the US beginning Friday, October 10 at 12pm local time until Sunday, October 12 at 11:59pm local time through the Citi Entertainment program. For complete presale details visit www.citientertainment.com.
• American Express for Canada: American Express® Card Members can purchase tickets for the Toronto show before the general public beginning Friday, October 10 at 12pm local time through Sunday, October 12 at 11:59pm local time.
• Banamex for Mexico City: Banamex cardholders will have presale access ahead of the general onsale. Times vary based on Banamex card type, see list below for more details.
  • (BEYOND BANAMEX): Presale available Monday, 10/13 9:00 AM local to 11:59 PM local
  • (ELITE BANAMEX): Presale available Tuesday, 10/14 9:00 local to 11:59 PM local
  • (ALL CARDS): Presale available Wednesday, 10/15 11 AM local to 11:59 PM local

Rush invites fans to get closer than ever with three elevated offerings: an all-new VIP program, the first-ever 2112 Platform Experience, and curated Travel Packages for fans making a trip to see the show.

For VIP: http://wearesuper.co/rushvip
For Travel: http://wearesuper.co/rushtravel

TOUR DATES

Sun Jun 07 Los Angeles, CA Kia Forum
Tue Jun 09 Los Angeles, CA Kia Forum
Thu Jun 18 Mexico City, MX. Palacio de los Deportes
Wed Jun 24 Fort Worth, TX Dickies Arena
Fri Jun 26 Fort Worth, TX Dickies Arena
Thu Jul 16 Chicago, IL United Center
Sat Jul 18 Chicago, IL United Center
Tue Jul 28 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
Thu Jul 30 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
Fri Aug 07 Toronto, ON Scotiabank Arena
Sun Aug 09 Toronto, ON Scotiabank Arena
Thu Sep 17 Cleveland, OH Rocket Arena

Additionally, RUSH just revealed the 50-track super deluxe anthology, RUSH 50, that Rolling Stone called “an epic saga, that functions equally well as an introduction for the uninitiated or a companion piece for the super fan.” RUSH 50 is available in five distinct configurations, including the (1) Super Deluxe Edition, (2) RUSH Store Exclusive Super Deluxe Edition, (3) 7-LP Deluxe Edition, (4) 4-CD Deluxe Edition, and (5) Digital Edition. It represents breadth of their discography, beginning with the first-ever reissue of their 1973 debut single and concluding with a live recording the final song Lee, Lifeson, and Peart played together during the R40 Tour closer at The Forum. Purchase HERE.

Get ready to celebrate the music of RUSH with Lee and Lifeson live in 2026!

Things are heating up this Stompboxtober! Enter today for your chance to WIN the Fireman high-gain distortion pedal from NUX!

Stompboxtober 2025 - Win Pedals All Month Long!

NUX Fireman

FIREMAN is based on the legendary amplifier builder’s famous distortion pedal. It’s a very amp-like distortion pedal with Modern Brown Sound. We designed it with 2 independent VOLUME, GAIN control knobs to fit rhythm and solo applications. FIREMAN offers a True-bypass / Buffer-bypass toggle switch, and a 9V / 18V toggle switch. The 18V position doubles the working voltage inside to give you wider dynamic range.

My dad, Al, was a skilled carpenter who did all manner of woodworking, including reproductions, cabinetry, and custom jobs. In the early ’70s, he and my uncle Bruno harvested a pile of walnut and cherry logs at a sawmill in Erin, Ontario. I went along, and it was a fantastic experience. The entire mill, both the main rip and cutoffs, was powered by a John Deere two-cylinder tractor with a 20-foot belt attachment. Wow!

​Reader: Kirk Gresser

Hometown: Brantford, Ontario

Guitar: Alcaster

The planks were stored at my uncle John's farm for 10 years, and two brothers who assumed the business name Flintstone and Kramden (honoring Jackie Gleason, of course) decided to use them, along with butternut they purchased, to make a series of grandfather clocks. The guts of the clocks were from Germany, so they were costly, and then Ethan Allen came along and that was that for the clock business. Still, they made quite a few clocks, and by the time they were done there were just a few planks of the original wood left over. After my Dad passed I inherited three of them.

I wanted to use them to build a guitar, but having no experience in that world, I reached out to a talented local luthier, Jesse Livingstone. I gave him the cherry planks to shape the body, which would be his first electric-oriented project. I wanted a T-style but tend to find traditional Telecaster bodies chunky, so I used a 1/4" thinner Squier Telecaster as a template. Jesse also carved a Stratocaster-like belly and forearm cuts, and so the body feels much more like my Stratocasters—in other words, perfect.

“I wanted a T-style but tend to find traditional Telecaster bodies chunky, so I used a 1/4" thinner Squier Telecaster as a template.”

An inventive local amp repairman, Pete Vanderveen, installed the rosewood Squier neck, and stuck a Seymour Duncan P-90 in the neck position and a ’60s Kent single coil, which reminded me of an old Kelvinator refrigerator handle, in the bridge. The Wilkinson bridge enables stringing through the body or as a top-loader, and two Gibson speed knobs serve as volume controls for each pickup. Pete also installed a series/parallel switch.

The pickguard, made by Greasy Grooves, is designed to resemble rust. I had hoped to match the cherry red of George Gobel’s Gibson L-5 but couldn’t find the exact color, so I used burgundy leather dye and five coats of lacquer. The result, which I call the “Alcaster,” looks like black cherry. The whole guitar comes in at a light 7.5 pounds. With D'Addario .011-.049s, the guitar delivers a Les Paul-like tone on the neck pickup, while the combined sounds go from round to Howlin’ Wolf.

As for me? I've been writing songs for 50 years (not one of them has bought me so much as a cup of coffee) under the name Purple Joe. Imagine Mark Knopfler, Jimi Hendrix, and Neil Young playing poker with Scott Merritt and Carole King—and losing!

Stompboxtober is still going strong! Enter today’s giveaway for your chance to WIN the lush and legendary TriceraChorus from Eventide!

Stompboxtober 2025 - Win Pedals All Month Long!

Eventide TriceraChorus

Inspired by the classic Tri-Stereo Chorus and stompbox choruses of the 1970s and early 1980s, the TriceraChorus pedal pairs rich Bucket Brigade-style chorusing with Eventide’s legendary MicroPitch detuning for a lushness that rivals the jungles of the late Cretaceous Period. TriceraChorus features three chorus voices and three unique chorus effects which can be used to create a wide stereo spread with pulsing waves of modulation. The innovative “Swirl” footswitch adds psychedelic flanging, phasing, and Univibe-style tones. It has never been easier to dial in syrupy smooth, deep modulation on guitar, bass, synths, strings, vocals, and more.

.rbm-pick { display: grid; grid-template-columns: 160px 1fr; gap: 16px; align-items: center; border: 1px solid #e6e6e6; border-radius: 12px; padding: 16px; } /* Media box — no cropping, no edge kiss */ .rbm-pick-media { height: 180px; /* fixed height for consistency */ padding: 8px; /* breathing room to avoid flat-cut edges */ box-sizing: border-box; /* keep total height = 180px */ border-radius: 10px; background: #fff; overflow: hidden; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center; } .rbm-pick-media img { max-width: 100%; max-height: 100%; width: auto; /* preserve aspect */ height: auto; object-fit: contain; /* never crop */ object-position: center; display: block; } .rbm-badge { display: inline-block; font: 600 12px/1.2 system-ui; padding: 4px 8px; border-radius: 999px; background: #111; color: #fff; margin-bottom: 8px; } .rbm-title { font: 700 18px/1.3 system-ui; margin: 4px 0 8px; } .rbm-blurb { font: 400 14px/1.5 system-ui; color: #333; margin-bottom: 12px; } .rbm-pick-buttons { display: flex; gap: 8px; flex-wrap: wrap; } .rbm-pick .rbm-btn { display: inline-flex; gap: 6px; align-items: center; border: 2px solid #b50000; /* Premier Guitar red */ border-radius: 999px; padding: 10px 16px; text-decoration: none; font: 600 14px/1.2 system-ui; color: #b50000; background: #fff; box-shadow: 0 2px 5px rgba(0,0,0,0.12); transition: background .2s, color .2s, transform .15s; } .rbm-pick .rbm-btn:hover { background: #b50000; color: #fff; transform: translateY(-1px); } .rbm-pick .rbm-btn .price { opacity: 1; font-weight: 600; } /* Responsive tweaks */ @media (max-width: 540px) { .rbm-pick { grid-template-columns: 1fr; } .rbm-pick-media { height: 160px; padding: 6px; } } @media (min-width: 900px) { .rbm-pick-media { height: 200px; } }

Darkglass Electronics is a bass player’s company. And like many bass-centric brands, they sometimes seem determined to ensure that guitar players aren’t the only ones having fun when it comes to amps and effects. If that’s true, the DSP-driven Anagram may be their most impressive form of revenge yet.

All The Things, All So Small

The Anagram is a sleek unit with just three footswitches and six knobs above the touch screen. Plug in the unit (there’s no on/off) and the screen lights up, welcoming you to your journey. It’s an inviting interface, and it’s hard to avoid the impulse to just start tapping and scrolling.

Connection options are plentiful: There’s a send and return that can be configured as a stereo effects loop or a mono loop and expression pedal input, a 1/8" headphone jack, and a USB-C port along with two 1/8" MIDI ports for connecting an external MIDI controller and sending MIDI. Four outputs take up half of the back panel, with two XLRs and two 1/4" jacks.

Looking Through the Darkglass

There are 19 pages of tutorial you can scan on the touch screen after the initial power up, but that shouldn’t be discouraging. The Anagram is, in general, easy to grasp. There are three modes that can be used to navigate its many features. Preset mode uses footswitches to move between presets, though there will be an audible gap when you switch between them. Stomp mode allows you to use the footswitches to toggle between three virtual stompoxes within a preset, so you can, for instance, use the chorus on a bridge and overdrive for your bass solo. The deeper scene mode enables you to seamlessly switch between scenes, which can include completely different groups of pedals and settings. Think of it as an octopus switching multiple stomps and turning knobs for you all at once.

Three screen views are available: chain, bindings, and name. Chain view provides the most pedalboard-like representation of the signal path. This is where you can manage and route your preset’s effects in an efficient, more “analog” way. It’s intuitive and the most direct way to create a preset from scratch or reshape an existing one. Bindings mode allows access to parameters within a preset and enables you to assign the most critical controls to the six knobs at the top of the Anagram. Name mode displays—you guessed it—the name of the active preset. It’s the easiest readout to see in a low-light stage setting. But if any of the individual views don’t serve your purposes, the modes can be combined in multiple configurations.

The Anagram makes editing global settings a breeze. Hold down the sixth knob to enter mixer mode, where you can control the L/R and XLR outputs—either individually or linked for consistent volume—as well as the headphone and master outputs. Tapping the “EQ” box in this screen takes you to the very precise global EQ, where you can adjust gain, width, and frequency in a range from 25 Hz to 16.0kHz.

Ana-tons of Tone

With more than 50 effects (Darkglass says that thousands of additional effects and amps are available via integration with the Neural Amp Modeler), Anagram's factory presets are a great place to begin exploration. I jumped down the rabbit hole starting with Factory preset 01—“harmonic booster.” In this preset, there are six elements in the chain, and when one of the six knobs along the top row are pressed, the corresponding effect goes dark, signaling that the effect is off. The same six knobs also control user-defined parameters within the effect, or a virtual speaker cab, if you switch one into the chain. Once you’re happy with your tweaks, you tap the three dots on the touch screen and save the preset. It’s really simple. Swapping effects within a preset is just as quick—tap the pedal icon you want to change, and you’ll jump straight to its edit screen.

While the sounds are superb, the Anagram truly shines in its ease of programmability and the precision with which you can switch things up.

Paired with my passive, J-bass-style Bluesman Vintage Eldorado, the harmonic booster preset was enough to make my day. Though there are 12 effect blocks available—or 24 in parallel—in that preset, only five are used in its factory preset form, permitting me to add rich chorus and octave to the already satisfying tone. The depth of familiar effects and amps is impressive. With searing overdrives, signature Darkglass pedals, and a super-wide range of bass-centric effects, I was like a kid in a candy store. And there are also 20 cab options and a boatload of mic options that can be situated in different positions relative to the cab. The options are seemingly endless.

The Verdict

The Anagram is ideal in a lot of settings. For fly dates, it’s compact and easy to re-program if, say, you add a new song to the set on a whim. Provided there is a proper P.A., the unit is truly all you need to get the job done. Able to run the gamut of vintage and modern sounds, it could be a cover-band bass player’s best friend. And while the sounds are superb, the Anagram truly shines in its ease of programmability and the precision with which you can switch things up. From an economic standpoint, the Anagram is the equivalent of purchasing several traditional floor pedals … and then getting hundreds more for free. At just under $1,200, that’s math that makes sense.

I’m in the middle of writing a book about transcription and ear training. Broadly speaking, I think the two are essentially the same thing.

Transcription, at its core, is about the connection between listening and playing. It’s the real work we do to become more fluent as musicians. Listening, I think, is a relatively low-effort exercise since you can do it almost anywhere, while doing almost anything. On some level, the performance element of our playing could also be considered low-effort when compared to the work required to get there.

There are, of course, exceptions to both—especially in situations like active listening, where you’re learning a piece of intense music in a short space of time, or when you’re on a gig and reading something complicated. Both of those are anything but low-effort. But in general, the real workload comes when we are bridging the gap between them.

Now, whether you refer to it as ear training or transcription, what I’ve come to realize over the three decades I’ve been training my ear and writing things down is that it’s actually all about the feel—and has comparatively little to do with the notes.

Think about being in a room with two people speaking fluent French. You don’t speak a word of it, but there are a few sounds that resemble English. Immediately, you can mimic the sound of their voices, the tempo of their speech, and even approximate an accent. Yes, it’s going to sound terrible at first, and it might come across as if you’re mocking them—trying to speak like them without any actual vocabulary.

But I believe that by mimicking the time, the sound, and the feel of their language, you’ll get closer to fluency much faster once you start adding even the smallest amount of vocabulary. Being able to say hello, goodbye, how are you, and a few other basic phrases with a legitimate-sounding accent and tempo will give the outward impression that you know what you’re doing—and the inward confidence that every new word you learn will feel more authentic than if you had just memorized phrases without ever hearing the language.

I’m a jazz musician, and this method of bridging the gap between listening and playing has been my life’s work. I still practice it almost every day. That doesn’t always mean transcribing pages and pages of John Coltrane solos, but my intent is always guided by curiosity. As soon as I hear something great—or something I don’t immediately understand—I switch into transcription mode and get down to work.

“Singing along to a bass line is priceless. It not only locks the rhythm into your brain, but it also builds instinct for where the root motion of the harmony is going.”

Vocalizing as I listen has always been a fantastic way to get into transcription. It’s not great for anyone listening—I’m a horrific singer—but it’s not about singing all the pitches perfectly in tune. It’s about getting the feel and the rhythmic language of the music embedded in your brain long before you pick up your instrument to learn it, or put pen to paper to write it down. Singing along to a bass line is priceless. It not only locks the rhythm into your brain, but it also builds instinct for where the root motion of the harmony is going. More often than not, the bass is at the bottom of the chord, and being able to pick out the root motion is a superpower when it comes to learning songs or working in a band.

And if, as a result of active listening, vocalizing, and transcription, you build a strong connection between your ear and your instrument, then the feel of the music is always going to be front and center.

Even though everyone in the band should be equally responsible for the time and the feel of a song, we all know that bass players often shoulder more of that weight. We have so much rhythmic and harmonic control from our position in the mix that I think it’s imperative we work even harder on our feel than everyone else. Call me biased, but I think history might back me up on that one.

Stompboxtober continues with today's featured pedal: The VOX Auto Wah V863-CA! Enter below for your chance to WIN all month long.

Stompboxtober 2025 - Win Pedals All Month Long!

VOX Auto Wah V863-CA

VOX has shaped the sound of expressive guitar since the very first wah. The new VOX Auto Wah marks the next step: combining the classic sweep of a traditional wah with the modern versatility of an auto-wah in one creative, hybrid pedal.

This latest VOX Wah offers three distinct ways to bring your tone alive. In Pedal Mode, it delivers the timeless treadle sweep that defined funk and rock. Envelope Generator Mode introduces automatic movement triggered by your attack, while Envelope Follower Mode responds dynamically to your playing intensity, creating vocal-like textures that shift with every dynamic nuance. Seamless transitions between manual and auto control—simply by stepping on the treadle—keep the pedal feeling intuitive and musical underfoot.

Designed for today’s funk, fusion, jam-band, and experimental players—and inspired by the adventurous spirit of pioneers like Bootsy Collins—the VOX Auto Wah V863-CA blends heritage with innovation. It’s not just a nod to the past; it’s a forward-looking tool for guitarists seeking fresh sounds and new forms of expression.

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I've kept a keen eye on affordable wireless systems since the late ’90s, when I first decided to go cable-free. The latest entry is Fishman’s look-ma-no-cables debut, the AirLock Wireless GT. It’s an appealing and compact system. There’s a 3.5" x 2.5" receiver that plugs directly into a pedalboard or amp and a 3" x 2" transmitter that plugs into your guitar jack, so size-wise it’s comparable to Line 6’s G30. Like that device, it also has cable tone settings, with positions that replicate the effect the capacitance of 3-meter, 5-meter, and 10-meter cables have on a guitar’s sound.

The kit comes in an 8" x 5" x 3" molded carrying case that includes a Y charging cable to juice up the transmitter and receiver via a single USB out, and a USB data cable. A 5-minute charge gets you two hours of playing time, but a full charge can last for 9 to 10 hours, according to Fishman. There is also a USB power supply that's sold separately, plus the GT can take a barrel pin connector for more permanent pedalboard installs. That’s a lot of options for power.

The transmitter also has a switch to combat frequency interference, with low, medium, and high settings. The higher each setting goes, the higher the latency, but, again according to Fishman, the maximum latency is only 4.9ms, which is, essentially, undiscernible. I certainly could not detect any while I played.

Firing up the AirLock Wireless GT was effortless. The devices are pre-paired and connected instantly every time. The transmitter and receiver also felt very secure when plugged into the inputs of my guitar and my pedalboard, and both devices feature the sam articulating plug, so it’s easy to plug securely into a variety of input-jack styles.

True Tone

Where the AirLock really shines is fidelity, and the cable tone settings are a big part of this device’s overall sonic picture. I loved how sparkling and alive my guitar sounded with the cable tone set at 3 meters: harmonically rich and vibrant in a way my current wireless setup doesn't quite achieve. Honestly, I felt the Wireless GT’s interior circuitry improved my natural tone. With the setting at 5 meters, I heard some loss of high end more like what I’m used to in cost-efficient wireless units. But I also find the resulting darkness and midrange focus appealing, since I typically shoot for a warm, burnished, mid-focused sound. At 10 meters, there was a bit too much detail loss for my tastes, but as always with guitar tones, each individual player’s preferences will out.

The hitch for me was range. While Fishman promises 120 feet under what it refers to as “spin range” conditions (essentially taking a spin around the venue while playing with a lot of energy) and promises that “line-of-sight” is not required, I experienced some dropouts walking just two rooms away from the receiver in my home. When I wandered outside the sound became intermittent at about 50 feet. Granted, there was a wall with a window and a door between me and the receiver, but I’ve gone well over 100 feet off stage in a club and outside into the street, with the signal sustained through a brick wall with glass windows and a door, with my current wireless, which falls in the same price range. Your results may vary.

The Verdict

While my experience with the AirLock Wireless GT’s range didn’t match Fishman’s testimonial, the unit’s price, sound quality, ease of use, and small size is wildly appealing, and I would not hesitate to use it on a large stage or in a space where line of sight is not an issue. As a result, I would urge guitarists looking to play untethered take it for a literal spin themselves.

I feel a little embarrassed when people ask me about my guitar influences. I can't claim expertise of Hendrix, I haven't spent hours woodshedding Eric Johnson, and I couldn't tell you the first thing about how to play like David Gilmour. My influences are more behind the scenes, lurking in the shadows of the music industry. They don't have big names, but they are monster players. I'm talking about the number one, most honest influence on my guitar playing: Nashville session guitarists.

In case you don't know, Nashville session guitarists are the cream of the crop—they have to be. Their job is to listen to a song once, write a chart for it during that single listen, step out onto the tracking room floor and simultaneously create, react, and execute a guitar part at a radio-perfect level in one take. I've figured out some tricks by studying the work of musical sharpshooters like J.T. Corenflos, Kenny Greenberg, and Tom Bukovac, and now I get to apply it in my own career when I'm called in for a session. Now, let's steal some tricks.

“Kiss You in the Morning" Box

An important thing to remember throughout this lesson is that the goal is to sound perfect. A dead note on your guitar solo should not be the reason that one of your fellow session players is late to pick up his daughter, so this is no time for finger tapping or seven-fret stretches. I call this the "Kiss You in the Morning" box because it's similar to the signature lick in Michael Ray's song of the same name.

You want the song to sound good, which means you need to sound comfortable. That's why this pattern (Ex. 1) is a great home base for your chord-based riffing. This is a segment of a diagonal major pentatonic scale that only uses your first and third fretting-hand fingers. You don't have to stretch or remember complicated patterns, and it's almost impossible to sound bad here. Place your first finger on the chord's root, which falls on either the low 6th or 5th string, and slide your third finger up two frets to access the rest of the pentatonic notes. It's a closed shape, so you can move it all over the fretboard to whatever key or chord you need, which comes in handy when you're scanning down a Nashville number-style chart in real time and having to come up with a hook or rhythmic motif.

The “All About Tonight" Box

This one is a little tougher, but more rewarding. I could do an entire session just using this box and rearranging the notes in different ways to make my melodies and textures fit the mood of the song. You can hear hints of this pattern in Blake Shelton's "All About Tonight." This is a natural extension to the previous example, but in Ex. 2 we start to introduce double-stops (playing two notes at a time). Low notes on the lower strings sound thick on their own, but as you move up the neck it's a good idea to start using double-stops if you want to keep the guitar sounding thick. In this box, your first finger is always in charge of the same fret, and your third finger oversees hammer-ons two frets higher. To play the double-stops I'm talking about, barre the 5th and 4th strings with your first finger and pick them. Then hammer on the 5th string with your third finger. Boom. You can do the same trick with different string sets.

Open for Business

You've got some lead chops built up, but somebody will be singing for 90 percent of the song, so what do you do? In keeping with our rule that we want our playing to sound comfortable, the answer is open chords. Full barre chords give you a lot of strings to keep track of, and if your dynamics, sustain, and muting aren't spot on, then the producer is going to have to hire someone to redo your parts after you leave, and that doesn't bode well for your session career.

Throw on a capo because only five keys are generally acceptable for playing guitar in a session: G, D, E, C, and A. Is the song in Db? Put a capo on the 1st fret and play in C. How about F#? Place a capo on the 2nd fret and play in E. Even if a song is in A, 95 percent of the time the acoustic guitar player will opt to play with a capo on the 2nd fret so he or she can move around comfortably in the key of G. Ex. 3 shows some of the special open chords that session players use all the time.

Palm-Muting Verses

Wide-open chords aren't everything, though. Songs need to have structure and flow, and the band members need to be on the same page about where the song is going. If you watch a session with guitarists Derek Wells and Jerry McPherson both playing guitar, they aren't clashing. They both know how energetic the song needs to be at any given moment. Chances are you'll nail it if you play the verses a little lower in energy and the choruses a little higher in energy. You can palm-mute the lowest two strings of an open chord, or you can palm-mute a power chord, or you can palm-mute thirds that fit inside of the chord. Check out Ex. 4 for an example. Any of those routes will work to get you from the intro to the chorus. And when it comes time to do a "fill" at the end of the measure or progression, all you really need to do is unmute what you're already doing! Fish in a barrel.

My Kinda Drones

"Box" playing is great, but I'm sure you want to have more than just boxes in your toolkit. One of the best tricks for coming up with melodies that don't sound boxy is by using what I call "My Kinda Party" drone lines. The signature lick in Jason Aldean's song, "My Kinda Party," is a wonderful example of this. Come up with a melody and play the whole thing on the 2nd string. Don't get too complicated, and don't make it too fast. Make it a nursery rhyme, a simple, hummable jingle that a drunk Bonnaroo crowd could sing back to you.

To allow the 1st string to ring out as you move along the neck, you need to fret the notes on the 2nd string using the very end of your fingertips. Now pick through both the top two strings while sliding from note to note (Ex. 5). This adds thickness and texture to the melody and helps make it sound like music, so someone like super-producer Justin Niebank doesn't have to spend time adding effects to your guitar to fill out the mix. As with the open chords, make sure you have the capo in the right spot so the open 1st string fits the song's key.

Get Low

The opposite of that approach is using a technique found in Luke Bryan's tune, "We Rode in Trucks." With this trick, you place the root of the chord on one of the lower three strings and build your melody on the string above it (Ex. 6). My favorite application of this is when you hammer-on to a 3, which puts your hand right in the "All About Tonight" box we talked about earlier if you need to launch into a solo. This trick can only be done if one or more of the low open strings works with the song's key, so you'll have to do some quick mental math and capo accordingly.

Swell into It

This technique is one of the physically easiest to perform, but requires some mental energy to get right. Sometimes the song needs an ambient volume swell to hold things together over chord changes, and this requires choosing your notes carefully. Let's say the progression is Em–C–G–D, with two chords per measure. Look for the notes that both chords share in each measure. Em and C both share E and G notes; G and D both share D notes.

That's the safe route, but you can also swell into notes or pairs of notes that challenge the chord a little bit and make an extension out of it. Swelling into a D over the Em and C turns them into Em7 and Cadd9, respectively, both very cool sounds. And G to D is a pretty strong chord change in this key, so you'll probably want to stick the landing and end up on chord tones here. To change things up from just a D note you can swell in a pre-bent G note and let it down to an F# when the D chord comes in. Or do the same thing, but pre-bend a B note and let it fall to an A (Ex. 7). You can nail this approach if you know your chord tones. Note: You'll need a good amount of delay and reverb to make the most of your swells. Most players do this with a volume pedal, but with the right guitar—a Strat, for example—you can also accomplish this manually.

High Extensions

Now that we're in the mindset of thinking about what our notes do to the chords we're playing over, adding higher extensions can introduce complexity and texture to a song. I have fond memories of sitting with a friend in high school, both of us holding acoustic guitars, and playing different triads and double-stops over each other's open chord strums—just to hear how one person's triad could affect the other person's chord.

The idea is that you'd pick notes that might not be within the basic triad and use these additions to alter the song's principle chords. If a bass player plays a C, and the acoustic guitar plays an open C chord, and the other electric guitarist plays a C power chord, but you play a B and D double-stop high on the fretboard you just made the entire band sound like a Cmaj9 chord, which is really pretty sounding. If you pick G and Bb, then you made the band sound like a C7 chord, which is bluesy and sarcastic sounding. Session players know what note extensions to add to chords, what these extensions will sound like, and when it's appropriate to use them. Ex. 8 illustrates how to use this trick over a basic progression.

Simple Slidin'

On most sessions, slide is used for texture and not for Derek Trucks- or Sonny Landreth-inspired shredding, so it's mostly limited to chord tones and a couple of simple lines. It is a very cool color, though, and it's well worth learning how to navigate a melody with a slide on your pinky. Slide sounds more like a human vocal than fretted notes, so this technique can really lend itself to making memorable, catchy, singable hooks. This is part of the reason guitarist Rob McNelley is on so many records—he's able to really make slide sing. Just be very careful about not letting strings ring unless you want them to. To come up with a simple, catchy, single-note slide line that soars over the arrangement, tap into the same melody-creating brain space you used for the "My Kinda Party" example, as well as the chord knowledge required for swells and extensions. Chord tones are always safe, extensions can be really cool, and make sure you stick the landing (Ex. 9).

Dot … Dot … Dot

You made it all the way to Ex. 10, so give your brain a break and let a pedal do all the work. Delay is a powerful effect, and when you sync that delay to the song tempo, the pedal can play notes for you. If you see guitarist Justin Ostrander doing something simple, chances are there's a timed delay happening to carry the simplicity. A dotted-eighth is equal to three 16th-notes, and a dotted-eighth delay means once you play a note, that note will come around again three 16th-notes later. And if the repeats are turned up, it'll keep repeating every three 16th-notes to create a cool syncopated feel (Ex. 10).

If you play something completely straight against the syncopated pattern the delay will be creating, the delay fills in the notes between what you're playing and makes an otherwise boring figure sound incredibly interesting. To make this trick work, you'll need a delay with programmable or tap tempo. For best results, tap the tempo for quarter-notes, play eighth-notes, and have the delay set for dotted-eighth-notes.

These guitarists stay mostly out of the spotlight, but with the growing world of media they are starting to get a little more exposure with great programs like Premier Guitar's Rig Rundown with Kenny Greenberg (shown below) or Zac Childs' Truetone Lounge episode with Derek Wells.

Videos like these let you inside the world of the pro session player, and are great resources for learning more from the best in the business. Next time you hear some tasty guitar on a radio hit, you'll know it's tasty for a reason and you're one step closer to being the guitarist who gets to play it.

Lamb of God return with “Sepsis”, a visceral, menacing new single out now via Epic Records, marking the GRAMMY® Award-nominated band’s first new original music since 2022’s critically revered album, Omens. Produced by longtime collaborator Josh Wilbur, the three-and-a-half minute track arrives alongside a grainy, lo-fi performance video that offers a moody, unfiltered look at Richmond’s underbelly. Directed by Gianfranco Svagelj, the video captures the song’s slow-burning tension.

“’Sepsis’ is a celebration of the very underground local bands here in Richmond that we really admired when we were just forming Burn the Priest,” Mark Morton shares. “Bands like Breadwinner, Sliang Laos, and Ladyfinger—though they never got widespread attention outside of Richmond, those were the bands we listened to all the time. The song references that stuff in a way that’s a direct line to where we were coming from when we were in the basement writing our earliest material together.”

“Sepsis” arrives during a milestone year for Lamb of God. In 2025, the band celebrated the 25th anniversary of their discography, performed at the historic “Back to the Beginning” concert and subsequently released their thunderous take on Black Sabbath’s “Children of the Grave,” along with appearances at several festivals including Inkcarceration and Louder Than Life, and a headlining show at Richmond’s new 7500-seat outdoor venue, Allianz Amphitheater, during its opening season.

As the year closes, Lamb of God have several performances ahead of them, including outings at Aftershock, AMMA Championship Fest, and the band’s Headbangers Boat cruise (Oct. 31 to Nov. 4) – a four-day floating festival departing from Miami with a stop in Cozumel, Mexico. The line-up features performances from Clutch, Kublai Khan TX, Power Trip, Obituary, Devil Driver, Fear Factory, The Black Dahlia Murder, The Exploited, Crowbar, Nekrogoblikon, Eighteen Visions, Gideon, Walls of Jericho, Category 7, Brat, comics Josh Potter and Saul Trujillo, with appearances from Jose Mangin and Riki Rachtman. Tickets are available at Headbangersboat.com.

Lamb of God tour dates:

October 3 Sacramento, CA Aftershock Festival

October 18 Canton, OH Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium

October 31 – November 4 Miami, FL Headbangers Boat

November 6 Monterrey, MX Showcenter Complex

July 27 – 31 Râşnov, RO Rockstadt Extreme Fest

August 1 Wacken, DE Wacken Open Air 2026

August 7 Walton-on-Trent, UK Bloodstock Open Air 2026

August 12 – 16 Dinkelsbühl, DE Summer Breeze

August 13 – 15 Sulingen, DE Reload Festival

August 14 – 16 Eindhoven, NL Dynamo Metalfest

Tickets for all shows are available now via Lamb of God’s website.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about coaches and teachers—you know, the people in your life that have brought out the best in you. My daughter is now off to college, and my son is entering 10th grade, so I’ve been reflecting on our common experiences. My boy is playing sports and currently has a pretty good coach. The guy is supportive and involved, but still has a little "old-school" in him. When I was a kid, my coach was a “bucket” coach, meaning he brought a five-gallon bucket onto the field and flipped it over so he could sit and criticize everything we did wrong. He’d throw his hat and cuss and generally rule by intimidation! Times have certainly changed, brothers and sisters.

In my old age, I’ve come to learn that the best teachers and coaches were the ones who were excellent motivators: the people who could bring out the best in your performance and learning. Often, motivation comes from knowing that you’re seen and valued, even if you aren’t the sharpest knife in the drawer or the best athlete on the team. These types of people can be hard to find, but we all certainly remember them.

For me, it was Mr. Bryant in the 12th grade. He was a coach, a musician, and a phenomenal educator. I had just lost my dad before my senior year, and he totally tried to lift me up to keep playing sports and stick with guitar. He was a drummer but still had a fine guitar collection, and he would let me choose any one to play. He’d always ask which guitar “spoke” to me. Was it looks, feel, playability, sound, or something else? It’s like when Harry Potter’s wand found him, I suppose. So I ask you, faithful reader, which guitars speak to you? Which guitar gets you motivated to play, and which one inspires you as soon as you play it? Are you still on the hunt, or has your magic wand found you?

My most inspirational guitar is the early ’60s Teisco SS4L. Hailing from the beginnings of Teisco, the SS guitars were among the first to feature the now-famous gold-foil pickups. Of course, the 4L had a quartet of them! This is a guitar where everything is exaggerated to an absurd degree. The electronics feature four switches (pickup on/off) and multiple tone knobs and presets between the rhythm and lead circuits. The body is all out of whack, almost like a goofy-looking potato, and the headstock is elongated to excess. And then the chrome … like an old muscle car! The tremolo on this particular one is a very sophisticated floating unit that’s held together by string tension. Not the easiest to change the strings. These guitars came with one to four pickups and were primarily made from 1962–64. There is every flavor of sound in this guitar, something for every palette. Thin surf, raging blues, spaghetti western … you name it.

“There is every flavor of sound in this guitar, something for every palette.”

These SS4L guitars always inspire me to play because they offer all kinds of adjustments to the tone and tend to bring out the best in my playing. Normally, I’m a set-it-and-forget-it player. But with these guitars, it’s a chance to get creative, and the pickups add to the stew. The body feels kinda clunky and doesn’t balance very well, but the necks all have a nice, deep, full feel, often with a pronounced V-shape, which I totally dig.

I think I currently own four of these guitars, but the one pictured with this column is hanging right by my work bench to offer me a little motivation. I have plenty of nice guitars. Some play better, some feel better, and some sound better. But for whatever reason, I am drawn to this model, and that infatuation has lasted through the years. Oh, and you know what else? The “bucket” coach that I had still comes to watch football practice! He’s not always on a bucket these days, and he’s not yelling at anyone, but he’s still motivated.

Stompboxtober is back for 2025! Come back all month long for your chance to WIN daily pedal giveaways. Today's featured giveaway is the StewMac Ghost Drive!

Stompboxtober 2025 - Win Pedals All Month Long!

Ghost Drive Transparent Overdrive Pedal

Four years ago, we put our heads down and dove headfirst into the most hyped pedal of all time. We wanted to see what really made the mythical Klon Centaur Transparent Overdrive so special—what was inside this thing that turned it into legend. We pulled it apart, piece by piece, to deconstruct the magic, if you will.

Then we rebuilt it. Faithfully recreating the circuit, scouring the globe to track down the very same components Bill Finnegan used in the originals. The goal wasn't "close enough." The goal was a true tribute—authentic down to the tiniest detail.

Here's the thing: original Klons still sell for $5,000–$10,000 on Reverb. That puts them out of reach for most players. We wanted to change that—to capture the authentic tone of a legend and make it something within reach of any guitar player.

This past weekend, Sweetwater had the pleasure of welcoming guitar enthusiasts to our Fort Wayne, Indiana, campus for GuitarFest. The event featured over 70 manufacturer booths, more than 20 world-class guitarists, and numerous industry leaders, all coming together for a celebration dedicated to the guitar.

“It was an incredible event,” shared Samantha Hunter, Director of Artist Relations and Campus Productions at Sweetwater. “Music enthusiasts and guitar players had the unique opportunity to see up close the very latest gear and engage directly with the manufacturers. Additionally, fans had a chance to meet some guitar legends and collect autographs, creating lasting memories for all that attended.”

Held on Saturday, September 27, GuitarFest was a one-day event that drew several thousand music fans from all over the Midwest. The event underscored Sweetwater’s commitment to creating a community for music lovers and providing opportunities to share the passion of music.

Sweetwater is very appreciative to everyone who came together to make this event such a success. GuitarFest was made possible because of our partnership with our vendors, the artists, and our employees.

About Sweetwater

The number one online retailer for music makers, Sweetwater is trusted and beloved by millions of musicians, sound engineers, band and orchestra directors, and podcasters who rely on the company to help advance their musical and creative journeys. From beginners to rock stars, music makers everywhere seek out Sweetwater’s industry-leading expertise, including in-depth product videos to inform their purchases and unrivaled post-care support. Headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and founded in 1979, Sweetwater Sound, LLC credits its four decades of profitability to its now 2,500 employees and its deep understanding of the profound connection that music makers have with their craft, their gear, and the creative process. Sweetwater is amplifying change through music, lifting up communities by creating, empowering, and caring about the music makers of tomorrow and today. For more information, visit Sweetwater.com/.

“Avant-garde, jazz, pop, rock ’n’ roll ... if some aspect of the human condition comes through in the music, that’s what animates me,” Vernon Reid says about his approach to sound. “It animated me before I even picked up the instrument. And it has animated me all the way through.”

It’s this unwavering commitment to human connection over stylistic boundaries that has defined Vernon Reid’s career—and it’s perhaps never been more evident than on his new solo album, Hoodoo Telemetry. Reid is speaking to Premier Guitar from what he calls the DharmaLab, his home studio on Staten Island. The name nods to the Dharma Initiative from the TV series Lost (“I’m a big fan,” he says), and like that show’s mysterious island, the Living Colour guitarist’s musical world follows its own rules, where seemingly disparate elements meet to create something entirely new.

Hoodoo Telemetry, his first album released entirely under his own name since 1996’s Mistaken Identity, embodies this philosophy. The title itself speaks to the collection’s nature: “hoodoo” suggests mystical forces and folk magic, while “telemetry” implies the gathering of information from distant sources. “I can understand why anyone listening to it would go, ‘This is all over the place,’” Reid acknowledges. “But I’ve kind of been all over the place, really, in every context I’ve been in.”

The path to Hoodoo Telemetry began years ago, pre-Covid, but that “huge interruption” fundamentally shaped the record’s final form. During those lockdown days, Reid found himself cycling over New York bridges, taking photographs, playing guitar, and contemplating where he wanted his music to go.

Then tragedy struck. Reid lost his close friend Greg Tate, the influential writer, guitarist, and critic who had been instrumental in his early career. Though Tate didn’t die from Covid directly, Reid considers him a Covid victim due to the stress the pandemic placed on the healthcare system. “We think about the victims of Covid as the people that had Covid themselves,” he says, “but there were plenty of other people that, if the healthcare system wasn’t strained by Covid, they would’ve have survived their situations.”

The loss proved pivotal. Tate had written the first serious article about Reid and his music, and the two had been co-founders of the Black Rock Coalition. Tate passed on December 7, 2021—the exact same date, Reid says, that the Black Rock Coalition held its first public event, in 1985. “It was a traumatic thing, and it sort of reframed or focused what I was doing—I wanted to make a record that Greg would like.”

Indeed, Tate’s influence permeates the album. Burnt Sugar, Tate’s experimental collective, is featured on three tracks, while Reid also says his friend encouraged him to sing more (which he does, on the track “In Effigy”). “[Greg] said, ‘Man, you have a quality to your voice,’” Reid says. “‘You have a thing,’ you know?”

There are other elements woven throughout Hoodoo Telemetry. “Part of the thread in the album is the idea of the diaspora—the idea of being adrift,” Reid says. This is reflected from the first track, “Door of No Return,” which draws on the historical term for the final passage of enslaved Africans leaving their homeland for America, to the closing number, “Brave New World,” which takes its title from Aldous Huxley’s cautionary dystopian novel. “Where’s the center, right?” he continues. “Especially when you realize the trip is a one-way trip.”

Musically, the album has an eclectic and adventurous spirit. There’s “Politician,” Reid’s take on the Cream classic. The choice reflects both personal history—Reid played the song with Jack Bruce in the band Spectrum Road—and contemporary relevance. “It’s my favorite Cream tune,” he says. The sentiment behind it, meanwhile, is “an evergreen thing,” he continues, “what with these jive so-and-sos….”

“Ever since I saw Clapton with The Fool, I’ve loved guitars with graphics.”

Another song, “Freedom Jazz Dance,” emerged organically during recording sessions at Super Giraffe Sound in Brooklyn. Originally planned as an instrumental, the tune transformed when Burnt Sugar vocalist Bruce Mack suggested incorporating Eddie Jefferson’s vocalese version. The result became what Reid describes as “this kind of ‘60s sci-fi version of the song.”

Perhaps most poignant is the skittering, atmospheric “Good Afternoon Everyone,” built around a found vocal recording Reid captured in the subway, where a homeless man repeated the same request with unchanging inflection: “Good afternoon, everyone. Can anybody help me with something to eat today?” What initially seemed like mere politeness revealed itself as controlled anger. “I realized, okay, he’s enraged. He’s not just being polite,” Reid says. “But his affect didn’t change. It was really chilling and really poetic.”

The track exemplifies Reid’s approach to social commentary through music. Collaborating with rapper Nironic, “Good Afternoon Everyone” explores homelessness from multiple perspectives. “One of the things [Nironic] did was that he pivoted,” Reid says. “At one point, he’s the person ignoring the homeless person, and then he flips, and he’s also the person seeking aid. I thought that was pretty cool.”

While Reid’s conceptual concerns drive much of Hoodoo Telemetry, his guitar work—the element that, of course, first brought him to prominence—remains equally compelling throughout, expertly balancing furious blasts of technical prowess with emotional expression. Reid can shred with the best of them, but he’s equally capable of restraint when the music demands it.

The contrast between tracks like “Door of No Return” and “Brave New World” illustrates this philosophy. The former demands intensity: “‘Door of No Return’ is really about a kind of feeling,” Reid says. “It’s a certain energy. It’s about loss, it’s about rage. It’s about figuring out, where do I go from here? You’re not going back home. And that requires a certain kind of approach.” Meanwhile, “Brave New World” prioritizes melodic content over flash. “That little guitar melody in the song is more important to me than the solo,” Reid says.

“If you think something is impossible, there’s no way forward.”

For Reid, it’s all about understanding and serving the musical moment. “What does music mean, and what’s the right thing to do for a particular song?” he says. “There are times I can sit there and go, ‘Okay, I wanna play this, and the song could be just a vehicle.' But there’s a balance. Because, man, playing fast is thrilling. But figuring out an approach against a harmonic background, or improvising something, that’s thrilling, too. And at the same time, it has to work for the song. Something like ‘Good Afternoon Everyone,’ that’s not a song for a flash solo. It’s a song for a vibe. That’s one of the things I loved about Prince. He always got that. Because somebody like that, you can do whatever. But the question is, why?”

“Meditation on the Last Time I Saw Arthur Rhames” serves as perhaps the album’s most personal statement (as well as a vessel for some of Reid’s wildest, most thrilling lead playing), honoring the avant-garde New York City-based musician who profoundly influenced Reid’s understanding of guitar possibilities. “Arthur Rhames used to play stuff at Prospect Park [in Brooklyn],” Reid says. “And it was only when I heard Allan Holdsworth that I said, ‘Oh, that reminds me of what this guy in Brooklyn used to do.” The track combines blues elements with modal, Coltrane-influenced improvisation, “and there’s also influence from Sonny Sharrock and Pete Cosey, especially when he was playing with Miles [Davis], doing that super psychedelic, heavy, mysterious thing,” Reid says. “One of the things I love about Miles in that period is he wasn’t trying to explain. He was like, ‘You either got it or you ain’t get it.’”

When it comes to the actual guitars on the record, Reid points out that the recording of Hoodoo Telemetry mostly predates the arrival of his current signature Reverend model, drawing instead from his extensive collection of instruments accumulated over the years. “Some of the stuff is my old Hamers,” he notes, referencing his custom Chaparral and the model he calls “Yin-Yang,” which appeared on multiple tracks. He also utilized his signature PRS S2 VR Vela, a Gibson ES-345, and a Stephen McSwain guitar with an aluminum flag top design that he nicknamed “Tuskegee.”

That said, his Reverend signature model does make appearances, notably on tracks like “In Effigy” and “Brave New World,” which were recorded more recently. The Reverend features his preferred V-shaped neck profile, a specification he’s maintained since his ESP days, as well as a trio of custom Railhammer humbuckers that he says are “pretty amazing for the way they take to overdrive and distortion.” Visually, the guitar reflects Reid’s affinity for striking graphics. There’s symbology inspired by the likes of Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, and Jean-Michel Basquiat imprinted on the body, inlays in the shape of “hobo signs,” and pickup covers sporting African Adinkra symbols. “I wanted to put together something that was almost like an outsider art-type project,” Reid says. “And when we were coming up with the images and designs for it, what we wound up at was, why don’t we just do it as a series?”

The collaboration with Reverend, which is known as the Totem Series, embodies his lifelong appreciation for guitars as visual art. “Ever since I saw Clapton with The Fool, I’ve loved guitars with graphics,” Reid says. “And I always loved stickering guitars. Because they are a canvas, you know?” And not just for him: “I recently ran into Jack White at Memphis Airport, and we wound up trading signature models,” Reid recalls. “I gave him a [Reverend Totem Series] Mystery Tramp, and he gave me a [Fender] Triplecaster. And then he did the same thing with Kirk Hammett—they traded signature guitars. I think it’s really nice when that can happen between players.”

Like Hammett and White, Reid is an iconic figure in the rock-guitar world. But if his success with Living Colour seems almost paradoxical given his deep roots—and experience—in jazz, experimental, and avant-garde music, he sees it as part of a natural continuum shaped by early exposure to diverse music. “My folks, they never told me what music I should or shouldn’t listen to,” he says. “The only thing they said to me was, ‘Turn it down—it’s loud!’ But they never said, ‘Don’t listen to that.’ I was never policed.”

Growing up in New York City also helped. Reid recalls going to “Music Row”—the stretch of 48th St. in Manhattan that for decades was home to famed gear outposts like Manny’s and Sam Ash—and rubbing elbows with the likes of Leon Russell, Mark Knopfler, and George Benson. “You would just see these guys walking around, and that made impossible things seem not completely unattainable,” he says.

Vernon Reid’s Hoodoo Telemetry Gear

Guitars:

Reverend Vernon Reid Totem Series “Mystery Tramp”

’90s-era Hamer Custom Chaparrals, including “Yin-Yang” model

Hamer DuoTone

Parker Fly VR Dragonfly prototype

PRS McCarty Semi-hollow

PRS S2 VR Vela signature

Gibson ES-345

Stephen McSwain electric

Don Musser concert acoustic

Eko 6-string banjo

Amplifiers

Mesa Boogie Dual w/ Mesa cabinet

Laney Ironheart

Fender Twin

Kemper Profiler

Effects:

Line 6 Helix and Helix Floor

Line 6 POD Go

Eventide H9, H90, Rose

Chase Bliss Warped Vinyl HiFi, Generation Loss, and MOOD

Red Panda Tensor and Particle

Digitech XP-300 Space Station, FreqOut, Whammy Ricochet, and DOD Mini Expression

Alexander Pedals Super Neo-Matic

Source Audio Nemesis and Collider

Mission Engineering Expressionator

Roland VG-99

Boss SY-300 Guitar Synthesizer

Software

Ableton Live

Pro Tools

Native Instrument Guitar Rig

“Playing fast is thrilling. But figuring out an approach against a harmonic background, or improvising something, that’s thrilling, too.”

New York was instrumental to Living Colour’s development as well. “Living Colour happened because of CBGB,” he says. “Without CBGB, we wouldn’t have built our local following. And that also goes for the Ritz, the Cat Club, the Mudd Club, all these places. Living Colour wouldn’t have happened without me playing with Ronald Shannon Jackson and the Decoding Society,” he says of his time with the downtown avant-jazz collective. “And the reason why it wouldn’t have happened is because, from that, I learned it’s possible. That’s it. That’s the whole point. Because if you think something is impossible, there’s no way forward. I mean, nobody should play the lottery, right? Nobody should play Powerball. Logically, it’s a fool’s errand. Except for the fact that people win, right?”

That notion of possibility against the odds is what drives Reid’s continuing musical evolution. Even as he unleashes Hoodoo Telemetry, he’s assembling “a small but mighty ensemble” featuring longtime collaborators Leon Gruenbaum on keyboards and Steve Jenkins on bass for upcoming shows, including a performance at the Blue Note in New York City. And then there’s a new Living Colour record on the horizon, which, Reid says, “We’ve been in the process of writing,” as well as the possibility of performing music from his solo albums, stretching from Hoodoo Telemetry all the way back to Mistaken Identity. “It would be really fun to do that with the band,” he says. “And I’m excited about all of it. I’ve just gotta thread the needle, and away we go.”

VegaTrem has unveiled the VT1 Special, a new take on the company’s iconic VT1 UltraTrem blueprint.

The VT1 Special utilizes a new brass block at its core, offering a friendlier price point while retaining all the key attributes that have made VegaTrem an essential choice for so many guitarists: it can be installed while keeping your guitar completely intact, and offers wide tonal range, simplicity and rock-solid tuning.

The VT1 Special is available in standard (6-screw) and 2-point versions in four different premium finishes (Glossy, Gold, Black, Satin) with left-handed options.

‘We at VegaTrem have reverential respect for all those guitarists that have given us so many great moments,” says Isaac Vega, guitarist and VegaTrem founder. “VT1 Special is our way of opening the door of the VegaTrem tremolo spirit to even more players—no drilling, no sanding, no surgery.”

By adopting a premium brass block, the new VT1 Special delivers a distinctive timbral palette that broadens the musical possibilities of the VegaTrem tremolo family—while preserving the hallmark feel and stability players expect from VT1.

The VegaTrem VT1 Special is available starting at $199 USD / €170 and can be purchased from dealers worldwide and at vegatrem.com.

The Certified Guitar Player chats (and jams) with John Bohlinger about recording his new album Living in the Light, detailing his philosophy on tone and live sound, his focus on song arrangements and melody, hitting the onstage curveballs, and why he’ll never retire from being happy (performing).

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