Russian Circles brought this Tone Butcher Pocket Puss oscillating fuzz to the sessions. Bassist Brian Cook's hand provides comparison in showing just how small the pedal really is.
An assortment of Tone Butcher micro pedals (owned by the band)—Pocket Puss Fuzz, Weewah auto wah, and a custom fuzz with external push button switches for oscillation and off-the-wall sounds.
One of Steve Albini’s Veleno aluminum electric guitars. Albini used Veleno aluminum guitars to great effect with his band Big Black to create his signature violent guitar tone.
A rack of Albini’s electric guitars in the Center Field room of Studio A. Pictured here are a Travis Bean TB500, Veleno 6-string, Silvertone 1448, customized Epiphone 16-string, Eastwood Warren Ellis signature tenor model, and a custom double-cut model by Flynn Guitars. The Epi is one of two guitars that Albini had made (the other was given to Sonic Youth as a gift for inviting his band Rapeman to play with them in England) and it features an Epiphone 12-string neck grafted on a copy of a Strat body. Four additional tuners were added down the center of the headstock.
Albini's Travis Bean TB500, with aluminum neck and rosewood fretboard
Part of Studio B's amplifier assortment.
Mid-'70s silverface-era Fender Twin Reverb, rehoused in a stained wood enclosure.
A vintage Mann amplifier, built by Garnet Amplification in Canada. Mann amps are part of what's known as Garnet "stencil" amps, which means that they're essentially identical to other amplifiers that bear the Garnet name. The company produced many other "stencil" amps in their heyday, including the second Lab Series for Gibson, Eaton amps for the Canadian retailer of the same name, Hohner, and a slew of others.
This Garnet BTO is one of the rarest amps in Electrical Audio’s collection. The 120-watt amp is monstrously loud—and so powerful that they’ve been known to melt the voice coils of cabinet speakers—and sports a built in tube-driven fuzz and tremolo. Interestingly, the BTO moniker stands for “Big Time Operator,” rather than “Bachman Turner Overdrive,” which is an old wives’ tale amongst gear hounds.
An early '90s Sovtek MIG-50.
Orange Tiny Terror with an unknown—possibly custom-made—rackmount amplifier.
Nope, this isn’t a fake—it’s an actual Z.Vex Super Hard-On booster, and one of the earliest models to boot. According to Zachary Vex himself, it’s one of the first SHO’s that he assembled and labeled himself back in 1996. He gave it to Steve Albini right after he finished it because its sound reminded him of Shellac. Vex claims that even he doesn’t own one this old, which makes this box extra unique.
Custom-made "Wall-E" fuzz pedal.
An early '70s Orange 4x12 cabinet.
Custom "Wide Cream" Fuzz Generator.