If there’s any company you’d expect to understand the delicate relationship between pickups and pedals, it’s Seymour Duncan. The company’s Pickup Booster Mini, an evolution of the Pickup Booster that’s been around for roughly two decades, certainly reflects a less-is-more philosophy about what you should stick between a good pickup and your amplifier. But while the Pickup Booster is simple, it’s far from inflexible, nor, in most cases, does it sound very “mini.”
Friend to the Single Coil
The Pickup Booster Mini’s versatility is most evident in its resonance control. These shifts are clear when you use the pedal with single coil pickups at the front of a pedal chain—in fact, the resonance switch works onlywhen the Pickup Booster Mini is the first stomp in a line. The differences between settings are also apparent when used with a clean amp. So yes, Fender-oriented players, with their single coils and high-headroom amps, get a fatter share of the fun when using the Pickup Booster Mini, as well as a greater sense of the pedal’s transformative power.
For all its single-coil bias, the Pickup Booster Mini is still a good buddy to humbuckers.
I tested the Pickup Booster Mini’s interaction with different pickups using two contrasting rigs—first between a Fender Jaguar and black-panel Deluxe Reverb, then an SG and the Marshall 18-watt setting on a Carr Bel-Ray. To widen the stylistic disparity between these surfy- and AC/DC-sounding setups, I deliberately set up the Jaguar/Deluxe tandem for fairly anemic output, with the amp volume just past 2. Without the Pickup Booster Mini the combination was thin and lifeless. With an assist from the pedal, the previously absent low- and low-midrange became quite prominent—and not in a fashion that just added mud to the equation. Instead, it lent sustain and a warm, discernible glow to overtones while maintaining the Jaguar/Deluxe combination’s sunny essence. Could I have generated the same tone by turning the amp volume up, the guitar down, and adding some bass? Not easily with the Jaguar’s 1k pots. But even a Telecaster with a finely tapered volume control couldn’t always match the low-mid punch the Pickup Booster Mini added at lower amp volumes.
For all its single-coil bias, the Pickup Booster Mini is still a good buddy to humbuckers. In the more AC/DC-like SG/Carr set up, the Pickup Booster Mini worked best as a lead boost. And in terms of creating bolder tone contrasts, I had good luck with the pedal’s resonant peak 2 setting which, while ostensibly ideal for making single coils sound like high-gain humbuckers, can lend an almost cocked-wah like focus to leads.
You don’t have to use the Pickup Booster Mini at the front end of a pedal chain. Its buffer also means you can use it at the end of long cable runs to make up for the associated tone loss. You lose the flexibility of the resonance switch, but it still sounds fantastic and can work as an almost compression-like glue to meld overtones and artifacts from delay, reverb, and modulation units.
The Verdict
If, like me, you’re always looking for ways to shrink your pedalboard, the Pickup Booster Mini makes an appealing ingredient in a compact setup. Though it doesn’t excite the treble spectrum quite as much as some boosts and overdrives, it restores the fullness often lost when using single-coil pickups at low amp volumes, making it a simple, cost-effective cure for one of many performer’s most common challenges.
Goldbird, an independent NYC-based music gear brand, has announced the release of its signature line of electric guitar strings. Designed for modern musicians who value reliability, simplicity, and style, Goldbird’s products combine top-tier materials and performance with a community-driven approach.
The new Goldbird electric guitar strings are available in Light (9-42), Medium (10-46), and Heavy (11-50) gauges. Each 6-string set is crafted to deliver durability, balanced tone, and consistent feel across all six strings.
Key product features include:
Made in the USA
Nickel-plated steel construction — the ideal balance of brightness and warmth
Three simple gauges — covers most common playing styles
Thoughtful packaging — rust-inhibiting material extends shelf life
The debut string offerings are a product of the company’s indie energy. Goldbird is a New York–based music gear brand founded in 2025 with a mission to support emerging musicians and the next generation of creators. Goldbird’s products are designed to make gear simple, reliable, and inspiring — whether you’re practicing at home or playing on stage.
Goldbird strings are available at www.goldbirdmusic.com for $10 per set or $25 for three packs.
Audio announced the release of Temperance™ Pro. Building on the revolutionary foundation of Temperance Lite, which introduced the world's first musical reverb, Temperance Pro adds 29 modal spaces, advanced sequencing capabilities, MIDI control, and specialized modal and temper controls for transforming your spaces in ways that were previously not possible.
Temperance Pro speaks the language of music, operating on the 12-note chromatic scale, letting users create spaces that feel musically intentional rather than incidental. This unique modal approach models reverb as collections of thousands of independent resonators, each one adjustable in real-time for unprecedented ways to shape space.
Pete Bischoff, the Product Owner said of the plug-in “Temperance impresses me on so many levels. The notion that you can recreate a room from thousands of individual resonances, complete with delays, flutters, and other nuances intact just blows my mind. The engineer in me can't figure out how Eventide got them to cooperate so perfectly and how they managed to squeeze them all into a real time effect. The musician in me giggles at the thought of the sheer number of tiny "instruments" playing in concert and what novel sound avenues they could explore.”
Woody Herman, Sr. DSP Engineer with Eventide added, "I've always enjoyed Eventide's willingness to try something different. As an engineer, it's especially rewarding to work on a project that tries to re-think something we've known about and used for a long time. Temperance is a different way of thinking about reverb that I think is new, fun, and hopefully leads people to make creative decisions they normally wouldn't.”
Temperance Pro introduces two controls for advanced shaping of musical texture. Target Select controls when tempering happens in time, choosing whether selected notes bloom with early reflections, with the late reflections during the reverb tail, or both. Note Width defines how many nearby modes are included in each note, with lower settings offering more musical precision and higher settings affecting more of the overall reverb for broader, more pronounced results.
Three powerful note selection methods add depth and creative potential. Manual Mode offers note-roll style input with instant access to chords, scales, modes, or intervals through the Choose Scale dialog. Sequence Mode programs note changes to follow chord progressions with adjustable beat grid and session offset for precise timeline positioning. MIDI Mode provides real-time keyboard control with Octave Repeat, offering an immediate and tactile way to work, whether performing live or sketching ideas in the studio.
Three unique modal controls offer unprecedented ways of shaping space. Position adjusts the balance between early and late reflections, working independently from tempering. Density controls how many modes are active, from full quality reverb to progressively fragmented, lo-fi tones. Offset shifts the center frequencies of all modes by up to ±500Hz independent of temper settings, changing the pitch of the entire space for dramatic results.
Temperance Pro delivers 29 spaces spanning intimate rooms, grand halls, lush mechanical reverbs, and experimental synthetic spaces. The collection includes faithful recreations of legendary acoustic spaces, including several designed by acoustics pioneer Ralph Kessler, alongside original creations built specifically to showcase modal reverb technology.
The plug-in features over 120 creative and production-focused presets including 11 tutorial presets. Professional features include ultra-low latency suitable for live performance, fully automatable controls, Dual Mono mode, A/B comparison states, and Eco Mode for CPU optimization.
Temperance Pro is available for $179 MSRP from Eventide Audio and authorized dealers worldwide. Crossgrade from Temperance Lite is also available for $79. The plug-in supports AAX 64-bit, AU 64-bit, and VST3 64-bit formats on Windows 10+ and macOS 10.14+. For more information visit eventideaudio.com.
This 1958 Les Paul Custom is full of well-earned vibe thanks to a long life of heavy playing.
Every now and then, a holy-grail guitar falls into your lap and makes you do crazy things to get it. In my case, the holy grail is a 1958 GibsonLes Paul Custom from the original owner, Brian, who played it every day like it owed him money.
I’m obsessed with guitars with personality and deep stories—specifically vintage Gibsons—and have a habit of poking around to see what’s out there. I found Brian’s guitar through my buddy Joe at Joe’s Vintage Guitars in Arizona. This guitar was all vibe and dripped energy—a true player’s instrument. That honest playing wear is very important, not only to the history, but to the sound. You see something that’s heavily played and worn, you know it’s going to sound good. I had to have it. Luckily, the old broken headstock made it financially attainable. I consulted my guitar uncles, Doug Myer and Chris Such, who are equally obsessed and they encouraged me to go for it. I didn’t think twice. I pulled my beloved 1938 D’Angelico Excel off the wall and sold it. Joe and I made the deal. He shipped Brian’s guitar to me in NYC.
Customs were Les Paul’s version of the luxurious Gibson L5 or a Super 400. They were made of the highest-quality material. With a mahogany body, multi-ply binding, and upgraded exotic ebony fingerboard featuring mother-of-pearl inlays, the guitar has a classy tuxedo look which exudes elegance.
Only 256 of these guitars were made in 1958 and would have cost $470 with added factory Bigsby, plus $47.50 with a case for a whopping $517.50.
Brian’s serial number is 8 4224—not far from another LPC from 1958 which belonged to Eric Clapton until he gifted it to Albert Lee (8 6320). While clearly a special build, the feature that kept this model from becoming a household name is the “Fretless Wonder” frets that Les Paul loved to play on. These were designed for jazz and Les Paul’s style of playing with heavy flats—a style with more gliding and sliding across the fingerboard as opposed to bending notes.
The pot codes date to the eighth week of 1958 (February), meaning the PAFs are still a proper example of Seth Lover’s original humbucker design, without being potted. All the frequencies and the overtones are still intact.
The capacitors are also rare: .02 uF Phonebook Spragues that were only used in top Gibson models like the Flying V and Explorer. The Brian Custom also came with the patent pending Grover tuners (instead of waffle backs) which were the highest quality of tuner hardware at the time.
But it was the factory Bigsby, cast by Paul Bigsby himself in his workshop in Southern California, that put me over the edge. In my band, Caveman, I only use guitars I’ve made with a Bigsby. It’s become a part of my signature sound. The Bigsby on the Brian Custom is an early example—you very rarely see them with the green felt, tapered shape, and texture in the cast aluminum like this.
“My goal is to keep this guitar a player’s guitar. I believe all guitars need to be played or they will wither and die.”
The only thing I have done since receiving this gem, is replace the frets so it plays perfectly. I put on a special set of La Bella strings that I’ve been working on with my brother Eric from La Bella Strings—a prototype set of super-polished stainless-steel rounds that we will be releasing soon.
What makes the Brian Custom truly special goes far beyond its physicality. The guitar is alive. Brian respected the art of the instrument—he played it every day. It’s rare to see such an honest, beat-up, and absolutely played guitar of this caliber—and even rarer that it belonged to only one person. The divots in the fretboard, the yellowed binding and knobs from nights playing in smoky venues, reflect a lifetime of playing and musicianship. Out of respect for Brian, my goal is to keep this guitar a player’s guitar. I believe all guitars need to be played or they will wither and die. It’s part of my mission to have players feel and understand why guitars like this are so special. To experience how they play, how they sound, to understand the magic. Guitars like Brian’s make you feel things you can’t put into words.
Most importantly, being the caretaker of such special instruments like the Brian Custom directly affects the way I build my Carbonetti Guitars and Olinto Bass instruments. Studying and playing vintage instruments elevates and inspires my craft. When you feel one of my guitars, I want everything to feel soft like a real player’s guitar—rounded edges and a worn-in feel. I aim to create the comfort and familiarity in my instruments that feels like an old friend and doesn’t need explanation. This ’58 custom is one of the greatest examples of this. It’s the official new mascot of the Guitar Shop NYC, and will continue to be played on stages and in studios forever.
Question:What was the most exciting change in your guitar playing this year?
Guest Picker - Brian Dunne
Photo by Marianka Campisi
A: My guitar playing is pretty constantly shifting, but in the last few years, I feel like I’ve really “found it.” And I’d attribute that to a personal change, honestly. I’m no longer afraid to show what I’ve got. I grew up playing, but I was a slightly “embarrassed” guitar player, if that makes sense? I loved indie rock and I loved singer-songwriters, and at that point in my life, I felt like the guitar solo was maybe a gratuitous move, and so for years, I hid my playing abilities. Not only that, but because I was so self-conscious, every time I stepped up for a rare solo, I had so much going on in my head that I never felt free.
I’m in my thirties now, and I would never say I don’t care anymore—I’ll always care about what music means, who it’s for, what it says, what each note indicates to the listener. But I am who I am, and I think that people are their best musical selves when they’re singing and playing at the top of their ability. And that’s what I’m gonna do. You’ll be hearing a lot more guitar on my records from here on out. I’m a proud guitar player, no way around it.
Obsession: Current obsession is a 1973 Tele Deluxe that I just bought!
Reader of the Month - Dave Jackson
A: This last year I’ve noticed that I’m not using a pick very often, and I’m really enjoying the direct contact of fingers and fingernails on strings. Also, I’m using very few effects with no reverb or delay, and that feels like I’m closer to the instrument's vibrations. So I’m just down to a Rothwell Switchblade distortion into my ZT Lunchbox and an Emma TransMORGrifier compressor for clean stuff—and both together for neighbor-friendly feedback.
Also, after 45 years I’ve grown dissatisfied with humbuckers and want single-coil clarity and hi-fi detail but without the hum and buzz. So I’ve been researching noiseless Strat pickups until my eyes got bleary. There’s some Bill Lawrence Wilde pickups on their way to go in my ’80s Squier Strat.
Obsession: Current musical obsessions include Black Sabbath’s Master of Reality. I’m left-handed, so Tony Iommi will always be a hero for me. I’ve also been revisiting Derek Bailey’s solo recordings like Lot ’74. He completely changed the way I think about music when I saw him play in 1986. Free improvisation is the most rewarding kind of music making I know. Ornette Coleman’s Love Call has also been heating up my speakers this week.
Editorial Director - Richard Bienstock
Photo by Carla Fredericks
A: Sweep picking. Not a new concept for someone who grew up listening to metal in the ’80s and ’90s, but as much as I was into fast, technical playing, something about sweeping always left me cold. Too video-game sounding, before that was actually a thing guitarists were trying to sound like! But now my son plays, and one of the solos he tackled this year was Marty Friedman's daunting leads in Megadeth’s “Tornado of Souls.” Like everything else, we played it together. So, more than 30 years after I was hunkering down in my bedroom with the Hal Leonard official Rust in Peace tab book, I was finally sweeping up and down the frets.
Obsession:Cobra Kai, for maybe a third (fourth? fifth?) go-round. It just hits the perfect note of self-aware nostalgia, and the guys behind the score—Zach Robinson and Leo Birenberg—are two of the most imaginative guitar-based composers around. What’s more, they tapped ace ringers like Tim Henson, Andrew Synowiec, Myrone, and even Tosin Abasi to lend a hand, making it essential viewing—and listening—for guitar nerds.
Contributing Editor - Ted Drozdowski
A: Freedom. After recently retiring as editorial director of PG, it seems I’ve been pushing the envelope more—in the disparate directions of tradition and outrage, and feeling more comfortable and relaxed with a guitar in my paws. I think the title made me self-conscious about my playing, which is never a good thing. I’m excited about what happens next!
Obsession: The thrilling, evolutionary period of jazz from the mid 1940s to 1975, thanks to James Kaplan’s extraordinary book 3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire of Cool. It’s reconnected me to this wonderful, diverse, and sometimes extreme, often beautiful music I’ve loved so long, but had lost contact with.
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