The gospel guitarist who took his tremolo-shaken country blues from Sunday mass to the masses.
Whenever you hear country blues-inflected guitar played through an amp with tremolo, youāre hearing a sound descended from singer/composer/guitarist Pops Staples. Best known as the leader of a family gospel group, the Staple Singers, his guitar style influenced and inspired John Fogerty, Bonnie Raitt, Ry Cooder, and countless others. The dark mystery of his instrumentās wavy sound has become part of the fabric of American music.
Roebuck Staples, known as āPops,ā was born to Warren and Florence Staples on December 28, 1914, on a cotton plantation near Winona, Mississippi. Roebuck and his older brother Sears were named after the Chicago mail-order company that supplied millions of rural Americans with everything from washing machines to musical instruments.
The Staples soon moved to a plot on the Dockery plantation near Drew, Mississippi. As a teenager, Staples would make money participating in local boxing contests, but other interests had already begun. Though secular music was forbidden in his family, his brother David played blues guitar. By age 14 Staples was paying fifty cents a week towards a Stella he saw hanging in a store window. Like many blues artists of the time he picked cotton during the day, but when work was done heād commune with the guitar, taking it to bed and playing under the covers as long as his father would allow.
āLeroy Crume
In Drew, he heard blues legend Charley Patton, who played at a local hardware store in the evenings. The sight of Patton, Howlinā Wolf, and others making a living playing music inspired the young Staples to practice. By age 16 his diligence paid off with party gigs on the plantation circuit. The house manager collected contributions from the attendees, sometimes paying the guitarist $5 a nightāa fortune by sharecropper standards.
Despite his love of the blues, Staples remained involved in the religious community, singing in church and later touring with a gospel quartet, the Golden Trumpets. At the time the guitar was associated with āthe Devilās musicā and forbidden in churches, though Staples never saw the contradictionāhe felt the blues were just telling a different story.
Citified
At 18, Staples married 16-year-old Oceola Ware. A daughter, Cleotha, and a son, Pervis, soon followed. Seeing no future for his family in the South, he journeyed to Chicago. There, Staples put the guitar down for a dozen years while working in a slaughterhouse and a series of other jobs. Oceola worked as well, and gave birth to two more daughters: Yvonne and Mavis.
The Staple Singers pose with Don Cornelius (right) on the set of Soul Train. This publicity photo was taken during production of the June 8, 1974 episode.
Chicago in the ā40s was a hotbed of R&B, blues, and bebop. The Staples family lived in the neighborhood that spawned such talents as Lou Rawls, Sam Cooke, and Johnny Taylor. Gospel was also on the rise, with guitar-based male quartets and piano-accompanied female soloists working a circuit of churches around the nation.
For a while, Staples joined the Trumpet Jubilees as a vocalist, but in 1948 he decided to form a group closer to home. He pulled out an old guitar and taught Mavis, Cleotha, Pervis, and Yvonne harmony parts to āWill the Circle Be Unbroken.ā The familyās debut at an auntās church brought seven dollars and promises of more gigs. The Staples warm Southern sound quickly caught on, and soon they were branching out to other cities and states.
In 1950 Staples bought his first electric guitar, an amp, and the tremolo effect that would help define his sound. Pops played a variety of mostly Fender guitars throughout his career: Telecasters, Jazzmasters, Jaguars, and Stratocasters. In Greg Kotās book, I'll Take You There: Mavis Staples, the Staple Singers and the March Up Freedom's Highway, Sam Cookeās guitarist Leroy Crume recalled: āWhen Pops came on the scene, he brought this little gadget you put on an amplifierāat the time they werenāt making amps with tremolos ⦠People used to call it āPop Staples and his nervous guitar.āā The effect was most likely a DeArmond 601 Tremolo unit, which became available in 1948.
Though Pops Staples never left the church, heād spent his fair share of time in juke joints playing the blues. With his family band committed to gospel, he now joined a Baptist church and was āborn again,ā giving up secular music for the moment.
In 1953, Pops had the newly named Staple Singers record a single to sell at shows. A Chicago label, United Records, soon signed them, but their first label record, āWonāt You Sit Down (Sit Down Servant),ā failed to hit. An early version of āThis May Be the Last Timeā (later covered by The Rolling Stones as āThe Last Timeā) was cut but not released until years later, and on another label. United wanted the band to move in a more rock ānā roll direction, and for Mavis to sing the blues. Pops refused to agree.
It was back to the factory for a while, but the Staple Singersā singular soundā14-year-old Mavisā low voice, Popsā falsetto, and country soul in an urban environmentācouldnāt be denied. Another part of their unique appeal was Staplesā guitar. Though artists like Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Popsā favorite, Blind Willie Johnson, had incorporated guitar into gospel, the Staple Singers were one of the first Chicago gospel groups to employ this previously shunned instrument. They were allowed to enter local churches that had previously permitted only keyboard accompaniment.
Vee-Jay Days
In 1955, the Staple Singersā worth was recognized by Vee-Jay records (who later recognized the Beatlesā talent, distributing their records in America when Capitol initially refused). After a couple of false starts, they released the haunting āUncloudy Day.ā It became the Staple Singersā first hit (at least by gospel standards) and allowed them to begin touring nationally.
Part of the Staplesā appeal lay in a down-home sound and attitude that reminded Northern urban churchgoers of their rural Southern roots. The Staplesā stripped-down performancesājust Popsā guitar and their voicesāstood in stark contrast to the more flamboyant gospel acts of the day.
Popsā playing is the foundation of the tracks the Staple Singers cut for Vee-Jay between 1955 and 1961. As Greg Kot describes it in his Staples book: āHis style created an atmosphere that was immediately distinctive, a hypnotic swirl of reverb, repetition, and riff. Chords were implied as much as articulated, notes were blurred, tones and overtones were carefully layered like the bricks Pops used to cement into place at his construction jobs.ā
While the Staple Singersā repertoire wasnāt strictly gospel, identifying themselves with that genre gave them an advantage over R&B groups: They could play hundreds of small churches across the country, sometimes doing two or three services a day at a single church. Like many R&B artists, though, Staples carried a gun in his briefcase to ensure payment by crooked promoters and to protect the money afterwards.
In the 1960s, the Staple Singers moved to Orrin Keepnewsā jazz and folk label, Riverside Records. Keepnews added more prominent bass and drums to their recordings, helping them extend their audience beyond the church while remaining true to their homespun roots.
The group managed to fit into the āfolkā music revolution of the ā60s, often crossing paths with Bob Dylan on TV shows and at festivals. The fledgling legend was a huge fanāto the point of asking Mavis to marry him. The group recorded āBlowing in the Windā for Riverside before Dylanās own version hit the streets.
Pops often found folk musicās message to be in tune with his familyās ideology. Dylanās music, and a meeting with Martin Luther King, Jr., inspired him to record songs reflecting the civil rights and anti-war movements for their record This Land.
Cleotha, Yvonne, and Mavis Staples (left to right) are the female vocalists of the Staples Singers. The first song their father, Pops Staples, taught them to sing harmony on was āWill the Circle Be Unbroken.ā
Freedom Highway
In 1965, the Staples signed with Epic and recorded with producer Billy Sherrill. Sherrill was known for creating the ācountrypolitanā sound of artists like George Jones and Tammy Wynette, but had started in music playing the blues.
That year also brought the famous Selma to Montgomery civil rights march. Pops Staples, upset by the images of clubs, dogs, and tear gas, was moved to write his iconic song āFreedom Highway.ā The group performed it for the first time at Chicagoās New Nazareth Church, where Sherrill recorded the entire performance for the live Freedom Highway record. Al Duncan on drums and Phil Upchurch on bass add admirable support, but Popsā guitar anchors the recording, from the country blues licks of āWhen Iām Gone,ā to the rockabilly rhythm/lead combo of āHeās All Right.ā By the concertās end, the Staple Singers had defined the meeting place of the African-American church and the American civil rights movement.
The Staples were devastated by the death of their friend and hero Martin Luther King in April 1968, but by July theyād recovered enough to sign with Stax Records, where Al Bell and Steve Cropper helped them continue on their path toward gospel-infused pop music.
Bell also wanted to produce solo records for Pops and Mavis. He and drummer Al Jackson, Jr., had the idea of making a record featuring three Stax guitarists: Pops, Cropper, and Albert King. Though Popsā tremolo guitar is overdubbed on a number of Jammed Togetherās tunes, its full low-tuned mystery is reserved for the one Pops feature, āTupelo.ā
Guitarless in Muscle Shoals It wasnāt until Bell produced the Staple Singers in Muscle Shoals that the group had their first crossover hit, āHeavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom Boom).ā But it was their next one, āRespect Yourself,ā that solidified the Staple Singers as crossover stars, hitting the pop charts at number 12.
For the follow-up, āIāll Take You There,ā Bell played a Jamaican record, āThe Liquidator,ā by the Harry J Allstars, for the Muscle Shoals crew. They lifted the intro practically intact and put their own spin on Aston and Carlton Barrettās reggae rhythm. Though Mavis breathes, āPlay, Daddyā before the guitar solo, Muscle Shoals guitarist Eddie Hinton performs it.
In Muscle Shoals Pops was not permitted to play guitar. Though the āSwampersā had utmost respect for his sound, his style was too idiosyncratic to fit into their well-oiled music machine, though the spirit of Popsā sound remains in Barry Beckettās spooky electric piano and the soulful guitars of Jimmie Johnson and Eddie Hinton. Pops wasnāt happy about not playing on the sessions, but his feathers were smoothed when āIāll Take You Thereā became a number one pop and R&B single.
These secular successes brought some expected backlash from the gospel community, who took the Staplesā political and pop songs as a sign they were turning their backs on the church. Pops felt the group was still doing the Lordās work by bringing messages of hope, pride, and unity to the black community. The group played a prominent role in Staxās celebration of black pride, the 1972 Wattstax concert, and was featured on the best-selling recorded documentary that followed.
Staplesā guitar was absent on the next round of Muscle Shoals sessions as well. Despite being a retread of āIāll Take You There,ā āIf Youāre Ready (Come Go with Me)ā gave them another top 10 hit in 1973. āTouch a Hand (Make a Friend)ā followed it up the charts later that year. The album, Be What You Are, also contained a track called āHeaven,ā featuring acoustic and electric guitar (and a solo) from another Staples fan: Jimmy Page.
The Weight Part II The Staples left a failing Stax Records in 1975, but were quickly signed by Warner Brothers, who paired the group with Curtis Mayfield as producer. Mayfield was working on a soundtrack for Letās Do It Again, a movie featuring Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier, and wanted the Staples to sing the title song. Initially put off by its sexual innuendo, Pops was brought around by his respect for Mayfield and his daughtersā enthusiasm, leading to yet another huge hit.
In 1976 Martin Scorsese convened a special shooting session of the Staple Singers and the Band singing āThe Weight.ā The Staples had covered the song back in 1968, weeks after the Bandās first album, Music from Big Pink, was released. The group had been unable to play the concert filmed for the Last Waltz, but the Band considered the Staplesā vocal sound a huge influence on their own vocals and harmonies, and wanted them in the movie.
The late ā70s saw many bands struggling with the rise of disco, and the Staple Singersānow simply known as the Staplesāwere likewise caught in the conundrum. Chasing trends with tunes like āLetās Go to the Discoā was no answer. They returned to Muscle Shoals in 1978 in hopes of recapturing some of their original magic, but cutting a bunch of dance tracks, even with the Swampers, was no help.
Working in Allen Toussaintās studio with Meters bassist George Porter and arranger Wardell Quezergue also failed to reignite the Staplesā success. In 1984, on yet another label, the Staples had a new flirtation with the R&B charts thanks to a recording of the Talking Heads tune āSlippery People.ā This led to Pops acting in Talking Heads frontman David Byrneās movie True Stories. Other acting jobs followed: Barry Levinsonās film Wag the Dog and the Chicago production of Bob Telsonās gospel-based musical, The Gospel at Colonus. Finally, Mavis left the group for a solo career, and Pops began his own solo flight.
The Staple Singers with Stax label mates Booker T. & the MGās in a late 1960s rehearsal.
Solo Staples Virgin Records subsidiary Point Blank was signing a spate of blues artists in the late ā80s, including Albert Collins and John Lee Hooker. At the behest of Hookerās booking agent, they signed Pops.
Peace to the Neighborhood let Staples bring his guitar to the fore once more on tunes like āI Shall Not be Moved,ā āMiss Cocaine,ā āDown in Mississippi,ā and āWorld in Motion.ā With guest artists Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, and Ry Cooder helping out, the record earned a Grammy nomination in 1992. Popsā tremoloed guitar appears on about half the Point Blank follow-up, Father Father, which, despite a lack of blues tunes, won the 1994 Best Contemporary Blues Album Grammy.
Popsā career slowed, but the awards continued. In 1998 Staples was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and in 1999 the Staple Singers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The following year, on December 19, 2000, Pops Staples died after suffering a concussion in a fall near his home in Dalton, Illinois, just nine days before his 86th birthday.
Despite failing health, in 1998 Pops had begun sessions for another solo record. Shortly before he died, the ailing musician asked Mavis to play him the unfinished tracks. When they were done, he pleaded to his daughter, āDonāt lose this.ā That became the albumās title when it was finally released in 2015. Wilcoās Jeff Tweedy, who has produced acclaimed records for Mavis, reworked the music, stripping away most of the original session tracks, leaving Popsā signature guitar, vocals from Pops, Cleotha, and Mavis, and a few tasteful overdubs.
Donāt Lose This serves as a fitting finale for Roebuck āPopsā Staples, the man who brought the sound of electrified country blues guitar to the church, the city, and the world.
Pops Staples plays his Jazzmaster onstage with the Staple Singers circa July 1971.
Hallmarks of Style: Pops Staplesā Guitar
Pops Staplesā deceptively simple guitar style seamlessly combined strumming with bass lines and picked melody notes, all rendered with a vibe-heavy groove.When bluesman Rick Holmstrom took the job as Mavis Staplesā guitarist, he brought the spirit of Popsā without feeling the need to be a carbon copy. Mavis was onboard with that, deriving new inspiration from his personal approach. Nevertheless, Holmstrom has studied the gospel patriarchās style in great detail.
āWatch him on videos, where heās playing E7 in root or ācowboyā position,ā says Holmstrom. āHe may be tuned down to D and capoed up to Eb, depending on the time period, so I took one of my Teles and tuned it down a whole stepāit gets the spookiness down there. Pops would take that first position E chord and pick out little melodies with his pinky on the high E and B strings He might also be doing a hammer-on on the D string from D to E,or from Ato B on the A string. Sometimes he would slide up to the root on the A string. He might have had an alternating thumb bass going on the low strings, but it was not strict like with country guitar.
āYou can hear Charlie Patton, Son House, and Big Bill Broonzy in his playing. People have laughed at me when I say he reminds me a little bit of Scotty Moore, but he was not all blues. On āSuzie Q,ā James Burton plays that E7 chord with a little lick, and it sounds like something Pops wouldāve done. Pops wasnāt any kind of great technician, but he had this great vibe.ā
For Marty Stuart, seeing Pops Staples play in The Last Waltz was revelatory. āAfter that, I became enamored of the Vee-Jay recordings,ā he says. āI have always been a fan of a guitarist who can take two notes and wreck you.ā
Stuart met Staples when working with the Staple Singers on the Rhythm Country and Blues record, and was quickly adopted by the family. When Pops died, Mavis and Yvonne gave the country star the rosewood Fender Telecaster Pops played in The Last Waltz. Stuart has compared it to being handed Excalibur.
āItās an instrument of light and truth,ā says Stuart. āWhen I put that guitar on, there is a responsibility that falls around my neck. I left it tuned down to Eb, the way Pops played it.ā
The guitar started off with standard Telecaster pickups but, according to Stuartās co-guitarist, Kenny Vaughan, was later modified with a Fender Wide Range Humbucker and 6-way brass saddles.
āItās real heavyāone of the solid ones,ā says Stuart. āIāve tried to play country and rock on that guitar, and it wonāt come out. But as soon as I play gospel, it comes to life.ā
Stuart recalls one time when Pops visited Nashville. āPops called and said, āMarty, I need two things: a Fender ā65 with a shake on it and a stretch-out car.ā I said, āNo problem,ā and then I called Mavis and asked, āWhat is a Fender ā65 with shake on it and a stretch-out car?ā She said, āOh Marty, thatās a Fender amp with tremolo and a limousine.ā [Laughs.]ā
Stuart beautifully summarizes the elusive magic of Popsā playing: āItās like trying to tell somebody about the Grand Canyon if theyāve never been there, or explain a dream you had last night. Sometimes when you canāt analyze something, the best thing to do is to shut up and let it entertain and inspire you.ā
YouTube It
In this rare clip from 1968, Pops accompanies his daughters on the gospel classic āWade in the Waterā with only a Fender Jaguar. The song is associated with the Underground Railroad.
The Staples Singers āIāll Take You Thereā was the number one hit in 1972 when this TV performance was filmed.
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PG contributor Tom Butwin profiles three versatile - and affordable - acoustic guitars from Cort, Epiphone, and Gold Tone. These classic designs and appointments offer pro-level sound for an accessible price.
Cort Essence Series ES-GA4 Grand Auditorium Cutaway Acoustic Electric Guitar, Natural Semi Gloss (GA4NSG)
Epiphone Slash J-45 Acoustic Guitar - November Burst
The classic J-45 has been the choice of legendary musicians ever since it was first introduced in 1942. Known as The Workhorse, it is Gibson's most famous and most popular acoustic guitar model. Now Epiphone has released a new Inspired by Gibson"' J-45"' with all of the features players want, including all solid wood construction, a comfortable rounded C neck profile, 20 medium jumbo frets, the 60s style Kalamazoo headstock shape and a gorgeous Aged Vintage Sunburst finish. The FishmanĀ® Sonicore under-saddle pickup and Sonitone preamp make this Workhorse stage-ready too. Optional hardshell or Epilite"' case available separately. A battery is not included. To power your pickup, you will need a 9-volt battery.
Gold Tone The Bell Acoustic-electric Guitar - Natural
Gold Toneās Festival Series: The Bell stands out by blending classic craftsmanship with stage-ready versatility. Its all-solid wood constructionāfeaturing a Sitka spruce top and mahogany back and sidesāproduces a rich, balanced tone that shines in any setting. The slope-shoulder design offers both comfort and clarity, perfect for fingerstyle or strumming. With a slim "D" neck, Fishman electronics, Grover tuners, and DāAddario strings, The Bell is crafted for players who demand tone, playability, and reliable performanceāon stage or in the studio.
A beautifully realized mashup of two iconic guitars.
Reader: Ward Powell
Hometown: Ontario, Canada
Guitar: ES-339 Junior
Iāve always liked unusual guitars. I think it started when I got my first guitar way back in 1976. I bought a '73 Telecaster Deluxe for $200 with money I saved from delivering newspapers.
I really got serious about playing in 1978, the same year the first Van Halen album was released. Eddie Van Halen was a huge influence on me, including how he built and modded guitars. Inspired by Eddie, I basically butchered that Tele. But keep in mind, there was once a time when every vintage guitar was just a used guitarāI still have that Tele, by the way.
I never lost that spirit of wanting guitars that were unique, and have built and modded a few dozen guitars since. When I started G.A.S.-ing simultaneously for a Les Paul Junior and a Casino, I came up with this concept. I found an Epiphone ES-339 locally at a great price. It already had upgraded CTS pots, Kluson tuners, and the frets had been PLEKād. It even came with a hardshell case. It was cheap because it was a right-handed guitar that had been converted to left handed and all the controls had been moved to the opposite side, so it had five additional holes in the top.
Fortunately, I found a Duesenberg wraparound bridge that used the same post spacing as a Tune-o-matic. I used plug cutters to cut plugs out of baltic birch plywood to fill the 12 holes in the laminated top. I also reshaped the old-style Epiphone headstock. Then, I sanded off the original finish, taped the fretboard, and sprayed the finish using cans of nitro lacquer from Oxford Guitar Supply. Lots of wet sanding and buffing later, the finish was done.
I installed threaded insert bushings for the bridge, so it will never pull out. The pickup is a Mojotone Quiet Coil P-90 and I fabricated a shim from a DIY mold and tinted epoxy to raise the P-90 up closer to the strings. The shim also covers the original humbucker opening. I cut a pickguard out of a blank and heated it slightly to bend it to follow the curvature of the top.
All in all, I'm pretty happy how it turned out! It plays great and sounds even better. And I have something that is unique: an ES-339 Junior.
The Gibson EH-185, introduced in 1939, was one of the companyās first electric guitars.
Before the Les Pauls and SGs, this aluminum-reinforced instrument was one of the famous brandās first electric guitars.
Itās hard to overstate the importance of electric guitar in shaping American popular music over the last half-century. Its introduction was a revolution, changing the course of modern musical styles. Today, when we think of the guitars that started the revolution, we think of the Stratocaster and the Les Paul, guitars held against the body and fretted with the fingertips. But the real spark of this musical mutiny was the lap-steel guitar.
In the early 20th century, guitar music was moving out of the parlors of homes and into public spaces where folks could gather together and dance. Guitarists needed to project their sound far beyond where their wimpy little acoustic instruments could reach. Instrument manufacturers began experimenting with larger body sizes, metal construction, and resonators to increase volume.
Around this time, George Beauchamp began experimenting with electric guitar amplification. He settled on a design using two U-shaped magnets and a single coil of wire. Beauchamp was in business with Adolph Rickenbacker, and they decided to stick this new invention into a lap steel.
If we put on our 1930s glasses, this decision makes perfect sense. The most popular music at the time was a blend of Hawaiian and jazz styles made famous by virtuosos like Solomon āSolā HoŹ»opiŹ»i. Photos of HoŹ»opiŹ»i with a metal-body resonator aboundāone can imagine his relief at being handed an instrument that projected sound toward the audience via an amplifier, rather than back at his own head via resonator cones. Beauchamp and Rickenbacker were simply following the market.
As it turned out, the popularity of Hawaiian music gave way to swing, and electric lap steels didnāt exactly take the world by storm. But Beauchamp and Rickenbacker had proven the viability of this new technology, and other manufacturers followed suit. In 1937, Gibson created a pickup with magnets under the strings, rather than above like Beauchampās.
āWhen I plugged in the EH-185 I expected to hear something reminiscent of Charlie Christianās smooth, clean tone. But what I got was meatierācloser to what I associate with P-90s: warm and midrange-y.ā
The first page of Gibsonās āElectrical Instrumentsā section in the 1939 catalog features a glowing, full-page write-up of their top-of-the-line lap steel: the EH-185. āEverything about this new electric Hawaiian Guitar smacks of good showmanship,ā effuses the copy. āIt has smoothness, great sustaining power, and an easy flow of tone that builds up strongly and does not die out.ā
Picking up the 1940 EH-185 at Fannyās House of Music is about as close as one can get to traveling back in time to try a new one. It is just so clean, with barely any dings or even finish checking. Overall, this is a 9/10 piece, and itās a joy to behold. Speaking of picking it up, the first thing you notice when you lift the EH-185 out of the case is its weight. This is a much heavier instrument than other similar-sized lap steels, owing to a length of thick metal between the body and the fretboard. The catalog calls it āHyblum metal,ā which may be a flowery trade name for an early aluminum alloy.
This 1940 EH-185 is heavier than other lap steels in its class, thanks to a length of metal between its fretboard and body.
Photo by Madison Thorn
There are numerous other fancy appointments on the EH-185 that Gibson didnāt offer on their lesser models. Itās made of highly figured maple, with diamond-shaped decorations on the back of the body and neck. The double binding is nearly a centimeter thick and gives the instrument a luxurious, expensive look.
Behind all these high-end attributes is a great-sounding guitar, thanks to that old pickup. Itās got three blades protruding through the bobbin for the unwound strings and one longer blade for the wound strings. When I plugged in the EH-185 I expected to hear something reminiscent of Charlie Christianās smooth, clean tone. But what I got was meatierācloser to what I associate with P-90s: warm and midrange-y. It was just crying out for a little crunch and a bluesy touch. Itās kind of cool how such a pristine, high-end vintage instrument can be so well-suited for a sound thatās rough around the edges.
As far as electric guitars go, it doesnāt get much more vintage than this 1940 Gibson EH-185 Lap Steel. It reminds us of where the story of the electric guitar truly began. This EH-185 isnāt just a relicāitās a testament to when the future of music was unfolding in real time. Plug it in, and you become part of the revolution.
Sources: Smithsonian, Vintage Guitar, Mozart Project, Gibson Pre-War, WIRED, Steel Guitar Forum, Vintaxe
J Mascis is well known for his legendary feats of volume.
J Mascis is well known for his legendary feats of volume. Just check out a photo of his rig to see an intimidating wall of amps pointed directly at the Dinosaur Jr. leaderās head. And though his loudness permeates all that he does and has helped cement his reputation, thereās a lot more to his playing.
On this episode of 100 Guitarists, weāre looking at each phase of the trioās long career. How many pedals does J use to get his sound? Whatās his best documented use of a flanger? How does his version of āMaggot Brainā (recorded with bassist Mike Watt) compare to Eddie Hazelās? And were you as surprised as we were when Fender released a J Mascis signature Tele?