
On his solo work, Fertita channels the inspiration he gets from his various projects, from Dead Weather and Queens of the Stone Age, of which he’s a member, to projects with artists such as Karen O and Iggy Pop.
With the encouragement of his pal Jack White, Queens of the Stone Age and Dead Weather multi-instrumentalist Dean Fertita pulls together a decade of material for the psych-pop extravaganza Tropical Gothclub.
For multi-instrumentalist and A-list side musician Dean Fertita, a sophomore solo release has been a long time coming. The anticipated Tropical Gothclub, released in late 2022, is his first record since his 2009 debut, Hello=Fire. Fertita can’t help but nod to the lapse of time between then and now. “The song ‘Double Blind,’ I wrote that for my daughter before her first birthday,” he says about the album’s dreamy, Flaming Lips-like second single. “She just turned 11, and that’s the oldest song of the bunch.”
In that interim, the guitarist has had a lot to keep him busy. Since the mid ’00s, he’s been a part of a number of ongoing projects: He plays guitar and keys in Queens of the Stone Age, has been a touring member of the Raconteurs—whose lineup includes Fertita’s high school friend, multi-instrumentalist Brendan Benson—and formed the Dead Weather with the Kills’ vocalist Alison Mosshart and Jack White. Between touring, writing, and recording with these groups, Fertita also manages to squeeze in session work with artists such as Karen O and Iggy Pop.
Where There is Water
The trippy Tropical Gothclub was recorded during Fertita’s pandemic-era touring downtime and is made up of songs he’d been collecting for over a decade.
That sheer volume of work is a full-time creative effort. It’s a constant cycle, and for Fertita, the genesis of “what’s next” usually emerges just as another undertaking is winding down. But then came March 2020, and—like everyone else—he found himself in a pandemic break with time to focus on his solo projects again.
“In early 2020, we just finished the Raconteurs run,” Fertita says. “I didn’t know what was going on for the next few months for work, but I knew that in the not-so-distant future, we were planning on getting back together for Queens [of the Stone Age]. Alison Mosshart and I were talking about how we were both home for a while. We both had a few songs, and we started sending demos back and forth to each other. That got the wheels turning for me. A month later, we were locked down. But I was already in this mode of working through songs and arrangements and things that might work if we did a Dead Weather record.”
“The entire record was making sense of 10 years of fragmented ideas.”
“We were operating under the illusion [that the lockdown wouldn’t last very long],” Fertita laughs. “We decided to go through our ideas so we could be sharp and ready to go. I just kept recording my ideas. There was nothing else going on. I also had so many fragments of songs that had been laying around for years. In my mind, I was putting them in these different aisles: ‘This one would go good in Queens, and this one would work over here.…’ I just kept working, and at the end of that process I had a record’s worth of material and nowhere that it was immediately going to go. Jack encouraged me just to release it as it is, even though that was not even something I was considering at the time.”
Intentional or not, that collection of bits and bobs became Tropical Gothclub. In a sense, it sounds like what you’d expect from an artist immersed in the Third Man and Queens of the Stone Age universes—a heaping mass of abrasive, pedal-generated fuzz tones—except that Fertita, with his decades of experience, pushes that to another level entirely. Barnburners like “No Wonder,” with its intricate harmonized leads, and the call-and-response-heavy “Death Rattle” ooze enough of a guitar-orchestra vibe that they could almost be outtakes from Physical Graffiti. Others, like “Needles,” “Wheels Within Wheels,” and “Uniform Looks,” combine strong hooks, propulsive energy, and a seemingly endless variety of tones. The album also features more trippy moments—tempered with the occasional acoustic track—on songs like “Where There Is Water” and “Double Blind.”
Dean Fertita radiates the hazy surrealism of Tropical Gothclub.
Photo by Angelina Castillo
Fertita recorded much of Tropical Gothclub in a small A-frame house he built in his backyard, reassembling sections taken from lengthier jam sessions and working with snippets collected over the years. “The entire record was making sense of 10 years of fragmented ideas,” he says. “Sometimes, it was a 15-minute jam that I did with a drummer that we would arrange and figure out what it was. Some things I revisited and tightened up because they were recorded on GarageBand and then put into a Logic session.”
At some point in the process, Fertita brought Detroit-area engineer Dave Feeny (The White Stripes, Josh Ritter, Mule) on board to help sort through the clutter. “I’ve known Dave for a very long time,” he says. “I did another record in a similar way with him, which means he totally understands the various degrees of ‘done’ of the things that are sent to him. He just knew what I was going for and we could talk quickly. He was able to move it at a quick enough speed that it would be interesting. I’d get it back in a day and think, ‘I can do this now. I can play bass to this song now that we have a drum arrangement figured out’—or whatever it was.”
“This record—Tropical Gothclub—became a culmination of all my split personalities.”
Fertita is a connoisseur of tones, and he’s sensitive to subtle tweaks and changes. Different instruments, situations, and especially pedals affect his playing and approach. “Pedals always instantly change a frame of reference for me,” he says. “Sometimes you’ll hear a sound, and you’ll write to that sound immediately. I am always looking for character, and maybe even the weird thing that you’re not supposed to use—something that’s just going to be interesting sounding and different from the get-go.”
Working with so many different musicians inspires and triggers different chemical impulses as well. He points out that in QOTSA, “there are these two incredible guitar players,” and adds, “In Dead Weather, Jack predominantly plays drums, but we do play a lot of guitar together as well, and the stuff that he plays on those records is insane.”
Dean Fertita’s Gear
Fertita and his matching Gretsch White Falcon.
Photo by Andreas Neumann
Guitars
- Troy Van Leeuwen Fender Jazzmaster
- Goya Rangemaster
- Echopark Esperanto Z (Custom 9-string)
- Gretsch White Falcon
Amps
- No-name “magnetic” amplifier
- Fender Deluxe Reverb
- Supro Reissue Amp
- Silvertone Amp
Strings & Picks
- Ernie Ball .010s
- Fender Mediums
Pedals
- Binson Echorec 2 T7E
- Death By Audio Deep Animation Envelope Filter
- Death By Audio Supersonic Fuzz Gun
- Dunlop Fuzz Face Distortion
- EarthQuaker Devices Park Fuzz Sound
- Eventide H9 Max Harmonizer
- Fulltone Tube Tape Echo
- Gamechanger Audio Third Man Records Plasma Coil Distortion
- Ibanez AW7 Tone-Lok Autowah
- Mu-Tron Bi-Phase
- MXR Poly Blue Octave Pedal
- Old Blood Noise Reflector Chorus
- Third Man Records Bumble Buzz octave fuzz
- UREI Universal Audio Cooper Time Cube
- Way Huge Atreides Analog Weirding Module
Each band and project that Fertita participates in informs what he’s put into his solo music. “There’s no shortage of insane inspiration to try and fit in and complement what’s going on [in the album] already,” he says. “This record—Tropical Gothclub—became a culmination of all my split personalities. One idea I struggled with after making this record was: Shouldn’t I have made a stronger effort to make it totally different from the other things that I do, to show a completely different side? But there are different sides to my personality that get drawn out more, depending on the project that I am in. You probably can hear examples of how I would play if I were playing with Queens on this album.”
Fertita is not only flexible and productive as a guitarist and songwriter, he’s also a keyboardist, and that multi-instrumentalism helped connect some dots in his professional live.
“In Dead Weather, Jack predominantly plays drums, but we do play a lot of guitar together as well, and the stuff that he plays on those records is insane.”
“In 2005,” he explains, “I was on tour with Brendon Benson, and the first thing we did was an acoustic run in the U.K. As we were rehearsing, we thought it might be more interesting to break it up and have some songs on guitar and others on keys. I started to relearn them at that point.”
He had taken piano lessons as a child but put it aside as a teen. “I was stumbling through it but doing that led to the Raconteurs [Editor’s note: He plays both guitar and keys in that band when they’re on the road]. Our front-of-house engineer for that first tour was this guy Hutch, who had been with Queens since the beginning. He introduced me to the Queens guys, and 14 years later I am still doing that, too.”
As a multi-instrumentalist, Dean Fertita is an in-demand touring musician. He plays both guitar and keys for the Raconteurs on the road.
Photo by Andreas Neumann
What was it like to suddenly go pro on a less-familiar instrument? Did he get the jitters, or suffer from impostor syndrome? “I could keep up,” he laughs. “I was still holding my breath a little bit, but I felt like I could do what I had to do in that scenario. I wasn’t pushing boundaries. I was playing at the edge of my abilities most days.”
Fertita mostly reserves his limit-pushing for his work as a guitarist and songwriter. And one thing left to do is to play “Double Blind” for his daughter. “I have not played it for her yet,” he says. “I don’t want to embarrass her. She is aware that it exists, and I think she’ll listen to it alone. Maybe she’ll never tell me she’s heard it.”
The Dead Weather "I Feel Love" - Live on The Late Show
Dean Fertita is in his element, delivering blazing riffs on his Gretsch White Falcon with Alison Mosshart and Jack White as the Dead Weather on The Late Show.
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The new Mark IIC+ 1x12 Combo and Head are authentic recreations of Mesa Boogie's original models.
The new MESA/Boogie Mark IIC+ in head and 1x12 combo formats isavailable worldwide at authorized MESA/Boogie dealers, and on www.mesaboogie.com.
The Mark IIC+ is pure “Vintage Boogie” and based on the original Mark II (now called the MarkII-A) design, the world’s first “Dual Mode” amplifier containing independent performance modes dedicated to clean and overdrive sounds. The IIC+ model represents the 3rd generation of that game-changing single channel/dual mode layout and includes all the refinements made to that
original format over its nearly five influential years. It was also the last model in its family, as the subsequent model would contain three performance modes and be dubbed the MARK III.
The IIC+’s single row of controls is shared by its two modes (preamps), one for Rhythm(clean) and one for Lead (overdrive). Independent, though still interactive, sets of gain and volume controls help optimize each gain structure while shared Tone controls handle the broad stroke voicing. Fine-tuning of the sounds is accomplished by the PULL SHIFT voicing features – some Mode specific – fitted to the simple controls and further shaping via the on-board 5-Band Graphic EQ.Though the “Q” of the individual Bands (Slider Pot frequencies) is fairly wide around their CenterPoints, they provide a surprising degree of surgical-level sculpting quickly and musically.
The Rear Panel of the C+ provides the important features that keep this amp as relevant as ever 40 years after its initial run. Global PRESENCE and REVERB controls are centered foreasy navigation from the Front in stage environments. A series, tube buffered Effects Loop provides a seamless interface for your time-based processing. The Power Select switch at the far right (left from the Front) allows for your choice of the full 75 watts of “SIMUL-CLASS” power for richness, authority, and max headroom or “CLASS A” for 25 watts of reduced power and low end along with easier, smoother power clip at lower volumes. One 8Ohm and two 4 OhmSpeaker Outputs provide for a wide array of cabinet impedance matching. And though not a compensated Direct Output for Consoles or Interfaces, a SLAVE tap off the speaker outputs captures the entire sound of the amp – preamp and power section – to produce a non-compensated feed for IRReaders or external processors that might even serve an era-appropriate “dry/wet/wet” rig.
Out of production for four decades, we welcome back this icon and celebrate its impact on the incredible guitar heroes and timeless recordings they made during one of rock guitar’s biggest decades. The Mark IIC+ legacy is one we don’t take lightly or for granted and recreating it in today’s world with today’s available components and rigorous worldwide Compliance Regulations was no easy feat. However, we are just as proud and excited about this iteration as we were about the first one that was produced for less than two years, four decades ago.
Gibson Band Featuring Slash, Duff McKagan, and Cesar Gueikian Announce Benefit Single
100% of "I Can Breathe" song proceeds to benefit the National Alliance on Mental Illness, NAMI.
On Giving Tuesday, Gibson announces a new release from the Gibson Band--a revolving collective of musicians who join together to make music and raise funds and awareness for worthy causes.. A hard-hitting rock song, the new benefit single “I Can Breathe” features rhythm guitars and piano from Cesar Gueikian, CEO of Gibson, with special guests Duff McKagan on lead vocals and lyrics, and Slash on lead guitar and solos. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of the song “I Can Breathe” will benefit the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), through Gibson Gives. NAMI is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health resource organization that is dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.
On “I Can Breathe” Duff McKagan crafted the lyrics and is featured on lead vocals, Cesar Gueikian wrote the music and played rhythm guitar and piano, and Slash wrote and played thelead guitar and solos, while Jota Morelli (drums), and Seta Von Gravessen (bass) rounded outthe group in the studio. The music was recorded by Cesar at La Roca Power Studio in BuenosAires, Argentina, vocals were recorded by Duff at the Sound Factory in Los Angeles and leadguitars and solos by Slash in Los Angeles. The track was produced by Cesar Gueikian and JorgeRodriguez with collaboration from Pablo Toubes and Francisco Trillini, and mixed and masteredby Greg Gordon. A special thanks goes to Gonzalo Riviera Villatte, Gina Furia, and guitar techLisardo Alvarez for all his work at La Roca Power Studio.
Gibson Records, Duff McKagan, Slash, and Cesar Gueikian, will donate 100% proceeds from thesale of “I Can Breathe,” in addition to all auction funds raised to the National Alliance on MentalIllness (NAMI), through Gibson Gives. NAMI is the nation’s largest grassroots mental healthresource organization that is dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affectedby mental illness. NAMI’s mission is to create a world where all people affected by mentalillness live healthy, fulfilling lives supported by a community that cares.
“It was such a pleasure to work with Cesar and his whole crew on this tune,” says Duff McKagan.“The musical slant and progressive rock-ness of this huge epic pushed me in a whole new direction. Ilove a challenge and Cesar killed it! Most importantly, to be of service for mental health issues andawareness is super important to me at this time. Let’s rock!”
“Cesar and Duff came to me with a really cool piece of music,” adds Slash. “I loved the riff idea, andDuff's vocal, so I felt right at home on the track.”
“Guns N’ Roses had a profound influence on me and my guitar playing, so having the opportunity towrite and record this song with Slash and Duff is a dream come true, and it’s an honor to call themfriends and partners,” says Cesar Gueikian, CEO of Gibson. “’I Can Breathe’ started as aninstrumental track I recorded at La Roca Power Studio in Buenos Aires. Upon listening to the mix thatGreg Gordon put together, Jenny Marsh (Global Director of Cultural Influence at Gibson) suggestedDuff as lyricist and vocalist. Guns N’ Roses had just come off touring when I shared the song withDuff, he loved it and quickly wrote the lyrics and cut the vocals at the Sound Factory in Los Angeles.Having Duff on vocals made the next step obvious, which was asking Slash if he would collaboratewith lead guitars and solos. Both Duff and Slash transformed the track from a collection of riffs to agreat song! While Greg Gordon’s mixing and creativity tied it all together. I am grateful for thecollaboration from Slash, Duff and Greg, and from my friend Serj Tankian’s participation with coverartwork. I’m thrilled we are donating all proceeds from the song to a great and relevant cause.”
Made in close collaboration and with significant input from Jimmy Page, the Jimmy Page EDS-1275 uses new 3D scanning technology to aid in handcrafting an effective clone of his original EDS-1275.
There are very few guitars that can claim to be as instantly recognizable and iconic as Jimmy Page’s 1969 EDS-1275 Doubleneck. The photos of him playing it on stage with Led Zeppelin are indelible to rock ’n’ roll history. While Gibson has been making doubleneck electric guitars since 1958, Jimmy was the player who defined the EDS-1275 from the day it was delivered to him. Introducing the Jimmy Page EDS-1275 Doubleneck VOS, now part of the Gibson Custom core lineup and built to the exact specifications of Jimmy’s iconic EDS-1275 Doubleneck.
The Jimmy Page EDS-1275 features a double-cutaway one-piece mahogany body that provides exceptional access to the full length of both the12-string and six-string mahogany necks. Both necks have long tenons and are hide glue fit, and the neck profiles are recreated from 3D scans of the necks on the original guitar. The necks are both capped with bound Indian rosewood fretboards. Each fretboard is equipped with 20 authentic medium jumbo frets and adorned with aged cellulose nitrate parallelogram inlays. The fretboards of both necks have a 12” radius, which is perfect for both playing chords as well as for string bending while soloing. The 18 tuners are Kluson double line, double ring style, just like those found on the original guitar, and even the headstocks feature the correct 17-degree angle and specific logo stylization found on Jimmy’s EDS-1275. The electronics are just as authentic and deliver all of the sonic character of Jimmy’s legendary EDS-1275. Two uncovered Jimmy Page EDS-1275 Custombuckers with double black bobbins and Alnico 5 magnets are used for the two six-string pickups, while a covered pair is installed on the 12-string neck. Of course, the two volume and two tone controls use CTS potentiometers and period-correct ceramic disc capacitors, and the pickup select switch, neck select switch, and output jack are all from Switchcraft.
Here is your opportunity to own a clone of Jimmy Page’s famous EDS-1275, identical to how it appeared on the day that Jimmy first received the guitar. A Gibson Custom hardshell case is included, along with a vintage leather strap, and a certificate of authenticity with a photo from famed photographer Barrie Wentzell.
Jimmy Page EDS-1275 Doubleneck VOS '69 Cherry
Recreation of the EDS-1275 used by Jimmy Page made using 3D scans of the original guitar, one piece mahogany body, mahogany six and 12-string necks with custom Jimmy Page profiles, Indian rosewood fretboards, Jimmy Page Custombucker pickups with Alnico 5 magnets and double black bobbins, Gibson Custom hardshell case
Reader: Daniel Switkin
Hometown: Oakland, California
Guitar: Doublecaster
Here’s the doubleneck dream realized, even if it weighs 9 pounds, 5 ounces.
Taking a Squier Affinity Stratocaster and Mini Precision Bass, one reader created a super-versatile instrument for looping that he can pick, pluck, tap, and slap.
I've been using a multitrack looper with a guitar and an octave pedal, which was okay for simple bass parts, but didn’t give me thick strings and I couldn’t slap with it. So I decided to build a double-neck prototype specifically for looping, with a 6-string guitar and a 4-string bass.
Since building the necks would be the hardest part, I looked around for instruments with bolt-on necks I could reuse. Squier makes an Affinity Stratocaster and a Mini Precision Bass which were affordable and had matching fretboards, so I bought those. It was also cheaper to reuse the electronics and hardware that came with them, rather than buying everything separately.
Using two precut instrument bodies saved the burden of having to route cavities for the electronics.
My plan was to design my own body from scratch. As I debated which neck should go on top, how far apart they should be, and whether to line up the nuts or the saddles, I realized there was actually enough wood there to make a double neck body, which saved me the work of recreating the neck pockets, etc. Putting the guitar on top made barre chords much more comfortable, and the 28.6" bass scale meant I could still reach the first fret easily.
After stripping the paint with a heat gun, I ran both bodies through a table saw, glued them together, and thinned them to 1 3/8". Then I created an offset body shape, a new arm bevel, and reshaped the three cutaways. The pickguards are both original, with the guitar side cut down to make a yin and yang shape. The controls are volume and tone for each neck, using the original knobs. I moved the jack to the back and upgraded it to stereo so the guitar and bass signals can run through separate effects chains.
Note the location of the jack on the back of the extended-shape body. It’s unconventional but practical.
My top concerns were weight and ergonomics. Many doublenecks are around 12 to 13 pounds and 18" wide. I knew I would never play something that big, no matter how good it sounded. To that end, I saved weight everywhere and tracked everything to the gram in a spreadsheet. (That’s also the reason I chose a fixed bridge instead of a vibrato.) I ultimately used a wipe-on gel stain to keep the weight down further. Stripping the paint from the factory saved 5 ounces! The final playable weight is 9 pounds, 5 ounces, and 15 1/4" wide at the lower bout. This has been pretty manageable, however, there is some neck dive because of the tuners. I’m taking everything I’ve learned from this prototype and designing a new doubleneck, which will be headless. I believe I can shed another pound and eliminate the neck dive that way. You can watch my entire build on YouTube.