Polyphia (L to R): Bassist Clay Gober, guitarists Tim Henson and Scott LePage, and drummer Clay Aeschliman.
“I Love Pooping and Texting You About It,” reads Polyphia guitarist Scott LePage’s coffee mug. It’s quite apropos, since in just a few years’ time, Polyphia morphed from being YouTube viral sensations to becoming the shit in the guitar world. Schoolyard jokes aside, Polyphia has a crazy huge following, especially for an instrumental band. The video for their new acoustic shredfest, “Playing God,” is up to 12 million views (as of press time) after only four months, and guitarist Tim Henson’s video for Neural DSP Archetype has almost 6 million views (combined between his channel and Neural’s). Can you think of any gear video that’s come even close?
Remember That You Will Die, Polyphia’s latest release, features a varied cast of guests including Steve Vai, Sophia Black, $not, Killstation, Lil West, and Deftones’ Chino Moreno, among others. “When we were making this album, we were just collaborating with everybody, and we probably made two albums,” says Henson. “There’s a lot of things that didn’t make it to this album that will most likely make it to the next or some other thing. It was kind of just picking the songs that were ready or the songs that were legally able to come out. The collaborations were with lots of people from different genres who have large teams, and it’s kind of a process to put out music with people like that. The people that made it to this album were the ones that pretty much made it the easiest on us, in terms of finishing the song and then getting their teams to clear it legally.”
Polyphia - Playing God (Official Music Video)
Vai’s cameo on the six-minute album-closer, “Ego Death,” in some ways represents a symbolic passing of the torch. “I fuckin’ love Steve, dude. It’s like a dream come true. It feels like our idol is rooting for us,” says Henson. “We went to his house just to visit, just to hang out. We showed him the song then, and asked him to do it, and then he did it. When he sent the thing, he was like, ‘Oh by the way, I just did an interview about which guitar players I find the most exciting and I listed you as number one.’ I was like, ‘Oh, that’s fuckin’ awesome.’ That was such a crazy thing to read, and to have to wait like six weeks for that article to come out.”
Both Polyphia guitarists agree that “Ego Death” is their favorite track on the album. LePage says, “I’m really proud of that one. I don’t know how this is going to sound, but seldom do I ever tear up listening to my own music because that’s just fuckin’ weird, but I’m very proud of myself, I’m very proud of Tim, I’m very proud of Clay [Aeschliman, drums] and Clay [Gober, bass]. I think that we really all came together and created the shit out of this song. And for it to be the closer on the record, especially this record that we tried to make as badass and cohesive and collective as we could, it takes me to that emotional level. I think the song came out wonderful, and I’m not even saying this with a biased opinion. I think that it is our best creation ever.”
Polyphia - Ego Death feat. Steve Vai (Official Music Video)
Remember That You Will Die features several hard-to-classify vocal tracks. “ABC” is a standout, featuring Sophia Black’s jaw-dropping vocal performance. It’s a hyper-catchy, J-pop style track that references modern R&B and is chock full of tight, caffeinated shred riffing. “It’s funny, when we were writing that song, we were like, ‘This is going to be the album outlier for sure,’ in terms of difference from the other songs,” says LePage. “But creatively, it’s one of our coolest ones, just because we really served the song. I don’t want to say that we intentionally held back guitars or anything, but we just did what we thought was right for the song. The talent is the vocals on the song, and we let it be like that. Our focus with that one was to just write a badass song.”
“We like to make easy-sounding things complicated.” —Scott LePage
When Henson summoned Black for a collaboration, the guitarist was going through a major transition in his life. After a four-year stint living in L.A., last year he decided to move. During his last three months in L.A., he booked sessions with people he needed to do sessions with before he left town. Black was one of them. “I’ve known Sophia for a while, and I’ve known that she’s very talented. I didn’t know that she could do that,” he recalls. “I’d done this TikTok of a Vocaloid song where I kind of just played the Vocaloid part on guitar, and it went viral and was, like, a big TikTok moment. And I wanted to recreate that with my own song, so I started the guitar riff inspired by that, and brought it to the session because I knew that Sophia speaks Japanese. The Vocaloid is really fast, like it’s programmed vocals—you could make it say whatever you want, and you can make it ungodly fast.” So, Henson asked Black to sing every note of the 26-note riff, and the singer suggested simply singing the alphabet. “I was like, ‘Yeah, try it.’ She hit (sings alphabet from A to Z), and we slowed it down so we could hear how it fit. She was like, ‘We’re making an alphabet song,’ and wrote the song in like two hours.”
The band tapped a crew of collaborators to come onboard for Remember That You Will Die—so many that they already have tracks in store for their next project as well. Both guitarists agree that their favorite song on the record is “Ego Death,” which features Steve Vai.
As much as the band are committed to their guitars, Henson and LePage look beyond their shared instrument to draw on diverse influences that come together like a breath of fresh air. Henson tries to make his guitar sound like a rapper, and he name checks Kanye West as an influence. You’ll hear trap music, EDM, hip-hop, djent, and flamenco influences, all blended into something that incorporates virtuosic guitar playing to create sounds that are completely new, yet completely right.
“I found I was getting stuck in my box. And in order to get out of my box, I needed to move to an instrument that I don’t know how to play.” —Tim Henson
“I find that there’s so much more to music than guitar. The guitar is just a means to an end,” says Henson. “It’s a tool to create music with. I just happened to play guitar my whole life, so that’s why I do play guitar now.” Other instruments help him find his unique sounds and get away from guitar-based writing. “I found I was getting stuck in my box. And in order to get out of my box, I needed to move to an instrument that I don’t know how to play,” he explains. “The muscle memory is causing the guitar to play me rather than me play the guitar. I don’t know how to play the piano. I have no idea, so at this point, I’m just feeling out where this note is in relationship to this note. And because I have no knowledge of the keyboard, no muscle memory, everything that’s in my head can come out easier, rather than it having to filter through my hands. The keyboard is allowing the composing muscles to work better, rather than the playing muscles.”
Polyphia's Gear
Scott LePage explains that when he and guitarist Tim Henson formed Polyphia as teenagers, they sought to combine pop songwriting with technical death-metal guitar playing, asking themselves, “How do we create songs with structure like that out of the things we know how to do on guitar?”
Photo by Paige Margulies
Guitars
- Ibanez AZ Custom Signature Models
- Ibanez Nylon-string TOD10N Tim Henson Signature
- Ibanez Meshuggah Fredrik Thordendal FTM33
- Ibanez Xiphos 7-string
- Ibanez J Custom 7-string
- Custom Ibanez 8-strings
Pickups
- Fishman Custom Signature Pickups
Modelers
- Neural DSP Archetype: Tim Henson
- Neural DSP Quad Cortex
Cabs
- Orange cabs
Effects (Plug-ins)
- Native Instruments Replika
- Native Instruments Substance
- Native Instruments Analog Brass/Winds
- Native Instruments Analog Strings
- Native Instruments Valhalla
- Native Instruments Kontakt
- Spectrasonics Omnisphere
- Splice samples
- Cradle: The Prince
- iZotope Neutron 2 and 3
- FabFilter
Strings & Picks
- Ernie Ball Titanium Coated (.009–.046, .009–.052, .010–.052)
- Dunlop Tortex Sharp 1.12 mm
Both Henson and LePage initially learned how to play guitar from their dads (Henson also played violin seriously and says he started practicing two hours a day at the age of 3) and grew up on classic hard rock. LePage recalls that the first thing he learned was the pentatonic scale, which he calls “the best scale in the world,” before moving on to Black Sabbath songs. “I later started figuring out shit by ear. After my dad taught me pretty much everything that he knew, I started wanting to learn arpeggios and all that because I found out who Yngwie Malmsteen was. And I was like, ‘Holy shit, what’s that?’ My dad was like, ‘Alright, we’re gonna get you a guitar teacher.’ So, there was this dude named Earl Bailey who lived a couple of streets down. I’d go to his house once a week, every Wednesday for a couple of years, and he taught me the modes, and arpeggios, and triads, and a bunch of theoretical stuff.’”
In their teen years, LePage and Henson digested the music of technical death-metal bands like Job for a Cowboy and As Blood Runs Black. “Fast stuff like that,” LePage recalls as he sings a blur of notes. They were both in their late teens when they formed Polyphia, so these were fresh influences at the time.
“The first impression, if you were to listen to us and never heard of us, you might be overwhelmed.” —Tim Henson
“When we first started writing music together, we implemented a lot of shit like that. So, it was like, ‘Let’s take this and apply it to pop structure songs,’ and that’s when we did Muse, our first album. And we kinda just took it from there—‘How do we create songs with structure like that out of the things we know how to do on guitar?’”
In addition to their mind-boggling, hyper-speed licks, Polyphia’s use of harmonics and open strings adds a unique flavor to their sound. LePage says, “Personally, it kind of started as ‘how do I make it sound different?’ And one thing—and I think I can vouch for everyone who’s ever tried to play a Polyphia song when I say this—we like to make easy-sounding things complicated. To put it in layman’s terms, because it sounds cooler and looks cooler when you play it like that. Using an open string and a harmonic in a spot that you wouldn’t really have to is kind of what takes it ‘there,’ to that special, unique place.”
Rig Rundown - Polyphia's Scott LePage
They’ve made a conscious effort to go beyond just nailing the notes, but also matching every single detail of their unison and harmony parts. This creates a level of detail that is a key to the Polyphia formula. Henson says, “On this last tour we wanted to fix a lot of things in that regard. In the past we’ve had a hands-off approach where I learn the part my way, he learns the part his way, and we just go on tour without much thought. What we wanted to do for this tour was kind of pick apart each unison section or each harmony section, and be like, ‘You’re sliding like this, you’re bending like this, I’m bending like this, let’s do the same thing.’ For the new music, we’re kind of just like sticking to what the record is. So, that means when I’m learning Scott’s parts for the new music, I need to sit there and listen to every single inflection that he’s making, whether he’s sliding downwards or sliding upwards, or he’s slightly behind the beat, or anything.”
LePage adds, “Recently we’ve tried to lock in on it together. But even before that, we have a pretty similar style of playing because we pretty much grew up together playing guitar.”
Polyphia’s sound owes a lot to the two guitarists’ abilities to sync every articulation and inflection of their playing for unison parts and harmonized leads. Tim Henson explains, “I need to sit there and listen to every single inflection that he’s [Scott LePage] making, whether he’s sliding downwards or sliding upwards, or he’s slightly behind the beat, or anything.”
Photo by Timothy Alsbrooks
With so much refined technique at the ready, Polyphia has mastered the balance of “flexing” and the essentials. Henson says, “The first impression, if you were to listen to us and never heard of us, you might be overwhelmed. There’s a lot happening. The cool thing about that is the more you listen, the more you will find. The layers of the music on top are really flashy, proficient technique things. Under all of that is where the meat is. I think a lot of our diehard fans would agree that the more that they listen to it, the more they appreciate it.”
LePage adds, “The guitar riff should be able to stand by itself and still sound good. Like if you picked up an acoustic guitar at a campfire, people should be able to keep the tempo in their heads and be able to bob their heads to it.”Polyphia - Live at The Ogden Theatre, Denver, CO, 8/18/2022
Guitarists Scott LePage and Tim Henson flank the rhythm section onstage in Denver for a super-tight set full of synchronized shredding, and deep, slamming grooves.
Gibson originally launched the EB-6 model with the intention of serving consumers looking for a “tic-tac” bass sound.
The Gibson EB-6 was announced in 1959 and came into the world in 1960, not with a dual-horn body but with that of an elegant ES-335. They looked stately, with a thin, semi-hollow body, f-holes, and a sunburst finish. Our pick for this Vintage Vault column is one such first-year model, in about as original condition as you’re able to find today. “Why?” you may be asking. Well, read on....
When the EB-6 was introduced, the Bass VI was still a glimmer in Leo Fender’s eye. The real competition were the Danelectro 6-string basses that seemed to have popped up out of nowhere and were suddenly being used on lots of hit records by the likes of Elvis, Patsy Cline, and other household names. Danos like the UB-2 (introduced in ’56), the Longhorn 4623 (’58), and the Shorthorn 3612 (’58) were the earliest attempts any company made at a 6-string bass in this style: not quite a standard electric bass, not quite a guitar, nor, for that matter, quite like a baritone guitar.
The only change this vintage EB-6 features is a replacement set of Kluson tuners.
Photo by Ken Lapworth
Gibson, Fender, and others during this era would in fact call these basses “baritone guitars,” to add to our confusion today. But these vintage “baritones” were all tuned one octave below a standard guitar, with scale lengths around 30", while most modern baritones are tuned B-to-B or A-to-A and have scale lengths between 26" and 30".)
At the time, those Danelectros were instrumental to what was called the “tic-tac” bass sound of Nashville records produced by Chet Atkins, or the “click-bass” tones made out west by producer Lee Hazlewood. Gibson wanted something for this market, and the EB-6 was born.
“When the EB-6 was introduced, the Bass VI was still a glimmer in Leo Fender’s eye.”
The 30.5" scale 1960 EB-6 has a single humbucking pickup, a volume knob, a tone knob, and a small, push-button “Tone Selector Switch” that engages a treble circuit for an instant tic-tac sound. (Without engaging that switch, you get a bass-heavy tone so deep that cowboy chords will sound like a muddy mess.)
The EB-6, for better or for worse, did not unseat the Danelectros, and a November 1959 price list from Gibson hints at why: The EB-6 retailed for $340, compared to Dano price tags that ranged from $85 to $150. Only a few dozen EB-6 basses were shipped in 1960, and only 67 total are known to have been built before Gibson changed the shape to the SG style in 1962.
Most players who come across an EB-6 today think it was a response to the Fender Bass VI, but the former actually beat the latter to the market by a full year.
Photo by Ken Lapworth
It’s sad that so few were built. Sure, it was a high-end model made to achieve the novelty tic-tac sound of cheaper instruments, but in its full-voiced glory, the EB-6 has a huge potential of tones. It would sound great in our contemporary guitar era where more players are exploring baritone ranges, and where so many people got back into the Bass VI after seeing the Beatles play one in the 2021 documentary, Get Back.
It’s sadder, still, how many original-era EB-6s have been parted out in the decades since. Remember earlier when I wrote that our Vintage Vaultpick was about as original as you could find? That’s because the model’s single humbucker is a PAF, its Kluson tuners are double-line, and its knobs are identical to those on Les Paul ’Bursts. So as people repaired broken ’Bursts, converted other LPs to ’Bursts, or otherwise sought to give other Gibsons a “Golden Era” sound and look ... they often stripped these forgotten EB-6 basses for parts.
This original EB-6 is up for sale now from Reverb seller Emerald City Guitars for a $16,950 asking price at the time of writing. The only thing that isn’t original about it is a replacement set of Kluson tuners, not because its originals were stolen but just to help preserve them. (They will be included in the case.)
With so few surviving 335-style EB-6 basses, Reverb doesn’t have a ton of sales data to compare prices to. Ten years ago, a lucky buyer found a nearly original 1960 EB-6 for about $7,000. But Emerald City’s $16,950 asking price is closer to more recent examples and asking prices.
Sources: Prices on Gibson Instruments, November 1, 1959, Tony Bacon’s “Danelectro’s UB-2 and the Early Days of 6-String Basses” Reverb News article, Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars, Tom Wheeler’s American Guitars: An Illustrated History, Reverb listings and Price Guide sales data.
Originally released in the 1980s, the Victory has long been a cult favorite among guitarists for its distinctive double cutaway design and excellent upper-fret access. These new models feature flexible electronics, enhanced body contours, improved weight and balance, and an Explorer headstock shape.
A Cult Classic Made Modern
The new Victory features refined body contours, improved weight and balance, and an updated headstock shape based on the popular Gibson Explorer.
Effortless Playing
With a fast-playing SlimTaper neck profile and ebony fretboard with a compound radius, the Victory delivers low action without fret buzz everywhere on the fretboard.
Flexible Electronics
The two 80s Tribute humbucker pickups are wired to push/pull master volume and tone controls for coil splitting and inner/outer coil selection when the coils are split.
For more information, please visit gibson.com.
Gibson Victory Figured Top Electric Guitar - Iguana Burst
Released in 1983, the Roland SDE-3000 rackmount delay was a staple for pro players of the era and remains revered for its rich analog/digital hybrid sound and distinctive modulation. BOSS reimagined this retro classic in 2023 with the acclaimed SDE-3000D and SDE-3000EVH, two wide-format pedals with stereo sound, advanced features, and expanded connectivity. The SDE-3 brings the authentic SDE-3000 vibe to a streamlined BOSS compact, enhanced with innovative creative tools for every musical style. The SDE-3 delivers evocative delay sounds that drip with warmth and musicality. The efficient panel provides the primary controls of its vintage benchmark—including delay time, feedback, and independent rate and depth knobs for the modulation—plus additional knobs for expanded sonic potential.
A wide range of tones are available, from basic mono delays and ’80s-style mod/delay combos to moody textures for ambient, chill, and lo-fi music. Along with reproducing the SDE-3000's original mono sound, the SDE-3 includes a powerful Offset knob to create interesting tones with two simultaneous delays. With one simple control, the user can instantly add a second delay to the primary delay. This provides a wealth of mono and stereo colors not available with other delay pedals, including unique doubled sounds and timed dual delays with tap tempo control. The versatile SDE-3 provides output configurations to suit any stage or studio scenario.
Two stereo modes include discrete left/right delays and a panning option for ultra-wide sounds that move across the stereo field. Dry and effect-only signals can be sent to two amps for wet/dry setups, and the direct sound can be muted for studio mixing and parallel effect rigs. The SDE-3 offers numerous control options to enhance live and studio performances. Tap tempo mode is available with a press and hold of the pedal switch, while the TRS MIDI input can be used to sync the delay time with clock signals from DAWs, pedals, and drum machines. Optional external footswitches provide on-demand access to tap tempo and a hold function for on-the-fly looping. Alternately, an expression pedal can be used to control the Level, Feedback, and Time knobs for delay mix adjustment, wild pitch effects, and dramatic self-oscillation.
The new BOSS SDE-3 Dual Delay Pedal will be available for purchase at authorized U.S. BOSS retailers in October for $219.99. To learn more, visit www.boss.info.