Aside from this doubleneck (which features a 12-string up top), the BLS head honcho says his signature Wylde Audio guitars are essentially interchangeable due to ultra-consistent manufacture quality and standardized appointments.
There aren’t many characters like Zakk Wylde left in the guitar-scape these days. The man has been a fixture—not to mention one of the biggest personalities—within guitar culture since emerging as one of the most respected players of the impossibly athletic late-’80s scene. Wylde’s accolades, exploits, and influence span decades now, so chances are if you’re reading a guitar magazine, the animated, self-styled “Viking” from New Jersey needs no introduction. However, for the uninitiated, Wylde rode the crazy train from virtual obscurity to practical ubiquity on the distinction of being the longest-serving guitarist (and frequent songwriting partner) for legendary metal vocalist Ozzy Osbourne—whom Wylde still reverently refers to as “the Boss.”
The story of Wylde’s ascension to Ozzy’s court is the stuff of rock ’n’ roll fantasy: At just 19, Wylde delivered an unsolicited, homemade demo tape, and soon he went from playing the club stages of the local rock circuit to arenas around the globe. It was the gig of a lifetime pulled from a high-school daydream for Wylde, whose own guitar lodestar has always been the late Randy Rhoads—the shred icon who shaped the sound of Osbourne’s first two solo records after leaving Black Sabbath. But while Wylde’s playing features no small share of Rhoads-isms, his unique mélange of swinging riffs, pentatonic flash, signature pinch-harmonic squeals, and a vibrato as wide as the bell bottom jeans he once favored went on to define the sound of the latter half of Osbourne’s career—particularly on touchstone albums like 1988’s No Rest for the Wicked and 1991’s No More Tears.
Black Label Society - Set You Free (Official Music Video)
As a fully-fledged singer-songwriter in his own right, Wylde has used his band Black Label Society as the primary outlet for his many talents (including some decidedly delicate piano chops) since 1998. The quartet has gone through a few lineup changes over the years, but the latest iteration—Wylde, longtime bassist John DeServio, rhythm guitarist Dario Lorina, and drummer Jeff Fabb—has been together going on eight years now. The band recently released its 11th studio album, Doom Crew Inc., and returned to the road after laying low and waiting out the worst of the pandemic.
“I enjoyed the time home because I’m never home,” Wylde tells PG over the phone from the confines of the BLS tour bus. “This was the longest I’ve been home in 20 years, and to be home for 18 months and wake up in my bed and be able to hang out with the family and the dogs in the morning and have coffee—without a doubt I enjoyed it.” But he’s quick to point out he spent time keeping his chops up at home, too, particularly by breaking out treasured Ted Greene books, like Modern Chord Progressions: Jazz & Classical Voicings for Guitar.
“The coolest thing about music—or anything, really—is the passing of the knowledge and the passing of the gift.”
Hitting the Riff Gym … and Iommi’s “Estate Sale”
But, even while biding pandemic time, hanging with family, and woodshedding, Wylde kept things brewing for Black Label Society. The group released the None More Black box set in April of 2021, and then, as the perpetually pumped Wylde explains, things shifted into an entirely different gear when the idea of a new album emerged.
“When it came time to make the next record, I asked my wife [and BLS manager], Barbaranne, when the guys were coming out to the Black Vatican [Wylde’s home studio], and she said, ‘In a month.’ I was like, ‘All right, I’ve got a month to write a record.’ It’s like if you’re getting ready for a bodybuilding show—you’ve got 12 weeks to get dialed-in and start watching your diet and get as ripped as you can. I knew I had a month, so every day I would go out there with my practice amp, with the reverb set up so it sounds like I’m at Madison Square Garden, and start writing riffs.”
Black Label Society (left to right): John DeServio, Jeff Fabb, Zakk Wylde, and Dario Lorina.
Photo by Jen Rosenstein
And, indeed, Doom Crew Inc. finds Wylde and his BLS cohorts in competition form. “Every time I make a record, it feels like the first time, because you don’t know what you’re going to get at the end,” Wylde says. “I still have a blast doing it because of that.” Built on a foundation of chugging, churning, swinging riffs like those that have been the band’s bedrock since day one, Doom Crew showcases Wylde’s uncanny ability to draw fresh water from the well of inspiration that is Black Sabbath’s first four records. Asked what it is about those LPs that keeps him so inspired after all these years, Wylde emits a barbarian laugh. “Tony Iommi is at the top of my list of influences—just as a songwriter! I laugh because, whether it’s ‘Gospel of Lies’ or ‘Destroy & Conquer,’ it’s like, ‘Yeah, I got that riff at the Tony Iommi swap meet … behind a toaster at the Lord Iommi garage sale!’” Of course, ultimately, it’s Wylde’s personality as a songwriter and his touch as a player that define the songs. Sabbath’s influence will always be a major ingredient in Black Label Society’s sonic stew, but it’s never going to be seasoned quite the same way twice.
Black Label Society’s "Set You Free" Riff Rundown
The Viking shredmeister & BLS head honcho reveals the subtle and crucial trickery that fills out the brooding bruiser from the new album.
While the songwriting on Doom Crew Inc. is classic Wylde fare, it’s the first BLS record to feature a second guitarist. Wylde and longtime road sparring partner Lorina go toe-to-toe on several of the album’s incendiary solo sections, trading licks and, at long last, bringing the counterpoint drama of the band’s live shows to a studio album.
TIDBIT: Doom Crew Inc. is the first Black Label Society album to feature a second guitarist alongside Zakk Wylde.
“It was a natural evolution,” Wylde explains. “On the older songs, like ‘Stillborn’ or ‘Suicide Messiah,’ we’d double certain parts together live, so I decided to add Dario in and have more fun at the party! We always extend the solo in ‘Fire It Up’ live, and that’s become the big guitar solo of the night—we go back and forth like dueling banjos and it’s always a good time. When we were doing this album, I was just like ‘I’m going to extend the solos and we’ll trade off here and here, and at the end we’ll come in together and both play this line.’”
Wylde tremolo-picks the upper registers on a rare Floyd Rose-equipped Gibson V circa 2010.
Photo by Ken Settle
Wild About Audio Circa-1988
As many guitarists are no doubt aware, over the years Wylde hasn’t been shy about collaborating with manufacturers on signature gear. At one point he had approximately 15 namesake guitars between the Gibson and Epiphone brands. However, Wylde’s relationship with Gibson ended years ago, and the iconic 1981 “bull’s-eye” Les Paul Custom he relied on for so much of his career (he calls it “Grail”) has been retired. What’s more, Wylde says every guitar and amp used on Doom Crew Inc. was made by his very own Wylde Audio brand, which is distributed by Schecter Guitar Research.
“Tony Iommi is at the top of my list of influences … it’s like, ‘Yeah, I got that riff at the Tony Iommi swap meet … behind a toaster at the Lord Iommi garage sale!’”
Asked whether he still participates in the time-honored pursuit of tone hunting, the BLS frontman says he essentially found what he was after in 1988. “I have a whole bunch of old amps at the [Black] Vatican—old Supros and stuff I’ve collected over the years that I may want to use for a certain color. But really, I have my Wylde Audio Master 100 [which is based on a Marshall JCM800 circuit] set up with the head and the 4x12 cab already dialed in and miked up. So I’m not a tone chaser in that regard. I’m basically using the same amp head and cabinet setup that I used for ‘Miracle Man’ on Ozzy’s No Rest for the Wicked—EMGs, a Marshall, the whole nine yards! Why would I want to change it? It already sounds slammin’ and it’s everything I need!”
Zakk Wylde’s Gear
Onstage in 2013, Zakk Wylde works the volume knob on one of his now-discontinued Gibsons, a signature ZV model.
Photo by Ken Settle
Guitars
- Various Wylde Audio signature models
Strings & Picks
- Wylde Audio .010–.056 sets “for rock jams”
- Wylde Audio .010–.046 sets “for A440 piano stuff”
- Dunlop Ultex heavy picks
Amps
- Wylde Audio Master 100 head and 4x12 cab
Effects
- Dunlop Zakk Wylde Signature Wah
Despite his storied reliance on Grail, Wylde doesn’t favor a specific guitar from the many models whose headstock bears his surname. “The crazy thing is, I’ll play three to five different guitars a night on tour, and with the VIP package we do, we give those guitars away at the end of the show. So I could hand you any one of those guitars and you could make a record with any one of them. The consistency of the Wylde Audio guitars is that good. They all have a mahogany body, maple neck, and ebony fretboard, and they all use the same EMG [81 and 85] pickups. You know when you pick up an electric guitar and play an open G chord, and you can already tell, unplugged, how it resonates and whether it’s a good instrument or not? These all do that thing for me. So there wasn’t just one on the record.”
Rig Rundown - Zakk Wylde
Always Giving Props
Longtime fans (or anyone who follows Wylde’s Instagram antics) can attest that, despite his success, Wylde remains both an impassioned student of guitar and an outspoken fan of his heroes. His adoration for Randy Rhoads and Tony Iommi is well documented, but he also lost a hero with the passing of Edward Van Halen in late 2020. “When I first joined Ozzy, I was 19 years old going, ‘Okay, how do I sound like Zakk Wylde? You don’t want to be compared to King Edward, so don’t tap and don’t use a whammy bar….’ So, I just crossed a bunch of things off the list. I went out of my way not to sound like Eddie Van Halen, because everyone was trying so hard to be like him—yet it was still Eddie’s influence changing my playing style! The coolest thing about music—or anything, really—is the passing of the knowledge and the passing of the gift. What Eddie did was the same thing that Michael Jordan did in inspiring everyone else in the league to be better. When Ed came out, we all had to try that much harder. At the end of the day, that’s the best thing music does.”
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As long as humans have been creating art, they have also been inventing new tools for expressing that art. From the paintbrush to the synthesizer, new technologies have driven paradigm shifts, providing artists with fresh creative avenues. Technology drives the art, as they say.
That’s certainly been the case with Line 6’s DL4 Delay Modeler. Originally conceived as a humble digital delay, the Big Green Monster has created a niche of its own, serving as ground zero for entire new genres of indie and experimental music. Since its release 25 years ago, the DL4 has enhanced the creative palettes of artists ranging from Joe Perry, Mike Campbell, Dave Grohl, and Joe Satriani to Bill Frisell, Thom Yorke, and Ed O’Brien.
Nearly a quarter century later, Line 6 has introduced the DL4 MkII. The updated version features a smaller footprint, as well as increased delay time, sampling and recording via built-in micro-SD card reader, MIDI functionality, and a host of new effects algorithms from Line 6’s legendary HX family of amp and effects processors.
Inauspicious Beginnings
In the late 1990s, fresh from making a disruptive splash with their eye-catching POD amp modeler, the fledgling startup Line 6 set their sights on creating a series of pedals that would further extend their reach into digital emulations of effects. Plans called for the DM4 distortion modeler, the MM4 modulation modeler, the FM4 filter modeler, and the DL4 delay modeler.
The DL4 would include models of classic delays like the Echoplex and Roland Space Echo, as well as Line 6’s own innovative delay algorithms. But it was the DL4’s other features that would pique the interest of adventurous musicians, including a first-of-its-kind tap-tempo function and, of course, its now-legendary looper.
Jeorge Tripps was running his own boutique pedal company, Way Huge, when he was invited to consult with Line 6 on modeling vintage pedals. A few months into the project he was offered a position with the company. “Line 6 was like college for me,” Tripps recounts. “I had worked on things on my own, but developing a product with a team was really an education. Ideas are easy, but bringing a product to fruition as a team was a whole different experience.”
The team comprised the cream of the Line 6 brain trust, including co-founders Michel Doidic and Marcus Ryle, as well as product developers Greg Westall, Jeff Slingluff, and Patrick O’Connor, engineers Nigel Redmon and Kevin Duca, industrial designer Lucien Tu, and numerous other contributors. As Tripps observes, the input of those different perspectives was critical to the project.
“Most of us were also players, and that made a difference. You can create a product that’s great from an engineer’s perspective, but when you put it the hands of an artist, they might see something completely different in it.”
Keep It Simple
Simplicity was part of the design goal of the DL4. “The idea was to create a digital pedal with analog functionality,” explains Tripps, adding that he had limited input into the design. “Much of it was already planned out by the time I joined the project. The industrial design was there. I had to figure out how to map functions to the existing hardware.”
The interface was straightforward: a 16-position mode selector knob, five knobs to adjust parameters, and four analog-style footswitches: Record/Overdub, Play/Stop, Play Once, and 1/2 Speed/Reverse. It was Tripps who suggested the fourth button be used for tap-tempo function.
The DL4 also incorporated stereo outputs, which was something of a last-minute addition. “When the DL4 first came out, very few guitarists were playing stereo rigs,” Tripps reports. “We put it in there just because it was cheap and easy to implement. Only after it was out for a while did people start discovering it.”
Tripps also played a key role in promoting the looper, which was in some ways almost an afterthought. Of course, looping itself was nothing new. The Echoplex and other tape-based delays had been around for decades. But analog delays were expensive and unwieldy for live work, and the early digital pedals didn’t have a lot of memory—certainly not enough for looping.
In fact, it was digital’s limitations that contributed to another of the DL4’s characteristic sonic features. “Technically, we couldn’t get quite 15 seconds of loop time; it was like 14 and change,” Tripps recalls. “So we decided to take that remaining few hundred milliseconds of delay time and run that through the looper.”
A Slow Build
Despite Line 6’s aggressive advertising, the DL4 and its siblings were not an immediate hit. “People didn’t really know what it was at first,” says Tripps. “It didn’t really explode until a handful of people started doing stuff with it.” Slowly and steadily, artists as varied as Dimebag Darryl, Ed O’Brien, The Edge, and Thom Yorke started squeezing whole new sonic landscapes from the diminutive box.
Minus the Bear’s David Knudson made the DL4 an integral part of the band’s sound. “At first I was mesmerized by the rad stereo sounds. Playing in a hardcore/metal band at the time, in the beginning I was using one half-stack amp. At some point down the line, I realized that as the only guitar player I should get another half-stack for the other side of the stage. Once I plugged in the DL4 to each half-stack and found the Ping Pong delay, my mind was instantly blown. The melodic guitar parts had never sounded so huge and epic. It was the beginning of an epic journey to discover what all the delays were about.”
For Joff Oddie of indie rockers Wolf Alice, the experience was equally liberating. “I actually don’t think I’d even used a delay pedal before and it blew my mind. There were sounds that I expected, and then other settings like the Sweep delay and reverse sounds, which to me sounded so otherworldly yet at the same time organic. I never gave my manager the pedal back. I hope he doesn’t read this.”
As Knudson notes, it was many years later and a happy accident in the studio that led to his discovering the DL4’s looping function. “We were recording some demos after our first LP came out and I think out of boredom I played a little tapping lead into the looper. That song would become “Fine +2 Points,” which features a re-triggered loop section in the bridge that really opened the door for me. After that little successful experiment, for our next record, Menos El Oso, I was in full-on loop and sampler mode. I realized that with multiple DL4s I could emulate some of my favorite cut-up and glitchy sounds coming out of artists like Four Tet, DJ Shadow, Caribou, and other early EDM pioneers. The one-shot function allowed me to re-trigger samples and create riffs that sounded like they should have originated on an MPC. Eight of the 11 songs on that record have sampled riffs and re-defined what guitar playing meant for me.”
Of course, looping was only part of the DL4’s broader appeal, which also offered sounds and tactile control previously unavailable on most effects pedals. “I loved how cranking the feedback knob made it go crazy,” opines Oddie, “how the time knob sounded when you wiggled it and the delays pitch shifted. Part of its charm is how incredibly tactile it is.”
“I’ve yet to find another sampler pedal that works as well as the DL4,” adds Knudson. “It’s super easy to use and so straightforward that it’s perfect for the live setting. I don’t want a bank of digital menus to scroll through, and the fact that it can get everything I need done with four buttons is perfect. If it were any more complicated I don’t think it would have been nearly as successful as it has become.”
Like most legends, the DL4 has spawned a host of imitators. Looping and sampling have become powerful tools for guitarists and other musicians, and while the DL4 may not have been the first, it’s largely seen as the big daddy of the art form.
“The DL4 didn’t really break any new ground, yet it was a major leap,” observes Tripps. “It didn’t improve on existing delays as much as it created a whole new instrument. It put a lot of power on the floor for guitarists, along with a really intuitive interface. Almost by accident, it made looping accessible for live performance.”
It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly 25 years since the DL4 made its debut. Technology has obviously come a long way since then, and Line 6 has recently unveiled a new commemorative 25th Anniversary edition of the iconic pedal. The Mk II version adds to the legend without taking away the features that made it what it is. “The MkII just improves upon an already great pedal,” Knudson observes. “Honestly, one of the best things is just the smaller footprint on the pedalboard. As we know, boards are increasingly becoming competitive as to how much stuff you can squeeze on there! But I love the additional delays and reverbs. The classics are obviously my go-to choices, but I love how it has evolved and elevated with current trends with guitarists but still stayed true to form in what made it so wonderful in the first place.”
The quiet impact of the DL4 is something no one would have foreseen. Much like a band making a record, all the best laid plans won’t predict the public’s response. Will it thud like a tree in an empty forest, or be gone tomorrow like a flash in the pan? Like a hit single, only time will tell if it has the staying power to become a legend. As Tripps concludes, “It was the right combination of great minds, great ideas, and great execution, at the right time.”
Huge shocker incoming: Zach Broyles made a Tube Screamer. The Mythos Envy Pro Overdrive is Zach’s take on the green apple of his eye, with some special tweaks including increased output, more drive sounds, and a low-end boost option. Does this mean he can clear out his collection of TS-9s? Of course not.
This time on Dipped in Tone, Rhett and Zach welcome Tyler Bryant, the Texas-bred and Nashville-based rocker who has made waves with his band the Shakedown, who Rhett credits as one of his favorite groups. Bryant, it turns out, is a TS-head himself, having learned to love the pedal thanks to its being found everywhere in Texas guitar circles.Bryant shares how he scraped together a band after dropping out of high school and moving to Nashville, including the rigors of 15-hour drives for 30-minute sets in a trusty Ford Expedition. He’s lived the dream (or nightmare, depending on the day) and has the wisdom to show it.
Throughout the chat, the gang covers modeling amps and why modern rock bands still need amps on stage; the ins and outs of recording-gear rabbit holes and getting great sounds; and the differences between American and European audiences. Tune in to hear it all.
Get 10% off your order at stewmac.com/dippedintone
The North American leg, produced by Live Nation and SJM, will see Oasis play stadiums in Toronto, Chicago, East Rutherford, Los Angeles and Mexico City next summer with Cage The Elephant as the special guest across all dates.
The news comes 16 years since their last performance in North America. Oasis commented,
“America.
Oasis is coming.
You have one last chance to prove that you loved us all along.”
The previously announced dates on the Oasis Live ‘25 tour sold out immediately, with over 10 million fans from 158 countries queuing to buy tickets. Days after their return, the band claimed their 8th UK No. 1 album with the 30th anniversary of their electrifying debut album Definitely Maybe, while at the same time occupying two other spots in the top 5 UK albums chart.
Oasis remain a huge draw in the streaming era, with over 32 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone – an increase of almost 50% since the announcement of their return – and nearly 12.5 billion streams to date across platforms.
Registration for the presale is currently open at oasisinet.com until Tuesday, October 1st at 8 am EST. General ticket sale will begin Friday, October 4th at 12pm local time and will be available from Ticketmaster.
Plans are underway for Oasis Live ’25 to go to other continents outside of Europe and North America later next year.
JULY 2025
4th - Cardiff, UK - Principality Stadium (SOLD OUT)
5th - Cardiff, UK - Principality Stadium (SOLD OUT)
11th - Manchester, UK - Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
12th - Manchester, UK - Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
16th - Manchester, UK - Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
19th - Manchester, UK - Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
20th - Manchester, UK - Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
25th - London, UK - Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
26th - London, UK - Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
30th - London, UK - Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
AUGUST 2025
2nd - London, UK - Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
3rd - London, UK - Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
8th - Edinburgh, UK - Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium (SOLD OUT)
9th - Edinburgh, UK - Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium (SOLD OUT)
12th - Edinburgh, UK - Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium (SOLD OUT)
16th - Dublin, IE - Croke Park (SOLD OUT)
17th - Dublin, IE - Croke Park (SOLD OUT)
24th - Toronto, ON - Rogers Stadium (JUST ADDED)
28th - Chicago, IL - Soldier Field (JUST ADDED)
31st - East Rutherford, NJ - MetLife Stadium (JUST ADDED)
SEPTEMBER 2025
6th - Los Angeles, CA - Rose Bowl Stadium (JUST ADDED)
12th - Mexico City, MX - Estadio GNP Seguros (JUST ADDED)
27th - London, UK - Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
28th - London, UK - Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
Hats off to Carmen Vandenberg of Bones UK, our celebrity Question of the Month respondent.
Guest Picker - Carmen Vandenberg, Bones UK
The cover of Soft, Bones UK’s new album, due in mid-September.
A: My favorite method these days (and to be honest, from when I started playing) is to put on my favorite blues records, listen with my eyes closed, and, at the end, see what my brain compartmentalizes and keeps stored away. Then, I try and play back what I heard and what my fingers or brain decided they liked!
Bone UK’s labelmade, Des Rocks.
Obsession: Right now, I am into anyone trying to create sounds that haven’t been made before—bands like Queens of the Stone Age, Jack White, and our labelmate, Des Rocs! There’s a Colombian band called Diamanté Electrico who I’ve been really into recently. Really anyone who’s trying to create innovative and inspiring sounds.
Reader of the Month - Sam C. Schiff.
Sam spent endless hours trying to learn the solo Leslie West played on “Long Red,” off of The Road Goes Ever On.
A: The best way to learn guitar is to listen to some good guitar playing! Put on a record, hear something tasty, and play on repeat until it comes out of your fingers. For me, it was Leslie West playing “Long Red” on the Mountain album, The Road Goes Ever On. I stayed up all night listening to that track until I could match Leslie’s phrasing. I still can’t, no one can, but I learned a lot!
Smith’s own low-wattage amp build.
Obsession: My latest musical obsession is low-wattage tube amps like the 5-watt Fender Champ heard on the Laylaalbum. Crank it up all the way for great tube distortion and sustain, and it’s still not loud enough to wake up the neighbors!
Gear Editor - Charles Saufley
Charles Saufley takes to gear like a duck to water!
A: Learning by ear and feel is most fun for me. I write and free-form jam more than I learn other people’s licks. When I do want to learn something specific, I’ll poke around on YouTube for a demo or a lesson or watch films of a player I like, and then typically mangle that in my own “special” way that yields something else. But I rarely have patience for tabs or notation.
The Grateful Dead’s 1967 debut album.
Obsession: Distorted and overdriven sounds with very little sustain—Keith Richards’ Between the Buttons tones, for example. Jerry Garcia’s plonky tones on the first Grateful Dead LP are another cool, less-fuzzy version of that texture.
Publisher - Jon Levy
A: I’m a primitive beast: The only way I can learn new music is by ear, so it’s a good thing I find that method enjoyable. I’m entirely illiterate with staff notation. Put sheet music in front of me and I’ll stare at it with twitchy, fearful incomprehension like an ape gaping at the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey. I’m almost as clueless with tab, but I can follow along with chord charts if I’m under duress.
The two-hit wonders behind the early ’70s soft-rock hits, “Fallin’ in Love” and “Don't Pull Your Love.”
Obsession: Revisiting and learning AM-radio pop hits circa 1966–1972. The Grass Roots, Edison Lighthouse, the Association, the Archies, and Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds—nothing is too cheesy for me to dissect and savor. Yes, I admit I have a serious problem.