Sun Records chieftain Sam Phillips described the voice of his pre-Elvis discovery Howlin’ Wolf as a sound from “where the soul of man never dies.” For young John Dawson Winter III, the blend of gravel, whiskey, mud, and madness in Wolf’s singing unearthed a well he still draws from 60 years later.
“‘Somebody Walking in My Home’ by Howlin’ Wolf is the first blues song I remember hearing,” Johnny Winter recalls. “I was in my bedroom listening to the transistor radio, and right from the beginning I knew blues was it for me. It had so much feeling. I just loved it. And I could really relate to the black experience. Most people in Texas didn’t like black people because they were too dark, and they didn’t like me because I was too white. I got that even when I was 12 and started playing guitar. By then I knew blues was what I wanted to play, and I still come at it from an emotional perspective—not technical.”
Nonetheless, it was the conflagrant intensity of Winter’s two-fingered picking, the bared-fang snarl of his tone, and the mix of sand and kerosene in his own voice that skyrocketed him from the Texas psychedelic club scene into the international music spotlight less than a year after he recorded his debut, The Progressive Blues Experiment, on the stage of Austin’s Vulcan Gas Company in 1968. By the end of 1969 he’d released his major-label debut, Johnny Winter, and the follow-up, Second Winter, and played Woodstock, laying out blueprints for the future of American blues-rock and even Southern rock.
Although Winter is currently enjoying a surprising late-career renaissance thanks to his recharged stage presence, a documentary film, and a spate of releases, it’s the images of him from 1969 to 1974 that are burned into the retina of rock history: rail thin and wrapped like a spider around the 1963 Gibson Firebird that still accompanies him onstage, wraith-like thanks to his albinism and long hair, literally attacking the strings.
“I use a Dunlop slide that’s snug on my finger, so I can fret with the slide and move faster and more exactly,” says Winter. He favors open D and G tunings, and sometimes A. “It all depends on where
my voice is,” he says.
Winter’s star continued to rise during those years, after Columbia Records persuaded him to form a new band with co-guitarist Rick Derringer that cut the influential Johnny Winter And and Still Alive and Well sets. Those albums along with the Allman Brothers first titles cast the die for two-guitar blues-rock ensemble playing. Many think the four LPs Winter made with Derringer define his golden era, but Winter still complains that Derringer played too much and too loud. “All I need to play well is a good strong snare beat and other musicians who don’t get in the way,” he says.
Winter prefers the string of discs he made in the late 1970s with blues groundbreaker Muddy Waters and Waters’ band, his own Nothin’ But the Blues, and the Grammy-winning trio Hard Again, I’m Ready, and King Bee that he produced for Waters.
But something was amiss in those glory days. By the early ’70s Winter had become a heroin addict. And while he was able to kick that drug, he got hooked on methadone, which, along with alcohol abuse, put Winter on a long spiral that brought him to the bottom roughly a decade ago. Sure, there were some high-notch concerts and recordings along the way, like 1984’s Guitar Slinger and 1992’s Hey, Where’s Your Brother?—a nod to his pop-hit instrumentalist sibling Edgar Winter. But by the time Johnny met his current manager, co-guitarist, producer and, in practical terms, savior Paul Nelson in 2004, Winter seemed like a shell of himself, appearing exhausted and occasionally out of tune onstage, revived only by the spirit of the blues that seemingly inhabits his bloodstream.
“I had a good time and enjoyed drugs and drinking,” he says by phone from his Connecticut home, “but I overdid it. It was great in my 20s. The older I got the worse it was for me. It took me a long time to figure out that takin’ dope is not good for you.” He chuckles. “Now, I feel great. Physical therapy helps, but so does not taking drugs or drinking. A lot of people I know are dead. I could have died a bunch of times. Maybe I died years ago, but God was on my side.”
Perhaps that accounts for Winter’s ongoing resurrection. In 2011 he broke a seven-year recording hiatus with the album Roots, revisiting some of his favorite blues classics with the help of such guests as Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, Vince Gill, Edgar Winter, and others. The disc was heralded as a partial return to form.
This February the four-disc retrospective True To the Blues: The Johnny Winter Story was released. His upcoming Step Back,due in September, amps up his previous studio recording’s strategy with an edgier, more rocking approach and appearances by Eric Clapton, Leslie West, and Billy Gibbons, to name a few. And the documentary Johnny Winter: Down and Dirty debuted at the South By Southwest Film Festival in March. The movie frankly chronicles both Winter’s storied history and the past two years of his life, which meant that director Greg Olliver was a regular aboard the Winnebago the guitarist uses to travel to about 120 dates annually.
Right-Hand Man
Photo by Michael Weintrob
Paul Nelson is Johnny Winter’s supporting guitarist, producer, and manager, but his most important role is friend. If Nelson hadn’t made what was essentially a one-man intervention in Winter’s life nearly a decade ago, the guitar hero who ascended from Texas dive bars to the stage at Woodstock in a single year after recording his debut album would likely be pushing up posies instead of bending strings.
They met while Winter was cutting 2004’s I’m a Bluesman at Carriage House Studios in Stamford, Connecticut. “Johnny heard me playing some blues next door during a session I was doing for the World Wrestling Federation, and invited me to meet him,” Nelson recounts. He was recruited as a songwriter and second guitarist on the project, and when it was over Winter invited Nelson on the road.
“What he liked about me is that I was one of the few guitarists he played with who didn’t step all over his playing,” Nelson recounts. “Johnny said, ‘With everybody else, it was always a guitar war.’ I only do what needs to be done. If Johnny plays single notes, I play chords. If he plays low, I play high. It’s simple. I stay the hell out of his way and make everything sound bigger.
“Johnny took me under his wing and immediately started teaching me the blues riffs he’d learned from Muddy Waters,” Nelson says. “As I became more comfortable I started telling him the emperor had no clothes. He was singing and playing like crap, and practically falling asleep onstage. This had gone on for years with nobody trying to help him. So he asked me if I’d manage him. I said, ‘Yes, if you give up the drugs and drinking, start doing something about your health, and get back to being Johnny Winter.’ Believe me, there was a lot of screaming and fighting along the way, but he did it. There were huge changes the moment the drugs and stuff were gone—but try telling a rock star from the ’60s that!
“Some days,” ponders Nelson, “I wonder, am I his producer, his band mate, his manager, his pal? Or maybe I’m really the luckiest fan in the world.”
Nelson was well into a successful career as a session player, producer, solo artist, and hard-rock guru with credits ranging from Leslie West to Los Lobos to Steve Morse when he signed on as Winter’s manager. As a youth, he was already enraptured by the playing of Winter, Billy Gibbons, Jimi Hendrix, Albert King, Jeff Beck, Wes Montgomery, and Larry Carlton when he attended Boston’s Berklee College of Music, then went on to study with Mike Stern, Steve Kahn, and Steve Vai. So Nelson had plenty of 6-string smarts and studio skills to apply to Winter’s 2011 album Roots, as well as the new album Step Back.
Both sets feature blues chestnuts and all-star casts, with the lineup on Step Back including Eric Clapton, Ben Harper, Brian Setzer, Leslie West, Billy Gibbons, Joe Perry, Dr. John, and harmonica demon Jason Ricci. Nelson also duets with Winter on “Killing Floor,” a song originally recorded by blues giant Howlin’ Wolf for Chess Records in 1964.
“When Johnny was ready to make this album, he picked the songs in 15 minutes,” says Nelson. “These are songs he’s loved all his life.” Nelson had the rhythm section learn the original version of each of the blues classics, and then had them learn another version recorded a few decades later before they worked with Winter on the album’s arrangements. “That way they’ve got perspective going into the session with Johnny,” he explains. When the basic tracks were done, they were sent to Winter’s handpicked guests, who added their parts.
To make the guest guitarists’ parts gel with Winter’s playing, Nelson duplicated the mic setups used by each player. “Clapton, for example, used a small amp and overhead mikes,” notes Nelson, “while Leslie West put a microphone right in front of his amp’s speaker. When I use the same approach to record Johnny, it sounds like they cut their guitar parts together in the same room.” Winter owes two more albums to Megaforce Records per his contract, and Nelson has also signed a deal to record solo for Megaforce.
Nelson says that winning a Grammy and being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame top Winter’s bucket list. “He’s told me, ‘I’m at a point in my life where I love receiving awards. Give me awards.’”
Johnny Winter is known for his beloved Gibson Firebird, but he also plays a Lazer from Erlewine Guitars. He likes the Lazer because it stays in tune and sounds trebly like a Fender, but plays like a Gibson. He uses the Firebird primarily for slide and keeps it in open-D or G tuning.
All of this, and the fact that Winter is concentrating on recording and playing so many of the songs that first drew him into blues, makes him as happy as a 70-year-old kid in a candy store. “I never thought I’d reach this age, but I’m damn glad I did,” the high-speed string-slinger says. “I’d rather be old than dead. And I love playing the blues now as much as when I was 12. Maybe more. I could make albums of songs by Gatemouth Brown and Jimmy Reed and Muddy until I drop.”
Winter still has a bucket list: “I’d like to write some more original numbers,” he says, “but I haven’t had any song ideas since 2004. I’d also like to win a Grammy for one of my own records. And I’d like to go to Egypt—not even to play music, but just to see the pyramids and stuff. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame would be nice, too, but I’d rather have the Grammy. And I want to get it for playing good blues.”
Johnny Winter's Gear
Guitars
1963 Gibson Firebird
Dean “Z” series Johnny Winter signature model
Amps
Music Man 4x10 combo
Effects
Boss CE-2 Chorus
Strings and Picks
Strings, Picks and Slides
DR Pure Blues .010–.046 gauge
Fender medium thumb picks
Dunlop Johnny Winter Texas Slider
Another complaint Winter airs is that he considers his early records more rock than blues: “I really wanted to play blues, but in the early ’60s the white people didn’t want to hear us play that, especially in Texas, so when we started out it was more rock and R&B. It was frustrating, because I was in love with blues.”
Winter attended his first blues show at age 14: a Ray Charles concert at the Municipal Auditorium in his native Beaumont, Texas. Three years later he had a pivotal experience at that city’s Raven club. “I went to see B.B. King play for about 1,500 to 2,000 people—all black. It was great music, nobody bothered us, and after I met him, B.B. let me play,” he recounts. “It felt great to get a standing ovation from an all-black audience. I felt like I had to be playing the music right. B.B. didn’t even know if I could play. If I was in his place I don’t think I would have let me. He’s one of the nicest people in the world.”
By that time Winter’s oddball, lightning-strike thumb-and-forefinger picking style was already well developed. “It seemed to come naturally to me,” he observes. “A lot of the older black guys played with thumbpicks, but I started using one because I liked Chet Atkins and Merle Travis. Chet got his style from Merle. They probably influenced my speed, too. I’ve always played hard and fast. After all these years, I still play the way I did when I was 15. And my gear hasn’t changed much since 1970 when I got my Firebird.”
Winter acquired that iconic instrument at a festival, where a guitar dealer from St. Louis brought it and a clutch of other 6-strings to sell to the musicians on the bill. “I was already playing Les Pauls and Stratocasters,” Winter recounts. “The first really good guitar I’d gotten was a Black Beauty ‘fretless wonder,’ but when I saw that Firebird I thought, ‘I’ve got to try that!’ The neck’s been broken four or five times over the years. I keep getting it fixed. But everything is stock. I always thought it was fine the way it was, so I never messed with it.”
Winter still plays the Music Man 4x10 combo amps that Muddy Waters turned him onto during their ’70s collaborations, favoring those over the Fender Super Reverbs he’d used until then due to their higher wattage. His settings: volume and treble on 10, everything else at zero. And Winter’s one effect remains an old Boss CE-2 chorus pedal, “just to make things a little fuller.”
Waters was also a major influence on Winter’s slide playing, which is as much a signature as his ripping single-note solos. “Muddy, Elmore James, Robert Johnson, Son House—they got me interested in slide,” Winter explains. “I use a Dunlop slide that’s snug on my finger, so I can fret with the slide and move faster and more exactly.” He favors open D and G tunings, and sometimes A. “It all depends on where my voice is,” he says.
YouTube It
Because the upper range of his voice dissipated after decades of howling “rock ’n’ roll” into microphones to kick off his sets and growling like a frisky badger for the rest, Winter started dropping his standard tuning down a whole step to a D about 20 years ago. “Otherwise, I’m pretty much doing the same kind of thing I’ve done all my life: playing the same kind of music I love—the blues—the same way I always have.”
As Winter reflects on his career, it’s obvious that Muddy Waters remains his brightest musical beacon. “I played with a lot of people over the years,” he says. “Jimi Hendrix. Eric Clapton. But without a doubt, Muddy was the most important for me. I met him for the first time when we opened for him at the Vulcan Gas Company, where all of the psychedelic bands, like the 13th Floor Elevators, played. So the psychedelic sound got into my playing as well. But Muddy was it. His name and ‘blues’ were inseparable to me. And I feel the same way that Muddy felt about the music. When people come to see me I want them to know they’re going to hear good blues and that I play what makes me feel good, and that I’m interested in sharing that good feeling with them.”On Candid Camera
Sure, director Greg Olliver’s rock-doc Johnny Winter: Down and Dirty provides a through-the-Winnebago-windshield view of the life of the Texas guitar legend as he travels the U.S. and Japan, and reminisces about his adventures with Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and his idol, Muddy Waters. But it also busts myths about his health and history, thanks to Winter’s relentless candor.
Early in the movie, which premiered at this year’s South By Southwest Film Festival, we see Winter receiving a visit from a physical therapist and struggling through exercises designed to strengthen and lengthen his back muscles, atrophied from years of bad posture, chemical abuse, and general neglect.
“Not everybody would allow a filmmaker to show them being vulnerable like that,” says Olliver, who also directed the critically heralded 2010 documentary Lemmy, about Mötorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister. “Johnny isn’t a rock star. He’s a real person and one of the most frank and open people I’ve ever interviewed, which made the two years I spent working on Down and Dirty really fun. Not once did he ever hold back.”
But viewers also see Winter enjoying life—horsing with his friends and his accomplice, manager/guitarist Paul Nelson, and taking pleasure in simple, but deep, pleasures like spinning a Robert Johnson record on a phonograph. There’s also plenty of live performance footage and cameos from Billy Gibbons, Joe Perry, Derek Trucks, and others commenting on the power and durability of Winter’s influence and legacy.
Olliver says his decision to train his lens on Winter came organically. Like the 6-string legend, Olliver was born and raised in Texas and grew up on the sound of blues from its originators and well as Lone Star heroes the Fabulous Thunderbirds and ZZ Top. When Olliver approached Winter and Nelson, they readily accepted.
Once Olliver got on the Winnebago, he discovered another bond with Winter: a love of horror and science-fiction films. “Johnny loves to stay up late at night on the bus watching B movies,” Olliver recounts. His taste varies widely. Two favorites are the 1956 classic Forbidden Planet and the hideously bad 1972 Ray Milland vehicle Frogs, which, to borrow Olliver’s description, “is about a bunch of frogs hopping around a plantation killing people.”
Olliver’s own project between Lemmy and Down and Dirty was Devoured, a genuinely creepy horror film that’s just been released in the U.K. “Johnny said that he loved it,” Olliver notes.
The glue between his two documentaries and Devoured is Olliver’s gift for storytelling. But there are some stories that didn’t make the final cut of Down and Dirty. “When we were in Hong Kong, Johnny said, ‘Hey, we should find some opium, and then we’re gonna put it up our butts.’ I said, ‘Johnny, if there are two things I’m not going to do on this trip, it’s find opium and put it up my butt.’
“When I told [veteran Winter and Double Trouble bassist] Tommy Shannon that story, he said, ‘You know, there was a time and a place when that sort of thing was perfectly acceptable.’”
For updates on the film’s availability, check johnnywinterdownanddirty.com.
![Rig Rundown: Umphrey’s McGee [2025]](https://www.premierguitar.com/media-library/youtube.jpg?id=60219771&width=600&height=600&quality=85&coordinates=280%2C0%2C280%2C0)
Featuring a roasted maple neck with a satin finish, a rosewood fingerboard for playing comfort, 22 frets, and a standard C shape, the guitar has been designed with classic guitarists in mind. This is beautifully emphasized with its beautifully resonant tonewoods, all while still being balanced perfectly with style and comfort of use.
The MSC50 Pro features all of the industry-standard features you might expect from such an impressively affordable guitar, such as bolt-on construction, a bone nut, and a dual-action steel truss rod. However, other features make the electric guitar stand out among others at a similar price point, such as its MTN-3LC locking tuning pegs, beautiful Abalone dot inlay, and, of course, its previously mentioned tonewood selection.
In order to capture the MSC50 Pro's balanced tonal profile, MOOER's luthiers have built it with three perfectly balanced pickups: the MSC-II N single coil neck pickup, the similar MSC-II M single coil middle pickup, and, best of all, the MHB-II B bridge humbucker. When these carefully chosen pickups are combined with the guitar's MPW 2-point chrome bridge, guitarists can make the most out of its tonal versatility, all while maximizing tuning stability.
GTRS Announces the W902, The Latest Update to its Wing-series of Intelligent GuitarsTo ensure that the guitar is suitable for a wide range of genres, both softer and higher-gain examples, the MSC50 Pro has a convenient coil split switch built into it, giving users better resonance control. Of course, this is also combined with a classic tone dial, a standard 5-way tone switch, and a volume control dial.
Overall, the MSC50 Pro reminds users of MOOER guitars that the company has never forgotten about its roots in classic-style guitars. Yes, the company is continuing to develop innovative guitar technology in other areas, but this electric guitar also represents a grounded approach, keeping things classic, sleek, and tonally versatile–all at a reasonable price point.
Features:
- Alder Body with a Gloss Finish
- Available in the Magic Crystal color
- Standard C-shaped roasted maple neck with a Satin finish
- Bolt-on construction
- 22-fret rosewood fingerboard
- Abalon dot inlay
- MTN-3LC locking tuners
- Bone nut
- Dual-Action Steel Truss Rod
- 12" radius
- 09-46 strings
- 25.2" scale
- MSC-II N Single Coil neck pickup, an MSC-II M Single Poil middle pickup, and an MHB-II B Humbucker Bridge Pickup
- Chrome guitar strap pin
- Coil Split Switch
- 5-Way Tone Switch
- Volume and tone dials
- MPW 2-Point chrome bridge
The MSC50 Pro will be available from the official distributors and retailers worldwide on 13th May 2025 at an expected retail price of USD419/Euro399/GBP339.
GTRS Announces the W902, The Latest Update to its Wing-series of Intelligent Guitars
This year has marked the return of GTRS’ Intelligent Guitar products, notably with the recent announcement of the SL810 release. Additionally, the company has now announced the upcoming release of the W902, an upgraded version of the original W900 Intelligent Guitar, bringing affordability to the series yet again but without compromising on quality and technical features.
For tonewoods, GTRS has chosen to build the W902 with an Alder body, complete with a delightful Magic Crystal color and High Gloss finish. Attached through bolt-on construction is a 5-piece C-shape neck made from selected roasted flame maple and rosewood, complete with a Satin Natural finish, Rosewood fingerboard, and a White Shell dot inlay. A Dual-Action Steel truss rod runs through the neck, topped with a bone nut, and 24 white copper (0 fret stainless) fanned frets.
While the construction is certainly impressive, the most notable feature of the W902 is the upgraded GTRS Intelligent Processor System, the G151, which even offers upgrades over the SL810's recently announced G150 system. Pre-installed on the system is a staggering 128 effects, along with 10 of both MOOER's in-house MNRS amp and cabinet simulation profiles. Exclusive to the W902, the G151 system even includes 17 guitar simulation effects, allowing guitarists to emulate the tonal resonance of some of their favorite guitars.
To activate and browse through presets within the G151 system, which can be connected via Bluetooth 5.0, guitarists can use the guitar's Super Knob, which lights up in different LED colors depending on which preset is activated. Of course, users are able to get stuck into and edit the effects chains of presets through the GTRS app, enabling them to craft their own favorites through their mobile device. The guitar still functions without the G151 system; the Super Knob just needs to be turned off, and the W902 is usable as a regular electric guitar.
Within the GTRS app, there is even an 80-second looper, 10 metronomes, and 40 drum machine grooves built in, providing users with an all-in-one suite for guitar practice and composition. This is especially the case when combined with the W902's OTG-recording support, enabling on-the-go recording without the need for a hardware recording setup.
No effects and amp simulations would be complete without being complemented by high-quality pickups, which isn’t a problem for the W902 considering the GTRS HM-2N Alnico V neck pickup and GTRS HM-2B Alnico V bridge pickup, both of which resonate beautifully through the guitar's GTRS HL-II bridge.
GTRS always wants to ensure that its customers are set up with everything they need to jam, which is why the W902 comes bundled with a GTRS Deluxe gig bag, three guitar wrenches, a USB 3.0 cable for charging, and a user manual. The guitar even contains a wireless transmitter and an integrated 4000mAh Li-ion battery, providing up to 12 hours of continuous use (9 hours with the transmitter in use), allowing users to enjoy the G151 system through headphones or an amplifier.
Along with all the bells and whistles, the W902 also sports standardized guitar features, such as knobs for volume control and tone, a 3-way pickup switch, and a black GTRS strap pin. However, those who want to experiment further with the guitar’s impressive technology can connect the intelligent system to the GTRS GWF4 wireless footswitch, which is ideal for switching between presets in live scenarios when control through a mobile device isn't practical. Overall, the W902 is yet another example of GTRS’ commitment to continually improve its Intelligent Guitar series.
GTRS W902 Guitar construction features:
- Alder Body
- Magic Crystal Color
- High Gloss Finish
- 5-Piece Selected Roasted Flame Maple and Rosewood Neck with Satin Natural Finish (C-Shape)
- Bolt-on construction
- Rosewood fingerboard
- 24 white copper (0 fret stainless) fanned frets
- White Shell dot inlay
- 42mm Bone Nut
- 12" radius
- 25-1/2" scale
- 09-46 strings
- Dual Action Steel truss rod
- GTRS HL-II bridge
- GTRS HM-2N Alnico V neck pickup
- GTRS HM-2B Alnico V bridge pickup
- Black GTRS strap pin
- Built-in wireless transmitter
- Super Knob, Volume Control Knob, and Tone Knob
- 3-way tone-selection switch
- GLB-P1 Li-ion Battery (4000mAh, up to 12 hours of continuous use, 9 hours with the wireless transmitter in use)
- USB port for charging and OTG recording
- GTRS Deluxe gig bag
- 3 guitar wrenches
- USB 3.0 Type A to C cable
GTRS G151 Intelligent Guitar System features:
- GTRS G151 Intelligent Processing System (and GTRS App)
- 128 effects
- 10 MNRS amp (GNR) and cabinet (GIR) simulation models
- 17 guitar simulations
- 80-second looper
- 40 drum machine grooves
- 10 metronomes
- Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity
- GTRS GWF4 wireless footswitch support (sold separately)
The GTRS W902 will be available from the official distributors and retailers worldwide on 13h May 2025.
MOOER Expands Its Popular MSC Guitar Line with the MSC30 Pro and MSC31 Pro
MOOER has never shied away from innovation when it comes to its guitars. However, with the recently announced release of the MSC30 Pro and MSC31, the company reminds us that, sometimes, true innovation lies in mastering and enhancing a proven classic. With this philosophy, MOOER introduces two new exciting additions to their beloved MSC series of electric guitars.
Both the MSC30 Pro and MSC31 Pro continue MOOER’s philosophy of creating affordable guitars, but without sacrificing quality or performance, thanks to the poplar bodies and flame maple tops. Some guitarists will be drawn to the bright tones of the MSC30 Pro’s maple fingerboard, whereas others will prefer the warmer resonance of the MSC31 Pro’s rosewood alternative.
Each guitar features sturdy bolt-on neck construction, dual-action steel truss rods, bone nuts, and MTN-1 chrome tuning pegs (with the BK upgrade being reserved for the MSC31 Pro), ensuring tuning stability and comfort at all times.At the heart of both models are MOOER’s versatile MSC pickups, comprising the MSC-1N single-coil neck pickup, the MSC-1M single-coil middle pickup, and the powerful MHB-1B dual-coil humbucker at the bridge. Further complemented by a versatile 5-way pickup selector and exclusive coil split switch, players can effortlessly switch between a wide palette of tones, such as pristine cleans ideal for jazz or blues, or high-gain tones for heavier genres.
Tremolo support is also provided through both the guitar's bridges, with the MSC30 Pro featuring an MTB-1 2 Point Tremolo bridge, and the MSC31 Pro boasting an exclusive black MTB-1 BK 2 Point Tremolo bridge. Both bridges guarantee guitarists the ability to use tremolo bars in their guitar performances, without compromising the integrity of tuning stability.
Both guitars come with a selection of vivid new colors, complementing the guitar’s hardware with undeniable visual appeal. The MSC30 Pro is available in the classic finishes of Sunset Red, Lake Blue, Lemon Green, and Rose Purple. Meanwhile, the MSC31 Pro boasts its own selection of glossy finishes: Grey Burst, Blue Burst, Green Burst, and Purple Burst.
Overall, the MSC30 Pro and MSC31 Pro solidify MOOER’s commitment to combining quality craftsmanship, affordability, and versatility, giving guitarists of all levels the chance to own instruments that genuinely inspire.
Features
MSC30 Pro:
- Classic S-style design
- Poplar body with flame maple top
- Maple fingerboard
- Maple neck with satin finish
- Bolt-on neck construction
- 22 nickel silver frets, Abalone dotted inlay
- Coil split switch and versatile 5-way pickup selector
- MSC-1N/M single-coil pickups and MHB-1B humbucker
- 25.5" scale
- MTN-1 Chrome tuning pegs
- Available in gloss-finished Sunset Red, Lake Blue, Lemon Green, and Rose Purple
- Volume and tone dial
- Chrome strap pin
MSC31 Pro:
- Classic S-style design
- Poplar body with flame maple top
- Rosewood fingerboard
- Maple neck with satin finish
- Bolt-on neck construction
- 22 nickel silver frets, White Shell dotted inlay
- Coil split switch and versatile 5-way pickup selector
- MSC-1N/M single-coil pickups and MHB-1B humbucker
- 25.5" scale
- MTN-1 BK tuning pegs
- Available in gloss-finished Grey Burst, Blue Burst, Green Burst, and Purple Burst
- Volume and tone dial
- Chrome strap pin
The MSC30 Pro and MSC31 Pro will both be available from the official distributors and retailers worldwide on 2nd April 2025.
MOOER Gives Bassists What They Want with the New MBJ410 and MBJ420 Electric Bass Guitar Models
For 15 years, MOOER has built a critically acclaimed name for itself thanks to its cutting-edge electric guitars, pedals, and accessories. While the company is no stranger to building electric bass guitars, this has not been its focus for some time, hence why so many bassists are excitedly anticipating the release of the MBJ410 and MBJ420 electric bass guitars.
Both the bass guitars sport glossy Poplar bodies, keeping the price point affordable but without limiting their tonal resonance and versatility, whereas the MBJ420 holds the additional bonus of being built with a Poplar Burl top. Complete with roasted maple C-shaped necks (also accented with a gloss finish) as well as Roasted Maple fingerboards and White Shell dot inlays, the necks are designed to offer as much comfort as possible–a high priority for bass guitarists.
A 34" fret scale further enhances practicality for bassists, as does the neck's 12" radius. Strings are available in .045, .065, .080, and .100 gauges, providing something for any type of bass style - whether slapping, plucking, or picking techniques are preferred.Thanks to the industry-standard components of a dual-action steel truss rod and bone nut, the tuning and resonant stability of both the MBJ410 and MBJ420 models are also of a high standard. However, this is accentuated further by the guitars' strong and reliable BTN-1 tuning pegs, essential for heavier-gauge bass strings.
The tonewoods and structural integrity of the MBJ-series electric bass guitars wouldn't be complete without the accompaniment of the guitar’s two single-coil JB-style pickups. Combined with the MOOER BSC-2 bridge, both bass guitars have been carefully designed to amplify bass resonances excellently, complemented even further by their simple but effective tone dials. Two volume controls are also built in, ensuring that bassists can customize their sonic output to have the perfect tonal blend.
In terms of standout features, the main difference between the two bass guitars is the MBJ420's added poplar burl top, but most notably, the color selections. For the MBJ410, the bass guitar is available in Gunmetal Gray, Metal Green, and Metal Blue, perfectly suiting the stages of higher-gain performances. In contrast, the aesthetics of the MBJ420 are more classic, purchasable in Red Burst, Blue Burst, and Tobacco Burst. Finally, both guitars are topped with a chrome strap pin, enabling stylish and energetic live performances.
Overall, bassists will no doubt be excited to see MOOER return to electric bass guitars with the MBJ410 and 420 models. Of course, electric guitars will remain the focus for the company, but the release of these two new products is a reminder of just how accommodating MOOER is for its wide audience of musicians.
Features
- Electric bass guitar built with gloss-finished Poplar body (MBJ420 also features a Poplar Burl Top)
- Roasted maple C-shaped neck with a gloss finish
- Roasted maple fingerboard
- White Shell dot inlay
- 12” neck radius
- MOOER BSC-2 bridge
- VBJ-1 and VBJ-2 Single Coil pickups
- MOOER BTN-1 tuning pegs
- Bolt-on construction
- Bone nut
- Dual-action steel truss rod
- Pre-installed strings available in .045, .065, .080, and .100 gauges
- 21 frets
- 34"fret scale
- Colors available in Gunmetal Gray, Metal Green, and Metal Blue (MBJ410), and Red Burst, Blue Burst, and Tobacco Burst (MBJ420)
- Chrome strap pin
- 2 x volume control dials
- 1 x Tone dial
The MBJ410 and MBJ420 will both be available from the official distributors and retailers worldwide on 29th April 2025 at an expected retail price of USD319/Euro299/GBP249(MBJ410), USD399/Euro379/GBP319(MBJ420).
Guitarist William Tyler, a restless sonic explorer: “I would get bored staying in the same place.”
Mastering an instrument and an artistic style—and then being recognized and rewarded for it—is a daunting enough accomplishment that one might be forgiven for feeling that, once reached, it’s the be-all to end-all. Guitarist William Tyler, for all the praise and opportunity that have come his way over the past decade and a half, isn’t content to plow the same furrow. With his evolutionary new album, Time Indefinite, this son of the South is pushing further afield, not completely forgoing his virtuosic neo-Americana lyricism but incorporating it into static-friendly, otherworldly studio experimentation.
The disorienting opener of Time Indefinite, “Cabin Six,” begins with a loop of hovering blare that, lasting nearly a minute, might lead listeners to think something is amiss with their turntable stylus; this gradually dissipates into an eddy of railroad-like whine from which a chiming 6-string hook emerges only to finally sink into a murky, detuned drone. The simple, lovely “Anima Motel” and almost naïve “Concern” are eminently approachable, and “Howling at the Second Moon,” with its alternate, Joni Mitchell-inspired tuning, feels like something that could have appeared on one of Tyler’s previous albums (even if it was recorded on his iPhone then texturized via a bump to a cassette recorder and dosed with added effects). But the distressed sonic sculptures of “The Hardest Land to Harvest” and “Electric Lake” or the sampled, distorted church choir laced through “Star of Hope” have a ghostly resonance unlike anything the guitarist has done before.
SoundStream
“I think it’s important for artists to push themselves into new ways of working,” Tyler says. “Most of my favorites, artists I follow over the long trajectory of their careers, have done that, whether it’s in music, film, visual art, novels. Of course, some people have a method or style that they stick to, and it serves them. And I wouldn’t want to put anything out into the world that I wouldn’t myself, as a consumer, enjoy spending time with and taking seriously. That said, I would get bored staying in the same place. The new record is about making something that was a little less chained to certain kinds of guitar music, where I felt like I might be running up against my creative limitations or enthusiasms in that area. I wanted to reinvent myself for myself, to explore fresh possibilities, even with the guitar as my primary tool.”
Tyler, whose parents were hitmaking Nashville songwriters, made his name early on as a young guitar phenom playing in such alternative-minded, country-influenced bands as Lambchop and Silver Jews, before appearing on the fourth volume of the influential Tompkins Square “Imaginational Anthem” series of new-era American Primitive guitar and then making his full-length debut as a solo artist with the 2010 album Behold the Spirit. As a player and composer, he was recognized for subsuming the early influence of John Fahey and the Takoma style into something vibrantly his own.
Tyler keeps his tools simple and his ears open.
Photo by Angelina Castillo
William Tyler’s Gear
Guitars
- Mid-1950s Martin D-18
- 1974 Gibson SG
Pedals
- Hologram Electronics Microcosm
- Strymon El Capistan
- Line 6 DL4 Mark II
Once Tyler signed to the stalwart indie-rock label Merge, the guitarist released a string of warmly received electro-acoustic albums: Impossible Truth (2013), Deseret Canyon (2015) and Modern Country (2016). There was also a marvel of a solo performance at Nashville’s Third Man Records released as an LP in the “Live at Third Man” series. A few years later came the album Goes West, its title alluding to a pre-pandemic move to Los Angeles, and its arrangements flecked with atmospheric swirls and sunny, almost pop-like touches. Tyler also created an aptly rustic score for First Cow, director Kelly Reichardt’s 2019 art house Western, and the guitarist capped his Merge run in 2023 with Secret Stratosphere, a live album of soaring full-band versions of numbers from his back catalog, credited to William Tyler’s Impossible Truth.
“I wanted to reinvent myself for myself, to explore fresh possibilities, even with the guitar as my primary tool.”
Tyler has released covers of such disparate artists as Alex Chilton, Michael Chapman, Fleetwood Mac, Yo La Tengo and Neu!/Harmonia’s Michael Rother, not to mention classical composers Handel and Dvorák. The broad listening palette suggested by these choices always pointed toward a more intrepid path. But the album that most presaged the spirit of Time Indefinite is New Vanitas, a small masterpiece of pandemic creation that found him threading beautiful, involved guitar melodies through hypnagogic soundscapes, often haunted by lo-fi snatches of radio broadcasts and sotto-voce dialogue, as on the evocatively titled “Slow Night’s Static.” New Vanitas even includes a woozy track called “Time Indefinite,” the foreshadowing title a favorite that he borrowed from a film by documentarian Ross McElwee.
On Time Indefinite, Tyler says, “I was drawn to more ambient music, including by guitarists like Christian Fennesz and Norman Westberg, but also groups like Stars of the Lid and Boards of Canada.”
Another signpost on Tyler’s new road was a collaboration with Four Tet’s Kieran Hebden that yielded the folktronica single “Darkness, Darkness.” Then last year brought the standalone track “Flight Final,” Tyler’s first release for the artist-led imprint Psychic Hotline, and a slice of musique concrète that brings to mind Brian Eno’s association with German “kosmische” pioneers Harmonia and Cluster. That recording, the first fruit of an association with collaborator and co-producer Jake Davis, set the stage for their work together on Time Indefinite. Most of the pieces on this album, whether blown-out lullabies or spectral hymns or folk-art abstractions, feel like memories refracted in a dream diary.
“The process of working on this album helped me get better at tempo, just feeling more comfortable playing slower.”
“The new album started out as a series of experiments, without necessarily thinking that they were going to make for a whole record—though, eventually, Jake and I heard a thematic coherence to what we were coming up with,” Tyler explains. “It took a long while to come together, but the roots of the music are in the Covid lockdown. The emotional landscape of that time changed the things I was listening to as well as the music that was coming out of me. I was drawn to more ambient music, including by guitarists like Christian Fennesz and Norman Westberg, but also groups like Stars of the Lid and Boards of Canada. I had gone back to Nashville and was dealing with a problematic mental state. Among other issues, I can tend to approach things too fast, spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Beyond using different recording techniques and learning new ways of creating a piece of music, the process of working on this album helped me get better at tempo, just feeling more comfortable playing slower.”
The guitars Tyler used in the studio for Time Indefinite were his “family heirloom” Martin D-18 and a beloved Gibson SG, both of which are his main live instruments. For effects pedals, he favored a Hologram Electronics Microcosm (“for low-pass filter looping and really weird granular stuff”) and a Strymon El Capistan (“for delays kind of like the old Electro-Harmonix Memory Man”), though Davis also did a lot of processing with an array of his own. One serendipitous piece of gear was a 1959 Webcor Regent reel-to-reel machine deck that Tyler liberated, still new in the box, while helping to clear out his grandfather’s storage space in Mississippi. Davis was inspired to make old-school tape loops with it, including that startling sound that opens the album. Tyler would play arrhythmic, asymmetrical parts that Davis would record and chop up for the loops.
Tyler at this year’s Big Ears Festival with Jake Davis and Cecilia Stair.
Photo by Ross Bustin
Tyler’s recent spate of collaborations, from Davis and Four Tet to pedal-steel guitarist Luke Schneider, “has kept me on my toes, challenged me and recharged me,” he says. “The insularity of being a solo instrumentalist and writing everything by yourself can be freeing at first. And it can be motivating, as when I first started learning how to play fingerstyle guitar, with all the practicing. But I don’t like the isolation of it now. These days, I prefer working with other people. It pushes you into other genres, those different modes of communication.”
Another recent colleague, Marisa Anderson, has credited Tyler for his open, venturesome spirit as a studio partner, with his default attitude of “yes” when they were making their absorbing duo album, Lost Futures. “That was something I really enjoyed about playing with William—he was up for everything,” she said. “I was like, ‘There’s the diving board,’ and he’d say, ‘Let’s go.’”
“These days, I prefer working with other people. It pushes you into other genres, those different modes of communication.”
Tyler is quick to credit artists and albums that have inspired him. Along with the aforementioned players, he namechecks a vast range of others, from Jimmy Page to Jeff Parker, Bill Frisell to Fred Frith, Bruce Langhorne to Nels Cline, William Ackerman to Sandy Bull. Tyler muses about how some of his Nashville session heroes should “have gotten weirder…. I wish Chet Atkins had dropped acid, listened to a Sonny Sharrock LP, and made his own noise record, you know?” Regarding his touchstones for sonic left turns, he points to Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, as well as Talk Talk’s emotive, avant-minded swansongs Spirit of Eden and Laughingstock.
“Those two Talk Talk albums are beyond masterpieces, with some great guitar playing,” Tyler says. “They were in essence made by an artist, Mark Hollis, who did not care about being commercial anymore and certainly not about being able to replicate the stuff live. When Jake and I were recording ‘Howling at the Second Moon,’ that sort of attitude was a reference point, kind of like, ‘Well, instead of trying to get away from the lo-fi weirdness of my original iPhone demo, why don’t we lean into it?’”
Ever thoughtful and candid in conversation, Tyler has been exceptionally transparent about coping with personal loss and midlife crises, as well as going to rehab for the over-indulgence of alcohol. Knowing that, one can hear grief and anxiety in the whorls of Time Indefinite, with the passages of guileless 6-string representing a nostalgia for less complicated times. “It’s a mental landscape record for sure,” he says. “For fans of my previous albums, it might not hit the same way, I realize. But I hope this record says to people that it’s all right to take chances with how you express yourself, with how naked and raw that can be. It has a purposeful arc and is meant to prompt things that aren’t super fashionable in today’s ephemeral, constant-content culture, like deep listening, emotional ambiguity, self-reflection, you know?”YouTube It
This three-song set from last year showcases the expansive cosmic country sound of Tyler and his Impossible Truth band, which includes a Kraftwerk cover.
