An old-school guitar-slinger makes a new solo album, Sweetzerland Manifesto, and shares nearly 50 years of wisdom on playing slide, open tuning, dialing in monster tones, and seeking the true sound of 6-strings.
Itās not every day you get to speak with a bona fide rock ānā roll legendāespecially one with an encyclopedic knowledge of tone, gear, and the mechanics of grooveābut we interviewed Joe Perry and, man, he delivered in spades.
Perry, as you probably know, made his name in the ā70s with Aerosmith, and along with a few othersālike Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, and people like thatādefined the term āguitar hero.ā (Thereās a reason relative youngsters like, say, Slash, play Les Pauls and dress the way they do.) Perryās playing is all over classic songs like āDream On,ā āBack in the Saddle,ā āSweet Emotion,ā āDraw the Line,ā and many, many others. But unlike other ā70s icons, Perryās band, Aerosmith, had a second career in the ā80s and ā90s, whichāat its peakāwas even bigger than anything theyād done in their early years. Along the way, they also racked up multiple Grammy awards and a spot in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
You donāt build that type of stature without depth, and Perryās got plenty of it. At 67, he remains a guitaristās guitarist. He knows the tricks to coax classic soundsāsome of which he inventedāout of his rig. And he understands the quirks of guitars and the ways to get them to play and sound their best. But he also has an intimate, historical understanding of music making and songwriting. He knows about grooveāand the subtle rhythmic mojo most players miss. And although heās written timeless riffs (āWalk This Way,ā anyone?), he knows when to make room for a vocal and how to showcase a lyric. Fifty-plus years of playing, performing, touring, and recording counts for something, and Perry still puts those lessons and experience into practice.
These days, in addition to his ongoing work with Aerosmith, whose classic lineup is still together, Perry is touring and recording with the Hollywood Vampires (a fun project that also includes Alice Cooper, Duff McKagan, and his close friend Johnny Depp), and has just released Sweetzerland Manifesto, his fourth solo albumānot counting his three studio long-players with the Joe Perry Project, which he led from 1980 to 1983, during his hiatus from Aerosmith. Sweetzerland Manifesto, which was cut at Johnny Deppās home studio in L.A., is classic Perry: swampy grooves, classic tones, funky tunings, and lots and lots of slide. The album also features guest vocals from Robin Zander (Cheap Trick), David Johansen (the New York Dolls), and Terry Reid (who, according to legend, was asked by Jimmy Page to front Led Zeppelin, but turned it down because heād already committed to open for the Stones).
We spoke with Perry about everything. That includes slide playing, tunings, mastering rhythm and feel, discovering your ideal tone, tweaking guitars, the history of string gauges, and even how heās managed to keep his hearing.
As an aside, we had a few scheduling challenges trying to arrange this interview. Eventually, my phone rang while I was standing in line at the supermarket. āHello, this is Joe Perry,ā an über-cool, gravely, Boston-twanged voice said in my ear.
āHi Joe,ā I said, shitting myself. āIām in the supermarket. Can we reschedule this for another time?ā
āSure,ā he said. āIāll call you back in 15 minutes.ā
Needless to say, my 16-year-old self stood in awe of the adult meāaside from the change of underwear, obviously.
You play a ton of slide on your new album. Letās talk about that.
I probably picked it up seriously when I was about 18 or 19. I already had a pretty solid handle on the basics, and by that timeāI was playing in a band by thenāIād seen plenty of guys do it. Iād managed to see a lot of guys come through Boston in the late ā60s. I saw everyone from Muddy Waters to Johnny Winter play slide. I got interested in different tunings and things like that, listening to the old blues guys. I just had a kind of natural feel for it. Iāve always had it as part of my repertoire, so to speak, of different ways to get sounds out of guitars.
Do you have preferred tunings that you use for slide?
Open G is the classic. I mean, Robert Johnson was probably the most famous of the old guys, but they all had different angles on their tunings. Itās one of those things you mainly just fiddle around with. But either open G or open A lends itself to a lot of different things. I also use open E. I use DADGADāwhich is the tuning that Jimmy Page uses a lotāand then a lot of times I just play it in regular tuning.
Do you have a preferred guitar for slide?
When Iām with Aerosmith, I usually use a Supro Ozark 1560S. I have an old one and a reissue. My first one was a beginnerās model, a Danelectro, which I bought specifically for slide when I was 18 or 19. I have an old Rickenbacker lap steel, itās a 1939, and Iāve played that on the road for years. I wrote the basic parts to āRag Dollā on that. Probably the most recognizable song on the Ozark would be āMonkey on My Back.ā [Editorās note: from 1989ās Pump.] But Iāll find odd ones here and there that sound really good. Sometimes itās a little cheap Supro, or Airline, or something like that, because those pickups sound great for slide. Sometimes, if Iām using a regular tuning, I just play slide on a Strat.
You use a lot of different tunings in general as well, even when not playing slide. Have you invented any or do you pretty much stick to those you mentioned?
There are a couple that Iāve changedāwhere Iāve tweaked some of those basic open chords. I donāt use as many as, say, Pagey. There are a few in my set of songs where those tunings form the base of the song, but I like to stick pretty much to either the open G, open A, and standard tuning. It just keeps it easier so you donāt have to have three or four guitars when youāre on the road. I try and limit it as much as I can because I know whatever I do in the studio, Iāll have to go out there and play live. Iāve been through that enough to know that if you saddle yourself with a particular guitar and with a particular tuning, youāve got to bring it with you. Iād as soon keep it as limited as possible, so Iām not having to change guitars as much.
You are left-handed even though you play right-handed. Does that have any advantages? For example, have you stumbled on anything interesting that you wouldnāt have stumbled on otherwise?
I donāt know. I grew up in Hopedale [Massachusetts, a Boston suburb]. There were very few guitar players around and I wasnāt exposed to a lot of different kinds of music. I didnāt know there was a left-handed or right-handed way to play guitar. I took piano lessons for a while. I actually played clarinet for, like, three months. There were no left-handed pianos or left-handed clarinets that I know of.
I did try playing left-handed, just to see. It was just out of curiosity. I spent a couple of weeks trying and I thought it was a waste of time for me. So, I really couldnāt tell what the advantages would be. Iām sure there are people who say, āYour left hand or your right hand being a dominant hand on the neck gives you more dexterity.ā I donāt know. It probably evens out, the pluses and minuses.
Can you talk about rhythm, feel, and how you approach groove? It seems to me that playing something like a shuffle is becoming a lost art.
I approach the rhythm as one of the most important elements. Even a ballad has a thing that can help create a mood and a bed for a melody, a lyric, and what the lyric is trying to get across. I mean certainly, the other end of it, the lyrics, are ultimately what people listen toāthat and the melodyābut most of the time, the songs that I write start with the rhythm. Once in a while, Iāll come up with a chord thing or a riff, but even then, the riff is built around that rhythm. Iāve steeped myself in that kind of musicāwhether itās funk or disco or pop or whateverāand how the mechanics of that work. If you listen to Chuck Berry, thatās like a four-year college course in rhythm and how that works. Thereās a feeling there you get when you interact with the bass and the drums. Itās really hard to capture. Iāve heard a lot of bad Chuck Berry imitators.
TIDBIT: Perryās new solo album was recorded at Johnny Deppās well-appointed home studio, which occupies a garage and the first floor of Deppās house in Los Angeles, and sports top-of-the-line gear.
I have to say, the Stones are probably the closest cats to capturing that feel. Theyāve studied it. They figured out how thereās a shuffle going on over a straight beat and getting that to work. I was fortunate enough to have Johnny Johnson, who played with Chuck Berry, down in the studio when we did [2004ās] Honkin' on Bobo. Watching him play, he had a swing and a feel, and along with Chuckās rhythm, it just creates that boogie-woogie kind of shuffle. Then, obviously, you adapt that to what youāre going for. I mean, I think a lot of the newer bands donāt spend enough time paying attention and learning that. Itās not about scales and all that.
It takes a while to figure out why rhythm is so importantāespecially being in a band, in an ensemble situationāto what comes out. You may listen to the guitar player alone and that sounds okay, and the drummer alone, or the bass player, or the keyboard playerābut theyāve all got to work together to make this feel, this drive, this very primal element that forms the bed of the song. The main thing goes back to when Dick Clark had his show and they would rate all the new songs by, āCan you dance to it?ā That was it: Can you dance to it or not? That says so much about what music is for people. Electronic music, the DJs, itās all about that: the beat. You get guys driving by in their cars and listening to rap and the bass is just thumping, man. Thatās the hook in a lot of ways. Thereās everything elseāthe ear candy that makes you love the songābut youāve got to have that rhythm. Thatās what I form everything around.
But it took me a while to figure that out. You can go out there and bang on chords like any other bunch of white kids in the suburbs in a garage, but to really get it, youāve got to work it. I think what happened is, the guys that were playing the first rock ānā roll were jazz guys. They came up through jazz. They hear musicāthe rhythmāin a different way. When they play something simple like straight-ahead rock ānā roll, they bring something to the party. If you just, say, learned how to play drums from Van Halen, youāre not going to get that same feel. Again, look at the Stones. Charlie loves swing music and jazz. He comes out of that era. So did Bill Wyman. Keith plays rhythm. Heās got that right hand that just nails it. He is the best rhythm guitar player out there. Heās written countless songs that have that feel.
It goes back to what music was originally used for: It was the fire people danced around. There is a very intense sexual element to it. Thatās the rhythm, the rhythm of life. If you follow music back, over the centuries, to where the roots of it are, itās around the rhythm. It was about getting people to hang out together. Itās a mating dance, itāsā¦. Anyway, these are all general statements. But as an amateur musicologist, Iām following that path, paddling down that river, checking every inlet.
Perry in his guitar-hero glory onstage with Aerosmith, picking a low string on one of his signature GibsonĀ Les Paul tiger-stripe finish guitars. Until this decade, Perry played Stratocasters and Les Pauls in concert almost exclusively, but has found additional inspiration in Echopark and TV Jones models. Photo by Jordi Vidal
You use TV Jones and Echopark guitars a lot on this album. What do those instruments offer that you canāt get from your Fenders and Gibsons?
Both guys [Editorās note: Thatās Gabriel Currie of Echopark and Thomas V. Jones of TV Jones.] have built guitars for me that are very close to perfect for what I want to use. Those guitars are basically made to my specs. I also have the Les Pauls and Strats. Iām really fond of a particular Strat that I put together about 20 years ago. Itās a left-handed body and a left-handed Tele neck. I found that the tension and the way the heavy string has that long distance from the nut to the tuning peg makes it resonate in a different way than, say, a right-handed Strat. Also, the high string is a little tighter. But these are really minute things. Itās just that after a while, those are the little things you notice. But a lot of times on the record, I just grabbed whatever was at hand. Iāll just choose one and then tweak the amp a little bit. A lot of it is just how you play. Itās in your fingers.
At the end of the day, youāre the one whoās playing it.
Yeah. I remember once, near the end of the ā70sāTed Nugent was there and Eddie Van Halen had already made a name for himselfāand Ted said to Ed, āYou know, if I had the same rig and the same guitars as you did, I could sound like you.ā Well, he put the guitar on and he sounded like Ted Nugent. So much of it is in your hands. Iāve seen Jeff Beck playāand heās got his favorite guitarsābut Iāve seen him pick up any old guitar, and after like two minutes youād think heād been playing that guitar for 10 years. So much of it is in your hands, especially when youāre chasing tone. A tendency now with a lot of players is to play with really distorted amps and to turn the gain way upāand there are a thousand different kinds of fuzz tones you can use for thatābut I gotta say, I think my favorite tone is with everything turned up and you just get a nice clean ringing, chiming tone. Then, if you want to get it a little funky, you can maybe just turn the amp up a touch, put a little bit of drive on it, and get that sustain. You can go and go, all the way to the end to where itās freaking out, but my standard toneāthe rig that I use when I tour with my solo band or with Aerosmithāis a relatively clean tone and then Iāll build on top of that by using different guitars. For example, rather than using a Strat, Iāll use a humbucker, because it has a little more drive and you can get a little more of that crunch. Anyway, I like to hear the tone of the guitar more than the tone of an overdriven amp.
Joe Perryās Gear (for Sweetzerland Manifesto)
GuitarsEchopark Ghetto Bird Custom
Echopark Joe Perry Model
TV Jones Custom with T-Armond pickups
Gibson Joe Perry ā59 Les Paul
Various Fender Telecasters and Stratocasters, including his left-handed Strat with a Tele neck
Amps
Supro 1695T Black Magick
Various Marshalls
Effects
Klon Centaur
Electro-Harmonix POG
DigiTech Whammy
Strings, Picks, and Slides
Ernie Ball Skinny Top Heavy Bottom custom sets (.008ā.048)
Dunlop Medium picks
Dunlop Joe Perry Boneyard slides
So, do you get your distortion with pedals or by pushing the amp a little bit more?
Itās usually pushing the amp a little. They do have gain pedals that donāt color the sound at all. They just give it that little moreālike another couple of dB pushāand thatās usually enough if you want the thing to sing a little bit more. Thatās why on the solo record there are so many different sounds, but itās not like I used that many different guitars on it. Itās more about tweaking the amp a little bit and maybe playing a little bit harder, pushing it. Sometimes I play without a pick and that can help with the tone. Then there are other things where I want a little more attack and I'll use the pick. Iāve found that most of it comes from your hands. Then you get the base settings on your amp and pick a guitar thatās going to give you what you want. And I want to be able to hear the tone of that guitar as much as I can.
You do use a Klon Centaur though. Is that just to push it a little more?
Itās a pretty versatile pedal. The cat that makes them lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, actually, and Brad [Whitford] and I were fortunate to get some of the first ones he made. Thatās probably the one piece of equipment, besides a guitar, that I always bring. If somebody asks me to play on a record or go to a studio that Iāve never been toāif I donāt have an amp and Iāll use one of theirsāif I have a Klon, I know I can get the amp to sound the way I want. Itās not quite like a classic fuzz tone. Itās not just a straight drive. Itās kind of in-between. You can sculpt a good sound out of whatever you have. If somebody asks me to jam onstage, if I can get my hands on my Klon, itās good.
What did you do before the Klons came out?
There were other pedals that were close. There are a lot of really good pedals. Itās just a matter of taste. But for me, the Klon works.
Are you particular about strings and picks?
The classic guitars that everybody goes crazy forāall those guitars made in the ā50s and ā40sāwere made to play with heavier-gauge strings.
And flatwound, too.
And flatwound. And one of the things in the ā60s was that a lot of the English cats who were really studying the blues players were like, āHow do they get those huge bends? How are they doing that?ā Then you find out this guitar player would substitute his G string with a .010 so he could bend all over the place. So, they were pretty much the first ones to start using really light strings. They would take a banjo string, throw away the low E string, move the whole set down one, and then add a banjo string for the high E. I did that for about a year until Ernie Ball came out with a set, the Super Slinky, and then Rotosound, the English company, came out with sets of really light strings.
Putting super light strings on a Strat and getting it to stay in tune is a bitch. It takes a while to get that adjusted, but once you get it, it works. Iāve found that what you give up in toneābecause with the smaller string gauge, thereās less metal to vibrateāyou can make that up having the right guitar and amp setup. For me, itās less wear and tear on my hands. I used to use .010s, then went to .009s, and for the last two years I started using .008s. I like it a lot because I can get bends on the low strings and it makes it a lot more fluid for me. I got a bit of arthritis in my hands and since I switched to .008s it seems to have abated a bit. But any time flesh touches metal, wear-and-tear is inevitable.
Along those lines, are there things you do to protect your hearing as well?
I don't play that loud [laughs]. Actually, Iāve definitely lost some top end, but I donāt use those ear things.
You use wedges?
I use wedges. The main thing is that I like to hear the band. The band should sound good onstage and the balance should sound good. You donāt want one guy playing screaming loud and another guy playing through a tiny amp. The main thing is to get a good balance right across the board. It makes it easier for the soundman and it makes it easier for everybody. There are a dozen sweet spots on the stage where I can stand and hear everybody without even having to rely on wedges.
Iāve been lucky to not have more hearing loss. But hey, I worked for 30 years to get a band that sounds great. But mainly, I want to hear the audience and hear how theyāre reacting. A lot of people will feed the audience into those ear things, but itās still unnatural to me. I just want to hear the real thing. Itās a balance.
YouTube It
āTrain Kept A-Rollinā,ā a staple of Aerosmithās live sets for decades, gets an update by Perry with his pals Slash, Johnny Depp, and Dean DeLeo joining on guitar at L.A.ās the Roxy on January 16, 2018. The tune was first cut by R&B bandleader Tiny Bradshaw in 1951, but Perryās multiple solosāsummoned from his lefty Strat with a lefty Tele neckāare squarely in the moment.
Voxās Valvenergy Tone Sculptor
Two new pedals from the Valvenergy series use a Nutube valve to generate unique dynamics and tone ranges that can be used to radical ends.
When tracking in a studio or DAW, youāre likely to use compression and EQ on most things. Many enduringly amazing and powerful records were made using little else. And though many musicians regard both effects as a bit unglamorous and utilitarian, EQs and comps are as capable of radical sounds as more overtly āweirdā effectsāparticularly when they are used in tandem.
I spent a day workshopping ideas in my studio using just the Vox Valvenergy Smooth Impact compressor and Tone Sculptor EQ, and a dash of amp tremolo and reverb to taste. In the process, I produced more arresting sounds than I had heard from my guitars in many days. There were radical direct-to-desk-style Jimmy Page/Beatles distortion tones, sun-sized, cosmic electric 12-string, Bakersfield twang that could burn through crude, and many other sweet and nasty colors. Most decent EQ and compressor combinations can achieve variations on all those themes. But the Smooth Impact and Tone Sculptor also reveal interesting personalities in unexpected places.
The individuality and energy in the Vox Valvenergy pedals is attributable, in part, to the Nutube vacuum tube used in the circuit. Though it looks little like a vacuum tube as most guitarists know them, the thin, wafer-like Nutube is, in fact, a real vacuum tube like those used in fluorescent displays. Fluorescent display tubes have limitations. A maximum operating voltage of around 40 volts means they arenāt useful for bigger power tube applications like a 6L6, which has an operating voltage of about 400 volts. But it can work quite well as a preamp tube in concert with an op amp power section, which is how the Nutube is used in the new Valvenergy pedals, as well as older Vox products like the Vox MV50 and Superbeetle amps.
Valvenergy Tone Sculptor
When you think about ācinematicā effects, you likely imagine big reverb or modulation sounds that create a vivid picture and feeling of space or motion. But narrow, hyper-focused EQ profiles can evoke very different and equally powerful images. Radical EQ settings can add aggression, claustrophobic intimacy, and stark, explosive dark-and-light contrasts more evocative of Hitchcockās Psycho than Ridley Scottās Blade Runner.
Any of these moods can be summoned from the Valvenergy Tone Sculptor. Six sliders cut or boost 10 dB frequency bands spanning 100 Hz to 5.6 kHz. A seventh slider cuts or boosts the master output by 12 dB. This platter of options might not sound like much. But you can use these seven controls together to very specific ends.
āRadical EQ settings can add aggression, near-claustrophobic intimacy, and stark, explosive dark-and-light contrasts.ā
For example, bumping the high-midrange and the master output produces narrow cocked-wah-like filter sounds with enough push to produce extra amp overdriveāeffectively turning the Tone Sculptor into a buzzy, almost fuzz-like filter effect. But unlike a wah, you can carefully scoop high end or add a spoonful of bass to blunt harsh frequencies or give the tone a bit more weight. You can also broaden the palette of an amp/guitar pairing. I matched a particularly trebly Jazzmaster bridge pickup with a very hot and toppy Vox AC15-flavored amp for this testāa recipe that can be spiky on the best days. But with the Tone Sculptor in the line, I could utilize the same sharp, fuzzy, and filtered Mick Ronson wah tones while shaving some of the most piercing frequencies.
EQ pedals exist on many points along the cost spectrum. And at $219, the Tone Sculptor lives on the high side of the affordable range. Does it offer something less expensive models canāt deliver? Well, for one thing, I found it relatively quiet, which is nice whether youāre shaping toppy high-contrast effects or performing more surgical adjustments. And the sliders feel nuanced and nicely tapered rather than like a dull axe with a few basic frequency notches. But in many situations I also liked the color imparted by the circuitāgenerated, presumably, by the Nutube. āColor,ā in audio terms, is a broad and subjective thing, and one should not necessarily expect the warm, tube-y glow of a vintage tube Pultec. Still, the Tone Sculptor has many forgiving, flattering qualitiesātypical of studio EQsāthat enable fine tuning and experimentation with more radical and creative applications of the effect.
Valvenergy Smooth Impact
As with the Tone Sculptor, the Smooth Impactās use of Nutube engenders certain expectations. Itās easy to surmise that because Smooth Impact has a vacuum tube in the circuit that it will behave like a little Teletronix LA-2A leveling amplifier. Thatās a big ask for a $219 stompbox. On the other hand, the Smooth Impact exhibits some appealing characteristics of studio tube compression. At lower compression levels, it works well as a thickening agentāadding mass without much additional noise. And at higher compression levels it can sound snappy, crisp, and tight without feeling like youāve bled every trace of overtone from your signal.
The Smooth Impactās controls arenāt totally atypical. But because it lacks some familiar features like variable attack and release, yet is more complicated than a 1-knob DynaComp, you have to trust your ear to navigate interactions among the controls. The most unfamiliar of these is the 3-way vintage/natural/sag toggle. The first two are defined by preset attack and release settings: Vintage is slow attack and long release, and natural is the opposite. The sag modeās compression is more like what you get from tube saturation, and itās useful for adding thickness and complexity to a thin amp tone at modest compression levels.
Though the vintage and natural modes certainly have a different feel, they donāt always sound worlds apart. And like the sag mode, the thing they have in common is the way they enrich lifeless amp output at low to medium compression, with a bit of grind from the tube gain and a little extra makeup gain from the output. At the most aggressive settings, the tube gain can get a little crispy. And really crushing the compression can flatline your tone without adding much in the way of extra sustain. These are limitations common to many compressors with similar features. But unless I was chasing very ultra-snappy Prince and Nile Rodgers fast-funk caricatures, I enjoyed the Smooth Impact most in its in-between ranges, where mass, mild, harmonious drive, and low noise showcase the pedalās sometimes studio-like personality.
Significantly smaller and lighter than original TAE. Easy to configure and operate. Great value. Streamlined control set.
Air Feel Level control takes the place of more surgical and realistic resonance controls. Seventy watts less power in onboard power amp. No Bluetooth connectivity with desktop app.
$699
Boss Waza Tube Amp Expander Core
Boss streamlines the size, features, and price of the already excellent Waza Tube Expander with little sacrifice in functionality.
Many of our younger selves would struggle to understand the urgeāindeed, the needāto play quieter. My first real confrontation with this ever-more-present reality arrived when Covid came to town. For many months, I could only sneak into my studio space late at night to jam or review anything loud. Ultimately, the thing that made it possible to create and do my job in my little apartment was a reactive load box (in this case, a Universal Audio OX). I set up a Bassman head next to my desk and, with the help of the OX, did the work of a gear editor as well as recorded several very cathartic heavy jams, with the Bassman up to 10, that left my neighbors none the wiser.
Bossā firstWaza Tube Amp Expander, built with an integrated power amp that enables boosted signal as well as attenuated sounds, was and remains the OXās main competition. Both products have copious merits but, at $1,299 (Boss) and $1,499 (Universal Audio), each is expensive. And while both units are relatively compact, they arenāt gear most folks casually toss in a backpack on the way out the door. The new Waza Tube Expander Core, however, just might be. And though it sacrifices some refinements for smaller size, its much-more accessible price and strong, streamlined fundamental capabilities make it a load-box alternative that could sway skeptics.
Micro Manager
The TAE Core is around 7 1/2" wide, just over 7 " long, and fewer than 4 " tall, including the rubber feet. Thatās about half the width of an original TAE or OX. The practical upside of this size reduction is obvious and will probably compel a lot of players to use the unit in situations in which theyād leave a full-size TAE at home. The streamlined design is another source of comfort. With just five knobs on its face, the TAE Core has fewer controls and is easier to use than many stompboxes. In fact, the most complicated part of integrating the TAE Core to your rig might be downloading the necessary drivers and related apps.
Connectivity is straightforward, though there are some limitations. You can use TAE Core wirelessly with an iOS or Windows tablet or smartphone, as long as you have the BT-DUAL adaptor (which is not included and sets you back around 40 bucks). However, while desktop computers recognize the TAE Core as a Bluetooth-enabled device, you cannot use the unit wirelessly with those machines. Instead, you have to connect the TAE Core via USB. In a perfectly ordered world, thatās not a big problem. But if you use the TAE Core in a small studioāwhere one less cable is one less headacheāor you prefer to interface with the TAE Core app on a desktop where you can toggle fast and easily between large, multi-track sessions and the app, the inability to work wirelessly on a desktop can be a distraction. The upside is that the TAE Core app itself is, functionally and visually, almost identical in mobile and desktop versions, enabling you to select and drag and drop virtual microphones into position, add delay, reverb, compression, and EQ effects, choose various cabinets with different speaker configurations and sizes, and introduce new rigs and impulse responses to a tone recipe in a flash. And though the TAE Core app lacks some of the photorealistic panache and configuration options in the OX app, the TAE Coreās app is just as intuitive.Less Is More
One nice thing about the TAE Coreās more approachable $699 price is that you donāt have to feel too bad on nights that you āunderutilizeā the unit and employ it as an attenuator alone. In this role, the TAE Core excels. Even significantly attenuated sounds retain the color and essence of the source tone. Like any attenuator-type device, you will sacrifice touch sensitivity and dynamics at a certain volume level, yielding a sense of disconnection between fingers, gut, guitar, and amp. But if youāre tracking ābigā sounds in a small space, you can generate massive-sounding ones without interfacing with an amp modeler and flat-response monitors, which is a joy in my book. And again, thereās the TAE Coreās ability to āexpandā as well as attenuate, which means you can use the TAE Coreās 30-watt onboard power amp to amplify the signal from, say, a 5-watt Fender Champion 600 with a 6" speaker, route it to a 2x12, 4x12, or virtual equivalent in the app, and leave your bandmate with the Twin Reverb and bad attitude utterly perplexed.
The Verdict
Opting for the simpler, thriftier TAE Core requires a few sacrifices. Power users that grew accustomed to the original TAEās super-tunable āresonance-Zā and āpresence-Zā controls, which aped signal-chain impedance relationships with sharp precision, will have to make do with the simpler but still very effective stack and combo options and the āair feel levelā spatial ambience control.The DC power jack is less robust. It features only MIDI-in rather than MIDI-in/-through/-out jacks, and, significantly, 70 watts less power in the onboard power amp. But from my perspective, the Core is no less āprofessionalā in terms of what it can achieve on a stage or in a studio of any size. Its more modest feature set and dimensions are, in my estimation, utility enhancements as much as limitations. If greater power and MIDI connectivity are essentials, then the extra 600 bones for the original TAE will be worth the price. For many of us, though, the mix of value, operational efficiencies, and the less-encumbered path to sound creation built into the TAE Core will represent a welcome sweet spot that makes dabbling in this very useful technology an appealing, practical proposition.
Darkglass Electronics unveils ANAGRAM, a flagship bass platform designed to redefine tone, flexibility, and performance. The pedalās extraordinarily deep feature set includes multiple effects and modeling, an on-board looper and tuner.
Best of all, ANAGRAM brings together these creative tools in a streamlined, rugged format thatās designed for ease of use. Onstage and in the studio, bassists can quickly access and fine-tune their sound via the ANAGRAM interface:
- 7-inch high-brightness touchscreen for clear and intuitive control.
- Three footswitches for live performance control.
- Six high-resolution endless rotary knobs for precise parameter adjustments.
- Flexible input and output configuration.
With ultra-low latency, extensive customization, and seamless integration into the Darkglass ecosystem, it supports both studio precision and stage performance. Combining 15 years of innovation with cutting-edge processing power, ANAGRAM offers a purpose-built solution for bassists seeking unparalleled sound-shaping capabilities.
Anagram
Powered by a state-of-the-art hexacore processor and 32-bit/48kHz audio processing,ANAGRAM delivers ultra-low latency, pristine clarity, and studio-grade sound. Its intuitive blocks-based architecture lets players create signal chains in series (12 blocks) or parallel (24blocks) using a high-resolution touch display. ANAGRAM features three control modesāPreset,Scene, and Stompāfor instant switching, parameter adjustments, and traditional pedalboard-style operation. With a curated collection of distinct preamps, 50+ customizable effects, a looper, tuner, and user-generated IR support, ANAGRAM delivers unmatched creative flexibility.Seamless integration with the Darkglass Suite allows for expanded control and functionality. Additionally, Neural Amp Modeler (NAM) integration provides access to thousands
of high-quality amp and effect models, expanding tonal possibilities from analog warmth to futuristic textures.
"Anagram represents the culmination of years of research and development," says Marcos Barilatti, Managing Director of Darkglass Electronics. "We set out to create a product that not only pushes the boundaries of bass tone but also inspires musicians to explore new sonic territories."
Housed in a rugged anodized aluminum chassis, ANAGRAM is road-ready, compact, and powered via 9V or USB-C (PD). With flagship features at a compelling price, ANAGRAM represents the new standard for bassists seeking a modern platform for their performance.
Street $1199.99 USD
Alongside Nicolas Jaarās electronics, Harrington creates epic sagas of sound with a team of fine-tuned pedalboards.
Guitarist Dave Harrington concedes that while there are a few mile markers in the music that he and musician Nicolas Jaar create as Darkside, improvisation has been the rule from day one. The experimental electronic trioās latest record, Nothing, which released in February on Matador, was the first to feature new percussionist Tlacael Esparza.
Taking the record on tour this year, Darkside stopped in at Nashvilleās Brooklyn Bowl, where Harrington broke down his complex signal chains for PGās Chris Kies.
Brought to you by DāAddario.
Express Yourself
Harrington bought this mid-2000s Gibson SG at 30th Street Guitars in New York, a shop he used to visit as a kid. The headstock had already been broken and repaired, and Harrington switched the neck pickup to a Seymour Duncan model used by Derek Trucks. Harrington runs it with DāAddario NYXL .010s, which he prefers for their stretch and stability.
The standout feature is a round knob installed by his tech behind the bridge, which operates like an expression pedal for the Line 6 DL4. Harrington has extras on hand in case one breaks.
Triple Threat
Harringtonās backline setup in Nashville included two Fender Twin Reverbs and one Fender Hot Rod DeVille. He likes the reissue Fender amps for their reliability and clean headroom. Each amp handles an individual signal, including loops that Harrington creates and plays over; with each amp handling just one signal rather than one handling all loops and live playing, thereās less loss of definition and competition for frequency space.
Dave Harringtonās Pedalboards
Harrington says he never gives up on a pedal, which could explain why heās got so many. Youāre going to have to tune in to the full Rundown to get the proper scoop on how Harrington conducts his three-section orchestra of stomps, but at his feet, he runs a board with a Chase Bliss Habit, Mu-Tron Micro-Tron IV, Eventide PitchFactor, Eventide H90, Hologram Microcosm, Hologram Chroma Console, Walrus Monument, Chase Bliss Thermae, Chase Bliss Brothers AM, JHS NOTAKLĆN, two HexeFX reVOLVERs, and an Amped Innovations JJJ Special Harmonics Extender. A Strymon Ojai provides power.
At hip-level sits a board with a ZVEX Mastotron, Electro-Harmonix Cathedral, EHX Pitch Fork, Xotic EP Booster, two EHX 45000 multi-track looping recorders, Walrus Slƶer, Expedition Electronics 60 Second Deluxe, and another Hologram Microcosm. A Live Wire Solutions ABY Box and MXR DC Brick are among the utility tools on deck.
Under that board rest Harringtonās beloved Line 6 DL4āhis desert-island, must-have pedalāalong with a controller for the EHX 45000, Boss FV-50H volume pedal, Dunlop expression pedal, Boss RT-20, a Radial ProD2, and another MXR DC Brick.