The polymorphic plectrist surfs the world to create the diverse sounds on his instrumental trio’s new album, Con Todo El Mundo.
The most unique and intriguing players often travel a very unconventional musical path. Mark Speer, sole guitarist of the reverb-drenched instrumental trio Khruangbin, is such a musician. He dodges rock ’n’ roll’s influence, prefers crafting his compositions on bass and drums, and continues to nurture a place in his heart for music in foreign languages. He, along with bassist Laura Lee and drummer Donald Johnson (aka D.J.), has managed to mold a slew of non-guitar influences into a 6-string style that makes Khruangbin’s sophomore release, Con Todo El Mundo, an extremely fascinating listen for fans of instrumental guitar music as well as anyone who appreciates loungy, old-school grooves and exquisitely crafted melodies.
On Khruangbin’s debut album, The Universe Smiles Upon You, the melodic concepts and phrasing of Thai funk played a premier role in shaping the sound.
As if to illustrate Khruangbin’s globe-trotting character, when Premier Guitar caught up with Speer, he was enjoying a day off in India before beginning a tour through Europe. And through our conversation it became extremely apparent why Con Todo El Mundo, which translates as With All the World, is a fitting way to describe Speer’s musical journey, his band’s surf-and funk-tinged sound, and why Khruangbin still records in a dirt-floor barn outside of Houston, Texas.
What were your first musical inspirations?
I was born in 1979, so I came to consciousness about the time MTV was in its first couple years. The first video I remember seeing on MTV was Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message.” Hearing the Sylvia Robinson production on that tune was, like, “What is this? This is amazing! How do you make sounds like that?” But I was not, not into rock ’n’ roll. I thought it was terrible.
With your early attraction to hip-hop and aversion to rock, what initially inspired you to pick up the guitar?
To be honest, I wanted to play drums because drums just looked like so much fun. But I couldn’t afford drums, so I played bass. At a certain point, a friend’s dad let me borrow a 4-track cassette recorder. I was making songs and tracks with Casio drums, playing them with my fingers. I wanted to have chords on them, but I didn’t have a guitar. I would slow the tape down and play them on bass, then speed the tape back up.
So I borrowed my buddy’s guitar and learned some chords. I wanted to play big jazz chords, like fusion-jazz type chords. So those were the first chords I learned. I didn’t know how to play power chords or use distortion or anything like that. That came much, much later.
You have a unique guitar sound and style. It’s amazing you came to it from such a pragmatic standpoint.
Yeah, I just wanted to make chords.
So how did you transition from reluctantly playing guitar to putting Khruangbin together?
I used to play bass, but I got more work playing guitar, and I had to pay my bills. Then I got better at that tool, I guess. Then, Laura Lee started playing bass through insomnia. She’d wake up in the middle of the night and start playing bass. She was like, “I want to start a band.” So we started jamming. I wanted to play drums again, so I’d play the kit and she’d play bass. And we’d record everything thinking that we’d find a guitar player. But eventually we decided I should play guitar.
Then we got a gig, and it was like, “We need a drummer, and we need a name for a band!” So we asked D.J. He was an organist, but he could play anything onstage: organ, bass, drums, whatever. I told him, “It’s basically just classic breakbeats. Just keep it simple and keep it moving.”
TIDBIT: Khruangbin records most of their albums in a barn in Burton, Texas, and then do overdubs at Houston’s SugarHill Recording Studios.
You had a bass player who had just learned to play, a guitar player who wanted to play drums, and a drummer who was an organist. That’s a strange recipe.
Yes. That is correct. [Laughs.]
The band is now on its second album, Con Todo El Mundo. How do you feel you have progressed since your debut?
We were listening to a lot more stuff. A lot of people like to call us Thai funk, which is kind of funny. Because in no way are we playing strictly Thai funk. We’re not playing strict luk thung or strict mor lam or any of those regional styles. We try to piece together all the different types of music that we like into this big synergistic thing. And that’s what The Universe Smiles Upon You was.
But for Con Todo El Mundo, we’re adding even more stuff that we’ve been listening to. The new record is much more influenced by music from the Middle East, North Africa, Spain, and even the Western Coast of Ireland. That’s what we’re pulling from. A lot of the scales and grooves that we’re pulling from are Iranian and Persian in nature, but share a lot of tonality with North African, Mediterranean, Spanish, and Irish music.
Khruangbin’s Mark Speer, caught here at the 2017 Outside Lands festival in San Francisco, plays only one guitar: a 2001 Fender Strat modified with a Graph Tech TUSQ nut and DiMarzio Cruiser pickups in the neck and bridge.
Photo by Rich Osweiler
Did you track the album in Houston?
The band was formed in Burton, which is a little town outside of Brenham, which is where Blue Bell Ice Cream comes from. We still record there now. It’s just out in the middle of nowhere. You can be isolated from the noise of the city. There’s hardly any cell phone service. There’s no Wi-Fi, that’s for sure. We play in a barn. You can open up all the doors and let the wind go through and look out and see the cows.
Now when you say barn…
It’s like dirt floors and corrugated tin siding. If you open up the doors, the sound is a lot more dry. And if you close the door, you get a lot more room sound. So you can change it up depending on what you’re trying to do. Everything is tracked in the barn, live. There’s no punch-ins or overdubs that are done there. We do overdubs in Houston at SugarHill Recording Studios. But everything is done in the barn, as far as bass, drums, and guitar.
How are you able to get such a focused sound with the bass and drums in that barn?
I don’t know if it is very focused. We even try to mic the bass amp. She’s using a Bassman 10, which is like a Fender 4x10 from the late ’60s to mid ’70s. The reason we like it is that it doesn’t do what modern bass amps do, which is scoop out all the mids. The highest treble you get is around 6k. The treble you hear is fingers. It’s character.
What amp or amps do you record with?
My blackface Deluxe Reverb reissue from ’96, or something. It’s one of the beige covered ones. It’s got a brown screen, a black face, and is covered in beige tolex. It’s been beat to absolute hell. That one won’t go on the road with me, simply because it’s so ugly. [Laughs.] But it sounds amazing.
I am guitar players.”
The amp I take on the road in the States is the [’68 Custom Deluxe] silverface reissue from just a couple years ago. That one looks fantastic and matches Laura Lee’s bass amp. But that doesn’t sound nearly as good as my old blackface. I’ve actually been considering taking the guts from the blackface and sticking them into the silver.
Other than reverb, your guitar tone seems fairly straight-into-the-amp.
My preferred setup is my guitar into a Cry Baby wah that I never turn off. It’s usually toe-down, in its most trebly region, so if I have to switch it on, it doesn’t change the tone so drastically. And then it goes from there into a Boss DS-1. And then it goes from that into an Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail.
But when we mixed the records, all the delays and stuff were done in the mix. So when we do a show, I have a Strymon El Capistan for delay with an expression pedal hooked up to the back. There’s also a Nose volume pedal. It’s like a volume knob that allows me to move it with my feet on the board. Also, sometimes I like to use a really, really slow vibrato at the end of the chain to change the pitch. Right now, I have a Chase Bliss Warped Vinyl on it. It sounds really psychedelic and warpy. But honestly, I wish I could go back to the wah and DS-1 and that’s it.
Guitars
2001 Fender Stratocaster (Graph Tech TUSQ saddles and DiMarzio Cruiser pickups)
Amps
Fender ’65 Deluxe Reverb reissue
Fender ’68 Custom Deluxe Reverb reissue
Effects
Boss DS-1 Distortion
Boss PH-3 Phase Shifter
Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb
Dunlop Cry Baby wah
Nose volume pedal
Chase Bliss Warped Vinyl analog vibrato/chorus
Strymon El Capistan dTape Echo
Strings and Picks
D’Addario Chromes Flatwounds, custom with unwound G (.010, .012, .016, .024, .032, .042)
Extremely worn Dunlop Tortex .88 mm picks
On “Evan Finds the Third Room” from the new album, there’s a great-sounding phaser effect. Was that done in the mix?
I think it’s a Boss PH-something. It’s the green one. I love phaser. It’s one of my favorite effects in the whole world. I got it on the new record on a couple cuts.
Tell me about your Strat.
I got that one back in 2001 or 2002. It’s basically the only guitar I have. I replaced the neck pickup with a DiMarzio Cruiser because it buzzed too much. And I did the same thing in the bridge position so I could get some screaming leads. [Laughs.] The frets have been replaced two or three times. The saddles are TUSQ, which is great, because I hate changing my strings. I just don’t like the way new strings sound. That’s why I like flatwounds. Once they’re broken in, they’re going to sound like that until they break. And I wired [the Strat] wrong in position two. So it has this Sears, Teisco-type of vibe. It actually sounds really great. I love it.
Does that sound make it to the albums?
Oh yeah. It’s all over the place. That’s the tone of “Two Fish and an Elephant” [on The Universe Smiles Upon You].
Your guitar tone is dominated by huge washes of spring-sounding reverb. What draws you to that sound?
I think it’s the fact that it fills up the sound. There’s only three of us, so I’m using ambient effects like reverb and delay to fill it out. But I don’t actually use the amp’s reverb because I’m on the road so much. I don’t ever know what kind of amp I’m going to get when I’m out of the country. So I just use the Holy Grail. I have it around noon to 1 o’clock and leave it there. It’s on the spring setting.
I don’t know if you’ve listened to a lot of Indian music, but a sitar kind of has a built-in reverb. So does a rabab from Afghanistan. It creates this mystical kind of vibe. So reverb’s a huge part of what I do.
I’ve always been into digging for music that’s not in English. That’s because with music in other languages, I don’t know what they’re saying. So what moves me is the melodies and how they’re singing and the intensity behind it. And in that sense, it achieves a lot of the same stuff as instrumental music. It’s just an amazing melody delivered in a captivating way.
Me and Laura Lee found Thai music through a blog, called Monrakplengthai, which means “I Love Thai Music.” We kind of got obsessed with this stuff and made mix CDs.
You translate that beautifully on the new Khruangbin album. There are vocals on the majority of tracks, but the voice is utilized as more of an instrument.
Yeah. It’s an atmospheric kind of thing. In Khruangbin, the guitar is taking the place of the lead singer. And so with that, I’m listening to a lot more singers than I am guitar players. There are a lot of guitar players that I love. But I’m specifically trying to make it sing.
Khruangbin performs “Maria También” from Con Todo El Mundo live on Santa Monica’s KCRW. Note how Speer’s guitar solo, at 1:46, puts his Middle Eastern influence front and center, yet still—thanks to his generous use of reverb and accent on melody—displays a surf-guitar resonance.
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An amp-in-the-box pedal designed to deliver tones reminiscent of 1950s Fender Tweed amps.
Designed as an all-in-one DI amp-in-a-box solution, the ZAMP eliminates the need to lug around a traditional amplifier. You’ll get the sounds of rock legends – everything from sweet cleans to exploding overdrive – for the same cost as a set of tubes.
The ZAMP’s versatility makes it an ideal tool for a variety of uses…
- As your main amp: Plug directly into a PA or DAW for full-bodied sound with Jensen speaker emulation.
- In front of your existing amp: Use it as an overdrive/distortion pedal to impart tweed grit and grind.
- Straight into your recording setup: Achieve studio-quality sound with ease—no need to mic an amp.
- 12dB clean boost: Enhance your tone with a powerful clean boost.
- Versatile instrument compatibility: Works beautifully with harmonica, violin, mandolin, keyboards, and even vocals.
- Tube preamp for recording: Use it as an insert or on your bus for added warmth.
- Clean DI box functionality: Can be used as a reliable direct input box for live or recording applications.
See the ZAMP demo video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJp0jE6zzS8
Key ZAMP features include:
- True analog circuitry: Faithfully emulates two 12AX7 preamp tubes, one 12AX7 driver tube, and two 6V6 output tubes.
- Simple gain and output controls make it easy to dial in the perfect tone.
- At home, on stage, or in the studio, the ZAMP delivers cranked tube amp tones at any volume.
- No need to mic your cab: Just plug in and play into a PA or your DAW.
- Operates on a standard external 9-volt power supply or up to 40 hours with a single 9-volt battery.
The ZAMP pedal is available for a street price of $199 USD and can be purchased at zashabuti.com.
Mooer's Ocean Machine II is designed to bring superior delay and reverb algorithms, nine distinct delay types, nine hi-fidelity reverb types, tap tempo functionality, a new and improved looper, customizable effect chains, MIDI connectivity, expression pedal support, and durable construction.
Similarly to the original, the Ocean Machine II offers two independent delay modules, each with nine different delay types of up to two seconds, including household names such as digital, tape, and echo delays, as well as more abstract options, such as galaxy, crystal, and rainbow. A high-fidelity reverb module complements these delays with nine reverb types, as well as a shimmer effect. Each delay and reverb effect can also be ‘frozen,’ creating static ambient drones, an effect that sounds particularly impressive considering the pedal’s DSP upgrades.
While the original Ocean Machine’s looping capabilities provided just 44 seconds of loop storage, the new addition features an impressive 120 seconds. To experiment with this feature, along with OceanMachine II’s other sonic capabilities, users can use an intuitive LCD screen along with 12 knobs (four for each delay and reverb module) to easily adjust parameters within the device’s ‘Play Mode.’ Three footswitches are also provided to facilitate independent effect toggling, tap tempo control, looper interfacing, and a preset selector.
Once the guitarist has crafted an interesting effect chain, they can save their work as a preset and enter ‘Patch Mode,’ in which they can toggle between saved settings with each of the three footswitches. In total, the Ocean Machine II provides eight preset storage banks, each of which supports up to threepresets, resulting in a total of 24 save slots.
The pedal’s versatility is further enhanced by its programmable parallel and serial effect chain hybrid, a signature element of Devin Townsend’s tone creation. This feature allows users to customize the order of effects, providing endless creative possibilities. Further programming options can be accessed through the LED screen, which impressively includes synchronizable MIDI connectivity, a feature that was absent in the original Ocean Machine.
In addition to MIDI, the pedal supports various external control systems, including expression pedal input through a TRS cable. Furthermore, the pedal is compatible with MOOER's F4 wireless footswitch, allowing for extended capabilities for mapping presets and other features. A USB-C port is also available for firmware updates, ensuring that the pedal remains up-to-date with the latest features and improvements.
Considering the experimental nature of Devin Townsend’s performances, MOOER has also gone above and beyond to facilitate the seamless integration of Ocean Machine II into any audio setup. The device features full stereo inputs and outputs, as well as adjustable global EQ settings, letting users tailor their sound to suit different environments. Guitarists can also customize their effect chains to be used with true bypass or DSP (buffered) bypass, depending on their preferences and specific use cases.
Overall, Ocean Machine II brings higher-quality delay and reverb algorithms, augmented looping support, and various updated connections to Devin Townsend’s original device. As per MOOER’s typical standard, the pedal is engineered to withstand the rigors of touring and frequent use, allowing guitars to bring their special creations and atmospheric drones to the stage.
Key Features
- Improved DSP algorithms for superior delay and reverb quality
- Nine distinct delay types that support up to 2 seconds of delay time: digital, analog, tape, echo,liquid, rainbow, crystal, low-bit, and fuzzy delays
- Nine hi-fidelity reverb types: room, hall, plate, distorted reverb, flanger reverb, filter reverb,reverse, spring, and modulated reverb
- Freeze feedback feature, supported for both delay and reverb effects
- Tap tempo footswitch functionality
- New and improved looper supporting up to 120 seconds of recording time, along withoverdubbing capabilities, half-speed, and reverse effects.
- Customizable order of effects in parallel or series chains
- Flexible bypass options supporting both true bypass and DSP bypass
- Large LCD screen, controllable through twelve easy-to-use physical knobs for real-time parameter adjustments.
- Adjustable Global EQ Settings
- Full stereo inputs and outputs
- Synchronizable and mappable MIDI In and Thru support
- USB-C port for firmware updates
- External expression pedal support via TRS cable
- Support for the MOOER F4 wireless footswitch (sold separately)
- Designed for durability and reliability in both studio and live environments.
The Ocean Machine will be available from official MOOER dealers and distributors worldwide on September 10, 2024.
For more information, please visit mooeraudio.com.
MOOER Ocean Machine II Official Demo Video - YouTube
You may know the Gibson EB-6, but what you may not know is that its first iteration looked nothing like its latest.
When many guitarists first encounter Gibson’s EB-6, a rare, vintage 6-string bass, they assume it must be a response to the Fender Bass VI. And manyEB-6 basses sport an SG-style body shape, so they do look exceedingly modern. (It’s easy to imagine a stoner-rock or doom-metal band keeping one amid an arsenal of Dunables and EGCs.) But the earliest EB-6 basses didn’t look anything like SGs, and they arrived a full year before the more famous Fender.
The Gibson EB-6 was announced in 1959 and came into the world in 1960, not with a dual-horn body but with that of an elegant ES-335. They looked stately, with a thin, semi-hollow body, f-holes, and a sunburst finish. Our pick for this Vintage Vault column is one such first-year model, in about as original condition as you’re able to find today. “Why?” you may be asking. Well, read on....
When the EB-6 was introduced, the Bass VI was still a glimmer in Leo Fender’s eye. The real competition were the Danelectro 6-string basses that seemed to have popped up out of nowhere and were suddenly being used on lots of hit records by the likes of Elvis, Patsy Cline, and other household names. Danos like the UB-2 (introduced in ’56), the Longhorn 4623 (’58), and the Shorthorn 3612 (’58) were the earliest attempts any company made at a 6-string bass in this style: not quite a standard electric bass, not quite a guitar, nor, for that matter, quite like a baritone guitar.
The only change this vintage EB-6 features is a replacement set of Kluson tuners.
Photo by Ken Lapworth
Gibson, Fender, and others during this era would in fact call these basses “baritone guitars,” to add to our confusion today. But these vintage “baritones” were all tuned one octave below a standard guitar, with scale lengths around 30", while most modern baritones are tuned B-to-B or A-to-A and have scale lengths between 26" and 30".)
At the time, those Danelectros were instrumental to what was called the “tic-tac” bass sound of Nashville records produced by Chet Atkins, or the “click-bass” tones made out west by producer Lee Hazlewood. Gibson wanted something for this market, and the EB-6 was born.
“When the EB-6 was introduced, the Bass VI was still a glimmer in Leo Fender’s eye.”
The 30.5" scale 1960 EB-6 has a single humbucking pickup, a volume knob, a tone knob, and a small, push-button “Tone Selector Switch” that engages a treble circuit for an instant tic-tac sound. (Without engaging that switch, you get a bass-heavy tone so deep that cowboy chords will sound like a muddy mess.)
The EB-6, for better or for worse, did not unseat the Danelectros, and a November 1959 price list from Gibson hints at why: The EB-6 retailed for $340, compared to Dano price tags that ranged from $85 to $150. Only a few dozen EB-6 basses were shipped in 1960, and only 67 total are known to have been built before Gibson changed the shape to the SG style in 1962.
Most players who come across an EB-6 today think it was a response to the Fender Bass VI, but the former actually beat the latter to the market by a full year.
Photo by Ken Lapworth
It’s sad that so few were built. Sure, it was a high-end model made to achieve the novelty tic-tac sound of cheaper instruments, but in its full-voiced glory, the EB-6 has a huge potential of tones. It would sound great in our contemporary guitar era where more players are exploring baritone ranges, and where so many people got back into the Bass VI after seeing the Beatles play one in the 2021 documentary, Get Back.
It’s sadder, still, how many original-era EB-6s have been parted out in the decades since. Remember earlier when I wrote that our Vintage Vaultpick was about as original as you could find? That’s because the model’s single humbucker is a PAF, its Kluson tuners are double-line, and its knobs are identical to those on Les Paul ’Bursts. So as people repaired broken ’Bursts, converted other LPs to ’Bursts, or otherwise sought to give other Gibsons a “Golden Era” sound and look ... they often stripped these forgotten EB-6 basses for parts.
This original EB-6 is up for sale now from Reverb seller Emerald City Guitars for a $16,950 asking price at the time of writing. The only thing that isn’t original about it is a replacement set of Kluson tuners, not because its originals were stolen but just to help preserve them. (They will be included in the case.)
With so few surviving 335-style EB-6 basses, Reverb doesn’t have a ton of sales data to compare prices to. Ten years ago, a lucky buyer found a nearly original 1960 EB-6 for about $7,000. But Emerald City’s $16,950 asking price is closer to more recent examples and asking prices.
Sources: Prices on Gibson Instruments, November 1, 1959, Tony Bacon’s “Danelectro’s UB-2 and the Early Days of 6-String Basses” Reverb News article, Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars, Tom Wheeler’s American Guitars: An Illustrated History, Reverb listings and Price Guide sales data.
An '80s-era cult favorite is back.
Originally released in the 1980s, the Victory has long been a cult favorite among guitarists for its distinctive double cutaway design and excellent upper-fret access. These new models feature flexible electronics, enhanced body contours, improved weight and balance, and an Explorer headstock shape.
A Cult Classic Made Modern
The new Victory features refined body contours, improved weight and balance, and an updated headstock shape based on the popular Gibson Explorer.
Effortless Playing
With a fast-playing SlimTaper neck profile and ebony fretboard with a compound radius, the Victory delivers low action without fret buzz everywhere on the fretboard.
Flexible Electronics
The two 80s Tribute humbucker pickups are wired to push/pull master volume and tone controls for coil splitting and inner/outer coil selection when the coils are split.
For more information, please visit gibson.com.