Adam D and Joel Stroetzel of Killswitch Engage on Atonement and keeping it fun as BFFs for 25+ years.
When a bandās been around for a couple of decades, theyāve usually become a well-oiled machine, a harmony of personalities, a family that didnāt just choose each other but has developed a balance and process that both produces consistently and endures. Metalcore band Killswitch Engage is one group that possesses that special alchemy.
This summer, they released their eighth full-length studio album, Atonement. The album delivers 11 new tracks of the Killswitch sound: blistering metal arrangements with vocal and guitar harmonies, surprisingly melodic choruses balanced by screaming lead vocals, and triumphant, often visceral lyrics. Itās an approach thatās worked particularly well for the band since their third LP, 2004ās Grammy-nominated The End of Heartache. āCanāt change who we are,ā laughs Adam Dutkiewicz, one half of the bandās guitar attack.
He and co-guitarist Joel Stroetzel donāt confine themselves to lead or rhythm roles. Their goal is to synchronize. Thatās also reflective of the bandās overall creative attitude. No one acts exactly like the leader, or father of the āfamily.ā Itās very clear theyāre all brothers, if not quintuplets, with different personalities that happen to complement each other.
The recording of Atonement was a bit different from earlier Killswitch Engage albums due to the amount of interruptions. It took three-and-a-half yearsāin part due to vocalist Jesse Leach needing surgery after developing polyps on his vocal cords, and the band being invited to tour with Iron Maiden last summer. The album also came after the band switched labels from Roadrunner to Metal Blade. Dutkiewicz has been the groupās producer since day one, and was a bit burnt out by the endābut not because of any tendencies toward perfectionism in the studio. āA record should be a snapshot in time,ā he says. āYou can listen to it two years later and say you should have done things different, but then it wouldnāt be who you were at that period of time.ā
The 6-string duo have plenty to say about everything from their commitment to the band to their passion for gear, which balances the old and the newālooking toward the future even as they celebrate their history.
Itās been 20 years since KSEās eponymous debut. Was there anything different about your approach to Atonement?
Adam Dutkiewicz: I wanted to write songs that were a little bit more on the aggressive side, just ācause I feel like this band can so easily fall into the trap of doing [too many] mid-tempo songs. Beyond that, it was pretty much the same thing.
Joel Stroetzel:Disarm the Descent [from 2013] was a bit thrashier than [2016ās] Incarnate. We wanted to get back to doing some stuff more like thatāget more guitar work going on.
Is it true that each bandmember contributed three to five demos this time, as well?
Stroetzel: Yeah, pretty much everybody writes riffs and then once we get enough ideas together we figure out arrangements. Weāll throw it out to Jesse and see which songs he gravitates to. Heāll go out in the woods and sit around and write bits and pieces of some ideasāverses, choruses, whatever he has in his mind. Then usually itās him and Adam that sit down with the music and try to piece it all together.
Dutkiewicz: Itās weird, because now we live so far away from each other. I moved to the West Coast, Justin [Foley, drummer] lives in Florida, Joelās in Western Massachusetts, Mike [DāAntonio, bassist] is near Boston, and Jesseās in New York, so we canāt really get together and jam. We try to write music on our own and show each other our ideas through email. If we like āem, they make the [cut], but if we donāt like āem they just get thrown in the trash. Or, we actually do get together and see if we can make them better.
How do you decide which ones to keep?
Dutkiewicz: Just conversations together. Itās kind of a lengthy process, because obviously it has to make it past our own individual drawing boards first. Iāll work on a song for a good four hours, then shelve it for a day or two, then listen to it again. A lot of the time I end up throwing it out. Or if the ideas there just need a little tweaking, Iāll work on it a bit more, and then Iāll finally email it out. If everyone says they like it, weāll just use it the way it is, but if some people say, āyeah, we like the chorus part but the rest of the song sucks,ā weāll try to get some new parts.
What was the recording process like for this record?
Stroetzel: Justin flew out to San Diego to do drums there with Adam. Then we had a little portable rig and Mike knocked out a lot of his bass tracks on headphones in hotel rooms on days off. As far as guitar and vocals, we did a lot of that in Adamās studio in San Diego. We did some of the guitars at my place [in Massachusetts], and vocals were kind of a mixture: San Diego and Zing Studios [in Westfield, Massachusetts], where weāve done a lot of the records in the past. It took a while to piece it all together.
There were a fair number of complications along the way.ā¦
Dutkiewicz: It was a pain in my ass, absolutely! It felt like it would never end, to be honest with you. The longer you work on a project, the more you have the capability of losing your focus and clarity on it. I felt like this one went on a little too long, but we can only do so much when things come up, like Jesse having to get surgery, and weāre not going to say ānoā to touring with Iron Maiden for three months! We have to roll with the punches.
Adam, youāve been producing the bandās albums since the beginning. Whatās that like for you both?
Dutkiewicz: My most important role is resident jackass [laughs]. I try to be the guy in the band that makes the shows as fun as possible, and makes sure weāre not that band thatās perceived as taking themselves very seriously. But yeah, I definitely have another role of being that guy who likes to spearhead the record production, get everything organized and structured, and pull it all together. Since I was the guy that started the band with Mike, thatās just been my role from the beginning. I love being so active in the creative process of what it is to be in Killswitch Engage. Itās fun.
Stroetzel: Adamās really good at doing the double-duty thing, as far as writing, playing on the record, producing everybody, and producing himself. He pushes everybody pretty hard to do their best and get stuff right. Iāve been around when he tracks his own guitars, and he holds himself to that same standard. Heās not just bullying the rest of us. He really has the greater good at heart. Itās good having him steer the ship.
TIDBIT: Recording Atonement took more than three years due to factors such as vocal-cord surgery for singer Jesse Leach, and an interim tour with Iron Maiden.
Dutkiewicz: I donāt think of it like Iām the leader of the band. Weāre all in it together, you know? I just feel like Iām probably the most driven in helping get the songs finished. Itās in my blood, versus how a lot of the other guys have trouble finishing ideas and sentences.
Stroetzel: Which Iām very jealous of. Me and Mike will come up with a lot of parts, and we tend to need each otherās help to piece it together and make cohesive songs. Iāll sit around and try to program drums for a song, and Iām not very good at that. Definitely helps to have a couple guys with drummersā brains actually put in the right fills to make parts fit together.
It must also be nice not having to worry about being assigned a producer you might not like.
Dutkiewicz: Exactly. Itās always felt organic and homegrown with us.
Stroetzel: Weāve always been a pretty self-contained unit. Even the artworkāMikeās done all the artwork for the band since the beginning. We donāt really have too many outside opinions coming in as far as the vision for the band.
Whatās your favorite song on the album?
Dutkiewicz: I always say the one with [Testament vocalist] Chuck Billy, āThe Crownless King,ā just because I love his voice on that song so much. Heās been one of the greatest metal singers out there for so many years, so itās just an honor to have him on the record. His voice is killer.
Stroetzel: Testamentās been one of my favorite bands since I was a kid, and I always loved Chuckās voice, so it was really cool that he was able to sing on that. āThe Signal Fireā is a fun one to play. Those are some of the ones we just introduced to set.
How do you feel about the album after letting it sit for a while?
Dutkiewicz: I havenāt listened to it since we made itātwo years straight was enough. Iām excited that thereās a lot of people that are hearing it for the first time who like it. Thatās the ultimate goalātrying to make our fans happyāand there are some songs on there that Iām proud of. I kind of donāt hate the first half of the record [laughs]. I think Jesse did a really good job, too. Lyrics can really make or break a song for me.
Killswitch Engage circa 2019, left to right: bassist Mike DāAntonio, drummer Justin Foley, guitarist Joel Stroetzel, singer Jesse Leach, and guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz. Photo by Travis Shinn
He made a point of addressing mental health issues with āI Am Broken Too.ā
Dutkiewicz: Itās something thatās so easily dismissed in a lot of peopleās minds. Especially me. Obviously everyone goes through hard times and depressing points in their lives, but Iām the kind of person whoāll just suck it up and not talk about it. When people get to that dark of a place, they should be talking about their feelings instead of harboring negative things.
Stroetzel: A lot of Jesseās lyrics on this record are very honest. He kind of poured his heart out, and on that song in particular. When youāre on the road for a long time, people get down in the dumps. Weāve had friends and family members who have taken their lives over the years, and that song in particular was Jesseās way of saying, āHey, you know, mental illness is a real thing and we all suffer from it. Thereās nothing to be ashamed of.ā
Itās pretty common in the performing arts, too.
Stroetzel: Absolutely. You always hear about musicians and people taking their own lives. Itās a sad thing that so many people in the world think mental health or addiction is a choice. Itās not. Itās a real thing. I think itās important for people to be aware of that.
How did each of you get into metal?
Dutkiewicz: It happened through my brother. He liked a lot of punk and hardcore. It started when I was 14, 15 years old, and just kind of took off from there. I got into the whole punk hardcore thing, which turned into metal. I like loud aggressive music, overall. It doesnāt matter if itās metal, punk, hardcore, grind.
Stroetzel: I started playing piano when I was probably 7 or 8 years old. Then I was about 11 when I started getting into Metallica, Slayer, and Testament. I had a friend in middle school who turned me on to Testament. Before I knew it, I was asking my folks for an electric guitar. They finally got me one, and I couldnāt put it down. Getting my first distortion pedal was, like āWhoa, thatās how you make that sound? Thatās just so cool!ā
How did you go about learning how to play?
Stroetzel: I learned how to play by just learning stuff from those old records. I really liked the sound of palm-muting and downpicking. A lot of early Metallica and Testament had that fast downpicking right-hand stuff going on. As I got older, I got into a lot of classic rock: Hendrix, Zeppelin, stuff like that. Then I played in a high-school jazz band and a jazz combo in college, and went to Berklee for a semester right out of high school. I learned more about chord theoryāwhatās in key and what isnāt. It took me a while to get that stuff.
Dutkiewicz: I was completely self-taught. Just picked up a guitar and started teaching myself songs and went from there.
Who are your favorite guitarists?
Dutkiewicz: When I was growing up, I worshipped Eddie Van Halen and Angus Young. I loved those two guys so much. I donāt know what it was about Eddie Van Halenājust so out of control and crazy and awesome. I still carry his vibe with the way I play. Iād say one of the greatest metal guitarists out there nowadays is Jeff Loomis [of Nevermore and Arch Enemy]. Heās incredible. Oh my god. Heās beyond human. I donāt know how somebody sounds as good as he does. I guess lots of practiceāthatās why I donāt sound nearly as good! [Laughs.] Heās one of the most impressive guys out there. Unbelievable.
Stroetzel: I always loved the James Hetfield picking hand. I love Stevie Ray Vaughan and guys like Warren Haynes, who just have really awesome vibrato. His tone, his feel, and his vibrato are all super smooth. I always tried to borrow a little bit from that. I love all the shredders, too. I remember hearing Yngwie Malmsteen for the first time and freaking out over how fast and clean he played, and trying to practice scale fragments and get the picking and fretting hands to line up. Itās still an ongoing struggle after all these years. That said, a lot of guys that Adam and I look up to are more blues-based, like Angus Young. I always loved George Lynch from Dokken. Heās one of those guys who can do a bluesy thing but he can shred, too.
How did studying the vibrato of players like SRV and Haynes affect your playing?
Stroetzel: Itās how you finesse the notes, like two vocalists would sing harmonies. On certain records you get to the chorus and the vocals sound huge, and you wonder why. Itās like, okay, thereās two or three harmonies stackedāyou almost wouldnāt realize unless you took āem out. Like āOh, what happened, whereās all that richness?ā We try to accomplish that with guitars, like two guitars singing as one. We try to get our vibratos and the way we pull the strings to line up with each other.
Guitars
Caparison Adam Dutkiewicz Signature TAT Special FX Metal Machine
Amps
Kemper Profiler PowerRack
Kemper Profiler PowerHead
Laney Tony Iommi 4x12 cabs
Effects
Maxon OD808
Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor (studio)
Strings and Picks
In-Tune 1.14 mm Custom GrippX Xjw Jazz picks
Shure ULX-D wireless system
Planet Waves American Stage cables
Planet Waves woven straps
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Guitars
Caparison Dellinger-JSM Joel Stroetzel Signature Model
Amps
Kemper Profiler PowerRack
Kemper Profiler PowerHead
Laney Tony Iommi 4x12 cabs
Effects
Maxon OD808
Maxon AD9Pro Analog Delay
Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor (studio)
Strings and Picks
Planet Waves 1.14 mm Custom Black Ice picks
DāAddario EXL115 strings (.011ā.049 sets)
Shure ULX-D wireless system
Planet Waves American Stage cables
Planet Waves woven straps
Whatās the dynamic like between you two?
Dutkiewicz: I couldnāt do it without Joel. It would be next to impossible. Weāve literally been best friends for close to 25 years. Heās just an incredible dude. Heās that person where you have everything in common. Iām lucky to be able to have a job next to a person like that. It makes touring a lot easier.
Stroetzel: I started playing guitar with Adam while we were still in high school, in his old band Aftershock. Weāve learned to play tighter together over the yearsāeven the way we feel certain riffs. I was always kind of behind the beat trying to feel it in a lazy, groovy way, and Adam was always aggressive and on time. I think heās mellowed and Iāve gotten a little more on top of things. We kind of met in the middle with all that stuff. Itās become easier to play together, so that when we do get to rehearse or stand in a room and play together, we line up. It just happens naturally. Heās my musical brother.
Are you guys gearheads?
Stroetzel: Yeah, Iām a total gear nerd. I collect guitars and amps. I have a lot of stuff at the house, and a lot of it comes in handy when weāre recording. Itās nice to have tonal options as far as guitars and amplifiers. Iāve been using the same Caparison guitars for a long timeāover 15 years. I really love the sound of those things, and Adamās back with Caparison, too, over the last few years. Theyāre just really well-made guitars. They sound awesome. Itaru Kanno, who designs the guitars, is just an amazing dude. And Adam and I both have new signature models.
Dutkiewicz: No. Do I like playing nice gear? Yes, absolutely. But Iām not a collector like Joel. I just hold on to the things that I like.
What do you like about Caparison guitars?
Dutkiewicz: My signature guitar is just such a road machine. You can beat the hell out of it and it can take it. I love the neck design, I love the single [Fishman Fluence Killswitch Engage Signature humbucking] pickup. I love the frets, the fretwork. Itās just built for me.
Stroetzel: Their neck shapes are really comfortable. I used to play an Ibanez when I was younger, and I liked the thinner neck when I was learning, but the Caparison neck grips are a little rounder. I like being able to feel something in my hands when I play. They sound thunderous.The Fishman Fluence pickups are really responsive, and they have different modes where you can have a classic active pickup sound or, with a push-pull knob, you can get more of a passive, traditional humbucker sound. My guitar is the coil-tap, so you can get the signature coil-twang Tele-Strat kind of clean sound. Itās a really versatile guitar. I love everything about it.
How do you go about finding the right tone?
Dutkiewicz: Itās half your hands and half building your gain structure. We love using the Maxon OD808 pedals. And I still like my certain amps. I put that old Peavey 5150 on almost every record I do. And then thereās also an amp manufacturer we love now: KSR.
Stroetzel: Kyle Rhodes [of KSR Amplification], Mike Fortin [of Fortin Amps] ⦠those guys are making great stuff, especially in the high-gain world. I still have a Soldano SLO-100 that Iāve had for many years. I love that. The Laney Tony Iommi model that they did a few years back is killer. In addition to that, Iāve got a few Fugue amplifiersāanother great amp builder. The Maxon OD808 has been one of the biggest parts of our sound, pedal-wise. We have it on at all times for dirty tones. It compresses the output of your guitar a little bit: It tames any flubby low-end and gives you a nice thick attack, so everything seems to cut better in the mix. The Maxon delay pedals are great, too, and the compressors are clean. For a while weāve been using the Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressors. We always have those running in the studio when weāre tracking.
What do you bring on the road?
Stroetzel: Lately weāve just been using our Kemper [Profilers]. We can profile the sounds we get in the studio and theyāre easy to recall live. Part of me would love to have a big tube stack behind me, kicking me in the chest when I turn around. But, at the same time, the Kemperās so convenient. Weāre all on in-ear monitors, so itās really nice to be able to plug in and thereās no issues with mic placement. Our front-of-house guy has a direct clean line to the guitars that doesnāt bleed.
Following the upcoming tour, whatās next for the band?
Stroetzel: We do have some extra songs from the last session kickinā around. Thereās talk of maybe doing another release in the next year or so, but Iām not sure if itāll be a full-length record or just an EP. Maybe in a year weāll talk about getting back in the studio. Hopefully it wonāt be three years before we make another.
Adam Dutkiewicz, Joel Stroetzel, and the rest of the Killswitch crew perform the opening track from Atonement at an August 2019 show in Las Vegas.
6V6 and EL84 power sections deliver a one-two punch in a super-versatile, top-quality, low-wattage combo.
Extremely dynamic. Sounds fantastic in both EL84 and 6V6 settings. Excellent build quality.
Heavy for a 9-to-15-watt combo. Expensive.
3,549
Divided by 13 CCC 9/15
The announcement in January 2024 that Two-Rock had acquired Divided by 13 Amplifiers (D13) was big news in the amp world. It was also good news for anyone whoād enjoyed rocking D13ās original, hand-made creations and hoped to see the brand live on. From the start of D13ās operations in the early ā90s, founder and main-man Fred Taccone did things a little differently. He eschewed existing designs, made his amps simple and tone-centric, and kept the company itself simple and small. And if that approach didnāt necessarily make him rich, it did earn him a stellar reputation for top-flight tube amps and boatloads of star endorsements.
D13ās history is not unlike Two-Rockās. But the two companies are known for very different sounding amplifiers and very different designs. As it happens, the contrast makes the current Two-Rock companyāitself purchased by long-time team members Eli Lester and Mac Skinner in 2016āa complementary new home for D13. The revived CCC 9/15 model, tested here, is from the smaller end of the reanimated range. Although, as weāll discover, thereās little thatās truly āsmallā about any amp wearing the D13 badgeāat least sound-wise.
Double Duty
Based on Tacconeās acclaimed dual-output-stage design, the CCC 9/15 delivers around 9 watts from a pair of 6V6GT tubes in class A mode, or 15 watts from a pair of EL84s in class AB1 mode (both configurations are cathode-biased). Itās all housed in a stylishly appointed cabinet covered in two-tone burgundy and ivoryātogether in perfect harmonyāwith the traditional D13 āwidowās peakā on a top-front panel framing an illuminated āĆ·13ā logo plate. Measuring 22" x 211/4" x 10.5" and weighing 48 pounds, itās chunky for a 1x12 combo of relatively diminutive wattage. But as Taccone would say, āThereās no big tone from small cabs,ā and the bigging-up continues right through the rest of the design.
With a preamp stage thatās kin to the D13 CJ11, the front end of the CCC 9/15 is a little like a modified tweed Fender design. Driven by two 12AX7 twin triodes, itās not a mile from the hallowed 5E3 Fender Deluxe, but with an EQ stage expanded to independent bass and treble knobs. Apart from those, there are volume and master volume controls with a push-pull gain/mid boost function on the former. In addition to the power and standby switches, thereās a third toggle to select between EL84 and 6V6 output, with high and low inputs at the other end of the panel. Along with two fuse sockets and an IEC power-cord receptacle, the panel on the underside of the chassis is home to four speaker-output jacksāone each for 4 ohms and 16 ohms and two for 8 ohmsāplus a switch for the internal fan, acknowledging that all those output tubes can get a little toasty after a while.
āSet to 6V6 mode, the CCC 9/15 exudes ā50s-era tweed warmth and richness, with juicy compression that feels delightful under the fingertips.ā
The combo cabinet is ruggedly built from Baltic birch ply and houses a Celestion G12H Creamback speaker. Construction inside is just as top notch, employing high-quality components hand-soldered into position and custom-made transformers designed to alternately handle the needs of two different sets of output tubes. In a conversation I had with Taccone several years ago discussing the original design, he noted that by supplying both sets of tubes with identical B+ levels of around 300 volts DC (courtesy of a 5AR4/GZ34 tube rectifier), the EL84s ran right in their wheelhouseāproducing around 15 watts, and probably more, in cathode-biased class AB1. The 6V6s operate less efficiently, however, and can be biased hot to true class A levels, yielding just 9 to 11 watts.
Transatlantic Tone Service
Tested with a Gibson ES-355 and a Fender Telecaster, the CCC 9/15 delivers many surprises in spite of its simple controls and is toothsome and dynamic throughout its range. Between the four knobs, push-pull boost function, and 6V6/EL84 switch, the CCC 9/15 range of clean-to-grind settings is impressive regardless of volume, short of truly bedroom levels, perhaps. It also has impressive headroom and a big, robust voice for a combo that maxes out at 15 watts. Leaving the boost switch off affords the most undistorted range from the amp in either output-tube mode, though the front end will still start to push things into sweet edge-of-breakup with the volume up around 1 or 2 oāclock. Pull up that knob and kick in the boost, though, and things get thick and gutsy pretty quick.
While the power disparity between the 6V6 and EL84 settings is noticeable in the ampās perceived output, which enhances its usefulness in different performance settings, you can also think of the function as an āera and originsā switch. Set to 6V6 mode, the CCC 9/15 exudes ā50s-era tweed warmth and richness, with juicy compression that feels delightful under the fingertips. The EL84 setting, on the other hand, ushers in ā60s-influenced voices with familiar British chime, sparkle, and a little more punch and cutting power, too.
The Verdict
If the CCC 9/15 were split into different 6V6 and EL84 amps, Iād hate to have to choose between them. Both of the ampās tube modes offer expressive dynamics and tasty tones that make it adaptable to all kinds of venues and recording situations. From the pure, multi-dimensional tone to the surprisingly versatile and simple control set to the top-flight build quality, the CCC 9/15 is a pro-grade combo that touch-conscious players will love. Itās heavy for an amp in its power range, and certainly expensive, but the sounds and craft involved will make the cost worth it for a lot of players interested in consolidating amp collections.
The Austin-based guitarist sticks with a tried-and-true combo of American guitars and British amps.
If youāve been on the path of this springās Rhett Schull/Zach Person tour, youāve been treated to one of the coolest rock ānā roll double bills criss-crossing North America this year. Person, who is based in Austin, put out his second full-length record, Letās Get Loud, in March 2024, and it was packed with alt-, blues-, and psychedelic-rock anthems built around his take-no-prisoners playing.
This year, Person is road-dogginā it around the United States as a two-piece unit with just a drummer, and PGās Chris Kies caught up with him before he and Shull played the Eastside Bowl in Madison, Tennessee, to see what goods Person is bringing for this springās shows.
Brought to you by DāAddario
Customized Custom
This Gibson Jimi Hendrix 1967 Custom SG came from Gibsonās custom shop, and for Person, an SG with humbuckers is a hard combination to beat. He removed the Maestro trem system and had a tailpiece installed for tuning stability on the road, and he subjected the neck humbucker to a āJimmy Page mod,ā which entails removing the pole pieces to get closer to single-coil tones. This SG stays in standard tuning, with Ernie Ball or DāAddario strings (usually .010ā.046s). Person digs Dunlop Flow Grip .88 mm picks.
Brown Sound
Person brought this 1967 Gibson SG Special back to life with a list of modifications and upgrades, including new pickups and a refinish, but its wood, neck shape, and original frets all made it worth it to him. The neck shape is narrow but chunky in Personās hands, landing somewhere near the feel of Tyler Bryantās 1962 Stratocaster. The pickups now are OX4 P-90s, and like the Custom, this oneās had its Maestro system amputated.
Jeannie Comes Alive
One Thanksgiving at his in-lawsā home in Dallas, Person mentioned how badly he wanted a Gibson LG-2 acoustic. As it happened, his father-in-law suspected his mother had one, which had been relegated to storage in a shed. Person and his wifeās father ventured through rain to dig it out, and sure enough, a very beat up LG-1 was withering away in its case. No local techs in Austin thought it was worth saving, except for Elaine Filion, who was used to taking on bigger restoration projects. Filion succeeded, taking the top off and installing an X-bracing system to turn the LG-1 into an LG-2-style guitar. Now, itās got an L.R. Baggs pickup and bears the nameplate āJeannieā on its headstock to commemorate his wifeās grandma, the original owner. Jeannie usually stays home, but Person brought her out specially for the Rundown.
Marshall Muscle
This Marshall JTM45 MkII is Personās usual go-to. It runs just at breakup volume and gets pushed with some variation of a Pro Co RAT, his favorite dirt box.
Supro Signature
This Super Black Magick Reverb, Tyler Bryantās signature, is along for the ride as a backup to the Marshall.
Zach Personās Pedalboard
Person has done tours with just an overdrive pedal and nothing else, so by comparison, this two-tiered Vertex board is luxurious. Still, itās compact and carries all he needs at the moment. The JHS Pack Rat is the core sound, set fairly heavy and dirty. The rest includes a Boss TU-3, EarthQuaker Devices Double Hoof, Vox Clyde McCoy wah, Boss BF-2, DigiTech Drop, Strymon El Capistan, and an Interstellar Audio Machines Marsling Octafuzzdrive. A TC Helicon Mic Mechanic rides along as a vocal effect so Person can keep control over his voice from night to night.
Jackson's new Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut guitars, including the HT6 and ET6 models, are designed for classic and progressive metal players. Featuring premium construction, innovative pickups, and advanced bridge options, these guitars deliver the modern sound and performance needed to ignite your tone. Visit jacksonguitars.com for more information.
Jackson is once again partnering with Misha Mansoor to release three new signature guitars, The Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut HT6 in Red Crystaland Blue Sparkle and The Pro Plus Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET6 in Riviera Blue. Developed in close partnership with Misha, these Juggernaut metal guitars are built to withstand the demands of Mishaās steadfast and fleet-fingered technique. Perfect for both classic and progressive metal players, these guitars deliver the modern sound that every shredder needs to ignite their tone.
āThis refresh came about because every few years we want to see what we can doā¦these guitars travel around the world and they need to be road ready,ā said Misha Mansoor on his new signature guitars.āItās a no-nonsense guitar that looks good, sounds good, and plays good.ā
Djent forefather, Misha Mansoor, has gained widespread acclaim as the mastermind behind the axe-centric progressive metal band Periphery. Based in Washington D.C., Periphery is renowned for pushing the limits of progressive metal, using detuned, extended-range instruments to craft a sound that is both technically complex and unapologetically heavy. Misha Mansoor, guitarist and producer, co-founded the band in 2005. With the same precision and innovation that defines Misha's playing, the Juggernautsignature gives players the power to transform their sound.
The premium Juggernaut models feature a 25.5ā scale length, poplar body, and bolt-on caramelized maple neck with graphite reinforcement, wrap-around heel, and oiled back finish for greater playing comfort. With a 20ā flat radius ebony fingerboard that features rolled edges, fans can enjoy blazing fast leads. These models feature 24 jumbo stainless steel frets and offset dot inlays. Lastly, the Luminlay side-dots will guide the guitarist's path even on the darkest of stages, while the heel-mount truss rod adjustment wheel allows for convenient neck relief tweaks.
Misha worked closely, as he did with past models, to develop the exceptional uncovered direct-mount Jackson MM1 pickups. Unwilling to sacrifice tone, these pickups can be shaped with a five-way blade switch, single volume control, and a single tone control with push/pull feature that allows for players to engage or disengage tone options. Designed for articulate heavy picking, the humbuckers deliver a well-balanced sonic range with rich dynamics, intentionally left uncovered to enhance brightness and clarity.
The Pro Plus Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET6 comes equipped with an EverTune F6Model bridge, engineered to maintain perfect tuning and intonation across the entire neck, even with low tunings. Its counterpart, the Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut HT6, features a string-through-body hardtail bridge that delivers enhanced sustain, rock-solid tuning stability, and simplified string changes. Both bridges are built to withstand intense playing conditions, providing the unwavering stability essential for Misha's signature heavy metal style.
āWeāre beyond thrilled to be partnering with Misha Mansoor on his latest signature guitar collection. His innovation and vision perfectly align with our passion for pushing the boundaries of tone and design, āsaid Jon Romanowski, VP of Product of Jackson Guitars. āThis collaboration reinforces Jacksonāscommitment of providing for players who demand nothing but the best.ā
For more information, please visit jacksonguitars.com.
Introducing The Pro Plus Series Misha Mansoor 6-String Juggernauts | Jackson Guitars - YouTube
This is perhaps the most rare Iwase guitar: one volume, one tone, and a quality adjustable bridge, plus a raised pickguard and some beautiful shading on the burst.
A 6-string found in the workshop of the late luthier Yukichi Iwase may be the only one of these small, nearly full-scale guitars. Our columnist tells the story.
Iāve been thinking a lot about snowflakes lately. We are getting some snowy weather up my way, but thereās a few other items rattling around in my mind. Like, I just got a car for my daughter (thanks to those who bought guitars from me recently), and itās so freakinā cool. I bought her a Mini Cooper, and this thing is so rad! I was doing research on these models, and each one is sorta different as far as colors, racing stripes, wheels, etc. Her friends say she has a āmain characterā car, but youāll probably have to ask a teenager whatthat means.
And then my mind wandered to my college days, when I was an English major. I got to read and write every day, and I thought I was getting good at it until a professor raked me over the proverbial coals for using the word āuniqueā incorrectly when describing a local bandās sound. He really tore me up, because if I describe something as unique, it should be like none otherālike a snowflake.
So, what about guitars? Is a custom-shop model unique if it has the same pickups and same scale as many others? Even if the body is shaped differently? Seriously, that professor would hand you your butt because, in his mind, you didnāt just choose words unless you understood their real meaning. Consider the super-rare Teisco T-60 ⦠the model that Glen Campbell loved and played for much of his early career. I know of only four in existence. There are some Japanese collectors who own hundreds of guitars but donāt have a T-60. Does that make the T-60 unique, or simply rare? I mean, they were all hand-made and featured that original hole-in-the-body āmonkey gripā ⦠but unique? Talk amongst yourselves for a hot minute.
āIn my waning days of collecting, I just want to have Voice stuff, because I met Iwase and connected with him immediately.ā
I recently wrote about the passing of the great Japanese luthier Yukichi Iwase, whose small company (basically just him) produced some of the finest guitars and amps and carried the āVoiceā label. A friend in Japan, along with his daughters, were in the process of clearing out his old workshop, and Iāve been trying to acquire everything from it that I can. I used to collect just Teisco stuff, and then I had a passion for the old Intermark/Pleasant guitars. Then I wanted to get all the old Yamaha stuff I could find. But now, in my waning days of collecting, I just want to have Voice stuff, because I met Iwase and connected with him immediately. He was a peach, and, yes, he was unique. Aside from being one of the earliest employees of Tesico, he was a brilliant fellow who could make just about anything from scratch, including guitars and amps. Left in his workshop were a few unfinished T-60s, some pedal steels, some amps, a really cool bass, an unfinished double-neck guitar, and a tiny guitar that is also truly worthy of the term āunique.ā
āI know these pickups well enough to understand they are loud, crisp, and offer a full range of sounds,ā our columnist says.
The latter is a small powerhouse of a guitar. It has one of his amazing pickups that looks like a big block engine stuffed into an AMC Gremlin. He somehow squeezed out a 23" scale, but the rest of the guitar is like a childās 6-string or a travel guitar. I believe he only made one of these. The body design has an ocean-wave type of flow, and the guitar is very balanced and not hard on the eyes, even with the exaggerated features. One volume, one tone, and a quality adjustable bridge plus a raised pickguardāthe only time Iāve seen this design on his guitars. His finish work was really nice, too, and he was able to get some beautiful shading on the burst. The headstock has a figured overlay and the neck profile is so sweetācurved perfectly with some fine wood.
To me, it seems to have been built around 1966, based on the tuners he used. I donāt have the heart yet to plug this into an amp, but I know these pickups well enough to understand they are loud, crisp, and offer a full range of sounds. So, what do you think? Rare? Truly unique?