He played for James Brown, John Lennon, Streisand, Whitney, and countless others. So how come so few guitar nuts know storied session ace Louie Shelton?
If you have ever listened to classic pop, you’ve certainly heard Louie Shelton’s guitar work. That’s Shelton purveying the signature guitar part and solo on “Last Train to Clarksville” by the Monkees, the soaring instrumental hook and solo on Boz Scaggs’ “Lowdown,” the solo on Lionel Ritchie’s megahit “Hello,” and the silky licks on “Diamond Girl” by Seals and Crofts. You might also have come across his playing on records by John Lennon, Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, the Carpenters, Joe Cocker, Kenny Rogers, the Mamas & the Papas, James Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, and many others.
Yet, despite a decade rife with movies about the musicians who labor behind the scenes to create the recordings and live shows we love—The Wrecking Crew, Sidemen, Hired Gun, Muscle Shoals, 20 Feet from Stardom—you could be forgiven for not knowing his name as he is largely absent from these historical films.
Why the limited visibility? Perhaps because Shelton’s tenure as an A-team session man came on a cusp, as the old guard, jazz-based guitarists handed off the mantle to younger, rock-influenced players. Shelton arrived in Los Angeles just as some Wrecking Crew guitarists like Vinnie Bell, Al Casey, Howard Roberts, and Tommy Tedesco were retiring, while others—James Burton, Glen Campbell, Barney Kessel—were switching career paths. He appeared right at the onset of the new wave of players, which included Larry Carlton, Jay Graydon, and eventually Steve Lukather and Michael Landau. Shelton quickly became a first-call player, and almost as quickly left day to day session work to be a producer of megahits. It also doesn’t help his profile that he has spent much of the last four decades in Australia.
Name recognition aside, Shelton played an essential part in the transition of the Los Angeles guitar sound from the “rock ’n’ roll” twang of the ’50s and early ’60s to the fatter “rock” tones of the late ’60s and ’70s. His incredible story is one of immense talent and extraordinary luck combining to create a career that is legendary among those fortunate enough to be aware of it.
Shelton was born in 1941, in Little Rock, Arkansas. Neither of his parents played an instrument, but they and his sisters were avid music fans, always listening to the radio or playing records. From age 3, Shelton was imitating a guitar with a broom or stick. This caught the eye of one sister, who bought him a $13 Stella guitar for his 9th birthday, later buying him a Harmony f-hole acoustic, and ultimately a Supro electric. “It had a neck like a baseball bat,” he recalls.
Winning second place at a talent contest earned him a spot on a radio show where he met Shelby Cooper and the Dixie Mountaineers. Cooper recognized his prodigious talent and soon asked him to join the old-timey country band.
“By the time I was 12, I was playing five days a week,” says Shelton. “I lived with Shelby and his wife, Sarah Jane, for two years, through the sixth and seventh grade. It formed my direction. By the end I was a working musician.”
TIDBIT: Shelton’s latest solo album, Higher Ground, contains nine instrumental arrangements of Stevie Wonder tunes. “I’ve been playing Stevie’s stuff for years,” says Shelton, “ever since he put out ‘Uptight.’ You realize how good ‘Too High’ is when you try to do a chord chart for it—it’s all over the place.”
The Cooper family home had a room with a tape recorder, where, during the school semester, Shelton would help prerecord their radio show after classes. He also played on Little Rock’s Saturday night Barnyard Frolic radio broadcast, where he backed up many of the solo artists. With the advent of television, the band was given a live TV show every Wednesday night. There, the tween now known as Little Junior Shelton was featured playing Chet Atkins and Jimmy Bryant songs he learned from records given to him by Cooper.
“I only play by ear,” says Shelton. “I never had any formal training. I had a friend down the street who showed me basic E and D chords. I was also picking some stuff up off the radio. Everything came easy for me on the guitar.”
When the Supro could no longer cut it for the newly minted professional, Cooper bought him a new 1952 Fender Telecaster and Fender amp.
The guitarist returned to Little Rock for holidays and summers. “The summer I went back in ’55, I started playing in some clubs in Little Rock,” says Shelton. “I was always the youngest guy in the country bands. I also started playing in a club where we played rock and roll.” Shelton was still playing the Telecaster in the Little Rock clubs, but after seeing Chuck Berry play a blonde Gibson ES-350, he traded the Tele for a 350.
When Cooper and his wife divorced, Shelton stayed in Little Rock playing clubs. It was there, at age 16, that he met future session legend Reggie Young. “Reggie asked me, ‘Have you ever heard of Barney Kessel or Johnny Smith?’ I hadn’t, so I got their records and wore them out. I was keen to learn those unbelievable chords and phrases. It rounded me as a player so that by the time I got to L.A. it didn’t matter what they threw at me.”
In Little Rock, Shelton and a steel player would play music inspired by Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant. “We took a six-night-a-week gig in Santa Fe,” he says, “and we both bought the new tweed Fender 4x10 Bassmans.” While working around nearby Albuquerque, he met a young guitarist named Glen Campbell. “We played together for a couple of years before he went out to L.A.,” says Shelton. Back in Santa Fe, the guitarist formed a band that would back up artists like Bobby Vee and Johnny Burnett when they came through the area. “Everybody said, ‘You guys need to go to California. You’d do great out there.’”
Shelton ultimately moved to Los Angeles in 1963, and Campbell was the only person he knew there. “Glen put us up for a few days until we got a place,” he recalls. “He took me to a Ricky Nelson session, where I met James Burton and Joe Osborne. He would call me to sub for him if he booked a late session and needed someone to fill in for him the next day on an early morning one.”
In those days, Shelton’s lack of reading ability was rarely an issue. “I was afraid someone would put notes in front of me, but it never happened,” he says. “I could read a chord chart, and most of the stuff was simple. If you can play ‘Moonlight in Vermont’ you have no trouble playing the three-chord stuff. If it was my first call from someone, I’d tell them if they needed a reader they should call Barney Kessel or somebody like that. They’d say, ‘Oh no, we just want to hear your licks’.”
With players like Shelton, James Burton, and Glen Campbell, producers didn’t write out detailed charts. Instead, they preferred to hear the parts the guitarists invented. “I had a good sense of time and didn’t miss a lot of notes,” says Shelton. “When I got the opportunity to do sessions, it always went well for me.”
One reason for this was Shelton’s familiarity with, and love of, a wide range of music. “I could figure out what kind of song it was and zero in on what would work. I would think, ‘What would George Harrison or Stephen Stills from Buffalo Springfield play on this?’ If it was Barbra Streisand, I knew I had to play some classy stuff, so I would be thinking of Johnny Smith or someone like that. I’m still that way. I’m on YouTube every night checking out great new guitar players.”
Though studio work was going well, Shelton was not yet high enough up the pecking order to do it full time. While getting established, Shelton toured and played the local clubs for two years with various bands. “I got this gig with the folk duo Joe and Eddie. They had a record deal and were doing all the big universities and major TV shows. When that gig fell apart, I played in a band in Hollywood.”
Tennessee luthier Mark Lacey built Shelton’s signature model archtop. It features a spruce top, quilted maple back and sides, and a Johnny Smith-style Seymour Duncan floating pickup. Photo courtesy of Louie Shelton
It was in Hollywood that Shelton would reconnect with Jim Seals and Dash Crofts. Before they were “Seals and Crofts,” the two musicians had played sax and drums respectively in the touring version of the Champs, who had a hit with the instrumental “Tequila.” Shelton had first met them when that band came through Santa Fe, with Glen Campbell on guitar. After quitting the Champs, Seals and Crofts put together a band called the Mushrooms.
“Their guitar player quit and I joined them to play the clubs around L.A.,” says Shelton. Crofts was dating a woman whose mother was a manager with connections in Las Vegas. She began booking them gigs at legendary Vegas venues like the Stardust, the Flamingo, and the Sahara. Producer Richard Perry came to see the band and signed them to Warner Bros. as the Dawnbreakers. Though that band didn’t succeed, Perry began calling Shelton to do sessions. Through him, the guitarist would go on to play on records by Tiny Tim, Ringo Starr, and Streisand.
Electric Guitars
Mark Lacey Custom Louie Shelton archtop with Seymour Duncan floating pickup
Early-’70s Fender Stratocaster with Seymour Duncan ’59 bridge humbucker, Floyd Rose, and custom neck made by Aussie luthier Greg Fryer
Gibson ES-175
Gibson ES-339
Gibson ES-355
Fender Vintage ’52 Telecaster reissue with Fender noiseless pickups
Fender Telecaster with EMG pickups
1941 Epiphone lap steel
Acoustic Guitars
1951 Martin D-18
Ayers CSR parlor
Cigano Selmer-style
Aria classical
Regal resonator
Amps
Fender Tweed Deluxe
Fender Bassman head
Fender Blues Junior
Fender Princeton
Mesa/Boogie Mark II
Effects
Line 6 Pod Plus
ADA rackmount preamp
Roland GP-10
Ibanez TS-10 Tube Screamer
Pro Co RAT
Xotic SP Compressor
Xotic AC Booster
Hermida Zendrive
Vertex Ultraphonix Overdrive
Voodoo Labs Micro Vibe
TC Flashback
TC Hall of Fame
TC Polytune
Electro Harmonix Lester G
Electro Harmonix Memory Man
Electro Harmonix Pulsar
Electro Harmonix B9
Arion Stereo Chorus
Boss DD-2 delay
MXR Dyna Comp
Carl Martin Greg Howe’s Lick Box
Strings and Picks
Ernie Ball Regular Slinky (.010-.046)
Custom medium picks
Perry also introduced Shelton to up-and-coming songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. The guitarist began doing their demos, and when they were hired to create music for the Monkees’ TV show, they called him. “I was working in Las Vegas when they got that deal,” he says. “They talked me into coming back to L.A. because they wanted me on that session. When ‘Last Train to Clarksville’ hit, everybody started calling me and I knew it was my chance. I had to stay in L.A. at that point. If they call and you’re not there, they just go on to the next guy.”
Shelton entered the scene at a critical moment. Barney Kessel had already left. Tommy Tedesco, Joe Pass, Dennis Budimir, and Howard Roberts were still there, but it was the end of their run. “I was the newest and youngest member of that group,” says Shelton. “Once people like myself and Larry Carlton showed up, they quit calling those guys, who all came from bebop backgrounds and didn’t play rock ’n’ roll very well. The best they could do was a bad imitation of surf music. Whereas, guys like me and Larry, and, later on, Lee Ritenour and Steve Lukather, had listened to the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. The older guys would say, ‘I hate this stuff. I can’t wait to get out of here.’ And rightfully so. They should have been playing as artists. But there wasn’t any work for them in those days because jazz had taken a nosedive. Even Joe Sample and Wilton Felder from the Jazz Crusaders ended up doing Motown sessions with me.”
Shelton did plenty of guitar work for Motown in Los Angeles, appearing on records by the Jackson 5 and Marvin Gaye. On the Jackson’s “I Want You Back,” Shelton is playing “telegraph” octaves throughout the whole song. “David T. Walker was doing the sliding things, along with Don Peake doubling the bass line,” says Shelton. “On ‘ABC,’ I did the fuzz guitar. In those days, we didn’t have pedalboards, but I had the MXR Distortion+. I plugged the guitar into that and out into a direct box. On Motown sessions, they would let us rehearse through amps, but when we recorded we had to plug into direct boxes.” It is going direct that likely made the Distortion+ sound more fuzz-like.
For the Jackson 5 tunes, Shelton usually played a Fender Telecaster or Stratocaster, while his amp of choice during his session heyday was a Fender Princeton with a Paul Rivera mod (though not done by Rivera himself). “You weren’t allowed to play loud in the studios because there were so many open mics on the drums and pianos,” says Shelton. “There was no need to carry some big amp around, so I got the Princeton. The Rivera mod gave me a master volume so I could get some distortion without having it too loud.” He also used a Strat for his warm-sounding, iconic solo on Lionel Ritchie’s “Hello.” “I always got a good jazz tone out of Fenders,” he says.
By the time Shelton recorded the “Hello” solo, he had long left behind the three-session-a-day grind of studio work in favor of producing—beginning with his old friends and bandmates Seals and Crofts. “After Summer Breeze became a hit in 1972, I stopped taking so many sessions,” he explains. “I tried to keep going, but felt my own productions were suffering because I didn’t have enough time to put into them.” But Shelton continued to play guitar on Seals and Crofts sessions, and his silky licks and solo on “Diamond Girl,” played on a Gibson ES-335, leapt out of the radio in 1973.
Shelton didn’t completely abandon sessions. “I’d take a few, if it was people I knew,” he says. “If Lionel Richie called, I’d do that. When David Paich did the Boz Scaggs album Silk Degrees, I thought, ‘That’ll be fun.’” For his iconic solo on Scaggs’ “Lowdown,” Shelton wielded a Gibson L-5S solidbody. “I had one pedal,” he says. “It might have been the Distortion+. I had a clean sound for rhythm, and for the solo I clicked on the pedal. I was going through the little Princeton amp on that one.”
In 1984, at the height of his success as a producer and session player, Shelton moved to Australia. “We wanted to give our kids a cleaner environment for a while,” he says. “I was producing a band from Sydney in L.A. They kept saying, ‘You would love Australia.’ We went there and fell in love with the place.”
Shelton only planned to stay in Australia for five years, but ended up staying 12. His brother-in-law, and former Dawnbreakers bandmate, engineer Joe Bogan, took the studio they shared from L.A. to Nashville, so when Shelton moved back to the States, he landed in Music City. While in Nashville, he produced a record called Nashville Guitars, featuring star pickers Reggie Young, Johnny Hiland, Jimmy Olander, Ray Flacke, and others. “Doing sessions in Nashville, I’d be sitting alongside these fantastic guitar players and thought it’d be nice if people could hear them,” he says. “I didn’t get Brent Mason because he had just done his solo album.”
Over the last six decades, Shelton has also released six albums of his own. On Bluesland, he reveals a deep knowledge of and respect for the genre. “I used to hear this stuff on African-American radio when I was very young,” he recalls. “I remember hearing ‘My Babe’ on the jukebox in some of the Little Rock restaurants. I found my first B.B. King record in ’58 for 99 cents in a grocery store. It had a song, ‘You’re on the Top.’ Boz Scaggs sings it on the first track of Bluesland.”
Shelton’s tone on the record is more classic L.A. studio than vintage South Side Chicago. “I was going back and forth between my Tele and my small-bodied Gibson 339, through mostly just my Princeton amp. It’s such an organic sound. All of those blues players were crushing it through only an amp. I might put a bit of Tube Screamer on there, but I can get as much dirt as I want with just my amp.” With either guitar, Shelton usually uses the bridge pickup, rolling a little top end off with the tone control. “You’ve got to find a sweet spot,” he says.
Shelton’s latest record, Higher Ground, is a collection of Stevie Wonder tunes, conceived as a concept album that would appeal to smooth jazz radio. “I’ve been playing Stevie’s stuff for years, ever since he put out ‘Uptight.’ You realize how good ‘Too High’ is when you try to do a chord chart for it—it’s all over the place.” The guitar on “Higher Ground” and “Boogie on Reggae Woman” sounds like a continuation of Shelton’s bridge-driven Bluesland tone. “That’s a ’52 reissue Tele. When I was in Nashville, I went to the Fender rep and told him I was looking for something as close as possible to my old ’52. I played about 10 Teles and picked the one that felt and sounded most like that. It’s now my favorite guitar. I take it on the road with me.”
After a decade in Nashville, Shelton decided to join two of his children who had moved back to Australia to raise their own offspring. Now he lives in the Gold Coast, a city south of Brisbane, still touring and recording from there. “I do a lot of cruise ship performances as a special guest, backed by the ship’s band,” he says. He’ll do a 45-minute medley of the hits he played on, as well as other guitar-based music by ZZ Top, Santana, and Les Paul. When gigging around Australia, he might play a jazz club, or a four-set club gig, where he will employ a vocalist and perform everything from Fleetwood Mac to Stevie Wonder tunes. “In the clubs, people like stuff they’re familiar with,” he explains. “They’re not interested in hearing original material, unless it’s a jazz gig or a Louie Shelton gig. Then they’ll pretty much listen to whatever I play.”
Just as his choice of material varies with the gig, Shelton’s choice of pick depends on the situation. “I usually use medium picks with my name on it, because I throw a couple to the audience,” he says. “I’ve got every shape. Sometimes I’ll grab a mandolin-style pick like Johnny Smith and Jimmy Bryant used. I use thumbpicks if I’m playing fingerstyle, like Chet Atkins. I use three false nails because plucking steel strings will cut my own up in no time.”
For his live gigs, Shelton favors a Fender Blues Junior. With a bigger band or in a larger venue, he might employ a 1x12 Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. The original modified Princeton has been relegated to the studio. “It’s too valuable,” he says. “It has such a history it will be worth a lot of money when it goes on eBay.”
With age 80 drawing nigh, Shelton shows no signs of putting the Princeton up for sale any time soon. Between cruise ships, clubs, and recording, he maintains a schedule that would daunt a much younger man. “It forces me to keep my chops up,” he explains. “When I lay off, I can feel it, so I’m still very active.”
Louie Shelton Essential Listening
“Last Train to Clarksville” by the Monkees
When the Monkees’ 1966 debut single leapt to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, not only did it launch the band’s career, but Shelton’s as well. His phone started ringing off the hook once L.A. record producers discovered who had actually played the song’s sparkling signature riff and jangly instrumental bridge.
“Hello” by Lionel Ritchie
In this must-see video, Louie takes us through his epic solo and describes how he constructed and performed it. Shot in Shelton’s studio, it’s a four-minute master class in phrasing and melodic construction.
Stevie Wonder’s “Too High” by Louie Shelton
Four minutes of sweet humbucker magic! Watch Shelton play “Too High” from his latest instrumental album—a tribute to Stevie Wonder called Higher Ground. Slippery octaves, funky rhythm moves, snappy single-note lines—they’re all here, played with the relaxed confidence that defines Shelton’s session work.
Stompboxtober continues! Enter below for your chance to WIN today's featured pedal from LR Baggs: The Align Series Reverb! Come back each day during the month of October for more chances to win!
LR Baggs Align Reverb Acoustic Reverb Pedal
The Align Series Reverb was built from the ground up to complement the natural body dynamics and warmth of acoustic instruments that we love so much. The circuit seamlessly integrates the wet and dry signals with the effect in side chain so that it never overwhelms the original signal. We shaped the reverb with analog EQ to reflect the natural voice inherent in acoustic instruments. Additionally, the tone control adds versatility by sweeping from warm and muted to open and present. The result is an organic reverb that maintains the audiophile purity of the original signal with the controls set in any position.
This four-in-one effects box is a one-stop shop for Frusciante fans, but it’s also loaded with classic-rock swagger.
Great, lively preamp sounds. Combines two modulation flavors with big personalities. One-stop shop for classic-rock tones. Good value.
Big. Preamp can’t be disengaged. At some settings, flanger effect leaves a little to be desired.
$440
JFX Deluxe Modulation Ensemble
jfxpedals.com
When I think of guitarists with iconic, difficult-to-replicate guitar tones, I don’t think of John Frusciante. I always figured it was easy to get close enough to his clean tones with a Strat and any garden-variety tube amp, and in some ways, it is. (To me, anyway.) But to really nail his tone is a trickier thing.
That’s a task that Jordan Fresque—the namesake builder behind Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario’s JFX Pedals—has committed significant time and energy into tackling. His Empyrean is a five-in-one box dedicated to Frusciante’s drive and dirt tones, encompassing fuzz, boost, and preamp effects. And his four-in-one, all-analog Deluxe Modulation Ensemble reviewed here is another instant Frusciante machine.
The Frusciante Formula
Half of the pedal is based off of the Boss CE-1, the first chorus pedal created. The CE-1 is renowned as much for its modulation as for its preamp circuit, which Boss recently treated to its own pedal in the BP-1W. The other half—and the pedal’s obvious aesthetic inspiration—is the Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Electric Mistress, an analog flanger introduced in the late ’70s. Frusciante fans have clamored over the guitarist’s use of the CE-1 for decades. The Chili Peppers 6-stringer reportedly began using one in the early ’90s for his chorus and vibrato tones, and the preamp naturally warmed his Strat’s profile. Various forum heads claim John dug into the Electric Mistress on tracks like “This Is the Place” off of 2002’s By the Way. The Deluxe Modulation Ensemble aims to give you the keys to these sounds in one stomp.
JFX describes the DME as “compact,” which is a bit of a stretch. Compared to the sizes of the original pedals its based on? Sure, it’s smaller. But it’s wider and deeper than two standard-sized pedals on a board, even accounting for cabling. But quibbles around space aside, the DME is a nice-looking box that’s instantly recognizable as an Electric Mistress homage. (Though I wish it kept that pedal’s brushed-aluminum finish). The knobs for the Mistress-style as well as the authentic Boss and EHX graphics are great touches.
The flanger side features a footswitch, knobs for range, rate, and color, and a toggle to flip between normal function and EHX’s filter matrix mode, which freezes the flange effect in one spot along its sweep. The CE-1-inspired side sports two footswitches—one to engage the effect, and one to flip between chorus and vibrato—plus an intensity knob for the chorus, depth and rate knobs for the vibrato, and gain knob for the always-on preamp section. The DME can be set to high- or low-input mode by a small toggle switch, and high boosts the gain and volume significantly. A suite of three LED lights tell you what’s on and what’s not, and Fresque even added the CE-1’s red peak level LED to let you know when you’re getting into drive territory.
The effects are wired in series, but they’re independent circuits, and Fresque built an effects loop between them. The DME can run in stereo, too, if you really want to blast off.
I Like Dirt
The DME’s preamp is faithful to the original in that it requires a buffered unit before it in the chain to maintain its treble and clarity. With that need satisfied, the DME’s preamp boots into action without any engaging—it’s a literal always-on effect. To be honest, after I set it to low input and cranked it, I forgot all about Frusciante and went to town on classic-rock riffs. It souped up my Vox AC10 with groove and breadth, smoothing out tinny overtones and thickening lead lines, though higher-gain settings lost some low-end character and overall mojo.
The chorus nails the wonky Frusciante wobble on “Aquatic Moth Dance” and the watery outro on “Under the Bridge,” and the vibrato mode took me right through his chording on 2022’s “Black Summer.” On the flanger side, I had the most fun in the filter matrix mode, tweaking the color knob for slightly different metallic, clanging tones, each with lots of character.
The Verdict
If you’re a Frusciante freak, the Deluxe Modulation Ensemble will get you within spitting distance of many of his most revered tonal combinations. If you’re not, it’s still a wickedly versatile modulation multitool with a sweet preamp that’ll give your rig instant charisma. It ain’t cheap, and it ain’t small, but JFX has squeezed an impressive amount of value into this stomp
Simple elegance and lush tone define this pair of high-quality, medium-priced guitars designed for players looking for onstage panache and sweet vintage sounds.
Excellent playability, glamour, simplicity, and great tones define this budget-priced but high-quality blast from Gibson’s past.
None, unless you require a neck pickup on your instruments or find the body shape inhibiting.
$1,299
Epiphone 1963 Firebird 1
epiphone.com
Epiphone Firebird I
When Gibson debuted the Firebird I and Firebird V in 1963, the design was as innovative as it was radical. Like the Flying V and Explorer, the Firebird seemed Martian—or at least like a work of futurist art, with its offset body shape, extended lower and upper bouts, reverse headstock, and through-body neck.
Firebirds came in three versions: The single-pickup Firebird I, the two-humbucker Firebird V, and the three-pickup Firebird VII, with the latter two featuring a Vibrola tailpiece, trapezoid inlays, and neck binding. The first time I saw a Firebird in action, it was in the hands of Johnny Winter, who gave no quarter as he ripped conflagrant solos from its fretboard, but Brian Jones, Clapton, Allen Collins, Paul Stanley, and Phil Manzanera also helped make the model a legend. Original ’60s Firebird V’s sell for as much as $35,000, and reissues peak at nearly $10,000 for the Gibson Custom Shop’s ’63 Firebird V. That’s a lot of dough to look badass on stage. But now, Epiphone—in collaboration with Gibson’s Custom Shop—has taken high-quality reissues of the 1963 Firebird I and V into a more affordable realm. They’re still pricey for an Epi’, at $1,299 and $1,699, respectively, but undeniably brimming with panache.
“I was surprised by how sweet and heavy Gibson’s Firebird Mini Humbuckers sound. There is nothing mini about their tone.”
An’ a I, an’ a V
Our review Firebirds arrived impeccably set up, with action low enough for speed, but high enough for slide—my comfort zone, coincidentally. They are handsome guitars too. The I is finished in gleaming cherry, while the V is decked out in vintage sunburst and a shiny Vibrola tailpiece.
The necks are the not-so-secret weapons on these models. They are 9-ply mahogany and walnut (original Firebirds have a 5-ply neck), sandwiched between mahogany wings, but both guitars are still fairly light. The I is 7 1/2 pounds and the V weighs about 9 pounds due to the additional pickup and bridge hardware. There are 22 comfortable, medium-jumbo frets, which allow easy navigation and elegant bends, a Graph Tech nut, dot neck inlays on the I and trapezoids on the V, a classic Gibson-scale neck length of 24 3/4", and an Indian laurel fretboard. The banjo-style Kluson Planetary tuners, as well as the reverse headstock, take time to get to use to, but contribute to the instruments sleek, clean lines. The Firebird I’s electronics are simply a master volume and tone, with CTS pots and Mallory caps inside, in service of a warm-to-cutting single alnico 5 Gibson USA Firebird Mini Humbucker. The V offers more ways to shape your tone: The Vibrola is cool and vibey and there’s a classic four-dial Gibson control set (also routed through Mallory caps and CTS pots), a 3-way pickup switch on the lower bout, and a pair of those Gibson USA Firebird Mini Humbuckers.
Epiphone Firebird V
Trial by Firebird
I was sure I would prefer the Firebird V playing experience, because I am typically a neck-pickup player, but both guitars revealed sonic charms through Carr Vincent and Telstar amps running in stereo, my vintage Marshall Super Lead, and a Positive Grid Spark.
Low-action setups on both accommodate everything from campfire chords to screaming single-note playing past the 12th fret, with the perfectly smooth fret ends and comfortable neck making it all a pleasure. The neck broadens to 2 1/4" at the body, from 1 3/4" at the nut, making it easy to hit high notes accurately. But what really excited me, besides how artful these guitars look, is the power and sound of the pickups.
I was surprised by how sweet and heavy Gibson’s Firebird Mini Humbuckers sound. There is nothing mini about their tone, whether slashing and growling through the Marshall or pouring thick honey out of the Carrs. And through the Spark, a highly pleasing snarl and juicy warmth were all on tap. Despite my predilection for neck pickups, I became really excited by the Firebird I. The simplicity and elegance of its look, streamlined controls, clean surface, and light weight made the I a joy to play, especially with the treble rolled to near-zero. There, early Clapton-esque tone was a cinch to find, and for blues and pseudo-jazz-licks (the best I can muster in that genre), the warmth and clarity were delightful. Despite its basic construction, the Epiphone Firebird I is assuredly more than a rock machine.
Sure, having the addition of a neck pickup on the Firebird V provides a wider selection of tones, but the voices achievable on the I were no less winning and, honestly, I could not find any pickup-and-dial configuration on the V that sounded all that different or better than those available on the I. But, ah, a Vibrola is a very nice appointment—not just for its grand appearance, which is like some antiquarian treasure, but for the subtle bends its enables. If atmospheric guitar tones from the Ventures to Hermanos Gutiérrez are your passion, you’d want the Vibrola, which stays remarkably in tune, given its relatively primitive design.
The Verdict
Make no mistake: With their uncommonly proportioned offset bodies and reverse headstocks, guitars like the Epiphone Firebird I and V require time to get acquainted. But if you’re unafraid to stand out from the crowd, these instruments will serve you visually and sonically. Both play well and offer a good scope of vintage tones—from aggressive to dark maple sugar—with simple dial adjustments. And while many other Epiphone models sell for less, these well-crafted copies of original Gibson designs provide custom-shop or boutique-builder quality at a much lower price. PG
A classic-voiced, 3-knob fuzz with power and tweakability that surpass its seemingly simple construction.
A classic-voiced, well-built fuzz whose sounds, power, and tweakability distinguish it from many other 3-knob dirt boxes.
None, although it’s a tad pricey.
$249
SoloDallas Orbiter
solodallas.com
You’ve probably seen me complain about the overpopulation of 3-knob fuzz/OD pedals in these pages—and then promptly write a rave review of some new triple-knobber. Well, I’m doing it again. SoloDallas’ Orbiter, inspired by the classic circuit of the 1966 Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, stings and sings like a germanium Muhammad Ali. Mine’s already moved to my pedalboard full-time, because it delivers over-the-top fuzz, and allows my core tones to emerge.
But it also generates smooth, light distortion that sustains beautifully when you use an easy touch, punches through a live mix with its impressive gain, and generates dirt voices from smooth to sputtering, via the bias dial. All of which means you can take gnarly fuzz forays without creating the aural mudslides less-well-engineered Fuzz Face spinoffs can produce.
“Fuzzy forays are gnarly as desired without sacrificing tonal character or creating the aural mudslides less wisely engineered Fuzz Face spinoffs can produce.”
The basics: The 4 3/4" x 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" blue-sparkle, steel enclosure is coolly retro, abetted by the image of a UFO abduction on the front—an allusion to the flying saucer shape of the original device. Inside, a mini-pot dials in ideal impedance response for your pickups. I played through single-coils, humbuckers, Firebird humbuckers, and gold-foils and found the factory setting excellent for all of them. There’s also a bias knob that increases voltage to the two germanium transistors when turned clockwise, yielding more clarity and smooth sustain as you go. Counterclockwise, the equally outstanding sputtering sounds come into play. For a 3-knob fuzz box it’s a tad costly, but for some players it might be the last stop in the search for holy grail Fuzz Face-style sounds.