Chris and Oliver Wood conjure a raunchy, old-time Americana sound for their new album, Kingdom in My Mind.
The Wood Brothers, who are Oliver and Chris Wood on guitar and bass, respectively, along with Jano Rix on drums, are no strangers to serendipity, which was key to the recording of their latest release, Kingdom in My Mind.
The happy accidents started with an opportunity to move into their own studio. “Brook Sutton is our engineer, and we recorded a good part of our previous record with him at his old studio,” Oliver says. That was 2018’s Grammy-nominated One Drop of the Truth. “At some point last year, he lost the lease to his old building. We figured, ‘Why not go in on a place together? We get a little more square footage, help out paying the rent, and he can help us make our next record or records.’ So it is a co-op situation with our favorite engineer, and it works out great. He’s got a fully working studio when we’re not around, but when we’re there, we have the run of the place. It’s also our clubhouse, where we keep all our gear and rehearse.”
The next stroke of good fortune happened when they gave the new place a test drive. “We weren’t thinking about compositions at all,” Chris says. “We were just having fun playing together, improvising, and jamming, but we were so happy with the recordings of those sessions that we decided to make this record starting with them.”
The result is an album that’s uninhibited and somewhat carefree. It’s still the Wood Brothers—an acoustic/electric, gritty take on roots Americana that’s bolstered by stellar musicianship—but it also features unexpected quirks and oozes an unpretentious, laidback feel. Great examples include the unhurried, loosey-goosey opener “Alabaster,” the infectious porch jam “Jitterbug Love,” and the spacey singalong “Little Blue.” But even the album’s raunchier cuts, like “Don’t Think About My Death” and “A Dream’s a Dream,” benefit from their relaxed approach.
“When you write a song and then work on the music, you play very differently,” Chris says. “Whereas if you do it in the order that we did, you’re much more free.”
That freedom is something the brothers know well, and probably starts with their early exposure to music. “Our dad was, and still is, a great folk singer and guitar player,” Oliver says. “In fact, he has a prewar Martin D-18 that’s just to die for. It’s the most amazing guitar I’ve ever played. Our earliest influence is definitely him—his playing folk songs, simple but cool picking, cool runs, and stuff like that.” The brothers also had established careers—Oliver with King Johnson and Chris as a founding member of Medeski Martin & Wood—before joining forces in 2005.
Fifteen years, seven studio albums, and four live releases later, we spoke with Oliver and Chris about their unconventional approach to recording, their new Kingdom in My Mind, their unusual go-to instruments, and Oliver’s fascination with low-budget gear. Plus, we got an insider’s look at their drummer’s shuitar.
How did your approach to recording Kingdom in My Mind differ from past albums?
Chris Wood: The first thing that happened, before we started thinking about recording or making a record, was we finally got our own studio in Nashville. We have an A room and a B room, and one of them’s big. You can fit an orchestra in there. It’s really a big live space—and the other one’s a little smaller and a little dryer. The first thing we wanted to do was get familiar sonically with the space. We set up in different parts of the studio, just to have fun using our own instruments, improvising, and getting a feel for the space, and it happened to go really well.
Oliver Wood: We’ve always done a lot of improvising in the early stages of making an album. We would do it in a rehearsal space, do a fully improvised jam, not worry about form, and just try to make cool sounds—be creative and let your subconscious listen and play stuff. We’ve always done that, but usually we just recorded it on a phone or something, just for reference later. What was different about this record was that we were in our new studio, with really nice microphones, and we recorded these improvisations at album quality. Whether we were going to use them or not, we had the luxury of doing that. The beautiful thing is we captured some magical stuff we never would have played that way if we were actually trying to play a song. There’s all sorts of magic mistakes and drum fills in weird places, and we just love that. It sounded like an old, messy record to us. We used that stuff, chopped it up, and then wrote songs over it. It was a huge luxury to be able to do that, and, of course, just having your own studio is the biggest luxury of all. We could be really experimental on overdubs as well, and never watch the clock, never worry about the budget, or the time in the studio, or affording a producer, because we produced it ourselves … or the record label looking over our shoulder, because we are the record label. It is the ultimate feeling of independence and it is the most liberating experience.
Did any of those source recordings make it onto the album itself?
Oliver: Absolutely. A majority of the songs are exactly that. The first single we put out, “Alabaster,” was completely that. It was one of the first jams on the first day in our new studio, when we were just trying to figure out sounds and see what it felt like to play in different corners of the room or in different rooms.
TIDBIT: The band’s new album grew out of jams recorded at the Nashville studio they recently built with producer and friend Brook Sutton. “It’s also our clubhouse, where we keep all our gear and rehearse,” says Oliver Wood.
Chris: There are a couple where we reworked it, and added some other sections. “Little Bit Sweet,” for example, is from the original jams from the first day we played in the studio, but then we re-performed that one, so we could add some different chord changes. But the first song, “Alabaster,” is completely the original jam. “Jitterbug Love,” “Don’t Think About My Death” … there are a lot that retain the original jams.
How are you set up in the studio? Do you stand in a semicircle so you can see each other? Do you have the amps in the room with you?
Oliver: It varies from song to song. There are some songs where we are in a circle, we’re all in one room, and we like all the bleeding between the tracks, which is another one of those jam things that’s so fun. That’s what a lot of old records sound like. You can hear things bleeding into other channels and it’s not so sterile and isolated sounding. We did a lot of that, but we also like to experiment.
Chris: A lot of our favorite old recordings, that’s what they do. People are set up in the same room, they bleed, and it gives the recording a certain character that sometimes we love. We did some of that, and we also did some things where we did separate—maybe kept the drums in a separate room, had the sounds and instruments more isolated. Sometimes it’s beneficial if I want to get a really good acoustic bass sound. We even did things where we put a microphone on my Hofner bass. It’s an electric bass, but we didn’t plug it in. We just literally miked the instrument itself and gave it a big fat acoustic sound.
It’s loud enough to do that? You didn’t run a direct line as well?
Chris: If you put the mic in the right place and turn it up loud, yeah, it’s a hollow instrument, so it can do that. When we did that, we had the Hofner going through … I believe it was a flip-top Ampeg B-18, but it was in a different room, so if we wanted to hear only the microphone on the bass, it was enough. It sounded huge, actually, when you turned it up. It was a really amazing sound.
Oliver: For acoustic guitar and acoustic bass, we really like just the mics on there. I suppose there might have been a song or two where we also took a DI from the bass or maybe one of the guitars. A lot of the guitars that I recorded with don’t even have pickups in them. Some of the studio guitars, like an old National—or I have an old ’30s Gibson L-00 guitar that’s just beautiful … none of those have pickups. We love the sound of Chris’ bass. His tone that’s in his hands and his old 100-year-old bass sound amazing. Putting a good mic or two on there, you can’t beat it.
Onstage at Los Angeles’ famed the Troubadour, Oliver Wood goes for a radical bend on his mid-’60s Guild T-100D—a hollowbody with DeArmond pickups that he describes as “a poor man’s Gibson.” Photo by Debi Del Grande
You have a lot of guitars you don’t take on the road, but onstage you often use a Guild.
Oliver: The Guild electric that I have been playing for about 30 years now is a T-100D. A lot of people call it a Slim Jim. It’s a thin hollowbody guitar and it has two little DeArmond cheapo pickups. It’s like a poor man’s Gibson. It’s mid-’60s. I got it back in the ’90s when everybody had a Strat, including me, and I thought, “Everybody’s playing a Strat. I’ve got to find something that nobody’s playing.” That’s the only reason I picked it, but I ended up falling in love with it. It has a Tune-o-matic bridge, which, of course, is not original. I added good tuners and the pickguard fell off long ago. I used to stuff underwear and washcloths in there so it wouldn’t feed back, but I use pretty small amps now, so I don’t really have that trouble anymore. It feeds back just enough.
You’ll find the sweet spot on stage if you need feedback?
Oliver: Exactly. I’m in love with that guitar—that guitar and the amp I have been playing since the beginning of the Wood Brothers. I’ve been playing a little four-watt Kay 703, these $200-on-eBay amps that are basically made of plywood. They have a 6" speaker and you would have bought them at Sears or a department store back in the ’60s. It fits in the overhead compartment of a plane. I’ve been playing that Guild through that little amp since the beginning of the Wood Brothers, and it’s become a signature tone that I feel is my thing. We have a bunch of them. They need work every once in a while. They’re pretty flimsy, but they are remarkably durable and they keep sounding cool. Now I do add a small Fender amp to it, so I have two amps onstage. I have either a Princeton or a Blues Junior or something: a 1x12 or a 1x10 amp right next to the little Kay. We run those together and the sound man favors one or the other based on what song we’re playing.
Guitars
Guild T-100D “Slim Jim”
1953 Gibson CF-100
National Tricone resonator
Modded Stella acoustic
Harmony Bobkat
Amps
Kay 703
Fender Blues Junior
Effects
Keeley Katana Clean Boost
EarthQuaker Speaker Cranker
Radial splitter
Strings and Picks
DR .011–.050 sets (electric)
DR medium sets (acoustic)
Glass slides
Dunlop Purple Tortex 1.14 mm
Basses
Hofner 500/1
Fender Jazz
1920s G.A. Pfretzschner upright
Amps
Ashdown ABM 600 EVO IV
Ashdown ABM-410H cab
Assorted Ampegs
Effects
Mooer Trelicopter tremolo
Strings and Picks
Fender nickel-plated roundwound (.045–.105)
Dunlop Yellow Tortex triangle .73 mm
Chris: That Kay was originally a guitar amp I owned. When we started the Wood Brothers, and we were just a traveling duo, for a long time Oliver would either play acoustic guitar and the electric guitar through that tiny little Kay amp, and I wouldn’t have any rig. I would have just a mic and DI going into the system. We got by for a long time that way, even when we became a trio. I remember playing the Greek Theater in L.A. with the Kay and nothing else for the electric guitar, and it is just four watts. That was always a signature of our sound—a little bit lo-fi and junky—and that Kay really defined it. But the upright bass is a different beast and benefits from more of a hi-fi approach. These days, live, I have an Ashdown amplifier. The whole point of having an amp onstage is to help my stage sound for me, not necessarily for the audience. I tend to get a lot of the tones out of the amp that are good for intonation, good for clarity, and a DI can be mixed with that.
Oliver, your tone tends to lean towards grit and buzz, even when you’re using an acoustic.
Oliver: I have a National guitar, a Tricone, that doesn’t have a pickup or anything, but it’s a dirty sounding guitar. It’s like something is rattling in a way that sounds like distortion, and it is not unpleasant, at least to me, but it’s by no means a pure, pristine sound. It’s messy and I definitely like that. I like that on the electric side, too. I like using small amplifiers with not a lot of headroom.
A good example of that is the guitar tone on “Don’t Think About My Death” from the new album.
Oliver: On that song, I’m playing an old Harmony Bobkat guitar, which has little gold-foil pickups. If I am not mistaken, I am going through some little Epiphone tube amp. It might not be obvious, but that’s also Chris playing his Hofner with a pick, also through a dirty amp. You’re hearing the bass guitar as well, and that’s part of the nasty guitar business that’s going on in that song.
Chris: For a bunch of those recordings, I was using the Hofner going through an old Bassman. I don’t know if people officially think of that as a bass amp or guitar amp, but it sounds great with the Hofner. “Don’t Think About My Death,” for example, has that setup. For some of the song, I’m playing a real guitar-like riff, high up on the neck, and there is a lot of counterpoint with the guitar. But for some of the song, I overdubbed a P-bass, just to thicken it.
When you’re on the road, do you go to pawn shops or guitar stores looking for stuff?
Chris: I used to do that a lot. But I haven’t done it much these days, because I feel like I’ve collected enough stuff, and I don’t have enough time to mess around with the stuff I have, so I feel silly about acquiring more. I’d rather experiment with what I’ve got—set things up differently to get different sounds.
Oliver: If I have time and I find a spot, I’ve been known to put a few things on the bus every once in a while. A newish one for me that I would love to brag about is a ’30s Stella parlor guitar. I sent it to Reuben Cox [of the Old Style Guitar Shop] in L.A. He has this thing he does. He puts an old pickup in the soundhole—I have a Teisco pickup that’s nice and quiet—and then flatwound strings and a rubber bridge. What this does is basically make a guitar with no sustain. Normally, that’s not what we’re going for. We guitar players want it to ring and sustain forever. This is different. It’s a whole revelation in leaving space. When you make a statement on the guitar, it happens, and then it just goes away. It leaves a lot of space for other stuff. The guitar riffs on “Alabaster” were recorded with that guitar. On “Little Bit Sweet,” I’m fingerpicking on that guitar, and, again, I plug it in to a little dirty amp, but it has a dark and sustainless sound. It is unique after playing guitars that ring on forever. It’s cool to have a guitar that’s just dead.
Do you use any different tunings?
Oliver: I play almost entirely in standard. We do a lot of slide guitar songs, and I use what I call a half-G tuning, because I just tune my 1st string down to a D, and that’s all I do. It’s a good way to almost be in open-G tuning, but by compensating a little bit, you can still play most of your chords. You also come up with new, weird chords. You can play a cool seventh chord easy, just because of that one string being changed.
Did you play together when you were growing up?
Oliver: We sure did. I am four yours older …
Although he also plays a Hofner 500/1 and a Fender Jazz bass, Chris Wood is best known for wielding this 1920s G.A. Pfretzschner upright in both the Wood Brothers and Medeski Martin & Wood. Photo by Debi Del Grande
You’re the cool older brother.
Oliver: I am the cool older brother. I started on bass. I gave it to him and switched to guitar, and he just, of course, made history on it. But there were a couple of years there where we were both proficient enough, and into it enough, to jam together. We had a 4-track and we used to jam in the garage. We’d make little weird recordings, then we went our separate ways for about 15 years before we started the Wood Brothers.
Chris: Oliver went to California, and then ended up in Atlanta, and had a band called King Johnson for a long time. I ended up in New York City and started Medeski Martin & Wood. It really wasn’t until 15 years later that our two bands ended up on a double bill. He sat in with us and it became clear that we both had the same job, and there was natural chemistry immediately. That’s what gave us the idea to try to make some music together.
Is this your main gig now?
Chris: Yeah. It is very full time.
What about Medeski Martin & Wood?
Chris: We don’t really tour any more. Occasionally we’ll do some festivals or one-offs. We actually just had a documentary come out. I don’t know how much distribution it is going to get. It just showed at the Woodstock Film Festival. There’s a record we’re trying to finish up from the making of that documentary, which was filmed a couple of years ago.
Oliver: This is our full-time thing. We all do other stuff on the side a little bit—studio stuff, or Chris plays with MMW once in a while still. But no, this is a full-time effort. Between this and family home life, I am toast.
At this 2019 performance to benefit Chattanooga, Tennessee’s Songbirds Foundation, Oliver Wood plays his vintage National Tricone and Chris Wood plucks his 100-year-old 1920s G.A. Pfretzschner bass, while Jano Rix provides a close-up look of the shuitar at work.
The modified guitar in drummer Jano Rix’s hands, at right, is the shuitar, an old 6-string reframed as a percussion instrument that can yield a solid note or two, but sounds more like a mini drum kit. Photo by Debi Del Grande
Meet the Shuitar
When the Wood Brothers play live, their drummer, Jano Rix, will come out front and play an instrument that looks like a guitar. But it’s not. It’s a shuitar—a guitar-based percussion instrument.“The shuitar is an invention of Matt Glassmeyer, a friend of ours in Nashville,” Chris Wood says. “But it co-evolved somewhat with Jano, our drummer. He helped develop it. It’s basically a crappy acoustic guitar—crappy ones sound better for the percussion side of things—and it is converted in a way that the strings are loosened and gathered together. When you hit those, the closest thing you can compare that to is a hi-hat sound. You hit the side to get a sort of snare sound. You hit the bridge to get more of a bass drum sound. There are other little bells and whistles attached to add other sonics, too. It’s a percussion instrument, but it’s a very Americana-sounding instrument. Unlike a djembe, or a shekere, or something that’s borrowed from another culture, the shuitar is meant to sound like a type of drum kit. It’s meant to sound American in that way.”
The shuitar’s function is percussive, despite its appearance and harmonic potential. “Jano can fret a string, bend it, and pluck it like you would a guitar string,” Wood adds. “But it’s loosened to the point that it becomes low and floppy, and it’s mainly used as a metallic percussion sound. But he can, although it’s more for a sonic effect, add a note to the harmony of the song.”
Axe-wielders Jake Cinninger and Brendan Bayliss take us through their current gear garages.
It’s been just over 10 years since we had legendary South Bend, Indiana, jam band Umphrey’s McGee on Rig Rundown, so when we saw that they were coming to play at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium in early April, we figured it was time to reconnect.
Guitarists Jake Cinninger and Brendan Bayliss showed PG’s John Bohlinger what pieces of kit they’re digging these days, and how they orchestrate their incredibly broad range of sounds.
Brought to you by D’Addario.
Simply Z Best
Here’s an up-close look at Cinninger’s No. 1, a G&L Comanche. The Z-coil pickups do away with typical single-coil 60-cycle hum issues at high-gain settings. It’s an all-purpose workhorse.
Cinninger replaced the stock trem bar with a Jake Blade, a custom-made replacement patented by Mark Benjamin of RoughGauge LLC. Compared to a regular trem bar, it’s out of the way and allows for more expressive playing.
For strings, Cinninger uses D’Addario .10s, and he swears by his beveled-edge Telefunken 2 mm picks.
Special S
Cinninger says only 50 of these G&L S-styles were made, with remarkable pieces of wood and specially designed pickups. This one cuts closer to a classic, throaty Stratocaster sound, and if a venue has quiet, clean power that won’t present excessive noise issues, it’s more likely to be called into action.
Two by Two
Cinninger’s signal runs to one amp at a time. The Schroeder head, which is used for cleans, was built with military-spec durability by Tim Schroeder in Chicago and is one of 10. Cinninger says it’s got some Dumble qualities, with its clarity, power, consistency, and speed to the speaker, and it connects to a Schroeder cabinet and custom speaker.
The Oldfield Marquis 100-JC, built by Paul Gussler in Charlotte, North Carolina, is the Marshall-flavored side of Cinninger’s rig. It handles dirty signals and is connected to classic Electro-Voice drivers.
Jake Cinninger’s Pedalboard
Cinninger’s board, which he made with his dad, is 25 years old, and it’s constantly changing. His always-on boxes include a Banzai Cold Fusion Overdrive, Fuchs Royal Plush Compressor, and Mesa Boogie Five-Band Graphic EQ, plus a Steel Guitar Black Box tube buffer that adds some “air” in the high end.
On top of those, there’s a Boss TU-3, MXR Smart Gate, Radial Tonebone Hot British, MXR Distortion III, Sarno Earth Drive, TC Electronic Flashback, Boss PS-5, Source Audio Soundblox 2 Multiwave Distortion, Malekko Fuzz, Guyatone MD2, Boss PH-3, Morley Bad Horsie, BBE Mind Bender, and a custom “FuzzBucket” fuzz made by a friend.
Utility units include a Lily P4D, Radial BigShot ABY, and Ebtech Hum Eliminator, plus a 9-channel effects switching system.
Sorry, Mark
Meet Miss Lucy. This is a PRS Mark Tremonti Signature, albeit without Tremonti’s name on the headstock, and tricked out with the Jake Blade. This one runs a bit hotter than Brendan Bayliss’ other PRS guitars, and his tech changes the strings on it—D’Addario XL .010s—every day. Like Cinninger, he digs the Telefunken 2 mm picks.
Also in the stable are another PRS single-cutaway and a double-cut PRS McCarty.
Doubles of the Oldfield
Bayliss runs both a Mesa Boogie Lonestar head and a Gussler-built Oldfield head (which sounds similar to his Lonestar) at the same time. The Mesa runs to a cab with Celestion 12″ speakers.
Brendan Bayliss’ Board
Bayliss’ board also features the Steel Guitar Black Box, a Lily P4D, Radial BigShot ABY, a Boss TU-3, and a Morley 20/20 Bad Horsie wah.
Aside from those, there’s a Keeley Compressor, MXR Custom Badass Modified O.D., Cusack Screamer, MXR Timmy, Cusack Tap-A-Whirl, Audio Blend Edge EQ, Boss OC-5, Boss CE-5, MXR Phase 95, Eventide H9, Stigtronics Delay, and Boss DD-20.
The country virtuoso closes out this season of Wong Notes with a fascinating, career-spanning interview.
We’ve saved one of the best for last: Brad Paisley.The celebrated shredder and seasoned fisherman joins host Cory Wong for one of this season’s most interesting episodes. Paisley talks his earliest guitar-playing influences, which came from his grandfather’s love of country music, and his first days in Nashville—as a student at Belmont University, studying the music industry.
The behind-the-curtain knowledge he picked up at Belmont made him a good match for industry suits trying to force bad contracts on him.
Wong and Paisley swap notes on fishing and a mutual love of Phish—Paisley envies the jam-band scene, which he thinks has more leeway in live contexts than country. And with a new signature Fender Telecaster hitting the market in a rare blue paisley finish, Paisley discusses his iconic namesake pattern—which some might describe as “hippie puke”—and its surprising origin with Elvis’ guitarist James Burton.
Plus, hear how Paisley assembled his rig over the years, the state of shredding on mainstream radio, when it might be good to hallucinogenic drugs in a set, and the only negative thing about country-music audiences.
New Epiphone inspired by Gibson Custom Collection features eight new guitar models with Gibson USA pickups, high quality electronics, rosewood fretboards, world-renowned Gibson open-book headstocks, one-piece necks, new vintage gloss finishes, and premium design builds.
For over 150 years, Epiphone has been a leading innovator in instrument design. By leveraging its iconic past and leaning into the future, Epiphone has set the stage for the next era of sound for present and future generations. Epiphone’s game-changing Inspired by Gibson Custom Collection, developed in close collaboration with the skilled luthiers at Gibson Custom Shop in Nashville, Tennessee, continues to expand, establishing a new tier of premium Epiphones for every stage. Featuring Gibson USA pickups and premium electronics, world-renowned Gibson “open book” headstocks, solid wood construction, and one-piece necks, Epiphone’s Inspired by Gibson Custom Collection brings Gibson Custom designs to the masses, adding to Epiphone’s full array of instruments for all player levels. Epiphone's Inspired by Gibson Custom Collection is now available worldwide at Authorized Epiphone dealers, the Gibson Garage in Nashville and London, and on www.epiphone.com.
The game-changing Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Custom Collection collaboration with the artisans at Gibson Custom is expanding with eight new models that feature Vintage Gloss finishes that give them a more vintage-correct appearance without looking overly aged. These guitars look as if they had been purchased new and then spent years sitting in a case that was safely stored away, just waiting for you to discover them. All of the models in the Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Custom Collection now feature rosewood fretboards for even greater authenticity and historical accuracy and USA-built pickups from the Gibson Pickup Shop in Nashville, Tennessee. These are the same high-quality, great-sounding pickups in the USA-built Gibson and Gibson Custom models. All of the models feature vintage-appropriate headstock shapes, from the authentic Reverse Firebird™ headstock on the 1963 Firebird V Reissue With Maestro™ Vibrola™ and the 1963 Firebird I Reissue to the “open book” Gibson-style headstocks on the other models, they give these guitars an undeniably authentic appearance.
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Explore the full Inspired by Gibson Custom lineup of premium Epiphone models for players of every level HERE.
1962 ES-335 Reissue:
A 1962 vintage-style ES-335 Reissue Inspired by Gibson Custom
The Gibson ES-335™ is one of the greatest guitar designs of all time. It is renowned for its exceptional versatility and has been used by countless players in a wide range of genres. Combining the best elements of solidbody and thinline hollowbody designs, it’s a highly resonant guitar that resists feedback much better than a full hollowbody due to its interior solid maple center block. Now, Epiphone, in cooperation with Gibson Custom, is proud to introduce the 1962 ES-335 Reissue, a guitar that was very much inspired by Gibson Custom’s ES-335 offerings but purposefully based on a model year that Gibson Custom does not currently reissue – 1962, a year when popular features like rounded cutaways, small block inlays, and a fast-playing, slim neck profile were all present on the Gibson ES-335.
The Epiphone1962 ES-335 Reissue has a semi-hollow 5-ply layered maple/poplar body with rounded cutaways and a solid maple center block for outstanding sustain and feedback resistance. The genuine one-piece mahogany neck has a thin 1960s SlimTaper™ C profile and is capped with a rosewood fretboard that is outfitted with 22 medium jumbo frets and mother-of-pearl small block inlays. The fretboard features rounded edges to give it a comfortable, played-in feel that invites you to explore it for hours at a time. Even the side dot position markers are the same size as on vintage 1962 ES-335 models and are placed in historically accurate locations. The Gibson-style “open book” headstock features the Epiphone logo and Gibson Crown inlaid in aged mother-of-pearl and is fitted with smooth-turning Epiphone Deluxe tuning machines with Double Ring Keystone-style buttons and a Graph Tech® nut. An ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic™ bridge and Gibson historic reissue aluminum Stop Bar tailpiece anchor the strings at the other end directly into the solid maple center block and further contribute to the 1962 ES-335’s excellent sustain. For electronics, a pair of USA-made Gibson Custom bucker humbucker™ pickups are hand-wired to CTS® potentiometers and Black Beauty paper-in-oil capacitors and deliver authentic ES-335 tonal versatility, making the 1962 ES-335 Reissue a great choice for rock, blues, jazz, country, and more. The Sixties Cherry and Vintage Burst finishes have a vintage gloss that gives them a cool vintage vibe. A vintage-style Black hardshell case with a plush Goldenrod interior and Inspired by Gibson Custom exterior graphics is also included to help keep this beautiful 1962 ES-335 Reissue safe during storage and travel.
Epiphone 1962 ES-335 Reissue Semi-hollow Electric Guitar - Vintage Burst
62 ES- 335 Reissue, Vin Burst1960 Les Paul Special Double Cut Reissue:
Special in every way
The Gibson Les Paul™ Special was first introduced as a single cutaway model in 1955, and with the exception of the sunburst Standards that were produced from 1958-1960, it was the last of the original50s-era Les Paul model variants to be introduced. An enhanced version of the Les Paul Junior with increased sonic flexibility, it featured two P-90 pickups instead of the single P-90 found on the Junior and also added a bit of extra bling in the form of a bound fretboard and a mother-of-pearl headstock logo. In 1958, the body shape was revised from a single cutaway to a double cutaway, which delivered improved fretboard access, and the Special hit its stride in 1960 when a thinner SlimTaper™ neck profile and a lower neck pickup placement made it more robust and easier to play than ever.
Now, Epiphone, in partnership with Gibson Custom, is proud to introduce the 1960 Les Paul SpecialDouble Cut Reissue, an Inspired by Gibson Custom recreation of the sought-after 1960 Les Paul Specia Double Cut. Like the originals, it features a slab mahogany body with double cutaways that provide excellent access to the entire length of the fretboard. The one-piece mahogany neck has a fast-playing60s SlimTaper profile and is capped with a rosewood fretboard with 22 medium jumbo frets and mother-of-pearl dot position marker inlays. The fretboard has a 12” radius that makes playing first-position chords and solos with string bends further up the neck equally effortless. The Gibson “open book” style headstock is equipped with Epiphone Deluxe three-on-a-plate tuners with white buttons and a GraphTech® nut to help keep the tuning nice and stable, while a historic style Wraparound bridge with intonation screws solidly anchors the strings at the other end and contributes to the excellent sustain that the Les Paul Special is famous for. A pair of USA-made P-90 Soap bar pickups from Gibson Custom that can go from sweet and clean to outright nasty and dirty-sounding are hand-wired to individual volume and tone controls with high-quality CTS® potentiometers and Bumblebee paper-in-oil capacitors for authentic vintage tones that are sure to please even the most tone-conscious players.
The 1960 Les Paul Special Double Cut Reissue comes packaged in a vintage-style case with a brown exterior and pink plush interior that features Inspired by Gibson Custom graphics on the exterior. It all comes together to deliver a vintage playing and ownership experience at an accessible price that is special in every way.
Epiphone 1960 Les Paul Special Double Cut Reissue Electric Guitar - TV Yellow
60 LP Special Double Cut Reissue , TV Ylw1964 SG Standard Reissue With Maestro Vibrola:
An Inspired by Gibson Custom reissue of one of the most beloved vintage SG models
The 1964 SG™ Standard Reissue With Maestro™ Vibrola™ recreates one of the most beloved SG model years of all time–the 1964 SG Standard. While the 1964 SG Standard was famously used by such notable players as George Harrison and Eric Clapton, the model year was a standout for the SG in general. By 1964, the less intuitive Sideways Vibrato had been replaced with the dependable Maestro Vibrola, while the neck profile increased in size somewhat from the ultra-thin neck profiles found on some of the earlier SG models, and the SG’s balance, playability, and look seemed to come into its own. 1964 was also the first full year that the SG dispensed with the Les Paul moniker it previously used. Now, Epiphone is proud to release the 1964 SG Standard Reissue With Maestro Vibrola, a stunning recreation of that legendary model. Made in collaboration with Gibson™ Custom, the Epiphone 1964 SG Standard Reissue With Maestro Vibrola is the most authentic recreation of the 1964 SG Standard ever released by Epiphone.
All of the classic appointments the 1964 SG Standard model is known and loved for are present here, including a one-piece mahogany neck with a long neck tenon for increased stability and sustain, a comfortable, fast-playing SlimTaper™ profile, and a bound rosewood fretboard. It also features mother-of-pearl trapezoid fretboard inlays, an aged mother-of-pearl Epiphone headstock logo, and an aged mother-of-pearl Gibson crown headstock inlay on the Gibson-style “open book” headstock. The center-seamed, two-piece mahogany body features the comfortable and distinctive bevels that help define a vintage-style SG and make it so comfortable to hold and play. The electronics are equally impressive, with two USA Gibson Custombucker humbucking pickups with Alnico 3 magnets that are hand-wired to CTS® potentiometers, Black Beauty paper-in-oil capacitors, and a Switchcraft® pickup selector toggle switch and output jack. The Vintage Gloss finish is nicely complimented by the nickel hardware, including Epiphone Vintage Deluxe “Double Ring” tuners. A black hardshell case with Inspired by Gibson Custom graphics, gold hardware, and a goldenrod interior is also included.Epiphone 1964 SG Standard Reissue Electric Guitar - Cherry Red
64 SG Std w/Maestro Vibrola Reissue, Chrry Red1963 Firebird V Reissue With Maestro Vibrola:
Made in collaboration with Gibson Custom, now with a rosewood fretboard and a new Vintage Gloss finish
Epiphone and Gibson™ Custom have once again teamed up to create the updated Inspired by Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V Reissue With Maestro Vibrola – an authentic replica of the guitar designed by legendary automotive designer Ray Dietrich. When it was launched in 1963, the Firebird™ was Gibson’s first neck-through-body guitar, and it went on to be used by players in a wide range of genres, including blues legend Johnny Winter, Keith Richards and Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, and Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music, to name a few.
The updated Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V with Maestro Vibrola delivers vintage Firebird specifications at an accessible price. The vintage-inspired features include a 9-ply neck-through- body made of mahogany and walnut with mahogany body wings to either side of the neck. This construction method results in the tuners, pickup, and bridge all being anchored into the same pieces of wood for exceptional resonance, sustain, and tonal transfer between them. The neck features a SlimTaper™ Rounded C profile with soft fretboard edges for a comfortable, played-in feel. The rosewood fretboard is adorned with mother-of-pearl trapezoid inlays and equipped with 22 medium jumbo frets. Even the side dot position markers are the same size as on vintage Firebirds and placed in historically accurate locations. Kluson® planetary geared “banjo” tuners anchor the strings at the headstock and further add to the historic Firebird look, while an Epiphone ABR-1 bridge and Maestro™ Vibrola™ with an engraved Epiphone logo hold things down at the other end. The electronics are also premium and include Gibson USA Firebird mini humbucker™ pickups with Alnico 5 magnets, CTS® potentiometers, Mallory™ capacitors, and a Switchcraft® 3-way pickup selector toggle switch and 1/4” output jack, giving this remarkable recreation not only the look but also the sound of a classic Firebird V. An Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Custom hardshell case is also included.Epiphone 1963 Firebird V Electric Guitar - Polaris White
63 Firebird V Maestro Vibrola Reissue, Polaris Wht1959 Les Paul Standard Reissue:
A 1959 vintage-style Les Paul Standard Reissue Inspired by Gibson Custom, now with a rosewood Fretboard
The 1959 Gibson Les Paul™ Standard is one of the world’s most coveted–and valuable–vintage guitars. It has been embraced by numerous famous players, including Peter Green, Kirk Hammett, and Joe Bonamassa. The 1959 Les Paul Standard is very similar to the 1960 model year that followed it, but with a few differences, most notably, a somewhat beefier 1959 Rounded Medium C neck profile that many players prefer over the thinner SlimTaper™ profile found on the 1960 Les Paul Standard models. Now, Epiphone is proud to introduce the Epiphone 1959 Les Paul Standard Reissue, a beautiful recreation of those rare 1959 Les Paul Standard models. Made in partnership with Gibson Custom, the Epiphone 1959 Les Paul Standard Reissue delivers vintage Les Paul looks and performance at an accessible price. All of the classic appointments the 1959 Les Paul Standard model is known and loved for are present here, including a one-piece mahogany neck with a long neck tenon for increased stability and sustain, an authentic 1959 Rounded Medium C neck profile, and a bound rosewood fretboard. It also features mother-of-pearl trapezoid fretboard inlays, an aged mother-of-pearl Epiphone headstock logo, and the words “Les Paul Model” silkscreened in gold on the Gibson-style “open book” headstock.
Even the side dot position markers are the same size as on vintage 1959 Les Paul Standard models and are placed in historically accurate locations. The genuine mahogany body features a carved maple cap that is topped with a beautiful AAA flamed maple veneer. The electronics are first class, with two USA Gibson Custombucker humbucking pickups with Alnico 3 magnets that are hand-wired to CTS® potentiometers, Black Beauty paper-in-oil capacitors, and a Switchcraft® pickup selector toggle switch and 1/4” output jack. The Vintage Gloss finish gives the guitar a vintage appearance without looking overly aged and is nicely complimented by the nickel hardware, including the Epiphone Deluxe “Single Ring” Keystone button tuners. A Brown hardshell case with Inspired by Gibson Custom graphics and a pink plush-lined interior is also included. This is the perfect Les Paul for players who love the vintage appeal of the classic 1959 Les Paul Standard, but don’t want to sell the house to afford one.
Epiphone 1959 Les Paul Standard Reissue Electric Guitar - Deep Cherry Sunburst
59 LP Std Reissue, Deep Chrry Sunburst1963 Firebird I Reissue:
Made in collaboration with Gibson Custom, now with a rosewood fretboard and a new Vintage Gloss finish
Epiphone and Gibson™ Custom have once again teamed up to create the updated Inspired by Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird™ V Reissue With Maestro Vibrola – an authentic replica of the guitar designed by legendary automotive designer Ray Dietrich. When it was launched in 1963, the Firebird™ was Gibson’s first neck-through-body guitar, and it went on to be used by players in a wide range of genres, including blues legend Johnny Winter, Keith Richards and Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, and Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music, to name a few.
The updated Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V with Maestro Vibrola delivers vintage Firebird specifications at an accessible price. The vintage-inspired features include a 9-ply neck-through-body made of mahogany and walnut with mahogany body wings to either side of the neck. This construction method results in the tuners, pickup, and bridge all being anchored into the same pieces of wood for exceptional resonance, sustain, and tonal transfer between them. The neck features a SlimTaper™ Rounded C profile with soft fretboard edges for a comfortable, played-in feel. The rosewood fretboard is adorned with mother-of-pearl trapezoid inlays and equipped with 22 medium jumbo frets. Even the side dot position markers are the same size as on vintage Firebirds and placed in historically accurate locations. Kluson® planetary geared “banjo” tuners anchor the strings at the headstock and further add to the historic Firebird look, while an Epiphone ABR-1 bridge and Maestro™ Vibrola™ with an engraved Epiphone logo hold things down at the other end. The electronics are also premium and include Gibson USA Firebird mini humbucker™ pickups with Alnico 5 magnets, CTS® potentiometers, Mallory™ capacitors, and a Switchcraft® 3-way pickup selector toggle switch and 1/4” output jack, giving this remarkable recreation not only the look but also the sound of a classic Firebird V. An Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Custom hardshell case is also included.1957 Les Paul Goldtop Reissue:
An Inspired by Gibson Custom reissue of the classic humbucker-equipped ’57 Goldtop
1957 was the year that the Les Paul™, as most players think of it today, truly came into its own. It was the first full year that it had Patent Applied For humbucker™ pickups installed. The humbuckers, along with the ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic™ bridge and Stop Bar tailpiece that first appeared on a Les Paul with the introduction of the Les Paul Custom in late 1953 and on the Goldtop in late 1955, were defining features
that many players still prefer over the earlier models that had a wraparound bridge/tailpiece and P-90pickups and made the Les Paul into a true fire-breathing rock icon. Now, Epiphone, in collaboration with Gibson Custom, is very proud to introduce the 1957 Les Paul Goldtop Reissue, a stunningly authentic Inspired by Gibson Custom reissue of those early humbucker-equipped Les Paul Goldtops that delivers vintage Les Paul looks and performance at an accessible price. It has a genuine mahogany body with a carved, plain maple cap. It is finished in a new Vintage Gloss version of the classic Gold color that gives it a vintage appearance without looking overly aged. The one-piece genuine mahogany neck has a 50s Rounded Medium C profile and a long neck tenon for excellent stability and sustain. The bound rosewood fretboard is adorned with mother-of-pearl trapezoid inlays and equipped with 22 medium jumbo frets, just like the original models from 1957. It has an aged mother-of-pearl Epiphone logo and the words “Les Paul Model” silkscreened in gold on the Gibson-style “open book” headstock. Even the side dot position markers are the same size as on vintage 1957 Les Paul Standard models and are placed in historically accurate locations. The hardware is nickel-plated, including the ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic bridge, historical aluminum Stop Bar Tailpiece, and the Epiphone Deluxe “Single Ring” Keystone button tuners. The electronics are also first-class, with two USA Gibson Custombucker humbucking pickups with Alnico 3 magnets that are hand-wired to CTS® potentiometers, Bumblebee paper-in-oil capacitors, and a Switchcraft® pickup selector toggle switch and 1/4” output jack. A historic-inspired hardshell case with a Brown exterior and pink plush interior and Inspired by Gibson Custom Graphics is also included. The 1957 Les Paul Goldtop Reissue isn’t just a guitar; it’s a bridge to a symphony of possibilities, willing and ready to help you make your own mark on music history.
Epiphone 1957 Les Paul Goldtop Reissue Electric Guitar - Goldtop
57 LP Goldtop Reissue, Goldtop1960 Les Paul Standard Reissue:
A 1960 vintage-style Les Paul Reissue Inspired by Gibson Custom, now with a rosewood fretboard and new Vintage Gloss finish
The 1960 Gibson Les Paul™ Standard is one of the world’s most coveted vintage guitars. It has been embraced by such luminaries as Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, and Joe Walsh. The 1960 Les Paul Standard is very similar to the famous 1959 model year that preceded it, but with a few changes, most notably, a thinner and faster-playing SlimTaper™ neck profile that many players prefer over the somewhat beefier 1959 Les Paul Standard neck profile. Now, Epiphone is proud to introduce the Epiphone 1960 Les Paul Standard Reissue, a beautiful recreation of those vintage 1960 Les Paul
Standard models. Made in partnership with Gibson Custom, the Epiphone Les Paul Standard 1960 Reissue delivers vintage Les Paul looks and performance at an accessible price. All of the classic appointments the 1960 Les Paul Standard model is known and loved for are present here, including a one-piece mahogany neck with a long neck tenon for increased stability and sustain, a comfortable, fast-playing SlimTaper™ profile, and a bound rosewood fretboard. It also features mother-of-pearl trapezoid fretboard inlays, an aged mother-of-pearl Epiphone headstock logo, and the words “Les Paul Model” silkscreened in gold on the Gibson-style “open book” headstock. Even the side dot position markers are the same size as on vintage 1960 Les Paul Standard models and are placed in historically accurate locations. The genuine mahogany body features a carved maple cap that is topped with a beautiful AAA flamed maple veneer. The electronics are equally impressive, with two USA Gibson Custombucker humbucking pickups with Alnico 3 magnets that are hand-wired to CTS® potentiometers, Bumblebee paper-in-oil capacitors, and a Switchcraft® pickup selector toggle switch and output jack. The Vintage Gloss finish gives the guitar a vintage appearance without looking overly aged and is nicely complimented by the nickel hardware, including the Epiphone Deluxe “Double Ring” Keystone button tuners. A brown hardshell case with Inspired by Gibson Custom graphics and a pink plush-lined interior is also included. This is the perfect Les Paul for players who love the vintage appeal of the classic 1959 Les Paul Standard but who want a more comfortable neck profile.Epiphone 1960 Les Paul Standard Reissue Electric Guitar - Washed Cherry Sunburst
59 LP Std Reissue, Washed Chrry SunburstENGL, renowned for its high-performance amplifiers, proudly introduces the EP635 Fireball IR Pedal, a revolutionary 2-channel preamp pedal designed to deliver the legendary Fireball tone in a compact and feature-rich format.
The EP635 Fireball IR Pedal brings the raw power and precision of the ENGL Fireball amplifier into a pedalboard-friendly enclosure, offering unmatched flexibility and tonal control for guitarists of all styles. This cutting-edge pedal is equipped with advanced features, making it a must-have for players seeking high-gain perfection with modern digital convenience.
Key Features:
- Authentic Fireball Tone – Designed after the renowned ENGL Fireball amplifier, the EP635 delivers the unmistakable high-gain aggression and clarity that ENGL fans love.
- Two Independent Channels – Easily switch between two distinct channels, with each channel’s knob settings saved independently, allowing for seamless transitions between tones.
- Built-in Midboost Function – Enhance your tone with the integrated Midboost switch, perfect for cutting through the mix with extra punch.
- Advanced Noise Gate – Eliminate unwanted noise and maintain articulate clarity, even with high-gain settings.
- IR (Impulse Response) Loading via USB-C – Customize your sound with user-loadable IRs using the included software, bringing studio-quality cab simulations to your pedalboard.
- Headphone Output – Silent practice has never been easier, with a dedicated headphone output for direct monitoring.
- Premium Build and Intuitive Controls – Featuring a rugged chassis and responsive controls for Volume, Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, and Presence, ensuring precise tonal shaping.
SPECS:
- Input 1/4” (6,35mm) Jack
- Output 1/4” (6,35mm) Jack
- Headphone Output 1/8”(3,5mm) Jack
- 9V DC / 300mA (center negativ) / power supply, sold separately
- USB C