As one of life’s simple pleasures, playing acoustic guitar—especially outside—can be the perfect mental-health solution.
“Ask yourself whether you are happy and you cease to be so.”—John Stuart Mill
My heroes have always been musicians. After a lifetime of gigs and a decade of Rig Rundowns, I’ve been lucky enough to meet a lot of musicians that I have loved, emulated, followed, stalked. For the most part, they are nothing like the demigods I imagined. If you get an unguarded glimpse into who they are, often you will recognize a kinship, for we share this same fragile, nervous, socially awkward, somewhat insecure core. Distill it all down without smoke and mirrors, or smoke and beers, and you can see that like most of us, they were drawn to music from an early age because it gave them something they needed.
Maybe music is the words they can’t say, or the feelings they can’t express, or emotions they need to get out, or a chi-aligning meditation that centers them, or gives them the recognition they crave. Most teenagers like music, but for those who go on to become full-on musicians, it goes way beyond liking music, or even loving it—it’s a necessity. Perhaps, for some who don’t feel at home in the world, they retreat into music. I suspect that most of us spend all those hours alone with our instrument because it’s our therapy.
Research has found that musicians are three times more likely to experience anxiety or depression than the general public. And odds are, if you are reading this gear-nerd mag, you are probably a musician. So yes, I’m talking to you, gentle reader, because you (like me) are wired differently than the so-called “normals.”
Why am I bringing up this cheering fact? Because this is PG’s acoustic issue, and it just so happens that my personal mental-health panacea is playing acoustic guitar, preferably outside. Here’s why it works for me.
Most teenagers like music, but for those who go on to become full-on musicians, it goes way beyondliking music, or even loving it—it’s a necessity.
Often, I find myself lying in bed in the middle of the night, obsessively dwelling on problems that have no solution, my mind busily polishing every horrible detail. If I continue lying there, these negative thought loops will accompany me until the sun rises, and then through the following miserable day.
Playing electric guitar works, too, but not as well, because it’s too easy to get bogged down in gear with an electric. What I love about acoustic is the immediacy of it. It’s right there, the sound literally comes out of your fingers and the wood, and presses against your body to resonate. There are no cables to chase down, amps to fiddle with, pedals to think about; it’s just making music. Best of all, acoustics are highly portable, so you can take it outside. Provided the weather is not horrible, outside is where you want to be.
I suspect we are living in the least mental-health-friendly age ever, with the average American spending 7 hours per day staring at a screen that feeds us a constant diet of anger, desire, and fear. You are what you eat, and that dystopian diet has a cost. Combine that with the fact that for the roughly 2 million years that Homo genus has been walking the Earth, we’ve been grounded to earth the entire time until now, and that too has a cost. Research suggests that reconnection with the Earth’s natural electric charge stabilizes our physiology at the deepest levels; reduces inflammation, pain, and stress; improves blood flow, energy, and sleep; and generates greater well-being. If you happen to drive by my home at 4 a.m. and it’s not freezing outside, there’s a good chance you will see me sitting cross-legged on my lawn playing guitar alone in the dark.
My main acoustic is my Epiphone Lil Tex. The strings are so old on it, you may need a tetanus shot after playing it. Although Tex does not have a great tone, it feels like part of my body; we have seriously bonded from all the hours we’ve spent together outside, sitting with my toes in the grass and connecting to the universe. Twenty minutes outside playing that thing always makes me feel like what I imagine an advanced yogi must feel like after a deep meditation.
So, when this world is just too much, grab your acoustic and go outside and play with your toes in the grass or sand. Get lost in the music and I promise you will feel better. And if you or someone you know is struggling with mental health issues, there is help—samhsa.gov is a great resource.
How the Vulfpeck picker travels the funk fantastic—with a compact pedalboard, a two-amp setup, and some classic-style axes.
Theo Katzman plays with a fluency and fire that makes this guitarist, producer, singer, and songwriter an MVP of modern, funk-fueled rock and pop. At a recent gig at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl outpost, Katzman—who’s also a member of the formidable Vulfpeck collective—invited PG’s Rig Rundown team to soundcheck, to see the gear that makes his tone sing. And Katzman’s tech, Nick “Turk” Nagurka, provided assistance.
Brought to you by D’Addario XS Strings.
Stripped Strat
Theo Katzman’s No. 1 is a Fender 1962 reissue that he’s had since he was 16. He stripped the Strat’s finish down to the bare wood, and then added an Ilitch Back Plate Hum Canceling system, which takes the noise out of the stock single-coil pickups. The Strat stays strung with D’Addario NYXL .010 sets. When Katzman plays with a pick, he uses Strum-N-Comfort SNC-ST/EXH/6 Sharktooth 1.5 mm Heavy Pearl Celluloids.
Hole-y Moley!
Katzman’s Tele is an $800 parts guitar with TV Jones pickups that he purchased on Reverb. It lives in open Eb and also has D’Addario NYXL .010s.
Black Hat Strat
This Japan-built ’62 reissue Strat has an oddball headstock, with what looks like black epoxy or resin covering most of what’s at the top of its Mike Cornwall neck. It’s tuned in open D and is used primarily for slide. The stings? Yep, D’Addario NYXL .010s.
Princeton Grad
Katzman uses two amps, sending a dry signal to his Benson Nathan Junior and a wet signal to his 1968 Fender Princeton Reverb loaded with a Celestion Greenback 12. Both amps face 90 degrees offstage, to prevent hitting the front row with a laser beam of awesome. The Princeton gets a Beyerdynamic M88, which complements the punchy midrange of the amp with a healthy proximity effect and rounds the top end out a bit.
Benson, Benson, Benson
The Benson has a bit more grind and a more controlled tone. He uses a Sennheiser 906 for a dry, clear sound with minimal proximity effect. Both amps feed into the in-ear-monitor mix, hard panned left and right. Since there’s some degree of modulation from the pedalboard, that helps Katzman enjoy a sense of space in his sound. The front-of-house mix typically uses the Benson, too, since it has a more refined sound.
Theo Katzman's Pedalboard
Squier announces five new additions to the Paranormal Series.
Here’s what’s new in this series:
- Jazzmaster XII: For the most adventurous players, the Jazzmaster XII boasts the chimney-tones of a 12-string, along with a vintage-inspired “hockey stick” headstock design
- Custom Nashville Stratocaster: This is a left-of-center approach to the double-bound body and 3-pickup Tele configuration made famous on the Nashville scene
- Rascal Bass HH: Equipped with punchy dual Fender-Designed Wide Range humbucking bass pickups (HH) with 3-way switching, here is a player's ultimate option for tone variety
- Strat-O-Sonic: The early 2000’s are making a comeback with the return of the “cult favorite”
- Esquire Deluxe: If you ever wondered what the very first Fender model would have looked like if it had evolved into the 1970s, this is it
The Paranormal Series has models for players from all walks of life, with features including:
- Short and easy-to-play 30“ scale length
- Slim and comfortable Maple “C”-shape neck profile
- Fast-playing 12” radius fingerboard
- Vintage-style tuning machines for smooth, accurate tuning