
30 unit limited edition
Bend, Oregon (November 20, 2007) ā The Breedlove
Guitar Company has announced the release of the Jeff
Tweedy 000 limited edition guitar. The company plans to
sell 25 Deluxe and 5 Exotic models.
Kim Breedlove,
Breedlove Guitar founder and designer, designed the Tweedy
guitar with a bee theme after the Wilco member mentioned an
interest in the insect. The bee-themed features include a headstock
inlay with a flower and a single bee. There are also single cell
Gold Pearl "Honeycomb" position markers at the 5th, 7th, 9th and 15th
frets, and three cells to mark the 12th fret.
The Deluxe model
has a master grade red spruce top, East Indian rosewood back and sides,
ivoroid body and neck binding and a bone nut and saddle. The Exotic
features a Brazilian Rosewood back and sides. Both come with Jeff
Tweedyās live electronics package installed (L.R. Baggs M1 passive
along with a Fishman Matrix Natural 2, wired to a single stereo/TRS
output jack). Buyers may opt for the standard package or no electronics.
Jeff Tweedy has played a Breedlove instrument since 2006, when he purchased the Breedlove Revival 000 12-fret Calendar guitar in Chicago. The Tweedy limited came about after Tweedy requested a model to match his first Revival 000. Pictured below is the Jeff Tweedy 000-12 prototype.
Breedlove Revival 000-12 JTLE Deluxe
- Revival 000 body shape
- Select Master Grade Red Spruce Top
- Select Master Grade East Indian Rosewood Back & Sides
- Ivoroid Body & Neck Binding
- Gold Pearl "Honeycomb" Position Markers
- "Flower & Bees" Headstock Inlay
- Bone Nut & Saddle
- Instrument label signed by Jeff Tweedy & Kim Breedlove
- Limited Edition of 25 to be built
- Retail Price: $5,999
Breedlove Revival 000-12 JTLE Exotic
- Select Solid Brazilian Rosewood Back & Sides
- Extremely Limited Edition: 5 will be built
- Instrument Label Signed by Jeff Tweedy & Kim Breedlove
- Retail Price: $8,499
For more information:
A sample page from the authorās analog log.
Seasonal changes are tough on your acoustic. Hereās how you can take better care of your prized instrument.
As you read this, spring is in bloom in most of the US, or maybe it has been for some time. Iām timing this column specifically to ask acoustic guitarists, in this season of increasing humidity and comfortable conditions, to prepare for whatās coming. Itās never too soon, and time flies. Before you know it, weāll be back to the maintenance phase and you might be blowing up the phones of your local guitar shops, luthiers, and techs. Iām here to encourage a decidedly old-school approach to preventative guitar maintenance, and yes, it starts now.
Why, you ask? Well, as the lead luthier at Acoustic Music Works, I can tell you that in my nearly 15 years in this position, this was the worst winter ever for preventable repairs on acoustic guitars. Fret sprout, bridge lifts, top sink, soundboard cracks, back cracks, loose binding, general malaise⦠These hit us very hard in the winter that spanned 2024 and 2025. Am I complaining? On the one hand, no. This is part of how we make our money. On the other hand, yes! Repair schedules related to dryness and humidity issues can stretch into weeks and even months, and nobody wants to be without their favorite instruments for that amount of time. With a little thoughtfulness, however, you might get through next winter (and every one thereafter) without hefty repair bills or time apart from your musical companion.
Our preparation is going to start with an unlikely but very important guitar accessory: the humble notebook. Plain, lined, grid, day planner⦠it doesnāt matter. We all need to actively participate in our instrument maintenance, and in my experience, fancy apps that track humidity via Bluetooth breed a kind of laziness, a feeling of safety that might prevent us from actually physically looking in on conditions. Better we keep an analog, well, log, so that we know where things stand, and I suggest checking in daily.
āThis was the worst winter ever for preventable repairs on acoustic guitars.ā
Track your relative humidity, both in the case and in the room where your instruments mostly reside, but also take notes on your action height, top deflection (StewMac has some great tips for measuring this) and anything related to playability that you believe you can observe empirically.
Dryness is the root cause of most guitar issues that manifest in the fall and winter months. Symptoms of dryness include sharp fret ends, falling action and dead frets, sunken top around the sound hole, and cracks and bridge lifts. With your trusty notebook, youāll get a feel for the sensitivity level of your instrument, and that knowledge is power!
A few other basic implements will not only assist you in your observations, but may also satisfy your need to buy guitar-related things (at least for a minute). Getting quick and comfortable with a fret rocker is a great skill to have, and is invaluable in diagnosing buzzes due to high frets or frets that have come unseated due to dryness. A well-calibrated relief gauge might seem luxurious, but it can prevent you from making unnecessary or extreme truss rod adjustments. A string action gauge, or even a simple machinistās rule or set of feeler gauges, will help you keep track of your action. Get a three-pack of hygrometers so you can average their readings, rather than depending on one.
Lest we forget: A guitar can not only be too dry, it can also be too wet. By beginning your maintenance diligence in the spring/summer, youāll also be able to tell if your instrument is the victim of a too-humid environment. The signs of over-humidification are subtle: Your action may rise from a puffed-up top, and in extreme cases, glue joints could begin to fail. In my experience, an over-humidified guitar will suffer from dulled tone, almost like a sock in the sound hole. If youāre sensing a lack of clarity in your guitar all of a sudden, start with new strings. If it persists, it might be due to over-humidification, and you may want to introduce a desiccant to the case for a time. The more lightly built your guitar is, the more sensitive it will be to seasonal changes.
By getting into these habits early, youāll be empowered by knowing your instrument more intimately. Youāll understand when and why changes in tone and playability might have occurred, and youāll hopefully save on repair bills year-round. Feel free to reach out with any questions. Who knows? I might just send you a notebook with an AMW sticker on the cover!
This wonky Zim-Gar was one of many guitars sold by importer Gar-Zim Musical Instruments, operated by Larry Zimmerman and his wife.
The 1960s were strange days indeed for import guitars, like this cleaver-friendly Zim-Gar electric.
Recently I started sharing my work office with a true gem of a guy ⦠one of the nicest fellas Iāve ever come across. If youāve been following my column here, you might remember my other work mate Dylan, who is always telling me about new, fad-type things (like hot Honey guitars) and trying to convince me to use AI more. (What can I say, heās a millennial.) But Steve, on the other hand, is about 10 years my senior and is a native New YorkerāBrooklyn actually, from the Canarsie neighborhood. Steve is a retired teacher and spent many years teaching in the Brownsville area of Brooklyn, and man, he has some amazing stories.
Mostly we talk about music and sports (heās exiled here among us Philadelphia sports fans) and heās just endlessly interesting to me. He has a huge appetite and can eat a whole pizza. When he talks, he sounds like one of the Ramones and he still has an apartment in Rockaway Beach. We both love Seinfeld and, like George Costanza, Steve knows where all the great bathrooms are across New York City. Since heās been added to my circle (and is such a mensch), I decided I should work him into a column.
So hereās the connection: Back in the day there were many American importers, dealers, and wholesalers. A lot of them were based in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, but I only know of one guitar importer located in Brooklyn: Gar-Zim Musical Instruments. The company was run by Larry Zimmerman and his wife, and the couple had some success importing and selling Japanese guitars and drums. I used to see early Teisco imports with the Zim-Gar badge, which was the brand name of Gar-Zim. Iāve also seen Kawai guitars with the Zim-Gar label, but the Zimmermanās seemed to sell cheaper and cheaper gear as the ā60s wore on, including the piece you see here.
āThis build reminds me of the cutting boards I used to make in wood shop back in my high school days.ā
The model name and factory origin of this guitar is a mystery to me, but this build reminds me of the cutting boards I used to make in wood shop back in my high school days. The guitar is just flat across the top and back, with absolutely no contouring or shaping. Its offset body is plywood with a thin veneer on the top and back. From a distance this guitar actually looks kind of nice, but up close you can see a rather crude and clunky instrument that offers little flexibility and playability. The non-adjustable bridge is off center, as is the tremolo. It was really hard to get this guitar playing well, but in the end it was worth it, because the pickups were the saving grace. Another example of gold-foils, these units sound strong and raw. The electronics consist of an on/off switch for each pickup and a volume and tone knob. The tuners are okay, and the headstock design is reminiscent of the Kay ādragon snoutā shape of the mid to late ā60s, which is where I would place the birthdate of this one, probably circa 1966. Everything is just so goofy about this buildāeven the upper strap button is located on the back of the neck. It reminds me of that era when simple wood factories that were making furniture were tasked with building electric guitars, and they simply didnāt know what they were doing. So, you get oddities like this one.
Gar-Zim continued to sell guitars and other musical instruments through the 1970s and possibly into the ā80s. I once even saw a guitar with the label Lim-Gar, which is totally puzzling. I think there shouldāve been a Stee-Gar designation for my new buddy Steve-o! Yes, good readers, with guitars and me, there are always just a few degrees of separation.
Dive into the ART Tube MP/C with PG contributor Tom Butwin. Experience how this classic tube-driven preamp and compressor can add warmth and clarity to your sound. From studio recordings to re-amping and live stage applications, this time-tested design packs a ton of features for an affordable price.
Art Tube Mp Project Series Tube Microphone/Instrument Preamp
Designed in Rochester NY and originally released in 1995, the Tube MP is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2025.
The Tube MP/C is the most fully-featured member of the Tube MP family, designed for recording guitarists and bassists. It is a tube mic preamp and instrument DI with advanced features including an optical compressor/limiter and switchable line/instrument output levels for use as a re-amping device.
Guitarist Scott Metzger and his Lollar P-90-loaded Creston T-style onstage with LaMP, next to organist Ray Paczkowski.
The guitarist, who splits his time between the groove-driven jam band supergroup and Joe Russoās Almost Dead, energizes the Tele vernacular on One of Us.
āNight after night playing next toDean Ween was really my foundation for learning what it means to be a lead guitarist, and how to do a gig, and the pacing of a gig, and a lot of things that I still consider really, really important lessons,ā says guitarist Scott Metzger. Heās thinking back to his formative years in the small town of New Hope, Pennsylvania, about 40 miles north of Philadelphia and across the river from his hometown of Lambertville, New Jersey. It was there, on the intimate, low-ceilinged stage at eclectic musical outpost John & Peterās, that the guitarist cut his teeth next to the Ween co-founderāreal name Mickey Melchiondoāas a member of Chris Harfordās Band of Changes, which Metzger joined at just 17 years old.
āThey treated me like a kid, man,ā he continues. āThey really put me through the paces. There was a lot of hazing, and there was some tough love on a lot of those nights.ā
Metzger estimates he left it all on the John & Peterās stage hundreds of times, forming an old-school style of musical apprenticeship that can be heard in his playing today, three decades later. In any of the improv-heavy settings where he tends to find himselfāsuch as his collaborative trio, LaMP, with members of the Trey Anastasio Band, the transformative Grateful Dead tribute Joe Russoās Almost Dead, or in freelance situationsāMetzger takes the patient and complementary approach of someone playing the long game. Heās a supportive and colorful collaborator who, to make a baseball analogy, always seems to have a good read on the musical ball, equally adept as a finely attuned rhythm player or commanding lead voice. For that, he offers a lot of credit to those early days.
Guitarist Scott Metzger and his Lollar P-90-loaded Creston T-style onstage with LaMP, next to organist Ray Paczkowski.
Photo by Andrew Blackstein
āI kept my mouth shut and my eyes open,ā Metzger explains, āand I learned what it takes to become a good, competent guitarist and what it means to have a distinct voiceāDean Ween has one of the most distinct lead guitar voices in rock ānā roll as far as Iām concerned. But not only that, also how to support a singer, and how to play a song, and when not to solo, which is just as important as knowing when to.ā
Metzger remembers his early teen years, learning tunes by the Ramonesāhis first concertāand Jerseyās own Misfits, and getting turned ontoHendrix bootlegs and Boredoms records at New Hopeās Now and Then shop. Later, Melchiondo expanded his psychedelic worldview, hipping him to P-Funkā specificallyEddie Hazelās guitar workāand theAllman Brothers.
Metzger at home in Brooklyn, surrounded by an inspiring array of gear and posters.
Photo by Andrew Blackstein
It wasnāt long until Metzger put all those early lessons to work on the road. At 19, he was playing with his experimental trio F-Hole at Princeton, New Jerseyās Small World coffee when Phish guitaristTrey Anastasio wandered in. āAs soon as we get done playing,ā Metzger recalls, āhe makes a beeline to me and basically started interrogating me about who I was listening to and what I was into gear wise and what kind of guitarists I was into. What I didn't realize was that he was basically auditioning me in real time to be in his friend Tom Marshall's band, who writes all the lyrics for Phish and was putting together a band at the time.ā
Metzger scored the gig with Marshallās Amfibian, playing sold-out shows on the road and opening him up to a whole new musical world. āI wasnāt that familiar with Phish at all,ā he points out. āBut I knew I liked being up in front of all those people and being able to just play all night. I was really kind of a focal point of the band, and that was my introduction to what is now considered the jam band scene.ā
Fast-forward to the present: Metzger is a formidable member of the jam scene. Heās led and collaborated on a host of projects, including WOLF!, with bassist Jon Shaw and drummer Taylor Floreth; the blazing country-swing trio Showdown Kids, with his wife, violinist Katie Jacoby, and guitarist Simon Kafka; and his resplendent, forward-thinking 2022 acoustic-focused solo record, Too Close to Reason. In 2013, he teamed up with his longtime pal drummer Joe Russo, along with guitarist Tom Hamilton Jr., bassist Dave Dreiwitz, and keyboardist Marco Benevento, in forming Joe Russoās Almost Dead. Colloquially known as JRAD, the group, in a sea of reverence, treats the Grateful Deadās songbook almost as if itās an edition of the Real Bookāthe shorthand jazz-standards tomeācracking open the large catalog and infusing their own voices with every improv-heavy performance.
Scott Metzgerās Gear
Guitars
- Creston T-style
- Ronin Songbird
Amps
- Headstrong Verbrovibe 1x15
- Victoria 35210
Effects
- Bearfoot Putting Green Compressor
- Benson Germanium Fuzz
- Paul Cochrane Timmy overdrive
- Interstellar Audio Machines Octonaut Hyperdrive
- Analog Man-modded MXR Phase 90
- Ibanez Analog Delay
- Keeley 30ms Double Tracker
- Benson Delay
- Wilson Wah pedal
- Line 6 DL4
- Voodoo Lab power supply
Strings and Picks
- DāAddario NYXL .011s
- Dunlop Prime Tone 1.0 mm
Being a part of a Dead tribute act was never part of Metzgerās plan. In fact, he says he wasnāt all that familiar with the bandās catalog. āI wasnāt sure I was the right guy for the band,ā he says. But with exploration and personal vocabulary so paramount in JRAD, Russo knew Metzger was the right guitarist for the job.
āYou have to be willing to get in there and do your thing and make your mark unapologetically,ā Metzger muses. āThat's something that's made us stand out in a world of bands that are playing those songs.ā
JRAD has developed a large, dedicated following, rising to the top of the Dead tribute scene. āThe size of the audience that we have is mind blowing,ā Metzger points out, āand the fact that the audiences are willing to go to the places musically with us that we take it, it almost feels like we're testing how much we can get away with a lot of the time.ā
Metzger and LaMP bandmates Paczkowski and drummer Russ Lawton. āThose two guys are kind of celebrities up in Burlington,ā he says, āso it's like doing a gig with the mayor or something.ā
Photo by David Gray
These days, JRAD makes up about half of Metzgerās current gig commitments, and LaMP fills the other. The trio was formed one night in 2018 at Burlington, Vermontās jam nexus Nectarās, when the guitarist joined forces with keyboardist Ray Paczkowski and drummer Russ Lawton, both longtime members of Trey Anastasioās solo band, who also work as the psych-funk duo Soul Monde. āRight off the bat, there was a chemistry that was going to work,ā Metzger recalls. āThose two guys are kind of celebrities up in Burlington, so itās like doing a gig with the mayor or something. The whole town came out to see us, the place was packed, and I think it was very clear to everybody there that night, including us, that it would be a crime not to do it again.ā
LaMP builds on the long history of the organ-trio tradition, referencing ā60s ensembles helmed by Grant Green and George Benson, the Metersā soulful funk, more modern jammers like Medeski, Martin & Woodāand most notably their late-night groove collabs with guitarist John Scofieldāas well as thrill-seeking, forward-leaning groups like John Abercrombieās Gateway Trio and Tony Williamsā Lifetime, all while embracing the spirit of rock ānā roll abandon. As unabashed and freewheeling as that might suggest, Metzger and company shoot for a tasteful sonic experience more than a barn-burning blast-off, and at the fore of the bandās sound is a shared improvisational language built upon close listening just as much as any influence. āThe real thing that weāre focusing on,ā Metzger shares, āis having a good feel, a group sound, and some catchy melodies. Those things are enough to carry the thing without having to worry about ripping some blazing solos every song.ā
This year, LaMP released One of Us, the follow-up to their self-titled 2020 debut. Itās filled with live-off-the-floor energy, or as Metzger puts it, āfresh tension.ā The mostly first and second takes heard on the record, with barely any overdubs, successfully capture the bandās collaborative heart, making One of Us a ferociously spirited listen from beginning to end. āI like records that are made really quickly on low budgets with the clock ticking,ā Metzger conveys. āYou can feel that a little bit on the record. Itās not too polished. It's like you can feel that itās three guys in a room playing together.ā
LaMPās One of Uscaptures the bandās effervescence with a set of mostly live-off-the-floor first and second takes.
Throughout One of Us, Metzger showcases his deep fluency in the Telecaster vernacular. With his Creston T-style, a chambered all-black affair loaded with Lollar P-90s, he slings lyrical licks that offer nods to the masters of the form, all the way back to the first Tele virtuoso, Jimmy Bryant through aces Roy Buchanan, Danny Gatton, Jim Campilongo, and Steve Cropperās deep pocket. (In JRAD, Metzger calls on a Ronin Songbird loaded with DeArmond gold-foils, but his vocab and approach remain much the same.)
Metzgerās take on the tradition is less virtuosic gunslinger than most of those maestros, instead favoring a more complementary approach with an ear toward supporting the group. To that end, he keeps his sound mostly on the cleaner end by reserving a load of potential sonic energy. āI crank the amp,ā he says, pointing out he prefers to set his comboāeither a Victoria 35210, a 2x10 Fender tweed Super copy, for LaMP, or a Headstrong Verbrovibe 1x15, a replica of a 1963 Fender Vibroverb, which he favors for JRADāto 7 or 8 so itās fully opened up. A self-described āminimalist pedal guy,ā he keeps four punch-packing pedalsāa Bearfoot Putting Green compressor, Benson Germanium Fuzz, Paul Cochrane Timmy, and an Interstellar Audio Machines Octonaut Hyperdriveāon at all times. As hairy as that may suggest, Metzger maintains clarity, he explains, by keeping his guitar volume set between just two and four. That means that when he wants, heās just a crank of the volume knob away from a wide-open, full-throated sound.
YouTube It
LaMP deliver the knotty mid-tempo groove of āJasperās Worldā from One of Us from a concert in fall 2024 at Bostonās Wilbur Theater.
His approach to pedals says much about Metzgerās playing style in general. Thereās always a load of possibility on reserve, and you can sense it. Heās not one to frequently lay sonic waste with a technical assault, but, rather, a massive map of potential musical avenues is perpetually close at hand, with his ear in the driverās seat.
Listen to Metzger in just about any situation, whether as a bandleader, bandmember, or just sitting in, and thereās an obvious musical set of ethics in placeāand itās probably been in effect since his early days at John & Peterās. The responsibilities are something like work hard, support others, be ready to deliver at all times, and, maybe above all, be yourself.
āI was told in no uncertain terms,ā he recalls, āthat the important thing about being a musician was to find your own thing. Youāve got to stand on your own feet. The ultimate goal that weāre all still working on is to sing our own song with our own voice.ā