We asked our readers to get their mods out. Here are some of the coolest.
SHANE KELLY: STEAMPUNK STRADIVARIUS
When Shane Kelly grabbed this mid-2010s Dean Cadillac X at a pawnshop for $100, he saw it as something more. After some routing, the removal of a black finish, and the raiding of a local hardware store, it’s now a steampunk tone machine. He notes: “While the hardware”—all for show—“definitely adds weight, it is balanced out by the removal of wood, so it weighs about the same as a standard Les Paul.” How’s it sound? Kelly says it’s killer!
Check out the tube-driven headstock and gauges. We don’t think this is what ZZ Top meant when they wrote “Got Me Under Pressure,” but….
CARY CUMMINGS: SKULLDUGGERY
When Cary Cummings dreamt of jamming with Steve Vai in Pompeii (Was that during or post-lava, Cary?), this guitar was in his hands. So, he brought it to life. His “Skull Top” was originally a made-in-Mexico arctic-white Fender Standard Tele. He refinished the top, leaving the sides and back white, and added a Warmoth T-style neck, and Gotoh Tuners. Cummings also painted the neck dots and headstock to match the blue top. The original bridge was replaced with three Wilkinson-compensated brass saddles, and he added a Bigsby B50 vibrato. Electronics were swapped with a Sprague orange drop tone cap, a Seymour Duncan Jerry Donahue Lead Tele bridge pickup, and a Gibson Burstbucker Pro in the neck. Now it’s ready for Día de los Muertos.
JOHN HEINZ: GILDED GUILD
This alien was born as a Guild X-79 with a red finish that John Heinz scored at a guitar show—minus hardware and kinda trashed—for $35. He stripped and repainted it with auto lacquer: lapis-pearl blue over a black shade with color-change flakes. The original stop tailpiece got bumped for a Kahler trem, and Heinz installed an EMG and a Kent Armstrong pickup along with Grover tuners. He also carved a comfort cut into the back and made the aluminum pickguard. “It played and sounded great, but I found it a little uncomfortable to play, with the very long top horn,” he says. So, now this space critter may be in a galaxy far, far away. Heinz swapped it, along with some cash, for a Gibson Les Paul BFG.
LUIS MARCELO FERNÁNDEZ SEOANE: A HIGHLY PERSONALIZED STRAT
Here’s a partscaster that’s, well, the sum of its parts, if not more. The neck and body are from Fender.com, but the rest of his guitar is highly subjective. Luis Marcelo Fernández Seoane was seeking many switching options for its Fender Jeff Beck Hot Noiseless pickups. Check the pickguard and you’ll see an add-neck switch, a series/parallel switch, a blower switch, a middle tone control wired for the neck and middle pickups, and a bottom tone control for the bridge pickup. The blower switch is wired so he can choose the combination of pickups going straight to the output jack. “For not much more than a stock model, and much less than a Custom Shop offering, I got the Strat I always wanted,” Seoane says. His hotrod also includes a two-point Strat trem ordered with six vintage saddles and Schaller locking tuners. Plus, he steel-wooled the back of the neck for a more organic playing feel. The output is a Pure Tone stereo jack. Why? “I prefer the Pure Tone TRS-style jack, because even though I’m only using the tip and the sleeve, the unconnected ring provides an added measure of security,“ Seoane adds.
TATE FERGUSON: SIMPLY ELEGANT
Here’s an S-style created after Covid ended Tate Ferguson’s gigs for a spell. Starting with a Muslady kit he bought on eBay for $76 including shipping, he did a little sanding, so the neck and body fit together well, and the bridge and tuners that came with the kit did the trick. He finished the body and the back of the neck with a few coats of Tru-Oil gunstock finish. Then things got real. The string slots on the kit’s plastic nut were too narrowly spaced, so Ferguson installed a nut he made from a dog-chew cattle bone he’d bought at a pet shop. “There’s enough bone for a dozen nuts on one of those,” he notes. “I’ve made guitar and mando nuts from scratch now and then, using the StewMac nut files I bought many years ago.” He also made the lovely pickguard from faux abalone, sourced via Amazon, and attached it with Velcro, and installed a Guitar Madness Songbird (Firebird-style) pickup. “The tone knob is a Fender no-load pot, and the knobs come from a long-defunct 1980s MXR limiter pedal,” adds the impressive recycler. Plus, the 3-spring whammy holds its tuning well. “I’ve been messing around with solidbody electric guitars since 1969, and I’m starting to get better at it,” Ferguson says, modestly.
NIKOLAS SIMON: BACK TO THE FUTURE
“In a world full of mods, I decided to bring my 1961 Gibson Melody Maker back to original spec,” says Nikolas Simon. So out went the Seymour Duncan Hot Stack Tele pickup. (That pickup’s base was shaved to fit in the original cavity without routing, and there was a push-pull pot for single-coil tone.) “I had a set of original early ’60s pots that were still wired from the factory, and sourced a 1964 pickup to complete the ‘mod’ for this versatile guitar,” Simon says.
SCOTT HASKITT: SWITCHED UP
Scott Haskitt “absolutely fell in love with this guitar” when he got it, but also loves the idea of bridge and neck pickups with the same amount of highs.
After a few different pickups sets, he found a solution: installing a new tone cap and a bridge-resistor toggle on this Novo Miris T 2021. He also swapped in a Bliss humbucker (soapbar) and a T-Bar Bridge (with P-90 characteristics) by McNelly Pickups. “The DPDT on/on switch is wired to toggle between the bridge pickup with a 500k pot (up) and a 47k resistor in the circuit (down), so it sounds more equal to the neck pickup.”
The neck pickup does not ever connect to the resistor. When the resistor is not engaged (up), the whole circuit uses the Novo stock .022 tone capacitor, and when the resistor is engaged (down), the whole circuit uses a 0.0015 capacitor, for completely different and more usable sounds with the tone pot rolled all the way off. The Novo uses 500k for both volume and tone pots.
KRISTOFFER HAGEN: THE “PG’S FAULT” MOD
Kristoffer Hagen says, “I fell deep in a rabbit hole of Premier Guitar mod articles.” In particular, “Bass Bench: Cheap and Easy Bass Mods,” from 2012, and “Three Must-Try Guitar Wiring Mods,” from 2014, inspired his project. It started with a B-stock Warwick RockBass that played well, but its active electronics didn’t provide the tones Hagen wanted. “The finish concept was stolen from a YouTube video,” he relates. “The color was supposed to be dark blue but turned out a little green. I settled on Nordstrand pickups because they looked unique.” The “Bass Bench” article fueled his idea for a series/parallel switch. And in the wiring article, he discovered the Stellartone ToneStyler rotary cap switch. “Those pickups and wiring turned an uninteresting bass into a complete monster,” he attests. In the photo for Hagen’s mod project, you’ll see: 1) the original bass, 2) the striped wood grain, 3) the routing for soapbar pickups, 4) the “dark blue” staining, 5) the silver finishing wax to fill the grain, 6) the surface wax, 7) the new passive electronics, and 8) the Nordstrand Big Single pickups in place along with a black bridge.
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On her new record with her trio, Molly Miller executes a live-feeling work of structural harmony that mirrors her busy life.
Miller has a lot on her plate. In addition to gigs leading the Molly Miller Trio, she also plays guitar in Jason Mraz’s band, and teaches at her alma mater, the University of Southern California (USC), where, after a nine-year stint, she earned her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate in music. In 2022, she became a professor of studio guitar at USC. Prior to that, she was the chair of the guitar department at the Los Angeles College of Music.
Molly Miller's Gear
Miller plays a fair bit of jazz, but considers herself simply a guitarist first: “Why do I love the guitar? Because I discovered Jimi Hendrix.”
Photo by Anna Azarov
Guitars
- 1978 Gibson ES-335
- Fender 1952 Telecaster reissue with a different neck and a bad relic job (purchased from Craigslist)
- Gibson Les Paul goldtop with P-90s
Amps
- Benson Nathan Junior
- Benson Monarch
- Fender Princeton Reverb Reissue (modified to “widen sound”)
Effects
- Chase Bliss Audio Dark World
- Chase Bliss Audio Warped Vinyl
- EarthQuaker Devices Dispatch Master
- EarthQuaker Devices Dunes
- EarthQuaker Devices Special Cranker
- JAM Pedals Wahcko
- JAM Pedals Ripply Fall
- Strymon Flint
- Fulltone Clyde Wah
- Line 6 Helix (for touring)
Strings & Picks
- Ernie Ball .011s for ES-335 and Les Paul
- Ernie Ball .0105s for Telecaster
- Fender Celluloid Confetti 351 Heavy Picks
To get things done, Miller has had to rely on a laser-focused approach to time management. “I’ve always kind of been juggling different aspects of my career. I was in grad school, getting a doctorate, TA-ing full time—so, teaching probably 20 hours a week, and then also doing probably four or five gigs a week, and getting a degree,” explains Miller. “I had to figure out how to create habits of, ‘I really want to play a lot of guitar, and gig a lot, but I also need to finish my degree and make extra money teaching, and I also want to practice.’ There’s a certain level of organization and thinking ahead that I always feel like I have to be doing.”
“The concept of the Molly Miller Trio—and also a part of my playing—is we are playing songs, we are bringing back the instrumental, we are thinking about the arrangement.”
The Molly Miller Trio’s latest release, The Battle of Hotspur, had its origins during the pandemic. Miller and bassist Jennifer Condos started writing the songs in March 2020, sending files back and forth to each other. They finally finished writing the album’s last song, “Head Out,” in December 2021, and four months later, recorded the album in just two days. The 12-song collection is subtle and cool, meandering like a warm, sparkling country river through a backwoods county. The arrangements feel spacious and distinctly Western—Miller’s guitar lines are clean and clear and dripped with just the right level of reverb, trem, and chorus, while Jay Bellerose’s brush-led percussion trots alongside like a trusty steed.
The Battle of Hotspur has a live feel, and that aspect was 100-percent deliberate. Miller says, “That’s the exact intention of our records—we want to create a record that we can play live. Jason Wormer, the recording and mixing engineer that did our record, came to a show of ours and was like, ‘This is incredible.’ He’s recorded so many records and was like, ‘This is the first time I’ve ever recorded a record that sounds the same live.’ And that was our exact intention. Because I feel like [the goal of] the trio itself was to be full. It’s not supposed to be like, ‘Oh, let’s put saxophone and let’s put keys and other guitars on it.’ The concept of the record is a full trio like the way Booker T. & the M.G.’s were. It’s not, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if you added another instrument?’ No, we’re an instrumental trio.”
Musicality is what separates Miller from the rest of the pack. She has prodigious chops but uses them appropriately, when it makes musical sense, and her ability to honor a song’s written melody and bring it to life is one of her strong suits. “That’s a huge part of what we do,” she says. “The concept of the Molly Miller Trio—and also a part of my playing—is we are playing songs, we are bringing back the instrumental, we are thinking about the arrangement. The solo is a vehicle to further the story, to further the song, not just for me to shred. So often, you play a song, and you could be playing the solo over any song. There’s not enough time spent talking about how to play a melody convincingly, and then play a solo that’s connected to the melody.... Whether it’s a pop song, an original, or a standard, how you’re playing it is everything, and not just how you’re shredding over it.”
Miller still gets pigeonholed by expectations in the music industry, including the assumption that she’s a singer-songwriter: “I don’t sing. I’m a fucking guitar player.”
Photo by Anna Azarov
Miller’s strong sense of melody can be traced to her diverse palette of influences. Even though she’s a “jazzer” by definition, she’ll cover pop songs like the Everly Brothers’ “All I Have to Do is Dream” and the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” Miller says, “I spent nine years in jazz school. I practice ‘Giant Steps’ still for fun because I think it’s good for my guitar playing. But it was a release to be like, ‘I am not just a jazz guitar player at all!’ Why do I love the guitar? Because I discovered Jimi Hendrix, right? What made me feel things in high school? Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and No Doubt. It’s like, Grant Green’s not why I play the guitar.
“I play jazz guitar, but I’m a guitar player that loves jazz. What do I put on my playlist? It’s not like I just listen to Wes Montgomery. I go from Wes Montgomery to the Beach Boys to freakin’ Big Thief to Bob Dylan to Dave Brubeck. The musicians I love are people who tell stories and have something to say—Brian Wilson, Cat Stevens.... They’re amazing songwriters.”
“Whether it’s a pop song, an original, or a standard, how you’re playing it is everything, and not just how you’re shredding over it.”
Despite a successful career, Miller continually faces sexism in the industry. “I went to a guitar hang two days ago. It was a big company, and they invited me to come and check out guitars. And I’m playing—I clearly know how to play the instrument—and this photographer there is like, ‘Oh, so are you a singer?’ And I’m just like, ‘No, I don’t sing. Fuck you,’” recalls Miller. “It’s such an internal struggle because of the interactions I have with the world. This kind of gets this thing in me where I feel like I need to prove to people, like, I am a guitar player. And at this point, I know I’m established enough. I play the guitar, and I know how to play it. I’m good, whatever. There still is this ego portion that I’m constantly fighting, and it comes from random people walking up to me and asking about me playing acoustic guitar and my singer-songwriter career or whatever. And I’m like, ‘I don’t sing. I’m a fucking guitar player.’”
YouTube It
Molly Miller gets to both tour with and open up for Jason Mraz’s band. Here’s a taste of Miller leading into Mraz’s set with some adeptly and intuitively performed riffs from a show in July 2022.
Alex LIfeson, Victor
Victor, originally released on January 9, 1996, marks Alex Lifeson’s solo debut. Lifeson took on the roles of songwriter, producer, and mixer for this album. For the first time, Victor will be available on vinyl, featuring a complete remix by Lifeson himself to enhance the audio quality. The fourth side of the album includes four instrumental tracks previously exclusive to Lifeson’s website. Guest artists include lead vocalist Edwin from I Mother Earth, Primus bassist Les Claypool, and Canadian powerhouse vocalist Lisa Dalbello. The 15-song collection is paired with striking 2024 reimagined artwork by Fantoons Animation Studios.
As a Rush Backstage exclusive, Alex Lifeson will personally autograph 1,000 lithographs to be included with the Ruby Translucent 2LPs, which are available only through the Rush Backstage web store.
Geddy Lee, My Favorite Headache
My Favourite Headache, Geddy Lee’s only solo album to date, was initially released on November 14, 2000. This reissue marks its first vinyl pressing since a limited-edition Record Store Day exclusive in 2019. The fourth side of the album features two instrumental mixes. Produced by Lee, Ben Mink, and David Leonard, the album includes contributions from Mink and drummers Matt Cameron (Soundgarden/Pearl Jam) and Jeremy Taggart (Our Lady Peace).
For more details on the Geddy Lee reissue and to preorder, visit: https://lnk.to/MyFavouriteHeadache.
Rush — bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist/vocalist Alex Lifeson, and the late, great drummer/lyricist Neil Peart — maintains a massive and uniquely passionate worldwide fanbase that acknowledges and respects the band’s singular, bold, and perpetually exploratory songcraft that combines sterling musicianship, complex compositions, and distinctive lyrical flair. Rush has sold more than 30 million albums in Canada and the U.S. alone, with worldwide sales estimated at 45 million (and counting). Between Music Canada and the RIAA, Rush has been awarded 50 Gold, 30 Platinum, and 9 Multi-Platinum album distinctions (and counting). Rush has also had 5 Top 10 Billboard Canada Albums, received 7 Grammy nominations, 10 Juno Award wins with 41 Nominations, and earned an induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. Additionally, Lee, Lifeson, and Peart were made Officers of the Order of Canada on May 9, 1996.
For more information, visit: https://www.rush.com
