
A beginner’s guide to what makes tube amps growl, bark, and purr—from preamp tubes to output transformers and every cathode in between.
Fat, bright, warm, thick, twangy, jangly, hot, creamy—guitarists use a lot of adjectives to describe their amps' tones, and the longer you play, the more you come to understand the gist of what these terms represent sonically. But what's responsible for these foundational characteristics? What is it within a circuit that makes one amp sweetly clean while another is raw and crunchy, when both are set to the same position on the volume knob?
There are several factors under the hood that affect the aural characteristics of the signal that passes through your amp, but many of the ingredients that make various classic tube amps so different from each other are found within their gain stages. On top of that, the amps' tonal traits are further determined by how these gain stages interact with each other within the circuit as a whole—for example, how the first gain stage impacts the second, and vice-versa, as the guitar signal makes its way down the line. Even beyond the ratios of clean-to-mean and hot-to-cool that are determined by an amp's gain stages, the various configurations are also responsible for a huge part of its voice—its core tone. In most amps, the EQ stages that we often think of as shaping the tone are there just to take away specific frequency bands from the sonic foundation that has already been formed elsewhere.
Most of the amps we consider high gain use several gain stages chained together—something called "cascading gain"—to achieve a hotter signal than one or two more vintage-style gain stages are capable of on their own.
Looking beyond that core voice, gain stages are what make some amps shimmer while others scream. The Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+, Fender Twin Reverb, Marshall JCM800 2203, Bogner Ecstasy, and Soldano SLO are all tube amps that run at approximately 100 watts, but their very different types and numbers of gain stages are responsible for making one wail, another crunch and thump, and another chime and ring. Let's dig into the basic building blocks of different gain stages found in several classic amps' preamp sections, and then we'll see how coupling them to a range of different output stages further shapes their tone and response.
Setting the Stage
"Gain stage" is the term used to describe any place within a guitar amp where gain is added to the signal—that is, where its strength is increased. The external clue to a gain stage is often found by the presence of a knob that makes the amp louder in one way or another. It might be labeled volume, gain, drive, overdrive, lead, rhythm, or something else, but if the amp gets louder (and/or more distorted) when you turn it up, chances are the potentiometer behind that knob is interacting with a gain stage.
A look at the schematic for the early-'80s Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC reveals the several gain stages, related level controls, and the tone stage in the complex preamp envisioned by company founder Randall Smith.
In traditional all-tube guitar amps, gain is achieved with tubes, so each of these gain stages we're discussing revolves around a specific part of the circuit dedicated to helping each preamp tube do its thing. In fact, there are two triodes within each of the most common preamp tubes used in modern guitar amps—12AX7s and the like—so each of those little tubes can be wired up as if it is two preamp tubes within one bottle. In other words, the most common preamp tubes can provide two gain stages. (That said, some more esoteric amp designs use an EF86, a pentode preamp tube popularized by vintage Vox AC15s and modern Matchless DC30s alike, and which has only one gain stage per tube but is capable of more gain than a 12AX7.)
Of course, a12AX7—and related tubes like the 12AT7 and 12AY7—can also be used to perform other functions within the circuit, including as part of the tremolo, reverb, or effects-loop circuit, or as a phase inverter, for example. All this means that simply counting your amp's preamp tubes and multiplying by two doesn't necessarily reveal its total number of gain stages.
As complex as it is, the single-channel circuit of the Matchless John Jorgenson Signature Model requires only one gain stage, thanks to the capabilities of its EF86 pentode preamp tube (not shown), which is mounted on the other side of the chassis behind the associated circuitry highlighted here. The EF86 is also used in the Matchless DC30.
The thing about gain stages is that their effect on any amp's overall sound is both micro and macro. That is, the accompanying circuitry (resistors, capacitors, etc.) deployed by the amp's designer plays a key role in further shaping the tonal character of each gain stage. But that sound shaping is also cumulative.
So when several gain stages are involved—and there are at least two in the preamps of most guitar amps—each begins to act upon the other to determine the sound of the guitar signal that comes out the other end. As we'll see below, the amount by which multiple gain stages increase the guitar signal as one chains into the other in a more complex multi-stage preamp also determines how much distortion can be achieved when you turn up a high-gain amp.
Voicing
The simplicity of this Komet K29's point-to-point-wired preamp makes it easy to see the methods used to voice its two gain stages, which employ both halves of a single 12AX7 preamp tube (not shown, but mounted on the underside of the chassis, beneath the two highlighted orange capacitors). Two sets of cathode-bias resistors and bypass capacitors (Box 1) help establish the core voice of each stage, while two .022µF coupling capacitors (Box 2)—one between each gain stage and the level control that follows it—further refine the frequency response.
As mentioned previously, each gain stage requires a small network of capacitors and resistors to deliver the voltage that enables the gain stage to function, and to set its operating bias. The designer's choices of the types and values of components used plays a big part in shaping the frequency range of the signal at that point in the circuit. Signal capacitors are also used between stages (so-called "coupling caps") to block unwanted voltages from straying down the line when the audio signal itself is passed along, and the type and size of these capacitors further shapes the core tone of the amplifier. Clever designers very consciously and deliberately calculate the effect that components of different values and types will have on the audio signal at each stage.
In brief, and without getting overly technical, a designer might make a particular gain stage sound cleaner or hotter by adjusting its bias through careful resistor selection, and then make it fatter or brighter by using the appropriate bypass capacitor linked in parallel to that resistor. (Interestingly, the signal doesn't actually pass through these components: They merely help govern the tube's handling of the signal.) The designer may further sculpt the amp's voicing by placing a coupling capacitor of a relatively high value between that gain stage and the next to allow a full, bassy response, or one of a lower value to enhance a higher range of frequencies. Given the types and values of components available, there are countless possible permutations and nearly endless ways to dial in an amp's tone.
The OT plays a significant part in tone shaping, and its size, design, and build quality all factor into the way it does its job.
Beyond these means of voicing a gain stage and setting its propensity to distort, the ways in which stages are chained together plays a big part in determining how the amp as a whole behaves. We might split amps into two main categories—low and high gain—but in reality there can be a lot of overlap between the two.
Low-Gain or Vintage-Style Preamps
By today's standards, the preamps in most amps of the '50s and early to mid '60s are considered low-gain. These also tend to be simple and have fewer gain stages. They generally apply just enough preamplification to get your signal to a level that the output stage can handle, since the original objective of most guitar amps was to make the guitar louder while keeping it as clean as possible, rather than to intentionally generate distortion. It's no surprise, then, that these amps lean toward a cleaner, less distorted sound when the volume control is kept within reason—maybe up to 4 or 5 on the dial, give or take. Many low-gain or vintage-style amps are also known for their juicy overdrive, of course, which is achieved by turning that volume control up higher, at which point it does start to distort and push the output stage harder. In many cases this distortion would have been considered undesirable by the designers—an anomaly caused by pushing the amp beyond its intended operational parameters—but players quickly discovered that overdriven amps produce delectably dynamic tones.
The Fender "tweed" Deluxe schematic shows the first and second gain stages, tone control, phase inverter, and output stage of one channel. Note the way the 12AX7 is used by the second gain stage and phase inverter.
Good examples of this sort of amp are the Fender "tweed" Deluxe and the normal channel of a Vox AC30—as well as the many amps they inspired. Each has just a single gain stage in the preamp, although the tweed Deluxe also has another gain stage—often called a "driver" stage—right in front of the phase inverter, which is the gateway to the output stage.
Others, such as Fender's "blackface" Deluxe Reverb, Twin Reverb, and similar models, have multiple tone controls (treble, bass, and sometimes middle) in a more complex EQ circuit sandwiched between two tube gain stages. This doesn't always make the amps a lot "hotter," though, because that second stage is necessary to recover some signal level that's lost in the more complex tone network (which, of course, also allows more fine-tuning of the amp's frequency response). The tweed Deluxe and its ilk, on the other hand, have only a simple tone control that acts as a "treble bleed," much as the tone control on a guitar, to pass some of the high frequencies to ground, rather than having the entire signal pass through it and lose gain in the process.
Others still, such as larger tweed amps, the Vox "top boost" channel, and the Marshall plexi-style preamp, have a first gain stage followed by another tube that drives the tone network that follows it—something called a "cathode follower." In the most basic sense, the results are somewhat similar in all of these, in that the ratio of clean to overdrive in these low-gain preamp types correlates fairly directly to their volume levels. Yet each of these amps shapes your guitar signal somewhat differently, leading to variations in tone, distortion, and playing feel. All are technically low-gain circuits, but some players will express distinct preferences for one over the other according to how they perform.
High-Gain Preamps
This diagram illustrates the cascading gain stages, cathode-follower stage, tone stage, and phase inverter of an early-'80s Marshall JCM800 2204 in lead mode.
Consider the sound of the lead channel in modern channel-switching amps or single-channel amps intended purely for rock overdrive, and what you're hearing is a high-gain preamp. Although we refer to these as modern, this topology really roared into existence in its popular form in the late '60s, when Randall Smith introduced his first Mesa/Boogie amps. Shortly thereafter, others also began modifying existing amps' low-gain preamps to become high gain.
As we've touched on already, a single gain stage can be designed to squeeze the maximum amount of gain from that preamp tube, but most of the amps we consider high gain use several gain stages chained together—something called "cascading gain"—to achieve a hotter signal than one or two more vintage-style gain stages are capable of on their own. In amps of this type, the saturated overdrive sound we hear is typically produced by pushing early gain stages to very high levels, often chaining one into the other to continually drive the gain higher and enable desired levels of distortion, and then reining in the signal at the end of the line to create the desired final output level.
There's a broad range of high-gain designs on the market, and different makers' amps often do things in quite different ways. It's also worth noting that they achieve a pretty wide range of gain levels within what we broadly call "high gain." For example, today's metal player might not consider a late-'70s Marshall 2204 high-gain at all, whereas it would have sounded extremely hot to the average rocker of its era.
Familiar names that typify the high-gain genre are Bogner, Soldano, Diezel, Fryette, EVH, ENGL, Fuchs, and, of course, good old Marshall and Mesa/Boogie—plus far, far more than we can list here. Most follow some evolution of circuitry that began with the original Mesa/Boogie designs, which chain together several gain stages. By increasing the gain incrementally from stage to stage (usually with controls labeled drive, gain, lead, or even just volume placed between them to govern how much signal from the previous stage is passed along to the next as you ramp up the signal all along the chain), designers can both conjure much higher levels of gain than a one- or two-stage preamp and still provide the player with the ability to dial in anything from the minimum to the maximum of that preamp's capabilities.
Even a relatively minor change of tubes or components or values or topologies within one little stage somewhere between input and output might change an amp's tone.
Earlier renditions of cascading-gain amps, such as the Marshall 2204 and its ilk, only chained two gain stages into each other, with a master volume control further down the signal path to govern the overall volume. Modern high-gain amps, on the other hand, might have four or more gain stages.
Channel Switchers
Most modern high-gain amps also offer two or more footswitchable channels. The clean or rhythm channels are often configured like traditional one- or two-stage vintage preamps. If there's a channel between the low-gain rhythm and high-gain lead channels, it's usually configured to produce anything from crunch to a more old-school lead, using a couple of gain stages.
In these amps, a stomp of the footswitch merely selects which of the multiple preamp channels is routed to the output stage, which itself is not reconfigured in any way. (A few more elaborate designs do offer some switchable changes in the back end, too. Fryette's Sig:X and Mesa/Boogie's Mark Five amps come to mind, but this is still a rare feature.) Most so-called channel switchers simply incorporate different types of preamp stages that exist in parallel to each other, with only one being active at any time.
On the other hand, some channel switchers with high-gain possibilities introduce their lead modes by enabling an extra gain stage or two after the initial stages that provide the clean/rhythm mode. The original Mesa/Boogie designs were like this, with the guitar signal running through both the clean and lead circuits when switched to lead mode. Similarly, Dumble's legendary Overdrive Special—and the many amps inspired by it—add a two-stage overdrive circuit to the foundation that you're already running through for your rhythm tone when you stomp on the lead footswitch.
Another big distinguisher between multi-channel amps is whether the individual channels have their own EQ stages or share a stage. The former allows the player to tailor tone settings to suit the individual channel, but is obviously more complicated to build and requires squeezing more into the circuit. The latter requires finding a compromise in tone settings that works for both the rhythm and lead channels (and possibly a crunch channel)—although in most well-designed amps this isn't all that difficult to achieve.
Master Volume vs. No Master Volume
This Divided by 13 CCC 9/15 amp uses a post-phase-inverter master volume (PPIMV, highlighted here), with shielded leads running to and from the circuit junction just beyond the phase inverter.
Almost all high-gain amplifiers have a master volume control, which is necessary to achieve the desired overdrive/distortion level at a manageable overall volume. In such cases, the first volume, gain, or drive control (the name can vary) sets the gain of the first preamp stage, while the master volume generally follows any and all other gain stages to govern how much signal is passed on to the output stage.
A master volume can be placed toward the back end of the preamp stage, or in an early part of the output stage, or just about anywhere in between, but will behave somewhat differently in different locations. Many modern high-gain amps with multiple gain stages have corresponding level controls within each preamp channel, in addition to a master control in the output stage to govern overall volume. If your amp has a lead channel with controls labeled gain, lead level, and master, for example, this is most likely what you are seeing: one knob to set initial preamp gain, another to rein it in following a further gain stage, and a final control to set the overall volume level of the amp (which might also determine the final volume level of any clean/rhythm channel that the amp includes).
A late-stage master volume control (also sometimes called a level control, or just volume, if the first-stage control is labeled something like gain or drive) is often configured as a "post-phase-inverter master volume," which you'll often see shortened to PPIMV, so-named because it comes after the phase-inverter but before the output tubes, placing it well into the output stage. Such masters are praised by many players for their "transparency"—the way they preserve the fundamental tone and gain settings of the rest of the amp and allow you to achieve your desired sound at lower volumes, rather than changing the core tone when the master is turned down.
In truth, almost any means of lowering overall amp volume will change its sound slightly. The mere act of reducing decibels makes things sound somewhat different to the human ear. But in many cases, reducing the signal level that hits the output tubes also alters tones in other ways, if only slightly. Even so, several designers have gotten pretty close to perfecting the transparent master volume, and this knob performs superbly in many amps.
That said, the master volumes used in highly acclaimed Marshall 2203 and 2204 amps of the late '70s used potentiometers placed further up the signal chain, right after the tone stack and beforethe phase inverter—yet few players complain about these amps' legendary overdrive tones.
No Master Volume Control
Following the circuit of Marshall's 2204 master-volume amps of the late '70s, this MGL20 has a preamp gain control for its first gain stage (highlighted at left), and a master control that immediately follows its tone stage (right) in the signal chain, meaning it comes beforethe phase inverter.
In the early days of the "boutique" amp craze, and somewhat as a backlash to the high-gain, channel-switching monsters of the '80s and early '90s, there was a lot of buzz about non-master-volume amps—amps built more to vintage-inspired standards and designs.
If your amp has no master volume and just a single volume control (or one volume control per channel), it's probably a low-gain preamp. That doesn't mean you can't push it into overdrive, but you will usually need to crank the volume up to get there—and many players may still want an overdrive or distortion pedal out front for more saturated lead tones. However, not all non-master-volume amps are low gain. The highly prized Trainwreck amps made by the late Ken Fischer (and now being made under license), as well as models by builders such as Komet and Dr. Z—some of which were also co-designed by Fischer—have relatively high-gain preamps. Either way, if your amp lacks a master volume and you can only get your favorite tones at impractical volumes, you can purchase an output-attenuator unit to insert in the signal path between your amp's output and speaker(s). This lets you turn up the amp to achieve the desired level of dirt, then rein in the volume via the attenuator's level control.
Low-Gain with Master
These days, many amps with low-gain preamps also have a master volume. This configuration doesn't usually yield true high-gain tones, but it can frequently allow decent crunch or even vintage-level lead tones by turning up the initial volume and turning down the master volume.
The Output Stage
An amp's output stage comprises everything from the input side of its phase inverter to the jack on the back of the amp that sends the signal to the speakers, including the output tubes and output transformer in between, plus a bunch of capacitors and resistors connecting it all.
The output stage takes the relatively low-level electrical signal that the preamp has already increased in voltage and increases the voltage further, ultimately converting it to a high-wattage, low-impedance signal that will drive a speaker. The output stage begins with the phase inverter, which includes yet another preamp tube that is configured with a network of resistors and capacitors to split the audio signal into two strands, while flipping one strand to the reverse of the other's phase in order to pass along two mirror-image signals to the two sides of the output stage for final amplification.
The split, inverted signal is then passed to two output tubes (or two parallel-wired pairs in larger amps), which act in a "push-pull" configuration—one tube "pushing" one side of the split signal while the other tube "pulls" its reverse-phase partner—to further increase the signal's strength and send it along to the output transformer. The output transformer then converts the signal to one that will power a speaker. (Note that small "single-ended" amps with just one output tube, such as the Fender Champ or Vox AC4, don't work in this push-pull manner, and therefore don't require a phase inverter.)
Power and Distortion Capabilities
This MGL AmpWorks Lead Master 50's output transformer is the larger of the silver transformers, at the center of the row of three transformers behind the row of tubes. To its right is the power transformer, and to its left is the choke.
It's also important to know that the output stage is where an amp's overall power capability is determined: The combination of the type (and number) of output tubes and output transformer used are what make it a 15-watt amp or a 100-watt amp. A pair of 6V6s or EL84s and a relatively small output transformer deliver the former, for example, while four 6L6s or EL34s and a large transformer yield the latter. Any type of preamp stage we've discussed here, high gain or low, can essentially be partnered with any type of output stage.
In addition to determining output level, the output stage plays a big part in shaping the character and degree of the distortion induced when the amp is driven hard. Although in most amps the majority of distortion is generated in the preamp, this signal will drive smaller, lower-powered output stages harder than it will larger, higher-powered stages, thereby inducing more output-stage distortion in smaller amps, which can dramatically change the character of your overdrive sound in some cases.
Biasing Methods
Output-tube biasing might seem a rather esoteric and technical subject, but it's worth knowing a little about because the method by which any given amp is biased can affect its sound and performance. Further, knowing how an amp is biased should tell you a little something about the nature of its playing feel and harmonic content.
All tubes need to be biased—that is, have some control method applied to set their operating level at idle (much the way a car's carburetor is adjusted to set its idle)—but it is most significant with regard to output tubes. Bias is a very involved subject, but you mainly need to know that most amps' output tubes are biased in one of two main ways—by connecting their cathodes to ground via a large resistor of a value that determines this bias, or by applying a low negative voltage to their grids, as supplied by a small network of components connected to a tap on the power transformer. The former method is called "cathode bias," and the latter "fixed bias"—rather confusingly, perhaps, because the bias level on most fixed-biased amps made from the early '60s onward can actually be adjusted, whereas the bias level on cathode-biased amps is preset and cannot be adjusted (not without physically changing the bias resistor, at least).
Bias methods are significant because they help determine an amp's character and efficiency. Fixed-bias amps make somewhat more efficient use of their output tubes, in most cases, and provide a means of squeezing the maximum output wattage from any given design, while also generally sounding a little tighter and firmer, in the low-end in particular. Fender's Twin, Deluxe Reverb, and Bassman, and Marshall's JTM45 and plexi amps are classic examples of fixed-bias amps. Cathode-biased amps, on the other hand, tend to be less efficient, wattage-wise, while being characterized by a somewhat greater level of harmonic overtones when they begin to distort, along with what might be perceived as a softer bass response—and sometimes a slightly more tactile playing feel, too. Classic cathode-biased amps include the Fender tweed Deluxe, Vox AC15 and AC30, Matchless DC30, and Carr Mercury.
Output Transformers
In the vast majority of tube guitar amps, the output transformer (OT) is the largest component in the signal chain. It converts the high-impedance signal from the output tubes to a high-wattage, low-impedance signal. The OT is usually the second largest transformer hanging from the chassis' underside—the largest being the power transformer. Given that this component transforms the electrical signal from the output tubes to one that the speaker can pump through the air and into your ears, the OT plays a significant part in tone shaping, and its size, design, and build quality all factor into the way it does its job.
Roughly speaking, the bigger the OT relative to the output tubes, the bolder the sound and firmer the bass response. OT size also tends to equate to maximum wattage capabilities, although the OT can only translate what the output tubes provide. There are many other design parameters involved, of course, and these are just basic rules of thumb.
None of this means, however, that bigger is always better. An OT needs to be appropriately sized for the tubes that feed it, and appropriate to the designer's overall goals, too. For example, many smaller or mid-sized amps owe some of their juicy, succulent overdrive character to the fact that their output tubes are saturating a relatively small OT. Install a bigger, supposedly "higher quality" OT, and they might sound colder and less characterful.
The Tip of the Iceberg
If you want to learn more about the minutiae of how amplifier gain stages work, there are options out there for a tech deep-dive. But it should be easy enough already to see what a major mix-and-match puzzle any guitar amp is, and how much even a relatively minor change of tubes or components or values or topologies within one little stage somewhere between input and output might change its tone.
In the end, you really don't have to know how every little link in the signal chain functions to find the amp that will work best for you. But a good grounding in their basic operations—and more importantly, how different elements equate to different sound and feel—should help you narrow the search for the amp(s) that will best help you achieve your musical goals.
A Word About Tone Stages
Like many of its "blackface" kin, the Fender Super Reverb has a second gain stage that's essentially a gain make-up stage. The highlighted areas in this photo of a Super circuit show (Box 1) the first channel's first gain stage, gain make-up stage, and related circuitry, and (Box 2) the inputs and volume, treble, and bass controls related to those two gain stages.
Tone stages (aka EQ stages) are also part of the preamp, but are generally considered apart from gain stages per se, although some types of tone stages do contain, employ, or rely upon gain stages provided by preamp tubes.
In smaller or more basic amps, like the archetypal Fender "tweed" Deluxe, a single tone control might not be a stage unto itself at all, but rather a simple treble-bleed network formed by a potentiometer and a capacitor or two that determine how much high-frequency content is tapped out of the signal before it exits the preamp. More complex EQ stages have separate bass and treble controls, and many add a midrange control, too, frequently using a preamp tube either to drive those controls (to avoid signal loss) or as a gain make-up stage following the tone controls to get the signal back up to where it needs to be prior to hitting the output stage.
Although most tone stages' controls feature similar names, they can execute their functions via very different electrical means—and they can have vastly different levels of interactivity and frequency controllability.
Other than the one-knob tone control found on tweed Deluxe-style amps, there are two common tone-stage topologies. In one camp are those found on the Fender tweed Bassman, Marshall JTM45 and plexi amps, the Vox AC30's "top boost" channel, and similar models. In the other are those found in "blackface" and "silverface" Fenders like the Deluxe Reverb and Twin Reverb. The former group uses an entire preamp tube positioned before the tone controls as a driver and cathode-follower (that is, the signal comes out of the tube's cathode, rather than its anode). The latter places the tone controls between the channel's first gain stage and a second traditional gain stage (called a gain make-up stage) that replaces the gain lost by the signal while travelling through the controls and related circuitry. In addition to having controls that interact with each other slightly differently, each tone-stage topology also imparts a slightly different playing feel to the amp, best defined as a crisp and snappy response in the blackface/silverface tone stack, and a tactile, somewhat creamier, touchy-feely response in the tweed/Marshall cathode-follower topology.
[Updated 8/23/21]
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The Spirit Fall trio: drummer Brian Blade (right) and saxophonist Chris Potter (center) joined Patitucci (left) for a single day at The Bunker. “Those guys are scary. It almost puts pressure on me, how good they are, because they get it really fast,” says Patitucci.
Legendary bassist John Patitucci continues to explore the sound of a chord-less trio that balances melodicism with boundless harmonic freedom—and shares lessons he learned from his mentors Chick Corea and Wayne Shorter.
In 1959, Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue and John Coltrane’s Giant Steps—two of the most influential albums in jazz history—were recorded. It’s somewhat poetic that four-time Grammy-winning jazz bass icon John Patitucci was born that same year. In addition to a storied career as a bandleader, Patitucci cemented his legacy through his lengthy association with two giants of jazz: keyboardist Chick Corea, with whom Patitucci enjoyed a 10-year tenure as an original member of his Elektric and Akoustic bands, and saxophonist Wayne Shorter’s quartet, of which he was a core member for 20 years. Patitucci has also worked with a who’s who of jazz elites like Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Dizzy Gillespie, and Michael Brecker.
What distinguishes Patitucci is that he is one of the few jazz musicians who simultaneously enjoys a vibrant career as a classical bassist and first-call session bassist. His résumé—which includes recordings with pop icons like Sting and Bon Jovi, and hundreds of film dates—is virtually unparalleled. Patitucci also composes classical music and is frequently commissioned to write music for string quartets and other chamber ensembles. Among his numerous compositions are a piece for 6-string electric bass and string orchestra that was performed with Suono e Oltre, a chamber orchestra in Italy. In short, Patitucci is the very rare jack of all trades who is also exceptional at all.
Freedom without Chords
Patitucci’s latest release, Spirit Fall, is a trio album featuring Patitucci, drummer Brian Blade, and saxophonist Chris Potter. This instrumentation leaves out a traditional chordal instrument, and can be tricky to make sound full, as there is a large harmonic hole in the sonic space. But in the hands of master musicians, this setting offers more room for harmonic exploration and conversational interplay amongst the band members. Patitucci has been exploring this chord-less format since 2009’s Remembrance featuring Blade on drums and Joe Lovano on saxophone.Throughout Spirit Fall the trio employs a variety of textures and colors to make for an engaging listen. “Pole Star” has an open feel with the counterpoint between acoustic bass and sax discreetly implying the underlying progression. “Lipim,” which means hope in Cameroonian, has a lively afrobeat groove and a ridiculous sax solo by Chris Potter. Like many of his solos on Spirt Fall, Potter’s solo on “Lipim” veers through several harmonic detours that would have likely been hampered if a chordal instrument were imposing the harmony. “Spirit Fall” and “Thoughts and Dreams” sees Patitucci using his 6-string electric to explore gorgeously haunting figures. The bass solo on “Spirit Fall” sees Patitucci almost accompanying himself as he alternates between low notes and chords against blistering single-note lines.
Even though Patitucci had the luxury of studio time, Spirit Fall was recorded quickly, with mostly first or second takes, and the occasional third take. The trio was able to record a powerful musical statement in such a short time because they are a working band as opposed to hired guns that might possibly play together for the first time at the session.
John Patitucci's Gear
“I’m just a kid from Brooklyn,” says Patitucci. It was his formative years spent with his older brother (who played guitar) that led him to the bass.
Photo by Dave Stapleton
Guitars
- Yamaha TRBJP2 Signature Model 6-String
- Yamaha Custom Semi-Hollow 6-String
- 1965 Fender P Bass (Used on “Lipim”)
- Gagliano Double Bass
Amps
- Aguilar DB 751 for acoustic bass
- Aguilar Tone Hammer for electric bass
- Aguilar 4x10 cabinet
- Aguilar 1x12 cabinet
- Grace Design FELiX Version 2
- Grace Design m303 DI
Effects
- Line 6 HX Stomp
- Line 6 DL4
Strings and Accessories
- D’Addario Nickel Round Strings (.032-.045-.065-.085-.105-.130)
- Gruvgear Signature Straps
- Pirastro Evah Pirazzi Weich gauge
- Pirastro Perpetual
Prior to the recording, Patitucci sent demos out, and by the time they got to the studio they were ready to commit to tape. They finished the whole record in just one day without any rehearsals. “Not with those guys,” says Patitucci. “Those guys are scary. It almost puts pressure on me, how good they are, because they get it really fast [laughs]. I was hoping that my good takes were theirs too.”
Interestingly enough, while iconic chord-less trio albums by saxophonists like Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, and Joe Henderson played a big role in Patitucci’s musical upbringing, he came to record with that instrumentation almost by accident. “We were going to rehearse for that record [Remembrance], and [pianist] Brad Mehldau, who played on some tracks, couldn’t make the rehearsal,” recalls Patitucci. “So we rehearsed at Lovano’s house and it sounded so good I was almost like, ‘Wow, maybe we should do the record as a trio.’ But I had all this music written that really was for the piano. So I said, ‘Well, maybe someday.’ And then finally we got around to it.”
Spirit Fall was tailored to the sensibilities of Blade and Potter, both of whom Patitucci has played with a lot over the years. “We have a relationship and we have a sound together already because of the way they play. Brian’s sense of dynamics has made it easier for me to get the kind of acoustic bass sound live that I've always wanted to get. It’s not easy to do that if the drummer can’t play those wide dynamics like Brian can,” explains Patitucci. “And Chris has been playing my music for years. He’s just an incredible interpreter of my music, and I love that. I remember using him in the early ’90s. Interestingly enough, around the time I did Imprint, I was using him and I was also using Mark Turner. And it’s funny. I started teaching college [Patitucci was Professor of Jazz Studies at City College of New York and is currently teaching at Berklee College of Music] a lot in 2000, and all my students were trying to sound like those guys.”“As a composer, I wanted to have a chance to have major control over the sound and how we did things, as opposed to a live record.”
As a precursor to Spirit Fall, in 2022 Patitucci had recorded Live in Italy with the same lineup of Blade and Potter. He could have easily just done Spirit Falllive againwith the trio but this time he specifically chose to bring them into the studio. “As a composer, I wanted to have a chance to have major control over the sound and how we did things, as opposed to a live record,” explains Patitucci. “Live records are great, but I wanted to record in the studio with that band so we can get into some new compositions I was writing, and some through-composed things with the 6-string, as well as the acoustic.”
How Chick Helped Turn Four into Six
Patitucci isn’t fond only of the traditional trio sans chordal instrument format. In fact, he’s recorded in just about every context you can imagine. From completely solo bass on Soul of the Bass, to his Electric Guitar Quartet with two guitarists—Adam Rogers and Steve Cardenas on Brooklyn, to guitar trio plus string quartet plus Chris Potter on Line by Line. Patitucci uses each situation as a way to grow musically.When Patitucci first started playing with Corea it was in the trio format, along with drummer Dave Weckl. Corea was a keyboardist who covered a huge sonic range and Patitucci saw this as an opportunity to push the creative envelope. “Chick and I became very close. I had enormous respect and love for him and he taught me a lot. That’s how I really discovered the 6-string, because I felt like I needed it orchestrationally to play in that band,” says Patitucci. “I started playing with Chick and at first I played my 4-string, and it’s a trio, but I have to blow on every song. And he’s got all these synths, and I’m thinking, ‘Man, I need a low string, because he’s playing all these low notes. I want to play the low notes.’ [laughs] I need a 5-string at least. Then I heard Anthony Jackson play the six. He was the pioneer who invented it.”
Spirit Fall is the documentation of a working band exploring new music in the studio. It features all new compositions and an inventive take on “House of Jade,” written by Patitucci’s longtime mentor, Wayne Shorter.
Corea fronted the money for Patitucci’s first 6-string—a Ken Smith—and took some money out of his check every week to pay it off. The transition to the 6-string wasn’t immediate for Patitucci, however. There was actually a big learning curve to the new instrument. To make matters even more daunting, the first big tour was to begin two weeks after Patitucci received the new instrument. Despite all the potential risks, Corea was very encouraging. “Chick was really patient. It was ridiculous. It was so hard. I was just a glutton for punishment,” admits Patitucci. “I just wanted the sound, and I was so naive about what it would be like. When I got the 6-string, it was a couple of weeks before we started going out on major tours and I was clamming. Like I would go down to what I thought was the E string but was now the B string.”
Once he got a handle on it, the 6-string allowed Patitucci to finally maximize the potential of his fluid soloing style. “I wanted to play the 6-string because when the blowing comes around, the C string helps me get over the top as a band,” says Patitucci. “Chick dug the fact that when I was blowing I wanted to sound more like a tenor player.”
“Wayne [Shorter] made me have the courage to play very little and hang a note up in the air.”
Shortly after Patitucci joined his band, Corea convinced GRP Records to sign Patitucci, whose 1987 eponymous first solo album reached number 1 on the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart. Patitucci reflects, “The two biggest long term influences in terms of mentoring and what they did for my career would have been Chick Corea and then Wayne Shorter.”
The Spirit of Shorter
Patitucci first met Shorter in 1986, during the Chick, Wayne, and Al (Di Meola) tour. A year later Shorter asked Patitucci to record several tracks on his album, Phantom Navigator. This began his association with Shorter and led to Patitucci ultimately joining Shorter’s quartet in 2000.
It’s fitting that the only non-original tune on Spirit Fall is a Shorter tune, “House of Jade.” Shorter’s highly individual approach—particularly the electric stuff he was doing from the Atlantisperiod—shaped a lot of Patitucci’s conception of music. “I was playing electric bass and all the tunes were through-composed, except the blowing was like on one chord. And, you know, that’s challenging, actually,” reveals Patitucci. “And he was creating these incredible things, and he could do it with density or almost nothing, almost like one note. His lyricism and melodicism is so powerful that it really changed me. I was like, ‘Wow, I want to play like that. I want to be able to have a sound that I can be confident enough about to leave a ton of space and be able to just let space happen.’ Like, he got that from Miles.”
Moving to a 6-string bass wasn’t as natural for Patitucci as you might think. “When I got the 6-string, it was a couple of weeks before we started going out on major tours [with Chick Corea] and I was clamming.”
The minimalist approach that Shorter used at times was a stark contrast to some of the over-the-top pyrotechnics Corea’s Elektric Band was known for. “I was always into melodies too, but yes, in Chick’s band there were a lot of changes to play over, and sometimes a lot of fast tempos,” says Patitucci. “It wasn’t only chops, there were a lot of melodies and we played ballads too. I mean, I wanted to do that, but I didn’t have the courage to. Wayne made me have the courage to play very little and hang a note up in the air. With the 6-string, you can really do that. I started to realize that I was really interested in moving people in that way too.”
The Journey of the Kid from Brooklyn
Subliminally, the transition from 4- to 6-string bass might harken back to Patitucci’s childhood in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. He originally picked up the guitar, influenced by his brother Tom who had already been playing. Tom tried to teach him but ultimately the guitar just didn’t connect, and Tom sensed it. “He just said, ‘Why don’t you try the bass?’” recalls Patitucci. “Because we can play together then.” And that’s where it all began.
At 10, Patitucci got his first bass, a short-scale Sears Telstar bass that was hanging on a wall like a decoration down the street at somebody’s house on East 39th Street. “We bought it for 10 bucks and I thought it was great,” reflects Patitucci, who enjoyed rock ’n’ roll and James Jamerson’s playing on Motown Records in his formative years.
When he was 13, Patitucci’s family moved out to the West Coast. Soon after the move, Patitucci started learning the acoustic bass, and by the early ’80s, Patitucci’s career started taking off. In 1996 he moved back to New York, where he continues to break new musical ground.
With a career spanning over four decades and still going strong, Patitucci has achieved the dream that many aspiring musicians long for. What is the secret to his success? “Nobody knows the secret and anybody who tells you they know that is lying,” says Patitucci. “I don't even deserve it. I think that God was really good to me and blessed me. He somehow allowed me to have my dream come true. I look at it now as a 65-year old guy and go, ‘Wow, that was really a long shot.’ [laughs] It’s kind of unbelievable. You know what, I mean? I’m just this kid from Brooklyn, you know?”YouTube It
This trio rendition of the Beatles’ “And I Love Her” showcases John Patitucci’s ability to add chordal textures on his 6-string bass to create a full sound, even without a conventional chordal instrument like guitar or piano.
With authentic stage-class Katana amp sounds, wireless music streaming, and advanced spatial technology, the KATANA:GO is designed to offer a premium sound experience without the need for amps or pedals.
BOSS announces the return of KATANA:GO, an ultra-compact headphone amplifier for daily jams with a guitar or bass. KATANA:GO puts authentic sounds from the stage-class BOSS Katana amp series at the instrument’s output jack, paired with wireless music streaming, sound editing, and learning tools on the user’s smartphone. Advanced spatial technology provides a rich 3D audio experience, while BOSS Tone Exchange offers an infinite sound library to explore any musical style.
Offering all the features of the previous generation in a refreshed external design, KATANA:GO delivers premium sound for everyday playing without the hassle of amps, pedals, and computer interfaces. Users can simply plug it into their instrument, connect earbuds or headphones, call up a memory, and go. Onboard controls provide access to volume, memory selection, and other essential functions, while the built-in screen displays the tuner and current memory. The rechargeable battery offers up to five hours of continuous playing time, and the integrated 1/4-inch plug folds down to create a pocket-size package that’s ready to travel anywhere.
KATANA:GO drives sessions with genuine sounds from the best-selling Katana stage amp series. Guitar mode features 10 unique amp characters, including clean, crunch, the high-gain BOSS Brown type, two acoustic/electric guitar characters, and more. There’s also a dedicated bass mode with Vintage, Modern, and Flat types directly ported from the Katana Bass amplifiers. Each mode includes a massive library of BOSS effects to explore, with deep sound customization available in the companion BOSS Tone Studio app for iOS and Android.
The innovative Stage Feel feature in KATANA:GO provides an immersive audio experience with advanced BOSS spatial technology. Presets allow the user to position the amp sound and backing music in different places in the sound field, giving the impression of playing with a backline on stage or jamming in a room with friends.
The guitar and bass modes in KATANA:GO each feature 30 memories loaded with ready-to-play sounds. BOSS Tone Studio allows the player to tweak preset memories, create sounds from scratch, or import Tone Setting memories created with stage-class Katana guitar and bass amplifiers. The app also provides integrated access to BOSS Tone Exchange, where users can download professionally curated Livesets and share sounds with the global BOSS community.
Pairing KATANA:GO with a smartphone offers a complete mobile solution to supercharge daily practice. Players can jam along with songs from their music library and tap into BOSS Tone Studio’s Session feature to hone skills with YouTube learning content. It’s possible to build song lists, loop sections for focused study, and set timestamps to have KATANA:GO switch memories automatically while playing with YouTube backing tracks.
The versatile KATANA:GO functions as a USB audio interface for music production and online content creation on a computer or mobile device. External control of wah, volume, memory selection, and more are also supported via the optional EV-1-WL Wireless MIDI Expression Pedal and FS-1-WL Wireless Footswitch.
For more information, please visit boss.info.
In our third installment with Santa Cruz Guitar Company founder Richard Hoover, the master luthier shows PG's John Bohlinger how his team of builders assemble and construct guitars like a chef preparing food pairings. Hoover explains that the finer details like binding, headstock size and shape, internal bracing, and adhesives are critical players in shaping an instrument's sound. Finally, Richard explains how SCGC uses every inch of wood for making acoustic guitars or outside ventures like surfboards and art.
We know Horsegirl as a band of musicians, but their friendships will always come before the music. From left to right: Nora Cheng, drummer Gigi Reece, and Penelope Lowenstein.
The Chicago-via-New York trio of best friends reinterpret the best bits of college-rock and ’90s indie on their new record, Phonetics On and On.
Horsegirl guitarists Nora Cheng and Penelope Lowenstein are back in their hometown of Chicago during winter break from New York University, where they share an apartment with drummer Gigi Reece. They’re both in the middle of writing papers. Cheng is working on one about Buckminster Fuller for a city planning class, and Lowenstein is untangling Austrian writer Ingeborg Bachmann’s short story, “Three Paths to the Lake.”
“It was kind of life-changing, honestly. It changed how I thought about womanhood,” Lowenstein says over the call, laughing a bit at the gravitas of the statement.
But the moment of levity illuminates the fact that big things are happening in their lives. When they released their debut album, 2022’s Versions of Modern Performance, the three members of Horsegirl were still teenagers in high school. Their new, sophomore record, Phonetics On and On, arrives right in the middle of numerous first experiences—their first time living away from home, first loves, first years of their 20s, in university. Horsegirl is going through changes. Lowenstein notes how, through moving to a new city, their friendship has grown, too, into something more familial. They rely on each other more.
“If the friendship was ever taking a toll because of the band, the friendship would come before the band, without any doubt.”–Penelope Lowenstein
“Everyone's cooking together, you take each other to the doctor,” Lowenstein says. “You rely on each other for weird things. I think transitioning from being teenage friends to suddenly working together, touring together, writing together in this really intimate creative relationship, going through sort of an unusual experience together at a young age, and then also starting school together—I just feel like it brings this insane intimacy that we work really hard to maintain. And if the friendship was ever taking a toll because of the band, the friendship would come before the band without any doubt.”
Horsegirl recorded their sophomore LP, Phonetics On and On, at Wilco’s The Loft studio in their hometown, Chicago.
These changes also include subtle and not-so-subtle shifts in their sophisticated and artful guitar-pop. Versions of Modern Performance created a notion of the band as ’90s college-rock torchbearers, with reverb-and-distortion-drenched numbers that recalled Yo La Tengo and the Breeders. Phonetics On and On doesn’t extinguish the flame, but it’s markedly more contemporary, sacrificing none of the catchiness but opting for more space, hypnotic guitar lines, and meditative, repeated phrases. Cheng and Lowenstein credit Welsh art-pop wiz Cate Le Bon’s presence as producer in the studio as essential to the sonic direction.
“On the record, I think we were really interested in Young Marble Giants—super minimal, the percussiveness of the guitar, and how you can do so much with so little.”–Nora Cheng
“We had never really let a fourth person into our writing process,” Cheng says. “I feel like Cate really changed the way we think about how you can compose a song, and built off ideas we were already thinking about, and just created this very comfortable space for experimentation and pushed us. There are so many weird instruments and things that aren't even instruments at [Wilco’s Chicago studio] The Loft. I feel like, definitely on our first record, we were super hesitant to go into territory that wasn't just distorted guitar, bass, and drums.”
Nora Cheng's Gear
Nora Cheng says that letting a fourth person—Welsh artist Cate Le Bon—into the trio’s songwriting changed how they thought about composition.
Photo by Braden Long
Effects
- EarthQuaker Devices Plumes
- Ibanez Tube Screamer
- TC Electronic Polytune
Picks
- Dunlop Tortex .73 mm
Phonetics On and On introduces warm synths (“Julie”), raw-sounding violin (“In Twos”), and gamelan tiles—common in traditional Indonesian music—to Horsegirl’s repertoire, and expands on their already deep quiver of guitar sounds as Cheng and Lowenstein branch into frenetic squonks, warped jangles, and jagged, bare-bones riffs. The result is a collection of songs simultaneously densely textured and spacious.
“I listen to these songs and I feel like it captures the raw, creative energy of being in the studio and being like, ‘Fuck! We just exploded the song. What is about to happen?’” Lowenstein says. “That feeling is something we didn’t have on the first record because we knew exactly what we wanted to capture and it was the songs we had written in my parents’ basement.”
Cheng was first introduced to classical guitar as a kid by her dad, who tried to teach her, and then she was subsequently drawn back to rock by bands like Cage The Elephant and Arcade Fire. Lowenstein started playing at age 6, which covers most of her life memories and comprises a large part of her identity. “It made me feel really powerful as a young girl to know that I was a very proficient guitarist,” she says. The shreddy playing of Television, Pink Floyd’s spacey guitar solos, and Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan were all integral to her as Horsegirl began.
Penelope Lowenstein's Gear
Penelope Lowenstein likes looking back at the versions of herself that made older records.
Photo by Braden Long
Effects
- EarthQuaker Westwood
- EarthQuaker Bellows
- TC Electronic PolyTune
Picks
- Dunlop Tortex 1.0 mm
Recently, the two of them have found themselves influenced by guitarists both related and unrelated to the type of tunes they’re trading in on their new album. Lowenstein got into Brazilian guitar during the pandemic and has recently been “in a Jim O’Rourke, John Fahey zone.”
“There’s something about listening to that music where you realize, about the guitar, that you can just compose an entire orchestra on one instrument,” Lowenstein says. “And hearing what the bass in those guitar parts is doing—as in, the E string—is kind of mind blowing.”
“On the record, I think we were really interested in Young Marble Giants—super minimal, the percussiveness of the guitar, and how you can do so much with so little,” Cheng adds. “And also Lizzy Mercier [Descloux], mostly on the Rosa Yemen records. That guitar playing I feel was very inspiring for the anti-solo,[a technique] which appears on [Phonetics On and On].”This flurry of focused discovery gives the impression that Cheng and Lowenstein’s sensibilities are shifting day-to-day, buoyed by the incredible expansion of creative possibilities that setting one’s life to revolve around music can afford. And, of course, the energy and exponential growth of youth. Horsegirl has already clocked major stylistic shifts in their brief lifespan, and it’s exciting to have such a clear glimpse of evolution in artists who are, likely and hopefully, just beginning a long journey together.
“There’s something about listening to that music where you realize, about the guitar, that you can just compose an entire orchestra on one instrument.”–Penelope Lowenstein
“In your 20s, life moves so fast,” Lowenstein says. “So much changes from the time of recording something to releasing something that even that process is so strange. You recognize yourself, and you also kind of sympathize with yourself. It's a really rewarding way of life, I think, for musicians, and it's cool that we have our teenage years captured like that, too—on and on until we're old women.”
YouTube It
Last summer, Horsegirl gathered at a Chicago studio space to record a sun-soaked set of new and old tunes.