Pedals offer a lot of opportunities for DIY projects. One of the coolest and easiest is removing the LED clipping diodes in a modern overdrive pedal and replacing them with old-school-sounding germanium ones. The result will be a more raw, aggressive tone. For this project, I used the popular and affordable EarthQuaker Devices Plumes ($99 street). Whether your version is the original with through-hole-type components or the current model with surface-mount components, you’ll easily be able to perform this mod because both versions contain through-hole-type LEDs.
Tools Required
These tools and supplies are available online. StewMac, for example, sells soldering irons, a desoldering pump, and other tools for instrument work, while nut drivers and germanium diodes can be acquired via a number of sources, including Amazon.
• Soldering iron
• Solder
• Desoldering pump
• No. 2 Phillips-head screwdriver
• Small flathead screwdriver
• 8 mm (5/16") nut driver/wrench
• 10 mm (25/64") nut driver/wrench
• 11 mm (7/16") nut driver/wrench
• 14 mm(9/16") wrench
• Flush cutters
• Small needle-nose pliers
• Germanium diodes
Step 1: Remove back cover.
Using a No. 2 Phillips-head screwdriver, remove the four screws holding the back cover on.
Step 2: Remove external hardware.
The fastest way to swap diodes may be to do it from the component side, without even removing the circuit board from the enclosure. But for easier access and less difficulty, I’m going to remove the entire printed circuit board (PCB) from the enclosure. Since almost everything is mounted directly to the PCB, this should be easy.
Using a small flathead screwdriver, remove the knobs from the potentiometer shafts. Only loosen the knob set screws enough to slide the knobs off. No need to be searching the floor for tiny screws.
Next, using an 8 mm (5/16") nut driver or wrench, remove the nut from the toggle switch. Then, using a 10 mm (25/64”) nut driver or wrench, remove the three nuts and washers from the potentiometers.
Photo 1
For the last piece of external hardware located on the face—the footswitch—we’ll actually want to go inside and disconnect its plug from the board.
On the bottom left side of the PCB, there will be a white rectangular connector. We need to unplug the female end from the male end. This is where small needle-nose pliers can help. A small screwdriver or even fingers may do the trick, too. Finesse is key. We don’t want to break the wires from the female connector.
Photo 2
Once dislocated, we can go back to the face and remove the footswitch using a 14 mm (9/16") wrench.
Step 3: Remove external hardware on the back heel.
The last external hardware to remove is the audio jack bushings.
Photo 3
Removing these will allow the PCB to slide out of the enclosure. Using an 11mm (7/16") nut driver or wrench, remove the bushings and beveled washers from the audio jacks. Now, the circuit board is free to be removed from the enclosure.
Step 4: Remove the PCB from the enclosure.
The four controls and two audio jacks that interface with the enclosure may create some resistance when trying to remove the PCB. Typically, it’s from the collars of the audio jacks. Using a small screwdriver in one of the top corners and gently prying the PCB back usually does the trick.
Photo 4
Step 5: Locating the clipping LEDs.
Now that the PCB is removed from the enclosure, we need to locate the clipping LEDs from the top side. They are the two small red silos at the center of the pedal.
Photo 5
Then, we need to locate the pads (the exposed metal on the PCB) for them on the bottom side, and, once again, they are centrally located.
Photo 6
Step 6: Removing the clipping LEDs.
Now that we’ve located the LEDs, let’s go ahead and remove them. Quick note: The Plumes I worked on was a new unit consisting primarily of surface mount device (SMD) components. The LEDs are located between the pots and switch, so they can be difficult to access from the bottom side. The easiest way to remove the LEDs is to actually snip them from the top side, after noting how they are soldered in place.
Photo 7
We’re not planning on using them, and they’re cheap enough to purchase again, so breaking them is no worry. We just need to be sure not to damage any of the nearby components. The best approach may be to break the shell/bulb of the LEDs. Doing this will expose the two leads.
Photo 8
With these two leads exposed, we can easily remove each lead from the solder pads on the top side. Let’s apply heat to each pad and remove the leads with small needle-nose pliers. Jump to the alternate approach section in step seven if you experience solder removal difficulties. (Quick tips: Existing solder tends to flow better when a bit of fresh solder is applied to it. You’ll also want to heat the lead/pad and then grab the lead with the pliers. Grabbing the lead with the pliers first will take longer because the heat will transfer to the metal of the pliers. Don’t apply heat to a solder pad longer than needed. Doing this can compromise the pad.)
Once the leads are removed, we need to remove the remaining solder from the pads. This is where the desoldering pump (commonly referred to as a “solder sucker”) comes in. Apply a bit of fresh solder to the pads and remove it using the pump. YouTube is your friend here, for some quick desoldering pump lessons.
Step 7: Adding germanium diodes.
Check the polarity of the diode. For this mod, I chose 1n34a diodes, which are very common and available on Amazon. These diodes are polarized and have a positive and negative side. On the 1n34a, the negative lead is designated by the black band that wraps around the body of the diode (this is not the case for all germanium diodes). On PCBs, square pads denote positive. However, for the diode package that we’re adding, the square pad is negative.
Photo 9
Using Photo 10 for reference, gently bend one of the diode legs so that it’s parallel with the body of the diode. Place the bent legs into their correct pads—the negative side of the diode will go into the square pad and the positive into the circlular pad. Solder the pads from the bottom side of the PCB and snip the excess leg length with a pair of flush cutters. The excess leg length can also be removed with needle-nose pliers by bending the legs back and forth several times.
Photo 10
Alternate approach: If you’re experiencing trouble getting the remaining solder out of each pad, there’s a different approach to try. This approach may actually be helpful for this particular mod, because the pad spacing is small. If a pad connects to a ground plane (a layer of copper typically the size of the entire PCB that connects directly to the main ground pin on the DC jack) or several locations (other components in the schematic) it will require more heat because the applied heat wants to travel to all the connected areas. Typically, with clipping diodes, only one pad will experience this and give desoldering difficulties. In such a case, follow these steps:
1. Establish which pad has remaining solder. For this mod, the square pads are the positive pads, because they hosted LEDs. The diodes we’re adding want to have the negative side go into the square pad.
2. Cut the negative side of the germanium diode lead down to about 5 mm length. The negative side on the 1n34a is the lead closest to the black line indicator seen in Photo 9.
3. Heat the pad that has remaining solder in it and drop the short side lead into the solder.
4. Bend the other lead over like a horseshoe and mate it with the desoldered pad. (See Photo 10)
5. Solder the second side.
6. Repeat for the second diode, keeping in mind that the polarity of the diode needs to be opposite of the first diode that we soldered in as seen in Photo 11.
Photo 11
Step 8: Test.
Before putting everything back together, plugging the unit in as-is can be helpful. This way, if it isn’t working, we can go back and look at solder joints and any potential issues.
Photo 12
Step 9: Put everything back together.
Simply reverse the disassembly steps and enjoy!
A final note: If you love DIY projects or are interested in learning pedal design, my company, CopperSound, has a DIY section on its website, which also includes links to other DIY dealers. We offer integrated breadboards, component substitution boxes, adaptors for toggle switches, and even solder dispensers. For more information, please check out coppersoundpedals.com/DIY
Stevie Van Zandt with “Number One,” the ’80s reissue Stratocaster—with custom paisley pickguard from luthier Dave Petillo—that he’s been playing for the last quarter century or so.
There’s a life-size cameo of a go-go dancer in banana yellow; she’s frozen in mid hip shimmy. One wall displays rock posters and B-movie key art, anchored by a 3D rendering of Cream’s Disraeli Gearsalbum cover that swishes and undulates as you walk past it. Van Zandt’s shelves are stuffed with countless DVDs, from Louis Prima to the J. Geils Band performing on the German TV concert seriesRockpalast. There are three copies ofIggy and the Stooges: Live in Detroit. Videos of the great ’60s-music TV showcases, from Hullabaloo to Dean Martin’s The Hollywood Palace, sit here. Hundreds of books about rock ’n’ roll, from Greil Marcus’s entire output to Nicholas Schaffner’s seminal tome, The Beatles Forever, form a library in the next room.
But I haven’t seen this yet because the elevator is dead, and I am in it. Our trap is tiny, about 5' by 5'. A dolly filled with television production equipment is beside me. There’s a production assistant whom I’ve never met until this morning and another person who’s brand new to me, too, Geoff Sanoff. It turns out that he’s Van Zandt’s engineer—the guy who runs this studio. And as I’ll discover shortly, he’s also one of the several sentinels who watch over Stevie Van Zandt’s guitars.
There’s nothing to do now but wait for the NYFD, so Sanoff and I get acquainted. We discover we’re both from D.C. and know some of the same people in Washington’s music scene. We talk about gear. We talk about this television project. I’m here today assisting an old pal, director Erik Nelson, best known for producing Werner Herzog’s most popular documentaries, like Grizzly Man and Cave of Forgotten Dreams. Van Zandt has agreed to participate in a television pilot about the British Invasion. After about half an hour, the elevator doors suddenly slide open, and we’re rescued, standing face-to-face with three New York City firefighters.
As our camera team sets up the gear, Sanoff beckons me to a closet off the studio’s control room. I get the sense I am about to get a consolation prize for standing trapped in an elevator for the last 30 minutes. He pulls a guitar case off the shelf—it’s stenciled in paint with the words “Little Steven” on its top—snaps open the latches, and instantly I am face to face with Van Zandt’s well-worn 1957 Stratocaster. Sanoff hands it to me, and I’m suddenly holding what may as well be the thunderbolt of Zeus for an E Street Band fan. My jaw drops when he lets me plug it in so he can get some levels on his board, and the clean, snappy quack of the nearly 70-year-old pickups fills the studio. For decades, Springsteen nuts have enjoyed a legendary 1978 filmed performance of “Rosalita” from Phoenix, Arizona, that now lives on YouTube. This is the Stratocaster Van Zandt had slung over his shoulder that night. It’s the same guitar he wields in the famous No Nukes concert film shot at Madison Square Garden a year later, in 1979. My mind races. The British Invasion is all well and essential. But now I’m thinking about Van Zandt’s relationship with his guitars.
Stevie Van Zandt's Gear
Van Zandt’s guitar concierge Andy Babiuk helped him plunge deeper down the Rickenbacker rabbit hole. Currently, Van Zandt has six Rickenbackers backstage: two 6-strings and four 12-strings.
Guitars
- 1957 Fender Stratocaster (studio only)
- ’80s Fender ’57 Stratocaster reissue “Number One”
- Gretsch Tennessean
- 1955 Gibson Les Paul Custom “Black Beauty” (studio only)
- Rickenbacker Fab Gear 2024 Limited Edition ’60s Style 360 Model (candy apple green)
- Rickenbacker Fab Gear 2023 Limited Edition ’60s Style 360 Model (snowglo)
- Rickenbacker 2018 Limited Edition ’60s Style 360 Fab Gear (jetglo)
- Two Rickenbacker 1993Plus 12-strings (candy apple purple and SVZ blue)
- Rickenbacker 360/12C63 12-string (fireglo)
- Vox Teardrop (owned by Andy Babiuk)
Amps
- Two Vox AC30s
- Two Vox 2x12 cabinets
Effects
- Boss Space Echo
- Boss Tremolo
- Boss Rotary Ensemble
- Durham Electronics Sex Drive
- Durham Electronics Mucho Busto
- Durham Electronics Zia Drive
- Electro-Harmonix Satisfaction
- Ibanez Tube Screamer
- Voodoo Labs Ground Control Pro switcher
Strings and Picks
- D’Addario (.095–.44)
- D’Andrea Heavy
Van Zandt has reached a stage of reflection in his career. Besides the Grammy-nominated HBO film, Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple, which came out in 2024, he recently wrote and published his autobiography, Unrequited Infatuations (2021), a rollicking read in which he pulls no punches and makes clear he still strives to do meaningful things in music and life.
His laurels would weigh him down if they were actually wrapped around his neck. In the E Street Band, Van Zandt has participated in arguably the most incredible live group in rock ’n’ roll history. And don’t forget Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes or Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul. He created both the Underground Garage and Outlaw Country radio channels on Sirius/XM. He started a music curriculum program called TeachRock that provides no-cost resources and other programs to schools across the country. Then there’s the politics. Via his 1985 record, Sun City, Van Zandt is credited with blasting many of the load-bearing bricks that brought the walls of South African apartheid tumbling into dust. He also acted in arguably the greatest television drama in American history, with his turn as Silvio Dante in The Sopranos.
Puzzlingly, Van Zandt’s autobiography lacks any detail on his relationship with the electric guitar. And Sanoff warns me that Van Zandt is “not a gearhead.” Instead he has an organization in place to keep his guitar life spinning like plates on the end of pointed sticks. Besides Sanoff, there are three others: Ben Newberry has been Van Zandt’s guitar tech since the beginning of 1982. Andy Babiuk, owner of Rochester, New York, guitar shop Fab Gear and author of essential collector reference books Beatles Gear and Rolling Stones Gear (the latter co-authored by Greg Prevost) functions as Van Zandt’s guitar concierge. Lastly, luthier Dave Petillo, based in Asbury Park, New Jersey, oversees all the maintenance and customization on Van Zandt’s axes.
“I took one lesson, and they start to teach you the notes. I don’t care about the notes.” —Stevie Van Zandt
I crawl onto Zoom with Van Zandt for a marathon session and come away from our 90 minutes with the sense that he is a man of dichotomies. Sure, he’s a guitar slinger, but he considers his biggest strengths to be as an arranger, producer, and songwriter. “I don’t feel that being a guitar player is my identity,” he tells me. “For 40 years, ever since I made my first solo record, I just have not felt that I express myself as a guitar player. I still enjoy it when I do it; I’m not ambivalent. When I play a solo, I am in all the way, and I play a solo like I would like to hear if I were in the audience. But the guitar part is really part of the song’s arrangement. And a great solo is a composed solo. Great solos are ones you can sing, like Jimi Hendrix’s solo in ‘All Along the Watchtower.’”
In his autobiography, Van Zandt mentions that his first guitar was an acoustic belonging to his grandfather. “I took one lesson, and they start to teach you the notes. I don’t care about the notes,” Van Zandt tells me. “The teacher said I had natural ability. I’m thinking, if I got natural ability, then what the fuck do I need you for? So I never went back. After that, I got my first electric, an Epiphone. It was about slowing down the records to figure out with my ear what they were doing. It was seeing live bands and standing in front of that guitar player and watching what they were doing. It was praying when a band went on TV that the cameraman would occasionally go to the right place and show what the guitar player was doing instead of putting the camera on the lead singer all the time. And I’m sure it was the same for everybody. There was no concept of rock ’n’ roll lessons. School of Rock wouldn’t exist for another 30 years. So, you had to go to school yourself.”
By the end of the 1960s, Van Zandt tells me he had made a conscious decision about what kind of player he wanted to be. “I realized that I really wasn’t that interested in becoming a virtuoso guitar player, per se. I was more interested in making sure I could play the guitar solo that would complement the song. I got more into the songs than the nature of musicianship.”
After the Beatles and the Stones broke the British Invasion wide open, bands like Cream and the Yardbirds most influenced him. “George Harrison would have that perfect 22-second guitar solo,” Van Zandt remembers. “Keith Richards. Dave Davies. Then, the harder stuff started coming. Jeff Beck in the Yardbirds. Eric Clapton with things like ‘White Room.’ But the songs stayed in a pop configuration, three minutes each or so. You’d have this cool guitar-based song with a 15-second, really amazing Jeff Beck solo in it. That’s what I liked. Later, the jam bands came, but I was not into that. My attention deficit disorder was not working for the longer solos,” he jokes. Watch a YouTube video of any recent E Street Band performance where Van Zandt solos, and the punch and impact of his approach and attack are apparent. At Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., last year, his solo on “Rosalita” was 13 powerful seconds.
Van Zandt and Bruce Springsteen’s relationship goes back to their earliest days on the Jersey shore. “Everybody had a different guitar; your guitar was your identity,” recalls Van Zandt. “At some point, a couple of years later, I remember Bruce calling me and asking me for my permission to switch to Telecaster. At that point, I was ready to switch to Stratocaster.”
Photo by Pamela Springsteen
Van Zandt left his Epiphone behind for his first Fender. “I started to notice that the guitar superstars at the time were playing Telecasters. Mike Bloomfield. Jeff Beck. Even Eric Clapton played one for a while,” he tells me. “I went down to Jack’s Music Shop in Red Bank, New Jersey, because he had the first Telecaster in our area and couldn’t sell it; it was just sitting there. I bought it for 90 bucks.”
In those days, and around those parts, players only had one guitar. Van Zandt recalls, “Everybody had a different guitar; your guitar was your identity. At some point, a couple of years later, I remember Bruce calling me and asking me for my permission to switch to Telecaster. At that point, I was ready to switch to Stratocaster, because Jimi Hendrix had come in and Jeff Beck had switched to a Strat. They all kind of went from Telecaster to Les Pauls. And then some of them went on to the Stratocaster. For me, the Les Paul was just too out of reach. It was too expensive, and it was just too heavy. So I said, I’m going to switch to a Stratocaster. It felt a little bit more versatile.”
Van Zandt still employs Stratocasters, and besides the 1957 I strummed, he was seen with several throughout the ’80s and ’90s. But for the last 20 or 25 years, Van Zandt has mainly wielded a black Fender ’57 Strat reissue from the ’80s with a maple fretboard and a gray pearloid pickguard. He still uses that Strat—dubbed “Number One”—but the pickguard has been switched to one sporting a purple paisley pattern that was custom-made by Dave Petillo.
Petillo comes from New Jersey luthier royalty and followed in the footsteps of his late father, Phil Petillo. At a young age, the elder Petillo became an apprentice to legendary New York builder John D’Angelico. Later, he sold Bruce Springsteen the iconic Fender Esquire that’s seen on the Born to Run album cover and maintained and modified that guitar and all of Bruce’s other axes until he passed away in 2010. Phil worked out of a studio in the basement of their home, not far from Asbury Park. Artists dropped in, and Petillo has childhood memories of playing pick-up basketball games in his backyard with members of the E Street Band. (He also recalls showing his Lincoln Logs to Johnny Cash and once mistaking Jerry Garcia for Santa Claus.)
“I was more interested in making sure I could play the guitar solo that would complement the song. I got more into the songs than the nature of musicianship.” —Stevie Van Zandt
“I’ve known Stevie Van Zandt my whole life,” says Petillo. “My dad used to work on his 1957 Strat. That guitar today has updated tuners, a bone nut, new string trees, and a refret that was done by Dad long ago. I think one volume pot may have been changed. But it still has the original pickups.” Petillo is responsible for a lot of the aesthetic flair seen on Van Zandt’s instruments. He continues, “Stevie is so much fun to work with. I love incorporating colors into things, and Stevie gets that. When you talk to a traditional Telecaster or Strat player, and you say, ‘I want to do a tulip paisley pickguard in neon blue-green,’ they’re like, ‘Holy cow, that’s too much!’ But for Stevie, it’s just natural. So I always text him with pickguard designs, asking him, ‘Which one do you like?’ And he calls me a wild man; he says, ‘I don’t have that many Strats to put them on!’ But I’ll go to Ben Newberry and say, ‘Ben, I made these pickguards; let’s get them on the guitar. And I’ll go backstage, and we’ll put them on. I just love that relationship; Stevie is down for it.”
Petillo takes care of the electronics on Van Zandt’s guitars. Almost all of the Strats are modified with an internal Alembic Stratoblaster preamp circuit, which Van Zandt can physically toggle on and off using a switch housed just above the input jack. Van Zandt tells me, “That came because I got annoyed with the whole pedal thing. I’m a performer onstage, and I’m integrated with the audience and I like the freedom to move. And if I’m across the stage and all of a sudden Bruce nods to me to take a solo, or there’s a bit in the song that requires a little bit of distortion, it’s just easier to have that; sometimes, I’ll need that extra little boost for a part I’m throwing in, and it’s convenient.”
In recent times, Van Zandt has branched out from the Stratocaster, which has a lot to do with Andy Babiuk's influence. The two met 20 years ago, and Babiuk’s band, the Chesterfield Kings, is on Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool Records. “He’d call me up and ask me things like, ‘What’s Brian Jones using on this song?’” explains Babiuk. “When I’d ask him why, he’d tell me, ‘Because I want to have that guitar.’ It’s a common thing for me to get calls and texts from him like that. And there’s something many people overlook that Stevie doesn’t advertise: He’s a ripping guitar player. People think of him as playing chords and singing backup for Bruce, but the guy rips. And not just on guitar, on multiple instruments.”
Van Zandt tells me he wanted to bring more 12-string to the E Street Band this tour, “just to kind of differentiate the tone.” He explains, “Nils is doing his thing, and Bruce is doing his thing, and I wanted to do more 12-string.” He laughs, “I went full Paul Kantner!” Babiuk helped Van Zandt plunge deeper down the Rickenbacker rabbit hole. Currently, Van Zandt has six Rickenbackers backstage: two 6-strings and four 12-strings. Each 12-string has a modified nut made by Petillo from ancient woolly mammoth tusk, and the D, A, and low E strings are inverted with their octave.
Van Zandt explains this to me: “I find that the strings ring better when the high ones are on top. I’m not sure if that’s how Roger McGuinn did it, but it works for me. I’m also playing a wider neck.”
Babiuk tells me about a unique Rick in Van Zandt’s rack of axes: “I know the guys at Rickenbacker well, and they did a run of 30 basses in candy apple purple for my shop. I showed one to Stevie, and purple is his color; he loves it. He asked me to get him a 12-string in the same color, and I told him, ‘They don’t do one-offs; they don’t have a custom shop,’ but it’s hard to say no to the guy! So I called Rickenbacker and talked them into it. I explained, ‘He’ll play it a lot on this upcoming tour.’ They made him a beautiful one with his OM logo.”
The purple one-off is a 1993Plus model and sports a 1 3/4" wide neck—1/8" wider than a normal Rickenbacker. Van Zandt loved it so much that he had Babiuk wrestle with Rickenbacker again to build another one in baby blue. Petillo has since outfitted them with paisley-festooned custom pickguards. When guitar tech Newberry shows me these unique axes backstage, I can see the input jack on the purple guitar is labeled with serial number 01001.
“Some of my drive is based on gratitude,” says Van Zandt, “feeling like we are the luckiest guys in the luckiest generation ever.”
Photo by Rob DeMartin
Van Zandt also currently plays a white Vox Teardrop. That guitar is a prototype owned by Babiuk. “Stevie wanted a Teardrop,” Babiuk tells me, “but I explained that the vintage ones are hit and miss—the ones made in the U.K. were often better than the ones manufactured in Italy. Korg now owns Vox, and I have a new Teardrop prototype from them in my personal collection. When I showed it to him, he loved it and asked me to get him one. I had to tell him, ‘I can’t; it’s a prototype, there’s only one,’ and he asked me to sell him mine,” he chuckles. “I told him, ‘It’s my fucking personal guitar, it’s not for sale!’ So I ended up lending it to him for this tour, and I told him, ‘Remember, this is my guitar; don’t get too happy with it, okay?’
“He asked me why that particular guitar sounds and feels so good. Besides being a prototype built by only one guy, the single-coil pickups’ output is abnormally hot, and the neck feels like a nice ’60s Fender neck. Stevie’s obviously a dear friend of mine, and he can hold onto it for as long as he wants. I’m glad it’s getting played. It was just hanging in my office.”
Van Zandt tells me how Babiuk’s Vox Teardrop sums up everything he wants from his tone, and says, “It’s got a wonderfully clean, powerful sound. Like Brian Jones got on ‘The Last Time.’ That’s my whole thing; that’s the trick—trying to get the power without too much distortion. Bruce and Nils get plenty of distortion; I am trying to be the clean rhythm guitar all the time.”
If Van Zandt has a consigliere like Tony Soprano had Silvio Dante, that’s Newberry. Newberry has tech’d nearly every gig with Van Zandt since 1982. “Bruce shows move fast,” he tells me. “So when there’s a guitar change for Stevie, and there are many of them, I’m at the top of the stairs, and we switch quickly. There’s maybe one or two seconds, and if he needs to tell me something, I hear it. He’s Bruce’s musical director, so he may say something like, ‘Remind me tomorrow to go over the background vocals on “Ghosts,”’ or something like that. And I take notes during the show.”
“Everybody had a different guitar; your guitar was your identity. At some point, a couple of years later, I remember Bruce calling me and asking me for my permission to switch to a Telecaster.” —Stevie Van Zandt
When I ask Newberry how he defines Van Zandt’s relationship to the guitar, he doesn’t hesitate, snapping back, “It’s all in his head. His playing is encyclopedic, whether it’s Bruce or anything else. He may show up at soundcheck and start playing the Byrds, but it’s not ‘Tambourine Man,’ it’s something obscure like ‘Bells of Rhymney.’ People may not get it, but I’ve known him long enough to know what’s happening. He’s got everything already under his fingers. Everything.”
As such, Van Zandt says he never practices. “The only time I touch a guitar between tours is if I’m writing something or maybe arranging backing vocal harmonies on a production,” he tells me.
Before we say goodbye, I tell Van Zandt about my time stuck in his elevator, and his broad grin signals that I may not be the only one to have suffered that particular purgatory. When I ask him about the 1957 Stratocaster I got to play upon my release, he recalls: “Bruce Springsteen gave me that guitar. I’ve only ever had one guitar stolen in my life, and it was in the very early days of my joining the E Street Band. I only joined temporarily for what I thought would be about seven gigs, and in those two weeks or so, my Stratocaster was stolen. It was a 1957 or 1958. Bruce felt bad about that and replaced that lost guitar with this one. So I’ve had it a long, long time. Once that first one was stolen, I decided I would resist having a personal relationship with any one guitar. But that one being a gift from Bruce makes it special. I will never take it back on the road.”
After 50 years of rock ’n’ roll, if there is one word to sum up Stevie Van Zandt, it may be “restless”—an adjective you sense from reading his autobiography. He gets serious and tells me, “I’m always trying to catch up. The beginning of accomplishing something came quite late to me. I feel like I haven’t done nearly enough. What are we on this planet trying to do?” he asks rhetorically. “We’re trying to realize our potential and maybe leave this place one percent better for the next guy. And some of my drive is based on gratitude, feeling like we are the luckiest guys in the luckiest generation ever. That’s what I’m doing: I want to give something back. I feel an obligation.”
YouTube It
“Rosalita” is a perennial E Street Band showstopper. Here’s a close-up video from Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park last summer. Van Zandt’s brief but commanding guitar spotlight shines just past the 4:30 mark.
New for 2025, Ibanez is expanding its popular AZ series with a new line of instruments: the AZ Standards. Slotted between the AZ Essentials and AZ Premium lines in both price and performance, the AZ Standards offer a balance of features and affordability.
Fans of the AZ Premiums will recognize familiar elements like Roasted Maple necks, jumbo stainless steel frets, the versatile Dyna-MIX switching system, locking tuners, and the comfortable Super All-Access neck joint. Despite these high-end features, both AZ Standard models are priced around $549.99. Ibanez achieved this cost-effective design by simplifying certain specifications while preserving many features from the Premium line, along with excellent sound and playability.
The new series includes two models:
AZ22S1F: A 22-fret HSS model equipped with Classic Custom pickups.
AZ24S1F: A 24-fret HH model loaded with Modern Custom Humbuckers.
This new line aims to bring an unprecedented combination of performance and affordability to the already popular AZ series.
For more information, please visit ibanez.com.
AZ22S1F
- AZ Roasted Maple neck
- 22 frets
- Flame Maple top/Alder body
- Jatoba fretboard w/White dot inlay
- Jumbo Stainless Steel frets
- Ibanez Classic Custom (S) neck pickup
- Ibanez Classic Custom (S) middle pickup
- Ibanez Classic Custom (H) bridge pickup
- dyna-MIX9 switching system w/Alter Switch
- T106 tremolo bridge
- Chrome hardware
- Locking machine heads
- Finishes: Transparent Black Sunburst, Transparent Turquoise Burst
LIST PRICE: $757.76
ESTIMATED STREET PRICE: $549.99
AZ24S1F
- AZ Roasted Maple neck
- 24 frets
- Flame Maple top/Alder body
- Jatoba fretboard w/White dot inlay
- Jumbo Stainless Steel frets
- Ibanez Modern Custom (H) neck pickup
- Ibanez Modern Custom (H) bridge pickup
- dyna-MIX10 switching system w/Alter Switch
- T106 tremolo bridge
- Chrome hardware
- Locking machine heads
- Finishes: Transparent Black Sunburst, Transparent Turquoise Burst, Violin Sunburst
LIST PRICE: $757.76
ESTIMATED STREET PRICE: $549.99
Foxes in the Snow was recorded in New York City at the famed Electric Lady Studios in October, 2024. Recorded entirely on the same all-mahogany 1940 Martin 0-17 acoustic guitar, and in the span of just five days, the album captures an artist at the peak of their powers; the virtuosic guitar playing and commanding vocal delivery on this collection is some of the most impressive of an already remarkable recording career. Isbell is one of the most highly lauded songwriters of his generation, and this stripped back, bare-bones format puts his immense talent for evocative storytelling and the complete mastery of his craft on full display.
This release marks Isbell’s first new music since the award-winning Weathervanes, with his band The 400 Unit, in 2023. Isbell’s breakthrough solo album, Southeastern, was released in 2013 and spawned a modern classic in “Cover Me Up”. Since then, he has gone on to win six GRAMMY Awards and broken records as the first artist to ever take home the trophy for Best Americana Album three times. He recently added ‘actor’ to his skillset with a formidable performance opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese's Killers Of The Flower Moon. He will next be seen in RZA's upcoming One Spoon Of Chocolate.
The album announcement follows news of an entirely solo US tour; An Intimate Evening With Jason Isbell kicks off on February 15th in Chicago. All dates below.
Foxes in the Snow
Foxes in the Snow Tracklist
1. Bury Me
2. Ride to Robert's
3. Eileen
4. Gravelweed
5. Don’t Be Tough
6. Open and Close
7. Foxes in the Snow
8. Crimson and Clay
9. Good While It Lasted
10. True Believer
11. Wind Behind the Rain
ALL TOUR DATES
Jan 16–20: Mexico City, Mexico - Súper Ocho
Jan 18: Mexico City, Mexico - Lunario del Auditorio Nacional
Feb 2: Berlin, DE - Columbia Theatre +
Feb 4: Cologne, DE - Kulturkirche Köln +
Feb 6: Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso +
Feb 10: London, UK - Barbican +
Feb 12: Dublin, IE - Vicar Street +
Feb 15: Chicago, IL - Auditorium Theatre +
Feb 16: Ithaca, NY - State Theatre of Ithaca +
Feb 17: Portsmouth, NH - The Music Hall +
Feb 18: Providence, RI - Providence Performing Arts Center +
Feb 20: Port Chester, NY - Capitol Theatre +
Feb 21: New York, NY - Beacon Theatre +
Feb 22: New York, NY - Beacon Theatre +
Feb 23: Princeton, NJ - McCarter Theatre +
Feb 27: Washington DC - Warner Theatre +
Feb 28: Washington DC - Warner Theatre +
March 1: Washington DC - Warner Theatre +
March 12: Oakland, CA - Calvin Simmons Theatre +
March 13: Oakland, CA - Calvin Simmons Theatre +
March 14: Los Angeles, CA - Walt Disney Concert Hall +
March 15: Santa Barbara, CA - Arlington Theatre +
March 20: Nashville, TN - The Pinnacle +
March 21: Nashville, TN - The Pinnacle +
March 22: Nashville, TN - The Pinnacle +
March 28: Nashville, TN - The Pinnacle +
March 29: Atlanta, GA - Fox Theatre +
April 3: Austin, TX - ACL Live at The Moody Theater
April 4: Austin, TX - ACL Live at The Moody Theater
April 5: Austin, TX - ACL Live at The Moody Theater
April 6: Durant, OK - Choctaw Grand Theater
April 8: Houston, TX - 713 Music Hall
April 10: Clearwater, FL - Ruth Eckerd Hall
April 11: St. Augustine, FL - St. Augustine Amphitheatre
April 12: Savannah, GA - Savannah Music Festival
April 13: Greenville, SC - Peace Concert Hall
April 15: Greensboro, NC - Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts
April 16: Columbia, SC - Township Auditorium
April 17: Nashville, IN - Brown County Music Center
April 30: Colorado Springs, CO - Sunset Amphitheater *
May 1: Denver, CO - Mission Ballroom
May 2: Denver, CO - Mission Ballroom
May 3: Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre *
May 5: Sandy, UT - Sandy Amphitheater
May 6: Sandy, UT - Sandy Amphitheater
May 7: Billings, MT - Alberta Bair Theater
May 9: Saskatoon, SK - TCU Place – Sid Buckwold Theatre
May 11: Edmonton, AB - Winspear Centre
May 12: Kelowna, BC - Prospera Place
May 13: Vancouver, BC - Orpheum
May 15: Walla Walla, WA - Wine Country Amphitheater
May 16: Spokane, WA - First Interstate Center for the Arts
May 17: Boise, ID - Outlaw Field at the Idaho Botanical Garden
May 19: Eugene, OR - Silva Hall
May 20: Portland, OR - Keller Auditorium
June 19: Telluride, CO - Telluride Bluegrass Festival
June 21: Cincinnati, OH - The Andrew J Brady Music Center
June 22: Cincinnati, OH - The Andrew J Brady Music Center
June 25: Milwaukee, WI - The Riverside Theater
June 26: Detroit, MI - Fox Theatre
June 27: Evansville, IN - Victory Theatre
June 28: Birmingham, AL - Coca-Cola Amphitheater @
July 4–5: Missoula, MT - Zootown Festival
July 9: Regina, SK - Conexus Arts Centre
July 11: Sioux City, IA - Orpheum Theatre
July 12: Rockford, IL - Coronado Theatre
July 14: Fort Wayne, IN - Embassy Theatre
July 15: Baltimore, MD - Pier Six Pavilion
July 16: Red Bank, NJ - Count Basie Center for the Arts =
July 18: Beech Mountain, NC - Beech Mountain Ski Resort
July 19: Richmond, VA - Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront =
July 20: Charleston, SC - Charleston Gaillard Center
July 21: Wilmington, NC - Wilson Center at Cape Fear Community College
Aug 26: Perth, WA - RAC Arena ~
Aug 29: Brisbane, QLD - Brisbane Entertainment Centre ~
Aug 30: Sydney, NSW - QUDOS Bank Arena ~
Sept 2: Hobart, TAS - MyState Bank Arena ~
Sept 4: Adelaide, SA - Adelaide Entertainment Centre Arena ~
Sept 6: Melbourne, VIC - Rod Laver Arena ~
Sept 7: Melbourne, VIC - Rod Laver Arena ~
+ Jason Isbell Solo
* w/ Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
@ w/ Band of Horses
= w/ Garrison Starr
~ supporting Paul Kelly
Tickets available HERE.
Sampson, renowned for his pioneering work in boutique amplifier design, was instrumental in shaping the golden age of hand-wired tube amps. His original designs set a benchmark for tone, craftsmanship, and reliability. Now, with the Era 30, Sampson has distilled over 35 years of amplifier design evolution into a product that embodies the best of his creative vision.
With four EL84 power tubes, the Era 30 delivers 30 watts of output power and offers two fully independent channels, each designed to bring out the best in your playing, no matter your style.
- Channel One: Powered by the iconic EF86 tube, this channel delivers harmonically rich, three-dimensional tones that tube enthusiasts dream of. The stepped six-position depth control sculpts low-end frequencies with precision, while the Treble control acts as a masterful tone-shaping tool.
- Channel Two: Featuring a 12AX7-based preamp, this channel offers a tighter, punchier tone. Its linear bass and treble controls provide intuitive shaping for everything from vintage chime to earthy, woody textures.
- Complete Control: Both channels feature independent gain and pre-phase inverter volume controls, giving players complete authority over their sound. Want the best of both worlds? The included two-button footswitch makes it effortless to switch between channels or combine them together.
Era 30 product features include:
- True Point to Point Hand-wired Construction made in Costa Mesa California, USA
- Custom Bad Cat Transformer Set by Pacific Transformers
- DC Filament Heaters in Preamp
- 30 Watts of Power from 4 x EL84 Power Tubes
- 1 x EF86 Preamp Tube
- 3 x 12AX7 Preamp Tubes
- 1 x 5AR4 Rectifier Tube
- 2 Switchable or Mixable Channels
- Independent Gain and Pre-Phase Inverter Volume Control per Channel
- 6-way Deep Control and Treble Control on EF86 Channel
- Linear Bass and Treble Control on 12AX7 Channel
- Global Post-PI Master Volume
- Buffered Effects Loop
- 4, 8, 16 Ohm Switch for Speaker Outputs
- Ultra-Durable Heather Tolex with Premium Leather Corners
- 2 Button Footswitch and Amp Cover Included
- 5 Year Limited Warranty
Bad Cat’s Era 30 amp is available as a head with matching 112 ort 212 cabs. Pricing is:
Head: $3899.99 US
112: $699.99 US
212: $999.99 US
For more information visit badcatamps.com.
