Epiphone's collaboration with the artisans at Gibson Custom just got a major acoustic upgrade! We’re excited to share new acoustic additions to the core lineup, updated with features that make these guitars better than ever.
With new Vintage Gloss and Full Gloss finishes, rosewood or ebony fretboards, thermally aged tops, loads of vintage-correct details, historically accurate Gibson “open book” headstocks, and historic-inspired cases, these guitars bring Custom Shop quality to players everywhere at accessible prices.
1942 Banner J-45 Reissue
This exceptional acoustic guitar has a thermally aged, solid Sitka spruce top that is reinforced with scalloped X-bracing and paired with a solid mahogany back and sides for the rich, balanced tone that has made the J-45 a longtime player favorite.
1957 SJ-200 Reissue
Meet the Epiphone 1957 SJ-200 Reissue, an Inspired by Gibson Custom recreation of a rare vintage icon. It features a solid figured maple back and sides, a thermally aged solid Sitka spruce top with traditional scalloped X-bracing, and a two-piece flame maple neck.
Hummingbird Deluxe EC
The Hummingbird Deluxe EC has been upgraded and modernized with beautiful, solid rosewood used for the back and sides, giving this guitar the full and rich sound of the traditional Hummingbird, along with the added tonal nuances of rosewood, resulting in a deeper bass and even more sparkling overtones in the highs.
Pre-War SJ-200 Rosewood Reissue
The Epiphone Pre-War SJ-200 Rosewood Reissue is replete with vintage-inspired details, including a solid rosewood back and sides, a thermally aged solid Sitka spruce top with traditional scalloped X-bracing made from quarter-sawn solid spruce, and more.
1963 Dove Reissue
The back and sides of the 1963 Dove Reissue are made from solid, figured maple. It delivers a bright, clear tone from the maple body, as you might expect, but it also has a bit more bass than a Hummingbird and a very balanced tone overall that works exceptionally well in a wide range of musical genres.
Josh Smith opens up about finding his voice in the blues (and beyond), crafting his signature tone, and why authenticity—not imitation—is the heart of his playing. The engaging exchange is a prime example in developing musical identity through introspective intention and detailed execution.
Being a contemporary bluesman has its pitfalls, dead ends, and challenges. Josh Smith reflects deeply on his relationship with the blues, acknowledging the cultural origins of the music and his position as modern ambassador (and interpreter) for the artform. He then discusses how switching from Strats to Teles shaped his own sound and playing style more than any other gear choice.
As the interview continues, Smith delves into the art of live performance and improvisation, valuing intent, rhythm, and connection with both the audience and bandmates. Smith talks honestly about the current challenges younger musicians face—namely the lack of live-gig opportunities—and contrasts that with his own development through hundreds of early gigs (even before the age of 18). The conversation ends with Smith detailing his ongoing experience as a producer, what he enjoys about helping artists realize their vision through his own expertise & instincts. Whether working with artists like Andy Timmons or playing in Joe Bonamassa's live band, Smith prioritizes rhythmic precision with present spontaneity and trying to be musical in every moment.
Frontwoman Jessica Dobson plunges into the depths of her Benson-powered road rig.
Seattle indie rockers Deep Sea Diver released their fourth full-length record, BillboardHeart, earlier this year via Sub Pop, and their supporting cross-country tour took them to downtown Nashville’s Blue Room at Jack White’s Third Man Records.
PG’s Chris Kies connected with singer and guitarist Jessica Dobson in 2020 for a virtual Rig Rundown, but this time we get a close-up, in-person look at Dobson’s tour kit, including her signature Benson stomp box and a custom guitar.
Dobson picked up this slick Bilt S.S. Zaftig to replace her beloved but terribly heavy Fender Starcaster. This one has Lollar Regal Wide-Range humbuckers in it.
Regrets, I’ve Had a Few
Dobson purchased this used Fender Elvis Costello Jazzmaster in 2010, and has since met the person who sold it—and totally regrets it. It’s strung with D’Addario .011–.052s, and tuned to E standard.
Blue Benz
U.K.-based builder Elliott Trent modeled this custom Trent guitar for Dobson on her mother’s old blue Mercedes, and loaded it with P-90s.
Benson Boom Box
Dobson’s amp of choice, taped to perfection, is this 30-watt Benson Chimera 2x12 combo.
Jessica Dobson’s Pedalboard
Dobson runs a busy board powered by a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2 Plus and operated via a Boss ES-8. There’s also her signature Benson Deep Sea Diver, plus a Benson Germanium Preamp, JHS Pulp N Peel, Sarno Music Solutions Earth Drive, Benson Germanium Boost, EHX Deluxe Memory Man, Strymon blueSky, EHX POG2, Chase Bliss Brothers Analog Gainstage, and Menatone Pleasure Trem 5000, plus a TC Electronic PolyTune 2 Noir.
PRS Guitars today released the SE Silver Sky Rosewood in four new colors, created in collaboration with Grammy award-winning PRS Signature Artist, John Mayer. The fresh finishes, offered for the first time on any PRS model, are Derby Red, Trad Blue, Laurel Green, and Dandy Lion (a brilliant and eye-catching yellow).
“The new Silver Sky SE lineup features four new colors inspired by traditional American fashion. These are time-tested hues that have been popular through decades, and I’m excited to share them with the world as the latest SE colorways,” said John Mayer.
The SE Silver Sky is a familiar iteration of the original Silver Sky model that was first introduced with John Mayer in 2018. The SE starts with a poplar body, bolt-on maple neck, and rosewood fretboard with PRS trademark bird inlays. The 22-fret, 25.5” scale length neck features the original 635JM carve and an 8.5” fretboard radius. It is anchored by three single-coil 635JM “S” pickups, a two-point steel tremolo, synthetic bone nut, and vintage-style tuners.
The SE Silver Sky Maple colorway is also being updated to include two new finishes previously offered on the rosewood-equipped model. The SE Silver Sky Maple's new color palette is Moon White, Stone Blue, Summit Purple, and Nylon Blue.
PRS Guitars continues its schedule of launching new products each month in 2025. Stay tuned to see new gear and 40th Anniversary limited-edition guitars throughout the year. For all of the latest news, click www.prsguitars.com/40 and follow @prsguitars on Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook, X, and YouTube.
Pelican, from left: Bassist Bryan Herweg, guitarist Laurent Schroeder-Lebec, guitarist Trevor Shelley de Brauw, drummer Bryan Herweg.
On Flickering Resonance, the instrumental auteurs throw down a spellbinding slab of post-metal majesty.
To some, a rock band without a singer can seem like a band without a voice. But for Pelican, the lyrical guitar lines of Trevor Shelley de Brauw and Laurent Schroeder-Lebec are not without a point of view. Their self-professed “unconscious melting pot” of influences includes post-hardcore, punk, and doom metal, among others, but their music also often displays the grandeur of cinema, blending a thick sonic backbone with melodic passages and moments of quiet, introspective solemnity. They intentionally press against the heaviness of their preferred drop-tunings and endlessly yearning rhythms to find a musical sweet spot that is as uplifting as it is unrelenting. “I think the music has this exalting, elevating melody to it that could be described as positive or affirming,” describes Schroeder-Lebec. “It was never the intention to be dark or foreboding or menacing.”
The instrumental post-metal band came together in 2001 in Chicago, Illinois, with guitarists Shelley de Brauw and Schroeder-Lebec, along with brothers Bryan Herweg (bass) and Larry Herweg (drums). Known for incorporating expansive, ambient passages that set them apart from their contemporaries, Pelican has released several well-received albums since the early-aughts, starting with their debut EP, Pelican (2001), and subsequent full length, 2003’s Australasia.
Songstream
On their latest album, Flickering Resonance, Pelican takes “as much inspiration from titanic ’90s post-hardcore, space-rock, and emo as they do traditional metal, showing that though Godflesh and Goatsnake records occupied the shelves of Pelican’s songwriters, so too did Quicksand, Christie Front Drive, and Hum,” writes band biographer David Anthony. “Pelican’s foundation was built upon the rule-free, genre-agnostic [’90s] scene synonymous with Chicago’s [legendary] Fireside Bowl.”
Most of the songs on Flickering Resonance were written by Shelley de Brauw, Schroeder-Lebec, and Bryan Herweg sitting in a room together. “We’ll get a rough version of a song together, record a voice memo [on a smart phone], send it to Larry, and he’ll compose drum parts around it,” explains Shelley de Brauw. “But the meat of the process is really all four of us being in a room together jamming and figuring out where the songs want to go. Once we’re in a room, we can really edit so that the DNA of all four of us is in there and it flows in a way that feels natural for us as a band.”
A core influence on Pelican’s DNA is post-hardcore progenitors Fugazi, and their indelible creative imprint is all over Flickering Resonance, even if subversively. “Those records were written in a space, jamming together, and somebody’s coming up with something, and somebody else comes up with a counterpoint, and then everything just starts to gel over time,” observes Shelley de Brauw. “For us, it’s a similar process in that the exchange of ideas makes the music feel more organic in a sense.”
“I think the music has this exalting, elevating melody to it that could be described as positive or affirming. It was never the intention to be dark or foreboding or menacing.” —Laurent Schroeder-Lebec
Aside from Shelley de Brauw’s occasional use of Ableton, he and Schroeder-Lebec mostly eschew leaning on DAWs for crafting songs and records, even if that means slowing down some of the productivity. “You can be super productive [with technology] if you’re like, ‘I’ll throw up an arrangement, lay it down to a click tonight, send it to you, and if you’ve got a part that fits pretty good, you lay that down,’ but it sometimes takes away the back and forth that happens when you’re hashing out the riffs in a room together,” explains Schroeder-Lebec. “And that’s what feels familiar and gratifying. It ends up being a better representation of the band in the end.” It took Pelican six years since their last album, Nighttime Stories, to complete Flickering Resonance, a testament to their face-to-face writing ethos.
Pelican recruited Sanford Parker to engineer the Flickering Resonance recording sessions. He’s worked with the band on and off for the past several decades, including for their first album, Australasia. “The idea was to work with somebody in a complementary way rather than a directive way,” explains Schroeder-Lebec. “Recording with Sanford seems to be a combination of miking with the DI out and staying open to the idea of splitting cabs, splitting heads, and trying to maintain the sound that you’re playing out of.”
On Flickering Resonance, Pelican draw on an “unconscious melting pot” of influences to deliver a widescreen platter of heavy rock instrumental epics.
D’Addario EXL158 XL Nickel Wound Electric Baritone (.013–.062)
Jim Dunlop USA Gator Grip Standard (1.5 mm)
When he went to record, Schroeder-Lebec says he was attached to his Orange Rockerverb, but he curiously determined that it probably wouldn’t work in the studio. “I thought that it might get too murky at times,” he admits. “We tried a bunch of stuff and Sanford and Trevor were like, ‘It needs to be the Orange. That’s the best sounding one.’ We filled out some of the frequencies with a Triple Rectifier that was adjusted to a low-gain setting and went between the two at varying levels.”
The guitar parts in Pelican songs are orchestrated more like conversations than distinct lead and rhythm roles. At times, Schroeder-Lebec says he will gravitate to foundational things, but what he enjoys most about the band, since returning after a long hiatus, is their openness with each other. “For me, it’s a sign of personal maturity not being super-attached to your awesome mega riff,” he attests. “And that is born of Trevor and I relating [to each other], and then Brian getting into the mix as a bass player.” He says open lines of communication end up informing intricacies within the songs, like picking patterns, especially when deciding if they are playing upstrokes or downstrokes, for example. “Even in the scheme of being instrumental, with as much slowness as there is, and repetition, and the wall of sound, there’s also nuance. The way the riffs are structured, they’re like interlocking pieces of the grander puzzle that I hope translate to the listener.”
“For me, it’s a sign of personal maturity not being super-attached to your awesome mega riff.” —Laurent Schroeder-Lebec
Trevor Shelley de Brauw (foreground) and bassst Bryan Herwig cut tracks simultaneously in the studio for Pelican’s latest album.
Photo by Mike Boyd
Shelley de Brauw and Schroeder-Lebec gravitate to different tonalities instinctually and find that they are surprisingly complementary of each other. “Trevor and I have known each other for a very long time, and friendship is a key component to the building blocks,” says Schroeder-Lebec. “It’s not infused with conversations like, ‘Hey I’m going to boost my mids,’ or anything technical like that, but we both want each other’s parts to be present, audible, and focused.” He recounts a funny anecdote from Russian Circles’ guitarist Mike Sullivan, with whom they toured recently. “Mike was watching us, and was like, ‘When I hear each of you individually, I’m like, how do these two guitars fit?’ They’re just such different ranges and when you hear the two together, it becomes this tapestry where everything hangs harmonically.”
Channeling all of that sonic 6-string ferocity into live shows means lugging heavy 4x12 cabs and guitar heads to gigs and rocking the same setup that they’ve used since the beginning. No in-ears, modeling amps, or plugins for Pelican. “We need the air at our backs, and we need to feel the sound waves,” attests Shelley de Brauw. “The physical sensation plays a huge part in what the band is about.” Their volume has crept down over the years because they’ve been in pursuit of clarity, and hearing each other on stage has become paramount. “In the beginning, it was just turn it up and pound hard, and it worked,” remembers Schroeder-Lebec. “But we want to play with each other. That’s the goal now and we’re hoping that the combined effort is relatable for people coming to see the show.”
YouTube It
Pelican deliver a crushing take on “Cascading Crescent” from Flickering Resonance.
