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GALLERY: Summer NAMM 2016 Day 1

Here's a taste of the gear we came across during the first day of Summer NAMM, with tone toys from Fender, Seymour Duncan, Bullhead Amplification, and more.

Fryette Amplicication Sound City Master Hundred

Fryette Amplification head honcho/tube-amp genius Steven Fryette has revived the Sound City brand this ‪‎NAMM‬ with the intent of bringing the late, great Dave Reeves' famed brawny tones into the 21st century. Featuring PCB construction and Heyboer transformers similar to the old Partridge designs, the Master Fifty and Master Hundred (shown) feature EL34 power sections, a unique and highly interactive triple-volume section (normal, brilliant, and master), plus a 3-band EQ and presence control. To our ears, the amps—which hover around the $2k mark—sounded glorious through the rear-loaded 4x12 and 2x12 cabs with repro Fane speakers.

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PG contributor Tom Butwin digs into seven very different boost options, from classic clean boosts to tone-sculpting EQ beasts. Whether you're chasing midrange magic, vintage character, or gig-saving utility, there's something here for every board.

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Hammett remains big daddy to the Mummy, one of his favorite instruments. It also evokes his love of classic horror films.

Photo courtesy of The Collection: Kirk Hammett, Gibson Publishing

In a lavish new coffee table book from Gibson, The Collection: Kirk Hammett, Metallica’s lead guitarist shares some of his most spectacular vintage instruments and the stories that go with them, as well as his love of Hawaii.

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Rafiq Bhatia’s guitar is a Flip Scipio Flippercaster with vintage Teisco and DeArmond pickups and has a strikingly original voice, even without effects or processing.

Photo by shamrockraver

The Son Lux guitarist—and David Lynch aficionado—says an experimental musician needs creative uncertainty, that an artist must be curious, and should ask questions in the process of creating sound. With the release of his new EP, Each Dream, A Melting Door, he breaks down the methods and philosophies he practices in his own work.

“It feels like a lifetime ago, but yes,” experimental guitarist/composer Rafiq Bhatia says when I bring up that he studied neuroscience and economics in college. Today, Bhatia is far more defined by his musical career—primarily with his band Son Lux, which also composed the Oscar-nominated score for 2022’s Everything Everywhere All at Once. However, he shares that there is an intersection between these seemingly disparate fields.

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Duane Betts enjoys a control set modification that was preferred by his father, the late, legendary Dickey Betts.

Duane Betts and reader Steve Nowicki join the PG staff to discuss their favorite ways to customize their setups.

Question: What’s your favorite guitar mod?

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