Looking for this year's hottest guitar gifts? Look no further than the 2021 Holiday Gift Guide!
Premier Bedford SH
The Bedford SH—previously only offered as a Deluxe Limited Edition model—is now available in the Premier Series. Featuring a sleek, modern f-hole design on the upper bout, the Bedford SH integrates a warm acoustic element into a three-pickup electronics configuration that offers a bold variety of tones. The combination of two Duncan Designed single-coils in the neck and middle positions followed by a Duncan Designed mini-humbucker in the bridge creates a uniquely bold, but familiarly spanky tonal palette while a 5-way blade makes tone selection simple. Available in Oxblood, Black Flake and Sky Blue with a six-point tremolo.
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D'Addario XS
D'Addario XS Acoustic Phosphor Bronze strings combine our most popular acoustic alloy with our most advanced string coating technology, resulting in clear tone, smooth feel, and superior tuning stability – all with the longest possible string life. With its ultra-thin film coating on every wound string and a unique polymer treatment on the plain steels, XS offers our highest level of protection for maximum life. XS also features NY Steel high carbon core and plain string wire, and our exclusive Fusion Twist, for incomparable break strength and tuning stability.
MicroPitch Delay
MicroPitch Delay is the 'secret sauce' heard on countless hit records. The pedal features dual pitch-shifters with fine-resolution de-tuning and modulation combined with delay in a delicious red package. Popularized in the H3000 Harmonizer®, MicroPitch Delay allows musicians to achieve subtle tone fattening, lush stereo widening, rich detuned delays, thick modulation, and tempo-synced special effects. It also features onboard tone controls with mono or stereo operation, MIDI, preset storing, and most importantly a new compact, easy-to-use interface.
Soul Press II
Soul Press II is a next-gen product in the Hotone Press series pedal line. It's new-designed upgrade based on the popular concepts of both the Soul Press and Vow Press. It integrates up to four function modes (volume, wah, volume/wah, expression), taking playability to new heights. The pedal position indicator shows the pedal position in real time. The TONE mode selection and Q value adjustment represent an absolute improvement in tone and functionality. Multiple I/O options provide more diverse access. The reimagined pedal size maintains portability while delivering an optimal ergonomic experience. Soul Press II is a truly versatile wah pedal.
Blackstar Dept. 10 Pedals
Dept. 10 is the Blackstar R&D team responsible for blue sky innovation and design; they have developed the world's most advanced valve pedals. Dept. 10 pedals all use an ECC83 triode valve at their heart, running at more than 200V internally which allows them to deliver organic tone, dynamics and break up. Innovative design, premium components and our advanced Cab Rig D.I. technology, create the ultimate valve pedals. The Dept. 10 Dual Drive and Dual Distortion pedals both offer two channels, each with two available voices, as well as important features for modern guitarists such as USB audio out for direct recording. And the Dept. 10 Boost's built-in buffer / line driver is perfect for preserving your tone when using long cables, or large pedalboards, or for pushing your amp into further saturation.
Floating Guitar Stand
PRS Guitars floating guitar stand is the perfect way to display your favorite guitar. Its sleek, minimalist design lets the stand disappear allowing your favorite guitar to take center stage!
Our Engineers have carefully helped in the design of this stand to make sure it is stable and safe for your favorite instrument.
Design features:
• Heavy Duty Construction
• Fits most acoustic and electric guitars
• Heavy weighted base ensures the stand will not tip over
• Three-pointed base engineered for maximum stability
• Nitro-friendly foam head stock cradle
Zelzah
Zelzah is a multidimensional phaser capable of conjuring up everything from classic vintage phaser tones to authentic lush chorusing, flanging, and vibrato. The dual layout gives you individual 4- and 6-stage phasers that can be used on their own or combined for added flexibility, and the phaser circuits are handcrafted to sound great at any setting, so dialing in tones is easy. Full control over all functions and up to 300 presets via MIDI make this the last phaser you'll ever need!
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GS Mini-e Koa Plus
Taylor's portable, reduced-scale GS Mini acoustic guitars have long been popular with guitarists for their inspiring blend of playability and rich tone. With a much bigger voice than its small size would suggest, the GS Mini-e Koa Plus might be the most enticing GS Mini Taylor has ever built, thanks to a solid Hawaiian koa top and layered koa back and sides. The solid top brings projection and articulation that balances warmth with clarity, resulting in a bold response that's more than capable of handling everything from at-home practice to jam sessions with friends and more. A gorgeous dark stain with a subtle matte finish draws out koa's natural beauty, while the built-in ES2 electronics make it easy to plug in and play anywhere there's an amp. The GS Mini-e Koa Plus ships with a super-durable Aerocase that offers all the protection of a hardshell case at one-third the weight.
TAD EL34 - STR REDBASE™ PREMIUM Selected
The TAD EL34-STR REDBASE™ is the second tube in the all-new TAD REDBASE™ tube line.
Designed from the ground up, the TAD EL34-STR REDBASE™ is in the tradition of the Telefunken EL34: delivering a gorgeous, dynamic and amazingly open tone with just the right amount of angry bite.
Exactly what you would expect from a TAD EL34:
• clear, harmonic and open highs
• classic EL34 midrange punch with harmonious low-mids
• great bass response
The new EL34 standard!
Extra robust glass, gold-plated control grid, two extra-large grid coolers and the special precision construction with minimal tolerances guarantee highest reliability. The TAD EL34-STR REDBASE™ differs from other EL34 tubes in particular also by the strict quality control during the production and the special formatting of the tubes by TAD in Germany before the actual matching.
Amonito Guitar Amplifier
Amonito is a guitar amplification system that brings together boutique guitar effects, an incredible sounding tube analog circuit, instant switching between presets, and a quality loud sound monitoring system all in one extremely light package.
At the heart of Amonito is the main analog circuit, a combination of 12AX7 and 12AU7 tubes and MOSFETS all running on 300 V for ultimate dynamic range and feel. A powerful DSP gives you effects like reverb, delay, chorus and tremolo. For ultimate versatility, DSP is also placed before the tube circuit, and dozens of relays transform it into one of the most versatile tube circuits on the market.
Given how complex the system is, it is remarkably simple to use. Amonito features a custom user interface that offers versatility and programmability without the need to read the manual.
A new concept of guitar speaker placement gets you incredible sound on stage, and with dedicated outputs for the PA, the audience will enjoy great sound too. Carbon fiber or aluminum cabinet and one of the best 8inch speakers on the market make heavy amps a thing of the past.
You no longer need to choose between the quality, warmth, and ease of use of a tube amplifier and the versatility and lightness of modern guitar systems. With Amonito, you get an all-in-one system that not only makes your pains go away, but lets you enjoy your instrument the way you should – with an amazing sound.
G7th Performance 3 Capo
The G7th Performance 3 Capo is the culmination of years of designing, tweaking, and improving - but most importantly, listening to guitarists and their views on what a capo SHOULD do. Now, coupling our Unique Tension Control system with the groundbreaking ART string pad mechanism gives a near-perfect capo experience.
Adaptive Radius Technology
The Performance 3 capos are outfitted with the patented Adaptive Radius Technology (ART) string pad — a feature found exclusively in G7th capos. The string pad adapts to the curvature of the radius, letting you enjoy unparalleled tuning stability on virtually any guitar. With ART, a single capo gives you the confidence to play without string buzz or tuning issues. But you should still probably get one for every guitar case.
Unique Tension Control
The patented Unique Tension Control system has won the praise of guitarists since the launch of the first Performance capo in 2004. Easy and intuitive, you simply squeeze with minimum pressure to attach the capo and squeeze the lever to release the capo. And you'll only find this exclusive feature on the G7th Performance capo line.
And to back all of this up, every G7th capo is covered by a Free Lifetime Warranty.
"...the Performance 3 is one of the rare capos that makes me forget I'm even using a capo—which is kinda the point, right?"
Jason Shadrick, August 2, 2019. Premier Guitar Gold Gear Award
That's why we say – G7th is The Future of Capos.
ICON Gig Bag By Gator Gases
The new Gator Cases ICON gig bag provides the protection you need in a beautifully sleek form that travels easily and comes packed with everything you need.
Equipped with a highly durable, semi-rigid construction, the ICON bags can withstand extreme pressure and mishandling and have endured multiple stress tests.
These feature-packed showstopper bags come fitted with multiple layers of protection and plenty of accessory pockets, handles, and adjustable, stowaway backpack straps to ensure comfortable transport. Every detail has been thought through, from the hidden secret pocket for your travel documents to the custom-fit rain cover and a convenient bottle opener where you need it most. This bag is your ultimate travel companion.
Inside the bag, you'll find adjustable neck and body blocks to keep your instrument safe during movement and a QR code for quick product registration and tracking so it won't get lost.
Give your guitar the protection it deserves with the ICON Series by Gator.
OverDrive II
In the quest for great musical tone there is always the potential to create something great. Here at Greedtone the mission is to make the best sounding equipment.
The Greedtone Overdrive II is different to the millions of other overdrives on the market because it's designed around the professionally trained ears of Greg Williamson, a sound engineer for some of the worlds largest bands (Foo Fighters, Sunny Day Real Estate).
This pedal has plenty of volume on tap (4 Volts) in order to push your amp into its natural happy place. This is one of the loudest overdrives ever made.
The gain stage is designed to not just clip the signal giving great rock through to metal tones, it's also designed to bring out the sparkle and harmonics of your guitars natural tone. This is due, in part, to the extremely high end hi-fi audio components used.
The "Greed" control is where things start becoming crazy, this beast of a control begins feeding extra bass into the gain section of the pedal. This essentially allows you to shape which frequencies receive more attention from the gain stage.
The results are so extremely wide ranging as turned right down you have yourself a great rocking overdrive pedal BUT when you start diming this knob into an overdriving amp you enter a world of Sludge and Doom as yet unheard of.
With the MORE switch a second stage of distortion is at your disposal. The Greedtone OD is considered a double drive pedal.
Island Instruments
Celebrate 10 years of Island Instruments with luthier Nic Delisle and the commemorative Decade Edition Forty-Four. This limited edition of 5 instruments recalls the spirit and aesthetics of the initial run of guitars that launched the company. Built from domestic and reclaimed woods, and with a powerhouse of a blade P90 custom-wound by Mojo Pickups UK. This time it's on the flagship Forty Four model, featuring a compact comfortable body and a beefy flamed maple neck with buttery feeling hybrid soft V-C carve. Subtle details like custom-machined raw brass hardware, brass nut, EVO frets and ivoroid binding complete the package. Island Instruments is a one-man operation and you can get in touch with Nic directly via his website, Facebook or Instagram to inquire about the remaining guitars or for all your custom-crafted desires.
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Voice DC30 Guitar Amplifier Plugin
Voice DC30 Custom Valve Guitar Amplifier plugin is modelled after a vintage VOX AC30 Top Boost Reverb characterised by its "jangly" high-end sound that's become widely recognized by British musicians and others.
Voice DC30 Custom Valve is capable of both enchanting clean and raucous overdriven sounds, the signature chime of the Voice DC30 Custom Valve pairs seamlessly with the intricacies of your playing style, resulting in a sound that is truly your own.
The Voice DC30 has a separate brilliant channel. This has been achieved by adding a gain stage and a 'cathode follower´ stage, thereby dropping the impedance and bringing up the current and adding Bass/Treble controls to this channel.
The brilliant channel with optional top boost is placed after the volume control section and before the phase inverter. This means you can shape the sound after the distortion.
The Vib-Trem channel offers a choice between vibrato (wavering pitch) and tremolo (wavering amplitude). A rotary, three position Speed switch adjusts modulation rate.
The String Sling
The String Sling not only protects your guitar strings, but it also turns into a comfy guitar strap in seconds!
Reinforced loopholes and top of the line fabric provide stable and secure attachment to your guitar when used as a strap.
Our capo pouch is measured to snuggly hold all standard guitar capos, whether in the strap or protection configuration.
Premium Japanese elastic adds that extra sling that makes this strap stand out while offering the best strength on the market.
Triple fastening layers under the featured button, lock the strap attachment firmly into place.
Extra-wide Velcro® allows for a tight wrap around all standard guitar necks. We suggest keeping it tight to prevent the oxidation of your strings. You'll be able to see how well it protects your strings after taking it off for the first time and seeing the outlines.
String Sling's premium microfiber cloth, used by companies like Fender, are used not only because they are made for this but because it's so versatile. We just happened to find one more use – perhaps its best!
That same microfiber cloth that makes up String Sling's belly, can be used to wipe down and dust off your guitar. It's the perfect buffing cloth you'll never lose or need to replace.
The hidden pick pouch is both sturdy and large enough to hold your picks, yet tight enough that you're not digging.
Pursuit Exotic S Concertina Tiger’s Eye CE
Myrtlewood, while native to Oregon's Pacific coast, might just be the most 'exotic' of all tonewoods, capturing the deep bass of rosewood, the pure warmth of mahogany and the sweet, glassy treble of maple in one exquisite, visually enchanting package—here under an equally captivating tortoise-bound Tiger's Eye gloss finish. This sustainable acoustic-electric Pursuit Exotic S Concertina has all the charm of a vintage short-scale 12-fret parlor guitar, but with a full, punchy modern sound and maximum playing comfort. A fast, slim neck and soft cutaway access to every fret let your fingers, and your heart, have their say. Sound better than ever with Breedlove's earth-conscious, sonically superior EcoTonewood technology. Get fierce with a Tiger's Eye!
ACS1 Amp + Cab Simulator
The [ACS1]™ is an amplifier and speaker cab simulator delivering the sound and feel of world-class amplifiers, complimentary speaker cabinets, and controllable room size. With the ACS1, players have expansive options to deliver their tone whether it's on stage, in the studio, or practicing at home. Simple controls, stereo in and out, onboard presets, and MIDI support make the ACS1 an immeasurable tool in a guitarist's arsenal.
The ACS1 models three vintage amp styles crucial to music industry history designated by their places of origin. When running the ACS1 in stereo, one amp can be used through both channels or mix and match amps and cabinets on the left and right channels with the L + R switch.
Players can also load in their own IRs and update firmware at walrusaudio.io
Foxy Tone Box
What do the guitar stylings of Billy Gibbons, Peter Frampton, Adrian Belew, and Beck all have in common? A small but mighty fuzz pedal that goes from mellow to mayhem real quick. The Warm Audio Foxy Tone Box is the most accurate reintroduction of one of the most sought after and beloved fuzz pedals of all time. Covered in thick velvet just like the vintage pedal, the Warm Audio Foxy Tone Box faithfully recreates the vintage circuit and brings you the huge tone, octave-up sounds and look of the original plus true bypass for the purest signal flow on modern boards. Foxy Tone Box uses NOS2 N3565 Fairchild Transistors, carbon resistors, Germanium 1N34A diodes, and premium film capacitors to bring the fury of the vintage pedal to the present day. Foxy Tone Box houses a very workable fuzz circuit with controls for volume, sustain, and "fuzz" (tone) which runs from mellow to brite. The tone control makes it easy to switch from single coil to humbucking pickups without missing a beat. The sustain control turns your solos from choppy bitcrushing madness to liquid metal that would make Tony Iommi proud. To get the full experience of Foxy Tone Box, engage the octave effect and channel your inner Hendrix to wake up the neighbors and melt faces. Electric guitar is the obvious application, but try it on synthesizers, drum machines, bass, acoustic/electric, and more. Get or give the gift of fuzz this holiday.
Jet Phaser
Are you ready for a roaring call back to an earlier time where one pedal delivered fuzz, phaser, and a jet-engine swirl together in perfect harmony? Countless performances from people named Gilmour, Van Halen, and Isely plus iconic recordings from Kool and the Gang, Steely Dan, and Herbie Hancock put this pedal sound on the map. The Warm Audio Jet Phaser is a true reproduction of this famous pedal. This six-mode pedal gives you phaser, fuzz, and boost - all in one enclosure with true bypass. Use "phase" modes 1 or 2 to get traditional phase sounds with depth controls. For the bold, use "Jet" modes 1-4 to add fuzz, with bright and dark fuzz controls combined with deep and shallow controls for phase. This faithful recreation uses premium components throughout, including carbon film resistors and film capacitors. Living up to the sonic legacy, Jet Phaser delivers the infamous 'Jet' phase sound resembling a jet engine during takeoff. Your solos will have your band mates, fans, and engineers asking - "who's that pedal?" If you've ever chased this mythical sound for stage or studio, there's only one way to get there this holiday - the Warm Audio Jet Phaser.
Mod Electronics Seismic Shift
The Seismic / Shift is a JFET boost based on one of the earliest effects to ever be used on stage. This pedal adds subtle color to a guitar's sound while maintaining the natural tone of the guitar. It packs a serious punch that can cut through any mix when soloing or whenever some extra "umph" is required. The Seismic Shift pairs nicely with amps and other pedals. Place it ahead of tubes, preamps, overdrives, distortions, and fuzz pedals to shift your gear onto a new level.
The Seismic / Shift pedal kit is the introduction to the Nexus Series from Mod® Electronics. This series features a PCB base rather than the Mod® Electronics' traditional point-to-point wiring kits to offer builders an even wider variety of effects to build. The Seismic Shift kit is designed for all skill sets and is the perfect first build for those unfamiliar with PCB construction.
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Volt Power Supply
Don't step on stage without the Ernie Ball Volt Power Supply. For musicians on the move, this ultra-compact, road-ready unit puts a complete powering solution in the palm of your hand. Connect all your favorite digital and analog pedals to multiple high-current DC outputs for clean, regulated power. Relax and rely on thermally protected, short-circuit-proof design with ultra-low noise operation. When the road calls, the Volt demands a place on your pedalboard.
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Lindy Fralin's Customizable Prewired Pickguard
Don't just settle for some one-size-fits-all generic pickguard. Instead, design your own! Lindy Fralin's Prewired Strat Pickguard line features the highest quality parts - and pickups - in the industry. Built to order and wired by hand by experienced craftsmen, these Prewired Pickguards are available in SSS and HSS combinations. In addition, each pickguard is fully customizable - from appearance to pickups to the wiring. With hundreds of options available, you can fully customize your tone - from our award-winning pickups to cutting-edge push-pull mods. So treat your Strat® to something special this holiday season with a Lindy Fralin Prewired Pickguard - exclusively available at fralinpickups.com.
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Guitar Slip No More
Guitar Slip No More, GSNM is the new electric and bass guitar accessory designed for the seated guitarist. GSNM is form fit to the bottom rail of your guitar and prevents the guitar from slipping and improves guitar balance. Anytime a guitar is in your lap is the right time for a GSNM! Buy yours today!
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Kingston Super and Kingston Z
For the discerning player in search of a handmade look and sound, we have the MTD Super and Z Series, which incorporates many of the superior design elements present in MTD Handmade instruments, into a production model. Powerful electronics, premium finishes, and a sleek carved body, make the Kingston Super and Z models the perfect combination of beauty, brawn, and tonal flexibility.
Kingston Z5(Tobacco Sunburst): $1800, Kingston Super5(Dr.Brown's Burst or Matte Black): $1525
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Oliver Mahogany Jr.
Looking for your next travel guitar? With a comfortable, ¾ size grand concert body, the Oliver Jr. is the perfect accompaniment for your next big adventure. Oliver Jr. sports a solid mahogany top with layered mahogany back & sides for a warm, balanced tone. Every Orangewood comes professionally set up before delivery, so your guitar is ready to play right out of the gift box. Plus, the Oliver Jr. includes a premium gig bag, so you can play anywhere inspiration strikes.
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Echo
With an iconic dreadnought acoustic shape, Echo's resonant voice is the perfect gift for your favorite singer-songwriter. Topped with a solid Sitka spruce top for a bold, crisp sound that delivers on stage, the Echo also features a natural gloss finish and stunning abalone detailing for a sophisticated aesthetic. The Echo Live comes equipped with a Fishman Flex Plus-T EQ System, featuring a built-in tuner and onboard volume/tone controls, to round out this acoustic-electric model that's perfect for performance. Plus, a premium gig bag and professional setup come included.
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Shubb Capo Royale Pāua Pearl C1P for steel string guitar
Shubb's latest endeavor is a continuation of their Capo Royale Series, utilizing their titanium-based PVD finish. Pāua is the Maori (native New Zealand) name for a species of abalone whose shells are the most beautiful and colorful. Luthiers often use Pāua shells for the inlays on their most special guitars. Fine jewelry crafted from the shells are known as Pāua Pearls.
When the R & D Department at Shubb came up with this new finish, its dazzling iridescence reminded them of Pāua pearls, and so that became its name. It uses the same durable titanium process as their other Capo Royale models, so its eye-popping, color-shifting
beauty will last practically forever. The renowned and reputable Shubb cam lever capo design has gotten a good dose of peacocking just in time for the holidays !
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i5 Professional Dynamic Instrument Microphone
You owe it to yourself — and your tone — to use a mic that will faithfully capture your guitar amp's sound. The Audix i5 Professional Dynamic Instrument Microphone is the perfect mic for guitar cabinets — on stage or in the studio.
Designed with a smooth cardioid pickup pattern for isolation and feedback control, the i5 microphone features a VLM™ diaphragm for natural, accurate sound reproduction. Sturdy, compact, and easy to position, the i5 has a wide frequency response of 50 Hz – 16 kHz. Clearly capture your sound without having to rely on EQ.
Take it up a notch by adding an optional CabGrabber™ mic clamp. The CabGrabber allows you to position the i5 easily and exactly where you want it on your cabinet.
Designed, assembled, and tested by Audix in the USA.
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Vidami Blue
The Vidami Blue is a revolutionary multi-modal tool that gives you hands-free control of today's most popular music and education technology. We've combined everything our customers love about the original Vidami with Bluetooth technology and iOS Safari 15 compatibility to give you hands-free, wireless control. Experience the freedom to learn and create at home, in the studio, or on the go.
Video Mode
Effortlessly Loop and Slow Down songs and riffs on more than *35 compatible Online Video learning platforms including: YouTube, FenderPlay, TrueFire, MartyMusic, Pickup Music and more.
Page Turning/TAB Mode
Easily Turn Pages, Scroll Tabs, Lyrics, and other functions on your favorite Digital Sheet Music apps and Tab sites like: OnSong, Ultimate Guitar Tabs, forScore, and others.
DAW Mode
Free your creative spirit as you Record, Loop, Add Tracks, Set Markers, and more on today's most popular Digital Audio Workstations including: GarageBand, Logic Pro, Reaper, Pro Tools, Studio One, Cubase & Ableton Live.
The Vidami Blue is currently compatible with iPhone and iPad on iOS 15 and Desktop Computers, Laptops & ChromeBooks
Tone Weal EG/EB-Series Guitar/Bass Amp
EG10
EG10 is compact, small, and loud, with a simple-to-use practice amplifier. It delivers great
tone for electric guitar with 10 watts RMS power and 5” speakers. Classic preamp circuit
and 2-band EQ with a clean tone and drive switch to add great overdrive sound.
Professional headphone socket for private practice.
EG15
EG15 is a compact, simple-to-use practice amplifier delivering great tone for electric guitar, with 15
watts RMS power and 6.5” speakers. Classic preamp circuit and 3-band EQ with
a clean tone and drive switch to add great overdrive sound.
The mini-jack AUX input allows for connection of a playback device such as
MP3/iPod/CD for jamming backing tracks, the headphone socket for private practice.
EB10
EB10 bass amp is astoundingly compact, portable, and lightweight, with great bass tone for
home studio and travel. The diminutive EB10 delivers 10 watts of pure bass tone. Small
and loud, its features include Tone Weal amp design with classic 5" speaker and three-band EQ,
making it a great practice amp.
EB20
The EB20 bass amp is ideal for practice or home studio play, with its great fat and warm tone, and
ease-to-use controls. The 20W bass amp features a 1x8" speaker and includes an aux. input,
headphone output, and three-band EQ in addition to standard volume and EQ controls. This unique
bass power amplifier is lightweight and easy to carry, suitable for small performances with 20W of
power.
EG10 $89 USD
EG15 $129 USD
EB10 $108 USD
EB20 $165 USD
On the eclectic instrumental band’s newest, A LA SALA, the bassist pledges to “just play what sounds good and what feels good.”
“Bass playing is like humming to me,” says Khruangbin’s Laura Lee Ochoa. “I hum to myself all the time. It’s very in-your-body. It’s also one note, it can be as melodic as I want it to be, and it’s simple. It was something that just resonated with me.”
Ochoa is describing the epiphany that brought her to the bass back in 2009, when she was working as a third-grade math teacher. First learning piano with help from her pal, guitarist Mark Speer, she recalls, “I was trying to play along to a song and he said to follow the bass. Then I picked one up, and it weirdly made sense to me.” It was a monumental event—the catalyst for just about everything that followed.
Soon, Ochoa quit her teaching job to go on tour with Speer in the shoegaze band Yppah. “It was five people staying in a Motel 6 every night, flipping a quarter for who slept on a bed,” she remembers. “We were in a minivan, I had no amp, I was playing direct every night—it was that kind of tour. Our very last show was in Seattle, and we drove to Houston in one shot and didn’t stop. We were all crooked getting out of the van, and I looked at Mark and was like, ‘I wanna start a band.’”
Khruangbin - "Pon Pón"
Ochoa and Speer’s weekly hangs with Donald “DJ” Johnson Jr., a producer who played with Speer at a regular church gig, made assembling a band easy. “I didn’t know that DJ played drums,” says Ochoa, “because I knew him as an organ or keyboard player. Mark was like, ‘I’ve never heard DJ play drums, but I know he’ll play the way we want.’”
“I didn’t grow up ever thinking I’d play bass.”
Fast forward a few years of jamming, and Khruangbin released their debut, The Universe Smiles Upon You, in 2015. The trio caught the ears of listeners and critics with their unique stew of influences, the most immediate of which was vintage Thai funk, but international sounds from Peru to the Middle East were detectable. Speer played with the reverb-soaked twang of surf rock and the laid-back feel of soul jazz. Ochoa and Johnson served as his rhythmic foils, delivering tight grooves with both bounce and economy that were equal parts reggae, Motown, and lo-fi hip-hop.
Laura Lee Ochoa's Gear
Ochoa uses flats on her original SX J bass and never changes ’em.
Photo by Jordi Vidal
Bass
- SX J bass
Amp
- Acme Audio Motown DI
- Ampeg bass amp
Strings
- Flatwounds
Khruangbin skyrocketed to the tops of taste-making lists, drawing in record collectors and public radio listeners alike. Along the way, the band lived in their sound more deeply with every new project. And there have been many: They’ve now delivered four LPs, plus a pair of EPs with Leon Bridges, and Ali, a collaboration with Malian guitar virtuoso Vieux Farka Touré as a tribute to his legendary father, Ali Farka Touré.
On their newest album, A LA SALA, the band jump-started the writing process by digging into their vault of demos and jams, going as far back as one of Speers’ pre-Khruangbin demos of “May Ninth,” which dates from 2008. Other vault recordings came from throughout their career—“Ada Jean” was demoed around the time of their debut—while some songs are new. The goal, Ochoa says, was “to just be influenced by ourselves.” Like the Rolling Stones’ Tattoo You or Van Halen’s A Different Kind of Truth, both of which were created by archive-diving, there are no discernible differences between the old and new. They all simply sound like Khruangbin. “When I listen to the final product and what they turned into,” says Johnson of their vault recordings, “it’s incredible to me.”
While Ochoa and Johnson call Speer’s guitar the lead singer of the mostly instrumental group—though Ochoa’s voice is featured, it’s mostly as a background element—at the heart of the band’s sound is the deep, sympathetic rhythmic hookup between the three players, and much of that starts with the foundation laid down by Ochoa and Johnson. “A lot of times, it starts with DJ and I playing a bunch to lock in,” says Ochoa. “We’ll start smiling at each other, like, ‘We’re here now.’” Together, they bounce. They’re tight, but airy. The low end pumps enough to keep you moving, even on slower, lighter tunes, but their flow is always dynamic.
A LA SALA features all new recordings, but the songs are a mix of all-new compositions and some that consist of old riffs and parts dating as far back as 2008.
On 2020’s Mordechai, the band tweaked their formula and their feel. The songs leaned more toward poppy, dance grooves, and Ochoa’s breathy background vocals moved into the fore. Her playing changed as well. “I was trying to be complicated,” she explains. “I was trying to play things that were slightly less comfortable for myself because I was trying to go outside the box and play more notes or play faster.” It was an essential step in her internal relationship with the bass. “It’s like being a teenager in the lifespan of playing. I started out naively, and then I was like, ‘I know more, my fingers are more agile, I’m going to make this more complicated.’”
By pushing herself to the limit on Mordechai, Ochoa was able to find more of herself—the kind of stuff that really makes Laura Lee sound like Laura Lee—on A LA SALA. “I feel like with this record, I didn’t have that same need,” she says. Instead, she decided to “just play what sounds good and what feels good.”
“If you lose the fourth-finger thing, it creates a limitation, but for me it’s fun and bouncy.”
Whether on “Juegos y Nubes,” where she plays an on/off counterpoint to Speer’s guitar melody or “Three from Two,” where she injects melody into a mostly root/fifth pattern, her sound is immediately recognizable. Much of that is because of her melody-driven sensibility—her influences are more melodic, and she says she doesn’t really have favorite bassists. “I didn’t grow up ever thinking I’d play bass,” she points out.
Ochoa also credits her sound in part to her technique. “I don’t play with all four of my fingers, because I attach two of my fingers together,” she explains. “I’m not technically trained. Because of that, I think I play differently, and it changes the feel of the whole thing. Like James Jamerson playing with one finger, if you lose the fourth finger thing, it creates a limitation, but for me it’s fun and bouncy.”
And Ochoa’s sense of rhythm is a crucial part of her playing. It’s what helps sell the sound and makes it so infectious. “I play and practice Laura Lee bass lines because they’re fun to play,” says Johnson. “The stuff that you sit down and you play is the stuff that’s good and the stuff that you like. I’m always studying her placement. She has a very keen sense of rhythm that’s on top but doesn’t rush. It’s laid-back but it doesn’t drag. I’d be lying if I told you I’ve figured it out.”
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The trio’s effortless mastery of groove and style is evident in this cover-filled set from the 2022 BBC 6 Music Festival.
David Gilmour announces his first live shows in eight years in Los Angeles and New York in support of his new album Luck and Strange, out on September 6.
The live shows in New York and Los Angeles will be Gilmour’s only concert appearances in North America and will take place at The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA on October 29 & 30 and at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY on November 4 & 5.
Fans will need to sign up at davidgilmour.com to get first access to tickets on Wednesday, May 15 at 10am local time. The general on sale for all shows will take place on Friday, May 17 at 10:00am local time.
The touring band includes: David Gilmour, guitar & vocals; Guy Pratt, bass and background vocals; Greg Phillinganes, keyboards; Rob Gentry, Keyboards; Adam Betts, drums; Ben Worsley, guitar; Louise Marshall, background vocals; Hattie Webb, background vocals and Charlie Webb, background vocals.
Luck and Strange was recorded over five months in Brighton and London and is Gilmour’s first album of new material in nine years. The record was produced by David and Charlie Andrew, best known for his work with alt-J and Marika Hackman.
The majority of the album’s lyrics have been composed by Polly Samson, Gilmour’s co-writer and collaborator for the past thirty years. Samson says of the lyrical themes covered on Luck and Strange, “It’s written from the point of view of being older; mortality is the constant.” Gilmour elaborates, “We spent a load of time during and after lockdown talking about and thinking about those kind of things.”
The album features eight new tracks along with a reworking of The Montgolfier Brothers' "Between Two Points" and has artwork and photography by renowned artist Anton Corbijn.
Musicians contributing to the record include Guy Pratt & Tom Herbert on bass, Adam Betts, Steve Gadd and Steve DiStanislao on drums, Rob Gentry & Roger Eno on keyboards with string and choral arrangements by Will Gardner. The title track also features the late Pink Floyd keyboard player Richard Wright, recorded in 2007 at a jam in a barn at David’s house.
Some contributions emerged from the live streams that Gilmour and family performed to a global audience during the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021; Romany Gilmour sings, plays the harp and appears on lead vocals on "Between Two Points". Gabriel Gilmour also sings backing vocals.
Fender just released a signature model for one of Nashville's most prolific session guitarists. Let's look inside his number one guitar.
Welcome back to Mod Garage. Let's take a closer look at what's usually referred to as the Brent Mason Telecaster wiring. It's also been called "Telecaster blend wiring" or "Nashville Telecaster wiring," and I think it's time to cover this one in detail for several reasons. First and foremost, I've received numerous requests from you, dear readers, to do this. Fender recently released a faithful replica of Brent Mason's Telecaster, and also, my PG colleague John Bohlinger did a great Rig Rundown video with Mason just weeks ago. Mason is an outstanding player and absolutely nice guy so it's only logical to cover the wiring of his famous '67 Telecaster. Unless you're living in a cave, you've heard about Mason and his playing, which he's laid down on more Nashville studio records than one can count.
Mason's famous "automobile primer gray" 1967 Telecaster has three humbucker pickups and three controls. It's basically a standard 3-way Tele pickup-switching circuit plus an additional volume control to blend in the middle pickup. These are the pickups Mason uses in his Telecaster, all from the Seymour Duncan company:
Rig Rundown: Brent Mason [2021]
- Neck position: Vintage Mini Humbucker (Mason tenderly calls it a "Baby Humbucker"), built-in 180 degrees flipped, so the open pole pieces are facing the bridge rather than the neck for some more high-end and clarity in the tone. The pickup is wired with both coils in series for full humbucking functionality and no control to split it.
- Middle position: Mason is using an older version of the Hot Stack Strat STK-S2 with the red pickup cover and engraved Seymour Duncan logo on top. The current model has a white cover that's partly open on top. Hopefully, the iconic early red pickup cover will be available again for that special look. The pickup is wired with both coils in series for full humbucking functionality and no control to split it.
- Bridge position: Vintage Stack Tele STK-T3b, which is wired with both coils in series for full humbucking functionality and no control to split it.
These are the pickups installed in Brent's original Tele and also the pickups Fender is using for the signature model. This is an HHH pickup combination, by all means. Why Fender labelled it an SSH combination on the webpage ... well, we don't know.
In general, you can use any given pickup combination for this wiring. If you want to be as close as possible, this is your shopping list. If you only want to get in the same ballpark, you should use a vintage-flavored Tele bridge pickup, a hotter (overwound) Stratocaster middle pickup, and a PAF-style humbucker or hot P-90 for the neck position. No matter if they're single-coils or humbuckers, it will work.
"This wiring worked well for Mason right from the start: A hum-free operation is absolutely essential for work in a studio."
Why did Mason choose such an unusual pickup combination, you might ask? According to Mason himself, he didn't have much money in his early career and could only afford one guitar. This had to cover everything he needed in the studio. Brent wanted a Telecaster bridge pickup to cover all the country playing that was popular in the early '90s. For this, he also installed a B-Bender (Joe Glaser system, Mk1 version). He also wanted a Stratocaster tone, especially the in-between tone from bridge and middle together in parallel, and a Les Paul-ish tone from the neck position. So, the pickup combination he chose made sense, and Nashville's Joe Glaser did the wiring for him, which is the reason why Mason named this wiring "Glaser wiring."
This worked well for Mason right from the start: A hum-free operation is absolutely essential for work in a studio. But the wiring underwent some evolution during the years regarding the push-pull pot, which is the master tone control. This was initially wired to split the Hot Stack middle pickup into a single-coil, and all the diagrams of this wiring that are online right now still display this version. Today, the push-pull pot is wired to switch the middle pickup on and off. This is also the way Fender's Mason signature Tele is wired and what I'll be showing you. If you want the older wiring, you can find several examples online. They are also correct, but simply not up to date with Mason's current wiring.
I asked Mason directly about this, and I'm more than happy to share his reply:
"Basically, it's a standard 3-way switch with an extra volume knob that controls the middle pickup. Three knobs, left to right: volume (for neck and bridge), volume (middle), tone (for all 3) with an extra feature to pull on the tone knob to cut the middle pickup off or on. The middle pickup with the volume knob enables you to roll in the desired amount to blend with either neck or bridge. The pull knob on my original '67 Tele cuts the Seymour Duncan Vintage Stack split coil in half to single-coil. Later on, over the years I found that feature useless. We decided to make that tone control knob cut the middle pickup off and on. Upward position is off. The pickups are all Seymour Duncan; Mini Humbucker in front, Hot Stack in middle, and Vintage Stack in bridge." —Brent Mason
Building The Limited-Edition Brent Mason Telecaster | Dream Factory | Fender
So, what do we need for this wiring? We know the pickups, but we don't know exactly what's used for the electronics and how it's wired. Fender didn't release a wiring diagram for the signature model yet and Joe Glaser didn't publish anything about it. My diagram (Fig. 1 - scroll below) will work exactly as it should, but maybe the original guitar is wired slightly different. As you know, many roads lead to Rome.
I was able to find a photo of the wiring Fender did (Photo 1) and extracted a still shot of Brent's original guitar from the Fender video mentioned above (Photo 2).
Photo 1
Photo courtesy of FMIC
Photo 2
Photo courtesy of FMIC
On these two photos, we can clearly see:
- The push-pull pot is wired to switch the middle pickup on and off.
- All three pickups are wired for full humbucking functionality with both coils in series.
- No treble-bleed networks are used on the two volume pots.
- Mason still has the '67 original Sprague "Circle D" 0.05 uF high-voltage ceramic tone cap in his guitar.
This only leaves us with two unknown parameters: resistance of the three pots, and on/off wiring of the middle pickup. I think it's three 250k audio pots, but if you want a tad more high-end, using a 500k audio push-pull master tone pot is worth a try. I would use two 250k audio volume pots to benefit from the much better taper range compared to a 500k pot—the nature of the (passive) beast.
To activate or cut off the middle pickup there are two different ways: connecting the pickup to the switch or using a push/pull volume pot for the middle pickup. I decided to use the second version because when connecting the pickup directly to the switch, the volume pot stays connected to the circuit, adding some load to it, resulting in less high-end. Please note that the master tone pot will not work on the middle pickup when the master volume is not set to "10" (aka fully opened). When you start to roll down the volume, the middle pickup gets disconnected from the master tone, no matter if you switch the pickup itself or the volume pot—that's part of the game.
Fig. 1
To keep the wiring diagram (Fig. 1) as clean as possible, I showed all ground connections only with the international symbol for it rather than drawing several black wires through the diagram. I also only show two pickup wires (hot and ground) but keep in mind that these are humbuckers with a four-conductor wiring plus separate ground wire, so you'll have to solder some wires together to end up with only two pickup wires. The separate ground wire always goes directly to ground (casing of a pot, etc.) and assuming you're using Seymour Duncan pickups, you'll have to follow this color code:
- Black wire = hot output
- White and red wire are twisted together, soldered, and isolated
- Green wire = ground
For other pickups, you'll have to use the corresponding color code from the manufacturer. For single-coil pickups, you don't need to do all this.
Is this wiring perfect or are there any mods that can be done? At least it's perfect for Mason and his playing. If it's good enough for him, it should be good enough for all of us. But this is only half the truth.
If you have Brent's playing chops, you don't depend much on any equipment. Even with the cheapest, meanest, off-tuned junk guitar, Mason will sound much better than most of us. The better you play, the less you depend on equipment. It's absolutely okay and no sacrilege to mod this circuit to your personal needs. If you want to use the push-pull pot for splitting one of the pickups rather than switching the middle pickup on and off ... go for it! If you want to use treble-bleed networks for the volume pots or want to implement splitting for all three pickups, there's no law against doing so.
That's it for now. Next month we'll continue with our DIY relic'ing project.
Until then ... keep on modding!