Hard-riffin', quick-picking Zach Wish gets comfortable and loud with the 50W solution to chasing the different gassed-up eras from the beacon of British rock.
Gosh Problem Solver backstory: The journey began on the front porch of Chris Wollard’s house, back in 2016. Fueled by a shared passion for the 2204 circuit, Wollard and I embarked on collaborative process to redefine the circuit, ironing out its quirks and limitations. The result is an amplifier that not only pays homage to its roots but catapults the classic rock sound into the modern era.
The relentless pursuit of sonic perfection led to numerous modifications and revisions, transforming the 2204 circuit into a beast of its own. No longer bound by the constraints of the original design, the Problem Solver emerged as a versatile powerhouse, ready to unleash its magic in both studio recordings and live performances.
What sets the Problem Solver apart is its thoughtful array of features, carefully curated to empower your creativity. The AGE switch lets you tailor your tone stack to different eras – whether you crave the cutting-edge brilliance of 1963, the aggressive bite of 1966, the mid-heavy roar of 1981, or the warmth of 2023, it's all at your fingertips.
The Mid Boost switch elevates your highs and mids, ensuring your solos cut through the mix with unparalleled clarity. The Depth control allows you sculpt the low-end frequencies. And the revamped EQ controls provide a logical, intuitive layout, ensuring that you can sculpt your sound effortlessly, straight out of the box.
In the end, the Problem Solver Amplifier isn't just an homage to the past—it's a celebration of timeless tone, reimagined for the demands of today's musicians. Join us on this journey and discover a new era of sonic possibilities. Plug in, play, and let the music do the talking – the Problem Solver has arrived.
The original Cowboys from Hell bassist reclaims his spine-rattling position as the band's charging piston, while his guitar brother brings his fleet of Wylde Audio gear and a few tone sweeteners from Dimebag Darrell's private stash.
The ’90s was a very peculiar musical decade. It entered with L.A.’s party-time hair metal and concluded with the rise of Nu metal, boy bands, and the real Slim Shady. In between those bookends saw the maturation of Metallica, a cold front moved in from the Pacific Northwest with dark clouds of morose and menace, gangsta rap from the coasts flooded the heartland and suburbs, and punk went pop with big hitters from Green Day, Offspring, and Blink 182. But Pantera proudly flew the flag of metal. Those Cowboys from Hell were Phil Anselmo (vocals), Darrell “Dimebag” Abbott (guitar), Rex Brown (bass), and Vinnie Paul Abbott (drums). They took chances and took no prisoners all while having the time of their lives.
They were originally a glam metal band fronted by Terry Glaze. That lineup put out three albums and tirelessly worked the Texas club circuit from 1981 to 1986. They replaced Glaze with New Orleans cat Phil Anselmo who continued the falsetto tradition but made the band more Priest than Stryper. They released Power Metal in 1988 with latex-laced riffs before trading the Sunset Strip for the mosh pit when they released 1990’s breakthrough marauding Cowboys from Hell. And things completely clicked for them when they chiseled out their core sound with 1992’s Vulgar Display of Power that unleashed power-groove, annihilation anthems “Mouth for War,” “Walk,” “This Love,” and “Fucking Hostile.” That set the tone for the rest of the decade and everyone else in metal was playing catch up.
When Metallica went Load and Reload, they went fiercer and forceful with 1994’s Far Beyond Driven (earning them a No. 1 record on Billboard 200). While Reznor and Manson explored techno, dissonance, and industrial sounds, the four metalheads went darker and harder with down-tuned guitars and even faster tempos creating 1996’s The Great Southern Trendkill. And as Slayer tried Nu metal with Diabolus in Musica, Pantera said hold my Crown Royal and doubled down on their demolition with 2000’s Reinventing the Steel.
Bands can burn out and friendships can become more grating than gratifying. Anselmo and Brown continued exploring their side gig with Down (started in the mid-’90s in between Pantera albums and tours) and the idle Abbott Brothers started Damageplan. A war of words filled magazine covers and airwaves making the divide wider. Then, on December 8th, 2004, while performing with Damageplan at Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, the unthinkable, agonizing, and gut-wrenching onstage murder of Dimebag occurred. (This horrific date was exactly 24 years after the shocking loss of John Lennon.) And in 2018 his brother Vinnie Paul succumbed to coronary artery disease. The idea of Pantera ever seeing the stage, in any form, seemed impossible.
But remaining members Rex Brown and Phil Anselmo tossed around the idea of finding friends to fill in for the Abbott brothers. There are indications they had a list, but anyone who knew anything about Pantera, and especially Dime, would bet their last dollar that Zakk Wylde was the only right option. And Charlie Benante of Anthrax made so many cameos in Pantera’s collection of Vulgar Videos home movies that he was the prime candidate for Vinnie Paul’s throne.
Brown has gone through so much gear. He’s lost amps and donated basses to charity. He’s fostered many fruitful friendships with companies that’s resulted in signature wares for war. His latest partnership has him riding high on a pair of namesake Thunderbirds dressed in black and gold. He still tours with old Spectors who feel like home (if home was a thunderstorm). He’s got a proper pedalboard and rack gear that’s been routed through a RJM switcher (first time ever). And he and tech Bobby Landgraf (also guitar player in Honky and Down for Down IV – Part II) detail the whole chain of tonal command. Then we have a blast chatting with Zakk Wylde who covers his toolbox of Warhammers and Master 100 heads. He ponders what it must’ve been like to have been Eddie Van Halen or Randy Rhoads who toured with their iconic instruments and not having any backups! And then his longtime tech Stephen Murillo goes over his rack gear that includes three pieces from Dimebag Darrell’s original Pantera rig.
Rattle and Shake
In recent years Rex Brown has partnered up with Gibson and two years ago saw his first signature Thunderbird take flight. It has a mahogany body, a mahogany neck (with set construction), rosewood fretboard, Hipshot Mini-clovers with Drop D Xtender, Graph Tech nut, and Gibson’s Rexbucker Thunderbird humbuckers. His touring models feature a set of EMG X active pickups for more output and attack. This one (and other 4-strings) ride with Ernie Ball 2733 Hybrid Slinky Cobalt Electric Bass strings.
Thunder Buddy
Here’s a thriftier way to rumble like Rex with his Epiphone signature Thunderbird. It has a mahogany body, 9-piece maple-and-walnut neck, Indian laurel fretboard, brass nut, Babicz FCH 3-Point bridge, and a set of Epiphone ProBucker 760 Bass humbuckers that Rex said remind him of the Bicentennial Thunderbird thumpers.
Spector Twins
This pair of ebony and ivory Spectors—one of which has been clobbering concertgoers for over 15 years. The one on the left is a 2008 Euro 4 what Rex calls “Mother Glory,” and it’s the one he always goes back to. It was originally painted white, but he darkened its exterior and brandished it in gold.
The other Spector is 2023 USA NS-5 in black-and-white gloss finish that is his “baby” and he “loves it because he just can’t beat the fucking sound of it. It just won’t go away no matter what.”
Both have EMG X pickups—the Euro 4 has the PJX Ceramic PJ Bass set and the USA NS-5 has the EMG 40DCX.
And the 5-string Spector takes Ernie Ball 5-String Slinky Cobalt Bass Strings (.45–.130).
Slugger ‘n’ Chugger
Brown has plugged into as many heads as you can think, but he’s never been happier than when he’s got a Ampeg SVT-4 Pro supporting him.
The Eich T1000 gives life to the Eich Bass Board. Their primary use was when supporting Metallica and Pantera was forced to have a clean stage, but Rex still wanted to feel the earth shake under his legs. He enjoyed the quake enough to implement on their headline run.
These boxes are tucked into the rack and are always on—an Origin Effects BassRig Super Vintage Bass Preamp, an Origin Effects Cali76 Stacked Edition Dual-stage Compressor, a Darkglass NSG Noise Gate Bass, and a Noble Preamp DI.
Lastly, his rack holds utilitarian items like the Shure AD4D Two-channel Digital Wireless Receiver, Radial JX44 V2 Concert Touring Guitar & Amp Signal Manager, and the RJM Effects Gizmo.
Moving Mesas
Rex has been on the lookout for anybody able to recast the Ampeg “fridge” 8x10. He claims Mesa/Boogie cracked the code with these custom Mesa Boogie 8x10 Traditional Powerhouse Cabinets that have custom-voiced Eminence speakers.
Rex Brown's Pedalboard
This clean configuration is the first time Rex Brown has utilized a switching system. His stage board has a Dunlop JCT95 Justin Chancellor Cry Baby Wah, a 2000s Morley Pro Series II Bass Wah, Origin Effects DCX Bass Tone Shaper & Drive, a MXR M287 Sub Octave Bass Fuzz, and a Peterson StroboStomp HD.
The brain of everything in the rack and onstage is the RJM Mastermind GT.
And to help “move mountains,” Rex has a Moog Taurus III.
Thor's Four
Zakk travels with familiar company when touring with Pantera, Zakk Sabbath or Black Label Society. It’s Wylde Audio all the time. This winter 2024 run saw him exclusively run with his Warhammer models. They’re built with a mahogany body, maple tops, 3-piece maple neck, ebony fretboard, a Floyd Rose locking tremolo, and his signature EMG 81/85 pickups. All these beasts have Dunlop DHCN1048 Heavy Core NPS strings (.010–.048).
St. Dime
Here’s a special Warhammer that approximates the iconic lightning-strike, blue-burst “Dean from Hell” that old pal Dimebag Darrell used through Pantera’s heyday. To nail the paint job, he enlisted Matt “Chewy” Dezynski, who painted Dime’s Washburn guitars in the 1990s.
Wylde and Free
Just like in our 2016 Rig Rundown with Zakk, he’s still plugging into his Wylde Audio Master 100 heads with a stereo configuration. He has another Master 100 and an old Marshall JCM800 on deck. All the heads are routed into his Wylde Audio 4x12s that are all loaded with Z-Dub’s Electro-Voice EVM12L Black Label Zakk Wylde 300W speakers.
Dime's Delights
Dimebag Darrell’s right-hand man and tonal technician Grady Champion was on the tour and brought some of his old friend’s secret sauce. Here you’ll see fixtures in Dime’s live and studio sound that include an Aphex Aural Exciter Type C2 Model 104 with Big Bottom, MXR M126 Flanger/Doubler, and a Rocktron Hush Guitar Silencer.
Zakk Wylde's Pedalboard
Out front Zakk sees nothing but Dunlop bullseyes. His signature arsenal of effects seen here include a MXR Wylde Audio Overdrive, a MXR Wylde Audio Phase, a Wylde Audio Cry Baby wah, and a Dunlop ZW357 Zakk Wylde Signature Rotovibe. The lone box that isn’t branded Wylde is a standard fare MXR Carbon Copy.
His offstage rack is home to a MXR Smart Gate and a MXR Wylde Audio Chorus (that’s always on). Both are powered by a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 3 Plus. Another drawer holds Radial BigShot I/O True-bypass Instrument Selector, Lehle Little Dual II Amp Switcher, and a Radial BigShot EFX Effects Loop Switcher.
Gibson Rex Brown Thunderbird Signature Bass Ebony
Epiphone Rex Brown Thunderbird Bass
Spector Bantam 5 Bass
Spector Euro 4
EMG PJX Set Active Ceramic PJ Bass Pickup Set Black
Ampeg SVT 4-Pro
Dunlop JCT95 Justin Chancellor Cry Baby Wah Pedal
Origin Effects BassRig Super Vintage Bass Preamp Pedal
Origin Effects Cali76 Stacked Edition Dual-stage Compressor Pedal
Darkglass NSG Noise Gate Bass Pedal
Origin Effects DCX Bass Tone Shaper & Drive Pedal
MXR M287 Sub Octave Bass Fuzz Pedal
MXR Carbon Copy
Electro-Voice EVM12L Black Label Zakk Wylde Signature 12-inch 300-watt Guitar Speaker - 8 Ohms
EMG ZW Zakk Wylde Active Signature Humbucker 2-piece Pickup Set - Black
MXR Wylde Audio Overdrive Pedal
MXR Wylde Audio Phase Pedal
MXR Wylde Audio Chorus Pedal
Dunlop DHCN1048 Heavy Core NPS Electric Guitar Strings - .010-.048 Heavy
Lehle Little Dual II Amp Switcher
Radial BigShot I/O True-bypass Instrument Selector
Radial BigShot EFX Effects Loop Switcher
Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus 2 x 12-inch 120-watt Stereo Combo Amp
MXR M135 Smart Gate Pedal
Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 3 High Current 8-output Isolated Power Supply
Shure AD4D Two-channel Digital Wireless Receiver
Radial JX44 V2 Concert Touring Guitar & Amp Signal Manager
Ernie Ball 2733 Hybrid Slinky Cobalt Electric Bass Guitar Strings - .045-.105
Ernie Ball 5 String Slinky Cobalt Bass Strings
Although this singular stylist is based in country blues, his music reaches for the cosmos! Check out his dazzling array of pedals and rhythm boxes, and the classic instruments he uses to make trailblazing sounds live and on his new album, The Fatalist.
Buffalo Nichols believes in the power of acoustic country blues. He also believes it’s not a fossil, trapped in amber, but a living, breathing musical genre. Which is why he blends elements of the tradition—slide guitar, resonator, open tunings, themes of loss, redemption, and struggle—with loops, samples, drum machines, myriad effects, and modern-day narratives. His new album, The Fatalist, is the culmination of his art to date. Listening to its echoes of Skip James, John Hurt, Pink Floyd, and Dr. Dre is an even stranger experience when you know Nichols started his career in the thundering, downstroke-chiseled trenches of the Midwest metal scene.
When you watch this Rig Rundown, Nichols will explain, and play, it all—it's a fascinating story. And the gear! Get ready for a feast, full of the trad and the rad.
Brought to you by D'Addario: https://ddar.io/wykyk-rr
and D'Addario XS Strings: https://ddar.io/xs-rr
Adirondack Rose
Those two woods dominate this Recording King RO-328, with its solid Adirondack spruce top, solid rosewood back and sides, rosewood fretboard, and herringbone purfling in classic rosette. In fact, this guitar would not look out of place in a photo from the early ’50s, and the brand itself has been available since the ’30s. Nichols keeps this 6-string tuned to open C# minor, a Skip James tuning, with a Seymour Duncan Mac Mic pickup. His preferred sting gauge is .016 to .056.
Sweet 'n' Elite
Nichols’ parlor guitar is a Recording King Tonewood Reserve Elite Single 0, with a spruce top, rosewood back and sides, a mahogany neck, and an ebony fretboard. Note the inlays and distinctive binding. It also has the Duncan pickup system. Nichols keeps this guitar tuned in standard with a medium string set (.013s).
Steel and Gold
This Gold Tone GRS Paul Beard metal-body Resonator puts a brushed aluminum cone and biscuits inside an all-steel body with a 19-fret maple neck. With a stock lipstick pickup, Nichols uses it as one of his essential electrics. He prefers it to the more traditional thick resonator body, for ease of performance and weight relief.
Get Behind the Mule
Nichols’ tunings include C#m, open F, and standard, tuned down a half-step. This guitar is a Mavis model, by Mule Resophonic Guitars—an open tuning classic. Dig that pickguard and the warm patina on the body. “It’s taken on a life of its own,” says Nichols. “Some people will show up at my gigs just to look at it.” The mini humbucker sounds sweet, with its basic volume control. The neck isn't too thick or too thin. "Kind of in the middle,” Nichols says. And it mostly gets played clean, or with a nice flavoring of delay.
Banjo
The banjo is one of the oldest African-American instruments, and this one is a Recording King, with a scooped fretboard and two pickups (a K&K and a Fishman) that he sometimes uses to split the signal. Without a resonating back, Nichols notes that it caters more to old-school music, with its bright, ringing tone.
Travelin' Amp
These days Nichols’ road amp of choice is a Fender Tone Master Super Reverb. He likes the compression he gets from its four 10" speakers, as well as its back-saving weight. He also points out that he uses so many effects that his guitars sound the same regardless of his amp choices.
The Board's Big Brain
Nichols jokingly describes his pedalboard as "very confusing,” but, running through his chain, he starts at a TC Electronic PolyTune to an Origin Effects Cali76 compressor—"and after that’s where it gets pretty weird.” But also onboard, for drive, are a Wampler Tumnus and Belle, and a Fuzzlord Octave Master (“for my Jimi Hendrix kind of tones”). To control various effects and chains, there’s a Boss GT-1000 Core. Those are involved in the guitar-to-amp signal, versus the acoustic.
But the “weird stuff,” as he puts it, starts with an Old Blood Noise Endeavors Signal Blender for switching between the acoustic, banjo, or amp. While the Fuzzlord can color everything, a cluster of his boxes are used to conjure pads and other ethereal sounds. These include the EHX Superego, a Fishman Aura, a Hologram Electronics Microcosm Granular Looper and Glitch Pedal (he calls it his red herring), an EHX Mel9 Tape Replay Machine, a TC Electronic Death Rax3, and a lot more. Listen while Nichols displays his entire array of delays in the Rundown. There’s an SPD-ONE Kick for stomping, and drum machines—an Akai Professional MPC Live II and an Elektron Analog Rytm MKII—too!
Shop Buffalo Nichols' Rig
Recording King RO-328
Recording King Tonewood Reserve Elite Single 0
Recording King RK-R20 Banjo
Fender Tone Master Super Reverb
TC Electronic PolyTune
Origin Effects Cali76 Compressor
Wampler Tumnus
Wampler Belle
Boss GT-1000 Core
EHX Superego
Fishman Aura
EHX Mel9 Tape Replay Machine
SPD-ONE Kick
Akai Professional MPC Live II
Elektron Analog Rytm MKII
Wondering how to get the most out of your Fender amp? Our columnist shares his top amp-and-cab combinations to boost your tone and volume for any situation.
Let's talk about speaker cabinets. If you have read my previous columns or been to my website fenderguru.com, you’ll know how much I value knowledge about speakers. Speakers affect the tone and volume vastly in guitar amps, and an extension cabinet is a smart and cheap way to get your tone right at practice, live gigs, or in the studio. In this column I will share my favorite amp and speaker cabinet pairings. As usual, I will refer to the classic black- and silver-panel Fender amps, which many of us enjoy.
I have plenty of extension cabinets lying around at home, including many that I have built myself. I use them across all the amps I have, with both combos and piggy-backs. Some are intended for British-style cranked tones, and some American vintage-style. Some cabinets have efficient and chunky speakers that can double the punch and spread on large stages, which I use when the speakers in my combo amps are not enough. More (and louder) speakers enable me to create a representative guitar tone on stage that everyone can hear well. “Sound good, play good” is one of my philosophies. Extension cabinets can serve other purposes too, such as lowering the volume for more breakup or mixing several speakers for a more complex and rich tone. There are so many interesting tone flavors that you should experiment with.
“The impedance mismatch gives me Hendrix’s JTM45 tones at reasonable volumes.”
Here are my all-time favorite Fender amp and cabinet pairings. All speakers are 8-ohm and wired in parallel, if not explicitly mentioned otherwise.
Black-Panel/Silver-Panel Bassman and Bandmaster
These amps’ flexible 4-ohm output transformers allow many different speaker configurations. The original 2x12 cabinet is very loud and chunky. If you use a 3x10 or 2x10 open cabinet with modest, vintage-style speakers, you will sound more like a Super Reverb, Vibrolux, or tweed Bassman. The 50-watt Bassman can push a 2x15 or even a 4x12 (ideally 16 ohm, with 8 ohm as second best) if you are in a “Who’s your daddy?” mood.
My favorite cabinet with the Bassman is a 1x12 semi-closed cabinet loaded with an Eminence Reignmaker with a 9 dB built-in attenuator. The impedance mismatch gives me Hendrix’s JTM45 tones at reasonable volumes.
Champ and Blues Junior
In their combo chassis, these amps can sound small and boxy. If you use a 1x12 semi-closed cabinet and disengage the built-in speaker entirely, you can take these amps to gigs. I recommend at least a Deluxe Reverb cabinet to get enough punch and spread.
Deluxe Reverb
With the 22-watt Deluxe 1x12, you can add an additional 1x12 for more spread and punch. If you replace the amp’s 6V6 power tubes with 6L6s, you have more power—roughly 30 watts—and can add a 1x15. Always remember to adjust bias when replacing power tubes.
Princeton Reverb
The small output transformer and inefficient phase inverter circuit limits the Princeton Reverb’s dual 6V6s to only 12 watts, with a flabby, loose low end. Therefore, I find the Princeton too weak to add an extension cabinet unless you disengage the built-in 10" speaker. Then it makes sense to use a 1x12 or 1x15 semi-closed cabinet for more punch and spread. This produces a wonderful, warm tone with significant breakup at modest volumes. A cool trick is to pull both 6V6 tubes and insert a single 6L6 for class-A operation and lots of distortion. When I use the 1x12 Eminence Reignmaker-loaded cabinet mentioned earlier, I get full tube distortion at almost bedroom level.
Vibrolux Reverb and Pro Reverb
The flexible 4-ohm configuration makes these amps perfectly suited for a 1x12 or 1x15 extension, for more spread and a mix of tone flavors. If I want to go really big, I disengage the inbuilt vintage-style speakers and hook up my Bassman’s 2x12 closed cabinet. Be aware that the small output transformer of these amps will limit the low end response.
Vibroverb
The undersized power transformer limits this amp’s low-end response. I don’t fancy adding another speaker because it gets too flabby with a 100 percent impedance mismatch.
Super Reverb
I rarely use extension cabinets with the Super Reverb because it’s already loud and punchy. On the contrary, I often disengage two of the four speakers to lower the clean headroom and volume. If you need more spread and send the sound in several directions, you could easily add a 1x12 cabinet and get a balanced and reasonable distribution of the amp’s 40 watts to all five speakers.
Twin Reverb
For those crazy players who need more from an 85-watt Twin, you can add an additional 1x15, with a resulting 50 percent impedance mismatch. Adding a dual 12" or 15" cabinet won’t make it louder since the impedance mismatch increases to 100 percent, which is the maximum I recommend.
In the writing of their latest full-length, Little Rope, guitarists Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker persisted through unexpected hardship, and imbued their sage punk approach with refreshed depth.
“There is a comfort to it, in the choreography,” Carrie Brownstein tells me on a call. She’s talking about playing guitar, as she explains how, in the making of Sleater-Kinney’s new album Little Rope, she focused more on her connection with the instrument than on her other role as vocalist in the band. “I know what to do with my hands and with my body on guitar. It also is such an act of love to play. Sometimes it’s frustrating, sometimes it’s meaningless, and you’re just playing sort of in the same way you would meditate or just chew gum. But it felt almost prayer-like, or, like I said, like love to just play.
“The note bend emulates the human experience so perfectly,” she continues. “It’s not static. You can be in one spot and have to bend to an experience. And I love that about guitar, that it can go in and out of these static moments.”
Of course, Sleater-Kinney’s music doesn’t really contain static moments, exactly—there might be quieter sections here and there, but even then, it’s fervent and kinetic. And, as Brownstein and co-bandleader/guitarist Corin Tucker have been in the punk scene for over 30 years, they know how to write in a way that not only captures the spirit of the genre, but expands its dimensions.
Brownstein and Tucker have always shared the roles of guitarist and vocalist in Sleater-Kinney, but on Little Rope, Tucker took on more vocal responsibilities than in the past.
Little Rope opens in the eye of an electrical storm on “Hell,” with a calm introduction that soon shifts to a wailing, mid-tempo upheaval. As the album continues, it speaks in elemental punk with a helping of pop-rock savvy, but when you’re fully in tune with it, it’s more like walking through a home that’s being consumed by a chemical fire. The flames are explosions of blue and green, and it smells like burning wood and acetate, but as you walk through unharmed, you realize it’s all been expertly staged. “The thing you fear the most will hunt you down,” the duo soothsays on “Hunt You Down,” as Brownstein later confides in the verse, “Sorrow hides outside the door disguised as luck / It looks me in the eye / It seems to know me.” More colors in the fire are heard in “Say It Like You Mean It,” with its catchy refrain belying its heartbreak, and the album’s closer, “Untidy Creature,” which starts heavy and raw before moving into a brief but pensive reflection as Tucker sings, “You built a cage but your measurements wrong.” It’s that kind of prismatic emotional topography that makes it clear how Sleater-Kinney has been going strong for all these years.
“I know what to do with my hands and with my body on guitar. It also is such an act of love to play.”—Carrie Brownstein
The writing of the album, which eventually became their 11th studio full-length, started as far back as 2021. “The first song was ‘Untidy Creature,’” shares Brownstein. “That had a very classic writing process to it, where I have a riff and Corin has a vocal line, and we just meld them together. We are often skeptical of that, because we’ve been doing that for a long time. But it really captured this loss and longing and vulnerability that would end up being very present across the album.”
In the fall of 2022, Tucker and Brownstein had around six or seven songs down, and were planning on writing about five more, when Brownstein received life-altering news. While recording in Los Angeles, she got a call from Tucker—the U.S. Embassy in Italy had been unsuccessfully trying to reach Brownstein and her sister, but managed to connect with Tucker, who is Brownstein’s emergency contact. A few calls later, Brownstein finally got in touch with her sister, who then relayed the message that their mother and stepfather had been killed in a car crash while vacationing in Italy.
In the midst of processing the tragedy, Brownstein decided to stay the course with the making of Little Rope, and found relief in continuing to create music for it. “I just wrote copiously,” she says. “I really needed the routine of it, and to sort of posit myself in time and space. Grief is so incoherent, so disorienting. I needed the songs to be the language that I didn’t have.” (“Hunt You Down” was one of the songs that came after the accident, and was written about it specifically.)
“Grief was unfamiliar,” she adds. “I had never been thrust into it in such a primal way. Suddenly it was such a nascent, uncomfortable feeling for me, and guitar was such an antidote to that. It made me appreciate the instrument for its malleability, for its expressiveness. I started doing all the fundamental things that are so obvious to guitar players. I felt like I was experiencing them in a new way.”
“Grief is so incoherent, so disorienting. I needed the songs to be the language that I didn’t have.”—Carrie Brownstein
Tucker shares, “I could tell that Carrie really wanted to finish the record. She didn’t want to just not have anything to do. So we finished things; I gave her ideas and she would sit and rework things all day long, eight hours a day. That became the pathway for how we dealt with what had happened.
“In a way it added to the album’s sense of purpose,” Tucker continues, “of feeling like, ‘Can we make this world strong enough to handle life’s ups and downs? Can we make this outlet enough of a joy and also enough of a container to handle your worst moments?’”
Carrie Brownstein's Gear
When songwriting, Brownstein and Tucker are suspicious of the songs that come easily, and those don’t always make it onto their albums.
Photo by Tim Bugbee/tinnitus photography
Guitars
- 1972 Gibson SG
- 1973 Guild S-100
- 1977 Fender Thinline Telecaster
- 2014 Old Style Guitar Shop custom-built semi-hollow
Amps
- Fender Deluxe Reverb
Effects
- Klon Centaur
- ZVEX Super Hard On
- EarthQuaker Devices White Light
- Roland Double Beat
- Eventide PitchFactor
- Strymon TimeLine
- Maestro Fuzz-Tone
- Catalinbread Belle Epoch
Strings & Picks
- Ernie Ball Power Slinky
- Jim Dunlop .6 mm
Brownstein taking solace in the guitar also meant reducing her contributions to vocals, as singing felt too vulnerable for her at the time. As a result, Tucker took on more of those responsibilities than in the past. “It made me dig deeper and find a more passionate and diverse range of singing styles to bring variety to the album,” says Tucker.
For the album’s production, Brownstein and Tucker worked with John Congleton (St. Vincent, Swans, Mountain Goats), who pushed Tucker to reach a “higher emotional peak” with her voice. “There was just an atmosphere that [created] a need for a strong intensity with the performances,” Tucker shares.
“Say It Like You Mean It” was one song in particular that required some additional effort. “John’s reaction [to my vocal part] was like, ‘I don’t think that’s really strong enough.’ Which of course made me really, um, frustrated,” she laughs. “So I just summoned my patience and said, ‘Alright, let me think about it.’” The next day, she came back with an idea of singing the melody in a higher register. “The crescendo of the song then had a larger trajectory. It had somewhere else to go.”
“In a way it added to the album’s sense of purpose of feeling like, ‘Can we make this world strong enough to handle life’s ups and downs?’”—Corin Tucker
When it comes to guitar playing, Tucker doesn’t have much of an emotional connection with gear, while Brownstein, on the other hand, happens to have a passion for it. Her main guitar is a 1972 Gibson SG, “from the dubious and inconsistent Norlin era,” she says. It has a thin neck that makes it more playable for her, and “a smooth tone with a hint of growl.” Another one of her axes is a ’70s Guild S-100. “It always surprises me with its versatility. I think it’s going to be dark and grimy, but then it will have more dimension and levity than that. I also appreciate the vibrato bar on it, which allows things to get ugly and weird.”
Brownstein is the proud owner of a Klon Centaur, along with a Roland Double Beat, Catalinbread Belle Epoch, and Eventide PitchFactor, among a few other pedals. “I would say that distortion is still my favorite. It’s the first language I really understood in terms of guitar—that raw power, that small dose of corrosion,” she elaborates. “I also love chorus, flange, and harmonizers. Basically, things that make the notes thick and rubbery. When we start writing a new album, I usually go pedal shopping. Even if I don’t end up using the effect on the song, I like the way it makes me rethink the guitar and how I play it. I love the way effects pedals can expand your vocabulary and make you think about single notes or melody in a different way.”
Corin Tucker's Gear
While Tucker doesn’t love gear as much as her guitarist cohort, she always uses a 1965 Fender Showman amp head to achieve her Sleater-Kinney tone.
Photo by Tim Bugbee/tinnitus photography
Guitars
- Gibson Les Paul Tribute Goldtop
Amps
- 1965 Fender Showman 2-Channel 85-watt with 4x10 cabinet
Effects
- Catalinbread Formula 5F6
- Eventide H9
- EarthQuaker The Warden
Strings & Picks
- D’Addario .010
- Jim Dunlop Nylon Gray .73 mm
And although Tucker doesn’t have that same connection with her musical equipment, she shares that she’s “created a very specific sound for Sleater-Kinney—a very low-end sound for a guitar.” To achieve that sound, she uses a 1965 Fender Showman 85-watt black-panel amp head with a 4x10 cabinet. Recently, the Fender head was stolen, so she went out and bought the exact same one to replace it.
It’s worth noting that Tucker and Brownstein have been a musical pair for the entirety of Sleater-Kinney’s run, which has spanned 30 years (the band was inactive between 2006 and their reunion in 2014). Before founding it together in 1994, Brownstein was in Excuse 17, and Tucker, Heavens to Betsy. The latter two groups were part of the early riot grrrl scene that originated in Olympia, Washington, and the greater Pacific Northwest, and while Sleater-Kinney has come to be viewed as riot grrrl as well, Tucker and Brownstein think of themselves as slightly post riot grrrl because of the more specific timeline they were there to witness. When asked about their roles as leaders in the queer punk scene, Brownstein says she sees early-’90s queercore bands like Team Dresch, Tribe 8, and Pansy Division as being more “unabashedly queer at a time when it was so scary to be that.”
“If we do have a voice at all for people, it’s to say, ‘You’re not alone, and we are with you.’”—Corin Tucker
Tucker expresses, “We think it’s really important to speak out about queer and trans issues in the U.S., especially right now when so many of those rights are being rolled back and people are being trespassed upon. If we do have a voice at all for people, it’s to say, ‘You’re not alone, and we are with you.’ And it’s wrong that young people are losing gender-affirming care in some states. We think that’s awful.”
Aside from that advocacy, Brownstein says of being seen as a role model, “The most productive thing I can do to protect any goodwill that I’ve accrued [laughs], is to, one, be kind and compassionate, but also continue to push myself and put things out in the world that hopefully people connect to.”
One of Brownstein’s main guitars is a 1972 Gibson SG, seen here.
Photo by Debi Del Grande
Speaking of that kind of connection, although I have kept my identity a secret until this point in this article, I have been a fan of Sleater-Kinney for years, and shared that with Brownstein at the beginning of our conversation. Other fans out there will be pleased to know how kind she was in her response. She shares, “Fandom keeps you open, porous, and curious, and all the things that should be required as a human being, and certainly will help to ward off cynicism. So I have a lot of empathy and understanding for people who might place that on me, because I do understand that that is a way of guiding yourself through the world. I understand the language of fandom because I turned to it so much, especially when I was young, as a way of explaining my own predicament before I had the words to explain it on my own.”
“It’s part of what I love about music and art, is that it occupies a space that asks more questions than it provides answers.”—Carrie Brownstein
Throughout our conversation, Brownstein displays natural modesty, takes her time to carefully articulate thoughts, and shows sensitivity towards my own self-consciousness while speaking with someone I admire. One subject that comes up is her relationship with spirituality, as she uses the words “prayer” and “meditation” in describing her guitar playing. She shares that it has a new presence in her life after her mother and stepfather’s passing, and elaborates on how it relates to her music.
“I don’t know how you’d be a creative person or a person steeped in music and not have some sense of otherworldliness, like some sense of the liminal or the in-between, or some conversation that transcends the everyday,” she says. “It’s part of what I love about music and art, is that it occupies a space that asks more questions than it provides answers. There’s something spiritual about that.”
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Performing live on The SoCal Sound radio show, Brownstein sings lead vox on “Hunt You Down” while Tucker chimes in on the choruses, as both carry the song’s minimalistic, incisive guitar lines.