A fun, diverse tool for guitarists looking to use funky sounds.
Download Example 1 Instrument control (guitar work changes vocal pitch) with Blend full, all other controls at noon.
Clip recorded with a '78 Les Paul Custom through a Mesa Boogie Electra-Dyne half stack.
As one of the most recognizable effects in the history of music, the vocoder is also one of the strangest and most unique. Its history predates modern music, and even common effects such as distortion devices. The original design was conceived as an auditory code barrier for secure communications in World War II. The transmitting device processed the soldier’s voice through a multiband filter, and the receiving mechanism was setup to translate only those bands. The invention was so fascinating and alien-sounding at the time that it was introduced by Bell Labs at the 1939 World’s Fair. Later, luminaries such as Bob Moog and Bruce Haack realized its musical potential and built upon the design, with Moog adding the ever-important high-pass filter to make the resulting output smoother and more human-like.
Since then, the vocoder has cemented its place in several genres of music, effectively making it more of an instrument in itself than an effect in some cases. So many genres have felt its presence, from the voice of Mr. Roboto in Styx’s classic, to the voices of the famous robots in Transformers. Now, hot on the heels of their well-received Voice Box, Electro Harmonix has released the V256 Vocoder for musicians in a compact form. The V256 shares some things in common with the aforementioned Voice Box, but shines on its own as a dedicated tribute to the vocoder sound.
Modes and Controls
The layout of the V256 is quite simple. Starting from the left, there is a Blend control, which blends the affected signal with the dry. Next is a control labeled Bands, which tells the V256 how many bands should consist in the filter. Each band is processed by an envelope follower, which is what gives the vocoder its unique sound; with several signals processed by a separate envelope follower are combined, the result is the distinctive vocoder tone. Vintage vocoders, such as the ones produced by Bob Moog, used 10 bands or less. As a result, the vocal sounds created by those devices were rather rough and glitchy compared to the vocoder tones of today. The V256 has a range of a miniscule 8 bands all the way up to a smooth-sounding 256 bands. A Tone control helps roll off the highs, and finally, the Gender Bender gives the vocalist the ability to give their voice the traits of the opposite sex, or more of the actual one, and can be altered by a Pitch knob.
A total of nine modes are accessed from the Mode rotary control, which consist of three robotic synths, three drone synths (single, major or minor), and three transposition modes consisting of Instrument Ctrl, Transposition, and Reflex-Tune (for you T-Pain fans out there).
Plug, Tweak, Repeat
One of the best things about my job is that no matter how much gear that I come across, there’s always something coming down the pipe that I can learn more from. The V256 is a perfect example, as the only reference that popped up in my mind was Peter Frampton and his talkbox. I decided to dive right into exploring the V256, starting with a squeaky-clean setting from a Mesa Boogie Electra-Dyne half-stack and a 1978 set-neck Ibanez Iceman. The V256 has dual inputs and outputs, one on each side for a microphone XLR connection and a standard ¼” TRS instrument plug. I had the option of using both a P.A. (from the XLR out) and the guitar amplifier (from the ¼” out) in tandem, but I decided to see how well the pedal performed with both signals combined, going straight into the Electra-Dyne. I figured that this would be the most common setup for the gigging guitarist, one with minimal effort and connections.
Starting with the basic vocoder settings recommended in the paperwork (full Blend and Pitch, Bands, Tone, Gender Bender at noon), I struck a single note and sang in the mic, which started to wobble and sway robotically as I played around the fretboard. I must say, it is a very strange feeling, especially for someone who has spent most of his guitar playing days stomping on a pedal and not looking back. Pulling back the Pitch control engaged the internal synthesizer, which really kicked my voice into eighties cartoon robotic gear.
Around this time, I started to experience some feedback issues. The V256 has a Mic Gain switch, but at the time it was switched to the Low setting. When I finally switched from an SM58 to an SM57, the feedback vanished, signaling that the V256’s mic input is rather sensitive (which is a good thing). At this point, I was so excited at the prospect that I had a entirely new effect that I had never played around with before, that I just started going crazy with the controls. Combining the output with a light distortion yielded some really cool industrial vocal lines, a la Skinny Puppy, Ministry and Nine Inch Nails. The Instrument Transposition mode (Instrument Ctrl) was especially fun, effectively allowing me to change what notes my voice would jump to by simply playing them on my guitar. The possibilities are endless for those who really enjoy the more modern side of pop and rock vocals. The Reflex-Tune mode is a prime example—it’s Electro-Harmonix’s interpretation of the now-infamous Autotune warble.
The Final Mojo
Electro-Harmonix is known for a lot of things, and portability and usefulness are definitely some of them. Their eccentric nature throughout the years has produced some of the most coveted sounds of all time. While only time will tell if the V256 Vocoder will join the ranks of their most famous pedals, it is safe to say that it certainly has the capabilities and uniqueness to do so. They’ve effectively taken what was considered to be a one-trick pony and squeezed out all of the prospects that it could be capable of, and crammed them into this diminutive device. However, like so many other effects, it has a time and a place, and it definitely won’t get stepped on as often as a good overdrive or delay. For those who want to push their boundaries just a little further however, the V256 might be just the ticket.
Buy if...
You want to see just how far vocal processing can take your guitar tones, and vice versa. Skip if...
Strange and otherworldly effects are not in your nature. Rating...
MSRP $286 Street $215 - Electro-Harmonix - ehx.com
A faithful recreation of the Germanium Mosrite Fuzzrite with a modern twist.
From the years of 1966 to 1968, Mosrite produced two distinct fuzz circuits---one outfitted with silicon transistors, the other with germanium parts. Of the two, the germanium version is by far the most rare, with original designer and Mosrite employee Ed Sanner estimating that around 250 ever made it out the door. In that final year of production, Mosrite shifted exclusively to silicon parts, making germanium components a thing of the past. However, by 1968 the public was hungry for fuzz, having heard it on a handful of recordings, most notably "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly and "Incense and Peppermints" by Strawberry Alarm Clock. These two buzzy, sinewy fuzz tones were part of a wave of psychedelic rock gaining traction in the mainstream, and both were recorded prior to the introduction of the silicon Fuzzrite.
Other purported users of this early Fuzzrite circuit include Ron Asheton of the Stooges, Norman Greenbaum on "Spirit in the Sky", Henry Vestine of Canned Heat, and many others. Catalinbread have a germanium version at their disposal, and we've used it as a benchmark to create an extremely faithful version with a modern twist. Just like the original, the Catalinbread Fuzzrite Germanium includes two NOS PNP germanium semiconductors with a polarity inverter IC so it plays nice with all forms of power. Unlike the original, Catalinbread added a toggle switch to shift into modern mode, significantly beefing up the low-end content to suit more contemporary rigs.
Playing The Fuzzrite Circuit For The First Time!! | Feat. Catalinbread Fuzzrite Germanium
The Fuzzrite Germanium is out now and available for $179.99 at participating retailers and catalinbread.com.
Kenny Greenberg with his main axe, a vintage Gretsch 6118 Double Anniversary that he found at Gruhn Guitars in Nashville for a mere $600. “It had the original pickups, but the finish had been taken off and the headstock had been repaired. So, it’s a great example of a ‘player’s vintage instrument,’” he says.
On his solo debut, the Nashville session wizard discovers his own musical personality in a soundtrack for a movie that wasn’t, with stops in Africa and Mississippi hill country.
Kenny Greenberg has been Nashville’s secret weapon for decades. He’s the guitarist many insiders credit with giving the Nashville sound the rock ’n’ roll edge that’s become de rigueur for big country records since the ’90s. It’s the sound that, in many ways, delivered country music from its roots to sporting events.
Greenberg’s list of album credits as a session guitarist, producer, and songwriter is as diverse as it is prolific and includes everything from working on Etta James, Willie Nelson, and Sheryl Crow records to shaping hits for mega-selling contemporary country artists Toby Keith, Faith Hill, Brooks & Dunn, and Kenny Chesney (who Greenberg also tours with on lead guitar). Greenberg’s even been kicked in the leg by Jeff Beck! (More on that later.) So, while you might not necessarily know Kenny Greenberg by name, it’s safe to say you’ve heard his guitar playing.
Since moving to Nashville in his teens, Greenberg’s kept his dance card remarkably full working on records for other artists. However, with the release of his debut solo album Blues For Arash, the decorated session veteran has finally made a statement all his own—even if he didn’t necessarily intend to.
Blues For Arash is a collection of songs that were intended for the soundtrack of a movie written and directed by Welsh-Iranian filmmaker Arash Amel. The film tells the tale of a West African musician who becomes enamored with the blues and finds himself on an odyssey through the Southern U.S. Unfortunately, the movie never quite got its production together and remains in a state of funding limbo, but Greenberg found an unexpectedly happy space within the project to create music that he feels represents his truest self as a player, and he quickly realized that these songs had the makings of a solo album.
Blues for Arash
TIDBIT: Kenny Greenberg recorded Blues For Arash at his own pace in his Nashville home studio, originally intending to make a soundtrack for a film by Emmy-winner Arash Amel.
Greenberg explains: “All my guitar player friends said, ‘This isn’t what we were expecting!’ To me, it’s really the kind of guitar music I would make for myself. I’m not really a shredder, anyway. I do a different thing.”
Blues For Arash is a remarkably musical affair that shirks the fretboard histrionics that often characterize instrumental guitar albums by players with similar resumes. The album fuses African influences, exotic percussion loops, and field recordings with Greenberg’s unique take on blues guitar in a way that’s genuinely refreshing and as cinematic as one might expect of songs written to accompany a movie. The track “Nairobi, Mississippi” acts as the album’s thesis statement and is a one-chord blues that features Greenberg’s Mississippi-hill-country-blues-informed bottleneck guitar dancing with West African musician Juldeh Camara’s brilliant nyanyero (a single-stringed fiddle) over an energetic African percussion loop.
From the ultra-lyrical slide playing on the opening track, “The Citadel,” to the fiery, fuzzed-out lead work on “Star Ngoni,” all of Greenberg’s guitar on the album is rooted in the blues. The guitarist and songwriter confesses that despite the diversity of his credits, the blues has always been his home base: “Everything I do comes out of a weird way of playing the blues. So, we had the idea to fuse African music with the blues and I started researching cool beats and stuff that I could play blues guitar over, and I would come down to my studio with samples or loops, or I’d loop actual field recordings, and I would just play over them.”
“We had the idea to fuse African music with the blues and I started researching cool beats and stuff that I could play blues guitar over.”
Greenberg played most of the instruments on the album and edited many of its loops and percussion beds, but he did have some important collaborators, including multi-instrumentalist Justin Adams, who plays in Robert Plant’s band the Sensational Space Shifters and has produced Tuareg/desert-blues greats like Tinariwen. Adams provided some of the raw material that Greenberg would throw his blues playing on top of, and the two would share ideas through email. “Justin was a good guy to call for an opinion on that African/blues fusion thing,” says Greenberg, “and he’s a very cool and knowledgeable guy about world music in general. I look forward to doing more with him.”
Greenberg’s key collaborator on the record is Wally Wilson, who he describes as a mentor and who he met while co-producing the live-performance TV show Skyville Live for CMT. “I met Arash through Wally, and we came up with this idea of the soundtrack being blues guitar, but with an African influence,” Greenberg says. “Wally was very important in this process and co-produced the record.” Wilson, who has never fancied himself a singer, even ended up providing the narrative-style vocals on “Memphis Style” and “Ain’t No Way.”
“Wally and I both love Howlin’ Wolf and all the hill country blues. I had a cheap handheld mic in my room, and I was like, ‘Put the vocal down so we have the general concept, and then we’ll get a killer soul singer to come in and re-do these,’ but it just had such a character to it! It has this lo-fi, non-professional vibe that just sounded right. It took Wally a long time to get on board with us using his vocals, but I’m glad he did!”
Kenny Greenberg’s Gear
This Gibson Custom Shop ES-335 is a favorite for Greenberg, who, after nearly 30 years in Nashville, is as comfortable onstage in stadiums and arenas as he is in clubs and studios.
Guitars
Vintage Gretsch 6118 Double Anniversary
1962 Gibson SG Special with mini-humbuckers
Russ Pahl S-style
DiPinto Galaxie
Harmony Sovereign
Dobro-made National wood-bodied resonator
1952 Les Paul goldtop
Gibson Custom Shop ES-335
Jerry Jones Baritone
Jerry Jones 12-string
Fender Telecaster with Glaser B-Bender
Fender Jazzmaster
Novo Serus J
PRS Silver Sky
PRS DGT
GFI Pedal Steel
Amps
Fender Pro Junior
1958 Fender tweed Deluxe
Hime Amplification The Rockford
Vox AC30
Matchless HC-30
Magnatone Varsity
Marshall 20-watt
’50s wide-panel, low-power tweed Twin
Effects
Mythos High Road Fuzz
J. Rockett The Dude
Karma Pedal MTN-10
J. Rockett Archer
Universal Audio Ox Box
Boss DD-200 delay
Walrus Audio D1 High Fidelity Delay
Walrus Audio Slö reverb
Boss GE-7 Equalizer modded by XAct Tone Solutions (XTS)
Line 6 M9
JHS Colour Box
JHS 3 Series OD
Keeley Dark Side Workstation
Pedalboard by XTS
Strings, Picks & Slide
D’Addario NYXL (.010–.046 for standard electrics, and .013–.068 for slide)
Ceramic and glass D’Addario slides
Dunlop Tortex Teardrop .88 mm for electrics
Fender Mediums for acoustics
Beyond rolling with a scratch vocal for the final cuts, Blues For Arash has a wonderfully playful quality that Greenberg says was “totally different” from what he typically does in the session world. “I was like, ‘I don’t give a shit! I can play anything I want to play. I’m going to make myself happy with this!’ The thing about the pandemic in Nashville is so many artists live here, and they were all off tour, obviously, and wanted to record. They wanted to put masks on and go in the studio and be careful because they couldn’t go on the road. I actually worked my way through the pandemic—and I’m grateful for that—but when I had a day off, I’d come down to my home studio and work on these songs. It’s what I really wanted to do with my own time.”
Despite the massive arsenal of guitars, amps, and effects Greenberg has at his disposal as a top-tier session player (who PG once covered with a truly comprehensive Rig Rundown), he kept it to a few choice instruments and amps to craft the fabulously organic tones on Blues For Arash. The main guitars included his trusty vintage, stripped-down “players-style” Gretsch 6118 Double Anniversary and a custom S-style build by famed Nashville steel guitarist Russ Pahl. For the album’s killer electric slide playing, Greenberg used a 1962 Gibson SG that he literally found in a garbage can and loaded with vintage mini-humbuckers, and a DiPinto Galaxie. A vintage Harmony Sovereign and a wood-bodied Dobro resonator guitar handled the acoustic slide work.
“Richard [Bennett] was the first guy that I saw use a Gretsch and it sounded like Duane Eddy, but modern. It had a real bell-like-but-not-bright sound. I immediately thought, ‘I got to get in on some of that!’”
While Gretsch guitars have become a popular choice for pros in Nashville these days, that wasn’t always the case. Greenberg caught the Gretsch bug from session guitarist Richard Bennett—another unbelievably prolific and important player/producer that you may know as Mark Knopfler’s longtime right-hand man, who has influenced Greenberg’s path tremendously.
“Richard Bennett played on my wife’s [singer-songwriter Ashley Cleveland] first record and brought me in because I played live with her. Richard would hire me, and I’d be the second guitar player on sessions with him a lot, and watching him was like, ‘Motherfucker, that is the way you do it!’ Richard’s Gretsch playing and acoustic playing were huge, huge influences on me. Richard was the first guy that I saw use a Gretsch, and it sounded like Duane Eddy but modern. It had a real bell-like-but-not-bright sound. I immediately thought, ‘I got to get in on some of that!’ Gretsches do a unique thing and I also really like them for distorted solos. Mine is not that bright of a guitar and it has this great upper midrange kind of twang that’s somehow not a twang. I’ve got a couple of different ones, but that old Double Anniversary I use a lot. It was the first Gretsch I bought, and it’s really good. I went down to Gruhn’s and they had it on the wall for $600. It had the original pickups, but the finish had been taken off and the headstock had been repaired. So, it’s a great example of a ‘player’s vintage instrument,’ where it’s got the old wood and the sound, but it’s not $5,000. I just fell in love with playing it. Also, the Bigsby bar is huge for me.”
Rig Rundown - Kenny Greenberg
For amps, Greenberg looked exclusively to the Fender realm to conjure Blues For Arash’s lush tones. A ’90s Pro Junior mated to a 4x12 cab, a black-panel Deluxe Reverb-style amp made by Jeff Hime called the Rockford, and a ’58 tweed Deluxe all made important appearances. The tweed was even used to amplify and layer some of the acoustic tracks—a trick Greenberg picked up as a Neil Young fan. “Neil Young’s playing is right up there at the very tip-top for me, and his acoustic sounds are, too. There’s a record he made called Le Noise with Daniel Lanois, and I think those are some of the best acoustic guitar sounds ever. I’m never going to sound as raw as Neil sounds because when I’m playing on someone’s record, it’s a service for their music, so I don’t get to go completely crazy. But I’ve always been the guy that gets called when they want it a little rough around the edges. I aspire to play as raw as Neil plays and intend to have it be as emotional as that. I always feel like, when I’m in the room with all these other amazing guitar players, that my playing is a little craggier and looser. That used to really bother me, but now I really like it. I never really spent that much time trying to be what I’m not. I used to try to pull off some super-clean Brent Mason kind of things and they would go ‘No, no, we’ll call Brent when we want that. You do the thing that you do!’”
Among Greenberg’s numerous credits is his ongoing gig playing lead guitar for country star Kenny Chesney.
Photo by Jill Trunnell
If you sift through Greenberg’s album credits—which is a full day—it becomes apparent that many of the records he’s played on over the years telegraphed the rock-oriented direction popular country music ultimately took. However, Greenberg makes it clear that being “Nashville’s rock guy” was never intentional.
“I grew up playing in rock bands and I moved here because I loved things like Hank Williams Jr.’s ‘Feelin’ Better.’ I think it’s Reggie Young, Hank, and Waylon Jennings all playing on that record. It’s very homemade sounding and when I heard that kind of country guitar playing, I said, ‘I want to do that!’ But I’m really just playing the blues still, and I just fell into playing on some records. I wasn’t trying to. And I never felt like I’d be a session player because I’m too imperfect, and I don’t have versatile chops like some of those guys do. I just brought some good ideas to the table with my playing.”
YouTube It
In a 2019 Skyville Live performance, Kenny Greenberg flexes his blues and rock chops on a Gibson ES-335 in a rendition of “Whipping Post” with guest Chris Stapleton.
That said, Greenberg’s still elated to be doing session and production work and proud of where he’s landed. With the release of his first bona fide solo record, one might expect him to be looking back, taking stock of the journey, and ruminating on his many, many years in the business of making hits. However, when asked what songs and contributions he’s proudest of, Greenberg stays in the present. “That’s a hard thing for me because the last thing I did is always my favorite thing. I’m so excited that I got to just do something. The great thing about recording is you play with all these great different people!”
When pressed again, Greenberg points to his work on Hayes Carll’s recent album, You Get It All. “My playing on that record feels like that’s who I am. There’s a blues solo on a song called ‘Different Boats’ that’s really where I’m at. And the song from my record ‘Star Ngoni’ is who I am as a player. If I’m going to open up and really play, that’s the way I play. And I would mention one other moment I’m really proud of: On my birthday one year, I did a version of Bob Dylan’s ‘Gotta Serve Somebody’ with Willie Nelson. We played our parts live and Willie was in there with Trigger [Nelson’s famous Martin acoustic] and that Baldwin amp he uses, and you could hear the radio station through the amp, and we sat there and played it together. That was huge. It was the best birthday a guy could have—playing a Dylan song, looking through the glass at Willie Nelson. I’m very, very aware of how fortunate I am to be doing this. I think about that a lot.”
Playing with Jeff Beck is a kick!
Greenberg and El Becko: On a gig with vocalist and harmonica player Jimmy Hall, Hall’s occasional boss Jeff Beck sat in, leaving Greenberg with an indelible memory.
There are quite a few parts on Blues For Arash that recall Jeff Beck’s lyrical, fluid playing at its best, particularly Kenny Greenberg’s vocal slide phrasing. It turns out Greenberg isn’t just a massive Jeff Beck fan. He’s had a remarkable run-in with the man himself.
“I’ve got a guitar that Jeff Beck carved his name into! Jeff came and sat in at a gig I was playing with Jimmy Hall, and he broke a string and played my guitar. Afterwards, he got a knife and ornately carved his name in the back of my Tele. How can you not be a fan? He’s the most vocal guitar player there is! My other little Jeff Beck story is from that same night—it’s the only time I’ve ever played with him—and we did ‘Rock My Plimsoul.’ We were playing that song, and he takes the solo. And, of course, it’s the way he plays now—improv where you just can’t fucking believe what he’s doing. Then he looks at me to take a solo, and that’s one of my favorite early Jeff Beck songs, and I actually know that solo note-for-note. So, I played his solo from the original and he looked at me, and he kicked me when I finished the solo! He reached out his leg and he kicked me, and I’m like, ‘Alright! Jeff Beck just kicked me! This is a watershed moment I’m having!’
“I remember standing right next to him, and, of course, I’m nervous. He’s like the greatest guitar player alive. He’s a savant and just looks down at the guitar and fingers and taps on it, and then he’ll use his thumb or his middle finger. It’s just like a kid screwing around. I just watched him, and I didn’t even know what he was doing, but it’s a beautiful, wonderful thing to watch.”
