"This рbig boardс is Nate Rowellуs latest configuration and includes an Ernie Ball volume pedal, Dunlop Cry Baby, Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe, Visual Sound Angry Fuzz, Maxon OD9, Hardwire Valve Distortion, LovePedal Amp 50, Xotic EP booster, Hardwire Chorus, and a Line 6 M5я with an American Flag рjust for good measure.с Rowellуs ""essentials"" small board for jams is the Wah into the Maxon into the LovePedal, рalthough the Angry Fuzz is makin' a hard charge to get on the short board.с"
"Chris Sterr shared his pedalboard for his Chicago-based band, Stolen Silver, which plays everything from rock to Americana, blues to jam, and pop to fusion. He says, ""This setup gives everything I need to create atmospheric beauty to dirty, grimy sludge."" The signal chain goes into a Build Your Own Clone (BYOC) drop-in Wah, BYOC Orange Ringer, and BYOC Divided Octave before hitting a custom six-channel Loooper. Channel 1 is either a Pro Co Turbo RAT (which he calls an ""unexpected great unit"") or a Fulltone Catalyst (""also a sick fuzz/drive""). Channel 2 us a Tube Works Blue Tube (""for a wonderful clean boost""), Channel 3 is a reissue Ibanez TS-808 Tube Screamer with an Analogman Comprossor (""for the post drive compression option ala Trey Anastasio if the mood strikes me""), Channel 4 is a Boss RT-20, Channel 5 is a TC Electronic Flashback delay and/or a Boss RE-30, and Channel 6 is a Boss RV-3. He adds, ""This board is a rotating door of things... but this is what it looks like this week."""
"Doug Niman plays guitar for a Seattle garage and psychedelic rock band called John Lee Spectre. His main board is powered by a Pedal Pad MPS-XL II and he uses a Planet Waves strobe tuner because he tunes to 432 rather than 440 and this tuner is calibrate-able. From there his signal goes into a modified Vox Wah Wah, Dunlop Swollen Pickle Fuzz, Boss EQ, Boss Blues Driver, Electro-Harmonix Ravish Sitar, Guyatone Flip Stereo Tremolo, Boss PS6 Harmonist, Rocktron Digital Delay, and a Maxon SD808 Overdrive. The stereo outputs from the Ravish Sitar and the Guyatone tremolo go out to an ABY Switch, which feeds out to an Ernie Ball VP Jr. volume pedal to Nimanуs second amp. рThis gives me panning stereo tremolo and awesome psychedelic bliss by sending the Sitar's sympathetic strings to the second amp as well,с he says. рThe main signal chain goes to my primary amp.с"
"Lee Evan Neher plays mostly blues and classic rock through this signal chain: Boss TU-2, Boss NS-2, MXR 6-Band EQ, Electro-Harmonix Octave Multiplexer, Chicago Iron Octavian, Electro-Harmonix Nano LPB-1 Power Booster, Morley (Tel Ray) Power Wah, His Laney AOR 30 (effects loop) has an MXR 10-Band EQ going into a JHS Modded Line 6 DL4."
"Nori Ueno uses (from right to left): a Dunlop Wylde Wah, Fulltone OCD, Way Huge Green Rhino, MXR Dyna Comp, Visual Sound H2O, and Tech 21 Boost D.L.A. The pedals and a Korg DT-7 tuner are routed through a Providence PEC-04 Programmable Effects Controller, and everything is mounted on a Pedaltrain PT-2. рI play mainly hard rock (love the Green Rhino for adding more gain to the OCD), alternative, blues, and R&B,с Ueno says."
"Chris R Trifilio uses a Chemistry Design Werks AmpTop Holeyboard with a Hardwire HT-6, Frantone Peachfuzz, Xotic EP Booster, and Fulltone Supa-Trem."
"Session guitarist and president of Ultimate Audio Systems, Doug Bryan designed this pedalboard with the goal of obtaining as pure guitar-to-amp tone as possible without tone sucking or coloration, and no toe-tapping. Each pedal has its own discreet loop to keep the guitar to amp tone as pure as possible. The Patchmate is programmed to turn single pedals on/off as well as having seven pedal combination programs in addition. The back of the board shows his attention to detail, cutting each cable from a Planet Waves Cable Station custom cable kit to the proper length and securing them, and all power lines were braided, electrical taped, and wrapped in foam sheet core insulation before being wrapped in rubber hose and locked onto the board away from audio cables to keep everything noise-free. The board is a Pedaltrain Pro with custom Candy Apple Red/Black powdercoat finish, and is powered by a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus mounted under the board. On the board is a Line 6 Relay G50 wireless, Dunlop Custom Audio Electronics wah, Majik Box Doug Aldrich Rocket Fuel LTD boost/ovedrive, TC Electronic PolyTune, TC Electronic John Petrucci The Dreamscape, TC Electronic Flashback delay, TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb, ISP Technologies Decimator, Rocktron PatchMate Loop 8, and Diamond amp switcher. "
"Jason Gearhart (fitting name) currently plays in a jazz fusion band, covering the likes of Return to Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Pat Metheny, etc. He plays his Squier Deluxe Strat and LTD MH-250NT w/ EMG through this signal chain: Boss TU-2 Tuner, Standard Phase 90 (""with 1 resistor removed for that 'script' sound""), Bad Monkey (""modded for less mids""), which goes into the amp. Next is the FX loop send, MXR/CAE Boost/Line Driver, Hardwire CR-7 Chorus (""usually on Jazz mode, but sometimes Vintage""), Boss DD-3 Digital Delay (""for long delays""), Hardwire RV-7 Reverb (""I use Gated mode for a touch of slapback when playing live, otherwise good ol' Spring when I'm practicing at home""), and an FX Return."
"Mike Mara plays rock, blues, funk, and dabbles with jazz. рThough it's subject to change at any moment, this is what I lug around to jam with friends.с He routes his tuner into a Noise Suppressor, then Dunlop 535Q, Boss Octave, Octavio, Fat Sandwich, Green Rhino, Crunchy Frog, Soul Vibe, (back to the noise suppressor) EH Memory Toy. He plays all of this through his Fender Hot Rod Deluxe."
"Keith Paul's board consists of an Electro-Harmonix POG2, Boss PS-5 Super Shifter, Ibanez WH-10 Wah, Ibanez TS808HW Tube Screamer, HardWire SC-2 Valve Distortion, Boss GE-10 EQ, Boss BF-3 Flanger, Boss PH-2 Super Phaser, Ibanez TC-7 Chorus, MXR Phase 90, Boss DD-5 Digital Delay, Electro-Harmonix Memory Boy, Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Nano, Dunlop DV-P Volume, Basic Cable Tester, Line 6 M9 multi-effects, and DigiTech JamMan Stereo."
"Ralf Lofstad plays progressive, alternative, and classic rock in Oslo, Norway with Andr▌ Holstad, Paralgin Forte, Charlotte & The Co-Stars, Violet Scene, Still Doing Sky. His pedalboard is a Pedaltrain Pro modified to accommodate an MXR/CAE MC403 Power System on the underside. The pedals are a Radial BigShot ABY, Eventide ModFactor, Keeley-modified Boss BD-2, Fulltone OCD v.4, DigiTech Whammy v.1, Demeter Compulator, Dunlop Cry Baby GCB95, MXR/CAE Boost / Line Driver, Musicom Lab EFX MkIII, Ernie Ball VP Jr. 25K, Eventide TimeFactor, Boss RV-5, Korg Pitchblack, and Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi with Tone Wicker."
"Cutter Savage plays original instrumental hard rock music inspired by the likes of Joe Satriani, Led Zeppelin, SRV, and Van Halen. He says he keeps his pedalboard, ""Pretty clean and simple,"" using just a DigiTech DigiDelay, Boss DS-1 distortion, MXR Phase 90, and a Vox Wah."
"If only life could be so simple for all of us. This is what John Lovett has to say: рI go direct from the guitar into an amp, a Fender Blues Jr,, so I just have empty stage where my feet go.с"
"David Mednick plays rock, pro, blues, shoegaze, ambient, and alt (""badly,"" he adds) with this setup. The pedals are a Wampler Plextortion, Rockbox Boiling Point, Stomp Under Foot Civil War, Basic Audio Tri/Ram Muff, Way Huge Swollen Pickle, Janglebox Compressor, original Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man, ISP Technologies Decimator, Catalinbread RAH, Throbak Stone Bender, Basic Audio Solar Myth fuzz, Basic Audio (custom) Wildcat, MetalPedals Pro Country, VFE Enterprise Phaser, TC Electronic Alter Ego delay, TC Electronic Corona Chorus, HardWire Supernatural Reverb, EarthQuaker Organizer, Eventide Space, DigiTech Jimi Hendrix Experience modeling pedal and wah, and a Boss GT-10 used for certain models, but also as volume pedal, wah, flanger, tremolo, and other uses."
"John Mridha's Pedaltrain 2 pedalboard is loaded with a Dunlop JC95 Jerry Cantrell Cry Baby, Z.Vex Box of Rock, Boss DS-1 (modded), MXR ZW-44 Wylde Overdrive, Line 6 DL4, TC Electronic Corona Chorus, and TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb. It's powered by a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus."
"Jonno Wilson's current pedalboard is mainly use for church, as well as creating soundscapes, and, ""pretty much any style I feel like mucking about with in my home studio."" The board is a Pedaltrain Pro powered by a Cioks DC10. The signal chain is a Boss TU-2 Tuner, Rothwell Audio Love Squeeze compressor, Fulltone MDV-2 Mini DejaVibe, Morley Mark Tremonti Wah, Catalinbread Galileo overdrive/treble boost, Creation Audio Labs MK 4.23 boost, Ernie Ball Volume, MXR EVH Phase 90, Cusack Tap-A-Whirl, Retro-Sonic Chorus, Strymon Lex, Eventide PitchFactor (not currently patched in), Eventide TimeFactor, and Eventide Space. The blue stomp in the middle is a JHV3 Master Tap Pro 1:3 out tap tempo feeding the TimeFactor and the Tap-A-Whirl, the red three-footswitch pedal is a JHV3 3-Aux switch to use with the PitchFactor. He says, ""Patch leads are rubbish and next on my list to upgrade. Considering changing all this to a pedalboard switching system using Musicom Lab EFX MkIII for the brain, or a full blown RJM Music Effect Gizmo/Mastermind GT system...hmmmm GAS anyone?"""
"This incarnation covers everything from country to classic rock to metal. рI still have a few noisemakers for creating cool soundscapes on the fly,с says Chuck Stevens. рOnly problem is, I have no room left, so any changes means something has to go.с The guitar goes through the ISP Decimator, to the Morley Dragon 2, DigiTech Whammy DT, Electro-Harmonix POG2, and then an Ibanez Paul Gilbert Signature AF2 into a Moen Anole true-bypass looper. Then the TC Electronics PolyTune. Loop A has a Wampler SLO, Wampler Triple Wreck, Tech 21 Oxford. Loop B goes from a Fulltone MDV-2, Keeley 4-Knob Compressor, Empress Multidrive. The signal goes out of looper back to the ISP Decimator to a Tortuga Martini, Malekko EKKO 616 MKII, Electro-Harmonix Cathedral then out to a vintage Hiwatt Custom 50 watt driving a 2x10 open cab over a 2x12 closed back. "
"Larry Scharaуs latest setup is equipped with a Moog MF-108M Cluster Flux, Moog MF-104M Analog Delay, LovePedal Englishwoman, Keeley Compressor, Dunlop Cry Baby wah, T-Rex Polyswitch, and One Controlуs Xenagama Tail Loop. рEverything you might need!с he says."
"Mike Denson uses minimal effects on his bass, but has a Sunn amp footswitch, Line 6 Relay wireless for both his Waterstone and Fender Jazz basses, Boss GE-7 EQ for overdriving his 12-string, Amptweaker TightDrive, Boss TU-3 tuner, and a Radial BigShot AB-Y for toggling between basses."
"Anton Nota plays indie-post-ambient-rock with this ""little beast."" The signal path starts at the Keeley Compressor, MXR Ten-Band EQ, Fulltone Full-Drive 2, a DIY distortion pedal, Strymon Flint, Line 6 Echo Park, and Strymon blueSky."
"Rob Rossу pedalboard is short and sweet: DigiTech Whammy, Bad Horsie Wah MXR EVH Phase 90, Suhr KoKo Boost Banshee Talk Box. рIуm waiting for an EVH flanger,с Ross says."
"JD Bradshaw uses an ISP Technologies Decimator, DigiTech Turbo Flanger, HardWire RV-7 Stereo Reverb, HardWire DL-8 Delay/Looper, Guyatone Cool Booster, Dunlop Cry Baby wah, and HardWire TL-2 Metal Distortion for his classic rock, southern rock, blues rock, and instrumental rock."
"Zach Allard says he primarily uses delays and overdrives. рI tend to cascade them to get different tones,с he says, рAll the settings are pretty modest so adding them together doesn't really get too over the top.с He runs his pedals into the front of a 1971 Traynor YSR-1 (which is basically a Canadian super reverb) into an Orange 2x12. "
"рI play Southern rock/jam music,с says Travis Clark, who runs his board into an Orange Rocker 30 into a custom 2x12 loaded with Greenbacks. Pedals are: EB Vol Jr., Vox wah Electro-Harmonix Nano LPB-1 Power Booster, Guyatone Funky Box, Fulltone Supa- Trem, MXR Phase 90 modded to script logo specs, Orange footswitch, Fulltone Dej┤Vibe, and an Electro-Harmonix Memory Boy."
"John Abrenica's Trailer Trash pedalboard is built for eclectic alternative rock. It's loaded with a Blackstone Appliances Mosfet Overdrive 2S, WMD Geiger Counter, DigiTech Whammy 4 with Molten MIDI2, Providence Heat Blaster 2, Empress Multidrive, Electro-Harmonix Microsynth with Roland EV-5 Expression pedal (Filter Sweep control mod by Analogman), Strymon El Capistan with Favorite Switch, Malekko LoFi Ekko 616, Eventide ModFactor, Moog Moogerfooger MuRF, Xotic EP Booster v2, DigiTech JamMan Solo with FS3X footswtich, Boss LS-2, and a DIY True Bypass Looper (A+B, A/B, Bypass)."
"Jonathan Tarplee calls his live pedal setup ""simple, cheap, and cheerful,"" and uses it with lo-fi, quirky folk-rockers the BlueYellows. The pedals are a Chord FL-50 Flanger, Behringer Digital Delay, Behringer Ultra Chorus, Behringer Overdrive, Danelectro Cool Cat CT-1 Tremolo, Behringer VT911 Vintage Tube Overdrive, Arion Octave, Electro-Harmonix The Worm, and a Dunlop Cry Baby Wah. "
"His pedalboard is nothing too exotic, says Rich Higdon, but it works for his cover band needs. He runs a Line 6 G30 receiver way over to the left into a DigiTech Vocalist Live 3 Harmonizer, which рallows me (and the audience) to handle my backups and also is my tuner.с He also uses a Durham Electronics Zia Drive, into a Bob Bruce Clean Boost, into an MXR Carbon Copy, into a Vox volume pedal. рFrom thereяout to the amp du jour,с Higdon says."
"Blake VanHouten calls his DIY board, ""still a work in progress."" The signal chain is a TC Electronic PolyTune, Dunlop Cry Baby wah, Xotic EP Booster, Boss BD-2 Blues Driver, Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi, Dunlop Rotovibe, Vox DelayLab, and Hardwire Supernatural Ambient Verb."
"Tyler Gomo's signal chain is an Ernie Ball VP Jr, DigiTech Whammy DT, Dunlop Kirk Hammett Cry Baby, MXR Distortion +, MXR Phase 90, Mooer Ensemble King, Boss TU-3 Tuner, Mooer Ana Echo, and MXR Carbon Copy Delay. "
"For his soul and funk tones, Shant Bajac uses his Fender Custom Shop Stratocaster or Yamaha SA2200 into this board, starting with a Maxon AF-9 Auto Filter, Fulltone SB-2 Soul-Bender, Budda Budwah II, Mu-tron Phasor II, Cmatmods Signa Drive, Xotic RC Booster, Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Electric Mistress, and MXR Carbon Copy delay, ending up in his Fender Super Reverb."
"Lorenzo Baccarini playsу60s and у70s rock through this rig: Vinteck boost, Dunlop Cry Baby wah, Boss Tuner TU-80, Ernie Ball VP Junior volume pedal, DigiTech Whammy DT, T-Rex Comp-Nova Compressor, HomeBrew Electronics Power Screamer, Fulltone OCD, Fulltone Fat-Boost, T-Pedals T-Fuzz, Electro-Harmonix POG, HomeBrew Electronics Three Hound Chorus, HomeBrew Electronics Psilocybe Phase Shifter, Hughes & Kettner Rotosphere MKII, Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Electric Mistress flanger, Fulltone Mini Dej┤Vibe, Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler, Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail reverb, Orange AD30TC channel footswitch."
"Andres Ugueto's pedalboard is also homemade and is powered by two Voodoo Lab Iso-5 units. He has a Hardwire HT-6 Polyphonic Tuner, MXR Super Comp, Fulltone OCD, Morley Bad Horsie 1 (he calls ""a great dirty wah""), DigiTech Whammy DT (""my must-have""), Z.Vex Fuzz Factory, MXR Phase 90, TC Electronic Nova Modulator, and Line 6 DL4."
"рMy board is all about utility,с says Jordan Shindle, who uses the following board for a church rig: Ernie Ball volume pedal (with output to Boss TU-2 tuner), Dunlop Cry Baby, Boss NS-2, Micro Comp, Boss OS-2, Fulltone OCD (рgreatest od ever!с), Ibanez TS-808, Little Big Muff Pi, back into the NS-2, Electro-Harmonix Micro POG, Boss Chorus, Boss Tremolo, Boss DD-7 with tap tempo (bottom left), then Strymon TimeLine with stereo output to two differently voiced Vox amps. "
"рI realized I only need a wah, a whammy and a few dirt pedals to satisfy my hunger for tone,с says reader Nino Sau, who plays rock, grunge, alternative and a little bit of funk through a simple rig with a Dunlop Kirk Hammett Wah, a DigiTech Whammy 5, a Damage Control Womanizer, a Radial Tonebone Hot British, and a Barber Trifecta. "
"Though he's building a new one at the moment, Sander Camps currently uses this setup for his indie-pop band. The pedals are a Strymon blueSky, Boss CH-1 Chorus, Modtone Clean Boost (with the graphics removed and Superman decal added), TC Electronic Nova Repeater, Ibanez TS-9, Xotic BB Preamp, and TC Electronic PolyTune."
"Colombian rocker Carlos Arturo Poveda uses this live rig for shows with The WorkManShip (TWMS). He breaks it down by effect types. For drive: Boss MT-2, DOD FX55-B, and Boss SD-1, For dynamics: Dunlop Cry Baby, Boss CS-3, and Boss FV-50 (L), For EQ: Boss GE-7, For shifting: Boss PS-5 with expression pedal EV-5, For modulation: Boss CE-5, For dimension: Boss DD-6 and Boss RV-5, For other things: Boss NS-2 and Boss TU-15 (just in case). All pedals are controlled by the Carl Martin Octa-Switch and everything is powered by the 1 Spot Combo-Pack."
"Billy Beheler uses this board with his band Atoadaso, which he describes as ""proguntzive jam rock"" from Virginia. The signal chain is a Teese RMC3 Wah, Subdecay Prometheus, true-bypassed DigiTech Whammy IV, Source Audio Programmable EQ, Source Audio Multiwave Distortion, Pigtronix Envelope Phaser, Ibanez TS-9 with Analogman Silver mod, Timmy Overdrive, Analogman Bi-Comp, Moog MF-102 Ring Modulator, Ernie Ball volume pedal, TC Electronic PolyTune mini, Tech 21 Boost D.L.A, Boomerang Phrase Sampler, and Dr. Scientist Reverberator."
"John Curtis Lewis plays everything from John Mayer to Black Crowes. рMainly I enjoy the bluesy-rock stuff,с he says. This is what he uses for that tone: Boss TU-3, JHS Pulp уNу Peel, Vox wah, Morley Power Wah Volume, Keeley Fuzz Head, JHS Honey Comb Dual Tremolo, Boss Super Chorus, Xotic EP Booster. His 5-Loop Effect Switcher strip contains: a Fulltone OCD, Keeley Katana, Fulltone FullDrive2-Mosfet, Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler, Electro-Harmonix Cathedral."
"Tim Warrenуs signal chain is as follows: Boss TU-2, Dunlop Cry Baby, Fender Starcaster Distortion, Boss RV-5, Boss TR-2, EVH MXR Phase 90, Boss BF-2, Boss DD-3, DOD 680 Analog Delay."
"рI play mostly indie/alternative but also some drone and more ambient stuff,с shares Adam McClure. For his tone he uses a TC Electronic PolyTune, Mellowtone Hi Five Plus, Mellowtone Singing Tree, Mellowtone Melx Fuzz 2, Mellowtone Trumpet Fuzz, Mellowtone (prototype), Mellowtone Wolf Computer, Devi Ever Soda Meiser, Blackout Effectors Twosome, Blackout Effectors Whetstone, EarthQuaker Devices Bit Commander, EarthQuaker Devices Organizer, Strymon El Capistan dуTape Echo, EarthQuaker Devices Rainbow Machine, Electro-Harmonix Freeze, Electro-Harmonix Memory Boy, Electro-Harmonix Stereo Pulsar, and an Electro-Harmonix SMMH. "
"Giulio Catarinelli set up his pedalboard for playing with a bass or a guitar, anything from рstoner doom to rock уnу roll blues.с He uses a Fulltone OCD, Catalinbread Teaser Stallion, Black Arts Toneworks Pharaoh Fuzz, Eventide PitchFactor (рIt can do EVERYTHINGс). Itуs all powered by a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power ISO-5."
"Emmanuel Lucas uses this pedalboard in a rock cover band that also touches on some metal. The board is a Pedaltrain Pro powered by a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus and a Cioks Baby. The signal chain goes into the Dunlop Cry Baby wah with a seagull switch into a Musicom Lab EFX with an Electro-Harmonix Soul Preacher, TC Electronic Vortex Flanger, Danelectro Chicken Salad, and Malekko Omicron Fuzz on separate loops. From there, the signal goes to an Electro-Harmonix Ravish Sitar and Option 5 Destination Rotation before returning to the Musicom Lab EFX with a Boss BD-2 overdrive, MXR Distortion III, and Danelectro Cool Cat Transparent Overdrive in their own loops, and a Boss ST-2 distortion, Boss NS-2 noise gate, Boss FV-300L volume pedal, and Line 5 M5, Strymon TimeLine delay in the final loop. The tuner out from the Musicom goes to an old Boss TU-12."
Philadelphia-raised metal guitarist Xander Raymond Charles has built himself quite a following on YouTube—his subscribers now number over 120,000. But when he’s not YouTubing, he’s playing live, and earlier this year, he went out on a national tour with metalcore artist elijah. Charles formed half of elijah’s brutal dual guitar section, along with Brandon Kyle. Ahead of a recent Nashville gig, the two shredders sat down with PG’s Chris Kies to share what they packed for the road trip.
Brought to you by D’Addario.
Rooting Around
Charles’ go-to metal machine is this Fender Jim Root partscaster with a 2014 Strat body and 2018 neck. He put in a pair of Root’s signature EMG Daemonum pickups, then pulled out the neck one out of “boredom” while on tour. He’s also replaced a lot of the factory hardware with odds and ends from Lowes or Home Depot. Like most of the duo’s guitars, the partscaster is tuned to drop C, and this one rocks a set of Nashville-made Stringjoy .012–.062 strings.
From the Bench to First String
Kyle’s main ride is this ESP LTD TE-401, which started its life as a backup but has graduated to be Kyle’s No. 1. It’s an affordable model from ESP’s line that Kyle maintains is one of the best-sounding guitars he’s ever played. He loves the playability and feel, which are similar to the Fenders he grew up playing. Obviously, the EMG pickups give it more gas than other T-styles.
Backup Warhorse
This single-humbucker, JM-style ESP LTD XJ-1 HT is another warhorse in Kyle’s stable and serves as a backup during elijah’s current set. It’s equipped with D’Addario XL .012–.056s.
Low and Long
This stunning Squier Vintage Modified Baritone Jazzmaster can handle all of Charles’ low-end demands with its 30" scale length.
Fresh from the Lab
Charles was gifted this 7-string Cerberus prototype, which is geared up with locking tuners, a single Guitarmory Pickups humbucker, and a 30" scale length.
Quad Power
Both Charles and Kyle are running Neural DSP Quad Cortexes, and after some testing, both decided to roll with a profile of an EVH 5150 loaded with EL34s. For clean sounds in the set, they lean on a Friedman profile. Sennheiser wireless systems let both guitarists cut loose onstage.
Eric Deaton - Oxford Mississippi
“It’s all about the one,” says Eric Deaton. “You’ve got your one-chord drone, so it’s just a groove and very funky—like James Brown’s bass players.”
Photo by Chris Johnson
Eric Deaton got his break one night when trance-blues patriarch Junior Kimbrough’s bassist didn’t show up at Junior’s juke joint, in the rolling hills outside of Holly Springs, Mississippi. Deaton was already a regular guest there, on guitar, but after he subbed on 4-string that evening, he became a staple of the low end for members of the region’s revered Kimbrough and Burnside musical families, and many other Magnolia State blues and roots players. In fact, if you’ve spent time in the bars and blues festivals of the middle and deeper South, and you haven’t seen the longhaired, cheerful Deaton bobbing to the beat, you probably had your eyes closed.
Schooled by the Kimbroughs and Burnsides, Deaton’s specialty is the rumbling, loping, snake-charmer’s pulse of north Mississippi hill country, where a subgenre of blues that lays bare the style’s deepest African roots has taken hold for generations. “It’s all about the one,” he explains. “You’ve got your one-chord drone, so it’s just a groove and very funky—like James Brown’s bass players. People talk about how hypnotic it is, and that’s true. Playing it, you feel yourself lifting off a little bit. It takes you to a whole ’nother level. It’s psychedelic!”
While Deaton, who also fronts his own band on guitar, has been a fixture on that circuit almost since he arrived from Raleigh, North Carolina, in the early ’90s with a powerful yearning to play the blues in the land where it began, his profile has risen sharply over the past three years. Major-league raw-and-dirty blues fan Dan Auerbach drafted Deaton for a host of productions, including Jimmy “Duck” Holmes’ Grammy-nominated Cypress Grove, Hank Williams, Jr.’s Rich White Honky Blues, two albums by Robert Finley, and the Black Keys’ Delta Kream. Auerbach also brought Deaton to play bass on the Keys’ 2022 world tour, and special dates to promote his Easy Eye Sound label’s 2023 blues compilation, Tell Everybody.
“I’d never been in front of an audience of that size prior to that, so it was just an amazing experience, to see how a big tour like that is put together and all,” says Deaton, who plays a Blues King PJ made by St. Blues in Memphis. “And musically, it’s been a lot of fun because I am playing the same basslines I’ve been playing since I was 18, but doing that in arenas and Red Rocks and places like that. Because Dan and Pat [Carney, Black Keys drummer] made me a featured artist on the Delta Kream record, we got to share in a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album, too.”
— Ted DrozdowskiDezron Douglas - New York, New York
“To be honest with you, I'm never worried about taking a solo. You know, that's really not my job.,” says Dezron Douglas
Photo by Andrew Blackstein
Dezron Douglas is acutely aware of what he needs to do on any given night. Whether he’s playing challenging modern jazz with saxophonist Ravi Coltrane at Birdland or he’s deep in a spacey horn-fueled funk jam at Red Rocks with Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio, the vibration, according to Douglas, is the same. “Too many bass players are thinking about soloing. And you can hear that when they’re playing,” he Douglas shortly before a recent Birdland hit with Coltrane (who he has been working with for 20 years). “To be honest with you, I’m never worried about taking a solo. You know, that’s not my job.”
Douglas’ style is rooted in jazz, but not bound by it. He was mentored in college by legendary saxophonist Jackie McLean and was taught that real music education needs to happen outside of the classroom. “Jackie let me out of school for my first tour ever,” remembers Douglas. That tour was with guitarist Johnnie Marshall and it was a brutal eight-week run through the chitlin circuit. Young Dezron was ready to solo and show his new employer what he could do. “I took a solo. The crowd was clapping and whatnot. And then for the next week and a half, he didn't give me another solo,” laughs Douglas. It was a tough lesson, but taught Douglas that his role needed to be supportive above all else.
Douglas has released a string of solo albums since 2012, led his own quartet at the Village Vanguard, and developed as a composer. His latest album, Atalaya, is a deep portrait of an artist who has not only an original voice on his instrument, but in his tunes. That is increasingly rare in today’s jazz scene, where there’s a trend to value obsessive technicality over melody and groove.
In 2021, after the death of bassist Tony Markellis, Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio chose Douglas to join his solo band. “Tony and Trey had a report for 30 years,” says Douglas. “And, you know, you can't recreate that. All you can do is learn the material, pay homage, and create something different of your own.” Douglas’ intrinsic versatility has been a perfect fit with Anastasio’s soul-funk outfit. “With Trey, I get to be myself,” he says.
—Jason Shadrick
Paul Bryan - Los Angeles, California
“With the bass, you’re the bus driver, musically,” Paul Bryan explains. “It’s natural to keep your eye on the ball in terms of rhythm, harmony, arrangement, dynamics … developing spaces at the core of all of those things.”
Paul Bryan’s new album, Western Electric, is a journey through melody and groove in service of a futuristic jazz-rock sound that references classic jazz, dub, and post-rock. Bryan’s groovy and lyrical electric bass welds musical elements, intertwining with drummer Jay Bellerose, saxophonist Josh Johnson, and overdubbed synths, all often generously dosed with effects. Each sound is in service of a bigger picture—the kind of cohesive vision he seems to bring to each project.
“With the bass, you’re the bus driver, musically,” Bryan explains. “It’s natural to keep your eye on the ball in terms of rhythm, harmony, arrangement, dynamics … developing spaces at the core of all of those things.” And he does so on a wide variety of projects. Over the course of his career, Bryan’s played bass on recordings by many artists, including Norah Jones and Mavis Staples, and is in Aimee Mann’s band in addition to having produced five of her albums. He’s also a member of the Los Angeles creative-music scene, where he’s active as a player, engineer, and producer.
As much as Western Electric is a product of that fertile scene—which also includes Johnson and Bellerose—it’s so clearly from Bryan’s brain. The Fender Jazz and Jag player is an obvious record head, citing Jo Jones and Milt Hinton’s Percussion and Bass and Sonny Rollins’Way Out West as references—both of which sound nothing like Bryan’s record to a casual listener. But the concept is clear, foregrounding the relationship of his melodic, effects-heavy playing and Bellerose’s deep grooves.
And beyond the playing, Bryan approaches the album’s sonic details like a dub master: “Once you've heard something for 20 seconds, your brain goes, ‘Okay, I know what that is.’ So, I’ll do some cool reverb trick or add some cool low-end thump. I’m always trying to reset the table throughout the song.”
—Nick Millevoi
Sébastien Provençal - Montreal Quebec
“It’s all about notes duration, my intentions behind the notes, the tones, and being blessed to play in a band with my best friends, who are amazing musicians,” says Sébastien Provençal.
Photo by Vincent Gravel
It was pouring rain when Population II took the stage in Montreal’s Parc La Fontaine on June 23. The hometown trio were headlining a progressive celebration for Québec independence on the eve of St.-Jean-Baptiste Day—the Francophone Canadian province’s equivalent of the Fourth of July. A couple hundred people splashed around in the swampy grass to catch the band’s free set, and it was immediately evident why: Population II are one of the most exciting Canadian bands of the decade.
In a trio, all members are especially responsible for the band’s success or failure, but that feels particularly true for Population II, whose daring arrangements and sonic explorations dart between post-punk, jazz, garage, new wave, psych- and prog-rock, and more. Twenty-nine-year-old bassist Sébastien Provençal, sporting a 1968 Fender Telecaster Bass routed through a playground of pedals into a 1972 Hiwatt DR201 and blasted out an Ampeg 8x10, establishes and carries arrangements forward while vocalist/drummer Pierre-Luc Gratton and guitarist/organist Tristan Lacombe thrash and spark around him. Amid the storm in Parc La Fontaine, the combination was euphoric.
Provençal’s opening bass line on “R.B.,” off of this year’s EP Serpent Échelle, is an instant classic, perfectly setting the tone for the song’s mad ramble. The riff is elastic and fluid, but it’s also martial and commanding. This is the heart of Provençal’s playing: It’s playful and exploratory, but executed with such authority and precision that it feels industrial, ruthless. See also his introductory synth-bass gambit on “Orlando,” the stunning opener from their 2023 LP, Électrons libres, du québec. Provençal’s tones often mutate and morph between movements within single songs—it’s clear he puts a ton of thought into not just his arrangements, but the textures they’re presented with. “It’s all about notes duration, my intentions behind the notes, the tones, and being blessed to play in a band with my best friends, who are amazing musicians,” Provençal says. “With this in mind, my style is intentionally bold with a strong sense of vulnerability.”
Provençal’s top influences also offer a vivid picture of his style. Bootsy Collins and Aston “Family Man” Barrett knock up against punk Mike Watt, Can’s Holger Czukay, Yes’ Chris Squire, synth-rock pioneer Simeon Coxe, jazz-prog wizard Hugh Hopper, and Miles Davis’ fusion specialist Michael Henderson (“The best to ever do it on the electric bass,” says Provençal). Excellent bassists have been making smart, challenging weirdo art with their instrument for decades, carving out new meanings of the word “bassist,” but I’m grateful that I get to hear Sébastien Provençal do it here in Montreal, pushing music and this province, and this country, to weirder, cooler places.
— Luke Ottenhof