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Duane Betts enjoys a control set modification that was preferred by his father, the late, legendary Dickey Betts.
Guest Picker - Duane Betts
Bettsā 1961 ES-335 has its toggle and volume-dial positions switched.
A: My favorite mod is the one on my 1961 Gibson ES-335. The toggle switch and neck volume knob positions have been switched so the volume knob is more accessible for volume swells using your pinky finger. This is something my dad had done when he obtained the guitar in the ā90s as he loved using the volume swell effect.
A pedal primed for vintage fuzz sounds.
Obsession: My current obsession is this DanDrive Secret Machine fuzz that JD Simo gave me a few years ago. I donāt use fuzz often but Iāve loved it as a way to change things up and give the listener something fresh. My normal tone is very natural with the amp turned up. This is just a great fuzz tone that gives me a new angle that I really enjoy pursuing both live and in the studio.
Reader of the Month - Steve Nowicki
A: A push/pull knob for humbucker coil split. Itās a sneaky little mod I throw on my tone pots. You wonāt get amazing Strat tone, but the ability to instantly swap between Les Paul chunk and Fender twang during a jam opens a ton of possibilities tonally. Plus, no extra switches or routing neededāeven though itās fun to hack guitars apart.
Obsession: The EVH 5150 Iconic EL34 amp. Owning an 80-watt half-stack in a Brooklyn apartment might be overkill, but damn this amp is awesome. It delivers insane amounts of gain and distortion, yet every little nuance of your playing comes through crystal clear. I pair it with a Bugera Power Soak so I can crank the head and get that warm āBrown Soundā tone at lower volumes.
John Bohlinger - Nashville Correspondent
John Bohlinger and his Lukather-ized Strat.
A: Iāve hacked up a bunch of guitars over the years, but my favorite mod remains the highly intrusive, expensive, and quixotic B-bender install. It is the equivalent of open heart surgery, and thereās no going backābut the first time you play the Clarence White āYou Aināt Goinā Nowhereā intro right, itās totally worth it.
John at work. When it comes to mods, he know the drill!
Obsession: I recently filmed a PG video where we swapped pickups in my ā90s Strat with an EMG Lukather set. I never thought Iād go active, but what gets me is how smoothly the volume and tone work. Iām rethinking all my gear biases. Like maybe thereās been some progress since 1957.
Jon Levy - Publisher
Let it bleed: Jon dials back the treble on his Tele.
A: Installing a treble bleed on my volume pots has changed how I play electric guitar. Previously, I never dialed back my volume knob because it dulled my sound. Now I can fine-tune loudness and gain while retaining toneāitās a game changer. I still swap pickups and hardware, but one mod always comes first: the humble treble bleed.
Did you know both John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page played on Shirley Basseyās iconic recording of āGoldfinger?ā
Obsession: John Paul Jones. Iāve always loved his bass (and other instrumental contributions) with Led Zeppelin. But after seeing the Zep documentary [Becoming Led Zeppelin] I searched his session work from 1964ā1968, which includes Shirley Bassey, Lulu, Donovan and more. What an amazingly versatile and talented artist he is!
With Is, My Morning Jacket turned to an outside producer, Brendan OāBrien, who has worked with Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, and many others.
Their latest album, Is, represents not just a continuation of the rebirth that began with 2021ās self-titled effort, but a profound evolution in their creative process: Currently, MMJāwhich also includes guitarist Carl Broemel, bassist Tom Blankenship, keyboardist Bo Koster, and drummer Patrick Hallahanāfind themselves in the midst of what Broemel characterizes as a āspecial and interesting era,ā one marked by newfound inner peace, a willingness to relinquish control, and, as James simply puts it, āthe freedom to do whatever the fuck we want,ā that has resulted in some of their most focused and dynamic work to date.
Is emerges as the product of this revitalized My Morning Jacket, distilled from a wealth of material that James had accumulated, throwing āevery single idea into the pot,ā he says, rather than reserving some for solo projects as heād done in the past. The result is both concentrated and adventurous, a tightly focused 10-song collection that still, in characteristic MMJ fashion, roams freely across stylistic boundaries. From the soaring leadoff track āOut in the Open,ā a sort of rootsy take on U2ās widescreen anthem rock, to the evocative and soulful first single āTime Waited,ā the heavy-riffing āSquid Inkā to the hypnotic psych-folk workout āBeginning From the Ending,ā the lilting, harmony-laden pop nugget āI Can Hear Your Loveā to the ominous minor-key prowl āRiver Road,ā the album covers vast musical territory. āJim has a giant archive of song ideas and itās always growing,ā Broemel says, and then laughs. āI think itās the good and the bad thing about having a digital recording device in your hand at all timesāyou can capture every idea. So we had so much to work through.ā
SoundStream
But Is also marks something of a letting go for James, who, for the first time in years, welcomed an outside producer into the fold. And not just any producer, but capital-P producer Brendan OāBrien, whose extensive resume spans musicās biggest names, from Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, and Rage Against the Machine to Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, and AC/DC. For James, who had long acted as the bandās producer in an effort to āplay all the positions myself,ā this surrender of control was unusual. As for why they went with OāBrien, James says, āThe thing that really struck me about Brendan was once I started playing him demos, he immediately had ideas and opinions that were really constructive without making it about his ego. Heās really great about telling you, āAh, I donāt think this songās as good as the rest.ā Or, āI donāt really like this chorus, what if we replaced it with something else?ā He was just always about the song.ā
Adds Broemel, āHe managed to pull us out of us, if that makes sense.ā
āI think itās the good and the bad thing about having a digital recording device in your hand at all timesāyou can capture every idea.ā - Carl Broemel
To be sure, many of these songs both took shape and transformed in the studio. āI Can Hear Your Loveā and āBeginning From the Ending,ā for example, evolved from solo recordings with drum programming and sound effects into fuller band arrangements. But perhaps the most dramatic metamorphosis was āOut in the Open.ā The song originated during the pandemic as a ukulele riff that James found so complex he ācouldnāt even play it,ā and that he eventually arranged into what he calls ākind of a ballad.ā It sat for a couple years before he brought it to the band during these sessions. āWhen we listened to it, everybody had the same feeling as I did: āWe like the riff, but where does it go? What does it do?āā James recalls. OāBrien provided the breakthrough. āHe said, āWhat if we turn this into a rock song? Bring in the electric guitar, amp it up, and keep it getting bigger?āā The final version blends Jamesā original ukulele recording with a full-band, big-rock arrangementāwhat he describes as āa really cool merging of the unknown inspired by Brendan.ā
Jim James' Gear
In addition to his Flying V, Jim Jamesā Gibson arsenal includes three ES-335s, an ES-355 prototype, a vintage Gibson Barney Kessel, a modded 1962 Reissue Les Paul Custom (pre-SG), and a Hummingbird.
Photo by Nick Langlois
Guitars
- Gibson ES-335 (black)
- Gibson ES-335 (sunburst)
- Epiphone Jim James ES-335
- Gibson ES-355 prototype
- Fender Custom Shop Tele
- Fender Custom Shop Strat
- Reuben Cox Custom Plywood T-Style
- Gibson Barney Kessel (vintage)
- Gretsch Country Gentleman (vintage)
- Modified Gibson 1962 Reissue Les Paul Custom (pre-SG)
- Gibson Flying V
- Gibson Hummingbird
- Gibson J-45
Amps
- 3 Monkeys Orangutan
- 3 Monkeys cab
- Rivera Silent Sister isolation cabinet with Mesa/Boogie Celestion speaker
Effects
- Devi Ever US Fuzz Monster
- MXR MC406 CAE Buffer
- ISP Deci-Mate G Decimator
- Boss BD-2W Waza Craft Blues Driver
- Boss OC-2
- Electro-Harmonix MEL9
- Malekko Spring Chicken
- EarthQuaker Devices Ghost Echo
- EarthQuaker Devices Spatial Delivery V2
- Universal Audio Golden Reverberator
- Universal Audio Astra Modulation Machine
- Universal Audio Starlight Echo Station
- Spaceman Orion
- SoloDallas The Schaffer Boost
- Radial SGI-44
- Strymon blueSky
- Boss DD-7 Digital Delay
- Strymon Zuma
- Strymon Ojai
- DāAddario CT-20 Tuner
Strings & Picks
- DāAddario Pure Nickel (.009ā.045)
- DāAddario Phosphor Bronze Acoustic Extra Light (.010ā.047)
- Dunlop Tortex .73 mm
This anything-goes mindset extended to the bandās approach to guitars and amplification. While James and Broemel brought their recent arsenalāincluding Jamesā Fender Princeton amp, his Gibson ES-335 signature model, a Gibson ES-355 prototype āthat Gibson made me when we were first figuring out my guitar that I use a lot in the studio,ā and his custom Reuben Cox plywood T-style guitar, alongside Broemelās treasured 1988 Bigsby-equipped Les Paul Standard and Duesenberg Starplayer TVāOāBrienās studio offered what Broemel describes as āa disgusting amount of amazing guitars.ā The amp selection was equally impressive, running the gamut of Fender classics (āthe brown amps, the black amps, the silver amps,ā as Broemel puts it) along with discoveries like a Port City head that became a frequent go-to. Rather than being fussy about gear choices, the band found themselves drawn to whatever served the song best. āHalf the time I wound up with one of Brendanās SGs in my hand through one of Brendanās amps,ā James recalls. āI used to be more precious about it, but now I really just donāt give a shit at all, as long as it sounds right with the song.ā This approach yielded particularly dramatic results on āDie For It,ā where Broemel created a massive guitar solo by positioning two ampsāāa Super Reverb and something else,ā he saysāin the middle of the room, capturing what he calls a āgiant stereo thing thatās so wide and washed-out and crazy, kind of like what it feels like at our shows.ā
āHalf the time I wound up with one of Brendanās SGs in my hand through one of Brendanās amps.ā - Jim James
Itās this sort of liberation from old habits that has helped recharge the band after almost three decades together. Although, James admits, āIt ebbs and flows. Thereās been periods where itās been very easy and periods where itās been very difficult.ā Is reflects this hard-won wisdom; its title speaks to the fact that the music ājust is what it is,ā James says. āThe record always makes itself. You really have to let go.ā
Carl Broemel's Gear
Carl Broemelās favorite 6-string is his 1988 Bigsby-equipped Les Paul Standard, which he puts to the test here during a Savannah, Georgia, concert.
Photo by Chris Mollere
Guitars
- 1988 Gibson Les Paul Standard with Bigsby
- Duesenberg Starplayer TV
- Duesenberg Caribou
- Creston Custom
Amps
- Carr Slant 6V head
- Emperor 4x12 cab with Warehouse speakers
- Rivera Silent Sister isolation cabinet with Warehouse speaker
Effects
- Hologram Electronics Chroma Console
- Electro-Harmonix POG
- Kingsley Harlot V3 Tube Overdrive
- JAM Pedals Delay Llama Xtreme
- Origin Effects SlideRIG Compact Deluxe MkII Compressor
- Eventide H9
- Boss TU-2
- Strymon Zuma
- GigRig G3 Switching System
Strings & Picks
- DāAddario EXL140 (.010ā.052)
- Dunlop Tortex .73 mm
Itās a perspective that has enabled My Morning Jacket to find a path forward. As Broemel notes, āIn some ways, all we want to be is like a brand-new band again, but thatās impossible. So weāve just gotta keep going.ā One thing that never changes, he adds, āis that the feeling of playing a good show never gets old. Itās like catching a huge fish. Thatās evergreen for me.ā
James agrees, noting that the band has never sounded better. āMusicās infinite,ā he says. āWeāll never exhaust all the possibilities. As long as youāre trying something new, thatās what keeps it fun and fresh, hopefully for us and for the listener.ā
YouTube It
Broemel, with his Creston Custom, and James, with a Fender Strat (and purple heart-shaped sunglasses), lead My Morning Jacket through the heavy riffs, deep grooves, and big unison bends of āSquid Inkā on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
