
Dig into the details of new gear from Martin, Godin, Friedman Amps, Reverend, Eastman, Victory Amps, Danelectro and more!
Taylor PS24ce Headstock
Taylor celebrated their 50th anniversary Wednesday night with an unveiling party in Anaheim for its new anniversary models, which include limited editions of the 814ce, 314ce, AD14ce-SB, PS14ce, PS24ce, and more. Check out the headstock and neck inlays on the PS24ce, joined here by an anniversary model of their popular 314ce.
Martin Inception Maple
Martin took a look at their recipe for making acoustic guitars and tweaked it a bit for their Inception Maple series. They come with a walnut neck and bridge, L.R. Baggs Anthem electronics, and an interesting new bracing system. They are available now for $3,999.
Blackstar ID:Core
Blackstar’s line of ID Core amps are feature packed with loads of sounds and unique recording and streaming capabilities, plus with the PB-1 power bank, you’ll have up to 10 hour of playing—or charging—time. Available now at $159, $199, and $229.
Vox V846 Wah
Vox is unleashing an array of vintage-inspired designs from the Real McCoy and V846 wahs (available March/April for $279 street) to a full line of handwired amps coming this summer.
Silvertone Baritone
Silvertone’s Rick Taylor showed us the company’s late spring entry in the nuevo-retro 6-string sweepstakes—a super comfortable lightweight (naturally) baritone with a 28" scale and the company’s classic lipstick pickups, built to be tuned B to B. Price tag: an attractive $399.
Radial Nuance Select
Radial, whose products for studio and stage include the famed Tonebone preamp, has just released the Nuance Select studio monitor controller—in time for NAMM 2024. The aptly named Nuance allows you to silently switch between two sets of monitors and a subwoofer, has dual stereo inputs with an aux out, two independent headphone amps, and ultra-low distortion of transparency. The tag? $699.
Spector Basses
Spector’s new line of production basses is on display as well as their deep well of custom shop offerings, including a couple NAMM special builds with special finishes and electronic options. Printing and availability on all models at spectorbass.com.
Revv Generator 120
Revv’s flagship amp, the Generator 120, gets a 10th anniversary update. Designer Dan Trudeau went back to his original prototype and revolved the high-gain channels to be more open and aggressive while still keeping all the modern functionality. They are available now for $3,299.
Celestion Pulse XI
Celestion’s got the big bottom covered with their new line of bass speakers, the Pulse Xl series in 15", 12", 10" and horn. Punchy, responsive, with rich full frequency sound and articulation, they boast long voice coils for a deeper bass sound and greater clarity, wound with round copper for the right taste of treble, formed on heat retardant polyimide. Hit celestion.com for more.
Aguilar AG Preamp
Aguilar’s AG preamp delivers the high fidelity tone of their AG series amps straight to pedalboards, with its bright and deep voicing. A great pairing with their SL 110 cabs. And their range of pedal offerings got a facelift to match. For pricing and availability, contact your Aguilar dealer.
Darkglass Combo 500
The new combos from Darkglass cover analog and digital tones. Both the Infinity and Microtubes 500 combo are chock full of sounds, plus they look great, and come in 2x10 and 1x12 arrangements. The line starts at $1,099 and will be available starting late March.
Huss & Dalton Electric Guitars
You know Huss & Dalton from their rich history as a boutique acoustic builder, but their electric offerings are on display here at NAMM. With singlecut and doublecut options, they start around $5,000. To customize your own build, you’ll want to reach out to your dealer or direct to the company about wait times.
Seymour Duncan Powerstage 100 Stereo
Seymour Duncan’s Powerstage 100 Stereo takes their portable—and lightweight!—line of power amps to the next level with more power, more EQ, and, of course, stereo capabilities! Priced at $599, they’re available now.
Positive Grid's Spark Live
Positive Grid’s Spark Live delivers the sounds you love from the company’s other offerings into a 4-channel PA that’s ready to take on any instrument you want to give it. Pre-orders are open now at a special price of $499.
NUX B-8
The NUX B-8 brings advanced wireless capabilities straight to your board with 160 foot range. Features include tuning and boost capabilities and loads of screen options. Available now for $319 street.
Cherub Products
We were treated to a host of new products from Cherub, best known for their clip-on tuners, whose line ranges from tuner/metronome/hydrometer hybrids to multi-use capos and guitar tools.
Mooer GE1000
Mooer’s new GE1000 multi-effects unit delivers a multitude of stomp box functionality in a touchscreen-equipped unit with mappable expression pedal and Bluetooth capability. Priced at $528/$599 (battery powered), they’re available now.
Eko Marco Polo MM
The Eko Marco Polo MM is a travel-sized mahogany acoustic with big, warm sound. It’s open pore finish is inviting, as is its unique soundhole inlay. At $873, they’re available now.
Eastman Henry James Signature Juliet
Over at Eastman, guitarist Henry James demoed his signature model. His version of the popular Juliet is a solidbody beast with Goldo vibrato, Seymour Duncan Vintage Mini-Humbockers, and a reverse headstock. They’re coming spring 2024 at $2,099.
Lag Sauvage DCE
Lag have set their sites on sustainabilty, using smoked raw eucalyptus—an invasive species that needs to be harvested—for the striking back and sides of the Sauvage DCE. These affordable solid-top BrankoWood acoustics—starting at $420–offer a sound as warm as they look, with onboard electronics. Available in Europe, they’ll be in the U.S. soon.
Red Panda Radius
Red Panda’s new Radius pedal has loads of deep tones to discover. Ostensibly a ring mod/frequency shifter, its unique controls will allow you to head to the outer limits with phase-shifting, tremolo sounds, and much, much more! Priced at $349, they’re available now.
Balaguer Select Custom Guitars
Balaguer Guitars just announced their Select Custom line of highly customized models based on their existing body shapes. Customers can choose scale length, wood, binding, finish, and electronics. All at fairly reasonable prices. You can head over to their website now to play with their online guitar designer.
Santa Cruz Vault Series
Santa Cruz’s Vault Series is built upon the idea of using very old reclaimed wood that master luthier Richard Hoover has been saving for decades. This D-style model uses Brazilian Rosewood from the Bryn Athena Cathedral for the back and sides and master grade Fort Ross Chapel redwood for the top. Nearly every part of this build is immaculate and the craftsmanship pushes the limits of modern lutherie. The price? $70,000.
Third Man Hardware and Donner Triple Threat
Donner and Third Man Hardware just released a new collaboration aimed at guitarists who need a simple and portable multi-effects solution. For $99 you get echo, phaser, and distortion.
Victory Amps MK Clean
Victory Amps brought two new models to the show. The MK Clean is a monster clean machine with loads of headroom, spring reverb, bright switch, and selectable EQ voicings. On the other side, the MK Overdrive is a 3-channel setup with independent gain controls, switchable volume levels, presence, and more. Production begins in March and they will go for around $5k.
Collings Guitars
Collings is offering NAMM visitors a glimpse into some models to come, from sleek solidbodies to an all-new dreadnought. These prototypes aren’t available yet, but they’re here for everyone to get a peek at their vision for the future.
Two Notes Genome
Two notes’ Genome offers deep functionality with loads of amp and pedal models on hand. It’s interface makes it easy to find exactly what you’re looking for and dial it in. Priced at $79.95, it’s free for any existing Two notes hardware or DynIR cab customers.
Reverend Billy Corgan Drop Z and the Chris Freeman Signature
That’s Reverend’s Ken Haas with the two new signature models the company debuted at NAMM 2024: the Billy Corgan Drop Z (right, in Billy’s favored satin pearl white finish) and the Chris Freeman model. The Drop Z is designed for drop tuning, with a 24-fret, 26.22" scale neck, an alder body and Railhammer Billy Corgan Z-One pickups. The Chris Freeman has a bridge Railhammer Nuevo 90 and a neck P-90, with rear-mounted volume, tone, and bass contour controls, a 3-way pickup switch, and double kill switches—a toggle and a kill button, It’s available in the turquoise sparkle finish on the 6-string Ken’s holding, or powder yellow. The Drop Z streets for $1,499 and the Freeman at $1,199.
L.R. Baggs HiFi Duet
The L.R. Baggs HiFi Duet is a brand new update to the company’s popular HiFi, now with a studio quality bridge-plate microphone that is blendable with the contact sensors. Pricing and availability coming soon.
Eventide Riptide
Eventide has introduced a new member of their dot9 line with the Riptide, an overdrive/vibe-style pedal with stereo capability. It’s out now for $299. They’re also showing off their new app capabilities for their H90 as well as some fresh algorithms.
Mackie Showbox
Mackie’s new Showbox is a battery-powered solution for solo and duo acts. The defining feature is a detachable mixer that gives you access to a 3-band EQ, looper, and recording options. They are available now for $799.
Chibson Protoypes
We were pleased to run into Jason and Marky from Chibson, who showed us prototypes of their puzzle-piece guitars and extendable-leaf guitar, built by Paoletti Guitars.
Iris/Circle Strings Guitars
The Iris/Circle Strings booth had lots to offer, from their acoustic line built for the discerning working musician’s taste and price range. Their DF slope-shouldered dreadnought is a standout at $2,350. They also brought a pair of Paul Languedoc builds that Trey Anastasio fans were busy bugging out about!
Gamechanger Audio Mod Series
Gamechanger Audio released an entire new line of pedals at NAMM. The Mod series combines their penchant for inventive, time-based effects with their love for modular synth-style controls. There are literally thousands of ways to control these effects including via pitch and dynamics. For example, you can set a target note and everything either above or below it can be affected by any parameter. Production will start in March and they will be $299 each.
Peterson StroboClip HDC Tuner
The Peterson StroboClip HDC brings the company’s popular sweetener offerings right to your headstock. This new rechargeable model works for 6 hours of continuous use on a single charge and the quick charge circuit delivers 90 more minutes of use on a two minute charge. Available now for $79.
Danelectro Fifty-Niner
Danelectro showed us a variety of new options, from their brightly colored lipstick-pickup-loses Fifty Niner guitars and Red Hot Longhorn bass ($599) to their black-crackle sitar ($899) and their vintage fuzz/distortion pedal the Nicholas 1966 ($199).
Danelectro Fifty-Niner - $599
Red Hot Longhorn - $599
Sitar - $899
Nicholas 1966 - $199
Lichtlaerm Audio Amps
Newcomers Lichtlaerm Audio gave us a tour of their custom-build Prometheus head and Fane-loaded 4x12 cab. Loaded with features, your own will be available within a month or two of order, plus shipping time from Germany, at a starting price of $2,700.
Godin Lerxst Limelight
One of the higher profile releases of the show was Godin's collaboration with Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson. The Lerxst Limelight is based on Lifeson's '80s-era model and is outfitted with either a Floyd Rose setup or the Vega-Trem VT1 shown here. The pickups were made by MojoTone and overall, the guitar feels and sounds incredible. Streets for $4,000.
Divided by 13 FTR 37
Divided by 13 relaunched after their acquisition by Two-Rock at the show with this FTR 37. It's a muscular 6V6 circuit with two discreet channels, reverb, push/pull gain boost, and a half-power switch. If you're a fan of Fullerton-style sounds, than this might be just the setup for you. It has a full-bodied clean tone and a rich breakup sound that's dynamic with plenty of sparkle.
Aeroband Guitars
The Aeroband guitar looks like a wild glimpse into the future—and also back into the ‘80s—but with its app capability, the company is touting the education possibilities it has to offer. Also, it’s fun. Priced at $500, it’s available now.
Supro Delegate Custom
Supro enters the boutique amp market with the mighty 1x12 Delegate Custom, inspired by the Aristocrat amp Muddy Waters used for the Live at Newport album … but supercharged. With a custom-colored wraparound cabinet, it’s all hand-built in Ohio with Mercury Magnetics transformers, period-correct Mallory caps, a custom 12” Celestion Greenback, 3-band EQ, and master volume. It’s got a 12AT7 driving the spring reverb, two 6V6 power tubes, and three 12AX7s. The tag: $3,299, and there’s a 2x12 big sibling, too. It’s Supro mastermind David Koltai’s (in photo) latest pride and joy.
KMA Machine Endgame
KMA Machine's Endgame Duality Calibrator might be one of the most feature-packed stomps at the show. It has an exhaustive amount of I/O options but the centerpieces are the automatic double tracker and the switchable IR loader. Other highlights include dual headphone outputs, XLR outputs, Bluetooth capability, stereo effects loop, ambience control, and loads more.
Strandberg Boden Essential
Strandberg's Boden Essential is the company's first sub-$1k guitar. It retains the same look and feel of the other models, but uses locally sourced Indonesian wood to help keep the price down. Ola told us that the pickups are the same as in the standard model, but the hardware is reengineered for durability and sustainability.
Godin Arena Pro
Godin is debuting a pair of all-black nylon-string guitars. The Arena Pro is a LTD Onyx Black is a single cut with a solid cedar top and Canadian wild cherry black and sides, plus top-mounted volume and tone controls. They’ve paired it with a new addition to their Multiac Mundial line in matching onyx black accoutrements. These guitars are available now and priced at $1,099 and $1,299 respectively.
Godin Fifth Ave
Godin’s stunning new hollowbodies will catch the eyes of rockers and jazz cats alike. These lightweight and comfortable thinline Fifth Avenue guitars are available with Godin P-90s for $1,299, and a sunburst model is equipped with Lollar gold-foils at $1,899.
Godin Session T-Pro Hangover
Godin debuted their “hangover” distressed finishes on a pair of solidbodies: their S-style Seymour Duncan-loaded Session T Pro and their Lollar/TV Jones-loaded T-Style Stadium T Pro. These one-of-a-kind models are available for $1,499.
Friedman Amplification Plexi Vintage Series
Not surprisingly, Dave Friedman created a vintage plexi-style amp that absolutely rips. It's based on an EL34 design, a familiar control setup, and plenty of juice.
Circle Strings Languedoc
Adam Buchwald's burgeoning Vermont guitar empire will take on a new collaboration in 2024. Famed luthier Paul Languedoc has agreed to have Buchwald steward the production of the G2 and G4 models made famous by Phish's Trey Anastasio. Paul will still be making the G2 models while the G4 line will be created in Buchwald's shop (although some elements of the G4 will continue to be handmade by Paul). The G2s will be extremely limited and run north of $60k, but the G4s, when available, will be $16,000.
T-Rex Binson Echorec
The Binson Echorec by T-Rex isn’t new this year, but it sure is cool. It sounds exactly like you think it should, and does all the tricks of the classic units.
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The tiniest TS on Earth has loads of practical upside and sounds that keep pace with esteemed overdrive company.
Solid Tube Screamer tones in a microscopic machine. Light and easy to affix to anything.
Small enough to lose easily! Vulnerable in the presence of heavy steppers?
$99
Olinthus Cicada
olinthus.com
The Olinthus Cicada’s Tube Screamer-on-a-postage-stamp concept is a captivating one. But contemplating the engineering impetus behind it begs questions: How much area does the pedal and mandatory/included TRRS breakout cable actually conserve? Where do you situate it in relation to other pedals so you can actually tap the bypass—which is the pedal enclosure itself! Would my neighbor’s cat eat it? As it turns out, there’s many good reasons for the Cicada to be.
For starters, small size and light weight on this order are a big deal. Flying with gear is stupid expensive. So, for players that don’t relish the antiseptic aspects of modeling, this micro-analog middle path could be a sensible one. Altogether, pedal and cable are about the size of a set of keys. You can stuff it all in a pocket, put clean laundry in your gig bag, and tour for a while, as long as the rain doesn’t soak your shoes.
All this assumes you roll with very small and very few additional effects. But if you can survive on overdrive alone, you can stick a little adhesive to the back—tape, Velcro, bubblegum, etc.—and affix the Cicada to almost anything. It sounds really good, too! A classic TS application—Fender combo and Stratocaster—yields soulful blues smoke. The same Fender amp and an SG means dynamite, raunchy, and rich Mick Taylorisms. It even does the Iommi stomp pretty well at high gain! I’m still not sure if the Cicada is a solution for a less-than-pressing engineering problem. Nevertheless, it opens up real practical possibilities and sounds more than legit in the process.
Featuring a slim Headlock system, water-resistant shell, and spacious front pocket. Available in classic Black and Ash, as well as new colors Moonlight Blue, Amazon Green, and Burnt Orange.
This brand new design reimagines and elevates the original to new heights, featuring a fresh range of colors and a refined slim Headlock system. The enhanced MONO Sleeve is engineered for durability, featuring industrial-grade webbing handles reinforced with steel rivets and bar-tack stitching, a water-resistant 420D shell, and plush interior lining. A spacious front pocket offers easy access to essentials like cables, tuners, and other gear, while the ergonomic shoulder straps ensure comfort during long-distance commutes. Sleek and compact, the MONO M80 Sleeve 2.0 is the perfect choice for guitarists on the go.
To bring the MONO M80 Sleeve 2.0 to life in the launch campaign, MONO collaborated with renowned guitarist Rock Choi from Seoul, South Korea, known for his bold and precise playing style, and Susannah Joffe, an emerging indie-pop musician from Austin, Texas, USA. Together, the artists showcase the M80 Sleeve 2.0 in a dynamic video set in New York City, demonstrating how effortlessly the case integrates into the urban lifestyle while offering superior protection for their instruments.
The updated Sleeve 2.0 is available in classic Black and Ash, and for the first time in MONO’s history, debuts a range of new colors: Moonlight Blue, Amazon Green, and Burnt Orange, giving artists fresh avenues to express themselves through their gear.
The MONO M80 Sleeve 2.0 features include:
- An ergonomically designed case that is sleek and suited for urban travel, along with comfortable shoulder straps and a tactile side handle for easy carrying.
- A water-resistant 420D shell and plush interior lining, built to military specs and extreme resistance to abrasion and the elements.
- A slim Headlock system, made from shock-absorbing EVA rubber, secures the guitar's neck and headstock, while the EVA insole protects the body and strap pin from impact.
- A spacious front pocket for essentials like laptops and cables, and a small interior mesh pocket for critical items.
- Side-release chest buckles provide added security and a construction reinforced with steel rivets for extra durability.
- Rock-solid, industrial webbing handles that are standard in MONO cases. Bar-tack stitching and steel rivets reinforce strength, while high-grade webbing offers a comfortable grip.
- String guard protection to safeguard your guitar’s strings.
Your esteemed hosts of the 100 Guitarists podcast have been listening to Randy Rhoads’s body of work since they learned the word “pentatonic.” His short discography with Ozzy Osbourne has been emblazoned on both of our fingertips, and we’ve each put in our hours working out everything from the “Crazy Train” riff to the fingerpicked intro to “Diary of a Madman.” But in our extended Premier Guitar fam, we have an expert who’s been studying Randy’s licks since longer than either of us have been alive.
On this episode, we’re thrilled to be joined by Chris Shiflett—best known to you as the host of Shred with Shifty or as the Foo Fighters’s foremost expert on Randy Rhoads. Since growing up with these riffs in his ears, Shifty’s been making tokens of tribute to the later guitar slinger, from bespoke t-shirts to stuffed guitars.
Join us for Shiflett’s Randy Rhoads primer, learn why you should crank the outro to “S.A.T.O.” as loud as you can, and what Ozzy song makes this Foo cry.
Use code: PREMIERGUITAR10 for 10% off.
Offer valid until Dec 31, 2024. Visit http://bullheadamplification.com.
Always the drummer, Grohl thinks of the Foos’ approach to guitar parts as different limbs. Shiflett handles the 8th-note movement, Grohl pounds on the backbeats, and Smear simply crushes the downbeat. The result has shaped stadium rock for decades.
For the first time, Dave Grohl, Pat Smear, and Chris Shiflett discuss their shared 6-string history, breakdown some Foos riffs, and give insight on 30 years of rock and roll.
Over the past 30 years, Foo Fighters have become one of the most influential and important bands in rock and roll. Through countless gigs from clubs and theaters to arenas and stadiums, the trio of Dave Grohl, Pat Smear, and Chris Shiflett have developed a vocabulary that at this point comes together naturally. It’s a shared language that is always present but rarely (if ever) discussed. Until now.
Back in February, the trio convened in Studio 607 for a sitdown that is destined to be an instant classic among Shred with Shiftydiehards. Below are a few excerpts from the conversation—edited for clarity—that hit on what first inspired Dave and Pat to pick up a guitar, why there was so much feedback at Germs gigs, and that one time they ran into Joe Bonamassa at Guitar Center. You can watch the full episode on YouTube, where they break down “Hey, Johnny Park!,” “La Dee Da,” “Rope,” and so much more. — Jason Shadrick
Chris Shiflett: Alrighty, fellas, let's jump into it. You're in the hot seat now.
Dave Grohl: Oh God. Here we go.
Shiflett: Let's start off easy. What are you playing today?
Grohl: This is my signature DG-335 Epiphone and it's fucking rad. Love it. Been playing it on tour.
Pat Smear: It's not even out.
Dave: Is it not out yet?
Smear: No. Only rumors.
Shiflett: For the sake of this interview, it might be out by the time this airs, so we could be in a time machine. Pat, how did you go from being a guy who famously borrowed guitars at Germs gigs, didn't own one of your own, to the man we see here today with a barn full of guitars?
Smear: That's why, because I didn't even have my own guitar, so I'm like, well, now I need two.
Shiflett: … hundred … thousand. [laughs]. What are you playing today?
Smear: I am playing prototype number one, made by Mike McGuire from the Gibson Custom Shop. It's a Mini Barney Kessel Triburst prototype from 2011. May 11th, 2011.
Shiflett: Do you also have a baritone back there?
Smear: I do. My Hagstrom baritones are on tour, so that's my SG baritone. It's a funny guitar. I'm told that it was originally going to be a Buckethead model, his new model, and he just disappeared. So, they put it out as a baritone.
Grohl: He flew the coop?
Shiflett: When you first came back to the Foos, why did you land on a baritone so much of the time? Had you played much baritone prior to that?
Smear: I played one a little bit. I played one on The Color and the Shape album. That sounded great, but I never played it live. But then, what am I going to do? There are already two guitar players. When we were doing Wasting Light, I'm like, “What am I going to fit in here? Well, nobody's playing baritone. I'll pull that out.”
Grohl: And that’s the story of the Foo Fighters. [laughs]
Shiflett: What made you guys want to be guitar players in the first place? Because probably a lot of people don't know that the guitar actually came before drums, right?
Grohl: Yeah. My father was a classically trained flautist, and my mother bought him a nylon-string, which I don't think he ever played, but it sat in the corner of the room like a piece of furniture, and by the time I got to it I was maybe like eight or nine years old and it maybe had two or three strings on it. I picked it up and played “Smoke on the Water” or something like that. I understood where to put my hands on the frets, and then I was like, “wow, this is cool.”
Shiflett: Did you ever take lessons?
Grohl: I took a few lessons when I first started playing, and I was disappointed because I wanted to learn how to play chords so I could play along to things. I could hear the songs and sort of figure them out, but I was stuck with just getting my little-kid stuff together. And then the teacher started to try to teach me classical. I remember he taught me this thing. [plays short classical piece].
Smear: It worked! It's still there.
Grohl: I was like, fuck that shit.
“I don't even know what a good guitar sound is, but I do know when I play an old Trini through the Tone Master, I really have control over what I'm doing.” — Dave Grohl
Shiflett: What about you, Pat? What made you want to be a guitar player?
Smear: It was my sister Ingrid, who is a couple of years older. She had a nylon-string acoustic guitar in the house. I had those forced piano lessons when I was a kid, and I would cry through the whole thing. I hated it so much, and then I picked up the guitar and I'm like, “Oh, well, that's my thing.” But it was really [Alice Cooper’s] Love it to Death. That picture on the back cover. I'm like, I want to do this. I want to play that.
Shiflett: It's funny how that still informs your guitar choices. Who would you consider your primary guitar influences?
Grohl: I really liked Ace Frehley. I mean, I had a Beatles chord book, and that's where I was learning to play chords and stuff, but I never saw footage of the Beatles playing when I was eight or nine. I just thought Ace was so fucking cool looking, and I loved the way he stood, and I loved his Les Paul, and I thought that I could be a guitarist and look like him without all the fucking heels and the makeup and shit.
Smear: I don't know that I had one. I had a bunch. I had all the usual ones, but I thought Mick Ronson was the coolest, but as far as the playing, it was the Alice Cooper guys.
It wasn’t until the band started recording Wasting Light, that Pat Smear dived into the baritone guitar. “What am I going to fit in here?” thought Smear. “Well, nobody's playing baritone. I'll pull that out.”
Shiflett: When did you figure out that you needed a certain kind of gear to make it sound like the record?
Dave: It's funny. My mother bought me a Silvertone, like an old one from Sears with an amp in the case and everything, and it was cool. But then I found out about a distortion pedal. I don't know how, but I think I was in a music store and I saw one, and I said to my mom, I was like, “oh my God, mom, can I get it?” It was 30 bucks. It was an MXR. And I was like, “This is going to make it sound so much better.” And she's like, “Oh, good.” And we buy it and bring it home. After I plugged it in, she was like, “I thought you said it was going to make it sound good!”
Shiflett: It's distorting the sound. [Laughs]
Dave: Yeah, it doesn't sound good.
Shiflett: I had a little solid-state practice amp, and I'd go home and I'd try to play whatever I learned in my lesson and it wouldn't grit up at all. And you'd just kind of be confused. Why doesn't this sound like the Ozzy record? It doesn’t sound right!
Smear: I know! I never knew anything about that part of it.
Grohl: Well, you didn't even have any fucking gear. [Laughs]
Smear: I didn't even have gear. I didn't have a guitar. I didn't have an amp.
Shiflett: What was the time that you showed up at a Germs show and had to borrow somebody else's gear?
Smear: Well, that happened all the time, but the worst one was we were playing with X and I broke my guitar in the first song, and so I'm like, “I need Billy Zoom's guitar!” And, dude, I found out he was hiding in some closet with his guitar saying, “Keep him away from my fucking guitar.” I'm all drunk. I think somebody just taped it back together and we were okay.
Grohl: Is this why there was always so much fucking feedback at Germs gigs? You had no pedals, you would just crank the amp?
Smear: Well, if there was a pedal, I would just step on it and leave it there. And my favorite when I hear old tapes is tuning full volume with the pedal on.
Shiflett: Well, let's talk a little bit about your live rigs that you've gotten nowadays and how that's kind of changed over the years.
Smear: Yeah, Dave, talk about your live rig. [Laughs]
Grohl: Okay, just a disclaimer. I don't know a fucking thing. At first I was playing a Marshall, it was like a JCM 900 or something like that. For the first [Foo Fighters] album, that's what I was playing.
Shiflett: Pedals? No pedals?
Grohl: I really think I only had a RAT pedal and a fucking tuner. I don't think I had any delays or phasers or anything yet. I think I just had a RAT. Then eventually the Mesa/Boogies came along and it was like Dual Rectifiers and 4x12s and that kind of stuff. And then eventually I found one of those [Fender] Tone Masters at Norman’s [Rare Guitars]. And he was like, “These are great, man. This is what Aerosmith used on all of their cool shit.” I've stuck with them ever since. And the thing is that, I mean, I don't even know what a good guitar sound is, but I do know when I play an old Trini through that, I really have control over what I'm doing. I don't have any volume pedals or anything like that. I've got four channels of clean to dirty.
Shiflett: You do have a pretty straightforward live set up. Not a ton of pedals, just phaser and delay and a couple of things.
Grohl: And I can roll [the volume knob] a lot. I mean, that's the thing with the Trini is that they're kind of reactive. They're dynamic and you can make them do …
Shiflett: It leaves a lot in your hands.
Grohl: It does. And especially when you're running around the stage and I don't have 20 seconds to get back to a pedalboard, then I could just roll up and down and just do it in the hands.
“But it was really [Alice Cooper’s] Love it to Death. That picture on the back cover. I'm like, I want to do this. I want to play that.” — Pat Smear
Shiflett: It's interesting. When I joined the band I was playing through a Dual Rectifier and I think you were playing through a Dual Rectifier live, but I was surprised to learn that for Nothing Left to Lose you had used the Trini and old vintage AC-30s and Memory Man, and Hiwatts, so your studio thing and your live thing were very different.
Grohl: I remember having that conversation with my guitar tech at the time, and the justification was basically, if one of those things goes down while we're on the road, we're kind of screwed. And so the Rectifiers were really consistent and you didn't have a lot of problems with them, and if you needed to find another one, they were easy to find.
Smear: And they'd send them like that. [snaps fingers]
Grohl: Yeah, they'd be really quick. And we were just doing that because we were blazing through gigs so much.
Shiflett: I don't remember which tour cycle it was, but there was just a point where when you got that Tone Master and I came in with a Friedman and a something else or an AC, I forget what it was, all of a sudden it went from that to this completely other tone thing live.
Smear: We all had the Mesas.
Grohl: I think we had gotten to the point where we all had sort of three different sounds and three different duties in the band, and so we all started to focus more on that.
Both Grohl and Shiflett are armed with their respective signature guitars. Grohl’s recently released Epiphone DG-335 has been long requested by fans, while Shiflett’s Tele Deluxe will soon get a refresh.
Shiflett: I never had any effect pedals until I joined the band. Can you believe that?
Grohl: Wow.
Shiflett: Never, never played with a delay pedal or a flanger or any of that stuff in my life. And when we first started doing those rehearsals and there were songs like “Aurora” and “Generator” and stuff that had some color, that was when I had to first learn how to do that.
Grohl: I think that a lot of what we do comes from the studio. When we go in to record songs, the basic idea is usually pretty simple and we'll pull that together and then we start to color it with different things, different sections of the song, different effects, different tones, and things like that. And also the arrangement or composition of the three of us doing what we do since we don't want to just do the same thing all the time. I think it took 15 or 20 years for us to figure out the recipe or combination of what we do.
Shiflett: I wanted to talk to you about, “Hey, Johnny Park!” I remember when I bought that record, putting that song on and the big drums came in and then the guitars kicked in, it's like a guitar solo and there wasn't a lot of that in your music, and there really wasn't a lot of that even in alternative rock at that time. I was listening to the recorded version last night and it sounds like maybe it's like a Big Muff or something in that part? Do you remember what guitars you were playing? What amps, pedals, all that sort of stuff?
Grohl: I'm sure on that I was playing through a combination of amps. I think one was old Marshall. I think another might've been a Hiwatt. I don't remember what we had in there.
Smear: The only amp I remember was when you used that smokey cigarette amp. I don't even remember what song it was. But you used that on something.
Shiflett: What was your main go-to guitar back then?
Grohl: I was using the Trini a lot.
Shiflett: Oh, you had it even back then?
Grohl: Yeah, I got the Trini before Foo Fighters. I got it at this place called Southworth Guitars in Bethesda, Maryland, and there was a row of 335s and they're all red. They all kind of looked the same. And then there was this one with this different headstock and it had these diamond f-holes. I knew nothing about it. I didn't know anything about Trini Lopez. And it turned out great. It's the same one that I've used on fucking everything.
Shiflett: How many Trinis do you have? Vintage old ones?
Grohl: Maybe like five or six of them.
Shiflett: I didn't know if you were the Joe Bonamassa of Trinis.
Grohl: No, I’m not the Joe Bonamassa of anything.
Shiflett: I bet Joe Bonamassa is probably the Joe Bonamassa of Trinis. [Laughs.] That reminds me. My favorite guitar shopping moment with Pat was when we were making the last album and we were sitting there and we ran over to the rock and roll Guitar Center, and we went into the vintage room and we're looking at guitars.
Smear: Was Bonamassa there taking apart a Strat?
Shiflett: Yes, but the part that always sticks in my head is there was a 1997 Les Paul and they called it “vintage.” I was like, what? Really? God, how fucking vintage are we? [Laughs.]
Grohl: I just think we’re “used.”