
This year’s highlights include an obsession with Lehle switchers, a literal charcuterie board repurposed into a stomp station, a pedalboard project to celebrate years of sobriety, and a guitarist who plays his wah like he’s riding a skateboard. Enjoy!
When it comes to the pedalboard puzzle of assembling your guitar toys into an order that works for you and your sound, putting it all together is an adventure. Each year, we love to play voyeur to approaches wide and far … and learn about obscure stomps we’ve never tried before. Enjoy!
Aaron Juracek: Jackson Audio Enthusiast
I love Jackson Audio pedals. They sound amazing and are the only usable MIDI-controlled gain pedals I can find. There are other MIDI-controlled drives, but I find that whenever you play in a different room, the drive settings need to change, which, for a lot of them, means modifying presets every time you play in a different location. These have all of the gain and EQ settings as knobs, so I can just change them on the fly, and still have MIDI control whether it’s on or off—the clipping type and the gain staging. I also love the combination of the Strymon BigSky and Neunaber Expanse reverb. The Cloud reverb from the BigSky into the wet reverb setting on the Expanse is one of the most beautiful sounds I have ever heard.
From my guitar I go to an Old Blood Noise Minim, FoxRox Octron 2, and a Keeley Dark Side before going into the loop of a GFI Synesthesia. In the loop sits a trio of Jackson Audio pedals: Golden Boy, Broken Arrow, and Abasi along with my amp’s preamp section (via the effects loop) and a Jackson Audio Bloom. Out of the GFI’s post-section sits a Walrus Audio ACS1, Keeley Halo, Strymon TimeLine, Strymon BigSky, and a Neunaber Audio Expanse. From there I can choose whether I need to go mono or stereo and if I need to use an amp or go direct.
Andrew Yankowsky: Simple, Not Elegant
I play, write, and record music for a local ska/reggae/punk/Afrobeat band called Zeme Libre out of Portland, Maine. I put this board together to take a bit of a beating at live shows with wonderful pedals that give me the tone and sound I’m looking for. Although my board changes every so often, I keep similar pedals in the mix to keep certain sounds I use on recordings. Simple, not elegant. Thanks for checking it out!
First, I go into the Boss TU-2, DOD FX59 Thrash Master, Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer, EarthQuaker Devices Hizumitas Fuzz Sustainar, MXR Handwired Script Phase 90, Way Huge Supa-Puss Analog Delay, Boss DD-6 Digital Delay, Boss RE-2 Space Echo (connected with Boss FS-5U Foot Switch for tap tempo), DOD FX65B Stereo Chorus, and out to an Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Nano.
Chris Voigt: My Modest Bass Rig
My board is still and ever evolving. At the moment, it has just about everything I need or want. People often ask me why I don’t use a preamp. The answer is, simply, that I really like the tone of my Orange Bass Crush 100 and the gain it delivers. My favorite pedal is the All-Pedal Electronics Macrodose Envelope Filter. It’s a very fun pedal with many face-melting psychedelic tones and shapes, and it pairs nicely with the Walrus Audio Slötvå.
This is my modest bass rig. Pedalboard is run through an Orange Bass Crush 100 FX loop: Electro-Harmonix EHX-2020 Tuner > Walrus Audio Kangra Filter Fuzz > Walrus Audio Mira Optical Compressor > Walrus Audio Julia Chorus/Vibrato > All-Pedal Electronics Macrodose Envelope Filter > Electro-Harmonix Canyon Delay & Looper > Walrus Audio Slötvå Multi-Texture Reverb.
Guido Stoecker: Love for Lehle and Weehbo
After two decades of using a Bogner Ecstasy, I was introduced to Eich Amplification, and I’m endorsing them now by using the GT3500 non-master volume head. It took me more than a year to come up with the concept of the board, testing tons of overdrive pedals, ’til I found Weehbo guitar pedals. On the spot, they gave me the sound I wanted. I took the board out on the road on a tour with the Sweet and it worked fantastic with no failure in any way. Easy to handle—it is big, it looks big—but it is, at least, very simple.
The board is controlled by Lehle switchers. My guitar runs into the Lehle 3at1 green switcher. From there, the signal runs into a Real McCoy Wah, into the first yellow Lehle D. Loop, from there to the next yellow looper, and finally into the red Lehle Dual switcher. Then we go stereo into the TC Electronic Quintessence, from there one channel to amp 1, the other channel into the BBE Sonic Stomp, then into amp 2. The yellow loopers allow me to only connect the pedal I need for each sound into the chain; all others are off then. I use a Weehbo JMP Drive and an MXR Delay for my slightly distorted clean tone, and a second Weehbo JMP Drive for AC/DC-like crunch. This can be boosted by the second looper. The blue Weehbo JVM Drive is my main distorted rhythm sound. The black Weehbo JVM Drive in connection with the T-Rex Duck Tail Delay is my lead sound (the Duck Tail has a tap function). I can connect up to three guitars to the board. For tuning, I press the button on the green Lehle switcher, and the signal is led then to the Fender PT-100 Tuner, so I can tune without any sound. The board is powered by two CIOKS power supplies.
Mako G: The Surfybear Board
This is my surf guitar rig. The Surfy Industries Surfybear Reverb provides the essential, classic spring reverb “drip”; the Boss OC-5 Octave instantly turns me into two thirds of a power trio; the Boss BF-2 Flanger is used as an organ simulator; the Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer is used as a dirty boost. I originally got the Electro-Harmonix Oceans 11 to do what the Surfybear does, but kept it on the board even after getting the Surfybear, because it’s so versatile. I mainly use it for tremolo. The Quilter SuperBlock is basically three classic Fender amps that fit on a pedalboard and can even be powered by a power brick at lower volumes. With the Joyo JP-05, the full rig can be powered without being plugged into a wall (I also use an adapter to turn a cell phone powerbank into a 12-volt source for the Surfybear).
- Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner
- Boss OC-5 Octave
- Boss BF-2 Flanger
- Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer
- Surfy Industries Surfybear Classic Reverb
- Electro-Harmonix Oceans 11 Reverb
- Quilter SuperBlock US Guitar Amplifier
- Powered by Joyo JP-05 (rechargeable power supply)
Marc Weakland: Like a Skateboard
When I was younger, I lost both my legs from the knees down. I have to play sitting down due to my balance. I can’t flex my artificial foot, so I have my Wah horizontal on my board and play it with two feet like a skateboard!
Here’s the breakdown of my pedals: DigiTech Drop, Boss TU-3W, Dunlop Kirk Hammett Wah, Electro-Harmonix Tone Corset, Does It Doom Sabbathi Fuzz, TC Electronic Spark Mini Booster, TC Electronic Eyemaster Metal Distortion, Wampler Dracarys, Wampler Ratsbane, Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra, Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor, TC Electronic Dreamscape, MXR Phase 90, Ernie Ball Tap Tempo, Electro-Harmonix Canyon Delay & Looper.
Matei Haskins: Divine Purpose
I’m permanently disabled with a neurological movement disorder, so I’m usually broke, but I got a year of rent assistance last year and was able to build up a recording studio again (I lost my original studio and instruments to homelessness). I got all of these in 2022, but this is it. Back to paying rent—I can barely afford to keep fresh strings on the guitar and bass. But I have what I need to stay creatively productive. These are bass and guitar pedals in one chain; I just switch the amps. The board is a coffee table cut short to 8" and spray-painted black. Music is the only effective treatment for my neurological condition and my divine purpose on Earth is to create music and dance. You can hear the music I make with this pedalboard at DECEMBERmusic.org.
My signal chain:
Guitar > TC Electronic Wiretap Riff Recorder > DigiTech FreqOut > Keeley Compressor Pro > Friedman Buxom Boost > Horizon Devices Precision Drive > Wampler Belle > Fender Pugilist > Amptweaker Tight Metal Pro II > Revv G4 > F-Pedals Lorion > Marshall DSL20CR, FX send > Behringer PEQ-2200 rack (not pictured) > Electro-Harmonix Tri-Parallel Mixer [Loop 1: Arion SFL-1 Stereo Flanger, Loop 2: Seymour Duncan Polaron, Loop 3: MXR Analog Chorus > TC Electronic Thunderstorm Flanger > DOD FX72 Bass Stereo Flanger] > DOD FX62 Bass Stereo Chorus (stereo out) > Source Audio Nemesis Delay > Source Audio Ventris Dual Reverb > Source Audio Vertigo Tremolo > Boss SL-2 Slicer > two BBE Sonic Stomps (not pictured) > FX returns (Marshall DSL20CR left, Marshall Valvestate 40V 8040 right)
Randy Johnson: Crunchy, Crunchier, Uber-Crunchy
I like the Boss BCB-60 Pedal Board because the foam padding can be shaped to hold your pedals firmly in place without having to use Velcro tape or zip ties, and provides for a very clean presentation. My board has evolved over the years, having gone through many different iterations before arriving at my current setup. The more I used my board in a live setting, the more I realized that certain tones could be improved more to my liking, or others were just not used that much. I’m very happy with how my personal quest for tone has evolved!
I’ve finally settled in (for now) on the thought that I like the sound of overdrive ... A LOT, so my board goes from clean to crunchy, crunchier, and uber-crunchy with a few extra tools to modify the sound.
It all starts from the guitar, as follows:- Wampler dB+: I’ve got enough pedals connected that it helps to give the chain a boost at the front end, so this one is left on.
- Fender The Bends Compressor: I spent a lot of time going through compression pedals to enhance my sustain without making the signal sound squishy. This one does a great job of that, and I pretty much leave it on all the time.
- EarthQuaker Devices Special Cranker Overdrive: I love this pedal in that, unlike other overdrive pedals, you can go from zero gain to a moderate amount.
- Wampler Tweed ’57 Overdrive: This pedal does a great job of sounding like an overdriven Deluxe Reverb amp, and holds the middle position in my dirty to dirtiest chain. I don’t think that Wampler produces these anymore, so I’m really glad I was able to score one!
- Fulltone OCD: What can I say.... This is a great pedal for super-overdriven feedbacky sounds! Another pedal you need to get while you can.
- Boss TR-2 Tremolo: This comes in handy for shaping sounds on certain tunes. I don’t know if there’s anything better out there, as this one has always made me happy.
- MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay: This is a great delay pedal, and I tend to use it mostly for solos. A good way to jump out in the mix. From here, it’s out to the amp.
Scott Agner: Charcuterie Board
I started building my first pedalboard in August 2022 to meet some very specific needs, namely sending magnetic pickups and a piezo pickup to two different amps and using a Boss LS-2 Line Selector to switch between a high-gain tone and a psychedelic blues tone, which both include a common overdrive pedal (the Lichtlaerm Audio Aquaria).
I repurposed a black walnut/epoxy resin charcuterie board with homemade MDF base and added an LED backlight. I’m very proud of how it turned out and hope to make more wood and epoxy resin pedalboards in the future.
Signal chain as follows:
Boss NS-2 to D’Addario PW-CT-23 to Boss LS-2 (Loop 1: MXR Uni-Vibe to Saturnworks Passive Combiner to Lichtlaerm Audio Aquaria to Saturnworks Passive Splitter back to LS-2; Loop 2: Saturnworks Passive Combiner to Lichtlaerm Audio Aquaria to Saturnworks Passive Splitter to Lichtlaerm Audio Gehenna back to LS-2) to amp input, amp effects send to Ernie Ball Stereo Volume/Pan (fades between magnetic pickups to electric amp and piezo pickup to acoustic amp) to DigiTech DigiDelay to Electro-Harmonix Oceans 11 to amp effects return.
Scott McCue: Drilled My Own
It started with a medium Mono Pedalboard, but I didn’t care for the huge holes. So, I mounted a piece of polyboard onto it and drilled the holes where I needed them. All of my power and patch cables are custom made to length. Of course, it’s foolish to think I’m done. Lol.
Signal chain: Line 6 Relay G50 wireless system (underneath with power supply), Korg Pitchblack Poly tuner, A/B switcher. Path A of my chain starts with the mini wah, into the Friedman BE-OD Deluxe, Electro-Harmonix B9 Organ Machine, and Tech 21 Roto Choir to a Friedman Smallbox amp. Path B of my chain is a Boss PS-6 Harmonist, MXR Talk Box, Keeley Halo Andy Timmons Dual Echo, to the Boss RV-6 Reverb in the effects loop.
Stephan Stacey: Are you a Holdsworth?
Two Yamaha Magicstomp IIs (their modulations and multi-tap delays still can’t be beaten) bookend Eventide H9 Harmonizer units for days! So much sonic flexibility in a relatively small footprint (by today’s mega-board standards).
The two Magicstomps have been staples since they were released in 2001. (No, I’m not particularly an Allan Holdsworth, which is always the first question.) Many, many other pedals have come and gone until I realized that the Eventide H9 could cover so much ground. Then one became two, and two became four.
Stephen Cyford: The Illuminator
I could’ve gone crazy with the number of pedals but my goal with this board was to limit myself to the size of the Pedaltrain 2. I feel it’s worthwhile to invest in a good soldering iron and make your own cables. On my Pedaltrain 2 board, I utilized a plexiglass top to increase surface area and to have an illuminated edge on all sides of the board.
It’s a good idea to leave at least one auxiliary position on your board, two if you utilize an FX loop (one in front of the amp and one in the loop). In my setup, the DigiTech FreqOut (in front) and the MXR Smart Gate (in amps effects loop) can easily and quickly be swapped for another pedal.
Signal chain:
Guitar > TC Electronic PolyTune 3 > Dunlop Cry Baby Mini 535Q Auto-Return Wah > DigiTech FreqOut > Musicomlabs EFX MKII switcher input A > Xotic SP Compressor (loop 1) > Wampler Tumnus (loop 2) > (loop 3 and 4 empty) > Musicomlabs EFX MKII output A to input of the amp (Bogner Shiva 20th Anniversary or EVH 5150III) > FX loop send > Ernie Ball VPJR Super Bee > Musicomlabs EFX MKII input B > 1982 Boss CE-2 Chorus (loop 5) > MXR Smart Gate (loop 6) > Strymon TimeLine (loop 7) > Strymon Flint (loop 8) > Musicomlabs EFX MKII output B > Amp FX return.
Additional fun facts about how I use this board:
- MXR Tap Tempo simultaneously sets tempo of the Strymon TimeLine and the Flint’s tremolo.
- Musicomlabs EFX MKII sends MIDI commands to the amps for channel switching.
- Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus powers everything. The Strymon TimeLine utilizes the Pedal Power’s courtesy AC output for power.
- All Mogami 2319 cables with a mix of HiCon, SP400, and Switchcraft plugs.
- LED tape strip under board is also powered by the Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus.
- Altoids tin stores picks.
- Board has been gigged routinely since 2016.
Steve Tumolo Jr: Two Tiers of Tone
My best friend and mad scientist Don Kern built this board for me. We went with a two-tier design for ease of getting to the back row of pedals. From the start, the plan was to run the A/B setup. The fatness of the Fender blends well with the Marshall. I keep the tuner all the way to the left because I use my right foot to hit all the pedals, and it made more sense to keep it out of the way and not waste the space by putting it in front of the other pedals.
This is what I’ve got going on: Morley Bad Horsie 2 Contour Wah, Dunlop Rotovibe, DOD Boneshaker Distortion, Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer, Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi, DigiTech Nautila, Ibanez PT9 Phaser, Electro-Harmonix Canyon Delay & Looper, TC Electronic PolyTune, Electro-Harmonix Switch Blade Plus A/B box running to a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and Marshall Valvestate VS65R.
Taylor Frost: Taking My Life Back
After my first year of sobriety after quitting drinking during the pandemic, I treated myself to my first effects pedal after playing for around 10 years. During my alcoholism, everything music-related seemed to drift away from me, whether it was my bandmates or my prized equipment.
As I begin my third year of sobriety, I look at my pedalboard as a reflection of the life I took back after nearly losing everything. Some pedals are the ones I lusted after in high school; others, like the FET preamp, have a special story. I repainted it purple and placed a pit bull decal on it to commemorate the dogs I’ve fostered over the years in my volunteer work for an L.A.-based pit bull rescue. Every time I fire up my board, it feels like a treat I give to myself for staying sober another day.
Effects loop: Ibanez FL9 Flanger > Pigtronix Moon Pool Tremvelope, TC Electronic 3rd Dimension Chorus > TC Electronic The Prophet Digital Delay > Electro-Harmonix Cathedral Reverb
In front: Dunlop Cry Baby 535Q Multi-Wah > Pigtronix Philosopher’s Tone Compressor > homemade FET preamp clone > Boss MT-2 Metal Zone > Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini > Donner Noise Killer
Thomas de la Perrelle: Do It All Board
My pedalboard is my dream recording “do-it-all board,” controlled via the GigRig G3 switcher. The signal chain:
- Analog Man Beano Boost
- Williams Supa Fuzz
- Effectrode Blackbird Vacuum Tube Preamp
- Kingsley Harlot
- Universal Audio A/DA Flanger
- Fulltone DejáVibe MkII
- Moogerfooger MF-103 12-Stage Phaser
- Diamond Memory Lane 2 Analog Delay
- Diamond Memory Lane 2 Analog Delay
- Empress Effects ZOIA
- Chase Bliss Audio CXM 1978
The pedals are powered by a combination of an Eventide PowerMax and a variety of GigRig power adapters.
I mainly play pop, indie, and rock music, so the board was built with the intention of having a variety of gain stages and a powerful modulation/delay section. I run the pedals in stereo or wet-dry with a Vox AC30 and a Dr. Z Route 66. The pedalboard is perfect for everything from punchy drives to atmospheric soundscapes and juicy fuzz tones.
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This year PG landed some elsuive white whales (TOOL, Pantera & Jack White), revisited some revamped setups (Jason Isbell, Foo Fighters & Kingfish), and got introduced to some unusual gear (King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Plus, the hosts share their favorite moments from the last 52 episodes before dropping a few coins into the wishing well for 2025 Rundown guests.
12. Green Day Rig Rundown
The legendary punk band are in the middle of an enormous multi-anniversary tour, celebrating both Dookie and American Idiot. Check out how bassist Mike Dirnt and guitarist Jason White tuned their road rigs to cover decades of sounds.
11. Knocked Loose Rig Rundown
Ungodly, sinister, and maliciously menacing guitar tones erupt from the Kentucky hardcore band’s 7-string Ibanez models, providing the soundtrack to the summer’s biggest mosh pits and nastiest breakdowns.
10. Jason Isbell & Sadler Vaden Rig Rundown
With four Grammys, loads of gear, and millions of tour bus miles, Isbell is back for an updated Rig Rundown with his 400 Unit co-guitarist, Sadler Vaden.
9. Extreme's Nuno Bettencourt & Pat Badger Rig Rundown
Guitar legend Nuno Bettencourt crashes his own Rundown to showcase the “Bumblebee” guitar he cooked up to honor Eddie Van Halen, while bassist Pat Badger shares two killer stories about basses that once belonged to members of Van Halen and Aerosmith.
8. Slash's Blues Ball Band Rig Rundown
The rock ’n’ roll icon brings his blues-rockin’ Orgy of The Damned to the people headlining the S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Blues Festival tour.
7. Kingfish Rig Rundown
Kingfish doesn’t play a lot of gear, but with a signature Fender Tele Deluxe, a Chertoff Custom guitar, a pair of road-worthy amps, and a handful of effects, the Clarksdale, Mississippi, native is well on his way to becoming the blues’ newest 6-string ruler. He returns for his second Rundown with a Grammy under his belt, supporting his new Live in London album.
6. Jack White Rig Rundown
Get an up-close look at the tone wizard’s rig for his action-packed 2024 tour.
5. Jerry Cantrell Rig Rundown
The legendary Alice in Chains axeman gives us a look at his updated solo touring setup.
4. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Rig Rundown
Just like their records, the Australian rockers’ road gear is eclectic and adventurous, ready to cover ground from metal to microtonal Turkish psychedelia.
3. Foo Fighters’ Chris Shiflett Rig Rundown
The Foos’ guitarist and intrepid Shred With Shifty host opens the guitar garage for his current tour and details his brand-new pedal setup.
2. Pantera's Rex Brown & Zakk Wylde Rig Rundown
The original Cowboys from Hell bassist reclaims his spine-rattling position as the band's charging piston, while his guitar brother brings his fleet of Wylde Audio gear and a few tone sweeteners from Dimebag Darrell's private stash.
1. Tool's Justin Chancellor Rig Rundown
The bass lord morphs and mutates between rhythm and lead parts with a hearty Wal 4-string, Gallien-Krueger crushers, and a pedalboard that could make Adam Jones jealous.
When Building Guitars—or Pursuing Anything—Go Down All the Rabbit Holes
Paul Reed Smith shows John Bohlinger how to detect the grain in a guitar-body blank, in a scene from PG’s PRS Factory Tour video.
Paul Reed Smith says being a guitar builder requires code-cracking, historical perspective, and an eclectic knowledge base. Mostly, it asks that we remain perpetual students and remain willing to become teachers.
I love to learn, and I don’t enjoy history kicking my ass. In other words, if my instrument-making predecessors—Ted McCarty, Leo Fender, Christian Martin, John Heiss, Antonio de Torres, G.B. Guadagnini, and Antonio Stradivari, to name a few—made an instrument that took my breath away when I played it, and it sounded better than what I had made, I wanted to know not just what they had done, but what they understood that I didn’t understand yet. And because it was clear to me that these masters understood some things that I didn’t, I would go down rabbit holes.
I am not a violin maker, but I’ve had my hands on some of Guadagnini’s and Stradivari’s instruments. While these instruments sounded wildly different, they had an unusual quality: the harder you plucked them the louder they got. That was enough to push me further down the rabbit hole of physics in instrument making. What made them special is a combination of deep understanding and an ability to tune the instrument and its vibrating surfaces so that it produced an extraordinary sound, full of harmonics and very little compression. It was the beginning of a document we live by at PRS Guitars called The Rules of Tone.
My art is electric and acoustic guitars, amplifiers, and speaker cabinets. So, I study bridge materials and designs, wood species and drying, tuning pegs, truss rods, pickups, finishes, neck shapes, inlays, electronics, Fender/Marshall/Dumble amp theories, schematics, parts, and overall aesthetics. I can’t tell you how much better I feel when I come to an understanding about what these masters knew, in combination with what we can manufacture in our facilities today.
One of my favorite popular beliefs is, “The reason Stradivari violins sound good is because of the sheep’s uric acid they soaked the wood in.” (I, too, have believed that to be true.) The truth is, it’s never just one thing: it’s a combination of complicated things. The problem I have is that I never hear anyone say the reason Stradivari violins sound good is because he really knew what he was doing. You don’t become a master of your craft by happenstance; you stay deeply curious and have an insatiable will to learn, apply what you learn, and progress.
“Acoustic and electric guitars, violins, drums, amplifiers, speaker cabinets–they will all talk to you if you listen.”
What’s interesting to me is, if a master passes away, everything they believed on the day they finished an instrument is still in that instrument. These acoustic and electric guitars, violins, drums, amplifiers, speaker cabinets—they will all talk to you if you listen. They will tell you what their maker believed the day they were made. In my world, you have to be a detective. I love that process.
I’ve had a chance to speak to the master himself. Leo Fender, who was not a direct teacher of mine but did teach me through his instruments, used to come by our booth at NAMM to pay his respects to the “new guitar maker.” I thought that was beautiful. I also got a chance to talk to Forrest White, who was Leo’s production manager, right before he passed away. What he wanted to know was, “How’d I do?” I said, “Forrest, you did great.” They wanted to know their careers and contributions were appreciated and would continue.
In my experience, great teachers throw a piece of meat over the fence to see if the dog will bite it. They don’t want to teach someone who doesn’t really want to learn and won’t continue their legacy and/or the art they were involved in. While I have learned so much from the masters who were gone before my time, I have also found that the best teaching is done one-on-one. Along my journey from high school bedroom to the world’s stages, I enrolled scores of teachers to help me. I didn’t justenroll them. I tackled them. I went after their knowledge and experience, which I needed for my own knowledge base to do this jack-of-all-trades job called guitar making and to lead a company without going out of business.
I’ve spent most of my career going down rabbit holes. Whether it’s wood, pickups, designs, metals, finishes, etc., I pay attention to all of it. Mostly, I’m looking backward to see how to go forward. Recently, we’ve been going more and more forward, and I can’t tell you how good that feels. For me, being a detective and learning is lifesaving for the company’s products and my own well-being.
Sometimes it takes a few days to come to what I believe. The majority of the time it’s 12 months. Occasionally, I’ll study something for a decade before I make up my mind in a strong way, and someone will then challenge that with another point of view. I’ll change my mind again, but mostly the decade decisions stick. I believe the lesson I’m hitting is “be very curious!” Find teachers. Stay a student. Become a teacher. Go down all the rabbit holes.
Featuring the SansAmp section, Reverb/Delay/Roto effects, and OMG overdrive, with new additions like a switchable Pre/Post Boost and Effect Loop. Pre-configured for the RK Killer Wail wah, this pedal offers versatile tones and unmatched flexibility.
Since the debut of the original RK5 in 2014, Richie’s needs have changed, both on and off the road. The RK5 v3 retains the same SansAmp section, Reverb/Delay/Roto section, and Richie’sSignature OMG overdrive. New features include a switchable Pre/Post Boost to beef up drive and distortion or increase the overall volume to punch up fills and solos, along with the addition of an Effect Loop. It has also been pre-configured to provide phantom power for Richie’s Tech21 Signature RK Killer Wail wah.
The all-analog SansAmp section of the RK5 focuses on clean tones within the tube amplifier sound spectrum. It includes 3-band active EQ, and Level and Drive controls. To dirty things up, you have the flexibility of using the Drive control, and the Boost function, or you can add overdrive from the OMG section. Or all three. Each method achieves different tones. The OMG section is based upon the Richie Kotzen Signature OMG pedal, which provides a wide range of overdrive, from clean to aggressive. You can add personality to a clean amp or use it for extra punch with a dirty amp tone. Controls include Drive for the overall amount of gain and overdrive and Tone with specialized voicing for adjusting the high-end and mid-range. A Fuzz switch changes the character and attack of the overdrive to a fuzz-style tone, making it thicker and woolier.
Other features include an independent foot-switchable Reverb witha choice of large and small“room sizes;” Tap Tempo Delay, which can be transformed into a rotating speaker effect; included Tech 21 Model #DC9 universal self-adjusting 9V DC power supply, with interchangeable international prong assemblies for use anywhere in the world. Anticipated availability: January 2025
For more information, please visit tech21nyc.com.
OM-balance and comfort suited for the fingerstylist on a budget.
Comfortably, agreeably playable. Balanced dimensions. Nice fretwork.
Lighter mahogany top looks less classically mahogany-like. Some compressed sounds in heavy-strumming settings.
$299
Guild OM-320
guildguitars.com
The Premier Guitar crew is spoiled when it comes to hanging out with nice flattops. But while those too-brief encounters with acoustics we can’t afford teach us a lot about the flattop at its most refined, they also underscore a disconnect between the cost and the acoustic guitar’s status as a true folk instrument of the people.
Guild’s OM-320, from the company’s new 300 series, sells for $299, which isn’t much more than a good-quality, entry-level flattop cost in the 1980s. Strikingly, there’s a lot of competition in this price class. Even so, the OM-320’s nice build quality and pretty tone in fingerpicking applications stand out in a very crowded price segment.
The United Guild of Deal-Seeking Pickers
Though Guild, in all its incarnations, has always made accessible guitars a part of their offerings, a $300 instrument with the company’s logo might give pause to players familiar with guitars from their various U.S. factories. Quality can be hit-or-miss on any guitar from any brand at the entry level. What’s more, a lot of guitars with different brand names come from just a few OEM facilities—lending a certain sameness on top of irregular quality. But the recent acquisition of Guild by Yamaha, who has a reputation for solid entry-level instruments, inspires confidence as far as these concerns go.
So, too, does the integrity of the OM-320 at the nuts-and-bolts level. I couldn’t find any overt lapses in quality control. And in many spots where that really counts, like the fretwork, the execution is especially good. Little details like the Guild logo overlay (rather than a simple decal) add a soupçon of luxury. So do the Guild-branded, Grover Sta-Tite-style butterbean tuners, which look stylish and feel sensitive and accurate.
“The neck inhabits a comfortable zone between C and D shapes that’s super agreeable and, at least in my case, a nice antidote for hand fatigue.”
Though the body is built from layered mahogany on the back and sides and a solid mahogany top, the latter is much lighter and amber- or honey-toned than the rich cocoa-hued mahogany tops you’d associate with a vintage Guild M-20, or, for that matter, theM-120 from the company’s contemporary Westerly line. As a result, you see a little more contrast in the grain and a little dimpling in certain sections of the wood. The lighter wood isn’t unattractive, it just looks less trad, if you’re chasing Nick Drake’s Bryter Layter style. If that’s important, you should adjust the “design/build” score appropriately.
Sit and Stay Awhile
Barring being covered in porcupine spines, almost any OM or 000 will qualify as a pure-comfort title finalist. It’s not too thick, too wide, nor too petite—a size and profile that also pays unique, civilized sonic dividends. Here, the OM body is complimented by a neck that feels like an especially natural match. I don’t have a bunch of inexpensive OMs on hand to compare, and there isn’t anything wildly unique about the shape, but the neck profile feels very proportionate to the body. It also, depending on your own sense of such things, inhabits a comfortable zone between C and D shapes that’s super agreeable and, at least in my case, a nice antidote for hand fatigue. The neck is not classically OM-like in terms of nut width. The M-320’s nut measures 1 13/16", which is typical of a 000, rather than the 1 3/4" associated with OMs. The extra width, of course, would make the guitar more appealing to some fingerstylists that need the space. At no point, however, did I feel anything close to cramped; it’s just very comfortable.
The combination of layered back and sides, OM/000 dimensions, and mahogany mean the OM-320 feels and sounds less than super-widescreen in terms of tone spectrum and power. Nevertheless, it sounds balanced and pretty—particularly with a droning, dropped 6th string and other more-elastic tunings where the guitar can exercise the lower extremes of its voice. Tuning to standard has the effect of highlighting midrange emphasis, which can get boxy and render the 3rd and 4th strings a bit less potent and present. That said, it’s still balanced and almost never collapses into a distorted harmonic blur. The bottom end maintains an appealing growl and, as long as you use a gentler picking approach, you can use the highest four strings in very dynamic ways. Using a capo emphasizes other cool, high-mid-focused voices in the guitar that coexist well with most strumming approaches.
The Verdict
Inexpensive guitars that feel great can make up for a lot of shortcomings in tone. But the OM-320’s deficiencies in the latter regard are few, and some perceived limitations, like midrange emphasis, are intrinsic to guitars with OM dimensions. So, while forceful strumming is not the OM-320’s strength, the comfortable playability might just lead you to those places anyway. And if you compensate accordingly with touch dynamics, you can conjure many sweetly chiming tones that might sound extra sweet given the bargain price