The Chopper TL is a more classic, mid-century riff on the Chopper concept that marries Schroeder’s aura of handcrafted loveliness with semi-hollow tones.
No longer just an up-and-comer in the custom guitar universe, Jason Schroeder is a luthier whose instruments have found their way into the hands of players from Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham to Eric Gales, Tomo Fujita, and Matt Schofield. And his wraparound bridges are now sold through Stewart-MacDonald— all evidence that the Schroeder name is likely stick around for some time.
One of the latest creations from Jason’s Redding, California, shop—the Chopper TL “T-Pine”—is also one of his most traditional. It’s a cousin to the Chopper, a Tele-/PRS-inspired 6-string that’s found favor among blues and rock guitarists looking for a modern spin on a traditional platform. But the Chopper TL is a more classic, mid-century riff on the Chopper concept that marries Schroeder’s aura of handcrafted loveliness with semi-hollow tones. And, in all, it’s an extraordinarily capable guitar.
Grace and Power
The T-Pine manages the cool trick of looking
practical, elegant, luxurious, and understated
all at once. The natural, straight-grained
pine body is decked out with
ivoroid binding on front and back, while a
curvaceous ivoroid pickguard winks at traditional
Fender thinline pickguard shapes.
The roasted bird’s-eye maple bolt-on neck is
topped with a bone nut and capped with an
Indian rosewood fretboard and super-shiny,
jumbo stainless-steel frets. The visual sum
of those parts gives it a vaguely Western
appearance—a little like a nice leather saddle
or a pair of handmade boots. The hardware
is traditional but, like everything else,
a little fancy—locking vintage-style tuners,
Lollar Special T pickups, a Callaham bridge
with compensated saddles, and Schroeder’s
signature S-shaped jack.
Craftsmanship in the T-Pine is excellent, and it’s especially evident when cradling the neck: The rounded, medium-thick C shape has a comfortable, late-’50s Gibson feel, with fretboard edges that have a broken-in feel and exquisite fretwork that’s precise, ultra polished, and icy smooth. As a result, playability is super fast right up to the 22nd fret, which is easy to get to thanks to a cleverly sculpted heel. The 2-piece pine body is light too, which makes the T-Pine extra comfortable to hold whether you’re standing or seated.
Ride It Like You Stole It
Even without an amp, the T-Pine’s lively
resonance makes it easy to discern subtle
sonic differences in the softer pine body. It
has a bright, ebullient sound that’ s just a
bit rounder in the midrange than a traditional
ash Tele, with a slightly softened top
end. Individual notes sustain beautifully, a
likely result of the beefy Callaham bridge
and sturdy neck joint. Even up at the fretboard’s
upper reaches, chords have surprising
air and body.
These same fundamental flavors come alive when plugged into a dimed Fender Champ. With the guitar’s volume rolled back a bit, the tones from the Lollar Special T were fat and funky, with noticeably more punch than you typically hear from a bridge single-coil—almost a cross of T-style tone and P-90 attack that’s perfect for rhythm sounds. Turning the guitar’s volume back up yielded a detailed, slightly aggressive and bluesy clean tone. The Schroeder will drive a small tube amp deliciously in these situations—conjuring tones that are at once rich, airy, and replete with harmonic overtones. Really digging in with a flatpick produced some of the rudest sounds I’ve ever heard from a single-coil—percussive, visceral, and gritty.
Ratings
Pros:
Amazing fretwork. Beefed-up T-style tones.
excellent build quality.
Cons:
A little expensive.
Tones:
Playability/Ease of Use:
Build:
Value:
Street:
$2,850
Schroeder Guitars
schroederguitars.com
Switching to the middle position drives home the T-Pine’s versatility. With the volume wide open, I got a tasty, toothsome bark that was punchy and a bit more compressed than I expected. And I only had to back off the volume a touch to get the plucky clean sweetness you expect from the middle position on a T-style instrument.
Plugged into a Jackson Ampworks NewCastle, with its higher-gain Britishstyle tones, the T-Pine delivered midrangey, rock-flavored country lead tones (think Keith Urban) that bordered on spectacular. And with a few tweaks, I got convincingly Marshall-like rock tones that highlighted the Lollars’ low-end potency and high-end clarity. Fiery, Billy Gibbons-like pinch harmonics popped off the strings with ease, and the pickups exhibited a cool compression that helped me hold distorted bends and coax cool controlled feedback out of the amp. But even in these more aggressive environs, it only took a roll-back of the volume knob to get a cleaned-up, Andy Summers-like sound with a dusting of crunch and nice presence.
The Verdict
Though much of the Chopper T-Pine’s success
is attributable to Schroeder’s knack for
taking the best from proven platforms, his
judiciously chosen tweaks, styling twists,
and penchant for quality and tone make
the T-Pine a very special guitar. It’s a wildly
versatile instrument—country guitarists
will like its ability to nail traditional tones,
and rock or blues players will appreciate the
added midrange power and unruly attitude.
The T-Pine is an instrument that would fit
into almost any player’s arsenal and probably
replace a lot of lesser instruments for
good in the process.
Stompboxtober is finally here! Enter below for your chance to WIN today's featured pedal from Diamond Pedals! Come back each day during the month of October for more chances to win!
Diamond Pedals Dark Cloud
True to the Diamond design ethos of our dBBD’s hybrid analog architecture, Dark Cloud unlocks a new frontier in delay technology which was once deemed unobtainable by standard BBD circuit.
Powered by an embedded system, the Dark Cloud seamlessly blends input and output signals, crafting Tape, Harmonic, and Reverse delays with the organic warmth of analog companding and the meticulous precision of digital control.
Where analog warmth meets digital precision, the Dark Cloud redefines delay effects to create a pedal like no other
Revv Amplification's limited-edition G-Series V2 pedals offer three fresh flavors of boutique Canadian tone, with V2 circuit revisions.
Celebrating 10 years of Revv & 5 years since the release of the G2, Revv is debuting V2 circuit revisions of the G2, G3, & G4, implementing new designs for more tone in 3 little pedals, in a limited edition colorway.
The Revv Amplification 5th Anniversary G-Series V2 Lineup features:
- 3 Fresh Flavors of Boutique Canadian Tone - G-Series pedals are sonic recreations of 3 of Revv’s boutique amp channels used by Nashville session stars & metal touring artists alike.
- The Standard, Redefined - V2 circuit revisions are based on the Generator 120 MK3 Rev. B & incorporate new design elements for the most tube-like response & tone ever.
- Limited Edition - Exclusive new colorway featuring a black enclosure w/ custom graphics, embossed Revv badge, & color-coded knobs.
- Find Your Sound - The G2 is a powerful & versatile overdrive capable of everything from touch-sensitive boost to organic vintage stack tones, taken from Revv’s Green Channel.
- High Gain Clarity - The G3 utilizes Revv’s legendary Purple Channel, a tight & responsive high gain tone perfect for drop tuning & cutting through any mix.
- Fat Solo Tones - The G4 is based on Revv’s thick & saturated Red Channel, the ideal sound for chewy crunch, modern rock wall of sound, & liquid sustaining solos.
- Made in Canada - 100% analog circuit w/ top jacks, true bypass, & 2 year warranty.
Revv’s G-Series pedals have a street price of $229 & can be ordered immediately through many fine dealers worldwide.
For more information, please visit revvamplification.com.
Revv G3 Purple Channel Preamp/Overdrive/Distortion Pedal - Anniversary Edition
G3 Purple Ch Preamp/Hi-Gain Pedal - AnniversaryThe Texan rocker tells us how the Lonestar State shaped his guitar sounds and how he managed to hit it big in Music City.
Huge shocker incoming: Zach Broyles made a Tube Screamer. The Mythos Envy Pro Overdrive is Zach’s take on the green apple of his eye, with some special tweaks including increased output, more drive sounds, and a low-end boost option. Does this mean he can clear out his collection of TS-9s? Of course not.
This time on Dipped in Tone, Rhett and Zach welcome Tyler Bryant, the Texas-bred and Nashville-based rocker who has made waves with his band the Shakedown, who Rhett credits as one of his favorite groups. Bryant, it turns out, is a TS-head himself, having learned to love the pedal thanks to its being found everywhere in Texas guitar circles.Bryant shares how he scraped together a band after dropping out of high school and moving to Nashville, including the rigors of 15-hour drives for 30-minute sets in a trusty Ford Expedition. He’s lived the dream (or nightmare, depending on the day) and has the wisdom to show it.
Throughout the chat, the gang covers modeling amps and why modern rock bands still need amps on stage; the ins and outs of recording-gear rabbit holes and getting great sounds; and the differences between American and European audiences. Tune in to hear it all.
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Oasis Live '25 world tour announces North American dates with Cage The Elephant as special guest. Oasis commented, “America. Oasis is coming. You have one last chance to prove that you loved us all along.”
The North American leg, produced by Live Nation and SJM, will see Oasis play stadiums in Toronto, Chicago, East Rutherford, Los Angeles and Mexico City next summer with Cage The Elephant as the special guest across all dates.
The news comes 16 years since their last performance in North America. Oasis commented,
“America.
Oasis is coming.
You have one last chance to prove that you loved us all along.”
The previously announced dates on the Oasis Live ‘25 tour sold out immediately, with over 10 million fans from 158 countries queuing to buy tickets. Days after their return, the band claimed their 8th UK No. 1 album with the 30th anniversary of their electrifying debut album Definitely Maybe, while at the same time occupying two other spots in the top 5 UK albums chart.
Oasis remain a huge draw in the streaming era, with over 32 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone – an increase of almost 50% since the announcement of their return – and nearly 12.5 billion streams to date across platforms.
Registration for the presale is currently open at oasisinet.com until Tuesday, October 1st at 8 am EST. General ticket sale will begin Friday, October 4th at 12pm local time and will be available from Ticketmaster.
Plans are underway for Oasis Live ’25 to go to other continents outside of Europe and North America later next year.
JULY 2025
4th - Cardiff, UK - Principality Stadium (SOLD OUT)
5th - Cardiff, UK - Principality Stadium (SOLD OUT)
11th - Manchester, UK - Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
12th - Manchester, UK - Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
16th - Manchester, UK - Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
19th - Manchester, UK - Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
20th - Manchester, UK - Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
25th - London, UK - Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
26th - London, UK - Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
30th - London, UK - Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
AUGUST 2025
2nd - London, UK - Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
3rd - London, UK - Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
8th - Edinburgh, UK - Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium (SOLD OUT)
9th - Edinburgh, UK - Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium (SOLD OUT)
12th - Edinburgh, UK - Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium (SOLD OUT)
16th - Dublin, IE - Croke Park (SOLD OUT)
17th - Dublin, IE - Croke Park (SOLD OUT)
24th - Toronto, ON - Rogers Stadium (JUST ADDED)
28th - Chicago, IL - Soldier Field (JUST ADDED)
31st - East Rutherford, NJ - MetLife Stadium (JUST ADDED)
SEPTEMBER 2025
6th - Los Angeles, CA - Rose Bowl Stadium (JUST ADDED)
12th - Mexico City, MX - Estadio GNP Seguros (JUST ADDED)
27th - London, UK - Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
28th - London, UK - Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)