Pedal mastermind Joel Korte debuts the company's first drive pedal, which covers fuzz, boost, overdrive, and more.
Hand-built in the USA, this pedal features original potentiometer values, True Bypass, and three unique modes for versatile distortion options. Commemorative extras included.
This limited-edition pedal is limited to a 1,974-piece run to commemorate the year of DODās start, 1974. The original OD250 put DOD on the map as āAmericaās Pedalā and continues to be an industry favorite today. Each pedal will have a serial-numbered Certificate of Authenticity, a commemorative laser-etched pedal topper, several commemorative guitar picks, and multiple commemorative stickers.
Hand-built in the USA, the DOD OD250 ā 50th Anniversary Edition pedal boasts Gain and Level controls using the original potentiometer values and tapers giving the control knob the feel and range that DOD enthusiasts love. A three-position toggle switch features the OD250ās classic āSILICONā mode replicating that original sound. The āGe/ASYMā mode uses a vintage Germanium diode for asymmetrical even-harmonic distortion. āLIFTā mode cuts the diode clipping from the signal path allowing for a clean boost or even a dirty boost when the vintage LM741 op-amp is clipped at higher gain settings. The DOD 250 also features True Bypass to maintain the integrity of your guitar tone.
This limited edition OD250 is outfitted in a stunning metal flake gray finish with classic yellow screenprint in a callback to the original OD250 of the 1970s. An etched aluminum badge on each unit commemorates this occasion. The DOD OD 250 ā 50th Anniversary is ready to take its place among the historic DOD pedal lineup.
When John Johnson and āMr. DODā himself, David O. DiFrancesco set out to make DOD Electronics in Salt Lake City, Utah 50 years ago, they had no idea how enduring their legacy would be. Now 50 years later, DOD Electronics continues to be at the forefront of pedal technology. The DOD OD 250 ā 50th Anniversary Pedal is an exceptional testament to DOD Electronicsā longāstanding success.
Retail Price: $250.00
For more information, please visit digitech.com.
Bassists from Californiaās finest Smiths tribute bands weigh-in on Andy Rourkeās most fun-to-play parts.
Listen to the Smiths, the iconic 1980s indie-rock band from Manchester, and youāll hear Andy Rourkeās well-crafted bass lines snaking around Johnny Marrās intricate guitar work, Mike Joyceās energetic drumming, and singer Morrisseyās wry vocal delivery.
But playing Smiths bass lines is a different experience altogether. Grab a pick and work your way through the thoughtful phrasing, clever choices, and spirited delivery, and youāll realize that young Mr. Rourke was an understated genius of melodic bass. In other words, these bass lines are fun.
Andy Rourke was just 18 when he joined the Smiths, and 20 when they released their self-titled 1984 debut. Over four studio albums and numerous singles, Rourke anchored the band with memorable bass melodies that weaved through Marrās busy guitar parts. After the group broke up, he recorded as a session musician with artists like Sinead OāConnor and the Pretenders, played in several bands, and worked as a club DJ. He died of pancreatic cancer in 2023, when he was 59.
To pinpoint the Smiths songs with the most fun-to-play bass lines, I consulted the experts: bass players from five Smiths tribute bands, all from California. These folks cop Andy Rourkeās style night after night, so who better to know which lines are the most fun? Here are our panelists:
James Manning plays in Shoplifters United, based in Marin County, north of San Franciscoās Golden Gate Bridge. Heās originally from Monmouth, Wales.
Martin āRonkyā Ronquillo plays in Los Esmiths from Calexico, California, near the southern border, as well as San Diego Smiths tribute band, Still Ill.
Mark Sharp plays in the Bay Areaās This Charming Band, as well as in tributes to the Cure, U2, and others.
Monica Hidalgo played in all-female Smiths tribute band Sheilas Take a Bow, with her sisters, Melissa and Melinda. Theyāre from the San Gabriel Valley, east of Los Angeles.
Joe Escalante has been in the pioneering punk rock band the Vandals since 1980, and with the L.A.-based Smiths and Morrissey tribute band Sweet and Tender Hooligans since 2004.
āBarbarism Begins at Home,ā 'Meat Is Murder,' 1985
Manning: I love this line and I dread it. Youāve got to have stamina, especially if youāre playing it in regular E tuning. Tuning up to F# like Andy did makes it easier and the extra string tension adds to the twangy top end.
Ronquillo: This is one of those parts that just makes you feel like a bass player. Itās high energy, it feels good, and itās maybe his funkiest bass line.
āHeaven Knows Iām Miserable Now,ā single, 1984
Sharp: With Morrisseyās lyrics, the shimmering Johnny Marr guitar parts, and Rourkeās amazing bass lines, this song is perfection. The bass parts are technically just brilliant.
Escalante: This line is fun to play but really hard. We played some events with Andy DJing, and he would ridicule me for trying to play these songs in E tuning instead of F#.
āThe Queen is Dead,ā 'The Queen Is Dead,' 1986
Hidalgo: This one is fun because itās kind of funky. I would go to our drummerās house and we would play the main riff for hours, just to make sure we were locked in.
Escalante: This is the song I warm up with, even when I'm playing with the Vandals.
āWe played some events with Andy DJing, and he would ridicule me for trying to play these songs in E tuning instead of F#.ā āJoe Escalante
āCemetry Gates,ā 'The Queen Is Dead,' 1986
Hidalgo: I really love this one. His bass line is very melodic, and it fits so nicely with the guitar.
Escalante: This one kind of just pops, and the lyrics are so dark but the bass line is really fun and playful.
āThis Charming Man,ā single, 1983
Manning: The bass is such a driving force and I love the vibe of it. Very soulful in the rhythms. Thereās a part where he breaks into walking bassāitās so unexpected.
Sharp: Itās an absolute standout track that showcases the perfect musical symmetry of Johnny Marr and Andy Rourke.
āBigmouth Strikes Again,ā 'The Queen Is Dead,' 1986
Hidalgo: It melds that tiny bit of funk with faster rock and a driving rhythm. You can hear how his influences come together.
āStill Ill,ā 'The Smiths,' 1984
Ronquillo: This is a fun bass line, but itās easy to get lost in. Youāve got to concentrate and can't really dance around, cause you gotta focus and get in the zone.
āThere Is a Light That Never Goes Out,ā 'The Queen Is Dead,' 1986
Hidalgo: People love this song, and it has that smooth vibe. The eighth notes are smooth and consistent.
āI Want the One I Canāt Have,ā 'Meat Is Murder,' 1985
Ronquillo: This is a really fun song thatās pretty upbeat, and fast-paced. It gets you into that flow state.
āGirlfriend in a Coma,ā 'Strangeways Here We Come,' 1987
Sharp: Andyās performance highlights his different musical influences, as the reggae-flavored bass line works perfectly in the song.
With a modified and well-worn heavy metal Tele, a Jerry Jones 12-string, a couple banjos, some tape sounds, and a mountain of fast-picking chops, New Yorkās master of guitar mayhem delivers Object of Unknown Function.
āItās like time travel,ā says Brandon Seabrook, reflecting on the sonic whiplash of āObject of Unknown Function.ā The piece, which opens the composerās solo album of the same name, journeys jarringly from aggressive āearly banjo stuffā up through āmore 21st-century classical music,ā combined with electronic found sounds from a TASCAM 4-track cassette recorder. The end result approaches the disorientation of musique concrĆ©te.
āThe structure is kind of like hopping centuries or epochs,ā he adds. āI [wanted] all these different worlds to collide. Itās like a choose-your-own-adventure.ā
Itās a heady, thrilling ideaābut no one whoās followed his zigzagging career will be surprised at the gumption. As heās cycled through various projects (including the acclaimed power trio Seabrook Power Plant), heās become a resident chaos architect within the Brooklyn avant-garde sceneāexploring everything from jazz-fusion to brutal prog to other untamed strains of heavy rock, typically wielding his trusted 1928 tenor banjo and a modified āheavy metal Telecasterā acoustic-electric from 1989.
But Object of Unknown Function, his first solo album since 2014ās Sylphid Vitalizers, became his own real-life choose-your-own-adventureāa process of rejuvenation by playing with new toys. Along with his usual gear, Seabrookās main compositional tools this time were a 6-string 1920 William O. Schmick Lyric guitar banjo and a 1998 Jerry Jones Neptune electric 12-stringāboth of which became vibrant ānew relationships,ā even if, at first, he felt like he was āstepping out on his guitar.ā
āMy other guitar [his Telecaster] is the only thing Iāve been playing for the past 25 to 27 years,ā he says, laughing. āI was so afraid to try something else: āI canāt play another guitar because itās like an extension of my arm. I know the topography of this neck so well. Itās my sound.ā"
Brandon Seabrook's Gear
Seabrookās 1989 Fender HMT Thinline Telecaster has seen enough wear to rival Willie Nelsonās Trigger.
Photo by Scott Friedlander
Instruments
- 1928 Bacon & Day Silver Bell tenor banjo
- 1920 William O. Schmick Lyric guitar banjo
- 1989 Fender HMT Thinline Telecaster with Sheptone Pickups
- 1998 Jerry Jones Neptune 12-string electric
Amps
- 1962 Magnatone Custom 450
- 1971 Traynor YGM-3
Pedals
- Arion SAD-1 Stereo Delay
- Jam Pedals Dyna-ssoR compressor
- Jam Pedals Rattler distortion
Strings and Picks
- DāAddario XL Nickel Wound 10's
- Dunlop Tortex .88 mm
Accessories
- TASCAM PORTA 3 4-track cassette recorder
But Seabrook fell in love āright awayā with the Jerry Jones, and new ideas started flooding out. āThe 12-string is such a magic sound, and the Jerry Jones holds the intonation so well that you can detune some of the double-strings to make different intervals, kind of like a built-in harmonizer,ā he says. āWhen you play chords on that and they ring; itās some sort of majestic, angelic soundāor it can be.ā Photo by Scott Friedlander
Seabrook found the 6-string banjo at Brooklyn shop RetroFret Vintage Guitars, intending to shop for a mandolin. He was struck by William Schmickās construction (āIt uses slightly heavier strings, and the neck is wideā) and, more crucially, the surprising intensity it harnesses: āIt just sounded so metal to me or something,ā he recalls. āSo deep and rich and ominous, but beautiful.ā These discoveries came at a pivotal time: āI donāt know what happened last year, but I felt the need to get some new instruments. And that opened up a new sound world.ā
He eventually linked up with two key collaborators, producer David Breskin (John Zorn, Bill Frisell) and engineer Ben Greenberg (who plays guitar in noise-rock band Uniform), at the small Brooklyn studio Circular Ruin. That setting was ideal for the physical experience he hoped to capture: āI used contact mics on the guitar, and [sometimes on my body], to have a subtle sound design. Itās in thereāyou can kinda hear it [on the album] sometimes.ā
One reason for that impact: This is, by and large, the most intimate record of Seabrookās careerāa downshift from the wall-to-wall wildness that has defined so much of his work. That said, make no mistake. Almost no one else could create the pogoing guitar madness of āPerverted by Perseverance,ā which sounds like ā80s King Crimson being subjected to water torture. (āI actually was revisiting the ā80s King Crimson stuff while I was making this album,ā he says. āI just came back to it after years of not hearing it. Thatās straight-up Telecaster prepared with some alligator clips, and then I use my radio tape recorder on the pickups.ā)
Object sometimes leans into a more traditional āsoloā vibe, like on the dissonant, highly improvised banjo piece āUnbalanced Love Portfolioā; at other points, it piles instruments into towering overdub soundscapes, like on āGondola Freak,ā a heart-accelerating swirl of harmonized 12-strings.
Object of Unknown Functionis the guitaristās first solo record since 2014ās Sylphid Vitalizers.
āIāve been playing a lot of solo things over the past 10 years, and thatās on banjo and guitar,ā Seabrook says. āI was kinda hesitant to make an album of that stuff, although some pieces are totally stripped-down to just me. But I thought I could make a more compelling studio listening experience now that I have a little more of a palette that these instruments are offering. The solo album I did 10 years ago had lots of layers, but I wanted to be a bit more vulnerable on this record and have some songs stripped-down and some full.ā
The resulting project is a āblenderā of all the things Seabrook loves, thrown together in a way that sparks his imagination. āIām just trying to sound like the influences I have, whether itās ā80s King Crimson or Eugene Chadbourne or Van Halen or Joni Mitchellāall these things I hear certain fragments of, and maybe itās only for a measure or a section,ā he says. āI guess I am conscious of messing with form. I love the juxtaposition of certain things.ā
Seabrook is a long-time mainstay of the Brooklyn jazz and avant-garde scene, where, in addition to leading his own ensembles, heās worked with a wide range of artists that includes Nels Cline, Anthony Braxton, Mike Watt, and Mostly Other People Do the Killing.
Photo by Luke Marantz
āI used to be even more of a hailstorm on the audience psyche,ā he continues. āI just recorded a new album with this quartet of synthesizer, violin, bass, and guitar, and I want to bring more lyricism and less feeling of intentional surprise. Iām getting there slowly. A lot of the music I listen to is really lyrical, like folk music or soft rock. I try to put elements of that in here. I guess I do want to make weird twists and turns, but I do put a lot of thought into how to weave them and make them coherent.ā
Itās not like Seabrook has suddenly recorded an Eagles album, but these more refined moments signal a desire to keep challenging himselfāand his audience. āI think itās getting older and being more vulnerable, more confident in your choices,ā he says. āWhen I was younger, I never wanted one second of space. Now I just want to be more connected to the things I truly love. Itās a journey. I never want to think somebody wants to hear a certain thing from me.ā
YouTube It
Video Caption: In this mind-melting performance of ābrutalovechamp,ā captured May 20th, 2023 at Brooklynās Public Records, Seabrook is joined by the epic proportions octet, including everything from cello to recorder.
Cory Wong and his Flyers comrade Mark Lettieri do a little show-and-tell at their summer camp.
Back in March 2022, we caught up with Cory Wong in the middle of an international tour to film a Rig Rundown. This time around, we found Wong with his Fearless Flyers pals sticking in one spot, at Cory Wongās Syncopated Summer Camp. The four-day, four-night summit, held in Nashville, brought together ace players like Ariel Posen, Larry Carlton, and Sonny T to offer clinics on all things rhythm. Aside from the camp, Wong and his fellow guitar Flyer, Mark Lettieri, both had new releases to celebrate: Lettieriās recent solo record, Can I Tell You Something?, dropped in July, and Wongās Live in London and Starship Syncopation came out in May and July, respectivelyāplus, the Flyersā new EP was released in February.
Both Lettieri and Wong toured us through the guitar gear they brought along for the camp.
Brought to you by DāAddario.The Wong Way
Wongās starter is, unsurprisingly, his Fender Cory Wong Signature Stratocaster. This is an off-the-rack model, and the sapphire blue transparent satin lacquer finish demonstrates the beautiful alder beneath it: āSometimes a guitar is made out of the right piece of a tree,ā says Wong. Other features on the model include deluxe locking tuners, a 6-screw tremolo system, Seymour Duncan Cory Wong Clean Machine pickups, and an American Ultra Modern āDā neck profile.
Founder's Keepers
At John Mayerās suggestion, Wong had Fender create him a āfounderās modelā of his signature guitar, with some just-so appointments that canāt be had on the standard production instruments. Those include a bound fretboard and a unique, one-off finish.
But Wong doesnāt get too attached to his guitars. He often auctions them off to benefit a non-profit that gets free guitars into the hands of kids who need them.
Another Wong novelty: his fingers donāt sweat much, so he only changes his strings about once every three months, despite plenty of playing time. When the time comes, he uses Ernie Ball .010s from either the Slinkys or Paradigm series.
Neural Network
Through a Shure GLXD16 wireless system, Wong runs his guitar into his Neural DSP Quad Cortex, which runs a beta version of his Archetype: Cory Wong plugin, based off of a melding of a Dumble and a Fender Twin. The signal hits an onboard envelope filter and rarely used pitch shifter, then exits out the effects loop into a Wampler Cory Wong Compressor, Jackson Audio The Optimist, and a Hotone Wong Press. The signal goes back into the Quad Cortex, where thereās a preset phaser, stereo tape delay, and modulated reverb, plus a freeze effect. Two XLR outs run to front of house, while two run to Wongās Mission Engineering Gemini 2 stereo cabinet.
Fiore di Latte
Lettieri flies with his signature PRS Fiore (and wears a matching shirt to boot). The model, which he began designing with PRS in 2019, has a swamp ash body, maple neck, 25 1/2" fretboard, nickel frets, and a pickup system that allows for 11 different combinationsāthe ultimate studio weapon. He runs it to his board with Revelation Cable Company cables. Lettieri strings it with Dunlop .010s, and strikes them with Dunlop celluloid picks.
Lettieri Goes Low
Lettieri also calls on this PRS SE 277 baritone guitar. Heās swapped the pickups for a Lollar P-90 in the neck position and a gold-foil in the bridge. He tunes it to A standard and runs .014ā.072 strings on it.
Little Wing
Lettieri sticks with tubes, running into a PRS HDRX 20āa 20-watt combo intended to capture the roar and power of Hendrixās Marshalls in a more practical package.
Chopping Block
Guitar pedals werenāt the intended application for Lettieriās pedalboardāit was meant for chopping veggies, but that didnāt stop him from slapping his stomp tools on the cutting board.
His signal first hits a Keeley Monterey Custom Shop Edition, followed by an MXR Deep Phase, J. Rockett HRM, J. Rockett Melody OD (Lettieriās signature), Pigtronix Octava, and a Dunlop DVP4, all powered by a Strymon Ojai. A TC Electronic TonePrint Plethora X5 pedalboard handles coordination and switching between the devices.
Shop the Fearless Flyers Rig
TC Electronic TonePrint Plethora X5 Pedalboard
Keeley Monterey Custom Shop Edition