The basic reverb voice of the CBX is plate-like—spectral, blooming, and vaporous. It’s a nice fit for the CBX’s functionality and makes surreal juxtapositions of big reverb and tight spaces even more striking. At first, CBX’s control set can feel elusive. But that’s the key to its surgical tunability. The lag control enables cool swelling effects, which can, in turn, be more dramatic with saturation from the preamp control and advanced mix settings—which then can be clipped and tightened by the gate. The musical possibilities made by these combinations are endless. High-gain, palm-muted, machine-gun riffing can be made extra ghostly and huge when the CBX is placed after distortion. And aspiring Kevin Shields-types looking to twist My Bloody Valentine templates can use spacious, gated sounds to lend clarity to melody and pitch-shifted overtones when the CBX is situated before overdrive or fuzz. But even mainstream producers and players seeking punch in arrangements will find many paths forward via this unusual stompbox
This Bruno Royal Artist, with its matching accents on the pickguard, headstock, toggle, and pickup surrounds, is a much more savory monster than Dr. Frankenstein’s
I bought a guitar on our honeymoon, and our yearly trips to the shore were often spent trying to get a music-store owner to sell me an old hollowbody. (He thought it made a nice decoration.) On our 10-year anniversary, I bought a few guitars up in New England. But this year, we were staying in a beautiful but remote part of northern Pennsylvania, and I couldn’t find anything. There wasn’t even a music store in the whole county! Plenty of dollar stores, though, which are totally not that fun.
On our drive home we had the best chat about all sorts of topics, but eventually I started talking guitars. (Actually, the reason the subject came up was because she wants me to sell some of mine! Ha!) We were discussing remote spots, crazy music locations, and some totally strangecollectors who had music “stores,” but never sold anything because the prices were nuts.
Once, we were driving through Massachusetts. I don’t remember the name of the town, but I do remember that it had a famous fire station that was depicted in some Norman Rockwell paintings. [It was likely Stockbridge.] As we were driving out of town, we spotted a big “SALE” sign in front of a kinda-sorta country store. The place was an amalgam of buildings, makeshift tents, and semi trailers filled with all sorts of goods and sundries. I remember it was hot as hell, and being inside the trailers felt like being broiled. Yet, I persevered, and went on searching for weird stuff.
the guitar featured a totally warped-looking body that was slightly offset and a tad offbeat.“
My wife bought a few things, like a fat ballerina mirror which we still have, and some old glass bottles of various colors. I wasn’t finding anything, but I asked one of the locals there about guitars. He eyed me up and must’ve thought I was worthy because he took me to a spot near the back, in an old shed that was probably being held together with paint. Inside, there was a little treasure trove of kooky instruments in all sorts of disrepair. Still, I was smitten with a few pieces, including this column’s subject.
This Decca guitar is the kissin’ cousin of that old Bruno our columnist found in Western Massachisetts.
Labeled as a Bruno Royal Artist, the guitar featured a totally warped-looking body that was slightly offset and a tad offbeat. Finished in redburst with lots of brown pearloid, the Bruno had a lot of oddities that left me wondering. The neck and pickups were Kawai-made, circa 1966, but the body and tremolo originated elsewhere. I just assumed it was pieced together, but I still dug the thing, and it came home to live with us for a little while.
In the years that followed, I started to see more guitars just like this Bruno. I also saw some different brand names like Crown, Conqueror, and, pictured here alongside my Bruno, Decca. What was the mystery guitar factory behind the hybrids, piecing together Kawai parts with different bodies? I guess I may never know, but these are the happy little accidents we see in the bizarre world of guitars.
The guitar sounded very good, and the Kawai pickups in that hollowbody were smoky as hell. The body was finely crafted, and felt much more solid than typical fare from the era. The tremolo was also a solid feature, and the darn thing actually returned to tune.
This Bruno did eventually find a new home, and if I don’t sell more guitars, well … you know.
On October 4th, Southeastern Records will release Live From The Ryman Vol. 2, the new live album from six-time GRAMMY Award winner Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit. Live From The Ryman Vol. 2 draws from multi-track recordings by the band’s longtime front-of-house engineer, Cain Hogsed, from four of the last six years of sold-out shows at Nashville’s legendary Ryman Auditorium. Hogsed co-produced the album alongside Isbell, and mixed the tracks with Nashville, TN’s Todd Tidwell.
Live From The Ryman Vol. 2 features 15 live versions of songs from the band’s last two critically acclaimed, award-winning studio albums - Reunions (2020) and Weathervanes, (2023), as well as stunning rendition of “The Last Song I Will Write,” from Isbell’s 2009 self-titled release, and a poignant cover of Tom Petty’s “Room at the Top.”
Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit, Live From The Ryman Vol. 2
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit’s Weathervanes won two 2023 GRAMMY Awards for Best Americana Album and Best American Roots Song (“Cast Iron Skillet”). Weathervanes was produced by Isbell and released in June of 2023. The record is a collection of grown-up songs: Songs about adult love, about change, about the danger of nostalgia and the interrogation of myths, about cruelty and regret and redemption. Weathervanes was called one of the albums of the year in 2023, and received critical acclaim from the likes of NPR, Rolling Stone, Uproxx, Paste, Relix, and many, many more.
Since his first show there in 2014, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit has sold out over 50 nights at the Ryman Auditorium. Isbell and his band are likely to add to that number this October, when he’ll perform another eight nights at the Ryman. Tickets are still available for his annual residency there. Support includes Alice Randall (10/10), Garrison Starr (10/11), Mary Gauthier (10/12), Caitlin & Liz Rose (10/13), Matraca Berg (10/17), Iris DeMent (10/18), Gretchen Peters (10/19), and Kim Richey (10/20).
Isbell and his band the 400 Unit released their next album Weathervanes during the summer of 2023. Weathervanes was produced by Isbell. The record is a collection of grown-up songs: Songs about adult love, about change, about the danger of nostalgia and the interrogation of myths, about cruelty and regret and redemption.
Isbell also appears as Bill Smith in the Oscar-nominated Martin Scorsese film, Killers of the Flower Moon, which received a 2024 SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture. Isbell’s time on set with Scorsese informed Weathervanes. He watched the great director work, saw the relationship between a clear vision and its execution, and perhaps most important, saw how even someone as decorated as Scorsese sought out and used his co-workers’ opinions.
“It definitely helped when I got into the studio,” Isbell says. “I had this reinvigorated sense of collaboration. You can have an idea and you can execute it and not compromise -- and still listen to the other people in the room.”
For more information, please visit jasonisbell.com.