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Rig Rundown: Between the Buried and Me [2015]

The prog-metal juggernauts discuss how their signature axes cranked through Axe-Fx units create their brutal live tone.

Briggs took a more svelte approach for his pedalboard on the Coma Ecliptic tour. His stomp station includes a Boss TU-2 tuner, a Wampler Faux Tape Echo (used for a constant warbling tone), an Electro-Harmonix Bass Micro Synth (ideal for “Tom Sawyer”-ish bass-synth washiness), a Boss DD-3 Digital Delay, Boss TR-2 Tremolo, Boss PS-3 Digital Pitch Shifter/Delay (Briggs’ favorite pedal, which he currently uses as a chorus), and a Darkglass Electronics Duality Fuzz (which replaced a Keeley-modded Ibanez Tube Screamer because the Duality has a mix knob that allows Briggs to keep a more natural tone of low-end fury).

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The bold English band return with their eighth record, Dreams on Toast. The brotherly guitar duo tell us about their pilgrimage back to Tonehenge.

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Very diverse slate of tones. Capable of great focus and power. Potentially killer studio tool.

Sculpting tones in a reliably reproducible way can be challenging. Midrange emphasis may be a deal breaker for some.

$199 street

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Bold-voiced, super-tunable distortion that excels in contexts from filtered boost to total belligerence.

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The New ToneWoodAmp2 is smaller, lighter, rechargeable, and offers foureffects simultaneously, along with a mobile app and much more.

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Paul Reed Smith also continues to evolve as a guitarist, and delivered a compelling take on Jeff Beck’s interpretation of “Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers” at the PRS 40th Anniversary Celebration during this year’s NAMM.

After 40 years at the helm of PRS Guitars, our columnist reflects on the nature of evolution in artistry—of all kinds.

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