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

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Paul controls his Fractal with a Rocktron All Access foot controller, but sets his patches up in song mode, with rhythms, leads, and other patches for each song based on the song’s tempo and tonal requirements. For the current tour he has dozens and dozens of patches—including an organ for the opening of the band’s cover of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”—because each song can have three to eight tonal presets triggered by the Rocktron. Like Waring, Waggoner has a few traditional boxes: two Mission Engineering EP-1 expression pedals (to control volume and delay times), a Strymon TimeLine (the main delay used for mainly clean tones and the pedal’s ice function that adds an ethereal harmonizer to the mix), a Wampler Faux Tape Echo (used for longer, shimmering delay vibes), Port City Salem Boost (to cut through on solos), a Wampler Leviathan Fuzz (usually kicked on top of a clean patch and played with Waggoner’s neck pickup on), and a TC Electronic PolyTune.

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Designed for the gigging guitarist, the Amulet offers 15 watts, 5 watts or 1 watt of all-tube tone through a UK-made Celestion Creamback 10” speaker.

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The limited-edition Exploding Head Triple Delay celebrates the 13th anniversary of the album Exploding Head by A Place to Bury Strangers.

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Ted Drozdowski, Editorial Director

ted@premierguitar.com

Send me a postcard, drop me a line, stating point of view.

PG has been a home to some truly legendary guitar-music journalists. Andy Ellis, whose writing I first eyeballed when I was in high school, was a colleague when I landed my gig here six years ago. Joe Gore was also a longtime contributor whose writing I’ve admired for decades. And, during his tenure, Shawn Hammond, who left his post as PG’s chief content officer for a new career (we all love and miss you Shawn!) with the previous issue, exemplified the qualities of editorial exceptionalism: vision, precision of language, deep knowledge, and an open heart. The latter should never be underestimated, because if we bring an open heart to what we do, it will connect with others.

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