The big-hit producer (Taylor Swift, Green Day, Weezer) and guitarist opens his RubyRed Productions to catalog his custom creations from the West and Far East. Plus, he reveals how Keith Urban forever changed his guitar-playing world.
Facing a mandatory shelter-in ordinance to limit the spread of COVID-19, PG enacted a hybrid approach to filming and producing Rig Rundowns. This is the 13th video in that format, and we stand behind the final product.
Butch Walker can’t be pinned down by sweeping generalizations. He grew up in rural, small-town Georgia, but his love for ’80s glam metal took him out west. He produces some of the biggest radio-friendly hitmakers (Taylor Swift, Green Day, Fall Out Boy, P!nk, Rob Thomas, Adam Lambert, and Keith Urban), but his own indie-songwriter music focuses on colorful storytelling and significant substance. He appreciates and owns vintage gear, but he’s not a museum-piece collector and one of his favorite tools is a digital Line 6 HX Stomp. His brand-new album American Love Story is a sonic homage to his youth centered around the hooks and melodies showering the airwaves in 1979 (think lively Toto crossed with the Police shimmer), but the lyrics are a cutting dissection of society and life in the 21st century.
Following the release of his ninth studio album in May 2020, the straight-shooting artist welcomed PG’s Chris Kies into his studio, RubyRed Productions. The “clueless” gear dork chats about embracing happy accidents from incorrect custom-instrument commissions, designing a one-off triple-humbucker, ES-335 killer with the Yamaha Custom Shop, gravitating towards a purring EL34 Bad Cat, and giving praise to Keith Urban for pick advice.
While RubyRed Productions in Santa Monica has a superb stash of gear, for the Rig Rundown, songwriter-guitarist-producer Butch Walker gathered these 6-string sweethearts that he uses to create on a daily basis.
(Far left) Butch’s newest tool in the chest is this Taylor 517e Grand Pacific Builder’s Edition V-Class finished in a wild honey burst. The round-shoulder dreadnought features Taylor’s new V-Class bracing designed by PG contributor Andy Powers, torrefied Sitka spruce top, and tropical mahogany back and sides decked out with sapele binding. Butch bonded with it because of its unique, pronounced midrange voice. He says in the Rundown its natural mid-heavy voice lets it potently sit in the mix even among full instrumentation from drums, bass, and electrics.
To its right, Butch has a Japanese-made Yamaha LL56 Custom ARE (an updated, evolved continuation of the company’s LL53 favored by John Denver). Butch loves its beefier voice that works well accentuating electric parts for a wider sound.
The last of three acoustics is one of his oldest flattops, but it’s had a complete makeover to give a second life. From a glance, it appears to be a vintage 1960s Harmony Sovereign completely overhauled, upgraded, and rebuilt by luthier Scott Baxendale. He disassembles the instrument piece by piece and starts from scratch (including reconstructing the bracing into his own formula of scalloped X-bracing heavily influenced in his 30 years of specializing in pre-war Martins). The “new” instrument has its original tonewoods is original, but that’s it. The rest is reformed by way of Baxendale’s expertise and attention to detail. Butch’s opinion on its resurrection: “it plays and sounds like butter.”
The far-left electric is a 1972 Gibson Les Paul Custom he bought from Norman’s Rare Guitars. It’s his only Les Paul in California and the guitar only had one previous owner before Butch— illustrious studio-and-stage guitarist Jimmy Stewart (not the guy from It’s a Wonderful Life). Stewart put that Custom to good and featured it on over 1,200 recordings, worked prominently alongside Gábor Szabó, added guitar to Broadway productions (West Side Story, Bye Bye Birdie, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying) and TV (The Mike Douglas Show and The Tonight Show) and authored Guitar Player’s “The Complete Musician” column from 1971-1981. You’ll see Stewart added some mini toggles to open up the pickups for even more tonal options by splitting/isolating coils.
Next one on the right is a custom, one-off triple-humbucker Yamaha SA2200 semi-hollow loaded with Lollar pickups. Walker went mad scientist on the normal SA2200 layout and requested that it have a master volume (moved that to where the original pickup selector was) and master tone (normally each pickup has its own independent controls). He used the allocated cavity space to add mini toggles to split the humbuckers’ coils, and moved the pickup selector to the pickguard.
Another new friend to the collection is a 2020 Ernie Ball Sabre with a honey suckle burst. Butch has really enjoyed playing and recording with this double-hum guitar because it’s “spanky, spongy, has a pleasing top-end clarity, and can still bite for solos or rocking.”
Last up is a Fender Custom Shop Telecaster Custom that screams Andy Summers and Joe Walsh. Butch had put in an order to the heralded custom shop for a Telecaster. The wrong guitar (the sunburst Tele Custom) showed up, but before letting Fender know their error, he plugged it in. Game over—he wasn’t parting ways with this stud so he cancelled the other order with Fender and has rocked with this one ever since.
All of Butch’s electrics take Ernie Ball Power Slinkys (.011–.048) and he bashes away with Herco HE211P Flex 75 1.01 mm.
Three of these were in the previous frame except for the shedding Strat in the middle-right position. It’s a Fender Custom Shop 1960 Stratocaster Relic Shoreline Gold over 3-Color Sunburst Frankenstein’d with a ’69 reverse headstock, left-handed neck, and beefed up with a pair of Fender ShawBuckers.
For the Rundown and most of his recent L.A.-based sessions, Butch has turned to this Bad Cat Cub IV 40R. He likes its single-channel platform, tonal flexibility (toggle or footswitch between 12AX7 or EF86 preamp sections) paired with sparkly, robust EL34-voiced flavorings.
Enhancing the versatility of the Bad Cat IV 40R is the above Universal Audio Ox Box. (For the Rundown, we heard a direct sound with an emulation of a custom 2x12 cabinet loaded with alnico 50-watt speakers. The mics he chose were approximations of a Beyerdynamic M 160 ribbon, Neumann U67 diaphragm, a blended-in room mic with a 1176 compressor tightening up everything.)
His real-deal pedalboard is host to a TC Electronic PolyTune, JHS Pedals Pulp 'n' Peel, his signature JHS Ruby Red Signature 2-in-1 Overdrive/Fuzz/Boost, Way Huge Conspiracy Theory, MXR Echoplex Delay, MXR Stereo Chorus, MXR Reverb, MXR Carbon Copy, and an Audio Sprockets ToneDexter (for acoustic DI/preamp). Beneath the board, the MXR Iso-Brick brings everything to life.
For quick gigs, sit-in sessions, or fly gigs, Butch will rely on this simple stomp station compromised of a Line 6 HX Stomp, his signature JHS Ruby Red Signature 2-in-1, and a TC Electronic Polytune Noir Mini 2. In the middle rests a Disaster Area DMC.micro MIDI controller while to the right you see a Line 6 G10S Wireless System and a Dunlop DVP4 Volume (X) Mini.
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Brent Mason is, of course, on of the most recorded guitarists in history, who helped define the sound of most ’90s country superstars. So, whether you know it or not, you’ve likely heard Mason’s playing.
Professional transcriber Levi Clay has done the deepest of dives into Brent Mason’s hotshot licks. At one point, he undertook the massive project of transcribing and sharing one of Mason’s solos every day for 85 or so days. Mason is, of course, on of the most recorded guitarists in history, who helped define the sound of most ’90s country superstars. So, whether you know it or not, you’ve likely heard Mason’s playing. Levi shares the insight he gleaned from digging deep, and he tells us what it was like when they shared a stage last year. Plus, Levi plays us some great examples of Mason’s playing.
For the first time ever, two guitar greats, John 5 and Richie Kotzen will be heading out on the road this year. The tour will launch October 16 and run through November, hitting markets across the U.S.
Find the full tour itinerary right plus a link for tickets & VIP, including additional dates featuring John 5 only. Reserved seating tickets will go on sale Friday May 16 though a fan presale will begin today at noon local time and fans are strongly encouraged to buy early to get the best seats.
Meet and Greets for both artists will be available. For John 5 please go to: https://john5store.com/collections/vip.
Today, John 5 also announces more details of his anticipated new album. Called The Ghost, it will be released October 10 and is led by the new track “Fiend,” featuring Kenny Aronoff.
John 5 continues running public tours this month for his Knights In Satan’s Service Museum of KISS Memorabilia in Los Angeles, California. Guided tours are open to the public for one month only (with a possible expansion). Current dates available are May 12-16, May 19-23 and May 27-30. Each will be led by John 5 himself who will provide tons of rich detail and answer any questions. Secure your place HERE.
JOHN 5 continues to tour with Mötley Crüe including an upcoming residency in Las Vegas in 2025.RICHIE KOTZEN &
JOHN 5 FALL 2025 TOUR
October 16 El Cajon, CA @ Magnolia
October 17 Riverside, CA @ Fox Performing Arts
October 18 Roseville, CA @ Goldfield Trading Post
October 19 San Jose, CA @ The Ritz
October 21 Phoenix, AZ @ Celebrity Theatre
October 22 Albuquerque, NM @ KiMo Theatre
October 24 Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
October 25 Leander, TX @ The Haute Spot
October 27 New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
October 28 Memphis, TN @ Minglewood Hall
October 29 Nashville, TN @ Fogg Street Lawn Club
October 30 Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
October 31 Orlando, FL @ House of Blues
November 1 Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room
November 2 Clearwater, FL @ Capitol Theatre
November 4 Richmond, VA @ The National
November 5 Leesburg, VA @ Tally Ho Theater
November 6 Patchogue, NY @ Patchogue Theatre
November 11 Glenside, PA @ Keswick Theatre
November 12 Derry, NH @ Tupelo Music Hall
November 13 Foxborough, MA @ Six String Grill & Stage
November 14 Stroudsburg, PA @ Sherman Theater
November 15 Lorain, OH @ Lorain Palace Theatre
November 16 Columbus, OH @ The King Of Clubs
November 17 Warrendale, PA @ Jergels
November 19 Wyandotte, MI @ District 142
November 20 Flint, MI @ The Machine Shop
November 21 Fort Wayne, IN @ Piere’s
November 22 St. Charles, IL @ Arcada Theatre
November 23 Belvidere, IL @ Apollo Theatre
November 25 Denver, CO @ Oriental Theater
November 29 Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriet's*
*John 5 only
AEROSMITH guitarist and songwriter JOE PERRY is set to return to the road for a series of August performances with THE JOE PERRY PROJECT. The 8-date run kicks off August 13 in Tampa, FL and wraps August 23 in Port Chester, New York, with an August 19 performance in PERRY’s Boston hometown (see the itinerary below). For the North American trek—which marks the first solo shows for PERRY this year—the legendary guitarist will be joined by his Aerosmith bandmates Brad Whitford (guitar) and Buck Johnson (keys), along with The Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson (vocals), and Stone Temple Pilots’ Robert DeLeo (bass), and Eric Kretz (drums).
“Well…it’s time to let the music do the talkin again,” PERRY says. “I’m really excited about the JPP line up this year!!!! Most of these guys played with me at The Roxy in L.A. at the debut event for my latest solo album [Sweetzerland Manifesto] in January 2018. They’re all busy as hell but thankfully they’re able to carve out some time for this run. And I’m not only lucky enough to have Brad Whitford onstage with me but Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes! [who sang ‘Fortunate One’ on Sweetzerland Manifesto MKII], Robert DeLeo and Eric Kretz from STP!!! and Buck Johnson who plays keys and sings with Aerosmith, the Hollywood Vampires, and is also a solo artist in his own right.”
For the shows, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee says “the set list is gonna include my fav JPP cuts, STP, Black Crowes, and with Brad we’ll be hitting the Aero hits and some deep cuts and then ya never know!!!! Gonna be a BLAST, and if you’ve ever been to one of my shows you know the words GARAGE BAND on STEROIDS come to mind! See you there!!!!”
DATE | LOCATION | VENUE |
Wednesday, August 13 | Tampa, FL | Seminole Hard Rock - Tampa |
Thursday, August 14 | Hollywood, FL | Seminole Hard Rock - Hollywood |
Saturday, August 16 | Toronto, ON | HISTORY |
Sunday, August 17 | Muskoka, ON | Kee to Bala |
Tuesday, August 19 | Boston, MA | Wang Theatre |
Wednesday, August 20 | Hampton Beach, NH | Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom |
Friday, August 22 | Mashantucket, CT | The Premier Theater at Foxwoods Resort Casino |
Saturday, August 23 | Port Chester, NY | Capitol Theatre |
A sample page from the author’s analog log.
Seasonal changes are tough on your acoustic. Here’s how you can take better care of your prized instrument.
As you read this, spring is in bloom in most of the US, or maybe it has been for some time. I’m timing this column specifically to ask acoustic guitarists, in this season of increasing humidity and comfortable conditions, to prepare for what’s coming. It’s never too soon, and time flies. Before you know it, we’ll be back to the maintenance phase and you might be blowing up the phones of your local guitar shops, luthiers, and techs. I’m here to encourage a decidedly old-school approach to preventative guitar maintenance, and yes, it starts now.
Why, you ask? Well, as the lead luthier at Acoustic Music Works, I can tell you that in my nearly 15 years in this position, this was the worst winter ever for preventable repairs on acoustic guitars. Fret sprout, bridge lifts, top sink, soundboard cracks, back cracks, loose binding, general malaise… These hit us very hard in the winter that spanned 2024 and 2025. Am I complaining? On the one hand, no. This is part of how we make our money. On the other hand, yes! Repair schedules related to dryness and humidity issues can stretch into weeks and even months, and nobody wants to be without their favorite instruments for that amount of time. With a little thoughtfulness, however, you might get through next winter (and every one thereafter) without hefty repair bills or time apart from your musical companion.
Our preparation is going to start with an unlikely but very important guitar accessory: the humble notebook. Plain, lined, grid, day planner… it doesn’t matter. We all need to actively participate in our instrument maintenance, and in my experience, fancy apps that track humidity via Bluetooth breed a kind of laziness, a feeling of safety that might prevent us from actually physically looking in on conditions. Better we keep an analog, well, log, so that we know where things stand, and I suggest checking in daily.
“This was the worst winter ever for preventable repairs on acoustic guitars.”
Track your relative humidity, both in the case and in the room where your instruments mostly reside, but also take notes on your action height, top deflection (StewMac has some great tips for measuring this) and anything related to playability that you believe you can observe empirically.
Dryness is the root cause of most guitar issues that manifest in the fall and winter months. Symptoms of dryness include sharp fret ends, falling action and dead frets, sunken top around the sound hole, and cracks and bridge lifts. With your trusty notebook, you’ll get a feel for the sensitivity level of your instrument, and that knowledge is power!
A few other basic implements will not only assist you in your observations, but may also satisfy your need to buy guitar-related things (at least for a minute). Getting quick and comfortable with a fret rocker is a great skill to have, and is invaluable in diagnosing buzzes due to high frets or frets that have come unseated due to dryness. A well-calibrated relief gauge might seem luxurious, but it can prevent you from making unnecessary or extreme truss rod adjustments. A string action gauge, or even a simple machinist’s rule or set of feeler gauges, will help you keep track of your action. Get a three-pack of hygrometers so you can average their readings, rather than depending on one.
Lest we forget: A guitar can not only be too dry, it can also be too wet. By beginning your maintenance diligence in the spring/summer, you’ll also be able to tell if your instrument is the victim of a too-humid environment. The signs of over-humidification are subtle: Your action may rise from a puffed-up top, and in extreme cases, glue joints could begin to fail. In my experience, an over-humidified guitar will suffer from dulled tone, almost like a sock in the sound hole. If you’re sensing a lack of clarity in your guitar all of a sudden, start with new strings. If it persists, it might be due to over-humidification, and you may want to introduce a desiccant to the case for a time. The more lightly built your guitar is, the more sensitive it will be to seasonal changes.
By getting into these habits early, you’ll be empowered by knowing your instrument more intimately. You’ll understand when and why changes in tone and playability might have occurred, and you’ll hopefully save on repair bills year-round. Feel free to reach out with any questions. Who knows? I might just send you a notebook with an AMW sticker on the cover!