Thanks to his love for Tom Verlaine and Television, Carlos Arévalo has been hunting for an early- to mid-’60s Jaguar for some time when he ran across an online listing from actor Scott Whyte (City Guys, That '70s Show, and Full House) advertising the above 1965 Fender Jaguar. They met in person, the price was right, and (to Carlos’ desires) the neck lacquer was gone. For Chicano Batman's new LP Invisible People, he used this Jag to lay it down on “I know It,” “Invisible People,” and “Pink Elephant”. All of his guitars take Ernie Ball Regular Slinkys (.010–.046).
Cruising Chicago Music Exchange’s website he caught a glimpse of this slab board 1962 Fender Jaguar. While the slab designation makes it a highly rare instrument (supposedly only two months of production in ’62 for Jags), it’s a refin so he made a call, asked how worn the neck was (real slick), and handed over his credit card information. Carlos says this Jag is a bit warmer, whereas the ’65 sunburst is brighter.
Carlos took notice of Ernie Ball Music Man’s guitar game after seeing his contemporaries Omar Rodríguez-López and Annie Clark (St. Vincent) secure signature deals. Further exploring his interest in the new guitars was the band’s aim to make a modern-sounding record with 2020’s Invisible People, so Carlos thought it’d make sense to play some modern instruments.
While it shares the same scale length, includes a vibrato, and has a remarkably smooth neck (with added gunstock oil and wax finish) like his vintage Jags, the StingRay has a different bite because of its buckers. Carlos does comment that they sound underwound and can easily mimic a single-coil’s skanky rhythms and crispy chords.
Looking for something a little visually striking, Carlos was drawn in by the hard-angle offset silhouette of the Ernie Ball Music Man Albert Lee HH. Before taking one home from the EBMM showroom, he had two requests—a gold sparkle finish and a vibrato. They delivered and he left one guitar richer. These EBMM humbuckers are the hottest set he’s ever played through so he often finds himself in the second or fourth position for a more dulcet domain.
The band was primed to tour behind Invisible People this spring and his onstage artillery was going to be some handwired AC30s. Considering he doesn’t want to drive his family insane, he’s been rocking and rolling through this AC10 for online performances (like their recent jam for NPR’s Tiny Desk) and Instagram live sessions.
Here’s a rare bird—a transition period 1964 Fender Princeton. The circuitry is late brownface-era (using 7025/12AX& dual triode preamp tubes and 6V6GT power tubes) with a chewy tremolo that’s cloaked in a black-panel cab and chassis.
This black-panel combo is an all-original, non-reverb 1965 Princeton. Carlos says this one is a bit cleaner and has a scooped Deluxe Reverb sound from the mid ’60s. He really enjoys recording with both these low-watt Princetons revealing their sweet spot is between 4 and 5 on the volume.
While visiting family in Virginia, he was jonesing to play so he ventured out to the nearby Guitar Center to pluck some strings. After finding a worthy 6-string, he plugged into this ’90s Tone King Imperial MKI. He couldn’t leave without it so he signed on the dotted line and crossed his fingers until it showed up in California. of its “great highs, full mids, overall warmth, and great lows.”
After opening for the Arcs (side band for Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys) in Austin and hearing Dan’s huge fuzz tone, Carlos approached his tech, Dan Johnson, and found out the culprit was an EarthQuaker Devices Terminal. He bought one the next day. Adding some more fuzz flavors, he put in an Electro-Harmonix Ram’s Head Big Muff. A MXR Sub Machine Fuzz provides growling sub octave (down one or two) and the octave-up fuzz (MXR’s La Machine Fuzz circuit) is yet another shade of scuzz. Next up are a dynamic duo of digital delights by Boss—DD-200 (Digital Delay) and a MD-200 (Modulation). Up top he has a Catalinbread Topanga, Stacks FX Lil Masher, Ibanez Analog Delay Mini, and an Analog Man King of Tone. A Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner keeps everything in check, while a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power MONDO brings the pedals to life.
Click below to listen wherever you get your podcasts:
 |  |
 |  |
D'Addario Loknob: https://www.daddario.com/LokNobRR
DL4 MkII Delay Stompbox Modeler Special Edition 25th Anniversary Silver
Delivering legendary delays, the green DL4TM modeler has been ubiquitous on pedalboards worldwide since launching in 1999. Designed to continue inspiring creativity, the limited and collectable 25th Anniversary DL4 MkII, in a special edition silver, boasts all the same powerful features as the DL4 MkII, but also comes with a hand-numbered label, a keychain, and a DL4 MkII product sticker.
Not only is it more compact than the original DL4, it offers 15 legacy and 15 new delay effects drawn from the HX® family of amp and effects processors, plus bonus reverbs, all derived from the latest Line 6 sound design labs. Looping, SD card expansion and a host of I/O options aim to carry the DL4 legacy forward.
For over five decades, audiences worldwide have marveled at Baxter’s inimitable and instantly recognizable guitar playing and generational songcraft. His output spans classic records as a founding member of Steely Dan and member of the Doobie Brothers in addition to hundreds of recordings with the likes of Donna Summer, Cher, Joni Mitchell, Rod Stewart, Dolly Parton, and many more. During 2022, he initially unveiled Speed of Heat, showcasing yet another side of his creative identity and introducing himself as a solo artist.
On the Storytellers Edition, his fascinating commentary pulls the curtain back on both the process and the message of the music. This version traces the journey to Speed of Heat and its core inspirations as shared directly by Baxter in the form of detailed anecdotes, candid stories, and insightful commentary on every track.
The 12-songalbum, co-produced by Baxter and CJ Vanston, is a riveting and rewarding musical experience that features a host of brilliantly crafted originals co-written by the guitarist and Vanston, as well as inspired versions of some of the great classics. Along the way, Baxter is joined by guest vocalists and songwriters Michael McDonald, Clint Black, Jonny Lang and Rick Livingstone. Baxter notably handled lead vocals on his rendition of Steely Dan’s “My Old School.” Other standouts include "Bad Move" co-written by Baxter, Clint Black, and CJ Vanston, and “My Place In The Sun”, sung by Michael McDonald and co-authored by McDonald, Baxter and Vanston.
As one of the most recorded guitarists of his generation, Baxter’s creative and versatile playing has been heard on some of the most iconic songs in music history, including “9 to 5” by Dolly Parton and “Hot Stuff” by Donna Summer.
The stunningly diverse collection of material on Speed of Heat presents a 360-degree view of the uniquely gifted musician.
STREAM / SHARE / PURCHASE HERE.
If 3 Were 6
With six times the controls found on the 1 and 2 versions (if you discount the original’s on/off slider switch,) the LPB-3’s control complement offers pre-gain, boost, mid freq, bass, treble, and mid knobs, with a center detent on the latter three so you can find the midpoint easily. A mini-toggle labeled “max” selects between 20 dB and 33 dB of maximum gain, and another labeled “Q” flips the resonance of the mid EQ between high and low. Obviously, this represents a significant expansion of the LPB’s capabilities.
More than just a booster with a passive tone, the LPB-3 boasts a genuine active EQ stage plus parametric midrange section, comprising the two knobs with shaded legends, mid freq and mid level. The gain stages have also been reimagined to include a pre-gain stage before the EQ, which enables up to 20 dB of input gain. The boost stage that follows the EQ is essentially a level control with gain to allow for up to 33 dB of gain through the LPB-3 when the “max” mini toggle is set to 33dB
A slider switch accessible inside the pedal selects between buffered or true bypass for the hard-latch footswitch. An AC adapter is included, which supplies 200mA of DC at 9.6 volts to the center-negative power input, and EHX specifies that nothing supplying less than 120mA or more than 12 volts should be used. There’s no space for an internal battery.
Power-Boosted
The LPB-3 reveals boatloads of range that betters many linear boosts on the market. There’s lots of tone-shaping power here. Uncolored boost is available when you want it, and the preamp gain knob colors and fattens your signal as you crank it up—even before you tap into the massive flexibility in the EQ stage.
“The preamp gain knob colors and fattens your signal as you crank it up—even before you tap into the massive flexibility in the EQ stage.”
I found the two mid controls work best when used judiciously, and my guitars and amps preferred subtle changes pretty close to the midpoint on each. However, there are still tremendous variations in your mid boost (or scoop, for that matter) within just 15 or 20 percent range in either direction from the center detent. Pushing the boost and pre-gain too far, particularly with the 33 dB setting engaged, can lead to some harsh sounds, but they are easy to avoid and might even be desirable for some users that like to work at more creative extremes.
The Verdict
The new LPB-3 has much, much more range than its predecessors, providing flexible preamp, boost, and overdrive sounds that can be reshaped in significant ways via the powerful EQ. It gives precise tone-tuning flexibility to sticklers that like to match a guitar and amp to a song in a very precise way, but also opens up more radical paths for experimentalists. That it does all this at a $129 price is beyond reasonable.
Electro-Harmonix Lpb-3 Linear Power Booster & Eq Effect Pedal Silver And Blue
