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Rig Rundown: Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis and Lou Barlow [2017]

One of rock’s loudest guitar-and-bass duos catalogs their ferocious setups.

Bassist Lou Barlow played a Gibson Grabber on Dinosaur Jr.’s first two albums, before switching to an arsenal of Rickenbackers. Years passed and he forgot how much he liked the Grabber and its sound—until the band went on the road in 2015 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their debut, Dinosaur Jr., and Lou borrowed this Grabber because he wanted the most accurate tone to the original albums. After that tour, Lou traded a Fender bass for the Grabber and it’s been his main ride ever since. He uses Ernie Ball Regular Slinkys (.050–.105) and purple Dunlop Tortex 1.14 mm picks.

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The typical controls on a compressor can be confusing and often misunderstood. At the heart of the MXR Studio Compressor is the ratio control, which offers up four levels of squish.

Compression might be the most misunderstood effect on your board—until now.

I was recently listening to three accomplished guitar players discuss the how, when, and where to use compressors in their guitar rigs. All three players had wildly different views on all aspects of compressordom, from where they should be used in a signal chain to whether they are even worth the hardware that holds them together.

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By refining an already amazing homage to low-wattage 1960s Fenders, Carr flirts with perfection—and adds a Hiwatt-flavored twist.

Killer low end for a low-wattage amp. Mid and presence controls extend range beyond Princeton or tweed tone templates. Hiwatt-styled voice expands vocabulary. Built like heirloom furniture.

Two-hundred-eighty-two bucks per watt.

$3,390

Carr Skylark Special
carramps.com

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Steve Carr could probably build fantastic Fender amp clones while cooking up a crème brulee. But the beauty of Carr Amps is that they are never simply a copy of something else. Carr has a knack for taking Fender tone and circuit design elements—and, to a lesser extent, highlights from the Vox and Marshall playbook—and reimagining them as something new.

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The author dials in one of his 20-watt Sonzera amps, with an extension cabinet.

Photo courtesy of PRS

Knowing how guitar amplifiers were developed and have evolved is important to understanding why they sound the way they do when you’re plugged in.

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Tobias bass guitars, beloved by bass players for nearly half a century, are back with the all-new Tobias Original Collection.

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