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Rig Rundown: Luke Schneider

The hippie-cowboy pedal steeler for Orville Peck and Margo Price breaks out modulation mutators and synth stomps for a solo mission full of ethereal bends and sublime swells combining cosmic country and ambient new wave.

Steel is his primary tool, but Luke still bends the strings on a standard axe and one of his go-to favorites is this Fender Telecaster Thinline '72 reissue. He upgraded the stock hardware, black pickguard, and installed Lollar Regal “Wide Range” humbuckers. It was used onstage at times with Margo Price and typically lives in either open-G or standard tuning.


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Some musical moments—whether riffs, melodies, or solos—bypass our ears and tug at our heartstrings.

It had to be in the early part of 1990, and I don’t know how or why, but I purchased Steady On, the debut album from singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin. Upon my first listen I knew it was something very special. By the time the third track, “Shotgun Down the Avalanche,” came pouring from my ancient Dahlquist DQ10s, I was a fan. The song features an instrumental break—not a guitar solo per se, but more like a stringed-instrument vignette that cascaded seamlessly through a number of sounds created by guitarist-songwriter-producer John Leventhal. I’ve listened to it dozens of times since, and I still marvel at the emotion it stirs in me.

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An all-analog ’60s-inspired tremolo marries harmonic and optical circuits that can be used independently or blended to generate phasey, throbbing magic.

Spans practical, convincing vintage trem tones and the utterly weird. Hefty build quality.

Big footprint. Can’t switch order of effects.

$299

Jackson Audio Silvertone Twin Trem
jackson.audio

4.5
4.5
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4.5

Almost any effect can be used subliminally or to extremes. But tremolo is a little extra special when employed at its weirder limits. Unlike reverb or delay, for instance, which approximate phenomena heard in the natural world, tremolo from anything other than an amp or pedal tends to occur in the realm of altered states—suggesting the sexy, subterranean, and dreamy. Such moods can be conjured with any single tremolo. Put two together, though, and the simply sensual can be surreal. Modify this equation by mating two distinctly different tremolo types, and the possible sound pictures increase manifold.

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Bonnaroo announces its 2025 lineup featuring Luke Combs, Hozier, Queens of the Stone Age, Avril Lavigne, and more.

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Enhance your Ratio Machine Heads with Graph Tech's new Barrel Knobs. Designed for comfort and style, these barrel-shaped tuning buttons offer a fresh look and feel to your instrument. Available in chrome and black finishes, these knobs are the perfect way to personalize your guitar.

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