The Americana stylist and his band favor a minimalist approach to create their throwback sounds.
Joey Glynn plays an Engelhardt double bass loaded with an Underwood pickup and strung up with Pirastro Slap strings.
Click to subscribe to our weekly Rig Rundown podcast:
Greg Koch performing live.
The Gristle King himself, Greg Koch, joins reader Bret Boyer to discuss the one album that should be in everyoneās ears.
Question: What albums should every guitarist listen to and why?
Greg Koch - Guest Picker
Recorded in 1964, this album has been essential listening for generations of guitarists.
A: Going from the gut, I would say B.B. Kingās Live at the Regal would be something every guitar player should listen to as it is the well from where every other electric blues guitar player drank fromāwhether they know it or not. Blues Is King is another one, but Live at the Regal is really the essence of what electric blues is all about.
Another worthy choice is this live album from 1966 which features an incredible take on Willie Nelsonās āNight Life.ā
Obsession: I would say playing slide in open tunings. I have been playing mostly standard tuning for the simple convenience of it, but nothing is quite as filthy as playing slide in open G or open E. Iāve been bringing out two guitars specifically for those two tunings and itās been a lot of fun.
Bret Boyer - Reader of the Month
Photo by Jamie Hicks
Recorded in a single take in 1971, Spenceās vocal style complemented his folky, angular guitar approach.
A: If youāve never listened to the Bahamian guitarist Joseph Spence, you are in for a treat. Joseph is such a unique guitar player and singer, and his music is the purest expression of joy Iāve heard on an album. Start with Good Morning Mr. Walker; itās a great reminder to have fun and be yourself.
Obsession: Hub Hildenbrandās music is very personal and unlike anything Iāve heard on guitar. Check out the album When the Night Lost Its Stars. He even bows his 1953 Gibson archtop on two tracks. Hub draws deeply from non-Western music, with a strong influence from the oud tradition in his playing. His music is quiet, deeply reflective, and searching.
Nick Millevoi - Senior Editor
A: Steve Reichās āElectric Counterpoint,ā the original version performed by Pat Metheny. It shows that since the guitar is capable of anything, you might as well use it to do exactly what you want to do and have some fun. And for experimentalists, itās a great reminder that thereās so much you can do using nice, tonal chords.
Obsession: The EHX Attack Decay has been delivering loads of inspiration lately. After buying one earlier this year, it hasnāt left my board. The premise is simpleācreate swells with controls for attack and decay speedsāwhich leaves so much to be discovered.
Ted Drozdowski - Editorial Director
A: Son Houseās Father of the Delta Blues, because itās a reminder that music is something elemental. It comes from the soil and is more deeply embedded in us than our own DNA. Houseās performances are Heaven and Hell, doubt and surety, love and death. Itās that raw, true, and beautifully imperfectāpoetry that breathes.
Obsession: Prog rock, thanks to recently experiencing the BEAT Tour and David Gilmour live in the same week. That reminded me of how sublime prog can be when it functions on an empathetic level first. My bedrock for prog remains In the Court of the Crimson King.
Ethnomusicologist Frances Densmore records the song of Mountain Chief, head of the Blackfeet Tribe, on a phonograph for the Bureau of American Ethnology in 1916.
Once used as a way to preserve American indigenous culture, field recording isnāt just for seasoned pros. Here, our columnist breaks down a few methods for you to try it yourself.
The picture associated with this monthās Dojo is one of my all-time favorites. Taken in 1916, it marks the collision of two diverging cultural epochs. Mountain Chief, the head of the Piegan Blackfeet Tribe, sings into a phonograph powered solely by spring-loaded tension outside the Smithsonian. Across from him sits whom I consider the patron saint of American ethnomusicologistsāthe great Frances Densmore.
You can feel the scope and weight of theancient culture of the indigenous American West, and the presence of the then-ongoing womenās suffrage movement, which was three years from succeeding at getting the 19th Amendment passed by Congress. That would later happen on June 4, 1919āthe initiative towards granting all women of this country the right to vote. (All American citizens, including Black women, were not granted suffrage until 1965.)
Densmore traversed the entire breadth of the country, hauling her gramophone wax cylinder recorders into remote tribal lands, capturing songs by the Seminole in southern Florida, the Yuma in California, the Chippewa in Wisconsin, Quinailet songs in Northern Washington, and, of course, Mountain Chief outside the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. Author of more than 20 books and 200 articles, she carefully preserved the rich cultural diversity of Native Americans with over 2,500 field recordings.
Why am I writing about this? Firstly, to pay homage! Secondly, because it serves as a great reminder to seek and cultivate sound outside the studio as well. We live in a time of great technological power and convenience. Every week a new sample pack, plugin, pedal, or software instrument hits the market. For all the joy that these offerings bring, they deprive us of the joy of creating our own instruments from scratch.
This month, Iām advocating for you to make some field recordings of your ownānature, urban, indoor, outdoor, specific locations, animals, or anything that piques your interest! Bring the material back to the studio and make music with it! Iāll show you how to make your own sample libraries to use in your music. Tighten up your belts, a multipart Dojo is now open.
What do you need to get started? Quite simply, you just need any device that is capable of recording. This can range from your cell phone to a dedicated field recorder. The real question is: Do you want to use mics housed in handheld units or have more robust mic pres with the ability to power larger live/studio microphones using XLR connectors found with the larger units? Letās look at three scenarios.
The Cellular Approach
The absolute easiest way to get started is with your cell phone. Take advantage of a voice-memo recording app, or use an app that records multitrack audio like GarageBand on iOS. Phone recordings tend to sound very compressed and slightly lo-fiāwhich might be exactly what you want. However, the method can also introduce unwanted noise artifacts like low-end rumble (from handling the phone) and phasing (moving the mic while recording). I recommend using a tripod to hold your phone still while recording. You might also want to consider using an external mic and some software to edit your sample recordings on the phone. I like using a Koala Sampler ($4.99) on iOS devices.
Upgrade Me
The next step up is to use a portable recorder. These have much better mic pres, and offer true stereo recording with pivoting mic heads. This can give you the added benefit of controlling the width of your stereo image when recording or helping isolate two sound sources that are apart from each other. You sacrifice the ability to easily edit your recordings. You simply import them into your computer and edit the recording(s) from there.
Pro-Level Quality
I would recommend this scenario if you want to record multiple sources at once. These devices also have SMPTE time code, 60+ dB of gain, phantom power (+48 volts), advanced routing, and a 32-bit/192 kHz sampling rate, so youāll never have a distorted recording even when the meter gets unexpectedly pegged into the red from a loud sound source. I recommend the Zoom F8n Pro ($1099). Now you can use your microphones!
Best Practices
Try to safely record as close to the sound source as you can to minimize ambient noise and really scrub through your recordings to find little snippets and sound ānuggetsā that can make great material for creating your own instrument and sample libraryāwhich weāll explore next month! Namaste.
Need more firepower? Hereās a collection of high-powered stomps that pack plenty of torque.
Thereās a visceral feeling that goes along with really cranking the gain. Whether youāre using a clean amp or an already dirty setup, adding more gain can inspire you to play in an entirely different way. Below are a handful of pedals that can take you from classic crunch to death metal doomāand beyond.
Universal Audio UAFX Anti 1992 High Gain Amp Pedal
Early 1990s metal tones were iconic. The Anti 1992 offers that unique mix of overdrive and distortion in a feature-packed pedal. You get a 3-band EQ, noise gate, multiple cab and speaker combos, presets, and full control through the mobile app.
Revv G4 Red Channel Preamp/Overdrive/Distortion Pedal - Anniversary Edition
Based upon the red channel of the companyās Generator 120, this finely tuned circuit offers gain variation with its 3-position aggression switch.
MXR Yngwie Malmsteen Overdrive Pedal - Red
The Viking king of shred guitar has distilled his high-octane tone into a simple, two-knob overdrive. Designed for going into an already dirty amp, this stomp offers clarity, harmonics, and more.
Empress Effects Heavy Menace Distortion Pedal
Arguably the companyās most versatile dirt box, this iteration is all about EQ. Itās loaded with an immensely powerful 3-band EQ with a sweepable mid control, footswitchable noise gate, a low-end sculpting control, and three different distortion modes.
JHS Hard Drive Distortion Pedal - Tan
Designed by late JHS R&D engineer Cliff Smith, the Hard Drive is a powerful and heavy ode to the post-grunge sounds of the late ā90s and early ā00s. This original circuit takes inspiration from many places by including cascading gain stages and Baxandall bass and treble controls.
Boss HM-2W Waza Craft Heavy Metal Distortion Pedal
Few pedals captured the sound of Swedish death metal like the HM-2. The go-to setting is simpleāall knobs maxed out. Flip over to the custom mode for more tonal range, higher gain, and thicker low end.
Electro-Harmonix Nano Metal Muff Distortion Pedal
Voiced with an aggressive, heavy tone with a tight low end, this pedal offers +/- 14 dB of bass, a powerful noise gate, and an LED to let you know when the gate is on.
Soldano Super Lead Overdrive Plus Pedal
Aimed to capture the sound of Mike Soldanoās flagship tube amp, the SLO uses the same cascading gain stages as the 100-watt head. It also has a side-mounted deep switch to add low-end punch.
We chat with Molly about Sister Rosettaās āimmediately impressiveā playing, which blends jazz, gospel, chromaticism, and blues into an early rock ānā roll style that was not only way ahead of its time but was also truly rockinā.
In the early ā60s, some of the British guitarists who would shape the direction of our instrument for decades to come all found themselves at a concert by Sister Rosetta Tharpe. What they heard from Tharpe and what made her performances so specialāher sound, her energyāmust have resonated. Back at home in the U.S., she was a captivating presence, wowing audiences going back to her early days in church through performing the first stadium rock ānā roll concertāwhich was also one of her weddingsāand beyond. Her guitar playing was incendiary, energetic, and a force to be reckoned with.
On this episode of 100 Guitarists, weāre joined by guitarist Molly Miller, who in addition to being a fantastic guitarist, educator, bandleader, and performing with Jason Mraz, is a bit of a Sister Rosetta scholar. We chat with Molly about Sister Rosettaās āimmediately impressiveā playing, which blends jazz, gospel, chromaticism, and blues into an early rock ānā roll style that was not only way ahead of its time but was also truly rockinā.