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Rig Rundown: Radio Moscow

This psych-rock power trio doesn't mind a little 60-cycle hum from their collection of obscure vintage gear from Gibson, Alamo, Danelectro, and more.

The first stop on Parker Griggs’ board is a BBE wah, which is patterned off a vintage Thomas Organ wah from the ’60s. From there, the signal hits a vintage MXR Phase 90, a Dunlop Silicon Fuzz Face Mini, a Cat’s Eye Hybrid Fuzz, a Boss DD-7 Delay, an Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer (that’s always on,) a Danelectro DE-1 Dan-Echo, a Boss TU-3 Tuner, and a Radial Big Shot Amp Switcher that feeds both amps. A Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 supplies the juice.

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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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4.5

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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