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Rig Rundown: The Devon Allman Project with Duane Betts

We catch up with the sons of Southern-rock royalty—and their trove of storied guitars—just before the official launch of their new Allman Betts Band project.

Duane Betts’ Super Reverb was a gift from another member of his extended royal family of rock: Derek Trucks. Only the right channel operates, to make it push harder.

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Onstage, Tommy Emmanuel executes a move that is not from the playbook of his hero, Chet Atkins.

Photo by Simone Cecchetti

Recorded live at the Sydney Opera House, the Australian guitarist’s new album reminds listeners that his fingerpicking is in a stratum all its own. His approach to arranging only amplifies that distinction—and his devotion to Chet Atkins.

Australian fingerpicking virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel is turning 70 this year. He’s been performing since he was 6, and for every solo show he’s played, he’s never used a setlist.

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Photo by Ryan Russell

Minus the Bear announces nationwide tour celebrating 20th anniversary of Menos el Oso album.

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An overdrive and mangled fuzz that’s a wolf in a maniacal, rabid wolf’s clothing.

Invites new compositional approaches to riffs and solos. Gray Channel distortion is versatile and satisfying. Unpredictable.

Unpredictable. Footswitches for distortion and fuzz are quite close.

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Fuzz can be savored in so many ways. It can be smooth. It can be an agent of chaos. But it can also be a trap. In service of mayhem, it can be a mere noise crutch. Smooth, classy, “tasty” fuzz, meanwhile, can lead to dull solos crafted as Olympian demonstrations of sustain. To touch the soulful, rowdy essence of fuzz, it’s good to find one that never lets you get quite comfortable. The EarthQuaker Devices Gary, a two-headed distortion/overdrive and rabid, envelope-controlled square-wave fuzz designed with IDLES’ Lee Kiernan, is a gain device in this vein.

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Blackberry Smoke will embark on a co-headline tour with Mike Campbell & the Dirty Knobs. Lead singer Charlie Starr shares, “What could be better than summertime rock and roll shows with Blackberry Smoke and the one and only Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs?”

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