Does the following scenario sound familiar? One day at band practice, thinking out loud, you say, “Man, my tone sucks!” Your drummer will ask what’s wrong with it, and
Does the following scenario sound familiar? One day at band practice, thinking out loud, you say, “Man, my tone sucks!” Your drummer will ask what’s wrong with it, and you’ll fumble around for answers before uttering some generalized complaint like, “It’s just not… great. I want a really great tone.” |
He suggests you invest in a new amplifier, and after some more discussion, the seed is planted. You then try out the latest supercool boutique creation and declare, “This is it!” only to discover four months later that “this” is most certainly not “it.”
So there you are, back at square one with a hole in your wallet and a piece of gear that isn’t getting it done. What happened? What do you do next? What if this happens with the next piece of gear you try? Does all tone knowledge come from seemingly endless trial and error? Did iconic guitarists like Van Halen, Santana, Hendrix and Stevie Ray – players with instantly identifiabl tones – go through the same demoralizing searches? You just spent your vacation money on this amp and your wife will throw you out if you buy another one – there has got to be a secret to finding good tone that keeps your cash reserves liquid and your marriage solid.
The honest truth is it’s an equipment jungle out there and it’s easy to get lost. The good news is that the players mentioned above made it to the other side and so can you! Our eight-step tone checklist will help you identify the gear you need, before you open up the wallet, meaning a better chance of getting it right the first time. If you’re sick of spending money on gear that doesn’t get the job done, read on.
Head, Heart and Hands
Electric guitar tone begins before you ever pick up your instrument. It starts with your heart, is assembled in your head and lives in your hands; the gear you use is simply a conduit for the expression of these departments. You won’t find your tone in an amp, guitar, stompbox or rack unit unless you know what you’re looking for. The oftheard line, “I’ll know it when I hear it,” is nothing more than a cop out! Just because you can hear it in your head doesn’t mean you’ll ever figure out how to get it out of your hands.
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Ever heard this line before? “Smokin’ Johnny Hotlix played my rig and still sounded like Smokin’ Johnny Hotlix!” Why does this happen? Because Johnny Hotlix can answer all the questions above and apply those concepts to any rig. He is absolutely dialed into what he wants. And you’d best believe that he dug hard (just like you) to find it. Some players can do this naturally, like a gifted athlete; some folks stumble on it by accident. But the rest of us have to work at it.
But here’s the rub – I have no way of understanding what’s in your heart and how you create music with that source. That is what makes your art, your art. We’re certainly not here to discuss the esoterica of tone in your soul, and we’re not here to discuss the application of your God-given physiology, either. The point of this article is to help you get inside your head and make some decisions about your tone. Hopefully your heart and hands will follow suit. As there are so many little details that make up a signature tone, we’ll focus on the basics of what kinds of tones emanate from what kind of gear. We will use general classifications to help narrow down the wonderfully ridiculous number of gear choices out there. You will then be able to try a piece of gear and know what to listen for.
A quick note before we jump in: throughout this checklist you will see a lot of adjectives regarding tone. Almost every description has an opposing point of view. Please understand that our purpose here it to generally classify, not define.
Checklist Point #1: Clean Tones
The amplifier is where clean tones are delivered, and provides the foundation for the rest of your tone. Today’s amps deliver thousands of styles and colors of clean tones, so how does one narrow it down? Let’s start by identifying the four basic types of clean tones that the rest are derived from.
“Fender-style” Clean: In the 1950s, Leo Fender and his amp company pioneered this style of tone, created by the use of 6L6 power amp tubes and a Class A/B power configuration. Look for a sparkling, clear and open sounding color. The highs cut hard, the mids are transparent and crisp, and the lows are dry and clear.
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“Marshall-style” Clean: In the 1960s Jim Marshall used EL34 power tubes and a Class A/B power configuration to create a signature clean sound with a round, warm high-end, punchy midrange, and thick, level lows. Amps such as Marshall’s Plexi and JCM series, Dr. Z Amps and the Mesa Stiletto deliver this flavor. Artists such as rock godfather Jimi Hendrix, The Chili Peppers’ John Frusciante, and the Allman Brothers’ Duane Allman and Dickey Betts use (or used) this tone to define their styles.
“Vox-style” Clean: The British Vox Company developed and popularized a clean tone unlike any other with some unique preamp tube choices, EL84 power amp tubes and a Class A power configuration. Characterized by scrunchy highs, a warm midrange, and soft, full lows, Vox amps do their own thing. Amps such as the Vox AC30, the Carr Hammerhead and the Orange Tiny Terror produce this spice. Brian May of Queen, The Edge from U2 and jazzbo extraordinaire John Scofield (a recent convert) can be seen using Voxes for their signature clean tones.
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Checklist Point #2: Distortion/Overdrive Tones
Dirt, glorious dirt. The right kind equals bliss, while the wrong kind often equals barf. There are quite possibly, and without exaggeration, hundreds of thousands of distortion colors on the market and you can get your distortion in a variety of ways. Here are a few categories to help explain it all.
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There are tons of uses for these little jewels. You can use them to distort a clean amp signal, further distort a slightly distorted amp signal, boost the guitar’s signal, filter it for timbre purposes, distort an effected signal, send a distorted signal to an effect or any one of umpteen options. The Ibanez Tube Screamer and the Boss Blues Driver are popular overdrive boxes, while the Krank Krankshaft and the DigiTech Distortion Factor are popular with metal mavens. The Electro-Harmonix Big Muff and the Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face are popular with the psychedelic fuzz crowd.
Overdriven Amp: Take a good tube amp from the sixties and turn every knob all the way up. You’ll get a preamp and power stage pushed to their limits, thereby creating a mild distortion rich in singing overtones. This is the sound of early rock n’ roll and blues. Since the amp is doing all the distortion work, circuit designs and tube choices play a huge part in shaping the tone and flavor of the overdrive. From Hendrix and Clapton in the sixties, to Angus Young and Ritchie Blackmore in the seventies, to modern overdrivers such as Pearl Jam’s Gossard and McCready, there are a multitude of overdriven amp flavors to choose from. You’ll want to spend some time listening to your favorites to nail down a specific tone.
Cascading Gain Circuits: As the seventies rolled around, amp manufacturers realized that distortion was a good thing and began looking for ways to create more. Californian Randall Smith (of Mesa Boogie fame) began modifying Fender amps with a new preamp design that multiplied the number of gain stages. Thus began the era of the high-gain amplifier and the sound of modern rock. These amps create thick, rich distortion with chunk, drive and a girthy buzz with more distorted definition than pedals or previous amp circuits. Most major manufacturers now have high-gain amps in their line, with Mesa’s Dual Rectifier and Marshall’s TSL and JVM series being popular favorites. Some distort moderately and some rage like an underfed Doberman – James Hetfield, John Petrucci and Steve Vai are just a few of the more famous players falling into this category.
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Of course, not all solid-state amps are modeling amps. With tight, focused distortion colors, defined overtones and a rounder attack, many players prefer solid-state tone. Ty Tabor used these amps for his unique signature tone on King’s X’s first four discs, and “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott used them for the entire Pantera catalog. Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine is a recent modeling convert and has added them to his live rig. It should also be noted that as a category, these amps are generally less expensive than tube amps, which make them very attractive to the guitarist on a budget.
Checklist Point # 3: Pickups
Electric guitars are a peculiar beast – while they often look relatively straightforward and utilitarian, every component of the instrument contributes to your tone. There are, however, four main things we can examine to help you zero in that sound: pickups, body type, woods and components. We’ll begin with the pickups, as they actually transmit the string vibration to your amp.
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Single coils: Having only one coil (a magnet wrapped in wire), these pickups remain one of the most versatile designs around. Developed in the fifties, Leo Fender’s single coil pickup – found in Fender Stratocasters and Telecasters – has become a standard for many players, producing a clean, clear, crisp, biting sound. These pickups generally have a medium to low output resistance and phasing characteristics that enable the pickups to cut through a mix.
Of course, there are plenty of other options here. Introduced by Gibson in the forties, the higher-output P-90 produces a fat midrange with lots of punch. Likewise, the eighties gave us Lace Sensors, which are classified as single coils, but use compression magnetics rather than the standard slug coil technology used in most pickup designs. This technology produces a slightly mellower tone, but virtually eliminates the pesky 60-cycle-hum associated with single coils.
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Piezo: These pickups were designed to amplify acoustic guitars but have been used on electric guitars to great effect. Essentially ceramic transducers – as opposed to magnets – they produce a resonant, somewhat quacky tone with lots of hollow (notched), ambient overtones. Godin’s Multiac is a very popular piezo-equipped axe. Players who don’t want to lug an acoustic to a gig often use piezo-fitted electrics. Jazzers and janglers alike often use a blended mix of single coil or humbucking pickups with a piezo tone.
Checklist Point #4: Body Style
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Hollowbody: The first electric guitar was an arched top, acoustic f-hole guitar with a pickup attached to it, and not much has changed since. With a hollow, resonant sound and lots of woody overtones, these guitars react strongly to the kind of strings used. Being completely hollow, the entire guitar becomes a resonant chamber. Gibson’s ES-175 and Ibanez’s AF75 are popular hollowbody choices. Primarily used in jazz, the hollowbody is favored by everyone from jazz genius Pat Metheny to the ever-funky Eric Krasno from Soulive.
Solidbody: A solidbody electric is basically a solid piece of wood (or several pieces laminated together) with the strings, neck and pickups attached. It has no resonant chambers and creates a tight, directed, focused attack with narrow and specific overtones. It is the weapon of choice for most guitarists, from blues to rock to country and beyond.
Semi-hollowbody: Take a fat hollowbody and make it thin; then stick a solid wood center block inside the guitar, from the neck tenon to the tailpiece, leaving the “wings” hollow and the center solid. The result is some of the resonance and overtones of a hollowbody, with some of the focused attack of a solidbody. Semi-hollows have a quite pronounced midrange punch, with Gibson’s ES-335 remaining one of the most recognizable guitars in this category.
Checklist Point #5: Woods
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Mahogany: Mahogany is one of the most common woods used in electric guitar construction, and for good reason. Mahogany is a rich sounding wood with a resonant structure that accentuates the midrange frequencies. It is a dense, open sounding wood that vibrates well, becoming more resonant with age. It also plays well with other woods (the Les Paul’s mahogany/ maple cap, as an example).
Maple: High-end frequencies abound wherever maple is used. Not often used as a body wood due to its weight, it provides a snappy and bright tone. It is often used as a neck wood to create more attack and brightness in cooperation with warmer body woods. Flamed, curly, birdseye, spalted, burled and other figured maples are quite striking visually, and are often used as body caps (tops) to provide both good looks and some extra “snap” in tone.
Swamp Ash: Swamp ash is a common, lightweight, “soft” wood used in many guitar bodies today. Some players swear by this wood’s upper-midrange overtone structure and sustain, making it popular with the shred crowd. Ash has an open, warm tone that smoothes out the attack a bit, while remaining very resonant.
Basswood: Basswood is a soft, light, wood that has no figuring and is used by guitar companies for solid finishes on less expensive models. However, basswood guitars have vibrant sustain and pronounced highs and mids. Some brave companies, like Parker, use basswood for their necks, due to its consistent tone and lack of dead spots.
Alder and Birch: Alder and birch come from the same tree family and share very similar tonal and resonant characteristics. These woods generally have a brighter tone and are not as dense as mahogany. They have plenty of warmth and sustain, and are lighter weight. Clapton’s famous “Blackie” Strat featured an alder body.
Ebony and Rosewood: These woods are primarily used in fretboard construction due their density and durability. Ebony provides a “stiff” feel and snappy attack; rosewood is less dense and offers a “softer” feel. Rosewood is used occasionally as a body wood, offering a tone similar to mahogany with more highs.
Other Exotic Woods: We live in a gigantic world with thousands of tree varieties. One could theoretically make a guitar out of just about any wood. Brian May made his famous Red Special out of his father’s fireplace mantle! The tonal properties of exotic woods vary greatly; if you are going to use an exotic tonewood, it is important to ask plenty of questions regarding the actual piece of wood you will be using. Make sure it fits your needs.
Checklist Point #6: Components
It may seem like we’re really delving into minutiae here, but even your guitar’s components will have a big impact on your tone, as they either handle the actual signal path (after the pickups) or are part of the string’s vibration.
Tuning Machines: When it comes to tone, your tuning pegs are all about vibration transfer. Installed properly, good pegs will transfer string vibration into the headstock and neck – once the neck and body begin to vibrate together, you get sustain. A tuner’s mass has the ability to affect the sustain; likewise, companies that manufacture “locking pegs” claim to transfer the vibration of the string through the peg quicker and truer than standard pegs.
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Likewise, bridge saddles can greatly change your tone, as it’s the first place a string’s vibration gets transferred to the guitar’s body. Brass saddles are warm and tight sounding; standard steel is bright and ting-y; stainless steel offers an even brighter option; and coated and composite saddles generally offer mellower options.
Bridge and Tailpiece: Stop bar tailpieces stop the string after it “breaks” over the bridge with a bar bolted into the guitar, providing an immediate transfer of vibration at the bridge. The denser the metal used here, the better the transfer. Stringthru designs stop the string inside the guitar’s body, with individual string holes routed into the body behind the bridge. The idea here is to “attach” the string to the body, allowing the string complete resonant opportunity. Fender-based tremolo designs stop the string inside the bridge, transferring vibration from the string at the bridge fulcrum through the springs inside the routed body cavity. Locking tremolo systems lock the string down at the bridge and the nut to ensure stable tuning during whammy abuse. These designs were once known for killing tone, but a lot of sweat has gone into making new locking trem systems as resonant as any Fender-based system.
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To sum up points 3-6, choosing a guitar is a matter of feel and tonal nuance – there are now tons of options available for tone hunters. Prior to buying a guitar, determining the kind of pickups, body style, woods and components you need will make your search more manageable. If the guitar does what you want, it’s because of the choices you make. Ask yourself exactly what you want from your guitar.
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What’s the cheapest way to improve your tone? Change your strings! The type of metal used in your strings, the size of the string and the way your string vibrates all define your tone.
Alloy Type: Nickel-steel is the most common string type, providing a balanced tone with tight highs, punchy mids and clear lows. If you’re looking for more highs and increased definition in your sound, go for stainless steel – Scott Henderson does. Pure nickel offers a slightly softer, yet alive alloy that Eric Johnson uses and many players swear by. Most alloys come in coated versions that, to some ears, mellow the output and attack ever so slightly.
Winding Type: The type of winding used on a string will also determine its sound. Roundwound strings are the most common and are found on 90 percent of all electric guitars for their clean, clear overtones and definition. Flatwound strings grind the rough edges off the string for a smoother feel, and produce a fatter, much less biting tone with less sustain and a smoother attack. Smack dab in the middle, tonally, are semi-flatwound, or “bright flat” strings. While roundwound strings are used in all kinds of music, flatwounds are primarily found in jazz.
String Gauge: The thickness (gauge) of a string will determine its dynamic headroom, tension and overtones. Simply put: the heavier the string, the higher the string tension. This gives you more headroom, allowing you to hit the string much harder without it “flattening out.” Thinner gauges (.008 and .009) work well for players who rely on smooth distortion and a light touch. Medium gauges (.010 and .011) provide more dynamics while still retaining good sustain and feel, while heavy gauges (.012 and .013) provide the most headroom, attack and focused overtones, but can make you fight your guitar with each solo. Detuned metal gods use heavy gauges to compensate for the decreased string tension detuning results in.
Checklist Point #8: Plectrums
Picks are where things get crazy, in terms of the sheer number of options. Comfort is the criteria most players use when deciding on a pick, but picks are all about tone, too. Today’s plectrums are being manufactured out of a range of materials, all producing different sounds: celluloid, molded plastic, nylon, acetyl polymer, delrin, tortex, aluminum, nickel, silver, gold, copper, brass, cork, ceramics, graphite, rubber, stone, ivory, wood, felt, glass, and the list goes on. And that doesn’t even take into consideration different shapes, all of which will change your attack. Pick thickness also plays a role in both comfort and tone; picks are available in thicknesses anywhere from 0.18mm (the approximate thickness of a G string), all the way to 5.5mm (the approximate thickness of two quarters). In general, strummers seem to like thin picks and accurate speed pickers seem to like stuff around 1.0mm. There are even special effects picks! The Jellyfish uses rows of tiny metal dowels at a 45-degree angle – the company claims that it makes your guitar sound like a 12-string. Now that’s value! Experimenting with picks (or lack thereof) can be one of the most personal things about your tone. Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top used a quarter for his famous solos in “La Grange.” Top’s tonemeister even says that if you want a real “international” sound, use a Peso. After 30 years, Jeff Beck dropped the pick and decided to play with his fingers; likewise, many hybrid country pickers grow their nails out in lieu of a pick. The perfect pick may be closer than you think.
So What’s Left?
Simply go down the checklist and ask yourself the questions at the end of each point. They should serve as springboards for your own questions. Once you’re able to answer all of your own questions and can truly define your tone (you may want to try doing it on paper), you’ll be able to start intelligently looking for the gear you need, without wasting precious time or money. And that’s when the fun part begins! Start tying different combinations of gear at every music store you can think of. Hang out with your friends and swap gear for a day or two. Try every combination of equipment that makes sense for your circumstances, and test-drive that gear in your playing situation, even gigs if you can. Ask questions, use descriptions and let good salespeople help you. Use reviews, but make your own decisions. Read everything you can find on the subject of tone. And make sure to buy from the store you tested the gear at! If you follow these steps, you’ll likely be at band practice and hear, “Dude, what’s up? Your tone is killin’ these days!” Or maybe you’ll be at a gig, and some guitar geek will come up and say, “I love your tone! What are you using?” Or just maybe you’ll find yourself in the studio, and while the engineer is mic’ing up your rig, he’ll turn to you and say, “Man, your tone just nails the take. It records so well!” That’s the payoff of spending the time focusing on tone. But before your head explodes with that great feeling you get from other gear hounds checking out your rig, remember that you’re just getting started. Tone is a lifelong journey – just ask Eddie, Allan, Robben or Carlos. Happy hunting!
ENGL, renowned for its high-performance amplifiers, proudly introduces the EP635 Fireball IR Pedal, a revolutionary 2-channel preamp pedal designed to deliver the legendary Fireball tone in a compact and feature-rich format.
The EP635 Fireball IR Pedal brings the raw power and precision of the ENGL Fireball amplifier into a pedalboard-friendly enclosure, offering unmatched flexibility and tonal control for guitarists of all styles. This cutting-edge pedal is equipped with advanced features, making it a must-have for players seeking high-gain perfection with modern digital convenience.
Key Features:
- Authentic Fireball Tone – Designed after the renowned ENGL Fireball amplifier, the EP635 delivers the unmistakable high-gain aggression and clarity that ENGL fans love.
- Two Independent Channels – Easily switch between two distinct channels, with each channel’s knob settings saved independently, allowing for seamless transitions between tones.
- Built-in Midboost Function – Enhance your tone with the integrated Midboost switch, perfect for cutting through the mix with extra punch.
- Advanced Noise Gate – Eliminate unwanted noise and maintain articulate clarity, even with high-gain settings.
- IR (Impulse Response) Loading via USB-C – Customize your sound with user-loadable IRs using the included software, bringing studio-quality cab simulations to your pedalboard.
- Headphone Output – Silent practice has never been easier, with a dedicated headphone output for direct monitoring.
- Premium Build and Intuitive Controls – Featuring a rugged chassis and responsive controls for Volume, Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, and Presence, ensuring precise tonal shaping.
SPECS:
- Input 1/4” (6,35mm) Jack
- Output 1/4” (6,35mm) Jack
- Headphone Output 1/8”(3,5mm) Jack
- 9V DC / 300mA (center negativ) / power supply, sold separately
- USB C
The Gibson EH-185, introduced in 1939, was one of the company’s first electric guitars.
Before the Les Pauls and SGs, this aluminum-reinforced instrument was one of the famous brand’s first electric guitars.
It’s hard to overstate the importance of electric guitar in shaping American popular music over the last half-century. Its introduction was a revolution, changing the course of modern musical styles. Today, when we think of the guitars that started the revolution, we think of the Stratocaster and the Les Paul, guitars held against the body and fretted with the fingertips. But the real spark of this musical mutiny was the lap-steel guitar.
In the early 20th century, guitar music was moving out of the parlors of homes and into public spaces where folks could gather together and dance. Guitarists needed to project their sound far beyond where their wimpy little acoustic instruments could reach. Instrument manufacturers began experimenting with larger body sizes, metal construction, and resonators to increase volume.
Around this time, George Beauchamp began experimenting with electric guitar amplification. He settled on a design using two U-shaped magnets and a single coil of wire. Beauchamp was in business with Adolph Rickenbacker, and they decided to stick this new invention into a lap steel.
If we put on our 1930s glasses, this decision makes perfect sense. The most popular music at the time was a blend of Hawaiian and jazz styles made famous by virtuosos like Solomon “Sol” Hoʻopiʻi. Photos of Hoʻopiʻi with a metal-body resonator abound—one can imagine his relief at being handed an instrument that projected sound toward the audience via an amplifier, rather than back at his own head via resonator cones. Beauchamp and Rickenbacker were simply following the market.
As it turned out, the popularity of Hawaiian music gave way to swing, and electric lap steels didn’t exactly take the world by storm. But Beauchamp and Rickenbacker had proven the viability of this new technology, and other manufacturers followed suit. In 1937, Gibson created a pickup with magnets under the strings, rather than above like Beauchamp’s.
“When I plugged in the EH-185 I expected to hear something reminiscent of Charlie Christian’s smooth, clean tone. But what I got was meatier—closer to what I associate with P-90s: warm and midrange-y.”
The first page of Gibson’s “Electrical Instruments” section in the 1939 catalog features a glowing, full-page write-up of their top-of-the-line lap steel: the EH-185. “Everything about this new electric Hawaiian Guitar smacks of good showmanship,” effuses the copy. “It has smoothness, great sustaining power, and an easy flow of tone that builds up strongly and does not die out.”
Picking up the 1940 EH-185 at Fanny’s House of Music is about as close as one can get to traveling back in time to try a new one. It is just so clean, with barely any dings or even finish checking. Overall, this is a 9/10 piece, and it’s a joy to behold. Speaking of picking it up, the first thing you notice when you lift the EH-185 out of the case is its weight. This is a much heavier instrument than other similar-sized lap steels, owing to a length of thick metal between the body and the fretboard. The catalog calls it “Hyblum metal,” which may be a flowery trade name for an early aluminum alloy.
This 1940 EH-185 is heavier than other lap steels in its class, thanks to a length of metal between its fretboard and body.
Photo by Madison Thorn
There are numerous other fancy appointments on the EH-185 that Gibson didn’t offer on their lesser models. It’s made of highly figured maple, with diamond-shaped decorations on the back of the body and neck. The double binding is nearly a centimeter thick and gives the instrument a luxurious, expensive look.
Behind all these high-end attributes is a great-sounding guitar, thanks to that old pickup. It’s got three blades protruding through the bobbin for the unwound strings and one longer blade for the wound strings. When I plugged in the EH-185 I expected to hear something reminiscent of Charlie Christian’s smooth, clean tone. But what I got was meatier—closer to what I associate with P-90s: warm and midrange-y. It was just crying out for a little crunch and a bluesy touch. It’s kind of cool how such a pristine, high-end vintage instrument can be so well-suited for a sound that’s rough around the edges.
As far as electric guitars go, it doesn’t get much more vintage than this 1940 Gibson EH-185 Lap Steel. It reminds us of where the story of the electric guitar truly began. This EH-185 isn’t just a relic—it’s a testament to when the future of music was unfolding in real time. Plug it in, and you become part of the revolution.
Sources: Smithsonian, Vintage Guitar, Mozart Project, Gibson Pre-War, WIRED, Steel Guitar Forum, Vintaxe
J Mascis is well known for his legendary feats of volume.
J Mascis is well known for his legendary feats of volume. Just check out a photo of his rig to see an intimidating wall of amps pointed directly at the Dinosaur Jr. leader’s head. And though his loudness permeates all that he does and has helped cement his reputation, there’s a lot more to his playing.
On this episode of 100 Guitarists, we’re looking at each phase of the trio’s long career. How many pedals does J use to get his sound? What’s his best documented use of a flanger? How does his version of “Maggot Brain” (recorded with bassist Mike Watt) compare to Eddie Hazel’s? And were you as surprised as we were when Fender released a J Mascis signature Tele?
Editorial Director Ted Drozdowski’s current favorite noisemakers.
Premier Guitar’s edit staff shares their favorite fuzz units and how and when they use them.
Premier Guitar’s editors use their favorite fuzz pedals in countless ways. At any point during our waking hours, one of us could be turned on, plugged in, and fuzzed out—chasing a Sabbath riff, tracking menacing drone ambience, fire-branding a solo break with a psychedelic blast, or something else altogether more deranged. As any PGreader knows, there are nearly infinite paths to these destinations and almost as many fuzz boxes to travel with. Germanium, silicon, 2-transistor, 4-transistor, 6-transistor, octave, multimode, modern, and caveman-stupid: Almost all of these fuzz types are represented among our own faves, which are presented here as inspiration, and launch pads for your own rocket rides to the Fuzz-o-sphere.
Ted Drozdowski - Editorial Director
My favorite is my Burns Buzz, a stomp custom-made for me by Gary Kibler of Big Knob Pedals. Gary specializes in recreations of old circuits, and this Burns Buzzaround-inspired box has four germanium NOS transistors and sounds beautifully gnarly. It improves on the original, which Robert Fripp favored in early King Crimson, by adding a volume control. I went a little stir-crazy acquiring fuzzes during Covid lockdown and now have an embarrassing amount. My other current darlings are a SoloDallas Orbiter (which balances fuzz with core-signal clarity), a Joe Gore Duh (a no-nonsense, 1-knob dirt shoveler), and my Big Knob Tone Blender MkII 66, which taught me how smooth and creamy fuzz can be with carefully calibrated settings. These pedals allow me to cover all of my favorite fuzz sounds from the past 60 years. I do have one more secret weapon fuzz that only travels to the studio: an original Maestro FZ-1 that I picked up used for about $20 in the early ’90s. It’s banged up but functional, takes two 9V batteries, and is righteously juicy.
Nick Millevoi - Senior Editor
The two greatest fuzzes I’ve ever played are a Pigdog Tone Bender build and a Paul Trombetta Bone Machine. Both experiences will stick with me for decades to come. But creations by those two masters of fuzz come with a price tag high enough to keep my time with those pedals fleeting.
Instead, my favorite fuzz is an inexpensive, mass-produced pedal that hasn’t left my board since I reviewed and subsequently purchased it in 2021: the Electro-Harmonix Ripped Speaker, designed to emulate the distorted tones on ’50s and ’60s records that were created with broken or misused gear.
Retro inspiration is not all it has to offer though. The rip knob, which controls transistor bias, is the star of the show, interacting with the fuzz level to deliver everything from a smooth, mild fuzz to sputtery mayhem that can evoke a faulty channel strip or old tube combo that’s been set ablaze. I prefer to crank the rip knob and feed it to a phaser and slapback analog delay, which gives me a bit-crushed-like gnarliness. Pull back on the rip or add a boost in front of the pedal, and it has a more organic but still gated sound, which, for me, can be just the thing to set my sound apart in a more traditional setting.
For a cool $116, the Ripped Speaker, which seems to fly under most fuzz freaks’ radars, might be the special something that complements the rest of your board or just a tone you turn to on occasion. Either way, it’s a great deal.
Luke Ottenhof - Assistant Editor
You could give me the most powerful-sounding fuzz in the world, but if it was in a stupid-looking enclosure, I don’t know if I’d give it a second look. This is just how we operate: Vision is the sense we privilege most, even in matters of audio.
Luckily, the most seismic, monstrous fuzz I’ve ever heard also happens to come in a beautiful package. The Mile End Effects Kollaps, built by Justin Cober in Montreal, measures an elephantine 7 3/8" x 4 5/8" x 1 1/2", and its MuTron-meets-’60s-Soviet aesthetic matches the sounds its guts produce. The Kollaps is modeled after the nasty Univox Super-Fuzz circuit, and carries a few of that pedal’s hallmarks, including its use of germanium diodes and midrange boost control. Cober added a switchable Baxandall active EQ circuit, with up to 12 dB of boost and cut to both low and high frequencies. Coupled with the mid-boost toggle, this gives the Kollaps a shockingly broad range of tonality to play with.With the mids off, the Kollaps is jagged and ruthless, a deafening turbojet of upper mids and chest-vibrating lows that yanks me toward the darker, less commercially successful corners of ’90s doom and noise rock. Kicking on the EQ circuit and boosting the lows turns it titanic. With the balance (volume) and expand (gain) controls maxed, the Kollaps starts to live up to its name, crumbling into a thick, overextended chaos in a way more polite fuzz circuits rarely do.
My favorite Kollaps sounds occur when the mids are engaged, for an articulate, deeply textured fuzz sound that retains your attack. Playing with your guitar’s volume knob, you can coax a range of EQ profiles and take advantage of the upper- and lower-octave content in the fuzz. With guitar volume lower, you can access some unbelievably emotive and sensitive sounds that still teeter on the edge of chaos and violence. It’s a rich, volatile circuit that gets as close as I’ve heard to a sound and physical feeling I’d call “planet-destroying.”
Charles Saufley - Gear Editor
My first fuzz, A Sovtek Big Muff, remains tied for first place among many favorites. The pedal’s most famous virtues—corpulence and sustain—are among the reasons I treasure it. But the way the Sovtek pairs with a Rickenbacker 330 and Fender Jaguar, which were once my two primary guitars for performance and recording, made it invaluable in various projects for a long time. Neither the Ricky nor the Jag are sustain machines, but the wailing mass of theBig Muff makes their focused voices an asset—inspiring tight, concise fuzz phrases, hooks, and riffs as well as articulate chords.
A silicon Fuzzrite clone built by good pal Jesse Trbovich (long-time member ofKurt Vile’s Violators) runs second place to the Sovtek in terms of tenure, and is a very different fuzz. It’s a piercing, hyper-buzzy thing, but a perfect match for a squishy 1960s Fender Bassman head and 2x12 I adore. Perversely, I sometimes couple it with a Death By Audio Thee Ffuzz Warr Overload or Wattson FY-6 Shin-Ei Super-Fuzz clone. These tandems create chaos and chance, but sing loud and melodiously too—at least when I’m not intentionally bathing in feedback. The Jext Telez Buzz Tone, a clone of the mid-’60s Selmer circuit, is often my go-to now. It’s a low-gain affair compared to the other fuzzes here, and I use it in its even-lower-gain (and vintage-correct) 3-volt setting. It’s pretty noisy, but it is thick, dynamic, detailed, raunchy, and plenty trashy when the occasion demands it. It’s also a very cool overdrive when you back off the gas.Jason Shadrick - Managing Editor
I rarely need fuzz in my everyday gigs, but it's one of the most fun effects to explore when I'm noodling around. At a NAMM show a few years ago I plugged into Mythos' Argo and as soon as I hit a note my eyes lit up. The sound of the fuzz wasn't unwieldy or hard to manage. It gave me the illusion of control while the octave was the magic dust on top. I knew right then I wasn't leaving the show without one. After I spent some time with it, I became enamored by how much more the Argo can do.
It's inspired by the Prescription Electronics C.O.B. (Clean Octave Blend), so the control set is similar. The octave is always present in the signal path, but you can dial it out with the blend knob. The fuzz and volume knobs are self explanatory, but dialing the fuzz and octave knobs all the way down gives you a killer boost pedal. I find my favorite settings are at the extremes of the fuzz and blend ranges. Typically, both are either all the way up or all the way down. Another great experiment is to turn the fuzz down and then pair it with a separate drive pedal. And in octave mode, Argo is one of those pedals that inspires you to head directly for the neck pickup and stay above the 12th fret.