A popular Stevensville classic slims down the price tag while still offering a dynamic, coil-splitting, dual-humbucker doublecut.
The SE McCarty 594 is a versatile, vintage-inspired instrument that delivers both humbucking and single-coil tones in a reliable, roadworthy guitar. Thanks to its dual volume and push/pull tone controls, the SE McCarty 594 can seamlessly master humbucking and single coil sonic territories, so players can find all the tones they are looking for.
Its 58/15 LT “S” pickups were carefully designed to deliver warm, vintage-inspired tone with sweetness and clarity. The zinc two-piece bridge and vintage-style tuners anchor the SE McCarty 594 and stay true to its vintage promise, while the classic PRS body shape and bird inlays add a hint of modern style to this classic feature set. Other features include a bound 22-fret Pattern Vintage neck and slightly thicker back for sustain.
Designed to capture the heart of the McCarty family of instruments, the SE McCarty 594 is high-quality workhorse instrument. Learn more here.
Blackstar's 100-watt pedal power amplifier has drive pedals in the front end, and is designed to deliver the tone and feel of a traditional valve amp.
AMPED 2 is designed by Dept. 10 – the Blackstar team responsible for blue sky innovation and design. This team of engineers are all musicians themselves and are constantly researching new ideas to help create your perfect tone.
The unique power amplifier design uses current feedback which mimics a valve amplifier interaction with a speaker cabinet. This very high headroom design delivers the thump and presence of a valve amp with 100W power into any speaker cabinet at 8 or 16 ohms.
AMPED 2 runs at universal voltage so it can be used anywhere in the world from 100v to 240v50/60Hz. Couple this with Blackstar’s built-in CabRig simulator technology with low latency USB, XLRor Line out D.I., plus MIDI, and a configurable effects loop and you’ve got a gig-ready touring rig that can go anywhere in the world and fit into the pocket of your gig bag.
Features
- 100W 3-channel pedal power amp with effects that can power a cabinet, and connect to a direct input (DI) and a traditional amp channel.
- Unique high headroom power amplifier design along with the Response control for distinctly different and authentic power valve responses and guitar amp dynamics.
- CabRig simulator technology built-in with low latency USB, XLR, or Line out D.I.
- When driving a cabinet, automatically matches to the speaker impedance to deliver maximum power and optimum tone with any 8 or 16 Ohm cabinet set-up.
- Response control delivers three distinctly different and authentic power valve responses -EL34, 6L6, and EL84. Each setting delivers the response, dynamics, sag, and break-up characteristics of the selected valve power amp.
- Choose from USA, UK, and Classic Amp voicings to dial in your perfect tone.
- 3 drive voices – Boost, Drive and Fuzz.
- Onboard multi-effects. Effects include Modulation, Delay, and Reverb.
- Pro connectivity and integration into your setup using low latency USB audio as an interface for recording, TRS stereo line out, and XLR Mono D.I. for live use.
- Effects loop, 2 x 9V DC outputs, and MIDI control for easy integration into pedalboard or rig.
- On board Chromatic Tuner allowing for tuning on the fly during live performances.
Blackstar Introduces the Dept. 10 AMPED 2
AMPED 2 is priced at MAP in the US is $649, GBP SRP is £539 and Euro SRP is €649.
For more information, please visit blackstaramps.com.
The silky smooth slide man may raise a few eyebrows with his gear—a hollow, steel-bodied baritone and .017s on a Jazzmaster—but every note and tone he plays sounds just right.
KingTone’s The Duellist is currently Ariel Posen’s most-used pedal. One side of the dual drive (the Bluesbreaker voicing) is always on. But there’s another duality at play when Posen plugs in—the balance between songwriter and guitarist.
“These days, I like listening to songs and the story and the total package,” Posen told PG back in 2019, when talking about his solo debut, How Long, after departing from his sideman slot for the Bros. Landreth. “Obviously, I’m known as a guitar player, but my music and the music I write is not guitar music. It’s songs, and it goes back to the Beatles. I love songs, and I love story and melody and singing, and there was a lot of detail and attention put into the guitar sound and the playing and the parts—almost more than I’ve ever done.”
And in 2021, he found himself equally expressing his yin-and-yang artistry by releasing two albums that represented both sides of his musicality. First, Headway continued the sultry sizzle of songwriting featured on How Long. Then he surprised everyone, especially guitarists, by dropping Mile End, which is a 6-string buffet of solo dishes with nothing but Ariel and his instrument of choice.
But what should fans expect when they see him perform live? “I just trust my gut. I can reach more people by playing songs, and I get moved more by a story and lyrics and harmony, so that’s where I naturally go. The live show is a lot more guitar centric. If you want to hear me stretch out on some solos, come see a show. I want the record and the live show to be two separate things.”
The afternoon ahead of Posen’s headlining performance at Nashville’s Basement East, the guitar-playing musical force invited PG’s Chris Kies on stage for a robust chat about gear. The 30-minute conversation covers Posen’s potent pair of moody blue bombshells—a hollow, metal-bodied Mule Resophonic and a Fender Custom Shop Jazzmaster—and why any Two-Rock is his go-to amp. He also shares his reasoning behind avoiding effects loops and volume pedals.
Brought to you by D’Addario XPND Pedalboard.
Blue the Mule III
If you’ve spent any time with Ariel Posen’s first solo record, How Long, you know that the ripping, raunchy slide solo packed within “Get You Back” is an aural high mark. As explained in a 2019 PG interview, Posen’s pairing for that song were two cheapos: a $50 Teisco Del Rey into a Kay combo. However, when he took the pawnshop prize onstage, the magic was gone. “It wouldn’t stay in tune and wouldn’t stop feeding back—it was unbearable [laughs].”
Posen was familiar with Matt Eich of Mule Resophonic—who specializes in building metal-body resonators—so he approached the luthier to construct him a steel-bodied, Strat-style baritone. Eich was reluctant at first (he typically builds roundneck resos and T-style baritones), but after seeing a clip of Posen playing live, the partnership was started.
The above steel-bodied Strat-style guitar is Posen’s third custom 25"-scale baritone. (On Mule Resophonic’s website, it’s affectionately named the “Posencaster.”) The gold-foil-looking pickups are handwound by Eich, and are actually mini humbuckers. He employs a custom Stringjoy set (.017–.064 with a wound G) and typically tunes to B standard. The massive strings allow the shorter-scale baritone to maintain a regular-tension feel. And when he gigs, he tours light (usually with two guitars), so he’ll use a capo to morph into D or E standard.
Moody Blue
Another one that saw recording time for Headway and Mile End was the above Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilt ’60s Jazzmaster, made by Carlos Lopez. To make it work better for him, he had the treble-bleed circuit removed, so that when the guitar’s volume is lowered it actually gets warmer.
"Clean and Loud"
Last time we spoke with Posen, he plugged into a Two-Rock Classic Reverb Signature. It’s typically his live amp. However, since this winter’s U.S. run was a batch of fly dates, he packed light and rented backlines. Being in Music City, he didn’t need to go too deep into his phone’s contacts to find a guitar-playing friend that owned a Two-Rock. This Bloomfield Drive was loaned to Ariel by occasional PG contributor Corey Congilio. On the brand’s consistent tone monsters, Posen said, “To be honest, put a blindfold on me and make one of Two-Rock’s amps clean and loud—I don’t care what one it is.”
Stacked Speakers
The loaner vertical 2x12 cab was stocked with a pair of Two-Rock 12-65B speakers made by Warehouse Guitar Speakers.
Ariel Posen’s Pedalboard
There are a handful of carryovers from Ariel’s previous pedalboard that was featured in our 2021 tone talk: a TC Electronic PolyTune 3 Noir, a Morningstar MC3 MIDI Controller, an Eventide H9, a Mythos Pedals Argonaut Mini Octave Up, and a KingTone miniFUZZ Ge. His additions include a custom edition Keeley Hydra Stereo Reverb & Tremolo (featuring Headway artwork), an Old Blood Noise Endeavors Black Fountain oil can delay, Chase Bliss Audio Thermae Analog Delay and Pitch Shifter, and a KingTone The Duellist overdrive.
Another big piece of the tonal pie for Posen is his signature brass Rock Slide. He worked alongside Rock Slide’s Danny Songhurst to develop his namesake slide that features a round-tip end that helps Posen avoid dead spots or unwanted scratching. While he prefers polished brass, you can see above that it’s also available in a nickel-plated finish and an aged brass.