With this move, the Divided by Thirteen brand is now placed under the stewardship of Two-Rock’s owners Eli Lester and Mac Skinner.
Bringing together a pair of iconic amp companies, Two-Rock Amplifiers has announced the acquisition of Divided by Thirteen Amplifiers. Founded in Los Angeles by Fred Taccone, Divided by Thirteen has been building an array of high-end amplifiers for discerning guitarists since the late 1990s.
Now, Taccone is passing the baton to new owners. Two-Rock Amplifiers is the perfect company to build upon the Divided by Thirteen legacy. With its own 24-year history, Northern California’s Two-Rock has earned a worldwide reputation for top-tier build quality and tone.
Heralding the new ownership by Two-Rock, Divided By Thirteen is immediately embarking on production runs of six core models: Divided By Thirteen’s FTR 37, AMW 39, BTR 23, JRT 9/15, CCC 9/15 and CJ 11 amps will all be available following the NAMM show in January.
In announcing the acquisition, Two-Rock owners Lester and Skinner noted “We are excited to embrace Divided by Thirteen and help it reach new heights. It is an iconic brand and Fred has always been one of our favorite builders. The exciting thing for us is it is completely different from Two-Rock and they don’t compete with each other, both brands complement each other nicely. We did not seek out or plan on owning two brands as we are so proud and busy with what we already do at Two-Rock, but this opportunity started sounding too inspiring for us not to explore.”
“We became good friends with Fred Taccone and when he stated talking about retiring and selling the company it started to make sense on many fronts. We like the current size of Two-Rock and our current position in the marketplace. I feel we have a specific and unique sound that customers wanting a Two-Rock have come to expect. Divided by Thirteen gives us the opportunity to expand on what we currently do, a desire for modern performance married to classic styling. We can add British and American style circuits with EL34s, EL84s, KT66 & KT88 that Fred has spent decades perfecting.”
Fred Taccone welcomed the new chapter in Divided by Thirteen’s evolution: “I want to thank everyone for all of their support of Divided by Thirteen over the last 23 years. I have gotten to the point in my life that I would like to retire and enjoy my free time. I have spoken to several companies over the years about purchasing the brand but none of them were the right fit. When I met Eli and Mac from Two-Rock it was a clear choice that they were the right guys that could build the amps to the quality that I would want to see. They have turned into family and frankly, I think they will build the amps to higher standards than they ever have been built to before. I have the utmost faith and trust in Two-Rock and look forward to seeing the future live on with Divided by Thirteen.”
Two-Rock’s Eli Lester added: “Mac and I are excited and honored to be caretakers and custodians of Divided by Thirteen and look forward to bringing it to the forefront of the marketplace. We will be building everything in our existing Two-Rock shop in Northern California with our hardworking and passionate team. We have spent the last six months gearing up for this acquisition and have allocated personnel in a way that it should not slow down current Two-Rock production and allow us to build Divided by Thirteen simultaneously. We will still hand build every amp one at a time with the highest build quality and components to hold both brands to the same standards that you have come to expect from us.”
For more information, please visit dividedby13.com.
Our guest columnist’s current pedalboard spices his EXH diet with stomps from Line 6, TC Electronic, Strymon, Fulltone, Ibanez, and Boss.
Ex-B-52s member, composer, and NYC music scene veteran Pat Irwin loves pairing EHX pedals with keyboards—and recollecting good times with his late guitar virtuoso friend.
I’ve got a thing for Electro-Harmonix effects boxes. I’ve got a Crying Tone Wah that’s the coolest, a 16 Second Digital Delay, and a Deluxe Memory Man. All have made their way onto my ambient country band SUSS’s new record, Birds & Beasts. And currently a Big Muff, two Freeze Sound Retainers, and a Mel9 Tape Replay Machine are on my pedalboard. Here’s the thing: I like using them on keyboards.
I remember spending one cold winter night recording keyboards for a track called “Home” that made it onto Promise, the third SUSS album. I was playing a Roland Juno-106 through the Deluxe Memory Man while my bandmate Bob Holmes manipulated the delay and feedback on the pedal in real time. The effect was otherworldly. You can also hear the Crying Tone on SUSS’s “No Man’s Land” and “Train,” on Bandcamp. Sure, the guitars sound great, but those keyboards wouldn’t sound the same without the extra touch of the Crying Tone. I also used it on the B-52s’ “Hallucinating Pluto,” and it went out on the road with us for a while.
One of the first musicians I met when I moved to New York City in the late ’70s was the late, great Robert Quine. Quine and I would talk for hours about guitars, guitarists, and effects. I bought my first Stratocaster from Quine, because he didn’t like the way it looked. I played it on every recording I’ve made since the first Lydia Lunch record, 1980’s Queen Of Siam, and on every show with 8 Eyed Spy, the Raybeats, the B-52s, and my current bands PI Power Trio and SUSS. It was Quine who taught me the power of a good effects pedal and I’ll never forget the sessions for Queen of Siamwith the big band. Quine played everything through his Deluxe Memory Man straight into the recording console, all in one take except for a few touch ups here and there.
Quine and I used to go to Electro-Harmonix on 23rd Street and play through the boxes on display, and they let us pick out what we wanted. It’s where we first saw the 16 Second Digital Delay. That was a life-changer. You could make loops on the fly and reverse them with the flick of a switch. This thing was magical, back then.
“Quine played everything through his Deluxe Memory Man straight into the recording console, all in one take except for a few touch ups."
When I recorded a piece I composed for the choreographer Stephen Petronio and performed it at the Dance Theatre Workshop in Manhattan, I put everything through that 16 Second Digital Delay, including my clarinet. Later, when I recorded the theme for the cartoon Rocko’s Modern Life, I played all of the keyboards through the Deluxe Memory Man. Just when things would get a little too clean, I’d add a little more of the Memory Man.
I’m pretty sure that the first time I saw Devo, Mark Mothersbaugh had some Electro-Harmonix effects boxes taped to his guitar. And I can’t even think of U2 without hearing the Edge and his Deluxe Memory Man. Or seeing Nels Cline for the first time, blowing a hole in the universe with a 16 Second Digital Delay. Bill Frisell had one, too. I remember going into the old Knitting Factory on Houston Street and passing Elliott Sharp. He had just played and I was going in to play. We were both carrying our 16 Second Delays.
Who knows, maybe someone from another generation will make the next “Satisfaction” or “Third Stone from the Sun,” inspired to change the sound of a guitar, keyboard, or even a voice beyond recognition with pedals. If you check out Birds & Beasts, you’ll hear my old—and new—boxes all over it. I know that I won’t ever make a SUSS record or play a SUSS show without them.
Things change, rents go up, records are being made on computers, and who knows how you get your music anymore? But for me, one thing stays the same: the joy of taking a sound and pushing it to a new place, and hearing it go somewhere you could never have imagined without effects pedals.
A reimagined classic S-style guitar with Fishman Greg Koch Signature pickups and a Wilkinson VS100N tremolo.
Designed to resonate with both tone and soul, this guitar boasts a slightly larger profile with a raised center section, offering superior dynamics and feel. A chamber beneath the pickguard enhances punch, while hum-free Fishman Greg Koch Signature Gristle-Tone pickups and a Wilkinson VS100N tremolo complete the package.
This marks the third signature model from Reverend Guitars for blues virtuoso Greg Koch, joining the revered Gristlemaster and Gristle-90. Each of these guitars, equipped with Fishman’s Greg Koch Signature pickups, embodies the relentless pursuit of tone, delivering inspiration to players who seek to push their own musical boundaries.
The Gristle ST has everything I need to engage in fiendish musical deeds. It has the classic sounds with a second voice to the pickups that adds more girthsome tones, a tremolo system that can take a licking and stay in tune, it’s a gorgeous looking and playing instrument that is just a little bit larger as to not look like a mandolin when played by a larger soul such as myself…I can dig it all! – Greg Koch
The Reverend Greg Koch Gristle ST is now available through any Reverend Authorized Dealer.
For more information, please visit reverendguitars.com.
Metallica's M72 World Tour will be extended into a third year with 21 North American shows spanning April, May, and June 2025.
The M72 World Tour’s 2025 itinerary will continue the hallowed No Repeat Weekend tradition, with each night of the two-show stands featuring entirely different setlists and support lineups. These will include the band’s first Nashville shows in five years on May 1 and 3 at Nissan Stadium, as well as Metallica’s return to Tampa after 15 years on June 6 and 8 at Raymond James Stadium. M72 has also confirmed its much anticipated Bay Area hometown play, to take place June 20 and 22 with the band’s debut performances at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara.
In a new twist, M72 2025 will feature several single shows bringing the tour’s full production, with its massive in-the-round stage, to venues including two college football stadiums: JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, New York on April 19, and Metallica's first ever visit to Blacksburg, Virginia, home of the Virginia Tech Hokies. The May 7 show at Lane Stadium will mark the culmination of 20+ years of “Enter Sandman” playing as the Hokies take the field.
In addition to playing football stadiums across the nation, the M72 World Tour’s 2025 itinerary will also include two festival headlines—the first being the opening night of the run April 12 at Sick New World at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds. May 9 and 11 will then mark a festival/No Repeat Weekend combo as Metallica plays two headline sets at Sonic Temple at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.
Support on M72’s 2025 North American run will come from Pantera, Limp Bizkit, Suicidal Tendencies and Ice Nine Kills. See below for specifics.
Additionally, M72 2025 will see Metallica’s long-awaited return to Australia and New Zealand.
M72’s 2025 North American leg is produced by Live Nation and presented by new sponsor inKind. inKind rewards diners with special offers and credit back when they use the app to pay at 2,000+ top-rated restaurants nationwide. The company provides innovative financing to participating restaurants in a way that enables new levels of sustainability and success. Metallica fans can learn more at inkind.com.
Citi is the official card of the M72 tour. Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets beginning Tuesday, September 24 at 10am local time until Thursday, September 26 at 10pm local time through the Citi Entertainment program.
Verizon will offer an exclusive presale for the M72 tour in the U.S through Verizon Access, just for being a customer. Verizon Access Presale tickets for select shows will begin Tuesday, September 24 at 10am local time until Thursday, September 26 at 10pm local time.
* Citi and Verizon presales will not be available for Sick New World, Sonic Temple or the Toronto dates. Verizon presale will not be available for the Nashville, Blacksburg or Landover shows.
As always, a portion of proceeds from every ticket sold will go to local charities via the band’s All Within My Hands foundation. Established in 2017 as a way to give back to communities that have supported Metallica over the years, All Within My Hands has raised over $15 million – providing $8.2 million in grants to career and technical education programs including the ground-breaking Metallica Scholars Initiative, now in its sixth year, over $3.6 million to combat food insecurity, more than $3.5 million to disaster relief efforts.
For more information, please visit metallica.com.
Metallica M72 North America 2025 Tour Dates
April 12 Las Vegas, NV Sick New World @ Las Vegas Festival Grounds
April 19 Syracuse, NY JMA Wireless Dome *
April 24 Toronto, ON Rogers Centre *
April 26 Toronto, ON Rogers Centre +
May 1 Nashville, TN Nissan Stadium *
May 3 Nashville, TN Nissan Stadium +
May 7 Blacksburg, VA Lane Stadium *
May 9 Columbus, OH Sonic Temple @ Historic Crew Stadium
May 11 Columbus, OH Sonic Temple @ Historic Crew Stadium
May 23 Philadelphia, PA Lincoln Financial Field +
May 25 Philadelphia, PA Lincoln Financial Field *
May 28 Landover, MD Northwest Stadium *
May 31 Charlotte, NC Bank of America Stadium *
June 3 Atlanta, GA Mercedes-Benz Stadium *
June 6 Tampa, FL Raymond James Stadium +
June 8 Tampa, FL Raymond James Stadium *
June 14 Houston, TX NRG Stadium *
June 20 Santa Clara, CA Levi's Stadium +
June 22 Santa Clara, CA Levi's Stadium *
June 27 Denver, CO Empower Field at Mile High +
June 29 Denver, CO Empower Field at Mile High *
* Pantera and Suicidal Tendencies support
+ Limp Bizkit and Ice Nine Kills supp
Beetronics FX Tuna Fuzz pedal offers vintage-style fuzz in a quirky tuna can enclosure.
With a single "Stinker" knob for volume control and adjustable fuzz gain from your guitar's volume knob, this pedal is both unique and versatile.
"The unique tuna can format embodies the creative spirit that has always been the heart of Beetronics, but don’t let the unusual package fool you: the Tuna Fuzz is a serious pedal with great tone. It offers a preset level of vintage-style fuzz in a super simple single-knob format. Its “Stinker” knob controls the amount of volume boost. You can control the amount of fuzz with your guitar’s volume knob, and the Tuna Fuzz cleans up amazingly well when you roll back the volume on your guitar. To top it off, Beetronics has added a cool Tunabee design on the PCB, visible through the plastic back cover."
The Tuna Fuzz draws inspiration from Beetronics founder Filipe's early days of tinkering, when limitedfunds led him to repurpose tuna cans as pedal enclosures. Filipe even shared his ingenuity by teachingclasses in Brazil, showing kids how to build pedals using these unconventional housings. Although Filipe eventually stopped making pedals with tuna cans, the early units were a hit on social media whenever photos were posted.
Tuna Fuzz features include:
- Single knob control – “Stinker” – for controlling output volume
- Preset fuzz gain, adjustable from your guitar’s volume knob
- 9-volt DC operation using standard external power supply – no battery compartment
- True bypass switching
One of the goals of this project was to offer an affordable price so that everyone could own a Beetronicspedal. For that reason, the pedal will be sold exclusively on beetronicsfx.com for a sweet $99.99.
For more information, please visit beetronicsfx.com.