Meridian, MS (January 23, 2014) -- From the company that brought you the revolutionary VYPYR and VYPYR VIP series comes the evolution of the most advanced modeling amplifier on the planet. The VYPYR Pro continues the tradition of appropriate technology using 4 stages of patented TransTube analog gain to create the most realistic tube sounding distortion in any modeling amplifier. By using analog distortion, the VYPYR Pro’s digital processor has the amazing ability to offer almost limitless combinations of additional stompboxes, “rack” effects, amplifiers and now even instrument models.
Because of the advanced dual processor design, the VYPYR Pro can run up to four amplifier models in parallel. Using the VYPYR Pro’s unique architecture, the VYPYR is capable of designing a variety of signal path combinations. Four module bays each with their own distinct LCD can be assigned to an amplifier, effect, stompbox, or in the first position an instrument model. The modules can be assigned in any order, allowing the user the ability to create the exact rig they desire, even if they desire to run two or up to four amplifiers in parallel.
World-renowned musical instrument and audio equipment manufacturer Peavey Electronics is proud to unveil the Headliner 1000, a new 1000 Watt rack-mountable bass amplifier head. With matching enclosures, the Headliner 1000 packs huge power and innovative tone features in a lightweight 10 lb. package.
The Peavey Headliner 1000 features a seven-band graphic EQ spaced at optimized frequencies, with each slider providing 15 dB of cut and boost to provide comprehensive tone shaping frequencies optimized for bass guitar. Players can use the graphic EQ in conjunction with the low and high shelving-type tone controls or bypass the graphic EQ entirely.
A built-in optical Compressor with level control and bypass allows players to add just the right amount of compression to the mix. The Crunch feature adds a vintage tube effect that distorts only the high frequencies, preserving the all-important fat low end. The amp also features Bright and Contour switches, an effects loop, master volume and headphone out. The Compressor and Crunch features are footswitch selectable.
The Headliner features a built-in XLR direct interface that routes the signal to the house sound system or recording device, and an active/passive pickup switch that compensates for active instrument inputs. Peavey’s exclusive DDT speaker protection circuitry senses the onset of clipping and responds with slight limiting that allows the amp to retain the tone, headroom and dynamics (bypass included).
Award-winning musical instrument and audio equipment manufacturer Peavey Electronics is proud to release the new MiniMax bass amplifier head. Offering cutting-edge technology in a compact, lightweight package, the MiniMax delivers 400 Watts of powerful, rich low end. With DDT speaker protection and Peavey’s exclusive psychoacoustic low end enhancement that adds bass without overburdening speakers, the MiniMax contains an impressive set of features and is available at a price accessible to today’s working bassist.
The MiniMax is capable of a huge array of tones and is adaptable to any live or studio setting. A 3-band EQ with Punch, Mid-shift and Bright controls provides a multitude of tone-shaping options, while the built-in chromatic tuner allows for easy tuning on the fly. In addition, the MiniMax pre-gain control with TransTube gain boost adds a tube-like crunch to the sound.
Peavey Electronics, one of the industry’s most progressive musical instrument and audio equipment manufacturers, is proud to introduce the groundbreaking ReValver 4 amplifier modeling software. Redesigned from the ground up, this latest version of the award-winning ReValver software contains revolutionary amp modeling capabilities that capture true characteristics of real tube amplifiers.
ReValver is renowned for its industry-leading amp modeling accuracy, which is achieved by modeling an amplifier down to the component level. Now Peavey has updated and improved the modeling engine in ReValver 4, taking amp modeling to a whole new level of realistic toneshaping possibilities. The new ReValver 4 also incorporates a GUI and UX redesign and the ability to run on a Windows tablet, plus other high-level features including GIG mode, ACT (Audio Cloning Technology) and RIR 2 cabinet modeling.
Peavey Electronics, one of the industry’s most technologydriven musical instrument and audio equipment manufacturers, is proud to unveil the new MiniMega 1000 Watt bass amplifier head.
Delivering the classic tone for which Peavey is known, the MiniMega features 1,000 Watts of power and produces incredibly full and rich sound in a compact package. Weighing in at only 8 lbs., the MiniMega is the new go-to amplifier for bassists of any style.
Using technology not found on other bass amps, the MiniMega represents a new level of compact bass amplifier performance. Peavey’s proprietary KOSMOS bass enhancement provides increased bass impact, while the exclusive psychoacoustic low-end enhancement adds bass without overburdening speakers – a testament to Peavey’s technology-driven reliability. The MiniMega also contains other modern features such as built in compression and a 4-band EQ with semi-parametric mids.
Complete with an effects loop, gain control with crunch button, tuner output and more, the MiniMega contains everything necessary for today’s professional bass player. Ideal for use in any live or studio setting, the back panel of the MiniMega has all the connectivity necessary to patch in effects, powered speakers or connect to a sound reinforcement system.
For more information:
Peavey
The concert will be hosted by WWE Superstar Damian Priest, a well-known “metalhead” and a long-time Slayer fan. Priest's signature “finisher” is Slayer’s “South of Heaven,”and Slayer’s Kerry King provided guitar for Priest’s “Rise For The Night” Theme.
This exclusive concert brings together a multi-generation, powerhouse line up:
Slayer
Knocked Loose
Suicidal Tendencies
Power Trip
Cavalera (performing Chaos A.D. - exclusive)
Exodus (performing Bonded by Blood)
All confirmed Slayer 2025 concert dates are as follows:
JULY
3 Blackweir Fields, Cardiff, Wales, UK
Line-Up: Slayer, with Special Guests Amon Amarth , Anthrax, Mastodon, Hatebreed and Neckbreakker
5 Villa Park, Birmingham, UK • Black Sabbath • Back to the Beginning
6 Finsbury Park, London
Line Up: Slayer, with Special Guests Amon Amarth , Anthrax, Mastodon, Anthrax, and Neckbreakker
11 Quebec Festival d'été de Québec City, Quebec
Direct Support: Mastodon
SEPTEMBER
18 Louder Than Life @ Highland Festival Grounds, Louisville, KY
20 Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey, PA
Over the decades with Hüsker Dü, Sugar, and solo, Bob Mould has earned a reputation for visceral performances.
Mould’s album landed in a world of cloistered listeners, so he never knew how it impacted people. For a musician from punk and hardcore scenes, it was a disquieting experience. So when he got back out on the road in 2023 and 2024, playing solo electric sets, the former Hüsker Dü and Sugar frontman was determined to reconnect with his listeners. After each show, he’d hang out at the merch table and talk. Some people wanted their records or shirts signed, some wanted a picture. Others shared dark stories and secret experiences connected to Mould’s work. It humbled and moved him. “I’m grateful for all of it,” he says.
These are the in-person viscera of a group of people connecting on shared interests, versus, says Mould, “‘I gotta clean the house today, so I’m going to put on my clean the house playlist that a computer designed for me.” “Everything has become so digitized,” he laments. “I grew up where music was religion, it was life, it was essential. When people come to shows, and there’s an atmosphere, there’s volume, there’s spilled drinks and sweat–that’s what music ritual is supposed to be.”
His experiences on tour after the pandemic heartened Mould, but they also gave him traction on new ideas and direction for a new record. He returned to the simple, dirty guitar-pop music that spiked his heart rate when he was young: the Ramones’ stupid-simple pop-punk ecstasy, New York Dolls’ sharp-edged playfulness, Pete Townshend’s epic, chest-rattling guitar theatrics. In other words, the sort of snotty, poppy, wide-open rock we heard and loved on Hüsker Dü’s Flip Your Wig and Candy Apple Grey.
Mould’s time on the road playing solo in 2023 sparked the idea for Here We Go Crazy.
Photo by Ryan Bakerink
Mould started writing new songs in the vein of his original childhood heroes, working them into those electric solo sets in 2023 and 2024. Working with those restraints—guitar chords and vocal melodies—put Mould on track to make Here We Go Crazy, his new, 15th solo record.
Lead single and opener “Here We Go Crazy” is a scene-setting piece of fuzzy ’90s alt-rock, bookended by the fierce pounding of “Neanderthal.” “When Your Heart is Broken” is a standout, with its bubblegum chorus melody and rumbling, tense, Who-style holding pattern before one of the album’s only solos. Ditto “Sharp Little Pieces,” with perhaps the record’s chewiest, darkest guitar sounds.
“It’s a very familiar-sounding record,” he continues. “I think when people hear it, they will go, ‘Oh my god, this is so Bob Mould,’ and a lot of that was [influenced by] spending time with the audience again, putting new stuff into the set alongside the songbook material, going out to the table after the show and getting reactions from people. That sort of steered me towards a very simple, energetic, guitar-driven pop record.”
Of his new album, Mould says, “I think when people hear it, they will go, ‘Oh my god, this is so Bob Mould.’”
Mould recorded the LP in Chicago with longtime bandmates Jason Narducy and Jon Wurster at the late, great Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio. Then Mould retreated to San Francisco to finish the record, chipping away at vocals and extra guitar pieces. He mostly resisted the pull of “non-guitar ornamentation”: “It’s a rhythm guitar record with a couple leads and a Minimoog,” he says. “It’s sort of cool to not have a 64-crayon set every time.”
Mould relied on his favorite, now-signature late-’80s Fender Strat Plus, which sat out on a runway at O’Hare in 20-below cold for three hours and needed a few days to get back in fighting shape. In the studio, he ran the Strat into his signature Tym Guitars Sky Patch, a take on the MXR Distortion+, then onto a Radial JD7. The Radial split his signal and sent it to three combo amps: a Fender Hot Rod DeVille, a Fender ’68 Custom Deluxe Reverb reissue, and a Blackstar Artisan 30, each with a mic on it. The result is a brighter record that Mould says leaves more room for the bass and kick drum. “If you listen to this record against Patch the Sky, for instance, it’s night and day,” he says. “It’s snug.”
Mould explains that the record unfolds over three acts. Tracks one through five comprise the first episode, crackling with uncertainty and conflict. The second, spread over songs six to eight, contrasts feelings of openness with tight, claustrophobic tension. Here, there are dead ends, addictions, and frigid realities. But after “Sharp Little Pieces,” the album turns its corner, barreling toward the home stretch in a fury of optimism and determination. “These last three [songs] should give us more hope,” says Mould. “They should talk about unconditional love.”
The record closes on the ballad “Your Side,” which starts gentle and ends in a rush of smashed chords and cymbals, undoubtedly one of the most invigorating segments. “The world is going down in flames, I wanna be by your side/We can find a quiet place, it doesn’t need to be the Albert Hall,” Mould starts. It’s a beautiful portrait of love, aging, and the passage of time.
Bob Mould's Gear
Mould paired his trusty Fender Strat Plus with a trio of smaller combo amps to carve out a more mid-focused rhythm-guitar sound in the studio.
Photo by Mike White
Guitars
- Late 1980s Fender American Standard Strat Plus (multiple)
Amps
- Fender Hot Rod DeVille
- Blackstar Artisan Series amps
- Fender '68 Custom Deluxe Reverb
Effects
- Tym Guitars Sky Patch
- TC Electronic Flashback
- Electro-Harmonix Freeze
- Wampler Ego
- Universal Audio 1176
- Radial JD7
Strings, Picks, & Power Supply
- D'Addario NYXLs (.011-.046)
- Dunlop .46 mm and .60 mm picks
- Voodoo Labs power supply
And though the record ends on this palette of tenderness and connection, the cycle is likely to start all over again. Mould understands this; even though he knows he’s basking in act three at the moment, acts one and two will come along again, and again. Thankfully, he’s figured out how to weather the changes.
“When things are good, enjoy them,” he says. “When things are tough, do the work and get out of it, somehow.”
- YouTube
Many of the tracks on Here We Go Crazy were road-tested by Mould during solo sets. Here, accompanied only by his trusty Fender Strat, he belts “Breathing Room.”
Reader: Federico Novelli
Hometown: Genoa, Italy
Guitar: The Italian Hybrid
Reader Federico Novelli constructed this hybrid guitar from three layers of pine, courtesy of some old shelves he had laying around.
A few years ago, at the beginning of Covid, an idea for a new guitar flashed through my mind. It was a semi-acoustic model with both magnetic and piezo pickups that were mounted on a soundboard that could resonate. It was a nice idea, but I also had to think about how to make it in my tiny cellar without many power tools and using old solid-wood shelves I had available.
I have been playing guitar for 50 years, and I also dabble in luthiery for fun. I have owned a classical guitar, an acoustic guitar, and a Stratocaster, but a jazz guitar was missing from the list. I wanted something that would have more versatility, so the idea of a hybrid semi-acoustic guitar was born.
I started to sketch something on computer-aided design (CAD) software, thinking of a hollowbody design without a center block or sides that needed to be hot-worked with a bending machine. I thought of a construction made of three layers of solid pine wood, individually worked and then glued together in layers, with a single-cutaway body and a glued-in neck.
For the soundboard and back, I used a piece of ash and hand-cut it with a Japanese saw to the proper thickness, so I had two sheets to fit together. Next, I sanded the soundboard and bottom using two striker profiles as sleds and an aluminum box covered in sandpaper to achieve a uniform 3 mm thickness. A huge amount of work, but it didn't cost anything.
“It was a nice idea, but I also had to think about how to make it in my tiny cellar without many electric tools and out of old solid-wood shelves I had available.”
The soundboard has simplified X-bracing, a soundhole with a rosewood edge profile, and an acoustic-style rosewood bridge. For the neck, I used a piece of old furniture with straight grain, shaped it to a Les Paul profile, and added a single-action truss rod. The only new purchase: a cheap Chinese rosewood fretboard.
Then, there was lots of sanding. I worked up to 400-grit, added filler, primer, and transparent nitro varnish, worked the sandpaper up to 1,500-grit, and finally polished.
Our reader and his “Italian job.”
For electronics, I used a Tonerider alnico 2 humbucker pickup and a piezo undersaddle pickup, combined with a modified Shadow preamp that also includes a magnetic pickup input, so you can mix the two sources on a single output. I also installed a bypass switch for power on/off and a direct passive output.
I have to say that I am proud and moderately satisfied both aesthetically and with the sounds it produces, which range from jazz to acoustic and even gypsy jazz. However, I think I will replace the electronics and piezo with Fishman hardware in the future.
