This week you could win gear from EMG, Fishman, Grover Jackson, Lundgren Pickups, Mod® Electronics, or StewMac! Enter before May 22, 2023.
Enter here! Be sure to see details on the prizes below.
MOD Madness
Fishman Fluence Tim Henson Signature Series Pickup Set
Tim Henson is known for being the lead guitarist of the progressive band Polyphia and is widely considered one of the hottest guitarists in the world. Unafraid of new technology and forging new paths, Tim has quickly established his legacy as a guitar hero.
His new signature pickup set is no exception. The wide array of tones available from this set spans the entire range of aggressive lead and rhythm tones to the cleanest of clean single coil combinations, even touching on sounds Tim was previously only able to produce with his acoustic guitars.
Tim Henson Signature Series Neck Pickup features:
Three extremely diverse and unique voices in the same pickup. Thick neck humbucker tones from Voice 1, a quasi-acoustic in Voice 2, and fluid and precise neck single coil tones in Voice 3, all packed into the same pickup.
Tim Henson Signature Series Bridge Pickup features:
A solid hot passive bridge lead tone in Voice 1, combined with Tim’s idealized bridge humbucker tone in Voice 2, and a single coil combination tone that, when combined with one coil from the neck humbucker, produces Tim’s signature single coil combination tone.
Lundgren Black Heaven humbucker SET
New for 2018, Johan Lundgren's newest recreation may be his finest yet! The Black Heaven combines the power, aggression and tight response of the legendary M6, but with more refined, organic character that lends itself to more diverse tonal applications.
The Black Heaven® bridge model boasts crisp attack, meaty growl, and punchy lows accompanied by rich harmonics and excellent dynamics. There is plenty of power here, but with less compression and more of a wide frequency response. The Neck model is both articulate and juicy, so lead players will appreciate its depth and sonic complexity. Whether you're into modern down-tuned progressive metal, old school thrash, hard rock, punk or anything in between- the Black Heaven has you covered! Neck pickup AlNiCo. Bridge pickup Ceramic. BIG AlNiCo optional. Black adjustable poles. Short legs, 4-lead cable for all switching options. Available in 6,7 and 8 stringed versions. 6 stringed versions are available in open, black nickel cover or Drop-Top/Open Black nickel cover.
Habanero Pickups by Grover Jackson Poblano PAF Humbucker Pickup Set - Black
The Habanero Poblano PAF is Grover Jackson's personal take on the Patent Applied For-style pickups that graced the very first Gibsons back in the 1950's. With a warm bottom end and open, bell-like top, the Grover version features alnico V magnets for a slightly sharper output than the alnico II’s yet is still slightly underwound like the originals. This results in more flavorful harmonics while keeping the clarity that the classic design is renowned for.
As with all Habanero Pickups, the Poblano PAF is handmade in California with all top-shelf alnico V magnets, bobbins, and wire. The 4-conductor lead wire leaves options for many different wiring configurations (split coil, series / parallel).
Mod® Electronics, Phase / Off, Modulation - Phaser
The Phase / Off is a four-stage phaser based around the Sound Semiconductor SSI2140 voltage-controlled multi-mode filter. This pedal offers classic phasing effects along with plenty of control to dial in the perfect amount of modulation using the Depth, Rate, and Regen knobs. The Stages switch can change the Phase / Off from four-stage phaser to a two-stage phaser providing a wide variety of different phasing sounds. Change the Mode switch from LFO to Manual to use the Phase / Off in fixed phase mode controlled by the Depth knob for unique filtering effects.
The Phase / Off pedal kit is the second entry in the Nexus Series from Mod® Electronics. This series features a PCB base rather than the Mod® Electronics’ traditional point-to-point wiring kits to offer builders an even wider variety of effects to build. The Phase / Off is a great pedal for intermediate skill sets. It features an all through-hole build with pre-soldered SMT SSI2140.
The pedal operates on 9VDC. A center negative power supply is required for use (not included with kit). There is no battery connection. The pedal draws ~50mA. The enclosure size is a standard 1590BB (4.7" x 3.7" x 1.34").
StewMac Parson Street Humbuckers (Set A2 Neck / A5 Bridge)
StewMac Parson's Street Humbucker Set
(Alnico 2 Neck Pickup / Alnico 5 Bridge Pickup)
StewMac Parsons Street Humbucker Pickups are straight-up raw vintage tone! Closely modeled after outstanding original P.A.F.s, these humbuckers capture the tone that changed music forever.
Crafted by tone experts
StewMac's own Erick Coleman tracked down priceless original P.A.F. humbucker sets and meticulously studied the materials and construction that gives these pickups their truly timeless tone. Once he cracked the code, that tone was undeniable!
We christened these exceptional humbuckers in tribute to the famous Kalamazoo address where the holy grail of pickups, the legendary P.A.F. (Patent Applied For), was born.
We build them like they used to!
Just like the originals, the slug coil has more windings than the polepiece coil, and both coils are unpotted. Old P.A.F.s weren't made in separate neck and bridge-position models, and their DC resistance varied from 7-9K ohms. We give you a choice: Parsons Street neck position pickups are wound to mid 7K range, and bridge position models to low 8K range.
Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst have been making music as Shovels & Rope since 2008. The husband-and-wife duo from South Carolina specialize in rootsy, bluesy rock, Americana, and alt-country, but they don’t confine themselves to traditional two-piece arrangements. They switch off on vocal, guitar, percussion, and synth duty throughout their shows, orchestrating a full-band ruckus with all available limbs.
Their seventh full-length, Something Is Working Up Above My Head, released in September last year, and while touring in support of it, they stopped at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl in late February. PG’s John Bohlinger caught up with Trent before the gig to see what tools he and Hearst use to maintain their musical juggling act.
Brought to you by D’Addario.Black Bird
Trent’s not a guitar snob: Generally speaking, he plays whatever he can get his hands on. While playing Eddie Vedder’s Ohana Fest, someone loaned him this Gretsch Black Falcon, and he fell in love with it. He likes its size compared to the broader White Falcon. It’s also the band’s only electric, so if it goes down, it’s back to acoustic. Hearst takes turns on it, too.
Trent loads the heaviest strings he can onto it, which is a set of .013s. It lives in standard tuning.
Ol' Faithful
As Trent explains, he and Hearst have done some DIY decorating on this beautiful Gibson J-45—it’s adorned with sweat droplets, stains, and fingernail dust. It runs direct to the venue’s front-of-house system with an LR Baggs pickup. This one is strung with Martin heavy or medium gauge strings; lighter ones are too prone to snapping under Trent’s heavy picking hand (which holds a Dunlop Max-Grip .88 mm pick). And it rolls around in an Enki tour case.
On Call
These second-stringers—a Loar archtop and an LR Baggs-equipped Recording King—are on hand in case of broken strings or other malfunctions.
Need for Tweed
Trent doesn’t trust amps with too many knobs, so this tweed Fender Blues Junior does the trick. It can get fairly loud, so there’s a Universal Audio OX Amp Top Box on hand to tame it for some stages.
Shovels & Rope's Pedalboard
Because Trent and Hearst trade off bass, guitar, keys, and percussion duties, all four of their limbs are active through the set. Whoever is on guitars works this board, with an MXR Blue Box, Electro-Harmonix Nano Big Muff, EarthQuaker Devices Hummingbird, and Boss OC-5, plus a pair of Walrus Canvas Tuners for the electric and acoustic. Utility boxes on the board include a Walrus Canvas Passive Re-Amp, Radial J48, Livewire ABY1, and a Mesa Stowaway input buffer.
A Roland PK-5 MIDI controller, operated by foot, sits on the lower edge of the board. It controls the board for “Thing 2,” one of two MicroKORG synths onstage.
Thing 1 and Thing 2
There’s no one backstage helping Hearst and Trent cook up all their racket; they handle every sound themselves, manually. During the first few sets of a tour, you’re liable to see some headaches, like forgetting to switch synth patches during a song, but eventually they hit a rhythm.
Affectionately given Seuss-ian nicknames, this pair of microKORGs handles bass notes through the set, among other things, via the foot-controlled PK5. “Thing 1” is set up at the drum station, and runs through a board with an EHX Nano Big Muff, EHX Bass9, EHX Nano Holy Grail, and a Radial Pro DI. A Walrus Aetos keeps them all powered up.
The board for “Thing 2,” beside the guitar amps, includes an EHX Mel9 and Bass9 powered by a Truetone 1 SPOT Pro, plus a Radial ProD2.
