In this episode of 100 Guitarists, we’re talking all things surf rock, from reverb to tremolo picking and much more. And while “Misirlou” is undisputedly his most influential work, maybe Dale’s best records didn’t come until a few decades later.
“All the kids in all L.A. / Come to hear Dick Dale play,” or so goes the title track from Dick Dale’s Wrecking Crew-heavy 1963 album, King of the Surf Guitar. Immodest though it might seem to proclaim such a status, he was indeed at the top of the heap.
For many, Dale’s legend precedes him. His sound, first heard in a So Cal beach ballroom, created the surf guitar vocabulary and transformed the guitar universe, starting with the 1962 release of his take on the traditional song “Misrlou.” Ever the showman, he worked closely with Leo Fender developing the right gear for the gig as he played his ripping instrumentals to larger and larger audiences. He also inspired a Hendrix lyric and had a late-career renaissance thanks to Quentin Tarantino.
In this episode of 100 Guitarists, we’re talking all things surf rock, from reverb to tremolo picking and much more. And while “Misrlou” is undisputedly his most influential work, maybe Dale’s best records didn’t come until a few decades later.
This episode is sponsored byTraveler Guitar.
- Cowabunga! A Beginner’s Guide to Surf Guitar ›
- Surf Guitar Basics ›
- Dick Dale: 1937–2019 ›
- Mod Garage: The Dick Dale Wiring ›
This is perhaps the most rare Iwase guitar: one volume, one tone, and a quality adjustable bridge, plus a raised pickguard and some beautiful shading on the burst.
And then my mind wandered to my college days, when I was an English major. I got to read and write every day, and I thought I was getting good at it until a professor raked me over the proverbial coals for using the word “unique” incorrectly when describing a local band’s sound. He really tore me up, because if I describe something as unique, it should be like none other—like a snowflake.
So, what about guitars? Is a custom-shop model unique if it has the same pickups and same scale as many others? Even if the body is shaped differently? Seriously, that professor would hand you your butt because, in his mind, you didn’t just choose words unless you understood their real meaning. Consider the super-rare Teisco T-60 … the model that Glen Campbell loved and played for much of his early career. I know of only four in existence. There are some Japanese collectors who own hundreds of guitars but don’t have a T-60. Does that make the T-60 unique, or simply rare? I mean, they were all hand-made and featured that original hole-in-the-body “monkey grip” … but unique? Talk amongst yourselves for a hot minute.
“In my waning days of collecting, I just want to have Voice stuff, because I met Iwase and connected with him immediately.”
I recently wrote about the passing of the great Japanese luthier Yukichi Iwase, whose small company (basically just him) produced some of the finest guitars and amps and carried the “Voice” label. A friend in Japan, along with his daughters, were in the process of clearing out his old workshop, and I’ve been trying to acquire everything from it that I can. I used to collect just Teisco stuff, and then I had a passion for the old Intermark/Pleasant guitars. Then I wanted to get all the old Yamaha stuff I could find. But now, in my waning days of collecting, I just want to have Voice stuff, because I met Iwase and connected with him immediately. He was a peach, and, yes, he was unique. Aside from being one of the earliest employees of Tesico, he was a brilliant fellow who could make just about anything from scratch, including guitars and amps. Left in his workshop were a few unfinished T-60s, some pedal steels, some amps, a really cool bass, an unfinished double-neck guitar, and a tiny guitar that is also truly worthy of the term “unique.”
“I know these pickups well enough to understand they are loud, crisp, and offer a full range of sounds,” our columnist says.
The latter is a small powerhouse of a guitar. It has one of his amazing pickups that looks like a big block engine stuffed into an AMC Gremlin. He somehow squeezed out a 23" scale, but the rest of the guitar is like a child’s 6-string or a travel guitar. I believe he only made one of these. The body design has an ocean-wave type of flow, and the guitar is very balanced and not hard on the eyes, even with the exaggerated features. One volume, one tone, and a quality adjustable bridge plus a raised pickguard—the only time I’ve seen this design on his guitars. His finish work was really nice, too, and he was able to get some beautiful shading on the burst. The headstock has a figured overlay and the neck profile is so sweet—curved perfectly with some fine wood.
To me, it seems to have been built around 1966, based on the tuners he used. I don’t have the heart yet to plug this into an amp, but I know these pickups well enough to understand they are loud, crisp, and offer a full range of sounds. So, what do you think? Rare? Truly unique?
Tetrarch, from left: Ryan Lerner, Diamond Rowe, Josh Fore, and Ruben Limas.
In ancient Rome, a tetrarch was one of four joint governors in one of four divisions in a country or province. Tetrarchy, as opposed to monarchy, represents shared governance. If there is any question as to which contemporary band can rule the borders and expand the boundaries of nu metal 25 years after its initial peak, Georgia’s Tetrarch might just hold the answer. Their latest release, The Ugly Side of Me, forms a uniquely unified musical front from four individuals who honor nu metal’s foundations with colossal choruses and maniacal guitar riffs, while also infusing the source material with post-modern industrial aggression and a healthy dose of socially conscious lyrical honesty. The Ugly Side of Meis a creative tour de force that should affirm Tetrarch’s status as one of nu metal’s most potent contemporaries, particularly among the genre’s faithful constituents.
Tetrarch was formed in Atlanta in 2007 by lead guitarist Diamond Rowe and lead vocalist/guitarist Josh Fore. As of 2025, the band is rounded out by bassist Ryan “Doom” Lerner and drummer Ruben Limas. Rowe and Fore initially played traditional metalcore before making a notable shift towards a more melodic sound on their independently released 2017 debut, Freak. Blending elements of nu metal and thrash, along with their metalcore influences, they honed in on a distinct sonic amalgamation and style, combining their signature creepy sounding guitar motifs with bone-crushing rhythms, melodic vocal melodies, and sub hooks.Unstable, released in 2021, drew greater comparisons to nu-metal progenitors like Slipknot and Korn, further entrenching Tetrarch within the hierarchy of that lineage.
Tetrarch’s third album, The Ugly Side of Me, features massive, needle-sharp production co-helmed by renowned producer Dave Otero, along with Rowe and Fore, and boasts a deftly executed combination of unrelenting brutality and undeniable charisma. The ’90s-industrial-infused single “Live Not Fantasize” is a real banger, featuring intense electronic flourishes, fast riffs, and Rowe’s dynamic, tantalizing guitar solos. An anthemic second single, “Never Again (Parasite),” balances monstrous grooves and massive atmosphere with incisive lyrics about facing our own darkest criticisms. The hypnotizing, metallic “Anything Like Myself” opens the album, while “Best of Luck” highlights the rhythmically nuanced interplay between Lerner and Limas.
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Lead shredder Diamond Rowe takes the spotlight for a playalong to “Live Not Fantastize,” the first single off of Tetrarch’s new record.
Rowe and Fore have known each other since they were about 11 or 12, so it’s no surprise that they are musically so intimately compatible and completely in sync. “I feel like our playing styles melded into each other because we developed together,” explains Rowe. “We learned how to be in a band, how to play music, how to play shows, and how to play guitar together. When you’ve been playing and practicing with someone for so long, you just lock in, and our playing styles really complement each other. It was a natural progression.” Fore says that they would go to the library after school and instead of doing homework, they would play guitar. “We would print off books’ worth of guitar tabs and learn songs together,” he recalls. They’d also go to Guitar Center and “turn amps up way too loud and play for hours”–likely to the annoyance of the employees, he chuckles.
When it comes to their respective assignments within the band, Rowe plays more of the leads and single-note phrases while Fore, who is also the band’s frontman, plays more rhythm. “It’s very much rhythm and lead player roles,” affirms Rowe. “On choruses when Josh is playing big fat chords, I’ll play octaves or some melody lines, or on verses, if he’s playing some rhythm riff, I’ll do some weird creepy lead.” If it’s a riff-oriented rhythm part, they sometimes match up on those, but even then, Rowe often adds some kind of texture on top.
Fore and Rowe combine to create the band’s creative spark, and handle the bulk of the writing for new songs. For The Ugly Side of Me, they demoed material via their individual Pro Tools rigs and emailed files back and forth before jamming with the rest of the band. “Typically, it will start with me or Diamond coming up with a guitar riff,” explains Fore. “Sometimes one of us will come with a whole skeleton of a song and we’ll get in the room together and take it from there. Every song has its own way of coming together, but me and Diamond usually see it through.”
Tetrarch’s third album cements them as flagbearers of the new nu.
Diamond Rowe’s Gear
Guitars
- Jackson Signature Diamond Rowe Monarkh w/EverTune bridge
- Jackson American Series Soloist
Amps
- EVH 5150III EL34 100-watt head
- EVH 4x12
- EVH 5150III 50-watt head (for backup)
Effects
- Boss CH-1 Super Chorus
- Boss DD-7 Digital Delay
- Boss ES-8 Effects Switching System
- Boss RC-1 Loop Station
- Boss RV-6 Reverb
- DigiTech Whammy 5 Pitch Shift
- Dunlop KH95 Kirk Hammett Signature Cry Baby Wah
- Dunlop Volume (X) Mini
- Electro-Harmonix Small Stone Analog Phase Shifter
- Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer
- ISP Decimator G String X Noise Reduction
- MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay
- Strymon blueSky V2
- Two notes Torpedo C.A.B. M+
Strings & Picks
- Ernie Ball Beefy Slinky (.011–.054)
- Ernie Ball Skinny Top Beefy Bottom (.010–.054)
- Dunlop Jazz III black 1.38 mm
- Dunlop Jazz III black 1.35 mm
Josh Fore’s Gear
Guitars
- ESP E-II Eclipse
- ESP LTD EC-01FT
- ESP LTD AA-1 Alan Ashby Signature
- ESP LTD Eclipse
Amps
- EVH 5150III Stealth 100-watt head
- EVH 4x12
Effects
- Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer
- ISP Decimator G String X Noise Reduction
Strings & Picks
- Ernie Ball Mammoth Slinky (.012–.062)
- InTuneGP GrippX 1.0 mm
For tracking, the guitarists mainly rely on plugins, “Mostly because of how easily you can change things on the fly,” explains Fore. For the new album, they leaned heavily on the Archetype: Gojira X by Neural DSP. The final product, what you hear on The Ugly Side of Me, was re-amped through the EVH 5150III. There’s no ego when they’re in the studio, so the decision of who plays which parts is simply a matter of who executes them the best. “Diamond will play some riffs, I will play some riffs,” says Fore. “We just swap the guitar back and forth. We’re like, ‘What’s the most efficient way? Who sounds better on this part?’ We just go with where the session takes us and try to get the best sounds and performances.”
The eerie signature sonic element that runs throughout all Tetrarch albums courtesy of Rowe’s inventive guitar-effects palette has helped establish the band’s identity. “When we first found it, Josh and I were playing around with POD Farm on the computer and it was just a sine wave chorus that nobody makes in a pedal,” recalls Rowe. “We were writing the song ‘Freak’ and looking for a weird sounding tone, and then it literally became a staple of our sound. For this album, we were like, ‘Alright, we’re not going to use that tone very much.’ We literally said that before making this record and yet here we are [laughter].”
As for their newfound status as the torchbearers of nu metal, Rowe says it’s not the label that matters most. “People could call us ‘progressive country metal,’ but what’s important is we’re writing the music that we really enjoy,” she attests. “Some of my favorite bands are Linkin Park, Slipknot, Disturbed, and Korn, but when I started playing guitar, Metallica was my all-time favorite band. And then, Zakk Wylde, Pantera, and Trivium—all of that was in there too, so I wouldn’t say nu metal was the only thing that I listened to, but it was a huge part of what I listened to.” Fore concludes with a similar sentiment: “People are going to perceive us how they’re going to perceive us. If they want to call us nu metal, then hell yeah, that sounds great.”
