
Sweany gets dirty with his gold-foil-rigged Epiphone Riviera onstage at Nashville’s 5 Spot.
Three little brute combos by Fender and Danelectro.
Delivering dirty brujo tone is not simple. Just grab a ouija board and ask Hound Dog Taylor or Pat Hare. Or, if communing with the spirits in a literal way isn’t your thing, check in with Patrick Sweany. He’s easy to find since he’ll be on the road for most of November and December touring a double-bill with fellow Nashville-guitar sparkplug JD Simo. And when he’s at home … even easier, since he holds down the Monday early evening slot at Music City’s indie mecca, the 5 Spot, with the Tiger Beats, a blues tribute band he co-fronts with McKinley James, who was profiled in last month’s PG feature “10 Young Guitarists to Watch.”
Sweany swaps the ouija board for raw-speaking amps and a ’90s Epiphone Riviera with gold-foil pickups, plus a sawdust-and-blood voice that would make Howlin’ Wolf cock an ear, as a means to conjuring the dirtiest, deadliest tones of primal electric blues—like those found on nascent recordings by the labels Chess, Cobra, and King. Or, for that matter, on Sweany’s own catalog of a dozen albums, including 2018’s Ancient Noise, where his abilities as a songwriter propel the blues form into the present, leaning toward the future.
But enough about Patrick. This is an amp column, and when he turned up at a recent Tiger Beats gig to talk gear, he brought three Clydesdales with him: a vintage ’60s Danelectro Explorer, a Fender ’57 Custom Pro-Amp, and an Excelsior from Fender’s Pawn Shop series. What do his favorite amps have in common?
“A 15" speaker with an alnico magnet is it for me,” he says, “and 15 to 20 watts is my sweet spot, where the amp breaks up and still has some bottom end. I’m a fingerstyle player, with a thumbpick and two finger picks, so compression is the devil. Amps with 10" speakers are too harsh, which can work for playing lead like Freddie King, but when I was trying to find my sound, 15s were the answer. It’s very full and rich.”
All three of his amps are in harness, but only the Fender ’57 Pro-Amp has the microphone for this gig.
Sweany says his signature sound crystallized when he got the Danelectro, which is a quirky beast. Unlike some earlier Explorers, this model has its tubes and transformers on display, enclosed by a cage at the rear top of the amp. Better yet, that cage flips open, which means the amp—with its array of two 6L6 tubes, a 6FQ7, a 12AX7, a 12AU7, a 6AU7, and a 5Y3GT, plus heavy transformers—can be its own workbench while remaining plugged in. Explorer amps came with a single Jensen C15N speaker. Sweany’s is all-stock except for a recapped power supply, and amp tech Kyle Wierzba cleaned it up and restored it to original spec.
While the Dano Explorer isn’t worth a fortune, Sweany values the amp enough to keep it at home or nearby, so it doesn’t join the Pro or the Excelsior on tour. “If you’re a piece of my equipment, you’re not in a comfort environment,” he says, laughing. “You’re a shovel handle.”
His favorite road amp is his ’57 Custom Pro, a killer reissue I had the pleasure of reviewing for PG in early 2017. Sweany’s first chance to play through the model was while filming a demo for Fender with Laur Joamets. “They gave it to me after the session,” he says. The amp has a thin tweed cabinet and is inspired by Fender’s famed 5E5A circuit. It’s got a 12AY7 and two 12AX7s preamp tubes, two 6L6 power tubes, and a 5AR4 rectifier tube, and it is a loud 26 watts. As a shovel handle, Sweany’s Pro has not led an easy life. After it died on the road, Wierzba replaced the transformers with Mercury Magnetics, swapped the caps, and installed reissue GE 6L6 tubes, along with some lesser maintenance.
I’m a fingerstyle player, with a thumbpick and two finger picks, so compression is the devil.
And finally, there’s the Excelsior: a 13-watt tiger that emulates the look and sound of Valco-type late-’50s/early-’60s circuits. Sweany had his eye on the Excelsior the minute it was unveiled in 2012. It’s got two 6V6s and two 12AX7 preamp tubes. It has the simplest control array of his troika, with old-school mic, accordion, and guitar inputs, a bright/dark switch, and volume and tremolo dials. But this Excelsior was modded by Nashville amp builder Mickey Sandora, who added a tone stack with more headroom and bottom end, activated by a toggle switch.
In addition to tremolo, another thing these amps have in common is an absence of reverb. “For a long time, I didn’t use reverb—just tremolo, which is another important part of my sound,” Sweany says. But his Tiger Beats compadre James’ Fender Super Reverb always sounds so damn good that it wore him down. His team of plough horses now have a partner: a Strymon Flint. And you’ll hear them all when the Tiger Beats finish their debut album of original music that’s in the works.
PATRICK SWEANY "Up And Down" **OFFICIAL VIDEO**
Hear the nasty old-school sound of Sweany’s Danelectro Explorer amp in “Up and Down,” from his most recent album, Ancient Noise.
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The Sunset is a fully analog, zero latency bass amplifier simulator. It features a ¼” input, XLR and ¼” outputs, gain and volume controls and extensive equalization. It’s intended to replace your bass amp both live and in the studio.
If you need a full sounding amp simulator with a lot of EQ, the Sunset is for you. It features a five band equalizer with Treble, Bass, Parametric Midrange (with frequency and level controls), Resonance (for ultra lows), and Presence (for ultra highs). All are carefully tuned for bass guitar. But don’t let that hold you back if you’re a keyboard player. Pianos and synthesizers sound great with the Sunset!
The Sunset includes Gain and master Volume controls which allow you to add compression and classic tube amp growl. It has both ¼” phone and balanced XLR outputs - which lets you use it as a high quality active direct box. Finally, the Sunset features zero latency all analog circuitry – important for the instrument most responsible for the band’s groove.
Introducing the Sunset Bass Amp Simulator
- Zero Latency bass amp simulator.
- Go direct into the PA or DAW.
- Five Band EQ:
- Treble and Bass controls.
- Parametric midrange with level and frequency controls.
- Presence control for extreme highs.
- Resonance control for extreme lows.
- Gain control to add compression and harmonics.
- Master Volume.
- XLR and 1/4" outputs.
- Full bypass.
- 9VDC, 200mA.
Artwork by Aaron Cheney
MAP price: $210 USD ($299 CAD).
PRS Guitars celebrates 40 years with the limited edition McCarty SC56. Featuring vintage-inspired design and modern innovations, this single-cutaway guitar pays tribute to Ted McCarty and his impact on the industry. With only 400 pieces available, this instrument is a must-have for collectors and performers alike.
PRS Guitars today announced the 40th Anniversary McCarty SC56 Limited Edition. With a classic PRS single-cutaway body shape and carefully chosen specifications, the McCarty SC56 is both a tribute to tradition and a reliable tool for the modern performer. Only 400 pieces will be made.
“The SC56, signifying Singlecut and 1956, model is our most recent tribute to my late mentor Ted McCarty and his impact on the guitar industry. We started with our take on a classic late ‘50s singlecut body. 1956 marks the year that Ted first had guitars made with his newly coined 'humbucker' pickups. It also happens to be the year I was born. Bringing vintage design into the modern era, we loaded this model with our McCarty III pickups, meticulously designed to deliver warm, clear, vintage tone with exceptional note separation and dynamics,” said PRS Guitars Founder & Managing General Partner, Paul Reed Smith.
Anchored by a maple top and mahogany back, the 24.594” scale length and 22-fret Pattern Vintage neck work with Phase III non-locking tuners and PRS two-piece bridge to promote its musical sustain. The PRS McCarty III pickups are controlled by a simple layout — two volume controls, two tone controls, and a three-way toggle on the upper bout.
Single-cutaway guitars are known to be heavier than their double-cutaway counterparts. The McCarty SC56 Limited Edition design incorporates weight-relief, decreasing the weight of the guitar by about 2/3 of a pound, while maintaining several points of attachment between the guitar top and back to eliminate the “hollow” sound of the cavities and promote tone transfer.
With appointments like binding on the fretboard, classic bird inlays, and a vintage-inspired nitrocellulose finish, the 40th Anniversary McCarty SC56 Limited Edition blends heritage and innovation into a timeless instrument.
PRS Guitars continues its schedule of launching new products each month in 2025.
For more information, please visit prsguitars.com.
40th Anniversary McCarty SC56 Limited Edition | Demo | PRS Guitars - YouTube
Belltone Guitars has partnered Brickhouse Toneworks to create a one-of-a-kind, truly noiseless Strat/Tele-tone pickup in a standard Filter’Tron size format: the Single-Bell pickup.
The Single-Bell by Brickhouse Toneworks delivers bonafide single-coil Strat and Tele tones with the power of a P-90 and no 60-cycle hum. Unlike typical stacked hum-cancelling designs, Brickhouse Toneworks uses a proprietary ‘sidewind’ approach that cancels the 60-cycle hum without sacrificing any of the dynamics or top-end sparkle of a Fender-style single coil.
Get the best of both worlds with clear bell-like tones on the neck pickup, signature quack when combining the neck and bridge pickups, and pristine twang in the bridge position backed with the fullness and power of a P-90. Push these into overdrive and experience the hallmark blues tone with plenty of grit and harmonic sustain — all with completely noiseless performance.
Key Features of the Single-Bell:
- Cast Alnico 5 Magnet, designed to be used with 500k pots
- Voiced to capture that signature Fender-style single coil tone without the 60-cycle hum
- Lightly potted to minimize squeal
- Made in the USA with premium quality materials
The retail price for a Bridge and Neck matching set is $340.00 and they’re available directly and exclusively through Belltone® Guitars / Brickhouse Toneworks at belltoneguitars.com.
Designed for players who demand flexibility without sacrificing tone, the Aquanaut fuses the rich warmth of classic analog delay with the extended range and clarity of modern digital designs. Featuring up to 600 milliseconds of delay time, the Aquanaut easily covers everything from tight slapback echoes to lush, ambient textures and rhythmic soundscapes – all with a simple, intuitive control layout.
Unlike many digital delays that can sound sterile and detached, the Aquanaut retains an organic, analog-inspired voice. Repeats are smooth and musical, gently fading into the mix to create depth and dimension without overwhelming your dry signal. Whether you’re chasing vintage tape echo, adding subtle space to your solos, or building massive atmospheric layers, the Aquanaut keeps your tone clear, present, and inspiring.
Berserker Electronics Aquanaut Delay/Echo
Key features include:
- Up to 600ms of delay time for expanded creative possibilities
- Analog-voiced digital architecture for warm, natural-sounding repeats
- Ambient-style echo that enhances, not distracts from, your core tone
- Simple, intuitive controls for delay time, feedback, and blend
The Aquanaut is available direct at www.berserkerpedals.com and Reverb at a $149 street price.