
Michael Ruth of Rich Ruth joins us in discussing music that takes us back to when we were kids. Plus, musical obsessions!
Q: What song or artist reminds you of your childhood?
Michael Ruth (Rich Ruth) — Guest Picker
A: The artist that snaps me back to my childhood the most is Tom Petty—specifically the album Wildflowers. My parents would listen to the CD constantly throughout the ’90s. It was one of the only records my folks liked that I wanted to listen to on my own.
Tom Petty - Wake Up Time (Official Lyric Video)
I even dubbed it onto cassette as an 8-year-old. Every time I get to the end and “Wake Up Time” comes on, it makes me think about my whole life and how I felt as a kid listening to the same music.
Michael Ruth's Current Obsession:
DJ Screw. It’s all I want to listen to these days. There’s such a wealth of his work out there that exists in a singular universe. All the music is incredibly slowed down, chopped and screwed, and very psychedelic. It grooves in a way that no other music does, and I can’t believe it took me this long to find it.
DJ Screw – Syrup Sippers (Ch. 131, 1996) [FULL MIXTAPE]
The folklore and stories behind DJ Screw are fascinating as well. He demonstrated the power of what one individual can create and influence by focusing on an approach totally different from everyone else.
Glynn Williams — Reader of the Month
A: “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You.” I was 8 when they came out. We pantomimed with brooms.
The Beatles - I Want To Hold Your Hand - Performed Live On The Ed Sullivan Show 2/9/64
Glynn Williams Current Obsession:
Heirs to the rock throne: Christone Kingfish Ingram and the Glorious Sons are two marvelous examples of vibrant new guitar rock. I gravitate to those who seem to show respect for their influences and in Ingram I hear Hendrix and Duane Allman and the blues greats before them. In the Sons I hear the joy of rock; anthems like “S.O.S.” are just fun to listen to, like Tom Petty or the Tragically Hip or Tull or the Stones.
Kingfish: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
The Tiny Desk is working from home for the foreseeable future. Introducing NPR Music's Tiny Desk (home) concerts, bringing you performances from across the c...My only guitar obsession is to someday replace the sweet semi-acoustic, violin-shaped guitar I got in 1971 from the Sears catalog. Used to play that through a Fender Bandmaster stack under the strategy that playing loud covered my absolute lack of skill! Hee hee. Now I play a very nice PRS copy that’s about 25 years old and that’s enough for an old guy, although I do lust for a good window-rattling amp occasionally.
Charles Saufley — Gear Editor
A: “I’m Only Sleeping” by the Beatles. As a little kid, it made me feel dreamy, altered, woozy, and entranced—almost as if I was under a spell. Years later, I marveled at how perfectly the Beatles articulated the sensations of mind expansion and transcendence in “I’m Only Sleeping”—and at how the elation and freedom in those experiences were the same feelings the song gave me as a little boy. It made me think a lot about art and music’s more mystical powers.
I'm Only Sleeping (Remastered 2009)
Charles Saufley's Current Obsession:
Bird song. Especially the spiraling call of the Swainson’s Thrush. (Catch you next spring, little buddy).
Nick Millevoi — Associate Editor
A: “Twilight Time” by the Platters. I probably first heard the hook in late-night commercials for ’50s box sets back when I was beginning to form my long-term memory. Eventually, I got into oldies radio and my obsession spiraled from there. Whenever I hear the original recording—or songs like “In the Still of the Night,” “Earth Angel,” and “Love Potion No. 9”—it takes me back to early cable TV and the ’50s-obsessed Jersey Shore.
The Platters - Twilight Time - Lyrics
Nick Millevoi's Current Obsession:
Derrick Bostrom’s totally awesome drum fills.
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The veteran Florida-born metalcore outfit proves that you don’t need humbuckers to pull off high gain.
Last August, metalcore giants Poison the Well gave the world a gift: They announced they were working on their first studio album in 15 years. They unleashed the first taste, single “Trembling Level,” back in January, and set off on a spring North American tour during which they played their debut record, The Opposite of December… A Season of Separation, in full every night.
PG’s Perry Bean caught up with guitarists Ryan Primack and Vadim Taver, and bassist Noah Harmon, ahead of the band’s show at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl for this new Rig Rundown.
Brought to you by D’Addario.Not-So-Quiet As a Mouse
Primack started his playing career on Telecasters, then switched to Les Pauls, but when his prized LPs were stolen, he jumped back to Teles, and now owns nine of them.
His No. 1 is this white one (left). Seymour Duncan made him a JB Model pickup in a single-coil size for the bridge position, while the neck is a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound Staggered. He ripped out all the electronics, added a Gibson-style toggle switch, flipped the control plate orientation thanks to an obsession with Danny Gatton, and included just one steel knob to control tone. Primack also installed string trees with foam to control extra noise.
This one has Ernie Ball Papa Het’s Hardwired strings, .011–.050.
Here, Kitty, Kitty
Primack runs both a PRS Archon and a Bad Cat Lynx at the same time, covering both 6L6 and EL34 territories. The Lynx goes into a Friedman 4x12 cab that’s been rebadged in honor of its nickname, “Donkey,” while the Archon, which is like a “refined 5150,” runs through an Orange 4x12.
Ryan Primack’s Pedalboard
Primack’s board sports a Saturnworks True Bypass Multi Looper, plus two Saturnworks boost pedals. The rest includes a Boss TU-3w, DOD Bifet Boost 410, Caroline Electronics Hawaiian Pizza, Fortin ZUUL +, MXR Phase 100, JHS Series 3 Tremolo, Boss DM-2w, DOD Rubberneck, MXR Carbon Copy Deluxe, Walrus Slo, and SolidGoldFX Surf Rider III.
Taver’s Teles
Vadim Taver’s go-to is this cherryburst Fender Telecaster, which he scored in the early 2000s and has been upgraded to Seymour Duncan pickups on Primack’s recommendation. His white Balaguer T-style has been treated to the same upgrade. The Balaguer is tuned to drop C, and the Fender stays in D standard. Both have D’Addario strings, with a slightly heavier gauge on the Balaguer.
Dual-Channel Chugger
Taver loves his 2-channel Orange Rockerverb 100s, one of which lives in a case made right in Nashville.
Vadim Taver’s Pedalboard
Taver’s board includes an MXR Joshua, MXR Carbon Copy Deluxe, Empress Tremolo, Walrus ARP-87, Old Blood Noise Endeavors Reflector, MXR Phase 90, Boss CE-2w, and Sonic Research Turbo Tuner ST-200, all powered by a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus.
Big Duff
Harmon’s favorite these days is this Fender Duff McKagan Deluxe Precision Bass, which he’s outfitted with a Leo Quan Badass bridge. His backup is a Mexico-made Fender Classic Series ’70s Jazz Bass. This one also sports Primack-picked pickups.
Rental Rockers
Harmon rented this Orange AD200B MK III head, which runs through a 1x15 cab on top and a 4x10 on the bottom.
Noah Harmon’s Pedalboard
Harmon’s board carries a Boss TU-2, Boss ODB-3, MXR Dyna Comp, Darkglass Electronics Vintage Ultra, and a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus. His signal from the Vintage Ultra runs right to the front-of-house, and Harmon estimates that that signal accounts for about half of what people hear on any given night.
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).
His credits include Miles Davis’ Jack Johnson and Herbie Mann—next to whom he performed in Questlove’s 2021 documentary, Summer of Soul—and his tunes have been covered by Santana and the Messthetics. But it’s as a bandleader and collaborator where Sharrock cut his wildest recordings. As groundbreaking as Sharrock’s music could be, his distorted tone and melodic tunes helped bring rock listeners into the jazz tent. Our callers let us know how much Sharrock meant to them and why he’s one of the “top guys of all time.”
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.