Cover bands don’t always get the most respect, but at least a good tribute band knows its place. This month, songwriter/guitarist Willy Mason joins our hypothetical exercise to come up with the ultimate cover band concept. As they say, “This is a tribute!” You've decided to form a tribute band. What’s it called and what band or artist are you covering? Tell us in the comments!
Willy Mason -- Guest Picker
What are you listening to?
Blues and gospel from the ’40s to the ’60s. Alan Lomax is my hero for documenting some of the best American music—just a man, a tape recorder, and a Cadillac. A great compilation of his is I'll Meet You on That Other Shore.
You've decided to form a tribute band. What’s it called and what band or artist are you covering?
Wheels on Fire, a tribute to the Band. I'd get to go through their catalog from when they were the Hawks. Plus, my drummer would have to try to be like Levon Helm, which is a good exercise for anyone.
Christine Greenwald -- Reader of the Month
What are you listening to?
I've been listening to the Led Zeppelin and Alabama Shakes. Brittany Howard's vocals are so honest and passionate and combine so well with the band's unique sound. Any Led Zeppelin—especially my fave, “Kashmir”—always transports me to another realm, without those pesky drugs!
You've decided to form a tribute band. What’s it called and what band or artist are you covering?
I've always wanted to form an all-girl rap group by the name of Run: PMS.
Daniel Dorman -- Video/Photo Editor
What are you listening to?
Silverchair’s Neon Ballroom, Citizen Cope’s The Clarence Greenwood Recordings, and Company of Thieves’ Running from a Gamble.
You've decided to form a tribute band. What’s it called and what band or artist are you covering?
Pom Teddy and the Partbreakers. Does anyone not like Tom Petty? There’s plenty of hits to play, and no crazy outfits or makeup required. Just straight-up classic rock ’n’ roll to get everyone singing along.
Andy Ellis -- Senior Editor
What are you listening to?
Threefifty’s Collapses. Hypnotic phase-pattern guitar duets treated with creative processing and augmented with percussion and violin. Equal parts Explosions in the Sky, Leo Kottke, Francisco Tárrega, and Robert Fripp.
You've decided to form a tribute band. What’s it called and what band or artist are you covering?
The band is Mary, Mary. Drawing from the Paul Butterfield, Super Session, and Electric Flag catalogs, we pay homage to Michael Bloomfield.
Joe Gore -- Senior Editor
What are you listening to?
The World Ends: Afro Rock & Psychedelia in 1970s Nigeria, funky in every sense, and The Authorized Sister Rosetta Tharpe Collection—tunes by the most criminally overlooked rock guitarist ever. Also, St. Vincent’s Strange Mercy, which has more fresh guitar ideas per song than most players have per career.
You've decided to form a tribute band. What’s it called and what band or artist are you covering?
C90 Go!—a tribute to Malcolm McClaren’s other great band, Bow Wow Wow.
Tessa Jeffers -- Managing Editor
What are you listening to?
I just listened to John Mayer for six hours straight, so I figured I better admit it. It was a mix of everything, but I’d never heard the lovely, live Where the Light Is—didn’t know you had that in you, John!
You've decided to form a tribute band. What’s it called and what band or artist are you covering?
Toe Jam, a band performing Pearl Jam’s music barefoot. No pedicures allowed.
Revv G3 Purple Channel Preamp/Overdrive/Distortion Pedal - Anniversary Edition
The Revv G3 revolutionized high gain pedals in 2018 with its tube-like response & tight, clear high gain tones. Suddenly the same boutique tones used by metal artists & producers worldwide were available to anyone in a compact pedal. Now the G3 returns with a new V2 circuit revision that raises the bar again.
If 3 Were 6
With six times the controls found on the 1 and 2 versions (if you discount the original’s on/off slider switch,) the LPB-3’s control complement offers pre-gain, boost, mid freq, bass, treble, and mid knobs, with a center detent on the latter three so you can find the midpoint easily. A mini-toggle labeled “max” selects between 20 dB and 33 dB of maximum gain, and another labeled “Q” flips the resonance of the mid EQ between high and low. Obviously, this represents a significant expansion of the LPB’s capabilities.
More than just a booster with a passive tone, the LPB-3 boasts a genuine active EQ stage plus parametric midrange section, comprising the two knobs with shaded legends, mid freq and mid level. The gain stages have also been reimagined to include a pre-gain stage before the EQ, which enables up to 20 dB of input gain. The boost stage that follows the EQ is essentially a level control with gain to allow for up to 33 dB of gain through the LPB-3 when the “max” mini toggle is set to 33dB
A slider switch accessible inside the pedal selects between buffered or true bypass for the hard-latch footswitch. An AC adapter is included, which supplies 200mA of DC at 9.6 volts to the center-negative power input, and EHX specifies that nothing supplying less than 120mA or more than 12 volts should be used. There’s no space for an internal battery.
Power-Boosted
The LPB-3 reveals boatloads of range that betters many linear boosts on the market. There’s lots of tone-shaping power here. Uncolored boost is available when you want it, and the preamp gain knob colors and fattens your signal as you crank it up—even before you tap into the massive flexibility in the EQ stage.
“The preamp gain knob colors and fattens your signal as you crank it up—even before you tap into the massive flexibility in the EQ stage.”
I found the two mid controls work best when used judiciously, and my guitars and amps preferred subtle changes pretty close to the midpoint on each. However, there are still tremendous variations in your mid boost (or scoop, for that matter) within just 15 or 20 percent range in either direction from the center detent. Pushing the boost and pre-gain too far, particularly with the 33 dB setting engaged, can lead to some harsh sounds, but they are easy to avoid and might even be desirable for some users that like to work at more creative extremes.
The Verdict
The new LPB-3 has much, much more range than its predecessors, providing flexible preamp, boost, and overdrive sounds that can be reshaped in significant ways via the powerful EQ. It gives precise tone-tuning flexibility to sticklers that like to match a guitar and amp to a song in a very precise way, but also opens up more radical paths for experimentalists. That it does all this at a $129 price is beyond reasonable.
Electro-Harmonix Lpb-3 Linear Power Booster & Eq Effect Pedal Silver And Blue
