Our First in a month of pedal giveaways! Enter below for your chance to win one of SIX pedals from Aclam Guitars, Chase Bliss, Ernie Ball, JangleBox, Renzo Sound, and Revv Amplification!
Enter Here: Be sure to visit each sponsor below.
I Love Pedals 2023 - Week 1Revv Shawn Tubbs Tilt Overdrive Guitar Effects Pedal
The Shawn Tubbs Tilt Overdrive is the tonal culmination of a lifetime in music. Shawn not only needed a practical tone tool to give him the right sound quickly in any musical context - he aimed to combine the greatest vintage amp tones & recorded guitar sounds of all time into one ideal sound. Now that tone is available to you in an award-winning compact 9v double pedal with a unique Tilt Boost.
Designed to be both the core of your entire guitar sound you can take anywhere & a useful tool to upgrade your existing setup, Tilt Overdrive adds an all-new record-ready tone to your palette that expands your recording & performance capabilities while channeling Shawn’s 30+ years of professional guitar experience into a combination of the best recorded guitar sounds in history. Not only was it developed by a AAA session musician who always has to have perfect tone - it’s designed to bring out the best of each player who plugs in. It drops right into your rig to produce Shawn’s trademark clear, balanced overdriven sounds.
Renzo Sound Autumn Drive
Renzo Sound is showing up to this party with our newest (and only!) overdrive pedal, the Autumn Drive.
The vibes are chill and deceptively simple for all you modern rock and pop gals and guys. Twist our knobs and you’ll be treated with the satisfying crunch and fuss-free controls of our 250-style drive. We’re keepin’ it fresh with a totally redesigned circuit for greater clarity and expressiveness - which we all know you could use
Nerd out on the details:
* Drive ranges from beefy boost to creamy overdrive that touches fuzz territory
* Flat EQ retains bass, tames treble, and lets your tone shine through.
* Top-mounted jacks, soft-click true bypass, and standard 9v power, so it’s right at home on your pedalboard.
JangleBox Byrds 50th LE
The original JangleBox compressor/sustainer is the pedal that captured the clean, bright ringing chime popularized by the Beatles, enhanced by the Byrds, and integrated into the sonic palettes of so many contemporary groups.
This simple plug-in/play compression pedal creates a bold sustain that will give your Ric, Tele, Gretsch, Strat — whatever the guitar — remarkable presence. Unlike pedals that clip or distort the original signal, the JangleBox expands the compression “sweet spot” to maintain a clean, even tone, with true bypass.
Compact and powerful, the JangleBox is ruggedly constructed for demanding pros and aspiring artists alike. Whether you’re looking to get that Beatles/Byrds chime and jangle, never-ending slide sustain, Nashville “squish,” or just a big, clean boost, the JangleBox delivers the distinctive compression edge.
Ernie Ball VPJR Tuner - Black
The VPJR Tuner pedal combines Ernie Ball’s world-renowned volume pedal with an enhanced definition digital guitar tuner. In the heel-down position, the pedal’s vibrant touchscreen automatically enters tuner mode, allowing for silent tuning. As the foot sweeps forward, the screen switches to volume mode, providing a graphic display of your volume level. Alternatively, the screen can remain in volume mode or tuner mode, regardless of the pedal’s position in the sweep. Simply double-tap on the touchscreen to toggle between modes. The VPJR Tuner provides the same rugged construction and time-tested performance as Ernie Ball’s traditional volume pedal, resulting in the most useful guitar tuner pedal on the market.
Chase Bliss Generation Loss MkII
Generation Loss MKII is a study of tape in all its forms.
We decided to start from scratch this time and really explore what tape is all about. Get into those crinkles that make it so magical. We took apart VCRs, we analyzed anything we could find with a tape in it, from camcorders to cassette decks.
All available for you to saturate, fail and flutter, until everything sits just right. And if you prefer the way it was before, you can do that too. In stereo.
Aclam Guitars Dr Robert signed by Klaus Voormann
The most accurate replica of the iconic VOX UL730 amp. Made famous by 'The Beatles' as they used it on Revolver & Sgt. Pepper's albums. It was also used by The Rolling Stones, Jimmy Page or Joy Division.
Klaus Voormann (Revolver's cover album designer) has created the artwork for the Dr. Robert pedal and this is an exclusive unit signed by himself.
With its circuit tailored for both guitar and bass, and a meticulous process of tracing the original tag board circuits and measuring each component’s value, the result is an approach of this sound never reached before.
The soulful slide wiz shows off his Teisco-inspired baritone and several "different" tone tools that have inspired his pandemic projects—including a knockout Custom Shop Jazzmaster.
Ariel Posen entered as a sideman. His scintillating work with the Bros. Landreth made him a guitarist’s guitarist. He’s since stepped out on his own to show he’s more than just shadowy specialist.
His 2019 solo debut, How Long, caught some fans off guard and shined brightly because of his song-first approach. “These days, I like listening to songs and the story and the total package,” Posen told PG in 2019. “I just trusted my gut and I can reach more people by playing songs, and I get moved more by a story and lyrics and harmony, so that’s where I naturally go. The live show is a lot more guitar-centric.”
But saying all that, Posen still gets down on the guitar. His slide might do most the talking (look no further than How Long’s sizzling “Get You Back”), but his fingerstyle flourishes and potent phrasing make him an all-around threat. And on top of all that, the dude can sing, too!
His brand-new album Headway expands on the success of How Long by incorporating more rootsy Americana vibes (“Heart by Heart” or “Carry Me Home”) and slinky neo-soul touches (“What Are We Doing Here”). And guitarists, don’t worry, he still cuts a grooving, silky solo (“Coming Back” or “Heart by Heart”).
Just before releasing his emotive, heartfelt 12-song collection, the burgeoning-songwriting guitarist virtually welcomed PG’s Chris Kies into his Canadian-home jam space.
In this episode, we find out how a $50-pawnhsop purchase inspired his No. 1—a custom-made, S-style baritone—and he explains why all of his guitars (and their tones) have to be “different,” and he goes through his travel-ready pedalboard that’s been grounded for over a year, but has still been a big asset for recording.
D'Addario XPND Pedalboard: https://ddar.io/xpnd.rr
[Facing a mandatory shelter-in-place ordinance to limit the spread of COVID-19, PG enacted a hybrid approach to filming and producing Rig Rundowns. This is the 43rd video in that format.]
If you’ve spent any time with Ariel Posen’s first solo record, How Long, an auditory high mark might be the ripping, raunchy slide solo packed within “Get You Back.” As explained in a 2019 PG interview, Posen’s pairing for that song were two cheapos—a $50 Teisco Del Ray into a Kay combo. However, when he took the pawnshop prize onstage, the magic was gone. “It wouldn’t stay in tune and wouldn’t stop feeding back—it was unbearable [laughs].”
Posen was familiar with Matt Eich of Mule Resophonic—who specializes in building metal-body resonators—so he approached the luthier to construct him a steel-bodied, Strat-style baritone. Eich was reluctant at first (he typically builds roundneck-resos and T-style-baritones), but after seeing a clip of Posen playing live the partnership was started.
The above steel-bodied Strat-style is Posen’s second custom 25"-scale baritone. (On Mule Resophonic’s website, it’s affectionately named the “Posencaster.”) The gold-foil-y pickups are handwound by luthier Matt Eich and are actually mini-humbuckers. He employs a custom Stringjoy set (.017–.064 with a wound G) and typically tunes to B standard. The massive strings allow the shorter-scale baritone to maintain a regular-tension feel. And when he gigs, he tours light (usually two guitars) and so he’ll use a capo to morph into D or E standard.
If touring were a thing right now, Posen would take this Josh Williams Guitars’ Mockingbird on the road for open-C duties. (Again, also using a capo to unlock more doors while still traveling lean.) It speaks with a set of Ron Ellis PAFs that sit in the 7-8k range.
Another one that saw recording time for Headway is the above Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilt '60s Jazzmaster (by Carlos Lopez). Making it work better for him, he had the treble-bleed circuit removed, so when the guitar’s volume is lowered, it actually gets warmer.
Here is Posen’s Fender Ultra Telecaster that was recently upgraded with a sharp faux-tortoise-shell pickguard constructed by Chris Moffitt. (He’s a Northern Ireland-based luthier who works under the name Kithara Guitars.) Another mod he did to this tele was swapping out the stock Ultra Noiseless pickups for a vintage-voiced, ’50s-era, T-style set from Ron Ellis. For pandemic projects he’s had this one set in standard tuning and outfitted with Ernie Ball Slinkys (.012s).
Above is a Wide Sky Guitars P125 Cutaway model built by luthier Patch Rubin. The New Mexico-based shop focuses on classic singlecut, LP-style electrics and golden-age acoustics. The P125 features a chambered sapele body with a carved maple top, mahogany neck with a bound ebony fretboard, and it came loaded with a mixed set of Curtis Novak pickups—a P-90 in the neck and a PAF in the bridge.
Easily the wonkiest guitar in Posen’s collection is this custom ride created by Dahlberg Intruments. The body is based on their standard Crusader model, but the rest is unique to Ariel. Its fiesta red body is made from swamp ash, it has a walnut neck, a fretless ebony fretboard with aluminum fret markers, custom Lücking gold-foil pickups, and a rubber-coated floating wooden bridge.
On the surface, this looks like a junky ’50s Kay. And while you’re not entirely wrong, the guitar is quite playable and has a character all its own thanks to being fully refurbished (completely with a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in the soundhole) by luthier Reuben Cox of L.A.’s Old Style Guitar Shop.
Posen’s favorite style of acoustic is a dreadnought. His prized Martin D-28 rests back home in Winnipeg, but during quarantine he’s been bonding with this Collings D1 T that’s seen work during recent recording projects.
If you’ve caught Ariel onstage, you’ve probably seen him plug into a Two-Rock. For the recording purposes of this Rundown, he fired up his Classic Reverb and routed it into the Universal Audio Ox Load Box.
Another tone machine used during the pandemic is Posen’s Revv D20 (sitting on top of the aforementioned UA Ox Box).
Posen toured with this setup for over a year before everything shut down. In the Rundown he mentions that he uses it quite a bit for sessions, proving to be flexible while compacted into a travel-friendly package.
Starting at the top left, you have a Chase Bliss Tonal Recall, Walrus Audio Monument, and a Chase Bliss Dark World. Down below that he has a Vemuram Jan Ray overdrive and a KingTone Germanium miniFUZZ. And the bottom row he has a Morningstar FX MC6 MIDI Controller and a TC Electronic PolyTune3 Mini Noir.
But wait … there’s more!! Underneath the top two rows sits a trio of stomps—a Mythos Pedals’ Argonaut Mini Octave Up, Eventide H9, and Ariel’s signature Hudson Electronics Broadcast AP that he leaves on all the time (cleaning up with his guitar’s volume knob).
Another big piece of the tonal pie for Posen is using his signature brass Rock Slide. He worked alongside Rock Slide’s Danny Songhurst to develop his namesake slide that features a round-tip end that helps Posen avoid dead spots or unwanted scratching. While he prefers polished brash, you can see about that it’s also available in a nickel-plated finish and an aged brass.
“Strangled cat" and "glassy Jonny Greenwood” are just two attitudes the former Beck and Shins sidewoman engages in her band’s adventurous indie-rock.
Facing a mandatory shelter-in-place ordinance to limit the spread of COVID-19, PG enacted a hybrid approach to filming and producing Rig Rundowns. This is the 24th video in that format.
Jessica Dobson started her music career early as she was signed to Atlantic at just 19. She recorded two solo albums, but both her and the label did not like the end result, so they were ultimately shelved. Some would see this one-two punch of disappointment a crippling blow, but she took it in stride focusing on her more indie-orientated jams. This led her to a string of supporting guitar roles with Beck, the Shins, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Spoon, and Conor Oberst. Each of these stops gave her the stripes and positive energy to revisit a solo career that was earlier stifled.
In 2009, the hired gun transformed into a bandleader under the Deep Sea Diver moniker and alongside husband Peter Mansen (drums), she released the New Caves EP. Garrett Gue (bass), and Elliot Jackson (guitar/synth) joined them and quartet self-released their full-length debut, History Speaks, in 2012 (while she was still in the Shins). 2014 was the year for DSD’s Always Waiting EP that was succeeded by 2016’s Secrets.
Just ahead of Deep Sea Diver’s third full-length release, Impossible Weight, Dobson virtually welcomed PG’s Chris Kies into her friend’s Seattle-based studio. The Deep Sea Diver captain opens up about aligning her offset guitar choices to indie icons Elvis Costello, Johnny Marr, and Jonny Greenwood, crediting Nels Cline for introducing her to a must-have pedal, and twisting her band’s sound from “strangled cats to glassy Johnny Greenwood” and everywhere in between.