![Rig Rundown: Brent Mason [2021]](https://www.premierguitar.com/media-library/rig-rundown-brent-mason-2021.jpg?id=27278334&width=1245&height=700&quality=85&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0)
It's impossible to overstate Brent Mason's impact on country and, arguably, even rock guitar. Over the course of his more-than-35-year career, Mason has perfected a tone that's inspired an untold number of players, and there's even a Tele mod that bears his name. He's also a highly respected and successful producer and solo artist, a member of the Musicians Hall of Fame, has won the Academy of Country Music's Guitarist of the Year award 12 times, and there's a Grammy on his mantle.
Mason's live gear—which he showed us before his recent gig at Nashville's 3rd & Lindsley—is simple and cool as hell, but it's not his guitars or amps that've made him a hero. It's his imagination, virtuosic chops, and pure musicality.
[Brought to you by D'Addario XS Strings: https://www.daddario.com/XSRR]
Honky Tonk Excalibur
Mason's battered and highly modified 1967 Telecaster has probably been on more hit country songs than any other guitar. The car-paint re-fin happened before he got it, but most of his mods were done by top Nashville luthier Joe Glaser. His pickups are a neck Seymour Duncan humbucker, a Duncan single-coil in the middle (for the famed Brent Mason pickup mod), and another Duncan single-coil in the bridge.
Top of the Whirl
The headstock on Mason's well-traveled Tele shows its years, and plenty of character accumulated over its storied history. His old paint features locking tuners and a Glaser B-bender.
Not Yer Average Tele
Here's a close-up of that extra pickup. Note the additional speed dial, too. The bridge and neck pickups are controlled by a standard 3-way switch, with a master volume and tone. The middle pickup has its own individual volume control that lets Mason feather in as much or little as he wants, to combine its output with one or both of the other pickups.
Meet the Mason Model
The only other guitar Brent brought to this gig was his new Fender Brent Mason Signature Telecaster. This alder-bodied Tele has basically the same ingredients of his original, but with a lot less wear and tear.
Bend It Like Brent
Here's a close-up of the arm of the Glaser B-bender. It has no screws, no slack, no wobble … but it does have a thumbscrew to fine-tune its destination pitch.
Perfect Strangers Side by Side
Here's the sensei and its student in a side-by-side comparison.
Four-Way Heat
Mason was switching between his 1964 Fender Twin Reverb and this early '70s Fender Super Reverb modded by Jeff Himes. The Super, with Mason's signal running into its no-frills Normal channel, did most of the heavy lifting on this gig.
Chairman of the Board
Mason's never been a big effects player, but his live pedalboard covers a lot of essential territory. It holds a Boss GE-7 Equalizer, a Wampler Ego Compressor, a Wampler Euphoria overdrive, an Xotic BB Preamp, Wampler's Hot Wired V2 distortion/overdrive, a Dunlop volume pedal with a Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner connected to its tuner out, a Fender Tre-Verb tremolo/reverb, a Fender Compugilist compressor/distortion, an Electro-Harmonix Memory Man 1100-TT, and a Live Wire ABY Box. It's all powered by a Truetone 1 Spot Pro CS12 with a Dunlop DC Brick for backup.
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Truetone 1 Spot Pro XP5-PS 5-output Low-profile Isolated Guitar Pedal Power Supply
The XP5-PS is a package containing the 1 Spot Pro XP5, along with a 12Vdc 2.5A adapter, which allows you to power the XP5 without having a CS11. The adapter comes with an array of international plugs so that you can take it with your pedalboard anywhere in the world. Some musicians may even choose to get one of these, plus another XP5, to distribute their power around the pedalboard and have the dual XP5s acting as two pedal risers.
PRS Guitars today announced the 2025 PRS SE Series lineup, bringing sophisticated new instruments, new colors, updated player-centric appointments, and new left-handed signature models to players.
New Models
SE Custom 24
2025 brings two stunning new electric models to the PRS SE Series with the PRS SE Custom 24-08 Quilt and the PRS SE Custom 24 Semi-Hollow Piezo. While the SE Custom 24-08 is an aesthetic update, the PRS SE Custom 24 Semi-Hollow Piezo is an all-new instrument for players seeking acoustic and electric tones in one instrument.
“Veneering is an artform our partners have mastered and branching out into more veneer materials like quilted maple, and further developing our staining operations, brings visual art to players while we also continue to advance the tactile elements of guitar making at PT Cort,” said PRS Guitars Chief Operating Officer, Jack Higginbotham. “Meanwhile, the SE Custom 24 Semi-Hollow Piezo model represents our continued quest to bring innovation, sophisticated versatility, and value regardless of where a guitar sits inside of our lineup. The piezo system developed with Lloyd Baggs and his team truly shines in this guitar.”
Also debuting for 2025, the PRS SE T60E is the newest addition to the SE acoustic-electric family’s Tonare Grand body shape. Built to exude full, vintage tone, the SE T60E pairs ziricote back and sides with a solid spruce top, PRS hybrid “X”/Classical bracing and a PRS-voiced Fishman Presys VT pickup.
Left-Handed Signature Guitars
PRS SE Zach Myers
As teased earlier this year, three new left-handed signature models are also now available: PRS SE Silver Sky, PRS SE Silver Sky Maple, and the PRS SE Zach Myers.
“We put years into creating guitars that meet the exacting specifications from our Signature Artists. For them to attach their name to a model means it must be everything they need and everything other players, from beginner to pro, will need,” said PRS Guitars Director of Artist & Community Relations, Bev Fowler. “We are pleased to finally offer these two artist models for left-handed players.”
Updated Appointments & New Colors
SE McCarty 594 Singlecut
Updated appointments and new colors across much of the lineup also continue to elevate the playing experience of the PRS SE Series. For 2025, many of the guitars in the SE Series will now feature lampshade knobs (replacing speed knobs), and guitars that sport a 5-way blade electronics switch will be upgraded to PRS’s proprietary flat-tip switch design. Both of these designs are modeled after appointments found on PRS’s Maryland-made electrics and give players a more ergonomic, player-friendly experience.
“We are happy to bring our latest efforts to the guitar-player community. It almost feels like we are presenting a song we wrote instead of a guitar we’ve designed. It’s a personal effort and our team has all the right kinds of pride around sharing these new instruments and enhancements. Paul can often be heard saying ‘this is our time,’ and I feel that across the spectrum of our instruments, from our Maryland-made guitars through our SE Series,” said PRS Guitars Chief Operating Officer, Jack Higginbotham.
Many models have also been updated with new colors, like Cobalt Blue and Fire Red acoustic models as well as new blue, gold, and silver satin metallics on the $499 USD PRS SE CE Standard, a model introduced earlier this year.
For more information, please visit prsguitars.com.
