Guitarist John Lee Shannon and bassist Dan Horne explore the sonic space with a mix of vintage amps, DIY cabs, and plenty of pedals.
Founded by the late Neal Casal, this instrumental band of sonic explorers was born out of a request for set-break music during the Grateful Dead’s final run of shows in San Francisco and Chicago during 2015. Originally, CATS was going to be a one-off project, but fan feedback pushed Casal and company to release it as Interludes for the Dead. This wasn’t simply wordless Dead covers, but new creations formed in essence and spirt of the Dead.
In 2018, the group released their second double album, Let it Wander, and followed it up with a completely improvised EP featuring drummer Joe Russo. Sadly, a week after tracking their self-titled album Casal took his own life. Casal urged the group to carry on without him. The group recruited Eric Krasno and Scott Metzger for various tours before settling in with John Lee Shannon in July of 2021. Shortly before a gig at Brooklyn Bowl in Nashville, John Bohlinger caught up with Shannon and bassist Dan Horne to talk gear.
[Brought to you by D’Addario XS Strings: https://www.daddario.com/XSRR]
The Lone Ranger
John Lee Shannon tours with a single guitar: a 2017 Fender Custom Shop 1969 Journeyman Relic Strat. It’s outfitted with handwound ’69 pickups in the neck and middle with a Texas Special in the bridge. “It’s really barky,” mentions Shannon. “It’s not a ‘tame’ Strat,” He puts D’Addario NYXL (.010–.046) strings on it and uses Pick Boy Vintage Celluloid Rainbow .75 mm picks.
Amp on the Run
Due to somewhat complicated logistics, Shannon had been looking online at various Nashville guitar shops for an amp he could pick up at the last minute and use on this run. After flying in from Brooklyn the morning of the show, he headed straight for Rumble Seat Music to check out this 1968 Sunn 100S and matching 2x15 cabinet. Shannon put down a deposit before getting to town hoping the amp would work for him. Obviously, it did. Later he found out this amp was on consignment from Nashville session king Tom Bukovac.
The Mothership!
After experimenting with various pedals on the band’s West coast run, Shannon shifted some things around and even took inspiration from Casal’s board to form this mothership. The centerpiece is the Road Rage true bypass looper which allows Shannon to individually bring each pedal in and out of the signal flow. Right before the looper is a JAM Pedals Wahcko, which was custom ordered solely based on the finish. Other highlights include a Greer Amps Super Hornet, Strymon Lex, a trio of Catalinbread stomps (Belle Epoch, Echorec, and Topanga), a Walrus Audio Monument, Lovepedal Rubber Chicken and a pair of BearFoot FX (Pale Green and Honey Beest OD).
Vintage Vibes
Circles Around the Sun take plenty of musical risks, but that fearlessness stretches over into their gear choices as bassist Dan Horne also takes a single bass on the road. This 1978 Alembic Series 1 has an unusual setup. Although you can power the active pickups with batteries, Horne uses an Alembic DS5 power supply to provide power via the cable. (The DS5 also has dual outputs, but Horne only uses the bass output.)
Tower of Doom
The Grateful Dead’s “Wall of Sound”-era speakers served as the inspiration for Horne’s triple-cabinet tower. The top cabinet was built by Bag End while the bottom two were DIY affairs created by a friend. All three cabinets feature a Weber speaker.
Under the Hood
The engine behind Horne’s sound is this rack, which includes an Alembic F-1X tube preamp—powered by a 12AX7—and a Crown XLS 1502 power amp. All of Horne’s effects are behind him on the pedal drawer and he controls them via a Voodoo Lab PX-8 Plus.
Horne's Tone Zone
Horne’s pedal rack includes a Sonic Research ST-300 tuner, Boss BF-2 Flanger, MXR Carbon Copy, MXR 10-Band EQ, a vintage Electro-Harmonix Small Stone Phase Shifter, MXR Bass Envelope Filter, and a BearFoot FX Pale Green compressor. He wrangles them all with a Voodoo Lab HEX loop switcher that’s controlled by a PX-8 Plus.
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Nashville's historic Gruhn Guitars give PG an exclusive look at a very early amp that is a piece of rock history that preceded the heralded JTM45. Amp builder and reverb aficionado Eric Borash of Ebo Sounds shares his expertise on this rare amp's lineage, while John Bohlinger plugs in Dan Auerbach's old '60s ES-335 to test it out.
Beetronics FX Tuna Fuzz pedal offers vintage-style fuzz in a quirky tuna can enclosure.
With a single "Stinker" knob for volume control and adjustable fuzz gain from your guitar's volume knob, this pedal is both unique and versatile.
"The unique tuna can format embodies the creative spirit that has always been the heart of Beetronics, but don’t let the unusual package fool you: the Tuna Fuzz is a serious pedal with great tone. It offers a preset level of vintage-style fuzz in a super simple single-knob format. Its “Stinker” knob controls the amount of volume boost. You can control the amount of fuzz with your guitar’s volume knob, and the Tuna Fuzz cleans up amazingly well when you roll back the volume on your guitar. To top it off, Beetronics has added a cool Tunabee design on the PCB, visible through the plastic back cover."
The Tuna Fuzz draws inspiration from Beetronics founder Filipe's early days of tinkering, when limitedfunds led him to repurpose tuna cans as pedal enclosures. Filipe even shared his ingenuity by teachingclasses in Brazil, showing kids how to build pedals using these unconventional housings. Although Filipe eventually stopped making pedals with tuna cans, the early units were a hit on social media whenever photos were posted.
Tuna Fuzz features include:
- Single knob control – “Stinker” – for controlling output volume
- Preset fuzz gain, adjustable from your guitar’s volume knob
- 9-volt DC operation using standard external power supply – no battery compartment
- True bypass switching
One of the goals of this project was to offer an affordable price so that everyone could own a Beetronicspedal. For that reason, the pedal will be sold exclusively on beetronicsfx.com for a sweet $99.99.
For more information, please visit beetronicsfx.com.
What are Sadler’s favorite Oasis jams? And if he ever shares a bill with Oasis and they ask him onstage, what song does he want to join in on?
Once the news of the Oasis reunion got out, Sadler Vaden hit YouTube hard on the tour bus, driving his bandmates crazy. The Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit guitarist has been a Noel Gallagher mega-fan since he was a teenager, so he joined us to wax poetic about Oasis’ hooks, Noel’s guitar sound, and the band’s symphonic melodies. What are Sadler’s favorite Oasis jams? And if he ever shares a bill with Oasis and they ask him onstage, what song does he want to join in on?
Check out the Epiphone Noel Gallagher Riviera Dark Wine Red at epiphone.com
EBS introduces the Solder-Free Flat Patch Cable Kit, featuring dual anchor screws for secure fastening and reliable audio signal.
EBS is proud to announce its adjustable flat patch cable kit. It's solder-free and leverages a unique design that solves common problems with connection reliability thanks to its dual anchor screws and its flat cable design. These two anchor screws are specially designed to create a secure fastening in the exterior coating of the rectangular flat cable. This helps prevent slipping and provides a reliable audio signal and a neat pedal board and also provide unparalleled grounding.
The EBS Solder-Free Flat Patch Cable is designed to be easy to assemble. Use the included Allen Key to tighten the screws and the cutter to cut the cable in desired lengths to ensure consistent quality and easy assembling.
The EBS Solder-Free Flat Patch Cable Kit comes in two sizes. Either 10 connector housings with 2,5 m (8.2 ft) cable or 6 connectors housings with 1,5 m (4.92 ft) cable. Tools included.
Use the EBS Solder-free Flat Patch Cable Kit to make cables to wire your entire pedalboard or to create custom-length cables to use in combination with any of the EBS soldered Flat Patch Cables.
Estimated Price:
MAP Solder-free Flat Patch Cable Kit 6 pcs: $ 59,99
MAP Solder-free Flat Patch Cable Kit 10 pcs: $ 79,99
MSRP Solder-free Flat Patch Cable Kit 6 pcs: 44,95 €
MSRP Solder-free Flat Patch Cable Kit 10 pcs: 64,95 €
For more information, please visit ebssweden.com.