About 10 years ago Mannequin Pussy bubbled up from the percolating Philly rock scene. Formed by guitarist/singer Marisa "Missy" Dabice and drummer Athanasios Paul, their primary calling card was a stinging combination of snippy and sizzling ragers.
The lineup was eventually filled out with Drew Adler (drums) and Colins "Bear" Regisford (bass). (Paul moved to lead guitar in 2013 and Kaleen Reading took over for drums in 2015. Ultimately, Paul left earlier this year after recording Perfect.)
Over the course of three albums and a remarkable brand-new EP, the band's sound has expanded, evolved, and deepened with more engaging melodies, gallant songwriting, and stouter song structures. Through time, gigs, and reps, Mannequin Pussy progressed beyond the linear rage often dished by young punks. The brazen, brash, locomotive charm in Marisa's lyrics and the band's expansive sound has become fully complemented by a refined approach with smoother, swelling dynamics and sharper care of their craft.
Touring in support of late 2019's Patience and the pandemic-produced 2021 EP Perfect (both released on Epitpah Records), Mannequin Pussy's Dabice and Regisford invited PG to Nashville's High Watt for a gear chat before their sold-out show during their first-ever headlining run. Just ahead of soundcheck, Missy gushed about her first P-90 guitar, while "Bear" admits that his Player Precision proves he should've always been a P dude. And they each detonate the boom with their own strategic stomp of stank.
(Sadly, shortly after this Rundown was filmed, on October 23, Mannequin Pussy had their van, gear, and band merch stolen from outside their Akron, Ohio hotel room. Brooklyn Vegan chronicled the disaster with some MP Instagram posts and a link to their GoFundMe page. Thankfully, the van and some merch have been recovered, however, all their equipment is still missing.)
[Brought to you by D'Addario XPND Pedalboard: https://www.daddario.com/XPNDRR]Three P-90s and the Truth!
During the band's last pre-shutdown tour, Missy broke a string on her Strat (more on that one in a minute). She didn't have a backup and the opener let her borrow their Reverend. From the first chord, she was hooked.
"The minute I plugged in this guitar, I looked around and said, 'What the fuck is this thing?!' [laughs] It sounded so good." She started investigating Reverend and quickly decided to treat herself to a brand-new Jetstream 390. While she only had the guitar for about a month when we filmed, she already appreciated how its Rev 9A5 P-90s were much quieter than her Strat single-coils. The band typically plays in standard (they wrote one song in drop A) and the 390 takes Ernie Ball 2215 Nickel Skinny Top/Heavy Bottom strings (.010–.052).
Mean Green
For the first six years of Mannequin Pussy, if you saw Missy, you saw this Strat. Three days before MP's first tour, her house was ransacked including her beloved Jaguar. ("It was the first guitar I spent real money on.")
She rushed down to a local Philly guitar store and scooped this Fender MIM Strat. The last half-dozen years she upgraded all its hardware and pickups, but it was still no match for the Rev Jetstream 390.
Bring It!
While recording 2016's Romantic, Missy plugged into the brother of this head. Loving how it sounded in the room and on tape, she asked the New Jersey homebuilder if he'd do another. The Dark Moon, a sun-yellow head has a circuit based on '70s Traynors. It rocks through a no-name 2x12 cabinet. Besides how good this amp sounds, the best part might be the "on" switch that's labeled "bring it." (The Drkmttr sticker is for a Nashville-based volunteer-run underground arts collective for artists of all kinds.)
Ambiance and Aggression
Mannequin Pussy lives life in the fast lane. Swift, succinct, missile-like songs fill their catalog. On the flip side, there's a balance of beauty and buoyancy that counters the rage. The two personalities are encompassed on Missy's board. The anger comes from the ZVEX Double Rock Vexter and EarthQuaker Devices Hoof. The prettier mood breezes on the backs of the Strymon BigSky and Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Boy. A Boss VE-20 Vocal Performer Effects Processor further animates Missy's singing. And a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus juice the stomps while the Ernie Ball VPJR Tuner keeps her guitars in check.
Bear’s Goldilocks Bass
Regisford's lone bass on this run was a Fender Player Precision that's all stock except for an upgraded Badass bridge. He rides with Ernie Ball Power Slinkys (.055–.110) on it. Throughout the set Bear will switch between fingerstyle and hammering with a pick. When he gets rocking, he'll strum with a Dunlop Tortex .88 mm greenie.
Tiny but Mighty
After touring with lunky stacks, Colins was on the lookout for an amp that was portable but still blasted. His search ended when he encountered the Orange Terror Bass that belts out 500 watts and is relative of the favored AD200 Bass head. The diminutive dominator runs through a SWR Big Bertha 2x15 cab (covered by Deebo from Friday.)
Don’t Shred on Me, Bruh!
Bear was upfront and honest when going through his pedalboard explaining that the EQD Bit Commander and Afterneath plus the Boss DD-6 Digital Delay are just-for-fun effects. He will randomly kick them on throughout the set when he's feeling it. The key to his tectonic-shifting tone is the Abominable Electronics Don't Shred on Me that is a Rat clone (using the same LM308 chip) with some capacitor changes making it a low-end blanket of dirt and drive. Everything comes to life thanks to the Walrus Audio Aetos.
Gibson originally launched the EB-6 model with the intention of serving consumers looking for a “tic-tac” bass sound.
The Gibson EB-6 was announced in 1959 and came into the world in 1960, not with a dual-horn body but with that of an elegant ES-335. They looked stately, with a thin, semi-hollow body, f-holes, and a sunburst finish. Our pick for this Vintage Vault column is one such first-year model, in about as original condition as you’re able to find today. “Why?” you may be asking. Well, read on....
When the EB-6 was introduced, the Bass VI was still a glimmer in Leo Fender’s eye. The real competition were the Danelectro 6-string basses that seemed to have popped up out of nowhere and were suddenly being used on lots of hit records by the likes of Elvis, Patsy Cline, and other household names. Danos like the UB-2 (introduced in ’56), the Longhorn 4623 (’58), and the Shorthorn 3612 (’58) were the earliest attempts any company made at a 6-string bass in this style: not quite a standard electric bass, not quite a guitar, nor, for that matter, quite like a baritone guitar.
The only change this vintage EB-6 features is a replacement set of Kluson tuners.
Photo by Ken Lapworth
Gibson, Fender, and others during this era would in fact call these basses “baritone guitars,” to add to our confusion today. But these vintage “baritones” were all tuned one octave below a standard guitar, with scale lengths around 30", while most modern baritones are tuned B-to-B or A-to-A and have scale lengths between 26" and 30".)
At the time, those Danelectros were instrumental to what was called the “tic-tac” bass sound of Nashville records produced by Chet Atkins, or the “click-bass” tones made out west by producer Lee Hazlewood. Gibson wanted something for this market, and the EB-6 was born.
“When the EB-6 was introduced, the Bass VI was still a glimmer in Leo Fender’s eye.”
The 30.5" scale 1960 EB-6 has a single humbucking pickup, a volume knob, a tone knob, and a small, push-button “Tone Selector Switch” that engages a treble circuit for an instant tic-tac sound. (Without engaging that switch, you get a bass-heavy tone so deep that cowboy chords will sound like a muddy mess.)
The EB-6, for better or for worse, did not unseat the Danelectros, and a November 1959 price list from Gibson hints at why: The EB-6 retailed for $340, compared to Dano price tags that ranged from $85 to $150. Only a few dozen EB-6 basses were shipped in 1960, and only 67 total are known to have been built before Gibson changed the shape to the SG style in 1962.
Most players who come across an EB-6 today think it was a response to the Fender Bass VI, but the former actually beat the latter to the market by a full year.
Photo by Ken Lapworth
It’s sad that so few were built. Sure, it was a high-end model made to achieve the novelty tic-tac sound of cheaper instruments, but in its full-voiced glory, the EB-6 has a huge potential of tones. It would sound great in our contemporary guitar era where more players are exploring baritone ranges, and where so many people got back into the Bass VI after seeing the Beatles play one in the 2021 documentary, Get Back.
It’s sadder, still, how many original-era EB-6s have been parted out in the decades since. Remember earlier when I wrote that our Vintage Vaultpick was about as original as you could find? That’s because the model’s single humbucker is a PAF, its Kluson tuners are double-line, and its knobs are identical to those on Les Paul ’Bursts. So as people repaired broken ’Bursts, converted other LPs to ’Bursts, or otherwise sought to give other Gibsons a “Golden Era” sound and look ... they often stripped these forgotten EB-6 basses for parts.
This original EB-6 is up for sale now from Reverb seller Emerald City Guitars for a $16,950 asking price at the time of writing. The only thing that isn’t original about it is a replacement set of Kluson tuners, not because its originals were stolen but just to help preserve them. (They will be included in the case.)
With so few surviving 335-style EB-6 basses, Reverb doesn’t have a ton of sales data to compare prices to. Ten years ago, a lucky buyer found a nearly original 1960 EB-6 for about $7,000. But Emerald City’s $16,950 asking price is closer to more recent examples and asking prices.
Sources: Prices on Gibson Instruments, November 1, 1959, Tony Bacon’s “Danelectro’s UB-2 and the Early Days of 6-String Basses” Reverb News article, Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars, Tom Wheeler’s American Guitars: An Illustrated History, Reverb listings and Price Guide sales data.
Originally released in the 1980s, the Victory has long been a cult favorite among guitarists for its distinctive double cutaway design and excellent upper-fret access. These new models feature flexible electronics, enhanced body contours, improved weight and balance, and an Explorer headstock shape.
A Cult Classic Made Modern
The new Victory features refined body contours, improved weight and balance, and an updated headstock shape based on the popular Gibson Explorer.
Effortless Playing
With a fast-playing SlimTaper neck profile and ebony fretboard with a compound radius, the Victory delivers low action without fret buzz everywhere on the fretboard.
Flexible Electronics
The two 80s Tribute humbucker pickups are wired to push/pull master volume and tone controls for coil splitting and inner/outer coil selection when the coils are split.
For more information, please visit gibson.com.
Gibson Victory Figured Top Electric Guitar - Iguana Burst
