Carefully chosen pedals and a vintage laptop become "a poor-man's Kemper," enabling the Atlanta quartet to bridge psychedelia, post-hardcore, and four-on-the-floor rock.
Musicāand guitarāare therapeutic. The songs we write and riffs we play help reduce the pain, alleviate the stress, and produce some positivity in our lives. Microwave's singer/guitarist/lyricist Nathan Hardy has been using the studio and stage as his leather couch for nearly 10 years.
Stovall, in 2014, saw him question his Mormon missionary upbringing. Two years later, Much Love focused on realities versus the romance of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle. And 2019's Death Is a Warm Blanket is a dark, heavier, raging deep dive into his nihilistic thoughts. All three albums are honest, coarse evaluations of the pushing and pulling in Hardy's head and heart.
Musically, the band has matured alongside Hardy's contemplative subject matter. Stovall and Much Love harness the teeter-totter dynamics mastered by Nirvana and also felt in Microwave's post-hardcore contemporaries like early Citizen and Turnover.
While their loudest, most aggressive tendencies were unleashed in Death Is a Warm Blanket, Microwave's melodies and hooks can still be sticky and sweet as honey. Finally able to tour in support of that album, Microwave packed Nashville's Mercy Lounge on October 15. Just after soundcheck, Hardy and guitarist Travis Hill introduced PG to their favorite battle axes, walked us through their Odd Couple pedalboards, and Hill explained how an outdated laptop and trial version of Logic Pro provides a universal "poor man's Kemper" for guitars and bass.
[Brought to you by D'Addario XPND Pedalboard: https://www.daddario.com/XPNDRR]
Classic Cruiser
Travis Hill took just one guitar with him during Microwave's fall U.S. tourāhis beloved early 2000s GibsonĀ Les Paul Classic 1960 reissue. (A guitar he swears he'll never sell.) The wine red beaut is completely stock including its 496R and 500T humbuckers. It takes Ernie Ball 2215 Nickel Skinny Top/Heavy Bottom strings (.010ā.052).
Logic-al Logistics
The band practices in Atlanta using the Overloud plug-in on Pro Tools, and they're accustomed to its amp tones. Nathan wanted to travel with Kempers, but Travis suggested he could run guitars and bass through a free, bundled Slate version of Overloud via a trial version of Logic Pro and an old Focusrite Saffire Pro. Bass has one track, Nathan has two, and Travis has three with two going to FOH and one hitting his onstage cab for monitoring and feedback.
I Gotta Be Heard
While most of Hill's tone gets pumped through the PA and into his in-ear monitors, he still does require stage noise for live monitoring and feedback. He takes out the Orange Rockerverb 50 combo (bypassing its circuitry) and treats it like an extension cab. He prefers the open-back design and hasn't touched the stock Celestion Vintage 30s.
Organized Filth
The majority of Travis' tone comes from here. And at a quick glance you have two takeaways: He loves grimy gain (see the top row) and keeps a tidy workspace. His Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer is always on. ("It's just a slight push, but you notice it when it's not there.") The other top-row terrorizers are a Fulltone OCD, Fuzzrocious Cat Tail, Way Huge Swollen Pickle, Fuzzrocious Demon King, Walrus Audio Iron Horse, and, off to the side, an EarthQuaker Devices Data Corrupter. Anything that includes repeats, modulation, and clean sounds is supplied by the Boss GT-1000CORE. For maximum control, he has a Boss ES-8 Switching System and Boss EV-30 Dual Expression pedal.
Addendum Effects
Off Travis' main stomp station is an auxiliary board that holds a RapcoHorizon Straightline Passive Direct Box and an Electro-Harmonix 22500 Dual Stereo Looper that keeps some pre-recorded tracks.
Go For the Gold!
Frontman and Microwave cofounder Nathan Hardy unsuspectedly strolled into Atlanta's Earthshaking Music and walked out with this Rivolta Guitars Mondata II HB finished in a marvelous capo gold. The used score still has its original Rivolta "Brevetto" PAF-style humbuckers. Other highlights include a mahogany bodyāwith a raised center block Ć la a Firebirdāand a maple neck paired with a pau ferro fretboard.
Baritone Bruiser
Microwave's 2019 album Death Is a Warm Blanket requires some beefy bari parts, so Hardy found this Fender Blacktop Baritone Telecaster that originally started life in an HSS format. When he bought it, the previous owner had swapped in a set of TV Jones Filter'Trons. To better fit the crisp heaviness Microwave heats the stage with, Hardy had a tech friend drop in a set of EMG 81/85s. Nathan employs Ernie Ball 2220 Power Slinkys (.011ā.048).
Nothing Stays Forever
If Travis Hill's pedalboard is Felix Unger, then Hardy's has to be Oscar Madison. Nathan admits in the Rundown that everything on his board has an expiration date. He loves swapping in and out stomps, chasing perfect pedal pairings. The current construct of his tone-tweaking platform harbors some powerfully paranormal boxesāspecifically the Gamechanger Audio Plasma (high-voltage distortion pedal) and the Hologram Electronics Dream Sequence (sequencer, envelope shaper, pitch shifter, sampler, and more). The rest of the pedals are fairly standard: Boss BF-3 Flanger, DigiTech Whammy, Ibanez TS Mini Tube Screamer, EarthQuaker Devices Gray Channel, Greer Amps Super Hornet, Boss PH-3 Phase Shifter, Boss DD-500 Digital Delay, Boss GE-7 Equalizer, and TC Electronic Mimiq. The pair of guitars are kept in check by the Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner and a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus juices the pedals.
Singing Stomps
Hardy hits his voice with some effects from the Line 6 DL4, Electro-Harmonix Small Clone, and Pro Co RAT.
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- Rivolta Sferata Guitar Demo | Dive into Forma Series - Premier Guitar āŗ
Jack White's 2025 No Name Tour features live tracks from his album No Name, with shows across North America, Europe, the UK, and Japan.
The EP is a 5-song collection of live tracks taken from Whiteās 2024 edition of the tour, which was characterized by surprise shows in historic clubs around the world to support the 2024 album No Name.
No Name is available now via Third Man Records. The acclaimed collection was recently honored with a 2025 GRAMMYĀ® Award nomination for āBest Rock Albumā ā Whiteās 34th solo career nomination and 46th overall along with 16 total GRAMMYĀ® Award wins. The No Name Tour began, February 6, with a sold-out show at Toronto, ONās HISTORY and then travels North America, Europe, the United Kingdom, and Japan through late May. For complete details and remaining ticket availability, please visit jackwhiteiii.com/tour-dates.
Whiteās sixth studio album, No Name officially arrived on Friday, August 2 following its clandestine white-label appearance at Third Man Records locations that saw customers slipped, guerilla-style, free unmarked vinyl copies in their shopping bags. True to his DIY roots, the record was recorded at Whiteās Third Man Studio throughout 2023 and 2024, pressed to vinyl at Third Man Pressing, and released by Third Man Records.
For more information, please visit jackwhiteiii.com.
JACK WHITE - NO NAME TOUR 2025
FEBRUARY
11 ā Brooklyn, NY ā Kings Theatre
12 ā Brooklyn, NY ā Brooklyn Paramount
17 ā Boston, MA ā Roadrunner
18 ā Boston, MA ā Roadrunner
21 ā Paris, France ā La Cigale
22 ā Paris, France ā La Trianon
23 ā Paris, France ā La Trianon
25 ā Utrecht, Netherlands ā TivoliVredenburg (Ronda)
26 ā Utrecht, Netherlands ā TivoliVredenburg (Ronda)
28 ā London, UK ā Troxy
MARCH
1 ā London, UK ā Troxy
2 ā Birmingham, UK ā O2 Academy Birmingham
3 ā Glasgow, UK ā Barrowland Ballroom
10 ā Hiroshima, Japan ā Blue Live Hiroshima
12 ā Osaka, Japan ā Gorilla Hall
13 ā Nagoya, Japan ā Diamond Hall
15 ā Tokyo, Japan ā Toyosu PIT
17 ā Tokyo, Japan ā Toyosu PIT
APRIL
3 ā St. Louis, MO ā The Factory
4 ā Kansas City, MO ā Uptown Theater
5 ā Omaha, NE ā Steelhouse Omaha
7 ā Saint Paul, MN ā Palace Theatre
8 ā Saint Paul, MN ā Palace Theatre
10 ā Chicago, IL ā The Salt Shed (Indoors)
11 ā Chicago, IL ā The Salt Shed (Indoors)
12 ā Detroit, MI ā Masonic Temple Theatre
13 ā Detroit, MI ā Masonic Temple Theatre
15 ā Grand Rapids, MI ā GLC Live at 20 Monroe
16 ā Cleveland, OH ā Agora Theatre
18 ā Nashville, TN ā The Pinnacle
19 ā Nashville, TN ā The Pinnacle
MAY
4 ā Austin, TX ā ACL Live at the Moody Theater
5 ā Austin, TX ā ACL Live at the Moody Theater
6 ā Dallas, TX ā South Side Ballroom
8 ā Denver, CO ā Mission Ballroom
9 ā Denver, CO ā Mission Ballroom
10 ā Salt Lake City, UT ā The Union Event Center
12 ā Los Angeles, CA ā Hollywood Palladium
13 ā Los Angeles, CA ā Hollywood Palladium
15 ā Santa Barbara, CA ā Santa Barbara Bowl
16 ā Oakland, CA ā Fox Theater
17 ā San Francisco, CA ā The Masonic
19 ā Seattle, WA ā The Paramount Theatre
20 ā Seattle, WA ā The Paramount Theatre
22 ā Vancouver, BC ā Commodore Ballroom
23 ā Vancouver, BC ā Commodore Ballroom
24 ā Troutdale, OR ā Edgefield Concerts on the Lawn
A dose of magic gain potion.
Works like a little vial of magic gain potion. Fattens without obscuring individual frequency bands.
None.
$129
Solodallas SVDS Boost
solodallas.com
The Schaeffer-Vega Diversity Systemāan early and very successful wireless systemāexcelled at the tasks it was designed for. But there was more magic than met the eye. Though designed to sound as transparent as possible, it nonetheless colored the signal in a way that people like Angus Young and Eddie Van Halen found essential.
SoloDallas explored the possibilities of this circuit before in pedals like theSchaeffer Replica, but the new SVDS Boost strips the formula to essentials. Minimalist controlsāone knob, thatās itāmake this boost no less delicious. Iām not surprised Angus Young was smitten with the original SVDS. An SG and Marshall 18-watt amp sound fantastic naked, but the SVDS Boost has the rare talent for fattening everything without seeming to favor or obscure any frequency band too much. And as zest to the PAF/Marshall style formula, it makes the kind of rowdy, organic, airy, large, and punch-packing Marshall sound you would dream of getting in a studio or hearing on the radio. There are many shades of this basic awesome color in spite of the single knob. Unity gain lives in the earliest third of its range. From there you certainly get more volume, but mostly you bathe in various hues of compressed, saturated, thick, and dynamite growl. You donāt need a Gibson and a Marshall to use it to devastating effect, either. A Telecaster and Vibrolux snap with attitude and whip-crack energy with the SVDS in the line. And with both guitar/amp combos, the SVDSā wide dynamic responsiveness to volume and tone attenuation assures that things stay cracking when you need more control.
Learn about this iconic guitar's journey, its mods done by Frank, and hear how it sounds in the hands of his son Dweezil.
Neil Youngās ā70s hits are some of the most recognizable radio rock jams of all time. But Neilās guitar playing continued to grow over the ensuing decades, as he traversed styles from blues to country to electronic to rockabilly and beyond, eventually developing one of the most tonally decadent, fully formed improvisational voices in the entire guitar universe.
Neil Youngās ā70s hits are some of the most recognizable radio rock jams of all time. But Neilās guitar playing continued to grow over the ensuing decades, as he traversed styles from blues to country to electronic to rockabilly and beyond, eventually developing one of the most tonally decadent, fully formed improvisational voices in the entire guitar universe.
Like any discography thatās been growing over the course of more than half a century, it can be hard to decode Youngās work. And with such an adventurous spirit, it could be easy to make some missteps and miss out on his best guitar works. In this episode, Nick guides Jason through some of his heroās finest moments.
More news from Neil always seems to be on the horizon, so hereās your chance to catch up.