Chris Kies met up with Clinton Jacob of Mr. Phylzzz at the Cobra in East Nashville, where the two-piece was touring behind Fear the Lord. His rig is built to survive a player who squeezes guitars to death and plays anywhere that’ll have him—including, once, a public restroom. Have a look at some quick highlights below, and tune into the new Rig Rundown for all the details.
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Buzz Told Him So
On the Twins of Evil tour with the Melvins and Boris, Clinton watched King Buzzo go almost 40 nights without adjusting a thing on his guitar, while his own guitars kept cracking and breaking. Buzzo’s pitch: you’ll get one, you’ll hate it, then you’ll love it. Clinton ordered an Electrical Guitar Company King Buzzo model, hated the paper-thin neck, and two weeks later couldn’t imagine playing anything else. It’s hollow with a plastic back, it’s a tank, and the strap locks are a wad of gaffer tape.
Hannah Montana Purple
The newest EGC arrived the night before the shoot. Clinton asked for something the builder had never done before, then handed the color chart to his partner, who picked it. It’s got a side-mounted toggle and the same pickups as the original Travis Beans, which run hot. Two things here aren’t standard: the hollow plastic back, done because Clinton wants his guitars light, and the slim neck, since this model normally comes with a chunky C.
Wood Tones
This Epiphone is named Chase—a gift from Clinton’s partner in Texas after he snapped the neck off an earlier one—and it was his main guitar for years before the EGCs arrived. It’s been “dumbed down” to a volume knob and the bridge pickup. Now it’s what saves him from getting electrocuted: an EGC is metal all the way through, so a ground tester is mandatory equipment, and any venue with an open ground means wood or nothing.
Both On, All Night
Mr. Phylzzz’s Pedalboard
The Death by Audio Fuzz War is the whole tone, with everything set at 2 o’clock and marked so it stays there. A DOD Grunge, everything peaked, supplies a thin AM-radio nastiness for dynamic drops. A Boss DD-3 holds the wall of noise out longer before he cuts it, an EarthQuaker Devices Dispatch Master handles the haunted-house material, a Boss CE-5 Chorus Ensemble adds a little color for “Emma Draws a Dog,” and a DigiTech Whammy Ricochet covers dive bombs.
