The iconic alt-rock duo leans on floor modelers to execute their carefully choreographed live shows.
Along with contemporaries like MGMT and Passion Pit, Greenwich, New York, duo Phantogram’s experiments crosspollinating hip-hop, indie, and punk rock helped cement and elevate a new era of electronic-influenced alt-rock and indie music. At the start of the 2010s, you’d be hard-pressed to find a college radio station or dorm-room playlist that didn’t include a Phantogram hit.
Sixteen years after the release of their debut record, band leaders Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel, who started Phantogram in a town of just a few thousand people, are touring behind their latest full-length, 2024’s Memory of a Day. The tour included a sold-out stop at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium—a different sort of barn than the kind they used to perform in back in Greenwich—where PG’s John Bohlinger caught up with Carter and Barthel. Courtesy of some help from their tech, the duo showed us how they’re pulling off their theatrical live experience.
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Music Mantogram
Carter is endorsed by Ernie Ball Music Man guitars, so all three of his road axes are variations on his current favorite Cutlass model. This one, first among the trio, is finished in black with a gold pickguard, and like its stablemates, it bears the Phantogram logo inlaid on the first fret. Carter removes the vibrato bar and uses his hand to pull the bridge up to nail the warbles. Aside from that, this one is all stock, and strung with Ernie Ball Paradigm .010s. While he sometimes grabs a pick, Carter plays most of the set with an acrylic nail on his index finger.
Brown Sound
This first backup Cutlass is finished in brown with the woodgrain peeking through and a burgundy tortoiseshell pickguard. It has a Seymour Duncan single-coil-sized humbucker in the bridge position for a hotter output than its black counterpart.
Step It Up
This natural finish Cutlass has had the same pickup mod as the brown one, but this one stays tuned a half-step up for special deployment.
Clean Business
Carter uses a wireless system to run to this Neural DSP Quad Cortex at his feet. His tech has set it up to emulate many of the pedals Carter uses in the studio. Carter appreciates the tactile and flexible nature of the system; it can take MIDI programming so Carter can focus on performing, or it can be rigged up to function like a traditional pedalboard. He uses a mix of amp emulations, including AC30-, 5150-, Fender tweed-, and Jazz Chorus-style patches.
A Boss volume and expression pedal alongside the Quad Cortex give Carter some extra control over the setup.
Josh Carter's Pedalboard Playground
While Carter carried a compact stomp station for tour, he’s addicted to stompboxes and uses them for inspiration when writing and sound building during studio sessions. Here’s what a small selection shared from his collection:
“The most prominent pedals I used for years onstage before switching to the Quad Cortex were the Line 6 DL4, Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail, Boss
DD-6 Digital Delay, Boss OC-3 Super Octave OC-3, Fulltone OCD, Wampler Ego Compressor, and Route 66 American Overdrive.
My go-to studio pedals are the MXR Joshua Ambient Echo, Line 6 DL4, Death By Audio Reverberation Machine, Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail, Chase Bliss Generation Loss MkII, Chase Bliss Mood MkII, Boss DD-500 Digital Delay, Chase Bliss Audio Automatone CXM 1978, Old Blood Noise Mondegreen Delay and Reflector Chorus.
And some honorable mentions for pedals I’ve been really digging as of late would be the Neon Egg Planetarium, Roland Space Echo, and various vintage & new spring reverbs.
Silver Stunner
Sarah Barthel initially played keys in Phantogram, but she learned bass and mimicked her synth parts on the instrument so she could move about freely and interact more with Carter. This custom-made sparkle-finish Fender Mustang is the perfect size for her, and she just recently started playing it with a pick. She runs into a Quad Cortex, too, but the Fender Bassman stack lurking behind the bass serves as an onstage monitor.
Jazzmaster
Barthel isn’t confined to the bass, either. At some points in the set she jumps onto this prized Jazzmaster, which she’s had for 15 years.
Duane Betts enjoys a control set modification that was preferred by his father, the late, legendary Dickey Betts.
Guest Picker - Duane Betts
Betts’ 1961 ES-335 has its toggle and volume-dial positions switched.
A: My favorite mod is the one on my 1961 Gibson ES-335. The toggle switch and neck volume knob positions have been switched so the volume knob is more accessible for volume swells using your pinky finger. This is something my dad had done when he obtained the guitar in the ’90s as he loved using the volume swell effect.
A pedal primed for vintage fuzz sounds.
Obsession: My current obsession is this DanDrive Secret Machine fuzz that JD Simo gave me a few years ago. I don’t use fuzz often but I’ve loved it as a way to change things up and give the listener something fresh. My normal tone is very natural with the amp turned up. This is just a great fuzz tone that gives me a new angle that I really enjoy pursuing both live and in the studio.
Reader of the Month - Steve Nowicki
A: A push/pull knob for humbucker coil split. It’s a sneaky little mod I throw on my tone pots. You won’t get amazing Strat tone, but the ability to instantly swap between Les Paul chunk and Fender twang during a jam opens a ton of possibilities tonally. Plus, no extra switches or routing needed—even though it’s fun to hack guitars apart.
Obsession: The EVH 5150 Iconic EL34 amp. Owning an 80-watt half-stack in a Brooklyn apartment might be overkill, but damn this amp is awesome. It delivers insane amounts of gain and distortion, yet every little nuance of your playing comes through crystal clear. I pair it with a Bugera Power Soak so I can crank the head and get that warm “Brown Sound” tone at lower volumes.
John Bohlinger - Nashville Correspondent
John Bohlinger and his Lukather-ized Strat.
A: I’ve hacked up a bunch of guitars over the years, but my favorite mod remains the highly intrusive, expensive, and quixotic B-bender install. It is the equivalent of open heart surgery, and there’s no going back—but the first time you play the Clarence White “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” intro right, it’s totally worth it.
John at work. When it comes to mods, he know the drill!
Obsession: I recently filmed a PG video where we swapped pickups in my ’90s Strat with an EMG Lukather set. I never thought I’d go active, but what gets me is how smoothly the volume and tone work. I’m rethinking all my gear biases. Like maybe there’s been some progress since 1957.
Jon Levy - Publisher
Let it bleed: Jon dials back the treble on his Tele.
A: Installing a treble bleed on my volume pots has changed how I play electric guitar. Previously, I never dialed back my volume knob because it dulled my sound. Now I can fine-tune loudness and gain while retaining tone—it’s a game changer. I still swap pickups and hardware, but one mod always comes first: the humble treble bleed.
Did you know both John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page played on Shirley Bassey’s iconic recording of “Goldfinger?”
Obsession: John Paul Jones. I’ve always loved his bass (and other instrumental contributions) with Led Zeppelin. But after seeing the Zep documentary [Becoming Led Zeppelin] I searched his session work from 1964–1968, which includes Shirley Bassey, Lulu, Donovan and more. What an amazingly versatile and talented artist he is!
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