The "adventure rock" outfit's frontwoman demos both her classical-piano-inspired fretboard approach and her favorite modulation pedals.
Yvette Young’s electric guitar journey started on a SX Telecaster (it came to her by way of a trade for a drum machine because she wanted to plug in), but her connection with Ibanez can be pinpointed to her first one—a ’90s Talman with Bill Lawrence pickups. The finger-tapping phenom travels with a trifecta of eye-catching guitars, including a pair of sparkle-finished Ibanez Talmans that Yvette Young has named “Creamsicle” and “Flubber.”
At a recent NAMM show, she was loaned a Talman for demo work and immediately heard a difference in her tone definition and the interaction with her amp. She inquired with an Ibanez A&R rep what the pickups were in that model and she found out they were a set of Seymour Duncan SSL-5 Custom Staggered single-coils, so now both Talmans sing thanks to those pickups.
“Flubber” has typical 5-way switching, but you’ll find this showstopper in one of three spots: neck for most finger-tapping sections because of the ringing overtones, the fourth position for softer, delicate fingerpicked portions, or the bridge when she wants to get gritty and goose the amp. Both Talmans take D’Addario NYXL Extra Heavy (.012–.060) strings. While she changes tunings throughout the show, a mainstay for her is the Lydian-flavored F–A–C–G–B–E, which was inspired by the Japanese post-rock band, Toe.
“Creamsicle” is identical to “Flubber” in every way except for it having a rosewood fretboard. Like most guitarists, Yvette admits that while the guitars are similar in spec, they sound different enough that “Flubber” is currently her numero uno. (Also, if you watch the video around 6:30 she punks Chris by telling him that it’s made up of her dog’s ashes—it’s not, nor has she ever owned a dog.)
Yvette typically opens the set with two numbers “Sea Currents” and “Falkor” (yes, after the dog-like creature in The Neverending Story) that require this Strandberg Boden 7-string. Aiming to achieve both the antithesis of metal (Boden 7-strings are often found in the hands of rockers) and to visually match her transcendent onstage sounds, Yvette handpainted the model and uses it every night.
Here’s Yvette’s “Toyota” combo aka a Vox AC30.
And here are Yvette’s typical settings—notice she plugs into the high input of the top boost channel, still uses the amp’s reverb even though she has two reverb pedals on her board and dials out all the trem.
Yvette Young is the only guitarist in her three-piece band, so she has a lot of sonic space to fly and her board is the launch pad. It currently holds a pair of EarthQuaker pedals—Warden Compressor and Avalanche Run—a duo of Walrus Audio stomps—a Fathom Reverb and Julia Chorus/Vibrato—a trio of MXR boxes—Ten-Band EQ, Carbon Copy Deluxe, and a Bass Octave Deluxe. Other noisemakers include a newly acquired Caroline Guitar Company Somersault, Electronic Audio Experiments Longsword, Meris Mercury7, TC Electronic Ditto, and a Ground Control Amaterasu V2. And a TC Electronic PolyTune3 keeps everything in check.
At 26, Blu DeTiger is the youngest musician ever to have a signature Fender bass guitar. The Fender Limited Player Plus x Blu DeTiger Jazz Bass, announced in September, pays tribute to the bassist and singer’s far-reaching impact and cultural sway. She’s played with Caroline Polachek, Bleachers, FLETCHER, Olivia Rodrigo, and more, and released her own LP in March 2024. In 2023, Forbes feature her on their top 30 Under 30 list of musicians. So how did DeTiger work her way to the top?
DeTiger opens up on this episode of Wong Notes about her career so far, which started at a School of Rock camp at age seven. That’s where she started performing and learning to gig with others—she played at CBGB’s before she turned 10. DeTiger took workshops with Victor Wooten at Berklee followed and studied under Steven Wolf, but years of DJing around New York City, which hammered in the hottest basslines in funk and disco, also imprinted on her style. (Larry Graham is DeTiger’s slap-bass hero.)
DeTiger and Wong dish on the ups and downs of touring and session life, collaborating with pop artists to make “timeless” pop songs, and how to get gigs. DeTiger’s advice? “You gotta be a good hang.”
Wong Notes is presented by DistroKid.
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Fender Jack White Triplecaster Telecaster Electric Guitar - Black
Fender Limited-edition Jack White Triplesonic Acoustasonic Telecaster - Blacktop Arctic White
There are very few guitars that can claim to be as instantly recognizable and iconic as Jimmy Page’s 1969 EDS-1275 Doubleneck. The photos of him playing it on stage with Led Zeppelin are indelible to rock ’n’ roll history. While Gibson has been making doubleneck electric guitars since 1958, Jimmy was the player who defined the EDS-1275 from the day it was delivered to him. Introducing the Jimmy Page EDS-1275 Doubleneck VOS, now part of the Gibson Custom core lineup and built to the exact specifications of Jimmy’s iconic EDS-1275 Doubleneck.
The Jimmy Page EDS-1275 features a double-cutaway one-piece mahogany body that provides exceptional access to the full length of both the12-string and six-string mahogany necks. Both necks have long tenons and are hide glue fit, and the neck profiles are recreated from 3D scans of the necks on the original guitar. The necks are both capped with bound Indian rosewood fretboards. Each fretboard is equipped with 20 authentic medium jumbo frets and adorned with aged cellulose nitrate parallelogram inlays. The fretboards of both necks have a 12” radius, which is perfect for both playing chords as well as for string bending while soloing. The 18 tuners are Kluson double line, double ring style, just like those found on the original guitar, and even the headstocks feature the correct 17-degree angle and specific logo stylization found on Jimmy’s EDS-1275. The electronics are just as authentic and deliver all of the sonic character of Jimmy’s legendary EDS-1275. Two uncovered Jimmy Page EDS-1275 Custombuckers with double black bobbins and Alnico 5 magnets are used for the two six-string pickups, while a covered pair is installed on the 12-string neck. Of course, the two volume and two tone controls use CTS potentiometers and period-correct ceramic disc capacitors, and the pickup select switch, neck select switch, and output jack are all from Switchcraft.
Here is your opportunity to own a clone of Jimmy Page’s famous EDS-1275, identical to how it appeared on the day that Jimmy first received the guitar. A Gibson Custom hardshell case is included, along with a vintage leather strap, and a certificate of authenticity with a photo from famed photographer Barrie Wentzell.
Jimmy Page EDS-1275 Doubleneck VOS '69 Cherry
Recreation of the EDS-1275 used by Jimmy Page made using 3D scans of the original guitar, one piece mahogany body, mahogany six and 12-string necks with custom Jimmy Page profiles, Indian rosewood fretboards, Jimmy Page Custombucker pickups with Alnico 5 magnets and double black bobbins, Gibson Custom hardshell case
Reader: Daniel Switkin
Hometown: Oakland, California
Guitar: Doublecaster
I've been using a multitrack looper with a guitar and an octave pedal, which was okay for simple bass parts, but didn’t give me thick strings and I couldn’t slap with it. So I decided to build a double-neck prototype specifically for looping, with a 6-string guitar and a 4-string bass.
Since building the necks would be the hardest part, I looked around for instruments with bolt-on necks I could reuse. Squier makes an Affinity Stratocaster and a Mini Precision Bass which were affordable and had matching fretboards, so I bought those. It was also cheaper to reuse the electronics and hardware that came with them, rather than buying everything separately.
Using two precut instrument bodies saved the burden of having to route cavities for the electronics.
My plan was to design my own body from scratch. As I debated which neck should go on top, how far apart they should be, and whether to line up the nuts or the saddles, I realized there was actually enough wood there to make a double neck body, which saved me the work of recreating the neck pockets, etc. Putting the guitar on top made barre chords much more comfortable, and the 28.6" bass scale meant I could still reach the first fret easily.
After stripping the paint with a heat gun, I ran both bodies through a table saw, glued them together, and thinned them to 1 3/8". Then I created an offset body shape, a new arm bevel, and reshaped the three cutaways. The pickguards are both original, with the guitar side cut down to make a yin and yang shape. The controls are volume and tone for each neck, using the original knobs. I moved the jack to the back and upgraded it to stereo so the guitar and bass signals can run through separate effects chains.
Note the location of the jack on the back of the extended-shape body. It’s unconventional but practical.
My top concerns were weight and ergonomics. Many doublenecks are around 12 to 13 pounds and 18" wide. I knew I would never play something that big, no matter how good it sounded. To that end, I saved weight everywhere and tracked everything to the gram in a spreadsheet. (That’s also the reason I chose a fixed bridge instead of a vibrato.) I ultimately used a wipe-on gel stain to keep the weight down further. Stripping the paint from the factory saved 5 ounces! The final playable weight is 9 pounds, 5 ounces, and 15 1/4" wide at the lower bout. This has been pretty manageable, however, there is some neck dive because of the tuners. I’m taking everything I’ve learned from this prototype and designing a new doubleneck, which will be headless. I believe I can shed another pound and eliminate the neck dive that way. You can watch my entire build on YouTube.