A treasured (and tattered) ’67 Jazzmaster, a dismembered doubleneck, a double-dose of stereo Jazz Chorus, and a surprisingly simple stomp station colors the celebration of the 20th anniversary of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots—and the rest of Wayne Coyne’s twisted Willy Wonka-esque adventures.
Over the last four decades, the courageous and creative Flaming Lips have put out 16 studio albums. Their genre is an alphabet soup that ranges from acid rock and ambient to zany psychedelia, all while pumping on a pop heartbeat. They’ve won three Grammys, written and filmed an alien colonization movie and soundtrack (Christmas on Mars), reimagined Dark Side of the Moon with Henry Rollins, had their hit “Do You Realize??” named the official rock song of Oklahoma, and of course, performed in bubbles before and during the pandemic.
As members of one of rock’s most adventurous bands, founding frontman Wayne Coyne and his longtime collaborator, multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd (who originally joined the band in 1991 as a drummer), have tried almost everything, including transforming their sensitive-smash album, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, into a Broadway musical. And Yoshimi was back in the spotlight this spring as the Lips toured for its (delayed) 20th anniversary, playing it front to back for their show dates later in the season.
Before the band delighted a sold-out crowd at the Ryman Auditorium with Yoshimi and 11 other of their greatest hits, Drozd invited PG’s Chris Kies onstage to catalog his bizarre-yet-basic setup. Steven details the origins and deterioration of his 1967 Fender Jazzmaster (and why there’s a Hot Rails in the bridge), explains the superficial reason why his doubleneck only has one fretboard, and shows off a pedalboard that’s probably smaller than yours.
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1967 in Heaven
If you’ve seen the Flaming Lips over the last 30 years, you’ve witnessed this guitar slung over either the shoulder of Coyne or Drozd. Steven purchased it during the summer of 1992 from Horn Trader Music in Oklahoma City. What was the price tag? $700!
He talked to PG in 2010 about the experience of meeting the guitar: “[Horn Trader] sold all this vintage gear, and the moment I walked in the store, that ’67 Jazzmaster just called to me. It’s weird to say, but there are times when you walk into a store and it just hits you—that urge or voice that says, ‘This is the one.’ Just to make sure I wasn’t nuts, I picked it up and played it for a minute, and all that did was confirm my subconscious urge. It is just one of those guitars that anyone who picked it up would comment on the neck and just how easy it is to play.”
Shortly after the purchase, he took it over to Wayne’s house and left it there. When he returned to reclaim his offset, there was a big surprise for him.
“I was still the drummer when I bought that guitar, so I had left it over at Wayne’s for a few days and he tinkered with it. I think he got the idea he was going to use it for touring, so he dropped a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in it. I came over later and I was pissed because I had this idea of keeping it original and pristine. But the fact of the matter is that the Hot Rails were a saving grace. The original setup with JM pickups would have just howled with all of our fuzz boxes.”
Long ago the Jazzmaster’s rhythm circuit was removed. It takes .010–.046 strings and stays in standard tuning. All of his guitars share a single Sondery Wireless Guitar Transmitter Receiver System.
Rust Never Sleeps
A close-up proves that the ’67 has been a part of every Flaming Lips show since 1994.
Double Made Single
Drozd believes this is an Epiphone G-1275 Double-Neck guitar, but if you look closely, the truss rod cover reads “Gibson,” just like the neck plate. He removed the bottom 6-string neck for a repair, and both he and Coyne agreed that the guitar looked way cooler with just the single 12-string neck on the doubleneck body. Another peculiar thing is that Drozd only puts 11 strings on it (losing the second G string) to prepare it for a particular song—where he uses the doubleneck with a Line 6 FM4’s Octisynth setting—because having only one string for a specific note of the scale allows the pedal to track clearer.
Sign Me Up
A zoomed-in shot of the G-1275 reveals a pair of signatures from Stephen Colbert and Mick Jones.
The Only New One
During his 2010 interview with PG, Drozd mentioned that he had never bought a brand-new instrument. He still hasn’t, with the exception of this 2011 Gibson SG Standard he bought the following year in Oklahoma City. It splits stage time with the Jazzmaster during the Yoshimi set. The new kid on the block takes .009–.042 strings.
Rolan' on a River
Drozd had been a user of Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus combos since the mid 2000s, but has since downsized to the compact JC-40 models using a pair in stereo. He doesn’t use the reverb or modulation circuits, and instead relies on just the clean tone, opting to color his tone with pedals.
Steven Drozd's Pedalboard
Given the nature of the band’s expansive and deranged sounds, you wouldn’t be blamed if you thought Drozd would have a rack of pedals or three tethered boards. But you’d be wrong—as he’s currently touring with nine stomps and an Ernie Ball volume pedal. Doing a lot of the heavy lifting is the Boss GT-1000CORE. The other sonic scalpels and sizzlers are a Subdecay Liquid Sunshine, a duo of Universal Audio units—a Starlight Echo Station delay and Golden Reverberator—a TC Electronic Spark, a ZVEX Fuzz Factory, a Source Audio Nemesis Delay, a Keeley Electronics 30ms Automatic Double Tracker, and a Boss EQ-200 Graphic Equalizer.
Shop Steven Drozd's Rig
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- Interview: The Flaming Lips’ Steven Drozd on Crazy Guitar Sounds and Vintage Gear ›
Reader: Cary Cummings
Hometown: Seattle, WA
Guitar: Labrocaster
Cary Cummings’ dog-obsessed axes have appeared in this column in the past? Do any of our readers have a cat-o-caster? If so, please share.
A partscaster took on a whole new meaning when a simple canine-inspired logo took shape.
Winter was coming. I wanted to make my sunburst sunnier. I wanted to update and revive it—something classy, yet sassy, like the unsinkable John Bohlinger’s rakish hairdo (I’d wager he is a Dapper Dan man). It needed to sound vibrant, look happy, play great, and be versatile enough to cover a lot of ground. Something that calls out: “Play me! Let’s get lost for a while and forget our troubles.”
I started with an older Warmoth Strat-style alder body from an old project and added a Warmoth vintage-style, 1-piece maple neck with 6100 frets, a 43 mm nut slot, and a Fatback profile. It wasn’t quite right. I sanded the profile down to a comfortable 0.96" at the first fret and finished it off with a wipe-on polyurethane finish and affixed my signature Labrador graphic to the headstock. The Labrador on the headstock is an homage to my three Labrador retrievers and to my previous three who have crossed the Rainbow Bridge. And if ever there was a breed of dog that is a happy clown, it is a Labrador retriever. Just looking at them makes me smile.
A set of Guyker Dopamine vintage locking tuners in blue and rose started me down the yellow-brick road. My entourage included a blue anodized aluminum pickguard and backplate, a red metal switch tip, and purple stainless steel saddles for the Fender American Special bridge and jack plate. Pretty.
Cary’s love for his herd of Labs inspired him to create a signature logo for the headstock.
Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. It’s wired up with 22 AWG pushback cloth wire, 3XCTS 250K pots, an Oak Grigsby switch, a Switchcraft jack, and a 0.015 ceramic disk capacitor. The capacitor takes the treble off but not so much midrange that comes standard in so many guitars. The bridge pickup is a Seymour Duncan Red Devil, the middle is a Duncan Hot Stack, and the neck is a Duncan Parallel Axis Stack—all noiseless.
The final touch is the D’Addario elliptical-shaped strap buttons. Now, when I rock out in my living room, sending the guitar flying over my shoulder and around my back, nothing gets damaged!
Cary Cummings and one of his Labrador retrievers.
With ultra-lightweight construction, slim neck profiles, and a quick-swap pickguard system, Venus Revolution guitars provide tonal versatility and personalized flair.
Venus Guitars, a bold new name in the music world, has officially launched with a mission to empower female musicians with thoughtfully crafted gear designed specifically for them. Driven by the belief that every player deserves an instrument that fits, inspires, and elevates them, Venus Guitars is setting a new standard for inclusivity and performance in the music community.
At the heart of the Venus Guitars launch are the three distinct Venus Revolution guitar models, each thoughtfully designed to cater to a range of players and budgets while maintaining the brand's core ethos of comfort, customization, and quality:
Venus Revolution: Perfect for players seeking an accessible yet high-performing instrument, this model sports the innovative Quick-swap pickguard system and ergonomic hourglass design that define the Venus Revolution series. Weighing just 5.5 pounds, Venus Revolution offers a lightweight white jabon body, slim roasted maple neck, and rosewood fingerboard, plus dual humbuckers with coil-splitting for tonal versatility. Priced at $899
Venus Revolution Elite – Blue Morpho: Expertly crafted in the USA, this high-end model boasts a roasted basswood body, a figured roasted maple neck, and a royal black fingerboard for enhanced resonance and stability, and weighs less than 6.5 lbs. Its shimmering color-shifting blue finish and Quick-swap customizable pickguards ensure it stands out on any stage. DiMarzio Air Classic pickups deliver a rich, dynamic tone, while the Sophia 2-22 Deluxe Trem ensures smooth, expressive playability, and the proprietary bolt-on mounting system enhances sustain. Priced starting at $2799
Venus Revolution Elite – Dark Roast: Another USA-crafted masterpiece, the Dark Roast model features a roasted basswood body, a figured roasted maple neck, and a royal black fingerboard, also weighing less than 6.5 lbs. DiMarzio PAF 36th Anniversary pickups provide vintage-inspired tones, while the the Hipshot US Contour Trem ensures smooth, precise vibrato control. Its rich woodgrain finish offers timeless elegance and dynamic tonal flexibility for players who value simplicity and sophistication. Priced starting at $2799
Venus Revolution guitars are designed with innovation and inclusivity at their core. Here’s what makes them unique:
- Ultra-Lightweight Construction: At around 6 pounds, these guitars are designed for maximum comfort without sacrificing tone or durability.
- Slim Neck Profile: Crafted with smaller hands in mind, the slim roasted 24" scale maple necks ensure smooth and effortless playability.
- Quick-Swap Pickguard System: Customize your guitar’s look in seconds by changing the shape or color of the pickguard—no tools required.
- Tonal Versatility: High-quality pickups deliver a wide range of tones, from warm cleans to beefy, powerful overdrive.
- Personalized Flair: Optional medallions and unique finishes allow players to make their Venus Revolution truly their own.
"The Venus Revolution isn’t just a guitar—it’s a statement,” shares Christine Taunton, Product Specialist and spokesperson for Venus Guitars. “It’s an instrument that reflects who you are as an artist and a player. Venus isn’t just about filling a gap—it’s about creating instruments that make women feel powerful, seen, and unstoppable."
For more information, please visit venus-guitars.com.
Introducing the Venus Revolution Guitar - YouTube
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.Our columnist takes a good look at his guitars—and a stroll down memory lane—via famed luthier Joe Glaser’s new, free Gearcheck service.
I started buying gear in junior high and I’m still using some of it. My organizational skills have not really improved since then, so the inventory looks like a stamped-on ant pile. The daily 6-strings are stuffed on racks in my room and in gig bags or cases near my door, good-to-go. The less-used guitars are hidden in closets, stashed under couches/beds, and loaned out to friends. Then there are six or seven old battle axes that I’ve played for years that have grown so valuable that they now spend most of their time locked in a huge gun safe in the guest room. I’ve tried several times to catalogue the tools using a notebook, and then a few different long-since-dead computers. I had no idea how many guitars I owned ... until now, thanks to my friend Joe Glaser’s Gearcheck.
Glaser, a famed luthier here in Nashville, started Gearcheck as a software platform for cataloging instruments. Gearcheck gives you a personal and private digital gear room where you can list instruments’ basic model details (year, wood, pickups, etc.), then document them with photos, receipts, Reverb listings, reputable repair records, appraisals, insurance details, as well as your setup specs, string gauge, action, and relief. I even track who I loaned them out to or where they are stored. This is not static information, and tracking the life of a guitar this way gives insight and builds the stories that we care about. All of this establishes provenance, which is a difference between just something and something collectible.
If you’re interested in how this works, go to gearcheck.com. The free membership gets you 1 GB of memory to list your instruments. You can subscribe to get more memory should you need it. To give you some idea of what 1 GB worth of gear looks like, I have 55 instruments listed (49 guitars, 2 mandolins, 3 pedal steels, 1 lap steel) with between three to 12 photos per instrument—some with short descriptions and some with long war stories of modifications, accidents and gig abuse, as well as high points of the instrument’s history. So far, I’ve used .93 of my free gigabyte. I’m setting a limit now: My gear gluttony ends at .999 GB of storage.
The listing process was good for me. I spent my free time over the past 10 days, working late into the night, tracking down all my guitars. I discovered a few I had not seen in years and thinned the herd a bit. I also found some guitars that were great but had some glitch that kept me from playing them, like this killer Kiesel Custom Shop T-build whose middle pickup was wired out of phase, so I finally got off my ass and rewired it, and while I was at it, I swapped the original pickups that were a bit too hot with some Pete A. Flynn ’buckers that I’d been holding.
“My favorite instruments have had a Red Violin-style odyssey.”
Once I decided who made the cut, I started taking photos and uploading guitars starting with my favs. At first, I just listed the main details and basic photos, but then I thought, “Why not make it more about the stories?” Stories are always more interesting than things.
My favorite instruments have had a Red Violin-style odyssey. Their pasts before I got them are mostly guesswork and imagination, but I can document the highlights of my short time in their history. For instance, my 1954 Les Paul has a second jack input in the body that was later refilled. No idea what that was about, but Michael Wilton of Queensrÿche, who sold me the guitar, documented what happened during his time with it. Wilton played it on Queensrÿche’s albums Promised Land and Hear in the Now Frontier. Wilton replaced the bridge pickup wire in the cavity (because the original disintegrated) and replaced a dead potentiometer. Since I’ve had it, Glaser refretted and Plek’d the neck, and added his Stud Finder bridge. I’ve also played it on a ton of gigs. Now I’ve got all these details safely documented on Gearcheck, along with some photos of me playing that goldtop with Lainey Wilson on her first awards show.
Similarly, my 1969 Fender Thinline had some mysteries when I bought it from Chicago Music Exchange. I’ll never know why somebody added a second input jack, but I did document my adding a Glaser B-bender and a 22-fret sweet, flat neck that Fender’s Chip Ellis built to replace the original neck that never really fit in the neck pocket.
Antonio Stradivari made 960 violins between 1666 and 1737. At least 282 still exist and are potentially being played. I imagine, with some basic care, that at least several guitars I live with today will still be rocking 350 years from now. I’m glad I can document our brief time together. You don’t really own legacy instruments, you just keep them for the next player, all the while adding to their legacy.
Featuring studio-grade Class A circuit and versatile resonance switch, this pedal is designed to deliver the perfect boost and multiple tonal options.
Introducing the Pickup Booster Mini – our classic boost now in a space-saving package! Featuring the same studio-grade Class A circuit and versatile resonance switch that guitarists have trusted for over two decades, this compact pedal provides the perfect boost, while the resonance switch can access multiple tonal characteristics when you want it.
Meet the Pickup Booster Mini, our classic Pickup Booster in a pedalboard space-saving size. It delivers that extra push when you need it, along with our unique resonance switch that adds extra versatility! Think of it as your tone's best friend, now in a compact package that won't hog precious board space. Inside this mini powerhouse, you'll find our studio-grade class A circuit and true-bypass switching, ready to boost your signal while keeping your guitar's personality intact. Whether you're after a subtle boost or need to really push your amp, the discrete push-pull design has you covered. And here's a bonus: even at zero gain, it'll clean up your signal chain and make those tone-degrading long cable runs behave.
Need to pull a humbucker sound from your Strat®? The resonance switch makes the pedal interact directly with your pickups, letting your single coils emulate either a chunky humbucker sound perfect for classic rock and blues, or a high-output tone for soaring leads. Running humbuckers? Position 1 adds some teeth to your sound, while Position 2 can give you a hint of that 'cocked-wah' filter sound that'll make your solos cut. Bring one guitar to the gig and cover all that tonal territory with one simple switch!
This mini pedal delivers the exact same boosting and tone-shaping power of the iconic Pickup Booster that players have sworn by for two decades – we just made it easier to find room for it on your board.
For more information, please visit seymourduncan.com.