You could WIN a Karma MTN-10 in today's I Love Pedals Giveaway! Ends Feb. 18, 2022.
Karma MTN-10
Our clone of the Ibanez Mostortion MT-10 - the one the pros are using! Using the same IC as the original, we improve it with better and more reliable parts and construction, as well as true-bypass switching. The 3-band EQ helps make this one of the most flexible overdrive pedals out there!
Katana-Mini X is designed to deliver acclaimed Katana tones in a fun and inspiring amp for daily practice and jamming.
Evolving on the features of the popular Katana-Mini model, it offers six versatile analog sound options, two simultaneous effects, and a robust cabinet for a bigger and fuller guitar experience. Katana-Mini X also provides many enhancements to energize playing sessions, including an onboard tuner, front-facing panel controls, an internal rechargeable battery, and onboard Bluetooth for streaming music from a smartphone.
While its footprint is small, the Katana-Mini X sound is anything but. The multi-stage analog gain circuit features a sophisticated, detailed design that produces highly expressive tones with immersive depth and dimension, supported by a sturdy wood cabinet and custom 5-inch speaker for a satisfying feel and rich low-end response. The no-compromise BOSS Tube Logic design approach offers full-bodied sounds for every genre, including searing high-gain solo sounds and tight metal rhythm tones dripping with saturation and harmonic complexity.
Katana-Mini X features versatile amp characters derived from the stage-class Katana amp series. Clean, Crunch, and Brown amp types are available, each with a tonal variation accessible with a panel switch. One variation is an uncolored clean sound for using Katana-Mini X with an acoustic-electric guitar or bass. Katana-Mini X comes packed with powerful tools to take music sessions to the next level. The onboard rechargeable battery provides easy mobility, while built-in Bluetooth lets users jam with music from a mobile device and use the amp as a portable speaker for casual music playback.
For quiet playing, it’s possible to plug in headphones and enjoy high-quality tones with built-in cabinet simulation and stereo effects. Katana-Mini X features a traditional analog tone stack for natural sound shaping using familiar bass, mid, and treble controls. MOD/FX and REV/DLY sections are also on hand, each with a diverse range of Boss effects and fast sound tweaks via single-knob controls that adjust multiple parameters at once. Both sections can be used simultaneously, letting players create combinations such as tremolo and spring reverb, phaser and delay, and many others.
Availability & Pricing The new BOSS Katana-Mini X will be available for purchase at authorized U.S. Boss retailers in December for $149.99. For the full press kit, including hi-res images, specs, and more, click here. To learn more about the Katana-Mini X Guitar Amplifier, visit www.boss.info.
Trey Anastasio unveils plans for a special solo acoustic run starting in March, 2025.
The tour gets underway March 8, 2025 at Springfield, MA’s Symphony Hall and then visits US theatres and concert halls through early April. Real-time presales begin Wednesday, December 4 exclusively via treytickets.shop.ticketstoday.com. All remaining tickets will go on sale to the general public on Friday, December 6 – please check venues for on-sale times. For complete details, please see trey.com/tour.
TREY ANASTASIO - SOLO ACOUSTIC TOUR 2025
MARCH
8 – Springfield, MA – Symphony Hall
9 – Boston, MA – Wang Theatre at Boch Center
11 – Wilkes-Barre, PA – The F.M. Kirby Center
12 - Rochester, NY - Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre
14 – Columbus, OH – Mershon Auditorium
15 – Milwaukee, WI – Riverside Theater
16 – Nashville, IN – Brown County Music Center
18 – Chicago, IL – Orchestra Hall
19 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theatre
21 – New Orleans, LA – Saenger Theatre
22 – Birmingham, AL – Alabama Theatre
23 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
26 – Orlando, FL – Walt Disney Theater at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts
28 – Clearwater, FL – Ruth Eckerd Hall
29 – Savannah, GA – Johnny Mercer Theatre
30 – Charleston, SC – Gaillard Auditorium
APRIL
1 – Knoxville, TN – Tennessee Theatre
2 – Greenville, SC - Peace Concert Hall
4 – Washington, DC – Warner Theatre
5 - Red Bank, NJ - Count Basie Center for the Arts
More info: TREY.COM.
Session secret weapon Rob McNelley demos his gotta-have-it studio gear.
Rob McNelley spends a lot of time at Sound Stage Studios in Nashville. When he says, “I live here,” he’s only half kidding. McNelley has recorded with country superstars like Carrie Underwood, Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Luke Combs, and more, and he’s performed with Wynonna Judd, Delbert McClinton, Bob Seger, and Lee Ann Womack—and that’s on top of his own solo releases. He’s probably listened to his rig with headphones more than without.
McNelley ditches the headphones when PG’s John Bohlinger pays him a visit at Sound Stage for this Rig Rundown. Check out McNelley’s choice gear below.
Brought to you by D’Addario.A Golden Trade
McNelley traded a 1962 Gibson SG to bassist Victor Krauss in return for this 1953 goldtop Les Paul—which did, admittedly, have a broken headstock at one point. In addition to the Music City bridge, which keeps great intonation and holds strings over their pole pieces, another novelty is the height of the tone and volume knobs, which stand taller than most stock knobs from the era. McNelley uses D’Addario .010s on this axe.
Ready for Petty
This pre-CBS 1963 Fender Stratocaster went out on the road with McNelley when he played with Bob Seger. Besides a refret, it’s totally stock and gives McNelley a perfect Tom Petty tone thanks to its unusually balanced bridge pickup. It takes D’Addario .011s.
Green Donkey
This metal baritone by Mule Resophonic Guitars made its way into Luke Combs’ song “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma,” for this summer’s blockbuster movie Twisters. For this and other guitars, McNelley uses Dunlop Ultex picks—.88mm for leads, .73mm for rhythm.
Old Man, Look at My Life
McNelley’s father, a guitarist himself, bought this Telecaster at Gruhn Guitars in 1981 while working on some records in Nashville. When a young McNelley saw it, he was enamored—but the guitar disappeared, and when McNelley’s father passed, it wasn’t in his collection. Years later, McNelley discovered that the guitar was in the possession of Paul Worley, the producer of the records his dad was working on. McNelley met with him and said that if he ever wanted to sell it, McNelley wanted first dibs. A few months later, a mutual friend invited McNelley over. There was the guitar, in a brown tolex case, just as enchanting as it was years before—Worley wanted McNelley to have his dad’s old guitar. That was nearly 30 years ago.
Aside from a refinished body, this one is all-original, too.
Bought from Buk
McNelley got this rare totally stock 1959 Gibson ES-355 Mono, complete with PAFs, from Tom Bukovac—one of many acquisitions from the player over the years.
Also in McNelley’s studio stable are a Gibson Rick Nielsen “Collector’s Choice” Les Paul with Tom Holmes pickups, and a rehabbed Silvertone acoustic. A friend of McNelley’s cleaned it up and installed a humbucker and rubber bridge—a popular Nashville trend these days. It takes flatwound strings.
Rob McNelley’s Studio Amps
McNelley maintains a collection of amplifiers at Sound Stage, but his number-one is his 1965 Fender Deluxe Reverb, with a mod by tech Nick Rose at Jeff Hime’s shop to make it gainier—a trick Rick Nielsen allegedly did to his Deluxe Reverb.
A Hime-modded Marshall SV20H Studio Vintage MK II gets him big-stack tones in small recording rooms, and a pair of Fender Bassmans are on hand, too. The final piece is an early Matchless SC-30 combo, but all amps go through McNelley’s Carr cabinet—an open-back 112 with a Warehouse ET65 speaker.
McNelley likes to switch amps by hand rather than with a switching system; it gives him time to think about what he’s going to play next.
Apologies to Mr. O’Neal
XTS built McNelley’s main board, but Rob has made a few adjustments as pedals have conked out, so it’s not as seamless as it once was—don’t be mad, Barry! McNelley’s guitar hits a Sonic Research Turbo Tuner ST-200 before going into Basic Audio Scarab Deluxe, Xotic RC Booster, Ibanez MT10 Mostortion, ARC Effects Klone, Analog Man King of Tone, Electro-Harmonix POG2, Analog Man Boss GE-7/Pro, Boss VB-2w, Strymon TimeLine, Strymon Mobius, Strymon Flint, and a Mission Engineering Expressionator. A Diamond Memory Lane sits just off the board, and other goodies out of sight include a BSM RW-F Treble Booster, FXengineering RAF Mirage Compressor, and Analog Man Sun Bender MK IV.
Shop Rob McNelley's Rig
1953 Gibson Les Paul goldtop
1955 Fender Telecaster
1963 Fender Stratocaster
Mule Resophonic Guitars Mulecaster
Gibson Rick Nielsen “Collector’s Choice” Les Paul
FX engineering RAF Mirage Compressor
Diamond Memory Lane
Strymon Mobius
Strymon TimeLine
Analog Man King of Tone
Boss VB-2w
Strymon Flint
Mission Engineering Expressionator
EHX POG2
Ibanez MT10 Mostortion
Xotic Effects RC Booster
Basic Audio Scarab Deluxe
Dunlop Volume X pedal
ARC Effects Klone
Apollo Approved Audio Devices Sawdust
AmpRx BrownBox
Fender Bassman
Marshall SV20H MK II
Fender Deluxe Reverb
Warehouse ET 65 speakers
The new Mark IIC+ 1x12 Combo and Head are authentic recreations of Mesa Boogie's original models.
The new MESA/Boogie Mark IIC+ in head and 1x12 combo formats isavailable worldwide at authorized MESA/Boogie dealers, and on www.mesaboogie.com.
The Mark IIC+ is pure “Vintage Boogie” and based on the original Mark II (now called the MarkII-A) design, the world’s first “Dual Mode” amplifier containing independent performance modes dedicated to clean and overdrive sounds. The IIC+ model represents the 3rd generation of that game-changing single channel/dual mode layout and includes all the refinements made to that
original format over its nearly five influential years. It was also the last model in its family, as the subsequent model would contain three performance modes and be dubbed the MARK III.
The IIC+’s single row of controls is shared by its two modes (preamps), one for Rhythm(clean) and one for Lead (overdrive). Independent, though still interactive, sets of gain and volume controls help optimize each gain structure while shared Tone controls handle the broad stroke voicing. Fine-tuning of the sounds is accomplished by the PULL SHIFT voicing features – some Mode specific – fitted to the simple controls and further shaping via the on-board 5-Band Graphic EQ.Though the “Q” of the individual Bands (Slider Pot frequencies) is fairly wide around their CenterPoints, they provide a surprising degree of surgical-level sculpting quickly and musically.
The Rear Panel of the C+ provides the important features that keep this amp as relevant as ever 40 years after its initial run. Global PRESENCE and REVERB controls are centered foreasy navigation from the Front in stage environments. A series, tube buffered Effects Loop provides a seamless interface for your time-based processing. The Power Select switch at the far right (left from the Front) allows for your choice of the full 75 watts of “SIMUL-CLASS” power for richness, authority, and max headroom or “CLASS A” for 25 watts of reduced power and low end along with easier, smoother power clip at lower volumes. One 8Ohm and two 4 OhmSpeaker Outputs provide for a wide array of cabinet impedance matching. And though not a compensated Direct Output for Consoles or Interfaces, a SLAVE tap off the speaker outputs captures the entire sound of the amp – preamp and power section – to produce a non-compensated feed for IRReaders or external processors that might even serve an era-appropriate “dry/wet/wet” rig.
Out of production for four decades, we welcome back this icon and celebrate its impact on the incredible guitar heroes and timeless recordings they made during one of rock guitar’s biggest decades. The Mark IIC+ legacy is one we don’t take lightly or for granted and recreating it in today’s world with today’s available components and rigorous worldwide Compliance Regulations was no easy feat. However, we are just as proud and excited about this iteration as we were about the first one that was produced for less than two years, four decades ago.