Prior to the transistor revolution and the radical compacting of electronics that it enabled, the only way to achieve the singing expressiveness of a raspy, dirty, fuzzy guitar tone was to crank up a tube amp beyond its intended performance levels, or maybe shred a speaker or play with a busted tube. Then solid-state tech came to town, and suddenly cranking up the gain into distorted mayhem was as easy as ramming your guitar through a couple of small resistors. Following the accidental discovery of the sound in 1961 and the first prototypes and premarket creations of 1962, the fuzz box became ..read more

Mike Adams (a.k.a. Puisheen) is perhaps best known for his popular gear review and guitar maintenance videos on YouTube—and in case it isn’t obvious when viewing those videos, Adams is an accomplished player who is genuinely passionate about guitaring and harbors what can only be described as an obsession with Fender Jazzmasters. He also has a very unusual musical background. “My parents reluctantly bought me my first guitar when I was ten years old, and that same year I became preoccupied with Back to the Future and learned to play ‘Johnny B. Goode’ based on Michael J Fox’s hand movements,” e ..read more

The inspiration for this post came from listening to Adrian Belew’s 1986 experimental album Desire Caught by the Tail. I’ve had this album in my collection for a while now, but I hadn’t ever explored it in depth. Excitedly, I put the record on and listened to it in one sitting. Entirely instrumental, the album consists of eight tracks that rely heavily on what were at the time state-of-the-art guitar synthesizers. On the back cover of the album there is a wonderful photo of Belew sitting on top of a Roland JC-120 amplifier while plugged into what looks like a Roland GR-300 guitar synthesizer ..read more

When you read the phrase “sound of a Marshall JCM800,” what is the first thing that pops into your head? Are you standing in front of a half stack? Maybe seeing a certain band at a large venue downtown? Listening to a particular recording while on a road trip? There’s no wrong answer, yet the experience of hearing the JCM800 in each of these environments couldn’t be more different. Although many of us in the industry loathe the term, in the first example you’re experiencing what is known as the “amp in the room.” (I dislike this term if only because it should be “cab in the room.”) The guitar ..read more

It might seem strange that someone with a 30+ year professional career in the music industry is posting about mental health or, as I prefer to say, “mental fitness.” I’ve had an incredible journey that’s still going strong, starting in 1990 when I toured with with the “King of R&B,” Bobby Brown, then into record production, songwriting, a solo album, and eventually composing and scoring AAA Video Games such as Deathloop, the Halo series, the Tom Clancy series, Wolfenstein and many others. My primary motivation for writing this is that I feel that the topic of mental health and wellness has ..read more

Devin Townsend’s introduction to the broader public came when the fiery and almost feral-looking 21-year-old phenom was drafted to be the lead singer on Steve Vai’s controversial Sex & Religion album in 1993. Two years later, Townsend established himself as a leader with the critically acclaimed City album by his extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad. Throughout the subsequent years the highly prolific and profoundly gifted guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, singer, engineer, and producer has explored numerous genres on dozens of recordings—from heavy metal to progressive pop to new age ..read more

During the early 1980s, blues music was in the doldrums. Record sales were down. Even established artists such as B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, and Buddy Guy saw drops in their audiences. Then, with the release of Texas Flood during the summer of 1983, Stevie Ray Vaughan brought blues and blues-rock roaring back to life. In the process, he helped resurrect the careers of many bluesmen. As Buddy Guy reported a few years later, “I owe the biggest thanks in the world to Stevie, because he was sellin’ records and I wasn’t. He opened the door for many of us.” Vaughan co-produced Texas Flood with his ..read more

Few labels are as storied as Manchester-based Factory Records. Founded in 1978 by media host Tony Wilson, actor Alan Erasmus, and band manager Rob Gretton, Factory Records was the early home of an eclectic assortment of bands that included The Durutti Column, Cabaret Voltaire, and Joy Division. Although these bands had little in common stylistically, the label’s early releases were produced by recording iconoclast Martin Hannett and sported distinctive artwork by graphic designer Peter Saville, resulting in a de facto label sound and image. The label debuted with the release of A Factory Sampl ..read more

Last year I wrote an article for Women’s History Month that highlighted some of the pioneering women of the guitar: Memphis Minnie, Maybelle Carter, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Those women were innovators, playing historic roles in the development of guitar and the evolution of their respective genres. This all took place during the first half of the 20th century. Today, vital members of the guitar community who also happen to be women continue to push the envelope with their unique techniques and sounds. And most importantly, just like Minnie, Maybelle, and Rosetta, they make you feel things ..read more

A quick speaker swap can yield one of the most dramatic sonic refreshes achievable with any rig. It stands to reason, then, that tailoring your speakers to suit your tonal needs can be a highly rewarding means of dialing in the most expressive, dynamic, and genre-appropriate sounds for your music. It’s often said that the amplifier accounts for at least 50% of the sound of any guitar rig; those who really know their amps will tell you that the speakers and the cabinet they’re mounted in are responsible for a good half of that part of the equation, and that you can’t really get your rig soundin ..read more