There’s no doubt about it: Nick Reinhart (Tera Melos, Big Walnuts Yonder) is one of the most innovative guitarists working today, able to pull a dazzling array of never-before-heard sounds and dizzying glitch-inspired textures from his instrument, tap dancing away at a pedalboard while playing finger-twisting punk/prog riffs in odd time signatures like a mutant hybrid of Adrian Belew, Tom Morello, and Aphex Twin’s Richard D. James...
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Palmquist Studios is a treasure trove of vintage gear. “When I collect gear . . . I collect very slowly,” he says. “I like to build up pieces that I know are gonna last and be the sounds that I want and sounds that make my job easier. . . The Warden gets used on a lot of records,” he says. “[On] clean guitars, it keeps them punchy and articulate . . . [and] a little bit of the Grand Orbiter always gives that sense of space . . . [it’s] a nice little bit of je ne sais quoi..."
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Since 2005, Noveller’s Sarah Lipstate has been using effects pedals to transform her guitar into synthesizers, string quartets, and instruments we don’t even have names for yet...
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When we asked Juan Alderete (Halo Orbit, the Mars Volta, Racer X) what he planned to do for his clinic at EarthQuaker Day 2017, his response was “transverse the effected low end spectrum of the electric bass into your band’s sound.” We’re happy to say he delivered as promised.
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We met up with the LA-based heavy psych rockers before their show at Cleveland’s Beachland Ballroom to learn more about the gear behind their lysergic, acid-drenched guitar sound...
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Life on the road may be something that many musicians aspire to, but no one ever said it’s an easy life. Instead of listing the litany of horrific things we’ve heard from friends or lived through ourselves, we figured we’d gather some tips from Alicia Bognanno of Nashville grunge rockers Bully on how to survive the touring life...
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Shortly after the release of Big Walnuts Yonder, I met up with Watt at Cleveland’s Beachland Ballroom, where before and after soundcheck with his band the Jom & Terry Show, we talked about gear, collaboration in the internet age, and the making of Big Walnuts Yonder...
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Since 2007’s self-titled debut album, Atlanta punks The Coathangers have come a long way. The band started as four friends playing music together with no serious aspirations and a mortal fear of playing live...
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When CHON guitarist Erick Hansel wants to get dark, he steps on his Transmisser. “Whenever you hold a chord . . . this thing has this darkness about it. It’s, like, really awesome to hear it underlying, behind all the music,” he says...
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“The Warden compression pedal . . . is kinda like, crucial to our tone,” says CHON guitarist Mario Camarena.
We met up with Mario prior to CHON’s incredible sold-out performance at Cleveland’s legendary Agora Ballroom to learn how his pedalboard has leveled-up from having only three pedals, to the final boss-worthy behemoth it is today...
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The idea behind this particular effects chain is to let the bass guitar take the lead by using effects pedals to simulate a sound similar to the sequencer module of an analog synthesizer...
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Just as we get Isaiah plugged in and ripping (and man, the sound that afternoon was simply majestic - loud, spacious, wide open), a pair of park rangers pull up behind our vehicles and start heading our way...
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We caught up with Deltron 3030 guitarist Taka Tozawa at his rehearsal studio in a former naval base in San Francisco’s Bay View area to drool over his gargantuan collection of vintage Marshall amps and cabinets, including no fewer than three 8x10 cabs, and one “holy-grail” JTM-45... There’s not always room in the van (or trailer, or bus) for multiple Marshall full-stacks, so Taka counts on his Speaker Cranker overdrive to nail those cranked vintage amp tones on rented backline equipment.
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Ben Vehorn is on the short list of EarthQuaker Devices employees that has been with the company since our days as a fledgling basement operation. He spent many years riding the “Night Train...”
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Most Western music is comprised of 12 tones or notes. I always think of them of as ingredients in a recipe. Each tone responsible for lending its flavor to the dish. To be less hippy-dippy about it, each note has a relationship with the other notes in the scale, and some are tasty when paired...
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We met up with Tera Melos / Big Walnuts Yonder guitar wrangler Nick Reinhart at Juan Alderete’s 5 Starr Sound Labs to dig into a few of his favorite settings on the Bit Commander, Transmisser, and Avalanche Run. As if having killer guitar chops weren’t enough, Reinhart has made a name for himself as a tone-tweaker conjuring expressive and bizarre sounds from any pedal he touches. Today is no different...
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When he's not building pedals, EQD's Lamont Thomas is Obnox aka Nox. Watch him rip thru the garage-punk barnburner "Enter the Hater" and be sure to scoop up the seven (!) records he's slated to release this year. His latest LP, "Niggative Approach" is out now on 12XU!
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“In the studio, you just grab whatever sounds good . . . like this reverb, it’s so simple, but so, so great,” says Cold War Kids guitarist Nathan Willet, pointing to his Ghost Echo...
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San Diego’s CHON writes intricate, ultra-linear fusion-inspired math rock, but with a twist. You can dance to it...We caught up with guitarists Mario Camarena and Erick Hansel shortly after tracking had wrapped to discuss the making of the album, and find out how they fared upon entering the Wide World of Effects Pedals for the first time in the band’s eight-year history.
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Eternal Summers craft glistening bite-sized nuggets of summery dream-pop like sunshine poking through clouds on a rainy day...
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