I grew up in the era of Tom Petty. The Heartbreakers’ music was a part of my life soundtrack as soon as MTV went live. It’s hard to pick a favorite song from Tom Petty’s catalog. Tom’s music went through various sonic journeys, just as we do in life. 

I grew up in the era of Tom Petty. The Heartbreakers’ music was a part of my life soundtrack as soon as MTV went live. It’s hard to pick a favorite song from Tom Petty’s catalog. Tom’s music went through various sonic journeys, just as we do in life. 

The Fender Blackface Princeton guitar amp tone is about as classic as it gets. The identity of that era of amps might be the most identifiable guitar amp ever. They've been on countless records starting from 1964 on that Feature the Fender Blackface tone. 

Buying an original mid to late 60's blackface Princeton isn't only expensive but potentially problematic. I love vintage guitar amps, but they can be unreliable. Right now, a 1964 Princeton is a 46-year-old amp. That's long past the life expectancy of many of the components.

You could get lucky and buy one with no issues. More than likely, though, you will need to maintain and baby a vintage amp more than a new one.

Compression is often misunderstood and looked at as a dynamics fixer. Meaning, some players use them to even out there playing. A compressor can substantially narrow the dynamic range of the guitar.

Although it does do that, it's not how I think about it, or I use it. I've spent a lot of time playing guitar to manually event my dynamics if I want to. I don't use a compressor as a band-aid.

Compression is a tone tool for me. I'm very interested in the varieties of compressors and how they modify my sound. Sure, a compressor is still containing the dynamic range of the guitar. But, to me, that's just a side effect.

Amp and speaker cab emulators are trending right now. A lot of musicians are recording less in commercial studios. Perhaps they can’t record a real amp in their home studio due to volume restraints.

Some guitarists are looking for solutions to loud or heavy amps. Perhaps there are volume limitations on the gig. Or guitarists are trying to have as little a footprint as possible when traveling to gigs. For these players, an amp in a pedal is appealing.

I recently wrote a blog about FSC Instruments '59 pickups. Well, I liked them so much I decided to ask Farhad Soheili to make me a set of 1960's style pickups. I have two Strats and thought it would be cool if they were both voiced differently.

Because I do so many sessions, small variances in tone can make a big difference. Plus, let's admit it, I'm a tone nerd.

It's strange the details that fail to progress with guitar gear over the decades. Companies spend a lot of time trying to reduce the pedal size, but neglect others. For instance, we now have nano pedals. Yet, the footswitches remain small.

Have you ever tried to turn a pedal on or off when you weren't wearing shoes? It's not a very comfortable experience unless you're using a Boss pedal.

I grew up listening to a lot of British rock music — everything from the Beatles to Led Zeppelin. I also heard a lot of punk and early hardcore — bands such as the Ramones and Minor Threat.

Because of my roots in this music, you would think I would have had a Marshall amp. But, I didn't know until recently. I'm not sure why. I always wanted one, but I just ended up buying other amps.

The question comes up quite a bit about what is the best wattage guitar amp to buy. It's hard to find the perfect volume amp that covers all applications. Especially if there is a wide variety of gigs, you do. Choosing an amp judging by its wattage alone may be a little misleading.

Let's try to narrow down some choices in this article.

Most guitarists have heard the term b5 (flat five) when referring to the blues. Some go as far to call it the blue note. I’ve always felt the play between the major and minor 3rd to be a more significant player in the blues.

Still, the b5 does have an essential place in blues. The blues has influenced much of contemporary music. Blues is the foundation of the various styles of rock, country, and other forms of music.

When I was younger I didn't understand why people would swap out their guitar pickups. If you liked the way a guitar sounds when you buy it, I thought, why change it?

It wasn't until a friend showed up at my studio with a guitar that had some hand-wound pickups in it that I had a revelation. It was quite the eye opener. There were elements of my guitar tone I wasn’t happy with but I couldn't put my finger on. I certainly didn’t think to consider my pickups.

In 2001 I decided I wanted a Rickenbacker 12-string. It’s a sound I have long loved. I grew up listening to the Beatles. Tom Petty was also on the soundtrack to my childhood. How could a guitar collection that’s supposed to represent my influences not include a Rickenbacker 360/12? 

There are so many overdrive/distortion pedals on the market and most say the same thing in their description: “Overdriven tube amp sound.” Yet, when I’ve played through many, they don’t actually sound like an overdriven amp. That’s not to say they sound bad. Some sound nice, but not really like a cranked tube amp.

The Rat is one of the earliest distortion pedals, arriving on the market in 1978. Prior to that, there were only a few gain pedals: the Colorsound Power Boost, the Maestro Fuzz-Tone FZ-1, the Sola Sound Tone Bender, the Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, the Dallas Rangemaster, and the Electro- Harmonix Big Muff.