On this episode of Dipped in Tone, Rhett and Zack are joined by Wales-born guitarist Chris Buck. Buck is gearing up for a string of US tour dates with his fast-rising rock band Cardinal Black, including a date at Nashville’s Basement East after the original venue sold-out within a few hours.Buck starts off digging into the details of his custom Yamaha Revstar and why he chose the versatile guitar over better-known offerings from legacy brands. Buck’s rise has been nearly meteoric: He started off posting videos on Facebook and Instagram before his wife suggested he give YouTube a try. His channel now counts 226,000 subscribers, thanks to his popular Friday Fretworks videos. But as Buck explains, his content is a tool to help fund his original music—a very successful tool.Still, it’s not all sunshine. Buck details how he and his band navigate the brutal economics of touring, including some horror stories of how they ended up losing money on merch sales. Later, we learn how Buck built his signature playing style—mostly by ear and by accident. “I don’t think anyone has ever ended up sounding like themselves through sitting down and going ‘Right, im gonna try to sound unique,’” he says. “It just happens over time.”He’s gone from YouTube to the Royal Albert Hall, but Buck reveals a quiet concern that he’s peaked too early. What do Rhett and Zach make of that fear? Tune in.Get 10% off with promo code DIPPED at http://chasebliss.comGo see Chris on tour: http://thecardinalblack.comSubscribe, like, and leave us a commentSign up on our mailing list: http://eepurl.com/iaCee5Support us on Patreon for access to our discord server and other perks! https://www.patreon.com/dippedintoneFollow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/dippedintoneDipped in Tone is:Rhett Shull https://www.rhettshull.com/Zach Broyles / Mythos Pedals https://mythospedals.comPremier Guitar https://www.premierguitar.com/

This time on Dipped In Tone, Rhett and Zach are digging into today’s best nitty-gritty gear news. Tired of trawling Reddit and forums to figure out what’s going on? Tune in for some authoritative takes from your two favorite tone fiends.First up are the new Line 6 modeling offerings, including the compact, affordable stompbox that’s making waves across the industry. How does it compare to its big brother, the Helix? Is there any hope for a bean-shaped POD revival? Time will tell…Our hosts touch on the craze around vintage PAF pickups (which was fetching $2500 for a pair), and compare the Gibson and Fender economy lines: Who makes the better entry-level instrument, and are the budget models starting to lap their more expensive counterparts?Later, the duo runs down the best-in-class Ed Sheeran signature looper before moving on to the landscape of legacy brands. Is Marshall still relevant outside of their barbershop-ready Bluetooth speakers? How is Hiwatt beating them in the race to digital? And what will happen to our favorite gear companies when they’re bought up by investment portfolios?Stick around for all this and more, plus an update on Zach’s “Gotta Catch ’Em All” Tubescreamer hunt.Get 10% off with promo code DIPPED at http://chasebliss.comSubscribe, like, and leave us a commentSign up on our mailing list: http://eepurl.com/iaCee5Support us on Patreon for access to our discord server and other perks! https://www.patreon.com/dippedintoneMERCH: https://teespring.com/stores/dipped-in-toneFollow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/dippedintone Dipped in Tone is:Rhett Shull  https://www.rhettshull.com/Zach Broyles / Mythos Pedals  https://mythospedals.comPremier Guitar https://www.premiergu

Rhett and Zach are joined on this episode of Dipped In Tone by soft-spoken jazz guitar master Julian Lage. After Zach shares some last-minute production headaches with Mythos’ new Herculean Deluxe, Lage sits in for fascinating, spirited dive into how he thinks about tone, composition, and his new record, Speak To Me.The gang unpacks just about every aspect of Lage’s playing and sound. They touch on Lage’s relationships with his amps and dynamics (“I have to get overstimulated by an amplifier,” says Lage) and get the details on his Collings signature model—plus, of course, what ‘good’ or ‘bad’ guitar sounds mean. “No sound is empirically good or bad,” says Lage. “It’s just how it fits into the narrative.”Did you know that Lage gets to know his guitars by doing direct into his DAW, and that effects pedals kinda terrify him? He doesn’t like transcribing, either—he’s got a unique take on studying Robben Ford solos. Listen in to find out why, and hear about the best guitar lesson his father ever taught him.Head to http://stewmac.com/dippedintone for 10% off your order!Subscribe, like, and leave us a commentSign up on our mailing list: http://eepurl.com/iaCee5Support us on Patreon for access to our discord server and other perks! https://www.patreon.com/dippedintoneMERCH: https://teespring.com/stores/dipped-in-toneFollow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/dippedintone Dipped in Tone is:Rhett Shull  https://www.rhettshull.com/Zach Broyles / Mythos Pedals  https://mythospedals.comPremier Guitar https://www.premierguitar.com/

Our battle-weary hosts have returned from the scorched trenches and badge-strewn wastelands in Anaheim, California, and they’re ready to recount what they saw. Welcome to the NAMM 2024 airing of the grievances.Zach and Rhett are coming at this from two different angles: Zach as a vendor with Mythos Pedals, and Rhett as an attendee and noted YouTuber-about-town. This year marked Zach’s first on the vendor side, an experience he calls “trial by fire on the show floor.” It ain’t cheap to showcase at NAMM, and Zack has some ideas for how to give participants more bang for their buck. The worst feeling in the world, after all, is dropping a mountain of cash to travel to the show, only to stand alone at your booth for four days. (By the way, three days might be a better fit.)Rhett and Zach share their horror stories—from pushy salesmen in suits to awkward physical confrontations—and forecast some possible solutions before they turn to the auction of a Mark Knopfler guitar for an insane sum. Why are vintage guitar prices shooting up, and how are scalpers screwing up the gear market? Tune in for the juice.Head to stewmac.com/dippedintone for 10% off your order!Subscribe, like, and leave us a commentSign up on our mailing list: http://eepurl.com/iaCee5Support us on Patreon for access to our discord server and other perks! https://www.patreon.com/dippedintoneMERCH: https://teespring.com/stores/dipped-in-toneFollow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/dippedintone Dipped in Tone is:Rhett Shull  https://www.rhettshull.com/Zach Broyles / Mythos Pedals  https://mythospedals.comPremier Guitar https://www.premierguitar.com/

Rhett and Zach kick off the new year with renewed commitment to an old habit: making a daily to-do list, or as Rhett calls it, “the shit list.” The guys debate the finer points of which stationary makes the best to-do list backdrop before they’re joined by Tom Murphy, the preeminent craftsman of guitar-aging and namesake of Gibson’s high-end Murphy Lab.Murphy, who has been with Gibson for 25 years, takes Rhett and Zach back to the starting line, when he and his friends would buy, trade, mod, poke, and prod any guitars they could get their hands on—Murphy quips that his entire career is in part penance for an early botched attempt at refinishing a ’68 Les Paul. Murphy eventually found his niche in aging: “Who else is gonna take a razor blade and make a bunch of lines on a guitar they just refinished?”Along the way, Murphy digs into the labor and pricing considerations with heavily aged instruments, including when a third-party guitar sale made him realize he had to raise his rates. His aging and restoration work involves balancing considerations of aesthetic, tone, and playability all at once, which he likens to “the spinning plates guy at the circus.” “Which one can you afford to let fall?” Murphy says. The magic of his work, he explains, is in accentuating the natural properties of the guitars: “Our finish doesn’t make them sound better, it lets them sound better.”Murphy’s story involves soaring highs, like catching ZZ Top in a tiny club in Houston in the early ’70s, watching Billy Gibbons thrash the very guitar model he would later spend his days working on. But stick around to hear about the dramatic lows, too, like when he witnessed a guitar’s finish shatter before his eyes after a freezing, snowed-in night in Boulder, Colorado.Murphy doesn’t have plans to retire at the moment, but he has one caveat: “I just don’t wanna be found slumped over a guitar,” he chuckles.Big thanks to StewMac for sponsoring this episode. Head to http://stewmac.com/dippedintone to get 10% off!Subscribe, like, and leave us a commentSign up on our mailing list: http://eepurl.com/iaCee5Support us on Patreon for access to our discord server and other perks! https://www.patreon.com/dippedintoneMERCH:

Intervals bandleader Aaron Marshall joins Rhett and Zach for this installment of Dipped In Tone, which is essentially a crash-course in touring, merch design, road-ready rig planning, and keeping your head above water as an unsigned act.The trio start off with a deep dive into Intervals’ focus on high-quality merch, and Marshall outlines his design and marketing philosophies. Increasingly, these elements are the lifeblood of any band that wants to make a living in music: “A touring band is just a traveling T-shirt shop that gets to play music for 40 minutes,” Marshall quips.Marshall expands on his DIY expertise—Intervals has self-released all four of their full-length records, and still managed to thrive and build a name for themselves. Obviously, that requires a lot of hard work before outsourcing things like management and booking. “You have to take it to your wit’s end,” says Marshall.Marshall explains how Intervals has managed to maintain a top-level live production without label backing, and why, after literally tucking his tube amps in to a tour van bunk bed, he won’t take them on the road anymore. (“Glass is crazy to be touring with,” he says.) Part of the band’s low-frills magic is a “go along to get along” attitude as an opening act, which includes foregoing specific pieces of gear to make their lives—and the lives of everyone involved in a tour production—more easy.While Intervals leans toward the gnarlier side of the rock spectrum, Marshall connects his playing back to the classics, and shares why he thinks it’s important to keep a healthy, back-to-basics musical diet: “Playing the blues and learning how to play rock is like eating broccoli at every meal.”Stay tuned til the end to get the details on Intervals’ upcoming 2024 release.Subscribe, like, and leave us a commentSign up on our mailing list: http://eepurl.com/iaCee5Support us on Patreon for access to our discord server and other perks! https://www.patreon.com/dippedintoneMERCH: https://teespring.com/stores/dipped-in-toneFollow us on Instagram

It’s the most wonderful time of year: the “year in gear” season is finally upon us, and we’re celebrating with this special in-person episode of Dipped In Tone. Zach and Rhett gang up at Zach’s place to rundown the best of the best of musical excellence and oddities in 2023.The guys start in with their favorite stompboxes. Rhett tips his hat to Old Blood Noise Endeavors’ Beam Splitter, Hologram’s Chroma Console, and Universal Audio’s 1176 pedal, which he runs as a hard-clipped overdrive. Some might say it sounds shitty, but as Zach notes, “Shitty is pretty in the mix!” Zach’s “boring” picks include the Nobels ODR-1, his collection of new Tube Screamer variants, and the Poly Beebo. Along the way, they talk about the magic of going back to old gear they’d written off in their younger days, and dig into the root causes of Zach’s discomfort with more experimental playing approaches.Rhett sings praises for the new Orange OR30 and remembers its early 2000s predecessor, the AD30, and he and Zach agree on the superior, “8K” quality of Two-Rock’s current offerings over nearly every other amp on the market. Out of this year’s axes, Rhett favors both Fender’s Vintera II ’60s Bass VI and the Mexican-made Jason Isbell Custom Telecaster, plus the Collings 470 JL—Julian Lage’s signature. Zach spotlights his PRS SE Silver Sky, and a gorgeous Gibson Custom Shop 1959 ES-335 Reissue.Be sure to stick around for the end, when the duo call out the year’s biggest disappointment in gear, which Zach describes as “baby’s first modeler.”Big thanks to StewMac for sponsoring this episode. Head to http://stewmac.com/dippedintone to get 10% off!Subscribe, like, and leave us a commentSign up on our mailing list: http://eepurl.com/iaCee5Support us on Patreon for access to our discord server and other perks! https://www.patreon.com/dippedintoneMERCH: https://teespring.com/stores/dipped-in-toneFollow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/dippedintone00:00 Introduction and In-Person Episode01:21 Year in Gear Discussion03:15 Shifting Focus to Patreon04:14 Sponsorship and Gift Ideas05:34 Tube Screamers06:02 Old Blood Noise Beam Splitter08:28 Reevaluating Gear10:36 Nobels ODR-112:57 Hologram Chroma Console16:23 UA 1176 Pedal19:45 Poly Beebo25:06 JHS

This episode of Dipped In Tone features Rhett flying solo with veteran jazz guitarist Oz Noy. Born in Israel, Noy started gigging at age 13, and 37 years later, he’s still going strong as a celebrated live musician—including a 17-year run at New York City club The Bitter End.Noy explains that he grew up with a foot in both jazz and rock music worlds. The former taught him intricate playing, while the latter schooled him on tone and sound. “I was playing heavy metal on one hand,” he says. “On the other, I had a hollowbody guitar and I was playing bebop.” When he moved to New York, he was “shellshocked” by how advanced and impressive the jazz music scene was. Noy played in a trio, so to fill out his sonic palette, he began leaning on effects as “almost another instrument.” Not all of it has been intentional—he found a signature sound thanks to a happy accident with a tremolo pedal while gigging in Japan.While he still loves old, loud Marshalls, Noy says Two-Rock amplifiers have radically changed his approach, and he even uses Fender combos on the road. But aside from running his amps into a Universal Audio OX, Noy explains why he’s still not impressed with digital amp solutions.Noy’s most important advice for players? “You gotta go out of your house and play live,” he says, explaining why it doesn’t cut it to just home-record clips for Instagram or YouTube. And while he sings the praises of his favorite modern jazz players, he tells Rhett why he thinks that rock and blues guitar-playing haven’t evolved much since the ’70s: “There’s nobody that took it to the next level or invented something new.”Big thanks to StewMac for sponsoring this episode. Head to http://stewmac.com/dippedintone to get 10% off!Subscribe, like, and leave us a commentSign up on our mailing list: http://eepurl.com/iaCee5Support us on Patreon for access to our discord server and other perks! https://www.patreon.com/dippedintoneMERCH: https://teespring.com/stores/dipped-in-toneFollow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/dippedintone

On this week’s Dipped In Tone, Rhett and Zack are joined by contemporary jazz guitar legend Adam Levy, the thoughtful, soft-spoken accompanist known for his work with Norah Jones and his own jazz trios. Levy’s new book, String Theories, which he co-authored with fellow sideman-to-the-stars Ethan Sherman, collects a series of tips, challenges, and reflections for guitarists to deepen their playing.“I need it to sound like Solomon Burke is singing,” Levy says of his style and philosophy, centered on leads and mid-register tones. His formative playing experiences were on a Gibson ES-335, and Zack and Rhett wonder why the semi-hollow remains Levy’s go-to over, say, a Les Paul or T-style guitar. “[We] kind of put guitars in buckets: ‘This guitar does this, this guitar does that,’” says Levy. “But a lot of it is just what you do with your hands anyway. I feel like the instrument itself is maybe just a third of all that stuff.”Levy says that as the years go on, he gets “more like myself” when playing. A piece of that, he says, is stepping back from guitar music altogether. “Go on a guitar fast for a month,” he says. Levy says that removing the distractions of analyzing for specific tones and gear can create a clearer relationship to music. “All you can really notice is, ‘What’s the mood? How does it make me feel?’” Similarly, Levy warns of the dangers of overanalyzing your playing: “A little bit of reflection can go a long way,” he says, but “you don’t want to get so reflective that you shut yourself down.”Finally, the trio dips a high-class vintage rig complete with a Gibson ES-125 with a floating wooden bridge—which shocks a sense-memory out of Levy. “It’s beyond, ‘I can hear that guitar,’” laughs Levy. “I can smell that guitar.”Subscribe, like, and leave us a comment!Big thanks to Sweetwater for sponsoring this episode. Head to http://sweetwater.com for all your musical gear needs. Subscribe, like, and leave us a commentSign up on our mailing list: http://eepurl.com/iaCee5Support us on Patreon for access to our discord server and other perks! https://www.patreon.com/dippedintoneMERCH: https://teespring.com/stores/d

Zach goes it alone on this episode to interview session guitarist, 6-string storyteller, and prominent YouTuber and online guitar instructor Tim Pierce. As a player, Pierce’s guitar has spent decades at the top of the charts by way of songs by Bon Jovi, Goo Goo Dolls, Phil Collins, Madonna, Dave Matthews Band, Bob Dylan—whose recent Shadow Kingdom features the guitarist holding down the rhythm—and so many others.Pierce discusses his biggest influences and favorite guitar sounds, seeing ZZ Top in their early stages “at their finest”—“I was floored”—and tells how he learned how to play rhythm guitar “on the job.” He also shares advice for crafting excellent guitar parts.These days, Pierce says his session work is mostly for friends and family. Instead, he focuses on his popular YouTube channel, where he posts interviews, tips, and more. It’s a passion for the guitarist, and he and Zach get deep into the nuts and bolts of his YouTube life—from how many thumbnails can he makes for each episode (a whole lot) to how he comes up with his ideas for videos.“I did one thing for decades,” Pierce says of his life as a guitarist for hire. “That I knew I could do … I just wanted to be a recording guitar player.” About 15 years ago, he says he reevaluated his goals and says he “discovered some people who were doing business online” who inspired him to give YouTube a go. “It just seemed like something, with all my limitations, that I could pull off.” After a decade doing full-time sessions and building his online presence, Pierce eventually switched to becoming a full-time YouTuber.Subscribe, like, and leave us a comment!Big thanks to Sweetwater for sponsoring this episode. Head to http://sweetwater.com for all your musical gear needs. Sign up on our mailing list: http://eepurl.com/iaCee5Support us on Patreon for access to our discord server and other perks! https://www.patreon.com/dippedintoneFollow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/dippedintoneDipped in Tone is:Rhett Shull https://www.rhettshull.com/Zach Broyles / Mythos Pedals https://mythospedals.comPremier Guitar https://www.premierguitar.com/

Rhett and Zack kick off the episode with a chat about which video games they’re loving and Rhett’s cross-country adventures with his wife before Eli Lester, owner of Two-Rock Amplification, joins them for an in-depth exploration of his amp-building philosophies.Lester walks Rhett and Zack through his origins in amp-building, repairing instruments and amps in the back room of the shop where he gave guitar lessons. He played in rockabilly bands and had an affinity for old ’50s and ’60s Cadillacs that needed work, but he couldn’t afford to pay someone to fix them up, so he had to learn to do it himself. In his freshman year of college, he’d buy old amps and rent books from the library to figure out how to repair and mod them. Eventually, his voracious fandom of Two-Rock amplifiers helped him connect with the brand’s founder, Bill Krinard.On Two-Rock’s building philosophy now, Lester says his approach is more about feel more than sound. “We build them for the artist, not the audience,” he says. Two-Rock’s obsession with delivering high-fidelity sound goes into every piece of the amp; Lester says each part is manufactured to spec in California, and part of the brand’s high price tags is thanks to how well they treat their employees. “We’re all tinkerers and geeks,” Lester grins.Later, Lester explains how they design high-wattage amps that don’t blow your eardrums, and how Two-Rock is “tipping their hat” to Dumble-style amps. Building amps for a job is indeed hard work, but Lester wouldn’t have it any other way: “I just get to build my dream guitar rig, that’s all I do.”Subscribe, like, and leave us a comment!Big thanks to Sweetwater for sponsoring this episode. Head to http://sweetwater.com for all your musical gear needs. Sign up on our mailing list: http://eepurl.com/iaCee5Support us on Patreon for access to our discord server and other perks! https://www.patreon.com/dippedintoneFollow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/dippedintoneDipped in Tone is:Rhett Shull https://www.rhettshull.com/Zach Broyles / Mythos Pedals https://mythospedals.comPremier Guitar https://www.premierguitar.com/

Josh Scott drops in to chat about all things JHS, going back to his early days doing debunking deep-dives into vintage gear—“I love the mythbusting element of this stuff,” he says. “I love telling people … this is not witchcraft…. The tech of a Big Muff is from the ’50s.”He continues: “I know that we need to feel magic. I like it too.… But I love that element of proving simplicity of all this stuff and making it digestible to younger players and taking the chaos out of decisions. So, for me, that’s where the collecting started happening. Everything I’d ever heard anyone say about a pedal, I immediately needed to find the pedal and see if it was true.”And while the trio have plenty of inside-baseball stuff to cover, from how they’ve approached their YouTube content to how they tackle endorsement cold calls to branding—“products are not that important in the long term. Brand is more important than products.” But Josh is here to talk about his relaunch of the Ross brand and his YouTube documentary about the brand. The story, he says, is “more important than the pedals even. I just love the stories and stuff. The pedal circuits were the easiest part of the whole thing. It’s awesome to have worked so hard and to see the impact that just a good story has. We got inundated with messages … saying, ‘Man, I cried about pedals.’”“I just really love the history element,” he says later, “so much that it feels like this really natural piece of being able to tell those stories and then move the story forward … One of my favorite things to do is taking some classic thing and replicating it perfectly. Like, I love the science of that.”Subscribe, like, and leave us a comment!Big thanks to Sweetwater for sponsoring this episode. Head to http://sweetwater.com for all your musical gear needs. Sign up on our mailing list: http://eepurl.com/iaCee5Support us on Patreon for access to our discord server and other perks! https://www.patreon.com/dippedintoneFollow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/dippedintoneDipped in Tone is:Rhett Shull https://www.rhettshull.com/Zach Broyles / Mythos Pedals https://mythospedals.comPremier Guitar https://www.premierguitar.com/

Zach and Rhett kick things off with a catch-up on recent projects. Rhett celebrates his new 100 watt Two Rock Classic Reverb Signature, which recently terrorized a couple sitting in the front row of one of his gigs. Then guitarist Ariel Posen logs on to, first and foremost, clear up how to pronounce his name. He gives a quick tutorial: just say guitar, add “ee” and “ell,” then take out the “guit” sound.Posen and Rhett swap horror stories from working on film sets, where they were expected to do way more than their job descriptions covered. Both agree that the film life is infinitely worse than touring. “I don’t know shit!” protests Posen. “I’m just a guitar player, dude!”Posen discusses how he got into playing slide in standard tuning by learning George Harrison leads (blues slide guitar was never his thing), but Canadian guitarist Kevin Breit inspired him to try open tunings, a process with “a lot of trial by fire, lots of, ‘oops, sorry!’” Blake Mills’ 2014 record Heigh Ho prompted Posen to chase lower tunings, although Korn, Limp Bizkit, and Big Wreck lit that same candle years earlier. For the open tuning-curious, Posen suggests starting in open E.Posen talks about how he wrote his new record, and the honesty and simplicity behind his favorite lyricists like Jason Isbell. Finally, the trio dig into how to stack and squeeze the best sounds from your fuzz pedals. (Is a mini version of the Mythos Argo fuzz pedal coming? Zach doesn’t say yes—but he doesn’t say no, either.) Finally, the crew dips a slick Americana rig that draws a trio of impressive scores.Subscribe, like, and leave us a comment!Big thanks to Sweetwater for sponsoring this episode. Head to http://sweetwater.com for all your musical gear needs. Sign up on our mailing list: http://eepurl.com/iaCee5Support us on Patreon for access to our discord server and other perks! https://www.patreon.com/dippedintoneFollow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/dippedintoneDipped in Tone is:Rhett Shull https://www.rhettshull.com/Zach Broyles / Mythos Pedals https://mythospedals.comPremier Guitar https://www.premierguitar.com/

On this episode of Dipped In Tone, Rhett and Zach chat with special guest Warren Haynes. The Gov’t Mule leader talks about the band’s latest, Peace… Like a River. This record of originals was recorded simultaneously with 2021’s Heavy Load Blues, in the same studio, using a completely different set of gear. “We setup all our normal Mule toys in the big room with the high ceiling, we setup a bunch of vintage gear, small amps, and old guitars … in the small room,” Haynes shares, as he details the differences in each rig and talks about his go-to blues rig, which includes vintage Gibson amps—“they were flying by the seat of their pants, a lot of it was experimental,” he says on why they’re some of his favorites—a Supro, Alessandro, and more, plus a slew of vintage guitars, including Danelectros and Gibsons. “The surprise factor was part of it,” Haynes says. In the course of talking amps, Haynes might have let the cat out of the bag about a special project.What does it take to be effective when sitting in? “A lot of times,” Haynes explains, “I’m just trying to find something that fits and stay out of everybody’s way.” Pragmatically, he later adds, “Really, the most important thing to remember is that the song’s gonna be fine without your part, so there’s no reason to feel like you have to do anything. When it comes time to solo, that’s a little bit of a different story.” He later reminisces about sitting in with Bob Dylan, and, during his time as a member of the Allmans, having Eric Clapton join the band onstage.Big thanks to Sweetwater for sponsoring this episode. Head to http://sweetwater.com for all your musical gear needs. Subscribe, like, and leave us a commentSign up on our mailing list: http://eepurl.com/iaCee5Support us on Patreon for access to our discord server and other perks! https://www.patreon.com/dippedintoneMERCH: https://teespring.com/stores/dipped-in-toneFollow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/dippedinto

This episode starts off with Zach and Rhett catching each other up on their 4th of July festivities. Rhett’s was classic: he treated some visiting European friends to fireworks off a dock, barbecue, smoked wings, more fireworks, and a bunch of beer. Zach, meanwhile, was knocking on doors to tell neighbors to knock off the mortar shelling in the middle of the night. To each their own.Then they’re joined by Nathaniel Murphy, the Chicago-based guitarist who has racked up nearly 400,000 followers on Instagram with jaw-dropping videos of solo guitar work. Rhett doesn’t mince words—he says Murphy is “one of the best players out there.” Murphy’s videos break people’s brains, they say: no one can work out how he’s playing all the parts by himself at the same time. Plus, Murphy works full-time now with Chicago Music Exchange, where he brushed shoulders with Noel Gallagher and Carlos Santana within a few days of one another this summer.Murphy shares how he came to the U.S. to coach soccer for nearly a decade before being hired to do video demos for CME. He was busking downtown Chicago, too, and within a few years, CME brought him on full-time to cut videos. When it came time to join Instagram, he registered with his infamous handle, @ZeppelinBarnatra. Murphy breaks down how the moniker came to be when he entered a contest to win tickets to Led Zeppelin’s 2007 reunion concert.Murphy names his favorite all-time guitar—Noel Gallagher’s Gibson J-150, which Gallagher recently signed for him—before the crew reflects on how to behave when meeting your guitar heroes. That leads to a discussion of U2’s The Edge, whom Rhett and Murphy defend from detractors. They also agree that Teles are the most versatile guitars out there, but Zach, ever the contrarian, dissents: “To me, there’s a reason why all the dudes that played Teles back in the day switched to Les Pauls,” he shrugs. Murphy talks about his current favorite players, like Justin Derrico, Stephen Taranto, and Michael Romeo, then the trio dissect different picking techniques and go long on Blue Chip pick manufacturing processes.Rhett, who groans that he has the touch of a blacksmith when it comes to guitar playing, praises Murphy’s sensitive playing. But even Murphy, with his prodigious playing, says he gets overwhelmed watching other players’ styles. In guitar playing, as in life, the grass is always greener.Big thanks to StewMac for sponsoring this episode. Head to

After Rhett shares his childhood trauma of riding an immersive horror coaster at Tomorrowland and Zach recovers from the emotional experience of viewing the Millennium Falcon in person on a family vacation, Texas-born guitarist Eric Johnson joins them for a revelatory discussion on tone, gear, and the never-ending hunt for creative inspiration.Rhett starts by noting that Johnson’s DNA isn’t just in his playing and composition, but his sound, too. How does one sculpt a signature tone? “It starts with your intention and your design of your vision,” Johnson starts. He says that when he was young, he learned that there was great guitar playing to be found in nearly every style of music, and calls his sound a “hodge-podge” of all the styles he loved, name-checking the Beatles, the Yardbirds, Jimi Hendrix, and Wes Montgomery as stylistic signposts.Rhett and Zack wonder how important Johnson’s rig is to him nowadays. He’s a classic man—a Stratocaster into an old Marshall is his little slice of paradise—but he warns young guitarists from focusing too much on the sizzle and forgetting about the steak. “I always say to anybody chasing [gear], ‘Don’t go so deep in the rabbit hole that you just analyze too much,’” he says. “It’s part of the thing, but it’s not the main thing.” Plus, Johnson hints that he finds inspiration in instruments’ oddities—and even their defects.Johnson reveals that he’s experimenting with a Neural DSP, but the new tech might be too polished for his liking. He explains that when he tried designing a signature Fuzz Face with Dunlop, he only got close once they swapped out the high-quality wiring and pots for older, degraded materials. “It’s just a mystery,” he grins.Ultimately, Johnson says it doesn’t matter what tool artists use, they have to learn to “negotiate the medium.” Whether it’s a particular amplifier’s quirks or “the horse hairs on the paintbrush,” Johnson says it’s up to the individual to make something special with what they’ve got.Big thanks to StewMac for sponsoring this episode. Head to http://stewmac.com/dippedintone to get 10% off!Subscribe, like, and leave us a commentSign up on our mailing list: http://eepurl.com/iaCee5Support us on Patreon for access to our discord server and ot

On this episode, Rhett and Zach discuss the relationship that they each have with the guitar at this point in their careers. Making a living doing the thing you love is great—in fact, it’s something that so many players aspire to. But it changes the relationship between player and instrument when the instrument is a source of work. How do they stay excited about their work? And how do they get excited when they’re in a lull? What keeps their creativity flowing? These are big questions, but our hosts are both having their own renaissances with their guitars. And—surprise!—it’s because they’ve both come into some new key pieces of gear.Zach reports that he has been rippin’ totally sweet Metallica licks on his sick new ESP LTD Kirk Hammett Signature Series KH-602. He’s a longtime fan of the band—and has conveniently fallen back in love with Kill ’Em All and Ride the Lightning—and says he’s wanted a Hammett signature guitar for his entire guitar-playing life. When he saw this one at Nashville’s Guitars To Be Played, he fell in love with everything, from the skull and crossbones fret markers to the Floyd Rose. And you know what? The Floyd Rose isn’t hard to set up. This guitar, Zach says, is kickstarting his “love of the guitar again.”Meanwhile, Rhett has been enjoying his new Soldano SLO-100 head and matching 4x12 cabinet, even if he does keep the cab a few flights below his control room. He’s stoked about the story of Soldano, who he admires for being one of the early boutique amp builders, and has been playing this new 100-watter all week.When it’s time to dip a rig, it’s hard to find any faults. No spoilers, but it’s a nice one (and an easy gig load).And in the shill zone, Zach talks about the importance of running a brown box for owners of older amps and talks briefly about the difference between the Brown Box and a Variac.Subscribe, like, and leave us a commentSign up on our mailing list: http://eepurl.com/iaCee5Support us on Patreon for access to our discord server and other perks! https://www.patreon.com/dippedintoneMERCH: https://teespring.com/stores/dipped-in-toneFollow us on Instagram:&

The new DIT episode kicks off as Rhett and Zack celebrate Zack’s close encounter with special effects mogul Adam Savage, of Star Wars, Ghostbusters, Matrix, and Tested fame. (Nerd alert: Zack and his wife have Ghostbusters uniforms—which they wore that day. There’s a photo. Take a screenshot it in case you need to blackmail him later.) Rhett talks about the first single from his latest band, Good Trouble, who now have a YouTube channel. The dynamic duo also gives a seasonal warning about guitar maintenance. And then it’s time for the main event: Andy Powers, CEO and chief guitar designer of Taylor Guitars.The SoCal native—and surfer—Powers provides his backstory in guitar design and building, starting with his hobbyist-musician parents and their friends. His first build … exploded, but he’s done considerably better since! By the time he was a teenager, he was building and selling guitars on his own, as well as doing repairs for local music shops. But even before that, he’d gotten in trouble with the IRS for making too much money as a luthier. Later, van life, as a touring player, didn’t satisfy him, but after he graduated college he already had a two-to-three-year waiting list of guitar orders. From there, it was a short twist of luck—and multiple encounters with company founder Bob Taylor—that brought him to Taylor Guitars.Powers also addresses conservatism in guitar design, and how to break the cycle while participating in the tradition. And yes, he dives into the tonewood controversy …. and tells a “basic truth” about guitars: neck woods and shapes do matter. As do personal touches, including the occasional crack in a top … and the bumper sticker covering it! Andy also comments on the difference between acoustic and electric players, and notes that “some of the best acoustic guitar sounds I’ve ever heard start with a microphone.” Powers observes: “It’s pretty easy to go down those rabbit holes.” And these guys do! Especially when they talk how to get to best live acoustic guitar tone. And the grand finale: Andy, Rhett, and Zack dip a rig … and explain duplex scaling.00:18 Zach Met Adam Savage04:37 Noah Guthrie and Good Trouble Update10:36 Andy Powers joins the show!12:38 How did Andy Powers get started building guitars?24:18 Advice to people starting their careers30:22 How do you design something new? 35:07 Tonewoods. You knew it was coming. 41:15 A story abou

Rhett and Zach are rolling old school. No guests today, just our two hosts, chatting about all things gear and tone. Today, the guys are talking about modern pedals.These days, pedals are getting weirder and more complicated than we could have ever imagined, even just a few years ago, as loads of new models draw inspiration from modular synthesis, drum machines, and big leaps in technology.Some pedals make things more complicated—with buttons on buttons, operating systems that need updates, and user interfaces that are both unique and sometimes confusing—while others may help you simplify your rig—imagine a distortion pedal with an LFO that might replace your need for a separate tremolo unit. Basically, there are few limits on what you can do with a pedalboard if you’re willing to do a deep dive. And if you can’t find a pedal that does what you want, it might be on the way.But our hosts have differing opinions. Rhett is down to do a deep dive on options, while Zach likes to keep things a little simpler. They suss out their differences and share their own takes, with shout-outs to Chase Bliss, Beetronics, Acorn, and Intensive Care Audio. They also discuss what they think is coming next in pedal and guitar design, and what they’d like to see come along (guitars using control voltage, please).Later, they dip a rig based around a cool Eastman that catches Rhett’s eye, and a Line 6 HX Effects. With key pieces from Fender, Gibson, Boss, and more, what could be improved?In shill mode, Zach hypes his Two-Rock Joey Landreth head, and Rhett is all-in on his Chase Bliss Mood.Rhett and Zach want to know which guests you’d like to see! Post your requests in the comments on YouTube to help them brainstorm future episodes.01:12 Zach Gets to Met His Hero02:49 Positron Collider 03:52 Update on Rhett's Studio Build and New Music05:05 A Challenge?06:45 Are Guitar Pedals Getting Too Weird?09:10 Mythos' New Chorus Prototype09:41 Josh Smith's POLY Overdrive11:42 Empress ZOIA31:45 Chase Bliss Mood MkII39:14 Beetronics40:02 Acord Solid State41:50 Intensive Care Audio Fideleater42:10 Westerland Boost42:57 Final Thoughts on Weird Pedals47:55 Time to Dip a Rig58:07 Shill of the WeekBig thanks to StewMac for sponsoring this episode. Head to

"There's no money in non-diatonic notes!"—a validating cheeky word to the minor-pentatonic shredder guests at NAMM. In this ep, Rhett and Zach sit down with "Danish Pete" Honoré to talk NAMM highlights, geek out on Pete's new Chapman T-style signature guitar—it has a neck profile based on a 3D scan of his favorite—and discuss maintaining integrity in gear review videos.One of the best parts of NAMM is the industry community it assembles, and in the absence of the full-fledged convention the past few years, that sure has been missed. Danish Pete's puckish personality adds to the fun as the three guys get into other topics like Zounds Industries' acquirement of Marshall, various amp favorites, and the sea of purple guitars found at the convention. That's all after Pete shares that he no longer cries in the shower over the demands of his 25-year touring career (sometimes, he wishes he played more non-diatonic notes). Stay positive, Pete!Big thanks to StewMac for sponsoring this episode. Head to http://stewmac.com/dippedintone to get 10% off!Subscribe, like, and leave us a commentSign up on our mailing list: http://eepurl.com/iaCee5Support us on Patreon for access to our discord server and other perks! https://www.patreon.com/dippedintoneMERCH: https://teespring.com/stores/dipped-in-toneFollow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/dippedintone Dipped in Tone is:Rhett Shull  https://www.rhettshull.com/Zach Broyles / Mythos Pedals  https://mythospedals.comPremier Guitar https://www.premierguitar.com/