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Zac Childs
Ask Zac: Deep Dive on the Wide Range
Plus, Joey Molland’s Stratotone
I have collected several Fender Wide Range humbucking pickups from the early ’70s, and I’m curious about how to check whether they’re set to factory specs, and then how to adjust the pole screws for best sound, particularly those on the bottom. Is there any science to adjusting the screws, and what is the best
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Zac Childs
The Thompson Tremor Bender
Big Bend
Longtime musician and professional tool-and-die maker Don Thompson recently introduced the Tremor Bender, a retrofit stringbending device for most Fender- and Gibson-style instruments. Thompson’s goal was to make a stringbender that could be installed without drilling holes or doing irreversible modification. He also wanted to utilize an actuator that didn’t get in the way of
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Zac Childs
EarthQuaker Devices’ Westwood Translucent Drive Manipulator
Ground Shaker
EarthQuaker Devices has a knack for launching pedals that range from ideal tools for those seeking otherworldly sonic textures to vintage-inspired stompboxes for old-school players. Falling more in the latter group, the Westwood Translucent Drive Manipulator is a versatile dirt/boost box with powerful EQ and a wide range of drive levels. Superficially, the Westwood’s Drive,
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Zac Childs
Reverend’s Reeves Gabrels Dirtbike
Wheelie Machine
Signature guitars tend to be either fan-boy models, the owners of which hang them alongside a collection of signed 8×10 glossies of the artists, or they’re useful instruments that just happen to carry the name of a famous chap. The Reverend Reeves Gabrels Dirtbike is ensconced in the second camp. Gabrels is a noted solo
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Zac Childs
Railhammer’s Nuevo 90 Humcutter Set
Joe Naylor has a long history of designing and marketing everything in the music business from high-end amps, guitars, basses, speakers, and effects pedals to his latest Railhammer pickups. His pickups all utilize a unique mix of blades and round polepieces to produce a more balanced tone than what is available by using one format
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Zac Childs
Rivet ’63/’64 Pickup Set
Pole Position
Rivet Pickups founder David Petschulat made the first locking vibrato with fine tuners for the EVH company, and worked stints at Kahler and Gibson. With Rivet, Petschulat has developed a unique pickup design with two mini-coils that, once connected to their base, allow a variety of tonal options via various wiring cards. Rivet pickups are
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Zac Childs
EarthQuaker Devices’ Erupter
Bring The Fuzz
EarthQuaker Devices is one of the most admired pedal builders today, thanks to their original designs that feature tweakable controls which allow players to easily dial in their own unique sounds. With more than forty pedal offerings, the EarthQuaker line covers everything from guitar synth to psychedelic reverb. Their latest – the Erupter – is
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Zac Childs
Reggie Young
Never Too Late
After six decades as a session musician, guitarist Reggie Young has released his first solo album, Forever Young. A showcase of the soulful Memphis-style guitar playing, from its opening track, it offers the chord melodies, sliding sixths, bends, and amazing tone that made him one of the most revered and imitated guitarists in Memphis, Nashville,
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Zac Childs
Heritage Guitars’ H-157W
Turnkey Head-Turner
In 1985, Heritage Guitars took over a certain factory space at 225 Parsons Street in Kalamazoo, Michigan, after the former owners decided to move production to Nashville. Since then, Heritage Guitars have continued to craft instruments in the mold of those classic six-strings that first made Kalamazoo famous to guitarists worldwide. Their H-157W is a
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Zac Childs
John Leventhal
Tele-Singing Architect of Americana
When Shawn Colvin’s Steady On won a Grammy in 1989, John Leventhal was instantly transformed from NYC sideman to in-demand producer, songwriter, and player. The first to call were Rodney Crowell and Rosanne Cash, followed closely by Marc Cohn, who was working on his self-titled debut album. Leventhal’s work with Cash resulted in the introspective,
