Month: January 2016

Jordan Boss Tone

The petite Boss Tone was half the size of any other fuzz pedal.

In the august and revered Hall of Fame of Fuzz, the Jordan Boss Tone deserves a prominent pedestal. Perhaps it should be in a cabinet of cute curiosities. Or maybe it’s as a memento mori, an example of a dead end in the search for overdriven guitar tone bliss. Either way, there should be a special spotlight shining down on this little fuzz with the big buzz.

The Boss Tone was a pioneer; this runt of an effect plugged directly into a guitar’s jack; the player then inserted the cord into the bottom of the petite box. The controls (both of them!) were right there, at hand and easy to dial.

And the fuzz could be sublime. The Boss Tone’s tone ranged from a kitten’s purr to a snake’s hiss. Or it could be nasty and trebly. When you found the sweet spot, it had a rich voice in a day when most fuzz boxes prided themselves on being overwhelmingly grainy or downright harsh.

There’s scant information on the maker of this small wonder. Jordan Electronics, of Alhambra, California, was a division of Victoreen Instrument Company, which was founded in 1928 making x-ray dosimeters. During World War II, the firm did top-secret work for the first South Pacific atomic bomb tests, and both Victoreen and Jordan later made civil-defense Geiger counters and radiation detectors for the home, as the Cold War created a market in the ’50s. Their motto was the “World’s First Nuclear Company.”

How Jordan jumped from geiger counters to guitar gear is top secret – or at least unknown – but be thankful they did. Starting circa 1966, the company launched its transistorized Jordan amps, which were known principally for being loud. Endorsed in ads by the Turtles (of “Happy Together” fame) and used at times by the Yardbirds, the Doors, and the Mamas and Papas. Jordan also made a series of more-typical pedal effects including the Creator, Vibrasonic, and the usual volume pedal and wah, christened the Gig Wah.

The Boss Tone’s circuit is simple – just two transistors and two Solar capacitors.

The Boss Tone Model 1000 was part of the Jordan Junior line, launched circa 1967. Its siblings included the rarer and less-renowned Vico Vibe tremolo/vibrato and the Boss Boost ultra-treble control, both of which were also jack-mounted.

Small is beautiful, as the philosophers preach. And these effects were truly small; the Boss Tone was less than half the size of the ruling Maestro Fuzz Tone or most any other competing fuzz box, then or now.

Still, an early brochure bragged that the Boss Tone was a “complete fuzz effect – sustains any amplified note.” The Volume dial controlled the overall level while the Attack set the instrument input – basically doing the same task as your guitar’s volume knob. And that was it!

Inside was simplicity defined. The circuit used a single transistor as a voltage gate with a second transistor as a buffer. The first version included one PNP and one NPN transistor. That’s all. There was a basic on/off switch, but no true-bypass.

That simplicity was the unit’s brilliance, and one of its limitations. It retailed for just $29.95 – a price matching its size, but also limiting its specs. But the mighty mite screamed, letting loose a prodigious sound that many more-complex units yearned for.

The first Boss Tones from 1967 bear Jordan’s Alhambra address on the back. At some point early on, the company moved to Pasadena, which was duly printed on the units.

A ’60s Jordan amp brochure, from the friendly folks who brought you civil-defense Geiger counters.

Boss Tones stayed in production until the early ’70s, when Jordan dissolved. Legend has it that owner George Cole and engineer Bob Garcia packed up their ohmmeters and went to work for Rickenbacker. But the Boss Tone lived on. Randy California (of Spirit) was the elfin effect’s biggest booster. Playing live, he almost invariably had one of the diminutive fuzz boxes plugged into his guitar, and its sound howls throughout Spirit’s first four albums, creating a glorious blend of freaky pyschedelia and down-and-dirty rock grind. Dan Auerbach, of the Black Keys, still proudly uses his Boss Tone, though it’s modified to do duty as a floor pedal.

Converting the Boss Tone into a stompbox was always common practice. And a wise one: the Boss Tone was not truly built for the rigors of rock and roll. It’s budget wiring is all tiny, 22-gauge, and the soldering doesn’t hold up well. Due to its size, there’s not much shielding inside, and its embarrassing radio-receiving capabilities were equal to its fine buzz.

The Boss Tone’s adoption was limited by its paradigm of plugging straight into the jack; Strat players were left out! Vox tried the same approach with its 1965 Distortion Booster, and Dan Armstrong later offered its Orange Squeezer, Red Ringer, Green Ringer, and other jack-based effects. A sort of Boss Tone replica was built as the Mahoney Buzz Tone. But by and large, the setup was a dead end.

But not for everyone. In Nashville, pedal-steel players became enamored with the Boss Tone, and Shot Jackson and Buddy Emmons’ Sho-Bud firm licensed with Jordan to sell its own version as the Sho-Sound Boss Tone. These were likely built by Jordan and simply badged for Sho-Bud, most dressed in the standard black-plastic housing, though they sometimes turn up as natty red units.

The Boss Tone plugged into the jack on any guitar except a Stratocaster.

It seems improbable and implausible, but the Boss Tone evolved from a long-haired, psychedelic, hippie fuzz effect to a clean-cut, cowboy-shirted, Nashville pedal-steel player’s fave. Plugged into the side of many an electric table, the Boss Tone is today still venerated and valued.

This article originally appeared in VG March 2014 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

January 11, 2016
Danelectro Viscount

Amp and photos courtesy of Greg Allen.

1961 Danelectro Viscount
Preamp tubes: two 12AX7, one 6AU6
Output tubes: two 6V6GT
Rectifier: 6X5
Controls: Volume, Tone, Vibrato Strength, Vibrato Speed
Output: 12 watts RMS

Amp nuts of yesteryear likely aspired to the delights of Fender, Vox, or Marshall, or maybe hankered after high-end creations from Mesa/Boogie or others who were pushing the envelope of tube-amp design before “boutique” was a thing.

Chances are, though, that the amp that first excited our imaginations when the entire concept of playing the “electric guitar” was still young in hearts and minds – the one we lusted after beneath the covers late at night, catalog unfolded and flashlight in hand – was something akin to this Danelectro Viscount. To the kid saving money from odd jobs, the late-’50s Viscount’s specs looked pretty darn close to those of the Fender Vibrolux – 12 watts, built-in vibrato (that is, tremolo), two 6V6GT output tubes – and the Viscount had a 12″ speaker versus the Vibrolux’s 10″, and it cost a whole $29 less in 1957; $110 compared to $139 for the Fender. If those weren’t solid arguments to help get it under the Christmas tree, well, what would be? And that’s not even accounting for the cool preamp tube in the viewing window in the back panel.

Get the Viscount home, of course, and its quality and construction don’t quite stand up to those of the similarly equipped Fender. It’s tone? That’s subjective. Chances are, though, that your 12-year-old dreamer of the late ’50s and early ’60s hadn’t seen or heard any A-list amps up close, anyway, and when he or she plugged that lipstick-tube-loaded Dano U2 into this sweetheart, well, dreams came to life.

Put all that sentimental junk behind us, though, and the Viscount is one cool piece of Americana, regardless, and a groovy little recording amp in and of itself. Everything that makes it not quite up to cutting-edge par for its day – and that’s plenty – serves to make it a groovy alternative, with some fun, outside-the-box tones that sit great in a mix. It’s almost like they designed this thing to look good in a catalog, loaded it up with USPs (that’s “unique selling points” to us non-Madison-Avenue types), then pumped it out to the masses. But by some happy accident, the entire catalog-grade ethos adds up to a fun and funky whole, and an amp with its own unique sonic virtues.

(TOP) The point-to-point wiring of the Viscount is populated by surf-green Sangamo signal caps, red Planet filter caps, and carbon-comp resistors, augmented by a pair of blue filter caps installed in recent years to keep the amp running. The brown disc in the lower-left corner is the underside of the RCA connector that delivers preamp signal to the output stage. The octal socket to the right of the big red filter cap takes the AC and DC supplies, and the tremolo control functions, to the back-panel controls.
(BOTTOM) Peek-a-boo: a lone 12AX7 stands lookout in the first gain stage right behind the Volume and Tone controls, connected to the main chassis via an umbilical cord of wires.

The particleboard cabinetry kicks it all off, and sets the pace for build quality, in general, while looking stylish, especially in the blond of this 1961 example, which took over from the black of the late-’50s amps. Hardboard of a thinner grade extends to the fabulous back panel, which serves as home to the controls, as well as that super-odd preamp tube placement. That’s a lot of trouble to go to for negligible gain (no pun intended), with all that wire stringing to and from the mothership power-chassis in the bottom of the cab. But again, it makes for one nifty USP. The debutante Viscount achieved its first gain stage with a 6AU6 seven-pin pentode tube wired as a triode, but that evolved into a 12AX7 some time before ’61, of which only half (one triode) was used. The amp’s three inputs feed that same lonely gain stage, which is connected to a straightforward treble-bleed Tone control. There’s no cathode bypass cap on this preamp tube, nor is there one on the driver side of the second 12AX7 in the cathodyne phase inverter, so you could fatten up the Viscount right quick – should you desire – by adding one at either or both positions. In its day, though, the Viscount was intended for clean playing at reasonable volumes, just enough to help students and beginners get in their chops; raunchy rock and roll was less than an afterthought.

A look inside the folded-steel chassis provides further thrills for the fan of true point-to-point wiring. Hey, why waste time and money on a circuit board when you can just string it all up from component to component? Between the surf-green Sangamo signal caps and the fire-engine-red Planet filter caps, it’s the full sonic rainbow in there. Between its small-ish output transformer and the low voltages operating within, the 12-watt rating is anywhere from realistic to optimistic. You could squeeze more juice from this format without trying too hard, but again, that clearly wasn’t the objective. The chassis also reveals a 220-ohm cathode-bias resistor between the two 6V6 sockets toward the upper left. That might seem a low value until you consider the Viscount’s 6X5 rectifier tube delivers only 265 volts to the output transformer’s center tap and 235 to the grids of the 6V6s – 80 to 100 volts less, respectively, than you’d find in the same parts of the tweed Fender Vibrolux.

“This amp sounds like a Silvertone 1482 and a Fender Champ got married and had a baby,” says VG reader Greg Allen, who supplied this Viscount for consideration. “I thought the Dano would have more bass response [than a Champ] with the 12″ speaker, but it doesn’t. It is all thrashy and mid-rich, with harmonic overdrive at reasonable volumes after 12 o’clock on the Volume control, regardless of the guitar. So it makes an incredible recording amp.”

The original Jensen C12R speaker is the perfect match to the Viscount’s tone and output, remaining supple and sweet at lower volumes, but breaking up smoothly when you crank it. And the tremolo is the icing on the cake. With controls for both Vibrato Strength and Vibrato Speed (the ’57 Danelectro catalog boasted this was the maker’s most affordable amp with such features), it uses a 6AU6 in a bias-modulated tremolo circuit tied to the 6V6GTs control grids, for a round, throbbing effect that is lushly hypnotic. A cool amp through and through, it’s one you can still pick up for easy money on today’s vintage market, satiating both the unrequited pre-teen guitar longings and current creative sonic desires in the process.

This article originally appeared in VG‘s March 2015 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

January 11, 2016
Kirk Hammet’s KHDK Electronics Offers No. 1 Overdrive

KHDK Electronics, the effects company founded by Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett and industry vet David Karon, has released the No. 1 Overdrive, which uses an original circuit based on a blend of op-amp and mosfet technology. It has two cascading Gain controls to; the first begins with a clean boost while the second shares a knob with the Bass control and acts as an active high-pass filter for the second stage, allowing the user to set the amount of bottom-end response. The pedal is hand-built in Kentucky.

January 9, 2016
Xotic XSC Guitars

Xotic XSC guitars are hand-built in the U.S. and have a nitrocellulose finish, maple neck, and Raw Vintage hand-wound pickups based on a proprietary design.

January 9, 2016
Godin Introduces Passion RG-4 Swamp Ash Bass

Godin Guitars’ Passion RG-4 Swamp Ash bass has a chambered/contoured body made of cedar with a carved Swamp ash top, maple neck with rosewood or maple fingerboard, Seymour Duncan Quarter-Pound PJ pickups, one Volume and one Tone control with four-way selector, five-ply tortoiseshell pickguard, and high-ratio tuning machines.

January 8, 2016
Bruce Bouillet

Former Racer X guitarist Bruce Bouillet overcame carpal tunnel syndrome to return to his first love – shredding. Now, he’s back with a third solo album The Order Of Control, a hard-hitting concept record with big ideas, fat tones, and impressive production.

Before carpal tunnel forced him to stop playing, Bouillet played on albums by The Scream and other bands, and he turned to producing full-time.

“I didn’t play for eight years,” he said. “By some miracle, one day I picked up a toy guitar and discovered my hand didn’t hurt anymore.”

Was it a difficult transition from guitarist to producer?
I didn’t know how to engineer, but I was familiar with the studio and had worked with guys like Eddie Kramer and Garth Richardson, so it was a fairly easy transition. Garth let me hang out at Sound City while he was recording. I started recording local bands and [eventually] got to record every person I idolized – Steve Lukather, Vinnie Colaiuta, Zakk Wylde, Dio, Simon Phillips, Roger Daltrey…

The Order Of Control benefits from your experience as an engineer.
I wanted to make it stand up against major-quality stuff. I went to a real studio that had a big room and good gear, recorded it, and paid real mixers. Instead of doing everything on a laptop, I went pro.

It’s a concept album…
The idea is about present day, but deals with something that’s happened over the whole period of humanity. It’s about entities that are mixed in with society, that have a higher brain ability [and] use it to manipulate people, keep people from developing.

I had the story line and title, and was able to write music geared for it. Some parts are triumphant, some are dark. I didn’t want to write something based on a cool riff – I wanted to write something attached to a title. It gave me a jumping-off point to write to the emotion, and see what chord changes I could find that would tap that emotion.

I also dissected a lot of albums – hardcore to pop. I learned every album that sold 10 million, just to see why it connected – everything from Back In Black to Boston to Garth Brooks. Some of the interesting things I found were key relationships, tempo relationships, and the sequencing of songs.

Are you still playing the Ibanez PF-300?
I still have it; it was a gift from Paul Gilbert for the tour we did. I was a Les Paul guy growing up, so it was really cool. It’s chambered, neck-through, and plays amazing.

I’m working with Fujigen Guitars, and they made me a couple guitars that are very cool. On the album, I used them and a ’78 Gibson Les Paul Standard I bought when I was 15.

Are you taking your show on the road?
Absolutely. I’m getting a lot of offers around the world and I really want to tour. I have new songs to preview, and I’m really looking forward to the next record.

This article originally appeared in VG June 2014 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

January 8, 2016
Danelectro’s Four-String Basses

Model 3923 Double-Neck. The Danelectro catalog called this finish White Sunburst, but its common name among collectors is “copperburst.” Note the parallel pickups, duplicate clear pickguards, and how the bass neck joins the body at the 14th fret instead of the 13th.
3923 image courtesy of Mike Gutierrez.

The guitars and basses made by Danelectro in the ’60s epitomized “no frills.” And though they were considered the nadir of American-made electric instruments of their time, many a babyboomer cut their musical teeth on one.

The construction of most “classic” Danelectro-made guitars and basses – whether they were branded as Danelectro or the more-popular Sears Silvertone – had a body with a poplar frame covered in Masonite with grained side trim applied with adhesive, a neck with a Brazilian rosewood fretboard, a non-adjustable truss rod (which the catalog cleverly labeled as “Two steel I-beams”), a primitive but slightly intonatable bridge/tailpiece, aluminum nut, and pickups wherein Dano founder Nate Daniel enclosed magnets and wiring in actual lipstick tubes from a supplier to the cosmetics industry.

Danelectro’s first bass (VG, January ’09), debuted in 1956, and it was a true bass guitar, sporting six strings but with a short bass scale, tuned down an octave. The instrument was the first of its kind, preceding the Gibson EB-6 (first listed in ’59) and Fender’s Bass VI (late ’61). But Dano quickly realized the four-string bass was the sonic path its low-end instruments needed to follow.

The company’s first four-string electric bass was the model 3412 Short Horn, introduced in late 1958. Sporting a copper finish and a white “seal” pickguard (per its silhouette when horizontal), the instrument’s neck had only 15 frets (joining the body at the 13th fret), and a short scale, which meant that between its light weight, smaller fretboard, and scale, it was easy to play, especially for converted guitarists.

(LEFT) The 3412 Short Horn was Danelectro’s first four-string bass.
(MIDDLE) The 4423 Long Horn. Note the concentric Volume and Tone controls with pointer-style top knob.
(RIGHT) This 1958 Danelectro catalog excerpt shows the company’s first bass.
3412 image courtesy of Mike Gutierrez. 4423 Long Horn: Rick Malkin.

In the vernacular of guitar collectors, its headstock silhouette is known as the “Coke bottle” shape, and the small metallic label on the headstock (just above the nut) proclaims the instrument is “Totally Shielded” (against interference from fluorescent lights, electric motors, etc.).

The Short Horn 3412 was only available in a bronze finish, which was also applied to as the six-string model 3612.

Combining two instruments, the 3923 Double-Neck debuted in ’59. Its body was 171/2″ wide and its necks symmetrical, but fretted for a guitar scale and a bass scale. Controls were simple and appropriate – the three-way toggle switch turned either neck on or off; centered, both necks were on. The concentric knobs controlled the volume and tone for each neck.

It appears the 3412 maintained a retail price of $85 throughout its existence (it was out of the catalog by ’66), and the 3923 stayed at $175 until the late ’60s. In a 1968 catalog and on a ’69 price list, it was proffered for $189, its finish by then known as Bronze & White Sunburst.

The coolest-looking Dano bass was the 4423 Long Horn, also introduced in ’59. With a name derived from its body silhouette, it was also available in a six-string version dubbed the model 4623. “Continued refinements have resulted in a superb instrument,” an early-’60s catalog said of the 4423. “Used in many recent recordings, TV programs, and motion pictures.”

The 1969 Coral catalog.
Catalog reproductions courtesy of Steve Brown.

In 1966, the Danelectro brand was sold to MCA, which then attempted to exploit the ’60s guitar boom by diversifying the lineup and introducing an alternate brand – Coral. Later Danelectro and Coral basses had more-traditional/popular silhouettes and wood bodies (solidbody, chambered, or thinline/hollow). There was also the transitional Dane line; the A series had Masonite-and-poplar bodies, while the B, C, and D series had various wood construction.

Interestingly, basses weren’t catalogued in the Dane B series, but there was also a four-string bass in the Dane E series “…with Extended neck for the big bass sound and the big stage look.”

Basses proffered with the Coral brand included Deluxe and Wasp solidbodies, the Firefly thinline double-cutaway hollowbody bass, the hollowbody violin-shaped Fiddle Bass, and a hollowbody Long Horn.

MCA closed the Danelectro guitar factory in mid 1969. In the pantheon of vintage instruments, the original Masonite-bodied Danelectro four-string basses still have a well-deserved “cool” factor. And, these days, many music enthusiasts appreciate their unique sound, and readily acknowledge they were underrated in their time.

This article originally appeared in VG January 2014 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

January 8, 2016
Laney L50 Head and L412 Cab

Laney L50H/L412
Price: $1,990 (head); $1,499 (cab)
Info: laney.co.uk.

Lyndon Laney is no stranger to fans of the iconic British stack. Established in 1967, Laney Amplification found its early fame thanks to Tony Iommi’s commanding use of the company’s amps with Black Sabbath. Following the reign of Sabbath, they became an amplifier of choice for the new generation of shredders making their mark in the ’80s and ’90s, while in the past decade, Laney widened its reach with cleaner, lower-wattage combos that appealed to a wider range of players.

Laney offered to let us take a look at their Lionheart head, an amp that blends ’50s-style, single-ended design with enough power to fill the volume requirements of the modern gigging musician.

The L50H head is a 50-watt design and, to accomplish this circuit, R&D director David Hirons took five EL34 tubes and wired them in parallel to produce 10 watts output per tube. To handle the power required by five EL34 tubes perpetually burning at full idle, the amp required a hefty toroidal transformer and oversized power supply that would normally be seen in amps of much higher wattage. On the front panel, the amp has High/Lo inputs as well as controls for Clean Volume, Drive, Drive Volume, Bass, Middle, Treble, Reverb, Tone (power section), and Dynamics, along with switches for Bite, Drive, Standby, and Power. The rear panel holds inputs for a footswitch (channel switch/reverb), send/return jacks (effects loop), and twin speaker outputs with a selector switch for 8 or 16 ohms. The matching L412 cab has four 12″ Celestion G12 Heritage speakers and can handle 120 watts of input. Both head and cab are covered in blue vinyl with basketweave grilles. Amp and cab are built in the U.K.

For testing the Lionheart stack, we used a Les Paul and a ’67 Telecaster. Plugging in, we easily dialed in a pleasing clean tone with a touch of reverb. Clean tones were smooth, with just the right amount of midrange bark. Tweaking a few knobs and switches revealed nice shelving of each EQ knob, and we were downright enamored with the Dynamics control, which added plumpness without becoming flabby like a standard bass control might; it was like a low-end Presence that could make even the bridge pickup on our Tele sound robust yet retain its twang. Between this and power amp’s Tone knob, we could master each guitar’s persona after shaping the basic tones using the Treble, Middle, and Bass controls.

Turning up the reverb, the circuit is more subtle than your typical Fender design, and excels at giving the amp more breath, but will never go surfing. Flipping the Drive switch and turning up the corresponding Drive Volume, one is struck by the immediacy of the sound and its touch response. This was revealed somewhat in the clean channel, but here, it’s front-and-center as the single-ended power section begins to show its stripes. Notes seemed wider and sustain seemed longer than usual than other 50-watt amps at similar dirt levels. Turning up the gain with the Les Paul plugged into the high input, we were blessed with the high-gain tones one might expect from a Laney. But, even at higher gain settings, the Lionheart retained its “vintage” nature (a player looking for a more-compressed ’80s heavy metal tone might need a very-high-output pickup or high-gain distortion pedal). We were quite pleased with the amp and certainly with the supplied 4×12 cab too.

The L412 had much to contribute to the Lionheart’s tone, thanks to a well-tuned cab with four Celestion G12H30 speakers.

Together, the Laney L50H Lionheart and L412 make a wonderful, unique-sounding stage rig – versatile, and great at shaping tone. Plus, its responsiveness and ability to gradually transition from clean to dirty are especially impressive.

This article originally appeared in VG July 2012 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

January 8, 2016
GizmoAudio’s Ripsaw and Sawmill Jr.

Durham Electronics’ ReddVerb
Price: $180 each (list)
Info: www.gizmoaudio.com

Most guitar players’ first pedal was a distortion/OD, often acquired after enduring the taunts from friends and/or bandmates who whisper about how their tone was “thin” and “weak.”

The experience takes them down the road to experimentation; the weeks and years that follow becoming a haze where dozens of OD and distortion pedals meld with countless variations of guitars, pickups, and amps, all leading to the conclusion that OD/distortion pedals can do one of two things – make an amp/guitar rig realize its full potential, or cover its shortcomings. Happily, two new OD pedals from GizmoAudio do the former.

The Sawmill Jr. is a very clean, “medium-light” Mosfet-based overdrive that delivers pristine tones that flatter an amp and guitar. The Ripsaw is similar, but with higher-gain distortion. Both are blessed with intuitive (and identical) controls; Drive, Volume, and low-pass/post-distortion Tone pots, a switchable pre-distortion high-pass filter, and a true-bypass stomp switch. Both run on 9-volt wall warts, only (battery power is not an option).

The philosophy of GizmoAudio’s Charles Luke is evident in both: pedals should enhance playing dynamics, just like amps, providing gentle coloration that lets the guitar and amp shine. For both the Ripsaw and Sawmill Jr., the transition between clean and distorted tones is gradual and changes with string attack. Even with the drive turned full up, the tonal qualities of amp and pickup are clearly identifiable, and at any setting, distortion increases as the strings are plucked harder – responding just like a nice tube amp. The Sawmill Jr. has patented circuitry for canceling nonmusical modulations and providing clean, responsive boost. And while not patented, the Ripsaw is nonetheless an original design. These pedals are not mere clones.

In front of several amps and using a range of guitars, both pedals offered impressive clarity and attack response, particularly with a Stratocaster into a Deluxe Reverb; the Strat retained its signature “quack” at any pedal setting. Humbuckers in a Les Paul seemed to highlight the greatest contrast between the Ripsaw’s higher gain and the Sawmill Jr.’s lighter overdrive, but, generally, it was difficult to identify significant tonal differences between the two. Maybe that’s a good thing when choosing between these two superb pedals, both of which deliver what’s promised – tonal bliss.

This article originally appeared in VG April 2015 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

January 7, 2016
Derek St. Holmes

Singer/guitarist Derek St. Holmes’ relationship with guitarist Ted Nugent has had its ups and downs. The two have been associated since the mid ’70s and collaborated on numerous albums and tours.

Many Nugent fans celebrated when the two hooked up in 2011 for the I Still Believe tour, and are doing so again this year, including several stops with Styx and REO Speedwagon for the Midwest Rock ’n Roll Express Tour.

Holmes acquired his first guitar when he was 11, and has owned and played several classic instruments. He came of age in the Detroit area, where the guitar-based sounds of MC5, SRC, and Grand Funk Railroad focused his attention on lead singers who played guitar. “It was the sheer power of the music,” he recalled. “I listened to guys like Scott Richards and Mark Farner, but I think Bob Seger was the first one to break out nationally from there. When I heard him, I went ‘Wow!’ and started concentrating on guitar even more. I also admired Peter Green.”

He connected with Nugent while fronting a band that opened for The Amboy Dukes. After the Dukes split, Nugent looked for a lead singer who also played some aggressive rhythm guitar. St. Holmes signed on and eventually sang on classic tracks including “Stranglehold” and “Hey Baby.”

“When I started with him, I had a black Les Paul Custom and a Stratocaster in a transparent white finish with gold hardware; I don’t think they called it a Mary Kaye Strat, but that’s basically what it was. I also had a brown sunburst reissue Les Paul Special I got new in ’74. Those were all stolen in Oklahoma while we on tour; Ted had a couple of Byrdlands stolen, as well.

“I used my insurance settlement to get a white, early-’60s three-pickup SG-style Les Paul. It looked good, but it was hard to play; I used it until we got a deal with Epic, then swapped it for a ’57 Les Paul Junior single-cut. Leslie West had staggered me with his playing. Those fingers, that tone!”

And his sound was in-sync with Nugent’s.

“My Gibson-through-Marshall tone combined with Ted’s Byrdland through his Fender Twin Reverbs to enhance the overall sound.”

In ’78, St. Holmes left Nugent to form a band called St. Paradise, then teamed with Brad Whitford (who had left Aerosmith) to form Whitford/St. Holmes. Both bands were lauded by critics. In Whitford/St. Holmes, he used an early-’60s SG with DiMarzio pickups.

Over the next 15 years, St. Holmes recorded with Nugent sporadically, using a Mosrite-shaped Robin Raider he says sounded like an old Strat. In ’95, he appeared on Nugent’s Spirit of the Wild album and tour, where he relied on two Gibson ES-335s.

“When I was 16, I saw a Les Paul goldtop hanging in a store,” St. Holmes recalled with a chuckle. “I went in every Saturday to look at it, but couldn’t afford it. So I got a paper route. A month and a half later, it was still there, but by that Saturday, when my dad and I went to buy it, it had sold. The only other thing hanging on the wall that was worth anything was a sunburst 335 with a trapeze tailpiece. So that was my first good guitar.”

In the late ’90s he joined Jeff Carlisi, Liberty DeVito, and Ben Orr in a band called Big People, and used another Gibson three-pickup SG and a ’62 reissue Strat. Today, thanks in part to the memories of having guitars stolen in the ’70s, St. Holmes relies primarily on reissue instruments for concerts. He counts a ’59 Les Paul reissue given to him by Jimmy Wallace, two ’68 Les Paul Custom reissues (one ebony, one sunburst), as well as a ’56 Goldtop reissue he says, “…sounds amazing. It’s got a lot of volume and a lot of punch.”

St. Holmes is also is a fan of Paul Reed Smith guitars, particularly since he has been one of the singers in Smith’s band, which released an album in 2010.

Today, things have swung full circle, and St. Holmes said the recent live gigs have gone well enough that he and Nugent are talking about more creative collaboration.

“He wants to write some songs together, [so] we’re talking about doing another album. We’ve talked at times about how and why we let our close relationship get away from us, and it’s good to be back onstage with him.”

This article originally appeared in VG August 2012 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

January 7, 2016