I’m a touring musician who daylights as a Product Merchandiser and Copywriter for all things guitar at zZounds. When I’m not working in Chicago or riding around in a van, you can find me tinkering with gear, hanging out with my dog, or retreating to the woods of my native Michigan.
Perfect Pairings: Positive Grid BIAS Head Preamp and Distortion Pedal
Most of us guitar enthusiasts here at zZounds HQ are purists when it comes to amps and pedals. We have our go-to tube amps and distortion pedals and would be hard-pressed to want to replace them with anything. Then, we got a shipment of BIAS gear from Positive Grid. For this edition of Perfect Pairings, […]
Studio Amp and Effects Modeling with Positive Grid
Getting the perfect tone in the studio can be tough. Whether you’re in your home studio or dishing out the big bucks to track in a professional studio with tons of gear, there are still endless combinations of amps and pedals, all of which behave differently depending on the space they’re in. It’s certainly not […]
Interview with Stephen Carpenter of Deftones
Since forming Deftones in late ’80s Sacramento, Stephen Carpenter has traveled the world over, slinging churning riffs and atmospheric textures with the help of a slew of extended-range guitars and evolving amp rigs. We got the chance to hang out with Steph in a southern California studio to talk Deftones, gear simplicity and his love […]
Perfect Pairings: Line 6 Helix LT & Variax Shuriken
In this edition, we’re pairing up the new Line 6 Helix LT and the Variax Shuriken modeling guitar for a perfectly calibrated modeling combination. Are you sick of lugging around that old, dusty full stack and overloaded pedalboard? Maybe your prolific songwriting catalog has grown so large and diverse that one rig simply can’t provide […]
Perfect Pairings: Orange Rocker Stereo Rig
In this edition, we’re pairing up Orange’s new Rocker 15 and Rocker 32 amps with a slew of stereo-friendly effects to create unique, immersive sounds. So, what do you when you get a delivery of two killer Orange combo amps? You make the wildest-sounding stereo rig you can think of, that’s what. We took the […]
Perfect Pairings: EarthQuaker Devices Space Spiral & PRS Sonzera
EarthQuaker Devices Space Spiral Modulated Reverb The EarthQuaker Devices Space Spiral is a dark, murky dream machine that can conjure up an array of feelings thanks to its 30-600ms of analog-voiced digital delay and variable wave shape LFO. The most instantly recognizable characteristic of the Space Spiral is that the LFO can go from a […]
Iconic Rigs: Chuck Berry
This month’s edition of Iconic Rigs takes on a seasonal flair, as we examine the gear of one of rock guitar’s pioneers: Chuck Berry. Chuck Berry’s Gear Albeit simple, Chuck Berry’s bipartisan combination of Gibson Memphis guitars and Fender combo amps laid the foundation for generations of rock ‘n’ roll guitarists. Berry’s catalog is so […]
Perfect Pairings: Novation Circuit and Zoom H6/Q8
In this edition, we’re taking cues from the beat makers out there and pairing up the Novation Circuit and the Zoom H6 to turn some real-world samples into full-fledged songs. When the Novation Circuit showed up at zZounds HQ, our wheels started turning immediately, thinking of ways to show just how instant the gratification of […]
EarthQuaker Devices: Interview with Jamie Stillman
EarthQuaker Devices always wows us with new pedals and their DIY, musicians-first attitude. This year, they took things up a notch by hosting the first annual EarthQuaker Day event at their world headquarters in the gilded city of Akron, OH. The event definitely embodied the EQD spirit with live music, pedal demos, a riff contest, […]
