Five Signature Guitars I would buy

Signature guitars are occupy an interesting space in our strange musical world. On one hand playing what your heroes play is kind of cool. On the other hand most of us get into music to express ourselves and to find our own voice. It used to be that signature gear didn't mean that the artist really played that guitar, that it was just a name and a paint job but these days most artist won't put out gear that they won't use.

EVH red stripe- One of my closest friends owns the black and white version and another one of my close friends owns the bumble bee, so I kind of have to get the red one don't I? There are several versions of this guitar but the red is my favorite, and I'm pretty sure I'd put some 5150 stickers on it. I really dig the wolfgangs too but if I had to choose I'd get one of these. I've read some mixed reviews but everyone of these I've played has been amazing.

Keith Merrow KM-7- If your into shred guitar and don't know who Keith Merrow is go to youtube right now and type in his name. Keith made a name for himself 1st playing along with his own music, then demoing gear on youtube and then making music with other shred heavy musicians. This guitar comes in 6 and 7 string versions and they have an extended scale making down tuned riffage pop a bit more. I really dig the Lambo Orange version of this guitar with the carbon fiber binding but that new green one with the sustainer looks pretty awesome too.

Zach Myers PRS- This is hands down the best looking PRS SE guitar in the line up. It looks like a custom shop model and the SE series are the best built budget models on the market. There are a few different versions but that Trampas green has a unique look to it and the satin finished neck feels great. Say what you will about Shinedown but they have carved out their own notch in a time period where many hard rock bands are struggling to stand out.

Jim Root Jazzmaster- All of the Jim Root models are pretty killer. These USA built guitars are straight forward hard rock machines. They aren't made to look pretty but somehow make me think of a killer built hot rod. I would love to get that flat black Jazzmaster and let a friend of mine do some pin striping on it. Check out more of Jims gear here.


Andy Timmons AT10- If you spend a moment looking around on my blog you'll know I'm a big fan of Andy Timmons. He always inspires me to to work on my craft and his signature guitar has much of the same features I've been looking for in my own guitars. The new White one with the Rosewood board is my current favorite. check out more of Andy's gear here.

Wampler Triple Wreck Review

The mighty Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier! A favorite in the metal scene Mesa Boogie's Triple Rectifier is known for brutal scooped tones and boatloads of gain. I've spent time with both the Dual and Triple Rectifiers and they are extremely versatile amps. Clean sounds, crunch sounds, classic rock sounds and of course copious amounts of gain on tap. For a while I got tired of them, every local hard rock and metal band seemed to have a PRS guitar and a Rectifier on stage and they all scooped out their mids till you couldn't hear their solos?!?! But I like Mesa gear and have found that it takes a little getting used to and that you have to spend some time to tweak it till you get the absolute best sound out of it.

There are some people who are blessed and will own 7 different amps for various occasions but most of us will only have one or two. So what happens when you like that sound but it's not ever going to be your main sound? What do you do? Enter amp in a box pedals like the Wampler Triple Wreck. Brian Wampler has built a business around getting the feel and sounds of some of the more monumental amps, everything from blackface to Plexi's to Soldano's. To make it even better they are designed to sound great through less expensive amps. I picked up the Triple Wreck almost a year ago, and while it will never be my main sound I've found it to be a very versatile and useful tone tool.

The first thing you notice about the Triple Wreck is that it has a lot of knobs and switches. There is an active EQ section, volume and gain settings as well as a foot switchable boost contour knob. One of my favorite switches is the Voicing switch at the top that changes the gain from a hard tight sound to a looser "brutal" sound. One thing to note is that most of these knobs are very interactive so don't be surprised once you've dialed in the right amount of gain if you need to change it if you move the bass knob or vice versa. Like all Wampler products I've checked out these things are built like a tank, so no worries about them breaking down at a gig.

The first thing most people are going to try and dial in is a heavy shred-tastic sound that rectifiers are known for. I found the leaving the voicing switch on Hard and pulling back on the bass while bring up the mids is perfect for this. Interestingly I never had the bass above 1 o'clock. In fact I start all of the EQ knobs at noon and tweak from there. As I stated earlier this is a very versatile pedal. Roll back the gain for just a bit of breakup and set it up for a brighter in your face sound and you can nail Foo Fighter tones, now push it with a TS9 or a RAT type pedal for leads. I really love this sound

Of course one of the things I use pedal for is brutal downtuned modern rock sounds a la Slipknot. I talked about using this pedal for Jim Root type sounds here. Even though Jim is associated with Orange amps for the last few years he used a Dual Rectifier on the first couple of albums. Set the voicing to Brutal, put the gain around 2 o'clock pull back the treble and mids and bump up the bottom end a bit. Boom, now grab a guitar with EMG's or any hot pickups and play Before I Forget. (hint, it helps if your tuned down to drop B but you don't have to.)

While not useless I haven't found a lot of love for the boost switch on this pedal. Yes it gets a bit fuzzy, and it overdrives the bottom end of the sound. But it's not what I would call a great fuzz sound. I would love to see a version of this with an adjustable mid boost but we'll have to wait and see what Mr. Wampler has up his sleeve. So if your looking for a versatile modern amp sound check out the Wampler Triple Wreck.

This review was completely unsolicited, I received no compensation for it and all views and opinions are my own.

Jim Root Gear Guide

ADHD's Gear Guides at any Budget. I'm a firm believer that the tone comes from the hands. If your trying to achieve a certain guitar hero's tone you have to not just have the chops but you've got to get down their style of attack with your picking hand as well. That said every step you take toward finding the right gear is often very inspiring and WILL get you closer to “that” sound. I'm going to break these down into Guitars, Pickups, Pedals and Amps.

Jim Root Gear Guide.

Jim Root is the epitome of rock n roll cool. Serving as the principle riff-mister in both Stone Sour and Slipknot his brutal down tuned riffs are powerful and memorable. His weapons of choice have changed over the years but we are going to focus on the last few years. Despite his use of complicated switching systems you can easily get his sound using a pretty straight forward setup. Jim has been using various Fender signature models, EMG pickups, and Orange amps for his straight up tone, and uses effects pedals to add flavors.

Guitars – Jim Root has been using Fender guitars for the last several years. He is the only artist with a signiture Telecaster, Stratocaster and a Jazzmaster. All three are setup mostly the same with Mahogany bodies, and maple necks. He prefers harder ebony and maple fretboards over rosewood. A single volume knob and a three way switch for the EMG 81/60 humbucker set.

Fender Jim Root Signature Telecaster- This was Jim's first production signature guitar. It comes in either a black or white flat nitrocellulose finish that beats up easily. The fretboard has a 12” radius not quite as flat as most modern shred guitars but still easy to get low action. The neck has a modern Fender C shape, again not as thin as a lot of modern shreders but not what I would call thick.

Fender Jim Root Stratocaster- A few years later, Fender put out a Stratocaster version of Jim's Telecaster. Other than the body shape, the only difference is a compound radius fretboard.

Fender Jim Root Jazzmaster – The most recent addition to the Jim Root line up is a signature Jazzmaster. Again featuring the compound radius it also uses a more durable polyurethane finish.

Squire Jim Root Telecaster- For a budget model the Squire Jim Root Telecaster is a well built guitar. It saves money by having a rosewood fretboard and covered passive pickups, but still includes the 12” radius fretboard. And you can always add the EMG's later.

Fender Blacktop Stratocaster – Another cool budget alternative, the Fender Blacktop series packs a lot of bang for the buck. Add in some extra springs on the wammy for more stable tuning and your in business.

A Tip on Strings- If you want to try out down tuned riffs slap a higher string gauge on your guitar. Rule of thumb is for every full step down, go up a gauge. If your used to 9's or 10's try 11's or 12's for Slipknots songs.

Pickups- Jim's choice of pickups hasn't changed much over the years. He likes the EMG 81/60 set that a lot of modern metal guys favor.

EMGJH James Hetfield Humbucker Set- The EMG JH set is an 81/60 combo that is aggressive. The 60 cleans up well while the 81 has a sound favored by Zakk Wylde, Kerry King and of course Jim Root.

SeymourDuncan JB/Jazz Set- EMG's have a particular sound and while Duncan's Blackouts also have that covered if you want a passive set that can be used for similar tones the Duncan Hotrod set does an excellent job of covering a lot of territory. This is the number one replacement pickup set in the world for a reason.

Pedals- Jim has a lot of gear, pedals and racks galore but his sound is pretty straight forward. He likes pedals to add flavor and likes to get most of his sound from his guitars and amps.

Dunlop Rotovibe – While neither a UniVibe or a Phaser, Jim has stated that he loves the Rotovibe in the studio but that it's not always practical for use in a Slipknot show.

EHX Small Stone Nano Phaser- Jim swaps this and an MXR Phase 90 on a regular basis. Either one works great, run it in front of your drive pedals for more of a vibe feel.

Digitech Envelope Filter Synth Wah- Jim loves Envelope Filters, often having three different ones for crazy sound effects. While most of the analog filters only cover certain sound the Digitech and do those and so much more.

MXR Carbon Copy- Most delays will work for the way Jim uses them but the versatile Carbon Copy has become a favorite of players everywhere. Unless you need a lot of different delay presets this pedal works great.

Maxon Overdrive OD-9 – The original TS9 pedal by the guys who made them originally. Great for punching up solos, cutting through the mix, or giving your passive pickups a hotter sound.

Wampler Triple Wreck – While Jim has used a Rectifier in the past he is more recently associated with Orange amps. I find I can get extremely close to his sound using this pedal running into a clean amp. Plus it's just so versatile.

Amps- Jim Root's live set up uses the Orange Rockerverb, but in the studio he has used everything including Mesa Rectifiers, Bogner's and Budda's. He also has a signature Orange Terror head that is voiced to sound like his Rockerverb.

OrangeRockerverb 100 – Available as a two channel head or combo this amp has an aggressive upper midrange that Orange amps are famous for. It's also available in a 100w or 50w.

Orange #4 Jim Root Signature Terror Head- voiced after Jim's trademark Rockerverb heads this signature head takes the Tiny Terror head platform to a whole new level. For a single channel head they are remarkably flexible, and sound killer. And while made for bedrooms and small clubs put it on top of a miked 4x12 cab and it can handle the job.

Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier- Used early in Jim's career these amps are very versatile, and can be found on stages around the world.

If you want to experiment with the Orange sound but your not sure if that's what you want check out IK Multimedia's Amplitube. They have a great model of the Rockerverb making dialing in those brutal sounds is easy.

Obviously there are a lot of alternatives out there but these are a great place to start your tone search.