Dipped In Tone

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.”

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Dipped in Tone is:

Rhett Shull https://www.rhettshull.com/

Zach Broyles / Mythos Pedals https://mythospedals.com

Premier 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.”

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Dipped in Tone is:

Rhett Shull https://www.rhettshull.com/

Zach Broyles / Mythos Pedals https://mythospedals.com

Premier 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.

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Dipped in Tone is:

Rhett Shull https://www.rhettshull.com/

Zach Broyles / Mythos Pedals https://mythospedals.com

Premier 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.

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Dipped in Tone is:

Rhett Shull https://www.rhettshull.com/

Zach Broyles / Mythos Pedals https://mythospedals.com

Premier Guitar https://www.premierguitar.com/

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 http://stewmac.com/dippedintone to get 10% off!

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Dipped in Tone is:

Rhett Shull https://www.rhettshull.com/

Zach Broyles / Mythos Pedals https://mythospedals.com

Premier Guitar https://www.premierguitar.com/

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!

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Dipped in Tone is:

Rhett Shull https://www.rhettshull.com/

Zach Broyles / Mythos Pedals https://mythospedals.com

Premier Guitar https://www.premierguitar.com/

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.

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Dipped in Tone is:

Rhett Shull https://www.rhettshull.com/

Zach Broyles / Mythos Pedals https://mythospedals.com

Premier Guitar https://www.premierguitar.com/

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 Savage

04:37 Noah Guthrie and Good Trouble Update

10:36 Andy Powers joins the show!

12:38 How did Andy Powers get started building guitars?

24:18 Advice to people starting their careers

30:22 How do you design something new?

35:07 Tonewoods. You knew it was coming.

41:15 A story about tonewoods

44:46 What are you missing in your acoustic rig?

53:05 Tips for getting a good live acoustic sound

58:41 Will Taylor ever make a pedal?

1:06:27 Andy dips a rig

Big thanks to StewMac for sponsoring this episode. Head to http://stewmac.com/dippedintone to get 10% off!

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Dipped in Tone is:

Rhett Shull https://www.rhettshull.com/

Zach Broyles / Mythos Pedals https://mythospedals.com

Premier Guitar https://www.premierguitar.com/

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 Hero

02:49 Positron Collider

03:52 Update on Rhett's Studio Build and New Music

05:05 A Challenge?

06:45 Are Guitar Pedals Getting Too Weird?

09:10 Mythos' New Chorus Prototype

09:41 Josh Smith's POLY Overdrive

11:42 Empress ZOIA

31:45 Chase Bliss Mood MkII

39:14 Beetronics

40:02 Acord Solid State

41:50 Intensive Care Audio Fideleater

42:10 Westerland Boost

42:57 Final Thoughts on Weird Pedals

47:55 Time to Dip a Rig

58:07 Shill of the Week

Big thanks to StewMac for sponsoring this episode. Head to http://stewmac.com/dippedintone to get 10% off!

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Dipped in Tone is:

Rhett Shull https://www.rhettshull.com/

Zach Broyles / Mythos Pedals https://mythospedals.com

Premier Guitar https://www.premierguitar.com/

"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!

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Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/dippedintone

Dipped in Tone is:

Rhett Shull https://www.rhettshull.com/

Zach Broyles / Mythos Pedals https://mythospedals.com

Premier Guitar https://www.premierguitar.com/