January-February 2024

Jedd Hughes A Desert River

By Riverhorse. Australian guitarist Jedd Hughes has carved an improbable path from the outback to Nashville's inner circle, touring with Patty Loveless, Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill, and Rodney Crowell while building a reputation as one of the most soulful, technically gifted players in country and Americana music. ToneQuest sits down with Hughes for a wide-ranging conversation on his origins, gear, and the long road to finding his own voice.

Ron Ellis

By Riverhorse. Ron Ellis of RE Pickups talks winding boutique humbuckers and Telecaster pickups for artists like Lee Roy Parnell, Jedd Hughes, Julian Lage, and David Gilmour, while sharing his transition to running the pickup business full time alongside his son Alan.

RON ELLIS PICKUPS

Signature Humbucker 50/60S & 64S Strat Sets

By Riverhorse. Ron Ellis's Signature Humbucker, 50/60S, and 64S Strat pickup sets are put to the test — and emerge as some of the most tonally expressive, harmonically rich pickups the ToneQuest team has encountered in years.

PETER RUTTER

The VFE Old School Tremolo

By Riverhorse. A deep look at the VFE Old School Tremolo — from its origins in a 1968 circuit to its current version — told by designer Peter Rutter, the former teacher who built a beloved boutique tremolo pedal on the side.

The Prescription Electronics Experience

By Riverhorse. From 1993 through 2014, Jack Brossart built pedals under the Prescription Electronics Inc. name, leaving behind underground favorites prized by tone hounds like Eric Johnson and Doyle Bramhall II. This appreciation digs into what makes the Experience — with its Octave Fuzz and hypnotic Swell section — one of the most unique and inspiring fuzz pedals ever made.

BIG BOX

Vintage Deluxe Memory Man

By Riverhorse. The Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man is the only pedal that comes close to a vintage Echoplex, offering haunting modulation and analog warmth that modern delays simply can't match. ToneQuest's editors make the case for the big-box vintage units — and why four of them still isn't enough.

THE SUPRO 1620T

A Valco Barn Burner In A Small Package

By Mr. Valco. The Supro 1620T Sahara is a surprisingly loud small amp with a push-pull 6973 output tube circuit rated at 17 watts, capable of mini-Marshall grind and overdrive that belies its compact cabinet. This deep-dive explores the circuit differences between the 1620T and its Valco siblings — and why this little barn burner deserves far more attention than it gets.

A LONG-LOST 1973 BIG MUFF

James Mastro With Mike Matthews of Electro-Harmonix

By James Mastro. Guitarist James Mastro reunites with his long-lost 1973 Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi after forty-two years, then sits down with EHX founder Mike Matthews to uncover the colorful history behind the world's most beloved fuzz pedal.

The Russian Green Machine Big Muff

By Riverhorse. A personal account of life on the road with the Russian Green Big Muff — made in St. Petersburg from 1994 to 1999 and favored by David Gilmour and the Black Keys — and the hunt to find one again decades later.

Brown Vibrasonic Home Brew

By Mark Shanahan. One writer's road trip across America — from Nashville's legendary repair shops and vintage dealers to a surprising find at Dave's Guitars in LaCrosse — leads to a brown-panel Fender Vibrasonic and a revelatory encounter with harmonic tremolo and a JBL D130F 15-inch speaker.

JAM PEDALS

Fuzz Phrase Itd

By Scott Ulrichs. The JAM Fuzz Phrase Ita wraps a legendary fuzz circuit in purple suede with a Jimi Hendrix graphic and a zipperable plexiglass backplate, delivering everything from violin creaminess to full-octane gain with a remarkably usable sweep of both controls.

1970 SHIN-EI UNIVIBE

Lilt And Shimmer

By Scott Ulrichs. A deep dive into the history and mystique of the Univibe — from Fumio Mieda's Vibra Chorus origins to a firsthand encounter with a 1970 original that still delivers liquid fairy dust tone.

REVIEW

The Universal Audio OX Box

By Riverhorse. ToneQuest puts Universal Audio's OX Box through its paces as a load box, attenuator, and silent recording rig, finding it exquisitely versatile — then sits down with UA's Senior Product Manager Tore Mogensen and TQR Editorial Board member Corey Congilio to dig into its design and legacy.

THE PENNSYLVANIA PLEXI

A Black & Gold Beast

By Riverhorse. A hands-on exploration of building the ultimate Marshall SV20H rig — pairing the modern plexi head with a hand-built Pogreba cabinet, a vintage 1972 Celestion Greenback with pulsonic cone, and a rotating cast of hand-picked vintage EL34 pairs including Mullard XF2s.