Vol. 23, No. 9
July-August 2022
Players, Gear & Sound — The Inside
Nacho Baños completes The Pinecaster, a four volume collection documenting early electric guitars from 1920 to 1955, with Billy F Gibbons, Redd Volkaert and Lynn Wheelwright weighing in. Dave Boze shares a reversible Telecaster wiring setup, and the César Díaz Texas Tremodillo gets its story. Kashiah Hunter talks sacred steel, Greg Talley comes full circle to a 1977 silverface Deluxe Reverb, and the ToneQuest Barncaster, a Telecaster built from the wood of a fallen Oklahoma barn, makes its case.
PLAYERS, GEAR & SOUND
The Inside
The Pinecaster
By Riverhorse. Ignacio "Nacho" Baños, author of the landmark Blackguard book, spent eight years creating The Pinecaster — a four-volume limited-edition collection documenting early electric guitars from 1920–1955, complete with thousands of photos, specs, and over seventy video demos accessible via a dedicated app. ToneQuest sits down with Nacho, Redd Volkaert, Lynn Wheelwright, and Billy F Gibbons to get the full story.
WITH DAVE BOZE
Coaxing A Bit More Out Of A Telecaster
By Dave Boze. Guitarist Dave Boze shares a reversible wiring mod for the Telecaster that adds two new tones — pickups in series and a "Half-Out-Of-Phase" position — using a Super 5-Way switch to approximate the beloved Stratocaster cluck without sacrificing any original sounds.
The César Díaz Tremodillo Tales
By Riverhorse. A deep dive into the legendary César Díaz Texas Tremodillo tremolo pedal, tracing the life and genius of SRV's amp tech through rare archival interview excerpts and hands-on tests of two original Tremodillo pedals — one NOS, one signed by Bob Dylan.
Kashiah Hunter
By David Wilson. Kashiah Hunter's story is one built on faith and nurtured by the deep tradition of sacred steel — from hiding his uncle's Guyatone lap steel as a boy in New Jersey to being inducted into the Sacred Strings Hall of Fame in 2016. In this wide-ranging conversation, Hunter talks tunings, amps, mentors, and the enduring vitality of the sacred steel tradition.
FULL CIRCLE WITH A
Silverface Deluxe Reverb
By Greg Talley. Greg Talley traces his full-circle journey back to the Fender Deluxe Reverb, recounting how a pristine 1977 silverface — serviced by Jeff Bakos and fitted with NOS RCA 6V6s — rekindled his appreciation for one of the best amp bargains still available.
The Oklahoma Barncaster
By Riverhorse. What started as a $70 eBay impulse buy — a Telecaster body hewn from the wood of a fallen Oklahoma barn — became the ToneQuest Barncaster: a folk-art guitar loaded with Lollar pickups, Callaham hardware, and custom Gleason necks that now travels the world seeking stages to conquer.
A Message to our ToneQuest Friends & Family
By Riverhorse. A heartfelt note from the ToneQuest team reflecting on recent issues and looking ahead to an ambitious stretch of guitar journalism still to come.
I've often wondered, does a guitar have a "soul?" It's certain to have a "vibe" or at the very least a personality, but sometimes I swear these things are alive.
— Brad Paisley
© 2022 Mountainview Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. The ToneQuest Report® is presented as a collective work. Individual contributions may be separately protected by copyrights held by their respective authors.