Vol. 27, No. 11
September 2026
Players, Gear & Sound — The Inside
After enough years of playing guitars, you learn that the smallest things can make an extraordinary difference—and some of the things we obsess over matter far less than we think. Steve Bartek and Ira Ingber share what decades of recording sessions have taught them about guitars, amps and making a part work for the song. Juha Ruokangas reveals just how deep the variables run in building a responsive humbucker, followed by our time with his Väinö and Aino pickups. Riverhorse takes decades of analog ears into the modern home studio. Different paths, same lesson: experience has a way of revealing what matters.
PLAYERS, GEAR & SOUND
The Inside
Baring All With Steve Bartek & Ira Ingber
By Scott Ulrichs. Steve Bartek (Oingo Boingo) and Ira Ingber (Bob Dylan, Captain Beefheart's circle) sit down to discuss their collaborative album There Goes My Compass, released under the band name Baring All, along with decades of hard-won wisdom on guitars, vintage amps, speakers, voltage regulation, and the art of self-imposed creative limitations.
MASTER GUITAR BUILDER JUHA RUOKANGAS
The Soul Behind Artisan Pickups
By Scott Ulrichs. Finnish guitar maker Juha Ruokangas takes ToneQuest through the painstaking, science-driven journey he and his team undertook to develop their Väinö and Aino PAF-inspired humbuckers — from chasing vintage tone references to solving the potting dilemma without wax.
RUOKANGAS ARTISAN HUMBUCKER PICKUPS
Listening Beyond First Impressions
By Scott Ulrichs. A deep-listen review of the Ruokangas Väinö and Aino humbucker pickups, evaluated across a Gil Yaron LP and PRS Hollowbody II over months of real-world playing with a wide range of amps and guitars.
FOR THE TONEQUEST BRETHREN
Home Studio Recording Adventures
By Riverhorse. One guitar-loving filmmaker-journalist recounts his late-night journey into home studio recording, navigating DAW software, the Universal Audio OX Box, and JBL monitors to finally capture his hard-won analog tones at home.
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