ToneQuest Report: May 2023 – Vol. 24, No. 7

What's Inside This Issue:

Tennessee Smoke Signals – Corey Congilio – From the many summertime music festivals Bob Burwell brought us out to, the van that night had both Tommy Emmanuel and Corey Congilio with us. Corey became a fast friend and seeing him open the festival the next morning was beyond inspiring. There is something in the way true players hold their guitars when they are doing what they were born to do. Corey is talented, humble, caring, erudite, well-spoken, and flat-out wickedly otherworldly as a musician who serves the song with pure grace and steadfast aplomb. We know you’ll savor and revel in this one, as it is filled with serious gear banter, hip under the radar tips, and deep wisdom, as well as a funny tale or two, so kick back and take the ride from the valleys of Pennsylvania to Tennessee and onward…

Insights From J. Rockett’s Zac Delvecchio – There’s always something new… Zac DelVecchio as Head of Operations for J. Rockett runs all of the marketing and sales for the company, from working with the artists to helping with pedals, designs or whatever is needed. Combining his business skill set with degrees in marketing and guitar performance, an amp builder, and a guitar builder, sets him apart from the enthusiast’s perspective—and he has heart for dwelling in the trenches. Join in as Zac takes us throughs the challenges of the pedal world, the design iterations of a typical Rockett pedal, the silver Archer, the early days of the FlexDrive, the Klon-style Jeff Beck Mod Archer, the Clockwork delay, the Uni-Verb, the Rockaway Archer with Steve Stevens, the Melody pedal with Mark Lettieri, and what continues to drive their designs and new releases to this day.

Clocking Time With The J.Rockett Clockwork – Pink Floyd in a box? Yes, you can nail the cool vibey jam out of “Another Brick in the Wall”, Part 1 or “Run Like Hell.” Think Pat Thrall rockin’ that fast dotted eighth note lead in “Heat in the Street” from Pat Travers’ Live! Go for What You Know or The Edge taking a bit slower on “Bad” off The Unforgettable Fire? This approach to delay is one of the many things we love about tape echo and the pedals inspired by it, like the Deluxe Memory Man and now its modern cousin, the J. Rockett Clockwork. There’s lots of flexibility here and while not a vintage Echoplex or high maintenance Memory Man, it’s definitely in the ballpark and worth your exploration.

J. Rockett Jeff Beck Mod Archer – It never ends. There are always doorways to open that take us to new realms. It’s fun, illuminating, and exciting to discover if we can actually hear and feel the differences in our gear when we get down to the smallest of details. That was the case as we lined up the Jeff Beck modified Archer pedal alongside three others of similar ilk—an original silver Archer, the JB Mod Archer, the KTR, and last but not least, the Klong. The A/B or in this case A/B/C/D game is flat out telling because we can make changes fast enough that our brains process what we are hearing without significant delay. Enter the zone as we line up our personal gear troves for unique and first-time results in our tone/feel pursuit.

Stocktone & Tommy Alderson – Stealing The Heart Of P90 Magic And P90 Clone Reviews
We caught wind of the shenanigans and suggested that Sherman Stockton, Stocktone Custom Shop send us one of his new 1954 P90 cloning project with legend Tommy Alderson, guitar tech extraordinaire for Deep Purple. Exposing the secrets of its magic—but most importantly, stealing the heart of the pickup. And just for fun, Sherman sent us another P90 he created with a few more horses under the hood. So here we are!