Todd: What got you started in building guitar pickups and how long have you been building them?

Wade: Well, back when I was around 15 or so I suppose, I was looking for power and had to raise the height a bit only to have the high e get caught under the bobbin and short it out. Actually out of necessity, I had to rewire it with the help of my Dad (He is an electrician for Ford’s Power plant in Detroit) to get only one coil working for the time being until he could find wire that small. Back then it was a challenge to say the least to find wire, and material etc. At that same time there were lots of machinery at Fords to make transformers, etc and I got my first glimpse at how to do things, but on a much larger scale. OK, so the short answer would be by accident : ) After I initially fixed the coil and rewound it, it was quite some time before I went back to the wire on the shelf- I must have been almost seventeen. I was shopping for amps and the sales guy said “Hey man, you gotta hear these amps. One is with a stock speaker, and one is with a Celestion.” Well, it was a kick in the face because I knew speakers had coils in them and the tones were night and day. I couldn’t wait to get back to the bench and try something different for pickups.
Fast forward to about 3 years, already had my first child, working all day  with very little time for guitar. I was building houses during the day, and teaching American Karate at night but still loved to play guitar for my babies at home. By this time in the pickup realm, I had a few great guys around town that really liked my pickups I had made or re-wound for them and when they would get a new guitar, they would call me and want pickups. At this time, I never actually sold any ($20 bucks and a stack of magazines. More so a trade). It was through friends and fellow musicians mostly- A blue moon thing? Not on a consistent basis. Maybe 15 per yr. That’s how it started anyway…

Todd: What do you feel is the most important thing in the building process that effects the tone of a pick up?

Wade: The pickup works as a system of parts, change the part…… just one, and you change the tone and feel or response. To me, the way the coils are wound makes the most difference. If I had all the same material (screws, slugs, plates shoes, magnet) I can alter the tones in the coils to get 85% of any model I make. This is where winding experience comes into play and knowing wire gauges and insulation’s inside and out- like a fine wine, you get better with age. The last 15% to me is the most important though putting the icing on the cake using the materials to flavor the mood. Coils, coils, coils!! To this day, I wind every coil. I do have assembly help, but I wind every single one.

Todd: I know these things are hard to put into words but what in your opinion makes a pick up classic or modern sounding and what are the differences in the builds?

Wade: That’s a tricky question Todd. By today’s standards, we have very modern technology with amps, pedals, etc. so keeping up with the times in the modern sense is ideal.  A classic or vintage pickup should be replicated using different tensioning techniques and knowing some of the shaped cam traverse typically used in early winding machines. These are not uncommon today and are a great learning tool although primitive by nature. The coils do not come out perfect in shape, rather they are many shapes. Older machines have tricks to them. Sourcing the right material for the job, which can date back to the early 50’s, can be a battle as well as getting the proper steels. P90’s date back further. Modern Pickups tend to be over exaggerated with perceived gain and power but sacrifice tone. With the more modern stuff I design, I try to balance clarity with gain and output. Some heavier players prefer to hit the front end of the amps input harder but my preference is to GET THE GAIN FROM THE AMP.

Todd: When someone says a pick up “sounds too compressed” what does that mean to you since there is always some sort of compression going on in a pick up anyway?

Wade: Hmm…Each person’s explanation may be different. To me, it’s more the feeling of the pickup when you’re actually playing it. The note sounds but the immediacy of the note ends with little life or harmonic structure that swells after the note to help bloom the distortion. The amount of give can be stiff and sterile with a narrow feel.  Pickups do have compression but it’s the amount we as players like that determines whether it is too much too little. Think of it this way….When you listen to a cd in your car it is not as compressed as the same song on the radio because radio stations compress before broadcasting. With mondo gain, you want a little compression and immediacy to the note to keep it tight but compression overdone loses the tones dynamics and perceived width.

Todd: What do you feel makes your pick ups stand out from the rest?

Wade: Everything in my designs are custom.  I use multiple styles of screws made of differing material as well as the shoes and poles. All have quite a different effect within one another so the outcome of tone can vary greatly. If I use the same coils but alter the core components I can fine tune the design of each pickup to the client’s preference. I really strive to separate myself from the herd when it comes to designing pickups, seeking out a unique character in each model. Of course it will sound like a pickup but I want each to have its own identity. I perform various tests making sure the inductance, AC resistance, capacitance and Q are within range of the specified coil or coils..

Todd: What are some of the biggest misconceptions you feel a lot of players have when it comes to pick up building? Or are there any myths you feel need to be corrected?

Wade: It would have to be DC RESISTANCE. I just feel there is no significant validity in judging a pickup this way. DC resistance has little to do with tone or frequency and more to do with the length of wire really.  “What’s the big deal?”, I often hear, ” its 16k so its a pretty hot pickup?” right?

“Well NO”. I’m sure it can be if it was designed for gain but again it’s that perfect marriage between the pickup and amp that determines how hot your signal is. The pickup is the mouthpiece to your amplifier so feeding it the frequencies you want to hear gets you closer to the tones in your head, fine tuning at the amp. Some say its “ease of play” with higher resistance but we know better : ) Two pickups at 16k from 2 different builders are going to sound different. Each persons touch is different.

Todd: I’ve noticed with your pick ups they clean up really well, what helps a pick up stay clear when you roll of the volume on your guitar?

Wade: If I told ya my secret…I’d have to kill ya. Seriously, KILL YA! There is a real balancing act between coil design and whether they are asymmetrical or symmetrically wound that makes a difference.  I do like using different winding patterns per coil to further clip the coils. I could wind them totally different with a small clip between the two, and the one with the lower turn count may read hotter because of the pattern used making for more material in the bobbin with less turns. The capacitance is different. Also using domestic metals plays a huge role. It’s cleaner and pure. Much of the over sea’s material is recycled or shot. Vapor analysis shows everything. Inferior metals will show trace elements that should not be in there at all for a specified material.

Todd: Tonally what are the biggest differences in the different magnet types?

Wade: The way they soak up current. They are all different. There’s a lot of frequency shifts because of the material used to make certain magnets between the Alnico’s. For instance, Alnico 5 can have many different recipes resulting in the way each kind soaks up eddy current and still falls under the Alnico 5 guideline or considered Alnico 5.

Bh curves vary significantly between types as well as Demagnetizing force, H, Oersteds, H MAx,Hci, or orientation of magnet grades, etc. Whether it was orientated metal, unorientated, or how it was annealed matters. Everything mentioned will affect how much the magnet can hold saturation (energy) or total max gauss and will affect the resistance under the strings.  I’ve used them all from every corner of the globe and to date the American made magnets are by far a real treat. All the domestic specialty metals have been spot on with not only the American foundries analysis, but my own. I’ve sent out and tested many magnets. There are also differences in material tweaks for A2 A3 A4 etc. so there are quite a bit of choices to be made when selecting magnets for the job. Trying various types of Alnico within the material guidelines for a specified grade helps because you can find out what you really like for a design. Lots of testing, vaporizing and listening.

Todd: You told me you got to work with Jerry Cantrell from Alice In Chains and that he’s using some of your pick ups… which ones is he using and what was it like working with Jerry? Also are there any players you are working with now that you’d like to mention?

Wade: Jerry is using the Afwayu’s and the Second Degree Black Belts in all the tour guitars that I know. It’s a real honor making pickups for Jerry as I’m a huge fan of Alice In Chains and he had such an influence on my playing over the years as well. I can still remember the first time I heard “We Die Young” on the radio. Man, we just stared at the radio like it was going to come alive or something wondering “What the hell is that?!” Of course we went out and bought the cassette immediately. I felt the pickup choices were right considering his gear. I spoke with him at St. Andrews in Detroit and he was really nice, laid back and down to earth. I think he’s very focused and gives off a great vibe. Jerry instantly made you feel welcome. It’s an absolute pleasure working with him. I’m very excited about the new album. I have some other stuff going out to him as we speak.

Players I’m working with? You man!! Hum. I’ve never really talked to much about it but here are some you may know, and some you need to know:

Reeves Gabrels (David Bowie), Ty Tabor (Kings X), Pete Thorn(Chris Cornell, Pink, Alecia Keys, Session Artist), Jerry Cantrell, James Lugo, Roger Laur (Ugly Kid Joe), Karl Cochran ( Joe Lynn Turner), Jamin Hunt (Sworn Enemy, Vehement Serenade). Mark Abrahamian (starship), Dave Lapum,  Rob Singleton (Treble Bleed), Elliot Moses, Donna Grantis, Pat Furlan ( the Remnants), Greg Danic, Halloween, Flint Mavis, Brett Lucas (Betty Lavette, Thornetta Davis, the Pickups. Session Artist), the Holy Fire, Bury your Burden, Moxie, Universal temple of Divine Power. Lots of studio engineers and producers also as well as music manufactures such as Bruce,Frank and Jeff Hilligan- Egnater Amplification, Frank Lamara- L.A Guitars,  Dave Friedman of Rack Systems, Dereck Tabata- Tone Freak Effects, Sean Michaels- Love Pedal, George Metropoulous- Metro Amps, Dennis Molan- Protone Pedals, Reinhart Bogner, Rob- Tone Merchants, John Gaynor- SOzo Amps, Plan 916 guitars… It’s a real honor working and getting feedback from everyone really. I always keep my ears open and listen. That’s the key to MotorCity.

Todd: What’s the main things a player should think about and know when he or she goes to pick out a pick up?

Wade: An overall idea of what sounds they are after along with being familiar with their gear. Also knowing what kind of pickups you like or have liked in the past so I can get you into something that you are familiar with- Not drastically changing your tone, drastically improving it and finding what you need as a player.

Todd: How important is pick up height?

Wade: Everyone is different with how much power and clarity they need as a player. I find a great starting point is 2mm on the low end, and 2.5mm-3mm on the high end from the bottom of the string to the head of the screw. Fine tuning and getting the sweet spot from there is taste. I really learn allot from my customers and try out every scenario as it comes.

Todd: How much does waxing effect tone?

Wade: There are a lot of different theories as to the effects of waxing coils. Here is what I think and know from experience. A fully saturated coil can sound lifeless actually. The Black Belt series is an example of a flash waxing technique I use to solidify the outer windings of the coil to prevent them from vibrating causing microphony and unwanted squeal . The inner windings are under pressure from the top windings and they give a little bit also, but in a more musical way. More controlled or restricted. Wax also helps solidify the construction. The coils are not fully saturated. I do offer them un waxed as well for the vintage purist. At this point you must have perfect construction and everything must be anchored down perfectly. Proper taping is essential in un-waxed coils. Audibly the coils have a bit more breath to them with  greater sensitivity to harmonics and dynamic response. Un-waxed coils are not for everyone, but are full of life and character. The musical micro phony is what the purists are seeking so there is a fine line with any design to take out what you don’t want which is the uncontrollable aspect, leaving the character and bloom of the players touch to excel.

Todd: How much, in your opinion, does a guitar’s wood and construction play a role in the tone of a pick up?

Wade: Very important! Give me lemons, I’ll make you the sweetest lemonade. I’ve had a lot of guitars in my years and every now and then you get a dud that just does not make sense. For instance…Swamp Ash vs. Soft maple. One’s going to be darker so knowing ahead of time, I can recommend the proper pickup based on the woods. The pickup is the mouthpiece to your amp and amplifies what is already there. Without a pickup, the guitar is not electric so taking what’s there and further shaping it with the pickup before it gets to the front end of amp makes sense. On the other side of the coin, I’ve had customers tell me no matter what they do the low end is boomy with any pickup in this guitar. I take that as a challenge and as a designer knowing your own product you can finely tweak your winds to accommodate your customers needs. Most tweaks are a spin-off of a model already being made so you have to know what woods and the characters of the guitar. Communication is the key between you and the customer really. Without that, you’re shooting blind. Tweaks are for those individuals that require them and you really need to know your gear and have some consistency with your gear not changing speakers, cables, amps every week.

Todd: I guess first I’d like to say from one southern boy to another… “You pick one mean guitfiddle.”  What got you interested in playing guitar and at what age did you start learning to play?

Andy: Well thanks! Funny thing, I’m not a “guitar” player at all. I’m actually a mandolin player that plays guitar when I dont have a mandolin gig… lol!  I started playing music around 4 or 5 and started actually playing electric guitar about 9 years ago. So I’m really new to the scene. My grandfather got me started on bluegrass, things like tony rice, Bela Fleck, Bill Monroe all that good stuff.

Todd: From listening to your music in Down From Up and now your new solo CD “A Disconcerting Amalgam” it’s clear to everyone that you are an extremely well rounded player with styles ranging from rock, metal shred, jazz, blues, to country. That’s one thing I like about Guthrie Govan, he plays a lot of styles very well, as do you. I’m assuming this is because your musical tastes are just that varied. When you started playing were your tastes that varied or did you grow to like different styles over time?

Andy: First off, to be mentioned in the same paragraph as Jedi master Govan is something I don’t deserve and is a HUGE compliment! I think that guy is on another planet!  He is simply fantastic! As far as musical taste, I tend to just have two genres I divide music into: suck and does not suck! When I started playing I was only into bluegrass till my teens, then I got into some acoustic jazz, django, newgrass revival, Mark O’ Connor things like that. When I hit 18 or so I heard all of the “standard issue shred” that everybody already new except me apparently, it was the big guys, you know, your Steve Vai, Steve Morse (loved him because of all the country/grass influence) John Petrucci, Al DiMeola, Frank Gambale, Shawn Lane, Paul Gilbert etc.  Hell, I never heard Eruption till I was 18, how crazy is that??? Before that I was into all the session guys especially the titan of twang, Brent Mason!! Like anybody else you hear more stuff and you want to chase new fun sounds, thats why we all do it anyway.

Todd: Ok, I have to ask the obligatory who are your guitar and or musical heroes?

Andy: I think I listed a ton already but the three biggest would be my gran dad Paul Birchfield, my cousin Brian Arrowood, and my step dad Greg English. There is nothing like having so many good players in one family. When we all get together to play its the epitome of fun!

Todd: Did you take lessons or are you pretty much self taught or was it a mix of both?

Andy: No lessons, just always playing with the family. Later on, about 18 or so, I did a year or two as a jazz major at the University of Tennessee but pretty much just learn from using the rewind button.

Todd: Speaking of lessons and learning to play, I feel that young players who are just starting to learn today have such great resources with the net these days that I didn’t have back in ‘83 when I started. Not only on the net but sometimes in private lessons as well the info seems to be really focused on just a few aspects of playing music on the guitar like note scales, licks, and hand technique. Do you feel like I do that some of the other important aspects of playing music are kinda of ignored like, what “not” to play, use of space in rhythm, really learning to listen to all what’s going on in the song and playing just for that, when to take things out and when to bring it back, etc?

Andy: Its weird, I think we are in an age of the most technically proficient players in the history of guitar, and that’s great! I love to search the web to steal some licks from a guy that lives thousands of miles away. But at the same time I see what your saying and I agree to an extent, we should all be aware of what the main goal is and that is to make good music, not just play mind numbing licks over backing tracks. I also feel that some of the more traditional techniques are getting overlooked more and more. Its all too often you see a player who can sweep and tap all over the place but whose bends sound forced and has an unnatural vibrato. But hey we all have what we excel at and what we don’t and that leads us to work on those things to improve our playing.

Todd: Do you have any advice for players who feel they are stuck in a rut with their playing? What do you do to keep your playing fresh?

Andy: I usually just search for new music, here lately after hanging with Guthrie a bit, I have been working on my slide playing, and let me tell you what, you have never heard such bad out of tune screeching but I’m working on it!

Todd: What was your first thought when you heard that you had won the nationals of Guitarmageddon?

Andy: “Who me!?”  I thought there was some mistake, after I realized I won I couldn’t believe it, all six other guys at the finals were KILLER!!  I’m very honored to have won.

Todd: When you are out on the road with Down From Up, do find that your tone stays pretty consistent or does it change from venue to venue? What have you found helps with this?

Andy: Tone always changes from venue to venue, its something every player deals with. I’m lucky though I have some really good gear that stays pretty consistent, usually only a treble tweak or delay level is all I need to mess with at sound check. Your best ally in fighting this is a great monitor guy, no doubt!

Todd: When I lived in Nashville, I was in an original hard rock band for a few years that my brother and a mutual friend put together. I’ll have to say Nashville is a very cool town with some smoking players but for original bands it’s a bit of a strange place to play. There are so many great players that have several projects going on at once that it seems a bit “cliquish” when it comes to people showing up to hear people play. What was it like for you guys starting a band in Knoxville TN?

Andy: It was like anywhere else, you have to pay those dues and market yourselves to where you can get the crowd interested enough to come to a show, then you have to blow them away at the show and leave a mark in their mind so that the next time you play they wanna be there.

Todd: I know you are really into the Diezel and Suhr gear. What about their gear fits you as a player?

Andy: It’s really about each players touch and feel, for me the Suhr modern is the perfect guitar no doubt. I have several mods and custom things that are unique to my guitars that John has worked with me on, mainly a push pull on the tone pot that puts the bridge humbucker in parallel. It’s killer for impersonating a tele! I also love how chunky and mean that guitar can get for riffs and still be able to get the smooth lead tone that I go for. Also I love the 16″ radius, truly fun to play on ‘cuz I can slam the action but still get under the strings for big bends and sweet vibrato. The Diezel Herbert rocks, no doubt. I have used it on two tours and it brings it every night. But be on the lookout for something special from Suhr, we have something cool in store that I have worked on with them.

Todd: What did you do to prepare to do your solo CD as in were those songs you have had for a while or did you write those fairly recently?

Andy: Actually zero preparation, all of the tunes were written and tracked within nine days, then went on to the mixing and mastering. I really had fun with the spontaneity and I had killer players on there that I wanted to feature.

Todd: Like I mentioned earlier about the range of styles your CD, was this something you really wanted to accomplish from the get go and did that make it hard to choose which songs to put on the CD?

Andy: Yeah, I wanted to make the music that I like, and sometimes its bluegrass, sometimes fusion, sometimes rock etc. This was a very selfish album, I did this for the fun of it. It wasn’t hard to choose the songs, they just kind of came together. I wanted it to sound like three acts of a play, the shred opener act, the acoustic middle act then into a two song outro ending on the most emotional tune on the record.

Todd: Your CD opens with a great great version of “Amazing Grace”. That’s one of my favorite gospel songs and my favorite arrangement is done by Randy Scruggs but I think, in my mind,  you are giving it a run for its money. Is there any special reason you open the CD with that song?

Andy: Yeah, my mother wanted it on the album, and she said “Don’t play any licks Andy, just play the melody, its pretty enough without you playing any guitar licks on it”  What can I say, moms might actually know best!

Todd: My friends and I still to this day love finding new bands to turn each other on to…what new or maybe unheard of artists/bands do you find inspiring these days?

Andy: Well in the modern rock realms Im a big 10 Years fan, I love Coheed and Cambria, Shinedown, and After Midnight Project is a killer new band from LA. Its hard to list all the stuff I listen too but that’s the modern rock I’m currently into.

Todd: What’s your thoughts on the current state of the music industry? It seems to be going through some pretty big changes with the internet and downloads etc. Do you feel this a generally helping artists or hurting them?

Andy: Man seems like the music industry is a mess!! I feel like the internet world is a double edge sword. For example without the net few of us would have ever heard of artist like Guthrie Govan or Andy Mckee but with their music being available at so many places for free, how are they supposed to make the money needed to keep releasing new stuff? All I can say is, kids please, please don’t steal music! Buy it from sites like iTunes.

Be sure to pick up Andy’s new CD “A Disconcerting Amalgam” on iTunes through the link below.

I recently had the pleasure of talking to Firehouse guitarist Bill Leverty about his new solo album, Deep South. This album is a diverse collection which explores the breadth of the south’s contribution to American music. Eight of the ten covers are standards, but also included in the collection is a wonderful cover of “Hit the Road Jack” made famous by Ray Charles and a beautiful rendition of “Walk Beside Me” by Tim O’Brien and Darrell Scott. Filled with diverse songs choices, blazing lead guitar, intimate melodies, and intricate arrangements, Deep South is an excellent choice not only for fans of southern music, but for fans of music in general. Not only is Bill a fine musician, singer, and songwriter, he’s also a talented producer and engineer, and one of the nicest guys you could ever meet.

Eric: It’s really great to be able to talk with you again, my friend. There are so many things I would like to ask, but first, let me just say, I’ve been listening to Deep South the past two nights and I just love it.

Bill: Aw, thanks man.

Eric: Well, you know, I’m southern too, and….

Bill: God bless you.

Laughs

Eric: and, I really feel that these songs don’t get the attention they deserve and studying music in college, I can tell you for certain that they don’t. Oftentimes, the southern contribution to American music is ignored. But anyway, let’s talk about your new solo album, Deep South. What gave you the idea to do this sort of project?

Bill: Well, my original idea was to do a cover tunes album. I had gotten off the road and in the winter time, things slow down for Firehouse and we came to the realization that Firehouse wasn’t going to be able to do an album this past winter, and at the end of the winter I wanted to feel like I had accomplished something.

Eric: Right.

Bill: So I decided to do a cover tunes album, which I’ve always wanted to do anyway. The last record was all instrumental and it took forever to write it, much less to record it…

Eric: Sure

Bill: and I knew I wouldn’t have time to do that so I thought, let’s do a cover tunes album. So my original thought was to do an album with maybe one song by Aerosmith, one song by Led Zeppelin, one song by Van Halen, and blah blah blah. I thought, you know, that’s all been done. I love those bands and everything but I really wanted to figure out something different, so I thought why don’t I go back to those band’s influences. But ultimately, I wanted to go to those bands influences, and then their influence’s influences, and their influence’s influence’s influences. And you know, it all kind of comes back to the late 1800s, early 1900s, before rock n roll was even born. I became interested and fascinated with the kinds of music at that time and started to look for songs from that era that were conducive to my playing and singing style. What I found was gospel, country, bluegrass, and the predawn of blues—not talking about like, Robert Johnson blues, which was 30s and 40s, but more like the 1920s and before—like what led up to blues. It was a blues-based sound, but it wasn’t really yet blues. And that really just captured my interest a lot. So ultimately, I found eight songs which fit my style out of those genres I mentioned—mainly in minor keys, because the major key songs written at that time were mostly ragtime songs, happy jazz type things, and wartime parade type songs, which didn’t fit well with what I play. So I got eight really old songs that fit my style and then I always wanted to cover a Ray Charles song because I always thought he was a great artist.

Eric: Oh he was.

Bill: My parents had Ray Charles in the house and they loved him. He was the only artist that they loved and I also loved.

Laughs

Bill: So I put “Hit the Road Jack” on there and this other song by Tim O’Brien and Darrell Scott “Walk Beside Me.” They are very successful songwriters, yet not as well known as they should be. They put out a record called Walk Beside Me and the second I heard it I knew I one day wanted to cover it. This was the opportunity to do it. I wanted to bring awareness to them, and to this other music that came out of the south. It’s a style of music that’s like no other music in the world. Just like Celtic music from Ireland is it’s own thing, this is an identifiable music that’s had an impact on all of my influences from Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, and Almman Brothers, which are southern bands, to Aerosmith, Van Halen, Michael Schenker, Led Zeppelin, and all these other great bands. I thought, wow, it’s really interesting how this music has had such a huge impact on so many great artists. Nobody in my genre, at least that I know of, is doing these songs, so it’s new for me and I learned a lot in doing it, not only about the songs but also about some of the different instruments that I hadn’t recorded before.

Eric: You played dobro, mandolin, banjo, and some other instruments on this project. I’m sure it was fun to get to play instruments you wouldn’t normally get to play in Firehouse. I wanted to ask you about that because after my sister passed away, we did a Christmas album—three of them actually, and let the proceeds go to a scholarship fund. And the fun thing for me was getting to play instruments that normally no one in the band would let me play….
Laughs

Eric: like the mandolin, banjo, harmonica, upright bass, or whatever. So I’m sure that was a lot of fun for you.

Bill: Yeah, it’s funny that you would mention that, because this was a way to get out of my comfort zone and get out of the Firehouse box. I still like that box, but there’s so much other stuff out there that doesn’t fit what Firehouse does. I got a banjo on one of these songs and if I brought a banjo into Firehouse they would probably look at me sideways and say does that really fit Firehouse?

Laughs

Bill: But with my own thing I can pretty much do whatever I want.

Eric: Although you play different kinds of songs on this project, as well as different instruments, there’s still plenty of blazing lead guitar. Did you use the Randall MTS amps for the electrics?

Bill: Yes, for all the electric tracks and the modules I used were the SL plus for my dirty, the tweed for clean, and I used the Vox module, it’s called a Top Boost. Those were the main three, but I also used the Marshall-type module a little bit, all through a Randall cabinet. And I experimented with different pickup configurations, ones that I normally don’t use and different settings like on a tube screamer. Like, the rhythm on “Trouble So Hard,” I turned the drive all the way down and turned the level all the way up and it got a more snappy kind of sound. I also compressed it a little more than I normally would, just to give a different tone. And then I experimented with layers, like on that song I layered six guitars to get that rhythm.

Eric: Wow!

Bill: Yeah, like a couple tracks of tweed, a couple SL pluses, and a couple of the Vox module, and kind of put them all together.

Eric: Did you use different guitars?

Bill: Well, I used the Grem guitar (Bill’s signature model) for most of the leads, but on others, like Boll Weevil, that was all Telecaster.

Eric: Really? Was that your B Bender Tele?

Bill: Yes, I really love the B Bender; it’s a lot of fun.

Eric: Oh yeah, they are.

Bill: It’s a cool instrument.

Eric: I don’t own a Tele; but I love them. I wish I did. I have in the past but I don’t right now.

Bill: It’s fun how you can take, like an F triad, and use the B Bender to turn it into a Dm. You can do that with chords. You can take a three note chord and change the chord, and it’s a real cool thing. I do that in Boll Weevil, bend an F into a Dm. It sounds like something you don’t hear that often.

Eric: I love that sound. I did a show with a guy that had three different things, a hip bender, a B Bender, and some other kind of thing. He basically sounded like a steel guitar.

Bill: I want to try to learn more of that—maybe get another guitar, one that has the G bender or whatever it is and try to learn to do that because it makes me get down there and play more. That’s the bottom line. You really need to get yourself motivated to go down in the studio and turn it all on and start working. And when you have some kind of new toy like that it makes you want to play more.

Eric: So you mic’d your amps on this project?

Bill: Yeah, I used a Royer 121 on the cabs.

Eric: Oh cool. Yeah, I love them. They’re great mics.

Bill: I used them on all the electrics.

Eric: Just the one mic or did you combine?

Bill: Just the one mic so there’s no phase issues to deal with. It’s just a nice mic that takes eq really well and it’s punchy and I just love them.

Eric: I really love ribbons in general.

Bill: Yeah, I do too.

Eric: Can you tell me a little about your studio?

Bill: Yeah, it’s a Pro Tools HD3 rig and it’s two rooms—one’s a drum room and both are treated with foam and bass traps. They’re not the biggest rooms in the world but you can make them sound big.

Eric: Sure, yeah.

Bill: I’ve got some API preamps, and some Neves, an old Focusrite pre, and a Tube Tech CL1B limiter that I love.

Eric: Oh yeah, I’ve worked with those and I absolutely love them.

Bill: Yeah, it’s a beauty. And then I’ve also got a Distressor that I use on electric guitars. You can get a lot of different sounds out of it. It’s a good overall, well-rounded kind of compressor that you can’t hear. I mean if you want to hear it you can make it where it does that—that breathing, but you can have it squish things pretty well without really hearing it. I kind of prefer that because I don’t like hearing the compressor kick in and breathe.

Eric: Right. Do you feel that albums today are getting too compressed and limited?

Bill: Well they’re certainly getting loud and you loose the dynamics. I purposely mastered mine with less of the limiting.

Eric: I noticed that and I like that because to me, if I want it louder I can just turn the stereo up.

Bill: That’s what I prefer. I mean, I’d rather soft parts be soft and loud parts have more impact than have everything just really, really loud. With a lot of the songs like “Run On,” it’s got a little guitalele on one side, it’s got a really clean tele on the other side, it’s got a real light brushes, drum thing going, and the vocal is a very low baritone, so it just didn’t sound as good to have that song compete in volume wars. I wanted to have sort of a consistent sound. I wanted drums to be more of an intimate small kit. It wouldn’t sound good having the big bombastic drums over the top of a mandolin.

Eric: Exactly, you do what fits the song. So you mixed the album yourself?

Bill: Yes.

Eric: Did you master it yourself, also?

Bill: Yeah, I sure did.

Eric: That’s great. It sounds great, it really does. I know, as a studio guy, how much work it takes to do an album all by yourself.

Bill: I don’t think a lot of people know that.

Eric: No, they don’t.

Bill: And I’m glad that you do.

Laughs

Bill: It’s a stressful thing because when you’re done, you’re letting go of this baby, there’s no turning back. You’re sending it to the pressing plant, you put it out on Itunes and there’s no going back and saying oh gee, my vocal was a little flat on that.

Laughs

Bill: You’ve got to make sure you’ve got it all together. Getting it all built up to sound the way you want is a lot of work.

Eric: I really like the way your background vocals sound.

Bill: Well thank you, thank you very much. Some of them I layed more than others. It just depends on the song.

Eric: Background vocals are something I find lacking on a lot of records I hear.

Bill: Well, I can tell you there’s no Autotune on this record.

Eric: That’s cool, very cool. It’s on every other record out today.

Bill: I just don’t like the way that sounds and…

Eric: I don’t either, but most of the time I’m using analog anyway so it doesn’t matter.

Bill: Laughs. Well, there you go. I’m one of those guys that would rather just go back and sing it again. If you go back and re-sing or replay it takes several minutes whereas with Autotune, you can spend hours messing with it.

Eric: Sure. I think a lot of times you can fix things faster by just doing it again.

Bill: Yeah, you learn also. You become a better singer or guitar player if you go back and do it again instead of trying to edit it. I’m not trying to improve my editing skills. I’m trying to improve myself as a musician.

Eric: Right, I think the editing is cool for certain things, like for the CD that went with my book. If I had to do that on a 2 inch reel to reel I would’ve went insane with all the splicing. But with music, I usually prefer to just go back and do a punch in or whatever. By the way, I thought your voice sounded really good on “Rain and Snow” and “Wade in the Water.”

Bill: I appreciate that. On “Wade in the Water,” I messed around with different keys to try and find one that would fit my voice. I settled on B flat. I tune a half step down so I’m playing in B but it’s technically B flat. It’s just the right range where I could sing it with more of a gravelly or gritty delivery. But that’s a really neat song.

Eric: I grew up with these songs.

Bill: That’s awesome! I wish I had.

Eric: Well, you know, being from Kentucky, bluegrass and old time music is everywhere. The thing is, though, my dad used to take me to these little impromptu get togethers with musicians. They would play bluegrass and these old songs. But at the time, I was 9 or 10 years old and I thought they were lame because they weren’t Van Halen or whatever.

Bill: Right! Yeah that’s what I used to think.

Laughs

Eric: And then you get older and you think, wow this stuff’s great.

Bill: You know, when I took my blinders off and I thought wow, I really like this stuff. But when I was younger it had to be Van Halen or whatever.

Eric: Sure.

Bill: There’s a whole lot more out there that I like if I just listen to it with the attitude of hey, what do I like about this – instead of, what don’t I like about this. And also, getting in there and playing these songs and recording them, you get more of an appreciation for the song than if you just listened to it one time.

Eric: You know, one thing I can tell you about this album: I really think I’d like to have my students listen to it just to learn about arranging and to realize that you can make a song anything you want it be. If you can make Boll Weevil rock out, then anything is possible.

Bill: Had you ever heard Boll Weevil before?

Eric: Oh yes, definitely.

Bill: What’s so cool is I had never heard Boll Weevil before and I went to this website called playingbyear.com and he’s got like 500 songs on there and they’re all these traditional bluegrass songs. He sings and plays one verse and then he’s got the lyrics for the rest of the song. You learn the basics of the song by listening to him play the first verse and I just thought Boll Weevil was so cool.

Eric: Right. So, you read up on the story of the Boll Weevil?

Bill: No, I was familiar with what the Boll Weevil was and how it devastated families and all that stuff. But when I recorded it I decided I was going to have to make this into a modern hard rock heavy song, but with the bluegrass traditional melody intact—dress it up, the arrangement, as you say, to make it a heavy thing but with a little bit of electronica in there. I wanted to kind of get the point across that the Boll Weevil was the hardship that people back then were going through, but today’s Boll Weevil might be the collapse of the economy because of the housing industry, or the auto industry, or whatever else. We have our Boll Weevils today; they’re just not called Boll Weevil. We’ve eradicated them but something else has popped up and that theme is still very relevant today.

Eric: Definitely. One other thing, I really loved the dark acoustic guitar solo on “Walk Beside Me.”

Bill: That’s a guitalele. It’s a six string ukulele. It sounds like a classical guitar except an octave higher or whatever. I play it with a pick. I appreciate that, man. I had never recorded it although I’ve had it for about twelve years. Yamaha gave it to me when I was in Japan one year and I’ve just used it to practice and just tinker with. Making this record I thought, you know, I need to pull every instrument out of my closet and set them up in the room and think, what will fit this particular song? I let the song talk to me. Sometimes the electric got the call, but other times it was the mandolin or the dobro—and on “Walk Beside Me” it was the guitalele.

Eric: How did you mic the acoustic guitars?

Bill: The acoustics were a U87 pulled back a little bit back from the octave fret and then angled a little toward the hole, but not much. When I’m recording acoustics what I do is sit in my chair and lean back. And I tune that way because when you lean back the tuning changes a little bit.

Eric: It really does. It’s something you always have to fight with.

Bill: Oh yeah. And then put my foot up on the subwoofer so my leg is holding up the guitar and I’m very comfortable. My computer keyboard is by my right hand so I can control the DAW and play the songs in a very comfortable position. I find that when I sit up straight and have my foot forward, I just don’t get comfortable playing and I can’t relax very well. I find that when I can lean back it really helps me get a better performance.

Eric: You know, I deal with that a lot. Even if you just rest your arm on say, a bass guitar, it minutely affects the tuning.

Bill: Yeah, tuning is a bear to fight with. Sometimes you play just right and go back and listen and you go, ugh, it’s out of tune although it looked like it was in perfect tune when you used the strobe tuner on it. But for some reason, something happens and it goes sharp or flat.

Eric: Well I’m glad to hear someone else struggles with that.

Laughs

Eric: Well Bill, I really appreciate you taking the time to talk with me. I really enjoyed it. Congratulations on a wonderful album and I look forward to hearing more great music from you in the future.

Bill: Thank you for taking the time to talk to me. I really appreciate it.

You can check out Deep South and all of Bill Leverty’s albums at Bill Leverty’s web site. Also visit Firehouse’s official website at Firehouse Music.

Eric S. Morgan is a multi-instrumentalist, teacher, producer/engineer, and the author of the Pedal Tone Publishing book Fundamental Concepts of Music Theory. You can learn more about Eric and his book at Pedal Tone Publishing.

Todd – How did you get into the field of being a guitar tech for professional bands?

Jason – After some convincing from a friend, I moved from Texas to Nashville to work for a guitar company. My gig there was to set up guitars before they went out to retail stores. I did that for about 4 months, then through some friends I had met out here I ended up getting a gig with a country artist. I was hooked and 13 years later, here I am.

Todd – What bands have you been a guitar tech for?

Jason – At this point, quite a few. Muse, Guns n Roses, Smashing Pumpkins, Dream Theater, Korn, Kelly Clarkson, Disturbed, Michelle Branch, Zwan, Collective Soul, Newsboys, Billy Dean and a few others.

Todd – Who had the wildest rig and who had the most simple

Jason – The wildest rig would have to be the one I have now, and that’s Matt Bellamy’s rig with Muse. Some pretty creative signal flow at times, and a few other things you don’t see very often like Kaoss pads in guitars, other built in effects/electronics, wireless MIDI. I just actually got through rebuilding it for the upcoming tour and there’s alot going on there. Simplest would be your basic pedal board/amp rig, and I’ve had a few of those. As much as I love a good challenging rig, sometimes I miss those days.

Todd – What in your opinion makes a good rig for the road?

Jason – Regardless if it’s a small board, or a huge rack you need quality components and they’ve got to be put together well. The more attention to detail, the happier the player will ultimately be. Sloppy cabling, putting a power supply in the wrong spot, using cheap power supplies…. there are any number of things that can make a potentially cool rig sound like crap or worse, make no sound at all. For some guys, throwing a few pedals on the floor and using some cheap patch cables works fine. But if your gear is being set up/torn down a lot and getting a ton of use, it’s going to be more reliable over the long haul if you go the extra mile.

Todd – What’s the funniest thing you’ve seen on the road?

Jason – I’ve seen some pretty outrageous things over the years, and most of them probably shouldn’t be mentioned here. Dragonforce opened up for Dream Theater a few times back in 2005. That was pretty funny.

Todd- What’s the scariest thing you’ve had happen during a show?

Jason – Having a program change number in a MIDI controller get mysteriously changed and screw up some amp switching… during a DVD shoot. Not fun.

Todd – What gear builders are you into right now and why?

Jason – There are so many people out there right now that are building cool things, it’s insane. Luckily doing what I do allows me to check out some cool gear and meet some cool builders. Jason Lollar is my go to pickup guy. His stuff is absolutely killer and he’s just a SUPER cool guy. For newer amps, I’m a fan of Divided by 13. Fred builds some stunning amps. If I could own only one amp, his FTR37 would probably get the gig. I really love some of the early Menatone stuff. Greg from Xact Tone has got some cool new stuff, and Jack from Prescription makes some really sick stuff.

Todd – What’s the hardest part about being a guitar tech?

Jason – For the technical side, being able to keep your cool in a tough situation can be a challenge. Having a rig go down in front of a few thousand people is not a good time, but you’ve got to stay calm and work it out quickly. On the touring side of it, being gone for such long periods of time can be really hard.

Todd – What do you like the most about your job?

Jason – The travel, the friends, the food, the gear… tons of stuff. You get to see so many cool and unusual things, it’s easy to forget how great this job can be. I’m very blessed to get to do what I do.

Todd – For guys on a budget what’s good things to have on your board or in your rig?

Jason – There are a few companies like Egnater, Orange, Vox and others that are making some cool little tube amps at a decent price. The Line 6 M13 is great for what it does at that price. The biggest help for guys on a budget is to learn some fundamental maintenance. Learn how to solder and make your own cables. It’s not hard and it can save you some cash. Learn how to set your own guitars up. If they don’t have any major issues, setting up a guitar can be pretty easy. Ritchie Fliegler wrote a book called, The Complete Guide To Guitar And Amp Maintenance: A Practical Manual For Every Guitar Player. That’s a great book for beginners. Also, Dan Erlewine’s Guitar Player Repair Guide is a must own.

Todd – What’s the thing that is hardest on gear on the road?

Jason – Lack of proper care and maintenance. If you’re going to tour, you need quality cases for your gear. Saving money now can cost you a ton of money later.

Todd – Do you have any tips for getting good tone when you have so many room changes on tour?

Jason – Bad power can wreak havoc with your tone. Taking the proper steps to make sure you have good, clean power is a must. Guys in clubs are going to run into issues here more than most touring pros. In ear monitors help with making what you hear more consistent. A bad sounding room makes it much harder when you don’t have that isolation provided from in ears. Again, taking care of your gear and making sure it’s well put together goes a long way towards consistency.

Todd – Is there much difference in working for rock bands over country bands?

Jason – The touring schedules can be quite different for both. If you’re a family man, you might want to do the ‘weekend warrior’ thing that most country acts do. If you have no problem being gone for long periods of time and want to see the world, rock is where it’s at. I like the rock thing more, but I do miss corn dogs and funnel cakes from the fairs.

Todd – In your experience is tone really in the hands?

Jason – I do agree with that, to a point. I’ve heard some guys take some really great gear and produce god awful sounds. Good gear does not equal good tone. You need ability, as well as the ears.

Todd – What’s the greatest lesson you’ve learned in doing your job. This can be gear related or a life lesson or both.

Jason – You know how your whole life people say, ‘It’s not what you know, but who you know.’? It’s kind of true. But a more accurate statement would be, ‘Who you know gets you there, what you know keeps you there.’. And if they say ‘Don’t drink the water.’, don’t.

Big thanks to Jason for your time. You rock bro!