Ian Martin Allison is back, and this episode is a full-on gear-nerd thunderstorm with actual life lessons hiding in the lightning.

Blake and Ian go deep on signature basses, the Walrus Mantle DI drama, and the eternal internet question:
“Why is this thing expensive if it only has a few knobs?”

Turns out, transformers cost money. Craft costs money. Not cutting corners costs money.
And sometimes the loudest opinions come from people who were never the customer in the first place.

Inside this episode:

• how Ian went from collaborator to Creative Director at Scott’s Bass Lessons

• what it really takes to design gear people obsess over

• why a $400 bass can absolutely punch above its class

• how brands weaponize price perception (and why we all fall for it)

• short-form vs long-form content, and where music media is headed next

• the creative freedom that shows up when you stop performing “cool” and just be yourself

There’s also a perfect dog interruption, some very real talk about staying in an industry because you love the people in it, and a reminder that we’re living in a golden era of instruments, pedals, and options.

If you care about tone, product design, content strategy, and building a creative life that doesn’t make you dread waking up, this one hits hard.

Keep up with all things Ian on his website HERE https://ianmartinallison.com/

Give him a follow on his social media HERE https://www.instagram.com/ianmartinallison/

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Episode 500, baby.
And we brought in Henri Cash (Starcrawler, Plague Vendor, Cash & Skye) to celebrate the only way this show knows how: by diving headfirst into glorious guitar chaos.

This episode has everything. Vintage amp obsession. Touring war stories. Studio nerdery. Gretsch evangelism. Voltage drama. Tape machine romance. Mild existential crises about digital modelers. It is a full buffet of tone.

Henri talks about Starcrawler being the first band to record on Les Paul’s restored recording console in LA, how different venue power can totally change your rig night to night, and why speakers are secretly doing half the job while everyone argues about pedals online. Blake and Henri also get into production philosophy, why perfect takes can sound lifeless, and how mistakes are often the secret sauce that make records feel human.

Along the way: Orange OR80 love, Magnatone/Vox combos, 5150 reality checks, old guitar neck magic, gear collecting vs actually playing, and why Gretsch might be the official guitar brand of beautiful weirdos.

If you like guitar talk that’s informed, unpretentious, and occasionally unhinged, this one is for you.

Hit play for Episode 500 and come celebrate with us.
Good luck, good tones, and thanks for being part of this wild ride.

Follow all things Henri on his social media HERE https://www.instagram.com/henricash

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Steve Rowe from 60 Cycle Hum returns to the show after an eight-year gap, and we immediately time-travel back to the era of wired earbuds, headphone jacks, and recording next to a wall outlet like it’s a survival game.

From there, it’s a full spiral through the modern guitar media landscape: audio vs video, why interviews work when “can I talk to you for an hour?” absolutely shouldn’t, and how NAMM feels different depending on whether you’re stuck at a booth or sprinting the floor.

We hit the silent pedal room (eerily quiet), Woodwire Volts (chill, boutique, intentional), Effectors Market (dangerous for your wallet), and the existential questions, like: if you pair an internal speaker guitar with a fart pedal… do we delete the universe?

Also: favorite Boss pedals, pizza opinions, and why the secret sauce is still just showing up and doing the work.

Check out everything 60 Cycle Hum HERE https://60cyclehum.com/

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My dude Jason Mays is back, and we get into the real stuff on this one!

We talk about wearing 12 different hats (PlayJason, Working Class Music, writing gigs, Orange, a band, and whatever else gets stapled to his name this week), and what happens when “hustle” turns into straight-up burnout.

Jason breaks down the behind-the-scenes evolution of Working Class Music, why he started PlayJason as a creative pressure valve, and how keeping things authentic sometimes means stepping back, changing roles, and rebuilding the workflow so it doesn’t eat your brain.

If you've ever wondered how some folks juggle it all, this episode is for you.

Find Jason on Instagram HERE https://www.instagram.com/jasontmays

Check out PlayJason HERE https://www.youtube.com/@JasonTMays/videos

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• The Text Chat is back! Hit me up at (503) 751-8577

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Here’s a vintage reissue that refuses to stay buried.

This throwback episode with Yvette Young started life as a Patreon bonus… until enough people yelled “this is too good to keep secret” and it hit the main feed, where it promptly became one of the most-listened-to episodes of the whole show.

So if you’re new around here, congrats: you just found a greatest hit.
If you’ve heard it before, it’s absolutely worth a re-listen. This one is a ride.

We barely talk about guitars, and that’s kind of the point.

Instead we get into:

• sleep paralysis, shadowy hooded figures, red eyes, radio-static brain glitches, and why the stories are weirdly consistent

• UFOs, alien nightmares, and a “star” that breaks the rules like it’s trying to avoid getting reported

• DIY tour chaos, sketchy houses, cash hidden in books, and why “band horror” should be its own movie genre

• discipline, deadlines, and Yvette’s surprisingly genius riff-to-song system

• labels, contracts, and how to not get your creative soul pawned off in the fine print

• the gear world’s gender weirdness, and why sound doesn’t have a gender

Content note: this episode touches on sleep paralysis, anxiety-ish brain stuff, and some heavier life experiences later on.

Also, if you’re hearing this during NAMM week, come say hi at the Stringjoy booth (6300). I’ll be there, in the meeting room, or inhaling food like a man who has made poor scheduling choices.

Enjoy. And maybe don’t listen to this one right before bed.

Check out all things Yvette on her website HERE https://yvetteyoungmusic.com/

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• The Text Chat is back! Hit me up at (503) 751-8577

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Nashville bassist Alison Prestwood joins Blake for a deep-dive hang that zig-zags through the kind of career that only makes sense in hindsight: a near-miss with Waylon Jennings, a pivotal run with Rodney Crowell, getting the call to jump in with Patti Loveless on a few days’ notice, and why saying “no” at the wrong time can still be the right move.

They talk shop on what it really takes to break in today (attitude, reputation, the bus factor, and yes… learn the number system), plus why studio work still has that magic when a whole band builds something together in real time.

Also: a midlife detour into law school and practicing as an attorney before returning to music full-time, and a proper gear spiral, including her 1973 P-bass, vintage favorites, and why touring with Peter Frampton can actually be safer for great instruments than leaving them at home.

Check out her podcast Hey, Good For You! (podcasts.apple.com)

Support The Show And Connect!

• The Text Chat is back! Hit me up at (503) 751-8577

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Steve Reis from Does It Doom returns after four years and it’s one of those “wait… you did what?!” catch-up episodes. In the time since his last visit, Steve didn’t just add a couple new pedals to the shelf. He helped turn Woodwright Guitars into a full-on operation with a growing lineup, more dealers, and signature models tied to the heavy universe with names like Matt Pike, Brent Hinds, and Jimmy Bower.

We get into the real stuff behind the curtain: how a doom-obsessed niche turns into a career, what it takes to go from “I make content” to “we make instruments,” and how Steve thinks about building a brand without sanding off the personality that made people care in the first place.

Then we hit the creator brain spiral: why long-form YouTube can feel like building a ship in a bottle every week, how short-form became the steady river, and what happens when you finally admit you’d rather make the thing than perform the thing.

And yes, there’s plenty of gear goblin behavior: stage-played guitars with battle scars, modded vintage vs. museum pieces, and the kind of tone chasing that makes perfect sense if you’ve ever stared at a melted pickguard like it’s a clue.

Check out Does It Doom on the interwebz HERE https://doesitdoom.com/ and the guitars HERE https://www.woodriteguitars.com/

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This is the last episode of 2026!!! And just for that, I wanted to give you a special look at one of the other podcasts I do, Tape Spaghetti!

What happens when one of the biggest bands in the world takes on its industry’s Death Star?

In 1994, Pearl Jam was willing to find out. On this week’s Tape Spaghetti, Scott & Blake revisit the grunge-era showdown that pitted a group of scrappy rock idealists against Ticketmaster, the ultimate corporate monolith.

Having locked down every major venue in America, Ticketmaster strangled fans with specious “service charges” and squeezed bands with exclusivity contracts.

At the height of their popularity, Pearl Jam demanded fairer prices and more transparency. They even attempted to bypass Ticketmaster altogether by playing public spaces – but ultimately they had to put up with shady politics, convoluted permitting, and the reality that they were losing millions in revenue.

How did Ticketmaster go from a scrappy Arizona startup to a money-printing monopoly? In a world where we *still* pay $45 in convenience fees, this one hits home.

Support The Show And Connect!

• The Text Chat is back! Hit me up at (503) 751-8577

  You can also help out with your gear buying habits by purchasing stuff from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tonemob.com/reverb⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tonemob.com/sweetwater⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or grabbing your guitar/bass strings from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tonemob.com/stringjoy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

  
  

  
  

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I caught up with a good chunk of The Allegheny High boys in central Oregon while they were out doing what they do best: making Charles Wesley Godwin sound like a freight train and giving folks goosebumps.

We posted up near Bend for a hang that starts off with “are we about to get murdered?” energy… and quickly turns into a full-on origin story: the Beaver County scene that shaped them, jam nights that built their chops, and the larger-than-life local legends who taught them the most important rule of all: never take a gig off, even if a guitar ends up in a popcorn machine.

From there, we get nerdy in the best way: production philosophy (and why recording is basically 95% failure and 5% magic), the real behind-the-scenes of tracking big guitars, and that moment when a song hits so hard you have to sit in the dark and just… listen.

Also: stoner-rock riffs hiding inside “country,” touring gear that makes your heart do the pitter-patter thing, Boss pedal picks, and a Pittsburgh-area pizza style that sounds fake until you try it.

Keep up with the goings on here:

https://www.charleswgodwin.com/

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On this episode of The Tone Mob Podcast, Corey Congilio returns to hang out and pull back the curtain on what it actually looks like to build a modern guitar career in 2025.

We talk about trying to survive the algorithm game without losing your mind, why memes sometimes move the needle more than music, and how Corey is building his own tiny desk style live show right out of his studio – complete with a band, multiple cameras, a switcher, and a Zoom-powered hang so fans can ask questions in real time.

From there we get into the realities of being a working musician in Nashville: juggling sideman gigs, teaching, clinics, content, and trying to make the numbers add up when the live scene feels very different than it did pre-COVID. Corey shares stories from his years as a sideman, why he finally decided to step forward as an artist under his own name, and how he is approaching writing songs that are song-first with room for guitar, not just guitar-for-guitar’s-sake.

We also chat about music stores, good hangs, finding “your person” behind the counter, the coming wave of AI in music and lessons, and why real human connection is only getting more valuable. If you’re a player trying to navigate this weird era of online everything while still chasing good tones and good songs, this one is going to hit close to home.

Check out all things Corey on his website HERE https://coreycongilio.com/

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• The Text Chat is back! Hit me up at (503) 751-8577

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This time I am hanging out with Mike Leon, current bassist for CKY, and Igorrr. (Former member of Soulfly, Havok and The Absence.) We dig into how a kid who was obsessed with CKY movies and weird heavy bands ended up actually joining his favorite band, and how that path wound through DIY world tours, insane lineups and a whole lot of van miles.

Mike walks through his whole journey: discovering heavy music in the pre-internet days, cutting his teeth in The Absence, jumping into Havok, then getting the call from Soulfly, and finally landing in CKY literally days after leaving Soulfly. We get into the “law of attraction” side of all this, but with the real-world piece too, the boring but crucial part, consistency and doing the work for years when no one is watching.

Of course we nerd out on bass gear and tone. Mike talks about his first Fender PJ that felt like opening a treasure chest, his love affair with ESP basses, how his ESP MLB4 signature came to be, why longer scale lengths and heavier strings matter for low tunings, and how the humble Boss ODB-3 and a chorus pedal get you straight into Peter Steele territory. We also get into NAMM show chaos, what good artist relations actually looks like, and how his day job at Enki has him helping other artists solve real on-the-road problems.

We round it out with kids discovering heavy music, whether a new “Warped Tour era” is coming, and a spicy pizza take involving pineapple. If you are into CKY, Soulfly, metal bass tone, ESP gear, NAMM stories or just want to hear how sticking with it can literally change your life, this one is for you.

Give Mike a follow HERE https://www.instagram.com/mikeleonshreds

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