The Tone Mob Podcast

The Tone Mob Podcast

The year was 2015. Show host Blake Wyland intended to start a podcast where he took a deep dive with his guests from the guitar world to explain their rigs. What happened was that, but also a whole lot more. The show quickly evolved into discussions about people's lives. Guitars, pedals, amps, etc. are the central hub of the show, but it really is more about the PEOPLE behind all of it. Both the musicians who use the gear, and the folks that create these magical tools of expression. You can expect chats about songwriting, favorite bands, family, loss, addiction, conspiracy theories, philosophy, and most of all....... food. This podcast goes all over the place. Come take a ride.

Episodes

How Parrotdice Guitars Became Portland’s Favorite Weird-Gear Hang

September 8, 2025 • 82 mins
Some kids take apart toys. Jay Sasseen popped the backplate on a red Squier and never looked back. That curiosity turned into Parottdice Guitars, a Multnomah Village spotwhere weird gear and rad people hang out. We talk about the "gear flipping hustle" that became a real-deal guitar shop with a simple creed that actually works: fix things well, price things fair, remember names. Then we go treasure hunting. Melody Makers that s...
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Matt Parker vs. The Bass VI: Strings, Mods, and Mayhem

September 2, 2025 • 92 mins
Matt Parker plays bass like a guy who read the manual and then set it on fire for warmth. We talk the strange magic of the Bass VI: why the new Squier Classic Vibe fixes the old headaches, and which mods turn wobble into weapon. Matt rolls through rigs like a responsible maniac: Ashdown heads into a 6x10 for moving air, the LB-30 with built-in load for civilised neighbors, and a Valeton GP-200 LT fly rig that costs less than a bo...
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From Dead Radios to Living Tone: The Origin of R2R Electric

August 26, 2025 • 67 mins
Chris Vincent (a.k.a. DJLavalamp) joins the podcast to tell the story of how a punk kid with a busted guitar wound up building some of the most coveted point-to-point, vintage style guitar pedals on the planet. We get into the weird alchemy of germanium transistors (spoiler: they melt if you look at them sideways), scavenging tubes out of dead reel-to-reels, and why boutique pedals sometimes feel more like contraband than consume...
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$36, Some Guitars, and a Federal Investigation (Mike Mitchell of The Kingsmen)

August 18, 2025 • 37 mins
This week we’re dusting off a true gem from the Tone Mob archives! My 2019 conversation with Mike Mitchell of The Kingsmen. Recorded live in a Portland cigar bar, this one dives into the chaotic birth of garage rock and the most famous three chords in history: Louie Louie. Mike tells the story of how the band cut the track in a one-hour, $36 recording session — and then somehow wound up under FBI investigation because nobody coul...
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Morgoth Beatz: Heavy Riffs, Studio Secrets, and Touring with the Titans

August 11, 2025 • 64 mins
Hold on to your hats folks! Morgoth Beatz is back, and yet again, he's got a whole lot more than just a cool name. After a couple of years off, the man behind Seven Hours After Violet talks about going from studio wizardry to touring the globe with the likes of Korn, Slipknot, and Avenged Sevenfold. What started as a small project with Shavo from System of a Down has exploded into one of metal's newest heavyweights, and Morgoth's...
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Pizza, Pickups & Pastrami: Ian Galbraith of Carlson Block

August 4, 2025 • 69 mins
What do world-class pizza and handbuilt guitars have in common? More than you'd think! On this episode of The Tone Mob Podcast, Blake sits down with Ian Galbraith, owner of Carlson Block—an incredible pizzeria tucked in the tiny town of Wilkeson, Washington. Ian shares the story of how he left photography behind to restore a 1910 building, build a life in a town of 500, and create pizza that people will drive hours for. But that’s...
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Kemper Regrets, Milkman Magic & That One Perfect Les Paul (Andrew Patrick of The Carolyn)

July 28, 2025 • 61 mins
Andrew Patrick of The Carolyn joins Blake to talk tone, songwriting, and the joys (and occasional heartbreak) of Les Pauls that refuse to stay in tune. They get into the band’s humble beginnings, Andrew’s early love for whiny punk-pop, and why their latest record Pyramid Scheme of Grief nearly didn’t sound the way it was supposed to (spoiler: the Kemper got benched). Also covered: • The Milkman Amp that saved Andrew’s rig • Embrac...
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This Guitar Tech Hates Pizza. And Loves Floyd Roses?

July 21, 2025 • 66 mins
Nate Wood of Stahman Guitars joins Blake to talk about guitars, burnout, mindset, surviving the hustle, and why building your dream job might accidentally turn into a nightmare if you’re not careful. It’s part Lutherie, part therapy, part field guide to doing creative work without losing your mind. They get into everything from learning piano in Utah, to falling in love with Floyd Rose setups, to setting realistic expectations for...
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How Rich Renken Accidentally Helped Shape Modern Guitar Tone

July 14, 2025 • 88 mins
What do Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean, Line 6's Spider amps, and some of the wildest custom guitars on earth have in common? Rich Renken. In this episode, Rich walks Blake through decades in the gear trenches—starting as a bassist in church bands, engineering records with 90s rock royalty, helping invent products that changed the amp game, and now running the show at James Tyler Guitars. He tells the origin story of the legendary ...
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Inside the Pedal Lab with Relient K’s Matt Hoopes

July 7, 2025 • 68 mins
Matt Hoopes is back on the show! Blake and Matt catch up on all things Relient K—from packed DIY shows at Brown’s Diner to opening for Avril Lavigne and Simple Plan. They dive into what it means to be a touring musician as a grown-up, the joys of building a “new boat” for the band, and why some of the most meaningful shows don’t happen on giant festival stages. They also nerd out on pedal design, with Matt revealing the evolution ...
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Springsteen’s Movie Had a Problem. JD Simo Fixed It.

June 30, 2025 • 67 mins
What happens when a guitar wizard stumbles face-first into Hollywood? JD Simo is back, and this time he’s not just laying down licks. He’s coaching movie stars, babysitting vintage synths, and fixing million-dollar screwups the prop department didn’t even notice. He walks us through how a phone call from producer Dave Cobb turned into a full-blown creative rescue mission on two major films: the Elvis biopic and the upcoming Bruce ...
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Joel Korte, Chase Bliss, and Vintage Blake

June 23, 2025 • 67 mins
Way back in the sepia-toned past of podcasting (circa 2016), I sat down with Joel Korte of Chase Bliss Audio — before the blinking lights took over the world and before I fully understood how microphones work. Can you believe that this episode is almost a decade old? What a wild ride it's been! This episode has it all: – Engineering nerdery – Emotional whiplash – Mild Midwestern awkwardness – And at least one questionable Pau...
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Jay Leonard J: Fuzz, Ghosts & Speedos—A Guitarist’s Midlife Crisis (Kinda)

June 16, 2025 • 64 mins
Jay Leonard J turned 40 and decided to do everything all at once. Theater? Check. NAMM emcee? Check. Launching a new Yamaha Pacifica? Sure, why not. Recording a full-length album in the middle of a life tornado? Of course. In this episode, Blake catches up with his longtime pal and one of the internet’s finest tone freaks to talk about the wildest year of Jay’s life. It involves getting choked onstage in Cambodian Rock Band, haunt...
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From TikTok to Travis Tritt’s Living Room (with Dillon Weldon)

June 9, 2025 • 69 mins
From anonymous attic guitars to Travis Tritt’s guest room, Dillon Weldon’s story is a country song in the making. Blake sits down with the host of The Drifting Cowboy Podcast to talk about how a kid with no industry connections, a busted Taylor, and a Johnny Paycheck cassette somehow wound up at the heart of Nashville's old-school revival. They cover everything: going viral on TikTok (by accident), how a single prayer led to a mil...
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Mary Gauthier Wasn’t ‘Supposed’ to Make It — But She Did It Anyway

June 2, 2025 • 57 mins
In this episode, Blake sits down with legendary singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier for a deep, honest, and surprisingly gear-heavy chat. Mary didn’t pick up songwriting seriously until her mid-thirties—after years as a Boston-based chef, restaurant owner, and, as she puts it, a total mess. But once she got sober and started hitting open mics, everything changed. They talk about her early love for Taylor guitars, her eventual obsessio...
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Zephyr Avalon on Touring with Zach Bryan, Bass Gear & Surviving the Grind

May 27, 2025 • 85 mins
This week on The Tone Mob, Blake hangs with bassist Zephyr Avalon—a man whose musical journey started with jazz camp and ended up on stadium stages... with a few detours through punk bands, upright bass trauma, and a destroyed childhood guitar along the way. They cover Zephyr’s early years surrounded by classical music, gigging through college, touring with Haley Reinhart, and stumbling into the rocket ship that is Zach Bryan’s ri...
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Oneder Boy Forever: Nick Diener on Pedals, Punk, and Parenting

May 19, 2025 • 73 mins
Blake is joined once again by Nick Diener—founder of Oneder Effects and guitarist/vocalist for The Swellers—for a wide-ranging chat that hits everything from vintage SGs and Freebird lore to dad life, Discord burnout, and the existential dread of messy workspaces. Nick shares stories of playing Gary Rossington’s actual guitars, visiting Ocean Way Studios in Nashville, building pedals in cluttered chaos, and trying to stay creative...
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He Was Supposed to Be a Welder. Now He’s Onstage. (Amico Demuzio)

May 12, 2025 • 62 mins
In this episode of The Tone Mob Podcast, Blake Wyland is joined by Amico Demuzio—pedal steel guitarist and multi-instrumentalist for Charles Wesley Godwin’s band. They dive into Amico’s unexpected journey from welding school dropout to full-time touring musician, fueled by a love for lap steel, vintage Peavey amps, and weird-sounding pedals. If you’re a gearhead, there’s plenty to sink your teeth into: Boss Slicers, Jerry Garcia t...
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Ghost Jams & "Fake" Bands: Inside the World of TopHouse

May 5, 2025 • 66 mins
On this episode of the Tone Mob Podcast, Blake is joined by Jesse and William of Top House for a conversation that starts with a ghost in the machine and ends somewhere between band mythologies and pizza philosophies. They unpack the chaotic beauty of songwriting, the grimy reality of touring (spoiler: pee when you can), and why having a fake country band called “Cornfield Boys” might just be the secret to creative freedom. The tr...
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Steve Cobucci of Wolves at the Gate: Chasing Tone, & Fighting Egos

April 28, 2025 • 64 mins
This week on The Tone Mob Podcast, Blake Wyland sits down with Steve Cobucci — guitarist, gear junkie, and founding member of Wolves at the Gate — to talk about the beautiful mess that is making music for a living. Steve kicks things off with the story of his first guitar: a classical hand-me-down from his mom, followed by a hard-earned Gibson Les Paul — because if you're gonna make noise, you might as well do it right. From his b...
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