Dipped In Tone

Thanks so much to the sponsor of today's episode, Sweetwater! Make sure to check out all the gear we use here and more: https://www.sweetwater.com/shop/dipped-in-tone/

We're back! Rhett just wrapped the biggest touring year of his life — 60 shows, ten months, three continents, including a 31-show fall run with The Midnight he's calling the best tour experience he's ever had. After catching up (GTA 6 hype, a wild Halo community-modding scene, and a cosplay build), a viewer hot take about keeping pedalboards simple turns into a real conversation about knowing your gear inside and out, plus Zach's go-to trick for not freezing up when you sit down with an unfamiliar guitar at a shop. 

Rhett also gets honest about his Mexico fly dates — why a Quad Cortex-based fly rig technically worked but never felt as good on stage as his full amp rig, and what that actually comes down to. We rate a viewer's rig, and Rhett closes with a shill that might be the biggest thing we've talked about all year: community-hacked firmware on his Elektron Octatrack, and an experiment using AI to reverse-engineer 20-year-old hardware so it can run modern amp modeling — and why that might mean your gear never has to become e-waste again.

JOIN US ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/dippedintone 
MERCH: https://www.dippedintone.com/merch 
FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/dippedintone

DIPPED IN TONE IS: 
Rhett Shull https://www.rhettshull.com 
Zach Broyles / Mythos Pedals https://mythospedals.com & https://highvoltageguitars.com 
Produced & Edited by Addison! https://www.instagram.com/addisonsauvan

00:00:00 Intro
00:01:40 Tour recap
00:02:09 Fall tour with The Midnight
00:03:42 Touring etiquette
00:04:44 GTA 6 & gaming chat
00:09:36 Halo mod scene
00:10:31 Bud Light commercial story
00:12:07 Instagram algorithm rant
00:13:17 Cosplay build
00:14:10 Darth Vader costume story
00:15:23 Discord reminder
00:16:25 Sweetwater shoutout
00:17:46 HOT TAKE: simplify your board
00:18:43 Rebuilding every patch
00:26:33 Guitar Center trick
00:28:43 Philly Guitar Center chaos
00:30:51 Vintage LinnDrum story
00:32:34 Brad Paisley & a Trainwreck
00:35:35 Les Paul insured for $1M
00:37:20 Rig placement cuts feedback
00:39:34 Managing pickup feedback
00:41:12 Wax potting & tonewood
00:46:37 Mexico fly dates
00:47:01 Building the fly rig
00:48:44 Soundcheck surprise
00:49:07 Crew notices the difference
00:49:46 Why it feels weightless
00:52:17 In fairness to the Cortex
00:53:50 Rig Dip: Kurtis's rig
00:58:06 SG, Golden Fleece & more
01:00:50 Score: 9.0
01:03:10 Second rig & shill guitar
01:06:14 Octatrack hacked firmware
01:07:40 The hardware-modding era
01:08:10 Using AI to hack firmware
01:10:14 Why gear won't be e-waste
01:11:57 Outro

Gear We Use

Universal Audio Apollo Twin X Duo Gen 2 → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/gRVWQg
Shure SM7B → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/X4qX5G
Universal Audio Volt 2 → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/oNWyao
Mac Mini (M4) → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/B5Q2YB
Sennheiser HD 280 Pro → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/WOLGPJ
Mogami Gold Studio mic cable, 10ft → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/0G3dBO
Gator Elite Series Main Desk, Black → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/n4z2eV

Dipped in Tone goes live for the first time at Fretboard Summit 2026 at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. Rhett, Zach, and Addison open with the most interesting things they’ve found at the show: Addison is carrying a limited edition acoustic from a Quebec builder — only 15 made, Adirondack spruce top, maple back and sides, slotted headstock — and it plays warmer and more balanced than it has any right to. Rhett found a fully analog speaker cabinet emulator prototype at the Bartle Amplification booth that looks like it came out of an Abbey Road session circa 1964. Then comes the hot takes — John O’Keefe argues vintage guitars aren’t worth the premium over modern alternatives, a live audience member makes the compelling case that the true sound of rock and roll is amplification rather than guitar or drums, and a second live take on whether music notation is uniquely hard for guitarists gets a detailed rebuttal from Corey Congilio that actually settles it. Four rigs get dipped live: an ambient backyard board with vintage classroom projector cabs, a pristine JM and Alessandro Fiore combo that earns a rare ten, a “trigger warning” rig stuffed with headless guitars and a switcher, and Josh Scott’s expression-pedal-controlled monster board — built during mountain bike crash recovery — with two redacted upcoming JHS releases hiding in plain sight. Jonathan Stout closes the show with the best single take of the day: gear is simultaneously the least and most important thing.

Submit your hot takes: dippedintone@gmail.com
Fretboard Journal: https://fretboardjournal.com
Little H Collective (Steven’s music): https://littlehcollective.bandcamp.com

JOIN US ON PATREON: 
https://www.patreon.com/dippedintone 
MERCH: https://www.dippedintone.com/merch 
FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/dippedintone

DIPPED IN TONE IS: 
Rhett Shull https://www.rhettshull.com 
Zach Broyles / Mythos Pedals https://mythospedals.com & https://highvoltageguitars.com
Produced & Edited by Addison! https://www.instagram.com/addisonsauvan

Timestamps:
00:00:00 Intro
00:00:13 Live at Fretboard Summit 2026
00:01:37 Addison’s Favorite Find: The Quebec Acoustic
00:04:16 Rhett’s Favorite Find: Bartle Amplification Prototype
00:06:50 Hot Take: Vintage Guitars Aren’t Worth the Money
00:10:58 Live Hot Take: The Sound of Rock and Roll Is Amplification
00:13:45 How Technology and Music Move Together
00:14:45 Live Hot Take: Guitar Notation Isn’t Uniquely Hard
00:17:30 Corey Congilio’s Rebuttal
00:19:55 Rig Dip: Steven’s Ambient Backyard Board
00:26:19 Rig Dip: John’s JM & Alessandro Fiore Rig
00:31:31 Rig Dip: Matthew’s Trigger Warning Rig
00:36:22 Rig Dip: Josh Scott’s Expression Board & Redacted JHS Pedals
00:45:30 Should Rig Owners Be Present During the Review?
00:46:50 Jonathan Stout: Gear Is the Least and Most Important Thing

Affiliate Links
Gear Dipped — John’s rig

Gibson Custom Shop SG → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/qWq20O
ProCo RAT 2 → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/aNkWLQ
Benson Amps Preamp Pedal → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/AgDEAD
Catalinbread Belle Epoch Deluxe → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/Gb5ZQB
EHX Deluxe Memory Man 1100-TT → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/VOW6Qk
Universal Audio OX Amp Attenuator → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/ZVDymW

Gear Dipped — Matthew’s rig

Fender Player II Stratocaster → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/X4qXrM
D’Angelico Excel DC → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/B5Q2G4
Blackstar St. James EL34 112 combo → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/WOLG9n
TC Electronic PolyTune 3 Mini → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/2R3WgG
Wampler Belle → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/R0X6Yy
Source Audio Nemesis Delay → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/4aYWRG
Universal Audio UAFX Golden Reverberator → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/dyA73y
JHS 3 Series Fuzz → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/qWq2kO

Gear Dipped — Josh Scott’s rig
Boss JB-2 Angry Driver → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/PzZ6kM
Keeley Octa Psi → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/enGAB6
Eventide H9 Harmonizer Gen 2 → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/aNkW6q
Boss RV-200 Reverb → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/n4z2BR

Gear We Use
Universal Audio Apollo Twin X Duo Gen 2 → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/gRVWQg
Shure SM7B → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/X4qX5G
Universal Audio Volt 2 → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/oNWyao
Mac Mini (M4) → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/B5Q2YB
Sennheiser HD 280 Pro → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/WOLGPJ
Mogami Gold Studio mic cable, 10ft → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/0G3dBO
Gator Elite Series Main Desk, Black → https://sweetwater.sjv.io/n4z2eV

Today we're joined by friend of the show  @coreycongilio  A fantastic guitar player and educator with countless gigs under his belt, we dive into to preparing for early days of gigging. The guys walk through some of things you have to do before and during a gig to help be ready, battle nerves, and being a good hang.

Learn more about Corey's Lessons Here https://workingclassguitar.com/

JOIN US ON PATREON: 
https://www.patreon.com/dippedintone 
MERCH: https://www.dippedintone.com/merch 
FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/dippedintone

DIPPED IN TONE IS: 
Rhett Shull https://www.rhettshull.com 
Zach Broyles / Mythos Pedals https://mythospedals.com & https://highvoltageguitars.com
Produced & Edited by Addison! https://www.instagram.com/addisonsauvan

Timestamps
00:00:00 Intro
00:07:30 Mythos Enclosures
00:08:38 Thanks so much Patrons!
00:12:35 Hot Take
00:16:34 Heritage headstock or Gibson headstock?
00:23:13 Main Topic
00:25:00 The best place to start as a gigging musician
00:27:35 Being prepared
00:30:00 Understanding your gear
00:31:30 Having a pedalboard professionally built
00:33:50 Cable routing
00:35:00 Can you get by with less?
00:37:10 Listen back to your performances
00:42:15 About your attitude
00:45:30 Have fun!
00:47:03 Smile through every mistake
00:48:45 John Osborne mistake
00:50:30 Battling nerves
00:57:28 Rig Dip
01:10:55 Thanks again Patrons!
01:11:05 Big thanks to Corey Congilio!

Rhett and Zach catch up while Rhett is on tour with The Midnight. We dive into all that's going on and go deep on why Zach want's a Pearly Gates Les Paul now that they are coming back. We touch on why Collings are some of the best guitars in the world and much more. 

JOIN US ON PATREON: 
https://www.patreon.com/dippedintone 
MERCH: https://www.dippedintone.com/merch 
FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/dippedintone

DIPPED IN TONE IS: 
Rhett Shull https://www.rhettshull.com 
Zach Broyles / Mythos Pedals https://mythospedals.com & https://highvoltageguitars.com
Produced & Edited by Addison! https://www.instagram.com/addisonsauvan

Time Stamps
00:01:24 Zach’s Update
00:03:00 Mythos 3.0
00:04:25 Dental Talk
00:05:00 Rhett’s Update
00:08:19 Zach got a truck!
00:10:19 Thanks Patrons!
00:10:51 Merch Plug
00:11:28 Hot Take
00:17:58 WE NEED YOUR HOT TAKES & RIGS!
00:18:40 Pearly Gates
00:23:23 Shout out to Reverb
00:26:00 Flipping... who deserves these guitars?
00:27:27 Why does Gibson do this?
00:31:50 Nobody else does this quite as well
00:35:20 On Fender
00:39:20 Spending this amount of money on some else’s guitar
00:42:07 Collings Guitars
00:55:50 Zach is getting a laser cutter!
00:57:00 Rig Dip
01:07:05 Rhett’s Shill

On today's episode, we test out YouTube's new Gemini-powered AI thumbnail generator on a clip of Rhett — and the results are so uncanny that we go on the record: any channel using AI-generated thumbnails or AI B-roll gets an instant "do not recommend" from us. Plus a quick follow-up on the D'Addario/Suno AI controversy, a spicy hot take on whether Stratocasters or Telecasters are more versatile, and an announcement that Fretboard Summit rig-dip submissions are now open to anyone attending in person. Then we get into the real stuff: Addison, Zach, and Rhett each walk through their actual current rigs — Addison's in-ear-monitor church gig board built around a Quad Cortex Mini, Zach's stripped-down Marshall JCM800 and modified Flying V, and Rhett's elaborate Axe-Fx III touring rack built to sound like his records live. We close it out by rating a viewer's wet/dry rig submission from Renan.

JOIN US ON PATREON: 
https://www.patreon.com/dippedintone 
MERCH: https://www.dippedintone.com/merch 
FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/dippedintone

DIPPED IN TONE IS: 
Rhett Shull https://www.rhettshull.com 
Zach Broyles / Mythos Pedals https://mythospedals.com & https://highvoltageguitars.com
Produced & Edited by Addison! https://www.instagram.com/addisonsauvan

00:00:00 Intro
00:00:30 Addison’s Update
00:01:45 Do you like trains?
00:03:53 Rhett’s Update
00:10:18 Thanks Patrons!
00:11:13 Come see us in Chicago at Fretboard Summit
00:11:58 SUBMIT YOUR RIG - dippedintone@gmail.com
00:13:10 AI Thumbnails
00:20:05 D’Addario - let’s move on…
00:23:35 Hot Take
00:34:19 Main Topic
00:35:22 Addison’s Summer Rig
00:51:32 Zach’s Summer Rig
00:58:17 Rhett’s Spring/Summer Touring Rig
01:07:20 Rig Dip
01:20:29 Join us on Patreon!