Richmond, Virginia metallers LAMB OF GOD have released the 80-minute documentary “Making Of: Omens” to a wide audience for the first time via YouTube. October 7 is the literal one-year mark for LAMB OF GOD’s latest album, “Omens”, and last year the documentary was released in a limited capacity on-d…

In a new interview with The Metal Voice, Steve “Lips” Kudlow of Canadian metallers ANVIL spoke about the band’s touring plans in support of their recently completed 20th studio album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “We’re not doing anything until the new album comes out. And that coul…

In a new interview with Wikimetal, vocalist Sharon Den Adel of Dutch metal titans WITHIN TEMPTATION spoke about the band’s decision to use artificial intelligence technology to create the videos for their recent singles “Bleed Out” and “Wireless”. Asked if she and her bandmates were concerned about…

Hello and welcome back to Mod Garage. This month, we will explore the Fender John 5 Ghost Telecaster wiring and how you can adopt it for your own Telecaster. Fender recently released this signature Telecaster in a limited edition of 600 pieces, and they quickly sold out. Before many serious musicians could grab one, collectors with big purses bought them all. So, your only chance to get one now is to look for a used one, or hope that Fender will have mercy and build some more. Or, you can read on to learn what’s inside and how to build your own version of this guitar.I have to confess that this is a matter of heart for me because I’m a John 5 fan. I’m really fascinated with his playing style. This guy can play it all. No matter if he’s picking country swing or shredding death metal, his playing is very close to the traditional tones and techniques, but is always in his own style. Besides this, he’s a very humble guy with a great sense of humor, so I’m really happy to write a piece about his new signature Telecaster.Fender worked very closely with John 5 on this model. At its core, this guitar is a standard HH Telecaster in arctic white—including the neck and fretboard—with red accents that include the binding, nut, knobs, pickups, and more. It’s a matter of taste, if you like this flashy aesthetic or not. Let’s have a look at the basic features, so you have a shopping list if you want to build your own: alder body with HH pickup routings and bindingmaple neck with a medium C shape, 9.5″ radius, and 22 narrow tall frets42 mm synthetic bone nutstring-through Tele bridge with humbucker pickup cutout and six block steel saddlessealed locking tuners1-piece pickguard/control plate combination in mirrored chrome.009–.042 nickel-plated steel stringsWhat makes this guitar really stand out besides its appearance is the wiring, which I think is very special but also minimal. You can put this wiring inside any Telecaster, as long as it accepts two humbuckers. It consists of: two DiMarzio D Activator humbucker pickupsmaster volume control (most likely 500k audio) without treble-bleed networkGibson-style 3-way pickup-selector toggle switchmomentary kill switchThat’s all John 5 needs to sound like no one else, so let’s go through the pieces step by step and see what is under the hood.PickupsThe DiMarzio D Activator humbuckers are passive mid-output pickups with ceramic magnets that have been available since 2006. In the John 5 Ghost Telecaster, both pickups are permanently wired to run as full humbuckers with both coils in series. For the wiring diagram, I used the DiMarzio color code: Green and bare wire are going to ground, black and white are connected and taped off, red is the hot output. If you want to use different humbuckers, you will have to transfer the colors of the wires using one of the numerous color code charts on the internet.On the Ghost Tele, the pickups are red, but they are available in many different colors, too.PotsThere is only a single master volume control, without a treble-bleed network. I haven’t had an opportunity to look at one of these guitars in person, and Fender has not released a wiring diagram, but I’m pretty sure they choose a 500k audio pot together with these pickups, so that’s what I also recommend using.John 5 chose a Gibson-style “speed knob” in red, but any knob will work.Selector SwitchThe John 5 model uses a standard Gibson 3-way pickup-selector toggle switch (with a red tip, of course) mounted to the upper bout for swift pickup switching. It should be wired like this:bridge pickup as full humbucker aloneboth pickups as full humbuckers in parallelneck pickup as full humbucker aloneIt’s most likely a standard Switchcraft, the short version you can find on all Gibson Les Paul guitars. Naturally, you can use a standard Fender-style 3-way blade switch, but you’ll need a chart to transfer the wiring from the toggle to the blade switch. Use this chart to help you.Kill SwitchInstead of a tone control, there is a kill switch beside the master volume pot (in red … what else?) that Fender calls “arcade style.” And yes, it reminds me a lot of the hardware of the ’80s game consoles …. Space Invaders or Donkey Kong, anyone?A kill switch is a momentary switch that is usually used for machine gun sounds or stuttering effects. (A momentary switch only cuts off your guitar’s signal against ground while being pressed and resumes normal sound when released.) For a kill switch, you only need a basic on/off 2-position switch. An SPST (single pole-single throw) switch is ideal. SPST switches have only two contacts on the bottom and the switch simply connects (or disconnects) these two terminals to each other when the switch is pressed.“What makes this guitar really stand out besides its appearance is the wiring, which I think is very special but also minimal.”Be sure to buy a good quality switch, and make sure it’s a momentary and not a latching type. The type you need is a “normally open” (off) switch. When you are pressing the switch, you make a connection between the two contacts. The switch returns to the off position when you release the button.There are special high-quality, all-metal kill switches for guitars available. There are also models with an LED inside if you are looking for a cool look. But keep in mind that you will need a battery for the LED, plus space inside the guitar to install it.Here we go for the wiring. As usual, I substituted all ground connections with the international symbol for ground to keep the diagram as clean as possible. The wiring itself is very easy to do and is also a good beginner’s project.That’s it! Next month, we will take a deep dive into something I received many email requests for, because it’s always confusing and not easy to understand: phase and polarity, and the difference between these two pickup parameters. So, stay tuned!Until then … keep on modding!

German metallers BLIND GUARDIAN have postponed their previously announced October 11 concert in Tel Aviv, Israel after the Hamas terrorist group attacked the country on Saturday morning.
At least 100 people were killed and hundreds wounded when Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on the Gaza S…

Corey Taylor has canceled his appearance at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California.
The SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR frontman took to his social media earlier today (Saturday, October 7) to write: “To my Aftershock friends & family – I am so saddened to inform you that we will not be able…

Day #7 of Stombopxtober continues! Enter below for your chance to WIN the Keeley Electronics Noble Screamer!Stompboxtober 2023 Day 7 – Keeley Electronics
Keeley Noble Screamer Overdrive Pedal

Imagine being able to combine your favorite parts of different overdrive & boost pedals in order to create hybrid sounds no one has ever played through before. That is exactly what we’ve engineered with the Noble Screamer. It’s a 4-in-1 pedal that gives you two very familiar drive circuits and two brand new amp-like distortion tones that no one has used before. It’s almost like pedal-modeling, except these are 100% analog circuits, and you decide which tone-control or clipping-section you want to play through. You can play through battle-tested, classic overdrive effects or innovate new music with hybrid tones, let your ears be the judge. Even with all of these features the pedal remains a simple and easy to use three knob overdrive. The innovation in the Noble Screamer doesn’t end there; our new design features true-bypass or buffered, truly silent switching, on the fly. The Keeley Noble Screamer Overdrive and Boost is entirely manufactured at Keeley Electronics and is the first in our new aluminum enclosure.

Rock and roll comedian Dean Delray has uploaded a new video of AC/DC rehearsing the song “Givin The Dog A Bone” in preparation for the band’s concert tonight (Saturday, October 7) at the Power Trip festival in Indio, California.
Delray, a huge AC/DC fan who has covered the legendary rock act’s songs…

DREAM THEATER singer James LaBrie says that he is absolutely against singers who lip sync during their concerts.
In recent years, more and more artists have been given a pass for relying on pre-recorded tracks, drum triggers and other assorted technology that makes concerts more synthetic but also m…