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.
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Oh baby! We have a special one for you. Another, rather ridiculous story from the Tape Spaghetti vault for ya!
Elvis Presley had money, fame, private jets, guns, karate skills, and basically anything else a human being could reasonably want.
But there was one thing he couldn’t seem to get: a federal narcotics badge.
So, naturally, he went to the President.
In this episode of Tape Spaghetti, Scott and Blake dig into the wonderfully bizarre story behind one of the most famous photographs in American pop culture: Elvis Presley shaking hands with Richard Nixon in the Oval Office.
What begins with an argument at home turns into a cross-country odyssey involving commercial flights, loaded guns, handwritten letters to the White House, a surprise presidential meeting, an attempted career as a “federal agent at large,” complaints about the Beatles, and Elvis trying very hard to convince the United States government that he was exactly the man they needed to infiltrate the counterculture.
And somehow, against all reasonable expectations, he actually got the badge.
Throw in J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI, prescription drugs, a commemorative Colt .45, and one extremely determined King of Rock and Roll, and you’ve got one of the strangest side quests in music history.
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The Guitar That Got Away… Did My Guest Buy It? | Mike Ball of Mike N Mike’s Guitar Bar
Episode 539
Monday, November 2, 2026 • Duration 01:08:03
You know that guitar you passed on years ago and still think about? Imagine telling that story to someone… and realizing they might be the person who bought it.
Mike Ball of Mike N Mike’s Guitar Bar joins me to talk about building one of Seattle’s most inspiring guitar shops, starting with a single guitar in a garage. We dig into Fender offsets, Japanese “lawsuit” guitars, obscure Gibsons, and creating a space where people feel welcome to actually play the good stuff. There’s also a surprising amount of Disneyland influence involved… including an indoor trailer park.
Mike shares stories from sourcing gear in Japan, bringing a smashed 1963 Gretsch White Falcon back to life over ten years, and rescuing a fire-damaged Rickenbacker. We also discuss when restoring a vintage guitar makes sense, when its weird old modifications deserve to stay, and why the right instrument sometimes takes a decade to find you.
Plus, my sticker-covered Mustang apparently had quite the fan club, we compare pizza notes, and a Jazzmaster story I’ve told on this show for years takes a wildly unexpected turn.
Check out the good stuff HERE https://mmguitarbar.com/
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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Emily Wolfe Almost Quit… Then Her Phone Went Off
Episode 538
Monday, October 26, 2026 • Duration 01:07:38
Emily Wolfe was riding home from a brutal tour, looking up what she could get for her gear on Reverb, and seriously considering calling it quits. Then a text came through that helped change everything.
One of my favorite artists (and guests) returns to the show for an incredibly honest conversation about the realities of making music for a living. Emily shares how connecting with producer Gavin Brown helped her rediscover her excitement for songwriting, learn to accept some help, and find a new direction. We dig into her single “Kill Me with a Kiss,” her upcoming record, and the emotional whiplash of touring… including the stuff musicians rarely want to admit out loud.
We also get into her incredible Billie Eilish-meets-Black Sabbath performance, attempt to figure out what Rick Rubin actually does, and discuss whether I should buy a van and start recording podcasts in parking lots. Naturally, Power Rangers, Dread Zeppelin, and a medically questionable amount of Diet Coke also enter the conversation.
Go check out Emily's stuff HERE https://www.emilywolfemusic.com/
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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“My Job Is Guitar” with Emily Harris of Get Offset
Episode 537
Monday, October 19, 2026 • Duration 01:07:33
When somebody asks what you do for a living, sometimes the easiest answer is simply... “guitar.”
This week, Emily Harris of Get Offset returns for a long overdue catch-up! We dig into her journey from podcasting to gear demos, the changing landscape of guitar YouTube, and how she’s pieced together a career around the stuff she loves. Along the way, Emily explains how French pastry videos inspired her guitar interview series and why enjoying the process matters when the algorithm decides to ignore your hard work.
We also get into the guitars we actually reach for, her surprisingly practical gigging pedalboard, and the experience of plugging an Acoustasonic into a wall of Marshall stacks. Plus, stories from her days working Formula 1 events, my questionable ability to visit guitar stores without buying something, and her band Golden West’s forthcoming album.
Naturally, there’s also hot sauce, car trouble, and a little pizza talk. We covered a lot of ground on this one!
Check out Emily's Channel HERE https://www.youtube.com/c/GetOffset
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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When Did 2001 Become Vintage? w/ Phillip Carter of 40 Watt Podcast
Episode 536
Tuesday, October 13, 2026 • Duration 01:14:43
My buddy Philip Carter from the 40 Watt Podcast is back, and this one started the way a lot of our conversations do... We were talking about guitars before hitting record and eventually realized we should probably be recording this nonsense.
It all starts with a surprisingly complicated question: What actually makes a guitar vintage?
Is it age? Rarity? Desirability? Or have we all just gotten old enough that the stuff we grew up with is suddenly considered collectible?
Philip and I dig into the strange psychology of vintage guitars, why people pay ridiculous amounts of money for old instruments, and whether modern guitars are actually better than their vintage counterparts. We also get into the musicians who shaped our tastes, the power of nostalgia, and why a 60-year-old guitar can be worth a fortune even when a brand-new one might objectively perform better.
Naturally, this leads us into discussions about old Subarus, muscle cars, Blockbuster Video, the questionable state of Pizza Hut, and the financial consequences of being both a guitar enthusiast AND a car enthusiast.
We also catch up on Philip's ambitious recording studio project in Mississippi, which leads to a great conversation about making music, building communities, and why getting musicians together in a room might be more important than ever.
Old guitars, new studios, and two guys slowly coming to terms with the fact that we're becoming vintage ourselves.
Check out 40 Watt Podcast stuff HERE https://40wattpodcast.com/
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
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Get Off Your Phone and Play Guitar w/ Shelby Pollard of Black Bobbin
Episode 535
Tuesday, October 6, 2026 • Duration 01:15:47
Shelby Pollard of Black Bobbin is back on the show, and apparently we had some things to work through.
This conversation starts with burnout, work/life balance, phone addiction, and the strange exhaustion that comes from being constantly connected. From there, Blake and Shelby wander into the attention economy, social media’s ability to make everyone else’s life look suspiciously perfect, and why it can be so difficult to simply be happy when somebody else is succeeding.
Eventually, they even talk about guitars.
Shelby explains the philosophy behind Black Bobbin, why his real goal is simply to get people off their phones and playing guitar for fifteen minutes a day, and why gear should remove barriers to inspiration rather than become another endless cycle of consumption.
They also dig into the weird self-deprecation of guitar players, internet criticism, the pressure to turn every creative act into “content,” giving yourself permission to be bad at something, and the simple joy of making music that nobody else ever needs to hear.
Maybe the guitar was fine all along.
Find all of Shelby's guitar stuff HERE https://blackbobbin.com/
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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“Don’t Get a Job.” w/ Zoe Jet of Zoe Jet Guitars
Episode 534
Tuesday, September 29, 2026 • Duration 01:01:29
Zoe’s path into guitar building is a pretty fascinating one. She grew up surrounded by artists, started out as a drummer, dove deep into piano and composition, and at one point thought she might pursue film scoring. Eventually, though, she realized she missed actually making physical things with her hands.
A random guitar-building job listing sent her down the rabbit hole, which eventually led to an apprenticeship with Barry Grzebik of Grez Guitars and a job at LMI. From there, she spent years learning the craft before developing her own very distinctive instrument, the Model Z.
We get into the surprisingly difficult process of designing a guitar that looks genuinely different without looking completely ridiculous, building prototypes, neck shapes, the influence of Strats and offset guitars, and why funk and Khruangbin ended up finding their way into the Model Z’s DNA.
We also talk about the less glamorous side of being a creative person: selling your work, social media, learning to market yourself when you’d rather stay in the shop, and figuring out what kind of career actually works for the way your brain is wired.
Plus…John Bonham, Bulgarian women’s choirs, big guitar necks, magical guitar-player fairy dust, BOSS pedals, and an extremely specific pizza recommendation.
Check out more of Zoe's work HERE https://www.zoejetguitars.com/
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
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Fugazi on a Six-Figure Martin w/ Jason Verlinde
Episode 533
Monday, September 21, 2026 • Duration 01:05:31
My buddy Jason Verlinde of The Fretboard Journal is back on the show, and this time we’re fresh off the Fretboard Summit in Chicago.
I finally made it to the Summit this year, so Jason and I dig into what actually goes into putting on an event like this, why it feels so different from a traditional guitar show, and how they’ve managed to create something that feels less like a convention and more like a gigantic gathering of guitar nerds who actually want to hang out with each other.
We talk vintage Martins wandering around in gig bags, Bob Taylor and Chris Martin casually hanging out with attendees, Fugazi being played on a six-figure acoustic guitar at an Irish bar, and the surprisingly complicated logistics of stuffing 100 exhibitors, workshops, concerts, builders, musicians, and assorted guitar weirdos into the Old Town School of Folk Music.
We also get into some big changes at The Fretboard Journal. After more than two decades of Jason handling an enormous amount of the magazine himself, the team is growing. What does that mean? We get into it!
From there we get into the strange resurgence of print, the growing appeal of real-world experiences, social media fatigue, putting our phones down once in a while, trail running, powerlifting, and the joy of having a hobby where you’re allowed to be a beginner again.
For stuff on The Summit go HERE https://fretboardsummit.org/
For stuff on The Journal go HERE https://www.fretboardjournal.com/
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
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Repair, Don’t Replace w/ Jeff Leavitt (Tone Ranger) & Ben Matin (RestoWraps)
Episode 532
Monday, September 14, 2026 • Duration 01:23:17
On this episode of The Tone Mob Podcast, I’m hanging out with Jeff Leavitt of Tone Ranger Guitars and Ben Matin of RestoWraps, two guys who have gone impressively deep into the worlds of guitar building, vintage gear restoration, and keeping perfectly good stuff out of the landfill.
Jeff builds Western-inspired guitars using locally sourced urban lumber from Los Angeles, turning trees that might otherwise have been discarded into instruments with a story. Ben approaches vintage amp and cabinet restoration more like art conservation, repairing old Tolex, recreating grill cloth, resurrecting Hammond hardware, and generally doing everything possible to preserve the history already baked into a piece of gear.
We get into how both of them found their way into these extremely specific corners of the guitar world, why repair work can make you a better builder, repurposing old Hammond reverb amps into killer guitar amps, the importance of questioning “tradition,” what separates good craftsmanship from great craftsmanship, excessively dangerous capacitors, flatwound strings, stereo rigs, Westerns, and quite a bit of pizza.
It’s a wonderfully nerdy conversation about building things well, fixing things properly, and occasionally asking, “Why are we doing it this way in the first place?”
Check out more at https://www.tonerangerguitars.com/ https://restowraps.com/ and https://malibumusic.com/
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
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
How to Actually Make It in Music w/ Liz The Music Manager
Episode 531
Monday, September 7, 2026 • Duration 01:03:25
Liz Kamlet, better known online as Liz The Music Manager, has spent most of her life somewhere behind the curtain of the music business. She started shooting tour photography as a teenager, worked around artists like James Taylor, Jackson Browne and Kenny Loggins, somehow became the person Guitar Center called when a famous musician wanted to buy a vintage guitar, and eventually found herself managing artists, running tours and helping musicians navigate an increasingly strange industry.
On this episode of The Tone Mob Podcast, Liz joins me to talk about how all of that happened and, more importantly, what independent artists should actually be doing in 2026.
We get into building an online presence, networking, co-writing, getting people to care about your original music, the real cost of releasing records, why a record deal shouldn't necessarily be the goal, and why you absolutely need someone qualified to look at a contract before you sign it.
Liz also shares some genuinely wild stories from behind the scenes, including artists getting ripped off for millions of dollars, questionable industry tactics, disappearing musicians, stolen guitars and the time she broke BOTH of her forearms saving one of James Taylor's guitars from taking a dive off the stage at Red Rocks.
So yeah. We talk a lot about the music business.
And a little about guitars.
You can get all things Liz on her website HERE https://www.lizkamlet.com/
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
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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