So, last year I came out with a line of Signature Series pedals.
*The Steve Jewell Vibe
*The Chris Robertson Dos Fuzz
*Boone's Mojo Box.
All have sold the allotted numbers. I've got another signature series pedal in the works and it's going to be massive! The Greg Martin "Cedar Flat Lightning". Greg Martin is the lead guitar player for the Grammy award winning band, The Kentucky Headhunters. Greg has been a good friend of mine for about 15+ years and when he found out I was making guitar pedals, we struck up a conversation. Now, in The Kentucky Headhunters, Greg is a minimalist. His 1958 Les Paul burst (aka: the Hank Plank), straight into a vintage Marshall. Greg is known to use a variety of late 60's early 70's Marshall's. So, his tone is pure! There is no added distortion or modulation to color his tone. Greg is a firm believer that, tone comes from your hands. Your equipment has some to do with tone, but... It's mostly in your hands. Greg can play through any guitar and any amp... And it'll sound like him.
We are just mere weeks away from the release of the Cedar Flat Lightning pedal and I wanted to give a little story behind it's inception. So, last year I made three signature pedals (listed above). This kept me busy through the entire Covid lockdown. So, when I was in talks with Greg about a pedal, he gave me a little history of himself and what is now the Kentucky Headhunters. In the 70's, Greg Martin, Richard Young, Fred Young and Anthony Kenney had a band called Itchy Brother. Here's a couple YouTube videos for "Shotgun Effie" and "Rockin Roller". Itchy Brother were heavily influenced by the late 60's rock bands Led Zeppelin, Cream and Cactus. They were actually signed to Swan Song record label, but before they could release their debut record, John Bonham died and Peter Grant had some concerning health issues. Swan Song shut down, leaving Itchy Brother with no label. Itchy Brother called it quits. Greg went on to work and tour with Ronnie McDowell where he met Doug Phelps. Fast forward to the late 1980's, Greg got back together with Richard and Fred and they brought in Doug Phelps and his brother Ricky Lee Phelps. They called themselves The Kentucky Headhunters and released "Picking On Nashville" in 1989. This album included hits such as "Walk Softly" and "Dumas Walker". This catapulted The Kentucky Headhunters to fame, and in 1990, they were given a Grammy award for Best Country Performance By A Duo or Group With Vocal.
As I mentioned above, for the past 32 years, Greg has been known for his pure tone. But in the 70's, Greg told me his secret weapon was a 70's EP3 echoplex. Not for the echo/delay, but the preamp (You can actually bypass the delay, and still be running through it's preamp). It was magical! But, EP3's tend to be fragile and there is a lot of maintenance you have to do to them (changing the tape, demagnetizing the tape, not to mention how fragile the wood enclosure was). Many guitar players from the 70's used Echoplex's just for the preamp. While having dinner with Greg a few months ago, we discussed making a preamp that won't saturate your tone, but give it a fullness and color like the EP3's but with a tone knob like the EP4's. I took this information, and together with my engineer buddy Clint Fackler from Fackler FX and we designed a preamp that won't saturate your tone and give it the fullness and color and with a tone stack that you can dial in that perfect sound. We gave Greg a prototype and he loved it! So... In just a couple short weeks, we will be releasing the Greg Martin Signature Series, Cedar Flat Lightning pedal to the public! Please follow on my Facebook and Instagram accounts for pricing and release date. These are sure to go quick!
Thanks so much,
Jeff Bolin
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