Guitar gear talk with human fingerprints.
The Tone Mob Podcast starts with guitar gear and usually wanders somewhere more human. Conversations with builders, players, and music-world lifers move from pedals and tube amps to touring, business, recovery, family, and strange bits of industry history.
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The Tone Mob Podcast is a guitar-culture interview show with a habit of following the interesting thread, even when that thread wanders far from guitars. Its center of gravity is clear: pedals, amps, strings, wiring, rigs, boutique builders, small music companies, touring players, and the strange practical decisions that shape musical tools. That gives the show its nerd credentials. It can talk about a Fender Vibrolux, a Roland Cube, switching technology, EarthQuaker pedal collaborations, Walrus Audio history, or the difference between making products as commodities and making them as curated objects. But the show’s best moments usually come when those details open into something less tidy. A conversation with Jordan Buckley can move from heavy music and band history into pain, anxiety, spiritual routines, family, and the stubborn work of staying functional. A talk with Chris Benson can become a reissue of the show’s own beginnings, complete with sweaty attic recording memories and the odd feeling of growing into a known presence in the gear world. Dan Tremonti’s FRET12 story becomes a conversation about music culture, retail, collectibles, art, and expression. Ron Menelli’s work with RJM leads into questions about staying close to technical craft instead of becoming a manager by default. The pacing is informal and quick, with enough banter to keep the engineering talk from turning stiff. It sounds like a show made by people who know the scene from the inside and still find it funny, messy, and worth talking about. The archive is large, and the recent episodes carry the feel of a long-running project that knows its audience without overexplaining itself. There are ads and plugs, often woven into the music-gear ecosystem around the show. There are also recurring check-ins with the realities of keeping multiple podcasts, Patreon work, and related music ventures moving. For a discovery listener, the appeal is not just learning what a player uses. It is hearing why those tools matter, who builds them, and what kind of life collects around the noise.
Made for: For guitarists, pedal collectors, amp obsessives, touring-music fans, and boutique-gear watchers who like shop talk with personality. It also fits listeners who enjoy music interviews that leave room for business, loss, health, humor, and scene history.
What sets it apart: The show treats gear as culture, not just equipment. Its interviews keep the technical details intact while making space for the builders’ and players’ personal stories, company choices, and creative survival habits.
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.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Guitar gear becomes a doorway into manufacturing, music-business history, technical problem-solving, and the working lives behind the equipment.
The Tone Mob Podcast follows guitar gear beyond specifications and into the choices, businesses, and people that put it onstage. Blake Wyland keeps the conversations technically fluent without treating equipment as an end in itself.
Blake Wyland makes room for Vibrolux minutiae and a guest's anxiety; bring both kinds of curiosity.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Dan Tremonti sketches FRET12 as a gear-minded world of collectibles, curated instruments, pedals, and events.
FRET12 comes across as a music-gear company built around hands-on ideas, small-batch character, and the pleasure of turning niche obsessions into tangible objects.
A blunt conversation about pain, anxiety, routines, and the pressure of saying what is really going on.
This episode settles into the blunt, uneasy reality of living with pain and anxiety, and it does so with a steady, unsentimental tone. The guest is candid about the strain of acting fine when he is not, and about the routines that help him keep moving, including yoga and…
Jordan Buckley turns a band-history setup into a grounded conversation about nature, memory, and feeling restored.
Jordan Buckley's visit to The Tone Mob Podcast begins with the host acknowledging Every Time I Die's public, painful ending, then moves toward something quieter and more revealing: the pull of familiar ground.
A practical gear chat where tone stays tied to rooms, gigs, and the amp choices that follow.
Steve Slodowski from Pup spends this episode thinking out loud about the Fender guitars and the first serious Vibrolux that helped define his rig, with Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards, and Joe Strummer all shadowing the choices.
A gear-minded conversation about invisible technology, practical invention, and the craft behind reliable guitar tools.
The Tone Mob Podcast returns to the builders behind the tools that make music feel seamless, with RJM's Ron Minnelli anchoring a discussion of advanced switching technology and the technical labor behind favorite performances.
Mike Lawson makes music publishing feel like a hands-on extension of the gear it helped people understand.
Mike Lawson's conversation with The Tone Mob turns a change in music-gear economics into a clear memory of publishing, instruction, and the practical knowledge that formed around more accessible equipment.
A clear, grounded review of Pearl Jam's fight over affordable, itemized tickets and Ticketmaster's fee structure.
Pearl Jam's clash with Ticketmaster becomes a tight, practical look at how a push for affordable, itemized tickets ran into venue contracts and service fees.
Joe Wong interviews drummers and musicians about craft, history, and the working musician's life.
Songs explained from the inside out.
This episode features an interview with Kyle Wolfe, founder of Moon Guitars, discussing his journey as a luthier and the craftsmanship behind his instruments.
Mike Lawson's conversation with The Tone Mob podcast turns toward MMR and the business of helping people use increasingly accessible music gear.
Pearl Jam's fight with Ticketmaster takes shape around the price and visibility of a concert ticket.
On The Tone Mob Podcast, Zoe Jet traces her move from piano composition toward building custom guitars.
This episode features an interview with Dan Tremonti about building his music brand FRET12 into a significant player in the guitar and music culture industry.
The conversation stays with pain, anxiety, and the routines used to keep going.
The host interviews Jordan Buckley from Better Lovers and Every Time I Die, discussing his career and hinting at unreleased, detailed conversations about the band's breakup.
The host introduces a reissue of the second-ever episode of the Tone Mob podcast, featuring an interview with Chris Benson of Benson Amps, recorded in his attic during a hot summer day.
This episode features an interview with Colt Westbrook from Walrus Audio, discussing the company's products, business insights, and personal gear inspirations.
The episode opens with a phone-recorded apology.
Blake Weiland brings Ron Minnelli of RJM into a conversation about advanced switching technology.
This episode explores Pearl Jam's 1990s antitrust battle against Ticketmaster and its lasting impact on the music industry.
This episode features an interview with Kyle Wolfe from Moon Guitars, discussing his journey and craftsmanship in creating unique and incredible-looking instruments.
This episode features an interview with Matt Hoopes from Relient K and 1981 Inventions, discussing his recent activities with the band, gear news, and pedals.
This episode features an interview with Zephyr Avalon, the bassist for country star Zach Bryan, discussing touring life, bass equipment, and the challenges of the music industry.