“A Tube Screamer is a Tube Screamer. It’s one of the great cons of the guitar industry. They got these dirt boxes right the first time!” Why Jared James Nichols stopped obsessing over gear – and honed in on his playing instead

Jared says that his signature Epiphone ‘Blues Power’ Les Paul Custom is set to be joined by another guitar with his name on it – a Gibson replica of his 2008 ‘Old Glory’ Les Paul Custom in black.

We live in a world where almost every guitar player will tell you how they are ‘old-school’ in some way, shape or form. But very few live up to that term as sincerely as Wisconsin-born, Nashville-based blues dynamo Jared James Nichols.

By his own admission, he’s a man of simple pleasures – give him a guitar with only one pickup, an overdrive pedal and an amp that responds in a similar way to his signature Blackstar JJN 50, and he’s ready to hit the road for months on end.