“Whether it’s a $200 or $10,000 guitar, you’re gonna sound better on what you resonate with”: Tyler Bryant reflects on his greatest gear hits and misses

Tyler Bryant might be a young buck in blues guitar years, but there’s an old head for vintage electric guitar gear on those shoulders. 

With his new record with the Shakedown, Shake the Roots, out now, Guitarist caught up with the Texan to talk gear. Buying it, selling it, the ones that got away and the answer to the age old questions in life; would you rather have a cheapo guitar and a high-end guitar amp, or vice-versa? What about single-coil electric guitar pickups vs humbuckers?

Bryant answers all this and more, and tells a story about a certain vintage Fender Stratocaster that might turn you green with envy.

What was the first serious guitar you bought with your own money? 

“The first nice guitar I bought was an Epiphone Les Paul. My parents realized I was obsessed with the guitar so they [also] purchased me a Stratocaster from this place called Mars Music in Plano, Texas, and from then on, I just wanted to have all of the guitars, you know? 

“My first expensive guitar that I bought was a 1956 Gibson ES-125 – I still have it and I still use it all the time. I think it was about $1,000, which seemed like an incredible amount of money at the time. But I’ve had that guitar since I was 14 or 15 years old.”

What was the last guitar you bought and why?

“Well, the last guitar that I got was the second prototype for my signature [Custom Shop Tyler Bryant ‘Pinky’ Stratocaster] with Fender and it’s such a dream come true for me to have a signature guitar, something with my name on it. It’s a huge honor. It’s a 60s ‘C’ neck, which is my favorite shape of neck, and it’s got a rosewood ’board. 

“The pickups are two hand-wound 1960s-style single coils and a custom ShawBucker, designed by Tim Shaw. I just love the way that this configuration makes this guitar so versatile. I can achieve just about any sound with it and I use the humbucker almost like a secret weapon. It’s not coil-tapped – I did not include that. I have guitars that have coil taps on and I don’t ever really feel like I need it. 

“The pickguard is hand-engraved by a friend of mine. Each one of them takes hours and hours to do so I’m happy that Fender was down to take the journey on that, because I think it’s always cool when you can have someone do something by hand, rather than just rely on a machine. The guitar comes set up how I like it, with four springs in the back and vintage-style 60s-style hardware.”

What’s the most incredible find or bargain you’ve ever had when buying guitars? 

“I feel like the ultimate deal for me was when I was 13 years old. I was playing at this club called Gilley’s in Dallas, Texas, which is like a cowboy honky-tonk bar, and the coach of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team [Don Nelson] was there. No-one in this packed bar was paying attention to me playing with my blues band, except for this one guy. 

“Afterwards, he went up to my mom, and he said, ‘Hey, write down your address on this piece of paper.’ He came up to me to say hello and he asked me what my dream guitar was, and I said a 1960s Fender Stratocaster. He said, ‘Why don’t you have one?’ 

“And I said, ‘Well, they’re like, $20,000, man.’ And a few days later, one showed up at my house with a note that said, ‘Play the hell out of this…’ I still have that guitar and will always have that guitar. But that was, I guess, probably the best deal I ever got.”

Have you ever sold anything that you’ve really regretted letting go?

“I did have a ’62 SG Junior that I ended up selling to Bob Dylan’s guitar tech. I’ve kicked myself for selling that one sometimes because that was the cleanest one I’ve ever seen. It sounded fantastic. And I sold a great 80s Epiphone Sheraton that I regretted selling as soon as I got the money for it. But you do these things sometimes.”

What’s the strongest case of buyer’s remorse you’ve experienced?

“I bought this Japanese Foto Flame Stratocaster that I loved. I mowed so many yards to be able to save up my money to buy it and when I bought it, I took it home and I was like, ‘This is a pretty Stratocaster, but this is not for me.’ Then I thought that the Tom DeLonge signature Stratocaster was really cool when I was a kid and so I bought one of those in black. A couple days later, I was like, ‘I don’t think I love this. This guitar’s for Tom, this is not for me,’ you know?” 

What’s your best guitar-buying tip? 

“I think my advice would be to feel the guitar for yourself and tune out everyone else’s opinions. It’s that old saying, ‘One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.’ I see guys like Jack Pearson running around Nashville with a Squier Stratocaster sounding better than just about any other player in town. 

“You’ve just got to pay attention to what feels right and what you resonate with. Because whether it’s a $200 guitar or a $10,000 guitar, you’re gonna sound better on what you feel that you resonate with. So my advice would be to listen to that quiet voice in your head saying, ‘That’s my guitar.’”

When was the last time you stopped to stare in a guitar shop window, or browse online, and what were you looking at? 

“I think the last time I went window shopping was at Carter Vintage Guitars here in Nashville. I have to be careful about doing the window shopping thing because I almost always end up spending money. The last time I went in with the idea, ‘I’m gonna go check out and see what they have…’ and I left with a 50s National Resophonic student-sized guitar!”

If you were forced to make a choice, would you rather buy a really good guitar and a cheap amp or a cheap electric guitar and a top‑notch guitar amp?

“That is a tough one to answer. I’d probably have to say a good guitar and a cheap amp because the feel of the guitar is so important to me. But, man, that’s tough for me because I think you’re kind of damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

“But I think – because the guitar is just something I carry around even when it’s not plugged in – just for my own sanity, that I would choose a good guitar. Just to be able to sit there and play a nice guitar would be satisfying enough, I suppose. But I do a lot of work in the studio and I’ve got a little battery powered Pignose that I use on records all the time and it seems fine.”

If you could only use humbuckers or single coils for the rest of your career, which would it be and why?

“I would probably choose the humbucker. And then I might go back on that thing I said earlier about not needing coil-tapping on any of my guitars… so I can have both. I use the humbucker the most for what I do and the thing that I love about the [ShawBucker] humbucker that’s in my signature model is that it works well with the volume knob. So if I need to get a rounder, cleaner sound, then I can just dial the volume back and it seems to respond well.”

Tyler's go-to gear

“Currently, there’s my arsenal of Strats and a few resonators that were made by a company called Mule [Resophonic] out of Saginaw, Michigan. Then I’ve been using a 50-watt hand-wired Orange head through a Marshall 4x12, one of the vintage-style straight cabinets, and a Tyler amp. They’re based here in Nashville and they make incredible amps. It’s like a hand-wired Princeton, essentially. 

“As far as pedals go, my main overdrive pedal is called the TB Drive, made in Germany by a company called Rodenberg. Then for delay I’ve got the Universal Audio Galaxy and a Strymon TimeLine. 

“I’ve got a tremolo called the Shakey Tremolo by Lovell [Musiclab], a SoloDallas Storm, and a Pharaoh fuzz by Black Arts Toneworks. I’ve also got a DOD Gonkulator Ring Mod, a Jonny Octave by Zvex, a simple little JHS reverb pedal, an Electro‑Harmonix POG, a Scott McKeon Octave Fuzz, and a Dunlop 535Q [Cry Baby Multi-] Wah pedal.”

• Shake The Roots is out now via Rattle Shake Records.