In Episode 15 of The No Cover Charge Podcast, Tyler Larson and Jared James Nichols break down every phase of a guitarist’s life — from the first moment music grabs you to the highs, lows, gear spirals, plateaus, breakthroughs, and the reality of becoming a career musician. Expect hilarious stories, inspiring advice, honest struggles, and spontaneous riffing as Tyler and Jared reveal the universal stages all guitar players experience.

Whether you’re in the pre-guitar awakening phase, deep in the obsession phase, stuck in the plateau phase, overwhelmed by gear acquisition syndrome, or pushing through the practice and discipline phase, this episode will feel like therapy… with more overdrive.

Sit back, plug in, and enjoy a guitarist’s journey we all share.

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TIMESTAMPS

0:12 – Opening Jam in D, the People's Key

1:37 – Introducing today’s topic: the phases of a guitarist’s life

3:13 – PRE-GUITAR AWAKENING PHASE

4:06 – Wanting to be a drummer first

5:23 – Getting talked into guitar instead

6:07 – Early sounds that “unlocked” the instrument

7:28 – Discovering open-string magic

9:03 – The Incubus/Mike Einziger influence

10:03 – OBSESSION PHASE begins

12:17 – Learning why players sound different

13:35 – Unlocking nuance and tone

16:20 – PLATEAU PHASE — when everything feels wrong

21:15 – Rut-busting tricks and new tunings

24:24 – Entering the GAS PHASE

26:50 – First pieces of gear that changed everything

29:20 – Gear expectations vs. reality

31:13 – PRACTICE & DISCIPLINE PHASE

33:55 – Berklee stories & formative experiences

37:01 – Leaving the comfort zone

39:01 – Jared’s Guitar Center “Horror Story”

43:37 – The phase of becoming a CAREER MUSICIAN

46:16 – Why we keep playing: the same feeling from day one

47:53 – Walrus Audio Melee joystick pedal demo

49:18 – Final jam & wrap-up

Buy a Walrus Audio Melee

The No Cover Charge Podcast with Tyler Larson & Jared James Nichols is your all-access backstage pass to the world of guitar—and there's never a cover at the proverbial door. Hosted by two of the most passionate guitarists you'll find, Tyler and Jared deliver a mix of electrifying interviews with legendary guitarists, laugh-out-loud tales from the road, deep dives into guitar culture, and no-holds-barred gear talk.

Whether you're a lifelong shredder or just love music, you'll find something unexpected in every episode—a hidden gem, a new perspective, an epic jam, or a story that'll stick with you. It’s always a good time, and best of all? No cover charge.

Plug in and hang out.

Join Tyler Larson ( ⁨@MusicisWin⁩ ) and Jared James Nichols ( ⁨@JJNicholsMusic⁩ ) as they dig deep into the strangest, wildest, most unexplainable guitar gear they've collected over the years. From synth pedals that instantly break your brain to haunted stompboxes, octave chaos machines, forgotten vintage oddities, and micro-guitars that refuse to stay in tune, this episode is pure gear-nerd comedy gold.If you love guitar tone experiments, unpredictable sounds, and two friends losing it on camera over bonkers gear… this is the episode for you.Expect laughs, real tone talk, surprising discoveries, and some truly cursed noises. And if you wanna buy any of the gear in this episode, you can actually find some of it below...

Wanna buy one of these pedals?

Source Audio C4 Synth

Korg MIKU: good luck finding one

Boss Enhancer: good luck finding one

MXR La Machine (is unavailable now but...)

Boss Metal Zone, baby

Copper Sound Pedals Triplegraph: good luck finding one

Fender mini Stratocaster

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 – The funniest episode yet begins

1:45 – Introducing the Weird Gear Episode

2:28 – The mysterious Dark Planet guitar appears

3:06 – Jared admits he’s scared of synth pedals

4:30 – The FUNNIEST moment in the history of the show

5:59 – Discovering legitimately cool tones by accident

7:13 – Linking all pedals below (and why you’ll want the C4)

7:30 – The infamous MIKU pedal makes its entrance

8:52 – “We’re getting censored for sure” – the pedal screams at us

9:16 – The Enhancer pedal: what exactly is it?

11:10 – Seriously… is this thing doing anything?

11:34 – The sea-monster pedal emerges

12:43 – Pure chaos tones: “This pedal might be broken… nope.”

14:09 – The Metal Zone test, 2025 edition

15:44 – Isolated metal tones: so bad it’s good?

17:47 – Why weird tones actually inspire better riffs

19:00 – Jared tries to channel James Hetfield with no pick

20:57 – The Triplegraph, tap-dancing into madness

23:02 – The German chaos delay pedal takes over the room

26:25 – The tiny guitar that refuses to stay in tune

30:51 – Wrapping up + should we do Weird Gear Part 2?

The No Cover Charge Podcast with Tyler Larson & Jared James Nichols is your all-access backstage pass to the world of guitar—and there's never a cover at the proverbial door. Hosted by two of the most passionate guitarists you'll find, Tyler and Jared deliver a mix of electrifying interviews with legendary guitarists, laugh-out-loud tales from the road, deep dives into guitar culture, and no-holds-barred gear talk.Whether you're a lifelong shredder or just love music, you'll find something unexpected in every episode—a hidden gem, a new perspective, an epic jam, or a story that'll stick with you. It’s always a good time, and best of all? No cover charge.Plug in and hang out.

Guitar phenom Angel Vivaldi ( ⁨@AngelVivaldi⁩ ) joins Tyler Larson ( ⁨@MusicisWin⁩ ) for Episode 13 of The No Cover Charge Podcast — and this one is packed with tone talk, tour stories, creative philosophy, and plenty of laughs. From joining the Steve Morse Band, to never having used a pedalboard (wtf?!), to carving out space as a genre-bending artist, Angel opens up about growth, humility, tone chasing, and what truly matters in a musician’s life. Expect deep insights, inspiring stories, killer playing, and a whole lot of guitar geekery.If you love guitar tone, creative evolution, progressive metal, Steve Morse, or Angel Vivaldi’s incredible artistry, this episode is for you.

For all things Angel Vivaldi

Angel's artistic management service, Xenith Counsel

Check out Jared on tour!

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 – Where’s Jared? (UK tour update)

0:24 – Why Steve Morse wanted Angel in his band

0:54 – Angel plugs into a pedalboard for the first time

1:48 – The Frusciante tuning method

4:05 – Angel joins the Steve Morse Band

5:49 – Tone, frequency targeting, and crafting patches on tour

8:05 – Angel’s Latin, jazz, funk, and acoustic background

9:00 – Growing up with salsa, dancing, and church music

10:46 – Why many metal musicians don’t listen to metal

12:48 – Conversation on grind culture and creative hiatus

14:53 – How gear, fashion, and symmetry communicate identity

16:01 – Why Angel moved from Ibanez to Charvel

19:57 – Perspective: what if you couldn’t play anymore?

25:03 – Angel & Tyler SHRED BATTLE

26:03 – How guitar scenes have merged into one digital world

27:13 – What Angel learned from Steve Morse about adapting

28:55 – Angel’s upcoming tours, records, Charvel 7-string, and Xenith Counsel

⁠Subscribe on Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠The No Cover Charge Podcast on Spotify⁠⁠⁠

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⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠

The No Cover Charge Podcast with Tyler Larson & Jared James Nichols is your all-access backstage pass to the world of guitar—and there's never a cover at the proverbial door. Hosted by two of the most passionate guitarists you'll find, Tyler and Jared deliver a mix of electrifying interviews with legendary guitarists, laugh-out-loud tales from the road, deep dives into guitar culture, and no-holds-barred gear talk.Whether you're a lifelong shredder or just love music, you'll find something unexpected in every episode—a hidden gem, a new perspective, an epic jam, or a story that'll stick with you. It’s always a good time, and best of all?

No cover charge.

Plug in and hang out.