36 - Garrett Treese

Aug 25, 2024

At 33 years old, Garrett has been playing for 20 years. He resides in Wilmington, NC, but is originally from Chicago. Progressive styles, jazz, and metal are the primary genres influencing his music. Like any musician, he appreciates and analyzes all types of music. Creating original content is presently Garrett's main focus, but he acknowledges that learning music from other bands assists in his writing process. He is a part of a band that includes a jazz bassist and a tech death metal drummer. They do not perform live but prefer to write and record, always interested in what they might create. Within this band, Garrett mainly plays a 7-string tuned to drop A and drop G respectively. Blues also forms a significant part of his musical interest. He has been playing blues and 12 bar throughout his entire guitar career. His guitar tutor was Jake Lizzio, from Crystal Lake, Ill. His YouTube channel is named Signals Music Studio. From him, Garrett learned the importance of dexterity, an open-minded approach to all music, and most significantly, the concept that practicing slow and steady ultimately results in success. This philosophy applies to rhythm, lead, and any other aspect of his music.

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Garrett’s guitars:

‘82 Ernie ball music man axis 6
This guitar was given to me as a gift from a friend. It was his dads and when he passed he gave it to me. I don’t really play it as it’s a collectors item, and the action is extremely high. I did put a jb and a 59 in it. It’s mainly used for slide guitar now, but one day I’ll get it nice and set up
Fender American Strat tobacco
Pure and simple American Strat. It has upgraded pots and fender locking tuners. Jb in the bridge and hot rails in the neck. This guitar is great. It’s definitely one of my favorites I’ve ever owned. I use this for my Tuesday and Thursday night blues jams. Idk what year it is I got it (stock) as a trade for a combo amp. It’s a great guitar.
Ernie Ball sterling JP70 stealth black
This is my newest and favorite guitar right now. Who ever had it before me had it perfectly set up. Fastest neck I’ve ever played. I am working on replacing all hardware with gold. It’s got liquifier/crunch labs in it now, and a gold gotoh 510 tremolo. I’ve had this guitar since April 2024, and it’s gotten A LOT of mileage since. It’s absolutely reliable, I almost never have to tune it. And no matter what sound I throw at it, it handles it and then some.
Ibanez RG470
Mod platform guitar. I mainly have this guitar to be a metal monster, while looking pretty. The wizard neck on Ibanez guitars was something I was addicted to for a long time. Wouldn’t play any other guitar. But now I’ve expanded my horizons. This guitar has a dimarzio Chris Broderick d- activator in the bridge, and a 59 in the neck, upgraded pots, Van Halen style wiring, coil split. It’s a shredder, and that’s pretty much all it’s used for.
Ibanez GIO GRG4227
My first seven string so it’s completely stock, unless you count the stickers. I love this guitar. It has a mind of its own, and when I pick it up, I create this certain sound that is harder to replicate on any other guitars. It’s almost like this guitar channels some sort of spirit…. 😅

Garrett’s amps:

5150 iconic combo
I have had 6505+, 6534, 5150III, invective, triple xxx, etc. all kinds of peavey amps. I always have to have the brown sound near just in case.
Super crush 100
This amp is definitely high gain, but with that said it has its own type of distortion. The EQ on it has a massive range, and it runs well just as a power amp, for live situations when I do play live. I’ve had this amp for quite a long time, I don’t plan on ever getting rid of it. It’s stays in the practice space.
Fender champ 100
This is my amp for home. It’s a great amp for practice. I haven’t used it with the band at all, but it does what it needs to do. I used it as a power amp with my metal muff or 5150 OD, but it has some built in effects I am a big fan of. For a blues or clean tone, it’s perfect. Just a great all around amp. I’ve had smaller champions before and they’ve always been reliable, I enjoy the tone and overall, they just feel like competent, very user friendly amplifiers. I enjoy simplicity.

I do not use computer generated amps and effects. If I come across a venue some day that requires that, I will move in that direction, but I haven’t found the need. My bassist has all of that stuff, so I don’t need a whole set up. I’m an old fashioned guitar player I guess. I enjoy physical hardware and gear.

What was your first guitar and do you still have it?

My first guitar was bought for me by my parents at 13. I had to sign a contract that said I would practice for an hour a day and attend guitar lessons. I definitely did that.
It was an American flag strat copy that I named “whitie”. That guitar is what made me fall in love with the strat neck pick up sound.