For Yvette Young, guitarist for the math-rock band Covet, tone starts with the fingers and the guitar. The choices of tonewood and pickups are essential in shaping a guitar’s sound. But when it comes to the gear budget, Young says the emphasis should be on the amp.
In a recent interview with Guitarist, Young shared her thoughts on the importance of the amplifier. When asked whether she would opt for a cheap guitar with an expensive amp or vice versa, her answer was clear: the amp should always take priority.
“It’s like ruining a really nice audio file with something that’s going to degrade it a lot,” she explained. “There’s no point, right? I’d rather go for the expensive amp.”
Young further clarified that “cheap guitar” doesn’t always equate to bad guitar. She pointed out that she owns several inexpensive guitars that still impress her with their sound quality.
“My guitars may be cheap, but they sound impressive for the price,” she said.
As for her own gear, Young relies on a boutique Silktone amp and her P90-loaded Ibanez Talman, which is set to be the model for her third signature guitar with the Japanese luthier. Although she usually plays a Vox AC30, she has a special fondness for her Silktone amp.
“I love how I can get something out of the Silktone without losing definition and clarity. It’s so balanced,” Young said. “Charles Henry, the owner, is the best – I’ll hype him forever. His amps are so smooth, and they make me play better.”
When selecting a guitar, Young has some advice for other musicians.
“Make sure to try the guitar with your own rig,” she suggested. “Sometimes, a guitar might sound brighter through someone else’s amp. Try to recreate the environment you’ll be using it in as accurately as possible.”
Recently, Young celebrated the release of her first signature pedal, the Walrus Audio Qi Etherealizer, a modulation stompbox designed to spark creativity. She was involved in the pedal’s design over a two-year period and sees it as a tool to inspire new ideas.
“I used to be an art teacher, so I talk about music in a very visual way,” she said. “The hardest part of creating is getting started. Once you get that first mark on the canvas, the anxiety disappears. With the Qi Ethereal, I wanted to create something that serves as an ambient machine and an idea generator, something that helps you play guitar with yourself and sound really full—making your guitar not sound like a guitar!”
The Qi Etherealizer joins a collection of unique pedals on Young’s board, including a DigiTech Whammy Ricochet and a Hologram Electronics Microcosm. The latter is a versatile Swiss Army pedal that combines a looper, granular sampler, delay, reverb, pitch modulator, and filter, and Young describes it as “absolutely essential for me.”
In addition, her setup features two EarthQuaker Devices pedals — the Warden optical compressor and the Avalanche Run delay — alongside a Meris MercuryX for chorus, vibrato, and reverb, and an Electronic Audio Experiments Longsword overdrive.
Young’s talent has caught the attention of guitar legend Steve Vai, who is “fascinated” by the next generation of guitarists and has invited her to participate in several editions of his Vai Academy. In 2022, Young and Vai jammed together, an experience she called “a gift.”
Vai, who is clearly impressed by her playing, spoke highly of her artistry:
“Yvette is just a wildly artistic person from head to toe,” he said. “Her guitar playing is one aspect, a particular color in her palette. She has this creative perspective that I find so refreshing. She’s an artist in every sense—she paints, and I just love the energy and atmosphere she brings.”
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