Geared Up: Love Letter Guitarist Jay Maas Discusses His Amps, Axes, and Evertune Bridge

The thriving New England hardcore scene has served up another dandy for us in the form of Love Letter. Formerly known as Death of a Nation, the band features an esteemed group of musical colleagues who have joined forces. The band released their debut album, Everyone Wants Something Beautiful, on June 28th via Iodine Recordings. Each of Love Letter’s five band members has played in various popular bands in the past. Singer Quinn Murphy was previously in Verse, while guitarist Jay Maas and drummer Andrew Reitz were founding members of Defeater. Maas has also become highly regarded as a producer for Bane, Title Fight, Counterparts, and more.

After spending much of his recent time as a producer, Maas is again acting as producer. But this time, it’s for his band. Everyone Wants Something Beautiful is a record with a lot of heart. It dives deeply into issues such as insecurity and self-awareness. It examines generational trauma in its different forms and how it gets projected onto others. Love Letter’s primary goal is to record and release music that is honest and powerful. Each note and word comes with great purpose, with a record that acts as an arena for compelling, emotional storytelling.

Guitarist Jay Maas joins us today for a Geared Up interview in which we chat about his Evertune bridge, Helix pedal, and more.

First things first, what’s your current setup?

Jay Maas: “So for Love Letter, I’m playing my American Deluxe Telecaster, through a Soldano Avenger, into a Black Market Custom Cab, which is an offset 4×12.”

What one piece of gear do you use to obtain your signature sound?

“I’m not sure I can actually attribute it to just one piece. But I can say that my Evertune bridge has been a game changer for my style of guitar playing.

“I’m constantly writing with complex chord structures that require me to stretch my hand into these weird and long shapes, and those chords are often fretting above the twelfth fret while simultaneously letting open strings ring out. That’s all to say that maintaining intonation is essential or else my chords will just sound dissonant and off.

“I think most people just think of Evertune as a nice way to not worry about your guitar going out of tune while you play it, which is, in fact, part of the whole truth and definitely a great feature. However, for me, I love how it’s so forgiving for the types of chord shapes I make. It really opens up the types of tensions I write with.”

Love Letter “Amps and Guitars,” photo by Jessie Maas

How did you come to possess the Evertune bridge? Vintage shop, regular shop, borrowed money, gifted? Give us the details.

“I’d heard that the Blasting Room loved them, and I’ve always loved all the records they do, so that got me interested to start. I think I tried one that someone was playing that we toured with and I was sold. I sent my American Deluxe Telecaster out to a shop in Pennsylvania and had them install one, and I’ve never looked back.”

What made you choose this bridge, and were there any close seconds or alternatives?

“As it stands at the moment, there just aren’t any alternatives that I know about. If one wants a bridge, they will hold tuning through a nuclear explosion. Evertune is the only game in town I’m aware of.”

Love Letter ‘Everyone Wants Something Beautiful’ album artwork

Did you use the bridge during the recording of the new album?

“Oh yes, it’s a must.”

Do you have a special way that you recreate your album tones in a live setting? Or is it more just plug-and-play?

“Yeah, much to the disappointment of my other band members, I actually recreate all my tones with a Helix pedal. They think it’s cheesy, but honestly, when I’m playing live, I just want something that sounds great with as few failure points as possible. There is nothing more devastating to a show than when a single patch cable dies on you, and then you have to sort through ten of them to try to figure out where the problem is, all while ruining the show at the same time.”

How easy is it for you to tweak the Helix and get the tone/sounds you need?

“It’s a dream, honestly. If we are talking about the volume pedal, it’s basically as simple as it gets, down is less gain/up is more gain. And the Helix is great because I can create all my effects with the software on my computer and press a single button to turn on/off as many effects as I want all at once.”

What was your first-ever instrument?

“Besides the acoustic I got for Christmas when I was 12, it would be a Peavey Predator. It was baby blue, and I think like 200 dollars? My guitar teacher told my mom it was a great guitar for the money, and it’s the guitar I started my first bands with. I think someone stole it at some point though which is a bummer, I wish I still had it for sentimental reasons alone.”

What brand do you usually lean towards when looking up new options?

“I’m currently looking at the Dunlop volume pedal as recommended by my friend Marcos. It’s sturdy, black, reliable, and sounds like a winner to me.”

Is your jam setup the same as your road setup? Any notable differences (other than output, obviously)?

“Nope! It’s basically identical. I will say that what I record the records with and what I play live are usually different. The record will have a ton of different amps/pedals /guitars just because we have the option.”

What was the first rig you ever bought that felt like you had “arrived” as a musician?

“I remember getting my first Marshall 4×12 when I was like 17. To me, that was the be-all end-all. I would look over and kind of not be able to believe I was playing out of the same amp I’d see in basically every music video and concert I loved.”