Finding a guitar sound that sits well in the mix is vital for Queens of the Stone Age multi-instrumentalist Dean Fertita. He takes flight on the (now discontinued, sadly) Monarch overdrive, using its active Treble and Bass controls to cut and boost his way into the dense three-guitar conversation without speaking out of turn, so to speak.

This attention to sonic detail seems to be Dean’s Golden Rule when selecting gear for the road. In addition to the Monarch, Dean uses the Moog MF Drive for gain, noting that its Filter function (much like the Monarch’s active EQ) keeps only the right frequencies in the mix so Dean’s guitar parts fit like Tetris blocks between Josh Homme’s mammoth rhythm sound and Troy Van Leeuwen’s spacey lead guitar soundscapes.

Like Troy, Dean uses multiple amps in a wet / dry configuration for the perfect blend of ambient weirdness and raunchy rock ‘n roll crunch, courtesy of the Monarch, which lives on his stage pedalboard, while his rack effects are triggered remotely. Feet don’t fail me now.

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