I met Josh over 30 years ago, and sometimes in life, you just get lucky. He possesses a rare combination of skills—each executed at an elite level—but what sets him apart is that he lives for this. While the rest of us are chasing tone in our dreams, Josh is awake, thinking, refining, and creating.

Josh is a master of design. Whether it’s crafting custom guitar wiring to match one of my wild ideas or sourcing the perfect components for a microphone to capture the exact aural vibe I want—something that’s endlessly subjective and nearly impossible to articulate—he takes pride in diving headfirst down every rabbit hole I throw at him.

My journey with Josh started with him Frankensteining all of my guitars. I gravitate toward things that are unique, one-of-a-kind, and Josh has a gift for understanding that vision and bringing it to life. From custom amplifiers to effects pedals to completely reimagining a guitar to suit my idiosyncratic needs, he somehow makes it all happen.

Did I mention he’s built me multiple amps from scratch? And that every time I show him a $5000 boutique amp I like better, he takes the critique as a personal challenge rather than an insult? That’s just who he is. He never stops pushing, always determined to wow his most jaded friend—the guy who has the audacity to go by The Neurotic Guitarist (not my idea, by the way).

Beyond all of this, Josh is simply an exceptional human. He’s wickedly knowledgeable, hilarious, empathetic, and driven by an ego that thrives entirely on proving you wrong—for your benefit. My entire studio is filled with his genius, from attenuators to guitars to amplifiers to custom-made cables. The thing is, Josh has nothing left to prove. He did that a long time ago. But he just can’t stop.

And that’s why he’s the best.