Jef grew up with a luthier father, so an obsession with tone was never really optional — it came with the house. That early start led to a career as a sound engineer and pro-audio specialist, running his own recording studio in London — the kind of room where you learn quickly which pedals survive a session and which ones get quietly unplugged. He has written 1,000+ articles on guitars and gear. Off the clock he's a fairly hopeless gear hoarder — pedals, valve amps, and guitars ranging from Klon Centaurs to Parker Flys, and some of which he's built himself. He also collects synths and has been working with MIDI and CV since the 1980s.