Sommaire pour April 2016 de Guitarist

Once again, Guitarist made the masochistic trek to Anaheim, California in January to view what tantalising delights the world’s guitar makers have in store for us all in 2016 (see report, p78). After that feast of frets, the predictable hospital case of GAS followed, from which we’re now slowly recovering, thank you. Like facing up to one’s own mortality, one day, most guitarists reach the sobering conclusion that it isn’t realistically possible to own all the guitars one would like to. Money is one common limiting factor, as well as the patience of those nearest and dearest to us. Many is the guitarist, I’m sure, who has looked on grimly as bathroom tiles or roof slates are fitted – essential items, important for one’s daily comfort – haunted by visions…

The Martin Guitar Museum isn’t very happy with The Hateful Eight after actor Kurt Russell unwittingly smashed a 145-year-old acoustic during a scene in the Tarantino film. “There were six doubles made,” the film’s sound mixer Mark Ulano told SSN Insider. “The guitar was from the 1870s and was priceless. What was supposed to happen was we were supposed to go up to that point, cut, and trade guitars and smash the double. Well, somehow that didn’t get communicated to Kurt.” The horrified reaction of actress Jennifer Jason Leigh – who plays the guitarist – in the final take is reportedly genuine, too, though she suggested neither Russell nor Tarantino knew it was the genuine guitar. “The scene was going exactly the way [Tarantino] wanted it to go,” she told…

1 What was your first guitar and when did you get it? “It was an acoustic beginner’s guitar, nylon strings, possibly classical. I’d asked for one for Christmas when I was eight. One of the first songs I learnt was Sloop John B, I love that tune. After that, I got a Washburn electro-acoustic, when I was 15, for a combined birthday and Christmas present, purely because I thought it looked cool with a burgundy marble-esque finish and a cutaway. I snapped the headstock twice and got it repaired both times.” 2 If the building was burning down, what one guitar from your collection would you save? “I have a Lowden S Series guitar – for sentimental reasons I’d definitely save that one. I was lucky enough to be shown…

“It was almost selfish, to a certain respect. We really just wanted to play music that was fun for us and we didn’t really care too much about how serious we would take it ” Who Is He? He’s the guitarist in Canadian rock band Monster Truck, whose first album, Furiosity, attracted considerable critical acclaim and their second, Sittin’ Heavy, is just out. Jeremy started playing back in 1993 as a result of the grunge music scene in general and Nirvana in particular. He’d always had an interest in rock music from an early age, but it seemed somehow detached to him, as many of the bands he liked had already come and gone. Groups like Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, however, seemed more within reach. “It was kind of exciting.…

There was probably no-one better in the world to turn to when John Lennon’s Gibson J-160E turned up earlier this year than Andy Babiuk, the author of Beatles Gear: The Ultimate Edition, the forthcoming update to Babiuk’s 2001 compendium of The Fabs’ guitars, amps, drums and keyboards. Let’s talk about your role in authenticating John Lennon’s Gibson J-160E. How did you begin the process of authenticating it? “I get tons of emails and calls saying, ‘Hey, I’ve got this guitar, it used to be George’s…’ One day a guy called up and said, ‘My friend has this guitar and he thinks it might be John Lennon’s J-160E, the one you talk about in the book that was missing.’ They sent me pictures and I immediately noticed it had the same…

Relic’ing – ageing, call it what you will – seems to be spreading like a middle-aged waistband throughout the guitar-making industry. Aside from the Fender Custom Shop and Gibson’ s masterful work, we spotted the rather wonder EVH Wolfgang Replica (£6,999) which reminded us just how cool this guitar is. Ibanez has joined the fun, with both acoustics and electrics receiving the bash-it-up-a-bit treatment. The Artstar Vintage ASV100FMD and AMV100FMD look, frankly, a bit knackered. But Ibanez states: “The Artstar Vintage ‘ageing’ process… gives each guitar a convincingly real, worn appearance.” Zane Carney, perhaps best known for his work with John Mayer, has been a long time user of his Hofner…

It seems the bosses at Vox have called a halt to conventional guitars (RIP the wonderful Virage models) and decided they want to plough an ‘unconventional’ route. Well, the first offering here is the Starstream, which looks like a prop from an early episode of ‘Star Trek’ with its highly unusual frame-style body design. We also heard intriguing rumours that Yamaha is apparently combining its considerable acoustic-guitar prowess with the technology from its TransAcoustic piano to create an acoustic with built-in effects that you don’t have to plug in to an amp. Or maybe we dreamt that……

Avante By Veillette House Music Group 01276 453 079 www.veilletteguitars.com Boss/Roland Roland UK 01792 702701 www.roland.co.uk Bad Cat Coda Music 01438 350 815 www.badcatamps.com Blackstar Amplification 01604 817817 www.blackstaramps.com Collings/Waterloo Guitar XS 01227 832558 www.collingsguitars.com Danelectro JHS 01132 865381 www.jhs.co.uk DOD/DigiTech Sound Technology 01462 480000 www.digitech.com Dunlop/MXR Westside Distribution 0141 248 4812 www.jimdunlop.com Electro-Harmonix www.ehx.com Epiphone www.epiphone.com ESP Selectron 01795 419460 www.espguitars.com Fano Coda Music 01438 350 815 www.fanoguitars.com Faith Barnes & Mullins 01691 652449 www. faithguitars.com Fret-King/Italia JHS 01132 865381 www.jhs.co.uk Fender/Gretsch/Jackson Fender GBI 01342 331700 www.fender.com Gibson www.gibson.com Godin/Seagull/ Simon & Patrick 440 Distribution 01132 589599 www.godinguitars.com Guild Selectron 01795 419460 www.guildguitars.com Hofner Barnes & Mullins 01691 652449 www.hofner.com Nik Huber World Guitars 01453 824306 www.nikhuber-guitars.com Hughes & Kettner JHS 01132 865381…

What You Need To Know 1 How long has the Boogie been around now? The Boogie story dates back to the late-60s, when founder Randall Smith modified Fender Princeton practice amps to take a 100-watt power stage and a high-power Altec or JBL 12-inch loudspeaker. He also developed the first cascaded-gain preamplifier, creating today’s singing distortion. 2 What’s the CabClone? It’s Mesa’s own speaker-emulated, direct-to-desk output device that produces realistic impressions of mic’d up speaker cabs. It’s included in several Mesa amps, and can also be purchased as a standalone unit. 3 What about the EL84 valves? The EL84 is a small pentode, originally made in Europe for radios and portable record players, then used in several smaller guitar amplifiers. It’s basically a low power version of the EL34. Mesa…

ORIGIN: USA TYPE: Overdrive pedal FEATURES: True hardwire relay bypass CONTROLS: Volume, Tone, Drive, bypass footswitch CONNECTIONS: Standard input, standard output POWER: 9V battery or 9V DC adaptor (not supplied) DIMENSIONS: 80 (w) x 124 (d) x 60 mm (h) Westside Distribution 0844 326 2000 www.jimdunlop.com The Saucy Box HC is an alternative version of Way Huge’s Saucy Box overdrive. The HC stands for hard clip, the difference between this and the standard version being that the pedal has been given a different gain structure with the diodes adjusted for hard clipping rather than soft, for more crunch and compression. The Drive knob actually blends between clean and overdriven tones. At minimum, it’s all clean, so setting the Volume knob from anywhere above about 10 o’clock can give you a…

Feeling alienated by overly commercial music festivals and line-ups filled with flash-in-the-pan bands? If you’re looking for something along classic lines that also recognises thoughtfully hand-picked contemporary talent, the Ramblin’ Man Fair in Kent may get you back in the festival spirit with rock, prog, blues and even country stages coming together for its second year. “The idea behind Ramblin’ Man was to create a festival catering to the changing tastes of the great British public – Southern rock, outlaw country and blues,” says the weekend event’s head of talent, Abbie Marshall. “And to create a weekend event that felt organic and far less corporate than the usual rock festivals we’ve seen of late.” There’s no doubt that those genres have been supported by rock gig-goers across the age divide…

The Mayfair flat where Jimi Hendrix lived, rehearsed and gave interviews is now open to visitors as part of the permanent Handel & Hendrix In London exhibition. Though their eras were over 200 years apart, legendary composer George Frideric Handel and Jimi’s residences in Brook Street were separated by just a wall. The flat the guitar legend shared with girlfriend Kathy Etchingham between July 1968 and March 1969 was described by him as “the first real home of my own” and legend has it Hendrix once saw the German composer’s ghost moving through the brickwork there (or ‘Mr Nightshirt And Grey Pigtail, as he called him). The residence has now been restored to form a joint attraction with Handel House, and includes his Epiphone FT-79. The guitar was bought at…

“When I recorded my first album (‘Randall’s Island’), my co-producer Eddie Kramer used flange rather effectively – as he had plenty of experience using this effect with Jimi” Elliott Randall FX – the universally accepted shorthand for ‘effects. You can often find these letters scribbled on a mixing console, or typed into a channel or three in the DAW environment. Before tackling any particular family of FX, though, let’s look back into their history, and their relationships with our guitars. The earliest forms of‘effect’that you can trace back in recording history would be reverb and echo. No pedals in those days – the‘effects’were dialled in through the control-room console – for reverb, there would be a separate isolated room where a sound (guitar) would be fed into a speaker; at…

CoaCh Line You guys do a great job of reviewing new gear from the affordable to the crazy, but you miss out one vital thing all beginners need, which is tuition! There are so many books, DVDs and websites out there it’s hard to know what is worth your hard-earned cash. If you could do a regular small feature reviewing books or website of this kind, I think it would help out a lot of new starters. Steve Swan, via email Thanks Steve, the satisfaction of acquiring new chops on guitar is the best feeling in the fretted kingdom. Look out for a major feature on how to master guitar faster in these pages soon, which will feature a bumper roundup of the best aids to advancement. Mature Student I’ve…

“Early on, I knew if I could keep my act together, not die from taking drugs or drinking too much, then I might have some hope of a long career. All the people I looked up to, like Muddy [Waters] or jazz players, they’d all been in it for the long haul – that’s what I wanted.” Now in her fifth decade of performing, Bonnie Raitt’s wish has certainly become a self-fulfilling prophecy. And like fine wine, she just goes on getting better. When you watch Bonnie gliding around on stage, a lithe, diminutive figure pulling out slide lines on her battered Fender Strat ‘Brownie’, she plays with the kind of fire that might fool you into thinking she’d only just got the hang of the thing. Bonnie was raised…

1967 PRINCETON BOOGIE OR ‘PRE-BOOGIE’ Randall Smith made his name as one of the West Coast’s top amp hot-rodders by reworking the humble Fender Princeton with a very powerful 100-watt output stage and a high-efficiency loudspeaker, usually a JBL D-120 or an Altec 417. According to legend, it was one of these amps that Carlos Santana wailed through one day in Prune Music, causing a sizeable crowd to gather, before exclaiming, “Man, that little thing really boogies!” The rest, as they say, is history. 1 1972 MARK I ‘SNAKESKIN’ The original Mark I (known as ‘The Boogie’ until the Mark II arrived) is the amp at the core of Santana’s signature lead tone. The first completely fabricated Mesa amplifiers were actually the Lead and Bass 130 heads, which were made…

1 TONE CITY SWEET CREAM £39 ORIGIN: China TYPE: Overdrive pedal FEATURES: True bypass, stick-on Velcro pad for baseplate CONTROLS: Volume, Touch, Gain, bypass footswitch CONNECTIONS: Standard input, standard output POWER: 9V DC adaptor (not supplied) DIMENSIONS: 45 (w) x 93 (d) x 50mm (h) Andertons 01483 456777 www.tonecityaudio.com Chinese brand Tone City offers a range of space-saving budget pedals that follow the mini-pedal paradigm of being battery-free and featuring space-saving offset inputs and outputs. Build quality seems extremely solid for the price range and there’s a neat touch, in that the main knob is transparent and lights up blue when the pedal is engaged. The Sweet Cream is a low-level overdrive pedal. It has standard Gain and Volume controls but also has a Touch knob that goes beyond a…

ORIGIN: USA TYPE: Fuzz pedal FEATURES: True bypass CONTROLS: Treble/ Bass, Fuzz, Volume, bypass footswitch CONNECTIONS: Standard input, standard output POWER: 9V battery or 9V DC adaptor (not supplied) DIMENSIONS: 67 (w) x 127 (d) x 58 mm (h) Rocky Road 01494 535333 earthquakerdevices. com A collaboration between EarthQuaker Devices and Colby Amps has resulted in the Colby Fuzz Sound, known as the Park Fuzz Sound in the USA, as Colby has the rights to the name there. Park was Jim Marshall’s alternative company back in the 60s and the original Park Fuzz Sound from those days was a branded version of a Tone Bender. This new pedal takes that design, complete with matched NOS Germanium transistors, and packages it in a more practically sized pedal with extra…

Expert Panel Jamie Dickson Guitaristeditor Jamie is as happy with steel wool in his hand as he is with Steely Dan in his headphones, and loves vintage-gear restoration and ambitious signal chains. Dave Burrluck Guitarist’s assiduous reviews editor is also the author of numerous guitar books.Very handy with a fret file and indeed any aspect of a finely fettled six-string. Mick Taylor Ex-editor of Guitarist, Mick has wielded Allen keys, screwdrivers and sandpaper from an early age; he also has a worrying obsession with pedalboards. Neville Marten Edited Guitaristfor 13 years, after working for both Fender and Gibson as a repairer. From desirable Les Pauls to dream Strats, he’s owned and worked on the lot. Nick Guppy Guitarist’s amplifier specialist has built up a wealth of experience gained from collecting,…

The Jaguar was introduced in 1962 as a flagship for the Fender line. With a body design and features that borrowed heavily from the Jazzmaster (launched two years earlier), the Jaguar was seen initially as Leo Fender’s most sophisticated model yet. Jaguars featured a short-scale neck, just 24 inches, as opposed to the Stratocaster’s and Telecaster’s 25.5-inch scale length, and they also had a 22-fret fingerboard. Initially aimed at guitarists on the very fashionable surf-music scene, the switch-laden Jaguar boasted twin circuits so that either lead or rhythm electronics could be employed. The pickups also featured a metal claw-like surround that was said to enhance the efficiency of their magnets. Not quite so popular was the rubber pad just by the bridge, which could be levered into place by the…

Chris Cornell 24 April to 3 May Various UK and Ireland venues Some will know Cornell for his nuanced rock with Soundgarden, but for several years, he’s been showing that band’s songs, his solo work and enviable back catalogue with Audioslave and Temple Of The Dog in a wholly different light with one-man acoustic shows. But even an artist who has penned a Bond theme can feel the pressure of facing a crowd with only a Martin dreadnought. “Granted, I have a lot of songs and a huge catalogue and history to draw from,” Cornell admits, “and I don’t have to go out there and play everything perfectly, but it’s still a sort of naked experience.” It’s one that’s continued to gain acclaim from audiences around the world. So, if…

1 Raymond Weil Nabucco Gibson Automatic Chronograph Watch £3,495 The Geneva watchmaker’s special-edition design is inspired by the self-tuning Gibson SG Standard. This version of the Nabucco has a bespoke RW5010 mechanical chronograph self-winding mechanism with a 46-hour power serve and features 27 jewels, housed in its steel and titanium 46mm-diameter case. The six grooves encircling the black galvanic dial symbolise strings. www.raymond-weil.com 2 Fulltone Solid State Tape Echo £999 This is Fulltone’s spiritual successor to the Maestro Echoplex EP-3; an analogue circuit with real moving tape and that much-loved preamp, but some key upgrades. The Vintage and Brilliant modes offer added versatility on a unit around a third of the size of the EP-3, making it much more practical for your rig. Fulltone has also managed to eliminate the…

Shop Front I’m 48 and have played guitar since the age of 13, and have a collection of nearly 30 guitars. I have had success writing heavy rock music for movie soundtracks – Dukes Of Hazzard, Grown Ups 1 and 2, Hot Tub Time Machine, plus quite a few others. Here’s what I faced when visiting a well-known music chain recently. I stood in front of all four counter assistants who were not serving anyone else in the shop, and had to wait to get eye contact with one of them as they all had their heads down, taking no interest in who was on the shop floor. When I asked for confirmation of the wattage and the price of the EVH III Lunchbox head they had in the showroom,…

“I’d love to tell you that I go into my dressing room and play scales for an hour or sing scales for an hour, but I am one of the least disciplined musicians you will ever meet” What was your first ever gig? “It would be the school disco at my secondary school and it was with my heavy metal group, Paradox. That was ’81, I would have been 12 or 13 years old. I was the singer/guitar player and we were really influenced by the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. We played for our school friends before a disco and they patiently endured listening to us do our thing…” Could you describe your current stage rig for us? “I’ve got a bunch of pedals, all analogue except for…

When the gavel finally fell in the auction of John Lennon’s ‘lost’ 1962 Gibson J-160E acoustic in California last November, the bidding closed at $2.4m. For John McCaw, who had originally bought the guitar for just $175, the hammer’s crash also marked the end of a remarkable piece of detective work – and a kind of farewell. John bought the guitar in 1969 from a friend, Tommy Pressley, who had picked it up at a San Diego music store called The Blue Guitar two years previously. Neither man had any inkling at the time that the guitar had previously been the main squeeze of John Lennon, who originally bought it at Rushworth’s Music Store in Liverpool in September 1962, for just over £161, and used it to create some of…

It had all the trappings of a heist movie. We’d been directed to a windswept farm, miles from anywhere in the midst of the Somerset countryside on a chilly winter’s day to await the arrival of the boss of the Fun Lovin’ Criminal syndicate. Shepherded into a small, dingy room, crammed with drums, keyboards, amplifiers and other music paraphernalia, we awaited the arrival of the kingpin himself, Huey Morgan, whose band were due to hit the road the following week in celebration of the 20th anniversary of their debut album, Come Find Yourself. Originally released in 1996 at Britpop’s peak, the album was a refreshingly suave mix of hip-hop, rap and some catchy blues-based guitar work, and was enhanced with samples from Tarantino’s epic crime sprees Reservoir Dogs and Pulp…

“You gotta love a blonde,” Mike Voltz comments as he hands us the beautifully simple ’58-spec ES-335 new at this year’s show. Mike heads up Gibson’s Memphis division, where the company’s delectable semi-acoustic electrics are made. “1958 was the first year for the 335 and the early ones had unbound fingerboards,” he adds. “I really like that. It seemed to be the right time. We originally started with the ’59, because that’s the most popular, the most in demand. We got a sunburst version, too – and we matched the ’burst from an original ’58. It’s really nice. Pickup wise, we’re using the MHS humbuckers, which are scatterwound with mismatched coils, and they’re a little bit underwound.” Moving on to the Gibson’s stunning new medium-size hollowbody, the ES-275, he says:…

As ever, the signature guitar (or indeed amp, pedal, pickup etc) is alive and well. Ibanez has (yet) another Steve Vai signature, this time to celebrate and commemorate the 25th anniversary of Vai’s ‘Passion And Warfare’ album: the Universe Limited Edition has been released in three different finishes. The old school gets a contender in the form of the ’Dead’s Bob Weir: a reissue of his ‘Cowboy Fancy’, the BWM1. As befits a company board director, The Edge (at last!) gets his own signature Fender Strat (£1,259) and ’57 Deluxe tweed combo (£1,739). The guitar features numerous tweaks, like a DiMarzio FS-1 at bridge with two Custom Shop ‘flat staggered’ Fat ’50s single coils, 70s headstock with two-post…

Fender’s Custom Shop builders are past masters – no pun intended – at intentionally ageing guitars so they look like they’ve been around since the days when Leo called Fullerton home. Even today, 20 years after the first aged Fender was launched at the January NAMM of 1995, not everyone likes the idea of intentionally distressing a new guitar to make it look old and well-used: indeed, it continues to be one of the most divisive subjects that readers write into Guitarist about. But for those who crave a vintage vibe, yet find the prices of original vintage classics too salty, Fender’s Custom Shop has made a minor art form of emulating the marks that time leaves on an instrument. The question is, which instrument? “The thing about ageing is…

You know the feeling when you’ve managed to get within a hair’s breadth of a famous player’s sound and yet there’s still something missing? You’ve tried just about everything, but nothing seems to be able to fill in that final blank and frustration ensues. That just about sums up the experience of Fil ‘SoloDallas Olivieri, who was on the trail of nailing Angus Young’s tone. To sum up a 30-year quest, he eventually found what he had been looking for in the shape of an early wireless unit called the Schaffer-Vega Diversity System that the AC/DC axeman had used during the band’s Back In Black heyday – and its secret ingredient sound has now been captured in a pedal that’s going to shake you all night long. Read more over…

We often think of tone as being a special quality of a particular guitar, amp or effect. But the ‘big picture’ of your tone is created by the relationship between every link in the signal chain, from pickups to amps and effects. For example, some of the most memorable tones in guitar music are the product of really unusual – and sometimes accidental – combinations of gear that most of us would never think of trying. Here, we’ll look at some famous examples of how a distinctive ‘signature’ tone is more than the sum of its individual parts – meaning that the roots of some very famous guitar sounds aren’t as simple as they might seem… The King Of Tone All die-hard blues fans will know BB King’s Live At…

Q I love the sound of semi-acoustic and fully hollowbody electric guitars, as exemplified on Richard Hawley’s Remorse Code [from Truelove’s Gutter, 2009 – Ed]. I’d love to emulate the echoing, tremolo sounds he creates, but am not sure what to choose. My budget is around £800, but I can’t figure out whether to go for a centre block. I love the look of Gretsch, Guild, Epiphone and PRS, but which models would you recommend, and what should I be thinking about when choosing? Michael Clark, Denmark A Pretty much any semi-or hollowbody with a Bigsby can produce those wonderfully evocative tones, Michael. There’s a sizzle on the top that suggests Gretsch to us, but looking at live videos, Richard also plays a Gibson ES-335 with Bigsby. There’s plenty of…

Stevie Ray Vaughan Texas Flood Have a listen to Lenny, the final track, and you’ll have a good idea what inspired the example solo. SRV’s command of phrasing, dynamics and chord voicings was second to none and there are dozens of ideas here you can use to fuel your own improvisations. Also search for any live versions you can find for valuable insight into his creative process. Jimi Hendrix Various Rather than tie ourselves to one album, I’d like to point you in the direction of Little Wing, The Wind Cries Mary and Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland). The variety and quality of ideas here should keep you inspired for quite some time. Again, be on the lookout for alternative takes/live versions to kick-start your own improvisational process.…

Electrics Collings 290 TV Yellow with original case, all as new £1,500. Call Dave on 01865 765667 Oxford Epiphone Dot Semi. Natural with gold effect metal parts. Home use only. With case. £200. Call Rob on 01472 824566 or email jim.scubbinz@ntlworld.com Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster, Fiesta Red, soft V neck, maple fingerboard, excellent condition, complete with Fender case, strap, cable and labels. £900, Lancs 01282 868166 hunkydory@tiscali.co.uk Fender Jeff Beck Stratocaster 2014 Surf Green, pristine condition, barely used. Tweed case, all the tags and candy, £975, call Ron 01384 873390 West Mids Fender Stratocaster. 50s Road Worn Black with maple neck. Excellent condition (for a Road Worn)! Never gigged. With tags. Superb player, £650. Berkshire. Call Jack 07979 366229 Fender Stratocaster. Mexican, 2006. Fender 60th Anniversary model. Blizzard pearl with…