Inhaltsverzeichnis für November 2021 in Guitarist

Our cover feature this month deals with a question that all of us have pondered at one time or another: what happens to the guitars that pass out of our lives, either sold, stolen or misplaced? The fate of instruments used by iconic players such as Jimi Hendrix is of special interest (see feature, page 62), but every player can lay claim to at least one story of guitars lost and regretted ever after. Some, including Whitesnake veteran Bernie Marsden, have suggested that guitars should come with a logbook like a car – providing a record of who has owned them. But perhaps it’s better that mystery accompanies guitars that come into our lives without provenance. Like a stray cat that climbs in through the window one day and makes…

PRICE: £1,112 (inc hard case) ORIGIN: Indonesia TYPE: OM/Auditorium cutaway BODY: Figured Java mango NECK: Mahogany SCALE LENGTH: 645mm NUT/WIDTH: Tusq/43mm FINGERBOARD: Macassan ebony MAX BODY WIDTH: 385mm MAX RIM DEPTH: 115mm FRETS: 20 TUNERS: Grover Rotomatics STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 55mm ELECTRICS: Fishman INK3 WEIGHT (kg/lb): 2.4/5.2 OPTIONS: None RANGE OPTIONS: Faith’s Venus-style acoustic range currently extends to 12 models, including the FVHG3 (£1,215), FKV (£609), FECV (£903), FKVCD (£639) and FKVMG (£705). See website for more details LEFT-HANDERS: No FINISHES: Gloss Barnes & Mullins 01691 652449 www.faithguitars.com PROS Unusual but visually appealing acoustic with a sound very much its own CONS Dark and moody might not be everyone’s cup of tea…

One of the questions I frequently get asked is ‘how important is sight-reading if I want to be a freelance guitar player?’ I’ve mentioned the subject of sight-reading once or twice here over the past few years, but two gigs I’ve recently been involved in provided good examples of contrasting situations and uses for this skill, which I hope will be of help to anyone interested. The first was an album of Celtic-style instrumental music for composer Jody Jenkins via the production music company Audio Network, while the second was an orchestral concert playing music by Queen, ABBA and a few other bits and pieces at Henley Festival, for musical director Steve Sidwell. “Sight-reading is a fantastically useful skill for a working musician to have… but is in no way…

HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH? I found Neville Marten’s column in issue 475 regarding how many guitars we need very interesting. I always considered myself very minimalistic, unlike some of my colleagues with 40-odd guitars. For 20 years I gigged the same Strat with a Yamaha Pacifica as a backup. I managed to get all the sounds I needed from the Strat, despite covering the majority of styles. It did – and still does – have two single coils and a humbucker with a coil-split. However, on my 50th birthday a few years back I was lucky enough to be gifted a Music Man Luke III [pictured] and an Ibanez semi from my wife and a playing colleague. Now I never know what to take to the gig – so many…

Let’s face it: 2020 was a helluva year. We all dealt with the global pandemic, the resulting lockdown and the general disruption and destruction of normal, everyday life in our own way. In John Mayer’s case, he made a record. And the record he made, Sob Rock, his eighth solo effort overall, is unlike any he has recorded previously. Its 10 tracks look to the past – specifically, the 80s music of Mayer’s childhood – in an effort to conjure a sound that, he admits, brought him comfort in uncomfortable times. “I started making music that I would find really soothing,” he says. But the record also does something else. In revisiting the sounds of his youth, Sob Rock reconstitutes a sort of pop craftsmanship – tightly arranged, highly melodic,…

1 Not another refresh and price increase from Fender? No, the Player Plus models – four guitars and three basses – upgrade the big-selling Fender Player series models. They’re an extension of that range, not a replacement. More expensive? Yes. But higher spec’d, too. 2 Upgrades? For example? Well, hum-cancelling Noiseless pickups for one, with expanded control circuits. Then we have upgraded bridges with block saddles, not to mention rear-locking tuners. They’re the most modern-style Mexican-made Fenders with a 305mm (12-inch) fingerboard radius, too. Think American Ultra… for considerably less money. 3 Is Fender still using pau ferro for its ‘rosewood’ fingerboard option? Yes, after the recent (albeit now relaxed) export restrictions on certain rosewoods, pau ferro was chosen as a replacement on the more cost-effective Mexican-made models. Fender says…

PRICE: £939 (inc gigbag) ORIGIN: Mexico TYPE: Double-cutaway solidbody electric BODY: Alder NECK: Maple, Modern ‘C’ profile, bolt-on SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”) NUT/WIDTH: Synthetic bone/42.89mm FINGERBOARD: Pau ferro, pearloid dot markers, 305mm (12”) radius FRETS: 22, medium jumbo HARDWARE: Nickel/chrome-plated 2-point vibrato (with steel baseplate and die-cast block) and steel block saddles,‘F’ logo rear lock tuners STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 52.5mm ELECTRICS: 3x Fender Noiseless single-coil sized humbuckers, 5-position lever pickup selector switch, master volume, tone 1 (neck and middle), tone 2 (bridge) w/ pull-push which adds the neck pickup to position 1 bridge and 2 bridge and middle WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.8/8.36 OPTIONS: None RANGE OPTIONS: The Player Plus Stratocaster HSS (£979) adds a Wide Range-style covered full-size humbucker at bridge. The Player Stratocaster currently costs £679 LEFT-HANDERS: Not currently FINISHES:…

1 So, what exactly is new here? It’s really a case of something old, something new. Gibson’s famously innovative president, Ted McCarty, had the idea of putting a side port on a J-45 during the early 60s, but the concept never reached the production line. Until now. 2 Does a side port really make a difference? Yes, it does. A second soundhole facing the player means you hear a slightly different voice from the guitar when you’re in the driving seat. Does it make a difference to those listening at a distance? Hmm… 3 Walnut back and sides instead of rosewood or mahogany? Why not? Walnut is a very capable timber and many manufacturers have succumbed to its charms. Furthermore, unlike rosewood and mahogany, the use of walnut is entirely…

PRICE: £1,449 (inc gigbag) ORIGIN: USA TYPE: Cutaway dreadnought (Songwriter) electro-acoustic TOP: Sitka spruce BACK/SIDES: Walnut MAX RIM DEPTH: 102mm MAX BODY WIDTH: 407mm NECK: Utile SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (24.75”) TUNERS: Grover Mini Rotomatic NUT/WIDTH: Tusq/44mm FINGERBOARD: Ebony FRETS: 20 BRIDGE/SPACING: Ebony/55mm ELECTRICS: LR Baggs Element Bronze WEIGHT (kg/lb): 2.04/4.50 OPTIONS: None RANGE OPTIONS: See G-00 LEFT-HANDERS: Not as yet FINISH: Natural gloss PROS A superb little electro cutaway dread with stage readiness and oomph where it really counts CONS Practically zero to declare – perhaps a hard case (not gigbag)?…

“The main difference between a parallel single-ended Class A amp versus a Class A/B amp comes down to how hot the tubes are running. Basically, in a Class A amp, the tube is running at its maximum output the whole time,” Simon explains, “so it’s running hot. In Class A/B, because you split the output tubes into pairs or single units – one to amplify the positive side of the waveform, one to amplify the negative side of the waveform – then, in theory, when the positive side is working, the negative side is turned off and is cooling down. When you turn the negative side on, when it gets up to temperature you have an increase in a thing called crossover distortion, which as a guitar player you hear…

“The JMPs were born in the Plexi era – which is generally thought of as the period from the mid-60s up until the 70s when we were using Plexiglas plastic panels,” Marshall’s Steve Smith explains. “When Marshall first began building amps in the early 60s, we had the JTM45s. And then in the mid-60s, 50- and 100-watt amps appeared, which evolved from the JTM45 – the model 1987 being a 50-watt amp, and the 1959 model a 100-watt amp. Both of these models were originally available right up until 1981, although there aren’t many of the later ones around because people weren’t asking for them by then. “There were so many variations of amps that it can get confusing. For example, the model 1992 – as used by Lemmy –…

The Ibanez brand goes back a long way, specifically to late 19th century Spain with luthier Salvador Ibáñez (1854-1920). But it was the American guitar wizard Steve Vai who really put the name on the map with the launch of his now classic JEM signature solidbody at the NAMM Show in 1987. At the heart of it all is the Japanese Hoshino company who, in 1929, began importing Ibáñez classical guitars soon after the instrument became popular there. Unfortunately, the original Valencian Ibáñez workshop was destroyed in the late 1930s during the Spanish Civil War, at which point Hoshino began making acoustic guitars itself in Japan under the Ibanez brand. From the late 50s, in the wake of rock ’n’ roll, Hoshino began marketing electric guitars for export and the…

Jimmie Vaughan A lifetime of blues wisdom is condensed into Jimmie Vaughan’s candid and wide-reaching interview. Turn to p56 to read it Paul Reed Smith The master luthier behind the PRS brand shares with us his insights on staying in tune through better design on p42 Laney Lionhearts A British amp brand with maximum commitment to tone, Laney explains how it put the roar into its Lionheart series on p112…

PRICE: £1,250 ORIGIN: UK TYPE: Double-cutaway, solidbody hardtail electric BODY: 2-piece American ash NECK: Quarter-sawn roasted figured maple, standard C profile, bolt-on SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”) NUT/WIDTH: Bone/42.7mm FINGERBOARD: Roasted maple, rectangular black acrylic inlays, compound 254-305mm (10-12”) radius FRETS: 22, medium (Jescar FW55090) HARDWARE: Gotoh SB-5115-001 Strat-style hardtail bridge with block steel saddles and through-body stringing, Gotoh SD-91 vintage-style split-post tuners – nickel-plated STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 53mm ELECTRICS: Bare Knuckle Boot Camp Old Guard single coils, 5-way toggle pickup selector switch, master volume and tone controls WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.57/7.85 OPTIONS: PJD Hiscox hard case costs £160. HSS option. Scratchplate colour RANGE OPTIONS: PJD’s core guitar is the Carey in Standard (£1,899), Elite (from £2,399), Ltd Ed (from £2,699) and Custom (from £3,299) styles LEFT-HANDERS: To order, same price FINISHES:…

Compact, portable and good-looking, Thermion’s Zero Dynamic Hybrid Amplifier is the company’s solution to the ‘how do I amplify my pedals without a big heavy combo?’ predicament. The robust 2mm steel case is filled with all the goodies any pedal player could ask for, including a stereo 40 watts per channel Class D output stage, a pair of stereo balanced speaker-emulated outputs and a headphones socket, with a separate level control. There’s a built-in analogue ‘overdrive pedal friendly’ clean preamp, too, with Bass, Middle and Treble knobs, plus a three-way Bright switch and a digital reverb with short, medium and long modes. The Zero benefits from two loops: a mono ‘preamp loop’ that allows players to replace the Zero’s built-in preamp, and a mono-send/stereo-return effects loop. Both loops are footswitchable,…

Artist: Joachim Cooder Album: Over That Road I’m Bound (Nonesuch) The fog of time settles quickly upon the heroes of yesteryear. Uncle Dave Macon was a star of 1920s and 30s music, playing wild-spirited folk songs on banjo, which he had learned from the ordinary people of backwoods America, but today he’s a largely forgotten figure. However, Joachim Cooder has resurrected Macon’s entrancing songs, enlisting the help of guitar luminaries such as Vieux Farka Touré, son of the great Ali Farka Touré, to accompany his own gently percussive playing on the mbira (thumb piano). The result is an immersive album that transcends time and cultural boundaries. On the eve of a British tour, Joachim tells us how he gathered up half-forgotten strands of America’s musical traditions to make this superb…

When I’m not building guitars on commission and teaching lutherie, I take great pleasure in restoring and repairing stringed instruments for my customers. Most frequently this takes the form of straightforward setup work; I might be tweaking action or truss rods, perhaps levelling and replacing frets. However, every so often a more extensive project lands on my bench and this month it was an all-original mid-60s Hofner violin bass, a tantalising and beautiful instrument albeit in need of some love and attention. “The challenge is being able to take the neck out in the first place, and with all the guitar and bass designs out there one has to tread carefully” The body of the instrument was in good condition given its age, but the old lacquer finish had checked…

As an interviewee, Carlos Santana operates on a higher plane. Not for him the oily talk of truss rods and trim pots, nor analysis of such earthly tangibles as scales and modes. For the famously spiritual Mexican guitar god, music is a thunderbolt from the cosmos, the guitar a magical lightning rod, and his fingers the emissaries of some higher power. He can’t explain how he does it, other than via some of the most extravagant metaphors ever uttered by a rock star. “Every day, when I play guitar,” he muses, “I’m a kid with a first-class ticket to Disneyland, and I can go on any ride I want.” As one of the star turns at 1969’s Woodstock festival, Santana is a glorious product of those peace-and-love times. But that’s…

Neville Marten remembers his brush with a possible Hendrix artefact…“In 1971 I saw Free on TV with Paul Kossoff playing a white Strat. Instant lust set in so I trawled the London shops but to no avail.Then, in the Melody Maker ads Ispotted it: white Fender Stratocaster, rosewood neck, £115. I rang the number (Romford) and agreed to buy it. They would deliver it. “On the day, two besuited gents turned up with the guitar.They’d said it was nearly new, but even then I knew a small headstock meant otherwise. Still, I bought it. It looked stunning.When I took it to bits I discovered the neck was a slab ’board, pre’63, the neckplate was F-stamped with a 1966 serial number (which I still remember), and the pickups were different again;…

If these new Player Plus guitars up the spec over the standard Player Series models, they also reflect a seismic shift in how we play guitar today. “Player Plus is an extension of the Player Series, which was the most widely adopted Fender guitar series in 2020 and has sold more than 400k units since its 2018 debut,” states Fender’s launch PR. “Millions of new players began their learning journey during the pandemic, and for many, the Player Series provided a seamless entry into the Fender brand. “As digital platforms like TikTok have opened up pathways for artists to find audiences,” it continues, “Fender has designed Player Plus for the generation leading the charge: both online and as live music begins to roar back after its hiatus.” Indeed, in September…

With four different body styles and the price differential here we’re obviously covering a lot of ground. In the G-00’s price range, and parlour or 00 body sizes in particular, you might start looking at Martin’s 00L-X2E which streets at around £625 and Faith also have parlour models available, check out the Mercury range with prices from around £400 - £700, while Eastman’s E10 00 pushes the price up to over a grand at £1,239. Of course, none of these models has the side port. Moving up-range a little more to the dreadnought/jumbo region occupied by the G-45, G-Writer EC and G-200 EC there’s quite a wide breadth of choice. Companies like Yamaha (A5R ARE VN, £1,290) , Auden (check out the Colton range which has models around the £1,299…

PRICE: £1,099 (inc gigbag) ORIGIN: USA TYPE: Dreadnought (J-45) acoustic TOP: Sitka spruce BACK/SIDES: Walnut MAX RIM DEPTH: 103mm MAX BODY WIDTH: 460mm NECK: Utile SCALE LENGTH: 628mm (24.75”) TUNERS: Grover Mini Rotomatic NUT/WIDTH: Tusq/44mm FINGERBOARD: Ebony FRETS: 20 BRIDGE/SPACING: Ebony/51mm ELECTRICS: N/A WEIGHT (kg/lb): 1.42/3.14 OPTIONS: None RANGE OPTIONS: See G-00 LEFT-HANDERS: Not as yet FINISH: Natural gloss PROS Very nicely priced dreadnought, with Gibson’s 45 body shape having bags of history attached to it CONS As with the G-00, we’d quite like a pickup here, too…

While Hamstead’s previous drive pedals, the Odyssey and Subspace Intergalactic Drivers, both have three toggle switches (each with three options combining for a variety of sounds), the company’s latest all-analogue design, the Comet Interstellar Driver, takes a more back-to-basics approach with just a single two-way toggle switch on its front panel and a standard setup of Level, Gain, Bass and Treble knobs. Nevertheless, that toggle switch fully exploits the relationship between the pedal’s Drive and EQ circuitry: set it one way and you’ll get EQ after Drive, while the other option puts the EQ first. However, it’s not quite that simple because it also changes the type of clipping and gain structure circuitry when you flip the switch. Keeping the Bass and Treble knobs in their detented null positions, you…

“Pitch-shifting and modulation have transformative abilities and are cornerstones in scary sound designs” We all know that music and sounds hold immense emotional powers, and that also goes for the power to creep us all out like crazy. For instance, take horror movie soundtracks. Here, the music often acts as the monster much more than the on-screen monster itself as the soundscapes can hard-code tension, dread and drama into imagery that doesn’t visually carry it. Taking one classic example, without its absolutely soul-crushing and ominous score by Wendy Carlos, the opening title scene for The Shining would just have been a stunningly beautiful drive through majestic forests and mountains. It’s the eerie sounds that quickly tell us that danger is hidden beneath the beauty. So, I thought it could be…

Fender American Acoustasonic Jazzmaster with Dave Burrluck Confusion just about sums up what many readers, rock stars and our mates think about this guitar. Is it an epic fail by Fender’s marketing department, or is the Acoustasonic platform so forward-looking that no-one seems to be able to get their head around it? “This is a unique acoustic-based platform that blurs the lines between acoustic and electric” Well, while the world is scratching its head, we’ve been quietly working away with this guitar and, with our loan time at an end, we need some kind of conclusion. Before that, however, I can’t help thinking we need to reiterate what it is and what it isn’t. Despite its shape, the Acoustasonic Jazzmaster is an electro-acoustic guitar first and foremost. It’s mainly hollow,…

December 1986 Steve Vai & Ibanez collaborate June 1987 Steve Vai signature JEM777 launched: Loch Ness Green, Desert Sun Yellow & Shocking Pink finishes 1988 JEM777 (Desert Sun Yellow, Black) & JEM77FP (Floral Pattern) versions with rosewood/vine inlay ’boards 1990 U77 Universe: 7-string Vai signature 1996 JEM10TH (10th anniversary): bound ebony/vine ’board, Black finish, engraved metal pickguard 1998 JEM90HAM (Hoshino 90th anniversary): ebony ’board, textured blue finish, mirrored scratchplate 2000 JEM2KDNA: rosewood/vine ’board, swirl finish made with Vai’s blood 2003 JEM-JR aka JEM333: rosewood/ dot ’board; budget model 2007 JEM20TH (20th anniversary): transparent acrylic body, LED lights, rosewood/vine ’board 2017 JEM777 (30th anniversary): reissue of original ’87 model…

“Bill Carson [1926-2007] was a well-renowned guitarist who helped design the Stratocaster alongside Leo Fender. He was particularly involved with the guitar’s body contouring. And this is a very special guitar. It’s one of the first slab’boards and one of the first Fiesta Red Strats Fender produced. It also has gold hardware and comes with handwritten letters from Bill Carson. He hand-shaped the neck himself and his name is written in block letters on the heel – they didn’t want it to get mixed up with the other necks in the factory. “Fiesta Red was a big colour in the UK because of the Hank Marvin connection, and this is one of the early salmon-y looking Fiesta Red guitars. Before Fiesta Red, red Fender custom colour guitars were generally Fullerton…

Tutor Richard Barrett | Gear used Knaggs Choptank & Vox AC15 C1 Difficulty | 10 mins per example IT WOULD BE MISLEADING to deny how useful the five pentatonic shapes are when mentally mapping out the fretboard. However, as with any shape or scale, there is a risk of feeling ‘boxed’ into a safe zone, both in terms of melody and the physical patterns we come to habitually play. When we’ve played the same licks to the point of over-familiarity (even though they most likely still sound great to others), it can be a good idea to take back the initiative and break some habits. There are various ways we can approach this: adding in chord tones, extra notes from the major or minor scales, or referencing the CAGED chord/arpeggios…

Regular Guitarist readers will be aware of York-based guitar maker Leigh Dovey and his PJD team. If you caught our last issue, you’ll also know he’s busy preparing production of a new Cream T guitar co-designed with none other than Billy F Gibbons and, without letting any cats out of the bag, there are more collaborations in the pipeline. In the past 12 months since we last reviewed a PJD, the company has taken on more staff – which now number 12 – and is producing nearly 40 instruments per month. It all seems a long time away from playing an early PJD Woodford, nearly four years ago, which we featured in issue 438. Promise isn’t always fulfilled, but in this case it most definitely has been. Aside from that…

PRICE: £1,899 (inc case) ORIGIN: UK TYPE: Double-cutaway, offset chambered body hardtail electric BODY: 2-piece American ash (chambered) NECK: Quarter-sawn roasted figured maple, standard C profile, bolt-on SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”) NUT/WIDTH: Bone/42.7mm FINGERBOARD: Roasted maple, rectangular black acrylic inlays, compound 254-305mm (10-12”) radius FRETS: 22, medium (Jescar FW55090) HARDWARE: Gotoh SB-5115-001 Strat-style hardtail bridge with block steel saddles and through-body stringing, Gotoh SD-91 vintage-style split-post tuners – nickel-plated STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 53mm ELECTRICS: Cream T Eliminator humbucker (bridge) and P-90 soapbar single coil (neck), 3-way toggle pickup selector switch, master volume and tone controls WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.18/7 OPTIONS: F-hole, Bare Knuckle Boot Camp Old Guard humbucker/P-90. Choice of pickguard and pickup mounting ring colours RANGE OPTIONS: St John Elite (£2,399) adds figured (quilt/flame) maple top with a range of…

Way back in the spring of 2020 (issue 456) we looked at a Faith Blue Moon Neptune, declaring at the time that it had a “shelf-load of virtues” in the tonal stakes. With this guitar we’ve travelled a few planets closer to the sun, but the basic concept is really very similar. The Neptune introduced us to figured mango as a body wood, a theme that is continued here. Obviously this is a new voice in the acoustic field and, tone being a desperately subjective thing to describe, we’ll turn to Faith’s official voice on the matter. “It is not as loud and punchy as rosewood nor as straightforwardly mellow as mahogany, yet it bears its own distinctive warmth… the overall tone could be described as dark and moody.” We’d…

1. Think Floyd Night Ranger guitarist claims he was the first to use one Lifeson or Schon: who was first to fit a Floyd Rose on their Les Paul? Neither, according to Night Ranger’s Brad Gillis. “I was the first,” he claimed to The Jeremy White Podcast. “Floyd just came out with them and I wanted to put one on my Les Paul, and no-one had ever done it before. When I took it to Stars Guitars, they said, ‘Hey Brad, we’ve never seen or done this before.’ I had to get hold of Floyd and he had to send me the right size nut. Floyd had to send me a newly finished schematic for installing in a Les Paul. I got it back and it was great –…

Last issue, we looked at why scale lengths vary between different models of guitar. As we discovered, the relationship between string gauge and scale length determines the tension of your guitar’s strings at a given tuning pitch. This in turn influences how the guitar plays and sounds, so guitar makers will try to select a scale length that gives an instrument desirable performance characteristics when used with typical string gauges in standard tuning. Generally speaking, most electric guitars have a scale length somewhere between 622mm (24.5 inches) and 648mm (25.5 inches.) As mentioned last issue, scale length is usually defined as the distance from the nut to the 12th fret multiplied by two, a figure that equates (roughly) to the overall distance between the top nut and the saddles down…

DELUXE TREATMENT Shortly after attending my first big gig, watching Thin Lizzy at the Hammersmith Odeon, I bought a Japanese Shaftesbury LP Deluxe Goldtop and loved the sound the mini-humbuckers gave me. I sold it, regretted it and then spent 10 times as much on a 30th anniversary reissue Deluxe Goldtop 20 years later… only to hunt down and recover my old flame in 2019. (There’s another story there, trust me). To the point. When I saw Dave Burrluck’s review of the latest Deluxe offering in issue 476, my hopes went skyward. At last, a Deluxe being manufactured as a regular production model in what history may consider a ‘good’ Gibson period. They’ve used a one-piece neck, a one-piece body, lush-looking plain top, smaller headstock, slightly rounded heel (hallelujah!) and…

The Blues Came Calling “I was a total blues nut. I had all the Chess records. I’d save my lunch money at school and go buy Chuck Berry’s new hit. Magic Sam, Buddy Guy, Freddie King – I had all those records. We had great radio stations at the time, too. Like, there was a station in Dallas called WRR, and they would play blues from 10 till midnight. Then there was Wolfman Jack, WLAC out of Nashville… and that wasn’t even the local stations. Popular music was amazing back then.” Lucky Break “This friend at school said, ‘If you want a girlfriend, you’re gonna have to play football.’ I really didn’t want to. I remember, the football coach said to me, ‘Okay, run up for a pass and let’s…

In April of this year, two historic pieces of gear owned and played by Jimi Hendrix went up for sale at online retailer Reverb.com: a 1962 Fender Jazzmaster that Hendrix played with the Isley Brothers and Little Richard, and a heavily used Marshall Super Lead 100 that featured on stage throughout 1969. Both items were being sold by the LA-based Neil’s Gear Bazaar. The sunburst 1962-dated Jazzmaster was played throughout 1964 and carried an eye-watering price tag of $750,000. Elsewhere was a Marshall Super Lead 100 built in March 1969. Embossed with “J.H. EXP.” spray paint, it was used at a number of high-profile Hendrix performances that year, including the Rainbow Bridge Vibratory Color Sound Experiment in July,Woodstock Music and Art Fair in August, plus Isle of Wight Festival in…

PRICE: £939 (inc gigbag) ORIGIN: Mexico TYPE: Single-cutaway solidbody electric BODY: Alder NECK: Maple, Modern ‘C’ profile, bolt-on SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”) NUT/WIDTH: Synthetic bone/42.89mm FINGERBOARD: Maple, black dot markers, 305mm (12”) radius FRETS: 22, medium jumbo HARDWARE: Chrome-plated strings-through-body 6 block saddle bridge, ‘F’ logo rear lock tuners STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 53mm ELECTRICS: 2x Fender Noiseless single coil-sized humbuckers, 3-position lever pickup selector switch, master volume and master tone (with pull-push switch for series link of pickups) with knurled knobs WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.63/7.97 OPTIONS: None RANGE OPTIONS: The other Tele, the Player Plus Telecaster Nashville (£979), adds a Strat-style Noiseless pickup in middle position. The Player Series Telecaster currently costs £679 LEFT-HANDERS: Not currently FINISHES: Aged Candy Apple Red (as reviewed), 3-Colour Sunburst, Cosmic Jade and Silver Smoke PROS…

PRICE: £1,799 (inc gigbag) ORIGIN: USA TYPE: Jumbo (J-200) electro-acoustic TOP: Sitka spruce BACK/SIDES: Walnut MAX RIM DEPTH: 103mm MAX BODY WIDTH: 429mm NECK: Utile SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (24.75”) TUNERS: Grover Mini Rotomatic NUT/WIDTH: Tusq/44mm FINGERBOARD: Ebony FRETS: 20 BRIDGE/SPACING: Ebony/55mm ELECTRICS: LR Baggs Element Bronze WEIGHT (kg/lb): 2.14/4.72 OPTIONS: None RANGE OPTIONS: See G-00 LEFT-HANDERS: Not as yet FINISH: Natural gloss PROS Undoubtedly the pride of the fleet with all the power and glory of the J-200 without the hefty price tag CONS Again, virtually nothing, but we would like a fitted hard case…

PRICE: £899 (inc gigbag) ORIGIN: USA TYPE: Parlour/L-00 acoustic TOP: Sitka spruce BACK/SIDES: Walnut MAX RIM DEPTH: 104mm MAX BODY WIDTH: 373mm NECK: Utile SCALE LENGTH: 628mm (24.75”) TUNERS: Grover Mini Rotomatic NUT/WIDTH: Tusq/44mm FINGERBOARD: Ebony FRETS: 20 BRIDGE/SPACING: Ebony/56mm ELECTRICS: N/A WEIGHT (kg/lb): 1.68/3.72 OPTIONS: None RANGE OPTIONS: Gibson’s Generation Collection currently comprises the four models we have here on review LEFT-HANDERS: Not as yet FINISH: Natural gloss PROS Superbly able little 00 acoustic with bags of character and loads of tonally-enhanced volume CONS Maybe the addition of a pickup would seal the deal?…

KMA MACHINES Logan Transcend Drive £169 This drive pedal features a three-band EQ that includes a fully parametric mid-EQ with a separate on/off footswitch, plus the ability to place that mid-EQ before or after the main gain stage. ORIGIN EFFECTS RevivalDrive Compact & RD Compact Hot Rod £266 each These classy British drives offer a valve-amp-style signal path with practical control, and tone-shaping Post-Drive EQ to suit what you’re plugging into. HAMSTEAD SOUNDWORKS Subspace £249 If you want a Hamstead drive pedal and can handle a more complex control surface, the Subspace has three rather than two clipping options and also allows you to mix your dry sound with the driven.…

What was the first serious guitar that you bought with your own money? “It would be the 1964 Gibson ES-175D. I yearned for that guitar. I wanted to start playing when I was 10 and I started when I was 12, and after a few years of playing Guyatone, Burns and things, just regular guitars, I had the courage to say to my mum and dad, ‘I want a really good guitar; I want one of these 175D things…’ So they said, ‘Okay, we’ll help you,’ but I paid for it. My dad paid the deposit – I think it was £40 – and I paid all the instalments on the hire purchase from my hard-earned gig-money of the day. “That guitar is not only my first and best investment,…

1. SERIAL NUMBER Six-digits stamped onto neckplate; first two digits indicate year, eg 87XXXX = 1987; limited edition of 777 instruments hand-signed and numbered by Steve Vai 2. HEADSTOCK Pointed profile; JEM script logo; bold black Ibanez ‘tick’ logo; matching Loch Ness Green finish 3. BODY Stratocaster-style; basswood; offset double-cutaway; forearm, belly and neck joint contours; Monkey Grip handle hole; Lion’s Claw vibrato cavity; Loch Ness Green finish 4. PICKUPS & ELECTRONICS DiMarzio: two DP151 PAF Pro humbuckers (bridge/neck) and DP150 custom single coil (middle); master volume and tone pots; five-way selector switch (positions 2 and 4 split humbucker with middle pickup); side-mounted jack 5. HARDWARE Cosmo Black: six individual Gotoh tuners; single-bar string guide; Top Lok III locking nut; locking bridge two-point Edge vibrato system; two metal strap buttons…

ERIC JOHNSON VENUS ISLE Eric has always managed to put his own unique stamp on the pentatonic by using slides and unusual groupings of notes. This album is full of stunning playing, though the most obvious example is When The Sun Meets The Sky, which features a number of beautifully melodic linear solos. Elsewhere, be sure to check out the outro of All About You. And for a deep dive into just how far Eric can take this approach, also have a listen to Camel’s Night Out. BUCK & EVANS WRITE A BETTER DAY A rising star in the guitar world, Chris Buck creates characterful bluesy parts and solos without ever seeming to be ‘stuck’ in a pentatonic box. His contributions to Common Ground, Ain’t No Moonlight and Going Home…