Inhoudsopgave van February 2022 - Guitarist

This month’s cover story, featuring historian Tony Bacon’s pick of the 50 most influential guitars in history, really shines a light on how the player and the guitar itself interact to create musical milestones. For while, in theory, the creative imagination of a musician is unlimited, guitars each impose a certain style on what we play. So if someone hands us an old resonator with an action like a power line, we might just get a bottleneck and make some great slide music with it. We probably wouldn’t opt to record a shred album with such a guitar, however. As the guitar evolved, change was often driven by players who needed to unlock extra performance that existing designs couldn’t deliver. Steve Vai and the creation of Ibanez’s JEM electric is…

PRICE: £799 (inc case) ORIGIN: China TYPE: Single-cutaway, solidbody electric BODY: Solid mahogany body and neck, maple cap with AAAA veneer NECK: Mahogany, 59 ‘smaller medium C’ profile, glued-in SCALE LENGTH: 628mm (24.75”) NUT/WIDTH: Graph Tech Tusq/43mm FINGERBOARD: Bound Indian laurel, pearloid trapezoid inlays, 305mm (12”) radius FRETS: 22, medium jumbo HARDWARE: Epiphone LockTone tune-o-matic bridge and stud tailpiece, Kluson-style vintage tuners – nickel-plated STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 52mm ELECTRICS: Gibson Burstbucker 2 (neck) and Burstbucker 3 (bridge), 3-way toggle pickup selector, 2x volumes, 2x tones (CTS pots/ Mallory capacitors) WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.69/8.1 OPTIONS: No RANGE OPTIONS: No LEFT-HANDERS: No FINISH: Lazarus aged gloss only Epiphone www.epiphone.com PROS Build, looks, finish, playability, value; a brilliantly thought-out, relatively budget guitar that punches well above its weight CONS Difficult to fault at this…

1. Rock Revival YouTuber Pete Thorn and friends rock the classics Los Angeles-based sideman and YouTube guitar star Pete Thorn is coming over to the UK to tour with The Classic Rock Show 2022 (theclassicrockshow.com) from 7 January to 16 February. The show, which sees Thorn partner with stellar Brit guitarist James Cole, will feature a feast of exacting covers of legendary tracks from Led Zeppelin to Eric Clapton. Cole and Thorn stress this isn’t your average tribute show – and with a host of topflight session musicians in the band, that’s no idle boast. 2. Smell Of Success Iommi returns with new music… and fragrance Tony Iommi has released his first new track since 2013’s Black Sabbath 13 album – and the doomy and orchestral Scent Of…

Artist: Chris Standring Album: Wonderful World (Ultimate Vibe/Lateralize Records) British-born guitarist Chris Standring has been a leading light of the jazz-guitar scene in America for many years. Described as “one of the most lyrical guitarists in jazz” by Jazz Times, his latest album, Wonderful World, is likely to win him plenty of new fans across the pond, too. An elegant collection of jazz standards, the album’s lush orchestral parts were recorded in Studio Two at Abbey Road – but the real star of the show is Chris’s sublime melodic playing on a Benedetto archtop. He joins us to talk about the difficult task of bringing fresh life to classic melodies for the album, and also offers invaluable, down-to-earth advice on how to go beyond ‘shapes and boxes’ and become truly…

What? Fender FSR Tribute Stratocaster, Black Where seen? www.guitarguitar.co.uk Price? £749 If the mention of a Gilmour Strat has got the juices flowing for a post-Christmas bargain then look at this. It’s Guitar Guitar’s exclusive black ‘Special Run’ Fender Strat, specially spec’d to look like the one that sold at auction recently for a staggering $3,975,000. However, the FSR Strat has a modern 22-fret, 24mm (9.5-inch) radius ’board, Custom Shop Fat 50s pickups, quality die-cast tuners and, of course, the classic Fender vibrato (here upgraded to a twin-post floating vibrato with bent steel saddles). They may all be gone by the time you read this, but check out the Guitar Guitar website just in case (or, as with the FSR Strat, Fender padded gigbag).…

FIRE ALARM In your article about Jimi Hendrix in the November issue of Guitarist [issue 478] you state that the first time Jimi Hendrix burned a guitar on stage was at the Finsbury Park Astoria in March 1967. This is an often-quoted myth – a myth because it was not the first time he did so. The Finsbury Park gig was on Friday 31 March 1967. But on the Tuesday of that week, Tuesday 28 March, three days before, Jimi played at the Assembly Hall in Aylesbury and on that night he burned a Strat on stage. How can I be sure? Because I was at that gig and standing at the front of the stage, no more than 10ft from Hendrix as he put his guitar down on the…

Some of you may be surprised to learn that Dave Brock – captain of the good ship Hawkwind – celebrated his 80th birthday earlier this year. But while many octogenarians are busy putting their feet up and enjoying retirement, Dave can’t think of anything worse. “I don’t want to retire,” he states emphatically. “It’s boring.” Indeed, this year has seen the band put out their 34th studio album, Somnia – the follow-up to last year’s Carnivorous and 50th Anniversary Live albums – while the Dust Of Time: 1969-2021 anthologies were released in December. Amidst it all, Guitarist caught up with the space-rock overlord to traverse time and space (and various other dimensions along the way). My First Guitar “I was about 13 or 14 when I got my first guitar,…

The term preamp is being slammed on a lot of pedals these days – and it can be a bit confusing because what actually defines a preamp pedal? To understand this, let’s look at how an actual amplifier works. Your amp consists of a preamp stage and a power amp stage. The preamp stage takes the super-low output that comes from your guitar cable and introduces it to voltage gain and EQ. This voltage gain pumps up the signal to line level, so the power amp can work with it and actually move the coil of your amp’s speaker, which enables you to make loud beautiful music. So, a preamp delivers a bunch of the good stuff that shapes the tone and dynamics of your sound. To add to the…

“My current rig is the [Fender] Jason Smith Masterbuilt, built after my three of my Strats: the ’62 neck, the ’64 body and the colour of my ’97 reissue, which is Vintage White, being a big David Gilmour fan. My pedalboard is an RMC 10 wah-wah pedal, a King Tone Duellist, a King Tone silicon fuzz, a Honey Bee Amps Clean Drive – which I never switch off, it’s like a very subtle drive pedal – and a Tech 21 Reverb. That goes into a Honey Bee Amps 40-watt amp, which is based on a Fender 6L6 clean sound, but it’s built to be more like SRV’s amp, and I’m running into a pair of vintage EVM speakers from the 80s – a smooth-sounding, slightly dark speaker. That’s the rig…

Bernard Butler The former Suede guitarist shows us his collection of well-loved classic guitars and remembers his friend Bert Jansch on p80 Knowing Me ABBA’s guitar player Lasse Wellander recalls the challenges of playing for one of the most iconic acts in 20th century pop p50 Dave Brock Hawkwind’s psychedelic space-warrior looks back on some of the most out-there moments of an eventful career p72…

PRICE: £849 (inc case) ORIGIN: China TYPE: Double-cutaway, semi-solid electric BODY: Laminated maple/poplar/ maple without f-holes; solid maple centre block NECK: Maple, 59 ‘medium C’ profile, glued-in SCALE LENGTH: 628mm (24.75”) NUT/WIDTH: Tusq/43mm FINGERBOARD: Bound ebony, pearloid block markers, 305mm (12”) radius FRETS: 22, medium jumbo HARDWARE: Epiphone LockTone tune-o-matic bridge, TP-6 fine-tuning tailpiece, Grover Rotomatic tuners – gold-plated STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 52mm ELECTRICS: 2x Alnico Classic Pro pickups, 3-way toggle pickup selector, 2x volumes, 2x tones, 6-way Varitone switch (CTS pots/Mallory capacitors), mono and stereo outputs WEIGHT (kg/lb): 4.1/9.1 OPTIONS: No RANGE OPTIONS: No LEFT-HANDERS: No FINISH: Ebony gloss PROS Fabulous looks; huge range of tones; playability; great value CONS It’s a heavy guitar; some will be put off by the Varitone and dual outputs here…

For some reason, it’s still lodged in many people’s minds that Larrivée’s production is based in Canada. That might have been true years ago when Jean Larrivée first set up shop in Toronto, subsequently relocating first to Victoria and then Vancouver during the 1980s and 90s. These days, however, the company is based in Oxnard, California, Larrivée having finally closed down its Canadian operation for good back in 2013. It’s also the case that perhaps Larrivée doesn’t spring immediately to mind when the topic of quality production-line acoustics is raised. It’s true to say that Taylor and Martin are probably higher in the average acoustic player’s consciousness in this respect, but it would also be true to say that we’ve liked pretty much every Larrivée we’ve set eyes on since…

Fender Acoustasonic Player Telecaster £1,049 CONTACT Fender EMEA PHONE 0333 200 8765 WEB www.fender.com Wait, hasn’t Fender already done an Acoustasonic Tele? In the US range, yes, but this is the latest addition to the Acoustasonic family – the first time Fender has made its hybrid showstopper available as a more affordable model, and here it’s part of the Player series. Player, you say? So Mexican-made? It is indeed. And the upshot is that it’s precisely £700 cheaper than its US counterpart, which equates to a saving of 40 per cent. Yeah, and I bet 40 per cent of the features have been removed, too… Not at all. Actually, the Acoustasonic Player Telecaster might just be the best positioning of the guitar yet. This model’s spec is dangerously close to…

During a recent two-day booking for a Disney film at George Martin’s old studio, AIR, in North London, I got to thinking about the concept of nerves when performing or recording, and how to best deal with them. This particular session was mostly fingerstyle nylon-string guitar (I hesitate to use the term ‘classical’ in case I give the wrong impression of my abilities), and a smattering of mandolin, with a full string orchestra and piano. Before films such as these are released, I’m generally tied into some sort of confidentiality agreement, so I won’t go into specifics, but the principles could apply to many situations. For example, some of the worst nerves I’ve ever experienced were in a local bar in front of about 60 or 70 people. It was…

One thing I love about the craft of guitar making is that it occupies an interesting space where the boundaries of art and science cross over. A luthier must be able to cover a lot of ground in order to build instruments to the highest degree. Disregard the artistic elements of lutherie at your peril, for your craftsmanship and eye for design will be called into question. But ignore the science and your beautiful creation simply won’t work. Lately, I have been delving into some of the more technical aspects of my work. Here in Bristol there is a strong traditional folk scene so a lot of diverse folk instruments pass through my workshop, and “The differences in geometry between different string types means that to feel balanced is not…

Sometimes you want small chords in order to fit into a funk song or add a percussive backbeat. Today, we’re not talking about these – we’re looking at making the most sound possible, using all six strings and a wide range of notes (that is, from low to high). Chords such as these examples can be very effective on acoustic guitar, particularly if it is the sole accompaniment to a voice. Joni Mitchell is a master at this and would frequently use open tunings to assist with wide-ranging, complex chords. The good news here is that these chords capture much of that sound without the need for retuning. Based in the key of E major, the example chords outline part of an ascending major scale, which you’ll find quite useful…

Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus recruited Lasse Wellander into the ABBA fold very early in the band’s formation. They’d seen him play in both pop and blues-rock situations and knew he’d be great for the job. Not only did Lasse play on most of the singles and albums, he also trekked the world backing the band on the legendary ‘Abbamania’ tours of Australia and Japan, and an equally unforgettable sold-out run of shows at London’s Wembley Arena. A softly spoken, self-effacing musician, Lasse almost downplays his role in the creation of so many of those seminal tunes. But listen to almost any ABBA song and you might be surprised at just how many guitar parts there are – and it’s likely Lasse Wellander played some or all of them. We…

The late 90s were a tumultuous time for Bernard Butler. By 1998, the guitarist was four years out of Suede, the band that made his name, while a partnership with the mellifluous vocalist David McAlmont had broken down in similarly acrimonious style. Yet Butler was finding his voice, in every sense, not only starting to sing but discovering artists such as Bert Jansch and broadening his scope beyond the glam-inspired crunch of old. And when Creation Records offered him one of the music industry’s last blank cheques to chase down his first solo album, People Move On, Butler turned in what he now calls “a flawed, majestic trainwreck, overwrought and overdone”. Butler’s solo career didn’t last, and while the guitarist has gone on to become a fascinating, diverse and highly…

There’s huge competition for high-end single-cuts both above and below the Renegade in price. The UK has plenty to offer with more production-style models from the likes of Gordon Smith with its Graduate, which has a long list of order options and, in similar style, would cost just under £2k. At the other end of the market, there’s Patrick James Eggle’s carved-top Macon Single Cut (from £4,400), and Cream T has just entered the market with a range of chambered guitars co-designed by Billy Gibbons. The maple-topped Aurora Custom MP2PS (£2,999) includes pickup swapping. Solid-wood thinlines are less common over the more classic laminate style. Gibson’s Custom Shop reissues kick off around £4.5k, for example, while USA Production versions street from around £2.5k. Knaggs Guitars in the US offers the…

PRICE: £3,200 (inc case) ORIGIN: UK TYPE: Single-cutaway, chambered body hardtail electric BODY: Chambered striped sapele with figured maple top NECK: Quarter-sawn mahogany, glued-in SCALE LENGTH: 628mm (24.75”) NUT/WIDTH: Bone/43.8mm FINGERBOARD: Ebony, custom inlays, 254mm (10”) radius FRETS: 22, medium HARDWARE: Schaller Signum adjustable wrapover bridge, Robson open-gear stainless-steel tuners with antique faux-ivory buttons, Schaller strap locks STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 52mm ELECTRICS: 2x Robson covered Alnico V humbuckers, 3-way toggle pickup selector switch, individual pickup volume and tone controls WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.74/8.14 OPTIONS: Call for details and prices RANGE OPTIONS: The other single-cut in the range is the Trailblazer (from £1,800) and will be available with fully engraved metal front circa £6,000 LEFT-HANDERS: Not currently FINISHES: Burnt Toffee (as reviewed), more colours on request – gloss nitrocellulose to both body…

“Being at the forefront of innovation and evolution has been part of Gibson heritage for almost 128 years” This feature normally focuses on the design process behind a noteworthy new product, but this month we’ve cast the net wider, to discover what one of the world’s largest guitar brands – with a 128-year history – is planning next. While under previous management, Gibson tried to introduce novel features such as robo-tuners and brass nuts to its 2015 guitar range, something that gave the company a bloody nose in the court of public opinion. Chapter 11 bankruptcy followed, toppling CEO Henry Juszkiewicz from his throne at the head of the company after 32 years. Since then, under the leadership of JC Curleigh, the company has focused on the fundamentals of what…

Mixing speakers is the area of cabinet design that really grabbed my attention from the start. There is something to discover every day, and a surprise around every corner. It’s also a great subject to give an overview on several more techy areas, around which I plan to go into more detail in future articles. Let’s start with a few popular mixes. I’m going to be lazy and say, tonally, if there are two speakers you like and they’re going to be used for a similar job then you’ll probably like how they mix. Now, there are plenty of things to come that you should bear in mind, but this is a good place to start. I personally like a Celestion Vintage 30 (V30) in a 2x12, which I would…

Spring 1959 AC30; square cabinet; TV-front; 1x12; 2x EL34; discontinued 1960 Spring 1960 AC30 Twin; 2 channels/4 inputs (AC30/4); 2x12; 4x EL84; TV-front; cream/diamond covering; brown diamond grille cloth Summer 1960 Oyster Hammer Celestion T.530 speakers (previously Rola B024) Autumn 1960 Also available with 3 channels/ 6 inputs (AC30/6); split-front; fawn covering Early 1961 Azure blue Celestion T.530 speakers September 1961 AC30/4 discontinued Late 1961 Top Boost circuit available; copper panel (previously black) 1963 Black covering 1964 Grey panel; charcoal covering; black diamond grille cloth; Normal, Treble and Bass versions 1967 Tom Jennings leaves JMI…

“The 355 first appeared in 1958 [as the mono ES-355TD] and is just a more ornate version of the 335. Gibson basically put on the whole Les Paul Custom trim: the ebony ’board with the real mother-of-pearl blocks, as opposed to the ‘motherof-toilet-seat’ inlays; multiple layers of binding on both the front and the back of the body; and the gold hardware. “Most 355s are stereo [the ES-355TD-SV released in 1959], and the [ES-355TD] mono versions are very desirable. Most of the early guitars were Bigsby-equipped, and by 1960 they were available with a sideways Vibrola. At one point you could also get them with an ebony-block Vibrola, like a Les Paul SG. “The stoptail models – which are few and far between – are quite coveted. Players like the…

THE DOORS MORRISON HOTEL This album features a bold mix of blues and psychedelia, with Robby Krieger’s unique twist on the blues all over tracks such as Waiting For The Sun, Blue Sunday (featuring a major 7th, rather than dominant 7th/ Mixolydian feel) and Indian Summer, which really epitomises the mix of styles happening everywhere at the time (1970). Note the lack of distorted solos and how the lines are woven in and out of the chords themselves. CREAM ROYAL ALBERT HALL 2-3-5-6 2005 (LIVE) Taken from Cream’s reunion/ farewell concerts, these recordings show that the spirit was still strong in this trio, with that trademark exploratory approach from the turn of the 60s and 70s. Check out I’m So Glad (a Mixolydian chord progression by virtue of including a…

Epiphone is knocking it out of the park at the moment. We adored the Coronet, Crestwood and Wilshire trio featured back in issue 468, and this duet looks equally set to stun. On offer is a recreation of Joe Bonamassa’s legendary ‘Lazarus’ Les Paul, an instrument he resurrected from a dilapidated wreck into a delicious original-looking ’59 Les Paul. This sits alongside a jet black semi-solid ES-355-style Lucille model as played by perhaps the greatest electric blues guitarist of all. Bonamassa ‘Lazarus’ The story of how Joe Bonamassa acquired his ’59 Les Paul known as ‘Lazarus’ has been so widely told that we won’t go into it in micro detail here. The short version is that a guitar dealer friend brought Joe a tatty Les Paul that had been poorly…

PRICE: £2,428 (inc case) ORIGIN: USA TYPE: OM cutaway TOP: Canadian Sitka spruce BACK/SIDES: African mahogany MAX RIM DEPTH: 107.9mm MAX BODY WIDTH: 387.3mm NECK: Mahogany SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”) TUNERS: Larrivée standard 15:1 ratio NUT/WIDTH: Bone/44.3mm FINGERBOARD: African ebony FRETS: 20, medium jumbo BRIDGE/SPACING: African ebony with bone saddle/57.2mm ELECTRICS: LR Baggs Anthem WEIGHT (kg/lb): 1.57/3.46 OPTIONS: The OM is also available without the cutaway (OM-03 £1,899); various pickup options are available at an extra charge. See website for details RANGE OPTIONS: Larrivée’s 03 Series comprises a variety of body shapes, including the L-03 (£1,899), LV-03 (£2,299), D-03 (£1,899), J-03 (£2,199) & BT-03 (£2,279). See website for more info LEFT-HANDERS: Yes (no extra charge) FINISH: Satin natural (as reviewed) 440 Distribution 0113 2842342 www.larrivee.com PROS A well-wrought instrument with…

Remi Harris On Track Yardbird Arts Gypsy jazz par excellence on a mix of standards and originals On Track is Remi Harris’s third album and a continuation of his quest to revitalise the Gypsy jazz genre with a few twists of his own – garnered throughout his playing career, which started at the tender age of seven. The style itself, of course, is decades old and still faithfully adhered to practically note for note by a legion of Django Reinhardt fans worldwide. But Remi has found a voice that both tips its hat towards original stylings while adding his own forward-looking, contemporary flair. So it is that a version of Django’s immortal Nuages and Dinette sit side by side with Remi’s (all too brief) take on Led Zeppelin’s Rain Song…

When I learned the theme of this issue – 50 Guitars That Changed The World – I thought this month I’d talk about some of the esteemed guitars that have passed through my hands over the years. Thinking back on these encounters, it seems unbelievable that they even happened. The first famous guitars I played were while working as a guitar repairer at Selmer’s in Woolpack Lane, Braintree. I believe we had Jimmy Page’s EDS-1275 on one occasion, but I can’t be totally sure. It came from Selmer’s in London, and because we thought it was the Stairway legend, we all did a bit of the work. I fitted a new 12-string nut. Then there was the Woodstock Strat. I’ve told this story so many times that I’ll skip it…

Many guitarists will swear that electric guitars with nitrocellulose finishes – the kind you’d find on many 50s and 60s Fender electrics, for example – sound the best. It’s a sweeping statement and, almost immediately, one can think of exceptions to that bit of tone folklore. But is there a grain of truth in it? And if so, why would nitro finishes perform better than polyester or polyurethane finishes? Curious, I dropped a line to one of the UK’s top luthiers Patrick James Eggle. His wonderful nitro-finished Macon single-cut electric won a deserved Gear Of The Year award in our last issue, but his decades of experience include making top-quality guitars with all kinds of finishes. So if anyone is well placed to give an informed answer, it’s Patrick. His…

SHIM SATISFACTION We’re all on various online forums for our favourite guitars, aren’t we? So I was delighted to be able to pass on some of your sage advice to a fellow Guild enthusiast. He posted about becoming the owner of a brand-new Guild Starfire II (ST Dynasonic). The Dynasonic bridge pickup was too close to the strings and therefore a hell of a lot louder than the neck pickup. He added that there didn’t seem to be any way of lowering the pickup, either. The setup straight out of the box was good, but the strings just cleared the bridge pickup. He’d tried adjusting the small screws next to the poles, but it didn’t do anything and, at that stage, he thought he might have to return the guitar.…

We don’t quite have 24 hours with him (more like a strict 30 minutes). But it’s remarkable how closely an interview with Kiefer Sutherland resembles a chat with a normal human being. Answering the phone from Los Angeles in that unmistakable honey-and-grit drawl, he’s the most gracious megastar you’re ever likely to encounter, more like a guitar shop regular than the man who stared from your childhood Lost Boys poster as a peroxide vampire. At the grand old age of 55, Sutherland is paying his dues all over again. Unlike his movie and TV career – a context in which he’s been a stone-cold icon since Stand By Me, 35 years ago – the Canadian’s two country albums since 2016 have seen him shinning up the greasy pole and playing…

PRICE: £3,600 (inc case) ORIGIN: UK TYPE: Double-cutaway, heavily chambered solid wood thinline BODY: Chambered striped sapele with European figured maple top NECK: Quarter-sawn mahogany, glued-in SCALE LENGTH: 628mm (24.75”) NUT/WIDTH: Bone/44.8mm FINGERBOARD: Ebony, custom inlays, 254mm (10”) radius FRETS: 22, medium HARDWARE: Roller saddle bridge, trapeze tailpiece, Robson open-gear stainless-steel tuners with antique faux-ivory keystone buttons, Schaller strap locks STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 50.5mm ELECTRICS: 2x Robson covered humbucking-sized P-90s, 3-way toggle pickup selector switch, individual pickup volume and tone controls WEIGHT (kg/lb): 4.04/8.9 OPTIONS: Call for details and prices RANGE OPTIONS: The Dream 17 (£8,000) is the only archtop in the current range. Another double-cut, the solidbody Reiver, starts at £2,800 LEFT-HANDERS: Not currently FINISHES: Amber Fade (as reviewed), more colours on request – gloss nitrocellulose to both body…

What was the first serious guitar that you bought with your own money? “I had a bar mitzvah when I was 13 years old and you obviously get a bit of bar mitzvah money that’s supposed to be for a deposit on a car when you come of age or maybe some university money, but I managed to convince my father to release the money and I bought myself a Clapton signature Strat. It was my first proper guitar and it cost a chunk of money. It was in the 90s and it was Pewter with the Lace Sensor pickups in, and that was the first guitar I bought with my own money. It was one of the most special moments of my life!” What was the last guitar you…

When you combine two resistors in series, to calculate the total resistance you simply add the two values together. Adding one resistor to another in parallel is different: it results in a lower combined resistance. Thankfully, you’ll find series and parallel resistance calculators online. Try Digi-Key at https:/ /bit.ly/git481mod, for example. If you want to test your maths the formula is: R parallel = (R1 x R2) ÷ (R1 + R2). Adding that 470k resistor to a 550k pot in parallel results in 253.5k when rounded up. Two pickup coils of 4k each when wired in series, like a standard humbucker, result in a pickup with a resistance of 8k. If you wire those pickup coils in parallel, the resistance becomes 2kohms.…

Tom Jennings’firm Jennings Musical Industries (JMI) had previously marketed the Univox,Vox Amplifier and ‘G-Series’ amplifiers before the company’s first electric guitar amplifier – the AC2/30 – was developed.Appearing in late 1957, this 30-watt 1x12 combo was powered by two EL34s but never went into mass production.At the time,JMI was concentrating its efforts on the 15-watt 1x12 AC1/15 aka AC15, which was successfully released in January 1958. In spring 1959, the 1x12 30-watt AC30 appeared.This version featured the same 1x12 speaker and square TV-front design as the AC15, but it used a pair of EL34 power valves rather than EL84s. Discontinued in 1960, it was superseded by the Fender Twin-inspired AC30 Twin model earlier that year.This advanced design utilised a quad of EL84s and was fitted with dual 12-inch speakers. Much…

1. SERIAL NUMBER Black/silver metal plate on rear stamped ‘AC30’ and ‘4996B’ 2. CABINET Baltic birch plywood; 27 ½ inches wide by 20 ¾ tall by 10 ¼ deep; split-front; two-piece open wooden back 3. ORNAMENTATION Fawn Rexine covering; three brass vent louvres; three leather handles (originally!); white vinyl front piping; gold fascia front strip; brown diamond grille cloth; horizontal one-piece plastic Vox motif 4. CIRCUIT Steel/aluminium Contempo chassis; 30 watts; dual Voxbranded 12-inch Celestion T.530 Azure blue speakers; valves: one GZ34 rectifier; one ECC82 (vibrato modulator); four ECC83 valves; four EL84s 5. MAINS & CONNECTIONS Mains power switch; indicator lamp; three-amp fuse; voltage selector (115, 160, 205, 225 & 245 volts); six inputs/three channels labelled Vib-Trem, Normal & Brilliant 6. CONTROLS Copper panel with six black plastic chickenhead knobs…

Mixolydian Psychedelic Blues Tutor Richard Barrett | Gear used Knaggs Choptank, Vox AC15 C1 Difficulty | 10 mins per example IF YOU’VE ALREADY VENTURED into what many regard as the mysterious world of modes, the name Mixolydian may be familiar to you. If not, no problem. My own approach to modes has always been intuitive, rather than methodical, but whichever way you choose to proceed, there should be something in this article for you. I think we can agree that when soloing over a 12-bar blues in the key of A major, the A major scale would not be conducive to cool-sounding blues solos. Try this yourself over the backing if you’re not convinced. Yes, it’s possible to come up with a phrase here and there, but the overall impression…