Guitar Magazine March 2021

Interacting with other musicians in person may be extremely challenging at the moment but the spirit of collaboration has never been so abundant in the guitar industry. The design process behind this month’s cover star saw Epiphone and Gibson Custom put their heads together to create an affordable take on that most holy of grails, the 1959 Les Paul Standard. Meanwhile, this year’s virtual incarnation of the NAMM Show saw a deluge of new signature models released into the world as brands and artists unveiled the fruits of the past 12 months of mood boards, 3D-printed mock-ups, colour swatches, prototyping and everything else that goes with it. On p8, we ask this question of our team members and contributors but I’m also going to throw it out to you, dear readers:…

MARK ALEXANDER TALENT WRANGLER For this issue, writer and photographer Mark interviewed one of his guitar heroes, George Benson – but it didn’t come easily. “It took ages to arrange,” he says. “When it eventually happened, the connection wasn’t great, with a huge delay and feedback – on a George Benson interview! You could not make it up.” We think it was worth it. Head to p42 to judge for yourself. Mark’s dream guitar union is old meets new. “I’d love to see an old marque like Burns hook up with a progressive big-name brand to bring out the best of these often overlooked instruments.” LEIGH FUGE GUITAR GUIDE A guitar obsessive, Leigh has more than 15 years of experience on the stage and in the studio. These days, you’ll find him shooting videos for…

Join the conversation Email us at editors@guitar.com LOVER’S GUIDE Hi. I just read the article on the history of the Gibson Flying V [issue 389] in which it was claimed that it was Seth Lover who designed the Flying V. But was it not Ted McCarthy that came up with the concept for the Flying V, Explorer and Moderne? DARREN BAIRD, VIA EMAIL Tony Bacon responds: “This is a bit of a grey area, Darren, and so far there is no definitive answer. My own view, having interviewed both McCarty and Lover years ago, is that McCarty probably asked his team to come up with something ‘new and different’ and that Lover probably did make some sketches for the look of the Modernistics. The most likely Gibson man to have developed the ideas into…

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What first inspired you to pick up a guitar? Razor: “I got an electric guitar for Christmas when I was about seven, a junior Strat copy thing. I think it was a Cort. I used to pick it up and tinker around on it but couldn’t get the co-ordination down as it was righthanded and I’m a lefty, and I’d assumed to play it upside down. Anyway, it was proper uncomfortable so I flipped it the other way and it just clicked. I play right-handed and I should have all along. I taught myself and have been playing ever since.” Ethan: “I got into playing guitar through my uncle Joe. He would come over to my mum’s and we’d have a guitar laying around the house. He’d pick it up and play…

Maximo Park planned to record their seventh long-player under the tutelage of Grammy-winning Ben Allen at Maze Studios in Atlanta. But the British rockers’ aims were curtailed by the ongoing pandemic and the band ended up bouncing ideas off each other and Allen in a digital capacity instead. They soon realised that they had an opportunity to work around the clock on Nature Always Wins, considering their less restrictive timetables a breeding ground for creativity. Here, lead songwriter and guitar player Duncan Lloyd picks his standout guitar moments from the LP. BABY, SLEEP “It’s funny with this one. The riff, beat and chorus vocal melody came to me pretty much at the same time. I had to be quick recording the demo because it felt like the idea could go as easily…