Guitar Magazine November 2021

Guitar & Bass magazine provides in-depth and essential reading for the serious guitarist, with dozens of guitar tests, playing techniques, an exclusive bass section and in-depth features on guitar heroes past, present and future. Each issue is packed full of reviews of the latest guitars, amps, effects and basses. Guitar & Bass magazine also delivers the informed verdict on home recording equipment and regularly offers tips on buying second hand and vintage gear. When you occasionally put down that guitar, it is also packed full of interviews with the great and good of guitardom!

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PLAYER POWER

Welcome to the November 2021 issue of Guitar Magazine. I’m sure you’ve already noticed this month’s cover guitar: a shiny new Fender Player Plus Stratocaster in Tequila Sunrise. An office poll suggests that its striking gradient finish divides the team neatly down the middle, with an equal split of lovers and haters. We wouldn’t have it any other way – there are already more than enough guitars with conservative finishes to go around, and it’s great to see Fender ruffle a few feathers with some daring new colourways. How do the new Player Plus models stack up when it comes to playability and tone? Turn to p72 to find out. On a more sombre note, I was saddened to hear of the recent death of Roger Newell at the age of…

2 min

IN THIS ISSUE

Guitar CONTRIBUTORS

JOSH GARDNER NEBULOUS CONCEPT It’s NAMM 2020 and Josh is sat in the PRS booth chatting to Brad Whitford, when the Aerosmith man points to a guitar on the wall and asks, “Isn’t that the coolest thing?” The guitar in question is a Silver Sky in its new Nebula finish, and it’s only when you’re in the room with one of these polychromatic ‘flip-flop’ guitars that you appreciate what a remarkable thing it is. Not one colour, but several all at once, as the light catches its lines and curves, morphing before your eyes as you move. Yeah, Brad: it is the coolest thing. HUW PRICE PEEL & STICK As a longtime guitar tech, in his time, Huw has seen countless finishes. Many, in fact, have passed through his freezer en route to organic-looking ageing.…

3 min

IN THIS ISSUE

FRETBUZZ

Join the conversation Email us at editors@guitar.com ESQUIRE SUBSCRIPTION Hi, Guitar Magazine. I really enjoyed reading Huw Price’s feature on converting a Telecaster into an Esquire with the Eldred mod in the latest issue [397]. It’s just a shame that I hadn’t seen it before embarking on my own Esquire trilogy in four parts! It could have saved me a lot of money – but I don’t regret a thing! In the words of Squeeze, Daphne (Blue), don’t be ridiculous. CAMERON MACKENZIE, VIA EMAIL That’s quite the collection you have there, Cameron. We’d ask you which one is your favourite but we get the feeling that you wouldn’t want to choose between them. We certainly couldn’t. PLAYING OUT Hi, Guitar. Chris asked us about our postlockdown gigging experience in his editor’s letter last month, so I…

3 min

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1 min

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SWIM SCHOOL

Over the past few years, we’ve had more time to ourselves than ever before – time spent both reflecting on the past and considering the future. Indeed, Swim School ruminate on both on their new EP – itself put together in the midst of the pandemic – while also navigating a thick haze of personal issues revolving around mental health, toxicity and turmoil. This is a band equally adept at creating shapeshifting, palatable ambience as they are cutting through the malaise with weighty guitar noise. With that in mind, we chat to guitarists Alice Johnson and Lewis Bunting about their continuous creative process, swapping a solitary chorus pedal for a trio of distortions, and more. Your songs confront the difficulties of opening up about mental-health issues. How important is it to…

3 min

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DON BROCO AMAZING THINGS

Don Broco refuse to settle down on Amazing Things. Instead, they drift deftly between electro, rock, metal and hardcore, formulating a sound that’s reminiscent of Deftones, Linkin Park and early Incubus. The Bedford band’s previous album, 2018’s Technology, landed in the top five of the UK charts and has since clocked up more than 100 million streams on Spotify, resulting in a sold-out show at Alexandra Palace and a headline show at Wembley Arena. Their success has only strengthened their resolve. On their fourth album, Don Broco are once again determined to mark themselves out as a distinctive creative force. Covering such delicate topics as the pitfalls of social media, the dark side of fandom and casual racism, Broco do not shy away from challenging topics. Nor do they shirk from…

4 min