Indholdsfortegnelse for Vol. 163 i Australian Guitar

ONE DAY IN 1994, gypsy jazz guitarist Robin Nolan was busking in Leidseplein, a lively square in Amsterdam. A tourist bought one of his CDs. “And he turned out to be George Harrison’s gardener,” Nolan says. “He gave the CD to George, thinking he might like it. The next thing I know George and Olivia [his wife] call to ask if we’d play at their Christmas party.” There began a friendship, with Nolan’s combo becoming what he calls “the house band” for parties at Friar Park, the Harrisons’ home (and home studio) in England’s Thames Valley. “We played [their son] Dhani Harrison’s 21st birthday, and everyone there was famous except for us,” Nolan says with a laugh. “Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Tom Petty, Ravi Shankar, the Monty Python members. We’d…

BEFORE SECURING THE gig as a touring guitarist with the Smashing Pumpkins, Kiki Wong had all but given up her dreams of large-scale success with a big-time act. That’s not to say she wasn’t capable; one glance at her millions-strong social media following showed she was certainly up to the task. But an unruly music business and a devotion to family led her elsewhere. Outsiders called Wong a “social media shredder” and a “bedroom guitarist.” Forget that she was riffing heavy on gnarly guitars in front of millions of viewers; to her detractors, it wasn’t enough. “My biggest advice is to accept failure like it is your best friend,” Wong tells us. “Some of your biggest failures will happen early on when you’re just getting started or when you’re in…

RRP $999 CONTACT Fender WEB au.fender.com Much maligned online, the Fender Standard series caused quite a kerfuffle when it was announced earlier in the year. Before anyone had even had a chance to play or see one it was immediately dubbed the ‘Squier with a Fender decal on the headstock’, and it felt like the entire internet rushed to say how much better off you’d be with a Classic Vibe over it. While it’s not the first time a guitar manufactured in South Asia has had the honour of the full-fat Fender logo on its headstock - the recent Fender Tom Delonge Starcaster and the Fender Jim Adkins Telecaster both received similar treatment in the past – it’s definitely the first one to really get guitarists’ collective hackles up. Where…

RRP $7,999 CONTACT Mesa Boogie WEB mesaboogie.com For many guitarists, the Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+ ranks at the top of their Holy Grail, bucket list, unobtanium amps. The main reason the Mark IIC+ is so desirable is because it was James Hetfield’s main amp (he actually had a IIC++ with additional gain) on Metallica’s immortal Master of Puppets. The Mark IIC+’s use by Prince (the Purple Rain tour and beyond), John Petrucci with Dream Theater and studio legends Michael Landau, Steve Lukather and Dean Parks on hundreds of 80s hits also helped elevate its legendary status. Mesa built only about 3,000 Mark IIC+ amps during its original 14-month run in the mid Eighties, but after four decades it’s finally made its long-awaited return. The new Mark IIC+ is available in…

RRP $839 CONTACT Hamstead Soundworks WEB www.hamsteadsoundworks.com There are myriad modulation pedals available these days. However, when it comes to chorus and flanging, there are still plenty of players that regard the first run of bucket brigade analogue pedals as the benchmark-setters for sonic quality. Daniel Steinhardt from That Pedal Show is one such player, holding the Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble pedal and the Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress flanger in particularly high regard. Daniel says: “Over the years, I’ve always searched for devices that not only match the magic of those originals tonally but also surpass them in terms of sound and functionality within a modern rig.” That search has now culminated in the Redwing, designed by Peter Hamstead of the British boutique amp and pedal company that bears his name,…

COURTNEY BARNETT HAS had a busy 2025. In March she appeared on the Neil Young tribute album Heart of Gold with a gorgeous dream pop-inspired cover of 'Lotta Love'. For anyone drawn to the stripped back suburban intimacy of her breakthrough LP Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit, the Young rendition – with its spectral reverb and woozy textures – may come as a surprise. But perhaps it's not really a surprise: her most recent song-oriented LP, Thing Take Time, Take Time was a stylistically diverse affair – a truth somewhat obscured by the fact that Barnett's voice and lyricism tends to take centre stage. Those elements are foregrounded for good reason, but it was nevertheless illuminating to hear Barnett's 2023 soundtrack album End of the…

THE END IS near, but time is on Mark Tremonti’s side. It’s got to be — he planned it this way. When we reach the legendary Floridian guitar force in late November 2024, he’s just stepped into a Toronto hotel room on a day off from Creed’s extremely successful and rapturously received reunion tour, which packed arenas throughout much of the year. To say he’s caught during a moment of downtime, however, might be a stretch. Once this interview wraps, he’ll be warming up his voice in preparation for another round of “Tremonti Sings Sinatra” shows, black-tie events where he smoothly croons Ol’ Blue Eyes’ standards. He’s also touching up some songs he wrote for an upcoming album with Alter Bridge, his other long-running and beloved hard rock project. He…

THIS YEAR MARKS a decade since John Mayer teamed up with Grateful Dead singer and guitarist Bob Weir and drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann to breathe new life into the band’s iconic catalog under the Dead & Company moniker. At the time, it felt like a curious, if intriguing combination — a guitar prodigy with pop chops pairing with the legendary Dead members. But what has unfolded over the past 10 years is nothing short of remarkable. The band, rounded out by bassist Oteil Burbridge, keyboardist Jeff Chimenti and, more recently, drummer Jay Lane (who stepped in full time for Kreutzmann in 2023), has transcended its incongruous origins and become a genuine force in its own right, establishing itself as a must-see stadium draw — one that’s kept the…

The 1960s and 70s were formative years for the Japanese guitar industry, but they really hit their stride in the 80s with official Fender reissues, accurate clones of Les Pauls and the like. What models stand out, for you, from this period, we ask Keith? “The late 70s through to the early 80s is when Japanese brands like Tokai and Greco really got their act together with the Les Paul clones. Tokai, from around ’78 to about ’85, were doing the LS Series, which was originally called the Reborn series – a range of Les Paul copies – though after a while they changed the name to Love Rock. But the original LS series, from the LS-50 all the way to the LS-120, are amazing guitars. The LS-50 that was…

RRP $449 WEB audio-technica.com/en-au/ Whether you’re home recording or practicing discretely, a decent set of monitoring headphones is worth the outlay. Audio-Technica has ticked both boxes for years with the ATH-M50x, which launched in 2007 and still sits at the top of our list of the best headphones for guitar amps. The company’s M series has proven reliable, somewhat overshadowing the R series, which takes an open back approach to the company’s line of reference headphones. Open back reference headphones make a lot of sense: this design principle is the best option for a clear, uncolored reproduction of the sound source, which is the whole point of monitoring headphones. It works because the drivers aren’t enclosed in a shell that can cause unwanted vibrations to affect the sound. Similarly, the…

RRP $799 CONTACT Dynamic Music CONTACT 02 9939 1299 WEB dynamicmusic.com.au Every now and then, a guitar company delivers a product of such great value that it’s hard to ignore. As much as the Cort company seems to make a habit of this, their Essence Series is still a surprise. This particular range benefits from having limited options (two body shapes in two colours) and their focus on an Orchestra Model and a Grand Auditorium is perfect for today’s acoustic player. And anyway, do we really need another dreadnought? Both models feature a torrefied solid Sitka spruce soundboard, either natural or black, on a mahogany body with a Venetian cutaway – all wrapped in white binding with herringbone inner binding. The neck is mahogany (attached via a dovetail neck/body joint)…

RRP $679 CONTACT Orange Amplification WEB www.orangeamps.com Cliff Cooper, Orange’s first CEO, founded the company back in 1968 during the beat combo heyday of British music, creating one of a select handful of history-making British valve amplifier brands. Orange had no issue marking itself out with a slew of oversized, colourful cabinets and even a trendy London store called, naturally, the Orange store. Business boomed and soon the brand had expanded to include both a record label and an artist management company. Ownership and production issues from 1978 to 1998 led to only a few products being manufactured with various partners including Gibson. However, since the millennium Orange has managed to rebuild its market position, retaining the esoteric sound and styling that has set the brand apart since its inception.…

THE MELBOURNE GUITAR Show took place on March 1 and 2, bringing the latest and greatest to Australian guitarists. Having attended, performed at and hosted Q&A sessions at previous MGS events, I was curious to see how the switch to a new venue would change the vibes. The biggest and best change was placing everything on one level; no more lining up at the escalators to pop upstairs to see the acoustic room or catch a performance on the main stage. And the flow-on result was a more relaxed, social and fun experience. There are four main aspects to the MGS: the gear, the seminars, the performances and the hangs. There are the latest products, including advance previews of stuff that isn’t in Australian stores yet, like the phenomenal new…

45 YEARS OF BACK IN BLACK FOR ANGUS YOUNG, the pre-show ritual was the same as it had always been. In the dressing room backstage at the Palais des Expositions in the Belgian city of Namur, AC/DC’s lead guitarist changed out of jeans and T-shirt and put on his schoolboy uniform, went for a piss and had one last cigarette to take the edge off his nerves. But this was no ordinary gig. On this evening, June 29, 1980, AC/DC were about to perform in public for the first time with their new singer, Brian Johnson. And in the last few minutes before going on stage, as Angus looked around the room, he could see the tension in Johnson’s face. “He was shitting himself,” Angus said. Johnson had big shoes…

PHOTOGRAPHER AMELIA DAVIS is the former assistant to the legendary Jim Marshall, best-known for capturing shots of Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash and many others. In the late Sixties, Marshall lived in San Francisco, where he was part of the creative family around the Grateful Dead. To celebrate the band’s 60th anniversary, Davis and band historian David Gans have curated a lavishly illustrated coffee-table book — The Grateful Dead by Jim Marshall: Photos and Stories from the Formative Years, 1966-1977 — which is out this summer via Chronicle Books. Below, Davis breaks down Marshall’s relationship with the band — and what makes his photos so indispensable. Jim Marshall shot more than 10,000 photos of the Dead. How did you choose which to include in the book? We chose a…

Studio monitors are the most important items in a home studio. It makes sense, because on a very broad level, monitoring your music is simply listening to it and analysing it for ways in which it can be improved. Think of it as ‘next level listening’ as you’ll need to hear your music in a very different way compared to listening to it purely on an ‘enjoyment’ level. Monitoring your music is really about getting inside of a mix, hearing each component and how it contributes to the final mix (or not), the space the mix covers (either in a stereo field or surround sound) and the range of frequencies occupied by each instrument or voice. You need to get the balance right for all of these component parts, so…

RRP $8,999 CONTACT Taylor Guitars WEB www.taylorguitars.com “Taylor’s Gold Label guitars were fanfared at this year’s NAMM Show in Anaheim and generated a great deal of interest from the industry and players alike. Why? Because this is something genuinely different from a brand that sits at the head of the premier league of the world’s acoustic guitar business. And when one of the biggest in the business creates a novel take on an age old formula, the music world cocks an ear. If you’re after a brief summary of events, it’s as if Taylor’s Andy Powers has taken a long hard look at the acoustic guitar’s world stage and decided to change the scenery, combining what Taylor has always done well with a few magic touches of his own. Enter…

RRP $2,299 CONTACT Marshall Amplification WEB www.marshall.com After the rip-roaring success of the JCM800 in the 80s, Marshall ushered in the 90s with the JCM900 – its then-modern evolution of the JCM series, which sought to bring more gain to the table in response to the trends of rock, metal and a burgeoning grunge scene. To some, it hit the spot. To others, it never faced a fair trial, its main ‘crime’ seemingly being the fact that it wasn’t the JCM800. Despite this, the JCM900 – particularly the 100-watt 4100 and 50-watt 4500 models – became the ‘Marshall of the 90s’, offering hotrodded Marshall tone in combination with dualchannel, dual-master volume convenience and a spring reverb assignable in different amounts to each channel. This saw the 900 find favour, particularly…