Indholdsfortegnelse for Holiday 2020 i Guitar World

NOBODY QUITE KNEW what to expect when Steve Morse joined Deep Purple in 1994. The Dixie Dregs/Kansas kingpin was stepping into a situation that didn’t bode well for longevity. First there was founding guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who came and went over the years; his initial replacement, Tommy Bolin, lasted only two years before the group’s first breakup in 1976. Joe Satriani stepped in for a tour in 1993 but was unable to join full-time because of his solo commitments. Would Morse, hailed as one of the most gifted and versatile guitarists of his day, manage to stick around? As it turns out, he was a natural fit for Deep Purple; in fact, his 26-year tenure with the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers makes him the band’s longest-standing axman. “Yeah,…

USUALLY WHEN FAMOUS MUSICIANS JOIN TOGETHER TO FORM a supergroup, the objective is to create a band that hopefully will become more than the sum of its parts from both creative and commercial perspectives. But in the case of the Empty Hearts — comprised of lead guitarist Elliot Easton (the Cars), vocalist/ rhythm guitarist Wally Palmar (the Romantics), drummer Clem Burke (Blondie) and bassist Andy Babiuk (the Chesterfield Kings) — the main idea was four like-minded musicians getting together to have fun. “Andy called each of us individually back in 2013 to ask what we thought about forming a band together,” recalls Easton. “We’re all old friends. The plan was to play the kind of music that was the reason we all played music in the first place, inspired by…

BY RICHARD BARRETT What do Chuck Berry, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Gary Moore, Albert King, Jimi Hendrix and countless other guitar gods have in common? No, there isn’t a punchline... The answer is a knowledge of the basic blues format and the ability to blend it into their own contemporary styles. The first thing you often hear on any blues record is a “taste” of what is to come, courtesy of some fancy or soulful licks. Sometimes this technique is known in the game as a “turnaround” — that is to say, it’s the bit at the end of a 12-bar progression (bars 11 and 12) where everything is gearing up to go round to the beginning of the cycle again. You could say it’s like starting with an ending.…

THE FIRST TIME I ever laid eyes on the Fender HM Strat was in the hands of Greg Howe for his 1989 Hot Rock Licks instructional video on (wait for it…) VHS! Back then, it appeared Fender had released their own offbeat version of a Superstrat. But for me, I was merely blown away by the look of these guitars with their bright-colored Day-Glo finishes, HSS configuration and, of course, its hot-rodded sound paired with a locking tremolo (it might also have been Howe’s sheer virtuosity that helped make the guitar that much more alluring, but I digress). Introduced in 1988 and ending production by 1992, the Fender Heavy Metal (HM) Strat was originally made in Japan and subsequently produced in the United States, and at the time, was celebrated…

MAYBE I DIDN’T get the memo, but when did Orange Amps — pardon me, I meant, Orange — quietly become a lifestyle brand? I know this legendary amplifier company has been around since the Sixties, and continues to make the most recognized and revered amps for musicians, but one look at their global website reveals some other youthfully hip products like a skateboard, an embossed leather belt and… you guessed it: headphones. But more specifically, the Orange Crest Edition Wireless Headphones. The Crest Edition Wireless Headphones feature Bluetooth connectivity, headphone touchpad controls for navigating music (volume up/down,previous/next track and touch play/pause), a built-in microphone for phone/video calls, multifunction button (answer/hang up, redial/reject call, device search and on/off), support for Apple Siri and Google Assistant, multipoint pairing that automatically toggles between…

I GOT RHYTHM, PART 11 Creating chains of dotted-eighth syncopations LAST MONTH, I presented a couple of interesting ways to apply accent patterns to a steady stream of 16th notes to create five- or six-note groups. I then demonstrated how to chain those groups together to produce some rather tricky-sounding syncopations and rhythmic phrasing schemes that “go against the grain” of the expected four-note “quads.” As you recall, I employed the very drum-like and musically effective “rhythm-within-a-rhythm” approach. I’d now like to present yet another cool and interesting way to phrase 16th notes — in groups of three, again by applying shifting accents. And with this pattern, we’ll learn about a highly useful and appealing rhythmic phrasing device known as dotted-eighth syncopations. To begin, I’m going to play steady 16th…

ALL IS GOOD How to play “Good Enough,” part 1 A KEY ELEMENT of my guitar style is switching between playing chords and single notes. Most often, my guitar parts naturally encompass both approaches, as it is essential for me to lay down foundational rhythm parts to sing over, while also having the freedom to embellish those parts with single-note lines. A perfect example of this approach can be found on my song “Good Enough,” which appears on my 2017 EP, Rise. I often play this song unaccompanied, and I’ll sing the lyric passages and then play lead parts and add fills during the performance. I play the song with a capo at the 5th fret, and all of the written examples in this column are notated relative to the…

Missing Those Centerfold Posters Longtime subscriber here, with all my issues going back to the late Eighties. I just read with great interest the 40th-anniversary edition [November 2020]. As always, stellar job by one and all! However, you slipped up in the “40 Greatest Moments” section. There’s no mention of what was, for the longest time, the first thing I’d look at regardless of who graced the cover — the mighty centerfold! How many jaw-dropping axes and artists are now on my man-cave wall [as a result]? Well, lots! Rory Gallagher’s ’61 Strat, SRV and his #1, Clapton’s Blackie, Rush. I could go on and on. And from a marketing point of view, I tip my hat — printing different shots on either side. Many times I had to go…

1 “One Hand Killing,” Twelve Foot Ninja I was in a rut as a guitarist/songwriter for a bit, and then I discovered this song. It took everything I loved as a guitarist and put it into one composition. The gnarly intro riff is everything I love about djent, but in such a brilliant way. 2 “Parasite Eve,” Bring Me the Horizon I was late to the game diving into this band. There’s a reason they’re one of the biggest bands out right now. I love the lyrical content of this song as it hits the nail on the head about this pandemic. They also have an original sound and interesting ways to arrange compositions. 3 “Blinding Lights,” The Weeknd I grew…

“With my playing, you’ll hear country, bluegrass, blues, rock and roll, the Shrapnel guys, Dimebag Darrell, all that stuff. You’re getting a metal experience, for sure, but you’re getting a whole lot more” — REECE SCRUGGS HAVOK VOCALIST/RHYTHM shredder David Sanchez forewarns of a rise of the machines on “Betrayed by Technology,” a meaty thrash rebuke to the oncoming technocracy, but the guitarist concedes that certain advancements have their advantages. For instance, with Sanchez in Denver and lead guitarist Reece Scruggs in Winchester, Virginia, song ideas and studio sessions for new album V were tracked remotely and uploaded to the cloud. Still, while many metal bands have resorted to livestream concerts as a way to cope and connect through the pandemic, he hints that Havok have no plans of bringing…

“Another Dick Dale trick is to play Phrygian dominant — the harmonic minor scale from its fifth note — over a major chord to add a Spanish or Eastern feel” THOUGH DEEPLY ROOTED in the evolution of the six-string, it would be fair to say surf guitar may very well be one of the more neglected styles among modern players. Thankfully, that could very well change with the arrival of what author Martin Schmidt describes as “the first specialist book on the genre,” packing everything you need to know about the techniques and gear to nail the sound into its 132 pages. “I love those sparkling, reverberated tones,” says Schmidt — also the guitarist in German surf trio the Razorblades, who are currently promoting their latest release, Howlin’ at the…

BACK IN BLACK , the home of rock ‘n’ roll staples like “You Shook Me All Night Long,” “Hells Bells” and the title track, turned 40 in July 2020, and the landmark album received a fitting birthday celebration, with artists like Slash and members of Alice in Chains and Lamb of God testifying to its greatness and influence, Gibson giving away a very Angus Young-like rig headlined by a Custom Shop 1961 Les Paul SG “Red Devil” and the internet awash in plenty of think-pieces and retrospectives. As for how Angus felt about the anniversary? “It’s a strange thing when you think of it,” he says. “We didn’t know what our future really would be when we made that album, because we had lost Bon Scott. We had a tragedy.…

INTRO 1: EASY ACOUSTIC IN E This should sound familiar to anyone who’s ever listened to the blues, and also rock and roll. Using the open-string-friendly key of E, this descending figure creeps back up to the V chord (B), ready for the first verse. Although a simple and common idea, it never dates. You may want to mute the open low E note after picking it, to prevent it from ringing below the notes that follow. INTRO 2: ADVANCED ACOUSTIC IN E This is a fancier spin on the previous idea, with expanded chord voicings providing a jazzier feel. Play the triplets deliberately and clearly, and experiment with different picking approaches, using various combinations of pick and/or fingers. INTRO 3: EASY ACOUSTIC IN G This ascending turnaround leads to…

EVER SINCE THE Gretsch family joined forces with FMIC in late 2002, Gretsch has produced electric guitars that many players, collectors and aficionados consider the best instruments they’ve ever made. In addition to FMIC’s expertise and attention to crucial detail of what truly makes a Gretsch a Gretsch, FMIC has now been building Gretsch electric guitars for more than 18 years, which is longer than the celebrated classic period that lasted from the first Chet Atkins models introduced in 1954 through the company’s sale to Baldwin in 1967. Those years of experience show across the entire current Gretsch electric line, with the most dramatic improvements showing in the company’s affordably priced Electromatic models introduced in recent years. Two new Electromatic models — the G5222 Electromatic Double Jet BT and G5410T…

STREET PRICE: $1,199.99 MANUFACTURER: Fender, fender.com The recessed Floyd Rose Special double-locking tremolo is perfectly set up to keep strings in tune when forcefully dive-bombing or pulling up toward the stars. The HM Strat’s custom-voiced HSS pickups deliver searing high-output, and its coil-tap toggle offers extra tonal options when combined with the five-position switch. THE BOTTOM LINE: The Fender Limited Edition HM Strat is an improved reissue with enhanced pickups and a Floyd Rose Special double-locking tremolo, eclipsing the original as a superior shred-worthy guitar.…

FOUR OFF THE FLOOR PART 2 More twists and turns on four-note 7th-chord arpeggios LAST MONTH’S COLUMN focused on four-( note A, B, arpeggios C, D, E, F based # , G), as on played the A on Dorian different mode string sets and in various areas of the fretboard. Let’s expand our look at 7th-chord arpeggios built from the A Dorian mode by incorporating chromaticism and a “scalar” approach. An arpeggio is defined as a “broken chord,” meaning that the notes of a given chord are played individually and in succession. The chord tones are determined by playing the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th scale degrees; in A Dorian, these notes are A, C, E and G. When these four notes are played together, an Am7 chord is sounded.…

Oliver Sean HOMETOWN: Leicester, UK GUITARS: Yamaha SA2200, Martin D42, Gibson Les Paul Standard, Gibson ES-335 Goldtop Ltd., Taylor T5z classic, Fender Stratocaster American Standard, Godin Multiac Spectrum, Ovation D-Scale, PRS SE Singlecut Trem, Ibanez AFJ91-JLF Archtop, Alvarez Parlor and more SONGS I’VE BEEN PLAYING: Originals from my album, Devil in Blue Jeans, plus “Hard to Handle,” “Sultans of Swing,” “My Sharona,” “Black Magic Woman” and more GEAR I MOST WANT: Custom shop Tele built to my specs, and a Gretsch Blue Falcon Ian Mitchell AGE: 26 HOMETOWN: Winston, GA GUITARS: Fender American Stratocaster, Squier Telecaster Affinity Series, Epiphone ES-335 and Ltd. Edition Custom Shop SG, Sterling Music Man JP100D, Samick acoustic Greg Bennett design, Fender acoustic, Harmonia nylon-string acoustic SONGS I’VE BEEN PLAYING: Originals, “Fingerdance” by Billy McLaughlin and…

• GUITARS (Sanchez) ESP EX Standard with Floyd Rose, ESP LTD Shadow; (Scruggs) Roehrs Guitars Apex Reece Scruggs signature • AMP (Sanchez) Peavey Triple XXXii, Peavey 6534+, Kemper Power Rack, Peavey 4x12 with Peavey 2x12 on top (Celestion speakers); (Scruggs) Peavey 6534, 6505+, Peavey Triple X II, Positive Grid powered head w/ Peavey 4x12 and 2x12 on top, SKB racks • EFFECTS (Sanchez) ISP Decimator G-String II, Peterson Stomp Classic strobe tuner, Electro-Harmonix Soul Food overdrive; (Scruggs) Dunlop Cry Baby from Hell, MXR overdrives, ISP Decimator 2, Peterson StroboStomp tuner…

“The band before us were six women, naked and green, playing instruments made of trees” Got my first real six-string My first guitar didn’t have a name on the headstock. It was a natural-wood, Les Paul-shaped guitar, which I absolutely loved, as you do with your first guitar. My first “proper” guitar was when I was lucky enough to save up and buy a Gibson SG, because my heroes at the time were Angus Young and Carlos Santana. I was always a worker, I always had a job and saved my money, so I was about 15 when I got my SG. Pretty spoiled, really, at that age. Break on through to the other side I loved Nick Drake’s guitar style, early on. At that age I wasn’t a fingerpicker,…

...going way back [November 1995]. That was nice because there was always a tendency for people to only look at solo guitarists, while Malcolm was an out-and-out rhythm player. A lot of people forget that there's some great rhythm players out there. And the two of us were doing it together. But what a lot of people never knew was that Malcolm could do a solo probably even better than me. He’d come up with some great licks. Whenever I heard his things I’d always say, ‘How's he doing that?’ ” GUITAR WORLD AT 40: UNDER THE COVERS…

THERE WAS A FRESH AIR OF FEARLESSNESS AND DERRING-DO THROUGHOUT BROTHERS OSBORNE’S FIRST RECORDS — THE PAIR CAME ON LIKE YOUNG BUCKS EAGER TO SHOW OFF THEIR STUFF. THAT UNBRIDLED SPIRIT IS AT A FEVER PITCH THROUGHOUT SKELETONS BROTHERS OSBORNE SINGER-GUITARIST TJ Osborne lets out a throaty, good-natured laugh when asked if he and his brother, John, felt more pressure cutting their third and latest album, Skeletons, than on their first two studio outings. “I assume that’s a rhetorical question,” TJ says before running down a list of hardships the country-rock duo endured. “First, John came down with tinnitus. That came out of nowhere right before we started recording, so we had to reschedule things a bit. He’s got it to a manageable place now, but that set us back.…

STREET PRICES: $499.99 (G5222 Electromatic Double Jet BT); $799.99 (G5410T Electromatic “Rat Rod” Hollow Body Single-Cut) MANUFACTURER: Gretsch, gretschguitars.com The G5222 Double Jet BT features chambered solidbody construction consisting of a mahogany body with arched maple top. The G5410T “Rat Rod” Hollow Body Single-Cut features a Bigsby B60 vibrato, slim 2.5-inch thick body and Sound Post bracing. The Double Jet BT’s Broad’Tron humbuckers deliver 5k ohm resistance for slightly hotter tones that preserve classic Gretsch character. The Rat Rod’s Filter-Tron humbuckers measure 4k ohms of resistance and deliver genuine Gretsch twang and growl. THE BOTTOM LINE: That great Gretsch sound has never been more affordable, thanks to these new Electromatic models, which also deliver stellar playability, high-quality hardware and construction and irresistible, unmistakable Gretsch style.…

LIST PRICE: $2,889 MANUFACTURER: RedSeven, redseven-amplification.com Channel 1’s Hot switch boosts the gain to provide aggressive overdrive tones perfect for modern blues or classic hard rock and metal. Channel 2 delivers bold high-gain tones with highly refined tonal range, versatile midrange EQ and studio-quality low-noise performance. THE BOTTOM LINE: Providing a wide range of distinctive new sounds that are perfectly dialed in for studio and live performance, the RedSeven Leviathan delivers a new level of excellence for modern high-gain tones.…

FIVE TO FOUR Alternating four-and five-note patterns ONE OF MY favorite techniques when soloing is to incorporate unusual and unexpected pull-offs to open strings in the midst of what otherwise sounds like normal blues-rock-style phrasing. The addition of an unexpected open string accomplishes two things: one, the given phrase is suddenly one note longer, so a four-note phrase becomes a quintuplet; another is that this open string provides a melody note that can, when used properly, sound like it comes from out of nowhere. I first discovered ideas like this from studying Eddie Van Halen’s playing, specifically evident on such tracks as “Eruption” and “I’m the One,” and soon began to develop similar ideas of my own. Let’s start in the key of B with phrases based on the B…

GUITAR: 1956 Fender Telecaster with maple neck (bridge pickup), Volume: 10, Tone: 1 AMP: 1965 Fender Deluxe Reverb modified by Jim Williams with Twin Reverb transformers, 6L6 power tubes, solid-state rectifier, midrange resistor and Electro-Voice EVM-12S 12-inch speaker (Vibrato channel, Input 1, Volume: 4, Treble: 4.5, Bass: 2.5, Reverb: 2, Speed: 0, Intensity: 0) and Scholz Rockman (Edge setting, Chorus Off) STRINGS/TUNING: D’Addario XL Nickel Wound custom hybrid set .009, .011, .015, .030, .042, .052/ Standard PICK: Jim Dunlop Standard red nylon 1.0mm…