Indholdsfortegnelse for November 2018 i Guitarist

This month, the Guitarist team packed its bags and headed down to the all-new UK Guitar Show, along with our pals from Guitar Techniques and Total Guitar. We had a brilliant weekend – big thanks to all the readers who came up to say hello while we were on the show floor. It was a pleasure to meet you all and I hope you had a great time. My personal highlight of the show was seeing so many of the guitars that Rory Gallagher made his spellbinding music with, from that oh-so-weathered ’61 Strat to his 1932 National Triolian resonator. Having listened with renewed admiration to Deuce in the car on the way up, seeing his guitars – each bearing numerous scars of a long and illustrious life on the…

PRICE: £470 ORIGIN: Indonesia TYPE: Single-cutaway Hollow Body electric BODY: Laminated maple back, top and sides NECK: Nato, Slim “U” profile, glued-in SCALE LENGTH: 629mm (24.75”) NUT/WIDTH: Synthetic bone/42.95mm FINGERBOARD: Bound rosewood, pearloid big block inlays, 305mm (12”) radius FRETS: 22, small HARDWARE: Nickel-plated secured Adjusto-Matic bridge, Bigsby B60 vibrato, die-cast tuners STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 52.5mm ELECTRICS: Broad’Tron humbuckers (bridge), P-90 Dog Ear (neck), 3-position pickup selector toggle switch, master volume, master tone, 2x individual pickup volume controls WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.2/7.04 OPTIONS: None RANGE OPTIONS: The standard G2420 Hollow Body costs £420; the Bigsby-equipped G2420T is £470 LEFT-HANDERS: Only the double-cut centre-blocked G2622LH Stoptail (£470) FINISHES: Midnight Wine Satin (as reviewed) gloss body, satin neck PROS Tidy build, satin finish, additional P-90 at neck and standard sized Broad’Tron ’bucker CONS…

PRICE: £1,589 (inc gigbag) ORIGIN: USA TYPE: Double-cut solidbody electric BODY: Mahogany NECK: Mahogany, Pattern Regular profile, glued-in SCALE LENGTH: 635mm (25”) NUT/WIDTH: Friction reducing/42.43mm FINGERBOARD: Rosewood, dot inlays, 254mm (10”) radius FRETS: 22, medium HARDWARE: PRS patented vibrato (cast), PRS designed low mass locking tuners – nickel-plated STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 52.5mm ELECTRICS: PRS Starla Treble humbucker (bridge), Type-D single coil (middle & neck), 5-way lever pickup selector switch, master volume and tone (with pull switch partial coil-split) WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.32/7.73 OPTIONS: Colour only RANGE OPTIONS: The S2 Standard Satin 22 and 24 start at £1,199; the gloss versions are £1,409. The Bigsby-equipped Starla costs £1,479; the Vela is £1,539 LEFT-HANDERS: No FINISHES: Frost Green Metallic (as reviewed), Frost Blue Metallic, McCarty Tobacco Sunburst, Antique White, Black Guitarist would like…

What? Atkin The 43, aged Where seen? UK Guitar Show Price? £2,749 Description? This was as close as it gets to Guitar Of The Show for me.Alister Atkin has perfected the art of recreating vintage Gibsons and Martins, to the point where you believe you’re holding a 75-year-old classic. The one at the show was spectacularly good, from its initial looks to its playability, tone and overall build and vibe. He’s got the ageing right, too, so the lacquer checking seems like it occurred over decades.Alister also designed a great headstock shape. Using all the correct timbers (regulations permitting), it’s like a real vintage guitar but built to 2018 standards.…

If there was a way to use your existing pentatonic scales and licks to play over a variety of new chords – and sound more exotic while you’re at it – it would sound too good to be true, wouldn’t it? Well, actually it is true… In short, it is possible to play most of your favourite ideas over alternative chords. The only ‘catch’, if there is one, is that you’ll need to understand how the notes in the scale relate to the underlying chord. As you’ll see, this isn’t all that complex – we’re using chords associated with the C major scale (C/A minor/D minor) to illustrate these ideas, but they can be transposed to any key. We’ve thrown in a few different shapes of the pentatonic for variety,…

When the Flying V’s original patent appeared in 1957 alongside the Futura/Explorer and Moderne, it might have been argued that Ted McCarty’s heady 50s sci-fi-style brainstorming sessions in the Gibson boardroom were pitching a little too far out into the modernist field. As it transpired, these guitars were way ahead of their time and took many years to catch on; indeed, the Flying V stuttered, stalled and got off to a few false starts before it really began to fly. As Fender’s Stratocaster and Telecaster models consistently captured the guitar-buying public’s imagination by embodying the modernist design principle ‘form follows function’, the Flying V’s function appeared to follow its form, as it eventually took off and found its wings as an archetypal hard rock statement guitar. “It’s very much a…

FENDER CUSTOM SHOP EU MASTER DESIGN ’53 TELECASTER, ’56 STRATOCASTER & ’69 STRATOCASTER ALL £3,999 CONTACT Fender Musical Instruments EMEA PHONE 01342 331700 WEB www.fender.com If you’re serious about your guitars, you’ll have played a Custom Shop Fender over the years and it’ll probably have been one that strongly references the past. “It continues to be the heritage of Strats and Teles that drives the business,” says Simon Jacobs, Fender EMEA’s Custom Shop sales manager. “And, of those, the majority are probably 60s Strats – it’s what everyone wants.” He’s got a point. There are plenty of new features and designs, but there’s something about an old Fender that continues to inspire us, especially when you can personalise the build to the extent currently offered by the Custom Shop. To…

PRICE: £3,999 (inc case) ORIGIN: USA TYPE: Double-cutaway solidbody electric BODY: 2-piece alder NECK: Quarter-sawn maple, ’69 U profile, bolt-on SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”) NUT: Bone FINGERBOARD: Rift-sawn maple, black Micarta dot markers, 241mm (9.5”) radius FRETS: 21, medium (Sanko 6105) HARDWARE: American Vintage vibrato, Schaller ‘F’ logo tuners (relic finish) ELECTRICS: Fender Custom Shop Hand-Wound Texas Special (bridge), Fat 50s (middle, RWRP), ’69 Strat (neck) single coils, 5-position lever pickup selector switch, master volume, tone 1 (neck), tone 2 (bridge) OPTIONS: None RANGE OPTIONS: Base-spec ’69 Strat in NOS finish from around £2,969 LEFT-HANDERS: To order FINISHES: Pink Paisley Closet Classic (nitrocellulose) PROS Build, good weight, contemporary neck profile and hugely classic sounds CONS The finish might put many off what is a stellar Stratocaster…

John Cruz’s grab-and-go is quite the axe, using a chambered roasted alder body – certainly a looker with its Bright Silver/Blue Metallic NOS finish – with an oil-finished roasted AAA flame maple neck and flat-lam fingerboard. The neck profile suits it perfectly: a large C with spec’d depth of 22.2mm at the first fret and 24.1mm at the 12th. Little surprise, then, that it goes for the biggest Dunlop 6100 frets, here with a flatter 305mm (12-inch) radius as well as the ‘improved’ vintage style RSD vibrato. More surprising is the Hand-Wound Broadcaster pickup at the bridge, augmented by John’s own design Strat pickups in the middle and neck positions, which again use the blender circuit (see Dale Wilson’s ’65 Strat), although it uses a three-way pickup selector, not a…

1 What is FRFR? It’s generally taken to mean ‘Full Range, Flat Response’. These days, it’s usually applied to powered monitors used to reproduce the sound of amp and effects modelling devices. Conventional guitar amps and speakers deliberately colour the input signal, which is the last thing you want if you’ve spent ages creating your favourite sound in the digital domain. 2 We know Line 6, but HeadRush? A relatively new player to the market, HeadRush is part of the inMusic group of brands, which also includes Alesis, Akai and Alto. The HeadRush Pedalboard has proved a runaway success, with arguably the best user interface of any modelling floorboard, and sounds powered by the Eleven HD DSP software. 3 So, who would buy one of these? Any guitarist who owns…

THE BACKGROUND CHRIS WOODSIDE, GUITARIST READER I bought a Behringer PB1000 Pedal Board so I could have all my pedals in one place. I play rock/blues and have a few humbucker-loaded guitars including a Gibson SG, Alex Lifeson ES-Les Paul and Alex Lifeson Axcess Les Paul, Fender Strat and Ovation CE44P-8TQ. I have a Marshall DSL40C and Code50, and my pedals are Boss BD-2 Blues Driver, DS-1 Distortion, BF-2 Flanger, PH-3 Phase Shifter, CH-1 Super Chorus, DD-3 Digital Delay, FV-300H Volume Pedal, DigiTech Obscura Delay, Polara Reverb and Nautila Chorus/ Flanger. What’s the best order to place these pedals and why? Also, why aren’t volume pedals more widely used? THE QUESTIONS 1 IN WHAT ORDER SHOULD I PLACE MY PEDALS TO ACHIEVE THE BEST SOUND? 2…

1949 ES-5 released; 3x P-90s with individual volume knobs and master tone knob 1950 Bound f-holes now standard 1955 5-ply top/back binding replaces 3-ply type; Tune-o-matic bridge added Late 1955 Rebranded ES-5 Switchmaster; 4-way pickup selector switch 1956 Tubular ‘double loop’ tailpiece replaces parallelogram trapeze type 1957 3x new Seth Lover-designed PAF humbucking pickups replace P-90s 1960 Florentine/pointed single cutaway replaces Venetian/rounded type 1961 Serial number changes to digits 1962 Discontinued 1996 Release of ES-5P Reissue P-90, ES-5A Reissue Alnico & Switchmaster Reissue…

As Yamaha’s Pacifica celebrates 25 years of music making, it’s hard to think of an instrument that better typifies Yamaha’s qualities as a guitar maker. The secret to the Pacifica’s longevity is its utility – Pacificas at all price points blend versatility and functionality in a toneful way making them near-perfect tools for musicians. Times change, of course, and with them the needs of musicians. An ideal complement to Pacifica is the Revstar series of electric guitars, which pushes very different buttons in the souls of guitar players. With Revstar, Yamaha has unleashed its imagination and dared to dream a little. The bedrock of functionality that both Pacifica and Revstar guitars possess is what makes Yamaha’s acquisition of Line 6 in recent times so shrewd. Line 6’s Helix multi-effects unit…

If you’ve ever performed with an acoustic guitar in a great-sounding room spilling with natural reverb, you’ll know just how epic that experience can be. Unfortunately, for most acoustic players, the reality is that you’ll more often find yourself playing in a dry-sounding space, and be forced to rely on external amplification and effects to recreate those widescreen atmospherics. If that sounds like a familiar scenario, then Yamaha’s TransAcoustic models demand investigation. You’ll be struck by the flowing five-ply rosewood/mahogany neck, hand-rolled fingerboard edges, ARE-treated soundboard for a ‘played-in’ tone and all-solid body based on the L-Series. But the revelation is the cloud of reverb and chorus that blooms from the instrument itself. Adjust the three dials on the upper body bout, and you can set the levels to suit…

Duane Eddy Not only is he the king of twang guitar but he’s played with everyone from Chet Atkins to Howards Roberts. Join Duane Eddy to hear all about it on p78 Manson Guitars We journey way out west to visit the workshop of one of Britain’s most respected guitar makers, Manson, and learn more about its unique instruments p124 Doyle Bramhall II He’s one of the coolest men in guitar and a very soulful player as his new album proves – plus he’s Clappo’s long-serving sideman. Meet him on p52…

PRICE: £519 ORIGIN: Indonesia TYPE: Down-sized double-cutaway centre-blocked semi electric BODY: Laminated maple back, top and sides w/spruce centre block NECK: Nato, Thin “U” profile, glued-in SCALE LENGTH: 629mm (24.75”) NUT/WIDTH: Synthetic bone/43.32mm FINGERBOARD: Bound rosewood, pearloid big block inlays, 305mm (12”) radius FRETS: 22, small HARDWARE: Gold-plated secured Adjusto-Matic bridge, Bigsby B50 vibrato, die-cast tuners STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 52.5mm ELECTRICS: P90 Soap Bar (bridge), Broad’Tron (neck), 3-position pickup selector toggle switch, master volume, master tone, 2x individual pickup volume controls WEIGHT (kg/lb): 2.96/6.5 OPTIONS: None RANGE OPTIONS: The standard G2655 Centre-Block Jr costs £420; the Bigsby-equipped G2655T is £470 LEFT-HANDERS: Not this model FINISHES: Riviera Blue Satin (as reviewed) Fender GBI 01342 331700 www.gretschguitars.com PROS Tidy build, compact size, feedback resistance, slightly more Gretsch-like voicing, a…

Tremonti 29 November to 6 December Nottingham, Manchester, Bristol, London & Edinburgh Even by Mark Tremonti’s prolific standards, this year has been a busy one: the guitarist launched a highly acclaimed signature amp with the PRS MT-15; acheived a landmark with his band Alter Bridge by playing the Royal Albert Hall with a 52-piece orchestra; and created a concept album with companion sci-fi novel from his solo band. “I got to sing from a lot of different perspectives on the record,” he says, explaining how A Dying Machine marks an evolution. “I’m almost getting in character when I’m doing different songs. I get away with things I might not usually get away with.” It’s made for his strongest release to date with the Tremonti band, and alongside guitarist Eric Friedman,…

The last few days working with one of Yngwie’s producers has left me thinking about the fundamental differences between being a rock star and being a working session musician. Apart from the frilly shirts, Ferraris and bank balance, the most ‘meta’ difference seems to be that, as session players, we are in the service industry. And while our service may be playing guitar (occasionally in an environment familiar to rock stars), we actually have more in common with the nice chap who just served me coffee in Starbucks where I’m writing this column. In other words, for the most part, you’re just there to make sure there are the correct guitar noises at the correct times and that the general public will find this acceptable. You’re there to provide what…

One of the most striking things about guitar tone that dawns on a player as the years go by is how different guitars that share the same basic design, shape and construction materials can sound from one another. Talk to any player who’s been lucky enough to play a few vintage Les Pauls, for example, and they’ll tell you about the ones that sounded wonderful – and the ones that were fit only to hang on a wall. As far as outward appearances go, the good guitars and the bad might only be separated by a few digits in the serial number. And yet the tonal difference can be night and day, thanks to variations in the woods used, pickups and so on. The elements that add up to make…

“When you’re 11 and someone hands you a Stratocaster, you feel like you’ve been handed the key to a big shiny door” 1 What was your first guitar and when did you get it? “It was a Squier Stratocaster, given to me by my dad when I was 11 years old. It was red and I think it was a Mexican build and just a really basic practice guitar. It was perfect for me at the time. I think when you’re that age and someone hands you a Stratocaster, you feel like you’ve been handed the key to a big shiny door and everything is on the other side. I was obsessed with Led Zeppelin, Clapton and Delta blues and Chicago blues – I was listening to a lot of…

The Marcus King Band Carolina Confessions Snakefarm Records Remarkable maturity from young rising star Not so well known on this side of the Atlantic – but we suspect this will soon change – this is blues-rocker Marcus King’s third release, and it’s a stonker. Remarkably, Marcus is still only 22 years old and yet the level of maturity here would lead you to suspect he was at least twice that age. Soulful vocals, powerful songwriting, great guitar playing and immersive arrangements add up to a joyful, upbeat album. Tracks like 8am mix the very best elements from Motown and Southern rock with a dash of soul thrown in for good measure. If you’re quick, you’ll catch him live in the UK this autumn. [DM] Standout track: Remember For fans…

Bobby Bland Dream ABC Records 1974 The great Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland had something of a revival in the 70s through his association with BB King and the enthralling live album Together Again For The First Time, released in 1974. He’d been a big star in the late 50s, often working with Wayne Bennett as his guitar player. Bland’s version of Stormy Monday Blues is a wondrous creation recorded in a free five minutes at the end of an hour-long recording session. An early compilation of his work is well worth seeking out. His voice, expressive, passionate and tinged with a feeling of world-weary sadness, was a huge influence on vocalists from Richard Manuel to Greg Allman. Dreamer was the second of his Californian albums and was released in 1975. It…

Before the cameras started rolling for this issue’s video tutorial, we settled back to talk about Kirk Fletcher’s forthcoming release, Hold On. We started by asking him to explain the basics: “Hold On means something to everybody,” he says. “It can mean holding on waiting on the train to get there, waiting on your child to be born, whatever, you know?” Recorded in Bristol back in January of this year, the album features Matt Brown on drums and Jonny Henderson on organ and piano. “You’ve probably heard Jonny Henderson with Matt Scofield,” Kirk continues. “He’s a bass player and an organ player, but he just plays the organ – he actually plays bass on the Hammond B3 and it’s fantastic, y’know? The funny thing is that most people that have…

PRICE: £3,999 (inc case) ORIGIN: USA TYPE: Single-cutaway solidbody electric BODY: 2-piece ash NECK: Rift-sawn maple, ’53 soft V profile, bolt-on SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”) NUT: Bone FINGERBOARD: Rift-sawn maple, black Micarta dot markers, 241mm (9.5”) radius FRETS: 21, medium jumbo HARDWARE: Nocaster bridge w/ ’51 brass saddles, Fender logo vintage-style tuners (relic finish) ELECTRICS: Fender Custom Shop Hand-Wound Broadcaster (bridge) and ’51 Nocaster (neck) single coils (underwound), 3-position lever pickup selector switch, master volume and tone controls, Clapton preamp OPTIONS: None RANGE OPTIONS: Base-spec ’52 Tele in NOS finish from around £2,969 LEFT-HANDERS: To order FINISHES: White Blonde Journeyman Relic (nitrocellulose) Fender Musical Instruments EMEA 01342 331700 www.fender.com PROS Build, light weight, neck profile and expansive sounds CONS The onboard mid-boost won’t be for everyone; likewise, the…

This Jason Smith-designed ’52 Tele features a two-piece offset seam roasted ash body, a relatively new trend in both acoustic and electric guitar making. “Roasted wood is one option that more and more people are beginning to take up,” explains Fender’s Simon Jacobs, “but it’s by no means central.” The cool ’52 Chevrolet Bittersweet Journeyman Relic finish is typical of this EU Master Design run – “it’s just that slightly off-centre beam thing,” says Simon. The rift-sawn neck here, with a light Relic finish, goes for a Nocaster U profile with medium jumbo frets on the 241mm (9.5-inch) radius fingerboard. Powering comes from a Hand-Wound Twisted Tele single coil at the neck and Broadcaster at the bridge.…

The third Tele in the seven-strong mini-range is designed by Dennis Galuszka and shoots for a white bound ’67 style, with a two-piece ash body. The AA flame maple neck has a AA flame maple round-lam fingerboard, again with 241mm (9.5-inch) radius and medium jumbo frets. Its neck profile is classed as a ’63 Strat-style C with spec’d depth of 21mm at the first fret and 25.4mm at the 12th. Pickups are again Hand-Wound, a ’67 spec pair with what Fender calls its Fat ’50s control setup.…

PRICE: £299 ORIGIN: Designed in USA, made in China TYPE: Powered monitor SPEAKERS: 1x 12” LF, 1x 1.4” HF MAX OUTPUT: 2,000W peak INPUTS: 2x XLR/Jack combi OUTPUTS: 1x XLR FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 50Hz-20kHz DIMENSIONS: 605 (w) x 354 (h) x 350mm (d) WEIGHT (kg/lb): 16/35 CABINET: Polypropylene CONTROLS: 2x volume, contour switch (3dB low/hi boost), ground lift ADDITIONAL FEATURES: Can be pole mounted OPTIONS: None RANGE OPTIONS: None PROS Massive power, headroom and clarity at a very affordable price point CONS The cabinet isn’t so portable because of its shape, but there’s not much else to fault at the price…

1 What was the first pedal you built and how did the design come about? “The first pedal I built – that worked!–was from Craig Anderton’s book [Electronic Projects For Musicians]. It was called the Tube Sound Fuzz and it used a CMOS chip. The first D*A*M [Differential Audio Manifestationz] pedal was the Rooster, which was basically a [Dallas] Rangemaster in a small box. I really liked Tony Iommi’s sound, and the Rangemaster was an important part of that. They were expensive back then, but they’re even more expensive now!” 2 What do you think it is about D*A*M that makes it unique? “I’m honest about things and it’s quite simple stuff – we don’t make anything too complicated, and if I’ve based one of our pedals on something, that’s…

Luthier Hugh Manson has been realising the dream designs of musicians for many years. The triple-neck acoustic and signature bass for Led Zeppelin legend John Paul Jones, the MIDI guitars for Muse’s Matt Bellamy, and the ‘Swiss Cheese’ metal guitar you might have seen in the hands of Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl have all emanated from Hugh’s Devon-based facility. If further evidence was needed regarding the quality of Manson’s instruments, we’d refer you to our in-depth review of Mikey Demus’s signature MD-1 and MD-2 in the previous issue, which saw the MD-2 win a coveted Guitarist Choice badge. Many Devonians will be familiar with Manson’s retail outlet in Exeter, but today our journey takes us a little further southwest to the workshop at Ashburton, a positive hive of industry, where…

Jamie Dickson Guitarist editor Jamie is as happy with steel wool in his hand as he is with Steely Dan in his headphones, and loves vintage-gear restoration and ambitious signal chains. Dave Burrluck Guitarist’s assiduous reviews editor is also the author of numerous guitar books.Very handy with a fret file and indeed any aspect of a finely fettled six-string. Ed Mitchell After 18 years in guitar retail Ed turned to journalism as reviews editor ofTotal Guitar, then as a contributor toGuitarist. He’s also edited the mags The Blues and Country Music. Neville Marten Edited Guitarist for 13 years, after working for both Fender and Gibson as a repairer. From desirable Les Pauls to dream Strats, he’s owned and worked on the lot. Nick Guppy Guitarist’s amplifier specialist has built up…

The addition of a pickup selector switch in 1955 rebranded the guitar and made for a dynamic electric Gibson released its 17-inch wide, single-cutaway, maple-bodied, maple-necked, double f-hole, triple P-90-loaded ES-5 electric archtop in both Sunburst and Natural finishes in 1949. Complete with all the ornate trimmings that Gibson could muster – including gold-plated hardware, mother-of-pearl inlays and multiple-ply binding throughout – it was an apex of guitar craftsmanship and the result of an evolutionary course that can be clearly traced back to the company’s beginnings at the start of the 20th century. Gibson was founded partly on the basis of Orville Gibson’s 1898 patent relating to carved arched instruments. Starting in 1902, its very first archtop acoustic guitars (the L, L-1, L-2 and L-3) appeared with round soundholes. In…

FIRST, A LITTLE DISCLAIMER. While heavily inspired by Robin Trower (especially his playing on Day Of The Eagle), I make no claim to have absolutely ‘nailed’ his style. Only he can do that. However, what I have done is dial up a Uni-Vibe simulation, plugged into the studio AC15, cranked the volume and given it my best shot! You’ll find it’s essential to hit the distorted amp/ pedal after adding the Uni-Vibe rather than before, as adding the effect afterwards gives a much more ‘hi-fi’, less authentic effect. Using the middle pickup and some amp gain, these ideas are designed to get you in the ballpark if you’ve ever fancied having a go at emulating Robin’s style. First coming to prominence as a member of Procol Harum, Robin went solo…

The post-internet world of advertising demands that everybody drop everything and deliver the goods in the next half an hour, so my day begins with a very unpleasant 5.30am alarm call to start work in my home studio at just after 6am. First up today is a jingle for American Express, and I’m being employed by my good friend and very successful musical director Steve Sidwell who is on this occasion, the composer. Steve and I have been working together for over 10 years, starting off with a world tour with the opera singer Katherine Jenkins, the first two years as the house band for the BBC’s The Voiceprogramme, several Children In Needhouse bands, the Royal Variety house orchestra, The Queen’s Birthday house band, Robbie William’s big band and countless…

In the guitar industry of the late 80s, headhunting was rife. This was the age of the artist relations programme and the celebrity endorsement when boardrooms would stop at nothing to court the guitar heroes in the headlines, promising them made-to-measure signature models, dreamt up in gleaming, no-expense-spared custom shops. Steve Vai and Joe Satriani signed with Ibanez. Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt swore allegiance to Washburn. Yngwie Malmsteen threw his hand in with Fender. Since its first forays into the electric guitar market of the mid-60s, Yamaha had also enjoyed its share of high-profile exponents – many of them courtesy of the iconic SG2000, which had snared global A-listers from Bob Marley to Robben Ford since its release in 1976, and even persuaded Carlos Santana to lay down his Gibson (“I…

From the angular Joy Division to the all-conquering New Order, Peter Hook’s melodic basslines have become a distinctive driving force in British music for two generations. The charismatic Mancunian sat down with us to talk through the peaks that have defined his long and illustrious career – and the Yamaha gear that has accompanied those highlights… The Early Years (1976) Rewind to 1976, and as the British punk movement raged through Manchester, Ian Curtis (vocals), Bernard ‘Barney’ Sumner (guitar/keys), Stephen Morris (drums) and Peter Hook (bass) carried its nihilist spirit into Joy Division. “We were apeing the Sex Pistols,” explains Hook, “and the line-up had to be the same as the Sex Pistols, so I was told by Barney to go and get a bass. The problem I had was,…

Before he headed out Stateside for a one-man-band autumnal tour, Graham Coxon sat down to talk us through his new live rig as he prepares to perform songs from across his 20–year-long solo career, including some choice numbers from The End of the F***ing World soundtrack (plus he confesses “maybe a Blur song or two”)… That Yamaha Revstar looks like a new addition to your guitar collection… “The guitars Yamaha make are fantastic. I know people say, ‘They’re great for the price,’ but adding, ‘for the price,’ seems daft, really – they’re just great. The Yamaha Revstar RS620 I’ve got plays amazingly well; it plays just as well as any old Gibson of mine and it’s bang in the middle of the range. I also really like the finish –…

Heads turned when Yamaha unveiled the mould-breaking Silent Guitar back in 2001. But as jazz giant Lee Ritenour reminds us, that eye-popping styling is secondary to the tone, feel and playability that has reeled in everyone from hobbyists to pros… 1 Such a unique look “I was at the NAMM show and my buddy Nathan East – who’s a big Yamaha guy – told me, ‘You gotta see their new Silent Guitar.’ I was immediately attracted to it because it was such a unique look. I thought it was gonna feel terrible to be honest, but I put some headphones on and tried it – and, ergonomically, it just had this great feel, the way the body was so light and the way the neck felt. At the NAMM show,…

Launched in 1977, the original BB bass was a high-end tone machine taken up by stars from Paul McCartney to Peter Hook. And, as Sterophonics bassist Richard Jones says, the modern BB range is building on that heavyweight reputation... 1 It was like an epiphany “At the beginning of last year, I got in touch with Yamaha to ask if I could try out the Line 6 Helix. So they brought one down to the rehearsal room – but they brought one of the BB basses, too, and said that if I liked it, they could sort something out. As soon as I plugged it into my amp, it was like an epiphany. It all just clicked into place. Now, I’ve got the BB P34 – one in sunburst, one…

With its nail-on-head Virtual Circuitry Modelling, the THR has blazed a reputation as the amp with every tone in the book. Guitar wizard Reeves Gabrels explains why his THR100 punches well above its weight everywhere – from Nashville to posthumous Bowie sessions… 1 I brought the THR back to my hotel and fell in love “I first played the THR during the 2016 tour with The Cure. We had a day off in Vancouver and I wandered into a music store that had a couple of the little THRs, so I tried them out and bought the green THR10X. I brought it back to my hotel room and fell in love with it. First, I discovered that I could plug in my mp3 player. Then I tried the reverb setting…

Placed between PRS’s Asian-made SEs and its core-level US models, the S2 Series (also made at PRS’s US factory but using PRS-design ‘import’ hardware and electronics) isn’t simply about offering affordable versions of PRS’s classic electrics. By design, the S2 range has a different player in mind, one who’s less bothered about PRS’s posh aesthetic and wants a working guitar to use and abuse on stage, night after night. This year’s only addition to what is now a 16-strong, five-year-old range, the S2 Studio takes its name from the original hum’-single-single PRS Studio, made between 1988 and ’91, and which returned for a similarly brief period between 2011 and 2013. The HSS format was also offered as an option on other models such as the Studio Package, but three-pickup guitars…

PRICE: £2,175 ORIGIN: USA TYPE: All-valve preamp and power amp OUTPUT: 50/25W RMS VALVES: 5x 12AX7, 2x 6L6 DIMENSIONS: 475 (h) x 520 (w) x 220mm WEIGHT (kg/lb): 18/40 CABINET: Birch ply LOUDSPEAKER: 1 x 12” Mesa/ Celestion Black Shadow C-90 CHANNELS: 2 CONTROLS: Gain, bass, mid, treble, presence, reverb, master volume, voice switch x2, output power select, channel select FOOTSWITCH: Single-button footswitch changes channels, optional second footswitch toggles reverb effect ADDITIONAL FEATURES: Extension speaker outlets, series effects loop OPTIONS: A matching 1x12 extension cabinet costs £575 RANGE OPTIONS: The Fillmore 50 head sells for £1,899, with a 2x12 extension cabinet at £845 Westside Distribution 0141 248 4812 www.mesaboogie.com PROS Superlative, vintage Boogie-inspired low-to-medium gain tone; exceptionally smooth reverb CONS It’s not quite as loud as we were…

Recently, while rehearsing for the Cream-meets-Hendrix gig at the UK Guitar Show last month with Mick (from That Pedal Show) and Jamie (your esteemed editor), an interesting conversation started about tone. I had commented on Mick’s amazing pedalboard plugged into his awesome Two-Rock amp. Pedals and tone are Mick’s livelihood so one wouldn’t expect anything less, of course. His reply was, “I’m happy to pay for top-quality amps and pedals, because even the best guitar won’t sound great through a rubbish setup, whereas a quality backend can make even an average one sound great.” Mick went on to demonstrate this with his inexpensive Mexican Hendrix-style Strat. But as viewers of That Pedal Show know, Mick has tone in his fingers and knows exactly how to extract the best from any…

Martin Reimagined Standard Series D-28 £2,399 The D-28 defined the dreadnought style as we know it. Martin recently launched a sympathetically revamped version of this classic, which deftly blends vintage features such as herringbone binding and forward-shifted bracing, with comfort-focused modern touches such as the Performing Artist Taper Neck. A tone-rich triumph that is classic in feel yet revitalises the Martin dread’ platform. Sigma DM-SG5+ £495 Formerly a Martin-owned company, Sigma has long impressed us with its affordable and competent take on 20th century dreads. No prizes for guessing the DM-SG5+ takes its inspiration from that other classic dread’ design, Gibson’s Hummingbird, but for under 500 notes it’s an accessible way to evoke the vibe of one of the prettier vintage dreads that plays well and sounds up to muster,…

OUR GAIN? Last month, Neville Marten asked for new guitarist debating points – well, here’s one: will the overdrive channel become obsolete now that amps are promoted as ‘great platforms for pedals’ and all the drive sounds we need lie in transistorised thingies at our feet rather than the valves cooking behind us? There was a time when reviewers would say an amp’s drive channel was so good there was no need for pedals. Now it’s the other way round! Leo and Jim’s original combos/stacks soon developed into twin-channel amps to give us greater control over sound and volume. Along the way, we discovered sonic magic in the power amp as well as the preamp, and a plethora of smaller amps followed. But now, stompbox technology has reached a point…

What was your first gig? “The first Jethro Tull gig was in January 1969. It was in Penzance at a very horrible club, which I hope doesn’t exist any more. This was in the days when it probably took seven or eight hours to drive from London to Penzance, so we got there ridiculously late, got into this club and there were people all over the floor, comatose. The air was thick with pot and, at the far end, you could just about make out the stage, so we had to bring in the gear climbing over all these people – they didn’t even move an inch. “We’d bought new stage gear the day before at Portobello Market and mine was a pirate jacket and it became quite apparent after…

An absolute master of blues, soul, gospel and funk guitar, Kirk Fletcher has gone from fronting his own band to playing rhythm guitar for Joe Bonamassa (and then just about everything else in between). In this masterclass, he shows us some of the techniques – and a few of the licks – that make up his guitar style. Drawing from a range of influences, Kirk’s playing relies on a big, semi-clean guitar sound. As you can determine from the interview and video, he goes to great lengths to keep his sound full, fat and creamy. Check out his use of pedals at the start of the video and then move on to the examples… Example 1 IN THIS FIRST EXAMPLE Kirk demonstrates how he learned to produce an even response…

“I had always used a Danelectro six-string bass. I found it in 1959 and used it on Because They’re Young in 1960 and on the third album that I did late in ’59; Twang Is The Thang , I think it was called. My Blue Heaven , Blueberry Hill , Kommotion , I used it on all those songs. But it was not an easy guitar to play. “Anyway, one day I asked a guy in the Custom Shop at Gretsch, Stephen Stern, if he could make [something like the Dano but better]. I said, ‘I’ve picked out a bass body, a double-cutaway hollowbody,’ because they make basses besides the guitar they make. I…

PRICE: £3,999 (inc case) ORIGIN: USA TYPE: Double-cutaway solidbody electric BODY: 2-piece alder NECK: Rift-sawn maple, ’55 soft V profile, bolt-on SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”) NUT: Bone FINGERBOARD: Rift-sawn maple, black Micarta dot markers, 241mm (9.5”) radius FRETS: 21, medium (Jescar FW50085) HARDWARE: American Vintage vibrato, Fender logo vintage-style tuners (relic finish) ELECTRICS: Fender Custom Shop Hand-Wound Fat Strat x3 single coils (shielded), 3-position lever pickup selector switch, master volume, tone 1 (neck), tone 2 (middle) OPTIONS: None RANGE OPTIONS: Base-spec ’56 Strat in NOS finish from around £2,969 LEFT-HANDERS: To order FINISHES: ’55 Desert Tan Relic (nitrocellulose) PROS Build, good weight, big neck profile and sounds, not least the muscular neck pickup CONS We might go for a five-way pickup selector and a tone control for the bridge……

Master builder Todd Krause is one of the best-known luthiers working in Fender’s Custom Shop. He’s the guy who builds Clapton’s guitars, for example, and his designs combine pragmatic, player-focused features with a deep appreciation for Fender’s heritage.We caught up with Todd to quiz him about the gig-ready ethos behind the ’56 Strat he contributed to the range… If the concept of these EU Master Design guitars was a Friday night gig grab-and-go, what sort of music do you envision playing on your design? “Any type of classic rock music can be played on this guitar – from Hendrix to SRV. It was designed for someone who plays a lot of blues-based classic rock or power blues – anything you can use a Strat on.That was my inspiration; that’s the…

PRICE: £799 ORIGIN: Designed in USA, made in China TYPE: Powered monitor with built-in speaker emulation SPEAKERS: 1x custom-design co-axial 12” MAX OUTPUT: 250W peak INPUTS: 2x XLR/Jack combi, 1x Line 6 link/AES digital OUTPUTS: 1x XLR, 1x Line 6 Link/ AES digital FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 70Hz-20kHz DIMENSIONS: 567 (w) x 462 (h) x 305mm (d) WEIGHT (kg/lb): 16/35 CABINET: Plywood CONTROLS: Volume, edit/select, save, home ADDITIONAL FEATURES: Loudspeaker modelling (6 models), 128 presets, impulse response support, USB audio in/out, MIDI in/out/thru, editing via Line 6 Powercab software, retractable kickback stands, ground lift and bass cut switches OPTIONS: None RANGE OPTIONS: The standard Powercab 112 does away with presets, MIDI, USB digital in/out and IR, but retains basic speaker modelling, for £622 PROS Top-quality sound from the custom coaxial driver, brilliant…

Writer DAVE BURRLUCK Guitarist, Gear Reviews Editor The cost of this ‘bitsa’ is mounting, but finally our Reviews Editor gets his old PRS CE 24 working just in time to take it out on some gigs… The smartphone pinged and the text read: “Got some 53/10s!” It was from an ol’ buddy of mine, who had been scouring the interweb on my behalf for quite some time. These pickups are a personal favourite, but they’re no longer made by PRS and have since been superseded by the 58/15s. The last set I got went into said ol’ buddy’s Ibanez semi, as part of an upgrade that surprised us both, the idea being we’d, er, share the guitar. Then I found out he’d sold the thing… with my pickups on! However,…

Q I want to get my hands on something that will offer me some classic glassy Strat tones, but has a modern feel. I’m coming from a ‘super-Strat’ background but don’t want the heavy-duty pickups and lairy looks anymore. What I don’t want is an old-school radius. I’d miss that flat fingerboard feel. Any suggestions for a max outlay of two grand? D Walker, via email A The world is your oyster. You can get a Fender reissue with a more modern 9.5-inch fingerboard radius. If that’s still not flat enough for you, sniff around and you’ll find Stratshaped killers with 10-inch, 12-inch and flatter ’boards. Look for compound radius jobs, too, which offer a progressively flatter ’board as you wander past the 12th fret. 1. Fender American Elite Stratocaster…

1. SERIAL NUMBER ‘A’-prefixed five-digit number inked onto orange oval label on back (visible through bass f-hole) 2. HEADSTOCK Single binding; mother-of-pearl Gibson logo and crown inlay; black painted taper on rear; black face 3. BODY Laminated maple with pressed, arched top; single Venetian/rounded cutaway; five-ply top and back binding; single bound double f-holes; natural finish (hence the model name, ES-5N) 4. PICKUPS Three P-90 high-output single coils with individual volume and tone pots; ‘bumblebee’ tone capacitors; four-way pickup selector switch (‘1/2/3/ALL’) 5. HARDWARE Gold-plated ‘waffle/radiator back’ Kluson tuners, Tune-omatic bridge, tubular ‘double loop’ tailpiece, pickguard bracket and screws 6. PLASTICS Two-layer (white/black) bell truss rod cover; three black ‘dog-ear’ P-90 pickup covers; black hexagonal pickup selector surround; black Telecaster-style pickup selector switch tip; six clear, gold-backed bonnet knobs; bevelled…

ROBIN TROWER Bridge Of Sighs Probably Robin’s best known album from back in 1974, the title track conjures up imagery of Jimi Hendrix playing Dark Side Of The Moon, with an archetypal ‘loud-Strat-througha-Marshall’ tone that starts to feed back at the very mention of a held note… Also, check out the previously mentioned Day Of The Eagle, which inspired my own solo, and Too Rolling Stoned, which features more classic Trower. ROBIN TROWER Robin Trower Live Recorded in 1975, this album features a great contemporary version of Too Rolling Stoned, plus the great ballad Daydream. It’s always interesting to compare studio and live versions of recordings, as it gives a valuable insight into thought processes – especially on the solos. This is an album that will probably make you nostalgic…

It was 1964, and there was an interloper on London’s folk scene. The changing of the guard began with a brusque business card pinned to the noticeboards of record shops across the capital (‘Bert Jansch – The Best Blues In Town’). From there, the trail led to the city’s smoky club circuit, where the folk cognoscenti gathered to see if this Scottish upstart lived up to his billing. Dig out some elbow room at The Scots Hoose in Cambridge Circus, or Les Cousins on Greek Street, and you’d see a dishevelled man climb onto the stage, alcohol on his breath, a cock-eyed cigarette clamped in his lips, a mumbled introduction if you were lucky. “The first time I ever saw Bert play,” recalls folk veteran Ralph McTell, “he was slightly…

PACIFICA 012 UNDER £200 With its sturdy double-cut agathis body, maple bolt-neck, 22-fret rosewood fretboard and a mix ’n’ match line-up of single coils and humbuckers that makes you ready to deal with any musical scenario, the 012 is nobody’s definition of a typical entry-level electric guitar. PACIFICA 112V UNDER £300 It’s a quarter of a century since the 100 series sent shockwaves through the scene with its top-spec affordability. With the latest model fusing a US alder body, coil-tappable custom-wound Alnico V pickups – and sub-£300 price tag – the revolution continues to roll. PAC212VFM UNDER £400 The 112V’s spec’d-up sibling delivers the same flexible tone courtesy of coil-tapped Alnico V pickups. Meanwhile, the flamed maple figuring on the top and headstock announces that this head-turning model is far…

Since its launch in 2016, the Line 6 Helix has appeared in A-list rigs across the planet. Now, Peredur ap Gwynedd – guitarist for Pendulum, Faithless and more reveals why this acclaimed modelling unit is also his go-to recording interface... 1 It just made total sense “I knew you could use the Line 6 Helix as a recording interface. But I already had my trusty recording rig and I was just using the Helix as an effects unit. I can’t remember why, but one day I decided to try out the Helix for recording. And then it was like, ‘Oh my God, yeah. This actually works. This is really good. This makes total sense.’ “The Helix just hooks up directly to the computer by USB – there’s a lot less…