Indholdsfortegnelse for December 2023 i Guitarist

Future Publishing Limited, Quay House, The Ambury, Bath, BA1 1UA Telephone 01225 442244 Email guitarist@futurenet.com Online www.guitarist.co.uk As the years roll by us it seems that there is a landmark occasion for us to celebrate almost every month, and this issue is a case in point. Gretsch is celebrating its 140th year in business and we couldn’t resist joining in with all the fun. As we began our research we came across an exciting museum in Savannah, attached to Georgia State University, that is playing host to some very special Gretsch guitars. Fred Gretsch and his wife, Dinah, have been involved in music education there for many years and when a new exhibition space opened up they decided to donate a wealth of instruments and other Gretsch memorabilia. We talk…

Back in 2017, British distributor Barnes & Mullins took the wraps off the new Shergold Masquerader, the first guitar to bear that brand and name for many a decade. Barnes & Mullins had already had considerable success with its own acoustic brand, Faith, designed by Patrick James Eggle, and once again turned to Patrick to recreate the Masquerader. There was little resemblance to the original model, which had first popped up in the mid-70s, but its boutique-style spec included a rosewood neck and Seymour Duncan pickups in various configurations. Another new design named the Provocateur turned up in 2019 and continued the style, although this one was a single-cut. Four years is a long time in the cut and thrust of the guitar world and, if we’re honest, Shergold had…

FIRST PLAY THORPYFX ER-2 UNI-VIBE The Uni-Vibe is arguably the most iconic modulation pedal of all. Its sound is still much sought after by players, long after its 1960s debut and subsequent discontinuation, leading to many pedal manufacturers creating their own take on the design. The latest is ThorpyFX, who tells us that its aim with the new ER-2 has been to create its dream Uni-Vibe. Following the same solid and compact form factor of previous Thorpy pedals, the ER-2 has an easy to operate four-knob user interface. Besides the standard bypass footswitch, there’s added flexibility via a second (Vib/Cho) that changes between Uni-Vibe Chorus and Vibrato (wet signal only) modes. A Volume knob sets the output level, running from zero with unity gain close to midday on the dial, so…

Artist: Christina Martin Album: Storm (Come Undone Records) Singer-songwriter Christina Martin was raised on the East Coast of Canada but found her musical feet when she moved to Austin, Texas, in 1999 and picked up a guitar. Her career was confirmed by a 2002 support slot for Wilco and the release of her debut album, Pretty Things. “Austin was where I discovered singer-songwriters and wanted to be like them,” she says. “It was also where I discovered my own gift, which needed a lot of work!” ‘Storm’ A-Coming Jet forward to today and Christina has just released Storm, her eighth studio album and one that was many years in the making. “This album wasn’t intentional,” she states. “I didn’t know whether these songs would fit together on an album –…

NEVILLE’S ADVOCATE Well, I didn’t think I was going to. However, some of you may have read my review of Fender’s Vintera II Strat and Nocaster in last issue’s Guitarist. In it I mentioned that I own two Stratocasters and they sound very different from one another. But hearing a desk recording of a recent Marty Wilde gig, my red Strat, which I know is anything but plinky… sounded plinky! Actually, it turned out not to be the Strat rather the recording, but of course the seed was sown and I don’t need to tell you the rest, do I? Even though I’m going to. “I duly fitted my new loaded pickguard and… Wow! My traditional-looking 50s twanger is now a big, bold bruiser that could take on all comers”…

SUBSTITUTE AUDIO http://bit.ly/guitaristextra While scales are without doubt an essential part of understanding how music and melodies work, they can sometimes leave us with unanswered questions about harmony and melody. For example, trying to come up with a mean and moody guitar solo using the major scale would be a challenge! Many of us search for new ideas while our fingers habitually reach for patterns that, while useful, don’t help us expand our boundaries. Doing this in a methodical way can seem like a daunting task – but if it were that easy, everyone would be at it! There are tangible benefits to finding alternative chord shapes (commonly referred to as ‘inversions’) all over the fretboard and there are practical steps you can take that will guarantee progress if you…

Gretsch 140th Anniversary WOMEN WERE THE MAKING OF GRETSCH “The contribution of women to the business is seldom mentioned, but incredibly integral. My mother was a cheerleader for the business from 1942 to ’64 and, certainly, one of the reasons that I was in the business. My grandmother Charlotte, if we go back to 1904, married into the Gretsch family. She passed away in 1928. Next week it’s the 95th anniversary of her passing – unbelievable. In any case, she was engaged with the business for 24 years and she had three sons who were future leaders in the business. “Without my mother’s encouragement and if she hadn’t kept the family in New York when dad died in ’48 – she was from Missouri – I wouldn’t have had a…

INTERVIEWGretsch 140th Anniversary What was your first encounter with Gretsch guitars? “When I was about four or five years old I heard Elvis for the first time. The neighbours were playing his music very, very loud and it made a huge impression on me. It turned out that mum and dad had a couple of Elvis albums in their record collection, and then I discovered this Eddie Cochran album in there, Singin’ To My Baby. The first thing that struck me about the album cover was there were two headshots of Eddie and in between there’s this picture of him holding this beautiful red guitar. From that moment onwards, I basically wanted to be Eddie Cochran. And all these years later, not much has changed!” When did you get your…

As the Highway Series proves, not for the first time, Fender is not just the vintage-driven guitar company many might think. But there is prior art and that is clearly the Acoustasonic: the more tech-laden solidbody-sized electro acoustic with added electric sounds. So, what do the two series share and what are the differences? The most obvious similarity is the necks. Although the Highway’s headstock is larger and has vintage-style tuners as opposed to more modern enclosed types, they really are similar, particularly in size and their lightly finished ‘open pore’ satin feel. But the Highway is non-cutaway, has 20 frets and the neck joins the body at the 14th fret. Our Acoustasonic Player Jazzmaster, meanwhile, follows electric protocol: 22 frets, a cutaway, and nicely radiused heel so access to…

Bought & Sold What was the first serious guitar you bought with your own money? “Let’s see… probably my SG. I have a 2004 ’61 reissue that I bought a couple of years ago. A couple of years before that I actually built my own Strat. So it would be one of those two – probably the Strat because that one was more of a labour-intensive thing. “I bought the parts individually and a local luthier helped me put it together. It had a left-handed neck and a sunburst body that I got on the internet, and then I got a custom pickguard from Warmoth. Originally, it had two Firebird pickups and then eventually I took those pickups out to put them in an actual Firebird. And now the guitar…

Long before digital simulations became sophisticated enough to blur the lines between actual and artificial ambience, studio engineers and electric guitarists were obliged to use springs, specially built chambers and plates. The reverb characteristics these devices produced may have had technical shortcomings, but the characteristics were often so strong and sonically pleasing that they became integral to the sound of recorded music in the post-war era. Room-inations The terms echo and reverb were once used interchangeably. By and large, we associate echo with shouting a word into a large reflective space and hearing our voice bounce back at us multiple times, a second or so later. Reverb is created by multiple soundwaves bouncing off hard surfaces, so ‘echo’ isn’t entirely incorrect. However, the reflections are so close together that they…

Bernie Marsden Tutor Richard Barrett | Gear used Knaggs SSC T, Keeley Boss SD-1 & Vox AC15 C1 Difficulty 10 mins per example WHEN BERNIE MARSDEN passed away in August, the guitar community lost a popular figure and respected ambassador, not to mention a friend of this magazine. A founding member of Whitesnake with David Coverdale in the latter 70s, Bernie was already an experienced player, having turned professional in 1972 with the band UFO. He later worked alongside such luminaries as Cozy Powell and Paice Ashton Lord – he might even have become a member of Paul McCartney’s Wings had Whitesnake not come along… Thanks to this twist of fate, we have such classics as Fool For Your Loving, Ready An’ Willing and, of course, Here I Go Again.…

VIDEO DEMO http://bit.ly/guitaristextra If there’s one thing that has changed at the more affordable end of guitar brands’ offerings over the last decade or so, it’s choice. Formerly the reserve of those willing – or maybe even at times begrudgingly – to pay more in order to get closer to the spec they wanted, the import guitar boom has well and truly busted down the door, behind which sit countless options. That’s a space occupied by Squier’s Paranormal series. Since its introduction, it has not only given us affordable versions of Fender’s more leftfield designs, but it’s also created its own reimagined, mashed-up and experimental guitars. For some players, the Squier name holds certain preconceptions, but for others it’s a well-priced vehicle to more sounds and greater versatility, and the…

Once a ‘Made in the UK’ guitar brand, Shergold’s reboot in 2017 combined UK design with some pretty boutique-style Indonesian manufacturing, USA-made pickups and new-design hardware. But the new Standard Series Telstar always had a different aim. “I’m very proud of the Custom Series,” says Barnes & Mullins’ owner and MD, Brian Cleary, whose idea it was to bring back Shergold. “I think they still represent very good value for money, but we were competing at a very difficult price point. To achieve more mass appeal, it was obvious we needed to look at a lower price. It was a good year and half ago that we started the conversation with Patrick [James Eggle] to get the design going.” “I read some story once – I have no idea if…

CONFESSIONS OF A LUTHIER My face is furrowed with lines of concentration as I pick up the tool. A slow-motion sharpened block plane glides into focus, the gossamer-thin ribbon of a freshly cut wood shaving effortlessly unfurling from the surface like fresh apple peel. Motes of dust sparkle through the air like stars scattered through a night sky. Unfortunately, though – forgetting that I’m actually building a proper instrument – I’ve also just planed far too much off the edge of a fingerboard, which means what I’m working on is now going to look better on a ukulele than a full-size guitar. I mutter a few swear words, switch off the camera and make a mental note to edit that last part out. Such is the life of a guitar-making…

STAR LETTER A NEW VOICE I’ve been playing guitar and bass for a number of years and have no exceptional skills, but I have found great joy in playing with a wide range of musicians in a number of settings. Since what remains of my hair is very grey and I can’t hack the late-night finishes from playing in a Home Counties barn dance band, the great majority of my playing is now in my local church as one of the worship bands. If anything, this setting gives the greatest challenge as a musician – but also the greatest accomplishment. Many express their anger or politics (sometimes both) in their music, but I would advocate expressing one’s faith in the music… So much for the background, now for the nitty…

Apart from funding music education at the university itself, Fred and Dinah Gretsch have donated some historic Gretsch guitars and other artefacts to a museum overseen by the university in Georgia. Situated at the Plant Riverside District in Savannah, it tells the story of the development of Gretsch as a major force in the guitar marketplace and contains some of the brand’s most prized vintage instruments. We join coordinator Aaron Phillips and curator Dr Matthew Hill to find out more. How did the museum come about? Aaron Phillips: “Fred and Dinah Gretsch have been in the Savannah area now for over 30 years and they have always had partnerships with Georgia Southern – they’ve had a scholarship in our School of Music, another one in our business programme – so…

INTERVIEWGretsch 140th Anniversary How did you first become a Gretsch guy, and what keeps you one today? “Those things still bring me the most fun out of anything. Out of old motorcycles, old cars – it’s Gretsch guitars. I bought one [his 1959 orange 6120] in the late 1970s because I wanted to look like Eddie Cochran. I didn’t even know if they’d sound good. Back then, no-one knew who Eddie Cochran was, so I found it in the local paper for 100 bucks. “It’s such a special sound. People who play solidbody guitars don’t have this happen, but the sound comes out of the amplifier, it goes back through the guitar, so you can control how much sustain you want, how much feedback you want, and the whole thing…

G2215-P90 STREAMLINER JUNIOR JET CLUB £399 Solidbody bolt-ons may not feature in Gretsch’s early history, but this hugely affordable single-cut is definitely worth a look, using nato for its solid body and bolt-on neck. The roots-rocker’s headstock is dead classy, the bridge is a simple compensated wrapover, and the guitar is powered by a Broad’Tron BT-2S humbucker at the bridge and a P90 Soap Bar single coil at the neck. Controls are super simple, too. “A grab-and-go axe that won’t break the bank. Game on!” said our review. G2622T-P90 STREAMLINER CENTER BLOCK DOUBLE-CUT P90 WITH BIGSBY £649 Another Streamliner, here with early 60s double-cut style, that won’t break the bank. Its centre block gives it some solidity, but it’s the pickups that are the twist here. Conceived back in 2021,…

DINOSAURAL COGMEISTER £299 CONTACT Coggins Audio PHONE 07733 016732 WEB www.cogginsaudio.co.uk What You Need To Know 1 Dinosaural? Who are they? Well, if you haven’t heard of Dinosaural you will certainly have heard of Lovetone and ThorpyFX. Dan Coggins was the designer of the much-missed Lovetone pedals and more recently has been designing pedals for ThorpyFX, including the ER-2 reviewed elsewhere in this issue. Dinosaural is Dan’s own brand. 2 What’s the Cogmeister? Dan describes it as “a trio of compatible booster effects designed for the electric guitar”. 3 So, it’s just like stacking boost and drive pedals together? Yes, but all in one box with a drive circuit that’s bookended with an input treble booster and an output midrange booster. When it comes to choosing boost and drive pedals…

The MOD SQUAD I’ve never owned a proper Gretsch guitar, but I’ve certainly played, tested, fixed, modded and gigged a few of them over the years. Like many I’m sure, I’ve sometimes been befuddled by the occasionally out-there circuitry, not to mention the ‘creaky ship’ build of many vintage originals. But they’re damn cool-looking, aren’t they? And there’s nothing that quite sounds like a Filter’Tron. The experience of playing a Custom Shop Fender La Cabronita Tele a few years back still sticks vividly in my memory. A simple Tele that sounded like a Gretsch with a roots-rock vibe and an easy drive. Now we’re talking! Today, that now so-called ‘Cabronita style’, a masterstroke of the Custom Shop’s Mike Eldred, is commonplace, though not exactly mainstream. For example, Fender doesn’t make…

Not the most sexy thing out there, perhaps, but technical specifications are important when finding your ideal cab. In the final part of our trilogy on buying the right guitar cab, we will focus on the tech specs that you’ll want to look out for. The three most important technical specs for me are power handling, impedance and speaker sensitivity, in that order. As their technical nature would suggest, these topics are complex so they could fill a few columns on their own, but I think a brief overview will be helpful here – as well as my opinion on where you can experience a little flexibility. Power handling is effectively how much power the overall cabinet will take, and so you’ll want to keep the overall power handling of…

Warm Audio is an American company founded on the principle of building sonically high-end recording products that are affordable to the everyday musician and recording engineer. It basically produces new versions of vintage classics and, while much of its output has been in the studio world, the brand has moved into pedals with its own takes on the Klon Centaur, Hermida Zendrive, Roland Jet Phaser and Foxx Tone Machine. Warm Audio’s latest duo is based on the recently discontinued Fulltone OCD and the Mu-Tron Phasor II, a rare 1970s-era phaser. ODD Box V1 The Fulltone OCD is a hard-clipping op-amp-based overdrive that has graced the stages of a host of well-known players. And while it’s no longer being manufactured, demand still continues. The ODD Box aims to satiate that demand…

Artist: Trevor Rabin Album: Rio (InsideOutMusic) Despite a career that started at the age of 17, with work as a session musician in his native South Africa and stints in SA bands such as Conglomeration and Rabbitt, Trevor Rabin is probably best known for taking over guitar duties in Yes during the mid-80s. He was also responsible for the band’s biggest hit Owner Of A Lonely Heart and much of the writing on Yes’s chart-storming 90125 album. You may even have seen his name on the soundtracks of films such as Armageddon, Bad Boys II and National Treasure. A multi-instrumentalist by nature but perhaps a guitarist by choice, he was last seen brandishing his old faithful beaten-up Strat when Yes offshoot Anderson, Rabin and Wakeman toured the UK in 2016…

RAISING THE TONE Tinkering has always been rife among electric guitar players. In contrast, most acoustic players seem less inclined to alter their guitars. For some reason, we’d often rather accept them for what they are or simply upgrade just as soon as we can afford a better one. This got me thinking about easy and cost-effective acoustic guitar upgrades, so let’s start by focusing on bridge and saddle issues. The saddle’s function is to transfer energy from vibrating strings into the soundboard, which in turn generates sound waves. For the system to operate properly, the transfer of energy has to be as efficient as possible and none of the string energy can be wasted. The first thing to check is that the saddle is a good fit for the…

If you take an interest in folk, blues and other traditional styles of guitar music, you may have encountered a puzzling phenomenon when you try to understand where the styles come from. You can trace them back easily enough to the pre-war years of the 1930s and maybe a little before. But all too often, as one delves back further into the past, the trail becomes harder to follow… Part of the reason is that the deepest roots of modern music derive from folk song, which was passed down orally from mother to daughter, from father to son. During England’s industrial revolution, many of these centuries-old musical traditions died out, as people moved from field to factory and the pattern of their lives changed utterly. These sweeping changes might have…

Gretsch 140th Anniversary If the record-buying public had warmed to Jimmie Webster’s ‘Touch System’ two-handed tapping technique, then the Gretsch brand that we know today might never have existed. Webster was an accomplished guitarist who played for Woody Herman and Count Basie during the 1930s, and who also tuned pianos when he wasn’t travelling the US and appearing on TV to demonstrate Gretsch guitars. His role at Gretsch had similarities with Ted McCarthy’s at Gibson and Leo Fender’s at his namesake brand. He was pivotal in establishing the post-war Gretsch aesthetic and was a driving force behind Gretsch’s most iconic models. He also developed hardware, pickups and wiring harnesses. Like his contemporaries, Webster observed trends in the automobile industry and the way car manufacturers maintained demand for older models by…

INTERVIEWGretsch 140th Anniversary What first attracted you to Gretsch guitars? “Eddie Cochran and Duane Eddy. Simple as that. When I was a kid, I saw pictures of Eddie and Duane playing and I listened to the records, joined the dots and realised that these incredibly beautiful-looking guitars actually sounded amazing as well. So if you’re a young guitar player who was into that kind of thing it just ticked every single box.” Were you drawn to a particular model at the time? “The semi acoustics, obviously, or the full acoustics. I only encountered the solidbodies years later. I love the 6120s, but it’s the Country Club that I love the most. I’ve got a 1954 blonde Country Club with DeArmond pickups on it… it’s to die for. The sound of…

BLUEPRINT: Gibson Murphy Lab Acoustics In the space of a few decades, pre-aged guitars have gone from industry joke to high art. A large part of that turnaround has been down to the work of Tom Murphy, whose work has elevated what was once a (quite literally) scattergun process into something more akin to historical restoration. Murphy operated independently for many years, but as of 2020 was chosen to head up Gibson’s specially created Murphy Lab, sharing his innovative tools and techniques with a small crew of hand-picked employees. The Custom Shop instruments they finish have become revered for their convincingly vintage look and feel, and many players will swear they sound better for the treatment, too. Now, in collaboration with Gibson’s Bozeman, Montana “craftory”, the Murphy Lab is expanding…

“A very big part is the larger, double height magnet – it’s actually not quite double the height, but that’s what they get referred to as,” Stuart tells us. “The standard Sunbear BearTrons that you have there, internally, have more modernised parts, but I keep the magnet the same as the vintage ones. (I also do a full replica version for the people that maybe need a pickup for a vintage Gretsch or they have a very vintage-spec Gretsch and want to keep it accurate down to the stamped covers and everything right under the hood.) It’s still rough-cast Alnico V that’s charged to the same degree as some vintage Filter’Tons I’ve had on my bench; it’s not quite a full charge, but it’s getting up there. So, because of…