Indholdsfortegnelse for November 2019 i Total Guitar

Aafter thousands of entries from around the world, star judges including John Petrucci, Plini, Nita Strauss, Tosin Abasi and Andy McKee, 12 finalists in three finals (plus another one for bass) played during the two days of the UK Guitar Show in London last month to decide who would be the Young, Acoustic and electric Guitarist Of The Year 2019. And here they are: spanning three continents, under 16 Young Guitarist Of The Year winner Yamato Mori from Japan, Acoustic Guitarist Of The Year winner Christie Lenée from the US and Guitarist Of The Year winner Dylan Reavey from Australia. All three very different players and all performing their own compositions (see right) to win their finals and coveted guitar prizes from PRS (a Silver Sky), Takamine (Takamine EF341SC dreadnought)…

GREAT GRANDPA Nostalgia be damned! Great Grandpa reimagine the sound of US indie rock Great Grandpa’s second album Four Arrows sounds like someone has broken a good indie rock band and then reassembled it the wrong order. Far removed from its somewhat staid brethren, it makes sense that much of the record was conceived as the band’s couple Pat and Carrie Goodwin (guitar and bass, respectively) were travelling Japan and Vietnam on their honeymoon. “Being in a foreign country and culture just ignites the neurones in your brain,” explains Pat, who took a Little Martin acoustic on the trip. “[Processing] all the novelty, new languages, and overwhelming emotions. I was dealing with some serious depression at the time and I just hammered away on that tiny guitar for hours every…

November sees the return of heavy metal titans Machine Head to UK shores as part of their 2019 European tour. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the band’s triumphant debut album, Burn My Eyes, so, in celebration of this milestone, we’re taking a look here at Robb Flynn and Logan Mader’s guitar riff on album opener and fan favourite Davidian. The 90s were a transitional period for heavy metal with lower drop tunings gradually becoming more commonplace. Perhaps that’s why Davidian’s drop C (CGCFAD) riffing still sounds fairly current. The powerchords are easy – a one-finger barre across the two bass strings does the job. You’ll need a gentle touch to bring out the 5th fret harmonics though. Use your third finger – it’ll keep you in position to…

VOLUME The volume is a simple attenuation control that dumps signal to ground. DRIVE The drive control changes how much signal is delivered to the main amplification stage of the pedal. Depending on how you have configured the clipping with the internal switches, this will have a more or less dramatic effect. TONE The tone control is used by most players to get a handle on the treble output from the pedal – as you’d expect, it’s highly interactive with the internal trimmer. DIP SWITCHES [INSIDE CASE] Turning all the switches to the ‘off’ position will result in both sides of the pedal simply operating as boosts; each circuit has two sets of clipping diodes, hard and soft, which can be quickly engaged or disengaged using these switches to radically…

“Is there a secret?” ponders Spoon singer/guitarist Britt Daniel when asked how he wrote his band’s most popular indie-rock anthems. Is there, perhaps, a stage of the process that might be unique to him? He takes a moment to think about it. “I’m not really sure, to be honest. What I usually do is, to put it dramatically, go into some kind of trance. You have to get lost in what you are doing. That’s how I create, getting totally absorbed in chords and then coming up with strong melodies on top of them.” The Spoon leader also points how, while stockpiling ideas is all well and good, it’s the selection process of what to build on further that helped cement a fruitful career since starting the band in 1993.…

Mark: “My PRS MT15 was front and centre with the Cornford RK100 – which is like my go-to magical amp – in there too. Our producer Michael ‘Elvis’ Baskette told me early on, ‘You have to bring in that Cornford every time!’ I think there might have been a little bit of Rectifier, though to be honest I think we hardly used it. For my cleans, I used a Fender Twin along with my signature, maybe a little bit of Victory V40 too. Martin Kidd [who worked with Cornford before Victory] is a ridiculously talented amp designer. You can make his amps sound good wherever you sit, even at home at bedroom levels. You can blindly move the knobs around and it will still sound great. I’m really proud of…

01 GET A BIGGER SOUND! Try a wet/dry amp setup If you have two amps this can be a fantastic way to supersize your guitar sound; splitting your signal to send some effects to one amp. We’d advise splitting after your drive pedal/s. Send one split to the first amp (this will be your ‘dry’ amp) and the other split through the effects placed after the drive pedals (modulation and time-based like delay and reverb) to the second amp (this is your ‘wet’ amp). It’s really a best of both worlds scenario because amp one is direct and dynamic, while the second adds more ambient textures. No matter what amps you’re using they need to be isolated electrically to avoid any ground loop hum and in-phase. An AB/Y box…

The open G5, Csus4 and C/G chords are used in the intro section. These chords need to sound big and spacious, so make sure that each string sounds clean by arching your fingers to avoid accidentally muting open strings. There are three root-5th powerchords in the song: G5, D5 and a low F5. There are also two root-5th-octave powerchords played on the second, third and fourth strings: G5 and F5. Two of the chords in the verse require a slight change in hand position because the 3rd-fret G root note is fretted with the thumb over the top of the neck.…

When Kelvin Jones started playing guitar one of his friends told him that ‘real guitarists don’t use capos’. “I never got that,” he says now with a laugh. “It just means I can sing a song in a different key and it sounds better. I like the way, say, an A minor rings in a capo’d position rather than when I just barre it, so why wouldn’t I do it? Using a capo means I’m not staring down at my left hand all the time in front of 10,000 people. I can focus on the performance.”…

NIRVANA POLLY Intro / Verse TRACK 37 Kicking things off in the intro, Kurt’s part is played using down- and upstrokes. Try all-downstrokes if you’re feeling creative, but a down-up approach is the way to nail the feel of the recording. Watch out at the end of bar 2. Sometimes Kurt slides between chords; other times he plays open strings. NIRVANA POLLY Verse End / Chorus TRACK 37 Kurt’s muted backbeat is still at work the chorus – but it’s more subtle. In the first bar of the chorus, it’s the open-string chord on beat 2 that gives the emphasis instead. BACKING TRACK (TRACK 37) This song comes with a backing track (minus guitar) on your CD. Simply insert the disc in your player, press play and jam…

1 MAIN FOOTSWITCHES The footswitches are clear to use, so you won’t need much guesswork. They indicate bank shift, effect on/off and patch select 2 TYPE, BROWSE, BROWSER These are your main access points to start editing. Some of these functions would benefit from clearer names. “Browse” and “Browser” anyone? 3 RETURN You’ll need to plug a mic in to one of the returns to profile your own amp. Not marked as such, it’s easily overlooked “TOP CLASS SOUND QUALITY. AND WE MEAN TOP CLASS” This is a Kemper Profiler. Yes, yes, we know it says as much at the top of the page, but it’s so important we thought we’d say it again. Why so? Well, it’s a very important point. What you have here is…

LINE 6 HELIX FLOOR Perhaps the closest direct competitor to the Profiler Stage, Line 6’s flagship Helix Floor offers greater control over the virtual signal chain and an expression pedal. HEADRUSH PEDALBOARD Undercutting both Line 6 and Kemper on price, this modeller from Headrush offers a well-designed layout and a nice big screen. FRACTAL AUDIO FX8 MULTI-EFFECTS The FX8 offers all the effects without the amp modelling of its bigger, more expensive brother, the Axe-Fx III. Ideal if you just can’t let go of your ‘real’ amp.…

1. Burden Of The Road John Smith A poignant return from a great acoustic talent with a sublime and confessional song about leaving family behind when touring. 2. King Aura (live) Dylan Reavey Frank Zappa entering Super Mario World in the guise of a young Brisbane jazz fusion virtuoso? That’s one way of describing Guitarist Of The Year’s worthy winner! 3. Song For Michael Pukac (live) Christie Lenée What are journey of technique and feel this was to witness at the AGOTY finals – incredible use of harmonics, fingerstyle and tapping here. 4. Eureka (live) Yamato Mori It’s hard to fathom how a teenager wrote, let along played this – emotive, dynamic and ethereal. A deserving winner. 5. Lovelorn Crime Opeth A beautiful, sweeping ballad from the new album In…

“I already use a pick. What more do I really need to know?” Good question! Picking is a surprisingly involved area of guitar playing. Though you only have to choose between downstrokes and upstrokes, how you employ that triangular piece of plastic can have a major impact on technique, playing speed and even your tone. “Well, consider me surprised! Tell me more.” When you pluck your guitar’s strings you’ll use either a downstroke or an upstroke. Simple, right? However, if you use a technique known as ‘alternate picking’ your timing and speed can improve. You’ll probably do it naturally – it’s harder to explain than it is to get started, in fact. “Might as well try and explain it though!” Yes, well here goes… the idea is to sync your…

In recent issues we’ve been looking at how chords are built. Without any guidance the theory can leave you scratching your head – but hopefully this month’s brief look at 9th chords should clarify things. Most important to the whole concept of building chords is using every other note in the major scale. For example, in the key of C the notes are C, D, E, F, G, A and B. The C major chord uses C, E and G; a Cmaj7 chord uses C, E, G and B. Why is this important? Well, if you understand how chords are built and how they sound, you can improve the chord progressions you write. You’ll also know which notes to solo with. Right, let’s get started! We'll begin with Cmaj9. 1…

FENDER SQUIER CLASSIC VIBE 70S STRAT £329 It’s got to be the black Strat! No, not Gilmour’s… U2’s man used a 1973 model to track some of the key songs we want to nail – Bad, Pride, Streets… Fender released a signature model in 2016, but not only would it blow our budget through the ceiling, it’s not even all black! The signature reflects what The Edge plays live now. Confusing! Luckily, the new Classic Vibe line is here to help with a very tasty price and 70s spec. Unlike the Edge’s own it’s got a humbucker in the bridge position but we’d use the middle pickup for his chimey songs. The bonus means you can also cover the tonal territory where he used a Les Paul, SG or…

Will buying a better cable improve my guitar tone? It can definitely change it, though you’ll feel the effects of different cables much more if you use passive pickups rather than active. This is where capacitance comes into play – a buzzword around guitar cables for a very good reason. Capacitance has the most noticeable effect of reducing high-end treble in your tone – but it can actually have an effect across the spectrum. Combined with the inductors that are your guitar pickups, it can actually add midrange gain. The general rule is, the longer your cable length is, or the more capacitance the cable itself has for its given length, the more loss of high-end you’ll notice. You may even want this but if you’re lacking some high-end brightness,…

With an Italian name that translates as ‘good tone’ Washburn’s Bella Tono series is also offering potentially great value as it makes its UK debut. Priced between £169 and £489, the new ‘Studio’ body shape models aim for a more comfortable playing experience while retaining the response of a larger-bodied guitar. The series features Barcus-Berry LX4 pickup systems in two of the four models, with the entry Novo S9V sporting a gloss Charcoal Burst. All four feature ornate Abalone inlays, including a vine, lotus, beach, birds and mountains. Review soon!…

Welcome to the GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome*) Station! Every issue, TG scours the market for the hottest new gear and brings you transparent reviews that you can trust. From the smallest of accessories that make your life easier, to big investments such as brand new guitars, amps and effects pedals – if it’s worth your attention, you’ll find it here! HOW WE TEST CURATION Our product selection is driven by our love of gear. We select the most exciting products on the market every month to bring you opinions you can trust. FACE-VALUE REVIEWS We’re not gear snobs here at Total Guitar. We judge it on whether it looks good, sounds good and plays well – not by the name on the headstock. NO SNAKE OIL You won’t find us…

When we talk about the semi-hollow electric guitar, often our first thoughts turn to the Gibson ES-335 and its ilk; guitars with wide bodies that you could use as life rafts in cases of extreme emergency. Are they awesome? Absolutely. But sometimes it feels like they are for players built like Mr Tickle. Not all semi-hollow electrics need be that cumbersome. Which brings us here. There’s a Gretsch Electromatic G5655TG Center Block Jr not dissimilar to George Harrison’s favourite, the Duo Jet. If the Gretsch works a ‘50s mojo, the Hagström Alvar turns the clock back to 1965, looking much like a downsized version of the Swedish company’s first semi-hollow, the Viking. While the Fender Vintera ‘70s Telecaster Thinline takes its name very seriously with a spec that is pure…

This issue we’re modding a Strat to give it a new series mode. You thought your Strat was versatile already? Now you can begin stepping into humbucker territory. As standard the Strat has this switch function: Neck / Neck & Middle / Middle / Middle & Bridge / Bridge. The N+M and M+B settings are parallel connections of the two single coils giving a classic ‘quack’ tone; if these coils were connected in series instead they’d have a rounder and louder sound. This is actually how the two coils in a humbucker are connected. So wouldn’t it be great to have that switchable? Enter the push/push pot, a neato way of making a pot dual-function. The new series modes are: Neck & Middle (series) / Neck & Middle (series) /…

Blackstar has unveiled its Silverline range of amps: a five-strong line-up aiming to deliver valve tone and response while incorporating the flexibility of digital features. The strikingly silver covering and refined ‘coffin’ logo are the first things to set these apart from the Blackstar amps we’re used to, but the fun doesn’t stop there. Central to each amp’s design are the valve responses - building on Blackstar’s patended TVP technology and taking it to the next level. These power amp responses are fuelled by SHARC DSP chips (as found in many high-end digital products from the likes of Strymon, Universal Audio, and more) have been designed to not only give you the tone of classic amp power stages, but to interact with your playing organically in the same way a…

I Got My First Real Six-String… “… In a garage sale. It was a Kay knock-off; it was called a Jay, a J-A-Y. It was some department store guitar, it was about five dollars and I still have it. A few years ago for my birthday, Susan [Tedeschi] sent my first guitars to Paul Reed Smith to get them fixed up and playable again. I think probably means that my guitar has the honour of being the worst guitar Paul Reed Smith has ever worked on! [Laughs] But it still sounds good, and he made it playable.” “MY GUITAR HAS THE HONOUR OF BEING THE WORST GUITAR PAUL REED SMITH HAS EVER WORKED ON!” Sign Of The Times “We were writing and making [the new] record coming out of some…

GARAGE ROCK The mid-60s brought with it a whole generation of young guitarists eager to emulate the sound of British Invasion groups, albeit with fewer chords, more fuzz pedals and a whole lot of attitude. The results were simplistic, and often just plain crude, but nonetheless full of an energy and invention that would eventually pave the way for punk rock. So leave the car in the drive and turn up the volume as we take a look at the best sounds to emerge from behind the garage door… START WITH TY SEGALL TWINS (2012) Garage rock never faded away, but it had its purest resurgence in late-2000s 1 California, with groups like White Fence, Thee Oh Sees and Allah-Las emerging from the Golden State. Scene poster boy Ty Segall…

It’s hard to picture many modern guitar partnerships that operate with same fluidity as Alter Bridge pair Mark Tremonti and Myles Kennedy. Seated next to each other in the cafeteria of a London hotel on a late summer morning, they both point out how – despite penning a lot of their latest tracks separately – it’s never been more difficult to pin down exactly who wrote what. The question even baffled producer Michael ‘Elvis’ Baskette, the man who’s been behind the desk on no less than five of their six studio albums, including the latest, Walk The Sky. “He thought Tear Us Apart was definitely a Myles track while In The Deep had to be mine,” grins Mark. “I guess the more you write and work with somebody, the more…

MXR 5150 OVERDRIVE £199 Eddie is a rarity as he’s been more heavily involved in designing the gear he uses than nearly any other guitar hero since Hendrix. He knew what he wanted and it gave birth to one of the greatest high gain amps of all time: the Peavey 5150. Its blue channel this is based on became a huge hit with metal players but Eddie used less gain than some think. The contemporary EVH 5150 III take on his amp head design costs a grand itself so the launch of this pedal four years ago was potential brown sound manna from heaven. Does it cut it? It does very well. While Wampler’s Pinnacle is impressive, we think this is as close as a pedal gets, and its…

HIGHWAY STAR Words and Music by Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice Copyright ©1972 B. Feldman & Co. Ltd. Copyright Renewed. All Rights Administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, 424 Church Street, Suite 1200, Nashville, TN 37219 International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission of Hal Leonard Europe Limited DEEP PURPLE HIGHWAY STAR Intro Allow the opening chords to sustain for a full bar, and only change at the last possible moment. When changing chord, try to move all your fingers at the same time and stay as close as possible to the strings. In bar 9, shift your focus from chord changing to picking a solid eighth-note groove. DEEP PURPLE HIGHWAY STAR Verse Pick the G5 powerchords with downstrokes, and stay relaxed…

Form the powerchords by barring across the adjacent strings with your third finger. Kurt wasn’t too fussy about damping the idle strings. You can also hear the second string being fretted on the C5 and D5 chords at times, turning them into C and D respectively. Whether it was deliberate or just an errant barring finger we’ll never know, but it adds a sweet note to the song. We’ve notated C5 and D5 in the songsheet, but feel free to experiment with the major shapes too. Finally, note that the open D5 shape was used in live shows but not in the recording. POLLY Words and Music by Kurt Cobain Copyright © 1991 Primary Wave Tunes and The End Of Music. All Rights Administered by BMG Rights Management (US) LLC.…

1 MOOER GE-150 For a while, multi-fx pedals developed something of a stigma, but we can feel that changing. Mooer clearly does too, with the introduction of its GE-150, the newest entry in its GE line of multi-fx pedals. This floorboard boasts 55 amp models from Mooer’s Micro Preamp range, 26 cab models, and perhaps most interestingly, can import impulse responses. Also onboard are 10 metronome modes, 55 drum rhythms, a phrase looper, and USB connectivity for recording. Not bad for around 150 quid! (£155, mooeraudio.co.uk) 2 JIM DUNLOP JAMES HETFIELD FLOW WHITE FANG PICK Earlier in the year, we brought you the full story of Dunlop’s Flow range of picks (we even gave TGbranded Flows away with the mag!). Now, it’s Papa Het’s turn to put his name on…

These four compact semi-hollow guitars have lot of virtues in common. They’re all resonant, comfortable, playable – the Hagström is especially playable – and when it comes to tone, they each put their own spin on what a semi-hollow could sound like. The G5655TG surprised us. Those Broad’Tron humbuckers lay down a formidable challenge to the prevailing wisdom that Gretsch is just for rockabilly, with enough high-gain muscle to shoulder sparkly crisp, hard rock crunch. At high volumes, it really comes alive. There is still some feedback, a little noise, but you wouldn’t want a Grestch to sound housetrained. Roll the gain off and there is a little more definition in there, heaps of bouncy rock ’n’ roll tone that pairs well with valve-driven spring reverb and that Bigsby wobble.…

The Tube Screamer has long been a favourite platform for modders and hot-rodders, and the family tree of the classic green overdrive contains a number of excellent op-amp drives like the Timmy and Zendrive that owe the Tube Screamer at least a passing debt. The Direwolf is a pureblood TS with mods, the most notable of which that it runs at 18V, thanks to an internal charge-pump However, should you wish to lower the headroom for greater saturation, there’s a switch on the PCB that you can toggle to return it to 9V operation. “THE ‘LIFT’ SETTING GAVE OUR AMP A PUNCHY BOOST” Most of the Direwolf’s new functionality is accessed by toggle switches on the front panel, which cover tone, clipping options and gain boosting. We spent most of…