Indholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2020 i Total Guitar

Like many, I began my guitar journey as a youngster playing my dad’s beaten up, no-name acoustic. It truly was a knackered instrument, so, when I’d proven after a few out of tune weeks that I was going to stick with the guitar, an upgrade soon followed: a brand new nylon string which my mum bought for the princely sum of £30. I don’t remember the brand. Again, I persevered, and a few months later, mesmerised by a beautiful, rich new sound (well, new to me!), I came to own an acoustic 12-string. I think my guitar teacher, a family friend, gave it to me. These guitars have all sadly long since left my collection, and it’s only recently whilst planning our acoustic issue that I realised how formative those…

Dean has unveiled several enticing new models recently, including the Colt Bigsby and the NashVegas Select series, and now the company has added the Icon Select electric guitar to its 2020 lineup. The new offering boasts a tight-grained mahogany body with carved top contour, three-piece mahogany set-through-neck with dual-action truss rod and satin finish and a 12-inch radius, 22-fret ebony fingerboard with pearloid Icon inlays. Other features include a Tune-O-Matic-style bridge and Dean Cadi high-mass hardtail, Grover tuners and five-ply multi-binding on the body, neck and quill headstock. The pickups are a pair of exclusive Seymour Duncan APH-1 (neck) and SH-5 (bridge) humbuckers in custom zebra parchment finish with sandblasted pole pieces, controlled via single volume and tone knobs and a three-way toggle. The APH-1 Alnico II Pro promises to…

REAL LOVE BABY FATHER JOHN MISTY Real Love Baby (2016) D, Em and G. That’s all you need to know to get through this non-album track from Josh Tillman’s alter-ego. Easy! PRETTY PIMPIN KURT VILE B’lieve I’m Goin Down (2015) The Philadelphia multi-instrumentalist fingerpicks this track from his 2015 album using just his thumb and first finger. Do the same to get Kurt’s feel. HOLOCENE BON IVER Bon Iver, Bon Iver (2011) You’ll need a 1st-fret capo and to tune the bottom four strings an octave up (known as Nashville tuning - see p39) to play Bon Iver’s indie-folk classic. Use the thinnest four strings from a new set. THE BIRTHDAY PARTY THE 1975 Notes On A Conditional Form (2020) The genre-hopping four-piece continue to repel…

DO Experiment with different rooms – this can make a huge difference to the sound of an acoustic guitar DON’T Tap your foot too loudly. If you must, take your shoe off and place a cushion underneath your foot DO Try different picks and strings. These are some of the biggest tone-shaping devices you have at your disposal, so it’s definitely worth it! DON’T Move too much while recording. You should be aiming to keep the guitar a consistent distance from the microphone DO Remember to switch off phones, boilers/air conditioning and anything else that could make noise during your take. If you’re a heavy breather, try and keep it quiet! DON’T Stress too much about string noise. It’s part of a natural acoustic sound…

Longtime Drag City artist Bill Callahan has announced the release of his seventh album, Gold Record, under his own name. Callahan, who previously recorded under the name Smog, released his last project Shepherd In A Sheepskin Vest in 2019. The album will be released via Drag City on 4th September, and features the singles 35, Pigeons and Another Song. On the song 35, author Patty Yumi Cottrell has written: “Bill Callahan is a friend to everyone. A conjurer of mortal joy, he shows us how a song can be a mirror, a map of encounter, a shrine to solitude. Bill’s voice, clarion and wise, reminds me to pay attention and to be more careful with others because most of us are gentle, small, and desiring things for ourselves. We might…

THE CHORD COMPANY – CHORD CREAM CABLE 1 When an award-winning high-end audio company produce guitar cables, it’s always worth investigating. The Chord Company has been designing and hand- building audio and video cables since 1985. Its Chord Cream guitar range doesn’t disappoint; Neutrik jacks, two large high quality conductors for signal and return, premium jackets and insulation with conductors arranged in a twisted pair configuration, wrapped in cotton spacers to reduce noise. www.chord.co.uk TC ELECTRONIC DITTO+ 2 We honestly don’t remember the last time we were this excited about a loop pedal. The latest addition to the Ditto range is mini and feature-packed, with highlights that include 99 memory slots, up to 60 minutes recording time and Extend Loop Mode – allowing you to record longer overdubs over shorter…

Kill switches have become a popular addition over the last decade, but if you’re still unsure about what they actually do then here’s a brief explanation. Quite simply, a kill switch momentarily mutes your signal, allowing you to create rhythmic stuttering effects with the touch of a button. Players have long utilised the neck and bridge volume controls and pickup switch to achieve the same result by turning one pickup off and switching between the two with the selector. But a kill switch gives you a dedicated button, freeing up both pickups at once and allowing you to apply the effect whenever you wish.…

First introduced in 1981, the BOSS DM-2 was a mini revolution – a compact, stomp box analogue delay that was accessible yet sounded excellent. The DM-1 had aimed to offer a more reliable, cheaper alternative to their RE-series tape echo range, but the smaller, cheaper DM-2 was when Roland really hit the bullseye. Where tape echoes used loops of tape to record and play back a sound, the DM-2 used a BBD, or bucket-brigade device – a capacitor array so-named for its similarity to a fire-bucket chain. BBD-based delay pedals get their unique sound from the signal degrading as it passes down the capacitor line, with high frequencies being lost. This results in the darker, more ‘organic’ tone that analogue delay fans crave. THE BOSS DM-2 BOASTS A DARKER, MORE…

We’re pretty sure nearly all of TG’s readers could quickly play a few 7th chords – say... Am7, D7 or Cmaj7. These are easy chords that beginners might play in the open position, and more advanced players might tackle as barre chords or in open tunings. So why, you may ask, would we go to the trouble of writing a lesson if it’s all so easy? Well, although the shapes can be easy to play, there’s still a lot of music to be made from these chords. And understanding how they’re built and the sounds they’ll help you create is a great springboard for your songwriting and riff ideas. What follows is a quick look at four different kinds of 7th chord, all presented with a D root note. They're…

“We’ve been sitting on this thing for a while,” explains Grey Daze guitarist Cristin Davis. It’s no exaggeration. The music his group have been holding onto stretches as far back as the early 90s, when a young Chester Bennington started his first band with some school friends, releasing two albums before leaving to discover worldwide stardom as the frontman of nu-metal chart-toppers Linkin Park. The project had been revived in 2017, with plans to tour and record being tragically cut short by the singer’s suicide on July 20th of that year, aged just 41 years old. Three years on from the day that shook the rock and metal world to its core – and, crucially, with the blessing of Bennington’s family – Amends is an album that reworks some of…

Nashville tuning duplicates the higher set of strings on a 12-string. It’s great for breathing new life into even the most simple parts and is lots of fun to play alongside someone in standard tuning. The Rolling Stones’ Wild Horses is a great example. Here’s how it works: 1. Remove your guitar’s sixth, fifth, fourth and third strings (E, A, D and G, respectively). 2. Replace them with the ‘octave up’ E, A, D and G strings from a 12-string guitar set. 3. Tune them to E, A, D and G, you guessed it, an octave higher than normal. 4. Be careful of the third string. This will be pretty tight, so tune up to pitch slowly. It can help to tune your guitar to E b A b D…

Guitar This goes without saying, but before you record, it’s worth checking out your guitar for buzzes, noises and intonation. A setup doesn’t cost much, but the benefits of having your gear in order now will pay off later. Get a set of fresh strings on your guitar, give them plenty of time to stabilise, and you’ll be sure that you’re capturing the best sound possible from your instrument. Microphones You don’t need a cupboard full of expensive and rare microphones to get a great sound, but if you’re recording electric and acoustic, we’d suggest getting your hands on at least one condenser microphone and one dynamic microphone (see Mic Check, p58). If you don’t want to buy them, you can always look into hiring some mics (check with your…

Recorded for the Foo Fighters’ seventh studio album Wasting Light, Rope sees guitarists Dave Grohl, Chris Shiflett and Pat Smear joining forces with angular chords and tight-knit riffs; the band embarking on a more heavy sound. The opening chords contain note ‘clusters’ that bring a mysterious dissonance to the track before the main groove is established. If you have a delay pedal, try emulating the settings so the repeats have roughly quarter-note triplet timing – that’s about 290 ms at 138 bpm. Just remember to keep your guitar silent for the rest of the bar after each chord stab. From bar 6, the minor riffs follow the same harmonic structure, and you will need to keep your picking hand close to the strings for a precise delivery. Many of the…

“THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING A MUSICIAN AND BEING A PERFORMER.” Nahko Bear’s songwriting could be described in any number of ways, but one way to think of it is as storytelling in pursuit of self discovery and communal healing. Whether his compositions are pared down and presented on acoustic guitar or delivered in the company of Medicine For The People – with horns, violin, and full band –they are typically imbued with a sense of spiritualism. Stylistically, there is a restlessness to Nahko’s writing, a sensibility gleaned from his travels, leaving home at 17, moving to Alaska, then Hawaii, on the road reading Kerouac and listening to Dylan, but maybe also from his search of identity. Nahko’s songwriting interrogates his sense of self, exploring his lineage as…

£569 For most of Muse’s career, frontman Matt Bellamy has played custom-built Manson guitars, designed and built by Hugh Manson and Tim Stark. Famously, this long list of guitars has included everything from built-in X-Y pads, Digitech Whammy pedals, Z.Vex Fuzz Factories, even lasers. But in 2015, Muse fans who couldn’t stump to the four-figure prices of Manson models had their dreams realised with the release of the MBC-1: a collaboration of Manson and Matt Bellamy’s designs and guitar manufacturing giant Cort to produce an affordable signature model. “EFFICIENT DESIGN AND KILLER SOUNDS SHOULD COST MORE” That guitar was released to supermassive acclaim, bagging awards left, right and centre simply as an incredible, affordable electric, regardless of the signature association. The Cort/Manson series followed with the Classic TC and M-Jet…

£319 When you think of Orange Amplification, the word ‘acoustic’ isn’t usually anywhere in sight. But here we are in an unexpected chapter for the British icon; an Orange acoustic combo, and the latest addition to its hugely successful Crush range of practice amps. “THE ACOUSTIC 30 IS LOUD FOR SUCH A COMPACT COMBO” We say practice, but this is designed for performing outside of the home, too. Literally outside; as well as mains power it can be battery powered for five hours at 50% volume and eight hours at low volume. But this Orange needs a lot of juice for that – 10 AA batteries. So obviously we’d recommend an investment in rechargeables or you’ll be busking for battery money... The Power unit is also external here rather than…

TYPE: Mini jumbo ¾ size travel electro acoustic TOP: Solid Sitka spruce BACK AND SIDES: Walnut (laminate) BRACING: Advanced X SCALE LENGTH: 23.5” (597mm) NECK: Mahogany FINGERBOARD: Ovangkol FINISH: Open Pore Spruce (also available: Little CJ Blackwood w/ blackwood top, back and sides; Little CJ Natural w/ mahogany back and sides) ELECTRICS: Fishman Presys II with Volume, Bass, Treble, Phase switch, chromatic tuner; Fishman Sonicore undersaddle piezo HARDWARE: Vintage-style open gear tuners, ovangkol bridge, LEFT-HANDED: No CASE: Gig bag CONTACT: Cort www.cortguitars.com…

BOSS DM-2W £166 When BOSS started reissuing classic pedals from their line-up, the first in their sights was the DM-2, much to the delight of players everywhere. In addition to a rejigged, lower-noise circuit, this Waza Craft series pedal also has an expression input and a second mode. In mode one, delay times range from 20 to 300 milliseconds, while in mode two, which BOSS call ‘custom’, the range is 40 to 800 milliseconds. MXR CARBON COPY £154 Although not directly influenced by the BOSS DM-2, the Carbon Copy filled a gap in the market for a reasonably-priced, lush-sounding analogue delay. With the addition of a modulation switch for the delay tails, it arguably took things up a gear, making it the perfect pedal for shoegaze and dream-pop.…

PAGE HAMILTON (HELMET) “I ended up playing on the song Sickness because I stopped by NRG to see my friend Jay Baumgardner, who is the owner and a mixer extraordinaire. I had no idea who was in the studio at the time. I heard a few tracks and was told they’d love to have me on there. I was preparing for the Helmet 30x30x30 European and US tour, finishing some work for a movie called Inherit the Viper, but I said I could record some guitars at my home studio. “At home I use a Fryette GP3 tube preamp for distorted sounds, a Palmer DI into Neve Shelford Channels (pre/eq/comp) and my Focusrite into Logic. I believe I used the Patrick Eggle Fret King they gave me when I was…

OPEN CHORDS If you’ve recently starting playing guitar, you’ve probably already tried some of the most common open chords (so called because they include un-fretted or ‘open’ strings). If you’ve got the basics covered, the variations shown here should inspire you with some new sounds without being too much of a challenge to play. Em7 and Cadd9 are widely used, Em9 and A6sus2 are rarer – and both have a lush, bittersweet sound. OPEN UP TRACK 12 We’ve worked four of our open chords into a simple strummed sequence for you, but we recommend experimenting with using them in your own chord progressions. HEAR IT! Oasis Wonderwall Lenny Kravitz Just Be A Woman SUS CHORDS The two most important chord types in music are major and minor: generally, major…

1 TENERIFE SEA ED SHEERAN X (2014) This simple tune gets less love than some of Sheeran’s more obvious hits, but it stands out thanks to its lilting 6/8 rhythm and delicate fingerpicking. Ed plays it with a capo on the 4th fret and the guitar tuned EADEBE, but early live performances show that it started out more simply, in standard tuning with a capo on the 1st fret. Using that approach, you can play it using the Wonderwall trick of holding your third and fourth fingers down on the third fret (from the capo) on the first two strings throughout. The chords are G, A7sus4, Cadd9, Em7, and Dsus4. If Sheeran’s live performances are anything to go by, this should reduce your audience to uncontrollable sobbing and declarations…

The opener on The Fab Four’s penultimate album, Abbey Road, this ever-popular Beatles number was borne out of psychologist and pro-LSD activist Timothy Leary’s slogan “Come Together, Join The Party” while running for Governor of California. Both the political campaign and John Lennon’s attempt to write a unifying anthem would fail, but the “sardonic self-portrait” that resulted is the song we know and love. Though credited to Lennon and Paul McCartney, George Harrison’s solo is the high point for guitarists. Intensely melodic and beautifully phrased, the part is harmonised in 4th and 5th intervals. Of course, the recording was overdubbed and this makes playing both parts near impossible. Still, we’ve tabbed the lot for you – the top line being the main focal point. Dead set on delivering those harmonies?…

Appearing on the follow up to Guns N’ Roses’ world-beating debut album, Patience would reveal a softer side to the band on 1989’s Lies EP. Eschewing the traditional power ballad format, they opted instead for the raw, unplugged sound of three acoustic guitars. Rhythm duties were covered by Izzy Stradlin and Duff McKagan, with Slash playing the intro and main solos, plus lead fills throughout. The original track was recorded in “half-step down” E b tuning (E b A b D b G b B b E b ), but we’ve recorded ours in standard tuning so you can jump right in. We’ve even tabbed Slash’s intro solo to illustrate how skillfully he negotiates the changes! When it comes to rhythm duties, you can either follow the eight main chords…

EVH WOLFGANG STANDARD £465 EVH is another frequent list-topper, and the Wolfgang offers a similar body shape, compound radius neck, and dual humbuckers with the addition of a licensed Floyd Rose. PRS SE MIRA £599 With a more double-cut approach, the PRS SE Mira gets you a solid dual-humbucker design with PRS’ ‘in-between’ 25” scale length. Like the Meta, it’s a fixed bridge, but also includes a coil split. CORT M-JET £469 Remove the signature association and kill switch from the MBM-1, and the M-Jet is a pretty faithful model. You get similar construction, pickups and many shared features.…

£369 With Cort’s recent electric guitar output consistently impressing us, it’s time to cast our critical eyes and ears over to its acoustic line up. And this is a great way to start; Cort’s entry into the travel guitar market with a ¾ electro. Travel-size acoustics exist in a bit of a strange place. There are obvious compromises in sound and scale for the playing experience, but when the recipe is right, they make perfect sense. The portability and pick-up-and-play factor can encourage us to play more. We’ll take them away with us, we might even get so attached to our travel-size acoustic we gig with it. So have Cort got the mix right here? “ONE OF THE MOST PLAYABLE ACOUSTICS IN SOME TIME” The ¾ jumbo Little CJ certainly…

As the backbone of pretty much every pedalboard, a decent overdrive is essential. But with this comes options, and there’s a seemingly endless number of clones, copies and derivatives when it comes to getting gritty. Earthquaker Devices, however, is known for being anything but derivative – a company intent on helping you cook up a sonic banquet so experimental, it’ll have Heston Blumenthal reaching for his palate cleanser. Imagine our surprise, then, when confronted by the Plumes: Earthquaker’s take on a meat-and-potatoes overdrive. More to the point, it’s relatively affordable compared to many ‘boutique’ overdrives. So what’s to get excited about? The Plumes features three clipping modes: symmetrical LED clipping, no-diode op-amp clipping and asymmetrical silicone diode clipping on modes one, two and three respectively. In tonal terms, this translates…