Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2022 i Total Guitar

We’d wager that you’re well aware of Rabea Massaad, and now the guitar virtuoso has teamed up with Neural DSP to release Archetype: Rabea. The amp modelling plugin delivers a range of effects (overdrive, octaver, dual compressor and fuzz) as well as three flavours of valve-swappable amps (Clean Rhythm and Lead) as well as cab simulator and virtual micing options. But this isn’t just another amp modeller, it includes a dual-oscillator subtractive synth that you can play from the comfort of your guitar – no weird pickups needed. It’s priced at €139, but you can download and use it for 14 days for free.…

They say you’re never too old to start rocking, but we think there’s a strong argument for never being too small either. The proof is in Epiphone’s latest release, the Power Player series which sees Gibson’s Les Paul and SG shapes shrunk-down for budding rockers. Coming in at what Epiphone calls “3/4+” size, they’re the same Les Paul and SG shapes we know and love, just smaller. While there are a few spec changes – bolt-on necks and Lightning Bar wraparound bridges – Epiphone has dolled these up to look the part as well as sound right too. Both guitars feature a pair of humbuckers (650R in the neck, 700T in the bridge), full four-control vol/tone layout. Both feature mahogany bodies with mahogany, SlimTaper-profile necks, and we love the fact…

GUTHRIE GOVAN Chances are, if you’ve ever been stood anywhere remotely near a discussion about the greatest guitar players on earth, you’ll have heard the name Guthrie Govan. Though he would never describe himself in that way, the English fusion wizard is widely regarded as not only one of the most technically sophisticated players to emerge since the likes of Shawn Lane and Allan Holdsworth, but also one of the most tasteful, with a sense of melodic phrasing that’s just as dynamically exquisite as Larry Carlton or even Jeff Beck himself. His 2006 solo debut Erotic Cakes raised the bar for instrumental guitar music, arguably becoming the most important solo album for shredders since Steve Vai’s game-changing Passion And Warfare masterpiece of 1990. Pushing six-string boundaries is something he continues…

Matt Bellamy loves a heavy riff. Now, more than ever. “I definitely think a bit more metal has crept in this time,” he says of the new Muse album Will Of The People. He’s always had it in him, as evidenced by early Muse bangers like New Born and Stockholm Syndrome, which helped make the trio one of the most successful alternative rock acts of the modern age. But with this new album, the singer/guitarist is really going for it in terms of sheer sonic weight. Will Of The People is a head-twisting celebration of heaviness – from its opening title track to its unequivocal closing number We Are F*cking F*cked. It’s the sound of a group finding new ways to catch lightning in the bottle and hardwire galactic riffs…

As one of the most forward-thinking and progressive guitarists on the planet, it’s safe to say there’s plenty to learn from Matt Bellamy – and we’re covering a fair amount of ground here with a set of lessons breaking down his style for you. We’re looking at Matt’s classical-tinged chord progressions, his riffing style and blues approaches, plus we explain some of his shred techniques, too. Probably the most important element to be aware of is his timing. Matt’s a tight player, and, whereas funk and blues guitarists tend to have a looser style, pushing notes early or laying back and behind the beat, Bellamy typically plays somewhat metronomically. Bear this in mind as you work through our tab examples. Keep your timing tight and try to lock in with…

“The Meta series don’t always have all the electronics built-in, but I’m hoping that if our collaboration with Cort goes deeper, we might be able to get some guitars with some of the more special effects stuff built-in.” That’s what Matt Bellamy told us when we spoke to him back in 2020. Two years on, and the Muse frontman-turned-guitar-brand-director has clearly settled into his role off-stage. Manson Guitar Works enlisted the help of Cort guitars to carry out the build of its first affordable design, the MBC-1 in 2015. Next came the Meta MBM-1, and now we arrive at the latest updates in the Matt Bellamy signature model range, the Meta MBM-2. There are four models on offer: the neck P-90 loaded MBM-2, humbucker/ Sustainiac-equipped MBM-2S, the Z.Vex Fuzz Factory-loaded…

During the 2020 lockdown, singer/songwriter Sophie May was really churning out the content for her newly minted TikTok channel (200k followers, 3.8m likes, both rising fast). At one point, she tells TG: “I was almost tricking my brain into writing a hook or a verse, and then I would be finished. TikTok can shorten attention spans in that sense, but I see it almost as a writing exercise. I try not to take it too seriously, and that helps me just write and feel free, not trapped by the format.” That short-form platform – and Instagram too – has served the 23 year-old Londoner well. With stars including Billie Eilish and Celeste dropping likes her way, May’s compact, pithy songwriting style is informed by her teenage love for slam poetry.…

SCENEYOUR NEWS IN GUITARSALBUM If you’re looking for the most sizzling fuzz tones in modern blues, you’ll definitely want to be keeping an eye on Marcus King. This year’s sophomore Young Blood album sees the 26 year-old American partner up once again with producer Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys for some truly stunning and wonderfully crackly results... We heard you tracked most of Young Blood with your ’59 Les Paul. Yeah, that’s what you’re mainly hearing, though there was ’69 Black Beauty in the mix too, going into this old Gibson amp me and my Dad have had for years. It’s all been reconstructed into a plywood box, so it’s a small amp that looks big. We’d run it in stereo with either a Supro or an AC30. I…

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN ✓ 7/4 time signature✓ Straight eighth notes✓ Alternate picking Times Like These appeared on Foo Fighters’ 2003 album One By One – the first to feature Taylor Hawkins on an entire album (he had previously shared drumming duties with Dave Grohl) as well as being the first Foos appearance for guitarist Chris Shiflett, who plays this month’s riff. The part is a repeating 14-note motif played on the 10th, 11th and 12th frets, along with some open strings. First, play the open D, then frets 12 and 10, before playing the open G followed by frets 12 and 11. This six-note phrase is played twice. Finally, play a two-note tag on the end on frets 12 and 10 on the fourth string. This brings us to…

Since bursting onto London’s live music scene in 2014, The Big Moon have passed through several phases. First came Love In The 4th Dimension - the band’s irreverently Libertines-esque indie-rock debut that earned them a Mercury Prize nomination. Then, in 2020, the four-piece showed a softer side with the more spacious pop sensibilities of their “coming of age” record, Walking Like We Do. Now, they return with Here Is Everything - a collection of 11 songs that were conceived amid the pandemic years, and during the pregnancy of frontwoman Juliette Jackson. With its themes of birth, motherhood, excitement and fear, the life changing circumstances that inspired the album make it a decidedly more grown-up offering than anything The Big Moon has yet released. Still, it features all the astute lyricism…

It’s tempting to think that lush, sophisticated chords (F#7 5 9/E, anyone?) are the sole preserve of jazz players and ‘schooled’ guitarists. As it turns out though, there’s an easy way for any guitarist to get started with some advanced harmony – and that’s by putting an ‘unexpected’ note in the bass. By just changing the root note of a basic chord, you gain instant access to a whole world of sonic colour that goes way beyond simple major and minor shapes. These shapes are known as ‘slash chords’ – the idea being that the chord is shown beside its new bass note... after a slash mark, of course! So C/G is a C chord over a G bass note, and it’s called ‘C over G’. Geddit? The chord names…

We weren’t sure how different these guitars would be from their – let’s face it – already extremely good predecessors. In a nutshell, we’d say that to the regular player, the P-90 MBM-2 represents a jump forward in versatility, with that neck pickup really adding an additional dimension that’s preferable to a coil split, while still maintaining a thicker sound so you don’t miss the humbucker. The Sustainiac/Fuzz Factory MBM-2SF is a different beast. While the additional electronics make this guitar unique to an extent, it’s based on Bellamy’s own combo of experimentation, and therefore we think it’ll be one for Muse fans to really sink their teeth into. The Meta Blue finish looks fantastic, and both models prove once again what can be achieved and offered in an electric…

Once you’ve played guitar for a while, you’ll realise that holding down notes is not your fretting hand’s only job. It also needs to cut off the notes at the right time and stop the other strings ringing out. The good news is that those skills develop mostly unconsciously, as you find ways to stop the annoying sounds coming from your amp. Funk playing, however, will put those skills under the microscope. The notes in this month’s riffs are easy to play, but the subtle scratches and staccato notes make a massive difference to how they sound. JENNA SAYS... The timing and feel are challenging this month, but I know Paul has a good ear for those. There are a lot of staccato notes in Example 1, which need to…

On the band’s latest album Will Of The People, Muse’s Matt Bellamy is a man on a mission. Though it is an album of typically progressive light and shade, Matt has delivered some of the band’s heaviest music to date, inspired by some of the biggest icons of metal. Here in our exclusive new interview Matt discusses how those acts inspired him to go heavy, outlines the finer details of EQ-ing fuzz distortion, revels in the delight of recording with Jeff Buckley’s legendary 1983 Fender Telecaster, and gives us the lowdown on his favourite guitars – both Manson- and non-Manson-built – in his collection. On the Manson theme, we go behind the scenes at the company, speaking to co-owner Adrian Ashton, who outlines his and Matt’s vision for the future.…

Regular readers will know that we love a good poll here at TG Towers! Why, just two issues ago, 150,000 of you voted for the greatest guitar albums of all time, helping us to create probably our biggest cover feature to date! No surprises then, we thought we’d doanother poll this month – so here we present the top 10 Muse Songs, as voted for by you. The turnout may have been (expectedly) a little more meagre than with our albums monster vote, but a full 10,000 of you reached for your phones, tablets and computers to register your favourite songs by the band. In good, old-fashioned Top Of The Pops style, we start with number 10... 10 BLISS ORIGIN OF SYMMETRY (2001) How exactly do you go about following…

In 2021, Universal Audio entered the pedal market, and they did it in style. The UAFX Golden Reverberator, Starlight Echo Station delay and Astra Modulation Machine were premium stompboxes with premium modelling tones. For the next three pedals in the UAFX range, the company is getting even more ambitious with its vintage recreations via three pedals that aim to capture a trio of iconic guitar amps; the Woodrow ’55 with the Fender Tweed, Ruby ’63 with the Vox AC30 Top Boost and Dream ’65 with the Fender Deluxe Reverb. Instead of trying to offer quantity, UA seem to be making a statement on quality and detail while offering a compact, digital take on valve amps that can be used onstage and on your home studio desk. We’re used to modelling…

SoundLad Liverpool’s Marc Dunn has form for having a hand in capturing amp-like drive. If you recall the Funny Little Boxes’ 1991 overdrive we gave a glowing review to back in issue 355, he played a key role in its development. The Scran – a British term for basic but tasty food, in case you weren’t aware – sets its sights on a UK tonality, compared to the 1991’s grunge. However, it’s not your usual clone or Marshall-in-a-pedal story... The controls follow the food theme and part with familiarity as a result: Thick, Soft, Toast, HP, Cheese and Beans mean you need to do some research. Dunn is happy to oblige with a detailed explanation on the SoundLad site – or check out ours right here! Thick in itself is…