Innehållsförteckning för February 2018 från Guitar Player

I TYPICALLY DON’T ENJOY TALKING ABOUT THE ISSUE CONTENTS HERE. I feel like, “Hey, you’ve got the thing in your hands, so you probably don’t need me blathering on about the absolute obviousness of what you’re about to read.” But this issue is a bit different, because it’s a major revamp for us, and you may want to know why we did it, and how the coming year will unfold. The challenge for all print publications is maintaining relevancy and support throughout its audience of readers and advertisers, as well as seeking to bring new fans into the community. If you’re a long-term member of the GP family, you’ve noticed this exercise from time to time, because the editors and I are always retooling elements to make the magazine a…

WE’D LIKE TO CELEBRATE D’ADDARIO AND ITS partner TerraCycle with a big Guitar Player “Play It Forward” salute for recycling one-million strings with its Playback program. Bravo! Launched in 2016 as the world’s first industry-wide string recycling program, Playback now includes 400+ recycling stations across the USA (including all Guitar Centers), buy-in from other companies who recycle strings at their manufacturing facilities (such as Breedlove, D’Angelico, ESP, Ibanez, Reverend, and Supro), and support from D’Addario artists who host string collections while on tour (U2, Dave Matthews Band, My Morning Jacket, Alabama Shakes, the Goo Goo Dolls, and others). As strings are currently not recycled through municipal initiatives, D’Addario estimates that 1.5 million pounds of instrument string metal may be dumped into landfills each year. So do the right thing for…

ROBERT M. KNIGHT—YOU’VE probably seen his images in the pages of Guitar Player—is celebrating five decades of capturing legends on film with the release of Rock Gods: Fifty Years of Rock Photography [Insight Editions]. Here, Knight shares his experience for capturing stunning concert photos. Be sure to show these tips to your photo buddies and start getting better live shots of your band right now. Don’t forget to thank Robert when you’re on the cover of Guitar Player! > “For really great live shots,” says Knight, “you need a camera that can go deep with high ISO numbers so that you’re not getting bad grain, or experiencing a loss of color or image quality. I use a Nikon D5, which can shoot up to 25,800 ISO, but I think you…

WIRELESS SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN IN use since the 1980s, and they have become better and costs have come down. However, the continuing problem with wireless systems is dependable transmission, as you need a highquality, digitally agile diversity system that has really good dynamics and low noise. In addition, unless you have a super high-end system (such as the Shure Axient or Sennheiser 9000), the wireless will introduce a tonal change and/or slight delay (latency). Purists do not use wireless systems for tonal reasons, and too much latency is no fun, as a musician cannot play a note and then expect to be in time with the drummer if there is a delay. When a professional guitarist puts a wireless system in play during a big tour, the receiver is typically…

GETTING THE SOUND AND VIBE OF YOUR FAVORITE ’60S and ’70s albums on a laptop can be frustrating. You don’t have the big studios, the vintage microphones, or the brilliant recording engineers, but you do have tons of digital models, plug-ins, and processors that can simulate classic sounds. You just need a “vintage brain” to make it all work. Here’s a mental “time tunnel” to help you check your modern mode at the studio door. Hands off the EQ. Many classic engineers used mic placement to craft tones—not board EQ. Get your sound by manipulating amps, cabs, and mics, and resist the temptation to barrage your tone with EQ tweaks. Delete Cut-and-Paste. Digital editing was but a dream in the ’70s, so artists often tracked continuous takes, which really upped…

AS FOUNDER OF ELECTRO Harmonix, Mike Matthews certainly deserves his 2012 Guitar Player Hall of Fame Award for Manufacturing Legend. But the man is also a force of nature. He’s someone I’d bet would laugh during a zombie apocalypse with unlit cigar in hand and a master plan for continued existence in tow—well, as long as the fish were still biting. His company has survived union thugs, bankruptcy, strong-arm tactics in its Russian tube factory, and five decades of competing in the roller-coaster-in-flames wild ride of the guitar industry. Matthews is also one of the last icons of the spontaneous, innovative, and well-educated hippie entrepreneurial clan that challenged and changed the music industry—even if that spirit caused a few problems here and there. “Back in the ’70s, I stupidly smoked…

WHEN STEVE LUKATHER WAS a kid, he had a recurring dream: He’d walk onto a huge stage in front of a vast audience with a guitar in his hands. “But right before I’d play my first note,” says Lukather, “I’d always wake up.” It was only in real life, at age 19, that Lukather finally experienced that dream. “The first real show I played was at Red Rocks Amphitheatre with Boz Scaggs,” he says. “There’s a photo of me at soundcheck with this huge grin on my face, because I’m like, ‘This is my moment. I’m having the same old dream, but, this time, I know I’m not going to wake up.’ It was a magical night. It changed everything for me.” Fast forward to October 21, 2017, and Lukather…

FOR THE USUALLY PRIVATE JOE Satriani, 2017 ended with a very public display, as he starred in Beyond the Supernova—a documentary directed by his son, ZZ. “It is strange to see your artistic persona through your son’s eyes—especially on film,” he says. But Satch doesn’t stay in one temporal plane very long, and he kicked off 2018 with his most rockin’ and down-to-earth album in years, What Happens Next [Sony]. Produced and engineered by Mike Fraser, and manifest as a power trio with Chad Smith on drums and Glenn Hughes on bass, the new songs are cinematic, exquisitely textured, and dynamically potent, as well as beautifully melodic and strange and wonderful. But perhaps most surprising was visiting Satriani’s studio workspace, and witnessing that his guitars and amps were massively outnumbered…

THE LATE SESSION LEGEND AND GP Studio Log columnist Tommy Tedesco’s 1979 book, For Guitar Players Only: Short Cuts in Technique, Sight Reading and Studio Playing (Dale Zdenek Publications), has long served as a bible for scores of budding session players. Though times have changed, the information presented within its pages is still relevant for those wishing to hone their technique and sight reading chops. With that in mind, we present here a condensed Cliff’s Notes-style overview of the book that offers an glimpse of its valuable content, with hopes that it inspires you to seek out a copy of this priceless tome (thankfully still in print, by Belwin Mills), and reap its wisdom. PICK WISELY In case you haven’t noticed, your choice of pick can drastically affect your tone.…

GUITAR-AMP PLUG-INS ARE NOTHING new, and the concept is pretty straightforward: Much like you’d use a software compressor, EQ, or other processor plug-in on a recorded track while mixing in your DAW, for example, you record your guitar track dry via DI, then insert an amp plug-in on that track’s channel strip to transform it to the type of tone that the production demands. The amplifier plug-ins on review here from Universal Audio will also function exactly so, but they really shine when used during the recording process, as Unison plug-ins accessed via one of UA’s own Apollo recording interfaces. As such, you not only hear the selected amp as you record it, you also feel the interaction between guitar and carefully modeled amp via the Apollo’s Hi-Z input, and…

THE GUITAR PLAYER STAFF EVALUATES A TON OF PRODUCTS THROUGHOUT the year, and it’s my job to traffic all of the cool products and return them to the manufacturers after a review is published. However, some companies allow me to offer up their wares to the GP community, which means that readers can “raid” my gear stash and win free pedals and other goodies. This month, MC Systems is letting me “gift” its unique SYD String Reviver. This pedal is designed to “bring out the sparkle” in both electric and acoustic guitars with its boost feature and EQ options. If you want a chance to win it, send an email to me at nbmgearcoodinator@gmail.com with the subject line “String Reviver.” I will select an email at random to determine the…

Pigtronix Mothership 2 $249 street The Pigtronix Mothership 2 is a velocity sensitive, pitch-tracking, three-voice analog synthesizer with oscillator hard-sync and pitch modulation via portamento and CV/expression control. Housed in a compact aluminum chassis, this pedal delivers a user-friendly guitar synth with real-time pitch and amplitude tracking, switchable preset tunings, and modulation effects. pigtronix.com Seymour Duncan La Super Rica Fuzz $179 street Based on a classic silicon-based fuzz circuit, the La Super Rica offers Mid-Frequency controls between 548Hz to 2.2kHz, and a 3-position low-end toggle. Volume and Fuzz controls handle the rest of the tone shaping. seymourduncan.com Solar Guitars $599-$1200 street Metal guitarist Ola Englund launched his brand to focus on the needs of the rock/metal players—especially beginners. Depending on the model (Solar Type A is pictured), unique features include…

IF YOU’VE PATROLLED YOUTUBE FOR cool gear demos, you’ve likely come across Pete Thorn, who is one of the video-sharing website’s most prolific product reviewers. But the tone-obsessed guitarist has also done studio sessions and/or worked stages with Chris Cornell, Courtney Love, Pink, Alicia Keys, Melissa Etheridge, and others. If anyone knows how to “give good tone” it’s Thorn, and here he reveals his must-have session gear. Which guitars and amps typically see duty during a Thorn session? My signature Suhr guitar covers many bases, and my other favorites include a ’63 ES-335, a ’64 Strat, a’ 66 Tele, and a Gil Yaron Bone. Sometimes, I like to use Floyd Rose-equipped guitars, and I’ll reach for my EVH Wolfgang or Suhr Classic S when I need a locking trem. My…

TONS OF HOME RECORDISTS UTILIZE DIGITAL-AMP MODELS for their guitar tones, and they are simple and great-sounding solutions. However, at times, you might get a bug to explore some other tonal options that also work in personal-studio situations. Here are three relatively new tools I’ve tried recently, and I really dug the results. EMULATE! Neunaber Iconoclast. The Iconoclast Stereo Parametric Speaker Emulator ($249 street) lets you plug in your pedalboard or guitar preamp and dial in a host of cool, natural, and organic (or even weird, if that’s your thing) speaker timbres. The controls are powerful—if strangely labeled (Low is actually speaker size, Mid controls speaker/amp interactions, and High shifts the frequency cut-off)—and I was able to simulate small cabs, combos, half-stacks, and yowling barrages with ease. The Iconoclast is…

HOW YOU MIX YOURMUSIC determines how listeners will hear your music. For decades, mixing was done through speakers, because that was the dominant way people heard music. A standard recommendation was not to mix through headphones—except as a reality check—because they distorted the sense of space and stereo separation. Well, the world has changed. The retail value of headphone sales has gone from $1.8 billion in 2005 to $15.5 billion in 2017, and speakers are now about Bluetooth speakers and soundbars—not traditional stereo systems. So why should you care? Because that will influence how you mix your music, and there are some special considerations for guitar. Guitars are mono instruments. If you take your guitar direct, or go through an amp sim, there will be no natural stereo imaging. Miking…

WHEN I WAS A KID IN THE ’70s, you could name the serious women players on one hand. I was introduced to Suzi Quatro from her appearances as Leather Tuscadero on Happy Days, but prior to that, she was a multimillion selling artist with a reputation as a badass rock chick. Actually, she may have been the first “rock chick.” She dressed in black leather, played the hell out of the bass, and held her own with a group of rough Detroit dudes. When I interviewed Suzi a few years back, I was struck by her seriousness as a player, her humility, and her outspoken opinions on female musicians. I love how she holds us all accountable to master our instruments. Even though she’s a grandmother now, and has lived…

“Ever hear someone pick up a guitar and start strumming a blues shuffle or something, and it feels so good it just makes you want to jump in and play with them?” asks Lukather. “That’s the kind of player people want to hire in the studio—the person who comes up with parts that make the song feel better. If you want to work, be that person. And to be that person, you need to know how to play rhythm guitar. Kids can learn every lick in the world from the Internet now, but a lot of them have no groove, because they haven’t learned how to play rhythm guitar—like that’s not important! If you want to be a professional guitarist, rhythm guitar is the most important thing. You need to…

FOR THE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT SESSIONS, Satch cut down a bit on the usual carnival of gear, depending mostly on four Ibanez JS signature series models—his black JS25ART (bearing his artwork), two JS guitars in Muscle Car Purple (MCP), and a JS in Muscle Car Orange (MCO). Reamping played a key role in the project, with several of engineer John Cuniberti’s Reamp devices (vintage and new models) at the ready, as well as a Radial JD7 set up so that producer Mike Fraser and Satriani could easily switch amps. “Reamping allowed us to just listen to the amp sounds without my having to play,” explains Satriani. “That was nice for me, because if my fingers aren’t touching the strings, my decision making isn’t tainted by the joy or anguish of…

THE TITLE TRACK FROM THE BYRDS’ second album, Turn! Turn! Turn!, was the band’s second U.S. #1 hit single and represented the pinnacle of folk-rock as a musical (and chart topping) trend. Lead guitarist Roger (then Jim) McGuinn originally arranged the song—written in the late ‘50s by folk icon Pete Seeger, with lyrics from the biblical Book of Ecclesiastes—in a chamber folk style for Judy Collins in 1963, before turning it into the Byrds’ folk-rock hybrid released on October 1, 1965. The combination of McGuinn’s compressed Rickenbacker electric 12-string jangle and rhythm guitarist David Crosby’s darker, low-register Gretsch tones (likely emanating from a Tennessean) confirm a mutual admiration for the Beatles, who also shared an affinity for chimey guitar tones and named the Byrds as their favorite American group. Ex.…

SESSIONCAKE ($69 STREET) IS A solution for guitarists who have nowhere to crank it up when practicing or jamming with friends. One ’Cake provides ¼" and aux mini-stereo inputs, as well as one headphone and two mini-stereo outputs. You can connect a mobile device with an amp and effects-modeling app through the aux input, or play along with your favorite tunes, using the ¼" input for your guitar, and the aux input for a music player device. You can also link up to eight units together for a jam, with the “Me” and “Pan” knobs letting you create your own mix. To start, I plugged a 1965 Stratocaster into a pedalboard and ran that through a Tech 21 Leeds amp-modeling pedal into the SessionCake. Everything sounded warm and realistic through my…

I HAD JUST ENVISIONED A NYLON string part for a recording session, and—shazzam—there was the Taylor 12e-N ($699 street) awaiting review. Gotta love it when the universe surprises you. Designed as comfy, playable, and affordable Taylors for new players—see our May 2017 review of the 10e and 12e online—Academy guitars are far from beginner’s instruments. The 12e-N certainly sounded like a champ for a fingerpicked melody and some chordal strumming, with a full, snappy midrange and a pleasing resonance. As the acoustic sound was so glorious, I opted to mic the 12e-N with an AKG C414 condenser, rather than use the ES-N under-saddle pickup and preamp—although I did avail myself of its accurate onboard tuner. The 12e-N’s sweet but articulate timbre worked beautifully for solo passages, as well as a…

Five Acts of Legend > Contracted tuberculosis while in the Army during the Korean War (1950-53) and had a lung removed. Doctors said he’d never sing again. They were wrong. > Unleashed the savage power of the electric guitar—and arguably presaged garage rock and punk rock—with the single “Rumble” way back in 1958. Influenced Jimmy Page, Pete Townshend, and tons of other leather-clad guitar rebels. > Sick of the corporate record labels, he became an independent producer in the ’70s, and opened Wray’s Shack 3 Tracks in a converted chicken coop on his brother Vernon’s property in Maryland. > Rocked on throughout his 70s, and performed his final concert in Glendale, California, just four months before he passed away at home in Copenhagen, Denmark. > Born to Shawnee parents in…

SOUND OFF! GET EXCLUSIVE NEWS. COMMENT. CRITIQUE. SHARE TIPS AND TECHNIQUES. SUBSCRIBE TO OUR E-NEWSLETTER. FACEBOOK.COM/GUITARPLAYERMAG TWITTER.COM/GUITARPLAYERNOW GUITARPLAYER.COM MICHAEL MOLENDA Editor In Chief mmolenda@nbmedia.com ART THOMPSON Senior Editor athompson@nbmedia.com PATRICK WONG Managing Editor pwong@nbmedia.com JUDE GOLD Los Angeles Editor judegold@gmail.com JIMMY LESLIE Frets Editor jl@jimmyleslie.com DAVE HUNTER Gear Section & Video Contributor dhunterwordsmusic@yahoo.com PAUL HAGGARD Art Director phaggard@nbmedia.com…

NELS CLINE follows two distinct tracks in his guitar playing, alternating the avant-jazz arc he explores solo along with the psychedelic-punk-freakout textures he brings to Wilco. Here are the five riffs that changed his life, and inspired his own fearless fretting. “Turn! Turn! Turn!” Byrds “I had to listen carefully to see what was going on here,” says Cline. “I learned later in life that I have this great love—as does much of western culture—with the major ninth. I think that sound, which has to do with the idiomatic aspects of open strings on a guitar, is what created the term ‘jingle jangle’—not just the timbre of a 12-string, but the sound of ringing, open strings. That sound is irresistible.” “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago” Yardbirds “This is one of…

MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST CAROLINE Jones—who plays everything on her records except bass and drums—recently released Bare Feet [Faction], a six-song EP that showcases her talents on acoustic and electric guitars, banjo, lap-steel, keyboards, and harmonica. She’s also a “big production” nerd, and she offers some excellent ideas for balancing multiple elements and textures without obscuring the main impact of a song. As you play a lot of instruments, is it a challenge casting which ones will serve a particular song? I typically write on piano or guitar, and those instruments provide the basic harmony. Then, I start to hear the different sonic textures that can make a song greater than the sum of its parts. I also have fun figuring out the rhythmic components, because a syncopated electric guitar or synth hook…

AS I KID, I SAT FOR HOURS IN FRONT OF my turntable constantly dragging the needle to the middle solo section of “Heartbreaker” (on Led Zeppelin II), trying to learn what Jimmy Page’s nibble fingers were athletically accomplishing, as well as how to recreate the devastating attitude of his guitar tone. Today, thanks to digital amp modeling, I can emulate the sounds of my favorite players from “inside the box” with a computer and software. First, I zero in on the components of the tone I’m trying to emulate. To achieve Page’s “Heartbreaker” lead tone, I determined that I had to craft a sound with the following components: • The biting tone of a plexi Marshall. • The singing quality of a humbucker bridge pickup—which is especially true with Page’s…

I WAS DOING RESEARCH for one of my Whack Job columns when I came across a link that lead to a link that lead to some thumbnails—but no shots of the headstock—of a brand new, green Les Paul with a price of $225, shipped directly from China. Hmm. We’ve all heard about counterfeit guitars, so for a $225 gamble, I decided to see if this was one of those knock-offs. The guitar arrived by courier in a black sedan—all very Men In Black-ish. I opened the sealed, toxic, styrofoam sarcophagus, and, sure enough, right on the headstock is the Gibson logo. Etched into the trussrod cover is “Les Paul Custom,” and on the back of the headstock are the words “Made in U.S.A.”, along with an embossed nine-digit serial number.…

OCCASIONALLY, A WELL-INTENtioned fan will tell me I sound a bit like Bill Frisell. I always thank them, and why not? Bill is a genius who has advanced the guitar into the new Millennium. What am I going to say? “You’re wrong!” That said, I think I know where the compliment is coming from. It’s about my neck-bending thing where I get a chorusing effect by pushing the neck while firmly holding the body close against my ribs. This technique sprang from two things… • By switching to a Telecaster, I left the safe confines of the Stratocaster with a vibrato bar that would help disguise intonation problems. • My love and appreciation for the sounds of Eddie Peabody Plays Sm-o-o-o-thies. Eddie Peabody was primarily a banjo player whose nickname…

IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE JUST another session gig for Jennifer Batten. She had been called to action by producer/guitarist/songwriter Jim Peterik and vocalist Marc Scherer to add solos to their latest project. But then, something wonderful and generous and surprising happened. “I thought I was done after the second set of sessions,” says Batten, “but Marc called me and said, ‘You know, your guitar is actually another voice on the record, so I want you to be a bigger part of it.’” That “bigger part” was actually an epic upgrade to the artist’s first-class lounge, as Batten’s name ended up on the marquee for the album, BattleZone by Scherer/Batten [MelodicRock]. “I think I’m in it by default,” she laughs. “I wasn’t such a big part of the thing at…

GRANTED, TIMES HAVE CHANGED since the session glory days of the ’60s and ’70s, but there is still a wealth of opportunities for the aspiring session guitarist who is willing to put in the work and research to obtain and keep those gigs. Whether you’re a seasoned pro struggling with a sporadic session calendar, or you’re just getting started in the recording world, this article is designed to help you hone some necessary skills for succeeding in the new year. TODAY’S SESSION JOBS As in the days of Tommy Tedesco (Bonanza, Twilight Zone, The Deer Hunter), there is still highly lucrative work in the major recording studios for extremely versatile guitarists who can sight read anything put in front of them. These jobs are, of course, for a select few…

AS A RATHER CARELESS AND PHYSical “gig player” who is very hard on guitars, I have a healthy fear of handling expensive, exquisitely crafted instruments. Normally, the gorgeous Knaggs Doug Rappoport Signature would scare the crap out of me—just as the company’s Steve Stevens model did when I tested it in 2014. However, like the Stevens, the DR is such an inviting and comfortable guitar to play, and it sounds so ferociously glorious, that I couldn’t resist putting it into the clunky blasphemies that are my hands. And I’m happy to report that it was not harmed during the review process. Whew. Well, maybe I didn’t need to worry so much. Despite the lovely Indian Red finish over a stunning curly maple top and the classy gold hardware (see inset…

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GUITAR builder James Trussart broke with convention back in the 1980s by crafting bodies out of steel, and giving them aged finishes that can resemble the rusty patina of old farm machinery or the aged chrome and nickel plating of vintage resonator guitars. The Trussart line consists of at least a dozen models (including one bass), and every one differs in how the metal is presented—including engraved, basket weave, perforated, faux-alligator patterns, and more. The long list of pro players who own Trussart guitars points to everything that makes these high-end guitars desirable, and that includes how they sound and feel. Choosing which one to review out of eight different models that Trussart offered was difficult. I could have closed my eyes and simply pointed to one and I’m…

THE ACOUSTIC SEGMENT OF THE guitar effects kingdom is a different beast. Plenty of acoustic cats take pride in sounding as pure as possible as they travel along a traditional path. Many others enjoy using effects to wash the woodiness right out of their acoustic tones. In addition, loopers, high-tech direct boxes, beat boxes, and all-in-one multipurpose machines can be godsends as practice tools, as well as to raise live performances to new heights. Looking at the effects beast from all angles, I selected 12 pedals for their innovation, price, controls, connectivity, and, of course, tone. This list is by no means meant to be comprehensive, but, hopefully, each pedal represents the kinds of processing today’s acoustic player should consider. BOSS Waza Craft CE-2W Chorus $199 street Chorus is the tried-and-true…