Innehållsförteckning för August 2024 från Guitar World

FIRST, LET ME welcome Creed back to the GW cover for the first time since, well, since this little number right here — our very interesting-looking April 2002 issue. Exactly what was the “the Great Creed Mystery”? Outside of the page designer’s decision to use that font, I have no idea! Anyway, if you can’t tell by now, I love busting out vintage GW covers — and you’ll find a lot of them in this issue in particular (including another vintage Creed cover on the opposite page). I also love nostalgia — I admit it! — so, yeah, it’s cool to see the word “Creed” plastered across our cover for the first time since the days of the 5GB iPod. Be sure to track them down on a tour that’ll…

LOS ANGELES TRIO Failure were coming off a buzz-building global tour with longtime friends Tool when they set out to make their ambitious, career-defining Fantastic Planet in the mid-Nineties. But after playing the biggest shows of their career up to that point, guitarists/bassists Ken Andrews and Greg Edwards and drummer Kellii Scott escaped to metal god Lita Ford’s home in Tujunga, California to track their third full-length. The results were otherworldly. The ecosystem of their 17-song Fantastic Planet is alive with neon lilac, alt-gloom-gaze (“Heliotropic”); high-drama chord pivots (“Pitiful”); and distorted tones seemingly conjured from a most melancholy jet engine (“Stuck On You”). Reflecting different rhythmic philosophies, Edward affixed an elegant elasticity to his standup bass sections, while Andrews anchored into steady low-end bass chording amid the hypnotic lock groove…

DUANE EDDY, WHO died April 30 at age 86, was the first rock ’n’ roll guitar hero. His unique twangy guitar lines were among the most truly distinctive sounds in the history of rock guitar; whenever producers wanted that unique vibe on a record, they’d only have to ask for a Duane Eddy-style guitar part, and everyone would instantly know what was required. Unlike anything that had come before him, Eddy — with his echo-drenched, deep-bass driven melodies — managed to encapsulate the essence of the new age of rock ’n’ roll that was taking over the world in the Fifties. Born April 26, 1938, in Corning, New York, Eddy picked up the guitar at age five and moved to Arizona with his family in his early teens; when he…

FOUR DECADES AGO, the British new wave band the Fixx were having their moment in the sun. Hooky, slick and multi-textured hits such as “Red Skies,” “Saved by Zero,” “Stand or Fall,” “One Thing Leads to Another” and “Deeper and Deeper” turned the group into radio and MTV darlings. By the degree that success in the music industry is mea-sured (platinum sales for 1983’s Reach the Beach and gold for its 1984 follow-up, Phantoms), it appeared as if the Fixx had it all nailed down. “IF I SAW THE STONES, I’D WANT TO HEAR THEM PLAY ‘JUMPIN’ JACK FLASH.’ YOU HAVE TO MAKE SURE THE AUDIENCE HAS A GREAT TIME. THAT’S WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT” By the end of the Eighties, however, things began to trend downward; the band’s last…

“HAVE WE EVER LAID EVERYTHING OUT ON THE TABLE AND DONE A KIND OF METALLICA THERAPY SESSION? NO, THAT’S NOT HAPPENED” “WE DIDN’T PLAN any of it,” MARK TREMONTI says. “I don’t think anybody could have planned it. Everything just fell into place and happened organically. It’s pretty incredible.” The guitarist is responding to the strange, unexpected and borderline paranormal phenomenon that swept the nation last fall when Creed — that’s right, Creed, perhaps one of the most polarizing bands of the past 30 years, mercilessly derided by critics as overly earnest Pearl Jam knockoffs but adored by millions of music fans — were publicly embraced by not one, but two professional sports franchises. The Texas Rangers were the first to get the ball rolling. The baseball team were facing a…

“Say I,” from Human Clay (1999) “Live, I’d say it’s my favorite song to play,” Tremonti once told me, and it’s easy to see why. “Say I” is a prime example of the guitarist’s often-overlooked knack for allowing breathing space in Creed songs; its sparse, moody arpeggiated lines not only let Brian Marshall’s underrated basswork shine but also allow Tremonti’s riffs to hit so much harder when they kick back in. The song also managed to bottle the raw energy Creed captured as they crafted and road-tested Human Clay’s material on the My Own Prison tour to fill out their live sets; a version of “Say I” was debuted as far back as August 1997 at a hometown show in Tallahassee around the release of their debut album, with Tremonti…

SOUNDCHECK IF THERE IS one music technology company to watch these days, it’s Positive Grid. Their line of compact guitar amplifiers — including the Spark, Spark Mini and Spark Go — has kept guitarists continually plugged in and engaged in the practice zone with immersive sound and a companion app with more than 50,000 preset tones. Now, with the release of Spark Live, Positive Grid has determinedly set its sights on the stage. Spark Live, the company’s most prodigious Spark to date, arrives as a portable and gig-ready, four-channel multi-instrument smart amp and 150-watt PA system with a mixer. It’s also moderately lightweight at 26 lbs, with compact combo dimensions (L 18.26” x W 9.86” x H 12.04”) and can be battery-powered. Much like the other amps in the Spark…

THE RODE NT1 microphone — introduced way back in 1991 — played as important a role in the home studio revolution as affordable digital recording technology did. The NT1 was the first pro-quality large diaphragm condenser mic to sell for less than $200, and it provided very impressive specs and sound quality that significantly leveled the playing field for musicians making demos and low-budget commercial projects at home. Rode recently introduced a 5th generation NT1 with updated specs and modern performance features like USB connectivity. At the same time, Rode also rolled out the less expensive NT1 Signature Series, which offers the same sonic character and specs as the 5th generation but without USB, shaving $90 from the 5th gen’s price, and, most remarkably, selling for even less than the…

MY LATEST RECORD, Blues Deluxe Vol. 2, features a song called “Hope You Realize It,” written by me and my good friend Tom Hambridge. We were looking to create an uptempo song in the vein of Tower of Power and decided to go all the way, right up to the lyric, “Are they going to sue us or not?” All kidding aside, one of my favorite guitarists, especially in regard to a Les Paul player, is TOP’s Bruce Conte. Man, he was killer! Bruce played an all-mahogany ’57 goldtop, so much so that he’d worn through the cover of the neck pickup! He’d plug straight into a Fender Super Reverb, and his sound was phenomenal. Bruce played almost exclusively on the neck pickup, so we’re going to keep the toggle…

LAST MONTH, I went through all of the primary guitar parts for the song “Lucy G,” which first appeared on my 2007 debut record Loud Music, and is also included on my most recent live album, Trio Live 2020. “Lucy G” is in the key of C minor, and as I mentioned, I prefer to think of the key modally, with the song being in the “key” of C Dorian. I like to think of it this way because the chords and solos are primarily based on the C , E, F , B). Intervallically, this results in 1 (root), major 2nd, minor 3rd, 4th, 5th, major 6th, flatted 7th. There are three basic approaches I like to take for soloing on this tune: a C # m11 chord is…

“MY OWN WORST ENEMY” WORDS AND MUSIC BY JEREMY POPOFF, JAY POPOFF, KEVIN BALDES AND ALLEN SHELLENBERGER. COPYRIGHT © 1999 EMI APRIL MUSIC INC. AND JAGERMAESTRO. ALL RIGHTS ADMINISTERED BY SONY MUSIC PUBLISHING (US) LLC, 424 CHURCH STREET, SUITE 1200, NASHVILLE, TN 37219. INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT SECURED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION OF HAL LEONARD LLC.…

FROM 2005 TO 2014, I had the honor and privilege of playing alongside ' Dickey Betts in his band, Great Southern. Sharing the stage with Dickey for a decade constitutes some of the greatest musical experiences of my life, and it was truly a blessing to get to know him and call him a friend. Dickey was a giant, universally revered as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. He possessed a purely distinct signature style and sound that was uniquely his own, distinguished by an ingenious blend of blues, rock, country, Western swing and Appalachian string music, delivered with the touch, tone and technique of a true virtuoso. As one of the founding members of the Allman Brothers Band, Dickey, via his phenomenal playing and brilliant songwriting, laid the…

“Blue Sky,” from Eat a Peach, The Allman Brothers Band (1972) One of Dickey Betts’ most well-known and revered compositions, it reveals his penchant for country and Appalachian string music re-imagined within the Southern rock realm. Betts’ and Duane Allman’s solos on this track attained “essential learning” status from the moment Eat a Peach was released 52 years ago. Be sure to check out the 1991 live version, performed for the German TV series Ohne Filter, where Betts delivers a fiery, virtuosic solo. “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” from At Fillmore East, The Allman Brothers Band (1971) This brilliant Betts composition melds the influence of the modal jazz of Miles Davis and John Coltrane with Latin rhythms, delivered with a progressive blues/rock approach. Betts and Allman devised exquisite harmonized lines…

STRATOCASTER’S 70TH ANNIVERSARY TO CELEBRATE THE 70th anniversary of the Fender Strat, we’ve put together a special “Strat only” edition of Cover Models. For those who don’t know, Cover Models is a recurring one-page feature (usually found in the Tune-Ups section) where we ask Guitar World cover stars to tell us about the guitars they’re holding in their cover photos. In addition to the names listed above, we’ve also connected with Robert Cray, Steve Lukather and Los Lonely Boys’ Henry Garza to bring you something that’s truly unique and truly GW — plus bonus “Strat chats” with Nile Rodgers, Ana Popović and Larkin Poe’s Rebecca Lovell. You’ll also notice you’re getting a double shot of Yngwie covers because — as Yngwie always says — more is more! Guitarist: ADRIAN BELEW Guitar:…

IN THE SPIRIT of the Summer of ’99 tour, we asked Mark Tremonti to weigh in on some of the biggest bands of the Nineties. Just for kicks, we threw in a surprise at the end. HOLE “Great songwriting — great emotional, moody tunes. I like it when somebody puts it all out there and doesn’t hold back, and that was definitely Courtney Love.” STONE TEMPLE PILOTS “Great band. Iconic. Some of the best musicianship to this day. I loved seeing them live. We had our ups and downs with their old frontman back in the day, but they wrote some tremendous albums.” SOUNDGARDEN “One of my favorite bands of all time. Kim Thayil is one of the coolest and most inventive guitar players ever. He was a huge inspiration…

NEXT TO GUITAR strings, the type of pick you use is your most fundamental choice as a guitarist. You can mull over the materials, shapes and sizes of the myriad picks that are available, but in the end, it’s all about which one best matches your “feel.” Knowing this hasn’t stopped me from discovering a variety of recently developed picks that aim to improve tone, control and articulation. Case in point: Techpicks is an Italian company made up of musicians and music fans who also happen to be material engineers with backgrounds in thermoplastics. Lately, they’ve been burning up social media with their advanced picks, which seemingly fuse materials used in the aerospace, sports and textile industries. Techpicks stand out because they have a different material makeup that’s tangibly perceived…

LAST MONTH, I discussed how to use open-string drones as a songwriting tool, using the song “Hymn,” from my new album, In a Dream, to demonstrate. I’d now like to offer the guitar solo in “Hymn” as an example of how to effectively craft a solo to closely follow and acknowledge the chord changes. FIGURE 1 presents the first solo in “Hymn,” which is 16 bars long. The song is played in 6 8 meter, which is essentially two beats per bar with each beat subdivided into three evenly spaced eighth notes, or triplets. My goal with this solo was to be as melodic as possible, adhering to the “song within a song” concept. It’s played over the tune’s verse (or “A”) section and is an eight-bar form played twice.…

MY APPROACH FOR guitar solos, whether for recordings or live performances, encompasses various strategies. I try not to think too much about what the approach will be at any given moment. Instead, I prefer to listen and react as naturally and instinctively as possible. That said, I’m aware of the “tools in the box” and it can be fun to focus on a specific approach in a conscious way. Last month, I demonstrated soloing ideas that come from a blues sensibility. Today, let’s consider a voice-leading approach for soloing over the same progression. The voice-leading approach targets chord tones that move up or down. I prefer to mingle this approach naturally with the blues approach, but there is a raised awareness of the direction of the lines and how those…

“MAMA, I’M COMING HOME” Ozzy Osbourne WITH SO MUCH well-deserved attention paid to Zakk Wylde’s flashy lead guitar playing, it’s all too easy to overlook the burly axman’s diverse musicality and songwriting and arranging talents. This beautifully constructed power ballad, conceived during his fruitful collaborative tenure with Ozzy Osbourne on their classic 1991 album, No More Tears, showcases Zakk’s versatility and command of traditional acoustic guitar playing approaches and techniques, in addition to his trademark metal and hard rock electric guitar swagger. Following an opening pedal steel-style oblique pre-bend and release, performed on acoustic, Wylde commences the song’s repeating two-bar verse riff (bars 1 and 2), for which he deftly employs flatpicking and ringing open strings to play a shimmering descending figure that walks down the E major scale (E,…