Innehållsförteckning för November 2017 från Guitarist

I heard a story about a well-known jazz guitarist this week. The jazzer in question had dropped by his local blues night, where he was invited to take the stage. Without any intention of showing off, he accepted the invite and got up and played a couple of blues numbers with one of the bands on the bill. He and the band’s guitarist took a solo or two each, knocking the ball back and forth in fair trade. The audience loved it. Afterwards, however, he heard that the guitarist who had traded licks with him on stage had left in a foul mood shortly after that well-received set. Apparently he didn’t appreciate sharing ‘his’ big number with another player. When I heard the story I compared it to more positive…

TAYLOR ACADEMY 12E-N £799 WHAT IS IT? 12-fret non-cutaway nylon string electro from Taylor’s entry-level Academy range LA PATRIE ARENA CW Q1T £469 12-fret cutaway thinline nylon string electro from the Godin brand La Patrie’s new stage-aimed Arena series Taylor Academy’s proposition is proper guitars for – in Taylor terms – not a lot of money: making the “acoustic guitar accessible to more players”. This nylon string is also, by design, aimed at the younger starter player. It might be entry level in terms of Taylor’s range but, not least in this nylon electro form, it’s hardly low-end with serious competition from the likes of Yamaha and Cordoba, who have ‘posher’ spec’d nylon electros at the same, or lower, price-points. Another example would be La Patrie – made by Godin…

When I was in my teens and spent my days dreaming of playing the guitar for a living and being a pro musician, the thought of being out on the road was one of the most exciting prospects. As an amateur player, and a little bit later as a semi-pro, I was doing gigs that were around 20 miles away from the house where I grew up in the rural town of Buckingham. Being 15 and getting picked up from my secondary school gate by the local beat group for a Friday night show in Oxford or Leighton Buzzard seemed to be the ultimate high. I enjoyed the fuss, being in a band was a big deal to me, but travelling to other towns (towns, not cities I stress) at…

RELIC RANT The need to conserve our forests for future generations is becoming a regular theme, (see Feedback issues 421 & 423) and I’m sure mostGuitarist readers support the efforts being made in this respect. But what are we doing about the barbarians who are taking these precious tone woods and deliberately abusing them in the manufacture of so called Road Worn guitars. The first person to vandalise scarce resources in this way should have been hung by his thumbs while his backside was rubbed with sandpaper until his outer layer was also ‘road worn’… I remember seeing the review of the 2016 Limited Edition 1956 Relic Stratocaster in Guitarist issue 405 and thinking it was the Editor’s idea of an April Fool’s. I suspect what actually limited this edition…

What was your fi rst ever gig and how did it go? “It was at a sports bar in North Dakota near my hometown. I was scared and I don’t remember much of it, I just remember being frightened! I was 13, it was a blues band. I started taking guitar lessons from them and later they asked me to join as their singer.” Describe your current stage rig… “I’ve two Fender Deluxes and I take three guitars: a custom Fender Telecaster that I’ve played for years – it’s got humbuckers in it – a Les Paul and a Gibson J-45 acoustic. Then I use an overdrive pedal for most of the lead stuff, a Route 808, and a couple of pedals by a company called Jam: the Tube Dreamer…

News of Walter Becker’s passing on 3 September, created shockwaves across the music world. There had been hints that he was ill – his absence from a couple of this summer’s Steely Dan gigs, Donald Fagen saying that his bandmate was undergoing a medical procedure and indicating that he would return any time soon. Sadly, this was not the case and when the news of Becker’s death broke fans and former colleagues were left stunned. The history of Steely Dan is relatively well known – Becker and Fagen met at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York in 1967. The story goes that Fagen heard Becker practising in the college cafeteria. “I remember when I first saw Walter playing the guitar,” Fagen told Guitarist in an interview…

Bootsy Collins’ telephone manner doesn’t disappoint. “Are you keeping the funk alive?” he demands as his opening gambit – thus setting the tone for the head-scratching and snigger-inducing encounter to follow. In a world of dour, sleeve-muttering bassists, the 65-year-old is like an explosion in a charisma factory. His wardrobe suggests a trolley dash through the set of Boogie Nights – all star shades and garish smokestack hats – while his patter is the kind of hot-buttered-funky drawl that make us feel suddenly very squeaky-voiced and suburban. Bonkers Bootsy is a much-loved caricature, of course, but it’s not the full picture. Behind that persona is a heavyweight musician with watertight pedigree. In a career as glittering as his garb, Collins made his mark in the early-70s behind soul godfather James…

“I defer to the vocalist, the other guitarist, the drums. Then, when it’s my turn, I just get in there with all I’ve got” CARLOS SANTANA Carlos Santana has shared with Guitarist the secret to his longevity as a world-renowned platinum-selling artist: “It’s playing from your heart. It’s being gut-bucket honest for real. No shucking and jiving, no slippin’ and slidin’, no making excuses. Give it all you got from the centre of your heart and be true to every note you play. That you offer. That is basically the requirement for cooking this kind of food. That’s the ingredient: sincerity and trueness, and playing with intense intensity and with intention. That’s how I play my guitar. You cannot fail with that, because all of a sudden it’s not…

“ The Broadkaster is one of Gretsch’s easiest guitars ever to live with” Gretsch Broadkaster G6609TG-VWT with Neville Marten Writer NEVILLE MARTEN Editor, Guitar Techniques With a 30-date rock ‘n’ roll tour looming, Nev knew a white Gretsch with gold hardware would look the part. But would it cope with the James Burton and Big Jim Sullivan licks demanded of it? When I reviewed the Duo-Jet sized Cadillac green and larger-bodied black Players Edition Broadkaster guitars in issue 422 I mentioned to Gretsch that I had a upcoming tour and one would be perfect for the show, plus a great opportunity for a long term test, too. Very kindly, Gretsch furnished me with this gorgeous thing of whiteness, which will be strutting the UK’s theatre boards with me over the…

1959 Released in Sunburst and Natural finishes; dot inlays; black plastic pickup covers 1961 Serial numbers appear on back of peghead in place of/in addition to FONs 1962 Cherry finish available; block inlays; rounded ‘Micky Mouse ears’ become slimmer 1963 Nickel pickup covers now standard 1965 Chrome plated hardware and pickup covers; narrower nut width introduced 1967 Sparkling Burgundy finish available 1968 Neck/body join moves from 16th to 19th fret (referred to as ‘long necks’); Walnut finish available 1969 Sparkling Burgundy finish discontinued 1972 Discontinued…

Arv Garrison’s Sonny Side Up Difficulty 10 mins per example Tutor: Chris Corcoran Gear used: Framus Broadway archtop (with flatwound strings) through a Honeyboy 5 amp ARV GARRISON was a jazz guitarist, born in Toledo, Ohio in 1922. A prodigious talent, he was already playing guitar at local dances aged 12, having begun his musical journey on the ukulele three years previously. Moving to New York in the early 1940s, he formed his own trio with his bass-playing wife Vivien, releasing a single album, and in 1946 went on to record with jazz legends Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis in LA. But here, we’re looking at Arv’s work with pianist Sonny Thompson, in particular his guitar playing on the tune Long Gone, which was a hit in the…

David Crosby From the Byrds to CSN and solo work, Crosby is one of the great songwriters of our time. He joins us to talk about old guitars and new inspirations p66 Santana & Isley We join two giants of American guitar to talk about Hendrix, LSD, a new collaborative project and the art of playing from the heart p80 Cherry On Top A private collection of vintage Gibson semis all clad in factory finish cherry red, including some models you’d never expect to see. Stunning! p72…

The Darkness 23 November to 2 December Various UK venues With new album Pinewood Smile confirming the band’s commitment to rock continues unabated, we can’t help but wonder if the dynamic between The Darkness’s guitar-wielding Hawkins brothers has changed since their 2011 comeback. “I don’t take myself quite as seriously this time around and he takes certain elements a bit more seriously than he used to,” Dan Hawkins says of him and frontman Justin. “We have a newfound respect for the position we’re in as well. Sustaining our lifestyle in this band and continuing to be able to do what we do is the most important thing in our lives full stop. The most important and precious thing. And it didn’t used to be like that. There was an element…

After last issue’s column questioning the importance of social media for guitar players, this led me to think about what is definitely important for your potential career. I’ve been playing with Seal (he of CrazyandKiss FromA Rose fame) this month at some launch events for his new albumStandards, and recording a new album for the incredibly talented Sheridan Smithand also the soundtrack for the forthcoming film Paddington 2 at London’s Air Studios. To this end, being your standard gear-obsessed guitar player, I had my eye on a Way Huge Doubleland special overdrive pedal, in my mind justifying this purchase to potentially use on the above mentioned projects. In case you were expecting a review of sorts, I managed to talk myself out of buying it so you won’t get one…

In issue 424 we tried systematically stacking pairs of 5th intervals to create chords, and we’re now going to try it with 4ths. If you normally approach chord substitution by learning shapes and swapping alternatives, you might find this a bit weird. We’ve always tried to show how you can approach chord knowledge from several angles. You might end up at the same place, but it’s all about the journey! TO AVOID an insane number of permutations we’re again going to work within the C major scale, using only perfect 4ths (ie not the augmented 4th between F and B) and we’re using the same ‘before’ chord progression as last time. You can of course apply your own rules – restrictions like this are a fertile source of creativity. There…

CORPORATE ROCK Having just reached the three score and ten milestone (years not guitars), I thought what changes over that time have had the most effect on the guitar market. I concluded that when corporate America wanted a piece of the guitar market, that is Fender going to CBS in 1965 and Gibson to Norlin in 1969, a series of disastrous quality issues and bad model decisions created two far-reaching consequences. First, it was instrumental in leading to what we now call the vintage guitar market with players and then collectors seeking out the older instruments while rejecting the output of the time. This led to soaring prices, leaving the older guitars well out of reach of the average buyer. Both companies reacted slowly to this situation, but eventually started…

MARTIND-16E £2,299 One of the very best dreadnoughts we’ve seen this year isn’t just a talking point because of its 000 depth and surprising silver binding, the sustainable solid sycamore back and sides prove to be both attractive visually and sonically. www.martinguitar.com ART & LUTHERIE AMERICANA CW Q1T £499 Godin’s Canadian heritage is reflected here with laminate wild cherry back and sides and a vintage aesthetic that also helps the Americana live up to its name, and also stand out from the crowded £500 electro market. www.artandlutherieguitars.com LUNA GUITARS VISTA WOLF £680 Why limit your options when you can have a landscape of exotica with a top featuring blackwood, padauk, koa, flamed maple, cocobolo, maple burl & movingui. The back and sides are cocobolo with electronics provided by Fishman’s Presys+.…

WHAT AM I MISSING? I’ve been playing guitar for my own pleasure for many years, and have been a reader of your excellent magazine for a while. However, I’ve reached the conclusion that I’m unusual. I have acquired a number of guitars over the years and have been listening to music for decades, but when I read articles and letters, I feel mystified. I plug my guitars in and play them, and I enjoy each one, but can I tell the difference between a single coil and a humbucker? No. Does my Tele have that classic twang? Pass. Am I attracted to a guitar because of its looks? Absolutely. Do I have any idea how the bridge will affect the sustain? Not a clue. I have a friend who clearly…

When it comes to both historical notoriety and collector desirability, the Gibson ES-330 hollowbody has always lived in the shadow of its semi-hollow cousin, the ES-335. Both guitars were launched in a wave of new thinline designs in the late 50s in what is usually considered to be the peak era of Gibson guitar craft. The 335 was the more popular design then and remains so in today’s vintage market. The two models look almost identical, but there are key differences. Most significantly, the 330 is a genuine hollowbody guitar, which means it lacks the centre block of wood that makes the ES-335 a semi-hollow. The lack of this feature renders the 330 more prone to feedback and fosters a different tone. Beyond this difference, early-60s 330s sport P-90 pickups…

Revisiting the Sixties Difficulty 10 mins per example Tutor: Richard Barrett Gear used: Knaggs SSC, Keeley Boss SD1, Vox AC15 C1 IN 2017, WE HAVE A WEALTH of contemporary blues artists, as well as pioneers such as Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Buddy Guy, who pushed the genre far beyond its traditional boundaries, creating a template for much of what was to come. We are spoiled for choice and it can sometimes be hard to see what the future holds for blues (or blues-based) guitarists. At times like these, it’s useful to think back to an era that still stands as the defining years of solo electric-guitar playing – a time when the sound of a Gibson Les Paul through a cranked valve amp was not so ubiquitous…

SHERGOLD MASQUERADER 4 £799 Latest twin humbucking solidbody from Shergold with mahogany neck, as opposed to rosewood, and rock-aimed vibe Talk about timing. British distributor Barnes and Mullins, the company behind Faith guitars, re-launched Shergold at the start of this year. The result of a lengthy project headed up by Brit luthier Patrick James Eggle, the three new Masqueraders all boasted solid rosewood necks and fingerboards – a very boutique-y, high-end feature on guitars that retailed comfortably under £1,000. Little did they know that the guitar making industry would be turned on its head by the CITES restrictions on importing and exporting rosewood. Though it hasn’t banned the use of the classic fingerboard wood it has led to many companies offering alternatives. When we spoke to Patrick at the NAMM…

Early in the morning of Monday 2 October, Tom Petty was found unconscious, not breathing and in full cardiac arrest at his home in Encino, California. He was rushed to the ULCA Medical Center and immediately put on life support, but he died at 8.40pm PDT that day. Later , his manager Tony Dimitriades posted a statement on Petty’s website that read: “On behalf of the Tom Petty family, we are devastated to announce the untimely death of our father, husband, brother, leader and friend… He died peacefully… surrounded by family, his bandmates and friends.” Social media exploded with outpourings of surprise, shock and disbelief, slowly coming to terms with the fact that yet another music legend had passed on. Tributes from fellow musicians poured in: Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan,…

Welcome to my new column, which exists primarily because I’ve always wanted to use that play on words, but also because Jamie challenged me to come up with a few ideas based on way too many years of doing this stuff. This first piece was actually inspired by Nick Guppy’s Facebook page, where he asked friends which guitar – either Les Paul or Strat – they’d take to a desert island, given that electricity and a suitable amp were already in place. Of those particular two instruments I said it would have to be the Strat, due to the range of tones it offered and the added expression from the whammy bar; you could therefore find more to do with it during those years in the doldrums drinking coconut water…

“I play He Was A Friend Of Mine, about Woody Guthrie. I used to have a dog called Woody Guthrie and my dad loved that song” 1 What was your first guitar and when did you get it? “The first guitar I played was a Yamaha red Flying V copy, but that wasn’t mine. My dad gave me a ‘56 Fender Mustang, candy apple red with the matching headstock and the triple stripe – the big thick stripe with the two little stripes either side going across – that was the coolest thing. I still have it; it’s 3/4 scale and so good for a small person. Not sure how old I was – probably about 10.” 2 Suppose the building’s burning down, what one guitar from your collection would…

“This is the sound of summer, albeit through broken sunglasses...” Big Star Radio City Stax(1973) I first heard Big Star in the mid 80s via a hissy second- generation cassette of their third album. At the time, their albums were out of print and so it was very much a word-of-mouth thing. Singer and guitarist Alex Chilton had been lead singer of the Box Tops, a pop star at 17. Not comfortable in that world, he had escaped by the age of 20 and formed Big Star with three others in his home town, Memphis, in 1971. They recorded three great albums – all superb and vastly different from each other. I’ve chosen the most accessible, Radio City, as a great starting point. Now a three piece, Chilton seems to…

“A new breed of classic electrics was born with one of the most memorable, eye-catching and iconic looks in guitar history” With the exploding popularity of amp’d up guitar music in the 1950s, Gibson seemed a little slow to catch on, despite being a brand of choice for many leading guitarists across a range of cutting edge styles. Since the 1920s, Gibson had enjoyed a great deal of success with their de rigueur jazz guitars. A few decades on, however, and despite the obvious shifts in customer taste and aesthetics, Gibson appeared to remain somewhat conservative with respect to their finishes, vis-à-vis their more experimental market rivals Fender, Gretsch, Rickenbacker and Harmony. Indeed, Gibson were latecomers to the rock ‘n’ roll party and it wasn’t until the release of the…

With a long legacy of influential sound designers, the UK has a colourful history of guitar effects-pedal manufacturing stretching back to the 1960s and has produced some of the most well-regarded stomp boxes in the world. British manufacturing may have taken more than its fair share of ups and downs, but the spirit of innovation and expertise in guitar effects design is alive and well, especially in the realm of high-quality, hand-built, boutique pedals. When Ammunition Technical Officer Major Adrian Thorpe left the Army to settle down he decided a change of career was in order. Moving away from the rigours of bomb disposal and explosives, he set up shop with ThorpyFX in 2015 and immediately picked up rave reviews in the music industry, as well as notable endorsements and…

Jamie Dickson Guitarist editor Jamie is as happy with steel wool in his hand as he is with Steely Dan in his headphones, and loves vintage-gear restoration and ambitious signal chains. Dave Burrluck Guitarist’s assiduous reviews editor is also the author of numerous guitar books. Very handy with a fret file and indeed any aspect of a finely fettled six-string. Mick Taylor Ex-editor of Guitarist, Mick has wielded Allen keys, screwdrivers and sandpaper from an early age; he also has a worrying obsession with pedalboards. Neville Marten Edited Guitarist for 13 years, after working for both Fender and Gibson as a repairer. From desirable Les Pauls to dream Strats, he’s owned and worked on the lot. Nick Guppy Guitarist’s amplifier specialist has built up a wealth of experience gained from…

1. SERIAL NUMBER No serial number; S-prefixed FON (Factory Order Number) only ink stamped onto back 2. HEADSTOCK Gold ‘modernised’ script logo; no peghead ornamentation/inlays 3. PLASTICS 4-ply black/white/black/ white pickguard; 2-ply black/white ‘bell’ truss rod cover; 2x black P-90 pickup covers; 4x clear, gold backed, flared base bonnet knobs 4. HARDWARE Nickel plated, raised diamond trapeze tailpiece; nickel plated adjustable tune-o-matic bridge with metal saddles set into top/ braces; 3-a-side Kluson Deluxe tuners with white plastic buttons 5. PICKUPS 2x high output single-coil P-90 pickups with adjustable pole pieces; three-way pickup selector switch; 4x pots (2x independent volume and tone controls) 6. BODY 16-inch wide, fully hollow double cutaway thinline; laminated maple top, back and sides with pressed arched top; single top and back binding; rare natural/’blonde’ finish 7.…

PICKUPS There were, in fact, two distinct ES-330 models in the early 60s: the ES-330TD and ES-330T. The ES-330T has only one P-90 pickup in a centered position. These models are less common and less sought-after than their dual pickup counterparts and typically sell for around 30-40 percent less. As with any vintage Gibson, it is of importance to collectors that the pickups are original. FINISH In 1961, the ES-330 was marketed in three finishes: sunburst, cherry, and natural. On Reverb, we have seen the most sales for cherry, which tend to sell at the same price as sunburst. Natural examples are rare and were only built when the wood was available. These guitars fetch the highest prices of all when they come to market, up to 50 percent above…

Electrics FenderCustom Shop ’57 Strat Heavy Relic Sunset Metallic. Little home use, as new with case etc. £1,795. Contact nickwilliams4@hotmail.com, Devon FenderCustom Shop Strat Artisan Claro Walnut. Little home use, as new, with case etc. £2,175. For pics contact nickwilliams4@hotmail.com. Devon FenderStratocaster USA Plus Deluxe 1984. Candy apple red. Lace Sensor pickups. Good condition. £1,200 ono. Call Rob 07773 414812. Ipswich FenderTelecaster Custom in Walnut. Complete with case. £900. Email joannelson4@hotmail.com Gibson Les Paul Standard Traditional 2011, faded cherry burst, nice variegated flame. BK Mules and aged stopbar. Excellent condition with OHSC. £1,535 ono. Call Ian on 01904 593787 or email janderson. jnr@gmail.com. York Harmony Stratotone in need of a little TLC. Complete with case. £500. Email joannelson4@hotmail.com Rickenbacker360/6, Mapleglo, home use only, near new condition, Ric case, £1,500. melmccorry@btinternet.com.…