Innehållsförteckning för March 2019 från Guitarist

Browsing through social media this week, I read a friend’s post that shared he was thinking of selling all but one of the guitars in his collection. His reasoning was that endless tinkering with multiple guitars was a distraction from the real business of learning to play guitar as well as he possibly could. You have to admit there’s an attractive simplicity to this idea. Most of us have kidded ourselves, at one time or another, that before we can really get on and learn jazz fusion/two-handed tapping/Western swing/ medieval folk, etc (delete as necessary), we must first buy a suitable new guitar that will help us to get to grips with that style, thus paying for itself in days through the leaps and bounds we will make once properly…

PRICE: £599 ORIGIN: China TYPE: AE Baritone TOP: Solid Sitka spruce BACK/SIDES: Laminated ovangkol MAX RIM DEPTH: 108mm MAX BODY WIDTH: 410mm NECK: Nyatoh SCALE LENGTH: 686mm (27”) TUNERS: Chrome die-cast (18:1 ratio) NUT/WIDTH: Bone/45mm FINGERBOARD: Cultured maple, 400mm (15.74”) radius FRETS: 20, small/medium BRIDGE/SPACING: Cultured maple with compensated bone saddle/56mm ELECTRICS: Ibanez T-bar under-saddle WEIGHT (kg/lb): 2/4.4 OPTIONS: None RANGE OPTIONS: None LEFT-HANDERS: No FINISH: Natural High Gloss (as reviewed) Headstock Distribution 0121 508 6666 www.headstockdistribution.com PROS An extremely well-made ticket to ride into unfamiliar terrain at a bargain price CONS A dedicated gigbag would have been a nice thought…

Anyone who goes back far enough will remember the impact that Dave Schecter’s products had on the replacement parts market. From hardware to woodwork, his top-class wares opened our eyes to the fact that we could customise and ‘improve’ our stock instruments. Schecter went on to create fine guitars alongside a fresh young lad named Tom Anderson. After seven years with Schecter, and encouraged by his mentor, Tom went his own way. Initially building necks, bodies and pickups, he ultimately realised that creating entire guitars was more rewarding. Over 30 years on and he’s still making some of the world’s most stunning instruments – the Guardian Angel is one of his latest creations. Freshly developed from the ground up, it’s a purpose-built 24-fretter – essentially a Drop Top Classic with…

Four For The Floor Key pedal launches from NAMM 2019 We’ll have our full NAMM report for you next issue, but before then, here’s our rundown of four pedal launches that will be vying for space on your pedalboard this year… 1. Strymon Volante £399 The Volante is based on vintage tape delays with magnetic drum echo, tape echo and reel-to-reel studio echo sounds, plus a looper and spring reverb. The tweaking goes deep with four delay playback heads, individual feedback, panning and level controls and playback head wear. www.strymon.net 2. ThorpyFX Deep Oggin £249 A collaboration between the Brits and former Lovetone pedal designer Dan Coggins, this chorus/vibrato promises versatility from trusted names. Controls include depth, rate, blend, volume and treble, plus dry and wet outputs. www.thorpyfx.com 3. Joyo…

Recently a student asked me a pretty basic question. Well, on face value, it seemed pretty basic, but actually it delves into a hugely expansive topic: how do you come up with rhythm guitar parts for original songs, or indeed covers when done in a different style from the original, when just presented with a chord chart? Having spent last week at London’s Livingston Studios recording an album in just that fashion, I thought that topic may be of some interest for this month’s column. The album in question was for Olivier Award-winning actress and singer Cassidy Janson, with myself on guitar, Adam Dennis on keys, Steve Pearce on bass and Neil Wilkinson on drums. The producer was Rupert Christie, who has worked with many artists from U2 and Green…

Last month, we joined Orange’s amp design guru Adrian Emsley for tips on how to avoid duds when buying secondhand valves. This month, we join forces again to focus on the many brand-new valves that are available on the market. If your amp is being gigged hard, it’s likely you’ll need to change your power valves every two years or so. But while there are a plethora of replacement valve brands on the market, there aren’t actually that many factories that still make valves any more. While we continue to love the way they sound in guitar gear, valves have vanished from nearly all other types of consumer electronics, meaning demand for their manufacture is only a fraction of what it was in the 1950s. “There are a couple of…

WHAT’S IN A NAME? Your vintage supplement, which came with issue 441, reminded me of my experience of owning a historic model. Seven years ago, at a jazz tutorial weekend in Wrexham, I picked up an old slimline archtop from the display stand of the sponsoring guitar store. It was in amazing condition, seemingly original, and played so smoothly it felt like it knew all the tunes. I couldn’t bear to put it back. I played with it for an hour through a clean Henriksen amp before handing over £1,500. I had collected my first (and last) vintage guitar, a 1962 Epiphone Sorrento. After I got home I did some digging and discovered that Gibson had bought the entire Epiphone company in 1957 for just $20,000. At the time, Epiphone…

Aside from his work with his own band, Little Barrie, Primal Scream and more recently The The, Barrie is a lifelong student of the blues. He’s traced the playing styles of many players back to the source, putting together a sort of family tree of how different techniques evolved as they moved from one genre to another. And, of course, he has also drawn much of it into his own approach as a working guitarist. We begin this video lesson with Barrie by taking a look at the much-neglected art of rhythm playing. It’s easy enough to get distracted away from this important facet in your rush to get straight to the flashy stuff – and yet we’ve all heard how being a tight rhythm player will get you more…

VINTAGE “This is a transition ’59 in Sunburst. July ’59. It’s a Three-Tone Sunburst but the red’s faded out,” says Julian. “It’s got a 10-hole guard. It was built when Fender were swapping over [spec] and using up their old bodies, so in the control cavity it’s not got the extra little step for the extra screw. You get some with eight-hole guards, you get some with 10-hole guards, and some with three-ply guards. It’s a very odd guitar: I’ve only ever seen two others like that. The neck’s gone very skinny by ’59. Still 50s windings on the pickups, though. Fabulous guitar.” The ’59 weighs 7lb 6oz and the pickup readings are: bridge 5.7k; middle 5.6k; neck 5.3k. CUSTOM COUNTERPART Today, we’ll be playing Julian’s ’59 alongside a gorgeous…

BUILD & FINISH Fender’s Olympic White finish was, in fact, an acrylic Lucite paint, but the nitro clear coat on our ’62 Strat means it’s aged to a mellow ivory-yellow, with plenty of battle scars. The Custom Shop Relic looks paler, but its moderate relic’ing is still convincing. Interestingly, the ’62’s lacquer checking runs across the body, while the checking on the finish of the younger Relic runs longitudinally. “The checking looks very authentic,” Nev says of the Relic. “The buckle wear is similar to what’s on the ’62, too. This may be ‘unnatural’ wear, but it looks pretty damn good. Decent colour dark rosewood ’board, too. Just a nice classic Strat.” SOUNDS My, my. The ’62 sounds very good, indeed. It has the open airiness of the ’59 but…

We’d be the first to admit that our testing conditions were far from scientific. Nonetheless, within the limits of our little experiment, some of the things we found were still suggestive of deeper truths. Firstly, most of the vintage guitars had an extra openness or airiness to their sounds that not only sounded great but provided real depth and complexity. Martin’s product designers found that the heavy cellulose material inside cells of wood degrades over time, making the wood more resonant and less susceptible to environmental influences such as changes in humidity levels and so on. Perhaps that’s a factor here. Likewise, it seems worth noting that all the vintage guitars involved here had slightly weaker pickups than the Customs – with the exception of Nev’s old ’63, which, in…

Future Publishing Limited provides the information for this project in good faith and makes no representations as to its completeness or accuracy. Individuals carrying out the instructions in this project do so at their own risk and must exercise their independent judgement in determining the appropriateness of parts and equipment for a particular use. Anyone under the age of 18 should be supervised by a responsible adult when carrying out this project. Protective clothing, gloves and goggles or safety glasses should be worn at all times when using soldering equipment, tools and adhesives. Modifying your guitar may void its warranty. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Future Publishing Limited takes no responsibility for any person relying on the information relating to this project and disclaims all liability for any…

A little TLC goes a long way, whether it’s for a bargain cheapo or a statelier brand such as Gibson. Our 2019 Standard was a typical case. In production, time is money and there’s a sense here that just a few more minutes spent in the fine-tuning of an already tidy guitar would just elevate it. For example, the friction reducing TekToid nut. It’s nicely cut, but the grooves on the high strings are slightly curved meaning the string doesn’t break at the front of the nut. Just running a fine nut file or a razor saw in the groove cures it in seconds and the 1st fret notes come back as near as dammit in perfect pitch compared with the open strings, as they should. The frets, too, just…

PRICE: £2,299 (inc case) ORIGIN: USA TYPE: Single-cutaway, solidbody electric BODY: 2-piece mahogany with AA carved maple top NECK: 1-piece mahogany, Rounded neck profile, glued-in SCALE LENGTH: 624mm (24.6”) NUT: TekToid FINGERBOARD: Single-bound rosewood, Acrylic Trapezoid inlays, 305mm (12”) radius FRETS: 22, low, cryogenically treated HARDWARE: ABR-1 tune-o-matic bridge, aluminium stopbar tailpiece, vintage deluxe tuners, Keystone buttons – nickel plated ELECTRICS: Gibson Burstbucker 1 (neck) and Burstbucker 2 (bridge), 3-way toggle pickup selector switch, individual volume and tone controls (hand-wired with orange drop capacitors) RANGE OPTIONS: The Paul 40th Anniversary (£1,149) revisits a cost-effective classic from yesteryear; the Les Paul Junior Tribute (£699) takes up the entry-level role LEFT-HANDERS: Yes FINISHES: Heritage Cherry Sunburst (as reviewed) and Tobacco Burst – gloss nitrocellulose PROS Tidy build with the most classic feel…

1 Who’s behind the Blug name? Based in Germany, Thomas Blug is one of Europe’s top session guitarists and a performer in his own right with a number of albums under his belt. He’s also a long-time collaborator with amp brand Hughes & Kettner. 2 What’s that Nanotube you can see on the top of the case? It’s one of a range of sub-miniature valves developed in the late 1960s, intended for military use, such as missile guidance systems. Amp1’s Nanotube should last for at least 10,000 hours. 3 What is a Class D amplifier? This is a power amp design where the output devices operate like switches, meaning they can squeeze huge power from small components, hence Amp1’s 100 watts.…

ORIGIN: USA TYPE: Delay/looper pedal FEATURES: Analogue buffered bypass (DSP bypass when trails are engaged), delay time of 5ms up to 3s, tap tempo, optional delay tails DELAY TYPES: Echo (digital delay), modulated delay, multi-tap, reverse, Deluxe Memory Man, tape, reverb, pitch, shimmer, sample and hold, drum, doubler CONTROLS: Delay Level/ Dry Cut, Loop Level, Feedback/Dub Level, Delay/Fadeout, Delay/ Looper switch, Exp Mode, Moment, Tails, PingPong, Tap Division, Delay Type selector, parameter knob x 2, Tap/Loop footswitch, Bypass/Stop footswitch CONNECTIONS: Standard input, standard outputs (L&R), Expression, Footswitch POWER: Supplied 9V adaptor DIMENSIONS: 121 (w) x 102 (d) x 57mm (h)…

1 What was the first pedal you built and how did that particular design come about? “The first Red Panda design was a bitcrusher custom module for the Line 6 ToneCore pedal range. Prior to that, I was working full-time in software engineering and writing software synths, and I just got tired of sitting in front of the computer for 16 hours a day. I went to school for electrical engineering and the ToneCore pedal was a good way to get back into hardware. In terms of ground-up design, the Particle was the first Red Panda branded pedal. Red Panda started in 2009 and the Particle was released in 2011.” 2 What do you think it is that makes Red Panda unique? “We manufacture DSP-based pedals for experimentally minded musicians.…

Writer JAMIE DICKSON Guitarist, Editor-in-chief An explosion in the innards of our editor’s favourite amp leads to new discoveries about what the 330 can do, tonally, and a new sense of what its core strengths and weaknesses are… Monday night, at my house, and I’m doing a bit of what might euphemistically be called ‘practice’ – actually just noodling about on the 330. Without warning, the Dr Z Jaz 20/40 combo I’m playing through coughs out a loud ‘POP!’ and smoke starts billowing out the back. At this point, there was a bit of mild panic that a house fire might actually be developing – there really was quite a lot of smoke coming out of the amp – but swiftly unplugging the amp and hovering over it with a…

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. Ed Mitchell After 18 years in guitar retail Ed turned to journalism as reviews editor ofTotal Guitar, then as a contributor toGuitarist. He’s also edited the mags The Blues and Country Music. 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…

January 1958 JMI launches first Vox guitar amp, the AC1/15 (later known as the AC15); cream Rexine covering 1959 Voltage tap selectors; plastic Vox motif changes from single letters to single mould 1960 2-piece wooden back (previously cardboard); 6 knobs (previously 4); Fawn Rexine covering, split front and 2x vents 1961 Black escutcheon panel changes to copper colour; AC15 Twin introduced (2x 12” speakers) Early 1963 Black covering introduced (smooth then ‘pebble’/textured) Mid-1963 Basketweave covering replaces black ‘pebble’ type; black Vox logo SBU polymer handles Mid-1964 AC15 discontinued/AC15 Twin continues; copper escutcheon panel changes to grey colour Late 1964 Black grille cloth now standard Mid-1966 All Vox valve amps discontinued except AC30 Twin and AC50 Super Twin…

Electrics Fender 2016 American Professional Stratocaster. Black with maple fretboard. All accessories. Mint condition. £750. 07828 515083 Fender Stratocaster, 3-tone Sunburst, USA, maple neck/fretboard. Fender hard case. Excellent condition. One owner. £1,000. Phone Arthur on 07391 190601 or email moorearthur194@gmail.com. Middlesbrough Fender Stratocaster, Sparkly Blue-green, maple neck/fretboard, Mexican, Fender gigbag. One owner. £450. Phone Arthur on 07391 190601 or email moorearthur194@gmail.com. Middlesbrough Fender 1989-1990 USA Stratocaster, Candy Apple Red with rosewood neck, no marks or dings, excellent condition, with hard case. £800. Contact chrissarn@talktalk.net or 01255 434729 Gibson Les Paul Special 1976 Limited Edition single-cut slab body, P-90 pickups, in Protector case. £2,250. 07773 276815. Cumbria Gibson 2005 Les Paul stock Standard, Sunburst, nice maple top, big neck. £1,250. 07773 276815. Cumbria Gibson SG Special, circa 1963, big neck, patinated…

Paul Kossoff From open-string riffs to three against four phrasing, get to grips with the Free guitarist’s legendary style, as explained by Phil Hilborne p144 Origin Of The Species We were fascinated to see what Leo’s early ideas for the Broadcaster and Strat were like when we had the chance to view two rare prototypes p84 Angel’s Flight Tom Anderson’s electric guitars are always immaculately built, as Neville Marten discovers in his review of the new Guardian Angel on p22…

PRICE: £3,695 ORIGIN: USA TYPE: Double-cut solidbody electric BODY: Swamp ash with maple cap NECK: Maple (Satin Caramel finish) SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”) NUT/WIDTh: Synthetic/43mm FINGERBOARD: Rosewood, 305-355mm (12-14”) compound radius FRETS: 24, medium jumbo HARDWARE: Chrome 2-post vintage-vibrato; push-in arm, locking tuners STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 52.6mm ELECTRICS: 2x SC1 single coils, 1x HC3 humbucker, 5-way selector, volume & tone (w/ Add Bridge/ Splitter), VA Boost (adds 4dB of gain) WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.2/7 OPTIONS: Our guitar features swamp ash (£200), VA Boost (£145) and Caramel maple neck (£110) RANGE OPTIONS: Angel (24-fret Drop Top without pickguard); Angel Player (without exotic top); Guardian Angel Player (as Guardian Angel with pickguard, no exotic top). All are available with all options (£POA) LEFT-HANDERS: Yes FINISHES: Natural Orange Burst (as reviewed). Vast array of…

Martin Modern Deluxe Series £3,649 to £4,349 CONTACT Martin Guitars WEB www.martinguitar.com MODERN DELUXE D-28 £4,349 Possibly Martin’s most popular dreadnought, the D-28’s spec falls in line with the other Modern Deluxe models with a Sitka spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides and an ebony ’board Q&A What is it? Martin has taken four of its most popular standard acoustic models – the D-18, D-28 (£4,349, main image), 000-28 and OM-28 – and given them a high-end upgrade. The emphasis is on tone and volume enhancements made through selective use of advanced materials alongside the traditional tonewoods and heritage-steeped Martin features you’d expect. What kind of technology is onboard the new guitars – and what does it do? Martin is meticulously careful not to alienate traditional Martin fans…

Just recently, I broke a nail on a flight case catch just before a gig. I wasn’t best pleased, and it soon got me thinking about some other elements of musical-product design that irritate me. They’re not earth-shattering, but surely that’s precisely what makes them easier to fix or, better still, get right in the first place. It seems some designers fall into the trap of creating something, while failing to check what it would be like in the heat of battle. Here are a few personal bugbears… As aforementioned: cases. My Helix sits in a flight case (not Line 6) that has typical wingnut-style catches – every time I open it I wince, lest my hand slips and I graunch a nail. Could somebody not come up with a…

Orange Dual Dark 100 head, £1,579 This 100-watt, high-gain powerhouse is sensational. Designed by Adrian Emsley, its two channels have multiple gain stages to slather on layer after layer of girthy, detailed drive tones. Despite the drive on offer, it has a low noise floor making it quiet in operation – except when you want it to be brutally loud. Mesa Engineering Triple Crown TC-50 head, £2,450 With tight articulation and snappy bass attack, this amp’s three channels encompass the whole spectrum of Brit-inspired tones, from punchy cleans to mid-laden lead tones of power and charisma – plus there’s hods of tone-tailoring potential in this hugely tweakable amp.A proper tour de force. Marshall Origin 50 combo £619 Marshall’s single-channel 1x12 retro-styled Origin 50 is definitely worth your consideration, with styling…

GEAR OVERLOAD I’ve been playing on and off for thirty years, and have ran the gamut of kit. Fender, Gibson, Marshall, Peavey – you name it. Recently, I spent a trillion hours researching guitars, amps and effects pedals prior to making a purchase on the blinking interweb. Because it happened to be much more time than I was actually playing, I packed it in and spent the time concentrating on playing all the right notes in the right order, instead. My playing has improved, and I’m less focused on hardware, and more focused on the actual music. A leap of self-improvement is much better than finding that tone, which is under your fingers anyway, not in a distortion pedal. Try swapping your iPad for your actual guitar, bass, piano. There’s…

Ruth Notman & Sam Kelly Changeable Heart Pure Records Folk duo breathe new life into the genre It’s very refreshing to find that traditional English folk music has passed on to yet another generation and that it’s still as vibrant in clubs across the country. Ruth Notman and Sam Kelly – both acclaimed as artists in their own right – have teamed up together to deliver an album of polished performances, produced by folk stalwart Damien O’Kane. Kelly shines on a range of guitars, including tenor and baritone, amid a backwash of keyboards and percussion, providing a perfect foil for Ruth’s wonderful airy vocals. It’s classy stuff, with tracks such as the traditional Caw The Yowes highlighting the pair’s harmony vocals and sensitive arrangement. Catch them on tour in the…

Michael Chapman Fully Qualified Survivor Harvest Records 1970 Recorded over four days at Regent Sound Studios, London in early 1970, this is a cracking, varied album, illustrating all that’s great about Michael Chapman. His voice – even at this early stage in his career – has an air of world-weariness about it. But there’s a lot of humour and warmth that draws you into this strong set of songs, which features gorgeous string arrangements from Paul Buckmaster. It is very much a product of the end of the 60s, drawing on a wide set of influences, from jazz through to ragtime, recast in a rockier setting. Chapman is a really great guitar player. Originally a jazz purist (Grant Green was his favourite guitarist), the story goes that he heard the…

Early Inheritance “I was five years old and my dad had this acoustic guitar in the house. I remember it distinctly. It was a nylon-string guitar that I think he’d gotten at Manny’s. It was in a soft canvas case, and it used to live in the closet. Apparently, my mother had gotten it for him, hoping he would learn how to play, I suppose, and serenade her. So I began to pick it up and just started banging on it. In our tiny apartment in New York City, there was that guitar and there was a little upright piano. It was really small. Pots and pans, that was how I started [laughs]. Banging on pots and pans, the guitar and the piano.” Inner City Influence “Curtis Mayfield’s Super Fly…

BUILD & FINISH Our Lake Placid Blue ’63, which used to belong to Nev, has a chunkier neck and thicker headstock than some of the other vintage Strats. Again, the nitro clear coat over the Lucite acrylic finish has yellowed, turning the underlying blue more of a Sherwood Green-ish hue. The Custom Shop Relic, by contrast, is a smart pristine blue that positively glows. It has a certain daintiness that evokes the svelte vintage Fender vibe very well. In fact, the two Lake Placid Blues are the closest match of all our vintage/modern pairs, a feeling that’s emphasised by an extra touch of finesse about this Relic’s build. “The edges of the fingerboard are really nicely rolled-in,” Nev says. “It gives you that feeling that it’s not a great big…

Why spend thousands on 60-year-old artefacts that you daren’t take out and gig, when £375 buys a used Classic Player Strat and a few hundred more gets you posh pickups and wiring on a celluloid ’guard, an upgraded bridge, aged tuners and parts, and a few cans of spray paint for a total overhaul? I never intended to go this far – it was just going to be a pimp job to upgrade the parts, but then the devil got into me and I was reminded how much fun I used to have doing this kind of thing for a living. It was 30-odd years since I last refinished a guitar, but my instinct that it would all return and make logical sense, luckily, proved to be true. I consulted…

PRICE: £2,799 (inc case) ORIGIN: USA TYPE: Single-cutaway, solidbody electric BODY: 2-piece mahogany with AAA carved maple top w/ Ultra-Modern weight relief NECK: 1-piece mahogany, Asymmetrical Slim taper, glued-in SCALE LENGTH: 624mm (24.6”) NUT: TekToid FINGERBOARD: Single-bound rosewood, Acrylic Trapezoid inlays, compound 254-406mm (10-16”) radius FRETS: 22, low, cryogenically treated HARDWARE: Aluminium Nashville tune-o-matic bridge, aluminium stopbar tailpiece, Grover Locking Rotomatic tuners,Keystone buttons – chrome plated ELECTRICS: Gibson Burstbucker Pro Rhythm (neck) and Burstbucker Pro Lead (bridge), 3-way toggle pickup selector switch, HP-4 High Performance Circuit featuring: 2x push/pull volumes, 2x push/pull Tones, 3-way toggle switch and internal 5-position DIP switch RANGE OPTIONS: The Les Paul High Performance (£3,099) has wider adjustable titanium zero fret and AAA+ grade maple top LEFT-HANDERS: Yes FINISHES: Seafoam Green (as reviewed), Blueberry Burst –…

PRICE: £669 (inclu soft case) ORIGIN: Designed in Germany, made in China TYPE: Analogue solid-state preamp and valve-driven power amp with digital reverb OUTPUT: 100W RMS VALVES: 1x ‘Nanotube’ sub-miniature twin triode DIMENSIONS: 245 (w) x 68 (h) x 192mm (d) WEIGHT (kg/lb): 1.2/2.4 CABINET: Aluminium CHANNELS: 4, programmable CONTROLS: Channel selector, Clean volume, overdrive gain and master, bass, mid, treble, reverb level, master volume. Trimpots for boost level, Modern and Classic volume and tone, Clean tone. Series/parallel loop selector, metal/soft noise-gate selector. Loop level switch FOOTSWITCH: Not supplied ADDITIONAL FEATURES: Digital reverb, programmable boost on all channels, programmable effects loop, dual setting noise gate, headphones/recording out with speaker emulation OPTIONS: Remote1 foot-controller (£299); Looperkit (£209); magnetic locking system to hold the Amp1 in place on top of your cab…

MANUFACTURER MOOER MODEL PREAMP LIVE PRICE £425 CONTACT 01273 440 442 / WWW.MOOERAUDIO.CO.UK Mooer’s Micro preamp pedals are digital recreations of the preamp sections of popular valve amplifiers that are designed to be used with a power amp, direct into the effects return of a guitar amp or (with cab simulation engaged) into a PA or recording gear. This new pedal rounds up a bunch of them into one place: 50 preamps are available via the free editing software to load into the 12 onboard slots – three banks of four channels, which are easily accessed from four footswitches. Connections include a headphone output plus XLR and jack outputs, each with an associated toggle switch offering optional cabinet simulation. The editing software lets you choose from a variety of speaker…

BigShot EFX £91 Radial Engineering – Canada’s primo audio routing specialist – is a mainstay of pro studios and stages the world over and is known for its rock-solid construction. The BigShot EFX true-bypass dual effects loop switcher features a mute function and independent ground lifts. QuarterMaster £139 to £269 Available in five versions with either two, four, six, eight or 10 separate true-bypass loops, TheGigRig’s QuarterMaster units are a simple and straightforward professional solution to managing your pedalboard while reducing noise, signal loss and tone-suck. ES-5 Effects Switching System £331 A more compact version of Boss’s flagship ES-8 Effects Switching System, the ES-5 comes with a handy LCD display and features programmable analogue circuit switching for up to five effects loops with 200 patch memories, including buffering and routing…

THE BACKGROUND NICK PHELAN, GUITARIST READER I’ve been trying to put together a small pedalboard using a Pedaltrain JR for using at home with a view to starting gigging again. However, I don’t appear to be having the best luck… All the pedals work well individually, but when I put them together I get noise issues, some just don’t work well together, and I’m spending loads of time troubleshooting when I should just be playing. It’s really putting me off my pedals and I’m thinking of selling them all and giving up. Before I do this, though, is there anything you can suggest to put me back on the right track? How do you buy pedals that work well together? THE QUESTIONS 1 HOW CAN I…

1. SERIAL NUMBER Black/silver metal serial number plate (version 4) stamped ‘AC15’ & ‘4526N’ 2. CABINET Baltic Birch plywood; 20¾ inches wide by 20¾ tall by 10¼ deep; split front; two-piece open wooden back; rounded corners; full (to rear) control panel cut-out 3. ORNAMENTATION Fawn Rexine covering; two brass vent louvers; leather handle; white vinyl front piping; gold fascia front strip; brown-backed diamond grille cloth; horizontal one-piece cast plastic Vox motif 4. CIRCUIT Contempo chassis (steel/ aluminium); third AC15 circuit version; Vibravox phase shift/modulation vibrato; valves: EZ81, EF86, three ECC83/12AX7,ECC82/12AU7, two EL84); 15 watts power (minimum); single 12-inch Celestion T530 Azure blue speaker 5. MAINS & CONNECTIONS ‘Mains’ control panel section reads: ‘A JMI Product’; ½-inch tall power switch (‘On/Off’); opaque glass dome indicator lamp; voltage selector (‘115, 160, 205,…

Historically speaking, if there is one thing on the average acoustic fingerstylist’s wishlist it’s extended range. Over the years they’ve tried just about everything, from simple retuning to the more elaborate prospect of investing in a monster harp guitar. Anything, in fact, that draws them closer to their main rival, the piano. The baritone guitar is another potential solution, adding additional grunt to the instrument’s bottom-end with its B E A D F# B tuning – or even lower, thanks to the extended scale length. And whereas this means adding yet another six-string to your collection, Ibanez has made you an offer that’s tough to refuse with its very affordable AE255BT. The company’s AE range covers a wide price spectrum, from just over a couple of hundred pounds to over…

PRICE: £879 ORIGIN: China TYPE: Solid-state preamp and power amp with digital effects OUTPUT: 200W RMS, switchable to 20W or 2W VALVES: None DIMENSIONS: 410 (w) x 155 (h) x 150mm (d) WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.6/8 CABINET: Steel/plastic CHANNELS: 4, MIDI-programmable CONTROLS: Master volume, presence, resonance, sagging, reverb, treble, mid, bass, volume, gain, channel select, boost switch, FX loop switch, FX access/ store switches FOOTSWITCH: Optional ADDITIONAL FEATURES: Onboard digital effects, Red Box AE speaker emulated DI. Bluetooth audio streaming and remote control with iOS app (coming soon) OPTIONS: The phantom-powered FSM-432 MIDI foot controller unleashes the Black Spirit’s performance potential for £185; a soft carry bag costs £36.99 RANGE OPTIONS: None John Hornby Skewes & Co Ltd 0113 286 5381 www.hughes-and-kettner.com PROS Stacks of functionality; excellent core tones; very portable…

Brian Fallon & Craig Finn 5 to 27 February Various UK & Ireland venues The addition of Finn as special-guest support for these acoustic shows brings together songwriters from two of the finest American rock bands to emerge this century. But the focus for The Gaslight Anthem man Fallon and The Hold Steady’s Finn is on their burgeoning solo careers here and the new paths they’re exploring as players. “The more rhythm you add in your songs, the less you need to play,” says Brian of the work he’s put into developing his fingerstyle after decades with the pick. “So I started looking into all the people that were doing that kind of thing, like Mark Knopfler… I don’t want to be a lead player; I don’t want to shred…

PINEGROVE LEATHER STRAPS £VARIOUS There’s something really nice about slinging your favourite guitar off a high-quality, comfort-enhancing strap. You feel like a pro and sore shoulders are no longer an automatic consequence after long sessions. Pinegrove Leather makes some seriously good examples by hand in Hebden Bridge in the UK. Founder Rod Boyes, a musician himself, has been making high-end leather accessories since 2012. Prices start at £49 for the 30mm-wide GS55 strap made with 3mm-thick vegetable tanned leather, with bevelled edges for comfort, adjustable with Pinegrove’s double-stud system. We also like the 60mm-wide GS61 double-padded leather strap (£55) made of oiled leather, which looks comfortable enough to hang a 70s Les Paul off without undue strain! Fancy two-tone and buckled designs are also available for a bit more gelt,…

What? Music Man Albert Lee HH, Powder Blue Where seen? Rich Tone Music, Sheffield Price? £2,299 Description? I love Music Man guitars and the Albert Lee is my favourite. In Powder Blue, the double-humbucker (DiMarzio) version strikes a vintage-meets-modern pose that’s so cool.This one has the select rosewood neck, which helps retain the twang on which Albert thrives, plus you can guarantee build quality. If the string-though-body style with no trem is not your thing, Rich To ne also has a Charcoal Frost vibrato-equipped model. Music Man’s oiled necks are also a wonder to play.…

Using alternative voicings adds colour and variety to your chords by reshuffling the order of notes. Though there are essentially just five different categories of chord shape (C, A, G, E and D), there are almost infinite possibilities in how to arrange the notes. Starting with the classical convention, the order of root, 3rd and 5th can be ‘shuffled’ to create inversions. For example, using E major, swapping the conventional voicing of E, G#, then B (R, 3, 5) in ascending order, how about 3rd, 5th, root (G#, B, E)? Or, how about putting the 5th (B) on the bottom? This gives another feel altogether. Example 1 Taking the C major chord (C, E, G) and putting the 3rd (E) on the bottom gives a grander version, great for setting…

When our very good friends at Eagle Rock Entertainment (www.eagle-rock.com) were moving offices recently, they found this brand-new Epiphone SG in its box lurking at the back of a cupboard and they asked us if we could find a home for it. What’s more, it had been signed by The Magpie Salute’s Rich Robinson back in 2016. We immediately thought that a competition was in order – and here we are! The SG is responsible for some of rock ’n’ roll’s most famous riffs and its champions include a who’s-who of celebrated players, including Angus Young, Tony Iommi and Eric Clapton. With its twin humbuckers and distinctive cutaway horns, the guitar sounds as good as it looks – and Rich Robinson’s signature makes this one practically unique. In order to…

What was the first gig you played and how did it go? “My first ever gig was at a school fete in Hitchin. The stage was a few school tables pushed together and I was dreadfully nervous, but it seemed to go pretty well from what I remember. It was mainly school children and so I don’t expect I’ve kept a lot of the clientele over the years. But in terms of being a first gig and getting up and playing, being horrendously nervous and thinking I was playing Madison Square Garden, it was a good one. It was all covers, I think. I may have written one or two songs, which would have been Time Has Come and Blackest Day, which both ended up being on my first album,…

The past few years have been particularly eventful for Barrie Cadogan. When we spoke to him, he had just finished a tour with Matt Johnson and The The, which included gigs in the UK and across Europe, America and Australia. Johnson hadn’t toured since 2002, after deciding to take time out of the music industry’s glaring limelight. But once lured back, he decided to put a band together and, thanks to a certain Mr Johnny Marr, Barrie got the job playing guitar. “Johnny had worked with Matt before,” Barrie tells us, “and recommended me to Matt. Matt recognised my name because he had Shazam’d the Better Call Saul theme, so he heard the name before.” The aforementioned TV show theme music was another event in Barrie’s calendar, and we’ll be…

It’s not every day you get to play some of the most celebrated electrics to emerge from Fullerton, California, in the 50s and 60s. But that’s the mouth-watering prospect in view as we drive out to World Guitars in Gloucestershire on a sunny winter’s morning. The shop is well known for its eclectic and immaculately presented stock of high-end guitars, a reputation it built under its late and much-missed proprietor, Jeff Pumfrett, who died in 2015. Now in the capable hands of Mark Smith and Julian White, it continues to sell some of the finest guitars you’re likely to find anywhere in the UK. However, what’s of more interest to us this morning is the fact that Julian also looks after a very tidy collection of vintage Strats, which he’s…

BUILD & FINISH Picking up the ’59 first, Nev immediately notes the difference between the slender transition from neck to headstock on the vintage Strat and the bulkier volute on the Relic. “The volute doesn’t do any harm, but in the old days somebody would sit with sandpaper and blend that in more,” he says. We can’t fault the Journeyman’s finish, which looks and feels subtly lived-in without being OTT, as Fender intended for one of its lightest grades of ageing. Ironically, the ’59 has the kind of heavy forearm wear that would look almost over-done were it on a Custom Shop Relic. But it’s a genuine part of the history of this late-50s guitar. SOUNDS Again, we start with the ’59 and revel in its clear but breathy, expressive…

With our ‘heats’ concluded, Julian White sets up a final test… While Nev and Jamie look away, and with the guitars behind them out of sight, Julian picks out and then plays four Strats – labelling them A to D – without telling us what they are, just to see if we might be unconsciously favouring the vintage ones, or vice versa. The results are interesting… GUITAR A Both Nev and Jamie both guess this is one of the vintage Strats. Something about the airy, expansive tone and sweet brightness says ‘old’. “It’s very present,” says Nev. “I half wonder if this is my old ’63. Answer: The guitar was, in fact, Julian’s Dakota Red ’61, so we’re definitely hearing the right decade. Not bad for a first attempt. GUITAR…

NECK, NUT & FRETS I sanded all the old finish off. It took an hour or so, including reshaping behind the nut for more vintage-like look. I reprofiled the frets, fitted a bone nut and rolled the fingerboard edges. The neck took a can of tinted nitro lacquer, which I then flatted with 2000-grade ultra-fine wet-or-dry and buffed to a light sheen with a cloth before fitting a replacement decal. STRIPPING THE BODY Polyester is a nightmare to remove at home. Having been quoted silly money to do it professionally, I bought a £10 heat gun and, taking the necessary safety precautions, had the lot off and was cleared up in 15 minutes. Result! SANDING & PRIMING Using 80 grit, I reshaped the body’s forearm contour and rounded all edges…

PRICE: £1,899 (inc case) ORIGIN: USA TYPE: Single-cutaway, solidbody electric BODY: 2-piece mahogany with carved maple top w/ 9-hole weight relief NECK: 1-piece mahogany, Slim Taper neck profile, glued-in SCALE LENGTH: 624mm (24.6”) NUT: TekToid FINGERBOARD: Single-bound rosewood, Acrylic Trapezoid inlays, 305mm (12”) radius FRETS: 22, low, cryogenically treated HARDWARE: ABR-1 tune-o-matic bridge, aluminium stopbar tailpiece, Grover Rotomatics with kidney buttons – nickel plated ELECTRICS: Gibson Burstbucker 61R (neck) and Burstbucker 61T (bridge), 3-way toggle pickup selector switch, 2x push/pull volumes (coil-tap), 2x push/pull tones (Pure Bypass/phase) RANGE OPTIONS: Les Paul Studio (£1,399) with tappable 490R and 498T humbuckers; the Les Paul Studio Tribute (£999) has open-coil 490 humbuckers and a satin finish LEFT-HANDERS: Yes FINISHES: Honeyburst (as reviewed), Gold Top – gloss nitrocellulose PROS Equally good build with unshowy…

BLUGUITAR AMP1 MERCURY EDITION £669 CONTACT John Hornby Skewes & Co Ltd PHONE 0113 286 5381 WEB www.bluguitar.com While the big head is still alive and kicking, there’s been a renewed trend toward small units in recent years, fuelled by a number of different developments. Guitar-friendly Class D power amps, next-generation digital modelling, and the modern quiet stage (which banishes backline and replaces it with in-ear monitoring) have all moved the goalposts for modern guitar amplification in the professional environment. Some exciting and innovative products have arrived on the scene as a result, but only a few have really taken up the challenge and hit the bullseye. One of the earliest was the BluGuitar Amp1, which we looked at back in late 2014. BluGuitar is the brainchild of Thomas Blug,…

Ampli-Firebox £279 The smallest of Atomic’s amp modellers, the Ampli-Firebox puts amp modelling and IR-based cabs, plus some effects, into a compact stompbox with a footprint no bigger than an EHX Little Big Muff. HX Stomp £558 The smallest and most cost-effective way into the Helix amp modelling world, not only does the HX Stomp feature amps, cabs and IR loading, but it has more effects than you can shake a pick at. RevivalDRIVE Custom £559 This complex analogue drive pedal has no pre-set access to instant sounds (you’ll need to adjust the nuanced controls), but it can recreate the sound and behaviour of a classic vintage amp.…

ORIGIN: USA TYPE: Pedalboard utility FEATURES: Flexi-Switch footswitches; dual true-bypass effects loops; AB-Y output; adjustable 20dB clean boost CONTROLS: Boost level knob; output B phase reverse switch CONNECTIONS: Standard (6.35mm TRS) expression pedal jack; standard (6.35mm TS) jacks: mono input; dual mono outputs; effects loop 1 send/return; effects loop 2 send/return; tuner output POWER: 2.1mm centre negative 9V DC adaptor (not supplied); 40mA current draw DIMENSIONS: 144 (w) x 121 (d) x 56mm (h) with knobs…

When you think of manufacturing in Japan, perhaps the first images that come to mind are bleeding-edge technology and robot-served production lines. But while Honda, Sony, Nikon and other mega-brands may define the state of the art in high-tech gear, there’s another side to the story. Hand-built craftsmanship is at the heart of Japanese culture and that hasn’t gone away. In fact, the artisan culture that grew to fruition in centuries past still guides the way musical instruments are made in Japan – even if you might not think it at first glance. We’re musing on this as our bus carries us high into the green hills near Sakashita, where Takamine is based. Takamine has made a huge success in carving out a niche as a brand that makes incredibly…

GLASS TONE Inspired by your Mod Squad column back in issue 430, I’ve been experimenting with slide guitar, though I’m not quite at the Sonny Landreth or Derek Trucks level! I’m using an Epiphone SG, have raised my action and fitted 11s. My sound is a little on the thin side, though. Is that down to the glass slide I’m using? M French, via email There are a few things to consider here, not least that not all glass slides or bottlenecks sound the same. In a similar way that your pick – its gauge and material – can influence what you hear, different weights, wall thickness and the overall size of your slide can noticeably change the sound you create. Duane Allman famously used a glass cold-cure medicine bottle;…

What if? That’s the thing that gets under our skin when we’re pondering a bit of modding, isn’t it? The near 20-year-old Tokai I’d acquired – and, as described last issue, given a basic low-cost makeover – was intriguing me. First off, although it’s hardly accurate in terms of materials compared with the real Gibson Les Paul it cynically aimed to copy, after a few weeks of noodling I was enjoying it. But I couldn’t help thinking, what if I could eke a little more out of the guitar? See, there you go: what if? “No, it’s not a ’Burst, but the Tokai is a single-cut with raw power and surprising finesse” This particular Love Rock comes from a time when a lot – an awful lot – of electric…

MILES DAVIS Kind Of Blue While not a ‘guitar’ album, Kind Of Blue is hugely influential. In any case, some of the best ideas can come from hearing another instrument and taking us out of mental and physical habits associated with the instrument. Check out So What, All Blues and Blue In Green for some ideas that push the repertoire beyond the standard 12-bar, but not so far that the harmony becomes like a foreign language! BARNEY KESSEL Music To Listen To Barney Kessel By Though some of Barney’s playing could be complex both harmonically and technically, he always seemed to maintain a melodic sense. Blues For A Playboy shows he was not averse to the odd string bend, though the heavy strings favoured by jazzers would probably rule anything…

Guide example to formatting your adverts CATEGORY: Electrics ADVERT: Fender Stratocaster, USA Standard, 2001, black, white scratchplate, three Lace Sensor pickups, vgc, never gigged, Fender hard case, £435 ono. Phone Joe on 01234 567890, email joebloggs@youremail.co.uk, Runcorn Send your ads to: guitarist.readerads@futurenet.com PLEASE NOTE: Due to the section’s popularity there can sometimes be a period of around a month before your advert will appear. We are unable to send a notice of receipt for your advert. Guitarist magazine reserves the right to omit or change any reader ads which fail to meet the above guidelines or infringe any company’s registered trademarks, ie Strat copy, Gibson copy, and so on. Please write concisely and double check phone number and e-mail address! You get 21 words max, and they’re all free!…