Innehållsförteckning för 287 från Total Guitar

Wow! Judging by the feedback we’ve received from you guys this month, you’re absolutely loving the new-look TG, which is great to hear! Thanks to everyone who checked it out, and welcome aboard if you’re a new reader! We’re continuing our promise of being the real world guitar magazine this month with a whole host of tuition, huge artists and brilliant gear. This month’s cover feature sees us delivering 11 solid-gold rock riff video lessons, plus in the mag itself you’ll find some key info about the writing and playing of each riff, and how to set your gear up to do them justice. We’ve also lined up an absolutely stellar list of tabs for you: our Riff Of The Month features tab for AC/DC’s iconic Back In Black, we…

ALBUM STONES GO BACK TO BLUES The recent retrospective boxset of their 60s albums obviously got The Rolling Stones in a nostalgic mood because 2 December sees the release of a blues covers album tracked live in three days, with a little help from Eric Clapton. Blue & Lonesome is the sound of Keef and Mick getting back to their London beginnings playing through a host of blues standards. They take on Howlin’ Wolf’s Commit A Crime, Little Walter’s I Gotta Go and Otis Rush classic I Can’t Quit You Baby (one of three songs Clapton appears on) plus another nine tracks for the Don Was-produced album. “It captures the essence of what they are,” the producer explains. WHEN 2 December LIVE AVENGED SEVENFOLD The Avenged Sevenfold juggernaut sprung back…

1 “This is a Japanese Fender Strat from 1988. I got this when I was 12, and I was pretty happy about it. It was brand new at the time and I kind of learned to play on it. It’s been around the world with me and served me really, really well. My dad only took me into the guitar shop to get a case originally. I wanted one of the Fender moulded cases for my Marlin Slammer Strat copy. But the shop assistant said, ‘I can throw a guitar in with that for another £229.’ So we ended up walking out with the red Strat and the case. The Marlin Slammer just got put away in the cupboard.” 2 “I always wanted an American Strat, and never actually got…

Set The Boy Free JOHNNY MARR The early days of The Smiths are fascinating to read about from their guitarist’s perspective, while fans will be familiar with a lot of the main events, Marr’s evolution from teenager to producer during his five years with the band is hard to fathom. But behind the talent a drive, belief and open-mindedness to new ideas emerges that defines him. The guitars, the songs they inspired and his ‘guitarchestra’ approach to layering in the studio will be of most interest to musicians here. There’s less on exactly how his style developed, and it says a lot about Marr’s character that nobody is thrown under the bus as he details ups and downs – though his admission of a near Smiths reunion in 2008 is…

1. Vibrato Fret a note, pick the string and ‘vibrate’ your fretting finger as the note rings out to create a wobbling sound effect. It works best on longer notes. 2. Hammer-on Fret a note, pick the string, then quickly and firmly press down onto a higher fretted note without picking the string again. 3. Pull-off The opposite of a hammer-on. Fret a note, pick the string, then pull your finger away to sound a lower note fretted by another finger. 4. Slide No surprises here. Simply slide along the string from one note to another. Keep pressing down as you slide or the notes will die out. 5. String bend Your aim is to bend the string to change the pitch to a higher note. Fret with two or…

“THE DIGITECH WHAMMY OPENED UP A WHOLE NEW WORLD TO ME” You see the words ‘Arm The Homeless’ scrawled across a guitar, you know exactly who it belongs to. And while Rage Against The Machine’s recent activity has been sporadic, Tom Morello has never stood still – whether under his solo guise, The Nightwatchman, or collaborating with Bruce Springsteen. This year however, something more attention-grabbing was required, and the result is Prophets Of Rage – a rap-rock supergroup that’s essentially RATM fronted by Cypress Hill’s B-Real and Public Enemy’s Chuck D, with DJ Lord behind the decks for good measure. As Tom explains to TG, this isn’t a doe-eyed nostalgic tribute, their time is definitely now… So what made you realise it was time to ‘make America rage again’? “Well,…

“I’ve been using the signature model since about 2006, and I don’t know… it just does everything I want it to do. It’s jangly enough where it works in the context of cleaner things, but it’s also got a bite to it so that I can do with more saturated sounds, too. It’s responsive… so depending on your gain structure with your amp, how hard you dig into it can affect what it does. That’s one thing I recognised with [The Jesus Lizard guitarist] Duane Denison’s playing - he’s just going right in. How hard he plays, or the sensitivity of his playing, it really gives a lot of dynamics – and I guess I’ve set up my guitar to mimic that kind of approach. “Besides me just liking how…

In the time before the entrance of the Sandman, One was arguably Metallica’s best known song. Like a lot of the songs from …And Justice For All, this track has many parts, from clean arpeggios to epic harmonised melodies and speed-picked rhythms. The song opens on Hetfield’s moody B minor arpeggios. The chords are simple and the part is satisfying to play. Kirk Hammett follows up with the first of three solos, a tastefully melodic line, before heading to the verse and classical-tinged bridge. The second half of the track shifts to E minor, using the natural minor scale for the epic multi-layered lines and the darker Phrygian mode for the tight machine-gun style riffs. Listen closely to the drums; Hetfield’s right arm always locks in tight. FULL TAB METALLICA:…

John Lee Hooker helped define the electric guitar as a staple of the blues back in the 1940s. Most of the time, he accompanied himself ‘solo’ with just his guitar and tapping foot. Later in his career he used a traditional band line-up more often – making guest appearances with the Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Carlos Santana and others. Usually, he would play a semi-hollow guitar such as an Gibson ES-335 with the thumb and middle finger of his right hand. This plays a large part in getting his unique tone – no attack from a pick, but he hit it pretty hard nonetheless! These examples are designed to give an overview of the John Lee Hooker sound and style. Use a guitar equipped with a bridge position humbucker (turn…

“That’s what’s cool about it, it wasn’t planned. People just like the music” A lot has happened for Kelvin Jones since he first graced Total Guitar’s pages back in April. Since the Stevenage singer-songwriter’s debut album, Stop The Moment , was released in 2015, he’s been enjoying a remarkably fast rise through the music industry, touring with Izzy Bizu and James Morrison before setting off on a headline tour of his own. When we call him, he’s just begun his European tour. “It’s going surprisingly well,” he says, sounding genuinely taken aback. “I’m in Belgium, I’ve never played there and we just sold out the show. It was the same last night in Cologne, it’s insane.” It’s going so well that two extra…

Welcome to the GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome*) Station! Every issue, the TG scours the market for the hottest new gear and brings you transparent reviews that you can trust. From the smallest of accessories that make your life easier, to big investments such as brand new guitars, amps and effects pedals – if it’s worth your attention, you’ll find it here! HOW WE TEST CURATION Our product selection is driven by our love of gear. We select the most exciting products on the market every month to bring you opinions you can trust. FACE-VALUE REVIEWS We’re not gear snobs here at Total Guitar. We judge on it on whether it looks good, sounds good and plays well – not by the name on the headstock. NO SNAKE OIL You won’t…

“MANY PRESETS ARE PLAYABLE STRAIGHT OFF THE BAT” 1 FOOTSWITCHES  Besides patch selection and parameter control, hitting two of those at once can call up the tuner or looper. The CTL1 knob controls all looper functions 2 EFFECTS BUTTONS These turn the effects blocks in a patch on and off, lighting up red if the effect is active. They can also select a block for editing 3 TREADLE  You can assign various functions to the treadle. Pressing down on its toe will bring in the assigned pedal effect and light the red LED AT A GLANCE TYPE: Multi-effects pedal CONTROLS: Soft knobs (1, 2, 3), 12x buttons, 3x footswitches, pedal treadle SOCKETS: Standard input, standard outputs L(mono)/R, mini-jack aux input, mini-jack phones output, CTL/EXP socket, USB BYPASS: Buffered POWER: 4x…

SWITCHING THIS PEDAL OFF WILL BE MORE THAN YOU CAN BEAR If you’ve spent any time in a recording studio, you’ll recall that after laying down a great rhythm track the engineer will normally ask you to play it again, man. This time-consuming technique of layering your parts, aka double-tracking, has been used by everyone from The Beatles to Metallica to fatten up their guitar sounds. The deceptively simple-looking Mimiq Doubler replicates double-tracking in the studio, bed and rehearsal room and, most impressively, onstage. Like your average reality TV cast, there are various levels of thickness on display here: the onboard ‘dubs’ switch offers up to three overdubs of your original guitar signal. Yes... that’s four guitars in total. That’s great news if you’re in a power trio, and for…

The song that inspired me to play guitar… Running With The Devil– Van Halen “I had been listening to my older brother’s metal albums as a kid. I paid more attention to the vocals until I heard Running With The Devil and Eruption. I couldn’t comprehend that it was a guitar making those sounds. I didn’t know what it was but I loved it and I had to find out how to make those crazy, cool sounds. The first song I learnt… Mary Had A Little Lamb “I learned to play that song on an acoustic. I had a guitar teacher who was showing me how to read the notes and I was thinking, ‘This is so fucking boring! Why doesn’t this sound like the records I’m listening to?’ So…

CHRIS BIRD Chris has been having a video-tastic time filming 11 riff lessons for you to try with this month’s cover feature. Quizzed on his favourite riff the big man quoth, “I’m loving playing Welcome To The Jungle again but for pure fun, it’s got to be the twin lead lines in The Boys Are Back In Town”. JOSH GARDNER As a late-90s teen, Josh will always have a soft spot for Jimmy Eat World, so he was keen to pick Jim Adkins’ brains on songwriting, band politics and giant amps in our feature on p44. He was also happy to hear Jim endorse the value of blazing rows in creative situations – a daily occurrence in TG Towers… ROB LAING After hearing Fade To Black echoing from his older…

Biffy Clyro WHEN 26 November www.biffyclyro.com The Scottish powerhouse are supported by Brand New fortheir Ellipses arena tour. And it could be one of the last times UK fans get to see the latter before their planned dissolution in 2018. Tommy Emmanuel WHEN From 8 January www. tommyemmanuel.com The Australian acoustic virtuoso is bringing UK maestro Clive Carroll with him on this tour. It’ll be a fingerstyle fiesta! David Brent WHEN 15 & 16 December www.rickygervais.com He’s a friend first, boss second and probably an entertainer third but Brent’s bringing backing band Forgone Conclusion back for a two-day jaunt to the seaside with live dates at Bournemouth BIC (15) and Brighton Centre (16). Expect Lady Gypsy, Slough, Free Love Freeway with all the…

THERE’S SO MUCH MORE TO WAH THAN ‘PORN SOUNDTRACK’ JOKES AND ILL-ADVISED ATTEMPTS AT ‘SHAFT’ 1 Expression  The centrepiece of a mechanical wah is the pivoting rocker pedal 2 Controls  Modern wah pedals often include different modes, and controls to alter their voicing 3 Ease of use  These days, wah pedals feature standardised power sockets, easy battery access and sometimes LEDs to indicate if they’re on or off WHAT YOU’LL LEARN How wah effects work Basic foot control Different ways of using expression Wah – it’s the effect that has been the butt of a thousand ‘porn soundtrack’ jokes, ill-advised attempts at the Theme From Shaft and annoying references to that Lynx ‘boomchicka-wow-wow’ ad from the mid-noughties. But there’s so much more to wah than this: it’s the sound of…

In TG’s last interview with Chris Cornell, he told us that he felt an Audioslave reunion “would be great,” adding, “it would be a really amazing experience to get back and work with the same guys again.” Drummer Brad Wilk echoed similar thoughts only just recently… but what does Tom make of it all? “I love Chris and I love what we did together,” he enthuses. “That door has certainly never closed in any way, but right now, it’s looking like we’re pretty busy. We’re in the middle of a North American tour, I’m also working on a record of my own and the other guys have things going on too. But whatever happens in the future, Chris is one of the greatest singers of all-time, and there’s no way…

AS THE OPENER TO ONE OF THE ALL-TIME GREAT ROCK ALBUMS, WHEN THE RIFF FINALLY HITS, SLASH DELIVERS BIG TIME… 1 GUNS N’ ROSES WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE (VERSE) It’ll bring you to your sh-na-na-na-knees! The riff to the opener one of the all-time great rock albums, perhaps the greatest, has to make itself count. Welcome To The Jungle starts with the famous delayed part, leading into the crescendo before the riff finally hits – and when it does, Slash delivers big time. But, as we’ve heard many times before in these pages, the acoustic guitar is the great leveller for a belting riff. Slash’s riff actually started life on an acoustic before Axl Rose gave it the nod and it was worked up with the band’s input into…

The first half of the song is played with a crystal clean tone with a touch of reverb and chorus. Use a middle position pickup for a balanced tone; not too harsh and not too mellow. The choruses are played with full distortion, so you’ll need to switch to a high gain sound for these parts. The rhythm parts in the latter half of the song feature lots of gain and a tight ‘scooped’ eq. This means carving out some of the midrange frequencies and boosting the bass and treble like a V shape. Keep a little more midrange in your lead sound so that you cut through the mix. GET THE TONE CHANNEL DISTORTION Use a middle position pickup for the cleans and a bridge position humbucker for the…

BE GIG-SAVVY “Doing 500 gigs in the same pub is not going to get you anywhere; do a livestream or go to the next town over. Pick your gigs carefully. You might think you’re working hard but you’re not getting anywhere because you’re not maximising your effort.” DO DIGITAL RIGHT “Social media is definitely important, but it doesn’t matter if you’re not on every platform. It’s not going to be the difference between your career going one way or another. I like Instagram so I use that a lot, but I’m not so great at Twitter. Pick what you like and what you can use well.” BIG YOURSELF UP “You can get so focused on the next challenge that you forget to look back and see how far you’ve moved…

1 FENDER FTN-1 PEDAL TUNER Given that there’s nothing more important than being in tune, having a good tuner is a must for any guitarist. Fender’s latest take on the concept is the FTN-1 – a compact, floor-mounted tuner with a bright, easy-to-read LED display that cuts through on a dark stage. You can run the pedal in standard tuning, or drop it three half steps below for those who like the down-tuned metal stuff. A true bypass pedal, the FTN-1 mutes when engaged for silent onstage tuning, and even ships with a power supply. (£63, www.fender.com ) 2 BARE KNUCKLE PICKUP TATTOOS British pickup master Bare Knuckle is now offering a bespoke ‘Pickup Tattoo’ service that can laser-etch any design you like onto pickup covers and…

SQUIER VINTAGE MODIFIED JAGUAR The Jaguar shares the ultra-playable 610mm (24-inch) scale of the Duo-Sonic, but in this case, you get a couple of single coils and a vintage vibrato unit G&L TRIBUTE SERIES FALLOUT This 25.5-inch scale humbucker/P-90-loaded beast is a reboot of the G&L SC-2 model that Leo Fender based on his original Mustang/Duo-Sonic II design VINTAGE V6 CUSTOM SPEC No points for originality here, but this ‘tribute’ to a classic does offer a wide tonal palette thanks to its bridge humbucker and twin-single coil line-up…

Trivium EMBER TO INFERNO: AB INITIO The reissue of Trivium’s hard to find debut comes with the added incentive of 13 bonus tracks that form the complete picture of their early days. Matt Heafy is the only remaining member of these trio days and this shows his fiercest side, vocally and in the death metal elements in the rhythm work here, punctuated by his developing melodic sensibilities. The bonus songs hold up surprisingly well, too, so if you’re a fan yet to visit their early roots, this presents good value. David Hands…

We’ve lined up an extra special competition for you this month – not only is this Charvel a workhorse rock axe kitted out with pro features, it’s seen action in the field, too! We’ve teamed up with LetLive and Charvel to offer one lucky reader the chance to win Jeff Sayounn’s very own Pro Mod San Dimas HH hardtail in Metallic Black, as played and signed by Jeff himself! The guitar comes tricked out with Seymour Duncan JB/59 pickups in the bridge and neck respectively, a coil split circuit and moody black Charvel hardware in the shape of the HT6 hardtail bridge and sealed die-cast tuners. To be in with a shot of winning the guitar, answer the following question correctly. What is the name of LetLive’s most recent album?…

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN How major chords are built from the major scale How to play a C ‘triad’ shape Two strummed rhythms using a major chord Every style of music uses major chords – for many players, the first thing they learn is a handful of these essential shapes. Still, once you get ‘under the hood’ there’s a lot to learn, and it’s not always confined to rhythm playing either; breaking chords down into individual notes is also great for folky fingerstyle and melodic lead solos. Last month, we looked at the structure of the major scale and this information will help you understand major chords because they are built from three notes of this vital scale. Read on as we break it down for you. 1. USE THREE…

 Jimmy Eat World are one of the most consistent bands in the business. Since 1996’s major label debut, Static Prevails, the band has mixed stratospheric hits (their 2001 commercial breakthrough Bleed American and follow-up, 2004’s Futures) with more modest success since, but they’ve never faltered. “WORKING AS A BAND… IT CAN GET A LITTLE WEIRD!” For nine albums the Arizona four-piece have kept pushing forward - always evolving their sound, always trying new things, but never alienating the band’s large, loyal fanbase along the way. Their latest record, Integrity Blues, typifies this mindset: blending ambient sounds and post-rock vibes to create something fresh and new. On the eve of its release, we sat down with guitarist and bandleader Jim Adkins, who shared his wisdom on writing songs, natural innovation, embracing…

This month’s backing track has three sections for you to jam along to and try out your rhythm and soloing ideas with. The verse stays on an Fm7 chord, which gives you plenty of time to establish a groove and get a feel for the music. Simply add the strumming pattern of your choice . The chorus changes to A b m7 and has more of a funk-rock edge – a common style to blend with a funky beat. Either stick to the chordal approach or, if you’re a confident improviser, try and follow this section’s riffier guitar lines by ear. When soloing, you can use the F minor pentatonic scale to create funky lines like the lick we’ve tabbed for you here. It’s a sparse line, designed to support…

The Police released Every Breath You Take in 1983 on their final album, Synchronicity. Andy Summers’ guitar part has become one of those ‘must know’ riffs, up there with the likes of Layla, Smoke On The Water and Stairway To Heaven. The main riff follows the chords A-F#m-D-E, and many classic songs use this progression, including Ben E King’s Stand By Me and Don’t Dream It’s Over by Crowded House. Reprising shapes from 1979’s Message In A Bottle, Summers changes these chords to finger-twisting ‘add9’ voicings, providing a richer sound, but, in turn, making the riff tougher to play. There’s no real shortcut but we do recommend practising in a different key, higher up the fretboard where the frets are closer together. If you prefer to strum along, ditch the…

WHO’S THE BOSS? Stompbox giant gets in on the acoustic sim game Every electric guitar player on the planet has probably owned a Boss stompbox at one point in their life, but the Japanese giant has its eye on the acoustic market, too. It’s latest offering is the AD-2 Acoustic Preamp – a high-quality sound processor aimed squarely at live electro-acoustic performers that, according to Boss, will bring, “studio-quality sound while performing on any stage”. Housed in the company’s compact pedal chassis, the AD-2 offers acoustic-optimised reverb, a resonance control for enhancing piezo pickups, plus live essentials including a feedback-taming notch filter, balanced DI out and mute function for tuning or swapping guitars. You get three knobs to adjust ambience, notch and acoustic resonance, while holding down the footswitch for…

The guitar part on Blackbird was played by bass player Paul McCartney using a fingerstyle technique known as ‘clawhammer’ style, using thumb, first and index finger. Using only two fingers does limit the speed at which you can play arpeggios, scales and the like, but it more than suffices here. This song is a great demonstration of McCartney’s class as a musician and there are several unexpected harmonic twists and turns. One of the key features is the use of unison G notes – where the open third string G rings against fretted G on the 10th fret of the fifth string. This ringing open string is known as a ‘pedal’. A pedal is any note that repeats (or is held for a sustained period) as other notes and chords…

“GUITARS AT TWICE THE PRICE DON’T PLAY AS WELL AS THIS” 1 NECK  Thanks to its slim, short-scale neck, the Offset Series Duo-Sonic HS is one of the easiest playing guitars that we’ve ever encountered 2 KILLER TONE  Like Kurt Cobain’s favourite Fenders, the Duo-Sonic has been modified with a humbucker in the bridge position. The pickup has a coil-split to offer humbucking and single-coil tones 3 UPGRADES  Original Duo-Sonic hardtail bridges had three saddles. The new model has six, and combined with through- body stringing, it offers better intonation and action adjustment than the 60s design AT A GLANCE BODY: Alder NECK: Maple, bolt-on SCALE: 610mm (24”) FINGERBOARD: Rosewood FRETS: 22 medium jumbo PICKUPS: 1x Duo-Sonic humbucker (bridge), 1x Duo-Sonic single coil (neck) CONTROLS: Master volume, master tone w/…

“IT’S GOOD ENOUGH FOR A WORLD CLASS GUITAR HERO” 1 ENGINE ROOM  Bellamy’s latest signature comes with his trusty MBK-2 humbucker in the bridge and a Seymour Duncan Cool Rails in the neck position for a versatile tonal range 2 V-NECK  The DR-1 comes spec’d with Matt Bellamy’s favourite V-shaped neck profile. Combined with the 22 medium jumbo frets, it makes this guitar a joy to play 3 TONE WOOD  The guitar’s satin Military Olive Green finish and stencil-style lettering sits atop a body formed from two pieces of bright, vibrant-sounding swamp ash AT A GLANCE BODY: 2-piece swamp ash NECK: Maple, bolt-on SCALE: 648mm (25.5”) FINGERBOARD: Ebony FRETS: 22, medium jumbo PICKUPS: Manson MBK-2 humbucker (bridge), Seymour Duncan Cool Rails single coil-size humbucker (neck) CONTROLS: Master volume, master tone…