Innehållsförteckning för February 2017 från Total Guitar

AWARDS TG POLL WINNERS Your votes have been counted and the results are in. Thousands of you took part in our polls to choose your favourite gear, artists and personalties of 2016, and this is what you chose - congrats to the winners! Biggest Guitar Personality In The World Rob Chapman Best New Acoustic Guitar Martin GPCPA5S Westside Custom Sapele Edition #V Best New Electric Guitar Fender Elite Stratocaster Best New Signature Guitar Manson DR-1 Best New Effects Pedal KHDK Ghoul Screamer Best New Amp Fender Bassbreaker 15 Best New Guitarist Dan Dorney (The Hunna) Best Rock Guitarist Mark Tremonti, Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge) Best Prog Guitarist Devin Townsend Best Metal Guitarist Synyster Gates, Zacky Vengeance (Avenged Sevenfold) LIVE BLACK SABBATH This is the end… apparently. Not only is this…

We strongly suspect that The Amazons will be the fastest rising indie band of 2017. Theirs is a dark, riff-y brand of big rock music that spans menacing recesses, but is catchy enough to land them a spot on BBC’s Sound Of 2016 list. Guitarist Chris Alderton cites the likes of Warpaint, Kevin Parker and Troy Van Leeuwen as influences, while Wolf Alice producer Catherine Marks has been working with them on their debut album, due later this year. Chris’ searing lead tone on the likes of In My Mind, comes courtesy of a tasty Duesenberg Caribou and a Chinese-made Vox AC15. “I got it when I turned 18 and broke within a month,” he tells TG. “It was annoying at the time, but most of the cheap components got…

AFI AFI (THE BLOOD ALBUM) Your definition of ‘classic’ AFI will depend on when you jumped on the band’s spooky bus. Greybeards may well pine for the gothic punk of Black Sails In The Sunset or the accessible hardcore of Shut Your Mouth And Open Your Eyes , while recovering emos may cite AFI’s commercial peak, Sing The Sorrow and its follow-up, Decemberunderground . But if 2013’s Burials hinted that AFI were attempting to recapture some of that old magic, The Blood Album shouts it loud – with a nod to their past in almost every song. It’s a risky move, and on the likes of…

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN 17 different chord shapes Improved muscle memory Methods to make chord changes easier Tricky chord changes are frustrating for any guitarist. You just want to play a song, and maybe sing along, too, but the flow of the tune you’re playing is continually interrupted while you arrange your fingers into the right chord shapes. If this sounds all too familiar, some straightforward approaches can help you speed up those changes, and help you become more confident in that all-important, yet often overlooked area of rhythm guitar. Good, accurate chord changing is a vitally important skill to develop, and can be overlooked in favour of perhaps ‘more exciting’ things to play, especially if you’re itching to improve your soloing skills instead. However, every player should develop their…

DELAY WORKS BY TAKING THE SIGNAL YOU FEED INTO YOUR PEDAL AND REPEATING IT: THAT’S IT! DELAY Learn how this simple effect can help you create complex sounds WHAT YOU’LL LEARN The difference between delay sounds How to use delay controls Using subdivisions in your playing Delay is one of the most fun and interesting-sounding effects you can add your guitar, and as with all great sounds, at its core it’s really simple! Delay works by taking the signal you feed into your pedal and repeating it: that’s it! The controls give you a few extra options, though, and it’s here that you can take it from a simple echo to cascading soundscapes and anywhere in between. You have three basic options that adjust how your sound is repeated: how…

“I SORT OF INVENTED A NEW WAY FOR ME TO PLAY” Er, could I have a mint tea, please?” TG is sat in the Gothic back room of Manchester’s grand Albert Hall with Laurie Vincent, guitarist with the UK’s best contemporary punk band, Slaves. He has a thick Kent accent, a spider web tattoo covering a half-shaved head and impeccable manners. His band, a two-piece completed by drummer/vocalist Isaac Holman, make a sound that’s somewhere between malfunctioning heavy machinery, Crass and Jamie T, although that remit has been considerably expanded of late. Across the big leather sofa on which he dwells, Laurie’s pregnant wife, Emma, is sitting with her feet up. She’s due “in 1.5 weeks” and is touring the UK with the band. It’s a scene of domestic bliss,…

Brent: “We met at this metal festival in New Jersey, close to where Ben is from, but we didn’t really get to know each other on that day, really. But as our bands toured more, we hung out a lot and probably thought, ‘That guy is in a cool band!’ We made each other laugh a lot. We’re both amateur comedians, race car enthusiasts, tattoo collectors…” Ben: “The first time we met, I think we were talking backstage and the power went out for a second. And when the lights turned back on, I was naked, shivering. He was like, ‘How the fuck did that happen?’ Then we became friends and he started doing shit I had no clue about. We’ve seen each other in all sorts of states, but…

Spread your fingers out so each plays one fret. It’s a one-finger-per-fret shape – and you can move it around the fretboard as you need to. Play 1st fret, 2nd fret, 3rd fret, 4th fret on the sixth string. Either use hammer-ons, or, for a challenge, pick every note ‘down-up’ style. Once you’ve played the pattern on the sixth string, move up through the other strings, then back down to the sixth string to start again. FINGER PERMUTATIONS… THE SAME EXERCISE, BUT IN A DIFFERENT ORDER! You’ve got four fingers, which means there are a whole bunch of different ways you can order the notes you play (often referred to as ‘permutations’). Try these, and see if you can work out some more: TRACK 37 We’ve played ‘1 2 3…

While all four amps are affordable, there’s quite a range of prices here – although it’s worth noting each model comes in a range of sizes to suit your needs. Blackstar’s ID:Core Stereo 40 is less than half the cost of the Vox, yet for home use it’s quicker to get working, as well as taking up less space. It’s perfect for the home recording enthusiast who wants to get authentic tone onto a track with minimal hassle. Vox’s VT100X is an ideal weekend warrior’s amp: suited to smaller gigs with 100 watts of punch and authority to get your point across. The sounds are great, but they’re in danger of being eclipsed by Boss’s Katana, which has an organic warmth and dynamic response that some valve amps would find…

Your guitar’s controls are a low-cost, yet integral part of your tone, yet they’re often overlooked. There are three main things that can go wrong with your control pots. The first (and easiest) is when the pot has come loose, so if you turn your volume or tone control to 10 it continues to turn,because you’re actually spinning the entire pot around inside your guitar. Not only is it annoying, but leave it long enough and you’ll snap the connecting wires inside – which is a much bigger problem! Next up is a scratching or popping sound when you turn the control. It’s usually intermittent, but it’s up there with microphone feedback on the list of ‘Things your audience will hate’. It’s also a simple fix, which we’ll get to…

If the true art of guitar playing is transmitting your soul through six-strings and an amp then New Jersey-raised multi-instrumentalist Delicate Steve is a master. The US indie wunderkind has put time in with the likes of Yeasayer, Dirty Projectors and Mac DeMarco, but his solo work is untapped, hugely expressive and bizarrely beautiful. “I love singers – I’m a singer I think, but my voice is my fingers on my guitar,” Steve tells TG. “Sam Cooke’s phrasing, that is my shit and that’s how I like to form guitar solos, over a vamp. Nina Simone’s who I am thinking about when I want to add vibrato.” Steve generates his “cartoon music rainbow tone” with a custom guitar built by his friend Jeremy Carter and a Morgan AC20 Deluxe. “It…

RYAN ADAMS Not only is this Floridian troubadour one of the most prolific songwriters of the last 20 years, he’s proved to be one of the best. From alt-country band, Whiskeytown, and into a solo career the 42-year-old has created a huge body of work with songs that show off his talent as both an acoustic solo artist and electric-toting rocker. Adams remains an underrated and multi-faceted guitarist full of surprises, so ahead of new album, Prisoner, next month we’re keeping that in mind as we guide you through an introduction to the life of Ryan. START WITH HEARTBREAKER (2000) 1 Pick three Ryan Adams fans at random and ask them what his best album is and you may very well get three different choices. But for timeless songs that…

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN How sus chords relate to the major scale Work out which notes are in a sus chord Eight different sus chords You’re probably already familiar with the bright, upbeat sound of major chords and the dark, mournful vibe of the minor variety. Sus chords have a different sound altogether. On the spectrum of moods these are neutral-sounding fence-sitters, neither happy nor sad, and with a curious tendency to pull you back to a major or minor chord. For this reason sus chords are nearly always mixed in around their major and minor brethren. Listen to the acoustic guitars in Pinball Wizard by The Who or Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen to get a feel for the sound. 1. A CHANGE TO THE MAJOR SCALE…

“Little things can sow the seeds of discontent in the longer term” Whether you’re taking your first steps with a new band, or getting frustrated with an existing one, an important part of success can be measured by your practice sessions. How much are you getting done? Are things continuously going wrong? Even how fun your band practices are; it all plays a part and forms the root of your dynamic of how you play and communicate as a group of musicians. Making changes doesn’t need to be about ruling with an iron fist and becoming a de facto band leader, it’s often just a case of changing habits in preparation and routine with everybody contributing their share. Deciding what you want to get done in each practice session, how…

Tense, bright, edgy sound: dominant 7 chords Hear it! THE BEATLES I SAW HER STANDING THERE Much of this Lennon/McCartney rocker uses E7, A7 and B7 chords TRACK 23 These chords are based on C, D, E, G and A major shapes, which you probably already know. Those major chords have a ‘happy’ vibe, which is great for bright, upbeat music, but they can at times sound a bit too basic. The edgier sound of these chords is ideal for blues, blues-rock and funk. Mellow, relaxed sound: major 7 chords Hear it! MARVIN GAYE WHAT’S GOING ON The opening bars of Gaye’s classic soul hit chop away on Emaj7 TRACK 24 Without getting too deep into music theory, major 7th chords are created by adding an extra note to a…

IF YOU IGNORE THE TIME SIGNATURE, YOU’RE MISSING OUT ON CRUCIAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE MUSIC Guitar tabs always have a ‘time signature’ at the start. If you find yourself glazing over and ignoring it then you’re missing out on crucial information about the timing and feel of the music you’re about to play. We’ve tabbed out riffs in four time signatures for you to try out. All you have to do is count in time with the music and emphasise the relevant rhythmic pulses. 3/4 time – Classic waltz TRACK 38 COUNT 1 – 2 – 3 EMPHASISE Beat 1 RHYTHM Three quarter notes per bar CHARACTER Also known as a ‘waltz’, you can expect a lively ‘bounce’ to music in 3/4 time, depending on the tempo you play at,…

Are you having trouble keeping time? Martin can help… so long as you have £127,500 going spare. The company is celebrating its two millionth production guitar in style with a limited run of the new D-200 Deluxe. Time is clearly of the essence with this Style 45 dreadnought-shape (there’s a working watch embedded into the headstock, too) with its head-turning build of decorative watch-style gears, inlays and guilloché (a process of cutting geometric patterns into metal). The highly-figured bearclaw Engelmann spruce top is a dazzler too and back and sides are Brazilian rosewood. Things get seriously flash around the back; inlaid watch gears cut from reconstituted stone, mother-of-pearl, bloodwood, Hawaiian koa and ebony, no less. The D-200 Deluxes will also come with a separate RGM timepiece with features that reference…

1 GATOR TRANSIT SERIES If you’re looking for the peak of gigbag durability, get one of Gator’s Transit Series - and make it snappy. Available for electrics and acoustics, the bags feature weather-resistant fabric with a thick rubber tread, while the interior boasts a 20mm-thick foam padding with micro-fleece lining. Cosy. Elsewhere, your guitar will be cared for in all the key areas – headstock, neck and strap button – and there are enough zippered pockets to handle your pedals, strings, emergency snacks, etc. It ain’t cheap, but this gigbag is no croc. (£109 each, gatorcases.com ) 2 IK MULTIMEDIA MODO BASS If your budget bass isn’t cutting it for recording, IK holds the key to classic bass tones with MODO Bass. The first physically modelled electric…

Okay, we all love vintage valve amps, but let’s be honest, the technology that makes them work is yesterday’s news. Valves stopped developing in the mid-1950s; and ever since it’s the transistor that’s benefited from continual improvement – with the quantum leap of integrated circuits or chips in 1960 that made today’s computers and mobile phones possible, not to mention digital modelling guitar amps. Early transistorised amps had a reputation for going up in smoke; however, modern designs are bywords for reliability and gig-to-gig consistency, something even the best valve amps struggle to match. It’s inescapable: valves wear out. Every time you switch on your valve amp, it will sound imperceptibly flatter and noisier compared with the last time, while a digital modeller will faithfully repeat your killer solo patch…

Some of the greatest distorted guitar riffs and licks ever were created using the unmistakable sound of fuzz. Marty Robbins’ guitarist Grady Martin is the man credited with accidentally discovering fuzz back in 1961, when a dodgy preamp gave his guitar the classic distorted tone. Fast-forward a few years and pedals that replicated the effect, such as the Maestro Fuzz-Tone, Electro-Harmonix Big Muff and the Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face were catching on with Keith Richards, Carlos Santana and David Gilmour and many others. Fuzz has come a long way since those early days, so here we’re looking at four modern pedals and the fuzzed-out craziness you can wring that from each of them. Ranging from smooth, brass-like sustained notes to shrill, teeth-grinding velcro fuzz tones, it’s all here. Let’s dive in.…

You may be familiar with the name AXL – and we’re not talking about Guns N’ Roses’ effervescent frontman. In the past, you’d probably find it on the headstock of a familiar-looking budget beginner guitar. However, the company also has a line in finely spec’d vintage-cool electrics, such as the Bel Air you see before you, which has just landed on these shores. The single-pickup single-cut configuration nods towards the Les Paul Junior, but the TV Jones Power’Tron and USA B5 Bigsby vibrato plant a foot in Gretsch’s tonal ballpark, too. The finishes help to reinforce the retro swagger, with Light Blue, Metallic Black and the Orange Sparkle we have here. If you’d like an AXL to grind, it’ll set you back £999. But don’t let the single-pickup put you…

“I LOVED BLUES IMMEDIATELY, I JUST ‘GOT IT’ STRAIGHT AWAY. I WASN’T JUST LISTENING TO IT” TG first spotted young British bluesman Aaron Keylock ricocheting around a brick basement during Manchester’s 2015 Dot To Dot festival and we’ve been keeping a close eye on him ever since. Now his first record, Cut Against The Grain is due to land and we’re pleased to report it’s a fret-wearing, toe-tapping electric blues beast, with a tasteful amount of slide thrown in for good measure. Aaron hails from Oxford and has been playing blues since his guitar teacher turned him onto to likes of Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson. “I loved it immediately,” he tells TG. “I just ‘got it’ straight away. I loved that I wasn’t just listening to it, but I…

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN How to solo with hammer-ons Play chords with hammer-ons One short melodic lead line “‘Hammer-on’ is a weird term, isn’t it? I’ll stick my neck out and take a wild guess that no actual hammers are used, so what the hell does it mean?” You’re right, of course there are no heavy tools here! A hammer-on is an expressive playing technique used by absolutely everyone who ever picked up a guitar. From Jack White to Julian Bream, Nick Drake to Nile Rodgers, there’s probably not one single player who doesn’t use this technique. Every beginner guitarist should give hammer-ons a go. “I can’t argue with that. Tell me more about what’s actually involved then.” Okay, start by holding down one note on the guitar fretboard using…

“We’re good together, we match up on all this weird-sounding shit” Metal went through a strange transformation around the turn of the millennium. While bands such as Killswitch Engage and Lamb Of God led the charge for the American New Wave, something else was bubbling beneath the surface. Originally labelmates at underground independent Relapse Records, Mastodon and The Dillinger Escape Plan became fast renowned for their otherworldly musicianship as they brought different slants to pushing the progressive metal envelope to its limits. With guitarists Brent Hinds and Ben Weinman finally releasing debut full-length, Broken Lines, as Giraffe Tongue Orchestra – a supergroup that also includes current and ex-members of Alice In Chains, The Mars Volta and Zappa Plays Zappa – we thought we’d track down the…

CLASSICAL GUITARISTS ARE TAUGHT TO KEEP THEIR THUMB TO ONE SIDE TO AVOID YOUR THUMB AND FINGERS COLLIDING. AND WE RECOMMEND IT, TOO Whether you’re into acoustic folk or Mark Knopfler and Jeff Beck style fingerstyle lead, it is best to use your thumb for the bass strings and your first, second and third fingers for each of the treble strings. Obviously your thumb picks down and your fingers move up. Simple enough, but your thumb and fingers may collide. Classical guitarists are taught to keep their thumb to one side to avoid this problem and we recommend it, too. Getting started TRACK 26 This easy pattern will help you get used to using your thumb and fingers to pick the strings. Hold down the chord and pick the top…

Here, we’ve written out 10 bars of music for you. Each bar contains a simple lead guitar phrase that will test you on one specific technique. Listen to the backing track where you’ll hear each phrase played twice before the lead guitar drops out, leaving space for you to repeat the lick then move on to the next one: listen, repeat, move on. Simple! And remember, it doesn’t matter what kind of music you’re into – these techniques apply to nearly all styles of lead guitar. TRACK 36 1 BASIC BEND Use three fingers for strength. Keep your fingers rigid and turn your wrist to bend the string. 2 UNISON BEND Two notes should sound at the same time here: the string bend and the second note on the second…

OPEN CHORDS TAKE ON NEW CHARACTER IF YOU MOVE THEM TO OTHER FRETS 1 Thinking outside A box TRACK 42 Change the major 3rd of an open A chord to either a 4th or a 2nd to add movement, but without changing the sound of the chord too much. Great for folk and pop. 2 Hammer down the funk TRACK 43 This funky idea is a sure-fire way of adding some interest to dominant 7-style barre chords. The move to the 4th fret as you return to G7 on beat 3 has a great vibe. 3 Winging it TRACK 44 This is a Jimi Hendrix-style embellishment to a basic F chord. You’ll be playing the chord with your first three fingers, which leaves your fourth finger to play several new…

The acoustic that Jimi Hendrix reportedly owned longer than any other guitar has been sold at auction for £209,000. The guitar legend bought his used Sunburst 1951 Epiphone FT-79 in 1967 from a shop in New York for around $25, and took it back to London. Jimi gifted it to Blue Mink guitarist Alan Parker in 1970 before his tragic death later that year. London auction house Bonhams gave the guitar a guide price of £80,000 to £110,000 in its Entertainment Memorabilia auction but a bidding war soon left that in the dust. A Cloud guitar used by Prince on tour in 1993 also sold for £87,500, more than triple its estimate.…

THE KATANA MAY LOOK PLAIN, BUT ITS TONES ARE TRULY EXCEPTIONAL All four combos have excellent low-noise performance – it’s worth noting the Blackstar uses an external power supply, while the other three use regular 240V kettle leads – and each also sports an easily navigated control panel. Vox’s VT100X makes good use of LEDs, including an eerie nuclear blue glow around the 12AX7 preamp valve, which may not help the amp sound better, but looks cool. Equally cool is Marshall’s Bluetooth connectivity – it hooked up to our iPhone in a few seconds and allows real-time editing of all the amp’s parameters, as well as audio streaming. Comparatively, the Katana is fairly low-key, doing what it’s supposed to with typical Boss efficiency, and it’s a similar story for the…