Innehållsförteckning för August 2019 från Total Guitar

Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt once told me how important he thought it was for all guitarists to play acoustic guitar. Because it is different. He pointed out the strumming skills you can take back to your electric that might seem obvious and ‘basic’ but are easily overlooked. Playing acoustic definitely exposes us as guitar players, and I’ve talked to quite a few musicians over the years who maintain that the songs they write have to pass the test of working acoustically first to know if they’re keepers or not. But it’s also a world of sounds you can take with you anywhere you go. I’ve recently gone back to playing acoustic more for both an upcoming wedding gig and our Gear Diary (p104) and realised how much I missed the purity…

EVENT Tech Fest Tech Fest is continuing its commitment to workshops alongside performances this year with a programme including Andy James, our recent On The Up star Felix Martin, Olly Steele and Strandberg Guitars guru Ola Strandberg, who will host a Q&A session. Line 6 gear will also be available to demo so you can find out first-hand just how good Helix is. The company is sponsoring the festival’s main stage too. Acts this year include Leprous, Jon Gomm, Palm Reader, Monuments and Swedish outfit Vildhjarta. uktechfest.com WHEN 4-8 July EVENT Radar Love Tired of rain-soaked mud? A new indoor festival in Surrey is seeking to showcase ‘forward-thinking guitar-led’ music when it comes to Guildford in August. With two stages over two days, headliners are Monuments featuring John Browne and…

Guitar duos rarely come as sonically expansive as Rodrigo Sánchez and Gabriela Quintero. Following the dissolution of their heavy metal four-piece Tierra Ácida in 1997, the pair decided to switch electric noise for nylon acoustics and go it alone, eventually relocating some 5,000 miles from Mexico to Ireland in order to pursue their new shared ambition. From busking on the streets of Dublin to topping the Irish charts in 2006 with their self-titled second album, performing in front of presidents and scoring for Hollywood blockbusters, their success serves as a stark reminder for how taking creative risks can pay unforeseen dividends. On a UK visit ahead of releasing fifth full-length Mettavolution, the two guitarists reflect on their journey so far and explain how the two-pronged attack of Gabriela’s engine-room rhythms…

Electric players will recognise this kind of pickup; it uses the magnetic field to capture vibrations and the way the pickup is wound affects how those vibrations are interpreted. Relatively easy to fit on your guitar, they’re available in single-coil and humbucker with passive or active options – the latter boosting output. Some magnetic pickups also include sensors that detect vibrations on your guitar’s top. And that’s good because by their nature they have more of a metallic character, as well as being more prone to feedback issues. TRY LR BAGGS M1 ACTIVE £190 The M1 stacked humbucker is a bit of a classic now and also available in a passive model (£150). It offers the fine-tuning of adjustable pole pieces and it’s body sensitive too – ingeniously captured by…

Who says electric players should have all the effects fun? You’re only limited by your own imagination when it comes to using stompboxes with your acoustic, as players like John Butler prove. They can really help to give your sound individuality, creativity and also variation – after all, who wants to hear the same strumming tone for an hour? While there are companies making bespoke units aimed at the acoustic market, there’s no reason you can’t integrate some of the effects from the electric guitar world into an acoustic rig. TRY LR BAGGS ALIGN SERIES FROM £149 It’s Baggs again with some lovely looking wood-effect stompboxes tailored for acoustic frequencies. The Delay and Chorus pictured are the latest in the line-up that also includes an Active DI, Equalizer, Session (saturation…

Featuring on Steely Dan’s 1972 debut album Can’t Buy A Thrill, Reelin’ In The Years includes twin-lead duties from band members Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter and Denny Dias. The legendary solos, however, much lauded by the likes of Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, were handled by session ace Elliott Randall, and recorded in one take. The choruses and solos are based around G and A chords, with A being the root note. We’ll spare you the theory, suffice to say the song is in A Mixolydian – a bright, bluesy scale which is just the job for Randall’s jazz-tinged fusion chops. This jazzy approach is also applied in the verses which include a bevy of cool-sounding chromatic passing chords. Our tab is divided into the six solos, choruses and a verse for…

In the late 50s and early 60s a new style of rock ’n’ roll known as surf-rock would rule the airwaves. And, although the Beach Boys would later develop the sound and include lush vocal arrangements, surf’s roots were instrumental – Dick Dale, The Ventures and The Surfaris produced some of surf’s most memorable instrumental tracks. One of the genre’s most famous tunes, Dick Dale’s Misirlou, uses Spanish-influenced note choices. Traditionally, however, surf is based heavily around the 12-bar blues with the guitarist moving a riff or chord shape through the progression – The Surfaris’ Wipeout is an excellent example. Guitar-wise, many classics used Fenders Strats and Jaguars – or Danelectros, among others, but any guitar with a bright single coil pickup will work. A key part of the sound…

“I FEEL LIKE OLDER SONGWRITING AND OLD COUNTRY REALLY HAVE GOOD IMAGERY” Jade Jackson is brought to you today by coffee, lots of coffee. The Californian country singer is sitting in the très chic Hoi Polloi brasserie that sits under London’s painfully hip Ace Hotel. She’s holding a napkin and an ice cube, trying to remove some chewing gum off her trousers, and is right now having a glass of water to restore equilibrium. Disorientation and caffeine dependence is what becomes of you if you straddle too many time zones, and Jackson has arrived in town via mainland Europe to talk about Wilderness, an album that in many respects speaks for itself. Jackson puts a vibrant rock spin on her sound but she is a storyteller in the great country…

Welcome to the GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome*) Station! Every issue, 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 it on whether it looks good, sounds good and plays well – not by the name on the headstock. NO SNAKE OIL You won’t find us…

Classical guitar has been in the mainstream spotlight in recent years for a variety of styles outside of tradition; Nick Mulvey drives his debut album’s songs with a Camps Flamenco, Rodrigo y Gabriela meld genres with their Yamaha custom models (see p42) and Charlie Cunningham takes a flamenco influence into the indie-pop world. All make nylon string guitars sound percussive, vulnerable and a driving force with constantly evolving parts through a song. Check out these five songs for some inspiration: 1. City and Colour – Blood 2. Charlie Cunningham – Minimum 3. Nick Mulvey – Fever To The Form 4. Rodrigo y Gabriela – Hanuman 5. José González – Far Away instrument becomes hard to put down because it truly enhances the rounded tonality of this guitar type. Moving from room…

1 HEADSTOCK  The contoured headstock won’t be to everyone’s taste, but the Pingwell tuners certainly look the part and handle things smoothly 2 BINDING  Honestly, this is something really special up-close; it’s slightly mintier on the sides and whiter on top 3 PICKUPS  These Kent Armstrong humbuckers really sound the business; you’d be hard-pressed to find better 335 sounds at this price When Ted McCarty fitted a 16-inch thinline semi-hollow with a centre-block back in 1958, he uncovered the magic formula for the ES-335, combining the warm tone of a hollowbody with the feedback-busting properties of a solidbody. It remains one of the most popular outlines for innumerable manufacturers, and Eastman is among the most respected semi-hollow builders in the biz. WOODY, EARTHY NECK TONES AND FLUTEY…

For our money, dual humbucker T-type guitars occupy quite a unique niche. You have to be someone who likes and appreciates the idiosyncrasies of a Tele – weight distribution, tone – yet also wants to push the guitar into ever louder, more assertive tonal pastures. In practice, not all of the guitars in this test managed to pull that feat off. The Ibanez, while offering superb construction and exceptional higher-gain tones, isn’t likely to be the first choice for anyone outside of the metallic genres purely due to its aesthetics. The Fender, meanwhile, ensures the safe passing from the well-loved Mexican Standard line onto the newer, revamped Player series, yet has it got enough pizzazz to capture the hearts of new fans? The G&L, it pains us to say, was…

CHRIS BIRD Shunning the acoustic theme, Chris decided to stay plugged in, writing and recording audio for this month’s Getting Started With lesson on twin-lead guitar (p20). With all you need to get familiar with the basics under your belt, why not try out Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter’s harmony licks in our full transcription of Steely Dan’s classic jazz-rock track, Reelin’ In The Years? MICHAEL ASTLEY-BROWN Polyphia have certainly divided the six-string world, but one thing’s for sure: those guys can play the hell out of the electric guitar. Mike found himself inspired by his encounter with the duo, as well as the gig that followed, which saw audiences of all ages and genres congregate at the altar of cutting-edge shred. OLLY CURTIS As well as getting out and about photographing…

1. Wouldn’t You Rather Alter Bridge The first cut from October’s Walk The Sky album is a beefy beauty! 2. Unleashed Killswitch Engage The relatively long wait for the metalcore masters’ return will be worth it – this is prime KSE with twin-lead melodies topped by a dynamic and ferocious impassioned vocal from Jesse Leach. 3. The Mother Road Chelsea Wolfe As she suggested to us last year, Wolfe’s next album is indeed more acoustic but certainly not traditional as this ode to road life attests. 4. Cherub Rock Smashing Pumpkins Seeing Corgan, Iha and Schroeder at the (very muddy) Download festival last month inspired us to dig out our Big Muff fuzz and set it to stun. 5. Shockwave Liam Gallagher The writing team of Andrew Wyatt, engineer and…

1 “I have been using Aristides guitars now for a couple of years. It’s a Dutch guitar company and they make guitars out of their own secret formula, a synthetic material called Arium. It’s something they made to resemble all the best acoustic qualities of organic materials. Their guitars have a lot of sustain, something that I think comes through in my eight-string.” 2 “Ihsahn from Emperor introduced me to Aristides. He told me, ‘You’ve got to try these guitars’. We’ve known him for a long time – we were his [solo] backing band for a lot of years. He’s the guy who introduced me to eight-string guitars in general. I had to buy my first eight-string guitar when I played with him. I’d never had an endorsement with a…

Just like major keys, a minor key signature tells you which notes are likely to appear in the songs you play. What’s the difference between the two kinds of key? Well, just like major and minor chords, the major kind tend to sound bright and happy whereas minor keys sound darker and moodier. Vital info then! Knowing which notes to use and the general mood of the key signature will help you whether you’re writing your next song or playing along with a jam track. There are three b vital notes b /intervals b that give minor keys their signature sound: the 3rd, the 6th and the 7th. Read on and we’ll explain a bit more. 1 E MINOR SCALE NOTES With only one sharp note (F#), E minor…

Scott: “They just make sick guitars. The first guitar I ever bought when I was, like, 12 was an Ibanez guitar. They’re very reliable, and back then, affordable guitars. And I just fucking loved it.” Tim: “Ibanez was my first good guitar – and by good, I mean, like, playable guitar. So, it kind of just stuck.” Yvette: “I really enjoy the necks on them; they’re really great – I play a Talman, and it’s obviously not a very shredder-looking guitar, but the neck on it is extremely flat and thin, and it’s really great if you want to be fast. Sick necks.” Scott: “The most important thing is our signature models look cool – I’m just kidding: they play awesome, too. I wanted to make sure mine sounded good,…

Gabriela: “The Yamaha guitars we use are prototypes made especially for us out of sustainable woods. Every time we go to Japan, they come and show us all these charts… it looks like it comes from a scientific laboratory and is very complex! My guitar has six or seven mini pickups to capture all the different wood sounds to cut through, then there’s a normal pickup to get all the low-end sounds coming from the guitar. I don’t really use pedals; I only have this octave pedal which I use occasionally for the E-string to get some extra depth, almost like bass guitar notes. I have a tuner and a wah-wah, that’s about it. The wah is just fun to mess around with; sometimes I use it and sometimes I…

Whether you’re a regular fingerstyle player or it’s a technique you’ve never tried, we always recommend paying attention to the basics. This short lesson shows you the best ways to approach fingerpicking, but with one vital caveat – these are general ‘rules’ that you’ll often find yourself breaking when you play. Still, get the fundamentals down and you’ll be covered for a multitude of playing situations. Read on as we help you get started.…

A soundboard transducer is a popular additional pickup for players who use percussive techniques because it is a piezo-based design that detects vibrations and can be fixed anywhere on or inside the body as required. It’ll often need some EQ tweaking to take out boomy bottom end and its more organic nature means it works better for solo performers as it can get lost in a band mix if it’s your sole source. TRY FISHMAN SBT-C £79 Aimed at classical guitar players but suitable for any acoustics, this soundboard transducer can be mounted on any flat surface of the guitar so you can experiment with positioning. TRY K&K SOUND PURE MINI £100 An acclaimed transducer offering good output and a full sound for a passive option with three sensors that…

Some pickups and guitar-loaded preamps don’t offer the control you will want over your sound in terms of EQ, and even effects. That’s where a preamp pedal can make a huge difference to your tone, effectively giving you the role of your own soundman if you’re going straight into a PA. Options vary but look for three-band EQ at a minimum, with a phase switch to tackle feedback from the amplified sound reflecting off your acoustic guitar at higher volumes. TRY FISHMAN PLATINUM STAGE £129  A compact solution for players who need more control over their acoustic tone. This packs a lot into a 14 x 8.5cm casing: a four-band EQ with sweep-mid, phase control and volume boost switch, plus XLR balanced DI or 1/4" out. TRY LR BAGGS VENUE…

Playing acoustic guitar live is never going to be the same sound as what drew you to your guitar in the first place – that’s a fact you’ll have to accept, along with the constant fight against feedback. But Yamaha has come at things from a different angle with its Silent Guitar by starting with electric performance first. Think of your acoustic and its soundhole as a wooden boom box onstage reflecting back amplified sound from speakers and you can see why there are feedback issues. The steel and nylon-string SLG200S & SLG200N Silent Guitar models simply remove the traditional body from the equation. Its SRT-powered pickup system using imaging sounds incredibly ‘acoustic’ plugged in, and it’s collapsible and light as a travel-friendly option.…

Consistently rated as one of the most important guitarists of all time, Eric Clapton is oft-credited as a major influence on the changing sound of electric blues in the 1960s. And, after switching from humbucker-loaded Gibsons to the single coil tones of Fender’s Stratocaster towards the end of the decade, he’d continue making his mark in the 70s, penning classic songs Layla and Wonderful Tonight, then into the 80s and 90s releasing landmark albums such as Journeyman and From The Cradle. So intrinsic to his sound were his ‘Brownie’ and ‘Blackie’ Strats that in 1988 Fender would release its first signature electric guitar to Clapton’s personalised spec. Don’t worry if you don’t have a single coil-equipped guitar – Eric’s guitars come equipped with an onboard midrange boost designed to give…

TONEWOOD AMP £226 The TransAcoustic attenuator’s closest rival – you can fit it to the back of an acoustic with a pickup to offer eight effects (including reverb, delay,  tremolo), each with three parameters, plus presets and gain control. YAMAHA NTX700C £638 A thinner body, narrower neck and cutaway enhance playability for electric guitar converts, while the two ART soundboard transducers make for a seriously impressive plugged in performance. Rodrigo’s custom model (p42) is based on this. YAMAHA CSF-TA £663 Another TransAcoustic Yamaha, this has been released alongside the CG-TA but is a steel-string compact parlour. We’re big fans of the previous CSF models as they offer a great blend of travel and folk guitar.…

1 EXPRESSION  There’s an integrated expression pedal, and, like on many other floorboards, on the rear there’s an expansion port allowing for a second to be connected 2 FOOTSWITCHES  The instant patch change row – marked A, B, C, D – felt like it should be set to blocks by default, or on the second row, rather than closest to the player 3 FOOT SAVERS  A nice touch is that the unit ships with enough mushroom-shaped foot saving switch adaptors to allow barefoot players to use the GE300 without discomfort Mooer made its name as a purveyor of small, budget clones of famous circuits, and was responsible for nano-sized pedals becoming a space-saving staple. More recently, the Chinese company has looked to push its image and products…

The first song I remember... Stairway To Heaven – Led Zeppelin “It’s the one that started it all. I definitely think they influenced us on Bring Me Home – in the way it builds up to the solo at the end. There were a lot of classic rock influences coming through, guys like Page and Gilmour getting filtered in there. The vocals and guitars are different, but you can still connect the dots.” The song I play when trying new gear... Blood And Thunder – Mastodon “I tend to play a lot of chords, like the F# major chord with the higher strings ringing, which sounds really nice and open. Mastodon’s Blood And Thunder is a pretty heavy riff, so if I’m plugged into something high-gain, it will be a…

1 GUITAR 1: START ON F Start by playing these notes from the F major scale. Start on the lowest note (F) and play in order (G, A and so on) up to the highest one. 2 GUITAR 2: START ON A Now play this section of the same scale. It’s still F major, but you start on the third note of the scale – an A note. 3 HARMONISING A The ; when idea guitar is that 1 when plays guitar G, guitar 1 plays 2 plays F, guitar B b . These 2 plays are known as diatonic 3rds. Hopefully you can work out the rest from the info shown here!…

Adam ‘Nergal’ Darski is as direct as he is charismatic, and we wouldn’t have him any other way. “I’ll be straight-up honest here,” he says, “I’m not really a geek when it comes to equipment. If it works for me, I don’t really fuck around much with it.” Rising up from humble beginnings in Poland to become an ESP signature artist leading one of the world’s most respected extreme metal bands speaks volumes of a man with focus and vision. And he sees his gear as the tools to get the job done. That’s why the switch from the EMGs on his LTD Hex-7 model to the Fishman Fluences on newer his Nergal-6 was no big deal for the Behemoth commander. Back in the day, getting an ESP at all…

As a musician, you should treat your voice with the same care as your guitar, whether you’re a leader singer or just contributing the odd backup harmony. And it’s especially easy to overlook good technique when you’ve got two jobs to do at once. Voice coach (and guitarist, bassist, luthier, producer) Peter Strobl has worked with musicians including Eddie and Wolfgang Van Halen and Clutch’s Neil Fallon on improving their technique as playing singers. Now he’s here to offer us a no-nonsense set of essential tips you can start using now. 1 IT STARTS WITH YOUR BREATH “Learn how to breathe properly. There appears to be massive confusion about this basic process. ‘Should my stomach go out? In? Should my lower back expand? Should my kidneys explode?’ “Breathing is…

From travelling the world to controlling feedback, what have you learned about tackling the issues that acoustic players face? Gabriela: “What we do has every potential to go wrong! A long time ago, before we worked with Yamaha, we were playing guitars that Frank Tate made for us. We got an invitation to be the support for Muse at Wembley Stadium. There was loads of shouting and screaming, it was a very rock ’n’ roll atmosphere, but our guitars got lost in all the crazy crowd noise. That day was raining and one of our guitars started to give in – it just couldn’t take the rain anymore! After that, we decided we needed to work with Yamaha to build these new models. All of our acoustic sounds, unamplified in…

Explore a selection of acoustic guitar styles with TG’s tab lessons on some fundamentals There’s much to be gained from trying your hand at different styles of music. Aside from potential improvements to your technique from the challenge of playing new music, you’ll be training your ear as you listen to material that might be off your radar. Here, our aim is to help you get to grips with some basic elements of a handful of different styles. It’s far from extensive, so treat these as bite-sized ideas that you can develop your own music around.…

While placing a condenser mic in front of an acoustic is the ideal way to capture the detail of your sound for recording, it’s not ideal for the stage. But a number of companies have introduced the idea of placing a mic inside the guitar that you can then blend with a piezo or magnetic pickup to create a mix. Using more of the mic tends to work best for solo performance as you may need the zingier nature of magnetic or piezo to be heard alongside a drummer and bassist. But it’s great to have the ability to tweak the sound to your needs as they change. TRY LR BAGGS ANTHEM £330 It’s not cheap but users such as Sturgill Simpson and Brian Fallon will say it’s worth it.…

If you’re going to be gigging regularly, an amp is a sound investment to make. For smaller gigs it can give you the volume you need, but dual input options can allow for vocals too – with independent controls. And for bigger gigs a wedge shape combo means it can be used onstage as your monitor with a DI signal going to the sound desk. The best news is the choice and standard of acoustic combos has really risen in recent years… TRY BOSS ACOUSTIC SINGER LIVE £449 We were really impressed with the functionality on this 60-watter – and as the name suggests, there’s an additional vocal channel. Effects include delay, reverb and a looper, with the Acoustic Resonance button helping to breathe new life into your piezo. TRY…

Probably Metallica’s most famous song, Enter Sandman begins with an acoustic guitar riff before a wash of wah wah chords come in. Here though, we dive straight in with the distorted riff that follows the opening line so all you need is your electric guitar. Ideally, you want to be using a guitar with a bridge position humbucker and an amplifier with a high gain tone with its midrange set low (aka a ‘scooped’ sound). James Hetfield is famous for his tightly executed rhythm work, so aim to keep every note the same length as it’s written in Rockschool’s tab and make sure to lock in with the backing track. As you practise, keep an eye on both hands to ensure that unwanted notes don’t leap out. Aim for steady…

It’s no coincidence that some of the greatest acoustic players in the country play Fylde. There’s a deep love of craft and music in Roger Bucknall’s work that tends to attract and seek out a certain calibre of player. So when we found out he had put together a follow-up to 1977’s Fylde Acoustic record with profits going to MIND, Help Musicians UK and The Woodland Trust… we were all ears! “I’ve often been reminded that a follow-up to the original Fylde Acoustic album from 1977 was long overdue,” notes Lake District luthier legend Roger, “and one particular customer made a more forceful comment about last September, so I started asking the artists themselves, and they were all very keen; then it snowballed.” It certainly did; Strings That Nimble Leap…

If you’re looking to be a top singer-songwriter, Ed Sheeran seems to be the man to beat. Influenced by artists as diverse as Eric Clapton, Eminem and alternative English folk duo Nizlopi, Ed’s material covers a range of traditional and contemporary styles, usually incorporating his rhythmic and percussive acoustic guitar playing. Shape Of You is no exception, and, though the single mix takes a worldbeat/fusion approach, Ed tends to go with a more traditional strummed approach live. The guitar parts aren’t obvious on a first listen, until you realise that most of the rhythm sounds are actually played on an acoustic. You can either play these ‘live’ or, like Ed, you can experiment with a looper. There is also a supplementary ‘bass drum’ part, played by tapping the guitar’s top…

Preconceptions are a part of our lives as guitar players, but they can be obstacles – you can’t use a single-coil for heavy riffs, tapping is for shredders and nylon string guitars are only for flamenco and classical music… all wrong, but the assumptions continue. While many of us might have got to grips with a bashed-up charity shop classical guitar, we usually moved on to steel-string acoustics or an electric. Are we missing out? “THE NOTES ECHO OUT WITH CONVINCING AUTHENTICITY” There’s a unique feel and tonality to nylon strings that can bring things out of us no other guitar will. Good examples encourage you to dump the pick for finger skin on string action; a softer approach pays dividends, and the wider necks are great for newcomers to…

TYPE: Multi-effects and modelling pedal CONTROLS: 10 footswitches, 5 parameter knobs, quick select block switches, XLR output, headphone output, master output, main select knob, 5 parameter controls, rocker footswitch SOCKETS: Aux in, exp2 in, guitar/line in, stereo out, stereo send, stereo return, headphones, MIDI in, stereo XLR outs, USB, MIDI out/thru MODELS AND EFFECTS: 108 amp models, 43 cab modelsm 20 IR user slots, 164 effects, 15 effects blocks POWER: DC 9V (supplied) CONTACT: Strings & Things mooeraudio.co.uk…

I might edit a guitar mag and have reviewed a lot of very nice acoustic guitars over the years, but that doesn’t mean I could ever afford many of them. It’s always nagged at me – investing in the right acoustic guitar is something that could be a life-long experience. One that ages with me! I’ve owned a Taylor GS Mini for years, and I’ve even gigged with it, but that’s not exactly a typical acoustic for the company. Though neither is this Grand Pacific. When I attended the launch of the three models that represented this new design last year it was very clear it was a departure for Taylor; its master builder Andy Powers was using his V-Class bracing to create a more vintage voice with some unique…