Innehållsförteckning för Summer 2019 från Total Guitar

We can all hit brick walls as players at some point; when our own playing starts to bore us. Repetition from being stuck in comfort zones happens and it’s not unusual. Sometimes the key is finding ways to take a step back and learn how to move forwards in a way that’s fun and suited to you. What do you want out of your guitar playing and how can you change your routine to get it? We know your time is limited and precious – life can get in the way of our music – and the word ‘practice’ can feel like homework. So we’ve really thought about how you can get the most out of your time with the guitar in an inspiring, accessible way then build that up…

THE DEVIN YOU KNOW Devin Townsend, Paul Gilbert and Eric Gales are the latest acts to be added to our UK Guitar Show line-up in September at London’s Business Design Centre. The prog titan will be playing solo on the main stage on Saturday 21 September and after we saw his one-man show in the UK earlier this year we can confirm you’re in for a treat. “It’s a real honour to be invited to play and do a clinic at this year’s UK guitar show!” Devin tells us. “I’ve been working as a guitarist for many years and am happy to have an opportunity to share how the instrument plays into my creative process. I look forward to seeing you there.” Guitar hero Gilbert will host a masterclass at…

1 Rory: “We knew the company and a few friends of ours who played them. We ran into them at a festival we were playing a couple of summers ago and they invited us to come try out some of their latest models. They told us there was a new line on the way and asked whether we’d be interested in getting a couple ahead of the launch to try out.” Niall: “They’ve since become favourites for live and recording demos.” 2 Rory: “Like the best designs it’s simple and classy looking. It feels super-balanced and the way the neck sits into the body it feels compact which I love. It’s well balanced and not too weighty so I can wear it all day and not feel my shoulder getting…

At the time of Meliorathe Nameless Ghouls of Ghost were playing Gibson RD guitars. More recently (and factoring in reported line-up changes) the band can be seen playing Hagstrom Fantomen instruments. Both are dualhumbucker designs set to a bridge pickup for this song. Dial in a moderate distortion setting and keep the bass light – Ghost’s sound is not massively heavy in the grander scheme of heavy metal guitar tones. Add plenty of midrange bite to cut through the mix and a little reverb for space and ambience.…

When learning about modes musicians often ask: how do modes help me improve my guitar playing? The answer? Well, to put it simply, every mode has its own musical mood – a bit like each chord has its unique character. So, whether you’re playing a solo or writing a chord progression, modes offer a wide palette of emotion and atmosphere for your music. Modes are easy to understand too – they’re simply scales that start on a note other than the root. Sure, there’s the inevitable jargon to contend with but once you understand this simple idea then the world of modes is your musical oyster! Read on and we’ll explain all. 1 THE A NATURAL MINOR SCALE TRACKS 9-10 This is your starting point. Using the natural…

“I’m playing a Charvel right now. This really, really nice guy who doesn’t work for Fender anymore but somehow he knew that my guitar had just broke – the Ibanez [S series] that I bought 12 years ago – and he brought me this pretty Charvel [Pro Mod Style 1] and I have played it ever since. We had a head that was touring with Bad Religion; it was this Marshall, and we ran it through this bizarre old Soviet/Russian cab. It sounded like ass, but good ass! [laughs] Onstage we just use Axe-Fx because it is just far easier.”…

Rhythm and timing are essential ingredients in every musician’s arsenal. Here we’ll help you improve your playing by breaking down the most important rhythms so you can practise each one in isolation. Try out the exercises and remember your ultimate goal is to mix and match them in your own music. And, with that in mind, we’re building up to two fun to play examples to put your skills to the test. TG’S RHYTHM BUILDER TAB EXERCISE TRACK 15 Bar 1 Name: Whole note / semibreve Duration: 4 beats Tip: Play a downstroke and let the chord ring for the whole bar Bar 2 Name: Half note / minim Duration: 2 beats Tip: Play with a downstroke. Two half notes make a whole note Bar 3 Name: Quarter note…

Learning chords is a lifelong process. There really are limitless shapes to discover – it’s just about how many you can retain in your mind at any one time. A great way to expand your chord vocabulary is to adapt the open shapes that every guitarist knows. That ‘expensive’ sound you’re probably after is just a few finger moves away. Here we’re taking the five basic open position shapes (C, A, G, E and D), then, with just a change or two, turning them into some more inspiring chords. Have a go at some new progressions, and, as you gain confidence with these shapes, see if you can move them up the fretboard by turning them into barre chords. DAY 6 1 BASIC SHAPE OPEN C CHORD Cmaj9…

Hopefully by now you’ve read through most of the feature and had a look at most of our lessons. Now, it’s time to think about how to use the examples over the coming days and weeks so that you see steady improvements in your playing. Here we’re focusing on general improvement over the first three weeks, then homing in on more specific goals in week four. Feel free to adjust this flexible plan according to your own interests and playing goals. Week 1  1 Day 1: try out all of the exercises in the feature 2 Daily practice: play the five or 10 easiest exercises from the feature 3 Day 7: play through all the exercises in the feature again Take it fairly easy during week 1. You may not…

One of Bryan Adams’ most enduring songs, Summer Of ’69 is a great lesson for developing solid rhythm playing and melodic picking across multiple strings. The song appeared on the 1984 studio album Reckless featuring Bryan on rhythm guitar with longtime sideman Keith Scott on lead. The intro and verse (bars 1 to 14 of Rockschool’s Grade Three arrangement) should be played with downstrokes at the rate of two strums per beat. Count ‘1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &’ to keep time and listen out for accents on ‘1’ and the ‘&’ of beat 2. The pre-chorus moves on to single-note arpeggios around a Bm-A-D-G chord sequence. It’ll help the timing of this section to play onbeat notes with downstrokes play onbeat notes with downstrokes and offbeat notes…

Gibson is so serious about wooing new acoustic players that it’s gone and launched a whole new lower priced series. So if you’ve dreamt of flying with Doves and Hummingbirds and woken to find you’re still priced out of owning either, this could be welcome news. Though the two new Montana-made G-45s are very much their own thing. The G-45 Studio and Standard are slimmer in body depth than Gibson admirers may expect. Though the top is the old classic solid Sitka spruce on the Studio (£869), Gibson has gone solid walnut wild elsewhere with back, sides, bridge, fingerboard and even the headstock overlay. It’s good to see a set of dependable tuners too; we’ve never complained about mini rotomatic Grovers. There’s a satin nitro finish and traditional hot hide…

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…

BODY: Mahogany w/ flame maple veneer NECK: Mahogany, set SCALE: 629mm (24.75") FINGERBOARD: Pau ferro FRETS: 24 PICKUPS: 1x ProBucker 2 humbucker (neck), 1x ProBucker 3 humbucker (bridge) CONTROLS: Three-way pickup selector, 2x volume w/coil-splitting and treble bleed circuit, 2x tone w/ push-pull phase circuit HARDWARE: LockTone Tune-O-Matic bridge w/ stop-bar, grover 18:1 tuners, chrome LEFT-HANDED: No FINISH: Black Cherry [as reviewed], Faded Cherry Burst, Mojave Fade, Midnight Ebony, Wild Ivy CASE: Optional CONTACT: Gibson Epiphone.com…

It’s not just a clever name, you know. When Fender launched the Jazzmaster in 1958 it was designed to lure jazz cats away from their big-bodied guitars. Unfortunately for Fender, the jazzers hated it and the new model didn’t find an enthusiastic audience until the surf guitar craze of the early 60s. Our Vintera version might look like a doppelgänger of those early guitars but this is the Modified version. That means you get a rounder Modern C neck profile with a flatter 241mm (9.5") radius Pau Ferro fingerboard and fatter medium jumbo frets. The back of the neck has a satin finish to keep you out of sticky situations. It’s available in 3-Colour Sunburst and Surf Green finishes. The Alder body is classic 60s Fender but here you get…

The first song I can remember… Mama Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys – Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson “I remember loving this song as a kid. Any time it came on the radio while we were in the car I would get excited. I used to love wearing my cowboy boots when I was little and at the time I couldn’t understand why a mom wouldn’t want their child to be a cowboy. To me it seemed like a sensible career move.” The song that made me want to play… Waiting Room – Fugazi “I will never forget the moment I heard this song. I was a freshman in high school at a party with juniors and seniors. Travis Millard, the artist who made the covers…

CHRIS BIRD This month, TG’s tuition editor got up close and personal with Audient’s Sono audio interface, putting it to good use to record some of the audio for our regular Getting Started With and What The F? lessons. Find out Mr B’s thoughts and whether or not it lives up to his exacting standards in this month’s Gear Diary on p106. MICHAEL ASTLEY-BROWN Our gear guru has been up to all kinds of wonderful things this month – putting Aria’s latest double-cut to the test (p94) and getting hands-on with Gibson’s 2019 range over on MusicRadar (much more on that next issue). “I also interviewed one of my heroes – Soundgarden legend Kim Thayil,” he adds. Impressive! STUART WILLIAMS Former TG editor Stu donned his guitar interview cape once…

It’s the guitar man… “I started playing trumpet in elementary school, but one day there was a performance for the school and there were a group of young girls, my peers, all fascinated with the guitar player. I knew at that point, ‘I want to be that guy…’. No one was talking about the trumpet player. Then the physical form of the guitar looked like a fascinating thing to me. The curves, the shape of it, the build, and all these years later, I think I’m still obsessed with that.” “HE DIDN’T TELL ME ANY DETAILS ABOUT IT… I FOUND OUT AFTER IT WAS BOB DYLAN’S GUITAR!” Selling the drama… “My primary motivation was just to write songs. On Live’s first album Mental Jewelry, I know there’s not a guitar…

THE MOST SUBTLE YET COMPLEX CLASSIC CHORUS EFFECT, THE DIMENSION-C IS A BONA FIDE LEGEND Originally produced between 1985 and 1989, the BOSS Dimension Chorus was set apart from other chorus effects by virtue of the rather unique way in which it achieves its sound. It uses two modulated delay lines, running out of phase with one another. The depth and rate are internally set, and tied to the mode controls. There’s also internal feedback and cross feedback, which deepens the effect further, giving it the ‘three-dimensional’ sound it’s famous for. It almost sounds like there are more modulation processes at work, and the out-of-phase combination of the two lines means it’s dramatically different in timbre from more ‘standard’ chorus pedals. The control scheme – simply four buttons on the…

Some people collect stamps. John 5 collects Fender Telecasters. Lots of them. Over the years, he’s amassed an assemblage that includes more than 100 pieces, with a model representing each year, starting at the introduction of the instrument (the 1950 Broadcaster) and stretching to 1983. “I just love history, and I love Telecasters, so I have the best of both worlds,” he says. “I know a lot of people don’t want to hear this, but they’re great investments. Some folks know about stocks. I know about Telecasters.” He admits that he’s regularly contacted by fans, musicians and vintage collectors looking to sell him Telecasters, but he cautions that he’s a tough customer. “Anybody can buy a bunch of guitars. It’s not that difficult,” he says. “The key is looking for…

1 ONE-NOTE JAM Okay, sticking to one note might not sound like a recipe for a world class solo, but, by ditching all the other notes, you can focus on rhythm and how loud or soft to play. 2 ONE-STRING JAM Confine yourself to one string and you’ll free yourself from predictable scale box patterns and start thinking more melodically. 3 CHOOSE FIVE RANDOM NOTES… …and use only those five! Okay, it could be four notes, six, seven, eight (you get the idea!), but improvising with a restricted set of notes will ensure new creative ideas.…

Featuring on Weezer’s 1994 debut Blue album, Say It Ain’t So was the band’s third single and remains a firm fan favourite. Alongside Weezer classics The Sweater Song and Buddy Holly, the song would cement the band’s reputation at the forefront of 90s alternative and pop-rock. Frontman Rivers Cuomo handles the main riff and lead guitar work, while Brian Bell takes care of the sparse three-note verse chords and doubles up the powerchords in the heavier sections. Though originally recorded in E b standard tuning (E b A b D b G b B b E b ), we’ve produced our audio track and tab in E so you don’t have to retune your guitar. The song is based around a C#m-G#- A-E chord progression. The G# is interesting because,…

Neoclassical metal fuses heavy metal with elements of classical music. Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore was a pioneer who influenced many, including the genre’s undisputed king, Yngwie Malmsteen. Randy Rhoads, Jason Becker and, more recently, Muse’s Matt Bellamy all use or used classical sounds in their music. The harmonic minor scale is a vital musical element. It’s the same as the natural minor scale (1 2 b 3 4 5 b 6 b 7) but SCALES The A harmonic minor scale (A B C D E F G#) works throughout the track. The G# note works best when quickly resolved to the A one fret above it and sounds great played over E5 and E7 b 9/G# chords. Or try the double harmonic minor scale (A B C D# E F…

Just in time for the original Woodstock Festival’s 50th anniversary, Graham Nash is selling the 1969 Martin D-45 he played there alongside David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Neil Young. It’s part of 19 rare guitars from his collection that go under the hammer at Heritage Auctions on 20 July. They include guitars played by Duane Allman, Don Everly, Johnny Cash and Buddy Holly. “It’s like being close to the fire,” says Nash, “I like holding Duane Allman’s guitar. I like holding Don Everly’s guitar. It’s been played on all these incredible records and you can feel it.”…

Life By The Drop appeared on Stevie Ray Vaughan’s posthumous album The Sky Is Crying, compiled by Stevie’s brother Jimmie and released in 1991. The album featured mainly previously unheard songs, including this one, which was written by Stevie’s high-school buddy Doyle Bramhall who would later record a version of it for his own album Fitchburg Street, released in 2003. Telling of Vaughan’s meteoric rise to stardom and how he dropped out of high school to focus on bigger things, the song relates how Bramhall felt at being left behind. Stevie played the song on 12-string acoustic guitar, giving the opening lick its exotic ‘double-tracked’ feel and a thick sound throughout. It’s not essential though – a six-string will more than suffice. Like many blues tracks, Life By The Drop…

YAMAHA REVSTAR RS420 The Revstar doesn’t get enough love – its VH3 Alnico humbuckers sound great and the Dry Switch allows you to tease single-coil tones from them. PRS SE STANDARD 24 A hard-rockable perennial from PRS’s affordable SE line, the South Korean-built Standard 24 expands on the double-cut mahogany body, dual humbucker template with a vibrato. EPIPHONE G-400 PRO Okay, it’s another Epiphone, but when we’re talking double-cuts, none are more iconic. The G-400’s Alnico Classic humbuckers are vintage-sounding and both have coil-taps.…

A side from paying homage to a certain ’caster, the 714-MK2 is also a reissue of Aria’s long-running 90s range, once known as the Fullerton. Here, however, Aria has updated the format for today’s budget-conscious players. “IT’S THE TREMOLO THAT’S THE STAR OF THE SHOW” The 714-MK2 certainly has ideas way above its price tag. That flamed maple top has a whiff of Suhr about it, while the roasted maple neck apes many of today’s CITES-conscious high-end guitar builds. The Fullerton’s original quirks remain, however, with the unusually swept scratchplate, single master tone knob and reversed input jack. The latter may look odd, but it means your cable is logically positioned to loop right round your guitar strap. And what’s that, a spoke-wheel truss rod adjuster at the base of…

Yes, here we are in 2019, reviewing a design that first appeared on a drawing board 70 years ago. That’s the genius of Leo Fender. The Telecaster never got old. It’s still the perfect workhorse, a tonal chameleon that can take on practically any musical genre. As its name makes perfectly clear, our Vintera 60s Telecaster Bigsby pays tribute to the version released in the decade that gave us The Beatles, JFK’s last day out, and the moon landing. And it comes fitted with a Bigsby vibrato. While the ash body was carried over from the first generation Telecasters, by the early 60s, Fender bolt-on necks were slimmer than ever. Our Vintera nails that ultra-comfortable feel with a profile that’s neither fat nor thin. The 60s Teles generally had rosewood…

The scores are high but then, what’s not to love? A range of classic Fender designs with modern touches, and all for under a grand. With a gig bag. To be honest, we’re not surprised these things are so good. Ever since we got our hands on a Baja Telecaster we’ve been singing the praises of Fender Mexico. It’s just a shame that left-handed players aren’t yet catered for with the Vintera Series. For the rest of us, it’s all good news if you’re up for some great looks and killer tone and playability. Whether you’re into organic originals or the genetically modified stuff, these guitars are the full enchilada. 60S TELECASTER BIGSBY 60S STRATOCASTER 60S JAZZMASTER MODIFIED…

I do a lot of recording. These days, my studio time is primarily spent playing guitar and bass over programmed drums, producing tracks to accompany your favourite magazine! However, I can’t honestly say I’ve ever been excited about an audio interface (it’s the usually dull as dishwater device that turns your guitar signal into ones and noughts for your computer to process). Guitars and amps light a fire in my heart; pedals and multi-fx bring out the tweaker in me. But audio interfaces? They’re just a necessity; a tool to do a job. Enter Audient’s Sono. No typical interface, the Sono offers guitarist-focused tone shaping tools and a swish form factor that makes it all the more inviting to use. The question is, can it satisfy my tweaking needs? DAY…

1 12-BAR BLUES IN A Three chords, 12 bars of music. It’s a simple enough chord progression – you just have to try and memorise it! Many songs follow this exact template whereas others introduce extra chords and changes. For example, lots of blues songs go to D7 in bar 2 and back to A7 again in bar 3. 2 CHANGING KEY TO G Obviously you can’t always play in the same key so here’s the same progression but this time in G. We’ll go into more detail on key signatures another time. For now, play the chords and try to hear how the relationship between G7, C7 and D7 is the same as A7, D7 and E7.…

You may know him as the rock-solid guitarist in Foo Fighters, but what you may not know about Chris Shiflett is that when he’s not packing out arenas for his day job, he’s also a songwriter in his own right. Chris’ love of country and alt-Americana has led him to what is technically his fourth ‘solo’ album (two as Chris Shiflett and the Dead Peasants, two under just his own name) where he takes the role of frontman, while displaying some slyly hidden guitar chops to boot. With his latest, Hard Lessons, Chris has reached more towards the rock end of the tonal spectrum, using JCM 800s in the studio, but for these gigs - Chris’ first proper solo jaunt to the UK - he’s covering the sonic gamut of…

STRING BENDS For most first-, second- and third-finger bends place your thumb on the top side of the neck (sometimes called a ‘baseball bat grip’) for maximum strength. You may need to adjust position for fourth finger bends. HAMMER-ONS AND PULL-OFFS Can you play a pull-off as you lead out of the hammer-on (and vice versa)? If not, adjust your hand position. You’ll need a firm thwack for a hammer-on, then a flick of the finger to pull off. ALTERNATE PICKING The ability to pick in a down-up ‘alternate’ pattern is crucial. To practise, choose one note and play it down-up-down-up in time with a metronome. If your timing is choppy or uneven, slow down. ONE-FINGER-PER-FRET HAND POSITION For the minor pentatonic scale, hand position isn’t so crucial. If you…

Identifying chords isn’t a random skill for musos – it’s a connection between what’s in your head and what comes out of your guitar! The better your ear for harmony, the easier it is to create the sounds you’re after, whether you’re writing your own songs or jamming for fun. Train your ear with our exercises below. Each time, you’ll hear three chords. Your task is to identify the chord type. Don’t worry about pitch (some chords are in A; some are in C) – it’s the particular flavour you need to identify. 1 BASIC CHORDS TRACK 18 A5: Strong, neutral and without much emotional character A major: Bright, happy and positive sound A minor: Sad, melancholy and moody sound This should be fairly easy. The difference in…

Though this spot in the mag is usually reserved for blues, occasionally we make an exception and allow ourselves to detour into other styles. And, as guitarist of one of the biggest rock bands of all time, the subject of this month’s lesson need no introduction - suffice to say that blues is at the heart of his lead style and there’s plenty to learn. Slash’s loose but aggressive playing on classics such as Sweet Child O’ Mine, Welcome To The Jungle and Paradise City inspired a generation of guitarists to pick up a Gibson Les Paul at a time when pointy headstocks, doublecuts and Floyd Rose whammy bars were considered the essential stage gear. In this month’s lesson we’re looking at some ringing arpeggios and his melodic lead style.…

It is the sound that gets you first with Charlie Cunningham. The London-based songwriter’s 2017 debwut Lines combined opposing worlds in its blend of balmy nylon-string acoustic, thoughtful lyricism and warm synth swells. It quietly and confidently established a sound all of its own – one reflective of Charlie’s diverse journey from Squier-wielding punk kid to flamenco student and on to explorer of ambient territory. “You’ve got to go into these knowing what it is that you want to do,” says Charlie. “You’ve got to be thinking ahead. I definitely made the first record to be kind of stripped, to be about the song, about the guitar and the voice – but that felt like a necessary thing, before I could make a record like I’ve made just now. I…

We had all but forgotten about the Del Rey until Epiphone rocked up at NAMM 2019 and debuted the DC Pro in all its flame maple-veneered splendour. The DC Pro, says Epiphone, is a “modern take on the classic” Del Rey; and while classic is pushing it – if anything the Del Rey is/was a cult favourite, with a strong emphasis on cult – there is no arguing with the statement that, yes, this truly is a modern take on a time-honoured Gibson guitar design. And this is a seriously cool guitar that keeps some of its most newsworthy and distinguishing features hidden below the surface. “THE PROBUCKERS SING WITH A SWEET, ORGANIC WARMTH” Ostensibly, the DC Pro looks and feels like an asymmetrical double-cut riff on the Les Paul.…

The Epiphone Del Rey was in production from 1995-2000. The DC Pro is not a million miles away from its design, but the Del Rey had a bolt-on neck and a heel that wasn’t quite as accommodating for letting you noodle on up to the 24th fret. Indeed, where the DC Pro leaves almost the entire fretboard exposed, the Del Rey’s cut on both treble and bass side comes around the 22nd fret. The Del Rey’s high-output OBL humbuckers are a world away from the DC Pro’s ProBuckers. Designed by Bill Lawrence, these were made under licence by Epiphone, featured a blade construction, and were wound to handle high-gain. The Del Rey had a coil-split, but only master volume and tone controls, with the three-way pickup selector between them.…

Acoustic amps are not always deemed necessary, even for players who only gig acoustically. But they offer huge gains for your sound over simply going through a DI into a venue’s PA; to give more control and the option to be self-sufficient for smaller gigs, especially if you’re a singer too. “THE FIVE-BAND EQ ALLOWS FINE-TUNING OF YOUR SOUND” The rise in dual-channel acoustic combos has been notable in recent years with Laney, Boss, Fender and Fishman all raising their value game with added features. At £699, this is priced above that competition but under AER’s Compact 60combo models. It brings with it the solid reputation of Ashdown and a couple of key features that prove to be very useful. Channel 1 will be your go-to for guitar, or other…

This version of Fender’s biggest-selling electric guitar takes its inspiration from the 1962 Stratocaster. By that year, the Strat was already eight years old and came with a slim neck and rosewood fingerboard. Like the other guitars in this round-up, however, the Vintera 60s Stratocaster comes with a Pau Ferro ’board to give the increasingly beleaguered rosewood stocks some much-needed breathing space. This Vintera is the non-modified vintage spec model. Its typically timeless looks are accentuated by a beautiful Ice Blue Metallic polyester finish (choose also from Surf Green and 3-Colour Sunburst) and chrome/ nickel hardware. The Strat always looks like it was invented just last week but this version has the throwback feel of an original spec guitar thanks to its 184mm (7.25") fingerboard radius and thin vintage profile…