Innehållsförteckning för Summer 2021 från Total Guitar

I feel like there aren’t all that many contemporary guitarists you can truly call megastars. I’m talking about players with mass appeal, known and loved by people of all ages and backgrounds, and who fill arenas around the world. Dave Grohl fits the description. Ed Sheeran, too. But for the quintessential modern ‘guitarist’s guitarist’-come-megastar, I refer you to the gentleman you see on the cover of this very magazine – John Mayer, who returns this month with a new album. Now, John is no new kid on the block – it’s 20 years since his solo debut dropped – but look at how he’s charted his career. He’s shrewdly embraced social media to reach his fans, who stretch far beyond the guitar community, posting everything from meme-friendly dog videos to…

Epiphone Sheraton-II Pro, £599 Though it was an Epiphone Les Paul handling the bulk of electric tones on Oasis’ 1994 debut Definitely Maybe, on the tours and albums that followed Noel switched to semi-hollow bodies like the Epiphone Riviera and the Epiphone Sheraton. The latter would end up becoming arguably the most iconic six-string in his collection after he had it repainted in a Union Jack finish. JHS Morning Glory, £195 In the early days of Oasis, Gallagher did not use pedals. “I used to just turn up the amps as full as I could get them – I never used distortion pedals or anything like that,” he revealed in 2002. These days, however, his pedalboard has no shortage of additional gain stages – from Tube Screamers to original Klons…

Whether you admire BB King’s sublime phrasing, Ed Sheeran’s acoustic flourishes, or Eddie Van Halen’s scorching runs, you’ll need to master legato technique. ‘Legato’ is an Italian word that simply means to play smoothly, but electric guitarists use it specifically to refer to notes played without picking – your fretting fingers sound the notes instead. In TG342, we looked at the basics, hammering on from and pulling off onto open strings. This time, we’re looking at authentic rock and blues licks using only fretted notes from the pentatonic scale. If you’ve ever tried to improvise a solo, you’ve probably had moments where you couldn’t think what to play. This month’s repeating licks are useful vocabulary to have for those situations. Once you’ve mastered the mechanics, they don’t require much brain…

In 1991, three albums by Seattle bands had a seismic effect on the sound of rock music - Nirvana’s Nevermind, Pearl Jam’s Ten and Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger. Like punk before it, grunge was a revolutionary force, and Soundgarden, the first of those bands to sign to a major label, played a leading role as architects of the ‘Seattle Sound’. Badmotorfinger was the band’s third album and the first to feature the classic line-up of Chris Cornell (vocals, rhythm guitar), Kim Thayil (lead guitar), Matt Cameron (drums) and Ben Shepherd (bass). It was also the heaviest of those three era-defining albums of 1991 – with Thayil delivering screaming leads and scorching riffs, and combining altered tunings and odd-time meters into his own church of psychedelic noise. 30 years on, as Thayil speaks…

Fender Vintera Road Worn ’60s Stratocaster £999 It’s not as heavily relic’d as Mayer’s Black1, but those city miles look good on it. No matter how you slice it, it’s an exceptional Strat. Fender Blues Junior IV £599 One of the best-selling tube combos of all time, used by Mayer, and it’s great value J. Rockett Audio Designs Archer Ikon £199 A super K-style overdrive with a lovely gain structure that can also be used as a clean boost. Catalinbread Topanga £189 Digital spring reverbs don’t get much better than this, and it’ll help add a lush Dreamsville, Americana vibe to your playing. Way Huge Smalls Aqua-Puss Analog Delay £129 A downsized version of the Aqua-Puss, ideal for slapback and dreamy repeats.…

At John Mayer’s request, Silver Sky tremolo bridges are set up differently than PRS’s normal tremolo-equipped guitars. PRS’s standard setup allows for the tremolo to go up in pitch a little bit and down in pitch a lot. The PRS Silver Sky is set up so that the back edge of the tremolo plate rests on the body in a neutral position and the tremolo bridge only goes down in pitch. The reason for this type of tremolo set-up is so that the bridge plate is in contact with the body in the at-rest position. This improves the signal-to-noise ratio of the single-coil pickups by increasing the acoustic volume of the guitar and therefore creating more differential between the actual volume of the guitar as it’s played and the normal…

Nirvana’s world-beating 1991 album Nevermind turned rock music on its head, featuring alt-rock anthems that harnessed the energy and frustration of 90s youth. Released after the astonishing Smells Like Teen Spirit, the album’s second single Come As You Are ditches the loud/soft dynamic changes for a more moderate rock approach – however, it’s the band’s MTV Unplugged version which Rockschool’s arrangement is based upon. The iconic intro riff should be played with a steady eighth-note rhythm. Whether you play with downstrokes or alternate between down and up, your picking hand direction will be down to personal preference. Experiment with some ideas and when you settle on your preferred approach, remember to be consistent with it. In bar 10, there is a sudden ‘opening out’ from the single-note riff to two…

While digital modelling continues to inspire many guitarists, the immediate feel of being able to grab controls that directly affect your tone is where analogue circuits still have an edge. It’s why many guitarists swear by their favourite valve amp, although if truth be told it’s possible to coax similarly great overdrive tones from analogue solid state circuits. Solid-state analogue has other advantages: it’s not so power-hungry as valves and doesn’t need big, heavy expensive transformers. And transistors don’t wear out, while valves do. That great valve tone you got at yesterday’s gig may disappear a few hours later, while an analogue solid-state amp will reproduce the exact same sound night after night.…

BODYAlder NECKCaramelised maple SCALE648mm (25.5”) FINGERBOARD Caramelised maple, 12-16” compound radius FRETS 24, jumbo PICKUPSFishman Fluence Open Core PRF-COC CONTROLSVolume, Tone (with push/pull activation for Voice 3), 2-way mini toggle for switching between Voice 1 and 2 HARDWARECharvel die-cast locking tuners, Charvel HT6 string-through-body hardtail bridge with brass saddles, heel-mount truss rod adjustment wheel LEFT-HANDEDNo FINISH Robin’s Egg Blue (reviewed), Satin Black, Show White CONTACTCharvel, www.charvel.com…

1 GUNS N’ ROSES PARADISE CITY Slash grinds out a similar idea to our third tab example from 5:22-5:26 2 THIN LIZZY CHINA TOWN The phrase at 2:04 has become a standard; Iron Maiden and Gary Moore use it all the time. 3 ERICCLAPTON HIDEAWAY Clapton’s cover of this Freddie King classic introduced Britain to the repeating hammer-on lick. 4 FREE ALL RIGHT NOW The solo’s three-note repeating ideas are still devastatingly effective. 5 LYNYRD SKYNYRD FREE BIRD This epic solo is stuffed with hammer-ons and pull-offs, but the phrase that first appears at 5:24 is essential guitar knowledge.…

Modes are often misunderstood because we jump into the theory too quickly. They are just scales, like the major and natural minor (in fact, these two well-known scales have modal names too, as you’ll discover below). So, why bother with modes at all? Well, they each have a unique sound, and, once familiar, you can use them to enhance your lead playing, riffs, songs – well, anything! Remember, we can use notes from scales to make chords, so chord progressions derived from modes bring their unique sounds into play. In this feature, we take a ‘G’ root, and explore each mode starting on the G. Each mode has a different sound that lends itself to different styles and moods. The rest is up to you! G IONIAN MODE CHEAT SHEET……

John Mayer is a bona-fide tone king. This takes hard work and taste, with the blues-rock pop megastar taking an epicurean approach to gear, his gourmand’s palate uniquely attuned to the most flavoursome frequencies. The ingredients might change but sound remains instantly identifiable. Think early 60s Strat through Fender amps, but refined, purified, and made transcendent via a meticulously curated pedalboard. His arsenal is swollen by a number of signature instruments – Martin, Fender, and when he felt the latter was unable to follow him down the rabbit hole, Mayer partnered with Paul Reed Smith for his signature Silver Sky. He has signature PRS and Two-Rock amps, and owns so many Dumble amplifiers he has lost count. Few players in history have fused exemplary technique, a curatorial zeal for tone…

Rule number one “I’ll tell you the number one rule about guitars for me. I’m so sorry you couldn’t get the colour that you wanted, but if you pick up a guitar at a store and it’s sunburst, and you hate sunburst, but it feels and plays great for you – lightning strikes – then that’s your guitar! As soon as you start getting greedy and you go, I want one like this sunburst, but can you make it blue? The blue one is going to sound and feel terrible. Never in my life has that ever succeeded. To be lucky enough to have lightning strike twice – it doesn’t happen.” SRV “The first guitar influence when I was about 13. The moment I heard Stevie Ray Vaughan I thought,…

It’s a curious coincidence that we find ourselves looking at Tom Petty’s classic track this month. Not only is it one of Petty’s finest offerings, but this month’s cover star John Mayer also recorded a first-class live acoustic arrangement in 2008. With the two versions racking up almost 800 million Spotify streams between them, and with just a few easy chords to learn, we’d say the song is a fitting addition to every guitarist’s songbook! The simple but oh-so-hooky opening riff was played on Petty’s 12-string acoustic and the 12-string electric of Mike Campbell (though it sounds great on a six-string, too). The acoustic part was played with a capo on the 1st fret and the electric guitar was capo’d in the 3rd position. This unusual approach allowed both guitars…

GAS STATION BOSS HM-2W 1 What do David Gilmour and Swedish death metal have in common? The HM-2 and it’s finally back – the Boss Heavy Metal pedal has received the Waza Craft treatment that recreates and enhances a cult classic. A Standard mode with a reduced noise floor and 3dB level increase will please purists but the Custom offers more gain and attack with tweaked low and mid frequencies. £129, www.boss.info HARLEY BENTON CLP-15E 2 The German company’s Custom Line is raising the bar on acoustic guitar spec value here; solid mahogany back and sides, bone nut and saddle with the Fishman Presys II preamp. The parlor CLP-15E is part of a new four-model range that includes the CLA-15M auditorium non-electro, CLD-15MCE dreadnought cutaway electro and CLA-15MCE auditorium cutaway…

1 DISPLAY  The display offers either Play view or Edit view, toggled with the adjacent View switch. Play view, typically used when performing, shows footswitch assignments. 2 MODE FOOTSWITCH This toggles between Stomp and Preset footswitch modes. Hold it for one second to engage Pedal Edit mode for hands-free editing using just footswitches. 3 USB SOCKET  Connect to a computer via USB for audio interface capability and for access to the HX Edit software which makes easy work of all editing. “THE XL’S ADDITIONAL FOOTSWITCHES ARE DEFINITELY WORTH THE EXTRA MONEY” The original HX Stomp gives players access to Helix sounds without having to buy one of the large Helix floorboards, but while its diminutive form may be ideal for adding to a pedalboard set-up or as…

Recorded 11 years ago, Welcome 2 America was inexplicably archived without release. Thankfully, Legacy Records is putting that straight, because it combines vintage funk grooves with Prince’s supreme melodies. If you know nothing about funk and gospel guitar, this will teach you. Here are five outstanding guitar moments to listen for: Born 2 Die This song opens with jazzy extended chords, doubled by synths. They stand out thanks to Prince’s languid rocking of his wah pedal, adding expression to each chord after he’s played it. Later in the album, he closes out Stand Up and B Strong with a fiery wahdrenched solo, showing he mastered every type of wah expression. Hot Summer In the middle of this funk opus comes this unexpected surf-rock tune. Prince’s palm muted, fuzzed out powerchords…

“YOUR PLAYING NEEDS TO BE CLEAN FIRST BEFORE YOU THINK ABOUT TONE!” YNGWIE MALMSTEEN: “IT’S LIKE PAGANINI ON ACID!” Shred pioneer Yngwie Malmsteen showcased his virtuosity in a blues-driven format on 2019’s Blue Lightning. But on new album Parabellum he’s up to his usual tricks… With Parabellum, was it a conscious decision to return to the neoclassical metal style you invented? I didn’t really intend to do anything one way or another. This had nothing to do with going back to my roots. When I did the blues album, it was almost on-request! People really wanted me to go in that direction. This time I must have written around 100 songs... Or at least 80. Then I have to choose 10 and these ones feel special to me. I would…

SQUIER CLASSIC VIBE ’60S STRATOCASTER £349 An exceptional budget alternative to the Strat’s golden era, this will get you those spanky tones. HARLEY BENTON TUBE15 CELESTION £199 Classy tube tones from pocket change. The Thomann-owned brand is a budget-tone powerhouse. WAMPLER MINI FAUX SPRING REVERB £139 Respectful of your pedalboard space and budget, this is a lush, amp-like spring reverb. ELECTRO-HARMONIX SOUL FOOD £58 The best-value Klon clone on the market and a regular on pro guitarists’ pedalboards.…

John Mayer’s discovery of the Grateful Dead happened by chance. In 2011, while listening to random suggestions on Pandora, he heard the Dead classic Althea, and with that he fell hard and fast. Taking a deep-dive into the band’s vast back catalogue, he became a committed ‘Deadhead’, leading to a remarkable chapter in his career. The first evidence of the Dead’s influence on Mayer came with his 2012 album Born And Raised and 2013 follow-up Paradise Valley. Both albums marked incrementally intensifying departures from polished pop, with Mayer doing and playing exactly what he pleased. And both contained subtle but abundant Grateful Dead influences. Queen Of California, the opening track from Born And Raised, was in tune with the folksy, acoustic numbers that abound on the Dead’s two albums from…

Released in 1967, Disraeli Gears, Cream’s second LP, would eclipse the moderate success of its predecessor, taking the band to new heights in the US and establishing Cream as one of the most important bands of the decade. According to Eric Clapton, Strange Brew “came from hearing an album that Buddy Guy and Junior Wells did together” – Hoodoo Man Blues, we assume. Explaining in the Classic Albums: Disraeli Gears documentary, Eric continued, “And he did Hey Lawdy Mama on that, but that riff is from another song, I think a Little Walter song called Everything’s Gonna Be Alright. What we did is we took it from shuffle to straight time... So we took that riff then just [put] the song over that.” Take a listen to those two songs…

“MOST OF A BROWN EYE DELUXE AT A TENTH OF THE PRICE” 1 FAMILIAR CONTROLS The BE-Mini’s familiar controls are easy to use, with a smooth-acting passive EQ aided by a pair of three-position toggle switches. ‘Cut’ acts on the gain control range, while ‘Tight’ trims the lows. 2 SERIES EFFECTS LOOP On the rear panel there’s a simple but high quality series effects loop. Positioned at the end of the preamp and before the output stage, this is the perfect place to plug in time-based effects. 3 SPEAKER OUTPUTS The BE-Mini’s dual speaker outlets are connected in parallel and take a total minimum 8-ohm load. Ideal if you want to use a pair of 16-ohm 4x12 cabs. Dave Friedman’s amp design career stretches back over twenty-five…

1 REVERSE HEADSTOCK The reverse licensed Fender Telecaster headstock will turn some people off but it keeps a Charvel slant on the familiar Fender form here. 2 JACK INPUT  The recessed Strat-style jack input isn’t at the front or side – it’s around the back in a contoured corner, designed so the lead winds back over your strap. Unconventional and smart. 3 BACK  The So-Cal Style 2 body features a carved belly cut and heel contour below the 4-bolt sculpted neck heel – an excellent design for playing comfort. We love it when guitar companies blur the lines and change our preconceptions. Because most of us will think of a type of guitar and even genre when the names Jackson and Charvel are mentioned. But just as…

ORIGIN China TYPE Multi-FX pedal with amp/cabs and effects FEATURES Selectable buffered or true bypass, 128 preset locations (32 banks of 4), 8 in /6 out audio interface, looper, tuner, MIDI, regular firmware updates MODELS Over 300 effects and models from Helix, M-Series, and legacy Line 6 products CONTROLS Volume, soft knobs x 5, buttons x 4, footswitches x 8 CONNECTIONS Standard inputs (L/Mono, R), standard outputs (L/Mono, R), Stereo Send, Return/ Aux In (L/Mono and R), Exp pedal, MIDI In, MIDI Out/Thru, standard stereo headphone output, USB POWER Supplied 9VDC DC-3G adaptor 3000 mA DIMENSIONS 316 (w) x 120 (d) x 68 mm (h) CONTACT Yamaha UK, www.line6.com…

“For artists there are these moments of serendipity,” says Jocelyn Gould, whose smile implies both wonder and gratitude. “You can’t explain them, but they change everything.” For this rising Canadian guitarist such a moment came in June, when her debut album Elegant Traveler scooped the trophy for Jazz Album Of The Year at the Juno Awards, Canada’s equivalent of the Grammys. Another came a decade ago when the Winnipegger was 19, a bedroom guitar player into the folk of Joni Mitchell and the blues of BB King. “I was majoring in Chemistry in college, and I had a couple of friends studying jazz in Winnipeg,” she recalls. “I went to a jam session with them and was blown away by the community, and the fun of it.” She ditched science…