Innehållsförteckning för June 2022 från Total Guitar

While putting this month’s cover feature together, it struck me just how inseparable Jack White’s technique is from his tone. Perhaps this is true of any guitarist, but I think it’s especially so with Jack. To the extent that if you want to try and play like him you may not get his feel, or you may even struggle to play the part if you haven’t dialled in a ballpark tone. Of course his trademark tones come, by and large, from a blend of pitch shifters and raucous fuzz distortion (we’ll reveal his methods later on!). His killswitch-style ‘stutter’ rhythm technique on Ball And Biscuit and Black Math relies on a heavily compressed fuzz tone. His bluesy staccato soloing on tracks like Lazaretto also benefits from a similar setup. A…

Last year, we rejoiced at the release of a Gibson’s Jerry Cantrell ‘Wino’ Les Paul Custom, then subsequently recoiled upon hearing the bittersweet news that this Tom Murphy-aged beauty was going to retail circa £8000, and even if we could spare a kidney, there were only 100 being made! So, if you missed out on Tom & Jerry’s fantastic recreation of the Alice In Chains man’s No.1 Les Paul, you’ll be glad to hear that Epiphone has stepped up with not one, but two Jerry Cantrell signature models. First up is an Epiphone version of the Jerry Cantrell Wino, and it’s released alongside the Jerry Cantrell Les Paul Custom Prophecy. We’ll start with the familiar Wino, which is made from the classic LP recipe of a mahogany neck and mahogany…

First discovered by many when his explosive NPR Tiny Desk Concert aired on YouTube back in 2015, Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz - or Fantastic Negrito, as you’ll more likely know him - has one of the most incredible and unique musical life stories imaginable. Indeed fantastical at times, and calamitous at others, it would probably be deemed too implausible by even the most fanciful of Hollywood movie directors - if it weren’t entirely true, that is. After growing up in an Orthodox Muslim household in Massachusetts, Xavier’s cultural horizons exploded into full technicolour when he relocated to California in the 1980s, settling in “beautiful, grimy old west Oakland”, as he calls it. He learned to play and write music on multiple instruments by infiltrating classes at the University Of Berkeley, and…

BOSS DD-3T A classic all-round delay pedal Type: Digital The Boss DD-3 has been a staple digital delay for 30 years, and the reason is no secret – it sounds amazing. Pristine delays, a pleasant timbre, and an EQ profile that works equally well in a band context or studio mix, make this a no-brainer for everybody from bedroom musicians to pros. With this latest version, Boss has added a tap-tempo input, allowing you to use an external tap source to control the delay time. TC ELECTRONIC FLASHBACK 2 Options galore and expression functionality, too Type: Digital With a decent range of presets that cover all the basics – analogue delay, tape echo, a pristine digital mode and some more sound effect-type delays, the TC Flashback 2 is an impressive…

Bursting onto the scene in the late 70s, The Police’s highly distinctive and original post-punk, reggae-tinged blend of pop and rock placed them at the very cutting edge of the new wave movement. The most demanding aspect of this opener from 1979’s Regatta De Blanc album is the reach required to fret guitarist Andy summers’ signature sus2 chord shapes. In particular, F#sus2 is quite the finger-stretcher as it falls low down on the fretboard where the frets are farthest apart. The sequence contains no open strings, however, so you could easily practise the piece higher up the neck to gradually build your stretching ability. For example, try starting at the 7th fret so your first chord would be Esus2, followed by Csus2 (8th fret), Dsus2 (10th fret) and Asus2 (5th…

Formed in Michigan, USA in 2012, Greta Van Fleet is led by the three Kiszka brothers: twins Josh (vocals) and Jake (guitar), and younger brother Sam (bass). Danny Wagner completes the line up on drums. You’re The One was the second single to be released from their debut album Anthem Of The Peaceful Army (2018), and you can play the whole track as a simple acoustic strummer using open D, A and G chords if you like. However, it’d be a shame to ignore Jake Kiszka’s tasty guitar work. Our tab will help you dig a little deeper. You could be mistaken for thinking the intro acoustic line was played fingerstyle but, in fact, it’s tastefully and accurately picked. As such, it’s tricky to play note-for-note, so make sure to…

If you keep an eye on our First Look section, you’ll have spotted the Jet JS-400 last issue. Jet has been around for a couple of years now having started in 2020 with founder and guitar builder, Primoz Virant heading up the design and specs. We say design, but it isn’t unfair to note that Jet Guitars - alongside many other brands in the lower price bracket - are highly derivative. The difference is here it’s more of a concept, and seemingly one that is trying to squeeze in as many features for as little money as possible. While the prices of everything else in our lives are skyrocketing, ironically Jet is keeping things grounded. are a number of series, largely organised by body shape, pickup type, and finish. Our…

I’ve been talking to Paul about ‘ending with a win’: making sure he always succeeds at something just before he puts the guitar down. That way he finishes with a positive feeling and he’s going to be more motivated to pick the guitar up again. As teacher, my job is to keep those wins coming thick and fast by choosing the right material. Paul could take on more complex riffs now, and he would master some with enough practice. The trouble is, there would be a lot of frustration along the way and he could easily get put off. Instead, we’re doing a riff with just two notes. This reminds Paul of skills he’s learned already, like picking and fretting. I’ve added quarter-tone bends and pull-offs. He picked up these…

When the new Feeder album Torpedo shot to number five on the UK chart in April, it was a sweet moment for a band that has been a fixture on the British rock scene since the late 90s. “We were totally blown away with the response to it,” says guitarist/vocalist Grant Nicholas. It was also something of a surprise. “Honestly, it was going to be a fanbaseonly record, a mini release that we weren’t even going to take to radio,” he says. “But then some people heard it and told us we should definitely put it out. And we’ve got loads more material written, so there’s going to be another record hopefully next year – it’s kind of like a double album in two halves.” Talking from the band’s rehearsal…

One of America’s oldest forms of music, bluegrass was once derided as Hillbilly car-chase music dominated by rattling banjos and insane acoustic guitar picking. However, with the huge popularity of a new generation of artists like Molly Tuttle and Billy Strings, the style has been freshened up and guitarists are discovering how much fun bluegrass can be. With that in mind, it’s time to get you started with some essential bluegrass basics. Whilst it can sound like country music to the uninitiated, bluegrass is very much its own style, with unique instrumentation usually made up of vocals, guitar, banjo, upright bass and mandolin, plus resonator guitars often appearing, too. Drumkit accompaniment isn’t so common – bluegrass players lock in with great timing and thinking percussively is a key element of…

As he returns with not one, but two solo albums, Jack White reveals that he’s in a good place with his guitar playing. “There are places I’ve never gone before,” he says, “and techniques I thought I wasn’t capable of doing.” In our exclusive interview, Jack talks us through his guitar playing and songwriting approaches, how he balances his trademark fuzz guitar tones with synth sounds, and he discusses his gear preferences, from inexpensive junk-shop instruments to modern signature models. Also in our 22-page special feature: we chart Jack’s influence as a guitarist, writer, arranger, producer, and creator of a mini-empire in Third Man Records, and we profile some selected highlights of his extensive gear collection. Plus! We take you inside Jack’s playing style with our tab lessons, and show…

In the heyday of the guitar hero, the 1960s and 70s, you could hardly move for them. Guitars were the dominant instrument in popular culture and those who could conjure riffs were gods among mortals. But while great new electric guitarists turn up daily, guitar heroes – names bordering on the mythical, who take over the mainstream and whose names become synonymous with awesome licks – come along less often. In the 21st Century, the one who stands tallest is Jack White. One man who graduated from guitar hero to guitar god is Jeff Beck. When Beck invited The White Stripes to join him on stage at his 2002 Royal Festival Hall residency, it suggested a passing of the torch. Beck, who many call the greatest living guitarist, spotted White’s…

Considering Fender’s most popular designs are now elderly in age but still iconic because they were so well crafted at birth, the company has been pretty bold with them in recent years. The Acoustasonic fused the acoustic world with the electric Strat, Tele and Jazzmaster, while the Parallel Universe and Paranormal series have allowed Fender and Squier designers to have fun and surprise players. “A VERY DIFFERENT SHAPE AND A BOLD TALKING POINT” The Meteora was introduced as part of the Parallel Universe series in 2018 but was no mashup of the previously familiar; it’s a very different shape for Fender, and a bold talking point, looking like some vision of the future from the 60s or 70s. Now, after a standard HH Alternate Reality Mexican model in 2019, it’s…

FENDER VINTERA 70S TELECASTER THINLINE This Shell Pink option offers similar-voiced Wide Range humbuckers to the Meteora. But the vintage 7.25” radius maple fretboard and hardtail make for a different proposition elsewhere. HAGSTROM FANTOMEN If they’re good enough for Ghost’s Nameless Ghouls, they’re good enough for us. This 25.5” scale model also features Lundgren humbuckers with coil splitting. EPIPHONE EXTURA PROPHECY The Explorer blueprint reworked: Fishman Fluence active pickups access PAF and single-coil tones and the body features the deeper cutaway of Gibson’s cult Futura model.…

The flagship Headrush may be a couple of years old, but it set a new benchmark for realistic amp modelling at an affordable price-point. The MX5 promises to take all the learnings of the floorboard, and distil them down to a compact, affordable core. Does it deliver? Our usual benchmark is whether we can get a decent patch going without using the manual. This proves easy, thanks to the touchscreen, and we’re up-and-running with a great Klon emulation into a pitch-shifted delay in no time. Lessons from their previous products, and firmware updates in the intervening years reveal a much-improved UI that’s lightning-fast to learn and quick to make edits. Complex chains are a breeze, with user-friendly tips for assembling mono or stereo rigs. “A MORE POWERFUL BEAST THAN THE…

Inspired by Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins and Veruca Salt, LA band Momma party like it’s 1995 on their new album Household Name. And when it comes to gear, guitarist/ vocalist duo Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten aren’t fussy... How would you describe your sound? Allegra: It’s alternative rock with grungy influences. Someone once said that we were neo-grunge, which we thought was really funny. I’m down for that comparison, but we don’t really listen to much grunge besides Nirvana, so I don’t know how fair it’d be to call ourselves that. Household Name is your third record, but is the first you’ve recorded in a studio. What was that like? Etta: We had all of the gear at our disposal, so that was super fun. Our bass player and producer…

Continuing its more affordable, utilitarian 3 Series range of pedals, JHS has set its sights on the Tube Screamer for the latest addition to the line-up. With its DNA coming from JHS’ 2008 Strong Mod pedal, it’s an affordable re-working of the classic Tube Screamer design, which JHS says refines the circuit to give a “much cleaner and overall more powerful tone” with more clean headroom, better suitability when used as a boost and versatile tone and gain controls. As with all JHS 3 Series pedals, this one’s available for £99.…

It will be some time before I can say with any real confidence that I have mastered bends and pull-offs, but it was certainly a major breakthrough for me to put these things into practice. Working them into 20th Century Boy is particularly pleasing. Makes me feel like a proper player! And Jenna’s idea of ending with a win is a great approach. It helps with my confidence and makes me want to play as much as possible. I still have difficulty with fretting - just getting my fingers spread without deadening the strings. What helps most with this is proper placement of my thumb on the fretting hand. And as we all know, everything gets better with practice, so with that in mind I am now storing my guitar…

In 2019, Bloc Party returned to their roots with a tour where they performed their platinum-selling debut album Silent Alarm in full. Buzzing from that tour, they started writing their sixth album. “We wanted to capture the energy and the chemistry that the four of us were forming from playing live again,” says lead guitarist Russell Lissack. They finished their initial writing period in March 2020, so you know what happened next... Unlike other bands, however, recording remotely and sharing files online was not an option for Bloc Party. As Russell puts it: “Touring Silent Alarm was quite instrumental in the writing process. We wanted that same energy when we were in the room bouncing ideas off each other. I think I don’t think it would have been the same…

Jack White cast himself as a rock ’n’ roll revivalist as The White Stripes were making their bones at the Gold Dollar in Detroit, reanimating garage punk with the hectic industrial pulse of the city. But that was never the whole story. Over the years he has been equally a Nikola Tesla figure, an innovator, taking a pedalboard ex machina approach to electric guitar tone, demonstrating a design and entrepreneurial acumen that has made his label, Third Man Records, a self-sustaining indie powerhouse. His gear choices add to the intrigue. This is the man who coated his go-to 50s Kay archtop with paper and made the Airline fibre-glass bodied electric a must-have, and yet he does not restrict himself to pawnshop gold. Heck, he was on the cover of this…

2 003 saw Lowestoft glam rockers The Darkness propelled to stardom as their debut album Permission To Land topped the charts, and a raft of feel-good singles inspired by classic acts like Queen, AC/DC, Aerosmith and Def Leppard saw the band bring fun back to rock music. I Believe In A Thing Called Love was the band’s third single – and it’s probably fair to say it remains their biggest and best known track. Rockschool’s Grade Two arrangement covers the all-important opening riff, a verse and chorus, plus an abridged version of Dan Hawkins’ main guitar solo (the song’s second of three lead breaks). You can either play along with our audio or use the tab to help you play to the original track. There’s enough info in the transcription…

BODY: Alder NECK: Maple SCALE: 648mm (25.5”) FINGERBOARD: Pau Ferro, 12” radius FRETS: 22, medium jumbo PICKUPS: Fender Fireball humbuckers with coil-splitting via S1 switch on Volume CONTROLS: Volume, Tone x 2, 3-way selector HARDWARE: Fender Deluxe locking tuners, Fender 2-point synchronized tremolo with brushed steel block saddles LEFT-HANDED: No Gig bag: Included FINISH: Belair Blue (reviewed), 3-Colour Sunburst (with maple fretboard), Cosmic Jade (with pau ferro fretboard), Silverburst (with maple fretboard) CONTACT: Fender, www.fender.com…

“A PERFECT MODELLING COMBO” Line 6’s first product was the AxSys 212 combo, which went on sale in 1996, followed by the original POD a couple of years later, bringing digital modelling to the masses at affordable prices and changing electric guitar forever. Ever since, Line 6 have pushed the envelope, applying their technology to amps, effects pedals, guitars, wireless systems and more. Now part of Yamaha, Line 6’s latest offering is the Catalyst – a smart-looking combo packing the very latest modelling advances into an interface that looks remarkably like a conventional amp. On the top-mounted control panel, there’s a rotary selector with a choice of six voices, followed by reassuringly familiar knobs for gain, bass, mid, treble, presence and volume. There are also separate level controls for the…