Innehållsförteckning för August 2022 från Total Guitar

From The Ventures to the Ramones, MC5 to Nirvana, The Stooges to My Bloody Valentine, it’s fair to say that Mosrite guitars have had a huge impact on alt-rock, and one that sometimes goes sightly overlooked. But Harley Benton’s latest line of MR electrics aims to put the Mosrite style back in the hands of garage-dwelling noise-merchants on a budget. Available in four flavours, there’s the MR Classic, Modern and baritone versions of each. All four guitars feature that iconic reverse-body design, with A-grade Canadian maple satin C-shape necks, Wilkinson tuners, 22 Blacksmith stainless steel frets and vol/tone/3-way controls, but there are some differences. The Classic (£211) is made from basswood, with roasted jatoba fingerboards. The pickups are a pair of Artec P-90 Alnico Vs, and it’s equipped with a…

The official video sees Yannis Philippakis and Jimmy Smith doubling up on the riff, playing a humbucker-equipped Travis Bean TB1000A and a Fender Mustang (with single coils) respectively. So, although almost any pickup configuration will do the job, we recommend using a single coil equipped guitar, ideally with a compressor pedal to even out the strumming dynamics. If your guitar has humbuckers select the middle pickup position for an even spread of frequencies. For a single coil guitar we recommend using a neck- or middle-position pickup.…

1 FRETTING HAND Rest your fingers lightly across the strings anywhere on the neck. Don’t press the strings onto a fret. 2 PICK A thinner pick (0.73 mm or thinner) produces less resistance for strumming or scratching. Softer materials like nylon can also help. 3 PICK ANGLE On your upstrokes, letting the tip of the pick point to the floor can help it glide over the strings. 4 PICKING HAND WRIST Your wrist should feel loose. A slight bend helps to stop it locking.…

10 REVOLVER THE BEATLES (1966) With the burden of Beatlemania weighing heavily on their shoulders, the Fab Four channelled their energies into expanding the possibilities of studio recording on Revolver. As well as incorporating elaborate orchestrations, tape loops, sound effects and exotic instruments, the band updated their guitars from the early Rickenbacker-dominated sound. Harrison, Lennon and McCartney introduced the Gibson SG, Epiphone Casino, and Gretsch Chet Atkins 6120 into their arsenal, beefing up their tone in line with the more rock-orientated sounds brought to the fore by the likes of Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck in 1966. The experimentation yielded stunning results, like the raucous psychedelia of She Said She Said and the harmonised twin lead guitar lines of And Your Bird Can Sing, courtesy of Harrison and…

Maestro Echoplex EP-3 (1970) The tape echo machine was nothing new, but when the new solid-state EP-3 debuted at the start of the decade its tone-gussying preamp blew players’ minds even before they got to the echo. Eddie Van Halen, Brian May and countless others benefitted from its non-linear phase response. Telecaster Deluxe (1973) Rock was getting louder and heavier, and single-coil specialists Fender needed a humbucker-equipped model to compete. Enter the Telecaster Deluxe... MXR Phase 90 (1974) The little orange box with one knob and a hard-to-read script logo didn’t look like much but when it came to chewy electric guitar tone it is unsurpassed, making its way onto Eddie Van Halen’s ’board. Lawsuit-era guitars Ibanez, Greco and Tokai enter the scene... The 70s were not the finest years…

Funk rock was set to explode in 1988, with the Chilis, Extreme, Jane’s Addiction and Faith No More all threatening the mainstream. No one looked more like a sure bet than Living Colour. Mick Jagger was so excited about them he insisted on producing their demos. And when Vernon Reid added guitar to Janet Jackson’s Black Cat, there were obvious comparisons to her brother’s collaboration with Eddie Van Halen. Cult Of Personality was an irresistible hit single punctuated by Reid’s explosion of a solo, and Open Letter (To A Landlord) had the best clean guitar opening since Purple Rain.…

10 BLOOD SUGAR SEX MAGIK RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS (1991) Leaning harder into the funk of funk-rock than any of their peers, the Chilis’ defining moment finds John Frusciante drawing as much on Parliament-Funkadelic and Sly Stone as Hendrix. It turned out that playing James Brown riffs with a grittier tone and a drummer who wanted to be John Bonham was a winner. Frusciante’s angular soloing on Suck My Kiss and the graunching string bends of Give It Away explored how percussive lead guitar can get, while Under The Bridge is the best anyone has appropriated Hendrix’s combined lead-rhythm style. Amps? You don’t need one – John did most of this straight into the desk. 09 AENIMA TOOL (1996) Unlike his former bandmate Tom Morello, there’s no single…

While many were alerted to the existence of these Texas-based, avant-garde shredders by the “boomer bends” controversy of 2021, those in the know had already been losing their minds over Polyphia’s boundary-pushing guitar antics for years. New Levels New Devils, the band’s third album, saw guitarists Tim Henson and Scott LePage delivering all the two-handed wizardry of prog-metal, mixed with slap grooves borrowed from funk and lots of smooth RnB tones. It was an album that set a new high watermark for what can be achieved by a rock group with two guitars and unlimited imagination…

SUPERNOVA NOVA TWINS (2022) NOVA TWINS BLOW MEDIOCRE ROCK BANDS OUT OF THE WATER... With their fusion of rap, punk and metal it’s tempting to compare Nova Twins to Rage Against The Machine, helped by Tom Morello tweeting that they are “an incredible band who deserve to be huge.” It’s not that Amy Love (guitars) and Georgia South (bass) sound like Rage. It’s that they have the same kind of passion, energy, and originality that made Rage’s debut so exhilarating. But Nova Twins could never be from LA; they are from southeast London and sound like it. There are nods to grime and UK drill in the sound, and some of the fattest, filthiest basslines anywhere. There are also irresistible melodies sitting alongside enormous fuzz riffs. Their collaboration 1x1…

THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN Words and Music by Philip Parris Lynott Copyright © 1976 UNIVERSAL MUSIC PUBLISHING LTD. and PIPPIN-THE-FRIENDLY-RANGER-MUSIC CO. LTD. Copyright Renewed. All Rights for the U.S.A. and Canada Controlled and Administered by UNIVERSAL – POLYGRAM INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING, INC. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission. Reproduced by Permission of Hal Leonard Europe. FULL TRACK + BACKING (BIT.LY/TG360AUDIO) This song comes with a full demo track and backing track. Enter the above link into your web browser of choice; press play and jam along, guitaraoke style!…

While many former rock stars have crossed over into more straightforward pop territory over the years, it’s altogether less common for pop artists to become bonafide rock stars, not least those originally making a name for themselves in talent show boybands. But Harry Styles isn’t your typical 2010s popstar. The former One Direction member – a self-proclaimed lifelong fan of Pink Floyd and Wings – has previously shown his appreciation for 70s rock on his 2017 self-titled debut album and its 2019 follow-up Fine Line, with Kiwi featuring hard-rock riffing throughout, while She boasts a lengthy, improvised guitar solo in the outro. Taking to the stage on May 29th for Radio 1’s Big Weekend, Styles performed songs from his new album Harry’s House, wielding a vintage Gibson ES-350T from his…

Classic vs Modern The big difference is the change of pickups and hardware between the P-90-equipped, fixed-bridge Classic and humbuckerloaded/vibrato of the Modern. Construction The Classic features a basswood body, while the Modern is made of alder. We also get roasted jatoba fingerboards on the Classic models, while the Modern has Macassar ebony. Leftfield As well as the standard-scale options, there are baritone versions of both guitars, and lefties will be glad to hear that Harley Benton hasn’t forgotten them either.…

Strumming is probably the most useful technique you’ll ever learn. About 90% of what an ordinary listener considers ‘guitar playing’ involves it, and once you can do it, you’re off and running. ‘Scratching’ – strumming while choking the strings with your fretting hand – is a good way to start. Your fretting hand doesn’t have to do much, so you can concentrate on pick technique. You can hear it in Isaac Hayes’ Theme From Shaft, Blur’s Song 2 and Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit.…

When Zappa split with the Mothers of Invention he embarked on his first solo album proper, a seminal jazz/rock set that helped kick off the fusion movement. The complex and richly layered tracks are largely instrumental, many featuring extended improvisations by Zappa and his chief collaborator, multi-instrumentalist Ian Underwood. Radio-friendly arrangements like Peaches En Regalia and Little Umbrellas gave it a wide appeal and provided Zappa with his only top 10 album in the UK. But for guitar highlights, check out the distorted wah-wah solos on Son Of Mr Green Genesand Willie The Pimp (featuring Captain Beefheart’s astonishing vocals).…

10 PARANOID BLACK SABBATH (1970) The definitive choice for guitarists who recognise that rhythm parts are more important than solos, Sabbath’s second album Paranoid saw riff lord Tony Iommi laying down the metal blueprint. Iron Man, War Pigs and the title track are the foundation of heavy metal, with Iommi sounding crushing even before the band discovered downtuning. The solos are fluid and exciting, usually improvised as part of live takes with the band; Iommi would add rhythm parts underneath later. But the riffs are the real story. Pete Townshend was known for power chords, but his sledgehammer strumming did sometimes include the major third. It was Iommi who really codified the root and fifth power chord we all play today. Iommi liked the amps he got free from…

Stoner rock demigods Kyuss formed in the California desert, and their music sounds like those sandy wastelands. Future Queens Of The Stone Age leader Josh Homme’s throbbing, nasty fuzz tone allegedly came from two cabinets set up to face each other, creating phase cancellations that removed certain frequencies. His Ovation Ultra GP was permanently set to its DiMarzio Super 2 neck pickup, and by tuning to Drop C he anticipated metal’s descent into ever lower and heavier sounds. Stoners and doom metallers alike owe Kyuss a huge debt, and Dave Grohl called them “the future of grunge music”, before later collaborating with Homme.…

10 BLACK HOLES AND REVELATIONS MUSE (2006) More eclectic than any Muse album before it, especially in terms of themes, instrumentation and layers, Black Holes And Revelations is a potently cohesive twist of rock and electronic music that in truth no other band could deliver with such fierce bravado. Matt Bellamy was using Manson guitars through Marshall, Vox and Diezel amps, along with an array of pedals including his ZVEX Fuzz Factory, DigiTech Whammy, Keeley Compressor and Boss OC-2. Bellamy’s tones feel gargantuan throughout – especially on the album’s lead single Supermassive Black Hole and on the epic closing track Knights Of Cydonia. 09 CITY OF EVIL AVENGED SEVENFOLD (2005) The new wave of American heavy metal bands that flourished at the turn of the millennium…

As we suspected, these are two very different instruments that cater for different needs. Purists and retro-lovers will undoubtedly feel more at home with the Wino, which convincingly harks back to Les Pauls of old. Modern-style and heavy metal players, however, may very well appreciate the Custom Prophecy for its extra power, versatility and range. It doesn’t cover vintage tones quite as well as its claret-hued counterpart – active pickups are typically less smooth and less dynamic than passives – and players who dabble in blues or jazz may find that a bit of a turn-off. Those dialling in higher gain sounds all the way from Rammstein and Slipknot through to Code Orange and Periphery, however, will arguably feel more at home on the Prophecy. All in all, we’re looking…

This Stereo Chorus Flanger was TC Electronic’s first ever production pedal back in 1976, and this 45th anniversary edition retains the same layout as the original that’s proved a firm favourite with Eric Johnson for years. It adds a gold typeface, larger LED and a new op amp in the preamp stage for greater headroom. But how does it fit on today’s pedalboards? While its physical width means it won’t win points for being the most compact, it’s got versatility in its favour with three modulation modes: chorus, flanger and, in the middle position, pitch modulation. This latter effect is a combination of chorus and vibrato to create a subtler chorus sound. But there’s more... The SCF also offers input gain via its inbuilt preamp to drive all its effect…

GUITAR “IT WAS A HAPPY ACCIDENT” BILLY HOWERDEL ON HIS ‘FRANKENSTEINED’ GUITAR AND HIS DEBUT SOLO ALBUM Billy Howerdel found mainstream success as guitarist in A Perfect Circle alongside Tool singer Maynard James Keenan, after serving as guitar tech for Tool, Nine Inch Nails, Guns N’ Roses and more. Billy’s debut solo album What Normal Was features the same guitar he’s used throughout his career – a 1991 Gibson Les Paul Custom Classic in Cinnamon Burst, gifted to him by one-time employer Trent Reznor... Your main guitar was the first instrument you worked on for Nine Inch Nails, which you accidentally burned... Yeah, I dropped a soldering iron right on the guitar fresh out of the case. It was a very expensive, brand new and beautiful guitar. It’s not like…

Okay, we admit it, this riff isn’t really ‘of the month’ – it came out in November last year. But, with the new Foals album Life Is Yours recently landing, we’re fired up and ready to rock out with Yannis Philippakis’ and Jimmy Smith’s cool, funky rhythm part. At its core is a strummed rhythm played with a mixture of partial chords and muted strings. The initial part alternates between 10th– and 12th-fret F and G chords played with the first and third fingers. Next up are three more chords at the 12th fret: a Gsus4, a G5 and a G7. Technically, all five shapes are inversions, i.e., the root note isn’t the lowest one – but this is usually the way in funk so don’t worry about the chord…

For those alienated by prog rock pretension or metal’s macho strutting, Marquee Moon is the 70s record of choice. It’s often called post-punk, which is impressive considering punk had barely started. Guitarists Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd had more chops than most punks but a similar intolerance for self-indulgence. Television eschewed reams of powerchords in favour of melody and counter-melody on the guitars. There’s not a pedal in sight: just Verlaine’s Jazzmaster and Lloyd’s Strat into Fender Super Reverbs; any chorusing comes from Lloyd double tracking particular parts. Thanks to post-punk experimentalists such as Black Midi, Marquee Moon sounds more relevant today than ever.…

10 THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST IRON MAIDEN (1982) Some critics and industry bods genuinely thought metal was over by the early 80s, and guitars were outdated. The Number Of The Beast definitively proved it was only just getting started. The giants of the 70s were one-guitar bands, but in Maiden, Adrian Smith and Dave Murray’s Thin Lizzy-inspired harmonies made it compulsory for metallers to have two guitarists. Their tone, powered by DiMarzio Super Distortion pickups into Marshalls boosted with overdrive pedals, was the metal recipe for most of the decade. Murray and Smith’s fluid soloing kept one foot in the blues but nodded to Ritchie Blackmore, upping the tempo for the new decade. 09 PURPLE RAIN PRINCE (1984) Steve Vai once said Prince had no right to…

Widely regarded as the most important instrumental guitar record since Steve Vai’s Passion And Warfare – or at the very least among the few that could exist comfortably in the same sentence as such a game-changing masterpiece – Guthrie Govan’s solo debut is as dazzling as it gets. On tracks such as Waves, Sevens and Wonderful Slippery Thing, he slides and snakes his way through all kinds of exotic scales with mesmerising musicality and finesse, with not a single chink in the armour when it comes to technique. Guthrie’s genre-crossing exploits in instrumental super-trio The Aristocrats remain equally as thrilling.…

10 MELIORA GHOST (2015) The title of Ghost’s third album roughly translates from Latin as “something better” – fitting for what band leader Tobias Forge conceived as a more guitar-driven opus. Anonymity has always been at the core of Ghost’s self-made mythology, and while Forge has withheld the true identities of the ‘Nameless Ghouls’ who’ve handled guitar duties over the years, it is known that two Gibson SGs, a 1962 Les Paul and a Fender Telecaster were used in the making of Meliora. Each guitar was fed through three different amps to create the album’s rich and impenetrably fortified wall of sound. 09 EL CAMINO THE BLACK KEYS (2011) Dan Auerbach packed more catchy, feel-good riffs into El Camino than many bands can muster in an entire career.…

Both Brian and Scott plugged into Marshall amps with 4x12 speaker cabs, getting their tones by turning up loud. Luckily, we have many less tinnitus-inducing methods today! Most amp simulators have a classic plexi sound. This is the one to go for, using a bridge position pickup. Keep the gain fairly low, hitting the strings harder for extra impact rather than adding distortion. Brian’s guitar is panned slightly left, with Scott’s to the right. Note that Scott’s guitar has a slow, subtle phaser effect throughout but it’s by no means essential.…

As the founding guitarist and singer in Alice In Chains, Jerry Cantrell knows a thing or two about dialling in massive rock tones. His riffs were arguably the heaviest from the 90s Seattle scene, the group sharing nearly as much kinship with the likes of Metallica and Pantera as they did with the alternative peers from their hometown. But there was always a more delicate side to the music, as evidenced on tracks like Down In A Hole, Nutshell and Brother – which, thanks to a profound sense of emotional sincerity, turned Jerry into one of the most deeply admired songwriters of his generation. In January 2020, he made headlines by announcing he was teaming up with Gibson to release a whole line of acoustic and electric signatures. Here’s a…

As Madison Cunningham prepares for the September release of her second full length album Revealer, it seems as though the Southern Californian virtuoso has located a whole extra chapter in the instructional manual for singer-songwriters. Devoid of rudimentary strumming, and rich in intricate rhythms and ingenious lead playing, her brand of guitar-driven songcraft has always been appealingly tricky to define. For Revealer, she admits, “The complexity knob was turned up a little bit.” She’s previously been nominated for Grammys in the Best Folk and Best Americana categories, but the new album’s two teaser singles, Anywhere and Hospital, swerve such classifications by a country mile with their respective breezy calypso-esque and mean indie grooves. A boundlessly inventive spirit pushes her sound forward. “When you have an ideal goal of what you…