Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2015 i Guitar Player

ONE OF MY MOST IMPOR-tant musical lessons on the guitar came from a bass player. Sadly, Andy Fraser, who bestowed such brain-scrambling knowledge upon me more than four decades ago, is no longer with us. He passed away on March 16, 2015, at just 62 years old. Andy joined the band Free in 1968 at just 15 years old, and cowrote and co-produced its juggernaut of a hit song, “All Right Now,” when he was 17. That accomplishment still shocks me—even as teenaged prodigies appear to be legion in today’s generations of Disney kids, reality TV, and American Idol. In 1970, I was an awkward teen fighting acne, collecting comic books, and dreaming of being some kind of rock star (or a fighter pilot), while Andy was in a major-label…

Mike Simmons Tech 21 Fly Rig RK5. Small. Sounds great. Colin O’Hara Tuner—to stay in tune. John Dixon Vox wah. End of conversation! Anthony Powell A Rat—it f**king rocks! Brian Burns The “Suck” pedal, with true bypass. Neddy Baez Electro-Harmonix Soul Food— affordable Klon. Adam Brooks A “Drummer Ejection” pedal. Mike Leslie TC Electronic Flashback Triple Delay. Mark Nason Dunlop TS-1 Tremolo. Duane Eddy! Stuart Johnson My Boss Chorus is enough for me. Dan Ritthaler Eventide H9. It does everything. Mike Rounsaville Ibanez Tube Screamer. Versatility.…

NASHVILLE SESSION ACE DAVE BAKER has etched out a fine career playing for artists such as Luke Bryan and Rodney Atkins, as well as in his current gig backing American Idol alumnus Kellie Pickler. He put his own material to the test with his recent, self-released instrumental CD, 71 South, where he traverses several musical boundaries with his eclectic, yet always melodic guitar stylings. What’s your favorite gear at the moment? My go-to electrics are a RS Guitarworks Slab ’59, a PRS DGT, a ’78 Gibson ES-335, and a Les Paul Standard. For acoustic situations, I use my McPherson Camrielle. Although I have a modest collection of vintage instruments, I mostly use them for intown sessions and gigs, as I’ve retired the older guitars and amps from the road. My…

“I LIKE CHALLENGES,” SAYS JOSÉ FELICIANO. “I’VE never been afraid of a challenge.” The guitarist is referring to an ongoing project to record Mozart arias on guitar, but he could also be talking about his life. Born blind, Feliciano took up the guitar at age nine, and taught himself to play by listening to records. At age 17, Feliciano made his first TV appearance as a member of “The Modern Sound Trio” on Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour in 1962. Playing a borrowed Gibson hollowbody guitar, Feliciano’s Les Paul-inspired licks can be heard throughout the jazz standard “Down Home in Indiana,” but the group didn’t win this early incarnation of America’s Got Talent. “The piano player—who was the leader—insisted on playing jazz,” says Feliciano. “If we would have played some rock…

THE SOLO-GUITAR SUPERMAN ON SESSIONS, ARRANGING, AND HIS NEW ALBUM YOUTUBE SENSATION LAWSON ROLLINS LESSON MICHAEL NICOLELLA’S BACH STRATEGIES REVIEWED BOSWELL DREADNOUGHT D CLASSIC COLUMN HAPPY TRAUM ON PERFORMING EVEN BY “GUITARISTS YOU’RE ENVIOUS OF” standards, Laurence Juber has had a remarkable career. Fresh out of music school, he began ruling the London session scene of the mid-1970s, playing on anything from jingles to sessions with artists such as Cleo Laine and Alan Parsons to the score of The Spy Who Loved Me. Juber’s chops and reputation eventually got him an audition for Paul McCartney’s Wings, a gig he would hold from 1978 until the band was dissolved in 1981. Moving to Los Angeles in the early 1980s, Juber continued his A-list studio guitarist existence, leading to credits that not…

IT’S INSANE HOW MANY OF THESE WONDER BOXES ARE RELEASED each year. We can’t keep up! We’re more than happy to go where no other guitar or gear magazine is crazy enough to tread by doing these massive pedal roundups annually— because, hey, our readers are the winners, right? But the frustrating part is that there are so many pedals we weren’t able to include here due to manufacturers’ release dates not making our deadline, our needing to limit research and acquisition time in order to make our print date, or pure exhaustion on the part of the reviewers. Don’t worry, though, we’ll catch up with the pedals that didn’t make these pages with gear reviews throughout the rest of the year. Got any suggestions? Email them to me at…

Drop $149 Another cool product derived from the awesome DigiTech Whammy pedal, the Drop transposes your guitar anywhere from a half-step to a full-octave lower. The detuned chunk possibilities are obvious, but what might not be is the super-fun ability to jam with a Hendrix or Van Halen tune with no retuning. Then there is the excellent Momentary toggle that keeps the pitch shift on (or off) for as long as the switch is depressed, giving rise to mindblowing, Morello-esque intervallic leaps, keyboard-sounding lines, video-game noises, and more. The octave-down-with-dry-signal setting will also do a mean “Smoke On the Water.” There is a slight delay that is noticeable on fastpicked passages, but I got used to it quickly. Great pedal! Luxe $149 Billed as the “anti-chorus,” this beautiful little box…

C9 $220 The earlier B9 was a revolutionary pedal that offered guitarists realistic organ sounds. The C9 serves up many similar, if not exactly the same, sounds—Tone Wheel, Lord Purple, and Compact recall the B9’s Jazz, Classic Rock, and Continental settings—but the C9 might be the better choice for guitarists. You get the basic organ sounds, of course, but the C9’s Mellotron emulation (Mello Flutes) is worth the price of admission alone, with its eerily accurate evocation of classic Beatle and modern Radiohead tracks. Add the gorgeous Shimmer setting—which supplies wonderful textures when blended with ambient guitar washes—and you have a unique pedal worthy of competing for a space on your board. Good Vibes $135 The swirling modulation of the Uni-Vibe sound has seen a comeback since the days of…

Blues Flame $169 The GP editors chose a 1970 Plush amplifier advert for the Classic Ad feature in the May issue, and were surprised to discover that Andy Fuchs—who briefly worked for the company back in the day—now controls the Plush name and uses it for his Fuchs Audio pedal line. (The amps may or may not reappear, but you can find vintage models for sale online occasionally.) A groovy ’70s vibe informs most of the new Plush pedals, and the bellbottom blues of the Blues Flame is a case in point. I found it to sound more blues-rock than, say, the blues Kings, and the pedal is versatile enough to also dial in more modern or even prog-like distortion tones. You get tons of gain, and a responsive, three-control…

IN OUR MAY 2015 COVER STORY ON AC/DC, we detailed the story of Filippo Olivieri’s obsessive quest to replicate Angus Young’s guitar tone on Back In Black. The journey led Olivieri to a mid-’70s wireless guitar device—the Schaffer-Vega Diversity System—that Young used when tracking in the studio back then. That was the missing piece of the tonal puzzle, but Olivieri— who inventor Ken Schaffer of the aforementioned wireless system warmly calls a “dedicated isolated obsessive”—isn’t the kind of guy to take his prize and go home. He wanted to prove his point to tone zealots by actually manufacturing hardware versions of Young’s “secret weapon” with Schaffer’s approval and assistance. That’s dedication, all right. If you’re as spellbound by classic AC/DC guitar tones as is Olivieri, then his superhuman efforts exist…

THE VERY SAME MAGAZINE you are reading right now once claimed that cigar-chomping Los Angeles session player (and former GP columnist) Tommy Tedesco was “in all probability, the most recorded guitarist in history.” Another picker in L.A. during the same era kicked off his career by doing sessions, too. His name is Glen Campbell, and few guitarists played on more hits than he did. Then, he went on to sell more than 45 million of his own records. He also had a voice… This is the tale of two extraordinary human beings, both capable of doing anything required on guitar, and both had completely opposite approaches. Tommy’s sight-reading abilities were unmatched. It has been said he’d be on a session reading literally any piece of music—no matter how complex— and…

While I have the utmost respect for Joe Bonamassa as a great guitarist and an otherwise humble man, his “Guitar Safari” columns have a bit of a rub-your-nose-in-it quality. Perhaps not intentionally, but it sometimes sounds like JB is saying, “Don’t you wish you were a millionaire like me, so you could travel the world and acquire some of the most coveted and valuable vintage guitars and amps ever?” Joe has certainly earned his station in life, but for us working-class guys, it’s like listening to a coworker repeatedly telling you how great his new Mercedes is!…

RANDY RHOADS’ STAR BURNED epically bright for a tragically brief time. He formed the seeds of Quiet Riot in 1973 before getting a huge break by joining Ozzy Osbourne in 1979 to record two classic metal albums, Blizzard of Ozz (1980) and Diary of a Madman (1981). In 1982, while on tour with Osbourne, Rhoads was killed in a small airplane crash. But those short “Ozzy years” produced a legacy that just seems to grow and grow, inspiring countless players to celebrate Rhoads’ mammoth achievements in guitarcraft and songwriting. Those achievements are now illuminated anew by the release of Immortal Randy Rhoads: The Ultimate Tribute (UDR Music) that features Rhoads’ co-writing compositions performed by guest guitarists such as Tom Morello, Dweezil Zappa, George Lynch, Gus G, and Bruce Kulick. Produced…

RADIO AIRPLAY, RECORD SALES, AND MTV ROTATION were once the coveted trifecta by which the music industry measured success. In the global internet age however, a significant online presence and uncompromising entrepreneurship are more likely to represent the gold standard of achievement. By this measure, composer/nylon-string artist Lawson Rollins is a bona fide star. The native-born Tar Heel with the “gotta-see-it-to-believe-it” level of flamenco-flavored chops has garnered millions upon millions of YouTube views for compositions such as “Locomotion,” and “Santa Ana Wind” and created a viral video sensation with his self-described solo nylon-string homage to Van Halen’s “Eruption,” entitled “The Fire Cadenza.” The key to Rollins’ mass appeal is his signature artistic balance between classically influenced compositional refinement, infectious exotic rhythms, and the unbridled intensity of full-on shred. He’s landed…

LET'S TAKE A BREAK from working on specific instrumental techniques this month to discuss some ideas about performing. This is a very significant topic, especially for the many technically skilled guitarists/singers who never gain recognition because shortly after they step onto a stage, their audiences either fall asleep or leave. The importance of holding the attention and interest of an audience is often underestimated, and many fine musicians are overlooked because they lack that ability. I realize that many of you play primarily for your own amusement, and have no plans to get up ontoa concert or nightclub stage to do your thing. However, someday you probably will be asked to give an informal performance — either at a party or for a small gathering of friends — and the…

Anxious Echo $125 I love pedalboards, but mammoth planks make it extremely tough to navigate cramped club stages, so I’m a huge fan of multi-purpose pedals that let me bring a more compact board to those kind of gigs. Case in point: the dual-effect fuzz/delay Anxious Echo—originally made for Coliseum’s Anxiety’s Kiss album, and with artwork by the band’s guitarist/vocalist Ryan Patterson. This restless beast became one of my favorite solo and noise effects, as the fuzz is ferocious, there’s tons of gain on tap, and the delay section is articulate without being too bright. I was initially concerned that you can’t adjust the wet/dry level of the delay, but the preset level turned out to be extremely comfortable. It’s on the wet side, so the delay sounds are audible…

Fuzz Master General $175 Earthquaker has developed its own take on the circa-1968 Ace Tone Fuzz Master FM-2 Professional Fuzz Machine. This is an octave fuzz with spitting grit and some serious octave effects. Level and Fuzz knobs act as expected, while Tone emulates the original by cutting lows as it’s turned up. The Tone control interacted in interesting ways with the octave to create everything from smooth flute-like sounds to more reedy, oboe-style tonalities. The 3-position mini-toggle offered still more variation, with wooly germanium on the left, and sagging but focused silicon on the right. The much louder, no-diode clipping setting in the middle was perfect for adding a pristine octave to an overdriven amp. With all the eccentric fuzz fun of the Ace Tone and none of the…

Aurora Reverb $179 Keeley’s first foray into ambience offers 24-bit, studio-quality reverb, and, despite its small size, the Aurora gives you control over pre-delay (Slapback), size (Decay), dampening (Warmth), and wet/dry (Blend). A toggle selects either a hall, plate, or room reverb. True bypass meant the decay trails were cut off when I turned off the pedal, but unless I need to use this pedal for a momentary effect during a song, that shouldn’t be an issue. With the blend fully on wet, I could detect no trace of the metallic sound that mars some digital reverbs. Even with the damping fully off, the sound remained natural and warm, offering a sonic halo as beautiful as the Borealis. Katana Blues Drive $199 The Katana Blues Drive is designed to sound…

Creamer $199 A reverb pedal can be a godsend when using non-reverb amps, and the Creamer’s Hall, Room, and Spring settings (and complement of Reverb, Decay and Tone controls) have you covered for a variety of applications—from classic amp ’verb to natural-sounding room reverberation to huge spatial reflections. For my initial tests, I ran it into the front end of an Orange Rockerverb 100 head. Using the Spring setting with the amp set clean, the Creamer provided a decent approximation of a spring tank, adding airiness and dimension to the sound. Turned to high Reverb and Decay settings to get into the surf zone, the Creamer tended to lose a little volume (and here’s a where a Volume control would be handy), but that wasn’t an issue when cranking up…

THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS GROOVY-LOOKING guitar is that it is, well, groovy looking. The manufacturer is questionable, but my educated guess would be that it is not made in Canada by the Prestige Guitar Company—even though that’s what it says on the headstock. The neck plate is stamped “Japan,” and it was more likely made by Kawai or Guyatone or perhaps Kent in the mid 1960s. I bought this guitar completely based on how it looks, but as mediocre guitars from the ’60s go, this one is not so bad. WEIRDO FACTOR The shape of the guitar and its huge, gaudy headstock are not the only selling points here. The way the wood on the top is layered makes for a very original-looking finish. There’s a veneer of dark…

IN MY YEARS OF GUITAR repair I have seen so many fixes for non-problems. I used to think trying to stabilize a trem was one of them until I tried a few devices that worked. They helped make the insane task of stringing and tuning a floating bridge bearable for the average guitarist, not to mention keeping the other strings in tune while bending. It turns out a well-made trem stabilizer is a nice thing to have in the arsenal. Some bridge makers were clever enough to include a stabilizing system, either installed or available as an option. Sometimes these were a little clumsy, sometimes not. Some manufacturers that offered these include Steinberger, Kahler, and Wilkinson. On the newer Kahler Flat Mount there is a cam locking screw to lock…

MY BELOVED PARTNER OF 20 YEARS I S A delicious “Frankenstein” Telecaster gem that I bought secondhand for about 500 bucks from a store in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I was told the body was a Charvel, and it’s semi-hollow, so it’s easy to jump around with. The neck and hardware are Fender, and the pickups are hot. It’s a sweet workhorse. It can sing some creamy lines, or spit out toxic sludge. The picture behind the bridge is of my great-grandma Lizzy rocking a banjo.…

Here’s an insight from the pages of Jim and Dara Crockett’s new book, Guitar Player: The Inside Story of the First Two Decades of the Most Successful Guitar Magazine Ever [Backbeat/Hal Leonard]—a collection of oral histories from the editors, photographers, artists, and advertisers who were in the magazine’s orbit during that era. “Guitar Player was the first national magazine that actually took our kind of music seriously. We’ve all come to take for granted that the guitar is probably the most popular instrument of all time. But this wasn’t always the case, and Guitar Player certainly helped our cause. It was a big deal to get respect from a national mag that was geared to serious guitarists. “The GP interviewers were knowledgeable about the guitar—good questions, good conversations. The magazine certainly gave…

LEVY’S LEATHERS GUITAR STRAPS Goodies Distressed M17GRD, M17CXD, and M17SRD lined soft suede guitar straps. Available in dark brown only. Price $130 to $139 retail More Info levysleathers.com ICONIC SOUND THE LIGHTLEAD Goodies Ideal for any electric stringed instrument. Uses analog fiber-optic technology to provide zero capacitance. This achieves analog signal transmission with no compression and faithful reproduction of the instrument tone, whatever the length of cable. Runs off a single AAA battery at each end giving around 9 hours of playing time. Price $147 retail More Info iconicsound.com FISHMAN NEO-BUSTER SOUNDHOLE PICKUP Goodies Combines Fishman’s popular Neo-D single-coil pickup with a feedback-fighting soundhole cover. The flexible integrated soundhole cover reduces the buildup of energy inside the soundhole that often leads to uncontrollable howling when playing at higher volume. Low…

King Fuzz $263 Rhys Stubbs formed Bigfoot in 2009, after working as an audio designer for Britain’s Vortexion— a studio-gear maker favored by the late sonic iconoclast Joe Meek. Some of the Meek mystique must have rubbed off, because these vibey, English-made pedals—all with buffered bypass (to best accommodate different pickup varieties and retain high-frequency content when inactive)—are ferociously unafraid of making one hell of a magnificent racket. The King Fuzz is a good soldier for the cause, because it serves up a roaring, sustaining blast of buzz when the Gain is cranked up. However, the King’s dynamic sensitivity to pick attack, guitar volume, and its own knob settings makes it capable of so much more than just inspired rage. This rowdy royal can also deliver demented grit, smooth distortion,…

H9 MAX $699 The H9 Max is like having a robot that can be controlled by an app— and it made me stop grumbling about my honking-big iPhone 6 Plus barely fitting in my pocket. You see, when my phone’s Bluetooth pairs with the H9, and I see all the controls for editing effects, I’m glad the screen is big. Although an Android app for the H9 has not been released yet, you can edit patches with a Windows or Mac PC via USB, and you can also make adjustments using the buttons on the unit itself. The iOS app is so beautifully high-tech looking and so easy to use, however, that I would wonder why anyone would struggle with the manual and the pedal’s interface. Eventide ships the H9…

Anodized Brown Distortion $130 Designedby Swedishpedalmaker Bjorn Juhl Forstarker of BJF Electronics, and manufactured by Japan’s One Control (most known for its switching devices), these mini pedals are sleek, shiny, lightweight, colorful, good sounding, true bypass, and powerable by a 9-volt battery (quite a feat given the small space) or a power adaptor. The Brown delivers a strong, focused distortion that’s “brown,” but never gooey, fuzzy, or overbearing. Even with the Gain knob all the way up, notes sizzle with articulation and precision. The tone cleans up nicely, too—just like a tube amp. In fact, at an Allman Brothers tribute gig, the Brown brilliantly captured Warren Haynes’ massive lead tone on “Soulshine.” Granith Grey Booster $130 According to One Control’s website, their goal was to create the leastnoisy, cleanest boost…

Double Rock! $369 Created for J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr., the Double Rock! comprises of two Z.Vex Box of Rock distortion circuits paired with two Z.Vex Super Hard On Booster circuits, and the combination delivers an absurd amount of tonal options. You can start by using the Subs switch to select a transparent overdrive (setting #1), Cobainapproved grunge (#2), or beefy crunch (#3). Then, set one side of the pedal for light overdrive, and the other for butt-rock crunch. Feeling crazy? Kick in both distortions at once for spongy compression and tons of sustain (as well as added noise). And this is just one example of the infinite power this dual bad boy can throw down. Fuzz Factory 7 $449 The Maneki-neko graphic on the FF7 indeed bestows good fortune…

I LIKE TO WIND TWO OR three music boxes at the same time, and see if I can hear any interesting or haunting harmonies, or maybe some cool note sequences. I must be strange, because I think it sounds beautiful when different songs are playing at the same time with that sweet little instrument. When I was writing my song, “End of the Beginning,” it had started with a simple and gentle piano introducing the main theme. It then built into a big orchestral thing, playing with the theme in grand major keys and dramatic minor keys. After all of that bombardment of sound, I needed it to finish with something gentle, to bring the end back to the beginning. A brief aside: I have noticed that many metal players…