Innholdsfortegnelse for Guitarist Annual 2018 i Guitarist Annual 2018

Welcome to a compendium of all that’s rocked our world at Guitarist over the past year. And what a year it’s been. One of the biggest highlights was joining Billy Gibbons, Robben Ford, Walter Trout, Steve Lukather and Lance Lopez on tour in Norway, where they were playing Notodden Blues Festival. There was only one hotel in town and, hospitably, these greats of guitar would call us over to join them at breakfast and lunch. The conversation over the coffee and the croissants was all about guitars and great players past and present – it’s brilliant to know these giants of the fretboard are still as mad about the instrument as any newcomer in the first flush of enthusiasm for all things six-stringed. Nonetheless, with decades of combined experience to…

Originally published October 2016 You and Lance Lopez are both Texas bluesmen. What are the hallmarks of that style? “Well, we could cite the usual list of suspects for inspiration that goes back to that sweet spot from ’49 to 1959. But the blues has a habit of growing back into popularity every 10 years; it changes slightly but that thread of bluesiness somehow manages to remain. Even by contemporary standards, if you listen to our buddy Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys, they call themselves a rock band. But you listen to his singing style and certainly the two of them together, they play pretty much in a bluesy fashion. Same with Royal Blood – you know those two guys? “So, I wouldn’t call Supersonic Blues Machine traditionalists, but…

Originally published October 2016 You’re not on the new album, so how exactly do you fit in with Supersonic’s flying circus? “Fabrizio is a dear friend and [drummer] Kenny Aronoff has done a million sessions over the years. Fabrizio originally asked me to play on the album, but I just wasn’t available at the time, so I couldn’t do the record, but he said, ‘Could you come over and do the show?’ And so I said, ‘Yeah, man.’ After this, I go home and back out on the road with Toto again for a month, then I’m going back out with Ringo again. I have the coolest life ever. I’m so grateful for it every day – I kind of wake up and pinch myself. I’m like, Jesus, man, 40…

The guitar world is still in shock from the death of Allan Holdsworth. Following on from fellow Soft Machine guitarist John Etheridge’s touching obituary in Guitarist, we talked to four guitarists who knew Holdsworth. They share their memories of his stunning playing and try to quantify his legacy – for Allan was so far ahead of his time, in some ways, that even at the last he stood truly alone among the world’s great guitarists. Dazzling, abstract, evocative: the genius of his playing contrasted with Allan’s modest, unassuming persona. NEVILLE MARTEN “I was out at Summer NAMM in Chicago with Allan in June 1986. I was working for SynthAxe at the time and Allan was out there playing on our stand during the day. One evening, we all went out…

Originally published June 2017 Stardom of this magnitude is hard to comprehend for guitar players in 2017. Precious few six-string slingers can hold a candle to their Instagram-generation teen-pop contemporaries, but Brad Paisley is different. Singer, songwriter, TV personality, household name in the USA, he has his own line of boots, clothes and accessories at the US retail giant Boot Barn, and he’s won so many country music awards they just decided it’d be easier for him to host the CMAs instead. A quick check of his recent single release, Today, returns a cool 31 million views on Facebook confirming, should you be in any doubt, that Brad Paisley is colossally famous. Not bad for a guitar picker from West Virginia. Today he’s jetted in to London from Europe where…

DON’T GET AROUND MUCH ANYMORE Gary Taylor and my son Ben played rhythm guitar. Gary plays in my Gypsy jazz quartet, so he is good with the old ‘la pompe’. And although it wasn’t exactly a Django thing, it was leaning towards that at times. It was a sort of feel that I’d heard on Madeleine Peyroux’s first album, and I just always loved this track. Instead of doing it as a straight swing tune it’s got a slightly bluesy melody and we thought maybe it could work with this feel. So we kicked it around and it felt good. Then at the guitar solo, I just wanted to do something slightly sleazy and jazzy-bluesy, and I just got this horrible sound on the amp, had several runs at it…

Given the uniqueness of Gary’s Strat and the scarcity of the new John Cruz replica, we were privileged to be able to get both in the same room to make a plugged-in comparison, playing through a Gear Of The Year-winning Fender ’57 Custom Tweed Twin. Our test pilot was Neville Marten, who had already played Gary’s Red Strat around 10 years ago. Here’s what Nev had to say about how the two guitars compare: “They are very similar in weight – there isn’t an obvious difference in that regard. The neck on the ’61 has worn totally smooth, however. It’s like running our fingers over silk. To say you can ‘feel edges’ on the replica is not correct, because it’s been aged and fettled very skillfully, but 40 years of…

Originally published April 2017 If Carlsberg made offices, to paraphrase a popular beer commercial, they’d probably look like this. Just off Oxford Street, we’re taking it easy in the headquarters of Seven Decades, the show that brings one of Britain’s best vintage guitar collections to the London stage. There’s a vintage Porsche in the garage at the back, a BMX on the wall and scores of vintage guitars, including a 1958 Gibson Les Paul Standard, stored in battered cases on well-lit shelving. But Seven Decades’ vintage Fenders and Gibsons are not playthings nor museum pieces – it’s a working collection of gigging guitars. Every one of the Seven Decades guitars is played at full tilt through classic Fender and Marshall amps as the show romps through 70 years of the…

Originally published November 2016 It’s 1966, and Arbiter Electronics Ltd, captained by Ivor Arbiter – the man responsible for the ‘dropped-T’ Beatles logo and (for better or worse) unleashing karaoke onto Britain – introduces the world of music to its newest arrival, the Fuzz Face: “Fuzz Face is the new fuzz box from Arbiter giving the ultimate in controlled effects,” the sales blurb of the time enthused. “Whilst the new design angle of Fuzz Face is both attractive and amusing, without doubt the keynote of the unit is to be found in its functional construction and operational success… and at the recommended retail price of 8gns is certainly Top Value! The Unit is finished in Red, Black or Hammered Silver.” Certainly radical, nothing before had ever resembled the Fuzz Face.…

“I use a metal slide. It’s a piece of pipe that I got at a plumbing supply place; I bought a 12-foot piece of pipe and had it cut into pieces a little over an inch long. Even today, I still can’t find one in a music store that fits my finger. I use it on my little finger. When I first started playing, there wasn’t anything like that in the stores. I tried a lot of things, like test tubes and lipstick holders and medicine bottles; I used the crystal in my wristwatch – all kinds of things. Then a guy in Denver called up and told me that I should go to a plumbing supply place and try a piece of pipe, because that way you can find…

Phil Hilborne (PH) has been teaching for 38 years, and regular columnist for Guitar Techniques. He teaches all styles, specialising in classic rock/fusion, and played regularly in We Will Rock You. His pupils have gone on to play with artists such as Ronnie James Dio, Brian May, Tal Wilkenfeld, The Australian Pink Floyd, We Will Rock You and Pop Idol… www.philhilborne.co.uk Denny Ilett (DI), a professional musician for 30 years, teaches any style that comes from the blues: jazz, funk, classic rock and pop. His guitar students tend to be rock or blues players who want to add some jazz harmony into their chord and lead playing. Denny is artistic director for the Bristol Jazz & Blues festival and has toured all over the world. dennyilett@gmail.com Geoff Lea (GL) has…

The Green God Difficulty 10 mins per example Tutor: Richard Barrett Gear used: Knaggs SSC, Vox AC15 C1 Peter Green is a name from that classic late 60s/early 70s period that brought us so much beautiful playing – though he didn’t become as well known as his contemporaries Eric Clapton, Paul Kossoff, Jimmy Page, to name a few, possibly because of his well publicised breakdown in the early 70s. That aside, his playing and songwriting during this period inspired all who heard it as he toured with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, replacing Eric Clapton, then the original incarnation of Fleetwood Mac, giving us classics such as Albatross, Need Your Love So Bad and Black Magic Woman – later covered by Carlos Santana, of course. His immaculate phrasing is very difficult to…

Originally published October 2016 The line-up of Supersonic Blues Machine reads like a guitarist’s answer to the Dirty Dozen. Masterminded by ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, the band’s musical muscle is provided by the cyclonic guitar playing of Texan blues-rocker Lance Lopez. As if that weren’t enough, the band’s debut album, West Of Flushing, South Of Frisco, also boasts outstanding performances from Walter Trout, Eric Gales and Robben Ford – while Toto virtuoso Steve Lukather has joined the group’s live act. We join this extraordinary gang of guitarists to talk about tone, technique – and the soul-redeeming, all-healing power of the blues... Like something from the plot of a Spaghetti Western movie, Supersonic Blues Machine – the most intriguing blues supergroup of recent times – was formed when some of guitar’s…

Originally published October 2016 How did you get involved with this meeting of blues minds? “I met Fabrizio for the first time a little over three years ago. He connected me with Mascot Records and I wound up signing with them so that was very nice. He sort of asked me out of the blue if I would be interested in that. Steve Lukather I have known since he was 19 and I don’t even remember how old I was at the time when we first met. I think the only time we have ever played together was just a few years ago. We went to Japan with Bill Evans and Randy Brecker, Soul Bop, and did some shows in Japan. That is the only time we have ever really…

Originally published October 2016 You’ve been through some difficult times, to say the least. Has getting involved with Supersonic Blues Machine spurred your recuperation? “When I got the call from Lance and Fabrizio, I was just coming out of my illness, and when I got out of hospital I had to relearn the guitar. I couldn’t play any more, so I sat down for about a year and practised every day for four or five hours. After I got out, I couldn’t walk. I was determined to play again and then my wife comes in and goes, ‘I just got an email. Are you interested in playing on a record with Billy Gibbons and Eric Gales and Kenny [Aronoff, drummer]?’ – because I did two albums with Kenny. I’m like,…

JAMIE DICKSON: LOOKING GLASS “Fusion should transport you to other realms. Allan’s playing lights up this track with arcs of dazzling invention, expressed with complete freedom.” DAVID MEAD: THE TITLE TRACK FROM ‘METAL FATIGUE’ “Back in the days when I used to teach guitar, I would play this track to my metal students who openly despised jazz fusion and enjoy the look of amazement on their faces as the music unravelled!” NEVILLE MARTEN: ‘4.15 BRADFORD EXECUTIVE’ FROM ‘SAND’ “Allan’s solo glides gloriously through changing landscapes, past imaginary fields, houses, trees and bridges, before slowing to a perfect halt at Bradford’s buffers. Genius.” JASON SIDWELL: ‘PRELUDE’ FROM ‘HARD HAT AREA’ “This is a short piece, but the emotional chord changes and the warm guitar tone are heavenly.” RICHARD BARRETT: ‘BEELZEBUB’ FROM…

When the Chess record label released Chuck Berry’s Maybellene in 1955 a new sound was born. Chuck Berry had cleverly melded an old country tune with some up-tempo rhythm and blues, introduced some lyrics involving a car chase and the deal was done. But it was 1958’s Johnny B Goode that changed the face of popular music forever, with a guitar intro that would echo down the decades, influencing generations of guitar players. Chuck had the pick of the guitar hardware from the 1950s, quickly showing a preference for Gibson’s thinline instruments… 1956 GIBSON ES-350TN & (CIRCA) 1957 GIBSON ES-350T Of all the guitars that Chuck Berry used in his lifetime, two are predominant: the Gibson ES-350T and ES-335. The evolution of the ES-350 really began back in 1940 with…

Originally published January 2017 For thousands of guitarists in the early 60s, a Fiesta Red Fender Stratocaster symbolised a thrilling new era of music. Hank Marvin was the first iconic exponent of the red Strat, coaxing clean tones as lush as a manicured lawn from his famous Fender, but a hard-charging generation of players that followed found the Strat could scream as well as sigh – and the late, great Gary Moore was one of the finest among them. His ’61 Fiesta Red Strat is synonymous with his blistering blues-rock style, yet it almost went to prog god Greg Lake – while the origin of its distinctive milky-red finish, which is not a factory Fiesta Red, still holds mysteries. As Fender releases an exacting Custom Shop replica of Gary’s famous…

All Strats are the same, right? If only. It’s a testament to the design of this all-time classic that models of a similar price level can sound, play and feel, remarkably different. You find a good one then, dammit, you play another that trumps it. Throw in the diverse range of styles that the Strat has excelled in, in the hands of a diverse number of players, and you have a seemingly simple instrument that can be annoyingly slippery to define. It can be just as hard, if not harder, to find a Strat that suits you. So with just 27 of these £8k Gary Moore tributes coming to Europe, how does it fit into this world? This writer was dispatched to Fender’s Artist centre at John Henry’s rehearsal complex,…

Originally published February 2017 For the likes of Robben Ford, Larry Carlton, Michael Landau, Sonny Landreth, Eric Johnson, Joe Bonamassa, John Mayer, SRV and Lowell George, this would have been just another day. All either current or past owners of the fabled Dumble, they used the near-mythical amps to sculpt their sounds and playing to a level of artistry forever embedded in six-string history. For me, not so much. A confirmed enthusiast player at best, the sound of my heroes has nevertheless fuelled a passion for inspirational sounds. I’ve been lucky enough to play pretty much all the classics along the way so far, but quality time with a genuine Overdrive Special by Dumble has eluded me… until now. A couple of hours with one, uninterrupted in a studio, where…

You want a Fuzz Face, but you’ve no clue where to begin. Well, it’s really all about the transistors… The Dunlop JDF2 Fuzz Face Distortion (the red one) is the modern production version of the original germanium transistor Fuzz Face in this piece. It offers the relatively soft and smooth fuzzy goodness that’s so instantly recognisable. If you want something a little more refined, look for anything boasting NOS NKT275 germanium transistors... though tread with caution as careful component selection is more critical than the simple fact that they’re old! Changing germanium for silicon moves you forward in Hendrix’s fuzzvolution, to whit a pair of BC108 silicon transistors lie at the heart of the JHF1 Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face Distortion (the blue one). They’re typically less ‘smooth’ and compressed than…

There are no answers, only better questions. It’s a mantra that becomes ever more relevant the longer you stay on this journey towards ‘better’ guitar tone… even though there’s no such definable thing. The whole subject is a massive grey area of floor, suspended on joists of subjectivity and contention between the black and white walls of ‘sound’ and ‘no sound’. And on it we dance. How to make sense of it? Well, you can start by asking better questions: instead of asking, “How do I sound better?”, let’s ask a better question: “What is it about a guitar tone that makes me feel happy and inspired to play more?” This feature is all about breaking down that huge question into more detail, and equipping you with you a practical…

The Amazing Mr Johnson Difficulty 20 mins per example Tutor: Richard Barrett Gear used: Fender Strat, Whirlwind Gold Box Distortion, Vox AC15 C1 ERIC JOHNSON’s playing is complex enough to be the subject of several headlines, but for now I’ve chosen to concentrate on his soloing style. Eric’s approach to the blues/pentatonic scales is unique, stacking up sax-type lines – often in odd-numbered groups – across the beat. Though some of Eric’s angular, intervallic skips sound modern, there is little doubt his inspiration is taken from the blues, particularly Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck for the single-note passages. However, it would be remiss not to mention Jimi Hendrix, who inspires some of the wilder flourishes, plus some of the chord voicings Eric uses in his accompaniments. Famous for his attention…

Originally published October 2016 There’s something joyous in the Supersonic Blues Machine album, as well as hard-hitting. Do you feel the blues has been a redemptive force in your life? “Absolutely. The beautiful thing about the blues is that it’s so personal and so emotive and it taps into that place. I’ve definitely found it to be healing and absolutely redemptive. And to hear Walter’s struggles about coming through his illness and learning to play guitar again… you’re thinking to yourself, ‘Wow, this is Walter Trout. How does Walter Trout have to learn to play guitar again?’ But he did it. And I think that was also part of his healing from his illness. I truly believe that. That drive and that inspiration to get back to where he was…

Example 1 HERE’S a little phrase that Robben says he likes using to kick off a solo. We’re in E, and this is the E minor pentatonic (E G A B D). Robben bends the G note (minor 3rd) slightly sharp to approach the G# that’s in the underlying chord. Example 2 APPROACHING the change to the IV chord (A), Robben uses almost exactly the same line again, but this time he ends it with the A and E notes to fit the new A chord. Example 3 FOR this lick, you’ll need to use fingerpicking or hybrid picking in order to play those palm-muted open E notes under the high licks. The doublestop phrase is built around the notes of E7 (E G# B D). Example 4 AS Robben…

SUPERSONIC BLUES MACHINE www.filesilo.co.uk/guitaristannual2018 Example 1 WALTER starts by showing us a typical lick that he’d play in the 3rd fret position in G. He’s using minor pentatonic (GBbCDF) with the addition of the flat 5th (Db). Example 2 HERE, the root (G) is under his first finger on the B string. Many classic BB King licks work around this position, and Walter starts with a BB-influenced line using major pentatonic (GABDE), shifting down to the 3rd-fret minor pentatonic shape we saw in Ex1. Example 3 HERE’S another interesting way to blend major and minor pentatonic ideas. Walter starts at the 8th fret again, and his three-note pattern is major pentatonic. He then simply moves the whole shape up three frets, and all the notes are from G minor pentatonic.…

Originally published August 2017 Wilko Johnson rose to notoriety in the 1970s as a founding member of the maverick, back-tobasics rock ’n’ roll band Dr Feelgood – his trademark no-nonsense guitar chops shooting straight from the hip in contrast to a soon-outdated backdrop of musical grandiosity. Having left the band in 1977, he went on to form Solid Senders, before joining The Blockheads a few years later. Meanwhile, in between carving out his own style as a session player for Roger Daltrey, The Clash and Madness, longserving Blockheads bassist Norman Watt-Roy began a musical partnership with Wilko, which has – against the odds – survived to this day, as the pair have now been touring and recording together for more than 30 years. With a new album currently in progress…

Charles Edward Anderson Berry was born into a large middle-class family in St Louis, Missouri on 18 October 1926, the fourth of six children to Martha and Henry Berry. Henry was deacon of the Baptist church in the area of St Louis called The Ville, where the family lived. Martha was a school headmistress, which meant that Chuck and his siblings enjoyed a relatively prosperous upbringing contrary to that of so many black (and white) families in the 1920s and 1930s. Chuck displayed an interest in music and poetry from a very young age and, encouraged by his parents, progressed quickly, making his first public appearance in 1941 at the age of 15, while still at high school. The song he chose, Confessin’ The Blues by Jay McShann, was a…

Originally published June 2017 FEATURING BRIAN MAY PETER FRAMPTON MARTY WILDE BILL NELSON ANDY POWELL, WISHBONE ASH PHIL MANZANERA, ROXY MUSIC MARTIN TAYLOR DARRELL HIGHAM STEVE HACKETT STEVE LUKATHER CARL VERHEYEN, STEVE HOWE, YES GUTHRIE GOVAN JOHN JORGENSON PHIL HILBORNE DAVE DAVIES GORDON GILTRAP RICHARD HAWLEY Hank Marvin’s new album, Without A Word, is one of the best of his 16 solo releases so far. Co-produced by Hank with son Ben, it brims with beautifully played instrumental versions of some of the ex-Shadow’s favourite melodies. Most feature Ben and Hank’s Gypsy jazz cohort Gary Taylor on acoustic rhythm guitars, with a production that’s modern, crisp and instantly pleasing. Hank is on top form, bringing every nuance of his envious melodic style to bear, with guitar tones both familiar and surprising.…

“The first time I saw this guitar was in a hotel room in London with Gary and Graham [Lilley]”, recalls Guitar Techniques editor and Guitarist contributor Neville Marten, who interviewed and jammed with Gary many times over the years and came to know him quite well. “One funny detail was that I turned up and Gary was wearing a denim shirt. I walked in and he said, ‘Fucking hell, Neville. I put a denim shirt on especially, because you always wear denim.’ Instead, I was wearing some poncy white shirt with black spots on it, which spoiled his joke – he liked to take the piss out of me, although always in a good-humoured way. By coincidence, I got up this morning and, without thinking about it, put a denim…

Originally published February 2017 Backstage at Charleston Music Hall, South Carolina, Steve Vai is surveying a battle-scarred electric guitar. The instrument has plainly seen better days. The chipped white finish reveals the ravaged alder beneath. The neck has already been replaced twice. Ostensibly, it’s an unlikely choice for Vai: a multi-platinum star whose website lists a 138-strong guitar collection. But to those who know, this is Evo, the model that Vai fans will crane their necks for in an hour, and the most famous member of the Ibanez JEM family. “It’s beat to shit,” Vai informs Guitarist, “but I’ll be playing it again tonight.” If Evo’s lifespan is astonishing, so too is the apparent immortality of the JEM series. Thirty years have passed since news of Vai’s signature model raced…

Originally published May 2017 “You had to be able to play a lot of different things in the clubs or you’d get killed” JOHNNY WINTER John Dawson Winter III was born in Beaumont, Texas on 23 February 1944. He began playing guitar via the unusual route of turning first to the clarinet and then ukulele, settling on the instrument that was to lead him to worldwide renown around the age of 11. His first experience of performing was with his brother Edgar, initially as an Everly Brothers-inspired duo and then, at the age of 14, in his first band, Johnny And The Jammers. During his formative years, he was exposed to a vast style of music. “I think that’s what I liked about growing up there; you could just hear so…

Everyone agrees that the guitar is not an instrument that gives instant returns. You might be able to get a tune out of a keyboard after just a few lessons, but playing a blistering solo on a guitar takes years of practice. It’s a case of blood, sweat and tears as we search for enlightenment in our quest to achieve that easy fluency that we witness in all the top players. But even the Olympians had to start at base camp in their struggle for the summit – it’s just that some seem to be gifted with golden wings while the rest of us endure boots of lead. So, how do those knights of knowledge – the guitar teachers – pass on their skills to their students? What are the…

The Man Upstairs Difficulty 10 mins per example Tutor: Richard Barrett Gear used: Knaggs SSC, Vox AC15C1, Boss DS-1 and SD-1 (modded by www.pedalmods.com) If there’s a more influential guitarist out there, I’m not sure who it is… Of course, the concept of players copying solos and licks is not unusual, but when you consider how many modern players still quote Chuck Berry licks pretty much note for note, that’s something unique. Check out almost any solo by Steve Jones or Angus Young to start with, plus you won’t have to look long for lots more. Of course, Chuck wasn’t just a soloist, he was a writer too, inspiring The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and even The Beach Boys. At first using a bigger-bodied Gibson semi (an ES-350T) on the…