Watch Doug Munro play “Serenade in Blue” from his album, The Harry Warren Songbook, using a Dell’Arte Legend 503 built by John Kinnard. The guitar is a close copy of Django Reinhardt’s Selmer #503; its neck is walnut while the sides and back are rosewood, and the top is ladder-braced spruce with petite bouche (small hole). It’s equipped with a Bigtone pickup. Read our review of his new album in the August issue “Hit List” section. READ NOW!
The Band’s double-LP Rock of Ages was released in August 1972, their first live collection – as well as their last before they disbanded with 1978’s The Last Waltz. As phenomenal as their finale show was, guest stars and all, the earlier collection captured them at a creative peak and was a much more characteristic …
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In 1991, Robert Mugge made the documentary Deep Blues, with the help of journalist Robert Palmer, who wrote the book of the same name, and David Stewart of the Eurythmics. After its release, Mugge got a call from Bruce Iglauer, president of Alligator Records, and the following year, Mugge’s Pride and Joy: The Story of …
The husband-and-wife duo Darin and Brooke Aldridge are one of the hottest acts on the traditional bluegrass/Americana scene. The couple’s sixth release, Snapshots, is a musical scrapbook of contemporary bluegrass, traditional country and gospel tunes marked by spirited picking. We recently spoke to Darin about the album. What instruments did you use on Snapshots? A …
Thirty-Five years ago, Ibanez was a scrappy upstart guitar company that dared to challenge the big boys at Gibson and Fender. Today, is a dominant force in the guitar universe. • Ibanez was – and still is – a brand of Hoshino, a Japanese company with a U.S. headquarters in Philadelphia. In the mid ’70s, …
The guys visit Victoria Amplifiers founder Mark Baier to discuss the differences between tweed and blackface Fenders, how transformers affect overall sound, and differences in preamp tubes.
Taylor 814ce Price: $129.95 (list) Info: www.b-blender.com Why aren’t we guitarists ever happy to have our guitars sound like guitars? We wanted to emulate a trumpet’s blare, so we invented the wah pedal. We had to have an organ’s warbling vibrato, so we cobbled together bizarre tremolo effects and rotating-speaker systems. And we wanted a …
In the world of vintage guitars, people tend to use the words “blond” and “natural” interchangeably to describe a finish with no stain or pigment. However, in some cases, blond is a distinct color, different from natural. The standard for blond finish is, of course, “Tele blond,” the yellowish finish that Fender applied in a …
Moniker Dixie Solid Price: $849 (base) Info: www.monikerguitars.com. Moniker Guitars recently launched a line of customizable electric guitars that players design using an online configurator. Customizing a Moniker begins with selecting among three body types: the LP-style Reedsdale, Tele-style Dixie, or Jaguar-style Zuma (all in alder and available as semi or solid). From there, options …
Keeley Engineering Compressor Pro Price: $299 (list) Contact: www.robertkeeley.com Studio-quality dynamic control at your feet is a luxury that guitarists haven’t seen before. With the Compressor Pro, Keeley Engineering has managed the impressive feat (sorry) of stuffing a studio compressor’s performance and feature set into a stompbox. Thoughtful design choices make this ideal for guitarists …
Jamie Kime’s first solo record, Alleys, displays a mix of lush guitar tones, poignant soundscapes, and evocative panoramas. We recently sat with him to discuss it, and his recent gig touring with Zappa Plays Zappa project, featuring Franks Zappa’s son, Dweezil. Was there a theme when you started recording Alleys? A lot of the tunes …
On June 23 of last year, the blues lost one of its greatest singers with the death of Bobby “Blue” Bland at age 83. Best known for a 20-year run with Duke Records that yielded such classics as “I Pity The Fool,” “I’ll Take Care Of You,” and his reworking of T-Bone Walker’s “Stormy Monday …
Railhammer Hyper Vintage Humbucker Price: $139 list/ $89 direct Info: www.railhammer.com Developed by Joe Naylor of Reverend Guitars, Railhammers are passive humbuckers that use a combination of pole pieces on the treble side and rails on the bass side. It’s an interesting motif with an effective purpose. The Railhammers’s six oversize poles under the treble …
Precision Bass has been offered in a myriad of models in its 50 years of existense, including a number of “reissues.” One of the more intriguing variants was the Elite II, which was introduced in mid-1983, and disappeared when Fender was purchased from CBS in early ’85. While subsequent variants of Precision models would have …
Fans of Wishbone Ash will consider the group’s newest release, Elegant Stealth, the type of innovative guitar music they’ve grown to expect. Since 2004, guitarist/vocalist Andy Powell and his V-shaped instruments have been accompanied by Finnish guitarist Jyrki “Muddy” Manninen. In the liner notes for Elegant Stealth , Powell cites himself as a singer first. …
The Super Jumbo 200 is Gibson’s most celebrated flat-top model, and deservedly so, thanks to its use by cowboy movie stars in the pre-World War II years and by country music stars in the post-war years. The Super Jumbo 100, on the other hand, is one of Gibson’s more obscure models – a status it …
Preamp tubes: three ECC83. Output tubes: four 6550. Rectifier: solidstate Controls: Pre-Amp Volume, Master Volume, Treble, Middle, Bass, Presence. Speakers: four Celestion G12T-75 12″ speakers per cab. Output: approximately 100 watts RMS. Late-’60s plexis might catch the majority of the raves, but the amp many music fans hear in their mind’s ear when they think …
Today’s guitar market is one of extreme preferences. For some, the idea of countless options and exotic woods and craftsmanship is the name of the game. For others, the tendency is more toward “aged” instruments that recall days gone by. What often seem to be missing on this spectrum are instruments that fall somewhere in …
After Lennon-McCartney, the most prolific and interesting songwriter of the British Invasion was the Kinks’ Ray Davies. The only other writer in the running, Pete Townshend, has acknowledged Davies’ clearly evident influence. The Kinks’ 1972 double-album, Everybody’s In Show-Biz, has been reissued in deluxe editions, a double-CD and triple-LP, with additional tracks. The Kinks had …
