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Bryan Beller: Aristocratic Riffs

Bryan Beller and his Lull Custom BBMF5 demonstrate what it takes to keep up with Guthrie Govan and Marco Minneman in their scary-good fusion trio, The Aristocrats. Bryan and his four- and five-string basses help the band tackle challenging instrumentals without losing sight of the song; think modern-day Dixie Dregs or fusiony Satch/Vai. Here, he plays “Aristoclub” (from their latest album, “Duck”) while plugged into his touring rig – a Gallien-Krueger MB Fusion preamp, GK 2001RB power amp, and two GK RBH410 speaker cabinets. In-between are a Boss OC-2 Octave, Digitech Bass Driver, Xotic Effects EP Booster, and a Demeter Opto-Compulator. Catch our interview with Bryan in the April issue. Read Now!

Bryan Beller: Aristocratic Riffs

Bryan Beller and his Lull Custom BBMF5 demonstrate what it takes to keep up with Guthrie Govan and Marco Minneman in their scary-good fusion trio, The Aristocrats. Bryan and his four- and five-string basses help the band tackle challenging instrumentals without losing sight of the song; think modern-day Dixie Dregs or fusiony Satch/Vai. Here, he plays “Aristoclub” (from their latest album, “Duck”) while plugged into his touring rig – a Gallien-Krueger MB Fusion preamp, GK 2001RB power amp, and two GK RBH410 speaker cabinets. In-between are a Boss OC-2 Octave, Digitech Bass Driver, Xotic Effects EP Booster, and a Demeter Opto-Compulator. Catch our interview with Bryan in the April issue. Read Now!

VG Approved Gear

Universal Audio Max and Del-Verb

Smart Stomps

After rolling out several “amp-in-a-box” pedals last year, Universal Audio is back with a fresh line of stompboxes to help guitarists groove. The Max Preamp/Dual Compressor gives models of famous compressors, with three compressor circuits – the classic DynaComp pedal capable of squashed, chicken-pickin’ sonorities, and two studio favorites, the LA-2A and FET 1176, which […]

by Pete Prown
Artists

Fretprints: Steve Khan

Khan-sequential Guitar

Steve Khan is an internationally acclaimed guitarist with a career spanning more than 50 years. Japan’s Jazz Life proclaimed him one of the 22 greatest jazz guitarists and Musico Pro’s Antonio Gandia praised him as “the voice of the guitar in Latin Jazz.” He has been making waves as a solo artist since 1977, collaborated […]

by Wolf Marshall
Artists

J.D. Simo

Playing for Elvis

Psych-blues guitar maestro J.D. Simo was the wizard behind the guitar work heard on Elvis, the new Baz Luhrmann film starring Tom Hanks and Austin Butler. Unlike the actors who portrayed a real-life character, Simo recorded parts embodying Scotty Moore, James Burton, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Reggie Young, Hank Garland, Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, Tommy Tedesco, […]

by Oscar Jordan
Artists

Johnny Nicholas

Musical Polyglot

Considering the varied musicality of Austin, Texas, it’s no wonder singer/songwriter Johnny Nicholas makes his home in the Texas capitol. A native of Rhode Island, he listened to R&B in the late ’50s and later gravitated to more-traditional blues and folk. His first guitar was a Stella acoustic acquired in 1961 for “$15, with the […]

Classic Instruments

Gibson Copper Iridescent Les Pauls

All That Glitters

Like large celestial bodies, some guitar collectors have a gravity that draws objects to them. In 2016, rare custom-color Les Pauls began entering Joe Bonamassa’s orbit. Brought to Gruhn Guitars, an oddball brown Les Paul consigned by its owner in Minnesota caught the attention of a web-surfing Bonamassa. More fascinated than interested, he sent a […]

Artists

Ellen Harper

Music is the Family Business

“Ben likes to joke that this album had a lifetime of pre-production,” Ellen Harper says of Childhood Home, her collaboration with her Grammy-winning son. A spare rhythm section, Ben’s Weissenborn slide, guitar, dulcimer, and Autoharp, and Ellen’s acoustic guitar and banjo provide the subtle bed for the beautiful mother/son harmonies on 10 unapologetically folkie originals. […]

Artists

Carson Creation

A “Test Pilot’s” Personal Fender Stratocaster

An itinerant Western music guitarist who befriended Leo Fender and other employees at his up-and-coming company in the early ’50s, Bill Carson (1926-2007) was the “test pilot” for the Fender Stratocaster prototype. His input led Fender to make significant changes to the guitar compared to the slab-bodied Telecasters; among Carson’s ideas were the body contours, […]

Music

Rick Holmstrom

See That Light

After 13 years as soul/gospel/civil rights legend Mavis Staples’ guitarist and bandleader, Rick Holmstrom has earned the nickname from Staples’ herself as “Pops Jr.” He’s also played alongside Rod Piazza, William Clarke, and Johnny Dyer over the past three decades, as well as backing Jimmy Rogers and Booker T. on projects. Yet as fans know, […]

Carvin’s GH24 Greg Howe Signature
VG Approved Gear

Carvin’s GH24 Greg Howe Signature

Super Unleaded

After decades of jumping from one guitar manufacturer to another, Greg Howe recently began working with Carvin (more specifically, Kiesel) on a signature guitar. Carvin passed manufacture and sale of its guitars and basses to Kiesel Guitars. The reason for the change isn’t immediately obvious, though it makes more sense if you know that Carvin […]

Artists

Dominic Miller’s Tasty “Mi Viejo”

Sting Guitarist’s Serene Harmonic Expressionism Using his new artist tribute model classical (the label says “1/1”!) made by K. Yairi, Dominic Miller plays “Mi Viejo,” a track from his new album, “Vagabond.” Recorded in Pernes-les-Fontaines, it reflects the influence of nature and the climate of the Mediterranean region, evoked with help from his Yairi Torres […]

Return of the Trashmen
Artists

Return of the Trashmen

Bird Is Still The Word

Surf’s up – again! Thanks to the prodding of guitarist/impresario Deke Dickerson, The Trashmen recently recorded their first album in 25 years. “I was an obsessed fan,” Dickerson says of the band, whose 1963 hit “Surfin’ Bird” vaulted it to near-legendary status. “They were doing rockabilly mixed with surf, and it was unique in that […]

VG Approved Gear

Zeppelin Design Labs Cortado MkIII

Zeppelin Design Labs Cortado MkIII contact microphone can record everything from acoustic guitars to a train bridge with a frequency range of 23 hertz to 40 kilohertz. It combines a piezo transducer with phantom-powered preamp and attaches to nearly anything with available clips and adhesives. DIP switches control a 10db pad and bass boost circuit. […]

Andrew Hendryx
Lessons

Andrew Hendryx – Lesson: G Blues Scale

Explore the G blues scale with acclaimed mandolinist Andrew Hendryx. Originally appeared on a Facebook Live Lesson on Sunday, April 5th, 2020. Keep up with Andrew HERE!

Artists

Pop ’N Hiss: King’s X’s Gretchen Goes To Nebraska

Faith, Hope & Pain

By the final year of the ’80s, King’s X was a powerhouse of curiosity cleaving its way through the harmonic torso of a changing rockscene propelled by drummer Jerry Gaskill’s backbet prog, Dug Pinnick’s blunt-force basslines and come-to-Jesus recitations, and guitarist Ty Tabor’s inspired Drop D experiments. As the follow-up to 1988’s Out Of The […]

Music

Carl Bradychok and Don Leady

It Feels So Right and Poppy Toppy Gone
Roots Rock Generations

Those once considered the young guns of roots rock (Deke Dickerson, Dave Biller, Joel Paterson) are now “middle-aged.” So it’s encouraging to know that there’s a new generation of roots revivalists coming up – and at least one oldster still setting stages on fire. Michigan’s Carl Bradychok, 25, cut his first rockabilly album at 13 […]

Artists

Phil Chen

1946-2021

His business card read “Phil Chen De Bassman,” and his picks had “OD” after his name, standing for the Order of Distinction award he received in 2014 for his contributions to Jamaican music. But Phil Chen’s reach went far beyond the instrument or his homeland. Best known for playing on Jeff Beck’s landmark Blow By […]

VG Approved Gear

ESP GL-56

Is it Really Vintage?

Like the “aged” guitars crafted by Fender and Gibson, this ESP solidbody looks like an ancient road warrior, one that’s gigged from Texas to Tijuana and back again, 200 nights a year. The GL-56 is actually a fresh entry in ESP’s line of George Lynch guitars, this one sporting the appearance of a modded old […]

Artists

Rick Vito

Disciples Of Greeny

A Grammy-nominated guitarist with an enviable career, Rick Vito has played with everyone from Bonnie Raitt to John Mayall and appeared on hundreds of recordings. He even did a stint in Fleetwood Mac. As a proud disciple of Peter Green, in February of 2020, Vito fronted the Mick Fleetwood & Friends Celebrate the Music of […]

VG Approved Gear

Guild’s B-240EF

Stop Your Frettin’

It would be easy to look at the price of Guild’s B-240EF and assume it’s just another low-end acoustic/electric bass – except that it plays like a much more expensive four-string and is a blast to explore. Who might want a four-string acoustic fretless? If a traditional electric fretless conjures images of jazz-rock fusion bassists […]

Artists

Ryan Carraher

Night Music

Jazz guitarist Ryan Carraher defines “vocturnal” as “a portmanteau of the words ‘nocturnal’ and ‘voyage.’ It’s a fitting title for his first album given that most of its songs were composed at night. An intoxicating excursion through the harmonic undertow of contemporary jazz, it has a dark sophistication and melodic maturity that showcases the 23-year-old […]

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