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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!

Classic Instruments

1962 Premier E-727

One of the least un-derstood aspects of American guitar history is the role of musical instrument distributors. It’s one thing to be able to manufacture guitars, but quite another to get them to customers, especially in an era when your purchase was likely to be from a local store or teacher (excepting mail order). Enthusiasts […]

by Michael Wright
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
Classic Instruments

Fixing Tuner Holes in a Rare Gibson

Replacement Plague

I’ve worked on plenty of old Gibsons, but guitars like this 1939 J-55 are rare. It’s only the second one I’ve ever seen, and first I’ve worked on. It was brought to the shop for a neck reset, bridge removal/re-glue, and new frets, nut, saddle, and new tuners. After the difficult repairs were done, I […]

by Dan Erlewine
VG Approved Gear

B&G Guitars’ Caletta Standard Build

Small But Mighty

B&G Guitars are made in Tel Aviv by a talented shop that translates the best traits of traditional guitars into high-quality instruments for today’s player. With the Caletta, their aim was to merge a Stella and a Martin – that is, combine the compact size, playability, and tone of guitars played by early blues fingerstylists […]

Michael Johnny Walker
Artists

Michael Johnny Walker

Vintage Attitude Required

The term “vintage” isn’t always literal when it comes to gear, but it certainly can be used to describe attitude. Michael Johnny Walker has spent his career chasing tone and delivering vintage attitude in spades. The riff-laden, self-titled debut of his newest endeavor, Motobunny, as well as the latest Love Me Nots release, Sucker, both […]

Have Guitar Will Travel

Have Guitar Will Travel 055 – Mark Goldenberg

The new episode of “Have Guitar Will Travel” features guitarist, composer and producer Mark Goldenberg, who studied with Ted Greene and has backed icons including Linda Ronstadt, Peter Frampton, Ringo Starr, Jackson Browne, Al Stewart, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, and many others. Host James Patrick Regan asks Mark about his early influences, his […]

VG Approved Gear

Area 51 The Alienist Voicing Boost

Manmade Tone Monster

Gather ’round, children, for a scary bedtime story. Once upon a time, there was no such thing as a high-gain amp. So, wizards built treble boosters – like the Dallas Rangemaster – to add high-end response. Other sorcerers came up with a Top Boost modification, which they added to the Vox AC30. Then a mad […]

VG Approved Gear

EHX Slammi Plus, Hot Wax

Grease Fire

EHX’s Slammi Plus and Hot Wax pedals are not for the faint of heart. Housed in heavy-duty plastic, the Whammy-shaped Slammi Plus may look like a wah, but it has different tricks in its bag. This polyphonic pitch transposer can shift a note’s pitch plus or minus three octaves and create harmony notes (though it’s […]

Classic Instruments

Gibson’s Depression-Era Exports

Many aren’t aware that some of the archtop guitars Gibson produced during the Depression were marketed under different brand names, including Kalamazoo, Recording King, Cromwell, Fascinator, and Kel Kroyden, among others. These shared similar features and construction techniques with the low-line Gibson-branded instruments such as the L-30 and L-50: a spruce top, mahogany body and […]

Artists

Ray Gomez

A Time for Honor

One of the hottest guitarists to emerge from the mid-’70s fusion scene was Ray Gomez, who first became known through his virtuosic performance on Stanley Clarke’s landmark School Days album. We talked with Ray as he was preparing to release his new album, Honor.   You’ve been working on your new album Honor for the […]

Music

The Beach Boys

Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
Great Vibrations

It’s ironic – and tragic – that Brian Wilson leads off his long-awaited memoir explaining the voices he hears in his head. He’s referring to the mental illness that has troubled his life and career, but he soon segues into the other voices he hears in his head – a near-mystical ability to envision songs […]

Donald Duck Dunn
Artists

Donald “Duck” Dunn

"Duck’s" Gaggle: The Basses of Donald Dunn

Nearly every musician who plays popular music – be it soul, R&B, pop, or the others – has been influenced by Donald “Duck” Dunn. And certainly, every person who has listened to a radio since 1961 has heard his playing. The revered bassist, who passed away in May of 2012, provided the groove on some […]

VG Approved Gear

Singleton Guitars Capella

Shining Bright

Mark Singleton holds the distinction of being a smokin’ guitarist as well as, for the past 24 years, a builder of boutique guitars and basses. One side of the coin influences the other, with Singleton’s real-world playing experiences informing his colorful guitar and bass designs. Located at the simpler end of the Singleton lineup, the […]

Artists

Pop ’N Hiss: Uriah Heep’s Demons and Wizards

Under Its Spell

Hard rock/heavy metal and progressive rock were burgeoning genres in the early ’70s, and music fans by the millions eagerly snapped up albums in both styles. While snobbish “tastemaker” critics despised bands making music in either genre, one band consciously combined them. Uriah Heep’s definitive 1972 album, Demons and Wizards, was their fourth. It hit […]

Classic Instruments

Valco ‘Thunder stick’

Put your gut money on a dark horse every so often, and you might find the rest of the regurgitating bandwagon world awash in your taillights. Every sublime guitar collection needs an old juke joint under-the-radar flamethrower, and the “Thunderstick” delivers the aforementioned wallop with enough kick to blow the scrotus maximus off a charging […]

Classic Instruments

Two Legendary Les Paul Deluxes

Southern Gold

In the late 1960s, Gibson reintroduced the single-cutaway Les Paul based on its classic ’50s model. But, a new version called the Deluxe proved the most popular Les Paul of its time. While the new Les Paul used the same mahogany body and carved maple cap as ’50s Standards and Customs, the Deluxe was made […]

Classic Instruments

The Burke Guitar

The Axe that Time Forgot

For more than 60 years, aluminum has been used as a component in guitar construction. Exactly whose idea it was originally has never been a cut-and-dried matter of fact, but has amply provided cud for the world’s guitar animals to chew upon. In his November ’04 column “The Different Strummer: Al-u-minium!,” VG contributor Michael Wright […]

Artists

Pop ’N Hiss: Eric Johnson

Eric Johnson’s Ah Via Musicom

There were innovative Stratocaster records before Ah Via Musicom, but Eric Johnson’s 1990 opus changed the rules of the game – this was not your father’s funky quack-toned Fender. After the positive reception for 1986’s Tones, Johnson had gathered feedback and pondered his next move. “One thing people told me is that they wanted to […]

Have Guitar Will Travel

Have Guitar Will Travel 063 – Brendan Byrnes

Host James Patrick Regan welcomes guitarist/composer Brendan Byrnes to the latest episode of “Have Guitar Will Travel.” Brendan is a microtonal player who grew up in the Bay Area and attended Berklee College of Music, then moved to Chicago, where he played in The MDR with drummer Matt Walker. They discuss his new album, “2227,” […]

Artists

Tony Rice

1951-2020

Tony Rice, the guitar master and vocalist whose skills and eclecticism took him far beyond his bluegrass roots, died unexpectedly at his North Carolina home on December 25, 2020. He was 69, and had ended his active career in 2013 due to physical issues that prevented him from playing without discomfort.   Deeply influenced by […]

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