ZZ Top’s foundational bassist, Dusty Hill passed away today. Everyone at Vintage Guitar extends their condolences to his family, those in the ZZ universe, and especially his bandmates, Frank Beard and Billy F Gibbons. Thank you for holding down that groovin’ low-end in a lot of great music, Dusty! Photo courtesy of Ralph Arvesen/Wikimedia Commons. Please Leave your comments at facebook or instagram.
This This month we feature Ray Benson’s Asleep at the Wheel, Neal Schon, Styx’s Tommy Shaw and James Young, Paul Gilbert, John Notto, Reverend Peyton, Earl Slick, Jimmy James, and Marc Bonilla, Rusty Young, Ronnie Montrose, Bruford, Julian Lage, John Hiatt and Jerry Douglas, Styx, Peter Frampton, Paul Gilbert, Tommy Emmanuel, The Who, and many …
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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 …
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Automated Processing Inc. (API) is best-known for its high-end mixing consoles for broadcast and recording, along with the mic preamps, compressors, and EQs it has been making since the ’60s. The company’s discrete analog circuits are sought after for their uncolored sound. The legendary analog EQ and compression circuits in API channel strips recently became …
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As a child of four, Mike Matthews’ mother taught him how to play classical-style piano. Formal lessons followed; the child took to the instrument, and performed at elementary-school concerts from the time he was in first grade. His interaction with the instrument led to one of his fondest – and most prescient – childhood memories; …
Majik Box Paul Gilbert Fuzz Universe Custom Price: $329.99 retail Contact: www.majikboxusa.com Since Dave Simpson and Rob Nishida joined forces to form Majik Box, they’ve been the go-to stompbox company for guitarists like Doug Aldrich, Dave Navarro, James “Munky” Shaffer, and Victor Johnson. Their most popular offering is the Paul Gilbert Fuzz Universe. At Gilbert’s …
For Paul Quinn, music begins and ends with the blues. The soft-spoken guitarist began playing by listening to British blues icons and helped make Saxon one of Europe’s biggest heavy-metal acts. Quinn has been there since the band’s inception in 1976, and it recently released its 20th album, Sacrifice. “It was good to make it,” …
Unlike most amp builders who take up the challenge to create amplifiers that replicate the sounds of the 1960s, Winfield Thomas was actually wielding those sounds as a musician in the mid-’60s. Over the years since then, his amp designs have impressed. He’s created a line of hand-wired beauties utilizing circuit boards, Teflon wire, and …
Tech 21 Boost Pedals Price: $149 each, street Contact: www.tech21nyc.com Tech 21’s new Boost Series of fuzz, overdrive, and distortion pedals offers a compelling concept – premium effects with the ability to deliver a healthy output kick for solos or that big riff to bring it all home. The Boost Fuzz is Tech 21’s take …
In his prime, Howard Roberts played more than 900 studio dates annually and recorded the hippest guitar records of the era. His legion of fans still revere his incalculable influence and musical legacy. Vesta Roberts, who grew up in a family of lumberjacks, gave birth to Howard just three weeks before the Wall Street Crash …
The highly publicized firing of singer Geoff Tate from the band Queensrÿche has divided fans and spawned two touring bands using the name; Tate assembled a group of well-known sidemen, while the remaining members recruited frontman Todd La Torre. Guitarist Michael Wilton’s version of Queensrÿche recently released a self-titled album that marks a return to …
After spending nearly a decade with harp ace Jason Ricci, guitarist Shawn Starski has stepped out with a self-titled album that establishes him as a triple threat, not simply a guitar ace. It’s a position he’s not altogether comfortable with, mostly because, prior to composing its songs, Starski had never written lyrics. “I wrote a …
Ant Phillips was a founding member of Genesis and, along with guitarist/bassist Mike Rutherford, created the signature 12-string acoustic sound that marked the band’s classic albums. Phillips left the group after 1970’s Trespass album to study music, but his ’77 solo debut, The Geese and the Ghost, is regarded as a prog classic. It also …
1962 Ampeg R-12-R Reverberocket Preamp tubes: two 6SL7, two 6SN7 Output tubes: two 6V6, cathode-biased Rectifier: 5Y3 Controls: Volume, Tone, Dimension (reverb), Speed, and Intensity (tremolo) Speakers: Jensen Special Design C12R Output: approximately 18 watts RMS In the view of Ampeg main man Everett Hull, rock and roll was not a musical form to which …
Fuchs Blackjack-21 II Combo Price: $1,750 Info: www.fuchsaudiotechnology.com Andy Fuchs is an authority in the world of guitar amps. One of his great accomplishments has been to closely replicate and refine certain legendary boutique-amp tones. With the Blackjack-21 II, Fuchs Audio Technology makes more accessible what the company has already put within reach of boutique …
Yamaha THR10 Price: $299 Contact: usa.yamaha.com As a rule of thumb, practice amps are a compromise. Blissfully portable, they typically lack tone and features. Yet whether in a bedroom or hotel room, a practice amp should help inspire an artist by making practice more pleasure than chore. Yamaha’s THR10 is a definite step in the …
This is the first in a regular series of exclusive Vintage Guitar online articles where The Kentucky Headhunters’ Greg Martin looks back on influential albums and other musical moments. Next to vintage guitars, record collecting has long been a big passion of mine since 1965 when I bought The Beach Boys 45, “California Girls,” b/w …
Subjective as it is, the term “mojo” usually refers to gear that’s been played-in over the years. Eastwood tries to counter that perception with their cool reissues, two recent examples being the SD-40 Hound Dog and the Classic AC. The former is Eastwood’s take on the Kawais/Teiscos/Kingstons of the 1960s, those infamous Japanese imports with …
This This month we feature Blackberry Smoke, Mark O’Connor, Steve Cropper, Ian Crichton, Jane Getter, Jesse Aycock, Ally Venable, Al Stewart, Cheap Trick, Blackberry Smoke, Tony Joe White, Black Sabbath, Jorma Kaukonen, Southern Culture on the Skids, and many others! Spotify is free, or available without ads via paid subscription. Go to www.spotify.com and search …
With an extensive line of nearly 30 devices, it’s no surprise Wampler Pedals has entries in both the traditional-size and a micro pedal markets – and pedals to cover both ends of your board. Placing a compressor toward the beginning of the signal chain is a typical strategy. And a compact version of the Wampler …
What does it take to be the lead guitarist and musical director for one of pop’s most celebrated duos, transitioning between funk, rock, country, blues, and Cajun styles? Ask Shane Theriot, the Grammy-winning New Orleans native who serves that role with Hall and Oates and on Daryl Hall’s acclaimed television show, “Live From Daryl’s House.” …
