All That Remains guitarist Jason Richardson used his signature Ernie Ball Musicman Cutlass 7 Artist to shred some of “F*** Love,” from the band’s new album, “Victim of the New Disease.” Read our review in the May issue. READ NOW!!
Chris Cush plays a few licks on a Tele plugged into a Satellite amp. Read our review of the new release by Chris’ band, Headless Horsemen, in the May issue. READ NOW!!
Music Man Game Changer Price: $2,275 (street) Contact: www.gamechanger.music-man.com Since the introduction of the electric guitar, builders have sought ways to increase the variety of tones that can be had from an instrument; in 1959, Gibson created the Varitone circuit for its ES-345, and in the decades since, virtually every company has attempted some means …
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Establishing the provenance of a vintage guitar can be a daunting task, even for a seasoned pro. In the case of one particular 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard, the investigation unearthed a fascinating story and offers a glimpse into the emerging vintage-guitar market of the 1970s. Once Upon a Time… It’s been almost a quarter …
Charlie Parr makes new music from olden times. And he makes it the old way – not only using just the simplicity of a National resonator, a bottleneck slide, boot-stomping rhythms, and his voice, but also traveling like a modern-day Delta blues man. Instead of Robert Johnson’s Hudson Terraplane, though, Parr is driving – and …
For Andy Summers, it would be easy to compose Police-like music – reggae rhythms, clean/chorus guitar tones, etc. But fans learned to expect the unexpected beginning with his 1982 collaboration with Robert Fripp, I Advance Masked, along with his soundtrack work on the 1986 hit film Down and Out in Beverly Hills, his 1991 jazz-fusion …
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 …
Giffin Vikta Price: $2,295 Contact: www.premierbuildersguild.com Roger Giffin is a guitarmaker to the stars, having built for Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend and John Entwistle, Mark Knopfler, Andy Summers, David Gilmour, and many others. He also ran the Gibson Custom Shop in California for many years before striking out on his own. Now producing his own …
Rick Gessner is a tweed amp enthusiast who has more than made a splash since entering the fray in 2005. His versions of tweed-era Fender classics (with subtle refinements), along with his Spring Thing reverb unit, have been making waves with players from Pat Travers to Brad Paisley. The ValveTrain 205 is Gessner’s interpretation of …
Jack Bruce, an icon of electric bass, died October 25 in Suffolk, England. Best known for his work with Cream in the 1960s, he was born to musician parents in 1943. As a youngster, he underwent formal music training on cello, then shifted to upright bass, and though he fancied jazz and also played guitar …
Although it has never been the favorite guitar of Hawaiian players, National’s Style O, with its shining metal body and tropical imagery, stands today as one of the strongest icons for the Hawaiian music that was the foundation of the resonator guitar’s popularity in the early 1930s. Introduced in 1930, the Style O was the …
Dale Watson remembers well a conversation he once had with Leo Fender. “Leo gave me a guitar, and it was so shiny and new, I said, ‘Well, I just hate to take this out and play it and get it all scratched up.’ And Leo said, ‘Well, then, give it back. I like knowing that …
Aside from witty asides on social issues, natural disasters, and Renaissance history, Adrian Legg’s formidable fingerstyle and deep musicality remain his calling card. His latest album, Dead Bankers, continues the bedazzlement. On “Marco’s Bounce,” you put a piece of foam under the strings to create a percussive effect. I owe the foam trick to [Brazilian …
K775V Kay Jazz II and K5970V Jazz Special Price: $1,495 (K775V Jazz II electric guitar); $1,150 (K5970V Jazz Special electric bass) Info: www.kayvintagereissue.com First heralded for their acoustics and upright basses, Kay made its mark with electric guitars played by Eric Clapton and Paul McCartney. Kay Vintage Reissue recalls that era with its K775V Jazz …
Motörhead bassist/vocalist and heavy metal icon Lemmy Kilmister will, in a few years, be 70. But the enthusiasm for his craft – and the decibel level at which his music is presented – remain undiminished and unimpeded. Kilmister has attempted to maintain the band’s policy of releasing an album a year, and in recent times it has …
KJ Audio Hanwell 50 Price: Head $1,900; cabinet $1,600 Contact: www.kjaudio.com No apologies: Minneapolis-based amp designer Kristopher Johnson’s Hanwell 50 boutique amp is built to rock. The amp was inspired by the four-input, 50-watt Marshall JMP MKII Master Volume amps of the mid ’70s, but Johnson hot-rodded this, modded that, and made his own monster …
Guitar fanatics find inspiration from different players. And if Woody swapping licks and practicing “the ancient art of weaving” with Keef while playing his famous pearl-topped, single-cut Zemaitis gets your juices flowing, one look at Teye’s Master Series Knights Templar just might send a shiver up your spine. When discussing this guitar built by Texas-based …
Amidst the torrent of modern-country anthems praising pickup trucks, beer, bros, and sweet things in tight jeans gushing out of Nashville these days, there’s an undercurrent of stellar music that’s also making waves. Listen hard to the radio and you might even hear it. Jason Isbell’s latest solo shot ranks with his best. His songwriting …
Most dictionaries define “ides” as the middle of a month, based on the Roman calendar. The most famous are the Ides of March, which is also the name of a horn band from Chicago that formed in 1964, with its most famous hit being 1970’s “Vehicle.” Its lead guitarist, Jim Peterik, would go on to …
