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Pete Prown
PRS Silver Sky
Stratospheric
Paul Reed Smith has for years experimented with Leo-inspired concepts, and his newest guitar, conceived in collaboration with rocker John Mayer, lands squarely in that traditional single-coil solidbody arena. But while the Silver Sky may resemble the venerable Fender archetype, it has Smith’s design fingerprints all over it. Sure, some of its specs are “familiar”
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Pete Prown
Toto: 40 Trips Around the Sun
Toto is one of those love ’em or hate ’em bands – you’re a fan of their intricate pop-rock, or not. Just out, this solid greatest hits package is spiced with three new tracks, all of them good. Kicking things off is “Alone,” offering jazz-approved chord clusters and a radio-ready chorus. Naturally, space is provided
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Pete Prown
Al Di Meola: Opus
At this point in his career, Al Di Meola easily moves between his cranked jazz-rock mode or quieter Latin-world fusion. This latest explores the latter, with compositions that delve into South American, Spanish, and Italian moods. In contrast to his high-powered fusion, Di Meola mostly deploys acoustic nylon-string, but brings out electric for counter melodies
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Pete Prown
Led Zeppelin: Goin’ To California
How the West Was Won
The members of Led Zeppelin were of course British, but loved American culture and had a special relationship with southern California – both for epic gigs at the L.A. Forum and Long Beach Arena, and infamous debauchery at the so-called Riot House (a.k.a., the former Hyatt House hotel). Fifteen years ago, two SoCal gigs from
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Pete Prown
Al Di Meola
Still Elegant
For close to 45 years, Al Di Meola’s career has brimmed with guitar virtuosity, taking him from red-hot fusion to enchanting Latin and world-music textures. After a few years touring with a full-on electric show, he’s now mixing acoustics and solidbodies on his latest, Opus. We caught up with the master as he prepared to
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Pete Prown
Epiphone’s Inspired by 1955 Les Paul Custom
Dressed to Kill
Produced from 1954 to 1956, the Black Beauty Custom is one of the most revered Les Pauls. Marketed as the “fretless wonder” for its small frets, it was given an elegant black finish to match the tuxedos of gigging guitarists of the time. Today, vintage originals start around $20,000, while reissues live in the four-figure
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Pete Prown
Ibanez Artcore AGS73FM and Vintage VSA500HB
Solid Semis
In the past several years, many import guitar brands have improved their build quality while continuing to offer their goods at very friendly prices. They’ve included a variety of semi-hollow guitars priced to attract solidbody devotees interested in testing the waters. We recently had a look at two examples. Ibanez Artcore AGS73FM The Ibanez Artcore
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Pete Prown
The Pettyjohn Crush Compressor
Big Squeeze
Compressors can be a real mystery to guitarists who don’t understand the concept. Recording engineers bandy about words like “hard-knee” and “soft-knee” compression, “ratio,” “threshold,” and “transparency”; these are not guitarist-friendly terms. A test run on Pettyjohn’s Crush presents a good opportunity to discuss compressors in everyday guit-box talk. Let’s start with the phrase “studio-grade.”
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Pete Prown
Jeff Lynne’s ELO- Wembley or Bust
After several decades on hiatus, the Electric Light Orchestra – now known as Jeff Lynne’s ELO – is revving up again and will tour the U.S. this year. The 13-piece lineup also found its way to Wembley Stadium last summer and cut this rollicking two-CD live set. Though Lynne is the only original member, it’s
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Pete Prown
Alvin Lee & Co.- Live at the Academy of Music, New York 1975
The good news is that we don’t have to listen to yet another version of “I’m Going Home,” the 10-minute jam that propelled Alvin Lee to fame at Woodstock. No question, Alvin Lee & Co. was not Ten Years After, the latter of which straddled hard rock and blues boogies ad infinitum. This aggregation, recorded
