Year: 2014

Tom Feldmann

Tom Feldmann and his handmade David Flammang L-1 copy.
“And the Oscar goes to…”

If they gave out Academy Awards for the best guitar instructional film, Tom Feldmann’s latest on Robert Johnson would be a shoe-in.

We rarely review instructional videos, but this one is something special. And it’s more than just a how-to guide: it’s an in-depth, note-for-note documentary look at the playing style of one of the most influential bluesmen of all time. And for that reason alone – whether you’re willing to sell your soul to the devil to learn to play like Mr. Johnson or not – you owe it to yourself to check out Mr. Feldmann’s study.

Johnson of course needs no introduction, but Feldmann may to those not up on the blues. Based from a small town in Minnesota, he has immersed himself in traditional country blues stylings, releasing several CDs of his own recordings, plus a series of stellar how-to DVDs on Charlie Patton, Son House, Bukka White, and more. Few pickers today play these old-time blues so naturally and intuitively.

Feldmann’s long-antipicated Johnson set has been well worth the wait. First, the technical details. The package includes three DVDs with a total running time of 352 minutes – that’s almost six hours. And the songs are available in both tab and musical notation in pdf form on the DVDs as well.

Feldmann covers most all of the 29 songs that Johnson cut in 1936-’37. He organizes his lessons by guitar tunings – standard, drop D, cross-note, Spanish, and Vestapol.

He then makes sense of the song similarities by organizing them into variations on themes. For instance, he goes through “Kind Hearted Woman” in patient detail, then explains how Johnson used that song form to create variations, seguing into explanations of “Phonograph Blues,” “32-20 Blues,” and several others. He also explains the efficacy of fingerings and the why behind the how. This logical approach makes understanding and playing the songs dramatically clearer.

As a teacher, Feldmann is ideal; as a blues historian, he’s downright heroic. His understanding and explanation of Johnson’s playing – as well as the other country blues greats – is masterful.

It’s also insightful, and this will be a reason that Feldmann’s films endure. No need to traipse to a crossroads at midnight and strike a bargain; just pop Feldmann’s DVDs into your player. Maybe this takes away some of that romance, but fear not – there’s still hours and hours of good old woodshedding left.

This article originally appeared in VG‘s Nov 2014 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

October 28, 2014
Jack Bruce Passes

Jack Bruce onstage in 1972. Photo: Heinrich Klaffs.

Bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, best known for his work with groundbreaking rock trio Cream in the mid ’60s, died October 24 at his home in Suffolk, England. He was 71.

Bruce began his playing upright bass with British musical innovators such as Alexi Korner, John Mayall, and Graham Bond. Bruce and fellow Cream members Eric Clapton (guitar) and Ginger Baker (drums) were renowned for their improvisational songs. Bruce later went on to a successful solo career, and one of his more-recent efforts was with a band called Spectrum Road, which included guitarist Vernon Reid. His most recent album was Silver Rails, released earlier this year. He discussed that album in the August 2014 issue of VG. You can read our full-length interview with Bruce at www.vintageguitar.com/2892/jack-bruce/.

October 27, 2014
Ian Hunter

Ian Hunter. Photo: John Halpern.

Ian Hunter is upbeat when he discusses his newest album, Man Overboard, and the upcoming reunion with old friends in England for a series of 40th anniversary reunion concerts planned for this fall by Mott the Hoople, the legendary British hard-rock band Hunter fronted from 1969 to the mid ’70s.

The album hints the veteran musician is getting a bit more active of late, as it’s his second release in a two-year span (following Shrunken Heads, from 2007). Asked how Man Overboard differs from Shrunken Heads, Hunter chuckled, “I don’t really know. People are perhaps thinking it’s a companion piece, but it’s more like a regular album… though maybe a tad more autobiographical. I really had a good time making Shrunken Heads – there was such a good vibe in the studio. So I decided to pop back in!”

While recording acoustic-guitar parts for Man Overboard, Hunter played a Gibson Jumbo and a 12-string Takamine. He recounted that the Takamine was “…easy to play, and it records really well. Sometimes I use it to write; it often sounds like a low-volume electric.”

Several tracks also feature baritone guitar played by various other guitarists, as well as banjo and mandolin.

Man Overboard’s title track is intriguing, with its “wavy” 3/4 time signature. Hunter wrote the lyrics first, though, and the choice of time signature wasn’t necessarily intentional, though he acknowledges it serves the song well.

The album has its share of typical Hunter commentary (“Politics is never ending,” he observed dryly to VG), as well as straight-on rockers like “Arms & Legs” and “Up and Running.” There are also quieter, more reflective tunes such as “These Feelings” and “Way with Words,” as well as a sarcastic look at modern business environments (“The Girl from the Office”).

All in all, Man Overboard contains the type of songwriting and arrangements that have always served Hunter well throughout his solo career.

However, one line in “Up and Running” will strike many as prophetic, as they’ll surmise the line that states “I think I need another boost o’ Mott the Hoople juice” alludes to the reunion concerts in England slated for October. Hunter clarified that he wrote the song before the reunion concerts were finalized, but added that he was looking forward to the shows.

Mott the Hoople was a British hard-rock aggregation that, in the eyes of many longtime fans, never received its due acclaim. The band began releasing albums in 1969, but didn’t break out of cult status until its fifth effort, All the Young Dudes (produced by David Bowie) was released in ’72. The original lineup consisted of Hunter on vocals, guitar, and piano, Mick Ralphs on guitar and vocals, Pete “Overend” Watts on bass, Dale “Buffin” Griffin on drums, and Verden Allen on keyboards.

Ralphs was a ferocious lead player who favored Gibson Les Paul Juniors, Watts was usually seen with a Gibson Thunderbird, and Hunter played Guild S-100s, more than one Gibson model, a rare Sardonyx guitar, and a custom-made instrument shaped like an H. Hunter had chronicled his jones for old Gibson guitars in his book Diary of a Rock ‘N’ Roll Star (first published in 1974, and reprinted several times since), and told VG he still appreciates such instruments.

By the time of All the Young Dudes, personnel changes were in the wind, and Allen left after that album’s release. The band subsequently went through other membership changes – Ralphs helped form Bad Company and Hunter began his solo career.

Curiously, Hunter confirmed that the idea of getting together some reunion shows with the original members for the band’s 40th anniversary was Allen’s.

“That’s the funny thing about it,” Hunter reflected. “I was doing an acoustic tour in England, and he turned up. He started talking about the 40th anniversary comin’ up; I hadn’t even realized it. It was one of those ‘If we don’t do something now, we never will’ ideas. We’d actually gotten together a few times over the years, but decided not to do any shows.”

As it turned out, Ralphs had to pull double reunion duty by teaming with Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke on a brief Bad Company reunion tour in June and July. Original Bad Company bassist Boz Burrell died in 2006; the bassist for Rodgers’ solo band, Lynn Sorenson, is holding down the low end, and Howard Leese, formerly with Heart, and also with Rodgers’ backing band, is playing second guitar.

“I’ve gotten e-mails saying he’s really, really good.” Hunter said of Ralphs’ recent efforts.

The Mott the Hoople reunion shows were originally slated for just two nights in October at HMV Hammersmith Apollo in London. However, demand for tickets pushed the number of performance evenings to five.

Hunter is looking forward to rehearsals with his former Mott bandmates, and predicted with a chuckle that they would probably not want to rehearse too much “…because we’re not that kind of a band!”

He also left open the possibility that the band might take further steps beyond the Hammersmith concerts, such as recording some new material, but added that future plans aren’t being discussed, as the members were anticipating the October shows and not looking beyond them… yet.

“We’ll see what happens,” Hunter said.

This article originally appeared in VG October 2009 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

October 27, 2014
Gries 5

Gries 5
Price: $879
Info: www.griesamps.com

The Fender Champ is one of the most popular amps of all time. Offering great tone at low volumes, it’s ideal for both practice and recording. Many of today’s top builders offer accurate-sounding replicas.

One of them, Dave Gries, came up with the Gries 5. Starting with the AA764 blackface circuit from the early ’60s, Dave added controls for Treble, Midrange, and Bass, and supplemented the single Volume knob found on most Champs with Gain and Master Volume. The Gain knob has a pull-out for additional bright tones. There’s also an included footswitch for gain boost.

All internal components are wired point-to-point on a G10 turret board; the pots, switches, and jacks are mounted directly to the chassis for durability. The music flows to an Eminence Patriot Screamin Eagle 12″ speaker, and everything is dropped into a black Tolex-covered solid pine cabinet with ½” Baltic birch plywood baffles. All components are top-shelf, including a Mercury Magnetics output transformer. In the world of boutique amps, the workmanship in the Gries 5 is superlative.

With the Gain knob above 4, the passive tone controls are lifted out of the musical path and the Gries 5 becomes a great-sounding Champ, but with added volume, bass, and presence, thanks to the 12″ speaker and larger cabinet. Virtually any level of distortion, from a mild grind to a creamy midrange-drenched sustain, can be achieved by combining the Gain and Volume controls. A distortion pedal easily drives the Gries into the metal realm. The Master Volume knob minds its own business, just raising or lowering the volume on the distortion already set with the Gain and Volume knobs.

With gain set below 4, it’s definitely still a Champ tone, but the passive EQ controls are fully engaged. The ability to dial off some Treble brings a Strat’s bridge pickup into play more frequently, offering chime without edge on rhythm chords and midrange warmth on clean leads. Reducing bass increases the “cluck” factor; turning the Midrange knob down with the middle pickup brings out its glassiness.

The tone controls on the Gries 5 can change almost any Strat neck pickup into the pickup of your choice. The same tonal palette is available with humbuckers – the grind just comes in sooner, is louder, and stays longer. With the gain at 4 or less, it’s a snap to dial out the muddiness of some newer humbucker-equipped guitars.

Priced hundreds of dollars less than many straight-ahead Champ clones with a single knob and 8″ speaker, the Gries 5, with its components, workmanship and greater tonal control, presence, and volume is an exceptional bargain.

This article originally appeared in VG March 2014 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

October 26, 2014
Little Feat

Lowell George in 1976.
By 1976, Little Feat had become a well-oiled live machine, its intoxicating polyglot gumbo of American music truly thriving on the stage. This new DVD and companion CD offers fans a peek at the magic. It captures the band’s set at the Dutch music festival Pinkpop in Amsterdam, and is a most welcome addition to the Little Feat catalog.

The Feat played an afternoon set that day. So immediately this hour-long DVD benefits from sunlight – you can see everything. And the professional multi-camera format provides plenty of cool angles. Picture and sound quality are overall very good, given the inherent limitations of mid-’70s technology.

The performance is equally stellar, with things steadily ramping up as both the group and audience get into the vibe. The DVD benefits from the concert time slot, as daylight really allows you to focus on the fantastic interaction between the six musicians, a hallmark of the band and a big reason why ’70s-era Little Feat remains so special.

Guitarist-vocalist Paul Barrère is animated and energized. Bassist Kenny Gradney’s robotic-funk stage moves are rivaled only by his basslines. And founder Lowell George, in straw cowboy hat and lavender western shirt, looks relatively fit and excited, peeling off flammable slide solos on “Rock And Roll Doctor” and “Dixie Chicken,” while turning in his always soulful lead vocals on “All That You Dream.”

This article originally appeared in VG‘s Nov. 2014 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

October 26, 2014
Guild’s Orpheum Slope Shoulder 14-Fret Rosewood Dreadnought

Guild’s Orpheum Slope Shoulder 14-Fret Rosewood Dreadnought
Price: $4,999 (list); $3,799 (street)
Info: www.guildguitars.com.

Compared to Martin’s longstanding factory location in Pennsylvania, Guild’s acoustic guitar factory has been a gypsy. The company first produced guitars in Hoboken, New Jersey, before moving to Waverly, Rhode Island, then to Corona, California, followed by Tacoma, Washington. Today, New Hartford, Connecticut, is home base for the Guild’s Custom Shop acoustic factory, and to celebrate their 60-year anniversary, Guild has introduced a new line of acoustics from the Custom Shop called the Guild Orpheum series. Currently there are 10 guitars in the Orpheum line, from a limited-edition Koa-bodied anniversary model to a jumbo to orchestra models to dreadnoughts, including the Slope Shoulder 14-Fret Rosewood model.

Ren Ferguson, who was the head luthier at the Gibson Montana acoustic division for many years, was responsible for all the Orpheum flat-top designs as Guild’s “Chief Engineer Acoustics Research and Development.” The original idea for the Orpheum series, however, came from Larry Thomas, Fender’s chief executive officer. According to Ferguson, “Larry Thomas wanted a ‘compelling’ series of guitars that would hearken back to the 1930s era, with all the traditional appointments of that period.”

Unlike at Gibson, where he had not been permitted to stray far from existing and historical models, Ferguson was “liberated” from any historical design restraints for the Guild project. After drawing the preliminary designs and taking the recipe from the ’30s era, he took them from his home in Montana to the plant in New Hartford, where they hand-built the prototypes. Ferguson then spent most of 2012 traveling every two weeks to New Hartford.

Because Guild didn’t exist in the 1930s, much of the inspiration for the Slope Shoulder 14-Fret Rosewood Dreadnought came from other manufacturers’ vintage models. The Gibson influence is obvious – both in the Guild’s physical dimensions and its overall harmonic character, though the Guild Orpheum is not merely a clone of any existing Gibson guitar’s feel or sound.

The Orpheum Slope Shoulder 14-Fret Rosewood has a solid Adirondack red spruce top, solid Indian rosewood back and sides, a three-piece rosewood and mahogany neck, ebony fretboard, ebony pyramid-style bridge with a compensated bone saddle, bone nut and bridge pins, red spruce bracing, hide glue, an artificial tortoiseshell pickguard, Gotoh vintage-style gold-plated tuners with the Guild logo engraved on their buttons, and a bound fingerboard. It is finished in a gloss nitrocellulose lacquer. The guitar has a 25.5″ scale length and a unique neck profile that recalls a 1960 ES-335 – a bit wide with an oval profile.

The overall fit and finish on the Orpheum is excellent. The unique colored marquetry used on the backstripe, top binding, and rosette are intricate yet understated, as are the dot inlays. The headstock is intentionally smaller than most contemporary designs and the newly created vintage-style Guild logo on the headstock is also intended to recapture an older vintage vibe. The Orpheum’s overall build quality rivals the best factory guitars from Gibson, Martin, and Taylor. The setup as it came from the factory was fine-tuned to the point where further adjustment would have been superfluous.

Some large-bodied guitars sound muddy when pushed with a more aggressive right-hand attack, but not so for the Orpheum. Anyone looking for that vintage Martin “cannon shot” bass, as the late Charles Sawtelle called it, will find the modern equivalent in the Orpheum. On the other end of the dynamic spectrum, the Orpheum responds to a light right-hand touch with a cornucopia of subtle overtones and upper harmonics.

In the last 20 years, there have been “vintage reissues” from every major guitar manufacturer, and some, such as the Gibson Advanced Jumbo, come strikingly close to the original. But few manufacturers have attempted to build a vintage-style instrument from scratch based not on an existing design but on a blank slate inspired by “best practices” of ’30s luthierie. The Guild Orpheum Slope Shoulder 14-Fret Rosewood Dreadnought is a bold and successful new direction – not just for Guild, but flat-tops, in general.

This article originally appeared in VG June 2014 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

October 24, 2014
Demeter FZO-1 Fuzzy Octavulator

Price: $309.99
Info: www.reilandercustomguitar.com

James Demeter has a long history in the amp and effects biz. His project-boxed/Dymo-labeled Tremulator pedal pre-dates the ’90s boutique pedal explosion by more than a decade. During his 30 years of 100-percent analog designs, Demeter has produced everything from studio-quality rack effects and multichannel tube amps to a wide variety of first-class vintage-flavored stompboxes that can be found on the pedal boards of the rich and famous. The FZO-1 Fuzzy Octavulator uses Demeter Amplification’s highly regarded Fuzzulator circuit, and also offers an Octavia-style high-octave effect that can be used in conjunction with the fuzz and on its own.

The FZO-1 features the standard Fuzz, Tone, and Volume controls, as well as on/off Fuzz and Octave footswitches. Two LEDs indicate which circuit or circuits are active, and a side-mounted mini-switch with Loose and Tight positions changes the character of the fuzz via germanium (Loose) and LED (Tight) clipping stages.

Along with input and output jacks, the FZO-1 has a side-mounted trim pot labeled “Balance” that adjusts the overall output stage of the pedal to allow the user to goose up the output if they tend to stay in the lower-output Loose mode, or to back it down if they settle in on Tight. Under the hood, the pedal is very neatly wired, utilizing through-hole construction, which means unlike surface-mount designs, this pedal is repairable rather than being consigned to junk if a grain-of-sand-sized cap or resistor decides to quit. Additionally, all pots and jacks are chassis-mounted instead of board-mounted, giving the pedal much greater durability. The pedal can operate on either a 9-volt battery or DC power supply.

The Octavulator was tested with a Les Paul and a Strat-style guitar and both a Fender Deluxe Reverb and a Vox AC15. Beginning with the fuzz section dialed into a low Fuzz setting, all three knobs showed very useable ranges, producing a wide variety of fuzz levels and the ability to match or boost from bypass level. The Tone knob certainly aided in the switch from single-coils to humbuckers, while the Tight/Loose toggle allowed switching between two very distinct vintage fuzz flavors. But, the Tight setting proved the favorite for full-on fuzz because it stayed tight and useable, never getting bass-heavy or out of control. Not to say that the Loose setting really loses anything – it merely has a bit more harmonic swirl going on and a bit more cushion to the attack. In fact, with the Fuzz level set low, the Loose setting produced a wonderfully natural overdrive flavor.

Activating the FZO-1’s octave section brought on all the Octavia-styled tones that one would hope for, with one exception: The octave actually tracks anywhere on the neck. With vintage Octavias, as well as copies, tracking can be somewhat dubious and very sensitive to the type of pickup, pickup position, and where on the neck the instrument is played. The FZO-1 suffers none of those limitations. Another bonus is the option of activating the octave section alone, a feature that most fuzz/octave pedals do not allow. By itself, the octave can create unique clavinet and other keyboard-styled tones using various pick and finger techniques that create tones both ear-catching and useable.

The FZO-1 Fuzzy Octavulator is a fantastic-sounding and highly versatile pedal that offers the player the ability to switch between two distinct clipping flavors and to use the fuzz and octave either together or separately. The warm and vintage-style fuzz unit also happily excels as an overdrive, and the octave’s spot-on tracking gives it a huge leg up over the old-school Octavia.

This article originally appeared in VG June 2014 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

October 24, 2014
Analog Man Bi-Comprossor

Analog Man Bi-Comprossor
Price: $275
Info: www.analogman.com

Mike Piera, a.k.a. Analog Man, is known for creating pedals with a vintage flavor. Clients include guitarists who want to achieve that classic “tight” or “squashed” guitar signal associated with players like Lowell George and Mark Knopfler, as well as a multitude of country pickers.

For guitarists who must have more than one compressor option, Piera created the Bi-Comprossor, which improves upon and combines the best qualities of the Ross Compressor and the Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer. Each can be used separately or together via dual 3PDT stomp switches.

Actuated by the left footswitch, the Ross side is similar to an MXR Dyna Comp but with better sustain. It features new-old-stock (NOS) 2SC1849 Matsushita transistors of the type used in the original Ross Compressor and Dyna Comp, yet is cleaner-sounding and has more sustain (though it lacks the Squeezer’s earthiness). The right footswitch (the “OS” side) uses NOS 2N5437 transistors, 1N100 diodes, and a JRC4558 chip for increased smoothness. It compresses the attack of each note with a natural-sounding decay increase and yields the compressed signature grit heard on Steely Dan and Dire Straits records.

With its eyecatching graphics, the Bi-Comprossor is a true-bypass pedal that takes a 9-volt DC adapter or battery. Its Attack knob (identical to the original Ross pedal setting) allows the player to adjust the balance between squashed and percussive, while the Sustain knob adjusts the amount of compression and sustain. Higher settings increase volume and compress the signal, and have the same parameters as the original Ross and Dyna Comp. The left Volume knob is for the Ross mode, and the right Volume is for the OS. The Bi-Comprossor also has a red LED for the Ross and a yellow for OS.

The Bi-Comprossor was tested in conjunction with a Telecaster, a superstrat, and a selection of combo amplifiers. Beginning with the knobs set to 12 o’clock, the Ross side provided a volume increase and severe cut of the low and high frequencies – perfect for tight chicken pickin’, Rickenbacker jangle, and punchy sounds that pop from the mix.

The OS side is more intense and chokes off the peaks of low frequencies. The difference in how the two sides handle low end is very discernible; the OS is concentrated, thick, and exaggerated, while the Ross side is more subtle. Used together, the two functions can create some wickedly tight but smooth tonal variations for any number of live playing or recording situations.

The Analog Man Bi-Comprossor does a great job of dialing in a plethora of clean boost, subtle compression, or maximum strength squish. If you want transparency, look elsewhere. If you want improved tonal quality in a sturdy little package, look no further.

This article originally appeared in VG June 2014 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

October 24, 2014
Park Releases Limited Edition 75 Head

Park Amplifiers Limited Edition 75 is a British-style, four-input/two-channel amplifier that uses KT88 output tubes. Hand-wired in New York, it produces 50 watts of clean output, 90 at full power using new old stock (NOS) Piher and Allen Bradley resistors, Lemco capacitors (“chicklet” and mustard), and a Merrin “clone” output transformer. Visit www.parkamplifiers.com.

October 24, 2014
Arlington Guitar Show 2014

’50s Fender Deluxe amp at Wildwood Music of Texas

’53 Harmony Stratotone at Cream City Music

’55, ’54 and ’55 goldtops from Drew Berlin

’56 Gretsch 6121 Chet Atkins Roundup at Willie’s American Guitars.

’58 goldtop and ’54 Strat at Nashville Vintage Guitars.

’61 and ’66 Gretsch 6125 Anniversary models and 6186 at. Blue Moon Music.

’61 Gibson ES-335 TDC and ’53 Fender Esquire at Willie’s American Guitars.

’61 Gibson SG Custom at Rock N Roll Vintage.

’64 Gibson Tal Farlow, ’67 ES-125, 2001 ES-175, ’50s National Resophonic, ’70 ES-150 DN at Mimosa Music.

’64 Gibson Thunderbird bass at Eugene’s Guitars.

’64 SG Junior at Willie’s American Guitars.

’65 Gibson Melody Maker in rare custom fire engine red finish and ’78 Fender Antigua Tele at Lavonne Music.

’69 Gibson A-5 Mandolin at Cream City Music.

’69 Marshall Super Bass head and basket weave ’69 slant and ’70 straight 4×12 cabs from Tam Eldridge.

1960 Les Paul at McKenzie River Music, part of Bob November’s collection.

A pair of sunburst ’58 Strats, a. ’72 blonde, a sunburst ’57, and candy apple ’65 at Jim’s Guitars.

A trio of vintage Rickenbackers on display at Gary’s Classic Guitars – ’68 360 double bound, ’67 330-12 and ’67 625.

An assortment of ’50s acoustics from Harmony, May Bell, Gibson, Cromwell and Vega at Waco Vintage.

Artie Leider of McKenzie River Music with a 1929 Style 3 Tricone, a piece of Bob November’s collection.

Dealer jam at the Arlington Guitar Show – (left to right) Jay Rosen, Nacho Banos, Larry Briggs, Redd Volkaert, Phil Shoemaker.

Ed Klein of EKlein Guitars with a custom-built pink guitar he is donating to raise money for breast cancer awareness and research to find a cure.

Eric Ernest of Abalone Vintage shows off a ’58 Gibson Flying V.

Gary Dick with a super clean ’57 Mary Kay Strat.

Gary Hernandez of a Guitars West with a 1908 Martin 00-42.

Silver Anniversary Strat, ’60 double cut Junior and ’57 Junior at 1919 Guitar Shop.

Some of the cool Gibsons on display at Strings West.

The Whitrock Bros. Band rock in’ at the Arlington dealer jam.

October 24, 2014