Introduced in 2005, the Electro-Harmonix Polyphonic Octave Generator – a.k.a. POG – has spurred a handful of offshoots and updates. Born as an ultimate octave box, it conjures everything from electronic synth-bass, eight-string bass, and 12-string guitar to organs and harpsichords along with a universe of synthesizer textures.
Set up like a mixer, the new POG III works in stereo and mono, using 10 sliders to control function. Input Gain sets the level for your instrument, while Dry sets the volume of your dry signal at output. The Octave sliders produce pitches at -2, -1, +5th, +1, and +2 – from the deepest bass (like an Octaver) to high screams (like a Whammy Pedal). Each can be custom-blended to left-right channels when running in stereo. To the right, Attack, Filter, and Detune sliders bring more sonic capability with help from Q, Envelope, and Spread knobs to adjust specific character.
To get going, pull up any of 10 presets in the display window, like Organ Swell, Deep Sub Envelope, or Hog Heaven, and start moving knobs and sliders to taste. A big bonus is the unit’s ability to tweak presets and save sounds into 100 locations (using the Live Mode). The possibilities are endless, as there are infinite variations one can create with the sliders.
Using a Telecaster and Vox tube amp, the POG III proved a potent workstation for sounds way beyond the blues-rock norm. Your ears may not believe the chiming sounds coming from your plank – imagine standing in a Gothic cathedral and hearing a cranked 12-string and synthesizer bass booming throughout its lofty nave and dome. It’s a humongous sound! The POG III’s treble range is very sensitive, so back off the Filter slider if tone gets harsh.
The POG III is not for all players and sits on the pricey side, but for guitar explorers, the experience is absolutely one-of-a-kind. – Pete Prown
This article originally appeared in VG’s February 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
The Bad Cat Cub has evolved through several iterations since arriving with the maker’s inaugural lineup 25 years ago. It has gained (and lost) features, morphed into more-affordable PCB-based versions, even occasionally doubled in power. The new Cub V returns to its entirely hand-wired/point-to-point origins equipped for two popular power levels – a 20-watter with EL84 output tubes and a 40-watter with EL34s.
While many amps from the earlier days of the boutique era made a virtue of going light on bells and whistles, the Cub V piles on thoughtful features that enhance its versatility, without a major impact on the purity of the core signal chain. This begins with a selectable/footswitchable choice of either a 12AX7 or EF86 preamp tube – representing the two channels in the maker’s original large-amp flagship, the Black Cat – and sharing a single Gain control. A four-way Depth control essentially acts as a voicing switch, followed by Bass, Treble, and Cut. A Reverb knob controls the tube-driven spring circuit, followed by two Master-volume controls, also footswitchable. Construction inside and out is immaculate, workmanship within the chassis notably reflecting a thoughtful update of the PTP wiring ported over with the first Cub, courtesy of former Matchless main man Mark Sampson, who is once again working with Bad Cat.
Tested with an ES-355 and a Telecaster into 1×12″ and 2×12″ cabs with Eminence and Celestion speakers, respectively, the Cub V EL34 evoked the chime, bloom, and plentiful harmonic sparkle of the EL84-equipped Bad Cats that have been popular in the past (and for that matter, similar Matchless amps from which some were derived), with the increased girth, punch, and bark enabled by bigger EL34 output tubes. There’s more volume, too, though not “double” the 20-watter’s decibels; rather, a sturdy revoicing with more push and grunt. From crisp, shimmery cleans to a throaty roar when pushed into overdrive – all a little more sparkly with the 12AX7 versus thicker with the EF86 – the Cub V swings with the best of the “boutique” crowd, and is a blast to play.
The only additional feature we might like to see is a separate Gain control for the EF86 channel, so a user-determined balance could be set when switching between them on the fly. As it is, though, it’s plenty versatile and a first-class amp by any measure. – Dave Hunter
This article originally appeared in VG’s February 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
Inspired by Robert Keeley’s fondness for combining effects, the digital Keeley Electonics Zoma Stereo Reverb and Tremolo simplifies interface and function compared to his earlier Hydra pedal and many other reverbs on the market.
The concept is to deliver reverb and modulation that brings to mind ’60s blackface, while upping ease of operation. There are Reverb and Tremolo on/off footswitches, giant knobs that feel like 1965 – not 2025 – along with a selector switch that chooses between Spring and Plate reverb, Sine and Harmonic tremolo, and Vibrato. Look for true and buffered bypass, as well as a suite of secondary functions that let you easily flip the effects order (reverb into trem, or trem into ’verb), as well as adjust decay (Level), output (Depth), and tone (Rate).
In operation, the Zoma’s chip processor is so smooth you’ll think it’s an ancient amp. Same with the knobs, which introduce no digital artifacts. We traversed from clean, twangy surf and Wrecking Crew tones all the way to Robin Trower’s UniVibe and Neil Young’s “Like a Hurricane” reverb with barely any effort.
If you want authentic vintage reverb, vibe, and tremolo without hauling around a heavy blackface amp, the Zoma is worth checking out. Its clean layout, stereo output, and killer tones make it a very useful stompbox. – Pete Prown
This article originally appeared in VG’s February 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
Greg Koch is arguably the Roy Buchanan of our time, wrestling squawks ’n squeals, burning blues and some absolutely haywire chicken-picking from his guitar. Being not only a big talent but a big fella at 6’7″, he asked Reverend to build a Strat-style guitar distinguished (like the single-cut that preceded it) by a slightly increased body size, plus a raised center section and a chamber under the pickguard to relieve weight.
Koch dreams big, too, and Fishman made his wishes come true with its Gristle-Tone Single Width pickups – three genuinely hum-free single-coils wired to enable a bucketful of usable voices. The five-way blade makes the standard Strat stops, each more full and bold than your off-the-shelf S-types, but still snappy and tight. Pulling up the Tone knob activates a boost that adds more girth (or is that gristle?) and a midrange kick – even the meek little second position can get jacked enough to push a low-watt amp to breakup. The Gristle ST manages this mix of passive and active voices with a built-in battery that’s recharged via USB on the output jack and spec’d for up to 110 hours of playing time.
Tonal possibilities deepen with the Blend knob, which allows you to add the bridge pickup when the neck is selected and vice versa. We loved the control this trick switching enabled, such as adding a trebly bite to a jazzy neck-pickup tone or rounding out the edges for a lead on the bridge. It’s dynamic and endlessly tweakable.
The ST’s neck and fretboard (with 12″ radius) are roasted maple and bolted to the Korina body, which has comfort countours on the back and lower bout. A six-screw neck plate creates a super-tight bond, adding resonance and stability to a guitar that already feels sturdy enough to survive a van tour in tune. The chrome hardware, likewise, is weighty and finely machined. Wilkinson’s vibrato bridge is sensitive to light touches yet has exceptional tuning stability, with credit also due to Reverend’s locking tuners and low-friction nut. You don’t have to be a Koch fan to appreciate an S-type guitar that’s so versatile and, like the man himself, a little bigger and badder. – Rich Maloof
This article originally appeared in VG’s February 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
Marcin wields classical, flamenco, percussion, and two-handed tapping to create jaw-dropping music. Dragon In Harmony is his first full-length album, and it’s a stunner. Combining accessible tunes with guests Delaney Bailey, Tim Henson, and Ichika Nito, Marcin loves the music of Bill Evans, Mozart, and Nirvana, and the result is sublime.
What prepared you for what you’re doing on the guitar?
Classical guitar is the core of all technique. Maybe not the whammy bar (laughs). For right- and left-hand ability it doesn’t matter if you’re talking about independence, synchronization, speed, or proper posture. It all comes from classical guitar. I played classical for eight years and it gave me a base I can always return to. When I was 14, I was inspired by Tommy Emmanuel and Mike Doss. If you have a strong classical background, the tapping and the percussive stuff won’t scare you. The scariest stuff is Bach or Paganini’s “24 Caprices.” When I saw Tommy Emmanuel, Mike Doss, and Andy McKee videos, it never seemed difficult, but I wondered, “How can I do that?” So, I found my own way to do it based on the tools I had. When you have the tools, you stop asking for advice and focus on your strengths. That’s when you get your style.
How difficult is it to maintain your chops? I’m really green with touring internationally. At first, I thought I would practice everything so hard it would become mechanical with muscle memory. I’d be so ready and so disciplined there was no way anything could go wrong. After the first few shows, I felt I was lacking something. The preparation was not right.
When I played China, Taiwan, and Korea, I prepared my brain more. I had the technique because I was playing all the time. The brain, spirituality, and what you say from your heart is more important. The audience has reactions, so I want to resonate with them. There’s a real conversation I can have. That’s what I’m doing a lot more in terms of practice. I’m maturing as an artist, and hopefully, in the years to come, people will hear that on the records.
How’s the reception to Dragon In Harmony?
It’s been great. This has been a big change for me. Before, I was playing in bits and pieces – a video, a single, or a one-off performance. This is my first album, and I’m happy because I’m meeting people who only knew me from TikTok and Instagram. They’re listening to me on Spotify and buying the vinyl. The audience is treating me like an artist. I was playing pool with my friends when this guy came up and showed me his phone and said, “Man, I listen to Dragon In Harmony daily!” It was the best interaction I ever had.
You have cool guests on the record.
I don’t want people to think of my style as a gimmick, so I put myself in a setting playing with Tim Henson on “Classical Dragon” and Ichika Nito on “I Don’t Write About Girls.” I’m putting myself in a mainstream setting. The sounds that we’re making are accessible. It’s not Ariana Grande, but it’s more-accessible than the other acoustic guys who do percussion and tapping. I’m also spreading out to guitar players. In 2023, Steve Vai invited all these electric players to the Vai Academy, and then there’s Marcin, the black sheep on acoustic (laughs). It’s pretty cool because I’m getting accepted, which is something I’ve always wanted.
Talk about your signature guitar.
It’s called the Ibanez MRC10NT Marcin Patrzalek Signature. It’s one of the proudest moments in my career. Ibanez is my oldest partner – they reached out to me in 2018. I wanted to make a guitar that you could use in any setting. It’s based on the AE900, which they stopped making, so I took that as a prototype and tweaked it. I added a scratch pad, which is unpolished spruce and is like a pickguard but higher on the body. We also re-did the shape and added special bracing and a plate over the sound hole so I could use my wrist as the kick drum. It protects the guitar and makes the sound tighter.
Its action is low, so you can play fast and do two-handed tapping, which I do a lot. The string noise is also minimized. Flamenco guitars have low action, so I wanted that. The body comes from the classical school, where you widen the back near the input jack, making it warmer. The pickup is a Fishman Rare Earth humbucker.
What’s next?
I’ll be touring Europe, then America. I’m also working on a score for a video game. – Oscar Jordan
This article originally appeared in VG’s February 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
Kristian Borring is a jazz guitarist who lives in Perth, Australia, but sends his fearless playing echoing around the planet via his trio, Number Junky, which just released its second album, Birak.
Borring is intriguing because of the fluidity of his improvisations, which can jump between single-note phrases and chords in a flash – the mark of a master post-bop guitarist. We talked to him while separated by 13 time zones.
How is Birak different from Number Junky’s first album?
It’s a deeper dive into the rhythmic, in particular the metric concepts that we have been exploring over the years. It started with my doctoral research into odd meters in jazz, exploring how to develop a more-personalized and holistic approach to the subject in my own playing and composition. Number Junky became the platform to explore some of this material and we have toured a bit and played a lot of concerts. I think it really shows in our overall expression and exploration of the material.
Your playing on “Basel Return” jumps effortlessly between single-note licks and chords. Did you spend time in your younger years working on chord improvisation?
Absolutely, and still do; it’s an essential part of mastering jazz guitar. I mostly do it on standards, but I also write chord etudes such “Nausicaa Reprise” or “Song Etude.”
Is “Etude No. 12” built off a practice exercise?
Yes! In fact, my part, up until the solos, is note-for-note taken from a series of etudes that I wrote as part of my doctoral research. Our bassist, Zac Grafton, came up with a line and we tried to work with a groove inspired by central-African drumming. A simpler explanation is that it’s an odd-meter time notated in 14/8.
“The Birthday Song” has some interesting echo effects.
That would be my Supa-Puss from Way Huge. It’s a bucket-brigade delay and I use it for weird modulated stuff on the fly; I love the warm, colorful textures it can create. I used to use it all the time, almost as a preamp, because of the way it colors the tone. Now, I have the Seymour Duncan Andromeda delay as a fixture because of its memory banks and dynamic expression function. Most of the pedals on my rig are for tone shaping and are permanently on; there’s a 10-band EQ from MXR, Xotic RC Booster, Klon clone, J. Rockett Archer overdrive, and a reverb from Neunaber. I also have an MXR Micro Chorus and Pork Loin distortion from Way Huge.
Your guitar tone is wonderfully dark and warm.
Thanks, man! For this recording, I only used my 15″ semi-hollow from Eastman. It’s got a carved-mahogany top and Lollar Imperial PAFs. It’s my favorite guitar at the moment because it handles effects and carries lots of sustain but at the same time projects a warm, wooden tone. I was given a John Pisano signature archtop with a maple top and Kent Armstrong PAF neck pickup. Beautiful craftsmanship. I have an endorsement with Eastman Guitars, though they’ve never put me their website, so it’s a big secret (laughs).
What about strings and picks?
I use D’Addario .011-.049 or .012-.050 sets, both with a wound G string. I get a little obsessed exploring plectrums; I recently discovered Honey Picks and have been checking out acrylic materials – so loud! I have too many picks in 351 shape and fancy materials between 1 and 1.5 mm, but I always come back to Dunlop’s 1.14mm Delrin when I feel lost. I use my fingers quite a bit while holding my plectrum with my index finger because it creates different textures and dynamics.
Herbie Hancock defines jazz as simply “harmony.” Do you keep exploring harmony, and if so, how?
Big question! The short answer is, absolutely. Even though I love working with time and rhythm, harmony is fundamental to jazz. It is constantly developing as we explore music; sometimes, our ears hear new sounds or recognize something we’ve never heard before. How? By listening, experimenting, and practicing.
Talking about improvisation, sax legend Benny Golson once told an audience, “Don’t mind us, we’re just having a conversation.” Can you speak to that?
Yeah, that’s what jazz is – communicating and exchanging ideas and viewpoints. As our name indicates, Number Junky explores rhythm and meter to develop a language from our shared contributions. Of course, we are informed by other stuff and can relate to the language of Charlie Parker, Coltrane, Herbie, and so on. Benny Golson, as well. The music I write may be complex, but I want Number Junky to sound relaxed and inviting to any listener, not just the jazz police. – Pete Prown
This article originally appeared in VG’s February 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
New from Oz Noy and Andrew Synowiec is a guitar team-up highlighting hot licks, high energy, and strong songwriting. The album is Recreational Substance, and post-bop note density is the crux of the biscuit. The two virtuosos run the gamut with a variety of grooves and textures, but both say good songs are the name of the game.
Recreational Substance is reminiscent of jazz-duo records of the past. Why did you decide to make this together?
Andrew Synowiec: I’ve always been a fan of those albums and wanted to do something like this. Oz and I had a gig on the books, so I said, “Hey, let’s make a record out of it.” We had a good yin and yang thing going, so we fit together pretty well.
You guys contributed songs equally, but how was the recording process?
AS: We recorded at Big City Studios, which is why I named the first tune “Big City.” We did a gig to road-test the songs because you learn so much by playing the material live and it taught us everything we needed to learn. A lot of it went without saying.
Oz Noy: The gig went really well, so I was like, “Hey, this is cool. Let’s try to do this regularly.” Andrew was like, “Hey, how about we record something?” I was like, “Sure!” The only thing was I didn’t have any extra tunes, so I brought in a couple that could work. Andrew brought the rest, and it worked. We knew that we played well together. That part was easy.
There’s lots of chemistry on the record. The acoustic track “Brothers” really stands out.
AS: I’m really proud of the way that turned out. That song fell out of the sky right around the time this project was coming up. I thought it would offer a good counterbalance to what I knew would be a lot of the more-fiery stuff you might expect from us.
Did you record “Brothers” facing each other?
AS: We were looking at each other with baffles between us, so there was a lot of bleed, which was a good thing. I played a nylon-string on that.
ON: I used an acoustic 12-string, but I used a tuning that’s kind of weird – it’s in fourths and fifths. You can hear it when I play chords; they’re not ordinary.
Oz, what’s that rugged B3 sound on the main riff to “I Don’t Know Why?”
ON: I used a Univibe on that. Any effect that you can make go fast will sound like a Leslie, and you also need a little gain to drive it a bit so it sounds more-realistic. I played that through my Two-Rock TS1 head.
Andrew, what was your setup for “The Royal You?”
AS: I was going for an ’80s Miles Davis thing, and in the mixing process we treated the drums to sound retro. I used my Rivera Knucklehead Tre head going into a Tone Tubby H-Bomb 2×12 cab. I used two electric guitars – a Les Paul-style and my B.A. Ferguson, which is like a Les Paul but with a slightly shorter scale. It feels, in the best way, like a toy guitar. It’s really fun to play. I went back and forth between the two.
You guys really locked in with drummer Marvin “Smitty” Smith and bassist Hadrien Feraud.
AS: Those guys are ridiculous. Marvin is one of the greatest musicians I’ve ever played with.
What’s next for the dynamic Duo?
ON: World domination (laughs)! We have a couple of dates on the West Coast and the East Coast, so we’ll be playing L.A. and New York.
What do you guys have going on separately?
AS: The studio thing is always cooking, knock-on-wood, and I’m playing my own music as much as I can.
ON: I just finished a bunch of tours. I’m releasing a jazz-quartet album that I recorded for Criss Cross Records. I’m playing standards. Any chance there’s a follow-up album?
ON: Sure, why not? If we have the material. – Oscar Jordan
This article originally appeared in VG’s February 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
Yasmin Williams turned heads a few years ago with her brilliant solo acoustic music, often playing the guitar flat on her lap and tapping on the neck, like a piano. With her latest, Acadia, she connected with other great musicians, framing her guitar work with larger ensembles and collaborations including guitarist Kaki King, singer Aoife O’Donovan, and multi-instrumentalist Dom Flemons. Even better, she rips on electric guitar, which is almost as thrilling as her uncanny acoustic virtuosity.
When we first heard you, it was mostly solo guitar, but you have multiple collaborators on Acadia. What’s the process like when someone else is in the room?
Having so many collaborators meant traveling to some folks, flying others in, and waiting for folks to have free time to send ideas and record remotely. There are many other factors that aren’t involved in recording solo, but the extra effort is worth it when the collaborators bring their talents and play things I couldn’t dream of playing. Everyone on the record put forth so much effort into realizing my vision, which was super-humbling.
“Cliffwalk” is outside of the musical box for Dom Flemons (VG, January ’19), whom we associate with historical Americana.
Dom recorded his rhythm bones parts remotely and sent them to me. I did some editing to his takes and played around with them to accent the offbeats of the song. We weren’t in the studio together but I wanted it to sound like we were! I played acoustic and the speedy hammer-ons at the end.
On “Harvest,” did you teach Kaki King her part visually, or did you notate it?
I wrote “Harvest” several years ago as a solo guitar tune and forgot about it until 2021, when Kaki and I performed together in a live stream. Not knowing what to play and having to figure it out quickly, I remembered this song and sent her the notation and guitar tabs I had written out. Later, I thought “Harvest” would go very well on the record so I asked her to record it with me and Darian Donovan Thomas contributed the amazing violin parts. It took a few takes for she and I to get the guitar parts to gel, but it was a really fun session!
Did you write “Dawning” with Aoife O’Donovan’s voice in mind?
I wrote that as a solo-guitar piece and, after finishing the song, kept thinking something was missing. I eventually settled on vocals and knew that Aoife had the perfect voice for it. It’s angelic, agile, and sincere, which is exactly what the song needed.
What are your main guitars?
My main guitars are my Skytop Grand Concert and my Epiphone ES-339 with pickups made by Diliberto YW Clean. I used a Marshall stack for the electric parts in “Dream Lake,” and the Archetype: Tim Henson amp sim by Neural DSP for the electric tracks in “Malamu.” There was another amp sim that engineer Jeff Gruber had at his studio for the doubleneck guitar in “Nectar.” I also used my harp guitar in “Virga,” and my Veillette Gryphon mini 12-string for some parts in “Sisters.”
Which tunings do you use?
I use open D most of the time and it’s definitely my favorite. Even though open tunings get flack for being one-dimensional, it’s extremely versatile and lots of fun to play in.
You play guitar both conventionally and laid flat on your lap. Why the different approaches?
Lap tapping allows me to do things I can’t when playing in the conventional way. It allows me to use complex percussive and harmonic techniques that are super-difficult using any other method and is a really natural way of playing for me. I love how lap tapping opens the fretboard and gives me a bird’s-eye view of it. I use conventional playing methods when I’m playing tunes that don’t call for much tapping or tunes that are more-lyrical. I switch between the two when necessary, like in “Juvenescence,” “Hummingbird,” and “Harvest.”
“Hummingbird” is another tour de force.
I wanted banjoist Allison de Groot and fiddler Tatiana Hargreaves on that tune. I didn’t tell them what to play since they don’t require guidance from me, but I wanted it to be high-energy, dynamic, and fast.
Your solos on “Dream Lake” and “Malamu” are impressive. Have you always played electric, or is that a recent passion?
I started playing when I got my first electric 16 years ago, so I’ve been playing for a long time! – Pete Prown
This article originally appeared in VG’s February 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
The music world lost session legend Vic Flick on November 17, at age 87. While not a household name, Flick’s soundtrack riff in James Bond movies became one of the most-famous licks in guitar history, beginning with 1962’s Dr. No.
“Almost every guitar player is familiar with his phrase used in the James Bond themes,” said guitarist/bassist Bob Spalding of The Ventures. “Unfortunately, not many remember the guitarist who played that famous phrase, but it was Vic Flick. He left a great legacy.”
In the Swinging ’60s, Flick (VG, April ’12) recorded with a list of pop royalty including Beatles producer George Martin, Jimmy Page, Cliff Richard, and Nancy Sinatra. He also played on pop smashes like Petula Clark’s “Downtown,” Dusty Springfield’s “I Only Want to Be With You,” and the Tom Jones classics “It’s Not Unusual” and “What’s New, Pussycat?”
Before finding fame with 007, Flick played instrumental rock with the James Barry Seven, led by the composer/arranger who’s name is synonymous with the Bond soundtracks. The Barry connection helped Flick land the Bond job, for which he was paid a kingly £6 (less than $17). Recalling the session, he said, “I overplayed the guitar to give the sound a bit of urgency and kind of pushed the beat a little to add excitement. The sound of the 007 theme was also a breakthrough in recording, due to its technique. In the early ’60s, the orchestra would record only one take, using what the studios referred to as ‘compatible stereo.’ This unique recording method allowed for the sound of the guitar to bleed into adjacent microphones of the orchestra, adding a lustrous, ambient quality to the final recording.”
Session guitarist and longtime Supertramp sideman Carl Verheyen relates how that Bond riff still impacts his own studio work.
“I can’t begin to count the many times in the studio I’ve gotten the request, ‘Can you get that James Bond sound?’ Or, ‘Play that E minor/major-7th spy chord,’” he said. “Eventually, I came to find out who the legendary guitarist behind those tones was – Victor Harold Flick. It must have been wild being in the swinging London studio scene in the ’60s, playing on hit records like Petula Clark and Tom Jones. Vic is even on the Beatles’ Help! soundtrack – we heard him every day. What a hero!”
Discussing his Bond rig, Flick told VG about his rare six-string, the 1939 Clifford Essex Paragon De Luxe. “The guitar is very English. Clifford Essex was a luthier and banjo builder who established himself in London in the ’30s. Though predominantly a banjo maker, he made some great guitars, mine being one of them… My Paragon De Luxe guitar was an excellent rhythm instrument and designed to be played in a dance orchestra… Mostly, I used a DeArmond pickup through a DeArmond volume pedal into a Fender Vibrolux amp. I purchased the Fender in 1962, just prior to the Bond recording that June.”
After decades of studio obscurity, in the ’90s Flick was (finally) the subject of a feature by H.P. Newquist in Guitar magazine. Now director of the National Guitar Museum, Newquist counted the London session man as a friend.
“Vic was perhaps the most underrated electric guitarist ever,” he said. “Not only was his performance on the James Bond theme iconic, but he played on hundreds of recordings that helped define pop music in the 1960s and ’70s. In addition, Vic was a gentleman – very proper, very British, but with a very sly sense of humor, which he delivered with a wink.”
Flick later got to tell his own story in the enjoyable autobiography, Guitarman. When asked if he ever got tired of playing the James Bond riff, he responded, “The good public reception I get whenever I play ‘The Theme’ far outweighs the constant repetition. I’m grateful that I am part of the James Bond world, having had no idea at the time that those few notes I played in 1962 would follow me down through the years.” – Pete Prown
This article originally appeared in VG’s February 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
I Hear Thunder marks a return to recording for Tab Benoit. With 13 years between albums, he is recording music that stirs his soul. Rugged guitar tones and fierce vocals permeate an album that leads the listener through the emotional pathways of heartfelt blues from past to present.
You left it all in the ring on I Hear Thunder.
I want to make sure someone out here is doing honest music. I can’t say it’s easy, but it’s what we need. It’s so easy to fake it these days. Everybody goes into the studio and uses every tool available just because it’s available. We don’t need to be doing that – not in the blues world. I’m just following what the old-school guys did. The stuff I loved was played raw. They recorded it once with everybody together – and no auto-tune (laughs)!
Why so long between albums?
I was stuck in the same record deal from when I started. I signed a bad deal with no lawyer when I was in my early 20s. I didn’t know what I was signing, and I just recently got out of it. I didn’t want to give any music away. It means too much to me. My audience has been following me since ’92. They know me. I’m friends with them. I could have put out a crappy album to fulfill the record deal, but I have to talk to my audience every night. I waited until they let me out of the contract, which only happened a few years ago. I Hear Thunder is what happens when you don’t have to answer to anybody.
How did you approach recording?
I got rid of the producers and engineers with too much knowledge (laughs)! I like to write things fast and not overthink or go back and second-guess. I want to feel what’s going on right now, put it down, and move on. I don’t want to affect it or tweak it. When I start writing, we gotta start recording – get it done! That keeps it fresh. “Still Gray” was written for Josh Garrett, and when he heard me sing it, he said, “I can’t sing it like that. You need to do it.”
Were you completely hands-on with this record?
Completely! I mixed and mastered it, and everything was in-house. My guitar is what 10 sounds like (laughs). You can’t do that at home; you have to be in the right environment. I used Category 5 amps, and one is based on a mid-’60s Super Reverb, the other on a mid-’60s Twin. One is 45 watts, the other 100 with two 12s. People call Don at Category 5 and go, “I want that Tab Benoit amp!” He says, “What are you going to be doing with it (laughs)?” Because if you play in a small bar, you’re not going to get that sound. My amps are cranked all the way up. If you do that, your band is going to hate you, and if you only play at home, you definitely don’t want that amp! Apparently, I don’t sell a lot of signature models (laughs).
Do you put pedals in front of it?
No! I don’t want anything between the guitar and the amp – at all! Not even a tuner. I don’t want that signal broken. Every time I plug anything between them, I lose something. So, everything on the album is an amp-and-guitar combination, that’s it. The guitar is a tool to deliver emotion, feeling, and the song. I try to keep my head out of it.
What’s your main guitar?
It’s a 1972 Thinline Tele and the only thing that’s been changed were parts that went bad – pots, switches, tuning keys. I’ve had it since ’92. It doesn’t play great because it’s got the three-bolt neck that is always shifting. I keep the action as high as I can get it. Onstage, I’ve gotten used to tuning and adjusting it. There’s something to giving up playability for tone. A guitar that plays easy or great doesn’t have the juice. Those that are harder to play always have the best sound. If I pick up a Jackson, I can’t even get a note out of it. I hit it too hard with my right hand because I started as a drummer and I approach guitar with a drummer’s mind. I make music through rhythms. – Oscar Jordan
This article originally appeared in VG’s February 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
