- Advertisement -
features | Vintage Guitar® magazine - Part 99

Tag: features

  • Classics: August 2022

    Classics: August 2022

    Billly Soutar’s custom-order 1936 Gibson L-7 – perhaps the first dedicated electric guitar shipped by Gibson. It’s ES-150 pickup was designed by Gibson electronics chief Walter Fuller in mid 1935 for the EH-150 lap-steel.

    While scanning an Elderly Instruments ad in Vintage Guitar one day in early 2009, Billy Soutar spotted the description of a 1936 Gibson L-7, “Custom… with factory Charlie Christian pickup.” The word “rare” especially caught his attention.

    “I was curious, to say the least,” he said. “I got into collecting with Les Paul and Strats from the ’50s, and wasn’t into jazz guitars,” he said. “But after spending time with Les (their friendship is highlighted in the November ’21 “Classics”), I started getting into early Gibson electrics – especially rare stuff.”

    So it made sense that this guitar tickled Soutar’s jones, even if he had no idea what it was.

    “I thought maybe it was some kind of ES-250 prototype,” he said. “I knew from reading about Gibson that there was no such thing as a ‘17″ Advanced Bodied’ electric Spanish Charlie Christian guitar from ’36, so right away it was strange. I also knew that because of their proximity to Gibson’s headquarters in Kalamazoo, many weird birds have gone through Elderly.”

    Having once passed on buying a vintage hollowbody that later proved to have been a personal instrument of Mr. Paul, Soutar wasn’t chancing another miss. With a phone call, Stan Werbin and his staff assured him the guitar’s ES-150 pickup was indeed a factory install, “So I took the five-hour drive from my home in Chicago to Elderly, in Lansing.”

    Back home, he began doggedly chasing the history of the instrument, starting with A.R. Duchossoir’s Gibson Electrics: The Classic Years.

    “In early ’36, Gibson hadn’t started making dedicated electric Spanish guitars,” he said. “For a few years, they’d been selling electrostatic ‘attachment’ pickups for the L-7 and L-10, paired with an amplifier – the pickup and amp were made by Lyon & Healy in Chicago.”

    This Gibson catalog photo was reproduced on page 128 of Tom Wheeler’s American Guitars, captioned, “Late 1935-1939 style L-7, Advanced body, accessory pickup, with EH-150 amp.”

    At the annual NAMM show in Chicago that summer, Gibson displayed an L-1 and L-10, each with a different pickup attached. At some point, they were approached by retail giants Montgomery Ward and Spiegel, who were specifically seeking jobbers to build Spanish-style guitar-and-amp sets for their catalogs. After meeting with Gibson general manger Guy Hart, orders were placed for each to receive 25 sample instruments.

    Also at that show was Francis Grinnell, a professional banjoist/guitarist who wanted an electric Spanish-style guitar for his act. Beyond being a player, Grinnell worked in his family’s business – the Michigan-based Grinnell Brothers Music House chain, which sold Gibson’s full product line – and he’d helped design Gibson’s All American banjo (he’s shown holding the instrument in the company’s 1932 catalog). In the 1920s, Grinnell performed with the finest instruments, including L-5 guitars and Bella Voce banjos.

    Less than two months after the show, Gibson shipped prototype samples to Montgomery Ward and Spiegel. Hart decided the time was right to make what would be the first 10 prototype ES-150 guitars with a new pickup designed in-house by Walter Fuller. On Saturday, September 26, the company finished a batch of L-7 models, the last of which was fitted with an ES-85 attachment pickup. Bearing serial number 93622, it was followed off the line that day by this guitar – made for Francis Grinnell, with serial number 93623 and with that ES-150 “Charlie Christian” pickup.

    Because those 10 ES-150 prototypes were deemed “too plain,” Soutar says the model was reworked, so production versions (batch number 1098B) didn’t ship until November 20. After reading this, a thought crossed Soutar’s mind: “I might have the first dedicated Spanish electric to leave the Gibson factory!”

    Reinforcing his case is the fact 93622 and 93623 have the same tailpiece, which was used for only a couple months. “You can even tell it was painted by the same guy, because the sunburst is so similar,” he said. Also, the 2010 Official Vintage Guitar Price Guide listed a “1936 L-7 Custom Electric… with factory Christian style pickup, limited production, often custom ordered.”

    Soutar spent more than a decade gathering information on the L-7, learning that Grinnell played it until 1939, when he set it aside in favor of an off-the-line ES-250. The L-7 was then sold to William Tribble, a Detroit resident who played it for almost 70 years. After his passing, the family consigned it at Elderly.

    “I’ve been collecting vintage guitars for more than 35 years, and she’s my very favorite,” Soutar said.

    Do you have a classic/collectible/vintage guitar with an interesting personal story that might be a good fit for “Classics?” If so, send an e-mail to ward@vintageguitar.com for details on how it could be featured.

    This article originally appeared in VG’s August 2022 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

  • Jorge Glem: Cuatro Mastery

    Jorge Glem: Cuatro Mastery

    Brooklyn-Cumaná

    Jorge Glem uses his Venezualan cuatro to show us some of “Matapalo y Fuga,” from his new duet album with Sam Reider, “Brooklyn-Cumaná.” Their music mixes flamenco with Irish roots music and other forms and features all-star guest players on sax, mandolin, and violin. Catch our review in the March issue. Read Now!

  • 1962 Gretsch Country Gentleman Custom

    1962 Gretsch Country Gentleman Custom

    Photos by Peter S. Kohman.

    By the early 1960s, the Fred Gretsch Company was riding high with an array of eye-catching electric guitars highlighted with models endorsed by Chet Atkins. At the top were the PX6122 Country Gentleman, PX6120 Hollow Body, and PX6119 Tennessean.

    The original Atkins models appeared in ’55 – the 6120 proved a major success, while the solidbody 6121 never caught on. The 6120 – a 16″ archtop – is an icon famous for use by Eddie Cochran, Duane Eddy, and Brian Setzer, among others. One player it did not particularly satisfy, however, was Chet Atkins.

    Though pleased to have his name on a guitar, Atkins was not happy with many of its elements. Some players in the ’50s (and since) loved the distinctive Western Orange finish, but Atkins found it garish. He also disliked the “Western junk” adorning the initial models – “cows and cactus” fretboard inlay, rustic signpost logo on the pickguard, and especially the big “G” branded into the top. This “yee-haw” ornamentation – seemingly a Brooklyn attempt to appeal to a “cowboy” market – struck the reserved and dignified Atkins as chintzy.

    The ’62 Gretsch Country Gentleman Custom.

    Another sore point was the DeArmond Dyna-Sonic pickups. Atkins thought the powerful pole pieces lessened sustain from the bass strings. He also disliked their sharp attack and the way they hummed. After meeting electronics engineer Ray Butts, Atkins asked him to design a pickup eliminating these shortcomings. Thrilled with the result, Atkins presented Butts’ double-coil humbucker to Gretsch. Already having issues with DeArmond, the company was happy to have an exclusive new pickup to build in-house; they licensed the design and dubbed it “Filter’Tron.”

    Meanwhile, Chet’s namesake 6120 had been toned down to better suit his taste. But what Atkins really wanted was a bigger, classier guitar. And because the endorsement was proving a huge success, Gretsch was happy to oblige. The result was the PX6122 Country Gentleman, named for one of Atkins’ instrumental showpieces.

    Built on a single-cutaway /17″ body with a thinner rim, the Country Gent’s most-radical idea was “closed” sound holes – i.e. none at all. After making prototypes with blank tops, Gretsch decided it looked odd (which it does) and went with simulated sound holes. Initially, little plastic inserts were recessed on the top before they opted for a simple decal. Though it never quite lived up to Atkins’ expectations, he felt more comfortable with the Gent than the 6120, and played it for years. But what Atkins really wanted was an archtop with center block; the Gent body was heavily braced but never had a solid core. The year after it was introduced (late ’57), Gibson launched the ES-335, employing a solid center block.

    The ’63 Chet Atkins line in Gretsch catalog #31.

    Gretsch did give the Gent the new Filter’Tron pickups and a wiring rig with three Volume knobs – one for each pickup and a Master – and a two-way switch to replace the rotary Tone control. The standard Gent was finished in a sedate deep-brown stain instead of the bright colors of other Gretsches. Appointments were upscale, with gold-plated hardware, a Bigsby vibrato, solid-bar bridge, and Grover Imperial tuners. It was introduced at the end of ’57 at the lofty price of $525, making it a high-end professional guitar. The Country Gentleman sold respectably, but far below the numbers of the still-hot 6120, which listed $100 lower.

    The Gent remained largely unchanged until ’62, when it and the 6120 were given a double-cutaway design. Solid on top, the new 2″-deep Electrotone body marked the Atkins line, with the 6119 Tennessean retaining the single cutaway.

    Another new idea was the mechanical mute – a foam pad in front of the bridge that could be raised or lowered by a dial knob. Slightly later, it was replaced with a simpler flip-up lever. Both were largely ignored by players. Installing this hardware required a large opening in the back of the guitar, covered by a snap-on pad that was given a marketing twist describing it as “Cushioned for comfort during those long sets.”

    The Country Gentleman was introduced in a 1958 brochure.

    In this era, Gretsch was a large operation, but still entertained special orders that, while rare, included custom cosmetic touches or a combination of features from various models. The double-cut Country Gent you see here is a fascinating example. Its 507XX serial number indicates it was completed in late ’62, when the double-cuts had been on the market for about a year. It would almost certainly have been ordered through a Gretsch dealer, as certain features make it unlikely it’s a prototype or NAMM experiment.

    While the headstock plaque confirms this a Country Gentleman, instead of the mahogany-grained 17″ body, it was given the 6120’s classic Western Orange livery. Even stranger is the thin, laminated spruce top instead of maple; by ’62, this feature was only on the Sal Salvador model and occasionally on a 6192 Country Club. There are no mentions of this as an option, but perhaps when a dealer or customer asked, and the company complied. Or – Gretsch being Gretsch – perhaps it just happened!

    The top on this 6122 also has large open double bound f holes, a feature never used on the Gent, which again, as a selling point, had the closed-top Electrotone body.

    A standard ’63 Country Gent and a ’65 Chet 6120 Nashville in brown/walnut finish that’s an interesting doppelganger. A far simpler instrument, it required only a trip to the finishing department alongside a batch of Gents. While custom-order Gretsches from the ’60s are rare, they never fail to delight Gretschheads.

    Other features are standard for the Gent in this period, including a laminated maple neck with a bound-ebony fretboard with “thumbprint” inlays. The body is five-ply bound, the head single-bound. It carries typical Country Gentleman hardware – gold-plated Bigsby, straight-bar bridge, and Grover Imperial tuners. Electronics include two “patent number” Filter’Trons and three-knob/three-switch wiring, including the recently added standby switch on the lower bout. The double mute allows treble and bass string pads to be operated independently by flip-up levers with red felt pads around the bases.

    This would have been a very expensive guitar. In ’62, the 6122 listed at $595 (a case added $58). It’s likely there was a significant upcharge for the custom features, and a wait while the spruce-top body was constructed.

    One-off instruments that surface decades later are often in well-preserved condition, perhaps beause the original owner took special care of it, or simply didn’t use the guitar much. This one has seen some play time but exhibits only minor wear, mostly to the hardware plating. It’s original except for new pads on the mutes, and lives in its original two-tone grey hardshell case. A fine-playing instrument, it has a slightly airier tone than the standard Gent with a closed top. The body is a bit lighter, which makes it slightly neck-heavy. Also, the Bigsby was misaligned at the factory and thus sits at a noticeable slant – not uncommon on Gretsches of the era. Still, as with many vintage Gretsch guitars, the quirks go hand-in hand with its charms.

    This article originally appeared in VG’s August 2022 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

  • Dan’s Guitar RX: Building a From-Scratch Class Project

    Students at Federal Hocking High School here in Athens County, Ohio, are given the opportunity to propose internships in work that interests them. Ceil Thompson, a 17-year-old junior who has been taking guitar lessons for five years at a local music store, proposed building an electric guitar in my shop. I thought it was a great idea, and she started this spring.

    Ceil wanted to build a Jaguar copy, and she’d planned to use an off-the-shelf body and bolt-on neck, but I challenged her to make it from scratch and with a set neck.

    1) Ceil started by choosing a fretboard blank of bocote, then we visited StewMac, where she picked out a lightweight swamp-ash body and mahogany neck billet.
    We made a template by printing a Jaguar drawing and having it enlarged. Not knowing the exact body size, I asked fellow builders Mark and Shawn Penechar at Fountain City Guitars, who know Jazzmasters and Jaguars inside and out.

    2) We talked a lot about the tools Ceil would use, including the what, why, and how of each. Either I or my apprentice of two years, Blake Burkeholder, kept a close watch whenever she used new tools for the first time.

    3) On her second day, a package came from Fountain City – Mark and Shawn sent their acrylic body-routing template, which worked great for marking the cavities Ceil would rout, with one exception – we relocated the bridge and tailpiece holes a bit further back because Ceil was using a 25″ scale.

    4) Routing cavities requires lots of elbow grease, sweat, and vacuuming – that’s why many builders outsource it to shops that use CNC machines to make raw parts. Ceil is doing it the old-fashioned way, drilling as much wood as possible using several Forstner bits, then using the templates and a hand-held router. Because she’s going with lipstick humbuckers, we used my StewMac humbucking router template.

    5) Here, she’s sanding the band-saw marks off of the sides. To keep the edges square to the belt, the body is held against a right-angle fence that’s bolted to the belt sander. She also used the belt to sand most of the body to shape.

    6) To sand the tight curves of the cutaways, she used the drill press with different-sized sanding drums.

    7) She used a 7/16″-radius cutter with a shaper bit to round-over the edges. To help hold the body firmly in place, I taped a 20-pound granite plate on each side of the body.

    8) Here, Ceil is shaping the contours using a razor-tooth file (she also used soft and hard blocks faced with sandpaper). It’s hard work, but fun.

    9) With the body complete except for hand-sanding, Ceil turned to the neck. After squaring a rough-sawn mahogany blank on a jointer (creating two flat surfaces at 90 degrees to each other), she cut a 1/4″ slot down the center and installed a StewMac Hot-Rod Low Profile two-way truss. Here, she’s band-sawing the neck to rough shape, starting at the peghead.

    10) With the neck shaped and tuner holes drilled, we used a 1″-radius cutter on a shaper table to round the back of the neck; it’ll be final-shaped with files and sandpaper.

    11) We really did want to do everything from scratch, even cutting fret slots (which was good since bocote isn’t available pre-slotted). Here, Ceil is cutting slots on a table saw with a specialized blade and using a “sled” that slides across the blade at a right angle. The fretboard is face down on the table, with a 25″-scale fret template taped to it. The steel template has 24 notches on one edge that align on a steel pin in the saw fence that correspond to the fret slots: cut a slot, lift the board and template, slide to the next pin, locate, cut a slot, repeat for as many slots as you want (she did 21).

    12) One step we skipped in the interest of time was hand-shaping the fretboard radius. My co-worker Todd Sams did us the favor of creating it using StewMac’s shaper and vacuum-equipped jig. Thanks, Todd!

    13) After cutting the slots, Ceil glued the fretboard to the neck, then drilled and inlaid the fretboard with her own design of large and small pearl dots that look like bubbles floating upward. I love it!

    14) Before final neck shaping, Ceil’s last work on the neck was scraping the peghead face clean so we can glue an overlay. She’s using a piece of the leftover swamp ash so it’ll match the body, and it needs to be in place when she does final shaping of the peghead. We’ll see that in part two, and it will be a great look – like a matching-headstock Fender.

    15) Here’s the result of working several afternoons each week – and several weekend days – for five weeks. The neck is fit to the body (but not yet glued), the body is ready for final sanding, and the neck is ready for final shaping and sanding. To Ceil’s right is Blake, to her left Renee Ripple, who directs the school’s intern program, then yours truly. We make a great team.

    Next time, Ceil will install frets, make a bone nut, and start applying the finish. See you then!

    Dan Erlewine has been repairing guitars for more than 50 years. He is the author of three books, dozens of magazine articles, and has produced instructional videotapes and DVDs on guitar repair. From 1986 through his retirement in late 2019, Erlewine was part of the R&D team for Stewart-MacDonald’s Guitar Shop Supply; today he remains involved with the company, offering advice to the department and shooting video for the company’s website and social media. This column has appeared in VG since March, 2004. You can contact Dan at dan@stewmac.com

    This article originally appeared in VG’s August 2022 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

  • Gibson’s Experimental Archtop

    Gibson’s Experimental Archtop

    Photo: Eric C. Newell.

    Orville Gibson invented the carved-top guitar in the 1890s. The Gibson company refined the design with the addition of f-holes in 1922, and brought the concept to full potential in the mid ’30s with larger-bodied archtops.

    While Gibson inarguably blazed the trail in the industry when it came to archtop design, that trail had at least one wrong turn, exemplified by this month’s featured guitar – essentially an f-hole version of the company’s 133/4″ roundhole archtop L-3.

    From a historical perspective – the perspective of someone in 1930 looking back at earlier Gibsons – this guitar would seem a great idea. In Gibson’s first catalog, published shortly after the company was formed in October, 1902, all seven guitar models were offered in several body widths – 121/2″, 131/2″ and (except for the L-1) 16″. The surviving models quickly settled into standard sizes of 131/2″ for the round-hole L-1 and L-3, and 16″ for the roundhole L-4 and the oval-hole Style O.

    In the early 1900s, a 131/2″ guitar was not considered small. Martin’s size 0, for example, was 131/2″ wide and was in the middle of the range. A Gibson L-1 or L-3 was adequate for the way Gibson marketed guitars, as accompaniment instruments in mandolin groups. While professional guitarists gravitated to the larger and louder L-4 or Style O, the L-1 and L-3 were still mainstays of Gibson’s archtop line at the beginning of the 1920s. Somewhere along the way, the L-3 grew slightly, to a catalog spec of 139/16″ and to an actual size of 133/4″.

    With the guitar growing in popularity, Gibson discontinued the L-1 in 1925, replacing it in ’26 with a pair of flat-tops – the L-1 and the L-0 – which used the same body size and shape with a circular lower bout. The L-3 continued through the ’20s. Gibson tried to elevate its status by changing the round soundhole to an oval hole circa ’27, but by the end of the decade it was clearly a model from a bygone era.

    In the meantime, Gibson acoustic engineer Lloyd Loar had devised a new archtop design that used violin-style f-holes. The “star” of the new Style 5 line was the F-5 mandolin, but Loar extended the f-hole concept across the mandolin family, which in Gibson’s view included the guitar. The L-5, a 16″ archtop with f-holes, made its debut in ’22.

    The f-hole archtop was not an instant success, but by the late ’20s, guitarists began to discover the cutting rhythmic power of the f-hole design. For many guitarists, the only problem with the L-5 was its price. At $275, it was almost double the price of the roundhole L-4 at $150. In ’29, a new model called the L-10 appeared, sporting the same 16″ body and f-holes as the L-5, but with a black finish that made it more affordable. When it finally appeared on a price list in November, 1931, it came in at $175. At the same time, as evidence of changing preferences among guitarists, Gibson dropped the L-4 to $100.

    In order to extend the f-hole archtop line downward to an even less expensive – and, hopefully, better-selling model – Gibson would have to make a smaller guitar. The next size down was 133/4″, which Gibson was still producing in the form of the L-3. In a last-ditch attempt to maintain interest in the model, Gibson had just fitted it with the elevated fingerboard extension found on the L-5 and L-10.

    Curiously, Gibson was well along in the process of moving its flat-top line upward in size, from 131/2″ to 143/4″. In addition, Gibson introduced an even larger flat-top – the 16″ HG-24, an oddball with a round hole plus four f-holes in the top, as well as an inner baffle. Although Gibson wouldn’t “advance” the size of its archtops until ’35, the movement toward larger, louder acoustic guitars was clearly recognized by Gibson and underway by 1930.

    In addition to the f-holes, this guitar is distinguished from almost all L-3s by the fingerboard extension, which is elevated off the top. The L-3’s fingerboard was flush with the top except in ’32, its last year of production, when it received the elevated fingerboard – a feature found only on the f-hole models.

    Whether this guitar was a custom order or a factory experiment is immaterial. In the context of an ever-growing demand for louder guitars, a smaller f-hole archtop was a step in the wrong direction. And Gibson apparently recognized it as such. The company’s next archtop was another 16″ f-hole model, the L-12.

    In ’32, Gibson finally introduced a smaller, more economical archtop. Ironically, its model number, L-50, might have suggested a higher-quality guitar than the existing models, but it ushered in a new era of Gibson model names that corresponded to list prices. It had an odd body shape, with a width of 143/4″ and a length of 171/2″ – almost two inches shorter than the 143/4″ flat-tops – which gave it a squat look. The standard specification called for a round soundhole, though a few were made with f-holes. Within two years, Gibson would lengthen the body, at which point f-holes became standard.

    In 1935, when all Gibson archtops “advanced” a step, the L-50 went to 16″.

    Gibson filled the vacated spot with a pair of cheaper 143/4″ f-hole models, the L-30 and L-37, priced at $30 and $37.50 respectively. Although Gibson’s primary competitor in the archtop market, Epiphone, was moderately successful in the early ’30s with its 13″ Olympic model, Gibson never again ventured below 143/4″ when it came to f-hole arch tops.

    This article originally appeared in VG October 2011 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

  • Will Ackerman

    Will Ackerman

    Will Ackerman: Irene Young.

    A defining idiom of ’80s guitar, the Windham Hill label captured a certain audio sound and style of understated acoustic music, lamentably categorized as “new age.” One of its founders was William Ackerman, the gifted fingerstylist, producer, and Grammy winner. Now an independent artist, Ackerman just released Positano Songs, an introspective gem of open tunings and melodies that are hard to forget. VG caught up with the acoustic innovator in his Vermont recording studio, Imaginary Road.

    When you’re writing, you videotape yourself playing.
    Yes, I like to have a video recording even as I’m experimenting with a new tuning; I have a number system and I’ve probably generated hundreds of tunings at this point – pretty much every piece has its own tuning. I don’t know if it would make sense to anyone, but it’s the nomenclature I’ve used for 48 years. I’ve used opening tunings pretty much from the beginning – even in high school I was experimenting with them, influenced by players like John Fahey, and even moreso by Robbie Basho.

    Which guitar did you use on this album?
    For decades now, my primary recording instrument has been my Froggy Bottom K model. Michael Millard now offers a Will Ackerman signature guitar based on the evolution of that instrument, which has really defined my sound. Most of my lead playing is on the Steve Klein jumbo. I’ve evolved into a decent lead player, the result of having done lead work for some of the many musicians I produce here at Imaginary Road Studios. Lastly, I continue to write on the Martin parlor guitar that Michael Hedges gave me years ago. I saw it leaning against the wall of his studio, and I picked it up. He told me to take it home – so Michael!

    How do you mitigate finger squeaks on steel strings?
    Obviously, you’re never going to eliminate squeaks entirely and it’s always a battle, but one does learn to lighten up as you’re moving up and down the neck. That comes from years of learning how to instinctually, gently lift your fingers. After 60 years, you hope to get pretty good at it.

    Describe the sound of the room where you record.
    I’ve always been a reverb guy, and the Imaginary Road studio is purposefully muted with soft walls, gobos in front of windows, and hard surfaces. My style as both a guitarist and producer is recording in very close proximity to the microphones. I have a collection of insanely rare and expensive matched pairs of vintage Neumann mics, rebuilt by Klaus Heine at German Masterworks. When I sold Windham Hill Records to BMG in May of 1992, my accountants made it clear that I needed to spend a lot of tax-deductible money in a hurry. Investing in these very rare microphones, along with the equally rare preamps, has been a wonderful thing – it’s part of the reason we command the respect we do in the recording world. On the other end of the spectrum, AKG 451 and 452 models are excellent mics, and they’re affordable.

    Some contemporary artists and producers use plugged-in acoustic/electric guitars on albums, and it doesn’t sound too good. Why aren’t engineers miking acoustics as much anymore?
    I wish I could explain it. It’s simply ridiculous.

    Is it harder to produce yourself?
    I’m so glad you asked. Positano Songs is the first album of mine where I turned over the job of producer to my engineer, co-producer, and dear friend Tom Eaton. This was the first time I’d been able to experience what I hope to give to musicians when I’m producing them – being able to concentrate on finding the emotional essence of the pieces without your brain needing to be on guard for mistakes. Freeing up the heart and allowing yourself as a musician to make the music expressive is the job of the player. All the rest of this is in the hands of the engineer and producer. It’s been revelatory for me to actually experience what I’ve tried to do as a producer for others my whole life.

    One aspect that makes your recordings stand out is discipline. It would be easy to add garnishes of electric instruments and electronic keyboards – and extra notes. How do you resist the temptation to add more?
    I try to be on guard against layering for layering’s sake. We do get into some complex recordings with six or seven instruments, but we like to balance an album with solos and much simpler productions, as well. I use a bell-curve metaphor – solo pieces on one side, five-instrument productions on the other, then simple duets or trios with light percussion in the middle. That said, we still specialize in solo recordings, which are the hallmarks that have defined my career.

    This article originally appeared in VG’s August 2022 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

  • Mojo Hand Swim Team Chorus Flanger

    Mojo Hand Swim Team Chorus Flanger

    Price: $159 (direct)
    www.mojohandfx.com

    Michigan-based Mojo Hand Effects has been building a variety of hand-assembled pedals since 2010. Their latest, the Swim Team, pulls double duty as a chorus and flanger packed into a single box.

    The Swim Team is housed in a 4.5″ x 2.5″ x 1.25″ die-cast chassis with cool aquatic-themed paint. Its control array includes knobs for Rate, Depth and Mix/Feedback, along with a push-button Chorus/Flange selector and true-bypass footswitch. Other details include chassis-mounted In/Out jacks and a 9-volt power jack (battery power isn’t an option).

    Whether in front of an amp or through its effects loop, the Swim Team’s circuit remained free of excessive hiss or noise as it produced a liquid, thick chorus effect that didn’t mess with our test amp’s tone or thin-out its low-end response. Slower rate settings had a very lush, fat sound, while faster settings produced an authentic, usable Leslie/pitch-shifting vibrato effect. In Flange mode, where the Mix knob controls feedback/regeneration, the Swim Team produced classic deep “jet style” flange that retains the pedal’s overall tone.

    There are no real compromises with the Swim Team. Its double duty format does both Chorus and Flange effects very well, producing liquid modulation without the “tone suck” that’s too often part of the deal with such pedals.

    This article originally appeared in VG’s August 2022 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

  • Luna Art Vintage Parlor Acoustic/Electric

    Luna Art Vintage Parlor Acoustic/Electric

    Price: $399 (street)
    www.lunaguitars.com

    Luna’s newest entry in its Vintage Series, the Art Vintage Parlor takes modern playability and puts it in a rustic package.

    The guitar’s solid spruce top on mahogany back and sides is a classic combination, and an attractive distressed satin sunburst finish, cream binding, and open-back aged-nickel tuning machines help make a great first impression. Fishman Presys II electronics round out the spec sheet, turning this parlor guitar into a gig-ready box.

    Acoustically, the Art Vintage Parlor is remarkably loud and resonant. One sneaky reason is the 4″ soundhole – atypically large for a small-bodied acoustic. The tone is well-balanced and has a representative amount of bass for its class. Overall, the mids come forward, making this guitar a great strummer and serviceable picker.

    The 25.5″-scale laurel fretboard has a flat 15″ radius – our tester played well all the way up the neck with a comfortable medium action. With a 111/16″ nut and C shape, the feel of this neck is pretty standard among modern acoustics. Fretwork was clean, with no edges, and the saddle might have benefitted from a little more TLC, but overall fit and finish were great, making for a very attractive instrument.

    Boasting all-solid construction, robust electronics, and a rustic aesthetic, the Art Vintage Parlor Acoustic-Electric offers great value for players of any level.

    This article originally appeared in VG’s August 2022 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

  • Maestro Fuzz-Tone FZ-M

    Maestro Fuzz-Tone FZ-M

    Price: $149
    Info: www.maestroelectronics.com

    Can’t get no satisfaction from your fuzz pedal? Step back to the source, with Maestro’s new Fuzz-Tone.

    The FZ-M is modeled on the world’s first production fuzz pedal – the Maestro Fuzz-Tone FZ-1, launched in 1962 and made justly famous by Keith Richards. Suddenly, fuzz became a must-have flavor for the complete rock-and-roll guitarist.

    Now, 60 years later, Gibson has revived the name – and the sonic fury. The packaging and layout might be new, but the ’60s graphics and that sound are all deliciously old-school. The all-analog FZ-M, though, includes a cool twist – it’s two pedals in one. The Mode toggle switches between Classic FZ-1 junkyard-dog snarl and a heavier, meaner Modern sound.

    The FZ-M’s three-knob control layout is straightforward and intuitive. Attack dials in the fuzz levels. Tone lets you move from a bright, raspy, vintage voice to thick and woolly on the other end of the spectrum. Level sets output volume – and this circuit can go far beyond unity gain, if you wish.

    Original examples of the FZ-1 are a bit tough to use these days, as they require two 1.5-volt batteries (the later FZ-1a and ’90s reissues needed just one). Happily, the FZ-M can run on a modern 9-volt battery or wall wart. Problem solved. And yes, there’s a true-bypass footswitch with an LED showing the box is on.

    So, how does it sound compared to an old FZ-1? We were well and truly satisfied. You can go from smooth sizzle to downright nasty to overpowering with a simple sweep of the Attack dial. Tweak that Tone knob, and the Modern circuit offers a furious array of virtuoso fuzz timbres. And yes, the FZ-M can get suitably loud.

    This article originally appeared in VG’s August 2022 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

  • Jackson Jeff Loomis Soloist SL7

    Jackson Jeff Loomis Soloist SL7

    Price: $1,699.99
    www.jacksonguitars.com

    If you’ve at all followed crunchy guitar playing for the past 25 years, you know players often delve into ranges beyond the traditional six-string. From Jackson’s Pro Series, the Jeff Loomis Soloist SL7 seven-string celebrates the post-shred achievements of Loomis, guitarist with Arch Enemy, Alkatrazz, and (formerly) the groundbreaking Nevermore.

    If you’ve ever played an extended-range guitar, you know the top six strings are in standard tuning, while the seventh is a low B – something jazz players have explored for decades. Hard-rock and metal players either leave it at B or tune it down to A (or lower, for maximum chunking); depending on one’s choice of string gauge, there are even lower-range tunings to explore.

    The Loomis SL7 has a basswood body with a sandblasted ash top with a satin-black finish. Its 26.5″-scale maple neck has 24 jumbo frets on an ebony ’board, deploying a 12″-to-16″ compound radius. To deal with the additional tension of a seventh string, the Loomis has graphite reinforcements within the neck and a heel-mount truss adjust wheel right next to the 24th fret. Also look for active Seymour Duncan Jeff Loomis Blackout humbuckers in the neck and bridge slots. For controls, there’s simply a three-way toggle and single Volume knob.

    With a Floyd Rose 1500 Series locking-vibrato bridge, you might think tuning would be a challenge, but this Jackson is well-engineered to take all your stunt dives and rolls, and come out in tune every time. That says a lot about the thinking that went into the neck reinforcement, hardware, and overall construction. If you haven’t grabbed a seven before, you may be surprised at the wide, flat neck, but again, Jackson has provided a comfy neck carve, making the transition easy. Plugged in, the basswood body and lively active pickups provide for a blazing tone, full of attack, sustain, and precision. Feel free to deploy your fastest, heaviest licks and riffs.

    It’s hard to find fault with anything on the Loomis, thanks to that superior build quality. However, if you’re looking for a traditional wood finish, this isn’t it. The sandblasted ash feels more like a hardened composite than actual wood, though it conveys a utilitarian vibe metalers will appreciate. Still, if you desire to go low as only a seven-string can, the Jackson Jeff Loomis SL7 is a serious contender.

    This article originally appeared in VG’s August 2022 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.