Pink Floyd
Comfortably Numb
Otis Redding
(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay
Noel Gallagher The Dying Of The Light
win!
A Taylor Academy 12E worth £659!
The TG Guide to
effects
tribute
chris cornell
Learn how they work Play the riffs that made them famous
the best affordable ge ar
reviewed! Inside
AFIw Incubus lucy rose Andy James
Charvel Joe Duplantier Pro-Mod
editor’s letter Future Publishing Quay House, The Ambury, Bath, BA1 1UA Tel 01225 442244 Fax: 01225 822763 Email totalguitar@futurenet.com Website: www.totalguitar.co.uk
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Welcome… It’s never easy when we lose an icon of our instrument, but Chris Cornell’s untimely passing on May 17 has had a profound effect here at TG. Chris may well have been recognised first and foremost as a vocalist (and in my mind, one of the greatest rock has ever known), but his guitar playing should never be overlooked. His altered tunings were inventive, contributing to the band’s unique voicing, but to me a big part of Chris Cornell’s genius playing in Soundgarden came from the timings. As a unit, Soundgarden made odd time signatures feel natural. You can nod your head to the 6/4 grooves of Fell On Black Days, and the 9/4 phrasing of the solo in Black Hole Sun, despite them being outside the usual 4/4 box. It’s a great place to start if you’re looking to develop that side of your playing. Chris graced the cover of TG twice: once in his own right, and again in 2013 with Kim Thayil for what would be Soundgarden’s first album in 16 years and now, sadly, their last. You can read Rob’s tribute to Chris Cornell on page 30, and if you’re not familiar with Chris’ work, I’d urge you to get listening. This month, we’re exploring the world of effects: how individual pedals work and the riffs that made them famous. This was a tricky list to compile, but long-term TG contributor Richard Barrett and Music Ed Chris have done a sterling job of recreating some of the most iconic stomp sounds committed to tape! Join us next month when we’ll be giving you plenty of inspiration to grab your acoustic and get playing more this summer!
Publishing Director Aaron Asadi Editorial Director, Design Ross Andrews Group Editor-In-Chief Daniel Griffiths Group Art Director Graham Dalzell Next issue on sale 9 June 2017
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Stuart Williams Editor
making this month’s mag
Chris Bird
michael astley-brown
Rob Laing
Chris has been working with TG contributor Richard Barrett recording our Guide To Effects video lessons. Asked for his favourite of the 15 riffs, he said: “She Sells Sanctuary. The Gretsch G5622T Electromatic guitar we used just seemed to take the sound to another level.”
Left reeling by Chris Cornell’s passing, Mike has been delving into the band’s alternate tunings – there is nothing more cathartic than tuning down to CFCGBE and breaking into 4th Of July. You can read excerpts of his interviews with the man himself in Rob’s powerful tribute on p30.
It’s safe to say the death of Chris Cornell has cast a shadow on all of us at TG this month, and Soundgarden were a key band for Rob when he first started playing guitar. He’s been focussing on the positive legacy that Chris Cornell leaves behind with a wealth of great music. july 2017 Total Guitar
03
#294 the gas Contents station Monitor
Cover photography: Joe Branston Photography: Will Ireland Simon Lees Kevin Nixon
04
046 The TG guide to pedals
Learn how effects pedals work, and how to play the riffs that made them famous with TG’s online video lessons
Total Guitar july 2017
Subscribe! Subscribe to Total Guitar and save a whopping 30% on the regular cover price – turn to p108 for full details.
contents
040
the magpie salute
Monitor 006 First Look 008 Scene 010 Five Minutes Alone: Mike Einziger 012 On The Up 014 Me & My Guitar: Tuk Smith 016 Album Reviews 018 Back Track: Queen
How To 022 2 0 Minutes To… Better barre chords 024 Riff Of The Month: U2: Vertigo 026 Getting Started With… Arpeggios 028 What The F? Minor Pentatonic Scales
Features 030 RIP: Chris Cornell 034 AFI 040 The Magpie Salute 046 Guide to pedals
Learn To Play 062 Jam Track: Modern-folk 064 Classic Track: Pink Floyd – Comfortably Numb 072 Open-mic Songbook: Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds The Dying Of The Light 074 The Turnaround: Peter Green
030
chris cornell
TG Unplugged 080 News 082 Interview: Lucy Rose 084 Rockschool: Otis Redding – (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay
The GAS Station
096
charvel JOE DUPLANTIER SIGNATURE
088 Start Me Up 090 Fender Mustang GT40 094 Electro Harmonix Canyon 096 Charvel Joe Duplantier Signature Model 098 The TG Test: Acoustic combo amps 104 Group Test: Fuzz pedals 106 Blackstar LT-Echo 10 110 Fix Your Guitar 114 The Playlist: Andy James july 2017 Total Guitar
05
Monitor people ✪ news ✪ noise
A cheaper price tag, advanced processing power and a colossal roster of tones from the Helix LT. What’s not to love?
06
Total Guitar july 2017
FIRSt LooK people ✪ news ✪ noise
The LT crowd Photography: Simon Lees
Line 6 unveils the streamlined and more affordable Helix LT ine 6’s Helix is the do-all, multi-effects du jour, but its £1,384 price tag made it a little pricey for some. Rejoice, then, at the news of the Helix LT, a model that cuts back on some of the Helix’s lesser-used features, but retains the same advanced processing power and HX models that secured the original a resounding ‘Best Buy’ award back in issue 279 of TG. Fifty six amps, 30 cabs, 16 mics and 95 effects make up the colossal roster of tones, but continual updates promise to secure the Helix LT a place at your feet for years to come. The new version clocks in at £899; here’s what’s changed…
L
Up close 1 Screen The footswitch ‘scribble strip’ screens are gone and the LT’s Performance View showcases the switch’s functions
2 Inputs/Outputs
3 Construction
The LT loses the odd effects loop and the XLR mic preamp, but for most users there are still more than enough ins and outs
Although the new enclosure is made of aluminium rather than bent steel, it’s still a tour-worthy piece of kit
july 2017 Total Guitar
07
MONITOR PEOPLE ✪ NEWS ✪ NOISE
SCeNe GeAR
YOUR MONTH IN GUITARS
Double Up
08
What’s the greatest thing about mini pedals? There’s always room for one more. It seems that TC Electronic are also accutely aware of this as they add to their range with the Mini Mimiq Doubler and HyperGravity pedals (£TBC). The Doubler can bring some big fat tone for breaks in a small package. The HyperGravity Mini Compressor is a shrunken version of a big brother’s multiband compression, losing only its blend control knob. When June
GeAR
Political Bite
total GUitaR JULY 2017
Danny Clinch
As we all bask/recoil in the drama of a UK general election, one pedal maker has been inspired by the referendum that set the whole thing in motion last year. Tate FX’s Brexit Means Brexit pedal (£75) is a “super hot-rodded Rat-type distortion” emblazoned with key players Michael Gove, Theresa May and Nigel Farage. Plus, an amusing ‘Not available in the EU’ notice on the side. Check out Pedalboards Of Doom at www.pbodoom.com When Now
ANNiveRSARY
ok comPUteR is 20 wenty years after the release of Radiohead’s last truly guitar-driven album, OK Computer, there’s still musical gold to be mined from it. The OKNOTOK 1997-2017 reissue, coinciding with their Glastonbury festival headline slot, will unearth a trio of fans’ holy grail songs in studio-recorded form for the
T
first time with Lift, I Promise and Man O War. Guitarist Ed ’O Brien suggested the anthemic Lift’s original exclusion was a move to sidestep commercialism. “If that song had been on that album, it would have taken us to a different place,” he told BBC Radio 6 Music,“and we’d have probably sold a lot more records.” When 23 June
scene
Fabrice Demessence
live
Ritchie Blackmore’s rainbow e said last year’s return to rock was a one off, but it looks like Ritchie Blackmore is not done with his Rainbow and Deep Purple legacy just yet as the latest incarnation of Rainbow headlines the one-day Stone Free festival this month at the 02
H
in London. “Rather than make an album, we may release as singles,” Blackmore mused to Japanese publication, Burrn! And true to his word, one new song, Land Of Hope And Glory, has followed, plus a re-recorded I Surrender. When 17 June
MIKEY DEMUS SKINDRED ROTOSOUND PLAYER
live
2,000 Trees here’s a lot of festival options out there this summer, but few champion home-grown rock talent quite like Cheltenham three-dayer 2,000 Trees. This year Mallory Knox, Slaves, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Lower Than Atlantis and Nothing But Thieves are headlining heroes, the latter having recently released the first taste of second album Broken Machine with the song Amsterdam. Elsewhere, look out for Black Peaks (pictured), Beach Slang and TG On The Up stars Brutus and Soeur. More info: www.twothousandtrees festival.co.uk When 6-8 July
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STRINGS PLAYED BY LEGENDS SINCE 1958
Joby Sessions
WWW.ROTOSOUND.COM
Monitor people ✪ news ✪ noise
Mike Einziger: the man with the biggest pedalboard in rock
concerts and selling tens of millions of albums. I felt like we did all that stuff, and then there was this pressure to just keep doing it over and over and over. And I think the fact that we’ve slowed down and not been as musically active is just because we have to. In order to find the genuine inspiration to keep making music in that same way with the same group of people, it just has to happen at the right time, and on its own.”
Pardon me while I burst “In the song Pardon Me, I’m doing these volume swells during the intro and re-intro and bridge section of the song, and I wish I just strummed them instead of doing volume swells! It’s such a pain in the ass to do the volume swells that, most of the time, I end up just strumming them anyway. There’s so much delay on my guitar and so much echo that you can’t even tell the difference between a swell and a strum because of how wet the guitar sound is!”
End of the tunnel
10
five minutes alone
Mike Einziger Incubus’s six-stringer on awkward guitar parts, mid-gig injuries and an ever-expanding pedalboard Got my first real six-string
sometime in the early 2000s I was at his house and I saw it there, and he was like, ‘I would understand if you want it back’, and I was like, ‘I do want it back!’ It definitely brings back a lot of memories.”
Dream on… “I got to a point around 2008 where I kind of felt like we had accomplished all the dreams I’d had as a kid: being in a rock band and touring around the world and playing these huge
“I got to a point where I felt like we had accomplished all the dreams I’d had as a kid” Total Guitar July 2017
Larger than life “The reason the pedalboard got so big with Incubus is because every time we would put out a new album, there would be all these new sounds on there. I’d try and figure how to pull it off with the pedals I already had, and if I couldn’t, I’d just go ahead and add one or two more pedals. We’ve made so many albums over such a long period of time, the thing just kept expanding and expanding and getting bigger and bigger. And I just look down at the pedalboard now, and I’m like, ‘What the fuck am I doing?!’”
Incubus’s new album, 8, is out now on Virgin EMI.
Words: Michael Astley-Brown Photography: Larry Marano/Getty Images
“My first guitar was made by a company called Kaman, back in ’88 or ’89. I had begged my mom for a year to get me a guitar. It was this amazing black Kaman guitar, but it had these red cracks in it. It was the most ‘down’ guitar you’ve ever seen, at least in my 12-year-old eyes. It was like the ultimate heavy metal machine. I can’t even believe it when I see it now. I still have it – I actually sold it to a friend of mine for $200 a few years later, and then
“Around 2007, I had to end a show early because I had really bad carpal tunnel syndrome, and I got to a point where I had to have surgery or I had to stop playing guitar. We were about three quarters of the way through the show in Frankfurt, Germany. I had to apologise to the audience and say, ‘Hey, I’m really sorry; I can’t keep playing, I wish I could, but I’ve got to go back to the US and take care of my wrist.’ And I think people were understanding of it, but definitely not too happy about it – I mean, I was really scared, because I was worried about my ability to continue playing. That was definitely my worst show ever!”
Monitor people ✪ news ✪ noise
12
O N T H E U P
The Orielles Heavenly-endorsed pop hits with added kitchen sink e bold and mighty forces will come to your aid,” so said Goethe, Basil King and/or Francis McDormand in Almost Famous (depending on your point of reference). Halifax’s Heavenly-signed indie trio The Orielles offer their own translation: “Fill your boots!” enthuses guitarist Henry Wade. “We live by it. It means taking every opportunity you get because it will pay off.” The trio, completed by siblings Sidonie B and Esmé Dee Hand-Halford (drums and bass/vocals) met Henry in
B
Neelam Khan Vela
Total Guitar July 2017
their early teens and they have been gigging ever since, morphing years of shared experience, crate digging and word of mouth into a string of lauded surf-rock-meetspost-punk singles. Their central philosophy, first mooted by the sisters’ dad [Adam Halford of The Train Set, indie fact fans – Ed] paid off last year when the band summoned the courage to hand new label-mates The Parrots a copy of their Jobin
EP, setting off a chain reaction that led to their album deal. “If we hadn’t done that, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” reflects Henry. “So leave nothing in the tank – in every sense.” Recent single Sugar Tastes Like Salt, produced by Marta Salogni (The XX, M.I.A.), proves they walk the walk, sounding in equal measure minimalist and like they’ve
quite literally thrown the kitchen sink at a recording console. Their usual Ramones-like attention span is focussed into a weird and wondrous eight-minute, 24-second safari through the band’s record collection while Henry ably folds in everyone from Mark Day to East Bay Ray – setting off TG’s ‘indie hero in the making’ klaxon whilst they’re in the process.
FOR FANS OF Ty Segall, Happy Mondays Gear Eastwood Airline Bighorn
Sugar tastes like salt is an eight-minute safari through the band’s record collection