premier guitar

5 new lessons — IncludIng a new Monthly coluMn by Jazz gIant PaT MarTiNo MARCH 2011

iron wine

sam Beam obliterates Folk tradition

The NaTioNal

Deceptively simple 6-string orchestrations

Winter nAMM 2011

From next-gen Modeling to Retro Radness showstoppers from america’s biggest gear show

61

Billy SheehaN

the Bass god on the new Mr. Big album

11 product reviews

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Fano, Knaggs, Martin, MtD, FretteD aMericana, gig-Fx, schroeDer auDio, tone goD, stone DeaF, anD Jet

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Turn the knob. The patented ISF control allows you to infinitely adjust the tone control network of your Blackstar amp from classic and hi-gain USA tones to outright raucous UK rebellion. Dial in your personal setting, and find the sound in your head.

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the pedal that rockS the world also featuring EDDIE KRAMER PAUL GILBERT STEVE LUKATHER WAH WAH WATSON STEVIE SALAS LARRY LALONDE DOUG DOPPLER BOBBY CEDRO SAM MCRAE BOB BRADSHAW BRAD PLUNKETT DEL CASHER DENNIS COFFEY CHARLES “SKIP” PITTS JIM DUNLOP JIMMY DUNLOP JASMIN POWELL JEORGE TRIPPS BEN FONG-TORRES and ART THOMPSON GuardHousePictures

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Upholding the tradition of German engineering excellence, the Nobels Electronics ODR-1 produces exceptional tone at an amazing price. Described

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Our awesome new line of stombox beauties don’t only look and sound the part, they also sport a super cool new technology called TonePrint. TonePrint allows you to download custom tunings made by your favourite guitarists, easy, fast and free using a simple USB connection. A veritable who’s who in guitar are on board and ready to give you their custom TonePrints. So forget emulation, let’s talk collaboration!

Corona Chorus

Hall of Fame Reverb

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*Currently, five pedals support TonePrints: Flashback Delay, Hall of Fame Reverb, Corona Chorus, Vortex Flanger and Shaker Vibrato.

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Rough, tough and always ready.

CEO Peter F. sprague Patricia a. sprague COO

gary ciocci Managing Director

Joe coffey Editorial Director

Jon Levy Managing Director

EDITORIAL Editor in Chief shawn hammond Senior Editor andy ellis Gear Editor charles saufley Senior Art Editor angela cox Senior Art Editor Meghan Molumby Web Content Editor rebecca Dirks Associate Editor chris Kies Associate Editor Jason shadrick Acoustic Editor gayla Drake Paul Assistant Editor Liana Prudencio

PRODUCTION & OPERATIONs Operations Manager shannon Britcher Circulation Manager Lois stodola Production Coordinator haylee Zlatohlavek

sALEs/MARKETING Advertising/Artist Relations Brett Petrusek Director of Business Development Jessica sullivan Director of Retail Sales Dave Westin Marketing Manager nick ireland Multimedia Coordinator Matt roberts Multimedia Coordinator seth hansen

WEBsITEs Our Portal www.premierguitar.com Our Online Magazine: http://digital.premierguitar.com The information and advertising set forth herein has been obtained from sources believed to be Gearhead Communications, L.L.C., however, does not warrant complete accuracy of such information and assumes no responsibility for any consequences arising from the use thereof or reliance thereon. Publisher reserves the right to reject or cancel any advertisement or space reservation at any time without notice. Publisher shall not be liable for any costs or damages if for any reason it fails to publish an advertisement. This publication may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Copyright ©2011. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Premier Guitar is a publication of Gearhead Communications, L.L.C.

Built to withstand the rigors of the road, it’s no suprise that Lovepedal has been a highly regarded brand in boutique guitar effects pedals for several years. Visit www.lovepedal.com and learn more about Sean Michael's dedication to quality and and the "less is more" aesthetic of guitar tone.

Premier Guitar [ISSN 1945-077X (print) ISSN 1945-0788 (online)] is published monthly. Subscription rates: $24.95 (12 issues), $39.95 (24 issues) Call for Canada, Mexico and foreign subscription rates 877-704-4327; email address for customer service lois@premierguitar.com.

PREMIER GUITAR (USPS 025-017) Volume 16, Issue 3 Published monthly by: Gearhead Communications, LLC Three Research Center Marion, IA 52302 Phone number: 877-704-4327 • Fax: 319-447-5599 Periodical Postage rate paid at Marion, ia 52302 and at additional Mailing offices PoSTMaSTer: Please send address changes to: Gearhead Communications, llC, Three research Center, Marion, ia 52302 Web: www.premierguitar.com e-mail: info@premierguitar.com Distributed to the music trade by hal leonard Corporation.

6 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

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TuninG uP

Why Do You Do What You Do?

BY SHAWN HAMMOND

W

hen I was messing around with headlines to go with the arresting image on this month’s cover, I kept thinking how “Future Primitive” in big, bold letters, would be a great descriptor for the glorious dichotomy of gear that was Winter NAMM 2011—the subject of this month’s cover story. But the more I thought, the more I realized that line would probably just remind 30-something guys like myself of the 1985 Power-Peralta skateboarding video (featuring, among others, a gangly 17-yearold phenom named Tony Hawk) or headier guys from the collection of John Zerzan essays that inspired Ted Kaczynski (aka “the Unabomber”) to bomb-in-a-briefcase infamy.

In the end, I just went with “Winter NAMM 2011.” It pretty much says what all PG readers/viewers want to know: Inside this mag is a bunch of gear coolness that you should gorge yourself on.

But I have to admit “Future Primitive” isn’t half bad, either.

Because when we chose the Kemper Profiling Amplifier— which lets you plug in any amp at your physical disposal and store a “profile” of its sonic signature (sounds kind of like the Napster of guitardom, huh?)— and the Misa Digital Instruments Kitara—which combines society’s new addiction to touch screens and video games with a 144-key, 24-fret controller full of synth voices—I was pretty sure we’d get grief from at least a few purists who think glowing glass bottles and a plank of wood harnessed with vibrating strings is the only way to go. Because let’s face it—a lot of us guitarists are sort of primitivists/neo-Luddites in almost the same sense as 8 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

Kaczynski and Zerzan: Okay, we don’t have crazy-ass violent tendencies, but by and large, we guitarists tend to think of post1950s technology as part of some doomsday machine that’s sapping music of its innocence and humanity. And, to be honest, I’m kind of one of those guys myself.

So why the space-age cover— is it just to be provocative?

Maybe a tad. After all, as you’ll see when you flip to our feature wrap-up on p. 110, the January NAMM show had tons of retro-

Billie Holiday, Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Elvis, McCartney and Lennon, Janis Joplin, Jimi, Page and Plant, Van Halen, Tom Morello, Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, and countless others—didn’t necessarily do so by dint of phenomenal technique or the ability to ape every sound their idols made. It was about soul and a restless zeal for experimentation and expression.

(Hell, most of my guitar heroes have two or three great tones they use to endless perfection.)

. . . by and large, we guitarists tend to think of post-1950s technology as part of some doomsday machine that’s sapping music of its innocence and humanity. cool guitars and valve-stocked amps that we could’ve put on the cover. The Kemper and Kitara look badass, though. (Hey, just because I love tubes doesn’t mean I don’t dig cool gadgets!) But there’s more to it than that.

It seems ridiculous to even articulate this thought, but there are obviously a lot of different kinds of guitarists. And, theoretically, that should mean there are many potential avenues to excelling as the type of guitarist you choose to be. For me, music is alluring because it gives me a chance to at least attempt to create something new and original.

I’m not under the delusion that I’ll ever come up with a completely unique, instantly identifiable sound, but striving for that is what draws me to the instrument. And the guitarists and musicians who’ve had the greatest impact on the world—from Mozart to Segovia, Django,

I like to believe the aforementioned rationale is what drives me to prefer plugging somewhat Neanderthalic guitars into fairly simple tube amps and to blather on endlessly about how I’d rather dial up one or two great sounds and then alter my tone via technique. But I may just be fooling myself.

Maybe I’m just lazy or stuck in the past—or maybe I have a touch of ADHD when it comes to knobs and digital menus.

A lot of players feel similarly.

But there are other schools of 6-string thought, too. For some, guitar is all about complete mastery of a single style, and that may dictate striving for a specific type of tone without really caring what sort of technology provides it. For others, guitar is more about the joy of performing cover songs and interacting with bandmates and audiences.

And, in that sphere, the more

styles and sounds you can replicate (usually via digital modeling and/or a very large and expensive collection of gear), the better.

Each of us has our opinion of which rationale is supreme, but it’s good to remind ourselves every now and again that music is an art form intended to bring joy and edification—and, for guitarists, certainly there’s not just one set of tools that can make that happen.

So do I expect you to embrace technology like the Kitara and the Kemper? That’s obviously up to you. I just think we should stop every once in a while and ask ourselves why we do what we do. If you’re comfortable with your old-school gear, that’s totally cool. But a little open-mindedness never hurts, either. After all, today a ’57 Strat and a Marshall plexi may look like the epitome of guitarness, but at one time a lot of players thought they were as radical as the instruments on this month’s cover.

Shawn Hammond shawn@premierguitar.com

premierguitar.com

“

“Hands All Over” the new album from Maroon 5 available on A&M/Octone

“

Photo: Travis Schneider

James Valentine of Maroon 5

maroon5.com

My Martin GPCPA1 and Fishman F1 Aura system have done great for us not only in concert, but in "plug in and play" situations in radio stations and TV studios. Having all the tone control onboard ensures that we get a great sound no matter where we are.

Getting a nice warm and real sound out of a plugged in acoustic can be tough, but Martin and Fishman do it beautifully. Even the tuner is built in discreetly – a nice little bonus.

Check out C.F. Martin’s complete line of Performing Artist Series guitars featuring the revolutionary Fishman F1 Aura.

fishman.com

martinguitar.com performingartistseries.com

TABLE OF COnTEnTS > FeAtUreS & reVieWS

88

Michael Greenfield’s Phoenix steel-string features a cedar top, quilted-mahogany back and sides, and an elaborate fretboard and headstock inlay by Larry Robinson.

FeAtUreS 81

the national Guitarists Aaron and Bryce Dessner talk about how quirky direction from vocalist Matt Berninger, classical-guitar icon Benjamin Verdery, and vintage Jaguars and Sheratons figure into their deceptively simple tapestries of sound.

88

Greenfield Guitars The Montreal-based boutique builder talks about his move from repairing museum-quality Martins and Gibsons to building museum-quality flattops and an incredible harp guitar for fingerstyle phenom Andy McKee.

99

Billy Sheehan Bass god Billy Sheehan talks about recording Mr. Big’s new album, What If ..., his multi-amp rig, and why it’s important to master your instrument inside and out. Plus! Paul Gilbert chimes in on the new LP’s tones and harmonies.

110 Golden Gear ticket Go with us as we take you inside Winter NAMM 2011—the year’s biggest musical products show in the US.

10 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

135 iron and Wine Iron and Wine’s Sam Beam talks about his evolution from skate punk to neo-folk hero, how songs should dictate tone (not the other way around), and how a good melody always transcends unorthodox instrumentation.

reVieWS 142 147 153 159 163 169 175 181 185 189

Fano Guitars JM6 Fretted Americana evil robot Martin GPCPA1 Grand Performance Gig-Fx Peter Frampton MegaWah MtD Kingston Saratoga Bass Schroeder Audio DB7 Knaggs Guitars Choptank and Kenai Stone Deaf PDF-1 Parametric Distortion Filter Jet Caldera Solidbody the tone God nerFuzz

premierguitar.com

Find Your

Perfect Match

T

he world’s largest collection of premium, limited, and collectible guitars and basses to be found under one roof.

Find your dream guitar today by calling 800-343-9795. Or see our selection online at musiciansfriend.com/privatereserve

TABLE OF COnTEnTS > LeSSonS & DePArtMentS

LeSSonS 67

Modal Workshop

By Alex Machacek Intervallic Structures

68

71

DePArtMentS 17

opening notes

Gigging & recording >

24

news

36

26

the Water Cooler See what people are saying online and in the guitar community in On/Off/Standby and Web Whispers.

inside Jazz

By Pat Martino Augmented and Diminished Forms

28

Letters

Beyond Blues

30

Staff Picks

75

By Dave Martone Intervallic Arpeggios

78

reveal their musical guilty pleasures.

32

Fierce Guitar

rhythm & Grooves

By Andy Ellis Open for Business

By Paul “TFO” Allen Covering the Tonal Bases

38

Media reviews ALBUMS: Jeff Beck Jeff Beck’s Rock ’n’ Roll Party: Honoring Les Paul, Motörhead The World is Yours, Tommy Emmanuel, C.G.P. Little by Little, Johnny Cash Bootleg, Volume 2: From Memphis to Hollywood BOOK: Q on Producing by Quincy Jones with Bill Gibson

192 noodling

40

42

44

tech tips > 46

48

Acoustic Soundboard

By Jeff Huss Tales of Custom Inlays

50

Ask Amp Man

By Jeff Bober Bringing a Gibson Duo-Medalist Back to Life, Pt. 1

52

Mod Garage

By Dirk Wacker The Fender Greasebucket Tone Circuit

54

110

esoterica electrica

By Jol Dantzig Soul Searching: The Secret Life of Guitars

Bell Custom Guitars

By John Bohlinger Deadlines Are Your Friend

Guitar tracks

By Mitch Gallagher The Right Mic, Pt. 3

198 Modern Builder Vault 208 Last Call

on Bass

By Dan Berkowitz Caring for Your Hands, Pt. 2

196 Guitar of the Month 1.5 Millionth Martin

Shifting Gear

By Rich Eckhardt Patch Cable Considerations

194 Gear Search Gallery 1990 Warwick John Entwistle Custom Buzzard

on track

By Rich Tozzoli The Venerable Beyerdynamic M 160 Mic

PG editors and Guest Picker Pete Huttlinger

By Tomo Fujita Triads Over Minor Blues

tone tips from the road

Stomp School

By Tom Hughes “Boutique or Not?” That is the Question

The Framus Vintage 5/131 Hollywood is one of 61 new products covered in our Winter NAMM Show wrap-up.

Vintage & Upkeep > 56

Vintage Vault

By Dave Rogers, Laun Braithwaite, and Tim Mullally 1957 Gibson EB-2 with 1967 Sunn 200S

58

trash or treasure

By Zachary Fjestad The Dump Master

60

restoring an original

By John Brown Potentiometer Restoration

62

the Low end

By Kevin Borden Milestones in Vintage Bass Evolution

64

Signal Chain

By Dean Farley The Evolution of the Twang Bar

12 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

premierguitar.com

Extending your tone life like no other string.

Every time you play your guitar, tiny bits of you are left to invade the windings to contaminate your strings and kill your tone. Elixir® Strings are the only strings that keep dirt out of the windings by coating the entire string. Our patented micro thin NANOWEB® Coating provides a clean, smooth feel while increasing string tone life 3 to 5x longer than ordinary strings.

Hear more from John Paul Jones and find out why he loves his Elixir Strings: www.elixirstrings.com/jpj

Photo Credit: Sarah Bastin

“Elixirs are great. I don’t have to change them all the time and they still sound fantastic.”

- John Paul Jones

WEB ExCLuSivES

ThiS MOnTh On PREMiERGuiTAR.COM/MAR2011 Your guide to the features, reviews, videos, and more appearing online this month.

5 NEW LESSONS — INCLUDING A NEW MONTHLY COLUMN BY JAZZ GIANT PAT MARTINO MARCH 2011

Iron Wine

Sam Beam Obliterates Folk Tradition

THE NATIONAL

Deceptively Simple 6-String Orchestrations

WINTER NAMM 2011

From Next-Gen Modeling to Retro Radness Showstoppers from America’s Biggest Gear Show

61

BILLY SHEEHAN

The Bass God on the New Mr. Big Album

www.premierguitar.com

11 PRODUCT REVIEWS

$5.95 U.S.

FANO, KNAGGS, MARTIN, MTD, FRETTED AMERICANA, GIG-FX, SCHROEDER AUDIO, TONE GOD, STONE DEAF, AND JET

Read PG on Your iPad!

Starting with this issue, Premier Guitar is available on the iPad via our free app!

Find out more about our iPad and iPhone apps at premierguitar.com/apps.

The Guitarist’s Guide to iPad Apps You already know that the iPhone is packed with useful guitar tools, so we’re checking out the offerings on the iPad. Read the must-buy apps for iPad owners in our roundup written by Mac expert and guitarist Jim Dalrymple.

Interview: Luther Dickinson

Guitarist Luther Dickinson splits his time as lead guitarist for the Black Crowes and the North Mississippi Allstars.

We catch up with Dickinson as the North Mississippi Allstars release their latest album, Keys to the Kingdom, to talk about the gear and recording techniques used for the album, and his approach to each band.

Gallery: Eric Clapton’s Auction Gear

NAMM 2011 Demo Videos, Plus Online-Only Reviews!

Head online for 100+ NAMM demo videos and more gear reviews—including the Gibson Lou Pallo Signature Les Paul, Jackson Ampworks Britain 3, Flaxwood 3ST, Jule Amps Paycheck 15, Young Pedals The Looker, TV Jones Model 10, and more. We’re adding new reviews exclusively online at premierguitar.com/reviews.

14 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

This spring, Eric Clapton is auctioning more than 70 guitars and 70 amps to benefit the Crossroads Centre: Antigua.

Visit us online to see a gallery of highlights from the auction. premierguitar.com

©2009 Taylor Guitars

Always to our own tune.

W ve We We’ e scr cruti tiiniz nized and an pe perfecte perfe rfe fe ecte t d ever er yth e thing in n ffr ng from om wood woo ood prep r ara a ttio ion to buff ffing ff i g. See ing e why hy a at T Ta ayylo lorGu rGuita ita arrs. rss.com co

A TRibuTE To ThE LEGEnDARy RAF SpiTFiRE oF WWii. CoMpLETE WiTh WEAThERED hARDWARE AnD FiGhTER MARkinGS. • EMG Active 81/85 pickups • Set In 24.75” scale Mahogany Neck • 22-fret Rosewood fingerboard • RAF Inlays • Aged Hardware • Schecter Tuners • GraphTech Nut

Schecter Exclusive:

EMG 81/85 w/ Distressed covers.

Set in neck with ultra Access

Go to schecterguitars.com to order your FREE 2011 Catalog!

OPEninG nOTES

SLASh

January 24, 2011 AT&T Center San Antonio, TX Photo by Arnold Wells

The first-ever Marshall signature amp endorser (Slash’s Silver Jubilee reissue came out in 1996) rips with one of his many Les Pauls and his new Marshall AFD100. The new amp features two modes based on his modded JCM800 2203 and the “Appetite Amp,” which is widely believed to be a modified ’59 Tremolo from the ’70s. His tech tells us this Les Paul was upgraded with high-end potentiometers and capacitors from RS Guitarworks.

premierguitar.com

PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 17

OPENING NOTES

18 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

premierguitar.com

OPENING NOTES

KEvIN HEarN aNd Ed rObErTSON January 14, 2011 Taylor Guitars Stage at Winter NAMM Anaheim Convention Center Anaheim, CA Photo by Joe Coffey

Kevin Hearn and Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies harmonize with their Taylor acoustics to a packed Taylor showcase audience during NAMM. Hearn’s GC5 has tropical mahogany sides and back, a Western red cedar top, an ebony bridge and fretboard, Taylor Slot-head Tuners and Taylor Expression System electronics. Robertson’s Built to Order guitar features a Grand Symphony body shape, Madagascar rosewood sides and back, an Adirondack spruce top with an aged finish, gothic vine inlay, an ebony bridge and fretboard, and Taylor Expression System electronics.

premierguitar.com

PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 19

OPENING NOTES

20 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

premierguitar.com

OPENING NOTES

1959 FENdEr “HIGH POwEr” TwEEd TwIN Photo by Ken Settle

In this 16-minute exposure, music photographer Ken Settle captured the glow of his mint-condition Fender Twin’s original Tung-Sol 5881s. This 85-watt “High Power” version of the Twin was introduced in 1958 and produced through 1959, making it one of the rarest of the Fender tweeds. Settle purchased the amp in 1975 in Detroit for $550.

premierguitar.com

PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 21

OPEninG nOTES

DAviD “hOnEYBOY” EDWARDS

January 28, 2011 Regency Ballroom San Francisco, CA Photo by Jérôme Brunet

David “Honeyboy” Edwards, the last living original Mississippi Delta bluesman who plays guitar, shows that the blues ain’t about the gear you play.

Edwards is coaxing oldschool blues out of a Silvertone Sovereign Pro PSSN2 Paul Stanley Model on the Blues at the Crossroads tour. Edwards, 96, played Delta juke joints with an acoustic in the ’20s and ’30s alongside Robert Johnson, Big Walter Horton, and Tommy McClennan. He started playing the electric after moving to Chicago in the ’50s.

22 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

premierguitar.com

nEWS

PEAvEY ACquiRES, RELAunChES COMPOSiTE ACOuSTiCS

BY ReBeCCA DiRkS

– Peavey announced the acquisition and relaunch of Composite Acoustics at the NAMM show in January. The guitars are now being built in a brand new, state-of-the-art facility in Meridian, Mississippi, that was designed with the direct assistance of the original Composite Acoustics design and development team.

Composite Acoustics re-launched with the OX, GX, and Cargo— the company’s travel guitar—available immediately. Additional models to be released in 2011 include the GXI, X, XI, and Legacy. Peavey says they have improved the neck angle and bracing of the new guitars, and the flagship GX model is now offered with a redesigned, narrow-profile neck.

“The Composite Acoustics guitar line is the biggest leap forward in guitar technology in decades,” said Hartley Peavey, founder and CEO of Peavey Electronics. “We are thrilled to be able to grow as a Composite Acoustics GX company and bring such an innovative product to market, while also achieving our goals of creating and retaining jobs in our U.S. facilities. We are very excited about this new venture.”

Composite Acoustics closed its doors in early 2010, shortly after launching their first carbonfiber electric guitar model. Peavey acquired the company in July 2010. compositeacoustics.com

AnAhEiM, CA

Enter for Chance to Meet Eric Clapton

BY ReBeCCA DiRkS

– A new contest from Ernie Ball will give 15 guitarists the opportunity to meet Eric Clapton in London.

The prize includes access to Clapton’s private rehearsal and an exclusive meet-and-greet in advance of Clapton’s Royal Albert Hall show. Airfare and hotel accommodations as well as tickets to the concert are also included.

The grand prize is part of Ernie Ball’s Experience Clapton promotion, exclusive to Guitar Center. Ernie Ball string packs purchased at Guitar Center between February 1 and April 30 will have unique codes that serve as an entry when entered on the Ernie Ball website. In addition, Ernie Ball will be including colored picks that correspond to other prizes in select string packages.

Additional prizes include: COAChELLA, CA

24 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

• Airfare to Anaheim, California for the 2012 Winter NAMM Show (10 winners) • Custom Ernie Ball Music Man guitar (10 winners) • $100 Guitar Center gift cards (150 winners) • Limited edition Eric Clapton Lithograph (150 winners) • Free pack of Ernie Ball strings (1500 winners) Ernie Ball will select the 15 grand prize winners at random from the codes submitted online.

“Eric Clapton has been playing Ernie Ball strings for nearly 50 years,” said Brian Ball of Ernie Ball. “He is a true guitar legend and a close friend of the Ernie Ball family. We’re thrilled that Ernie Ball and Eric are able to provide our loyal customers with an unparalleled opportunity to experience one of the world’s great guitarists, Eric Clapton, like never before.” ernieball.com/ericclapton

Country Singer and Guitarist Charlie Louvin Dies at 83

BY ReBeCCA DiRkS

The Louvin Brothers’ music was rooted in traditional country and gospel, but the duo produced mainstream hits like “When I Stop Dreaming,” and “I Don’t Believe You Met My Baby.” The Louvin Brothers broke up in 1963 and Charlie pursued a solo career while Ira struggled with substance abuse before dying in a car accident in 1967.

Over more than 45 years of solo work, Charlie Louvin never turned his back on the traditional, Appalachian country, and continued recording and playing shows until his death.

His most recent album, The Battles Rage On, is a collection of war songs dating back to the American Civil War that was released on November 9, 2010.

Louvin was a member of the Grand Ole Opry for more than 50 years and was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry Hall of Fame in 2001.

Charlie Daniels Band Guitarist Tommy Crain Dies at 59

BY ReBeCCA DiRkS

– Tommy Crain, former guitarist for the Charlie Daniels Band, died on January 13, 2011, at age 59. Crain played on 20 Charlie Daniels Band albums and co-wrote more than 60 CDB songs, including hits “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” and “In America.”

Crain spent 15 years with the band, beginning in 1975, before leaving to help raise his family. In recent years, Crain had played with the Crosstown Allstars.

Charlie Daniels paid tribute to Crain on his website with a remembrance entitled, “I Remember Tommy.” In it,

FRAnKLin, Tn

– Country Music Hall of Famer Charlie Louvin lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on January 26, 2011, at age 83. Louvin was guitarist and vocalist in the Louvin Brothers with his older brother Ira from the 1940s through 1960s.

Louvin also won a Grammy in 2004 for Best Country Album for Livin’, Lovin’, Losin’: Songs of the Louvin Brothers, a musical tribute to the Louvin Brothers.

WATRACE, Tn

premierguitar.com

NEWS

Daniels said, “He took me to heights I may never have known if he hadn’t come into my life. When you’d trade licks with Tommy, you’d best bring it all, because that’s what he did every night.”

“The Art of the Guitar” Photography Show to Launch in New York

By ReBecca DiRks NEW York, NY – The Morrison Hotel Gallery loft in Soho will host “The Art of the Guitar: The Photography of Jonathan Singer” beginning February 11.

The fine art photography exhibition features photographs of some of the rarest guitars in the world, curated by Buzzy Levine, owner of Lark Street Music.

premierguitar.com

Photographer Jonathan Singer is a renowned botanical photographer who has been shooting guitars for more than 20 years.

Singer describes his style, saying, ““By turning the guitar into an art piece it takes on a whole new meaning. The style I use either makes the guitars melt into the background or jump off the paper they are printed on. The instrument must have the power to be a celebrity on its own.”

The guitars in the photographs came from both guitar shops and private collections, and cover both vintage and modern rarities. morrisonhotelgallery.com

1955 Gibson ES-295 and 1953 Gibson Les Paul Goldtops, one of Singer’s photos that will be displayed in the Morrison Hotel Gallery.

To see a selection of the images from the exhibition—including an incredibly mint matched pair of 1958 korina Gibson Explorer and Flying V and other rarities—click here to check out our online photo gallery at premierguitar.com/sep2010.

PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 25

ThE WATER COOLER

The editors of Premier Guitar offer up some unsolicited opinions about guitars and 6-string life.

ChECk IN, ROCk OuT

Hard Rock Hotels partner with Gibson and Zakk Wylde to offer a high-end-guitar checkout service.

The program is available to hotel guests in Chicago and San Diego who are not named Charlie Sheen.

FENDER FACTORY TOuR FROM 1959 SuRFACES ON YOuTubE

bON JOVI, JIMMY buFFETT, AND kID ROCk TO hEADLINE NEW ORLEANS JAzz & hERITAGE FESTIVAL

Okay, this definitely qualifies as a festival, but we’re still trying to figure out the “New Orleans Jazz & Heritage” part.

No joke here, just awesome. Go to YouTube right now, search “Fender Factory Tour 1959.”

WEBWhisPers

A sampling of what we’ve heard on premierguitar.com in the past month What lame songs did you cut your teeth on?

i asked my teacher in the first lesson to show me “Stairway.” he chuckled condescendingly and said, “That’s a bit too much for someone as new as you.”

So i went home and learned it and never went back.

“how green is My Valley.”

Yuck.

– Premier Guitar, Joshua Davis, Steve W. Martin, and Sean Sanford, from Facebook.

after my dad pulled out one of his old records and showed me “the crush of Love” by Joe satriani, my life was changed. so here i am, in third grade, at my first lesson ever, asking to learn Joe satriani and walking out from the lesson with “La cucaracha” for homework. ha ha.

bIG 4 IN ThE uS

Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax will play together in the US for the first time in April. Too bad Ulrich nixed the idea of a tour, telling Rolling Stone, “I don’t want this to turn into something that overtakes everybody’s schedules for the next couple years.”

GuNS N’ ROSES TEASES NEW MuSIC ON TWITTER

We’re waiting with bated breath.

And by bated breath, we mean we’re going to go back to school, get a PhD, raise a family, watch the Cubs win the Series, and then check back for the new music.

Have you gone mad, man? Your wife will inevitably read this and then you are screwed.

– John Bohlinger, on “How to Hide New Gear from Your Significant Other,” Tuning Up, February 2011.

Yeah, it sounds great.

Full marks to Premier Guitar for organizing different mics for the guitar amp and interview voices.

– simon_nyc, on “NAMM ’11 - Mesa/ Boogie Royal Atlantic RA-100 Demo,” Web Exclusive Video Demo

26 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

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LETTERS

Ned Steinberger on Rick Turner 8 NEW LESSONS • SESSION ACE BRIAN RAY ON BACKING PAUL McCARTNEY FEBRUARY 2011

THE PINKBURST PROJECT PHILANTHROPIC AXES AND AMPS WITH HEART, SOUL, & TONS O’ TONE

SOCIAL DISTORTION

THE GODS OF FUNK GUITAR

Punk Veterans, P-90 Junkies

& How They Grooved the Globe

PIERRE BENSUSAN Return of the DADGAD Guru

11

Guitar & Bass Gear Reviews LINE 6, GUILD, EASTWOOD, NOLATONE, STADLER, TEYE, DLS EFFECTS, MANSON, DDYNA WAY HUGE, AND BOOMERANG

$5.95 U.S.

TWiSTED hERO Talented musician, devoted father, wonderful human being—Jay Jay French [“The Pinkburst Project,” February 2011] gives true meaning to the term “guitar hero.”

—Alison Richter via Facebook

Heartbreaking and inspiring!

—Robert DiMaio via Facebook

Thanks for the support of the magazine. The article looks great and really addresses the disease in more depth than I expected—and that is the most important thing to me. Uveitis is the leading cause of blindness among American girls, third outside the US. Thank you, Elianne [Halbersberg, “The Pinkburst Project” author] and the whole staff.

—Jay Jay French via email

Thanks, Jay Jay. We were honored to be able to help share a touching, important story andstoked to be able to show PG readers/viewers such an amazing collection of gear. We send our sincerest condolences and wishes for a bright, healthy future to you, your family, and all other uveitis sufferers.

When I first met Rick Turner [“The Father of Boutique Guitars,” January 2011], near the beginning of my career, we were on opposite sides of a dispute about the use of molded graphite in guitar necks. His business partner at the time was ready to hang me from the rafters when Rick wisely stepped in to defuse the situation, saving us all from a costly and disheartening conflict. Later, I had a chance to work with Rick when he took a job as a consultant for Gibson, where I learned that his knowledge of guitars and the physics behind them is nearly boundless. From acoustics to wood and composites to pickups and electronics to strings and setup, Rick has studied and absorbed the art and science behind it all at the very highest level. Beyond that, his generosity in sharing his knowledge with me and many others should serve as a model for all of us who care about making the best possible tools for musicians. In the instrument-making world, overrun as it is with worn-out myths and misinformation, Rick is a beacon of reason and originality.

Rick is also a very talented writer. If there is any way that Premier Guitar could persuade Rick to share his technical and artistic insight in a monthly column, your readers, myself included, would be the richer for it.

—Ned Steinberger via email

All I Got Was This Lousy Tour

You didn’t mention how darned nice everyone is at Ernie Ball [builder profile, January 2011]. I’m the very happy owner of a Music Man Axis Super Sport, and about 10 years ago my wife and I were driving down the Pacific coast on vacation. The road signs said “San Luis Obispo,” so I said, “That’s where they made my guitar. Let’s see if the factory will sell me a T-shirt or something.”

We found the EB factory and the very nice woman at the reception desk told me they didn’t have any T-shirts, but asked if I could wait for a couple of minutes.

A few minutes later, someone—it could have been the factory manager—came out and apologized for the lack of T-shirts and

asked if I would like a quick tour of the factory while I was there. We got a 30-minute tour of everything, with explanations and introductions to the people working there.

It was wonderful. For someone at a company, any company, to take time out of what I’m sure was a busy workday just to talk to a customer and show him around the place was, to me, amazing.

—Jim Colburn via email

While we don’t encourage fans of gear brands to bust into factories and workshops unannounced when standard tours aren’t already offered, we have to say that your experience is encouraging, And, in EBMM’s case, it’s not surprising. Unit sales aside, most manufacturers dream of having customers loyal to the point of wanting to take a factory look-see while soaking up some brand mojo. Thanks again to EBMM—and to all manufacturers who open their doors to factory tours for PG employees and readers.

Corrections

In “The Pinkburst Project” [February 2011], we mistakenly referred to Jay Jay French as Twisted Sister’s rhythm guitarist when, in fact, he and Eddie Ojeda split guitar chores equally.

We apologize for the error. In addition, after the issue went to press, the Pinkburst Project auction date was changed to May 1 to avoid conflict with Easter Sunday celebrations.

In our January 2011 profile of luthier Tom Ribbecke, we neglected to list CFO Len Wood as a key part of the partnership that formed Ribbecke Guitar Corporation.

Sorry Len, Tom, and everyone else at RGC! In the December 2010 Ask Amp Man column [“Souping up a Bassman 10”], we mistakenly omitted a phrase in the last half of the second paragraph under the heading “Getting Down and Dirty.” It should have read: “Another change you can make is to locate the .0047 capacitor that connects the Treble pot wiper to the CW leg of the Volume pot. This cap is limiting some of the Studio channel’s frequency range. Removing it and replacing it with a short wire will give the channel additional punch.”

Keep those comments coming!

Please send your suggestions, gripes, comments, and good words directly to info@premierguitar.com.

You can also send snail mail to Premier guitar, three research center, Marion, ia 52302.

Please remember to include your full name. selected letters may be edited for clarity.

28 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

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STAFF PiCKS

Admit it—there are times when that you listen to a certain song or album and feel a little guilty and hope your friends and loved ones don’t find out. This month, the PG staff and Guest Picker Pete Huttlinger cop to their guilty pleasures. Feel free to email us at info@premierguitar.com and tell us what song you sing along to when nobody’s listening.

Joe Coffey

rebecca Dirks

Andy ellis

Editorial Director What am I listening to?

Gregg Allman, Low Country Blues. Allman, T-Bone Burnett, Doyle Bramhall II, and Dr. John cover Blind Lemon Jefferson, Junior Wells, and more.

What is my favorite guilty pleasure?

Phil Keaggy’s “March of the Clouds.”

Before airline rules changed, I rocked it during takeoff. Bursting through the clouds as the bridge hit was amazing. Symbiotic tone dork? Yes, I am.

Web Content Editor What am I listening to?

Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. West samples King Crimson and Smokey Robinson, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon lends vocal and songwriting chops, and West and guests are powerful and spot on.

What is my favorite guilty pleasure?

Katy Perry’s singles. I don’t want to like them, but I always end up singing along.

Senior Editor What am I listening to?

Danny Gatton and Tom Principato, Blazing Telecasters. Backed by tight keys, bass, and drums, Gatton and Principato duke it out, trading chorus after chorus of snappy bends and snarling phrases.

What is my favorite guilty pleasure?

Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. A perfect blend of righteous guitar, hooky songs, and amazing vocals.

Shawn Hammond

Chris Kies

Matt roberts

Editor in Chief What am I listening to?

Buddy Miller, The Majestic Silver Strings.

On “God’s Wing’ed Horse,” the acoustics are so pristine, the lap steel is so ethereally winsome, and Buddy and wife Julie Miller’s vocal harmonies are so serene even agnostics and atheists will be moved.

What is my favorite guilty pleasure?

I’m not a prog guy, but Dream Theater’s 1994 album, Awake, is full of incredible musicianship and strong songs—and the vocals have never sounded less annoying.

Associate Editor What am I listening to?

Timeless: Hank Williams Tribute. Legendary artists like Keef, Petty, Dylan, and Cash honor the drifting cowboy’s tradition with simple arrangements and true-to-original covers—it’s epic.

What is my favorite guilty pleasure?

Maroon 5’s Hands All Over. My fiancée spun this album nonstop last year, but after hearing guitarist James Valentine’s live chops and tone (especially on “Hands All Over” and “Stutter”)—and M5’s overall rhythm and groove—I’ve put it on my iPod.

Multimedia Coordinator What am I listening to?

Band of Horses, Infinite Arms. It goes from folk and country stylings to really rocking your face off. Give it a spin and see them live if they’re anywhere near you. You won’t be disappointed.

What is my favorite guilty pleasure?

Any ‘90s music. Who doesn’t love Third Eye Blind or Goo Goo Dolls? And don’t even tell me that you don’t know all the words to “More Than Words” or “Losing My Religion”!

Pete Huttlinger

Charles Saufley

Jason Shadrick

Guest Picker What am I listening to?

Jeff Beck, Emotion & Commotion. When he performed “Nessun Dorma” at the Crossroads festival last summer, he had 30,000 people screaming their heads off, and he had just played one of the most famous arias in opera. He makes me totally rethink everything I do on guitar.

What is my favorite guilty pleasure?

It would currently have to be Bing Crosby and Some Jazz Friends. Bing’s phrasing was beyond fantastic and, man, he could swing.

Gear Editor What am I listening to?

Loren Connors, Night Through: Singles & Collected Works 1976– 2004. A beautiful, sprawling showcase of the NYC guitar minimalist’s jams—from early primitivist blues to spacious, ethereal, dots-and-dashes impressionist pieces. Take a Saturday-afternoon nap to this set.

What is my favorite guilty pleasure?

I refuse to feel guilty about music, though my love of many ’70s light-rock classics (see Andy Ellis’ pick) has irked more than a few road-trip companions.

Associate Editor What am I listening to?

Jeff Beck, Rock ‘n’ Roll Party: Honoring Les Paul.

There’s just something about Beck playing authentic rockabilly on a hollowbody Gibson . . . it’s some of the most pure guitar playing I’ve ever heard.

What is my favorite guilty pleasure?

The soundtrack to La Bamba has been embedded in my musical subconscious since I was 7 years old and playing air guitar along with Los Lobos.

30 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

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Š2011 FMIC. FenderŽ, Make History™, Road Worn™, StratocasterŽ, StratŽ and the distinctive headstock designs found on these guitars are trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corp. All rights reserved.

MEDiA REviEWS

Jeff Beck DvD

Jeff Beck’s Rock ’n’ Roll Party: Honoring Les Paul Eagle Rock Entertainment

ALBuM

Jeff Beck’s Rock ’n’ Roll Party: Honoring Les Paul ATCO

Jeff Beck’s latest release, Rock ’n’ Roll Party, is just that—a loud, fun-filled celebration of the music, life, and legacy of Beck’s biggest influence, Les Paul. For two nights last September—one of which would have been Paul’s 95th birthday—Beck descended to the underground stage of the Iridium in New York City where Paul held court almost every Monday night right up until his death in August of 2009. Backed by the Imelda May Band, Beck chose to interpret a collection of tunes made famous by Paul in addition to rockabilly and early rock ’n’ roll tunes that inspired him as a youngster.

Both nights were shot and recorded for independent CD and DVD/Blu-ray releases, with the CD featuring 20 songs and the DVD/Blu-ray adding seven more and some cool bonus features to the mix.

Dressed in blue—reminiscent of the cover to Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps’ self-titled album—Beck kicks off the DVD with “Baby, Let’s Play House,” a tune made famous by Elvis Presley during his Sun Sessions. Standing in front of several small Fender combo amps, Beck tears into his blonde Gibson L-5 with the unbridled power of a teenager and a Zen master’s touch. Rhythm guitarist Darrell Higham strums his Epiphone Jumbo acoustic with gusto and totally cops a ’50s vibe in both look and sound with his vocals that channel Bill Haley. The rhythm section of Al Gare on bass and Stephen Rushton on drums gives the tunes a solid foundation without becoming too heavy handed. Early on, Beck digs into “Train Kept A-Rollin’,” a staple from his years with the Yardbirds. The tone on Beck’s solo is so fuzz-laden that you would think Paul Burlison himself sliced up the speaker cones with a rusty knife.

32 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

Playing the Mary Ford role to Beck’s Les Paul, Imelda May gives an intensely understated performance on “Cry Me a River.” The tune begins with Beck playing a chord melody intro that is equal parts Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass.

His jazz fills fill the spaces between May’s phrases perfectly and makes me want to hear him stretch out on more jazz tunes.

They switch gears to head into Ford and Paul’s signature song, “How High the Moon.” To replicate the overdubbed vocals on the original, May sings to some pre-recorded tracks while Beck’s guitar plays a solo that combines his signature tone with elements of old-school bebop that serve as the most direct tribute to Les Paul’s style and catalog.

The special guests—Brian Setzer, Gary “U.S.” Bonds, and Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews—do exactly what guest players should, they add to the energy without stealing the show. Setzer does a great job playing the Eddie Cochran role on “Twenty Flight Rock” and then returns for the blowout finale of “Shake, Rattle, and Roll.” On the DVD, Beck mentions in an interview that he invited Bonds to sit in on “New Orleans” after he heard Bonds was playing around the corner.

The DVD and Blu-ray version contain some excellent bonus features that were clearly directed at the guitar nerds that hang on Beck’s every note. The included 30-minute interview with Beck touches on everything from his first memories of hearing Les Paul’s music to a meeting arranged by Billy Squier that led to a lifelong friendship. You can tell that the interviewer hadn’t spent much time locked away in her bedroom trying to figure out the bridge to “Cause We Ended as Lovers” as the questions were a bit clichéd and over-rehearsed. Luckily, Beck’s irreverent personality kept things interesting.

Also included is a short video of Beck in what seems to look like an attic at his English estate where he goes through some of the highlights of his guitar collection. Make sure to check out the story behind the “TeleGib” that involved trading the Fender Esquire that he used in the Yardbirds to Seymour Duncan and

some (momentary) regret. He also touches on the white Strat he used on Wired—which was a gift from John McLaughlin—and a plastic Maccaferri that came by way of Jimmy Page. The other included features are a behind the scenes montage from the Iridium shows and some vintage footage from a mid’80s Billy Squier show where Beck and Paul jam through a few blues tunes.

Beck clearly wanted to pay tribute to Les Paul and the early rock axe-slingers that made him want to pick up the guitar.

And you can hear the lineage that goes from early American rock ’n’ roll over to the British blues artists and back again.

It’s hard to imagine another living artist who could accurately and authentically pay tribute to Les Paul, his music, and the spirit of innovation that he represented.

—Jason Shadrick

premierguitar.com

MEDiA REviEWS ALBuMS

Motörhead The World Is Yours Motörhead Records

The infamous metal institution known as Motörhead celebrated its 35th anniversary by releasing their 20th album, The World is Yours.

It’s a tough and ballsy biker record that sticks to the Motörhead formula but with a renewed sense of vitality and mean intensity. With iconic bassist and vocalist Lemmy Kilmister at the helm, Motörhead blurs the lines between rock ’n’ roll, modern metal, and punk while keeping a leather-jacketed swagger and a middle finger aimed at authority and proper society. This incarnation of Motörhead features Phil Campbell on guitar and Mikkey Dee on drums playing with fierce authority, while the 65-year-old Lemmy rocks the vocal mic with a maturity and single-minded vision that few younger frontmen possess. Producer Cameron Webb gives this record a clear, live-in-the-studio feel, and lets Phil Campbell loose with inspired wah solos galore. Fat-free blues-rock soloing, killer vibrato, Chuck Berry double-stops, and nasty chord work right out of the ’70s keeps this band grounded in the old-school rock tradition. Top cuts include “Waiting for the Snake,” “Bye Bye Bitch,” and the ominous “Brotherhood of Man.” —Oscar Jordan

tommy emmanuel, C.G.P. Little by Little Favored Nations

From the opening notes of “Halfway Home,” Tommy Emmanuel bowls you over with his amazing technique and his ability to craft a melody that sticks in your head. Little by Little is an ambitious double album full of everything from delicate Beatles-inspired fingerpicking to the barnburning instrumentals that have become a cornerstone of his live shows. On a masterful arrangement of Carole King’s “Tapestry,” Doyle Dykes joins Emmanuel for an inspired version of the ’70s classic. Relying on his arsenal of Maton, Collings, Larrivee, and Gibson guitars, Emmanuel knows how to pick just the right axe for the tune. For the vocal version of the jazz standard “Moon River,” he chooses a vintage Gretsch Synchromatic to cop an old-school jazz 34 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

vibe. Between the two discs there are some common threads. The title track, “Haba Na Haba” (Swahili for “Little by Little”) is given an instrumental treatment on the first disc while the second disc adds Pam Rose and Victor Wooten for a funky vocal version. The tracks that stand out most are the solo pieces where Emmanuel lets his musical spirit flow freely. “Mountains of Illinois,” written by fellow Nashville superpicker Pat Bergeson, is a bluesy ballad that is equal parts Chet Atkins and Joe Pass. With so many moving parts on this album, from different guests to genres, Emmanuel has created one of the most accessible albums of his career, one that’s sure to inspire other guitarists to drop the pick more often. —Jason Shadrick

Johnny Cash Bootleg, Volume 2: From Memphis to Hollywood Columbia/Legacy

Bootleg, Volume 2: From Memphis to Hollywood takes you back to the ’50s and ’60s, when Cash lived in the studio. During these two decades, he released 20 studio albums producing plenty of B-sides, demos, unreleased songs, and alternative takes filling two CDs—1950s and 1960s—with 57 songs, including 16 never-heard recordings.

The first disc showcases a young, impressionable Cash recording gospel (“Belshazzar”), rockabilly (“You’re My Baby”—later made famous by Roy Orbison), heartbroken blues (“When I Think of You”), and country (“Brakeman’s Blues”—a Jimmie Rodgers cover) in a style that demonstrates great empathy for the genre rather than a reliance on his own charismatic persona—a talent he demonstrated in later recordings, particularly his American albums. The 1960s disc oozes with Cash’s room-filling, baritone swagger particularly on the hilarious “Foolish Questions,” the poignant “Five Minutes to Live,” the selfdeprecating “The Losing Kind” and the slow, prison ballad “Send a Picture of Mother.”

The boom-chick-a-boom rhythm associated with Cash, guitarist Luther Perkins, and bassist Marshall Grant, is on parade throughout both discs and the musical transitions Cash endures. Production gets slicker on the second disc thanks to Columbia Records and producer Don Law. But the first one—loaded with 14 demos—has a garage-recording charm, complete with Sun Studio and Sam Phillips’

signature reverb. The 1950s disc starts with a 15-minute segment from a KWEM radio program—complete with Cash selling home improvement goods—that aired in May 1955.

While not nearly as accessible as other posthumous hit-laden collections, Bootleg, Volume 2: From Memphis to Hollywood captures a historically important musical and transformation of a young Cash from his frenetically ragged roots to one of American music’s most important lyrical philosophers. —Chris Kies BOOK

Q on Producing

By Quincy Jones with Bill Gibson Hal Leonard $34.99

Quincy Jones needs no introduction, but it’s worth pointing out that he was almost pigeonholed out of the chance to produce Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall album, which, of course, preceded Thriller and Bad in what would become the most successful trio of albums of all time by any measure. Jones was respected for his touch with jazz, TV, and film in 1978, but hadn’t yet achieved big success in mainstream pop-music production. This book dissects the approaches he used to turn that corner, which are essentially the same principles that guided him alongside greats like Ray Charles, Count Basie, and Frank Sinatra, and continue to guide him today.

The 302-page book offers plenty of practical Q wisdom through his own words, those of co-writer Bill Gibson and those of a long list of notable collaborators like Phil Ramone and Paul Jackson, Jr. Topics covered include: chord and instrument voicings, the pocket, the music business, the rewards of loyalty, and the art of respecting genres. There are no deep-dive tips, unfortunately, but the summation of so much general Q advice amounts to a valuable collection of musical knowledge.

The hardbound book also comes with a DVD containing more than an hour of Gibson interviewing Jones. Dedication and musical genius aren’t transferable through a book and a DVD, but this first volume in what is to be a series on producing from Hal Leonard does good job of examining what Jones brings to the table. —Joe Coffey

premierguitar.com

The TransAtlantic may be the same size as other metal chassis lunchbox amps, like the Orange Tiny Terror and Vox Night Train, but it completely dwarfs the competition when it comes to power output and features.

Chris Gill – Guitar World

Players & Critics Agree The Transatlantic TA-15 Rips!

The Transatlantic offers an amazing array of sounds...

The Transatlantic is truly a gig-worthy mini amp....

Versatile as most other amp makers’ full-sized heads.

that can suit everyone from blues players and country rockers to Brit-pop janglers and metal shredders...with the gain on either channel dialed back, the headroom is impressive and , on the 25 watt setting, it’s easy to feel like you’re playing an amp with significantly more power...For its outstanding flexibility and tones, the Transatlantic earns our Editors Pick Award.

One complaint about most lunchbox amps is that they only provide a limited variety of overdrive tones.

The TransAtlantic suffers none of those limitations, producing gorgeous, detailed clean tones with ample headroom, aggressive overdrive with punchy bass, and singing distortion with Mesa’s signature creamy sustain.

Playing with this top Boost voicing I found myself losing track of time under the influence of infectious pop songs from Liverpool… This setting allows your fretting technique to shine by preserving every subtle, touch-sensitive nuance as you glide and slide over the strings.…it breathes, it’s responsive, it sustains and the touch-sensitivity inspires your musical expression.

Gear Roundup – Guitar Player Staff

Chris Gill – Guitar World

Lyle Zaehringer – Premier Guitar

HANDBUILT IN THE USA For 90+ Page Catalog send name & address to: 1317 Ross Street, Petaluma CA 94954 Phone: 707-778-6565 www.mesaboogie.com

GiGGinG & RECORDinG > tone tiPS FroM tHe roAD

COvERinG ThE TOnAL BASES BY PAul “TFO” AlleN

O

ne of the questions people ask me the most is, “Which guitars should I have to cover the tonal bases as a working musician?” While there is not one universally accepted answer, I’ll discuss some of the guitar tones I use on a regular basis, as well as the guitars I select to achieve those tones.

In the studio and touring community, producers and bandleaders often request a “Strat sound.”

One of the first things I associate with the Stratocaster is its clean, funky voice, like the rhythm guitar on Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean.” I play a Fender ’62 Hot Rod Stratocaster and use the neck and middle pickups together through a clean amp to get that “chanky” sound. The ’62 Hot Rod Strat has a reverse-wound middle pickup, which, when you use it with the neck or bridge pickup, helps cut down on the noise that’s commonly associated with singlecoils. The other thing I really like about this particular Strat is that the fretboard is relatively flat, so I can bend the strings as far as I want. On a lot of Strats (especially those with a vintage-style fretboard radius), notes will choke after you bend the string beyond a certain point, because the string hits the peak of the fretboard’s radius curve. A great modification for any Strat is to wire one of the tone controls to the bridge pickup, which enables you to easily adjust its brightness. This feature is already included on the ’62 Hot Rod and helps keep the sound from becoming shrill and piercing.

Another great guitar for clean funk is a Telecaster. If you want a guitar that covers the most extreme end of the brightness spectrum, it’s hard to beat a Telecaster with a maple fretboard.

For clean funk tones on a Tele, once again I use the neck and bridge pickup together and roll the tone knob back a bit. I usually like to make Telecasters a little more

36 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

A rich sonic palette (left to right): Schecter Robin Finck signature model, Paul Reed Smith Custom 22, Fender ’50s Road Worn Tele, Gretsch 6118T-LTV, Duesenberg Mike Campbell, Paul Reed Smith KL 380, and a Fender ’62 Hot Rod Stratocaster. Photo by Paul “TFO” Allen

full sounding. To do that, I swap out the stock saddles for thicker saddles. This adds body to the sound without sacrificing twang.

When it comes to brightness and twang, Gretsch guitars are a great option as well. On Gretsches, I install a Tune-omatic bridge, because I prefer the bridge saddles to have a sharp edge where the string leaves the saddle. This gives the notes more definition, and I can really feel the differences in how the strings behave with a Tune-o-matic. I also pin the bridge to the top of the guitar. If the bridge isn’t pinned, it can very easily get moved when you’re playing or when you’re changing strings.

If this happens, the intonation will be thrown off. Also, I prefer unbound f-holes on hollow guitars, because the guitar feels more responsive and vibrant.

The 6118T-LTV is great because it already sports all my favorite features straight out of the box.

Now let’s move on to rock tones. My PRS Custom 22 is

my workhorse guitar—I can use it for everything. Guitars are tools to help us do our job of playing music, and to me, PRS guitars are like a Swiss Army knife. It’s always good to have one with you to assist with anything you may encounter.

My Custom 22 is loaded with 57/08 pickups, which are great for Led Zeppelin-inspired rock sounds, as well as heavier modern rock. For stripped-down, raw rock tones, I use a PRS KL 380. The KL 380’s P-90style soapbar pickups are great for getting a Green Day-style crunch. The great thing about P-90s is that the attack will have some crunch, but the postattack bloom will be clean, so you can clearly distinguish every string. When you double this tone in the studio, its sounds huge and can be turned up really loud in the mix.

It’s nice to have one or two guitars in your arsenal that possess an individual personality. When I need a sound that

falls somewhere between a Les Paul and a Gretsch, I grab my Duesenberg Mike Campbell.

The P-90 and humbucker pickup configuration allows me to dial in a wide variety of tones that have their own sonic character. The Schecter Robin Finck signature model also has a diverse palette of sounds and delivers some unique tones that work great with effects for keyboard-type textures. The Finck is also a great rock guitar and can produce some very convincing single-coil tones, as well.

Do you have to own all of these guitars to be a professional musician? No. Can you play the same songs on any electric guitar? Yes—so find the right tool for the job, and get to work!

PAuL “TFO” ALLEn

is a multi-instrumentalist who has worked with Big & Rich, Sebastian Bach, 112, Jake Owen, Montgomery Gentry, Larry the Cable Guy, and many others. He also has his own project called Ten Finger Orchestra, and can be reached at tenfingerorchestra@yahoo.com.

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ThE vEnERABLE BEYERDYnAMiC M 160 MiC BY RiCH TOzzOli

W

hen a mic that’s been around since 1952 is still in production, there must be several good reasons. With the Beyerdynamic M 160 ribbon microphone, there certainly are many. It has a small physical footprint and, with a street price of around $700, it’s relatively inexpensive. And, of course, it sounds damn good! That’s why Eddie Kramer used it on every Hendrix recording he engineered. It has been used by the likes of Pink Floyd and John Mayer. David Bowie used it as a vocal mic, and Andy Johns used nothing but a pair of M 160s to capture the classic Zep drum sound on “When the Levee Breaks.” So let’s take a look at this classic and some of its uses.

Ribbon mics are famous for their warm, natural sound. They work great when recording guitar amps, acoustic guitars, strings, woodwinds, pianos, vocals, and even drums. What makes the M 160 a little different than other ribbon microphones is that it features a hypercardioid polar pattern.

Most ribbons have figure-8 polar patterns, which capture audio from both the front and the back of the mic. The hypercardioid pattern captures only the sound directly in front of it, so it can also be used onstage— where it’s crucial to reject sound from the sides and back in order to minimize feedback—as well as in the studio.

The M 160 is also unusual in that it features two ribbons, one arranged above the other.

This provides a hotter output than some other ribbon mics, so you can use less preamp gain and therefore have less noise in your signal. As an interesting side note, I learned that the ribbon transducers are so close to each other (0.5 mm apart), that they are wired by hand, and only three ladies at the Beyerdynamic factory are capable of doing the job.

38 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

Left: A staple of recording studios since 1952, the Beyerdynamic M 160 uses two closely spaced ribbon transducers to capture sound. Photo courtesy of Beyerdynamic right: The M 160’s hypercardioid polar pattern allows it to pick up sound from the front (0 degrees) and reject it from the sides and back. For example, at 90 and 270 degrees (perpendicular to the mic’s front), a 1000 Hz signal is reduced by about 15 dB. Graphic courtesy of Beyerdynamic

While I’ve known about this mic for years, I never actually used it until I picked one up a few months back, and its been a go-to mic ever since. The day it arrived, I put it up on my old Magnatone M-10A 1x12 combo, and it was truly magical. I thought, “Ah, no wonder so many people love this mic.” The guitar tones the M 160 captured sounded creamy, thick, warm, and yet balanced. The mic delivers more top end than I expected from a ribbon design, especially one that’s been around since the ’50s.

I usually use multiple mics to create a blend, though, because that approach offers the most flexibility during mixdown.

When I paired the M 160 with a Shure SM57 dynamic through a good tube preamp, I realized I’d found a classic setup for recording guitars. I also used it in conjunction with a Sennheiser MD 421 dynamic, and that combination delivered an even meatier tone.

After panning the mics virtually on top of each other, I raised the M 160’s fader high enough to deliver the primary mic sound, and then simply brought in the MD 421 (or SM57) enough to thicken the tone.

Interestingly, I found that my usual habit of compressing guitar mics with either a touch of Universal Audio 1176 or Empirical Labs EL7 (in the mix, not in the recording) was unnecessary. The ribbon sound was almost compressed already, so adding more actually removed some of the highs.

I’m sure a lot of it had to do with the fact that the amps were heavily distorted and, therefore, were already compressing.

The M 160 also worked great to mic the body of a vintage ’30s Gibson acoustic.

It captured that old, woody tone, and I actually added some additional treble at 8-9 kHz to brighten the sound a bit more.

One of my favorite applications for this mic is on drums.

Borrowing the Andy Johns trick of using M 160s and a heavy dose of the aforementioned UA 1176 compressor, I used one in front of a kit when recording some TV cues—heavy, live blues cuts—and I placed a single M 160 about six feet in front of the kit, and about five feet off the floor. The drummer, Vincent Miraglia, has an excellent drum kit made of African bubinga

wood, and it was a good-sounding room to boot.

Without compression, the mic sounded fine—like a ribbon should. But when you absolutely slam it into an 1176, with the Release almost all the way up and pumping the Input Gain, it becomes a whole new animal—a beast, really. You can clearly hear echoes of that “When the Levee Breaks” sound. It was raw and powerful, and this setup has become the foundation of every drum kit I record now.

I’ve also begun experimenting with placing an M 160 out in the room on guitar recordings and using the same heavy 1176 compression technique.

Very cool, indeed.

The versatile M 160 can cover a lot of ground. Whether you spring for a new one or score a used one on eBay, you can’t go wrong having at least one of these quality mics in your collection.

RiCh TOZZOLi is a Grammy-nominated engineer and mixer who has worked with artists ranging from Al Di Meola to David Bowie. A life-long guitarist, he’s also the author of Pro Tools Surround Sound Mixing and composes for the likes of Fox NFL, Discovery Channel, Nickelodeon, and HBO.

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GiGGinG & RECORDinG > SHiFtinG GeAr

PATCh CABLE COnSiDERATiOnS BY RiCH eCkHARDT

A

s you hone your style over the years, you usually figure out whether you’re a Strat guy, a Tele guy, a Les Paul guy—or something that’s sort of a mix of those. You then focus on what amp is going to give you the best possible sound. Often it’s Marshalls or Boogies for you rockers, Fender Twins for the chicken-pickers, or something more out of the ordinary like a Line 6 DT50 might be your amp of choice.

Then it’s time to pick out what pedals will give you the right je ne sais quoi.

Once you settle all that, what’s next? Whether you call it a lead, a cord, or a cable, that shielded wire that links your guitar to your amp—and

I can’t get behind that as an effective option.

If you’re the type of player who believes in having topof-the line gear, it won’t really matter how spectacular and expensive your guitar, amp, and pedals are if it all travels from one end to the other through poorly made, subpar connections. A good cable doesn’t have to cost a whole lot of money, but the better ones do cost a little more. Buying a brandname cable—ideally one with a guarantee—usually helps.

I’ve purchased cables that had lifetime guarantees, and that’s quite a declaration for a cord.

Of course I lost them or left them at a gig long before they ever had a chance to go bad, so

Even if you’ve got the best cables money can buy running from your guitar to your pedalboard and from there to your amp, the audio will still have to travel through the signal path between effects. My guitar tech will shorten patch cables so the signal doesn’t travel even one gratuitous millimeter between pedals. your music to your audience— is a vital link in your tone chain. All things considered, you may never think much about it, but it’s as integral to your sound as your other gear.

Over the years, I’ve had guitarists tell me all they need is a cheap, knock-off model guitar to sound good—that all their tone comes from their hands.

I’ve heard others say you’ve got to have top-notch gear to sound great. These are both valid schools of thought. I’ve also seen guys struggle onstage using haphazard, jerry-rigged, MacGyverstyle setups. I’ve watched them kick crackling cables and shake connections to keep a signal running to their amp. Somehow,

40 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

who knows? Maybe someone is still using them today.

When buying a guitar cable, size does matter. Cables will always add some capacitance and a load to your guitar’s signal. The longer the cable, the more it adds. A little might not be too bad, but a lot can completely screw up the tone you’ve worked so hard to achieve.

Most standard guitar cables are about 18’ long. Which makes sense, as my web research reveals that cable lengths of 20’ can begin to dull your tone.

And that’s even with a quality cable. Use an inferior cord, and you’ll more than likely start to hear some high-end loss in your rig. Your guitar may sound dull or muted, and undoubtedly

Retro to the Max: Vox is one of several companies offering coiled guitar cables, which are making a comeback after being ignored for decades.

you’ll start to pick up noise.

I used to run a thin 40’ foot cable to my pedalboard and back through a multi-pin snake.

It was a quick and easy setup, but ultimately I was playing music through 80’ of bad signal path. I was blown away at the amount of punch and high end I gained back when I changed my rig around and no longer ran signal out to the pedals. It made a gigantic difference.

On the flip side, if you have too much bright spikiness in your sound, or if you just want to mellow it out for a vintage tone, you may want to try a more old-school approach and dig out what I’ve always called a “curly cord.” They were very popular in the ’60s and ’70s.

Hendrix used one, and so did many of the top artists of the day. You can see these curled cords (Pro Co Lifelines are one brand/make that’s been around for a long time) being used on reruns of the old Midnight Special TV variety show. I’m pretty sure that the guitar greats of that era would have used better cables if they were available, but this was the technology of the day, and it inadvertently helped shape their sounds.

A respectable cable can cost a bit more than a generic one.

I’m not recommending that you go out and spend $150 on an 18’ guitar cord (yes, they are out there). A true audiophile may argue with me, but personally I don’t hear $120

worth of difference between one of those high-dollar connectors and a decent standard one. You may want to go to your local music store to A/B them yourself. After all, Eric Johnson says different cables and even different types of batteries in his stompboxes change his sound, and you might find you agree with him.

The patch cables that hook all your pedals together should be given the same consideration as the cord that hangs from your guitar. Even if you’ve got the best cables money can buy running from your guitar to your pedalboard and from there to your amp, the audio will still have to travel through the dinky signal path between effects. My guitar tech goes crazy over this stuff.

He makes sure that every cable is of good quality, and he will even shorten patch cables so the signal doesn’t travel even one gratuitous millimeter more than necessary between pedals.

Next time you plug in, take a look at the umbilical cord that’s the lifeline to your music, and make sure you’re hooked up right!

RiCh ECKhARDT is a

Nashville guitarist who has performed with singers ranging from Steven Tyler to Shania Twain. He currently plays lead guitar for Toby Keith, and also works as a spokesperson for the Soles4Souls charity (soles4souls.org). His new album, Cottage City Firehouse, is available at richeckhardt.com and CDBaby.com.

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GiGGinG & RECORDinG > on BASS

CARinG FOR YOuR hAnDS, PT. 2 BY DAN BeRkOWiTz

I

n my January 2011 column, we began exploring ways to help bass players keep their hands healthy. In that first installment of our two-part series, I discussed the fretting hand and also pointed out how much of what I’ve learned about electric-bass hand care comes from my years of exploring upright. If you missed this column or want to review the material, you can read it online at premierguitar.com.

Now we’ll focus on the right hand. In caring for it, our foremost goal is to develop a relaxed and natural position. I play fingerstyle with two fingers almost exclusively, so I’ll direct my comments to that technique. If you’re a slapper or a pick player, think about how you can adapt these ideas to your method of playing.

To begin, I think it’s crucial to keep the right hand open when playing fingerstyle bass.

As soon as the other fingers fold into the palm, muscles tighten up in the hand—and eventually it will begin to hurt. Likewise, it’s important to keep the hand relatively straight and in line with the arm. I like to imagine my right arm floating over the bass rather than resting my forearm on the body edge or the face. This helps keep the wrist straight and aligned with the arm. Conversely, when the hand rests on the upper body, the wrist must bend while plucking the strings, and again, things tighten up. Floating the right hand also keeps pressure off the underside of the arm and allows the arm muscles to work freely with the fingers.

Along these lines, I’ve found that resting my thumb on the E string—rather than on the pickup or body—encourages a relaxed hand that floats much more easily. A side benefit is that the E string is always

42 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

To keep your picking hand relatively straight and in line with your arm, imagine that your arm floats over the bass, rather than resting on the body edge or face. Also, resting your thumb on the E string—rather than on the pickup or body—encourages a relaxed, floating hand. Photo by Holly M. Berkowitz

muted when not played, which keeps your notes cleaner and the sound more focused.

Another point: If you’re playing faster, that doesn’t mean you need to play harder. In fact, the opposite might be true—when you’re playing a fast tune, it’s harder to keep the picking hand relaxed. Playing harder adds to the stress on your hand. I’ve noticed there’s a tendency for many bassists to play too hard.

Besides straining your hand and causing blisters, this makes the volume of your notes uneven and can even cause distortion on the attack of the notes. If you think you might be playing too hard, try backing off a little to see if your note attack still sounds adequate. Your hand will thank you—as will your sound tech.

Besides avoiding misuse, try to protect your calluses. You probably can’t use playing bass as an

. . . it’s crucial to keep the right hand open when playing fingerstyle bass. As soon as the other fingers fold into the palm, muscles tighten up in the hand—and eventually it will begin to hurt. excuse to get out of washing dishes, but if you do a lot of dishes by hand, consider wearing rubber gloves. Likewise, when doing yardwork, wear work gloves— cuts and splinters are uncomfortable or downright painful when it comes time to play!

I tend to keep my fingernails clipped short, especially on the right hand. I’ve noticed that once the nail on my middle finger grows out, it’s hard for my fingertip to contact the string without hitting it with the fingernail, and that’s not a sound I’m after. Sometimes I’ll get a little tear or split in a

fingernail, so I always keep a nail clipper and emery board in my gig bag, as well as a couple of Band-Aids.

The next time you play or practice, think about how you use your hands and how you care for them. To skillfully play a demanding instrument like electric bass, your fingers and arm and hand muscles need to feel their best.

DAn BERKOWiTZ

is a professor by day and a bassist when the sun goes down. He plays upright and electric bass for blues, jazz, orchestra, and musical theater.

Contact him at profdanb@gmail.com.

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rtist Lakland Aatt of r John Stir

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When it comes to bass gear, John Stirratt of Wilco is pretty specific.

John’s basses of course need to be great instruments with the finest construction, tone and playability; but equally as important, they need to have great personality. John Stirratt and Wilco are true innovators who draw upon best in class tones from all musical eras, styles and instrument types. John’s custom Lakland basses are an important part of his arsenal and we’re proud to be part of that mix.

Keep up the good work John!

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GiGGinG & RECORDinG > GUitAr trACKS

ThE RiGhT MiC, PT. 3 BY MiTCH GAllAGHeR

W

elcome to the third part of our ongoing look at microphones. In our first two installments, we discussed three different types of mics: dynamic, condenser, and ribbon. We also examined polar patterns, sound levels, pads, and more. If you missed Parts 1 or 2 of this series, they’re available at premierguitar.com.

Now it’s time to apply what we’ve learned and start to look at how to choose the right mic for your recordings. Right up front, before you can make any sort of decision about which mic you might want to use, you need to have a firm grasp of two things: the type of mics you have in your collection, and how each of them sounds.

But how to do that?

The first step—knowing the type of mics you have at your disposal—requires some homework, because dynamic, condenser, and ribbon designs perform differently. Your mics may also have different polar (pickup) patterns. And, they’ll likely have different feature sets (pads, low-frequency cuts, switchable polar patterns, etc.).

To acquaint yourself with each mic, either break out the documentation that came with it or browse the manufacturer’s website to learn all you can about that model. You don’t need to absorb all the tweaky spec stuff. Instead, it’s the features and functions that are important—you want to

know what the mic does and how it works. It also helps to know the frequency response (for example, 80 kHz–22 kHz) and to look at the frequency-response graph— which will show you if there is a boost in a particular part of the frequency range or if the response rolls off the lows or highs.

To answer the second question—how does each mic sound?—you’re going to have to put in some studio time. When I get a new mic, I put it through a battery of test recordings: electric guitar, vocals, nylon- and steel-string acoustic guitars, hand percussion, and so on. First, I record all those sources with any switches on the mic off, then I’ll engage each switch to hear what difference it makes. This means switching on the pad, then the low-frequency cut, then changing the polar pattern, etc. Each switch affects the sound, and you need to know how.

If you have more than a couple of microphones, these sorts of test recordings get hard to manage. I like to create a separate Pro Tools session file on my computer for each type of test recording. I have two for electric guitar (one for clean and one for dirty tones), one for vocals, one for nylon-string, etc. As each new mic comes into my studio, I record its test tracks into the appropriate session. Over the years, I’ve accumulated a pretty nice selection of tracks highlighting each mic

Check—One, Two as you test your mics, ask yourself these questions: • Is the mic naturally bright or dark?

• Does it have an upper-midrange bump in the frequency response?

• How strong is the proximity effect?

• Does the mic have an audible noise floor?

• What does this mic contribute to the tone of sources you’re recording?

Answering such questions will help you identify a mic’s sonic fingerprint, and thus anticipate what the mic will do to the tone of the guitars and amps you put in front of it.

44 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

Testing your mics and keeping sound files of these tests allows you to compare and evaluate each mic you own in the context of the others. It’s good to test a mic with a variety of sources—electric guitars, nylon- and steel-string acoustics, vocals, percussion, drums, and so on. Shown here are some sound files from my mic-testing collection. Careful labeling of the mic model, source, and switch settings is imperative.

that I own or that I’ve reviewed or tested, and that allows me to compare each mic to the others.

To keep these sonic tests as consistent as possible, I play the same music (I load in a track I know well and play or sing along with it), and I take very careful notes so I can use the same mic positions and use the same mic preamps and settings.

I don’t do any EQ’ing, compressing, or other processing.

The idea is to get a straight recording of each mic, so I can do easy A/B comparisons and really hear what each does.

I also have similar Pro Tools sessions where I use the same mic, but switch out different preamps. You could also do one where you use the same mic and preamp, but change the mic position. Regardless of what you’re testing, you’re basically following the scientific method: Keep everything the same except for one thing you change for each test. This approach really lets you hear the difference that one change makes—or doesn’t make.

Once you’ve got your test tracks down on tape or hard drive, spend some time listening carefully to them. If you’ve got tracks for a few mics, do listening comparisons—this will require careful volume-level matching (a track that’s louder will always sound better to our

ears than one that is quieter in a direct comparison), and it’s best if you can do such comparisons “blind” without knowing which mic you’re hearing.

Have someone else switch the tracks behind your back so you can concentrate on what you’re hearing, not what you’re seeing.

The goal is to get a firmly grounded understanding of how your mics operate and a clear picture of their innate sonic characteristics. Once you have this knowledge, choosing the best mic for each situation becomes much easier. We never know exactly how a mic will sound until it’s in front of the guitar or amp, but at least these tests provide a good starting point for choosing the best mic for a particular application.

Next month, we’ll continue our discussion of how to choose the best mics to capture your tones. See you then! By the way, if you have suggestions for topics you’d like to see covered here or questions about any of my columns, drop me a line at magman@mitchgallagher.com.

MiTCh GALLAGhER is the former editor in chief of EQ magazine. He’s written more than 1000 articles and six books on recording and music technology, and has released an instructional DVD on mastering. His upcoming book is entitled Guitar Tone: Pursuing the Ultimate Electric Guitar Sound. To learn more, visit mitchgallagher.com.

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PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 45

TECh TiPS > eSoteriCA eLeCtriCA

SOuL SEARChinG: ThE SECRET LiFE OF GuiTARS BY JOl DANTziG

J

ust as people come into the world naked, so do guitars.

A child is nurtured, taught, and made ready for life before starting out to make their way in the world. Guitars know no such preparation—or do they?

Somewhere out there, a 1952 Les Paul wears a crescent-moonshaped scar in its gold top. The guitar was already 16 years old when that two-inch dent, exactly the size of a school-locker padlock, was forever imprinted on it. That mark was, and probably still is, a reminder of an argument I had with a band member about a girl. It’s not only my story—it’s the guitar’s story, too.

I had a very emotional bond with my guitar, and sometimes I wonder what else that gold top has seen over the years.

Every guitar has a personality. Maybe you’ve never thought of it exactly that way, but you’ve noticed. It’s reflected in the way an instrument behaves when played as much as it is in the way it looks. Some are easy partners, while others spar with the musician—daring you to take a careless step in search of an imagined note. We might feel that a guitar is willing or stubborn—physical manifestations of the guitar’s design and construction expressed in human terms. A long scale will feel stiffer than a short one. String spacing choices at both the nut and bridge can radically affect feel. But, beyond the typical neckdimension and shape issues, there are other imponderables. The very best instruments invite a closeness between guitarist and guitar that is hard for a non-musician to understand—and hard for a builder to explain. Can a guitar have a soul? Is there a spiritual essence or energy within a welltraveled instrument?

Recently, I blogged about restoring a pair of 1960s vintage Marshall 4x12 cabinets. During the process, we found shards

46 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

of beer-bottle glass lodged in the vinyl covering that I attributed to a long life in clubs and bars. That mental picture got me thinking about the idea of essence. Vintage instruments are said to possess a mojo that goes beyond pure age and break-in time. Could it be life experience—a sort of wisdom?

Just as people are the sum of their experience intermingled with their genetics, can a guitar absorb the totality of its practical contact with the world?

Perhaps this can lend some credence to the idea that a guitar whose life is constrained to its case cannot speak as fluently and effortlessly as those that are well traveled and truly road worn. Certainly this is the marketing angle behind new guitars that are scratched and dented to appear old and wizened. That’s not to say that stage-prop relic jobs are completely devoid of a worldly education borne of dues-paying exposure to the world. It’s just that they’re a bit like a well-dressed grad, stumbling to find their professional footing and establish a comfortable identity.

On the flip side, another bit of mythology to consider is the concept of the luthier-built instrument. Often I find that a guitar that’s slowly finessed to completion by a pair of gifted hands will possess an unexplainable natural response to the player’s touch, as though it were anticipating and guiding the playing. Certainly this can happen occasionally with mass-produced items—just as a creative genius can certainly escape from the doldrums of a test-driven educational system. In many large factories there may be no shortage of knowledge, but perhaps it’s the kindness of an individual luthier’s intent that births the most sensitive of the breed.

Not just the material selection,

Can a luthier’s creative energy somehow permeate an instrument as he shaves, shapes, and transforms raw wood into a guitar?

The very best instruments invite a closeness between guitarist and guitar that is hard for a non-musician to understand—and hard for a builder to explain. but the actual act and process of building could be adding to the essence of the guitar that is to be.

I view this as the “pre-story,” and for me it adds a lot of value to an instrument.

In an interesting and sympathetic vein, just as hopeful parents might play Mozart to their infants in the womb, there are encouraging studies about subjecting tonewoods to vibration in preparation for use in musical instruments—usually violins. Studies suggest that vibration affects the equilibrium of moisture content in wood, decreasing weight while retaining or even improving the modulus of elasticity. Urged on by this information, some violinmakers employ a soundbarrage chamber to pre-season their woods.

In the same way, perhaps the nightly exposure to long sets and loud amplifiers could be part of the key to a guitar’s worldliness. I have a friend who works as a tech for some very high-level players who swears that placing a guitar in

front of a speaker cabinet for a week’s worth of gigs improves its sound. There are also small electrical vibrators that can be attached to a guitar’s strings to “open up” the sound of an instrument. I guess this could be viewed as a sort of “intellectual” learning—like reading about something as opposed to actually doing it.

Beyond these physics-backed scenarios, I keep returning to the concept of the guitar’s life story and its impact on essence. Maybe it’s just a romantic notion that untold years of busking, blues bars, studios, and pawn shops might somehow embed a guitar with a soul that can help you express your own feelings—but it’s one that I like. Maybe someday I’ll be reunited with that goldtop and we can discuss it. jOL DAnTZiG is a

noted designer, builder, and player who co-founded Hamer Guitars, one of the first boutique guitar brands, in 1973. Today, as the director of Dantzig Guitar Design, he continues to help define the art of custom guitar. To learn more, visit guitardesigner.com.

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TECh TiPS > ACoUStiC SoUnDBoArD

TALES OF CuSTOM inLAYS BY JeFF HuSS

I

n this age of personal expression, where everything from a temporary bumper sticker to a not-so-temporary tattoo offers the world a glimpse of our inner reality, it’s no surprise that many guitarists see an opportunity to make an artistic statement by dreaming up a custom guitar. Depending on your builder, there is an almost endless array of possibilities. But for this column, I’ll limit the discussion to custom inlay work and describe some of the projects we’ve done over the years.

When we were just getting started, one of our first commissions was one of those projects that all parties now look back on with a bit of regret. It began with a group of engineers who worked for a large electronic research and manufacturing facility. All outdoorsmen, they’d formed a club to blow off a little of the steam that inevitably builds up in a high-pressure setting. These engineers did a lot of weekend camping with fireside jam sessions as part of the program. They called themselves the Loyal Rectified Order of Ridge Runners and Skunk Callers Society (or LRORRSCS), and they all had club nicknames. Two of the club members, Possum and Derf, made their way to our shop with custom guitars in mind.

They brought a drawing of their club mascot—a skunk that looked like a cross between the Warner Bros. cartoon character Pepé Le Pew and Angelina Jolie— that they wanted inlayed on the pegheads. They also wanted the abbreviated club name running down the fretboard, complete with nameplates engraved with their nicknames. We were young and hungry and glad to have the work, but the resulting guitars were not something that we show off in our portfolio. Some 16 years later, Derf—who paid for his guitar with a paper bag full

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of $2 bills—still has his guitar, but Possum eventually gave his instrument to his son and got a “normal” guitar for himself.

Perhaps a more well thoughtout plan came from a young man who was married and had a baby on the way. He had designed a very nice set of Chinese-looking characters that were actually English letters if you new what to look for. He wanted to have his wife’s initials on the peghead in this design, but he also wanted to honor the baby—and any more kids to come in the future. As his family has grown over the years, we’ve inlayed similarly styled initials for each of his children on the guitar’s bridge wings and fretboard.

One of our more recent projects was ordered by a group of people as a gift. Dr. Francis Collins is a local of Staunton, Virginia, who has gone on to great things. He earned a BS in chemistry from the University of Virginia and a PhD in physical chemistry from Yale. He followed that up with an MD from the University of North Carolina. He returned to Yale and began working in the field of genetics, and then continued at the University of Michigan until 1993, when he was named director of the National Center for Human Genome Research. It was there that Collins headed up the team that first successfully mapped the human gene code. The team’s discovery has given researchers a guide to studying hereditary contributors to such common medical conditions as heart disease, cancer, and mental illness.

Collins is also an accomplished guitar player. When he announced his retirement from the Human Genome Project, his co-workers pooled their resources and arranged to have us build him a custom guitar as a retirement gift. Central to the design was a graceful, gold

Custom guitar inlays offer a wonderful opportunity for personal expression. Rendered in gold mother-of-pearl, this double helix appears on a guitar we built for Dr. Francis Collins, who headed the team that first successfully mapped the human gene code.

Huss & Dalton serial #63 boasts this custom inlay, which was commissioned by owner Jodie Davis when he bought the flattop in 1997. “The center of the design is from the ancient ying-yang symbol representing balance,” says Davis. “It’s surrounded by a sunburst, which represents limitless energy, and that in turn is surrounded by black ebony, representing the unknown.” Photo

by Jodie Davis

mother-of-pearl double helix that flows down the fretboard. We presented the guitar to him at a party that included a few speeches and a spirited jam session that went late into the night. His retirement did not last long, however, as he was then appointed by President Obama as the Director of the National Institutes of Health.

With a staff of some 19,000 and a budget of $34 billion, he probably doesn’t have as much time as he would like to play his guitar, but then who does?

From cartoon skunks to family history to genetics, custom guitar inlays offer yet another way to let the world know a little bit about who you are. Maybe you’ll consider it for your next instrument? jEFF huSS, co-owner

of Huss & Dalton Guitar Company, moved to Virginia in the late ’80s to play bluegrass. He and his business partner, Mark Dalton, formed their company in 1995. Since then they’ve earned world-wide recognition for their high-end, boutique guitars and banjos.

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TECh TiPS > ASK AMP MAn

BRinGinG A GiBSOn DuO-MEDALiST BACK TO LiFE, PT. 1 BY JeFF BOBeR hi Jeff: I recently traded my Vox Valvetronix VT50 for an old Gibson Duo-Medalist.

Although the online comments I initially found about the Duo-Medalist were lackluster, I’ve come across articles that tout the untapped potential of this old tube amp—they even cite [legendary Trainwreck amp builder] ken Fischer to support this claim. Though I’m a novice, I have a friend who is capable of performing electronic surgery. I was wondering if you could shine additional light on this amp and weed out fact from fiction concerning its mod potential. For your reference, I’ve attached information I’ve found online about the Duo-Medalist, including its schematic. by the way, the amp’s footswitch is MIA, so I can’t engage the tremolo. I’m curious whether we can perform a miracle on that, as well.

Sincerely, Tommy kirst Hi Tommy: I’m glad to see you’ve found a cool old tube amp! But simply having tubes doesn’t guarantee an amp will sound great. Some amps need a bit of help before they can ascend to the “pretty cool” category. Let’s see if we can raise the cool factor of your Gibson Duo-Medalist.

In your email, you supplied me with some posts and links that mention information supposedly supplied in The Trainwreck Pages by the late, great Ken Fischer. I knew Ken and was familiar with the original Trainwreck Pages published in the Angela Instruments catalog of many years ago (this fantastic parts catalog was obviously a true labor of love for Steve Melkisethian at Angela Instruments). There’s no mention 50 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

of Gibson amps in that publication, but that’s not to say that Ken didn’t supply this information somewhere at some point in time.

The bottom line is that the modification mentions removing a few resistors and capacitors to improve the amp’s performance. I’ve taken a look at the schematic, and it’s my opinion that this modification should definitely improve the frequency response and increase the gain of your amp. Let me explain the modification and then give you a better way to execute it. We’ll then also look at a few other potential modifications that can make your Duo-Medalist even better.

In the initial modification, we will be removing an RC (resistor/capacitor) network in the preamp stages of the Normal and Reverb channels.

It appears that this was incorporated to set the frequency response of the amp. Removing this will definitely change its tonal characteristics, but since you aren’t happy with the performance of the amp anyway, we’ve got nowhere to go but up.

In looking at the schematic, we can see a network of three resistors (470k, 220k, and 220k) and three capacitors (330 pF, 470 pF, and .0068 µF) attached to pin 5 on both V1 (the Normal channel) and V2 (the Reverb channel). Since this is a multi-chassis amp, your friend will need to remove the DuoMedalist’s preamp chassis—the chassis containing all the preamp tubes—to locate these parts.

Now, although I said we would be removing these components from the circuit, that doesn’t mean we need to completely remove them. I’m going to give you a way to execute this that’s both substantially easier and reversible, should you ever wish to return the amp to its stock circuitry.

This schematic for a vintage Gibson Duo-Medalist can also be downloaded at gibson.com/Files/schematics/duo-medalist.jpg. Image courtesy of Gibson Guitar Corp.

The 2-channel Duo-Medalist in all its ’70s glory. Photo by David Hilts

Locate the tag board terminal where the wire from connector S2 Pin 1 attaches. This should be the start of the RC network. Now locate Pin 5 of V1 (the 6EU7 closest to the side of the chassis). This is where the RC circuit connects to the preamp tube. Run a short wire from the S2 Pin 1 connection to V1 Pin 5. Now locate the .0068 µF capacitor that is part of this network. One side of it should be connected to a grounded terminal.

Leave that lead connected and disconnect the lead that’s attached to the junction of the two 220k resistors. Lifting this lead will eliminate any additional noise from being injected into the signal path.

That’s it for the Normalchannel mod. By today’s standards, this should really lead to an improvement in the amp’s sonic performance, but if you ever wish

to return the amp to stock, simply remove the wire and reconnect the .0068 µF capacitor.

But we’re not done yet. Next month, we’ll continue with our Duo-Medalist makeover by focusing on the Reverb channel, as well as a mod to improve the amp’s top end. We’ll take a look at your tremolo-pedal question, too, so stay tuned.

Special thanks to amp fanatic David Hilts for sharing a photo of his Gibson Duo-Medalist. Look for additional cool photos from Hilts in the April 2011 issue. jEFF BOBER, one of the godfathers of the low-wattage amp revolution, co-founded and was the principal designer for Budda Amplification.

Jeff launched EAST Amplification in 2010, and he can be reached at pgampman@gmail.com.

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TECh TiPS > MoD GArAGe

ThE FEnDER GREASEBuCKET TOnE CiRCuiT BY DiRk WACkeR

T

his month we’re taking a look at the Fender Greasebucket tone circuit introduced in 2005 on several guitars in the Highway One series, as well as in various Custom Shop Stratocaster models. The Greasebucket name (which is a registered Fender trademark, by the way) is my favorite when it comes to Fender’s habit of choosing cheesy marketing names for new products. But don’t let the Greasebucket name fool you—your tone will get cleaner with this modification, not greasy and dirty. I tried to find out who came up with this name, but it seems that this info is not documented, which is another Fender habit that began in the early ’50s.

Here is what Fender says about the Greasebucket: “The Greasebucket tone circuit adds a new dimension to your tone, the effect is that when rolled down, the tone pot reduces the high frequencies, but does not add bass.”

Okay, it sounds like this is worth trying out. In fact, many pro players swear by this tone circuit, and it indeed produces a different effect than the standard tone circuit we all know. But don’t take the Fender description literally—a Strat’s standard Tone control does not add bass frequencies. With passive electronics, you can’t add anything that isn’t already there—you can only reshape the tone by attenuating certain frequencies, which makes others sound more prominent. Removing highs makes lows more apparent (and vice versa), and that’s exactly what we have here: The standard tone control rolls off some high frequencies (depending on the capacitance of the tone cap), making the bass frequencies more prominent.

In addition, the use of inductors (which is what a pickup behaves like in a guitar

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circuit) and capacitors can create resonant peaks and valleys, further coloring the overall tone. Some people like this interaction, others don’t—it’s purely subjective and a matter of personal taste.

Anyhow, the Greasebucket tone control is a cool way to roll off the highs and lows in your guitar while preventing your tone from getting muddy.

This is especially helpful for creating sparkling clean tones, but it’s also useful for overdriven sounds.

To convert your Strat’s normal tone control to Greasebucket specs, you don’t need much: 0.1 µF and 0.022 µF capacitors (Fender uses ceramic-disc versions), and a 1/4-watt 4.7 kΩ resistor (Fender uses the metal-film type). If you want to convert both your Strat’s tone controls to Greasebucket specs, obviously you’ll have to double these parts.

The mod itself is relatively easy. Simply unsolder your tone pot and then connect the new parts as shown in the diagram.

(Note that the resistor is soldered in series with the 0.022 µF cap.) The rest of the Strat wiring, including the volume pot, stays standard.

This type of band-pass filter only allows certain frequencies to pass through, while others are blocked. The standard tone circuit in the Strat is called a variable low-pass filter (aka a “treble-cut filter”), which allows only the low frequencies to pass through while the high frequencies get sent to ground via the tone cap.

The Greasebucket’s bandpass filter is a combination of a high-pass and a low-pass filter. This circuit is designed to cut high frequencies without “adding” bass. Mostly it has to do with that 4.7 kΩ resistor wired in series with the

Fender’s Greasebucket circuit in all its glory. This wiring diagram comes courtesy of Seymour Duncan Pickups and is used with permission. Seymour Duncan and the stylized S are registered trademarks of Seymour Duncan Pickups.

pot, which prevents the value from reaching zero. You can get a similar effect by simply not turning the Strat’s standard tone control all the way down. The additional cap on the wiper of the Greasebucket circuit complicates things a bit, because together with the pickups, it forms an RLC circuit (a resonant circuit comprising a resistor, an inductor, and a capacitor), but that’s outside the scope of this column. But the Greasebucket has its own special sound, and I can only encourage everyone to try it.

You’ll be surprised at its flexibility and tone.

If you’re adventurous, you can personalize the Greasebucket circuit with additional mods. For example, you can try different tone-cap values and materials.

The 0.022 µF cap connected to

the tone control is the standard configuration we all know from our Strat’s tone control. But, as we’ve discussed several times in previous columns, there are tons of alternatives. You can try other values from 2200 pF up to 0.1 µF, and also different types of new, used, or new-old-stock (NOS) caps—such as metal film, film, paper in oil, waxed paper, and silver mica. Your choices are virtually unlimited.

We’ll discuss more Strat mods—such as the Fender S-1 switching system—in the coming months, so stay tuned.

DiRK WACKER lives in Germany and is fascinated by anything related to old Fender guitars and amps.

He plays country, rockabilly, and surf music in two bands, works regularly as a session musician for a local studio, and writes for several guitar mags. He’s also a hardcore guitar and amp DIY-er who runs an extensive website—singlecoil.com—on the subject.

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TECh TiPS > StoMP SCHooL

“BOuTiquE OR nOT?” ThAT iS ThE quESTiOn BY TOM HuGHeS

L

ast month we raised the question, “What is boutique?”

Exploring this topic, we discovered that as the stompbox market has changed and grown, the term’s meaning has become vague and imprecise. We also found it’s not as easy as it once was to outline a set of standards that would qualify a particular product as boutique.

Now, let’s see if we can reevaluate the meaning of boutique, both as a concept and a definition, to better understand its relevance in today’s market.

The points most often discussed when comparing boutique versus mass-produced products are, first, the method of production and, second, the type and quality of components. Let’s look at the method of production first.

Most people assume that mass production involves the use of automated machinery for the purpose of rapidly assembling products in high volume.

Cheap labor may also be employed, and it is usually performed by unskilled individuals with little understanding of the end product. And of course, the majority of mass-produced products these days happens in China. This view, while not inaccurate, is a somewhat oversimplified generalization.

A similarly simplified view, however, is the idealized notion of the lone boutique builder, performing daring feats of electronic wizardry while working feverishly on his next groundbreaking sonic innovation. He’s had a soldering iron in his hand since he was 7, and his pointto-point turret-board work is an architectural wonder to behold.

He uses nothing but new-oldstock parts in all his builds— the best of the best of the best.

Finally, he makes his own enclosures by bending a sheet of metal with his bare hands, and then paints it himself to create

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a one-of-a-kind artistic masterpiece. This is an exaggerated depiction, no doubt. The truth is usually far less glamorous, and in some cases isn’t much removed from what most megacorporations are doing, the only difference being in scale.

At this point, an explanation of the most common massproduction techniques currently used in electronics may be in order. Traditional methods of automated assembly involve the use of “pick-and-place” machines, automatic insertion, and wave soldering. These techniques have been commonplace since the 1970s. Yet, while an entire printed circuit board could be populated and soldered through automation, quite a bit of off-board wiring (of pots, jacks, and switches) was also needed, and this work required an individual skilled in electronics assembly. We should note here that more than a few of these anonymous solder jockeys undoubtedly rack up far more experience than many of our beloved boutique heroes.

Some of the larger manufacturers eventually developed designs that would allow virtually all the hardware to be soldered directly to the circuit board, thus eliminating the need for any skilled labor whatsoever. Many products

by Dunlop and Danelectro, for example, have all the electronic and mechanical components soldered directly to the PCB. So final assembly would then require little more than popping the fully functioning pedal guts into an empty enclosure. And these companies are not alone—dozens more outfits are doing nearly the same thing. In fact, most big companies that manufacture consumer electronics these days use a similar approach.

Even without the use of automation, the ease and efficiency of eliminating off-board

The MXR Custom Comp is an example of the handwired reissue MXR pedals Dunlop is building in its Custom Shop.

wiring has understandable appeal. This may be why a growing number of larger boutique companies have started using PCB-mounted hardware.

However, some purists frown on the idea of allowing any hardware to have direct contact with the PCB. They reason that any user-accessible parts on the outside of the pedal would naturally be subject to the rigors of use and abuse, which could easily cause the board to crack or otherwise be damaged. Critics say the PCB-mounted approach is the hallmark of cheap, disposable electronics. This sentiment has been strong enough to spawn a cottage industry of “re-housing” cheap pedals in more durable enclosures with upgraded hardware.

Now let’s talk about parts.

Aside from new-old-stock (NOS) parts, nearly all currently available electronic components (resistors, capacitors, transistors, ICs, etc.) are manufactured in China or, to a lesser extent, Taiwan and Japan.

So it’s generally accepted that most pedal manufacturers, boutique or otherwise, will be using at least some components produced in Asia. Electronic hardware such as pots, jacks, switches, knobs—and even die-cast enclosures—now come mainly from the East as well. Today’s global market makes most alternatives impractical or prohibitively expensive, and except in the case of certain specialized products (vintage fuzz replicas, for example), it’s generally not of great concern to consumers.

While the origin of components is usually not in question, the quality of components often is. The best example of this comes into play with effect modification.

The whole philosophy is based on the concept of taking a relatively inexpensive, mass-produced pedal and upgrading certain key components. The days of stompbox mods may be limited, however.

Over the last decade, there has been a dramatic development in technology that will forever change the way all our gear is made. Surface Mount Technology (SMT) has profoundly altered not only the manufacturing process, but also electronic components themselves.

A full discussion of SMT is outside the scope of this column. The point here is that SMT practically demands automation. Surface Mount Devices (SMDs) do not lend themselves easily to being soldered by hand. And the equipment used for SMT is out of reach for all but the largest manufacturers, which means the work must be outsourced.

Though many feel this is the antithesis of boutique, several ostensibly boutique brands have already jumped on the SMT bandwagon. At the same time, a few of the mega-makers have been waving the boutique flag.

Danelectro pedals are touting true bypass, and Dunlop now has its Custom Shop making handwired reissue MXR pedals.

Yes, it’s all a bit confusing, and still leaves us wondering what is exactly “boutique.”

Perhaps boutique is in the eyes (and ears) of the beholder.

TOM huGhES (aka

Analog Tom) is owner and proprietor of For Musicians Only (formusiciansonly.com) and author of Analog Man’s Guide to Vintage Effects . If you have questions or comments for Tom, feel free to email him at stompschool@formusiciansonly.com.

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vinTAGE & uPKEEP > VintAGe VAULt

1967 GiBSOn EB-2 WiTh 1967 Sunn 200S

56 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

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vinTAGE & uPKEEP > VintAGe VAULt

BY DAve ROGeRS, lAuN BRAiTHWAiTe, AND TiM MullAllY

opposite Page: For about 40 years, this nearly mint 1967 Gibson EB-2 stayed in a basement alongside a Sunn 200S amp rig. top Left: Serial number 897004 is a beautiful example of late-’60s semi-hollow bass design. top right: Though the EB-2 made its debut in 1958, this instrument’s cherry red finish wasn’t an option until 1965. In 1960, the EB-2 began sporting a foam-covered bridge mute. right: Right-angle tuners replaced the EB2’s original banjo-style tuners in 1961.

I

ntroduced in 1951, the Fender Precision was very popular with bassists due to its easy amplification and portability. Gibson responded by launching its own Electric Bass model in 1953. The Electric Bass was a violin-shaped solidbody with one single-coil pickup in the neck position.

By 1958, Gibson released its second bass guitar, the EB-2.

This bass shared its double-cutaway, semi-solid design with the ES-335 (also unveiled that year).

The EB-2 retained the single

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neck pickup of the Electric Bass (renamed the EB-1) until 1959, when it was upgraded to a humbucker. This model was briefly discontinued in 1962, but was restored to the lineup in 1964 when ES-335-style guitars were most fashionable. While the bass was previously only available in sunburst or natural finishes, by 1965 cherry red also became an option. A twopickup model was also offered starting in 1966.

The 1967 EB-2 bass featured here is labeled EB-2 DC (“D”

for double pickup and “C” for cherry). Its characteristics are typical of that year, and they include right-angle tuners (which replaced the original banjo-style tuners in 1961), a push-push switch to add treble (added in 1959), a bridge mute (1960), and a metal neck-pickup cover (which replaced the original black plastic cover).

The original owner purchased this bass new in 1967 along with a brand new Sunn 200S head and bottom (equipped with two 15" JBLs).

It must have made a thunderous roar in his basement, where it remained for the next 40 years in nearly mint condition.

Detailed Information on Gibson EB-2 basses can be found in Gibson Electrics—The Classic Years, by A.R. Duchossoir.

DAvE’S GuiTAR ShOP

Dave Rogers’ collection is tended

by Laun Braithwaite and Tim Mullally and is on display at: Dave’s Guitar Shop 1227 Third Street South La Crosse, WI 54601 davesguitar.com Photos by Mullally and text

by Braithwaite.

PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 57

vinTAGE & uPKEEP > trASH or treASUre

ThE DuMP MASTER BY zACHARY FJeSTAD

T

he story of the Dump Master was originally told in the 1997 4th Edition of Blue Book of Guitars.

This heavily worn Fender Jazzmaster belongs to Zebulon “Zeb” Cash-Lane, and anyone who has attended either the Dallas Guitar Show or the Arlington Guitar Show in the past two decades should be familiar with the former guitar show head of security with a heart of gold. Cash-Lane rescued this guitar from a junkyard. Here is the story as it originally appeared, as told by the owner himself: And my eye kinda stuck to this one particular spot in this junkyard. I turned away from it, and I swear my eyeball snuck right back there—just like it had a mind of its own.

Well, I kept a lookin’, trying to figure what was grabbin’ my attention. It was almost like it was screamin’, “Here I am, see me. Hey stupid, I’m right here!” That one must have gotten through the usual fog, for at once I recognized one of the most familiar pegheads in the world. I let out a holler, “Hot damn—Strat,” and jumped, not really knowin’ or carin’ what I was going to land on.

Glidin’ over the junkyard’s lower remains to the Strat sighting, I said, “Self, what we got here is a godsend,” and went to work. Now feeling like an archeologist on a mission, about a half a day later I pulled out the most damnable sight you ever saw—the early ’60s sunburst Jazzmaster (SN# 55489) was reborn sideways, and appeared almost exactly like you see it now, minus the bridge, my name carved in it, and the one fret that had to be changed after it got hooked on a nail when I dug it out.

Much like me, The “Dump Master” had been used, abused,

58 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

and discarded. What could be more natural than a junkyard hookup? This axe sure does sound sweet to me. —Zebulon “Zeb” Cash-Lane, 1997 Curious readers probably have many questions about the story of the Dump Master. Did this guitar start Fender’s Relic series? Should the guitar be refinished? Did Zeb’s discovery mark the beginning of what is commonly known today as “picking”? What is a guitar this beat-up actually worth?

Zeb’s Dump Master was discovered during the relic craze of the mid 1990s, but Fender started working on relic instruments in their Custom Shop circa 1994.

Based on the techniques that Fender has used to artificially age its instruments (that is, sanders, belts, nails, and more), the Dump Master and a Fender Relic are similar.

The serial number indicates that the guitar was built in 1960 or 1961 (carefully removing the neck and locating the neck stamp date will further aid in determining production date), and it was in mint, original condition. The instrument is worth between $6000 and $7000 today.

Obviously, the condition is a bit lower than mint. In fact, a guitar in this condition (lower than 60 percent) is not commonly valued in the Blue Book of Electric Guitars, because instruments in this poor shape should be evaluated on a caseby-case basis. The guitar plays beautifully and is, for the most part, fully intact. Based on this, Zeb has a $1500-$2000 early 1960s Jazzmaster—which he found in a dump. Needless to say, this is a treasure anyway you look at it.

To Zeb, the guitar is worth more in the condition that he

Found in a junkyard, the Dump Master is an early ’60s Fender Jazzmaster that has been naturally relic’d. Its serial number is 55489 and it’s seen some hard times, but it’s now in good hands.

Today, a guitar’s original condition is the number-one factor in determining its value. Once the guitar has been altered from its original configuration, the value will drop significantly. discovered it. However, many players would appreciate the guitar more if it looked showroom new, and there are talented luthiers who could whip it back into shape. Vintage Jazzmasters have a lot of what I call “collector value”—that is, much of the value of this instrument has been created by collectors having a strong interest in it. Today, a guitar’s original condition is the numberone factor in determining its value. Once the guitar has been altered from its original configuration, the value will drop significantly. Even if Zeb were to have this guitar refinished to mint condition, it would be worth approximately 50–60 percent less than the same guitar in mint original condition, or $2500–$3500.

Flip through the cable channels, and you’re bound to find a number of reality shows on

collectibles, such as Antiques Roadshow, American Pickers, Storage Wars, and Pawn Stars.

What the creators of these shows have done is capitalize on Zeb’s pastime of rummaging through other people’s junk, identifying it, and determining if it has any value to a captive audience—after all, it is often fascinating! While I don’t endorse the idea of stumbling through a junkyard in pursue of the Holy Grail (nobody wants a rusty nail through their big toe), I do encourage collectors to keep an eye open—you never know what you’ll find!

ZAChARY R. FjESTAD

is author of Blue Book of Acoustic Guitars, Blue Book of Electric Guitars, and Blue Book of Guitar Amplifiers.

For more information, visit bluebookinc.com or email Zach at guitars@bluebookinc.com.

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vinTAGE & uPKEEP > reStorinG An oriGinAL

POTEnTiOMETER RESTORATiOn BY JOHN BROWN

A

gorgeous ’54 Gibson Les -Paul came through our shop for show-and-tell one day. I must admit it was an exquisite-looking, mint-condition guitar, and if it weren’t for the one volume pot that had been replaced, it would still be in 100-percent original condition. There are people who wouldn’t have a big issue with this, yet others would react to the replaced pot and think, “If the volume pot has been changed, what else is not straight on the guitar?” This is just one of those concerns and quirks of doing biz in the world of vintage guitars.

Many very qualified and well-educated collectors and dealers say that in today’s vintage guitar market, you have to accept that things get changed along the way when it comes to worn-out electronic parts. It is just a reality, like a Stradivarius violin needing a neck rebuild, fingerboard level, or top or back removal over time.

That’s all true, but when it comes to manufacturing

potentiometers, most of today’s materials are subpar compared to the virtually unbreakable materials of yesteryear. This is certainly true when it comes to guitar electronics. Have you ever noticed how often you might replace the pots on your main guitar from the ’70s or ’80s, or how your newer guitar can lie in its case for a few months and when you go to play it, the volume pots are scratchy and won’t even clean up with proper cleaner?

Vintage guitars from the ’50s and ’60s have some of the best-built potentiometers ever.

These pots featured heavy carbonresistance material instead of the inferior silk-screening currently used by many of today’s makers.

These old-school materials rarely wear out. If there’s a problem, it’s usually caused by corrosion on the wipers or brushes, solder bleed, or tainted substances that find their way onto the resistive material. For the most part, this is all restorable.

When the original pot was removed from the

Photo 1: Measuring the potentiometer’s resistance with a digital multimeter.

60 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

show-and-tell ’54 Les Paul, fortunately the owner placed it inside the case’s compartment.

I couldn’t have been more pleased to find this, and I was certainly up for a challenge in restoring this 1954 pot.

IRC (International Resistive Company) pots were used on many Gibson Les Pauls. Today, IRC provides one of the industry’s most comprehensive ranges of innovative resistor solutions for automotive, computer, communications, medical, industrial, military, and instrumentation markets worldwide.

I began restoring this vintage IRC pot by using my portable digital multimeter to read the pot’s resistance in ohms (Photo 1). The brass shaft section of the pot was locked in open position, and it would not rotate. In open position, the resistance read 550 kΩ— despite the fact that the pot’s chassis was stamped 500 kΩ.

On the side, another group of numbers indicates the year

Photo 2: Carefully prying open the pot’s chassis-support tabs.

of manufacture (you’ll need a source-date code system to interpret them).

Consider this: In pursuing ultimate tone, if we’re really stuck on the accuracy of a 500 kΩ pot, we have to be aware of some serious variability going on here. The IRC pot I was restoring reads 550, yet I can buy a bag of modern pots and most of those will read under 500 kΩ, at times even as low as 450 kΩ. That’s a potential 100 kΩ difference between the two. Wow—isn’t that an eye-opener? It’s a good idea to always use a meter and select your pots accordingly.

My next step was to use an angle vise (which works well because it has some girth) to hold the pot as I tried to manipulate its shaft (Photo 2). Unfortunately, the pot’s durable brass shaft wouldn’t budge loose—it was as if it was once glued into position. This meant it was time to investigate inside.

Notice how I attached two maple strips to the vise jaws to support the pot and protect it from scratches or damage. I used a mini screwdriver that’s slightly narrower than the chassis-support tabs to bend them open. The size is important, because later when everything is reassembled, any micro pressure marks will be hidden under those four tabs. This creates an invisible restoration.

We’ll conclude our pot-restoration project next month and list the tools you need for this work, so be sure to swing by for the second installment. jOhn BROWn is the inventor of the Fretted/ Less bass. He owns and operates Brown’s Guitar Factory, a guitar manufacturing, repair, and restoration facility staffed by a team of talented luthiers. His guitar-tool and accessory designs are used by builders all over the world. Visit brownsguitarfactory.com or email John at info@brownsguitarfactory.com.

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vinTAGE & uPKEEP > tHe LoW enD

MiLESTOnES in vinTAGE BASS EvOLuTiOn BY keviN BORDeN

W

ith my 49th birthday past and 50 on the horizon, I recently took time to look back and reminisce about vintage bass centricities. Vintage basses are wonderful things. For many of us, they are our passion and our love. Many budgets have been destroyed, many spousal brawls have been initiated, and many dreams have been chased in pursuit of this passion. They are 10-pound mistresses we hook up with every weekend. Many innovators, inventions, and even world events shaped and brought us these beautiful instruments.

This month I’d like to take a look at my personal top items that influenced the evolution of today’s vintage bass, in no particular order of preference. korg GT-6 Tuner: When this gadget came out in the late ’70s or early ’80s, other electronic tuners were already on the market. But three things made this handy-dandy tuner different: It was affordable (if I’m not mistaken, it street priced at about $79), it fit in your case, and it was very easy to use. It sure beat a tuning fork!

Music Man StingRay: Fender had its Precision, Jazz, and Telecaster basses, and they were the industry standard.

Rickenbacker had the progressive and cool-guy rock scene sewn up with the 4001. Gibson had introduced the Ripper/ Grabber/G3 line, and every Gene Simmons wannabe had one. Me? All I wanted was a bicentennial Gibson Thunderbird. Then Leo introduced this sexy-as-all-heck bass, which hung and played like a Fender, had the threeplus-one tuner arrangement, and boasted the coveted B0-series preamp. You had the first modern onboard-electronics bass, and it was reasonably priced. My 1977 sunburst was purchased from King James Music for the 62 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

princely price of $350 and a trade-in of my 1972 natural/ maple P bass, for which I received $225 in credit. This StingRay is still one of my favorite basses.

Alembic Series 1: The good folks at Alembic began modifying basses in the ’60s, and when they decided to build instruments, they knew what worked and what didn’t. The Alembic Series 1 was the first modern boutique bass. Impeccable construction, modern outboard electronics, unsurpassed playability. Wow! I remember watching Stanley Clarke, Louis Johnson, Chuck Panozzo, and all these other bass masters practically reinvent electric bass technique on Alembics.

These basses are still coveted and are still quite expensive. A Rolls Royce isn’t cheap either.

Music Man hybrid Amplification: Leo Fender was a genius, even if he got it backward sometimes. Since the dawn of electric bass, amp builders had been experimenting with all kinds of designs. But I believe Music Man was the first to bring us the hybrid tube/solid-state bass amplifier. Sturdy construction, decent tone, and good portability were the selling points of these bass amps. The cabinets looked really groovy with the double-M logo and a kinda-sorta modern pre-CBS blackface look. There was only one issue—they were designed sort of backward: They had tube back ends and solid-state front ends. Though the order is reversed in modern amplification, this was some groundbreaking stuff back then.

Peavey Combo 300: Peavey’s line of bass amps was always known for its reliability and value—you could buy a huge amp that looked great for half the price of an Ampeg. The problem with the early amps was that you also

got half the tone. Fast forward to 1982 or so: I’d just bought an Acoustic 320 head and a Model 408 4x15 cabinet. Thankfully, my good friend and keyboard player Joey Lopilato had a ’70s-style custom van. We used to go to the Sam Ash music store every other week, and the store’s bass manager, Nabil Gaudy, whipped out this little 300-watt, 1x15 combo—the Peavey Combo 300. My life was changed. It was the first amp I ever heard with modern tone, it fit in my Corolla, the preamp was stout enough to stand up to the B.C. Rich Eagle I was using, and it was just bitchin’! In my humble opinion, the Peavey Combo 300 was the granddaddy of modern, affordable bass amplification. (By the way, if anyone knows Joey Lopilato’s whereabouts today, please ask him to contact me.)

Roger Sadowsky: When I was entrenched in NYC retail between 1977 and 1978, pre-CBS basses were hot. The ’70s products from the major manufacturers were lousy out of the box and required a major setup, and possibly fret work. (Dave Edwards, who was one of the first luthiers to really understand bass setups, told me every bass really needed a fret job to meet his standards.) Music Man basses were really taking off, as was the aftermarket replacement parts business. Roger Sadowsky was the first guy we all knew who was hotrodding basses. Onboard preamps, great fretwork, deadly setups—he had it covered. He’d swap hardware if that was needed or desired.

Back then, pre-CBS Fender basses were just used basses that retailed for slightly over what a new, comparable model sold for, and Roger was the Jedi master at hot-rodding these things. Sadowsky was the pioneer. ’Nuff said.

The 1973 gas crisis: Huh? Just what does this have to do with a vintage bass? Well, in ’73 the

vehicles that lugged the behemoth amplification were phased out and soon no longer existed. In 1975, there wasn’t a single new car model that could move big SVT, Marshall, or Cerwin-Vega cabinets—unless you drove your mom’s station wagon to a gig like a total dweeb. Running out of petrol was a game-changer, and it prompted the move toward smaller amplification. In fact, the gas crisis has been credited as one of the major boosts behind IC chip development. See? There was a good side to OPEC. The Dallas and Arlington Guitar Shows: These two events represent Mecca for the vintage-bass aficionado. Each is a music event, a social event, a vintage bass event.

They’re the original events and the granddaddies of all vintage-instrument shows. Through the years I’ve seen, played, and handled thousands of basses, met hundreds of people, and made scores of friends—all bass players. Bottom line: Attend one at least once. I always have room at my dinner table if you come on out.

While working on this column, I could have continued for hours. In fact, I did. I reminisced over modern accessories, pioneers (including Mike Matthews, Larry DiMarzio, and Seymour Duncan), small-market builders like Moonstone and Travis Bean, and larger outfits like Kramer.

Having been involved with bass since about 1973 (I was 11), I’ve seen many products, players, and stores come and go. The shops on 48th street were my calling, and We Buy Guitars was my altar. Ah, the memories!

KEvin BORDEn has been playing bass since 1975. He is the principal and co-owner, with “Dr.” Ben Sopranzetti, of Kebo’s Bass Works (visit them online at kebosbassworks.com). You can reach Kevin at kebobass@yahoo.com.

Feel free to call him KeBo.

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vinTAGE & uPKEEP > SiGnAL CHAin

ThE EvOLuTiOn OF ThE TWAnG BAR

O

ver the past few weeks, I’ve been keenly watching how guitarists the world over are using their tremolo arms. I’ve observed (and heard) a major difference in the way European guitarists use their tremolo arms as compared to their American counterparts.

However, before we go deeper into these differences in technique, we must go back to where all this fuss began.

In my view, there are basically three main types of tremolo bars. The first really important development in this area would be the Bigsby vibrato unit, which evolved in the late 1940s. Initially, this system was intended to imitate the sound of a Hawaiian lap steel, and I believe its intended application was to create a subtle effect. Chet Atkins and the Gretsch guitars he played were instrumental in the success of the Bigsby because Chet used Bigsbys a lot on his recordings. Just as that sound was getting embedded in guitarists’ ears, rock ’n’ roll got raunchier and more brazen. As a result, guitarists started using the Bigsby more physically, producing wilder sounds with the device.

This was one of many instances where technique evolved along with the music of the day.

In 1954, Fender introduced the revolutionary Stratocaster model with the new optional synchronized tremolo system— the first response to the Bigsby’s opening salvo and the second crucial advance in tremolo design. Buddy Holly used his Strat’s tremolo arm more like how guitarists first used the Bigsby to generate subtle pitch bends, but it didn’t take long for guitarists to discover the Stratocaster’s trem enabled more extreme pitch changes.

At about that same time, rockabilly music came along and inspired even wilder use of tremolos. As this trend grew,

64 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

prominent players like Cliff Gallup (Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps), Duane Eddy (writer of the timeless “Peter Gunn Theme”), and Eddie Cochran (“Summertime Blues”) incorporated the trem into their twangy sound.

But between 1966 and 1967, Jimi Hendrix came on the scene and changed just about everything imaginable about the electric guitar. Hendrix gave the Stratocaster much more prominence than it had enjoyed before, and a huge reason for that was the radical way he used its tremolo—indeed, the way he abused it.

So far, we’ve looked at several key examples of how American guitarists used their tremolo bars up to this point in time. But there’s an important twist to the story. If you’ve listened to many European guitarists over the same years we’ve been talking about, you might have noticed that most of them used their tremolo bars to produce what might be perceived as finger vibrato.

For example, let’s take fusion master Allan Holdsworth’s original sound from The New Tony Williams Lifetime album Believe It. One of the main things that distinguished Holdsworth on that record was how he used the Maestro Vibrola bar on his SG Custom (the tune “Fred” offers a great first taste of this)—it was yet another tremolo sound, and, it was even more subtle than that of the early Bigsby players.

So, the tremolo was starting to get more use as a softer effect as a general trend among guitarists across the pond. If you listen carefully, you’ll hear a huge difference in musical intent. This European mindset was no doubt more influenced by classical music, as well.

Other European guitarists who have used this type of tremolo effect include Norway’s Terje

BY DeAN FARleY

With its factory-installed Bigsby, this Epiphone Casino VS is ready for a big night of twang-filled fun. Photo courtesy of Epiphone Guitars

buddy holly used his Strat’s tremolo . . . to generate subtle pitch bends, but it didn’t take long for guitarists to discover the Stratocaster’s trem enabled more extreme pitch changes.

Rypdal (listen to his album If Mountains Could Sing) or Germany’s Thomas Blug (see his Flash CD or look him up on YouTube). I would also recommend listening to John McLaughlin play his Bigsbyequipped Gibson Johnny Smith on The Promise.

By 1977 or so, Adrian Belew and Edward Van Halen were emerging and—presto!—change was looming large once again!

This change was heard via Talking Heads tunes, where Adrian Belew was making a ton of very unorthodox sounds with his Stratocaster’s tremolo arm (and with his vast array of effects pedals). While Belew went on to become famous for his animal-like sounds on King Crimson albums such as Discipline, a third name would come to the forefront of vibrato design—Floyd Rose.

EVH embraced the Floyd very early on, and once again tremolo use got even crazier thanks in large part to his dive-bombing.

This technique ruled for quite a spell—well into the ’80s.

Toward the end of the decade, Jeff Beck would surprise the hell out of everyone with an album called Guitar Shop. The tones he

produced on “Where Were You” would prove to be among the most evocative ever pulled from a Fender Stratocaster—and that was because his super-advanced trem chops allowed him to mimic the human voice (among other things).

Since then, Beck has owned the title of Twang Bar King in many people’s opinions, and rightly so. Even more amazing is the fact that he continues to grow, making more and more otherworldly sounds with each recording. Check out the bonus track “Cry Me a River” (from Beck’s 2010 release Emotion and Commotion). There is a metric ton of great live Beck performances to explore on YouTube, as well.

So, to conclude for this month, I highly encourage players of all stripes to listen to what is coming in from afar.

Honestly, you never can tell what you are going to do with that tremolo. You might be the next innovator!

DEAn FARLEY is chief designer of Snake Oil Brand Strings, and his ideas have had a significant influence on contemporary string design. He is also known as a great source of guitar, amp, and gear lore. For more information, visit snakeoilstrings.com.

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lessons > Modal Workshop

Intervallic structures

by Alex MAchAcek

Originally from Austria, fusion guitarist Alex Machacek has a BA from the Berklee College of Music and currently teaches at the Guitar Institute of Technology in Hollywood. His latest project is 24 Tales, a duo album with drummer Marco Minnemann.

For more info visit alexmachacek.com.

I

’d like to introduce you to a very useful way to expand your chord vocabulary. The voicings we are about to explore work really well for comping and also for harmonizing melodies in a bunch of different musical contexts. All of the following examples are in E Dorian, so you can use the low open-E string as a drone.

It is very helpful to be able to hear how each of these chords fit harmonically within a key.

But before we get into the chords, let’s take a look at the E Dorian scale. I tend to think of this scale in one of three ways: • As a D major scale starting on the second degree (E).

• Following the formula for a Dorian scale based off of E major (1–2–%3–4–5–6–%7).

• Simply by the names of the notes: E–F#–G–A–B–C#–D.

Personally, I tend to gravitate toward the scale-degree formula. It simply makes it easier to translate anything you work on into all

12 keys. We are going to think of an intervallic structure as a combination of intervals within a given scale. This structure can then be sequenced through the entire scale, which will result in seven different voicings. Sound complicated? Let’s break it down: In Fig. 1, you see the notes of an E Dorian scale on the 1st string. Once you have learned these E Dorian notes on the 1st string, take a few minutes and find the same notes on the other five strings.

Next, we’ll try out some two-note intervals (also known as double-stops). Let’s take the interval of a sixth and move it through the entire scale. In Fig. 2, I have shown how to play these on the top two strings. Note that when referring to intervallic structures we talk in terms of diatonic intervals, so we will end up with different qualities (major, minor, etc.).

In Fig. 3, I expanded this idea and added two more notes to the voicings. I used the sixth from the previous example and added a fourth and a second. From low to high, this voicing is based on a fourth, a second and a sixth. Again, I move this structure through the entire scale and, voilà, we now have seven voicings that can work for E Dorian!

Not all of the voicings in Fig. 3 are complete Em7 voicings, some are a bit ambiguous because they are missing the 3rd and/or the 7th, but that’s exactly the point. They work perfectly in a modal context and could be used more as a textural device. Once the key center and mode is established, we don’t have to constantly use “descriptive” voicings. I always tell my students “Don’t put a bagel on a bagel!”

Fig. 1

You can also use your intervallic structures for modes other than Dorian. Just be aware, that some modes have an avoid note, for example in Ionian you have to be careful with voicings that contain the 4th. As always, use your ear to judge what fits.

The most common intervallic structures would be quartal harmony (also known as 4th chords). These chords consist of two stacked diatonic fourths. In Fig. 4 you can see these chords on strings 4-3-2 in E Dorian.

What’s next?

• Learn one intervallic structure in the seven modes derived from the major scale.

• Move these around to all 12 keys.

• Apply the same concept to melodic minor or other scales.

• Finally, put some rhythm to these chords.

Every intervallic structure has its own sound. Deciding which structures are suitable for your style of playing is a matter of personal taste. Once you’ve learned a couple of different intervallic structures, start mixing and matching them. This is when it gets exciting—you will discover an entirely new textural quality to that good ol’ one-chord vamp!

For audio examples for this lesson click here to visit premierguitar.com/mar2011

Fig. 2

0

2

3

5

7

9

10

12

Fig. 3

5 2

7 3

9 5

10 7

12 8

14 10

15 12

Fig. 4

5 2 4 4

7 3 6 5

premierguitar.com

9 5 7 7

10 7 9 9

12 8 11 11

14 10 12 12

15 12 14 14

5 4 4

7 6 5

8 7 7

10 9 9

12 11 11

14 12 12

15 14 14

PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 67

LESSOnS > inSiDe JAzz

Augmented and Diminished Forms T here are elements within an instrument’s architecture that initiate a continuous source of valuable information.

For the guitar, there are two. The first is the major third interval, and the second is the minor third interval. Once we view their repetitive information, they begin to appear as a series of automatic functions. The guitar, like an automobile, is a vehicle that should remain neutral to the destination it’s used to reach. There are many forms that open different directions in music, but when we come down to it, a study of the instrument itself is much more

BY PAT MARTinO

Since his first recording as a leader in 1967, Pat Martino has constantly pushed the limits of jazz guitar with his flowing technique and powerful, muscular tone. Showing no signs of slowing down, Martino still travels the world performing and giving lectures about his approach to the guitar. Currently, Martino is working on an autobiography and serving as adjunct faculty at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

For more info, visit patmartino.com.

Augmented Forms (on 7 common sets of strings) Augmented Augmented Forms Augmented FormsForms 7 common sets of strings) (on 7 common sets of strings) (on (on 7 common sets of strings) C& C& C&

Fig. 1

321

3 14

321

321

321

2fr

2fr 2fr

3 14

3 14 2 14

321

321

211

211

231

231

C



2 14

2 14 2 14

2 14

2 131

2 14

G©&

2 131

Fig. 3

A‹

2 131

Descend



231

Ascend

(C, E, or G# Augmented)

3 5 5

68 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

2314

1324

 

4 5 5

2fr

2 131

identical fingerings

C&

111

5 5 5

1324

Vertical Alterations Vertical (higher and lower stringsAlterations sets) (higher and lower string sets) identicial fingerings

4fr

Vertical Alterations

F& 6fr

(higher and lower string sets) 321 identical fingerings

C&

F& 6fr



2314

2fr

3fr 231

2413

2413

231

2fr

2fr

horizontalAlterations Alterations Horizontal

Fig. 2



211

Diminished Forms (on 5 common sets of strings) Diminished Forms Diminished Forms (on setsofofstrings) strings) (on55common common sets Cº Cº

4fr 4fr

4fr

effective when it’s no longer influenced by any of these styles.

Unlike the piano, the guitar divides naturally within a specific series of numbers. The piano divides by seven, plus five, adding up to 12 (seven white keys and five black keys), while the guitar divides by three or four (three of the same augmented chords or four of the same diminished chords) horizontally multiplying each other into a total of 12 (either 3 x 4 or 4 x 3). This results from the fact that in augmented and diminished chords, any note can function as the root.

321

321

6fr 321

B¨ 6fr

6f 321

E¨‹ 6fr

321

B¨

6fr 321

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LESSOnS > inSiDe JAzz

There are many forms that open different directions in music, but when we come down to it, a study of the instrument itself is much more effective when it’s no longer influenced by any of these styles.

The common inversions for both the augmented and diminished shape can be seen in Fig. 1. When any of these forms are viewed horizontally, they automatically unfold repetitively with the same fingerings. This happens either four frets apart (augmented) or three frets apart (diminished). Also, they can be organized as seven “common” groups of augmented triads, as well as five “common” groups of four-tone diminished clusters.

Once these common groups of “parental” forms are memorized, the instrument harmonically begins to multiply itself into an automatic vocabulary. Unlike most methods that are based on scales, the extension of these forms unfolds from a system based upon a study of opposites. Its first application moves us through ascending or descending alterations of any of the single tones within the chosen form. In other words, once the form is decided, this type of alteration produces its next stage of expansion.

For example, the alteration of the central triad, (C, E, or G# augmented) in Fig. 2 produces some interesting results. By lowering the G# to G, the triad becomes C major. By raising the same tone (G# to A), it becomes the relative minor triad—A minor—in the key of C. The same phenomenon takes place when applied to either of the other two chord tones, producing a total of three major (C, E, and G#) and three minor alterations (Am, C#m, and Fm) of a single augmented triad. Of course, four of them in a horizontal row (4 x 3) result in all 12 keys before the next series of its automatic inversions. As it was presented above through horizontal alterations, it now shall follow as automatic fingerings in vertical forms, viewed in Fig. 3.

In the upcoming studies, the harmonic forms we’ve covered so far will not only continue to expand, but shall also serve as

Ah-ha!

Augmented Triads. An augmented triad consists of two major-third intervals.

There are a few different ways to think about these, including the standard formula of 1–3–#5. This is an interesting sound because it doesn’t occur naturally in a diatonic scale. Since the intervals within the chord are equal, any note of the chord can be considered the root.

Saxophonist John Coltrane used augmented triads to create his major thirds cycle, which occur in such compositions as “Countdown” and “Giant Steps.”

Diminished Triads. The diminished triad is made up of two minor-third intervals stacked over a root. Think of it as a standard minor triad with a lowered fifth (1–%3–%5). It occurs naturally in a major scale when you create a triad based on the 7th degree. As with the augmented triad, any note in the chord can be considered the root.

—Jason Shadrick the architectural groundwork for melodic linear studies. Next month, we will look at how the diminished form creates automatic voicings for dominant chords.

Start here

With a discography that stretches out over 40 years, Pat Martino has developed a unique voice that has influenced generations of musicians. Here are four albums that cover four distinct periods in Martino’s career.

El Hombre this record established Martino as a leader— at only 23—in the soul-jazz scene during the late ’60s. Propelled by drummer Mitch Fine, organist trudy Pitts keeps the young guitarist on his toes, and together they embody the classic jazz-organ trio.

Suggested Tracks: • “Just Friends” • “A Blues for Mickey-O”

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Baiyina (The Clear Evidence) experimenting with indian influences, Martino recorded this album of originals that opened many young guitarists’ ears to music and rhythms outside of mainstream jazz. combining a classic jazz rhythm section with tabla and tamboura was very psychedelic and adventurous for 1968.

The Return after recovering from a brain aneurysm, Martino returned to the stage in 1987 for a live gig in new York city. comprising of only four tracks, the album shows Martino in strong form, and the tunes give him plenty of room to stretch out over the swinging foundation provided by bassist steve Laspina and drummer Joey Baron.

Think Tank on the title track, Martino creates a musical motif using three words: “coltrane,” “tenor,” and “Blue.” he matched each word up with a note in the aeolian mode and then improvised the phrasing and chord changes. the result is a great combination of intellectual and extemporaneous expression. Pure Martino.

Suggested Tracks: • “Distant Land” • “Baiyina”

Suggested Tracks: • “Do You Have a Name” • “Slipback”

Suggested Tracks: • “Think Tank” • “Africa” • “Dozen Down”

PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 69

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LESSOnS > BeYonD BLUeS

Triads Over Minor Blues

BY TOMO FujiTA

Tomo Fujita has served on the faculty of the Berklee College of Music since 1993 and has mentored students such as John Mayer and Eric Krasno. His latest album, Pure, features Steve Gadd, Will Lee, Steve Jordan, and Bernard Purdie. For more information about his best-selling books and DVDs, visit tomofujita.com.

I

’m a huge fan of many different types of blues guitarists—everyone from SRV to B.B. King. I’m also a real sucker for jazz guitarists like Joe Pass and Wes Montgomery.

One of my favorite things is to play blues that’s mixed with the essence of jazz. In order to mix both styles, you need to think about harmony and chord changes more than just burning through scale patterns.

I focus on simple ideas and hate to think too much when I am playing. Triads have

become a really cool tool for me because they provide the harmonic colors I’m looking for, yet don’t require a lot of over-thinking. In this lesson, we’re going to look at creative ways to use triads in a minor blues.

I often hear my students ask, “What scales are you playing? How do you make those interesting lines?” Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy playing traditional blues phrases, but I also want to make my solo connect with the chord progression.

I think a lot of players have trouble going beyond playing pure pentatonic shapes.

If you find yourself only following the same pentatonic scale patterns, then you may get bored with your solo rather quickly.

Don’t worry! All you need to do is pay more attention to the chord changes than the scales when you’re soloing. Triads are some of the simplest chord forms. This application of triads will help you outline specific chord changes while you are playing your favorite bluesy phrases. Basically, I don’t want you to become locked into those old minor-pentatonic shapes.

The basic blues progression uses only three chords (I, IV, and V). Blues music has very simple chord changes, yet is very deep. The goal is to hear the chord movement rather than just thinking about the shape of the various pentatonic scales. Let’s get a handle on this technique by playing over minor-blues chord changes. For starters, we’ll use the progression in Fig. 1.

Make sure to check out the %VI to V chord movement in measures 9-10. This gives the minor-blues progression a “jazzier” feel.

Triads consist of only three notes—the root, 3rd, and 5th. Simple, right? Since there are only three combinations of the notes, you can play three different inversions (or shapes). In Fig. 2, you can see the inversions of an A major triad on the top three strings. The first chord is in root position, since the root is the lowest note in the chord. Moving up the neck we have the 1st inversion with the 3rd as the low note, and finally we end with the 2nd inversion with the 5th in the bass. This 2nd inversion is sometimes referred to as the “triangle

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

     

0 2 2

premierguitar.com

  5 5 6

  

Fig. 3

9 10 9

PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 71

lessons > beyond blues

The goal is to hear the chord movement, rather than just thinking about the shape of the various pentatonic scales. shape” and looks just like an open-position D chord, just moved up the fretboard.

Once these shapes are comfortably under your fingers, start to move them around to other string sets. If you think about not only the note names, but also the degree names, it will make transposing them to other keys much easier.

For the minor triads, all we need to do is lower the 3rd a half-step (one fret).

In Fig. 3 you can see the A minor triad shapes on the top three strings. My advice is to try to learn the minor shapes in relation to the major shapes. That way you should be able to change from major to minor without having to rely on only visual memorization.

Now it’s time to use these triads over the minor blues progression from Fig. 1. In Fig. 4, I’ve written an easy exercise using these triads. Play each chord slowly at first. Don’t think too much when playing these, but focus on learning the degree names of each chord until you can play them smoothly. That’s important.

At first it will sound like an exercise, but pretty soon (with some added rhythmic variety), it will become more musical.

Learning these concepts in a very specific way will allow you to be totally free when you improvise. Once these shapes are comfortable on the first three strings, start to move them to other string sets.

In Fig. 5, you can see these exact same chords on strings 4-3-2.

These shapes become very useful for not only comping, but also soloing. Feel free to add some of your favorite blues phrases to these triads. Many of them probably fall comfortably within these shapes already.

As always, listen to such masters as Freddie King, Eric Clapton, and Buddy Guy to really understand phrasing and comping in a blues setting.

72 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

Fig. 4

0 1 2

5 5 5

1 3 2

1 1 2

8 10 9

5 6 7

5 6 5

8 10 9

10 10 10

0 0 1

5 5 5

8 10 9

4 5 4

0 1 2

5 5 5

8 10 9

0 1 2

5 5 5

0 1 2

Fig. 5

For audio examples for this lesson click here to visit premierguitar.com/mar2011

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Photo: Eddie Carlino • Model: Kara

392 Main St. Medford, MA. 02155 781-391-4600 • eddie@carlinoguitars.com

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LESSOnS > FierCe GUitAr

intervallic Arpeggios

BY DAvE MARTOnE

Combining blistering chops with an explosion of sound, Dave Martone is a leading voice in the instrumental rock scene. His latest Magna Carta release, Clean, features guests such as Joe Satriani, Greg Howe, and Billy Sheehan.

As an educator, he has taught for the National Guitar Workshop, Berklee College of Music, and Workshop Live. For more information, visit davemartone.com.

W

hen I dig into a burning solo, I like to combine different techniques that can give my lines an interesting feel. In this lesson, we’re going to combine an intervallic approach to playing arpeggios with some wicked hybrid picking and look at a few crazy blues licks that use tapping.

Displacing certain notes in the arpeggio and combining them in odd groupings creates a flowing, angular feel that will make people say, “Hey! What is that?” These examples will involve a lot of string skipping, so in order to play them at breakneck speeds, we’ll need to use some hybrid picking. Essentially, hybrid picking is when you use the other fingers on your picking hand—usually the middle and ring fingers—in addition to the flatpick. Hot-rod country players have been doing this forever, and we’re going to steal it and combine it with some pure rock fury.

In the first example shown in Fig. 1, I’m playing a G#m arpeggio starting on the %7th. This works really well over the F#m.

Since F# is the second note of an E major scale, this chord functions as a iim7. This arpeggio will be our starting point for adding some intervallic displacement, since right now it sounds a little plain.

In Fig. 2 we take the same arpeggio and create a seven-note pattern that will repeat twice. In the example I have notated which finger to use for each string with a representing the ring finger and m indicating the middle finger. The missing last note gives the lick a displaced feeling, but continuing with the 16th-note rhythm adds excitement. The arpeggio is pulled apart by bouncing intervals between the %7 and the lick’s root note, premierguitar.com

and with the 5th, %3rd, and the %7 occurring an octave higher. In the audio example, I cycle the lick twice so you can hear the connection between the two seven-note patterns.

Now that we have one pattern under our fingers, we want to move this idea to different places on the fretboard. In Fig. 3, we are visualizing a C# minor tonality over string set 6–5–4.

I am again starting on the %7 of C#m and bouncing the same intervallic pattern inside the arpeggio. We treat the Emaj9 chord in Fig. 4 the same way, but move it to string set 5–4–3.

We will combine a few of these examples to create Fig. 5. We start in the 7th position and cycle through the seven-note pattern four times before ending with huge bend at the 14th fret. The chords we are implying over this example are C#m7, Emaj9, C#m7, and G#m7. Notice the wicked sound and contour of the lick. Using hybrid picking really allows me to pop those notes out. My

suggestion would be to get the feeling of each example and make sure you can repeat it in tempo to feel the syncopation.

Finally, we’ll take the concept up the neck, instead of across the neck. This can be done on all string sets, but the example shown in Fig. 6 will deal with strings 1–3. We’ll start on the key’s relative minor chord, which will be C#m7, and again use the same hybridpicking approach with these arpeggios. I find that the minor shape feels the best right out of the gate, but our fingers will adapt to the other shapes lurking around the corner.

Next up we have D#m7%5. Try playing the C# on the 3rd string with your 1st finger, and then quickly move the 1st finger to hit A on the 1st string. Next, move to the root chord (Emaj7) on beat 4 using the same 1st-finger jump as before. Use your 2nd finger to hammer-on the E on the 3rd string and then use a finger roll to cover

Fig. 1

F©‹               



 



    

13

11

F©‹             a 11

13

Fig. 3



12

13

      11

 

11

12 11

Fig. 2



14

11





m 12

13



a 14

11

 11

a 11 13



m 12

13





a 14

11

F©‹

  

             a  m  a  a  m  a 6

9

6

9

7 7

9

9

7 7

7

9

9

7

PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 75

lessons > Fierce Guitar

both the E at the end of the first measure and the G# on beat 1 of the second.

The next fingering that we want to look at is for the B7 chord at the end of the third measure. Start with your 1st finger on the A at the 14th fret and hammer-on to the B with your 4th finger. Use another finger

roll to hit both the B and the D# going into beat 4. Compared to planting other fingers down, this roll technique saves time and makes playing fast lines much easier.

I suggest playing each shape twice before moving up to the next chord in the scale.

This way you will feel the bounce in the

sound and feel more confident before moving up. Also, make sure you play them down the neck as well. Once you feel comfortable with this, try and double the speed of the lick as you can hear in the audio example. I hope these examples open new doors for you and help you sound a little cooler than before!

Fig. 4

a

m

a

8

a

11

m

8

11

9 7

11

11

a

9 7

7

11

11

7

Fig. 5

a

m

a

a

m

a

a

m

a

a

1

m

11 9 8 6

9

7

9

9

11

11

11

12 11 13

9 9

9 7

7

14

12

11 11

13

11

9

7

7

Fig. 6

a

m

4

a

a

7

5

m

5 4 6

6

a

a

14

12

a

a

9

7

7 4

6 8

m 14

a

a

11

9

6

a

a

16

14

8 9

9

m

14 16

16

a

a

12

11

m

10 8

9 11

a

a

17

16

11

12 9

m

11 13

13

11

a 17 17

16 13

m

9

8

14 13 14

m

24

17 14

16

18

18

16

For audio examples for this lesson click here to visit premierguitar.com/mar2011 76 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

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LESSOnS > rHYtHM & GrooVeS

Open for Business W e’re in the process of exploring ways to make triads sound bigger than typical three-note voicings. The trick, as we’ve learned, is to turn close-voiced triads into open-voiced forms. This simple technique converts a triad that occupies a single octave (close-voiced) to one that spans more than an octave (open-voiced).

In the first installment of our series (“Hybrid-Picking Pals,” January 2011 PG), we expanded a root–3rd–5th triad by dropping its middle note by an octave. Then we

BY AnDY ELLiS

A veteran guitar journalist and senior editor at PG, Andy is based in Nashville, where he backs singer-songwriters on the baritone guitar. He also hosts The Guitar Show, a weekly on-air and online broadcast. For the schedule and links to audio streams and archived audio interviews with inspiring players, visit theguitarshow.com.

   D

Fig. 1





4

        

D

G

 

7 4

3 3 5

D 4fr

3 1 1

G

    

 

 

 

9 5

7 5

7 5

7 5

7 5

G

3fr

3 2 1

    

7 5

3 3 5

G‹ 3fr

3 1 1



4

  

5

3fr

C

    



5

D‹

G

Gm

   3

3 4 5

3

5

3 2 1



3

2 3 5

3fr

Fig. 3

G

  

3

2 4 5

D

Fig. 2

Dm

  

saw what happens when we raised that middle note an octave (“Going Up?,” February 2011 PG). In both lessons, we generated a fistful of major and minor forms that sound bigger—and arguably more intriguing—than standard-issue triads. If you missed either of these lessons or want to refresh yourself on the two voicing techniques, check them out online at premierguitar.com.

In this third and final part of our series, we’ll integrate some of the different forms we’ve discovered thus far and continue to

   

D

2 14

2 14

G

    

7 4

4fr

C

  



7 5

Gsus4

      

7 5

5 2







7

8

Fig. 4

      

 Fig. 5

Em11

     

 



7

7

Dadd9

7

5

A6





7

 

let ring

3

5





7

5 2

   7







9



3

5

let ring

Asus2











   

9

8

6

9



3

let ring

7

5

3

3

Emaj7

let ring

4

7

7





7

5

let ring

Gadd2





9

8

6 7





D



let ring

5









78 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

5





let ring

5 4

5

 

 

7 5

7

4







3 6

4 2



let ring

5 5



4



   premierguitar.com

lessons > rhythm & grooves

Open triads let you spice up even the most basic progressions.

blanket the fretboard with fresh chordal colors.

But first, let’s look at one more voicing technique in which we raise and lower notes in a close triad to generate yet another set of major and minor grips.

Fig. 1 begins with a root-position, closevoiced D triad, D–F#–A (root–3rd–5th) on strings 5, 4, and 3. If we raise the bottom note up an octave and simultaneously drop the top note down an octave, we get the second voicing in this example, A–F#–D (5th–3rd–root).

Whoa! Now instead of a chord that covers a mere fifth, we have one that stretches an octave and a fourth, yet still only contains three notes. Notice how this second voicing falls on strings 6, 4, and 2. When playing a chord voiced entirely on non-adjacent strings like this, attack it using either a hybrid pickand-fingers or pure fingerstyle technique.

The next two chords in this example illustrate how the process works identically with minor triads. Here, we start with a root-position, close-voiced Dm (D–F–A) on the same string set and then propel the lowest and highest notes respectively up and down an octave to create an open Dm (A–F–D). We began with a root-%3rd-5th voicing and converted it to a 5th-%3rd-root structure. Make sense so far?

To finish this example, let’s apply the same technique to root-position, close-voiced G and Gm triads on strings 4, 3, and 2. By doing so, we generate open G and Gm triads on strings 5, 3, and 1. Again, these new chords fall on non-adjacent strings and span an octave and a fourth.

Fig. 2 shows the open chords we just generated—D, Dm, G, and Gm—stripped away

from the close triads that spawned them. The last two grips, D and G, are simply refingered versions of the major chords that preceded them in this example. It’s handy to know several ways to fret the identical voicing, because sometimes one grip works better than another to link to neighboring chords in a song.

If you’re up for a five-fret stretch, you can convert grid 5’s D to Dm by simply lowering the 3rd (on string 4) to a %3rd. But, unless you have exceptionally long fingers, grid 6’s G doesn’t offer this flexibility because this form already incorporates five frets, and dropping the 3rd to a %3rd would yield a whopping six-fret stretch.

Okay, now we’re ready to put our open triads to work. Even the most mundane progressions—ones you’ve played and heard a million times—take on a fresh, new life when you arrange them using open-voiced triads.

For instance, how about D–G–C–G? Rather than grabbing conventional chord forms, let’s play this progression using voicings and concepts we’ve covered in this and the previous two lessons. Fig. 3 puts a new twist on the I–IV–%VII–IV workhorse, giving it a soul-jazz flavor. Add some rotary speaker emulation and you’ll be grooving and grinding like a Hammond B-3 player.

As you work through this four-bar phrase, notice how we’re playing different voicings for the C and G chords that occur in bars 2

and 4. You can spice up even the most basic progressions by alternating inversions of open triads as you navigate the changes.

The fun begins when we melodically embellish open triads to create chords that go beyond major and minor tonalities. Fig. 4 offers a taste of this, with its add9, major 6, and major 7 sounds. As you work out these arpeggios, notice how each chord is based on an open triad that we then color with one extra tone.

Also, pay attention to the let ring markings— the goal is to have the chord tones sustain and overlap to create rich harmonic textures.

The madness—sorry—the adventure continues in Fig. 5. Thanks to open triads, we’re able to generate min11, sus2, and add2 chords with minimal effort. Pretty cool, huh?

Once you get a feel for open triads, you’ll discover many ways to use them to create sophisticated harmony. With its diminished, minor 7, sus4, and major 7 colors, Fig. 6 offers a glimpse of the possibilities. This example also underscores open triads’ elasticity—especially compared to big, clunky barre chords—and how easily these grips let you move selected notes while holding others. This type of harmony lets you sound more like a string trio or horn section and provides a welcome alternative to simply strumming block chords.

We’ll begin exploring the fascinating world of quartal harmony in next month’s lesson. See you then.

Fig. 6 4

let ring

let ring

8 5

7 5

6 5

7

6

5

6

let ring

let ring

13

5

13

10

5

let ring

13 9

10

let ring

13 10

13

12

9

5 12

12

11

11

10

11

10

to hear sound clips of these examples, click here to visit premierguitar.com/mar2011 premierguitar.com

PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 79

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Flips are for kids.

Brilliant stereo recording, now with 1080p HD video.

Joe Satriani of Chickenfoot and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. Š 2011 Zoom | photo: Neil Zlozower | satriani.com | zztop.com | zoomfx.com

FEATuRE > tHe nAtionAL

Playing with Metaphors The National’s Aaron and Bryce Dessner talk about how quirky direction from vocalist Matt Berninger, classical-guitar icon Benjamin Verdery, and vintage Jaguars and Sheratons figure into their deceptively simple tapestries of sound.

BY ADAM PeRlMuTTeR

The National (left to right): Guitarist Bryce Dessner, bassist Scott Devendorf, vocalist Matt Berninger, drummer Bryan Devendorf, and guitarist Aaron Dessner.

Photo by Keith Klenowski

A

aron and Bryce Dessner, identical-twin instrumentalists in the National, are not guitar heroes in the conventional sense. On High Violet, the band’s fifth full-length album—which was on many music reviewers’ best-of-the-year lists for 2010—you won’t find any pyrotechnical fretwork. What you will hear woven throughout the 11 songs’ complex instrumentation—which includes acoustic and electric guitars, bass, drums, strings (violins, viola, and cello) and horns (trombone, trumpet, and saxophone), accordion, piano, and ethereal background vocals—is a subtler kind of virtuosity. The Dessners’ brand of virtuosity revolves around subversive polyrhythms, mastery

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of tonal colors and texture, and their ability to make even the most shopworn of musical structures sound compellingly new.

At the moment, the National—whose admirers include Bruce Springsteen and R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe—is one of rock’s most lionized bands. But when the Dessners, bassist Scott Devendorf, drummer Bryan Devendorf (Scott’s brother), and singer Matt Berninger formed the band in Ohio in the late ’90s and then converged on New York, they toiled for years in semi-obscurity.

It wasn’t until the Brooklyn-based band released its third album, 2005’s Alligator, that a buzz began to develop.

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As one might imagine, the brothers Dessner have been collaborating musically since long before the National—indeed, for most of their lives. They grew up just outside of Cincinnati, where their father, a jazz drummer, turned them on to his extensive collection of records by jazz greats from all eras, as well as classic singer-songwriters like Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan.

“I think our creativity has a lot to do with being stranded out in the woods in this rural suburb of a provincial city, just the two of us down in the basement for 18 years, listening to our dad’s records,” Aaron explains. “At some point, we introduced instruments into that equation and it was very easy for us to just ignore everything else and play. As twins we were very productive together, because we never had to teach each other things. Almost immediately, when we started playing guitar, we were writing songs and bouncing things off each other, and we rapidly became agile on the instrument.”

Blending Bluegrass, Classical, and Punk Outside of their basement, the twins were exposed to regional music. Being near the Ohio River, to say nothing of summer camp in the North Carolina mountains, they absorbed plenty of country strains that would later manifest themselves in early National records. “We became influenced by bluegrass,” Aaron admits. “We had a banjo around the house, and I also played a mandolin and a tenor mandola.” Aaron also played the upright bass—and he’s played it on every National record except High Violet. But those influences were counterbalanced by several others, including those Bryce picked up while earning a master’s degree in classical guitar performance from Yale University, and the ideas Aaron absorbed

Aaron Dessner uses a vintage Fender Precision bass to add lead-bass textures to the National’s highly orchestrated mix. Photo by Keith Klenowski

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“I think our creativity has a lot to do with being stranded out in the woods in this rural suburb of a provincial city, just the two of us down in the basement for 18 years, listening to our dad’s records.”

—Aaron Dessner while studying modern European history and cultural anthropology at Columbia University.

“I’m the only conservatory geek in the band,” says Bryce, who studied under the direction of Benjamin Verdery. An uncommonly forward-thinking classical guitarist and composer, Verdery would have a lasting technical and conceptual influence on Bryce and his work with the National. “In those kinds of classical environments—which are so based on pedagogy and the hierarchy of the institution—there is a bit of an ivory-tower feeling where you’re trying to live up to some archaic standard of the solo virtuoso Segovia. Ben is the exception to that rule, and I was lucky to have him as a mentor. He’s not only the best classical guitarist and teacher out there, but he’s also a great rock player. He introduced me to all kinds of repertoire, from Bach to contemporary, and pushed me to be very open-minded about what I wanted to do. And Ben’s been a huge and supportive fan of the National.”

At Yale, Bryce also studied composition with Evan Ziporyn, a prominent modern composer and clarinetist whose work incorporates many different idioms, from traditional Balinese to avant-garde jazz. At the same time, Bryce met 20th-century iconoclasts like the minimalist composers Philip Glass and Steve Reich, whose work would feed into his rock playing. “Technically speaking, contemporary composers have pushed me to do things that I never would have thought possible on the guitar,” says Bryce. “They aren’t limited by the instrument itself, so they’re not writing things that are idiomatic to the guitar, and you learn surprising things from that.”

In particular, Bryce—and by extension Aaron—has gotten a lot of mileage out of transferring Reich’s characteristic interlocking patterns and pulsating rhythms to the guitar. “In a rock band, musicians tend to play along with each other, whereas in Reich’s music you’re often playing against each other in unintuitive rhythms and in hocket patterns”—basically, instruments or voices stating a melody in alternation, with one playing a note while the other rests, a technique that dates back to sacred vocal music of the 13th century.

“That’s something my brother and I do in the National to make the texture or detail more layered and interesting,” says Bryce, who several years ago helped premier Reich’s 2x5, scored for two electric guitars, electric bass, piano, and drums.

Aaron adds, “I’m not as highly trained as my brother, but somehow through osmosis I’ve picked up on a lot of the techniques he’s learned from playing with Reich. Usually what happens is I’ll hear him doing a certain thing and I won’t even think about it, but it will appear later in my playing and I’ll write a song with it.”

Aaron and Bryce don’t divide duties in a manner typical of a two-guitar band—that is, one doesn’t handle lead while the other premierguitar.com

FEATuRE > tHe nAtionAL

handles rhythm. Their voices are equally prominent, and this works because of their contrasting styles. “Aaron has more of a punk-rock aesthetic,” says Bryce, “he plays louder and he likes big, fuzzy sonics, whereas my approach is based more on a micro scale—a carefully placed note here or there—and a slightly more virtuosic technique. We often have kind of mirrored guitar parts—he might play down the neck while I reharmonize things up the neck.”

Both brothers, however, are disinclined to stretch out and show off. “Guitar solos would just sound gratuitous in our music,” says Bryce. “They wouldn’t be in the spirit of the songs, which call for the guitar parts to be supportive.” That said, the agitated, nine-bar solo that Bryce improvised last May on a Late Show performance of “Afraid of Everyone” offers persuasive evidence to the contrary.

Bryce Dessner, who studied with noted classical composer Benjamin Verdery, onstage with a 1970 Les Paul Deluxe.

Photo by Keith Klenowski

A taste for Vintage Gear The Dessners have an enviable selection of equipment at their disposal—enough pieces to require a couple of storage spaces (see the sidebar on p.84 for full details). Bryce’s main electric guitars are a 1963 Fender Jaguar and an early 1970s Les Paul Deluxe with miniature humbuckers. Aaron’s go-to guitar is a 1979 Epiphone Sheraton whose trapeze tailpiece allows him to create colorful effects by picking the strings behind the bridge. On High Violet, the brothers also used an early 1960s Gibson ES-330TDC that belongs to producer Peter Katis.

Aaron and Bryce share a lot of gear, too, including a 1965 Guild M-20 steel-string acoustic, a pair of Penn Pennalizer boutique tube

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The National’s Gearbox Guitars Assorted 6- and 12-string semi-hollowbodies by Reuben Cox, 1979 Epiphone Sheraton, 1963 Fender Jaguar, 1977 Fender Telecaster, 1970 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe, early ’70s Gibson SG, two 1958 Silvertone semi-hollowbodies, 1965 Guild M-20, 1996 Jeremy Locke classical, 1991 Greg Smallman classical, 1969 and 1973 Fender Precision basses, 1972 Fender Telecaster bass Amps Fender Bassman, blackface Fender Super Reverb, 1970s Fender Twin Reverb, Fender ’65 Twin Reverb reissue, Penn Pennalizer 3x10 and 4x10 combos Aaron Dessner’s 1979 Epiphone Sheraton has a trapeze tailpiece with drastically different string lengths for the top and bottom three strings. He often picks behind the bridge for other-worldly sounds.

Photo by Keith Klenowski

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Effects Boss DD-5 Digital Delay, Boss TR-2 Tremolo, Crowther Hot Cake, Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb, Electro-Harmonix POG Polyphonic Octave Generator, Ibanez Tube Screamer, Klon Centaur, Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler, Pro Co RAT, Heet Sound EBow Strings and Picks D’Addario EXL115 sets for most electrics, D’Addario EXL140 sets for the Fender Jaguar, D’Addario EJ40 Silk & Steel (acoustics), Dunlop .75 mm Tortex (Aaron), Dunlop .88 mm Tortex (Bryce) Bryce Dessner’s naturally relic’d 1963 Fender Jaguar.

Photo by Keith Klenowski

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amplifiers (which are based on tweed 5F6-A Fender Bassmans made between 1958 and 1960), assorted Fender valve amps—mostly vintage—and a number of effects boxes, both standard and unusual: a Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler, a Boss DD-5 Digital Delay, a Klon Centaur overdrive, a Crowther Hot Cake distortion, an ElectroHarmonix POG Polyphonic Octave Generator, and others. Then there’s the private studio they built in the detached garage of Aaron’s Victorian house in Brooklyn, which gave them the luxury of recording High Violet at an unhurried pace.

Broadening Definitions A typical National song has a rudimentary framework—four or so chords, mostly triadic and diatonic, and a melody with few notes.

Despite this simplicity—or maybe because of it—the band’s compositional process is not an easy one. “It’s almost like the way a sculptor works—where there’s a big stone and we’re slowly chipping away and uncovering the song,” says Bryce.

The process is highly collaborative and fraught with an extensive series of negotiations. A single song’s gestational period can last as long as several months. As the music’s primary creators, Aaron and Bryce typically germinate new song ideas on guitar or piano, record them in Pro Tools, and give the files to Berninger, who listens with obsessive repetition to the music on his earphones, mumbling along with lyric and melodic ideas—an activity that’s earned him the nicknames “Mr. Sony Headphones” and “Mumbleberry Pie.” Because of his propensity to reject outright or completely

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Although the Dessner brothers often share their gear, Aaron’s main guitar is a 1979 Epiphone Sheraton.

Photo by Keith Klenowski

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reconfigure the Dessners’ embryonic sketches, Berninger is also sometimes known as “the Dark Lord” or “the Naysayer.”

“Yesterday, my brother and I recorded a new National song with a part I arranged for string orchestra,” says Bryce. “It was expensive [to hire the musicians] and elaborate, and it took four days for me to write everything out, but it’s very possible Matt will come in and say, ‘No, leave the strings out.’ Then I have to think about it: ‘Well, maybe he has a point. Maybe it works without the strings, even though I think otherwise.’” As it happened, Berninger accepted the string section in the song, which will be part of the soundtrack to the upcoming film Win Win, which stars Paul Giamatti.

Berninger, who doesn’t play an instrument or read notation, often gives the twins musical direction in the form of metaphor.

This can be frustrating, according to the Dessners, but ultimately it forces them to seek out new techniques and sonorities—not unlike learning a piece by Steve Reich. When High Violet ’s opening number, “Terrible Love,” was being written, Berninger requested accompaniment that sounded like “loose wool.” Aaron holed up in his studio and recorded himself playing loudly through a bunch of different amp and pedal configurations before he found a sound he felt matched that description.

Using a 1963 Fender Jaguar, Bryce Dessner adds some punk angst to the National’s multi-instrumental mélange.

Photo by Keith Klenowski

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“[Benjamin Verdery] is not only the best classical guitarist and teacher out there, but he’s also a great rock player.”

—Bryce Dessner “In the end, I tuned my fifth string down to G to get a more resonant sound, and turned a Penn amp up really loud, to the point of overdriving it,” Aaron recalls. “I also had a Boss tremolo pedal and was looping myself on a Line 6 Delay Modeler. I played for eight or nine minutes straight with this thick and warm sound, getting crazier as I went along and coming unhinged toward the end, which you can hear on the record.”

For his part, Bryce played complementary arpeggios in a higher register—the sort of thing that wouldn’t have been out of place in, say, an early electric Dylan song. With these sounds, the brothers turned the most basic of progressions—I–IV or G–C/G—into something altogether new: a huge and blurry soundscape whose jitteriness evokes the neurotic sort of romance that “Terrible Love” is all about.

Yet, even shorn of its wool—as in an alternate studio version and an acoustic performance on Q TV—the song maintains its integrity.

Just as important to the National’s complex, deceptively simple sound are drummer Bryan Devendorf ’s propulsive rhythms—which he augments with subtle mallet taps and clever use of various handheld percussion instruments—Scott Devendorf ’s nimble bass work, and Berninger’s baritone. But that’s just half the equation: While said vocals are delivered in a manner that’s melancholy as often as it’s nonchalant, the lyrics—which are written with the occasional input of Berninger’s wife, Carin Besser, a former fiction editor at The New Yorker Magazine—are unfailingly wry and obtuse.

Lines like “I was afraid / I’d eat your brains / ’cause I am evil” (“Conversation 16”) and “I defend my family / with my orange umbrella / I’m afraid of everyone” (“Afraid of Everyone”) are as likely to make you smile or rewind and say, “Did he just say what I think he said?” as they are to make you choke up a little.

Then there are the lush and imaginative orchestrations that Bryce writes, sometimes with the assistance of former Yale associates and composers/instrumentalists Padma Newsome (with whom he also plays in the adventurous chamber ensemble Clogs) and Nico Muhly.

The gentle trio of French horn, trombone, and cello on “Runaway,” and the rumbling bass clarinet on “Conversation 16” are examples of the instrumental flourishes that add such uncommon depth and detail to the music. “My arrangements tend to be very supportive and kind of interior,” says Bryce. “There’s something about Matt’s voice . . . orchestration can help glue it to the music, while bringing out overtones that you might not normally hear.”

In their finished states, the songs on High Violet are at once raw and refined, and they wend their way into your mind on multiple levels. Since the music is so straightforward and diatonic, it’s accessible to a wide audience of casual listeners unaware of some of the sophisticated devices at work. At the same time, a conservatory geek can admire the appropriation of contemporary classical sounds and techniques, as well as the depth of the band’s musicality. In other words, as it turns out, Aaron and Bryce Dessner may just be the thinking man’s guitar heroes. premierguitar.com

Nick 13

www.tigerarmy.com www.myspace.com/tigerarmy www.myspace.com/nick13 Photo: Neil Zlozower Š2011 FMIC. GretschŽ is a registered trademark of Fred. W. Gretsch Enterprises, LTD. and used herein under license. All rights reserved.

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JAMES HETFIELD 81/60 Combo

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BuiLDER PROFiLE > GreenFieLD GUitArS

Greenfield Guitars The Montreal-based boutique builder talks about his move from repairing museum-quality Martins and Gibson to building museum-quality flattops and an incredible harp guitar for fingerstyle phenom Andy Mckee.

BY GAYlA DRAke PAul

L

ike many builders, Michael Greenfield wandered into the craft almost unintentionally. While he was working as a gigging musician in Montreal in the ’80s, he became frustrated after leaving a guitar with a violin tech—the only stringed-instrument tech he could find in town—and the guitar came back unplayable. He decided immediately to learn whatever was necessary to do setups and routine repairs, just to keep his own instruments in shape. That quickly led to other guitarists bringing him their instruments, and he soon became a muchsought-after repairer/restorer.

Restoration and repair became something of a hobby for Greenfield, and after a stint in the restaurant business (he’s also a trained chef )

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and some consulting work in the Middle East, he returned to Montreal to think about what he really wanted to do with his life. He had a great desire to make music the center of his life again, so he took a side gig doing guitar repairs in a local music store around the peak of the vintage-guitar boom.

“Electric guitars were fine,” he says, “but, all of a sudden, people started bringing me these museumgrade, pre-war Gibsons, golden-era Martins, and some really antique Martins—and I didn’t feel too comfortable working on those. Other than re-fretting a guitar or making a saddle, I had very little experience working on acoustic guitars. So I took a guitar-making course with Bryan Galloup in the early ’90s.”

But Greenfield quickly found out building instruments and repairing instruments are not the same thing.

“I don’t want to say they don’t have anything to do with one another, but they’re really very different.

They employ different skills and techniques and ways of thinking about things—although anybody who makes guitars will do a lot of repairing, with all our screwups. Like things get dropped on the floor.” He pauses for a beat. “I’m not saying that ever happens, but it might.”

After learning to build guitars, Greenfield became so enamored with the idea that he kept at it. Once he got up to six guitars in a year, he made the decision to close down the repair/restoration side of his business and pursue building exclusively.

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The Greenfield Holocron features a fanned-fret design and an angled bridge that goes from a 25" scale on the treble side to a 27" scale on the bass side. The top is made of Adirondack spruce and the back and sides are Brazilian rosewood. It also features Laskin arm and rib rests and a bass-side sound port.

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The Greenfield Phoenix has a bearclaw western red cedar top, quilted Honduran mahogany back and sides, and an ebony fretboard.

The ornate headstock and fretboard inlay is by Larry Robinson.

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“I closed down the repairs in 2000 and just slowly built the business to where it was doing a dozen guitars a year,” he explains. “That was as many as I could handle in my old shop.” He moved to a new shop in 2007, and has since built as many as 16 guitars per year.

And 16 is a remarkable number, considering how much customization is involved in virtually every guitar he makes. “By choice, I’m not tooled up at all. So every guitar is pretty much a one-off.” He notes that many small makers concentrate on one or two models, and some even contract construction of certain parts and processes to other builders. “There’s still a lot of woodworking to be done [for builders who do that], and they’re still carefully voiced—I’m not talking negatively about my colleagues,” he says. “They’re a lot smarter than me, because they can make as many guitars as I do much, much easier.

My guitars keep getting more and more complicated to make, and they take longer and longer.”

So much for the old joke: “How many luthiers does it take to change a light bulb?” Answer: “Only one, but he’s got to make a jig first.” Greenfield laughs, not exactly ruefully. “It’s a lot of fun, and it gives me the freedom not to be afraid when somebody calls with a tall order. Or not so tall of an order.”

Greenfield has become known as “a fanned-fret guy,” and depending on the year, sometimes half or more of his production instruments incorporate that feature. “Even those fretboards are slotted here, in house, by hand. Most of them are made differently in order to accommodate the needs of the player, based on their repertoire, their playing style, and the tunings that they use.” In fact, Greenfield developed a fanned-fret model specifically for DADGAD, a tuning near and dear to many contemporary players’ hearts.

“It’s a really versatile combination of scale lengths that work well across the board, so I’m happy with that one.” So happy, in fact, that he’s actually considering standardizing it. “I sort of hate to... the problem with the fan fret thing is, if you change the neck width, everything changes. Or if you change the string spacing at the bridge, all the angles change. So I’ve gotten used to working without jigs and fixtures, and I like it that way.” premierguitar.com

BuiLDER PROFiLE > GreenFieLD GUitArS

Why Fan? Fanned-fret guitars are not a new idea.

They’ve been around in one form or another for about 150 years. Ralph Novak of Novax Guitars is the modern-day builder who is most often thought to have rediscovered it. “Ralph Novak stumbled upon it and modernized it and brought it into what was the 20th century, and I think it’s important to give him credit.”

Greenfield describes the rationale for the design this way: “The guitar is really a funny instrument. Look at a pipe organ—as the notes get lower, the pipes get longer. But here you have this guitar, you have six strings, and each string gets lower and lower in pitch, and the strings get fatter and fatter, and we tilt the saddle a little bit, and expect this thing to play in tune. And as we push on the string, we’re stretching it and compressing it. Some players pull the string sharp or flat. It’s really a very imperfect instrument at best, notwithstanding any intonation systems people use. What people forget is that players play in tune, not guitars.”

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[using fanned frets is] a better way to build a guitar because... each string has its own scale length, and as the notes get lower, the scale is a little bit longer and the fundamental of those lower notes will be better supported.

He continues, explaining that as the scale length of an instrument gets longer, it supports the lower notes much better.

“Look at a mandolin, and then look at a contrabass: The mandolin has a very short scale, and to try and get the low note of a contrabass out of a mandolin—no matter how thick of a string you put on it—it’s not going to work. And vice versa.”

Many players who use radically altered tunings—say, dropping the 6th string to a C, B, or in some cases an A—use heavier strings, sometimes anything from a .060 to a .080. “But the compensation [on most guitars] is calculated for a standard set of strings. All of a sudden, you throw on this big, fat string that’s not in the normal progression, you tune it really low, and as

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soon as you try to fret it above the 3rd fret it goes out of tune.” Many players believe they need very heavy strings to get low notes, but Greenfield has discovered that, with the correct scale length, a thinner string will speak more clearly and sound a lot better.

“So [using fanned frets is] a better way to build a guitar because of everything we’ve just said. Each string has its own scale length, and as the notes get lower, the scale is a little bit longer and the fundamental of those lower notes will be better supported.”

Despite popular belief, Greenfield says fanning frets is not intended to address intonation issues. “People think they play in tune better—and they do,” he says, “but what’s really going on is that, for those radically altered tunings that folks are using—even if they are using a fat string—the guitar has been set up properly for it. The scale length is there to support the notes.” That said, Greenfield happily admits it’s not a design element every player needs. “If you play in standard tuning all the time, or just drop-D, is it worth spending the extra money? I don’t think so. But for DADGAD, double droppedD, C tunings, G tunings, and folks who are playing contemporary repertoire, it’s a really good thing.”

For guitarists who’ve never played a fanned-fret guitar before, one of the first questions is whether that style of fretboard is more difficult to play. “If you look at your hand, it naturally wants to splay that way. With the average fan, most folks just sit down and play. There’s nothing to get used to. The very severe fans do take a little bit of time, and you may have to adapt your repertoire—because some folks have these insane stretches. But that really is very, very rare. And if somebody needs such a radical fan, they’re playing crazy music anyway,” Greenfield says with a laugh. tight as a Drum Greenfield also laminates the sides of his guitars, which is another time-consuming endeavor. “When I was doing repair work back in the day, dealing with all the jazzers in town, there were guys who were collectors. There’s a guy here in [Montreal] who plays L5s, but only those from after 1963, when they were using laminated backs.

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The Black Cherry was commissioned by Jacques-André Dupont for the Red Guitar Collection, and it features an alpine spruce top, bigleaf maple sides and back, and ebony fretboard and bindings.

The intricate inlay work was done by Larry Robinson.

there who play ES-175s, which also have the sound. Those are laminated guitars, too. Linda Manzer makes amazing archtop guitars, and she offers a laminated guitar, because there are guys out there who want an onboard pickup, not floating, and they want a laminated top and back because that’s the sound.”

But Greenfield doesn’t mean “plywood” when he says “laminated.” He uses two sets of sides, sands them down, bends them, and then glues them together. “As soon as

you glue two pieces of wood together,” he explains, “they can’t move. Under tension and compression, they won’t slide against each other. That means my rim sets are much, much more stiff. Essentially, the guitar is a drum.”

And he’s not just being clever when he makes that comparison. Greenfield has studied drum construction closely, and he really does view a guitar’s top and back like the top and bottom heads of a drum.

“In a drum, you want to take the sides out premierguitar.com

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BuiLDER PROFiLE > GreenFieLD GUitArS

of the equation,” he explains. “You don’t want them to influence the modal vibrations of the top and the back membranes.

That’s why I’m laminating the sides of my guitars—and it’s a lot more work, a lot more expense, and takes a lot more time.”

The process of building a rim set— sanding and hand-bending two sets of sides, then lining them up exactly and gluing them, and laminating the linings as well—takes about two weeks. “There’s a crazy amount of stuff that goes into it,” Greenfield says. “My sides end up being quite thick—around an eighth of an inch.

I build a heavy guitar on purpose.” the Harp Highlight of His Career Among the most complicated and unusual “tall order” instruments Greenfield has been asked to build is the harp guitar (model number HG1.2) he recently built for Andy McKee. After the two had been friends for several years, McKee asked Greenfield to start making guitars for him. One night, over dinner, McKee

The back of McKee’s harp guitar is made of 40-year-old koa that’s bound with ebony.

Andy McKee’s Greenfield HG1.2 harp guitar has a Lutz spruce top, ebony fittings and bindings, and koa sides, back, and neck.

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upped the ante and asked for a harp guitar. “I just didn’t want to go there, so I said, ‘No, no, no, no,’” Greenfield recalls. “Eventually, he asked me one more time, and I said, ‘Okay.’”

McKee wanted six bass strings and six regular guitar strings. “We talked about the tunings that he uses, and basically, he doesn’t go all that radical, because you’ve got all those bass strings. So if you want to hit low notes, you don’t need to take it from the regular guitar neck. Because he’s used to playing fanned-fret instruments, we made the regular neck a subtle fan—just to deal with some of the more normal tunings he uses on that neck.

And then there was the harp.”

During Greenfield’s repairing and restoring days, he worked on some old harp guitars, never imagining he’d ever build one. “I had them in my hands, and other than looking at them and saying, ‘Wow, this is cool,’ I never took any measurements or did any drawings. So I had to go back and do all the research.

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But what I did learn from those early years was that the Dyer guitars and the Knutson guitars were the most successful—to my ear—as musical instruments. They worked really well, and they sounded really good.

And most of the harp guitars made today by my colleagues are sort of based, one way or another, on those original two lines. So that was my starting point, too. I knew I wanted a secondary harp arm, and then I took a left turn and went crazy— which is what I normally do.”

One of the innovations Greenfield built into the HG1.2 was a fulcrum-style bridge like those you’d see on an archtop guitar.

The strings are harnessed to the end of the guitar with a tailblock, and they pass over the harp bridge at a very low angle. “I did that for two reasons,” explains Greenfield.

“First, I wanted to reduce the amount of tension on the top. Those six harp strings, when they’re tuned to pitch, have somewhere between 180 and 200 pounds of tension. When it goes over the bridge that

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Andy McKee’s harp guitar features an ebony headstock and harp heads, with a smaller piece accommodating the harp strings’ sharping levers.

I’m using, it works out to about 25 or 30 pounds of down push. The regular guitar neck is pulling up on the top and torquing it like a regular guitar works, and the bass arm is pushing down to give it a counterbalance. I didn’t have to over-brace the guitar because of that. I could go lighter than I would have normally built it.”

The other major reason Greenfield split the bridge was to get some real separation between the pickup signals from the guitar side and the harp side. He worked with K&K to design a custom pickup system for the instrument. “Not to do a commercial for K&K, but my experience has been that the K&K system is a really naturalsounding system that works really well for fingerstyle guys,” he says. “It sounds like a guitar that’s been mic’d. So, using the split bridge, I was able to use the soundboard transducer on the guitar part of the instrument, and a custom-made undersaddle pickup under the bass harp strings.

“The next thing was that I wanted it to look funky. But I really wanted the guitar— especially knowing who it was going to—to be easily serviceable. So a lot of the parts on that guitar bolt on. Both harp heads are 96 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

I build a heavy guitar on purpose. bolted on, the tailpiece is bolted on, and the neck is bolted on. So if something fails, it’ll be easier for me to repair it.”

The entire process of building McKee’s harp guitar took about two years. “Obviously, I didn’t work on it constantly, but it took over a year of design. I made a few drawings, hung them up on the walls to live with them in the room for six months. Every time I passed them I would doodle something else or sketch something or put a new line in until I got to the point where it all made sense.” Greenfield also spent a lot of time researching, talking to colleagues, reading, looking at the old instruments, and finally making some accurate drawings. “Then I had to figure out the mechanics of how I was going to build it. That was the hard part.

Because once you have all that figured out, the rest is just guitar making: You’re setting a neck, you’re gluing on a bridge, you’re voicing a box—it’s really all very much the same.”

It took about eight months to build the guitar, which Greenfield worked on

between other projects. “Delivering the guitar this past summer to Andy at the Montreal Guitar Show was very, very emotional for me. It was two years of my life!

I had just given birth to this crazy thing with two heads, and there was this man who just picked it up and immediately tore into it and started making beautiful music with it. It was certainly a high point in my career.”

Greener Pastures?

Although Greenfield didn’t tag “so far” onto the end of the previous sentence declaring the McKee harp-guitar delivery the highlight of his career, it’s probably safe to say there will be many other notable moments that could very well rival that. We’ve only touched on a fraction of the types of instruments he offers here, so be sure to check out greenfieldguitars.com to see delectable renditions of nylon-string and archtop instruments, in addition to a wide variety of steel-string guitars. premierguitar.com

VINTAGE GUITAR & MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AUCTION

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Dallas International Guitar Festival April 14 – 16, 2011 Available online for bidding early April at HA.com/7034

1963 GIBSON FIREBIRD VII HA.com/7034-12006

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Contact for an appointment to view lots in Dallas: Jonas Aronson Free catalog and The Collector’s Handbook ($65 Value) for new clients. Please submit auction invoices of $1000+ in this category, from any source. Include your contact information and mail to Heritage, fax 214-409-1425, email CatalogOrders@HA.com, or call 866-835-3243. For more details, go to HA.com/FCO.

Director of Vintage Guitars & Musical Instruments 214-409-1759 JonasA@HA.com

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FEATuRE > BiLLY SHeeHAn

Photo courtesy of Union Entertainment Management

4-string commando Bass god Billy Sheehan talks about recording Mr. Big’s new album, What If ..., his multi-amp rig, and why it’s important to master your instrument inside and out. Plus! Paul Gilbert chimes in on the new LP’s tones and harmonies.

BY GReG OlWell

M

r. Big’s Billy Sheehan may be the modernday epitome of a rock “lead bassist,” but he never forgets that the bass’ primary role is to put the “roll” in “rock ’n’ roll.” While it’s easy to focus on the over-the-top aspects of Sheehan’s playing, few bassists can hold down a solid low-end like he does. In fact, he’s quick premierguitar.com

to emphasize that it’s his rocksolid foundation in the groove that allows him to launch his dazzling technique. He’s also a straight-up gearhead with tons of personal experience modifying instruments and designing rigs to create his singular sound.

But Sheehan’s approach to bass extends beyond the mechanics of playing—he’s a

big proponent of knowing how to work on your instrument well enough to make it serve your needs as a player. “You have to learn the instrument, learn the fundamentals—how to play it, how to tweak it, how to play strong, hard, in tune, and in time. You need to do all of those things up front, and then you can learn the frosting.”

The “frosting” would be things like the two-handed tapping, chord work, and blazing three-finger plucking that he’s become famous for during his gigs with Mr. Big, David Lee Roth, Niacin (featuring Hammond B-3 master John Novello and virtuoso drummer Dennis Chambers), and Talas. Sheehan’s trademark PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 99

FEATuRE > BiLLY SHeeHAn

Double the Tapping Fun: Billy Sheehan (far left) shreds on his double-neck Yamaha bass while Mr. Big drummer Pat Torpey capos it at the second fret.

Singer Eric Martin does the same for Paul Gilbert and his custom, dual-neck Ibanez. “We’re friendlier now than we ever were,” Sheehan says of the band’s interpersonal dynamic, “and I’m more pleased about that than any sales figures.” Photo courtesy of Union Entertainment Management

show-stopping moments onstage and on record are only possible because he has always pushed himself to be a better musician and to redefine what’s achievable with a 4-string bass.

“I know a lot of great players who use 5- and 6-string basses,” says Sheehan, “but you can do just about everything you need to do on a 4-string.

I think people think they can solve their problems as players by getting a 5- or 6-string bass, but maybe they haven’t explored all the possibilities of a 4-string.”

Sheehan’s journey began in his native Buffalo, New York.

While he was paying his dues with legendary metal band Talas, he developed his highoctane style and an absolutely incredible bass tone. Playing a heavily modified Fender 100 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

Sometimes music has to be precarious —if it’s too easy and too automatic, then it’s not art to me.

Precision with two outputs he ran through a complex rig, Sheehan created an inspiring bass tone that, paired with groundbreaking technique and showmanship, made him a top candidate for the group that would make him an MTV and radio fixture—David Lee Roth’s solo band. In those post-Van Halen days of 1985, Sheehan was probably the only bassist with enough technique and presence to share a stage with the flamboyant Roth and shred deity Steve Vai on hits like “Yankee Rose” and

barn-burning rockers like “Elephant Gun” and “Shyboy.”

After leaving Roth’s group, Sheehan formed Mr. Big in 1988 with former Racer X guitarist Paul Gilbert, vocalist Eric Martin, and drummer Pat Torpey. From the start, Mr. Big focused on powerful lead vocals and rich vocal harmonies that complemented Sheehan and Gilbert’s fretboard pyrotechnics.

The formula was popular from the start—especially in Japan, where Mr. Big continues to have a massive following. But it was the band’s second album,

’91’s Lean into It—which included the hugely popular ballad “To Be with You” and the rocking “Green-Tinted Sixties Mind”—that launched the group to the top of the charts in America.

Mr. Big broke up in 2002, but reunited seven years later for a tour that was released as a live album and DVD, both entitled Back to Budokan.

Inspired by revitalized chemistry, Sheehan and his mates headed into the studio to record Big’s first studio album in nine years, What If .... Recorded premierguitar.com

FEATuRE > BiLLY SHeeHAn

with producer Kevin Shirley (Iron Maiden, Journey, Dream Theater), the new album’s vocal harmonies, glimmering guitar tones, and grinding bass prove the group is still firing on all cylinders.

We recently asked Sheehan and his 6-string cohort, Paul Gilbert (see p.104), about recording What If ... and the gear they used to get their much-emulated sounds. Both players are veteran clinicians with a lively sense of humor and a generous inclination to share what they’ve learned.

What If ... is Mr. big’s first studio record in nearly 10 years. What’s different this time around?

With age, there is wisdom... I hope [laughs]. I think we’ve all learned to be better communicators, so the whole atmosphere is completely different. The priority was to reestablish the relationships in the band, and I think we succeeded. We’re friendlier now than we ever

Billy sheehan’s gearBox Basses

Strings and Picks

Yamaha Attitude Ltd. II 4-string basses

Rotosound Billy Sheehan Signature stainless-steel roundwound strings (.043–.110), Real Rock stone picks

Amps and Cabinets

Hartke LH1000 head driving a Hartke AK410 4x10 cabinet, Hartke HA5500C head powering a Hartke AK115 1x15 cab Effects

Ashly Audio SC-50 compressor, Pearce BC1 preamp

to do it. This way we all have a stake in every song and work to make each song great. have you changed your playing approach this time around?

I’m literally working harder than I have in my entire life, and I’m re-energized on bass.

I’m not working on being a faster player, but I’m trying to have supreme command over everything I play. I’m try-

When there are flecks of skin flying around, that’s when I know real work is happening. were, and I’m more pleased about that than any sales figures.

If we never sold another record or made another five cents, I’d still consider that a success. have those behind-thescene relationships affected the music?

They have, for one main reason: We decided we were going to evenly split the songwriting credits. In a band situation— especially when everyone is a writer—it really is the best way 102 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

ing to make my playing not something that I can generally pull off—but sometimes not—I’m trying to push myself as far and as hard as I can. It seems like most people will ride on what they’ve already done, but I think this is a great opportunity to use this ride as a stepping-stone to something better. Every time I sit down with my bass, I come up with a few things that I never knew before—things like lines or how to connect notes together.

Miscellaneous

DiMarzio Stereo Guitar Cable, DiMarzio M-Path Interconnect, DiMarzio Jumper Cable, and DiMarzio High Definition and Super M-Path speaker cables

What was the band’s approach to recording the new record?

Almost everything is a live take.

The producer refused to give us the opportunity to go back and replay our parts, so there are almost no bass overdubs— there are maybe 45 seconds of bass fixes on the record. On one hand, the energy of a band performing together is the way a record should be, but doing it that way is scary. It can lead to a lot of takes. I worried that I wouldn’t be able to pull off some of the difficult technical parts sitting next to a drum set and a guitar amp and playing by feel instead of listening to every note in the control room. Sometimes music has to be precarious—if it’s too easy and too automatic, then it’s not art to me.

Which part on the record really pushed your boundaries?

There’s a tricky part on “Around the World” that Paul and I play together. We modified it with a whole new part the day before recording it. Not only did we have to articulate the new part, we had to remember it and play it together as a band, because the way we were recording wouldn’t allow us to punch it in piece by piece. We stuck with actually performing it together,

with the band, and doing it right. I tore my hands to pieces, because I play really hard. I love that, because it shows me that I’m working. When there are flecks of skin flying around, that’s when I know real work is happening.

Judging by online video clips of you playing, it looks like you play really hard.

I dig in really hard. Bass is a strength instrument, and I try to teach people at clinics to get as much sound off that string as they can and to not rely so much on the pickups and amps.

To get that string sound, you have to hit it hard.

Do you have a special setup to help you with your heavy attack?

Not really, but I constantly tweak my bass. When I’m on tour, I start with a light action, but after a week I get stronger and I start to overwhelm the low action. I end up not getting notes—just fret buzz—so I keep raising the action as the tour continues. By the end of a tour, my bass’s action is set pretty high.

Back in the day, we had to figure out how to set up our instruments by ourselves.

I’m glad I learned how to set premierguitar.com

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FEATuRE > BiLLY SHeeHAn

paul gilBert on recording What If ...

We spoke to Paul Gilbert about his last solo album, Fuzz Universe in our September 2010 issue, and here he joins us to fill us in on his contributions to the latest Mr. Big project.

You’re involved with a lot of projects— from Mr. Big to solo records, teaching, and Racer x reunions. What’s especially challenging about playing with Mr. Big?

Mr. Big has heavy songs, ballads, and everything in between, so it’s a challenge to get the right sound for each song.

I need a big, crunchy metal sound for “Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy,” where “Just Take My Heart” is super clean and compressed. “Green-Tinted Sixties Mind” and “Take Cover” are more jangly, so I have to find a balance between a clean sound with enough overdrive to still make it rock. And there’s “To Be With You,” which is acoustic. I wonder if anyone would notice the difference if I used the same sound for everything or if I’m just giving myself a complicated hobby because I like to mess around with gear?

What’s your favorite aspect of the new record?

I think the songs will sound great live, because they were basically recorded that way. But one of my favorite things about Mr. Big is the vocal harmonies—I love playing and singing.

“Once upon a Time” features a heavy drop-D riff. Do you write much in nonstandard tunings?

I’m mostly scared of different tunings. I’ve invested so much time into learning to play in standard tuning that it’s a little depressing to start over with new shapes in a new tuning. But “Once upon a Time” is manageable because only one string is different. i hear a lot of single-coil sounds on What If ... . in a genre that’s pretty humbucker-centric, what draws you to the sound of single-coils?

104 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

Paul Gilbert and his signature Ibanez PGMFRM1 Fireman, which features hum-cancelling DiMarzio single-coils, a Volume knob, a Tone knob that only affects the bridge pickup, and a 5-way pickup selector. Photo by James Chiang

I saw Frank Marino play a few years ago, and he had two Gibson SGs: One with the humbuckers and one with three single-coils. The single-coil guitar had a lot more clarity and just sounded better overall. That inspired me to put

single-coils in the Ibanez Fireman guitar that I was designing at the time. I think that they offer a good balance of clarity and thickness. I used it on the new Mr. Big record as well as my last solo record, Fuzz Universe.

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FEATuRE > BiLLY SHeeHAn

my pickup height, adjust the action, and dress my frets.

Basically, I’m able to fine-tune my bass to where it’s most comfortable to me. Opening up the bass and learning what’s going on inside really helps me know my instrument. The more command you have over your instrument—inside and out— the more confident you’ll be as a player. And confidence is an artistic advantage.

Do you ever suffer playingrelated injuries, and if so, how do you deal with them?

I had wrist problems for years.

It didn’t affect my playing very much. I could barely move my wrists, but I went on a low-carb diet and it’s completely cured.

I’ve advised many musicians over the years to try this, and pretty much all of them are cured. High carbs, high glucose, and joints do not work together well. Everyone is different, and one cure won’t work for everyone, but the anecdotal evidence seems really strong.

Another issue from playing hard is that the fingernails on my picking hand start to separate out from my fingers.

Man—is that painful. I actually superglue them back on.

You’ve had success in a number of different playing situations. As a musician, what makes Mr. big different than the others?

It’s the most all-around, regular rock band that I’ve been in.

Talas was cool, but it had its limitations. I really enjoyed playing with David Lee Roth, he’s a great frontman, but it was his band. But with Mr. Big, we’re all singing and playing. All of my favorite bands— like Grand Funk Railroad, Humble Pie, Spooky Tooth, and Free—are all about singing and playing. There’s song structure. And that’s how we 106 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

paul gilBert’s gearBox Guitars

Ibanez PGMFRM1 Fireman, Ibanez PGM401 Paul Gilbert signature model, 1979 Ibanez Artist 2630 semi-hollowbody, Ibanez PM100 Pat Metheny signature hollowbody, Ibanez custom shop PGM 12-string Amps

Marshall 2266c Vintage Modern 50-watt 2x12 combo, THD Hot Plate Strings and Picks

Ernie Ball RPS-11 Slinkys (for Mr. Big songs tuned down to Eb), Ernie Ball RPS-10 Slinkys (for standard tuning), Tortex .60 mm picks Effects

Majik Box Fuzz Universe, Ibanez Paul Gilbert Signature AF2 Airplane Flanger, HomeBrew Detox EQ, MXR Phase 90, Fulltone ChoralFlange, ADA Flanger, HomeBrew CPR compressor

modeled Mr. Big in the beginning. We even took our name from a Free song. The real attraction of Mr. Big, to me, is that it’s a regular old rock band where we can sing and play. I got caught up in a lot of progressive and instrumental stuff, which I really like, but I always gravitate toward sitting around with friends, opening a bottle of wine, and singing songs.

We’re not going to play metal, we’re going to sing. Singing is what we use to reach people.

You can reach some people with an instrumental band, but if you have good instrumental work with singing on top of it, then you can reach a whole other, larger audience.

Singing while playing bass is much more difficult than

playing guitar. Why is it harder, and do you still have to work on it?

I can strum a guitar and sing all day long, but with bass there’s something about the articulation of your plucking hand and singing that I have to work on all of the time. When I see someone like Esperanza Spalding doing it, I feel like giving up.

What do you do to overcome that difficulty?

I get comfortable with the bass playing first, then I add the singing. Basically, I just start making mistakes. I keep going over the part and fixing the mistakes until it falls together.

You have to do it until it’s second nature. We toured with Rush, and Geddy [Lee, vocalist

and bassist]—who’s a supreme master at his craft—admitted to me that before a tour he has to work on being able to sing and play. The answer is always that you have to spend time on it to be able to hit it hard.

You have such a powerful and distinctive sound. besides your fingers, what do you need to sound like billy Sheehan?

The dual output of the bass is one of my secret weapons. Each pickup has a dedicated amp and cabinet. My sound breaks down into a clean, bright sound with not much low end, a distorted sound without much low-end, and a separate amp with just super-deep lows. I mix those three together to get articulation, harmonic content, and deep low end.

The neck pickup on my bass is modeled after the Gibson EB-0 sound and that big, deep, Paul McCartney-like tone runs through a Hartke LH1000 head and AK410 4x10 cabinet. I don’t need much tone shaping on the lows—I need power. The highs and grind come from the P pickup, which I run through a Hartke HA5500C head and AK115 1x15 cab. I run the P pickup’s signal through two channels of a Pearce BC1 preamp. One channel is clean and one is distorted. The clean is always on full volume, and the distortion channel is switchable.

Each system runs through an Ashly Audio SC-50 compressor.

I use the 4x10 for lows and the 1x15 for highs—which is backwards from what most people do. I find that the surface area of 15" speakers disperses high frequencies in a softer, less shrill way. The smaller surface area of 10" speakers is good for fast, tight lows. I want the low frequencies to be super fast, because if they’re not, they get left behind and the sound is mushy. premierguitar.com

- Luke Doucet -

(Sarah McLachlan, Solo Artist & Producer)

Photo: David Bergman www.davidbergman.net

GREAT ARTISTS DEMAND GREAT TONE! Luke Doucet on Tour with Sarah McLachlan, Lilith Fair 2010.

(L-R) YGM-3, DarkHorse DH15H Head / DHX12 extension cabinet, YGM-3 Visit www.traynoramps.com for more information on the DarkHorse or any Traynor product.

Distributed in north america by Yorkville Sound

FEATuRE > BiLLY SHeeHAn

Spanish Scallop Magic: Sheehan takes advantage of his Yamaha Attitude signature model’s scalloped frets while engaging in some of his trademark chord work onstage at Rockstar Live in Bilbao, Spain, on September 19, 2009. Photo by Koldo Orue

Tell me about the scalloped fretboard on your signature Yamaha Attitude bass.

In the summer of ’85, Talas toured with Yngwie [Malmsteen], and he had scalloped frets on his Strat. I was so impressed with his complete mastery of the instrument that I wanted to try scalloping the frets on my old P bass. I didn’t want to take that much wood off of the neck, so I went halfway across the fretboard’s last five frets with a Dremel. Anyone can bend with or without the scallops, but I found they make it a little easier to bend the high notes.

When Yamaha did the new Attitude basses, they decided to include all of my hotel-room 108 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

The more command you have over your instrument—inside and out—the more confident you’ll be as a player.

And confidence is an artistic advantage. repairs—only they did them a lot more professionally [laughs].

Over the years, you’ve taught a lot of seminars and clinics.

Are there certain questions you get asked often?

People always ask about my three-finger technique on my right hand. I always say “I’ll coach you through anything

you want, but before I do, how badly do you need to use three fingers at this point in your career?” People usually get the point. In the weeks before Mr. Big starts its full-on rehearsals, [drummer] Pat Torpey and I work on the drum and bass moves, getting the idea of where everything should land. Then Paul Gilbert comes in and we

work him in before we set up for the full band. But a lot of guys who come to clinics want to jump ahead and learn some big technique before they even know what the bass drum is doing. I try to get them to pay attention to the snare and the bass drum and understand what they are doing before worrying about using three fingers. premierguitar.com

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FEATuRE > nAMM 2011

GOLDEN Gear TICKET

Go with us as we take you inside Winter N NaMM 2011—the year’s biggest musical products show in the US.

BY THe Premier Guitar STAFF

top: Legendary funk bassist Larry Graham (Sly & the Family Stone) signing autographs at the Warwick booth.

Middle: Sound Control “blue shirts” are both saviors and thorns in the sides of exhibitors and attendees trying to hear new gear.

Bottom: One of NAMM’s many delightful show-floor oddities—an elaborate computer-controlled music machine from Ragtime Automated Music (ragtimewest.com).

F

or serious players who obsess about everything in their signal chain, attending the January NAMM show in Anaheim, California—the year’s biggest US gear show—is the stuff of dreams. It’s the guitarist’s equivalent of stepping inside Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Everywhere you look there are wonders to make you gasp in awe or blanch in terror. Instead of Oompa-Loompas, you’ve got hordes of mullet wearers, goths, shred heads, aging hippies, rockabilly dudes, and hair-metal survivors and revivalists in their respective garb, all

110 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

intermingling with more “normal”-looking people, all striding purposefully toward the next piece of gear promising to revolutionize their tone and/or how they play. Instead of people inflating into giant human blueberries or getting swept away by chocolate rivers, you’ve got product guys doing their best to hawk their wares—and sometimes employing rather gratuitous hyperbole to inflate their value—while sweep-picking maniacs wail across the way in an attempt to lure you to their booth. Instead of spoiled Veruca Salts marching off to steal squirrels busily sorting

nuts, you’ve got buxom, scantily clad booth candy leading vulnerable attendees around by their . . . well, you get the idea. It’s madness.

Glorious, glorious madness.

This year’s NAMM was remarkably busy, which was somewhat surprising, considering the economy is still hurting pretty badly. Unlike last Summer NAMM, which had a public day to boost attendance, this show didn’t have a public day, but you never would’ve known it. Whether the place was hopping because people knew there would be so many cool new products premierguitar.com

FEATuRE > nAMM 2011

top: Eddie Van Halen makes a rare, unannounced visit to the EVH section of Fender’s booth the night before NAMM officially opens.

Middle: Warren Haynes (center) speaks at the PRS booth while Martin Simpson (far left), Howard Leese (second from left), PG Tone Tips from the Road columnist Paul “TFO” Allen (third from left), David Grissom (fourth from left), Orianthi (behind Haynes), and others look on.

Bottom: A Jimi Hendrix impersonator performing outside the convention center.

or whether that was just a lucky coincidence, the fact remains that this was one of the most productive NAMMs in a while.

And that holds true for both exhibitors and Premier Guitar. As usual, our entire editorial staff was there, keeping you up to date with constant posts and pictures on Facebook and Twitter, shooting more than 100 demo videos, sending e-newsletters with our daily Editors’ Picks from the floor, and arranging for gear to be sent in for reviews.

Here we’ve assembled a selection of electric, acoustic, and bass gear that grabbed our ears and/or eyes. Look for reviews of many of these in the coming months, and be sure to check out our demo videos online at premierguitar.com/namm. Let us know what you think via email and online posts. Enjoy! premierguitar.com

PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 111

FEATuRE > nAMM 2011

ELECTrIC aND aCOusTIC GuITars

Gretsch G6128t-GH George Harrison tribute This painstaking recreation of the Beatle’s ’57 Duo Jet has a mahogany back, 3-ply maple top, 1-piece mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard, and Seymour Duncan-designed recreations of the original DynaSonic pickups. Only 60 will be made.

MSRP $20,000 gretschguitars.com

Watch our NAMM 2011 video of the G6128T-GH at premierguitar.com/video

Framus Vintage 5/131 Hollywood This semihollow looker had one of the best-playing necks at the show and features a plywood body (like an old department store guitar from the ’50s), vintage-voiced single-coils, an aluminum pickguard, a 4-position selector knob that includes an “0” position for off, and Volume, Bass, and Treble knobs. framus.de

112 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

Manuel rodríguez Sr. nylon-String This masterfully made classical instrument features a solid Canadian cedar top, an ebony fretboard, a Honduran cedar neck, a cow-bone nut and saddle, and eye-popping solid Brazilian rosewood back and sides (inset). guitars-m-r-sons.com premierguitar.com

All trademarks and copyrights are property of their respective owners. © 2010 Reverb Music, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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AXL Badwater USA This 24 3/4"-scale single-cutaway features a mahogany slab body, a set solid-mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard, a single P-90, and a wraparound bridge/tailpiece. axlguitars.com

Sugi Guitars & Basses DS499r Built by Makoto “Nick” Sugimoto—who built guitars for Fender and Ibanez at Fujigen for 23 years—the DS499R has an alder body, an aqua timber maple neck, 22-fret rosewood fretboard, Sugi pickups (including a tappable humbucker), Gotoh SGS510 tuners, and a Wilkinson VG300 tremolo. rosso-jp.com

B.C. rich USA Gunslinger This shred machine has a bolt-on maple neck, EMG 81 and 85 pickups, Floyd Rose Special trem, and a Mike Learn zombie graphic on the basswood body. bcrich.com

114 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

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FEATuRE > nAMM 2011 James trussart Custom Guitars SteelX The SteelX features a ’59 Standard neck shape and a korina body with a recessed metal top in “Antique Silver Gator.” jamestrussart.com national reso-Phonic resoelectric rA3 The new hollowbody ResoElectric RA3 has a koa top and mahogany back and sides, and sports an L.R. Baggs Hex pickup in its biscuit bridge. nationalguitars.com

ernie Ball Music Man Game Changer reflex Guitar The 25 1/2"-scale Game Changer features a chambered basswood body with a maple top and mahogany tone block. Its electronics let you combine the custom DiMarzio humbuckers’ coils in any order and save analog presets to the 5-way switch. Controls include push-pull Volume (push restores factory defaults) and Tone knobs (the latter selects between banks A and B), and an optional piezo Volume. With a USB cord and a click of a mouse, the included software lets you make real-time, analog circuit adjustment, as well as access artist presets.

The Game Changer Reflex Bass with dual ceramic-magnet humbucking pickups is also available. music-man.com

Watch our NAMM 2011 video of the Fender Wayne Kramer Strat at premierguitar.com/video Fender Wayne Kramer Stratocaster The MC5 guitarist’s starsand-stripes Strat features two single-coils and a Duncan humbucker for kicking out the jams. fender.com Floyd rose for Stop-tail Guitars Itching to add locking-tremolo action to your stop-tailpieceequipped guitar? This new Floyd Rose model enables you to do so without any sustainrobbing routing. floydrose.com

Watch our NAMM 2011 video of the Game Changer at premierguitar.com/video 116 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

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FEATuRE > nAMM 2011

Watch our NAMM 2011 video of the Takamine at premierguitar.com/video takamine tF87-Pt Acoustic The TF87-PT has koa back and sides, a cedar top, a 12AU7-driven onboard preamp, and a 12th-fret inlay of palm trees and a sunset. takamine.com

Watch our NAMM 2011 video of the Santa Cruz at premierguitar.com/video Breedlove Cascade Series The J25/CRe has a western red cedar top, rosewood back and sides, mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard, Sitka spruce top bracing, and L.R. Baggs Element active VTC electronics. breedlovemusic.com

Many players today rely on pedals to achieve their overdriven tone. What is needed is a pure, rich and dynamic clean tone to lay the foundation. In an age where many companies are producing over-processed, multi channel amps, Port City Amplifiers is pleased to offer the Pearl.

Santa Cruz Don edwards Signature Cowboy Singer This immaculate, all-mahogany OO sounds warm, alive, and sweetly popping whether fingerpicked or flatpicked. santacruzguitar.com

Simple. Beautiful. Clean.

336.577.1810 portcityamps.com

Finally, the perfect option for a simple, clean, mid-wattage guitar amp all in a cabinet that doesn’t require a roadie.

Discover the full line of Wave cabinets and Port City amplifiers at portcityamps.com. Š 2010 Port City Amps

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FEATuRE > nAMM 2011

GuITar amps

Dwarfcraft Love Buzz The quasi flower-power styling of the two-channel, 50-watt Love Buzz might not be everyone’s cup o’ tea (for the record, we love it), but its EL34-driven, class AB tones are stellar.

(Using a Squier Classic Vibe ’50s Duo-Sonic, Dwarfcraft’s Ben Hinz nailed the gritty, detuned glory of Radiohead’s “I Might Be Wrong.”) It features turret-board construction that aims for Bassman-aboutto-explode tones, and its controls include Fuyamater (gain), Trebles, Mids, Bass, Presence, and Master. dwarfcraft.com

Watch our NAMM 2011 video of the Panama at premierguitar.com/video Bogner Panama The new 4-watt, 6V6-powered Panama offers ’80s-style highgain tones at bedroom levels and features Volume and Schizo knobs—the latter has four EQ presets—a Mode toggle, and a Hi/Standby/Low toggle that lets you power down to 1.5 watts. bogneramplification.com

3rd Power British Dream This handwired, all-tube 45-watt combo offers two channels—one inspired by a ’59 Vox AC30, the other by a ’68 Marshall plexi—and a half-power switch.

The 12" Celestion Alnico Gold is housed in 3rd Power’s proprietary Switchback triangular enclosure.

3rdpower.com rivera rockCrusher Power Attenuator The RockCrusher allows you to attenuate the speaker output from any amp while controlling equalization characteristics with Edge and Warm switches. Ideal for capturing the full bloom of tube amps at workable volumes, it also features a balanced XLR out, a 1/4" unbalanced out, two 1/4" speaker outs, variable Studio and Line Out controls, 8 or 16 ohm impedance control, and true bypass. rivera.com

118 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

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FEATuRE > nAMM 2011

Watch our NAMM 2011 video of the Vox Tony Bruno at premierguitar.com/video Vox tony Bruno 1x12 Combo Boutique amp guru Tony Bruno helped design this classic-voiced, 6V6powered 35-watt combo that’s equally capable of super-high headroom and chime and bruising brawn. It features a Master Volume, a Master Volume bypass toggle, a 3-band EQ (Bass, Middle, and Treble knobs), Volume and Reverb knobs, a Bass Boost toggle, a Macho gain boost switch (which is also footswitchable), and a Celestion G12-65 speaker. Also available in 2x12 form. voxamps.com

Watch our NAMM 2011 video of the Marshall AFD head at premierguitar.com/video

Marshall AFD 100 The long-awaited 100-watt AFD100 Slash signature head is based on the third prototype presented to Slash and features two gain structures—#34 and AFD. Marshall modeled the #34 side after Slash’s modded JCM800 and added more gain to thicken up the tone for the AFD side. Only 2300 units will be available worldwide. marshallamps.com premierguitar.com

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FEATuRE > nAMM 2011

Watch our NAMM 2011 video of the Royal Atlantic at premierguitar.com/video

Mesa/Boogie rA-100 royal Atlantic The 100-watt RA-100 Royal Atlantic can be powered by EL34s or 6L6s and runs on class AB power. Tonally, the combo launches off the TransAtlantic platform and mixes both classic and modified British sounds with Boogie’s trademark high-gain thump. It also has the company’s proprietary new Multi-Soak feature, which lets you notch either channel down 16, 12, 8, or 4 dB. Front-panel Clean channel controls are Master, Bass, Middle, Treble, and Gain, while the Hi/Lo channel has vintage high-gain and vintage low-gain modes and frontpanel Master Hi, Master Lo, Bass, Middle, Treble, and Gain knobs. mesaboogie.com

Watch our NAMM 2011 video of the Empire at premierguitar.com/video

65Amps empire The 6V6-powered Empire features a trio of classic high-gain British voices from different eras. The first offers early ’60s tones, the second aims for ’68-’72 tones, and the third offers up hot-rodded ’80s tones. The amp is powered by 22 very loud watts, but it also features a Master Voltage control for bringing the volume down to bedroom levels. 65amps.com

120 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

Celestion G12H 30-Watt 75 Hz The new addition to Celestion’s blockbuster G12H30 series features a resonant bass frequency of 75 Hz (the original’s is 55 Hz) to offer players a tighter, more articulate low-end response. professional.celestion.com premierguitar.com

FEATuRE > nAMM 2011

EFFECTs, ETC.

Watch our NAMM 2011 video of the Kitara at premierguitar.com/video

Misa Digital instruments Kitara Touch-screen devices are everywhere these days, so it’s no shock that a company would decide to integrate one with a unit dedicated to creating music.

Adventurous players like Muse’s Matt Bellamy had electric guitars modified with parameter-controlling devices like the Korg KAOSS Pad many years ago, but the Kitara isn’t going for that—it has no strings, so it’s really not a guitar in even the most lax interpretation of the word. Although its neck has 24 “frets,” each with six buttons, the Kitara runs on a Linux operating system and has more than 100 internal synth sounds that are activated via an 8" multi-touch display. You can choose to display six lines representing strings if you wish, and the touch screen also enables manipulation of up to six built-in effects that you can assign to the screen’s X and Y axes.

The Kitara will never replace a serious guitarist’s real 6-strings—but it’s still intriguing for several reasons. First, it may be the most affordable, most convenient, and coolest-looking way for guitarists to play synth-generated music using the same chord and scale shapes they’ve always used on their solidbody and flattop guitars. Second, its form factor likely avoids the glitchy tracking and latency issues that often plague traditional guitars outfitted with a MIDI pickup. Though $2800 seems steep for the aluminum-bodied version, $800 for the heavy-duty polycarbonate version seems quite reasonable. Connections include MIDI, 1/4", and headphone outputs, and both designs can easily be configured for left-handed players. misadigital.com premierguitar.com

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FEATuRE > nAMM 2011

Watch our NAMM 2011 video of the Kemper Profiling Amplifier at premierguitar.com/video

Kemper Profiling Amplifier Technically, it’s not an amp because it can’t power a cabinet (though plans for that option are in the works), but this new unit from Germany’s Christoph Kemper, designer of the Virus line of acclaimed synthesizers, effectively takes amp modeling to the next logical level. Yeah, it comes stocked with “profiles” of venerated vintage and modern tube amps (as well as lots of additional effects, cabinet simulations, and extensive EQ-ing capabilities), but what’s revolutionary about the Profiling Amp is that it enables you to capture the tone of any amp at your disposal.

Whether you’ve got your own killer collection of amps you wish you could gig or record with more easily, or whether you know a magnanimous dude who’ll let you Napster-ize his collection of mind-boggling amps, there’s some pretty mouth-watering potential here. Here’s how it works: Mic the source amp and connect the Kemper to its input via 1/4" cable, and then wait about 30 seconds while the Kemper routes a series of test signals through the source amp’s circuitry and captures the amplified tone as a snapshot inside the Profiling Amp. kemper-amps.com tech 21 roto Choir This rotary speaker simulator emulates the entire signal chain of a mic’d Leslie cabinet, from the tube power amp to the low-frequency speaker, high-frequency horn, and XY stereo-mic setup. The pedal’s Fast/Slow switch lets you slow down, ramp up, or even pause the simulated rotary speaker in a variety of positions to create a cool “frozen flange” effect. The Roto Choir has a buffered bypass, a Bi-Amp switch, a Drive control, and stereo outputs. tech21nyc.com

Watch our NAMM 2011 video of the Roto Choir at premierguitar.com/video 122 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

Watch our NAMM 2011 video of the Source Audio pedal at premierguitar.com/video Source Audio Soundblox Guitar envelope Filter Optimized for guitar and compatible with the Hot Hand Motion Controller Ring, this stompbox contains 21 different filter types—including 2-pole low-pass, 4-pole low-pass, single peak, triple peak, and phaser—and you can adjust the direction and speed of the filters. sourceaudio.net premierguitar.com

FEATuRE > nAMM 2011

Watch our NAMM 2011 video of the Red Witch pedals at premierguitar.com/video

red Witch Seven Sisters This new line of diminutive pedals—the Lily Boost, Eve Tremolo, Ivy Distortion, Scarlett Overdrive, Violet Delay, Grace Compressor, and Ruby Fuzz— provides a lot of pedalboard convenience. For starters, each is powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, thus eliminating the need for outboard power. Secondly, their jacks are located along the top edge, which means they can be placed closer together to optimize pedalboard space. redwitchanalogpedals.com

Watch our NAMM 2011 video of the GR-55 at premierguitar.com/video

roland Gr-55 Guitar Synthesizer Roland has long been a leader in the guitar-synth industry, but the new GR-55 goes a long way toward simplifying the process of getting a universe of sounds out of your MIDI-pickup-equipped guitar. It’s housed in the smallest guitar-synth housing we’ve seen, and has perhaps the cleanest, most uncluttered interface on the market. It includes revamped pitch-detection technology, more than 900 editable PCM sounds, COSM modeling (23 guitar types and 17 bass types), two multi-effect engines, looping capability, and 297 memory slots. rolandus.com 124 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

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FEATuRE > nAMM 2011

Watch our NAMM 2011 video of the Dual Tap Delay at premierguitar.com/video Visual Sound Dual tap Delay The Dual Tap features two independent delay circuits that are identical except for the Modulation control that lets you add some chorustype sounds to the second circuit. The Tap Tempo footswitch locks both channels into a single tempo, or a metronome input allows you to sync delays with an outside source. You can also select quarter, eighth, dotted-eighth, and eighth-notetriplet repeat values. visualsound.net

Watch our NAMM 2011 video of the Space Reverb at premierguitar.com/video eventide Space reverb The Space is a pedal worthy of its name. With reverb modes ranging from the super-cosmic Blackhole mode to settings that sound like U2’s the Edge, it also offers a vast menu of tremolo and delay effects. eventide.com 126 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

Shure PGXD14 Wireless System This 24-bit, 48 kHz digital wireless system includes the PGXD1 transmitter and PGXD4 receiver, which operates in the 900 MHz range.

The PGXD1 transmitter is sleek and has a tiny, recessed pot for varying your output from line level to +26 dB. shure.com

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FEATuRE > nAMM 2011

bass GEar reverend Basses Left to right: the Mercali 5-FM 5-string, Decision, Justice, Thunder Gun, and short-scale Dub King have solid korina bodies and new Reverend pickups. reverendguitars.com

noguera Yves Carbonne Signature 8-String Fretless This 34"-scale, left-handed wonder features a chambered mahogany body, spruce top, ebony fingerboard, ebony bridge with brass saddles, thumb rest, and Volume, Bass, Mid, and Treble knobs. noguera-basses.com

the Straight Truth About Pickups by Jason Lollar The “magic” found in some (but not all) classic vintage pickups was created by accident. Don’t let anyone tell you different. And over time, some pretty stellar accidents happened. The only way to recreate that magic is to study more than a few exceptional examples of all the classic pickup types, while acquiring a thorough understanding of exactly what materials were used and precisely how each pickup was constructed and wound. Only then is the “magic” repeatable, if you are willing to spend the time and money required to chase the dragon. I am.

I personally design and wind over 30 different pickup models, including all the vintage classics, many obscure works of art known only to lap and pedal steel players like Robert Randolph, and even a few of my own designs that never existed in the past.

I invite you to visit our website for sound clips, videos and current product information, or call us for a free product highlight brochure.

Lollar Guitars PO Box 2450 Vashon Island, WA 98070 (206) 463-9838 www.lollarguitars.com

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FEATuRE > nAMM 2011

Henman rolla Prototype The Rick Turner-built Rolla has ’60s Hagstrom-style humbuckers, a Hipshot bridge, a 5-piece African sapele neck, 24-fret Makassar ebony fretboard, a chambered African mahogany body, and a figured-maple top. henmanguitars.com Fender Custom Shop 1960 Jazz (left) and P-Bass Pro (right) These basses both feature an alder body with a maple neck and a 1960 U-shaped carve. The Jazz has a 7.25"-radius rosewood fretboard with vintage-size frets, vintagevoiced J pickups, and stacked controls. The PBass Pro has a 10"-radius rosewood fretboard with medium-jumbo frets, a P pickup under the chrome cover, a J pickup in the 1970s P-bass position, and a Badass bridge. fendercustomshop.com

Watch our NAMM 2011 video of the Fender basses at premierguitar.com/video

Ken Bebensee Fretless Semi-Hollow 4-String This earthy, elegant beauty features a walnut top and back, a flamed-maple body core, a lined fretless fingerboard, Bartolini humbuckers, a piezo-equipped bridge, and Hipshot tuners. kbguitars.com 128 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

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“One Of the best guitar aMPs i’ve ever recOrded” ­Andy­Johns Producer/engineer seLecTed­discogrAPhy

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FEATuRE > nAMM 2011

Aquilina Shelby 5-String This 34.5"-scale tribute to the Ford Shelby GT350 Mustang has a sycamore neck, alder body, Indian rosewood fretboard, Delano single-coils, and E-PRO BTB-01 electronics. aquilinabasses.free.fr

eden WtDi Direct Box/Preamp The WTDI features a 3-band EQ with Bass Boost and Mid Shift switches, Gain, Enhance (boosts low bass, upper middle, and high frequencies), Compressor, and Volume knobs, and 1/4" and XLR outs with a ground lift. eden-electronics.com

130 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

Danelectro Mid ’60s Dano’s latest has dramatically curved horns, lipstick-tube pickups, dual-concentric Volume/ Tone knobs, and a 3-position pickup selector. danelectro.com

Brubaker MJX-4 Brute Luthier Kevin Brubaker’s new import line features his famous “bolton neck-thru” design, a humbucker and a single-coil, and Blend, Volume, Bass, and Treble knobs. brubakerguitars.com

Watch our NAMM 2011 video of the T.C. Blacksmith at premierguitar.com/video

t.C. electronic Blacksmith The Blacksmith pumps out 1600 watts, and its TubeTone control offers vintage sounds while the SpectraComp knob offers 3-band compression. tcelectronic.com

Aguilar tone Hammer 500 This tiny, 500-watt head weighs 4 pounds and its Drive control features Aguilar’s popular AGS (Adaptive Gain Switching) circuitry. aguilaramp.com

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FEATuRE > nAMM 2011

Watch our NAMM 2011 video of Ampeg amps at premierguitar.com/video

epifani Piccolo Head and Prototype Cab The Piccolo can be picked up with a pinky finger and pumps out 600 watts of class AB power at 4 ohms. Front-panel controls include Active/Passive, Mid-Cut, Mute, and Vintage voice buttons, and Gain, Mid Cut, Bas, Mid, and Treble knobs. The incredibly light prototype cab will be available later this year. epifani.com

Ampeg Portaflex PF-500 (shown) and PF-350 Compact and potent, the MOSFETdriven PF-500 and PF-350 weigh 11 and eight pounds, respectively, and, at $399 and $299 (street), drop a lot of thump for the buck. Controls include Ultra Hi/Lo boosts, Bass, Mid, and Treble controls and a -40 dB pad. ampeg.com

Gallien-Krueger MB800 Driving 800 watts at 4 ohms, the MB800 weighs 4.9 pounds and features a discreet FET preamp, effects loop, pre/post XLR out, defeatable limiter, dual Speakon outs, Headphone/ Line out, and backlit frontpanel controls. gallien-krueger.com

MXr M87 Bass Compressor With Release, Attack, Ratio, Input, and Output controls, and an LED readout for gain-reduction status, the M87 offers bassists and guitarists formidable tone-sculpting capabilities. jimdunlop.com

Watch our NAMM 2011 video of the MXR M87 at premierguitar.com/video 132 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

ibanez tS9B Bass tube Screamer The venerated guitar overdrive has been customized for lowend lovers. It features Drive, Level, Mix, Bass, and Treble knobs, and can add up to 30 dB of gain for everything from warm, vintage growl to all-out fuzz mayhem. ibanez.com

Watch our NAMM 2011 video of the TS9B at premierguitar.com/video premierguitar.com

WEBEXCLUSIVES EXCLUSIVES Couldn’t make it to NAMM?

We’re taking you there with more than 60 booth demos and walkthroughs, hosted by PG editors. Make sure to check in with all of our NAMM coverage at premierguitar.com/namm.

Electric Guitars

Cole Clark Hollow Baby Demo

Collings 290 DC 1 and I-35 LC Demos

DBZ Guitars Imperial Aliento & Royale

Ernie Ball Music Man Game Changer Demo

Fender Road Worn Player Series Demos

Fender Wayne Kramer Signature Stratocaster

Fret King Matt Smith Matt-matic Demo

Gibson Custom Memphis ES-355

Gibson Firebird X Demo

Ibanez Artcore Series, Japan Custom RGs, Premium Series

Parker Guitars Vernon Reid Maxfly

PRS Studio Guitar and 2-Channel H Combo Amp Demo

Squier Stratocaster and Game Controller Demo 83 PREMIER GUITAR OCTOBER 2010

Taylor SolidBody Classic & Standard

Washburn Paul Stanley, Nuno Bettencourt Models www.premierguitar.com

Click here to get more news, reviews, stories, and videos from www.premierguitar.com

Acoustic Guitars

Fishman Black Stack Pickup Demo

Gibson Acoustic Jackson Brown, Billie Joe Armstrong Signature Models

Guild USA Standard Series Models

Santa Cruz Guitars Custom OOO and Skye OO Signature

Takamine 2011 Limited Edition TF77PT

Amplifiers

65Amps Empire Demo

Albion Amplifiers TCT100H Demos

Bogner Mephisto & Panama Demos

Bugera Amps TRIREC INFINIUM & MAGICIAN INFINIUM Demos

DigiTech TH-150 Amp Demo

Hayden Amplifiers MOFO 100

Jarrell Guitars ZH-1 B&R Flame, Gold Rush Amp Demos

Kemper Profiling Amplifier Demo

Marshall AFD100 Slash Signature Head www.premierguitar.com

Marshall YJM100 Yngwie Malmsteen Amp

Matchless Excalibur 30 & 35 Demos PREMIER GUITAR OCTOBER 2010

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WEBEXCLUSIVES EXCLUSIVES Amplifiers, cont.

Mesa/Boogie Royal Atlantic RA-100 Demo

Mesa/Boogie TransAtlantic TA-30 Demo

Two-Rock Amplification Eric Gales Signature Amp Demo

Peavey Triple XXX Demo

Traynor Ironhorse, YGL2 Combo, YBA300

Randall Amps RG8040 Combo & RD50H Diavlo Demos

Vox Tony Bruno Combo and Night Train 50 Demos

Effects

Electro-Harmonix Neo Mistress, Killswitch, and Talking Machine Demos

Fryette S.A.S. and Boostassio

Maxon Real Tube Series Pedal Demos

Roland GR-55 Demo

TC Electronic Tone Prints Demos

Visual Sound Dual Tap Delay Demo

Vox VL1 Dynamic Looper Demo

Way Huge Ring Worm, MXR Bass Compressor, and MXR ‘78 Distortion Demos

Whirlwind Perfect 10 & Bass 10 Graphic EQs

Zoom G3 and G2.1DM Dave Mustaine

85 PREMIER GUITAR OCTOBER 2010

www.premierguitar.com

Click here to get more news, reviews, stories, and videos from www.premierguitar.com

Bass Gear

Ashdown Drophead 200 and LB 30 Bass Amps

Ampeg Portaflex Series and B-15 Heritage Demos

Fishman Fission Bass Powerchord FX Demo

Genz Benz Streamliner Bass Amp Series

Brown’s Guitar Factory John Payne Bass

Ibanez TS9B Bass Tube Screamer, BB9 Bottom Booster, and JD9 Jet Driver

Fender 60th Anniversary P Bass

Source Audio Bass and Guitar Envelope Filter Demos

TC Electronic Blacksmith Bass Amp, BH500 Bass Amp & BC Bass Cabs

Other

Avid Digidesign Eleven Rack Expansion Pack Demo

Dunlop Hetfield Black Fang, Tortex TIII

Electro-Voice Live X Loudspeakers, RE320 Mic

Hardwire HT-6 Polyphonic Tuner

Misa Digital Kitara Demo

Orange DIVO TubeSync Technology

TV Jones P-90 Pickup Mounts and More

Zoom R8 Multi-Track Recorder/Interface/ Controller

www.premierguitar.com

PREMIER GUITAR OCTOBER 2010

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voxamps.com/guitars

Every day, top taste-makers are discovering their unique voice in the inspiring and totally reimagined guitars from VOX.

FEATuRE > iron AnD Wine

Iron and WIne’s sam Beam talks aBout hIs evolutIon from skate punk to neo-folk hero, hoW songs should dIctate tone (not the other Way around), and hoW a good melody alWays transcends unorthodox InstrumentatIon. BY keNT CARMiCAl

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FEATuRE > iron AnD Wine

S

am Beam was a painter and filmmaker who happened to write songs as a hobby for seven years before a friend loaned him a 4-track recorder. He went wild with the humble device in his Austin home studio, producing, performing, and recording what was to become the first Iron and Wine album, The Creek Drank the Cradle, in 2002. Featuring acoustic guitars, banjo, and slide guitar, the album was immediately compared to the work of Nick Drake, Simon and Garfunkel, Neil Young, and John Fahey.

That same year, Beam recorded the song “The Trapeze Swinger” for the film In Good Company, and his version of the Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights” was featured in the film and soundtrack to Garden State. In 2005, Beam stepped away from Iron and Wine long enough to collaborate with the band Calexico—a band known for its trademark fusion of Southwestern rock, traditional Mexican music, and jazz—on the EP In the Reins.

In 2007, I&W released a third full-length, The Shepherd’s Dog, which was produced by Brian Deck at his Chicago-based Engine studio. Deck added just the right amount of studio polish and encouraged Beam to explore synthesizers and effects to go beyond the acoustic-heavy sound of previous albums. The results were nothing short of stellar, and The Shepherd’s Dog was subsequently voted one of the year’s 10 best albums by Paste magazine.

Producer Brian Deck returned for this year’s Kiss Each Other Clean sessions, continuing the creative partnership that he and Beam have developed over the course of three albums.

The comfort level and respect between Deck and Beam allows for a unique working relationship where they push each other

Sam Beam playing a late-’70s or early ’80s Gibson L-6S Deluxe during sessions at Clava Studios in Chicago. His guitar boat is stocked with a 1972 Gibson SG Standard (middle) and two Taylor flattops. Photo by Piper Ferguson

136 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

to experiment, while still letting the songs naturally evolve in the studio. Not another hippydippy folk wannabe, Beam has become one of today’s greatest story tellers, crafting meticulous recordings that mingle memories of his parents’ record collection and hits heard scanning the car radio on family drives.

With Kiss Each Other Clean, Beam again pushes Iron and Wine into new territory with layered textures and polyrhythmic sounds created with heavily processed guitars and synths.

It’s an incredible mélange of

folk, African, rock, country, and Jamaican musical traditions, all mixed up with ’60s and ’70s pop influences.

We recently spoke to Beam about his deceptively nonchalant approach to guitar playing and tones, his collection of cool old guitars and boutique amps, and why melody trumps all.

What aspects of your upbringing and childhood environment influenced the development of your sound?

Well, I grew up in the Carolinas, where there was a lot of country

music around, and my parents were also big into classic ’60s Motown, so that’s what I heard a lot of as a kid. But I came up in the early ’80s, too, so New Wave was a big deal, skate punk was a big deal. By the time I was 12 or 13, I was just playing for a hobby, maybe an hour or two every now and then. It was just friends playing together at someone’s house. We weren’t doing any shows or anything. At 15, I started playing punk rock, because that was what I was listening to and that was what I could play, y’know—barre premierguitar.com

FEATuRE > iron AnD Wine

chords weren’t that hard to do.

Learning complex chords structures took a lot longer. Over the years, I branched out and tried to learn everything, so I guess my tastes are all over the board, really.

What was your first guitar?

My dad had an acoustic guitar—I don’t remember what kind, but I remember the action was super-high and it was really hard to play. That’s what I learned on. Then my folks bought me a Strat-o-something copy, because that’s all we could afford. My amp was a little 15-watt practice amp that I beat to the ground. I remember my friend had a Peavey, and I thought that was cool.

What was the path from skate punk to the more sensitive singer-songwriter thing?

It was a long one, let me tell ya!

There were many years digesting the music of my youth and classics like the Beatles and Bob Dylan and working on my own style.

What was your writing process for the new album?

I write all the time. I have a pen and paper in my hands now. I don’t write with records in mind—at least in the early stages. I try to treat writing like a job, with a certain amount of discipline. When events come together to make a record, I sort through the stuff I’ve got and decide what’s ready to be taken to the next step—and, of course, see which ones fit together in a loose thematic thread. But if you write a little bit each day, you’d be surprised how many songs you can have in a year. I have to say, though, that my process is based more

on rewriting than inspiration.

It takes a long time to develop most of my songs—my first ideas are rarely the best ones.

After the writing phase, we started recording in April 2009, and I cut the basic rhythm tracks with the band in Chicago at Engine studio.

I wanted to record the basic tracks with my band, because on the last album [2007’s The Shepherd’s Dog] we used a click track, and I think it suffered from that. We did the other half at my home studio, and then Brian mixed it at Engine.

I would take parts home to flesh them out with different overdubs, adding parts and taking them away. I guess Brian and I treat songs like paintings, where we make some marks or throw some paint on, and then come back and do it again until they’re finished.

Do you think a record’s feel can suffer from using a click track?

Well, a click track doesn’t lack feel per se, but it definitely has a feel of its own, which wasn’t right for me.

What are your favorite tunings to write in?

I use DADGAD quite a bit, as well as open G [D–G–D–G– B–D]. On Kiss Each Other Clean, I used DADGAD on “Half Moon” and “Big Burned Hand.”

Do you bring several guitars onstage tuned to your open tunings, or do you just re-tune onstage between songs?

No, I usually have two guitars—one in standard tuning, and another in DADGAD. Sometimes, I’ll figure out how to play DADGAD songs in standard tuning, which is kind of fun.

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PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 137

FEATuRE > iron AnD Wine

Beam, his ’72 SG, and a Fender Hot Rod DeVille 212 (right) rest between takes at Clava Studios in Chicago. Photo by Piper Ferguson

Do you ever collaborate or do you prefer to write alone?

I mostly write alone, but I did an EP with Calexico back in 2005 called In the Reins, and that was a lot of fun and great creatively. So, yeah, I do like to collaborate, but the opportunity doesn’t come along that often.

What guitars did you use on Kiss Each Other Clean?

Oh man, my publicist said you were going to be asking me about guitars [laughs].

Don’t tell me you don’t like guitars?

138 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

I love guitars—each of them has songs in them! I just don’t have a proper inventory off the top of my head. They aren’t even all in one place. I know your readers would like specific setups, but I select tones because they serve the song, not because I’m trying to establish a certain guitar-and-amp setup that defines Iron and Wine.

Let’s talk about the tracks on the album and see if that jogs your memory.

I’ll do my best.

On “Walking Far from home,” there’s a cool drone intro that

sounds like an Ebow or some sort of Robert Fripper-y . . .

There really isn’t much guitar on that track. The drone is mostly processed piano and organ, but I think I did do a strummed acoustic guitar track through a Moogerfooger pedal as part of the drone.

The guitar on “Tree by the River” has a twangy, deliciously crispy overdrive. how did you get that sound?

It was a Gibson ES-335. It has humbuckers, but it can get a cool, almost Tele-like twang, too. The amp I used was built

by Jesse Duke, a friend of mine in Austin, and it’s a big part of the sound. It’s a Fulton Webb 30 Watt, which has a ’60s Marshall channel and a tweed Deluxe channel. I flipped the half-power switch, turned it up loud, and that’s the sound it made. “half Moon” has a great mess of slide playing. Is that you?

No, it’s a friend of mine named Jim Becker playing slide on his Tele. He plays it with a volume pedal, so the volume swells sort of like a steel guitar. Actually, there are two tracks of slide. The other premierguitar.com

FEATuRE > iron AnD Wine

is me playing my ’57 Gibson ES-125 with a single P-90 at the neck. I love that guitar.

I also played the chugging, blues-type rhythm on my early ’70s Strat through a tweed Fender Bassman.

I hear a Phillip Glass-type repetition going on in there, too.

Yes, there is. I did the arpeggiotype fingerpicking on a Gretsch Country Gentleman from Brian Deck’s Engine studio in Chicago.

The warbly sound comes from a Moogerfooger pedal, again.

Do you use a claw-hammer or Travis-style fingerpicking technique?

I wish I knew how to do those styles [laughs]! I just use my thumb and index finger: The thumb plays the low end and the index finger does the higher stuff, which fills up a lot of space. The first thing I

do when it comes time to overdub with the rest of the band is get rid of my original guitar track, because it usually doesn’t leave enough sonic space for the band.

“Rabbit Will Run” has a kalimba-sounding part that’s doubled on guitar. It sounds kind of like ’80s Peter Gabriel.

Wow, Peter Gabriel? Thanks for the compliment! That was a Jerry Jones JJ Original Shorthorn reissue—a really well-made copy of an old ’60s Danelectro. The lipstick pickups have enough of that tic-tac bass sound to fool you into thinking it’s a baritone guitar.

“Your Fake Name Is Good Enough for Me” sounds like finger tapping rather than picking.

No, its not finger tapping. It’s basically just me fingerpicking

a blues riff on the Gretsch Country Gentleman. Then a clave track kicks in and it all sort of mixes together. I like throwing a bunch of different instruments together and processing them until you’re not sure which instrument is creating a particular sound and you can just sit back and enjoy the noise. besides the Fulton Webb, do you use any other amps?

Oh yeah. I have a Fender Tremolux from the ’60s that I used for its nice clean sound. I also have a little tweed Champ that I can crank for sustain. I also have an old tweed Bassman I used a lot, too. There are also tons of amps at Engine.

I used an old Vox AC30 and Cambridge Reverb. There were a couple of blackface Fender Twins, a Super Reverb, and

a ’67 Marshall Super Lead. I plugged into each of these at some point.

Do you mix it up with mic setups and techniques?

Brian Deck showed me a great mic’ing technique— a Shure SM57 dead center on the speaker cone and a Beyerdynamic M 160 off axis, but pointing at the cone. We used that setup on almost all the guitar tracks.

A lot of times, mixing genres yields horrible results—like country rap. but your work doesn’t sound incongruous.

As a guy who got noticed as an acoustic player, what inspired you to start incorporating synths?

Well, just because I played acoustic guitar for the past several years doesn’t mean I

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PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 139

FEATuRE > iron AnD Wine

Beam onstage on March 20, 2008, with a vintage Gretsch hollowbody and a Taylor acoustic waiting in the wings. Photo by Benjamin Millar

haven’t listened to [pioneering English electronic duo] Autechre and Radiohead and all that shit. I love all that stuff. I grew up in the ’80s in America, not on a mountain in Tibet! We dabbled with synths on the previous album, and this time we just figured, “Screw it—let’s do an album that’s mostly synth.”

What keeps you working with producer brian Deck?

Well, he likes me, and I like working with people that compliment me constantly [laughs]. We are friends, and he is a great person to bounce ideas off of. He tells me what he likes and what he doesn’t.

140 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

We also have similar subversive ideas about what pop music should be.

It’s interesting that you say “subversive,” because the weird synth sounds you used on the album do seem to go against the usual strippeddown singer-songwriter troubadour norm—except for beck.

[Laughs.] Yeah, Brian and I both like different types of music, so we try to fit it in there, one way or another. I really feel like I can take the songs and put whatever texture I want on them. If you believe in your melody, you can do whatever you like.

Guitars 1957 Gibson ES-125T, Jerry Jones JJ Original Shorthorn reissue, Gibson ES-335TD, early ’70s Fender Stratocaster, 1972 Gibson SG Standard, Taylor acoustics Amps Fulton Webb 30 Watt, blackface Fender Tremolux, tweed Fender Bassman, tweed Fender Champ, Fender Hot Rod Deville 212 Effects Moog Moogerfooger, Boss DD-3 delay, Boss TU-2 tuner Strings and Picks Elixir .010-.046 sets, “Whatever pick’s in the studio”

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REviEWS > FAno GUitArS

FANO GuiTARS TARS

JM6

Nitrocellulose finish

BY CHARleS SAuFleY

W

hatever your opinion of the aesthetics of a distressed guitar (I, for one, turn into a pretty good distressing technician over the course of an especially exuberant show), a good distressing and aging job can make a guitar feel extraordinarily playable. Dennis Fano is one luthier who understands that the art of distressing goes more than skin deep. And the Fano Alt de Facto JM6 that I spent the last month with became a favorite companion precisely because of Fano’s skills in making a guitar feel as comfortable as your favorite recliner fresh out of the case.

Fano’s achievements are partly attributable to a design philosophy rooted in combining the best features of classic American electric guitars. And the JM6 is a perfect embodiment of that mix-and-match approach. While it’s Jazzmaster inspired at a few paces, its Lindy Fralin P-90s, Tuneo-matic-style bridge, stop tailpiece, and carved, angled headstock effectively make it much more akin to a non-reverse Firebird in terms of tone and personality.

Well Worn

If you like your distressing job to look like it’s done hard time, Dennis Fano is your guy. One peek at this alder-bodied JM6 finished in nitrocellulose “shoreline gold,” gives you the sense that Fano looks forward to that part of the day when he can lay down his intonation and neck-adjustment tools and give his guitars a damn good thrashing. There are some spots—particularly the upper bout where a Jazzmaster’s contours are subject to wear from the friction and sweat of a player’s forearm—that look slightly less convincing and more the product of skilled sanding and thinning.

But on the whole, the JM6 looks loved to death—a veteran of knocks on tight stages and spills in cluttered rehearsal spaces. The hardware, which includes TonePros Tune-omatic-style bridge and stop tail piece, and 142 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

Lindy Fralin P-90s

Switch-potentiometer tone control

If you love P-90 tones, but dislike the heft of the mahogany slabs with which they’re typically paired on a solidbody, the JM6 will be a delight to sling over your shoulder.

Gotoh reproductions of vintage Kluson tuners, is also pitted and oxidized in a manner that looks perfectly consistent with the battle-scarred body.

The maple neck is a thing of beauty. It’s carefully sanded (worn) to feel as comfortable as a battered pair of sneakers, and it’s fast and silky, with a beautiful, narrow “C” profile that feels a lot like an early ’60s Telecaster. It’s joined with the body using a cool carve and a compact neck plate that facilitates access to higher frets on the treble side.

Getting Dirty

If you love P-90 tones, but dislike the heft of the mahogany slabs with which they’re typically paired on a solidbody, the JM6 will be a delight to sling over your shoulder.

It’s a super-light guitar—at least as light as the most featherweight Fenders I’ve played, which can vary in heft considerably—but it is very well balanced. And it’s quite possible that the lighter alder body also has a great deal to do with the JM6’s bright, hotrodded sonic personality. premierguitar.com

REviEW > FAno FA GUitArS

To explore the JM6’s voice I plugged it into a Fender Vibroverb 2x10 reissue (they make a very handsome pair, I might add), as well as a silverface Twin Reverb. Predictably, the JM6’s P-90s conspired with the 40-watt Vibroverb and the 10" speakers to kick out a snarling and dirty range of sounds. Before long, I found myself on the bridge pickup working some skanky, suspended Chris Robinson-style riffs in open-G tuning. The Fralin P-90s thrived in the open tuning, communicating overtone detail that many pickups would lose amid the grit.

But the alder body also seemed to add a top-end explosiveness and brilliance. (A mahogany Gibson SG with stock P-90s— not exactly a ticket to Wes Montgomery mellow-tone territory—sounded dark by comparison.) The JM6 delivered a killer tone for leads and single-note riffing, and with the addition of a vintage Colorsound Tone Bender, it hacked through a midrange-heavy mix of electric guitar, electric piano, and drums like a machete in the hands of a savage, young, paisley-rockin’ Jimmy Page. The neck pickup was not considerably cleaner, but rounded off the grit to summon a greasier, Chicago-blues tone.

Running the JM6 into a Twin Reverb allowed me to explore the more crystalline end of the Fano’s hot-and-bright character.

Even with the Twin singing at high volume, the JM6 still imparted a trace of nastiness. But backing off the Volume and the Stellartone ToneStyler knob just a notch brought out the guitar’s more civilized persona. Here the Fano evoked Jerry Garcia’s circa ’69 Live/Dead tone—hot, defined, sharp, and clean. With just a little reverb, premierguitar.com

the JM6 sounded beautifully huge and primed for surf and space-rock explorations.

And a switch over to the neck pickup and a dose of fuzz was the perfect recipe for a bit of “Strange Brew” Cream-tone.

Sonically, there just isn’t much to complain about with the JM6. The Fralin P-90s are hot, and things can feel and sound a little full-throttle if you’re used to the low output single-coils of a vintage Fender.

The light alder body also seems to impart a brightness that can get less than subtle in quieter arrangements and which requires careful use of the tone knob—often a challenge given that Fano opts for a ToneStyler on the tone control rather than a standard sweep potentiometer. That said, you’ll probably never find yourself sounding too muddy playing the JM6.

I did experience some issues with tuning stability on the JM6, which could probably be abated to some extent with heavier strings than the .010-.046 set that the guitar is shipped with. But in many cases, it seems more attributable to a certain amount of flex in the neck that will likely be familiar to vintage SG and non-reverse Firebird players. The upside is the expressive potential of all that leverage—you almost don’t miss a vibrato system if you’re used to one.

The downside is that it can be hard to resist leaning on the guitar to get that modulation (it just sounds so cool), and you may find yourself stomping on your tuning pedal somewhat regularly. the Verdict

The Fano JM6 is a fantastic rock ’n’ roll machine. It’s light and comfortable, with PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 143

reviews > Fano GUitars

Rating: a beautifully fast and satin-smooth neck that invites fast power chording and ripping legato and finger vibrato moves. The hot Fralin P-90s have the ability to make you forget you ever had an overdrive pedal on your board. And the body imparts a top-end kick that works as well as a treble booster for certain leads and arpeggios. At the same time, the FM6 loves a fuzz box.

And it’s equally at home with low-watt amps, where it barks and struts with an other-side-of-the-tracks swagger, or highceiling rigs where it shows off its capacity for bell-like clarity.

The price can seem steep, especially if you like new guitars to look new. On the other hand, finding a neck as comfortable as this distressed bit of maple could take years. And few guitars, regardless of price, so successfully marry the balance and feel of a vintage Fender with the rowdy bellow of a ’60s Gibson. Given Dennis Fano’s skills, I wouldn’t be surprised if this design sees further refinements in the years to come, and becomes quite a monster in the process.

Buy If... you dig gritty P-90 tones, comfortable contours, and distressed aesthetics.

Skip If... you prefer different tones and putting your own wear and tear on your instrument.

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REviEW > FretteD AMeriCAnA

FReTTeD AMeRiCANA

EvIl ROBOt tuBE COMBO

BY STeve OuiMeTTe

u

nless you’ve purposefully dodged guitar-related forums or YouTube product demos for the past couple of years, you’ve likely beheld the work of madman guitarist Phil X. With millions of views of hundreds videos to his credit, Phil X is an online guitar-culture fixture

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who plays and showcases the stunning collection of vintage guitars available for sale at Fretted Americana in Calabasas, California. Every episode is chock full of ripping guitar, renditions of classic rock songs, and Phil’s gregarious humor and encyclopedic love of music. And typically

he’s plugged into a ’60s Vox AC30 or his beloved-but-rare 1950s Magnatone Tonemaster 1x12 combo—the inspiration for Fretted Americana’s first amp offering, the Evil Robot.

The decision to build the Evil Robot was prompted by demand from Fretted

PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 147

REviEW > FretteD AMeriCAnA High and Low Gain inputs

Footswitchable vibrato channel Single Tone knob 3-way tone switch

Americana viewers wanting to know more about the mighty little Tonemaster, an amp that was originally made for accordion. Recognizing an opportunity to resurrect a great design and meet a burgeoning demand (and the reality that Phil’s ancient Tonemaster might not live forever), Fretted Americana brought in engineer John Kasha to design and build an updated version of this classic. Enter the Evil Robot!

A Bionic Clone

While Kasha took care to replicate the Tonemaster’s sound and looks, he made the Evil Robot more robust with modern components. The 40-pound amp is packaged in a 20" x 9.5" x 15" cabinet made of Baltic birch ply and covered in a cool brown vinyl that’s complemented by a gold-mesh grille. Ivory-colored chickenhead knobs and a heavy-duty handle add an air of mid-century authenticity. The hilarious “EVIL ROBOT” logo is prominently displayed on a gold panel where the Tonemaster logo appeared on the original.

And production amps will have a gold plate on the back of the semi-open back cab commemorating the amp with signatures by Phil X, Fretted Amrericana owner David J. Brass, and John Kasha.

Powered by a pair of 6V6s, the cathodebiased amp produces 18 watts. A pair of 12AX7s, one 12AU7, and a 6AV6 complete the all-tube signal path, and the true point-to-point wiring (no circuit board) 148 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

The Evil Robot will put you back in touch with the nuances of your instrument—it’s incredibly satisfying to play through, regardless of what guitar you plug in. incorporates premium American-made components. The 8Ω 12" speaker is handmade in the US and rated at 30 watts.

From left to right, the control panel consists of four inputs (High and Low inputs for channels A and B), followed by a 3-way switch for voicing (Mellow, Normal, and Bright). Loudness A and B knobs share a single Tone control for both channels, while the Vibrato circuit consists of Intensity and Speed knobs with a footswitch jack located just below.

Finally there is an orange power indicator light, remote speaker output, a 2A Slo-Blo fuse, and a power toggle with no standby switch.

Play that Funky Music

To say the Evil Robot is funky is an understatement. Its overdriven, throaty, low-watt voicing will appeal to anyone who digs the sound of Valco, Supro, Airline, or Silvertone amps. But the ER has a lot of

style and versatility too. This is an amp that begs to be played and explored with each guitar you plug in. Its clean front end highlighted the personality of each axe I employed over the course of the review, revealing the effects of different pickups, wood, and even picks on the tones leaping from the speaker. The Evil Robot will put you back in touch with the nuances of your instrument—it’s incredibly satisfying to play through, regardless of what guitar you plug in.

The first guitar I tried was an Epiphone Sheraton with Tom Holmes 455s (8.55k in the bridge). Running into the Robot’s Channel A High input with the Loudness A and Tone cranked and the switch in the Bright position, I was rewarded with a lush but ragged and boxy grind in the fashion of Alex Lifeson’s 2112 tone—all at a tolerable volume. I quickly became addicted to exploring picking dynamics, and digging in or backing off was often all I needed premierguitar.com

review > Fretted americana

the Verdict

to clean up the tone or coax a little grit.

I also found that it was great for refining and exploring the details and dynamics of hybrid picking. If you’re a stickler for precision, the Evil Robot will reward the detail and touch in your technique. Likewise, it certainly won’t help hide your mistakes if you’re a sloppy player.

Probing the capabilities of the 3-way voicing switch, I found the Mellow setting quite dark. With the Tone backed down it was a little too mellow for my tastes. But with the Tone at its mid setting, the amp gave me a little more top-end bite that was great for jazz chording and leads.

The Normal setting opened up the ER considerably, and I spent most of my time tinkering with the amp in this mode. Without dedicated bass and treble controls, it can be a balancing act to get precisely the voice you’re looking for. But it’s never difficult to get a great sound, and the range is still quite wide—especially for a low-power amp.

It’s worth noting that the 3-way switch is only a 3-way on Channel A. On Channel B, you only have the use of high and low tone settings. And the 3-way switch is constrained by the Tone knob in the sense that you must back the Tone down to 4 o’clock or so to engage the 150 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

Normal and Mellow modes. It’s a quirky circuit, but useful and expressive once you get the hang of things.

Moving on to a Fender Strat revealed the Evil Robot’s range of clean tones and spank. I got all the quack you’d ever want out of the bridge-plus-middle pickup position, and the neck pickup was biting, chiming tonal bliss—perfect for serious chicken pickin’. In the same mode, I tried my Creation Audio Labs Holy Fire pedal to see how the amp sounded in high-gain territory. With the extra boost, the Evil Robot howled, screamed, and kicked its way into beautiful fits of musical rage where rich harmonic feedback knocked me off my feet. Meanwhile, a Richmond Dorchester wired with Lace Alumitones helped me crank out some gutsy slide tones that could run with the dirtiest old, vintage combos.

One of the really special bonuses of the Evil Robot is the fantastic Vibrato circuit.

It can be taken out of the chain any time with the included footswitch, but I found myself pretty addicted to the effect over time. Unlike a lot of vibrato circuits, it doesn’t overpower the signal, but remains strong as notes fade. And belting out big power chords or ripping lead lines with a tasteful, controlled vibrato blend really expanded the amps available colors.

In an increasingly airbrushed, homogenized, and antiseptic world, it’s easy to forget that you can’t always model the magic of pushing an amp beyond its limits. The visceral impact of an amp ready to blow is always an inspiration to me. And the funky character that the Evil Robot communicated in this operating environment was right up my alley.

The Evil Robot is overflowing with potential for many kinds of players. It doesn’t do modern scooped mids or endless high gain. But it’s uncommonly responsive to pick attack, drive, and dynamics. The simple but effective circuit and excellent vibrato is more than enough to justify the price, and from what I witnessed, this amp is built to last. It’s almost impossible to capture the mojo of an amp as battlescarred as Phil X’s Tonemaster. But this amp will certainly outperform the original in terms of stability and power. Coming together on a project that many people have been asking for, Kasha, Brass, and Phil X have done an outstanding job.

Rating: Buy If... you want funky, cool, retro tones and more in a stable, solid, compact low-watt combo.

Skip If... bells, whistles, knobs, and FX loops are an absolute necessity.

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PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 151

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REviEW > MArtin

MARTiN

GPCPA1 GRAnd PERFORMAnCE

BY GAYlA DRAke PAul

I

f Martin never introduced another new guitar, their place as a gold standard in studios and on stages everywhere would remain forever assured. But for all their heritage and iconic guitars that are already practically perfect, Martin hasn’t stopped innovating or building new guitars for new niches and evolving players.

The Performing Artist series is one of the most recent manifestations of that commitment. In this case, Martin is reaching out to the sizable chunk of the contemporary acoustic market that’s plugging in and turning up—not just for performance, but also for recording at home and in the studio. The GPCPA1 Grand Performance reviewed here addresses those needs by including a Fishman Aura imaging system, as well as enhancedplayability features like a slim-taper neck. But for all its concessions to the needs of newworld singer-songwriters and pickers, the GPCPA1 is a Martin through and through and a joy to play in any situation.

a striking pearl rosette surrounded by a black-accented double ring, and triple black purfling around the top. The pickguard deviates from the trademark Martin template and evokes a vague country-western look.

My favorite feature, though, might be the ebony headplate with the old-fashioned C.F. Martin block letter logo in pearl descending the center. I’ve always preferred that bold, blocky look to the more common script logo, and it looks great with the gold Martin tuners. The satin-finished, 25.4"-scale neck has a fingerstyle-friendly 1 3/4" nut. The fretboard is bound in golden-tinged ovangkol that matches the body binding, and

Block letter logo

A Feast for the eyes, nose, and ears

The first thing you notice about the Martin GPCPA1 is that it smells as good as ambrosia on a warm summer night. It’s beautiful to look at too, with a curvaceous Grand Performance body built around East Indian rosewood back and sides, and a solid Sitka top. The “select hardwood” neck (in Martin’s nomenclature) looks like mahogany or sapele and is shaped in the Performing Artist profile, which tapers gradually down its whole length. The nut, saddle, and endpins are Tusq, which always provides a certain oomph that’s a lot like you’d expect from bone.

Ornamentation is subtle and lovely, with simple arrow-and-square fretboard inlays, premierguitar.com

Sitka spruce top

PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 153

REviEW > MArtin

a peek inside the soundhole reveals a hybrid scalloped X-brace.

The Fishman F1 Aura system interface is placed familiarly enough on the upper bout.

But rather than a clunky plastic frame-andplate section for the controls, there are just two low-profile knobs and an LED indicator to tell you what options you have selected.

The knob closest to the top controls Volume, and the knob closest to the player is used to select Aura settings. There are nine Aura images available that you can modify using a tap and a twist of the edit knob to adjust Treble, Mid, Bass, and Compression settings.

The F1 Aura also has a tuner (unlike some onboard tuners, this works with any tuning) and a really slick 3-band anti-feedback system.

Conveniently stashed at the endblock, the 9-volt battery that powers the FI Aura is easy to access and—according to the manual—will last up to 54 hours with a lithium battery and up to 27 hours with a standard alkaline cell.

Sweet Acoustic or electrified tones

The GPCPA1 has a truly intoxicating tone.

The spruce and Indian rosewood pairing

produces a beautiful combination of warmth and clarity, bursting with overtones that will keep your ears ecstatic for hours. Lower tunings like C–G–D–G–B–D and DADGAD, showcased the Martin’s impressive capacity for big bass sounds without overdriving the box or sounding tubby. In standard tuning the guitar has a sweet fingerstyle tone, but when you dig in with a flatpick, it can really bark with great definition.

A lot of folks don’t completely understand the principle behind the Fishman Aura systems. First of wall, it is not a modeling system. It does not make a bad guitar sound like a great guitar, nor will it make your Martin sound like a Telecaster or a Les Paul. Fundamentally, the Aura system emulates the sound of your guitar played through a microphone instead of through a pickup system. And by using an algorithm that emulates a microphone’s interaction with the warm, breathy, woody, open presence of a real acoustic, you can get studio-level clarity that can be turned up really loud. The microphone emulations in the Martin’s F1 Aura system include

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154 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

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PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 155

review > Martin Indian rosewood back and sides

LED edit-function readout, Fishman Aura imaging system

Volume and Edit controls

some very cool specimens too: the DAP 4011, Schoeps CMC64g, Earthworks QTC 30, AKG C414-B, Neumann KM 84, Soundelux E47, GT Velo 8, Shure SM57, and a Neumann U 87.

I had the chance to gig with the GPCPA1 with my rhythm section, which happened to be in a pretty rowdy mood the night of the gig. These musicians play a lot of classic rock, R&B, funk, and blues, so they like to get loud. And the Martin had the goods to help me hang tight in the mix.

Following Martin’s directions (which you can explore via an included DVD), my first step was to set the volume as high as possible without overdriving my amp. Then I turned the Edit knob to blend between the undersaddle pickup and the Aura image (Martin recommends a 65 percent pickup balance). I chose the microphone image by pressing the Edit knob, and then turning the knob to move between images. There is a clear difference between each image, so spending a little time getting to know them before trying to pick one out for a given situation is key.

For the solo section of my show, I chose the Schoeps CMC64g condenser microphone image, which gave me a awesome mix of dark, rich, and brilliant overtones when I plugged into my very transparent L.R. Baggs Core 1 amp. But while the Schoeps tone was beautifully balanced, I decided to tweak it further by dialing the bass back a touch and kicking the presence up just a hair, which made the already warm image that much more enveloping.

To play in the heavier sonic environment of the trio, I chose the Neumann U 87 image because it seemed to compete less with the bass and emphasize the Martin’s beautiful midrange. I shaved the bass by 156 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

just a tweak or two, pushed up the mids and treble, boosted the compression to 3, and dialed the blend to about 70 percent pickup. The guitar sounded great—real, rich, and present in the mix—and loud and clear and wonderfully free of feedback.

The 3-band anti-feedback control, which can automatically isolate up to three frequency bands that are inducing feedback, worked like a champ. I just pressed and held the Edit and Volume knobs for two seconds, waited for “1” to appear, and then watched a succession of numbers that indicated the system was reducing the offending frequencies. The other valuable onboard feedback-busting feature is the Phase setting, which you access by pressing the Volume knob once. You can use this to improve bass response at low volume and also to suppress feedback when you need to play loud. the Verdict

The GPCPA1 is a gorgeous feather in Martin’s cap—a great sounding, great playing, stage-friendly super-axe that is as feature-rich as it is grounded in the Martin tradition. It only takes a little time to master the highly intuitive F1 Aura System that makes the guitar adaptable to just about any performance or studio situation. And unlike many acoustic/electrics that compromise on both fronts, the GPCPA1 excels in both realms.

Rating: Buy If... you need a serious performance tool that offers outstanding tone, playability, and versatility in a roadworthy package.

Skip If... a passive soundhole pickup is already more electronics than you can handle.

C.F. Martin & Co. Street $2999 (hard case included) martinguitar.com

CLICKHere…

or use a mobile device to watch a video review of the guitar at

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PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 157

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158 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

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REviEW > GiG-FX

GiG-FX

PEtER FRAMPtOn MEGAWAh

BY JORDAN WAGNeR

O

ften credited as the inventor of “talking guitar,” Peter Frampton captured the attention of guitar nuts with his blistering axe work as a member of Humble Pie—most notably on the band’s incredible Performance—Rockin’ the Fillmore. By the time he released Frampton Comes Alive in 1976, he was one of the premier rock acts of the day. With his trusty Gibson Les Paul Custom Black Beauty, a 100-watt Marshall, and a few effects—most notably, his highly recognizable talk box—he helped set the standard for the high-octane arena rock that would define the era. Now Gig-FX, which established its own precedents for sweet tone with the popular MegaWah and Chopper pedals, has released a signature variation on their all-analog MegaWah for the illustrious guitarist, dubbed the Peter Frampton MegaWah.

Gain control

Auto Wah mode, Trig Wah mode

Resonance control

Show Me the Way

The aluminum Frampton MegaWah is a stout, sturdy device. And Gig-FX’s practical design sensibility is very much intact in this signature model, which is laid out with two sets of knobs on either side of a compact (9" x 4"), I-shaped pedal. The design is among the most distinctive on the market, and it serves the two-fold purpose of making the controls more accessible and visible while keeping them out of harm’s way on the sides of the enclosure. The improved access and readability is vital on the Frampton MegaWah, which is essentially four wah effects in one—each with its own unique voice and character.

The four wah modes are selected from a 4-way knob on the left side of the pedal and include Classic Wah, MegaWah, Triggered Wah, and Auto Wah modes. As I cycled through each mode, I felt a satisfying, solid click in each position of the selector knob— a sure sign that the moving components in premierguitar.com

Silent switchless bypass

the pedal are just as robust as the enclosure itself. The five other knobs—which controlled Auto Wah Rate, Gain, Sensitivity, and Resonance—felt just as sturdy.

I wasn’t too keen on having to use a screwdriver to remove the battery-compartment door. This is a small detail perhaps, but one that has proven to be a source of pain to road warriors when power supplies go on the fritz. It was a great feeling to know that there was nothing flimsy about the construction

of the Frampton MegaWah. It was even better to discover that there was nothing flimsy about its tone, either.

Doobie Wah

Frampton’s playing has always been synonymous with tonal expressiveness. His style can have an almost seasick quality to it, swaying back and forth from one tonal extreme to another. The Frampton MegaWah captured this sound exceptionally PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 159

review > gig-fx

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160 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

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well. I explored the many shades of wah within the Frampton MegaWah using a trusty 1978 Gibson Les Paul Custom and a 1981 JCM800 2204 head with matching 4x12 cabinet.

After I flipped to the Classic Wah mode and stepped on the pedal, the amp roared with a thick, syrupy bite that coated every ’70s rock lick I threw its way. There’s a lot of headroom, thanks in part to circuitry that doubles the voltage. And a Gain knob helps you use the extra headroom to make the wah more or less cutting for solos or rhythm work.

The Frampton MegaWah also has a superwide range—much more than most wah pedals I’ve encountered. Many players have a problem with the relatively small amount of sweep on most wahs. But this is not likely to be a point of contention on the MegaWah, which has a pedal sweep that was enormous enough to literally throw me off balance in more expressive moments! The Frampton also includes Gig-FX’s super-sensitive silent switchless bypass that not only detects the slightest movements almost instantly, but that won’t wear out like conventional wah pots.

The Mega Wah mode, which was voiced especially for Frampton himself—was the most striking of the four. With the Gain control cranked all the way, I was able to coax some really cool synth-like tones that I could tailor by using the pedal’s Resonance control to dial in just the right amount of peak-signal amplification (up to 15 dB). Essentially, it adjusts the pedal’s intensity, making the effect more or less pronounced. This feature also helps make the Frampton one of the more uniquesounding wahs around.

Auto Wah is one of the most surprisingly cool modes. Ordinarily, it’s an effect that can make a song when used sparingly or break it when used to excess. The Frampton’s Auto Wah mode is particularly pleasing and smooth, however, with a nice, natural ramp from each end of the pedal’s frequency spectrum. Unfortunately, you can only change the rate (which is indicated by a red flashing LED), and not the intensity of the mode’s ramp. It’s a limitation that makes it a little harder to tailor the effect in a live setting. This is offset somewhat by the mode’s rounded and less peaky tone.

The funky Trig Wah mode, which responds dynamically to pick attack, does have a useful Sensitivity control that helps keep the effect in subtler realms, if need

be. Conversely, if you want a taste of Frampton’s “Show Me the Way” talk-box tone, the Sensitivity control lets you dive deeply into this realm.

The Verdict

Peter Frampton’s searing, vocal-like guitar tones are known the world over, and the new Gig-FX Peter Frampton MegaWah is capable of delivering those signature sounds, along with a world of additional tones. About as feature-packed and versatile as a wah gets, the MegaWah’s smooth, natural tones encourage you to explore the outer limits of wah textures, yet also enable you to dial up subtler variations that will keep your less wah-enthused bandmates from casting the evil eye your way. Not having the ability to change the ramp rate in the Trig and Auto modes is a minor quibble. On the whole, this is a wah of unusual flexibility and toneshaping power, and it’s a remarkable value too. So whether you’re after Frampton’s classic colors or looking to spice up your funk, rock, or experimental playing with a wider range of wah-ness, the Peter Frampton MegaWah may well be the ticket.

Rating: Buy If... you want a versatile wah with smooth action and extreme range.

Skip If... your wah needs are satisfied with a single classic wah tone.

Gig-FX Street $149 gig-fx.com

ClickHere… or use a mobile device to watch a video review of the pedal at

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LESS IS NOT MORE.

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IS MORE.

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162 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

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review > MTD

MTD

Kingston saratoga Bass

By STeve Cook

M

ichael Tobias is one of the most revered bass builders working today.

His instruments have always been smartly designed, tonally groundbreaking, and of the highest quality, as their high resale values attests. The Tobias brand name was sold to Gibson in 1990, and after his contractual obligations were fulfilled at the end of 1993, Tobias started MTD (Michael Tobias Design) as a vehicle for his latest innovations. MTD’s newest basses, like the Kingston Series Saratoga reviewed here, prove he still designs with the player in mind.

The Kingston Series is a line of more affordable instruments designed by Tobias and produced in China. Given Tobias’ deep passion for his instruments, I expected these basses to be much more than the products of an anonymous, unsupervised handoff to an offshore manufacturer. And in the form of the 5-string Kingston Saratoga, it was nice to see my hopes confirmed.

The Kingston basses are a diverse group of instruments, ranging from entry-level models to higher-end pieces featuring custom pickups and finishes. The Saratoga is among the less expensive models, but it’s an instrument of quality and integrity and capable of challenging many more expensive basses head on.

and the 34"-scale neck itself is capped by a rosewood fretboard (maple and ebony are also available) that complements the beautiful tobacco burst finish. It also features the Buzz Feiten tuning system.

Closer inspection revealed several nice touches that are typical of Michael Tobias design. The gunmetal gray tuners, jack plate, and controls lend a modern visual touch. So does the matching quick-release bridge. I noticed that the truss rod cover doesn’t sit completely flush, but it’s a purely cosmetic concern, and if that’s the biggest problem on this instrument, it’s a good sign indeed.

Buzz Feiten tuning system

Asymmetrical neck

Comfortable and Classy

Our review Saratoga shipped with a tobacco burst finish (it’s also available in a high-gloss black) that was striking right out of the box.

The finish was clean, and the carved basswood body felt comfortable and perfectly balanced when strapped on. The instrument hugs the body like a nicely balanced J bass, and feels more like an extension of the player than a slab of wood around your neck.

The 4-bolt neck joint has a smooth heel,

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Quick-release bridge

PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 163

review > MTD

Sound Spanning

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The first thing I like to do with any electric guitar or bass is take a dry run without an amp. This bass is remarkably smooth and easy to play, so right out of the gate fingerstyle runs, heavy slapping, and chords sounded big and harmonically rich with a sustain that rivals some neck-through designs I’ve played.

Those accustomed to narrower 5-string necks might find the neck width and the 19mm string spacing a bit wide. That said, the MTD’s neck doesn’t have the garage door feel of some 5-strings out there, and the asymmetrical neck carve is generally quite comfortable and smooth. The neck’s low profile makes playing this bass a breeze, but if you are used to a thicker neck, you may have to make some adjustments.

The Saratoga’s electronics are built around two passive J-bass-style pickups, two volume controls, and a passive tone control.

To test its amplified tones, I ran the Saratoga through a Warwick CCL 210 Combo with the EQ flat. For the first go-round, I

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164 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

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review > MTD

Fingerstyle runs, heavy slapping, and chords sound big and have a harmonically rich sustain that rivals some neck-through designs. cranked both volume controls and had the tone rolled halfway off, which summoned a tight, focused sound that would be at home on modern rock records. It’s a tone that works exceptionally with the tight and responsive low-B string. On 5-string basses the low B can sometimes feel a bit loose and buzzy, but even with the most aggressive runs, the Saratoga’s low B sounds pure and big. For you players that love to ride the low D, you will be right at home.

The Saratoga’s neck pickup is punchy, yet subdued, smooth, and natural. The bridge pickup sometimes sounded a little thin when I turned the tone knob up to any significant extent. But this lack of girth translated to a high-mid definition that would have a place in any funk outfit. With the tone rolled almost all the way back, however, the bridge pickup was more at home, with just the right combination of bite and smoother sounds that would make it at home in a rock or pop situation.

Overall, the Saratoga is surprisingly capable of spanning tonal spectrums.

Fundamentally it’s not quite as round in tone as I would prefer, but it’s rarely out of place, regardless of style. With a little experimenting, you can dial in a solid sound 166 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

that suits your style. My favorite tones were derived by using the neck pickup—usually dialed up to 10—with the bridge volume and tone knob at the halfway point. It proved to be the Saratoga’s sweet spot in terms of warmth and attack for my fingers.

It’s worth noting that when I ran the Saratoga direct through my recording rig, the bass was exceptionally quiet—probably thanks in part to a shielded pickup compartment—and I couldn’t help but think that this bass would be right at home with a bassist or guitar player in need of a good recording bass that won’t break the bank.

The Verdict

The MTD Saratoga proves that lower sticker prices don’t necessarily mean a lessplayable bass. It has a distinct character and personality even if it falls short of delivering vintage J-bass tones. And its mix of familiar J-bass-style features and newer conveniences like the Buzz Feiten tuning system add up to an exceptionally practical instrument and, at around $500, a great value. But whether this is your first bass or an instrument you intend to use regularly on stage and in the studio, it’s a bass that can be useful and inspiring for years to come.

rating: Buy if... you’re on the lookout for a wide-ranging, versatile, and value-priced bass

skip if... you’re on the prowl for the most vintage-flavored tones possible.

Michael tobias Design Street $499 mtdkingston.com

CLICKHere… or use a mobile device to download audio examples of the bass at

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168 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

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review > SChroeDer AuDio

SChroeDer AuDio

DB7

By ADAM PerlMuTTer

A

ny gear geek attending a Wilco show -recently has probably noticed guitar wizard Nels Cline playing through a mysterious red amp head. Cline’s amp is a prototype handbuilt by gear guru Tim Schroeder, who also tackles the formidable task of maintaining Wilco’s enviably overflowing stable of gear. (Full disclosure: Schroeder also writes a regular Tech Tips column

at premiergutiar.com.) Not long ago, Schroeder visited the band in their rehearsal loft to look over their road gear before a tour. He brought a new amp he’d built and solicited the band’s opinion. Cline— who’s known to prefer relatively clean, medium-wattage amps like the Jess Oliver and Marshall JTM45 he’s used in recent

years—plugged in and was so smitten he bought the amp on the spot.

Schroeder used Cline’s input to design and build the DB7—a 6L6-driven, 45-watt, amp similar to Cline’s original—which is graced with elegant operational simplicity and tons of headroom. We checked it out and, like Cline, were blown away.

Illuminated logo

Boost control

Bright switch

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reviews > SChroeDer AuDio

The DB7 is a sustain machine, making the plainest of sonorities a thing of wonder.

Top-Notch Build, Streamlined Features

The DB7 head is handbuilt from stem to stern using point-to-point wiring and a thick-gauge aluminum chassis. The first gain stage is driven with a 6SC7 tube— a variety that’s not common on modern amps, but which powered early versions of the Fender Super and Deluxe. There’s also a pair of 12AX7s in the preamp section.

The front panel of the DB7 is refreshingly simple. The single-channel head sports one 1/4" input and Volume, Treble, Middle, Bass, and Presence controls. A footswitchable boost control adds a little midrange for soloing, and a 3-way bright switch offers flat, bright, and hyper-bright modes. (The latter is designed for situations where a guitar requires extreme high end to assert itself in a busy mix.) The rear panel is equally streamlined, housing just a powercord jack and 1/4" outs for 4-, 8-, and 16-Ω speakers.

We plugged the DB7 into a Schroeder Sidecar 212 cabinet. Finished in red vinyl, this cab has a distinctive, two-tiered face and a tan grille that’s a fantastic visual match for the DB7 and adds a sense of architecture to its cool design sense. The speakers are a set made up of two different 12" Weber speakers—an alnico Blue Dog and a ceramic Silver Bell that are each rated at 50 watts. The carefully matched Webers aren’t the only thoughtful touch 170 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

in the cab—the speakers are wired with Cardas Audio speaker cable, an expensive, heavy-duty wire with lacquer-coated fibers designed to prevent smearing of the different frequencies. Similar wire is used throughout the head.

Gorgeous Clean Tones

When I plugged a Gibson Les Paul into the DB7, I was immediately struck by how quiet the amp was. Even with the volume cranked, it didn’t emanate much unwanted sound. But the simple act of hitting a firstposition chord on the guitar summoned a tone that was uncommonly full-bodied, sweet, and complex. The DB7 is a sustain machine too, making the plainest of sonorities a thing of wonder.

Stylistically speaking, we took numerous approaches to probing the DB7’s strengths—jazz comping with walking bass lines, electrified country blues patterns, and funk rhythms, among others. In every instance the DB7 sounded warm and musical, extremely balanced and responsive, not unlike a really good, old blackface Fender.

Dialed in at around 2 o’clock, the boost control added just the right amount of heft for some meandering modal solos.

As advertised, the DB7 has a substantial amount of headroom. Picking forcefully with the volume set around 10 o’clock generates a little overdrive, but it’s easy to clean up the signal with gentler articulation on premierguitar.com

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reviews > SChroeDer AuDio

rating: Buy if... you’re in the market for a valve amp that is clean, warm, and loud, and will interact well with your effects.

skip if... ultra-high-gain is your game, or you’re strapped for cash.

schroeder audio the guitar and a little roll off of the guitar’s volume, which creates a whole lot of territory for expression.

Since the DB7 is intended to be an excellent platform for effects, I plugged in a DLS Versa-Vibe and a NerFuzz by The Tone God. (See a review of the latter on page 189.) The amp did not disappoint in this capacity. The Versa-Vibe’s swirling chorus and vibrato effects took on an especially vivid character through the amp. Some of the sicker presets on the NerFuzz sounded even more dementedly detailed through the DB7 than they did with other tube amps. Played side-by-side 172 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

on clean settings, with effects or without, it’s likely that the Schroeder would make a lot of similarly powered tube amps sound comparatively effete.

Street $3250 as reviewed schroederaudioinc.com

CLICKHere… or use a mobile device to download audio examples of the amp at

The Verdict

The staggeringly rich tone of the Schroeder DB7 is sure to be inspiring to players of all stripes. It’s super-easy to operate and it has got a huge ceiling for an amp of 40 watts that’s tailor-made for stompboxes. The DB7 isn’t cheap. But particularly when paired with the Weber-loaded Sidecar cabinet, the DB7 is an instant classic—regardless of price.

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SEE THE TW PICKUP C O-MINUTE HANGE seymou rduncan.c

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SO LONG, SOLDERING IRON. CHANGE YOUR PICKUPS USING ONLY A SCREWDRIVER.

Introducing LIBERATOR™

The Solderless Pickup Change System from Seymour Duncan The volume potentiometer is the tone junction for your guitar’s wiring. Swap it out for Liberator and you’ll be able to quickly and easily change pickups for new tone, feel, responsiveness, and output. Liberator is an integrated quality volume pot and screw-clamp connector that accepts bare or tinned pickup leads for torqued-tight tone better than flimsy spring terminals or less-than-perfect solder connections. Full instructions included. For effortless pickup changes, get the Liberator Solderless Pickup Change System wherever Seymour Duncan pickups are sold.

You already own your next great guitar!

Own your tone. Find your flow.™

It starts with the pickups. For info on our pickups and pedals contact us at (805) 964-9610. © 2010 Seymour Duncan. All rights reserved. Seymour Duncan is a registered trademark.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.

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Speaker Cabinets

Superior Craftsmanship | Superior Tone

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review > kNAGGS GuiTArS

Proprietary bolted bridge

25.5” scale neck with 8.5” radius

Seymour Duncan SSL-1 single-coil pickups

knAggS guiTArS

choptanK anD Kenai

24.75" scale

By ADAM PerlMuTTer

I

n the mid ’80s, Joe Knaggs, a guitar enthusiast and painter, started his lutherie career in the finishing room at Paul Reed Smith, gradually working his way up to become Smith’s right-hand man as director of R&D and Private Stock.

Knaggs helped PRS stake out new territory beginning in the late ’90s by designing such innovative models as the McCarty Archtop and Hollowbody, as well as the Mira and the Starla—guitars that were at once futuristic and retro.

In 2009, Knaggs amicably went his own way to create his own guitar company.

With former PRS associate and guitarindustry veteran Peter Wolf handling marketing, branding, and design input, Knaggs recently introduced a series of boutique guitars that use classic Fender, Gibson, and Martin designs as points of departure. Knaggs’ instruments include solidbody, hollowbody, flattop, and bass guitar models. Each is available in one of three packages—from the more spartan Tier 3 to the opulent Tier 1. We checked out two Knaggs models, the Chesapeake series Electric Choptank (Tier 3) and the Influence series Electric Kenai (Tier 2).

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The Choptank

With its single-cutaway, contoured swamp ash body, trio of single-coil pickups, and 25 1/2"-scale maple neck, the Choptank clearly nods to both the Telecaster and the Stratocaster. But it also has a glued-in neck, an 8 1/2" fretboard radius (which is more hospitable to bending than the 7 1/4" radius traditionally associated with vintage Fenders), and a proprietary 6-saddle bridge designed to more directly transfer string vibrations to the body.

Our review Choptank guitar looked awesome—a little like a piece of mid-century Danish Modern furniture with striking, wavy grains. The plastic pickup covers, control knobs, and selector-switch tip were ivory in color, which was offset nicely by a dark brown pickguard, crafted from tropical wenge. The reddishbrown rosewood fretboard possessed an attractive swirling grain pattern, and the rock maple neck had a warm amber appearance, thanks to a judicious use of aging toner.

It was difficult to find fault with the craftsmanship of our Choptank. The 22 tall, thin frets were meticulously seated

Seymour Duncan Seth Lover pickups

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and polished, and the nut and saddles were perfectly cut. The glossy nitrocellulose finish was evenly applied and buffed, save for just a hint of unevenness on the back, where the body meets the string ferrules—admittedly, a very minor complaint.

The Choptank is a light guitar—a little over seven pounds on a digital scale—and equally comfortable to play when seated or standing. The guitar’s C-shaped neck was ample, but not too full, and its profile was a sort of cross between early ’50s and ’60s Telecaster necks. The guitar was very comfortably set up too, though the action was slightly elevated for my taste.

In terms of playability, the Choptank has a great broken-in quality. Chords and single-note lines were easy to play in all registers. Big bends that might have fretted out on other guitars rang true.

And the Choptank had a lively acoustic resonance, as well as plenty of snap and sustain when unplugged.

The Choptank’s electronics are Stratlike in configuration: three Seymour Duncan SSL-1 single-coil pickups,

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review > kNAGGS GuiTArS

controlled by a 5-way switch, one Volume, and two Tone controls. But as on a Tele, the guitar’s 1/4" output jack is located on the lower bout’s treble side.

I’m presently on a small-amp kick, so I plugged the Choptank into a recent-vintage Fender Pro Junior and was impressed right off the bat by the guitar’s tonal versatility.

It was easy to dial in that classic Tele twang on the bridge pickup. The middle pickup had a bit more bark, and the neck pickup delivered darker tones that would work well for modern jazz. The two in-between settings had a complex chime that was perfect for sweetly voiced arpeggios.

The Choptank has a bit more sustain than a typical Fender, probably thanks in no small part to the glued-in neck and bolted bridge. The sustain turned monstrous when I introduced a NerFuzz distortion pedal into the equation. On the neck pickup, the guitar sounded awesomely thick and creamy, while with a bit of extra gain the bridge pickup sounded surprisingly aggressive and nasty enough for punkrock rhythm work.

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Plugged into the Fender Pro Junior, the Kenai offered old-school, PAF-like warmth and tons of body and sustain for both lead and rhythm riffing.

The kenai

While the Choptank bears an unmistakable Fender influence, the Kenai uses classic Gibson design cues as a springboard. The single-cutaway mahogany body with maple cap, 24 3/4"-scale mahogany neck with rosewood fretboard, and twin humbuckers are all Les Paul hallmarks. Unlike a Gibson, though, the Kenai has details like a body that is comfort-carved on the back and a custom all-in-one bridge and tailpiece.

Like its cousin, our review Kenai model was a looker. The flamed maple top was positively striking in a finish called Winter Solstice—a pale blue stain with a clear coat that brought out a three-dimensional quality in the grain. In contrast, the neck and back of the guitar were a rich natural 2:24:57 PM mahogany. Subtler wood flourishes

included maple body binding and an ebony headstock overlay and matching truss-rod cover.

The Kenai’s all-gold hardware lends a regal appearance to the instrument, and the three-in-line open-geared butterbean tuners—accessories more commonly seen on ancient Martins and Gibsons than on modern electrics—were a nice touch, as was the headstock’s “Morning Star” motif, repeated nine times in progressively smaller fretboard inlays. I only had one small complaint regarding the design: on a high-end instrument like this, it seemed a bit odd to have an unbound fingerboard. (Binding is included, though, on a Tier 1 version.)

Craftsmanship on our Kenai was topnotch. As on the Choptank, the fretwork, bone nut, and saddles were flawless. The

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reviews > kNAGGS GuiTArS

rating: Buy if... you’re looking to get a wide range of useable tones in a single, extremely playable, collector-grade guitar.

skip if... you’re either exclusively a Tele or Strat player.

Knaggs guitars

chesapeake series electric choptank (tier 3) Street $2900 with hardshell case knaggsguitars.com

CLICKHere… or use a mobile device to download audio examples of the guitar at

premierguitar.com/mar2011

inlay work, neck joint, body binding, and nitro finish were all perfectly done, too.

Right out of the box, the Kenai felt just right, with a totally agreeable action. Its neck, based on Gibson’s famously hefty 1959 profile, felt authentic—unlike many of the exaggeratedly large necks claimed to be inspired by ’59s that are so popular these days. Although I am accustomed to slimmer necks, I had no difficulty adjusting to the Kenai—I was able to play for a stretch without developing any fretting-hand fatigue. And the 22 medium-sized frets were ideal for bends and legato effects.

Well balanced between neck and body, our Kenai was a joy to hold. Thanks to the weight saved in the body contouring, at 8.75 pounds our Kenai was pretty light for a guitar of mahogany and maple construction. And I was able to play it standing for a good while without feeling overburdened.

Like the Choptank, the Kenai was fun to play without amplification. Unplugged, it’s a bit louder than the average solidbody, with a thick, crisp tone and a short natural reverb—a good indication that the guitar would really come alive when plugged in.

The Kenai was decked out with Seymour Duncan Seth Lover neck and bridge humbuckers, with Volume and Tone controls 178 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

for each pickup and a 3-way toggle switch.

Plugged into the Pro Junior, the guitar sounded remarkably old-school, with PAFlike warmth and tons of body and sustain for both lead and rhythm riffing. On any pickup setting, the guitar sounded vivid and detailed, with complex overtones.

And it proved super-responsive to picking nuance and dynamics.

The Verdict

Borrowing elements from Fender and Gibson, Knaggs has created a new line of superbly built electric guitars that are both familiar and fresh.

The Choptank combines the best elements of Fender’s Telecaster and Stratocaster in a highly playable and fine-sounding instrument that boasts a distinctive appearance thanks to its updated contours and wooden pickguard.

The Gibson-inspired Kenai provides a richly detailed, classic PAF sound in a comfortable modern package. Deluxe touches like maple body binding and an ebony headstock overlay lend the Kenai a touch of exclusivity.

Both guitars are refreshing takes on classic electrics, impressive both sonically and aesthetically, and totally gig-worthy instruments that will most likely get even better with age. Call ’em keepers!

rating: Buy if... you love Les Pauls, but want a more updated axe with a luxurious appearance.

skip if... you think little of electric guitar design after 1959.

Knaggs guitars

influence series electric Kenai (tier 2) Street $5500 with hardshell case knaggsguitars.com

ClickHere… or use a mobile device to download audio examples of the guitar at

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ROCKHARDER

Max Crace

“only the strings have been changed to protect the innocent”

800.388.4447 GHS Corp. 2813 Wilbur Ave. Battle Creek, MI 49037

ghsstrings.com

John’s latest CD is The Art Of Malice.

john-5.com

www.shubb.com • info@shubb.com • 707-843-4068

Still the best!

The best players will settle for no less.

“Did you ever think that Stan might be the reincarnation of Orville Gibson?

Gibson 1906 Artist F

No? Neither did we.”

629 Forest Ave.• Staten Island, NY 10310 mando 718-981-8585 • mandolin@mandoweb.com web.com 180 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

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review > SToNe DeAF FX

STone DeAf fX

pDF-1 paraMetric Distortion Filter

+/- 20 dB Height switch

By ChArleS SAufley

Clean/Dirty switch

W

-hether crusty, rich, brittle, or big as a brick house, fuzz and distortion are heavenly sounds to many ears. But from the day Keith Richards kicked on his Maestro Fuzz Tone for the first blast of “Satisfaction,” guitarists have looked for ways to shape raunchy sonics into something more individual, musical, and malleable. Roger Mayer’s Octavia was among the first to expand what a single fuzz box could do by putting a little octave brawn behind the buzz. And by the ’70s, more adventurous manufacturers were giving players even greater power to shape their distortion.

One of the cooler efforts of the era came from Maestro in the form of their Maestro Parametric Filter (MPF), a clever, clunky filter pedal that a resourceful player could use for everything from simple EQ to total fuzzification of their signal. It wasn’t the nastiest distortion or fuzz around, but it gave guitarists a lot of ways to manipulate their sound.

In the years since the MPF first hit music store shelves, 6-string adventurers, including Alex Lifeson and Josh Homme, have used the Maestro to sculpt their tones. Now, Stone Deaf FX of Manchester, England, has created a sturdier and more versatile evolution of the Maestro circuit. Despite its formidablesounding moniker, the Stone Deaf PDF-1 Parametric Distortion Filter proves to be a pedal of myriad applications beyond heavy and blazing riff-rock. Like its inspiration, the PDF-1 is not the most out-there fuzz or fattest distortion. But it gives you access to sounds that most run-of-the-mill pedals can’t deliver.

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Though we’re in a Golden Age for stompboxes, a lot of great pedals suffer from looking and feeling like everything else behind the counter. Not the Stone Deaf PDF-1. The custom-machined aluminum casing, top-notch pots and switches, and stylishly engraved 3-ply plastic control panel are simultaneously premierguitar.com

65Hz – 3Khz Frequency switch Five-position Bandwidth switch

If your amp and guitar were feeling like a cramped cottage, the Stone Deaf ’s clean boost function is like adding a sunroom on the back. reminiscent of an Apollo capsule control panel and the dash of a late ’60s BMW—elegant, easy to navigate, and perceptibly well made. If you love the way a good switch feels, you’ll dig tinkering with the PDF-1.

For all the obvious quality, the PDF-1 is an exceptionally light pedal. The 9-volt battery is brilliantly stashed on the side of the enclosure in a sliding access compartment that will have you setting records for fast, onstage battery changes. It’s a very cool-looking pedal too, with a compact but distinctive ’70s-inspired elevated profile that makes it easy to find on a crowded pedalboard.

In terms of operation, the controls are simple, if not completely intuitive at first.

The Height knob (each of the curious control names are identical to those on the Maestro MPF that inspired the PDF-1) drops or boosts a given frequency by up to 20 dB. The Freq knob selects the frequency between 65 Hz and 3 kHz that you want to boost or cut. The 5-position Bandwidth switch moves from Thin to Fat settings and reduces or widens the signal’s bandwidth as a whole. Then there’s the Clean/Dirty switch, which effectively changes

the Stone Deaf from a boost/parametric EQ to a distortion/parametric EQ unit.

Shape Shifter

If the Stone Deaf were only a boost pedal, it would still be an impressive and useful addition to a pedalboard. And my first experiments with the PDF-1, in the context of a pretty boisterous band jam, involved heavy use of the remarkably transparent clean circuit. Running the pedal after a TS-9 Tube Screamer and a Pro Co Rat, and into a blackface Fender Tremolux, a Music Man HD212, and a Fender Vibroverb demonstrated not only how much character this pedal can lend to your signal on its own, but how much it can help you tailor otherwise ordinary overdrive and distortion signals.

With the Stone Deaf set to clean, the Height to approximately +5 dB, the bandwidth to Fat, and the frequency to about 3 o’clock, the signal from both a toaster pickup-equipped Rickenbacker 330 and an E-series Fender Stratocaster took on a wide, lively, full-spectrum character. The tones displayed a sort of natural compression more akin to the output PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 181

review > SToNe DeAF FX

of an outboard studio compressor than a comp pedal—a pretty delicious addition to an already lovely single-coil and 6L6 tone recipe.

Sweeping the Frequency knob up to maximum gave individual notes and arpeggios a bright, but not-quite-spiky presence—especially nice for bridge pickup work—that also left a lot of room for shaping sound with a guitar’s volume or tone knob. If your amp and guitar were feeling like a cramped canyon cottage, the Stone Deaf’s clean boost function is a little like adding a sunroom on the back—it creates a lot of bright, airy space. It can also take the sound of a very aggressive distortion like the Rat and add even a touch more girth or snarling focus, depending on where you set the Bandwidth and Frequency knobs.

The dirty circuit is where a lot of rock players will live with this pedal. It’s certainly not a high-gain distortion path, nor does it crank out the most hornet-buzzing fuzz. But switch the Bandwidth all the way to fat and the Height and Frequency knobs all the way clockwise, and a humbucker-equipped Les Paul will turn into a throaty, roaring monster that makes chords thick and wooly, and leads simultaneously warm, rotund, and defined. It’s

182 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

rating: no wonder that Josh Homme has taken to this pedal as well its inspiration.

The Dirty switch isn’t just about fat and furry stoner-rock tones. Moving the Frequency knob to 3 o’clock, the Height all the way clockwise, and Bandwidth to any of the three thinnest settings produced a cool sound in between a cocked wah and an envelope filter, and—depending on the input from your guitar or additional pedals—a fuzz that ranged from quacky and prickly to muscular and super-focused in the high-mid zone. Try this setting with some P-90s and a cranked Champ or Pro Junior, and you’re neck-deep in Texas boogie mud.

The Verdict

Where simpler or more radical distortion circuits transform your tone entirely, the Stone Deaf PDF-1 is really best at lending more color and control to your existing rig. And if you’re more-or-less content with sounds you get, but just need a little more breathing room, command over equalization, or a stretch of sonic two lane where you can open up the throttle a little, this Stone Deaf is an elegant and very capable tool.

Buy if... you want to expand your range of color and command with a tried-and-trusted rig.

skip if... you’re looking for over-the-top or high-gain distortion and fuzz.

stone Deaf FX Street $225 stonedeaffx.com

CLICKHere… or use a mobile device to download audio examples of the pedal at

premierguitar.com/mar2011

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184 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

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review > jeT

jeT

calDera By jorDAn wAgner

T

he closing of 2010 may signal the end of a rather turbulent decade, but it’s certainly a time to celebrate the state of the independent guitar-building industry, which, despite uncertain economic times, has been fruitful and innovative over the last decade. Small builders are not an entirely new phenomenon, but the popularity of the internet really helps small outfits get the attention they deserve. And playing a superb guitar like the JET Caldera reminds me how wonderful it is to be a player in a time when such outfits can thrive.

Force of Nature

You can tell the Caldera is a special guitar by just opening the case. It’s a stunning instrument in every sense of the word. From headstock to strap button, the guitar revealed no finish or structural blemishes, no matter how hard I looked for them. The Caldera weighs just 7 1/2 pounds and was perfectly balanced when I stood and let it sit across my shoulder with my strap set waist high. The gorgeous transparent black korina body is capped with a quilted maple top and finished in a three-tone Caribbean Burst paint scheme with exquisite natural wood binding.

JET uses a unique process to join their body and top pieces, which involves carving the body wood to a peaked center in the middle, routing carefully placed tone chambers, then finally gluing the top on with an extremely strong polyurethane-based adhesive. According to JET, this makes the guitar tremendously resonant and lively. The entire body is encased in a polyester finish that exhibits a strong sheen and transparency.

I was taken aback by how closely JET paid attention to minor details, such as using exotic wood pieces to surround the pickup screw cavities and installing a recessed, angled jack on the back of the guitar. It’s a practical and aesthetically pleasing design touch that’s typical of JET’s work. A string-through bridge, two custom-wound Seymour Duncan humbucking pickups (which are screwed directly into the body for better resonance and sustain), two Volume, and two Tone knobs (with a push-pull premierguitar.com

coil-tap switch in the neck pickup’s tone control) make up the rest of the Caldera’s hardware. Except for the pickup bobbins, there’s not a trace of plastic on this instrument.

Neck over heels in Love

As lovely as the Caldera’s body looks and feels, its neck was the real source of joy for me. Made of three pieces of quartersawn hard maple with a 25"-scale, the ebony-stained, 24-fret neck felt like a piece of finished marble in my palm. And with the perfectly smooth slab of ebony used for its fretboard, the Caldera’s neck was one of the best I’ve felt in years. The joy didn’t stop there, though. The Caldera’s highly sculpted neck joint fit my hand like a glove, giving me effortless access to the higher frets. All that reach can feel a little strange if you’re accustomed to the chunkier neck joints of a Stratocaster or Les Paul. But with its enhanced playability, the joint is a true design improvement that’s easy to get used to.

Born to Burn

It’s pretty evident that the Caldera has its roots in the hardrocking tones of a choice Les Paul, so I was eager to test the Caldera’s mettle with a rig known for its LP friendliness—a 1981 Marshall JCM800 2204 half stack, set with the gain up about halfway.

Starting right into some tight, blues-rock riffing, I was treated to clarity, sustain, and tonal bite that were off the charts. The highs were clear and present, but pleasantly rounded. The Caldera has a solid, defined low end, but I was struck by the guitar’s pronounced high-midrange tones. Far from annoying or nasal, they work exceptionally well in exactly the way PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 185

reviews > jeT 24-fret neck

Sculpted heel

Coil-tapped Seymour Duncan humbuckers Korina and maple-cap body construction

rating: Buy if... you’re looking for a great-sounding, hot-rodded rock machine that’s distinctive and magnificently playable.

skip if... you’d want a humbucker to interact with a great British tube amp.

The dual custom-wound Seymour Duncan pickups are, in general, quite hot, but they possess a juicy bounce and sweetness that feels natural and easy to control.

By comparison, the Caldera’s coil-tapped sounds are a little disappointing and seemed a bit weak and thin, even when I ran just the neck pickup into a Fender Twin Reverb.

Obviously I wasn’t expecting the guitar to exhibit the same amount of force and punch as it had in full humbucking mode, but the chime-like quality of the high end was noticeably deadened when the tapped mode was engaged. That said, it’s a tone that could work for jazz or blues players who require a little less muscle and highmid kick in front of their amp.

186 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

The Verdict

The JET Caldera is an outstanding guitar.

It offers many familiar Les Paul design motifs with refinements that alleviate some of the most common complains of that time-honored axe. I was hard-pressed to find anything involving the tone that was not top notch, except for an arguably weak coil-tap mode. Thanks to its great neck and super-resonant, lightweight body, playing the Caldera is almost as effortless as pulling it out of the case. Traditionalists should have no problem gravitating towards its impeccable build, though they might be turned off by how brazen and hot the pickups are. For modern rockers, however, the Caldera is a great choice, especially if you crave a guitar that stands out from the pack.

you rely primarily on single-coil guitar tones.

Jet guitars MSRP $6350 with hardshell case jetguitars.com

CLICKHere… or use a mobile device to watch a video review of the guitar at

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review > The ToNe GoD

The Tone goD

nerFuzz

By ADAM PerlMuTTer

Acrylic faceplate LED parameter-value readouts

I

n 2008, a man named Andrew, aka The Tone God, introduced an unusual new product, the TubeUlent—a Premier Gear Award-winning amp with valves housed in a clear acrylic enclosure shrunk to the size of an effects pedal, and designed to add warmth and responsiveness to your sound.

It revealed an unusual and fresh approach to delivering old-school sounds—a design philosophy that’s carried over to the Tone God’s newest offering, the NerFuzz.

The NerFuzz’s more conventional look belies its stunning array of sonic possibilities.

A fully programmable, 100-percent analog fuzz box, the NerFuzz offers nine different parameters that can be tweaked to access tones ranging from the subtly overdriven to the chaotically distorted. In other words, it’s a whole ensemble of fuzz pedals in one.

Box of Buzz

The NerFuzz has a sturdy black metal chassis measuring approximately 7 1/4" x 4 1/2" x 2 1/4". The face plate is laser etched, so the lettering will remain intact over time. The pedal is controlled by two touchsensitive, Phillips-head screw mounted metal plates that eliminate the need for mechanical controls that can be damaged, get noisy, or degrade. The pedal also uses two numeric LED readouts to indicate the precise amount of effect.

On the back panel of the NerFuzz, you’ll find 1/4" input and output jacks and a power jack. While a low-profile 9V adapter is included, the unit will accept AC or DC input power of 9V to 24V at 100 mA, which makes it adaptable to different pedalboards’ power supplies.

The NerFuzz’s nine control parameters are Drive, Gain, Diff, Bass/Mid/Treble, Feed, Gate, and Level, most of which require no explanation. Diff activates a differential mode that, when adjusted in concert with the drive and gain levels, can induce octave, swelling, splattering, and other uncanny effects. Feed causes the NerFuzz to feed back upon itself, creating increasingly more anarchic sounds as premierguitar.com

Touch-sensitive control plates

the level is raised. Gate, of course, is a noise gate, which can be used to discourage unwanted humming from the pedal or a pickup.

Favored fuzz parameters can be stored in 20 footswitchable memory positions and further modified by Patches A and B. You can set these two patches to switch between, say, lead and rhythm sounds with a single foot tap, or between sick and sicker tones for particularly crazed lead work. When it’s powered on, the NerFuzz will automatically retrieve the previously selected memory location. Regardless, The Tone God recommends recording favorite settings the old-fashioned way, in a notebook, in the event they’re accidentally overwritten.

True Grit

To audition the NerFuzz, I used a Gibson Les Paul and a Fender Pro Junior amp. I was initially frustrated by the lack of conventional control knobs on the NerFuzz.

Having to cycle individually through the parameters and adjust their levels just felt tedious—and my first impression was that nothing could be easily done on the fly.

But once I delved into the pedal’s factory settings, I was super-impressed by the quality and range of sounds at my disposal. Memory 1, Patch A, a light-gain setting that is touchsensitive, added fine grit and warmth to some jazzy altered chords and pseudo bebop lines.

Memory 2 contained authentic-sounding rock rhythm and lead sounds on Patches A and B, respectively. Rock rhythm possessed a full-bodied gain that didn’t muddy on full chords. And the lead setting sounded both cutting and singing with a bit of added drive and treble. At the more saturated end of the spectrum, metal sounds with and without noise gate (stored in Memory 4, Patches A and B) were both pulverizing and detailed.

The NerFuzz has the distortion basics comprehensively covered with some superb tones. But it’s the pedal’s more freakish sounds that make it really intriguing. When I articulated and held a 1st-string Bb on Memory 5, Patch A, a startling series of octaves and fifths emerged. Playing the same note on Patch B, somehow produced a Bbm triad. There seemed to be a bit of PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 189

reviews > The ToNe GoD

rating:

The NerFuzz has the distortion basics comprehensively covered with some superb tones. But it’s the pedal’s more freakish sounds that make it really intriguing. randomness in the pitches generated by other notes, adding a unhinged quality to the sound.

Memory 8, Patch A, a fizzy sound, caused a note to start off constricted before erupting into a much fatter tone, and Memory 6, Patch B (Swell) created a similarly crazy blossoming effect. Another preset called Theremin High (Memory 10, Patch A) was especially fun to experiment with. This setting emitted a pedal tone, the pitch of which can be fluctuated with a guitar’s volume knob. (You can hear it for yourself at the beginning and end of the second audio example in the online version of this review.)

Once I became acquainted with the NerFuzz by browsing through its factory presets, I found that it actually wasn’t too difficult to tweak the parameters and store my own settings. Because each parameter is adjustable in

increments from 0 to 99, I came to appreciate the unit’s potential for shaping tones in very subtle ways. And although I wouldn’t necessarily try tweaking the parameters during a gig, it’s simple to prepare a menu of killer sounds to switch between onstage.

The Verdict

The Tone God’s NerFuzz is a superb boutique pedal that covers basic distortion sounds, plus some that are insane and otherworldly. It’s built uncommonly tough and should withstand years of even the heaviest use. With its numerically controlled parameters and memory banks, the pedal allows users to precisely recall their most inspiring settings. And while those new to programming more complex effects pedals might face a steep learning curve, the potential sonic rewards are abundant.

Buy if... you want a tremendous range of distortion sounds—some very unconventional—in a single analog unit.

skip if... your distortion needs can be met in a basic, 3-knob stompbox.

the tone god Street $399 thetonegod.com

CLICKHere… or use a mobile device to download audio examples of the pedal at

premierguitar.com/mar2011

YOUR ESSENTIAL HEADPHONE KIT™ ENHANCE YOUR JAMHUB MUSIC EXPERIENCE WITH COLOR CODED MATCHING HEADPHONES

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190 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

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ACTiviTiES

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As guitarists, we can’t take ourselves seriously all the time. You gotta know when to dig in and when to chill out. In that spirit, we offer this monthly page of fun diversions. Have fun, and check page 202 for the answers.

PG CroSSWorD

1.

5.

8.

9.

ohio parts-and-tools source, briefly spruce variety for acoustic tops self-tuning gibson guitar 1960s supro with no-Mar plastic body wrap 10. DiY guitar finish, perhaps (4,3) 11. File frets to proper contour 12. 1965-1985, to a Fender fan (1,1,1,3) 14. hooked-horn ibanez with 1970s debut 17. guitar accessory for a stand-up guy 19. Big name in acoustic-guitar pickups (1,1,5) 22. Acoustic guitars’ lower-bout protrusions (3,4) 23. scroll-headstock 1970s ibanez custom ____ 2405 24. certain stage lights, briefly 25. hamer five-neck player rick

Down

©Premier Guitar, 2011. Puzzle by Murray Jackson

WHAt tHe HeCK iS tHAt? This month’s mystery comes from somewhere in this issue of PG. Do you know what this is?

1. iconic Fender, familiarly 2. Philly-born jazz guitarist Kevin 3. Gibson’s “Quality, Prestige & innovation,” for example 4. the co in alnico pickup 5. 2000-2007 godin two-voice, leaftop model 6. nickname for bluesman aaron Walker (1,4) 7. upmarket 1976-1982 Les Paul variant 12. Wheels for a 4x12 cab 13. tech tasks, often 15. Pickup parts 16. Waffleback tuning-machine brand 18. aM or FM music source 20. 2009-2010 composite acoustics carbon-fiber solidbody 21. Fast-action neck finish, frequently

QUote oF tHe MontH “I have broken nearly everything I have ever owned at one time or another, trying to figure out how it works.”

—Bob Taylor in Guitar Lessons

192 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

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Custom Built Hand Painted One of a Kind Guitars

By Julie Rosenberg

www.julierosenberg.com 914-772-8322

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PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 193

Gear Search Gallery

1990 Warwick John Entwistle Custom Buzzard

Click here to find your dream instrument!

By Seth hanSen

T

his Explorer-inspired, North Americashaped bass was the brainchild of Who bassist John Entwistle and Warwick’s President and Founder Hans Peter Wilfer back in 1985. Entwistle had some very specific ideas for his custom-made bass after moving away from his Rickenbacker 4001, Alembic models, and the Fender “ExplorerBird,” and knew Wilfer could do the job.

According to lore, John and Hans Peter drew up the basic design in one day. That night, after a few drinks in a London nightclub, the two agreed it would be called the Buzzard. A few prototypes were made and after a few design tweaks became the bass we recognize today. After the duo decided on the name, the headstock was changed to more closely resemble a buzzard’s beak during late-stage prototyping. Warwick released The Buzzard to the public soon thereafter, and the company continued making custom Buzzards for John in subsequent years.

The Buzzard featured here has its own story to tell. Warwick made about 18 basses specifically for Entwistle in 1990, and the bass shown here was the only instrument out of Entwistle’s extensive collection chosen to be featured on the cover of his book Bass Culture. It features a 34" scale and two EMG P-style pickups. On the Buzzards built for Entwistle, he preferred a Modulus graphite neck for its ability to hold his low-action, which required constant truss-rod adjustments on standard necks. He also valued the neck’s suitability for his dynamic playing, as well as its seeming imperviousness to weather changes.

The current owner purchased this Buzzard, along with a gold one, from John at his home in 2001. Regarding the signature, he relates, “John signed this one for me right there with one of the sharpies that he used for his illustrations and drawings, as we were halfway between his downstairs studio and his art room.”

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Thanks to Greg Dorsett and David Brewis of Rock Stars Guitars for listing this bass on Gear Search. Whether you’re looking for a slice of rock history or the latest on the market, there’s a great chance you’ll find it at Gear Search. More than 40,000 pieces of gear are listed, including some of the rarest pieces in the world. premierguitar.com

GuiTAR OF ThE MOnTh

1.5 Millionth Martin

BY CHRiS kieS

I

n 1833, Christian Frederick Martin moved from his hometown of Markneukirchen, Germany, to New York City and started C.F. Martin Guitar & Company. Five years later, Martin moved to Nazareth, Pennsylvania, where it has been headquartered for 173 years—and where it has produced most of its 1.5 million guitars.

In 1990, Martin celebrated the completion of its 500,000th guitar, an HD-28 signed by all of their employees. In 2004, luthier Larry Robinson spent nearly two years designing, cutting, and applying inlay pieces by hand to complete their millionth guitar. And for the recent 1.5 millionth Martin, the company went with a Leonardo da Vinci theme—complete with a Last Supper pickguard inlay, da Vinci artwork-inspired inlays, a Mona Lisa headstock, and a Vitruvian Man design on the back. To complete the one-and-a-half-year process, they turned to renowned inlay artist and luthier Harvey Leach (of Voyage-Air Guitars) and scrimshaw engraver extraordinaire Bob Hergert to apply their intricate art forms to this guitar.

This historic Martin features an Adirondack spruce top and Brazilian rosewood back, sides, and neck. The pickguard scenery and background are crafted from jade, gray Corian, turquoise, sugulite, gaspeite, green recon, and dark ivory. The Twelve Apostles, Jesus, and their robes were made from Corian, spiny oyster, and pipestone recon, while skin tones were crafted from walnut-tree particles. All of the faces were engraved by hand by Bob Hergert.

The bridge and the neck inlays depict images found in da Vinci’s notebooks.

The headstock uses Corian, malachite, jade, chrysocolla recon, green acrylic, and spiny oyster. “One of the great challenges of doing the Mona Lisa was recreating the mysterious swirling background done by sfumato, which da Vinci described as “without lines or borders, in the manner of smoke or beyond the focus plane,’” says Leach. “I cut each tiny section from alternating patterns. I do this—rather than cut all from the same spot—so that the lines in the material will be different from piece

196 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

Detail photos courtesy of C.F. Martin & Co.

Photo by Joe Coffey

Photo by Harvey Leach

Have an axe that would make a great Guitar of the Month? email photos and your instrument’s story to us at gotm@premierguitar.com.

to piece.” Mona Lisa’s skin is cut from fossilized ivory, and her dress and shawl are derived from walnut.

Each gold tuner was handtooled by Tara Mitchell to mimic da Vinci’s notebook sketches. The process took more than 100 hours in all.

The figured Brazilian rosewood on the guitar’s back matches the Vitruvian Man’s wavy locks. “He was cut from a piece of

Corian called chamois, which had just the right look of the old parchment of the original drawing,” says Leach. “The actual inlay is made of only 10 pieces, which just happens to be the same amount used to create Jesus’ feet on the pickguard.”

A special thanks to Harvey Leach of Voyage-Air Guitar and Dick Boak of Martin Guitar for the opportunity to feature this fine instrument and its story. premierguitar.com

Kr a u t s t e r The Krautster totally nails the sound and sheer power of raw music.

Its design and craftmanship, meanwhile, demonstrate massive scope and breathtaking ambition.

Disguised as a plain, down-to-earth guitar, the Krautster comes proudly stripped of everything but the very essence of Rock!

www.nikhuber-guitars.com

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PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 197

MODERn BuiLDER vAuLT

Bell Custom Guitars

BY CHRiS kieS

T

he building bug bit Don Bell of Bell Custom Guitars in 1974 when he was just 18 years old. The inspiration was an acrylic polymer Dan Armstrong Ampeg. And in the spirit of determined DIY-craftsman, he decided to build his own Plexiglas version rather than buy one.

“I wanted an acrylic polymer guitar, but I wanted it in a Flying V body style. So to get one, I had to build it,” says Bell. The infectious fever to build guitars was started with the look of Armstrong’s transparent beauty.

But after plugging in his acrylic V he heard something very different and interesting going on in the interaction between wood, polymer, and pickups. That realization has guided Bell’s work ever since.

“After working through the body configuration and developing the proprietary

bonding process, I set out to make the acrylic sound better, but ended up improving the sound of the wood,” says Don Bell of Bell Custom Guitars. “I noticed my first Vs sounded brittle and thin, so putting the neck and electronics centered in the traditional tonewood bodies—swamp ash or maple—greatly improved the overall tone.”

Bell explains that the audibly distinctive give and take relationship between the wood and Plexi happens because the acrylic absorbs the vibration from the wood and focuses the tone, allowing the highs to sparkle without becoming harsh or shrill. In addition, the midrange is clear and clean and free of bleed from the upper or lower registers, while the lows are more defined and less woofy than on a solid wood guitar. “In effect, the acrylic wings act as a compressor,” says Bell. “The

overall result of the wood/acrylic fusion and the set neck of a Bell Custom Guitar is long sustain and a sharper, more focused tone.”

Bell acknowledges that the visual peculiarities of his guitars draw players in—just like it did to him ’74. But given the chance to play and hear one, he believes players remember the guitar’s vintage tone rather than its 2001: A Space Odyssey look. “Ever since I got serious about building, my philosophy has been that I want guitarists to experience a difference in tone and a difference in the synergy and feedback between guitar and player that is not there with an all wood guitar,” says Bell. “Strum a traditional guitar without amplification and then strum a Bell—you will hear the difference… [laughs] and just imagine its presence and how it feels when it’s amplified.”

JazzBlaster Deluxe with Amalfitano PAF-style humbuckers

JazzBlaster with Amalfitano P-90s

JazzBlaster Deluxe with lit LEDs

198 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

JazzBlaster Bell Custom Guitars’ newest see-through creation is the JazzBlaster. Shown here with a translucent red and yellow finish, it features a string-through, swamp ash body with acrylic wings, a 22-fret, single-piece mahogany neck with Bell’s signature neck profile that, according to Bell “is similar to a ’60s Gibson LP that I have.” They also offer a fatter neck based on a ’58 ES-335 and custom necks are available upon request.

Both models are loaded with Amalfitano pickups—the red model has vintage PAF-style units while the yellow one has P-90s—which are favored by Bell because JazzBlaster Frosty “they are super clear and have zero mud factor, while also giving us the vintage tone we’re looking for.” Both models are equipped with 15 LEDs and have an available “frost” option in which the acrylic is blasted with small glass beads to give it a smoky look.

premierguitar.com

MODERn BuiLDER vAuLT

toneBlaster This 25 1/2"-scale Tele-style model has a butterscotch swamp ash body with acrylic wings, a 22-fret rosewood fretboard, and a Wilkinson compensated bridge. Its Amalfitano TP pickups use slightly taller alnico 5 magnets and are wound to 9.0 kΩ with vintage Formvar magnetic wire that reportedly gives the guitar a more powerful, brighter musical tone. The ToneBlaster features 15 builtin LEDs, too.

The ToneBlaster features a compensated Wilkinson bridge with brass saddles

ToneBlaster with Amalfitano TP pickups

SS-E with Kent Armstrong humbuckers

SS-V with Kent Armstrong humbuckers

SS-V and SS-e SS series guitars (the SS-V and SS-E are shown here) have a 24 3/4" scale, a maple body with acrylic wings, and a 22-fret mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard, and are less expensive than ’Blaster models.

They also have a Tune-o-matic bridge and Kent Armstrong vintagestyle humbuckers, and come with gold or chrome hardware.

Pricing and Availability Pricing for each model varies depends on the amount of customization and aesthetic extras someone may prefer. The JazzBlasters are set at $3409 (including the frost option), the ToneBlaster at $2995, and the SS models street at $1299. Bell Custom Guitars also doubles as a repair shop, so “as long as requests are reasonable, there are no limitations.”

Currently, Bell Custom Guitars’ current wait time is about two months or longer depending if they’re beginning a new batch of guitars—they tend to make them 10 at a time for any given model. bellcustomguitars.com premierguitar.com

PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 199

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200 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

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ACtiVitieS KeY

WHAt tHe HeCK iS tHAt? ©Premier Guitar, 2011. Puzzle by Murray Jackson

A. Decal from Bryce Dessner’s main axe, a 1963 Fender Jaguar.

202 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

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Photo by Timothy Herzog

rickvito.com • photo: Ron Coons

next Month in

J. MASCiS The Dinosaur Jr. frontman talks to PG about his new solo acoustic album, Several Shades of Why, his new signature Fender Jazzmaster, and the incredible influence he’s had on indie rock outfits from Nirvana onward.

JACK CASADY AnD JorMA KAUKonen Yes, Hot Tuna is back—and with a new album. We talk to the bass and guitar legends about their reunion tour and album, and how they’re approaching songwriting, gear, and gigs these days.

AL Di MeoLA The mind-bogglingly fast picker talks about his new album, Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody—which finds him tracking alongside greats like bassist Charlie Haden—as well as his stash of PRS and Gibson guitars.

PAUL WiLCzYnSKi AnD StUDio CALiForniA The acclaimed builder of Rickenbacker acoustics and restorer of Ricky electrics shows us inside his incredible studio full of flattops and Fireglo, Jetglo, and Mapleglo wonders.

ProDUCt reVieWS We take a look at the new T.C. Electronic Tone Prints pedals, Taylor Doyle Dykes acoustic, Satellite Omega amp, TWA Triskelion, Soloway Single 15, SolidGoldFx Electroman Delay, Source Audio Soundblox Bass Envelope Filter, and more.

Be sure to read our completely Free digital edition at:

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Lean, Mean, Art Deco Machine.

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PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 203

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Wiring kits for Stratocaster. Fully solderless. Get Wired. www.toneshapers.com 772-770-1919

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WHEN IT COMES TO

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® Dig the sound of a “parked” wah – but tired of fussing to find that sweet spot? With Jekeko you can dial in perfection from screaming highs to vocal-like, thick-fat-lows, Jekeko gets you there and all points in between.

www.customguitargear.com 206 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

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New Orleans Custom Mandolin

Bring your ideas to Life.

Do you have a concept for a one-off custom build? Our knowledgeable staff are players and collectors just like you. We specialize in: Gibson Custom Shop, Fender Custom Shop, Martin Custom Shop, Taylor BTO, New Orleans Guitar Co, Grosh Guitars and Batson Guitars. Call us or visit us online today at www.napervillemusic.com for a free consultation and start creating the custom instrument you’ve been dreaming about.

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PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011 207

LAST CALL

DEADLinES ARE YOuR FRiEnD BY JOHN BOHliNGeR

I

recently did a home-studio project for an ESPN documentary about Condredge Holloway—who was both the first black quarterback in an SEC school and who led Tennessee to three bowl games from 1972 to ’74. The show’s producers needed 51 seconds of music that sounded like classic ’70s funk, and they needed it fast. Licensing was not available on the place-holding music they were using, and ESPN wanted to see (and hear) something before the weekend.

I literally had two hours to get something to them.

To think is to undermine: Thinking makes the most natural act unnatural. Think too much, and you can’t urinate in a public restroom or sleep when you are exhausted at 2 a.m. Next time you’re in a crowded room full of strangers, really focus on walking naturally from one end to the other. You will inevitably feel awkward. That’s why booze remains so popular at parties—it turns off your brain so you can feel natural.

When it comes to getting a natural feel while recording, I hearken back to the words of my mentor, Homer Simpson, who said, in a nutshell: There’s a time to think and there’s a time to do stuff, and this is definitely not a time to think. Because I spend a good deal of my not-thinking time watching music on YouTube, I began this project by typing “FUNK 1972” into YouTube’s search box and then mindlessly engaging in “research” (I’m using this somewhat academic term in its broadest sense). I was lulled into a semi-catatonic state as I watched Earth, Wind & Fire, Billy Preston, and P-Funk for about 20 minutes, then I came to in a panic thinking, “Get it together, man. You’ve got a deadline—do your work!”

Research temporarily concluded, I created a new Pro Tools session file, opened a Toontrack

208 PREMIER GUITAR MARCH 2011

instrument channel, and played the first “funk” drum loop I could find. It sounded sufficiently funky, so I copied it onto instrument track #1 and repeated the two-bar phrase 100 times. Then I imported the QuickTime video version of the ESPN documentary and saw the drums lock with the vid. This took roughly seven minutes. Next stop: bass.

Generally, I see bass as a white canvas and guitar as the paint.

These minimalist leanings work fine in country and dumb rock but they do not apply to funk, where the bass is right out front, loud and proud. I went back to YouTube, typed in “funk bass” and found a video entitled “Bootsy’s Basic Funk Formula.”

Armed with one funk bass lesson, I tuned up my bass, plugged it into a DI box, and played along with the drum track, trying to shift phrases with the scene changes on the video screen. It took a few attempts, but I came up with a pattern that seemed to flow with the screen images. After laying down the bass, I listened to the track and wrote down a quick numbers chart, knowing I would inevitably forget the chord changes.

Having completed the hard work for the project, it was time for the fun part. I plugged my 20-year-old Cry Baby (which after years of use and abuse is really getting funky—in a bad way) into my little Kustom amp. I chose the Kustom because its blue-sparkle tuck-and-roll covering looked like something you’d see in a ’70s-era Commodores show. To complete my ’70s vibe, I used my ’75 Tele Deluxe (thanks Michael McFarland, who traded me this sweet brownie). I read the chart down and played high triads with a liberal dose of wah.

I opened up another track and added a dirty lead part, sans wah.

It wasn’t a great part, but I knew that if I played it 20 more times,

Search YouTube for “Bootsy’s Basic Funk Formula,” and you’ll be rewarded with a groovin’ bass lesson from the “space bass”-wielding man himself.

it would be a little different, but not really any better. Miles Davis once said “Do not fear mistakes.

There are none.” I hate to contradict Miles, but there were some honest-to-God wrong notes on my track. I listened and removed the few ugly parts and left the space open rather than redoing them. As Bootsy said in his video, “Space is good.”

In honor of Earth Wind & Fire, I added a few keyboard-generated horn stabs. Now the music was sounding pretty close to what the client had described. I added some delay to the lead track, compressed the overall mix, and emailed it to the client. The entire project, including lots of YouTube visits, took under two hours.

The next morning I was informed that the producers didn’t like the track, but they got an extension and wanted another version by the end of the day—which gave me lots of time.

Rather than fix the old track, I started a new track from scratch and did the entire process over again. Version two took a little longer, because I put more time into finding a cooler drum loop,

added drum fills at transition points, and recorded an organ pad over the entire thing. Overall, it felt better. As of now, I haven’t heard back from the client, so I’m going with that old chestnut: No news is good news.

Deadlines are your friend!

Look at Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy: $14 million, 17 obsessive years, one crap record. I’ve watched people rework a track ad nauseam and manage to crush any soul the music might have had. Granted, there are exceptions where over-thinking makes amazing art. Rumours, Let It Be, and Night at the Opera are notorious for their obsessive excess, and they are perfect albums. But for those of us in the real world with tiny budgets and limited time, we just need to put our heads down and crank it out with as little thinking as possible. jOhn BOhLinGER is a Nashville-based guitarist who works primarily in TV and has recorded and toured with over 50 majorlabel artists. His songs and playing can be heard in major motion pictures, on major-label releases, and in literally hundreds of TV drops. Visit him at youtube.com/user/johnbohlinger or facebook.com/johnbohlinger.

premierguitar.com

Endless Possibilities

Synth Access Custom Shop Guitars

Push the limits of your musical boundaries with a Carvin Synth Access guitar equipped with Graph Tech’s Hexaphonic pickup system. Play any instrument without changing guitars.

Connect to dedicated Guitar Synths and also connect your favorite keyboard via MIDI. Play it all on one one guitar.

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DC NF and

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DC3

- Contoured body and new ‘Pattern Regular’ bolt-on neck - Special DC3 Singlecoils and exclusive Narrowfield™ pickups - Lightly sealed neck providing a silky unfinished feel - V12 finish - very thin, hard and clear, accentuating the wood’s beauty while enhancing its natural resonance.

- Steel bridge components create an expansive clear tone Even with all of these new features, the DC3 and NF3 still feel like home from the moment you pick them up. © 2011, PRS Guitars Photos by Marc Quigley

MARCHHiGHliGHtS

Sponsored by PRS Guitars

Golden GeAR tiCket

Go with us as we take you inside Winter NAMM 2011—the year’s biggest musical products show in the US.

iRon And Wine

Iron and Wine’s Sam Beam talks about his evolution from skate punk to neo-folk hero, how songs should dictate tone (not the other way around), and how a good melody always transcends unorthodox instrumentation.

Billy SHeeHAn

Bass god Billy Sheehan talks about recording Mr. Big’s new album, What If ..., his multiamp rig, and why it’s important to master your instrument inside and out. Plus! Paul Gilbert chimes in on the new LP’s tones and harmonies.

tHe nAtionAl Guitarists Aaron and Bryce Dessner talk about how quirky direction from vocalist Matt Berninger, classicalguitar icon Benjamin Verdery, and vintage Jaguars and Sheratons figure into their deceptively simple tapestries of sound.

REVIEWS:

GReenfield GuitARS

The Montreal-based boutique builder talks about his move from repairing museum-quality Martins and Gibson to building museumquality flattops and an incredible harp guitar for fingerstyle phenom Andy McKee.

Fano JM6 • Fretted Americana Evil Robot • Martin GPCPA1 Grand Performance • Gig-Fx Peter Frampton MegaWah • MTD Kingston Saratoga Bass • Schroeder Audio DB7 Head 8 • Knaggs Choptank and Kenai • Stone Deaf PDF-1 Parametric Filter • JET Caldera • Tone God NerFuzz 81 P R E M I E R G U I T A R A UDistortion GUST 2010 w w w. p re m i e rg u i t a r. c o m