Guitar Player articles from January 2004

Guitar Player archives from January 2004

Things you can't say that should be said anyway.(Soundhole)
January 1, 2004... After decades of willing submission to pop culture, I'm starting to think I've been misled. I thought that beaming into the cultural radar was where I wanted and needed to be. Of course, I've always enjoyed fine art, literary experimentation,...

Recording tools!(Feedback)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2004... You guys had perfect timing on your annual recording issue [Nov.'03]. I just got interested in the recording side of things, and then the mug shows up at my door. Why can't everything be this convenient? Nate Perry Via Internet

The black keys.(Feedback)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2004... I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the Dan Auerbach interview in the November 2003 issue. After reading the article, I bought the Black Keys' thickfreakness. If it was an LP instead of a CD, I would have worn out the groves by...

Lessons.(Feedback)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2004... You did your readers a great service with our article about open strings and how much they can add to music ["Lords of the Ring," Nov. '03]. For a long time, I felt like using open strings was real close to cheating. Thanks for wiping away that...

Bench tests.(Feedback)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2004... Art Thompson failed to point out that the Duo Glide [Nov. '03] is only one of Saul Koll's guitar models, and that the particular body materials, features, and electronics are only one combination. I have a Koll Superior that is configured in a...

Jeff Beck.(Feedback)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2004... In regards to Hess White ["Feedback," Nov. '031, as a long lime subscriber to GP, in the 37 years of GP I don't think Jeff Beck has been on tire cover more than eight or mire times, and one of them was with Stevie Ray Vaughan. That is not a...

An excellent question.(Feedback)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2004... If Arnold Schwartzenegger can be the governor of California, why can't I be on the cover of your magazine? Eric Iverson Jackson Heights, NY

Clarification.(Feedback)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2004... When I wrote what I did about Dave avarro ["Feedback," Nov. '03], I had in mind some rock and alternative players who have graced your covers in recent years. I meant no disrespect to accomplished and class act players such as Carlos "Santana,...

Ooops!(Feedback)(Correction Notice)
January 1, 2004... In our November, 2003 "New Gear" section we mistakenly referred to the high-density, integral skin urethane used to make the Lange AmpWedge as "Styrofoam"--which is actually Dew Corning's Trademark name for expandable polystyrene (air entirely...

Fretwire.(Input/Output)(guitarists' physical health)
January 1, 2004... Maybe it's the alignment of the planets--or just coincidence--but the end of 2003 is turning out to be a taugh time for the physical health of the musician community. In October, former Kiss/present Grand Funk Railroad guitarist Bruce...

Classical corner John Williams.(Input/Output)
January 1, 2004... Classical virtuoso John Williams is regarded as one of the world's foremost guitarists--even among players outside the classical arena. In a career spanning four decades, Williams has coucertized all over the world, and has released more than...

Auction block Will Ray's eBay strategies: auction item: 1982 Gibson Moderne Winning Bid: $510.(Input/Output)(guitar restoration)
January 1, 2004... This is one of the strangest guitars I ever purebased on strangest It's an early '80s Gibson reissue of the Moderne--a model originally designed hi tim 1950s by Ted McCarty's team at Gibson who also brought us the Flying V, Explorer, and...

Paul Burlison.(Angels)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... The man who invented rockabilly with his jumpin "Train Kept A-Rollin'" licks, lost his battle with cancer oil September 27, 2003. He was 74. Burtison's pioneering sides with Johnny Brunette and the Rock 'n' Roll Trio between 1956 and 1957...

John Brim.(Angels)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... The Chicago blues stewart--who backed Willie Dixon, Little Walter, Robert Lockwood, jimmy Reed, mad others--died at 81 on October 1,2003. Brim's own recording career never took off (his best-known tracks were 1969's "Whose Muddy Shoes" and "Ice...

William Bennett.(Angels)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... New York City lost one of its rock entrepreneurs, when Bennett, 49, succumbed to injuries sustained in a car accident on October 7, 2003, Bennett was a guitarist who played in dozens of bands, but his real claim to fame was hooking up musicians...

Wesley Tuttle.(Angels)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... You have to admire a country western artist who lost three fingers in a childhood accident, yet taught himself to play guitar without dram especially when the stone guy was also the voice of fire yodelling little people in 1937's Snow White and...

Blues joint Joe Bonamassa.(Input/Output)(blues guitarist)
January 1, 2004... Nearly everyone is familiar with the story of Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil to become the "King of the Delta Blues." But is it possible for that contract to reach through the decades told affect others with a connection to...

Stop the madness! Vote for your favorite guitarist.(Input/Output)
January 1, 2004... The war cries are resounding all over the world's communities of real guitar players. Rolling Stone's ill-conceived September 18, 2003 issue lauding The "100 Greatest Guitarist of All Time" smacked us right in our preamp rain's with glaring...

Buzz box Nebula.(Input/Output)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Nebula blasts out heavy psychedelic rock thai stretches out in myriad musical directions--and everything is tied together by guitarist Eddie Glass's fuzzed--nut riffing and lyrical solo style that flaunts equal parts Hendrix-inspired Airy and...

Dean Markley.(New Gear)
January 1, 2004... DEAN MARKLEY The first of three planned West Coast Series acoustic pickups from Dean Markley is the Tahoe single-coil soundhole pickup ($129). Designed to fit in any" acoustic guitar's soundhole, the Tahoe features adjustable gold-plated...

Yamaha.(New Gear)
January 1, 2004... 1. YAMAHA The Magicstomp ($299) features sounds from the Yamaha UD, AG, and DG Stomp processors, plus a number of digital effects from the company's SPX series in a compact stompbox design. Designed for use with both acoustic and electric...

Dunlop.(New Gear)
January 1, 2004... 2. DUNLOP Dunlop's new Fretboard 65 Ultimate Lemon Oil ($5 per 4-oz bottle) is specially formulated to clean away grime and return your guitar's fretboard to its original luster, Simply apply a thin coating using the included "Dab-o-Matic"...

Sthac.(New Gear)
January 1, 2004... 3. STHAC French guitarmakers Sthac introduces three new 24-fret versions of their Virtuoso model guitars ($1,899 and up). The Virtuoso Deluxe SL (pictured) features a one-piece mahogany back, a flamed 5-A maple top, a Floyd-Rose...

Fred Kelly.(New Gear)
January 1, 2004... 4. FRED KELLY The Bumblebee ($3) is a combination flatpick and thumbpick in one. The fully adjustable and rotational picks are made out of Delrin, and are available in Light Jazz, Medium Jazz, Heavy Jazz, and Heavy Teardrop gauges. (989)...

Zoom.(New Gear)
January 1, 2004... 5. ZOOM The GFX 5 ($3491 features 75 guitar effects (ten simultaneous) 60 factory and 60 user preset combo settings, Zoom's VAMS amp modeling, a 4 band EQ, and Turbo and Edge controls. The floor-based console also features Zoom's Energize...

Fishman.(New Gear)
January 1, 2004... Fishman and Akai teamed up to develop the Aura signal processor ($429) for acoustic guitars. Using Akai's Acoustic Spectrum Transform (AST) technology, the Aura captures the characteristics of the guitar, the position of the instrument relative...

Action tuners.(New Gear)
January 1, 2004... 6. ACTION TUNERS The String Master robotic guitar tuner ($99) attaches to your tuning peg, "listens" to your sound, and prompts a powerful gear motor to automatically tune your guitar. The device uses advanced micro-processor technology to...

Olympia.(New Gear)
January 1, 2004... The new gloss-finished OMC11CE MisChief guitar ($650) is the latest addition to Tacoma's Olympia line. Available in natural. transparent red (pictured), transparent blue, and transparent black, the MisChief features figured ash top, back, and...

The man in black: Johnny Cash, 1932-2003.(Obituary)
January 1, 2004... He was a primitive guitarist with a limited vocal range, and he lacked a rock star's ironic smirk and trendy looks. Yet with his Martin dreadnought gravelly baritone, and genius for telling stories through song, Johnny Cash moved legions of...

Lords of the Prance: The Darkness' Hawkins Brothers Put the Strut, Swagger, and Screming Guitars Back into Heavy Rock.(Interview)
January 1, 2004... It you believe the hype, Britain's latest rock phenomenon, The Darkness, is bound for glory in the States. You've heard stories like this before. These guys won over their homeland's pub crowds, graduated to stadium gigs by opening shows for...

Shawn Lane: requiem for a master.(remembering guitarist Shawn Lane)(Interview)
January 1, 2004... It's an accepted fact among musicians that talent and success do not necessarily go hand-in-hand. This reality has seldom been so poignantly demonstrated as when Shawn Lane passed away from lung-related illness on September 26, 2004. The...

50 years of perfection.(design and history of electric guitars)
January 1, 2004... When 21-year-old Buddy Holly appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in late 1957, strumming the living daylights out of a maple-neck Stratocaster, typical viewers might well have asked, "Is that a guitar?" After "all, Leo Fender's latest innovation,...

Connecting the dots: hot-rod your blues licks with Jimmy Thackery's passing tones.
January 1, 2004... "I'm a self-taught musician," says blues guitarist Jimmy Thackery," so I learn from my mistakes. If I screw up onstage and its works, I'll think, 'How can I do that again?' I'll try to recreate the train wreck, but with a bit more elegance....

Jeff Raines' galactic grooves.(Guest Guru)(new album by punk music group Galactic)
January 1, 2004... IT'S BEEN TEN YEARS SINCE GUITARIST Jeff Raines, along with boyhood pal, bassist Robert Mercurio, formed the highly infectious, deep-pocket funk collective known as Galactic, which now boasts tens of thousands of fans nationwide. When the band...

Hot guitarist alert!(Chops)(Mark Stanley)
January 1, 2004... THERE'S A GREAT GUITARIST LIVING IN A garage in his mom's backyard in Brookeville, Maryland. His name is Mark Stanley, mad his is not your average garage. "It's a 1,500-square-foot recording studio," says Stanley. "I've got a baby grand piano...

Opening up to open triads.(playing harmonies)
January 1, 2004... JUST ABOUT EVERY guitar player in the world knows how to play the simple, three-note C chord in Ex. 1. But far fewer guitarists realize that because this triad's root, 3, and 5 (C, E, and G, respectively) all reside within fire same octave,...

Reader's challenge: finish finish.(Chops)(ways to end a song or finish a solo)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... THE NEXT TIME YOU WANT TO CLOSE a tune with a hypnotic, lyrical turnaround, remember--as reminds Toni Mattila, a GP reader from Vantaa, Finland--there are an infinite number of cool turnarounds you can use to end a song or finish a solo. To...

Christmas Carol in Peril.(guitarist Steve Lukather records Christmas album)
January 1, 2004... It's hard to name a guitarist who has had a more prolific and fulfilling career than Steve Lukather. In addition to co-founding Toto--which still, after 25 years, regularly headlines to crowds ranging from 6,000 to 45,000 people all over the...

Quick hits.(Wake Up Call)(Group Therapy)(Rocksteady)(A Night for Baku)(Acoustic Romance)(Her Majesty)(Sound Recording Review)
January 1, 2004... Gary Hoey, Wake Up Call. This is a tremendously cool disc for instrumental freaks. Hoey is on fire, his tones kick ass, and the songs are some of the hippest cruisin' tracks ever. Crank it! Surfdog.--MM Dope, Group Therapy. Edsel Dope...

The Raveonettes.(Chain Gang of Love)(Sound Recording Review)
January 1, 2004... Chain Gang of Love In one of those giddy pre-nervous breakdown moments where the whole galaxy just seems hilarious, have you ever wondered what Phil Spector-inspired musical moods would sound like if interpreted by, say, some wacky campers...

Allan Holdsworth.(All Night Wrong)(Sound Recording Review)
January 1, 2004... All Night Wrong As the title not-so-subtly infers, these eight tracks were recorded live in Japan (on May 5, 2002 at the Roppongi Pit fun club in Tokyo). Though entirely off the mainstream radar, the Guitar Player Hall of Fame alumnus...

Martin Simpson.(Righteousness & Humidity)(Sound Recording Review)
January 1, 2004... Righteousness & Humidity One of today's finest slide guitarists and interpreters of traditional music, Martin Simpson continues to grow, inspire, and delight with his razor-sharp picking and grainy voice. On this album--the most sonically...

My Morning Jacket.(It Still Moves)(Sound Recording Review)
January 1, 2004... It Still Moves Although they're often compared to everyone from Neil Young to the Flaming Lips, My Morning Jacket has done something all good bands do--take your influences, mix them up, and let the listener sort it out. It Still Moves,...

Lawrence Juber.(Guitar Noir)(Audiovisual Review)
January 1, 2004... Guitar Noir There's a whole kit and caboodle of hype about the "tribrid" (audio/video/ROM), 24-bit/96kHz master-source audio on Guitar Noir. And, you know, as a studio rat myself, I totally cheese the pristine and sparkling sound quality...

Dean USA Hardtail Collectors and Time Capsule Series.(Bench Tests)(collectible guitars)
January 1, 2004... Flaunting exotic cars and scantily-clad women, Dean guitar ads boosted the testosterone level of many a guitar mag between 1977 and 1986. Dean Zelinksy made his name in the music industry by taking some of Gibson's wildest (and often wildly...

DigiTech X-Series pedals.(Bench Tests)(evaluation of musical instrument equipment)
January 1, 2004... With the introduction of its new X-Series effects pedals, DigiTech has pretty much covered all of the guitarist's basic food groups--compression, delay, distortion, modulation, and reverb. And, by adding the thoughtful feature of built-in...

Gitane D-500 and DG-250.(Bench Tests)(Product/Service Evaluation)
January 1, 2004... I The manouche guitar--the Selmer-style acoustic so central to Gypsy jazz--will be forever associated with the immortal Django Reinhardt. With his snappy arpeggios, quivering vibrato, and nimble melodies, Reinhardt set the standard for "Hot...

Godin exit 22.(Bench Tests)(Product/Service Evaluation)
January 1, 2004... Godin's "short" 24 3/4"-scale guitars, such as the Flat Five, Flat Five X, LG and Radiator are noted for their fast-playing 24-fret necks--a design detail that provides more frets clear of the body, but also places the front pickup outside the...

Sibelius G7.(Software Update)(Product/Service Evaluation)
January 1, 2004... I have noticed that every time I show up to a rehearsal or a gig where the bandleader is a keyboardist, the charts are, well, pretty darn good--especially in comparison to the average sheet music most guitar players provide, which is typically...

Vox Valvetronix AD120VTX and VC12.(Super Splurges Over $500)(Product/Service Evaluation)
January 1, 2004... Here's a story about a good thing getting even better. The original Valvetronix is one kick-ass amp, add its ability to deliver accurate tube sound and feel won it a July 2002 Editors' Pick Award. For the AD120VTX upgrade ($1,499 retail/$1,199...

Randall RM100.(Super Splurges Over $500)(guitar amplifiers)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... The RM100 ($999 retail/$849 street) is the latest addition to Randall's MTS (Modular Tube System) amp line. Designed by lobe-guru/mad-scientist Bruce Egnater, the 100-watt head accepts three plug-in preamp modules ($249 retail/$210 street,...

Aphex model 1404 punch factory.(Groovy Gear Under $500)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... When a company known for vibey, terrific-sounding studio gear starts manufacturing stompboxes, it's a good day for guitarists. The Punch Factory ($199 retail/$149 street) comes on the heels of Aphex's Acoustic and Guitar Xciters (reviewed July...

Landgraff Dynamic Overdrive.(Groovy Gear Under $500)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Sure, the boutique pedal tsunami of the '90s has been reduced to a trickle, but that doesn't stop dedicated builders like John Landgraff. His Landgraff Dynamic Overdrive ($400 retail/street N/A) offers Gain, Tone, and Volume controls and a...

Cable Q2.(Groovy Gear Under $500)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Developed for Shown Lane by his long-time manager Scott Quinn, the Cable Q2 is available in 10-foot ($99 retail/$59 street) and 20-foot ($110/$69 street) lengths. Like many "directional" high-end cables, the Q2 features two conductors plus a...

Palnet Waves Pro-Winder.(Badass Bargains Under $50)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Why carry around both a peg winder and a pair of string cutters when you can have one handy gizmo that performs the duties of both? That's the thinking behind Planet Waves' Pro-Winder ($13 retail). An all-in-one restringing tool, the Pro-Winder...

Flammpicks flamm I and II.(Badass Bargains Under $50)
January 1, 2004... Who knew that the oft-taken-for-granted plectrum would log one of this season's hot technological advances? But the recent appearances of the Flammpicks and the Jellifish point to new and extremely inexpansive approaches to pulling novel...

North Star Audio Pro Pot.(Badass Bargains Under $50)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Intended as an alternative replacement pot for Vox/Cry-Baby-style wah pedals, the North Star Audio Pro Pot ($25 retail, $21 street) comes complete with a pinion gear and large mounting washers. While most Vox/CryBaby-style walls use 100[ohm]...

Pawnshop prize.(Newcomb H-25)
January 1, 2004... Newcomb's tube-powered public-address systems were as common a fixture as the water cooler in offices and factories during the '50s and '60s. And though it's hard to guess how many HLP-14 (14 watt) and H-25 (25 watt) amps (as well as other...