Guitar Player articles from May 2006

Guitar Player archives from May 2006

Noise.(music industry)
May 1, 2006... The modern concept of content is about as hilarious as an elephant attempting to race a Maserati while stuffed into a Mini Cooper. These days, you can't even stand firm on a comprehensive cultural definition of content, as the whole subject is...

Letter of the month!(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2006... Back in 1978, we saw that George Thorogood was playing at Alexander's in Browns Mills, New Jersey, so we made the drive from Philly. I was 18 at the time. As we arrived, the marquee read: "Tonite! Geo Thorogood and special guest." The name of...

Rush to judgment.(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2006... I just received the March issue. Great job! Alex Lifeson is one of my favorite players. I must say that you guys have chutzpah, though. In the Oeuvre Easy section, I noticed that 2112 and A Farewell to Kings are missing from the Required...

Vaughan (but not forgotten).(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2006... Thanks for the transcriptions of SRV's music in the March issue. After all the years that have passed since his death, I still feel an intense mixture of joy and sadness when I encounter a picture of him--joy for his music and sadness about the...

A master with class.(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2006... I was thrilled to see my very first electric guitar staring back at me from Will Ray's eBay Strategies (March '06). But you topped that by featuring a Master Class with Russell Malone. I have never been so touched by another musician's words:...

Oops!(FEEDBACK)
May 1, 2006... In the March '06 Artifacts piece on Jim Kelley Amplifiers, we incorrectly stated that Kelley produced 300 amps between 1978-1985. The correct number is 600.

Keef korrection.(FEEDBACK)(Correction notice)
May 1, 2006... Nothing smarts like being loud, proud, and dead wrong. In the text accompanying my transcription of "The Last Time" (Licks of Wealth and Taste, Aug. '05), I alluded that Keith Richards played the song's signature single-note rift. Shortly...

I was a rock 'n roll fantasy camper.(RIFFS: CULTURE)
May 1, 2006... BACK IN MY PUNK DAYS--WHEN I WAS FIGHTING with obstinate band mates, begging club owners for crap gigs, and hanging out with strippers, junkies, and various live-action versions of the characters parading through Bukowski novels--if you told me...

Kajsa Krantz.(RIFFS: ROCKER GIRL)(Interview)
May 1, 2006... SWEDEN'S KAJSA KRANTZ FIRST CAME TO our attention at ROCKRGRL magazine's ROCKRGRL Day at Hollywood's Musician's Institute in November 2003. Krantz was attending MI's GIT division, and had somehow managed to talk her band, House of Fools, into...

Zal Cleminson.(RIFFS: NO GUITARIST LEFT BEHIND)(Interview)
May 1, 2006... DRESSED UP AS A MAD PUPPET IN WHITE FACE, you couldn't miss Zal Cleminson as he prowled stages with The Sensational Alex Harvey Band in the '70s. A glorious oddity of the times, Scotland's wackiest band merged theatrics, a self-made mythology...

Leni Stern's desert diary.(RIFFS: WORLD)
May 1, 2006... THE DRIVE FROM TIMBUKTU TO ESSAKANE--site of Mali's Festival in the Desert--takes two hours across the sand. This is no road. The Festival features mostly African artists, along with some Europeans and Americans. Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne,...

Eels.(RIFFS: WRITERS)(Mark Oliver Everett)
May 1, 2006... "I JUST COULDN'T POSSIBLY BEAR THE IDEA of having every record I make sound the same," says Mark Oliver Everett, a.k.a. "E," the songwriter and multi-instrumentalist behind eclectic alterna-rockers Eels. With six studio albums that explore pop,...

Passing notes.(RIFFS: WRITERS)(Obituary)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... Guitarist Bill DeArango, whose innovative single-note stylings graced recordings and performances of jazz greats including Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie, died of pneumonia an December 26, 2005, at the age of 85. DeArango, a...

Grant Green.(RIFFS: OUEVRE EASY)(Obituary)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... DESPITE BEING BLUE NOTE RECORDS' MOST prolific artist during its early-to-mid '60s heyday, Grant Green remains an underappreciated hero of jazz guitar. With a style rooted in the bluesy bebop of Charlie Christian and Charlie Parker, Green was a...

Green Street, 1961.(INSPIRED)
May 1, 2006... Green's threadbare reading of Monk's "'Round About Midnight" pares the tune's chordal complexity to its essentials, and his solo on "No. 1 Green Street" is a 13-chorus lesson on playing blues changes.

Born To Be Blue, 1962.(INSPIRED)
May 1, 2006... Green shares the spotlight with old-school boppers Ike Quebec (sax) and Sonny Clark (piano), but what could've become a cut ting contest instead went down as a model of group interplay and melodicism. Even when Green and Quebec solo...

Idle Moments, 1963.(INSPIRED)
May 1, 2006... Not only Green's finest session, but also one of the hottest small-group dates of the hard-bop era. On the languid 15-minute title track, Green is the paradigm of taste and restraint. Then, he cranks it up a notch for the exploratory whole-tone...

Matador, 1965.(INSPIRED)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... Recording with half of John Coltrane's legendary quartet--drummer Elvin Jones and pianist McCoy Tyner--as sidemen might have prompted a lesser musician to ape a pale 'Trane imitation, but Green keeps his cool, providing the icy chill to Jones...

Up at Minton's, 1961.(REQUIRED)
May 1, 2006... A sideman on this Stanley Turrentine live date, Green nearly steals the show. The eight extended cuts give both soloists a chance to flex their chops.

Feelin' the Spirit, 1963.(REQUIRED)
May 1, 2006... On this gospel-themed, funk-jazz album, Green engages Herbie Hancock's piano in a heated call-and-response like a gospel preacher witnessing to his congregation. Amen.

Street of Dreams, 1964.(REQUIRED)
May 1, 2006... This collaboration with Hammond maestro Larry Young is a dreamy and introspective masterpiece--moody and atmospheric without being static and boring.

Live At The Lighthouse, 1972.(REQUIRED)
May 1, 2006... Airtight arrangements, spirited soloing, and pristine sound quality make this the finest work from Green's booty shakin' funk era.

Visions, 1971.(TIRED)
May 1, 2006... Green's attempt to crack the pop market finds him playing instrumental versions of tunes by the Carpenters, Chicago, and--of all people--Mozart. The arrangements are tastefully done, but leave little room for improvisation.

The Main Attraction, 1976.(TIRED)
May 1, 2006... Green gets off some fierce blues-scale runs, but far from being the main attraction, he seems a bit lost in the over-produced title track.

Reader's spotlight.(RIFFS: COMMUNITY)
May 1, 2006... No matter how old you are, where you live, or what style of music you play, this column offers you the potential to be recognized by your peers. If you're chosen for Spotlight, you'll receive an Ernie Ball tee shirt, customized EB picks with...

Nine Black Alps.(RIFFS: BUZZ)
May 1, 2006... "BEING FROM MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, WE have to justify not sounding like Oasis or the Stone Roses," says Nine Black Alps' guitarist/singer Sam Forrest. "We were force fed those bands growing up, so we revolted by looking to America for...

Passing notes.(Obituary)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... Bishop Charlie Jackson--perhaps better known to blues and gospel lovers as the Reverend Charlie Jackson--died in his sleep at a Baker, Louisiana, nursing home on February 13, at the age of 73. One of the few guitar-slinging gospel preachers to...

Ben Vaughn: Designs in Music.(AUDIO)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... Guitarist and composer Ben Vaughn has obviously listened long and hard to early-'60s exotica, TV themes, spy films, spaghetti Westerns, and cocktail music. His Designs in Music--a highly arranged, richly textured collection of original...

ZZ Top: Tres Hombres/Fandango!(AUDIO)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... With the release of the four-CD set, Chrome, Smoke, & BBQ, an affront to humanity was corrected--namely, early ZZ Top was finally available on CD, remastered, and not caked with Rockman and digital reverb. But for all the rejoicing, Chrome is a...

Thomas Leeb: Upside Down.(AUDIO)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... One day soon a guitarist is going to break big with this whole slapping thing. Granted, Michael Hedges already did years ago to a certain extent, putting a face on the then-radical genre of spanked/tapped/ drummed acoustic guitar. And there is,...

What's spinning in the editors' heads this month?(RANTS & RAVES)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... DARRIN FOH Various Artists, Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psgchedelic Era 1965-1968 Hank Penny, King of Hillbilly Bebop Various, Lost Legends of Surf Guitar 2: Point Panic PAUL HAGGARD The Who, Quadrophenia Robin...

Steve Khan: The Green Field.(AUDIO)(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... If you like your jazz served with a cerebral twist, Steve Khan and his cohorts--legendary drummer Jack DeJohnette, bassist John Patitucci, and percussionist Manolo Badrena--have got your number. Throughout the album's mix of originals and...

Chris Sprague: Hammer Down!(AUDIO)(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... Even in these heady technological times, there's one low-tech constant--the 18-wheeler. Because, if you bought it, you can bet a truck brought it. So it's no surprise that a genre whose heyday was in the '60s and '70s, continues to put along...

Chris Whitley & The Bastard Club: Reiter In.(AUDIO)(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... Completed shortly before the revered guitarist and singer songwriter died of lung cancer last November, Whitley's final effort is a low-fi, high-energy collection that furthers his incredible legacy. The disc was recorded almost entirely in one...

Buckethead & Friends: Enter The Chicken.(AUDIO)(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... Everyone's favorite KFC bucket-wearing, ex-Guns & Roses, avant-metal virtuoso shredder stretches out on this impressively diverse collaborative effort. Produced by System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian, who also performs on three cuts, this...

Mouth to Mouth: My Fee Is Lust.(AUDIO)(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... Making a somewhat commercial, modern rock record, with cool guitar tones and exciting playing must be tough, because there sure ain't a lot of it out there. Hell, giving my radio dial a spin, it sounds like it's the same cat playing on every...

Lynch box: Randall Amplifiers.(OUT NOW! NEW GEAR FROM WINTER NAMM 2006!)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * 100 watts * JJ E34L power tubes * Three modular channels * Master Volume, Presence, and Density * Series and parallel loops with front-panel mix control * MIDI In/Thru * Rear-panel tube bias section * World...

Ejamming station: Ejamming, Inc.(OUT NOW! NEW GEAR FROM WINTER NAMM 2006!)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * Gives all musicians with a computer, a broadband Internet connection, and a MIDI-enabled instrument the ability to jam in real time with other musicians around the world * Caters to musicians of all levels by offering different venues,...

A-WS1000NT: Rainsong.(OUT NOW! NEW GEAR FROM WINTER NAMM 2006!)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * Natural carbon/graphite soundboard * Includes integral double-action trussrod * Super-fast neck with a consistently low action and no dead spots * Built-in electronic tuner * Custom gig bag * $1,999 retail *...

Double Drive 3H programmable distortion pedal: Tech 21.(OUT NOW! NEW GEAR FROM WINTER NAMM 2006!)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * 100 percent analog * 3 channels * Two different types of distortion can be used individually or cascaded together: Drive A yields a "Class A" distortion, Drive A/B provides a "Class A/B" distortion * Active 3-band EQ * $195...

G6122 country classic 12-string: Gretsch.(OUT NOW! NEW GEAR FROM WINTER NAMM 2006!)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * Arched laminated maple top * Laminated maple back and sides * Ebony-on-maple neck * Filter' Tron pickups * Grover Rotomatic machine heads * Includes deluxe hardshell case * $3,075 retail * gretschguitars.com...

Paw prints straps: Jodi Head custom guitar wear.(OUT NOW! NEW GEAR FROM WINTER NAMM 2006!)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * 100 percent vegan * Handmade by Jodi Head in honor of all vegan guitarists and animal lovers * Proceeds go to SocialTees animal rescue in NYC * Available colors: red sparkle rufus, black sparkle rufus, black with white racing,...

Power wah: Morley.(OUT NOW! NEW GEAR FROM WINTER NAMM 2006!)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * Electro-Optical wah and volume circuitry * TrueTone Bypass ensures pure guitar tone and level * Wah Level Control * Cold rolled steel housing * Easy access battery compartment * $159 retail * morleypedals.com ...

Anti-rust plated plain steel: Elixir Strings.(OUT NOW! NEW GEAR FROM WINTER NAMM 2006!)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * Proprietary alloy plating inhibits corrosion * Offers feel and sound of traditional strings, but lasts up to three times longer * Available in Super Light, Light, Medium, Heavy, and Baritone gauges * $10 retail *...

Windsor amp head: Peavey.(OUT NOW! NEW GEAR FROM WINTER NAMM 2006!)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * 120 watts * Three 12AX7 preamp tubes/four EL34 power tubes * Single channel * Master Volume, patented Resonance, and Presence * Patent-pending Class A-A/B Texture control * 3-band EQ * Footswitchable gain boost and...

S.O.S. tuner: Planet Waves.(OUT NOW! NEW GEAR FROM WINTER NAMM 2006!)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * Uses strobing (Strobe-On-String) LEDs projected onto the string to tune * When the strobes stop "moving" on the string, the string is in tune * No input or sound is necessary * $19 retail * planetwaves.com ...

MD350: Alvarez Guitars.(OUT NOW! NEW GEAR FROM WINTER NAMM 2006!)
May 1, 2006... * Engelmann spruce top * Indian rosewood back and sides * Five-piece laminated neck with ebony fretboard * Optional electronics * $1,449 retail * alvarezgtr.com [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

More hot NAMM releases!(OUT NOW! NEW GEAR FROM WINTER NAMM 2006!)(Product/service evaluation)
May 1, 2006... Access Bags and Cases Personal FX, Alfred Publishing Grateful Dead: Favorites To Strum And Sing, Ampeg Dan Armstrong plexiglass guitar, Art and Lutherie GT guitar, Audix VX5 vocal condenser mic, B.C. Rich Jr. V, Babicz Octane Series, Bernie...

Wild child! Children of Bodom's Alexi Laiho drags metal guitar out of its solo-lite doldrums.(Interview)
May 1, 2006... TEENAGERS ARE NOT EASILY IMPRESSED. But when I inform my teen guitar students I'm doing a story on Children Of Bodom, the general consensus is "That's so awesome!" What has suddenly made me the world's coolest guitar teacher is...

Still alive and well: if you'd almost forgotten about Johnny Winter, forgive yourself. He was a gone doggie. But wow he's back, totally on fire, and full of the blues.(Interview)
May 1, 2006... "IT WAS JUST ANOTHER FESTIVAL," JOHNNY Winter deadpans when queried about his appearance at Woodstock--which is like saying the Beatles appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show of February 9, 1964 was just another Sunday night. Or that Winter's The...

99 ways to play better [and sound better] right now!(Cover story)
May 1, 2006... EVEN IF YOU'RE LOCKED AWAY IN A BASEMENT FOR EIGHT HOURS A DAY WITH A METRONOME AND A TORTUROUS PRACTICE BOOK THAT IS EQUAL PARTS MEL BAY/GUANTANAMO BAY, YOU'RE STILL NOT ASSURED OF TRANSCENDENT 6-STRING SKILLS. SURE, YOU MAY GET...

Shame on you! Super easy stuff that you're probably no doing.
May 1, 2006... Look right into my baby blues, soldier! Don't you dare sneer at these bonehead tips with the giddy disdain of a Harvard Business School graduate surveying a lemonade stand. Do you consistently do all the things we've listed below? No. Of...

Five essential Jimi Hendrix riffs.(LICK LIBRARY)
May 1, 2006... SELECTING FIVE KILLER RIFFS FROM THE entire Jimi Hendrix catalog is not as difficult a task as one might imagine. In fact, it's remarkably easy: Just put the names of all his songs into a hat, slip on a blindfold, and pick your entries at...

6-string boot camp: spend a week at LA's fabled GIT.(LESSONS: MASTERCLASS)
May 1, 2006... SINCE 1977, WHEN GIT WAS FOUNDED BY JAZZ guitar legend Howard Roberts and businessman Pat Hicks, the school has been a haven for guitarists wanting to drill deeper into technique and music theory. Roberts enlisted ace guitarists Don Mock, Joe...

How to play like ... Eldon Shamblin.(LESSONS: INTERMEDIATE)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... IN 1937 A YOUNG OKLAHOMA GUITARIST named Eldon Shamblin joined Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys. For Shamblin, performing with this legendary Western swing outfit was a dream come true. Shamblin was self-taught, and his rhythm style was highly...

Woodshed: Badass bends and vicious vibrato--Greg Koch reverse engineers the gristly string yanks of blues and rock legends.(LESSONS: INTERMEDIATE)
May 1, 2006... BENDS AND VIBRATO ARE MIRRORS OF THE soul. That's why some guitarists have this queer, quivering little vibrato that makes you think to yourself, "This person is deeply troubled and perhaps in need of counseling or hugs--not from me personally,...

EZ street: get rhythm.(LESSONS: BEGINNER)
May 1, 2006... RHYTHM IS THE HEARTBEAT OF MUSIC. BUT unlike a heartbeat with its predictable pattern, musical rhythm is most exciting when its accents skip, jump, and shift within the context of a steady tempo. Understanding these shifts, and knowing when and...

Prog guru ... Steve Morse: a swingin' country-metal theme.(LESSONS: ADVANCED)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... ONE LICK FROM MY FIRST STEVE MORSE Band album, The Introduction, that people often ask me about is the intro to "On The Pipe." The idea with this flowing spray of sixteenth-notes was to create a slippery, greasy country sound mixed with a hard...

Production strategies: Bob Kulick on headbanging the Beatles.(RECORDING)(Interview)
May 1, 2006... BEING A TARGET FOR BOB Kulick's impassioned, machine-gun enthusiasm is like having your brain fire-bombed by a verbal blitzkrieg. You will surrender. Such assaults--dipped in equal parts confidence, vision, and "let's-have-a-blast" bliss--have...

2.1 desktop monitor systems.(60 SECOND BUYER'S GUIDE)(Product/service evaluation)
May 1, 2006... A 2.1 speaker system--which comprises two "satellite" stereo speakers and a subwoofer--can be hellacious good fun when recording and mixing. The main thrill factor is the subwoofer, which can be adjusted to deliver an expansive frequency...

Artifacts: messenger guitars.(VINTAGE VAULT)
May 1, 2006... WHENEVER THE WORDS "ALUMINUM" AND "guitar" are put together, it's usually in regards to Travis Bean or Kramer, who were the best-known makers of alloy axes. Those companies weren't the first, however. In fact, Bean was predated by some seven...

Will Ray's eBay prizes: auction item '90S Vantage 655 winning bid $350.(VINTAGE VAULT)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... Sometimes, I just like to search for oddball guitar makers. I do this by going to eBay's home page and selecting: Musical Instruments > Guitar > Electric > Other Electric. This bypasses most of the big-name brands and lands you in off-brand...

Roundup! 20 budget solidbodies.(GEAR)(Product/service evaluation)
May 1, 2006... TESTED BY THE GUITAR PLAYER STAFF As anyone who has poked around on the Internet or gone shopping at any of the "big box" retailers can testify, one of the most inflation-defying sectors of the economy is the electric guitar market....

Update Hamer Newport.(GEAR)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... IN 1999, HAMER INTRODUCED THE NEWPORT--a striking, semi-hollow design that featured a carved spruce top, a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece, and Seymour Duncan Phat Cat single-coils. We gave the Newport an Editors' Pick Award, and, since that time, it...

Dan Erlewine's Mod Squad.(GEAR)
May 1, 2006... Mod Squadder Chelsea Clark recently took on one of her toughest jobs to date: Installing two transistor radios in her friend Leslie's Squire Stratocaster. Radios? Well, Leslie is a 21-year-old singer/rapper/poet/guitar-slinging entertainer who...

Stompbox Fever.(GEAR)(Product/service evaluation)
May 1, 2006... SEYMOUR DUNCAN SFX-03 TWIN TUBE CLASSIC The SFX-03 Twin Tube Classic ($299 retail/ $209 street) is a new take on the dual-channel, tube overdrive pedal. Rather than employing the usual 12AX7s, the Twin Tube derives its muscle from a duet of...

Accessory file.(GEAR)(Product/service evaluation)
May 1, 2006... KINMAN AVN WOODSTOCK AND TRADITIONAL MK II PICKUPS WITH NOSOLDERING HARNESS Sure, I know how to solder, and yes, I've replaced pickups and pots on many occasions. But, quite honestly, it was only recently that I installed a complete set of...

Adrian Belew on rock schools.(TESTIMONY)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... "I DON'T FIND ROCK SCHOOLS STRANGE AT ALL because, in a way, everybody goes to their own school of rock. When I was a kid, we didn't have a proper building with teachers in it. We just had the records we played. Jimi Hendrix went to the Little...