Guitar Player articles from October 2008

Guitar Player archives from October 2008

Noize from the editor.(a fan's reaction to VH-1 Rock Honors The Who)(Editorial)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ONE OF THE HILARIOUS ASPECTS OF GAINING life experience is that you find yourself becoming a strange amalgam of your youthful rebelliousness, the personal glories and smack downs you've collected throughout the...

Letter of the month.(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2008... I have always been a person who appreciates evocative verbiage. Since becoming a subscriber to Guitar Player magazine, ! have been thoroughly impressed with the expressive terminology that the staff uses in the articles and reviews. Some of my...

Crowing for Luther.(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2008... I am a young guitarist whose dad loves Luther Dickinson--not from his work with the Crowes, but from the North Mississippi Allstars. The second I saw the August cover, I called my dad, and we both went crazy. I hope this article will give...

Cover talk.(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2008... After reading your notes about who should grace the cover of GP--a new musician/band or one of the old guard--I was gobsmacked. To me, GP is an icon. I would bet my last money that if you had a plain white cover with the Guitar Player logo and...

Shop talk talk.(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2008... I recently purchased a '69 Super Reverb, and although I think it sounds great, I was looking into changing it to Blackface circuitry. The Internet turned up a hundred different opinions on how to do this, so I was more than thrilled when I...

Noize for the editor.(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2008... I just received my August '08 issue and wanted to comment on the excellent "Noize from the Editor" page. Mr. Molenda has simultaneously honored all of our armed service personnel and veterans, while giving us readers some very inspiring things...

David Grissom: on getting and keeping the gig.(RIFFS)(Interview)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] HOW DID YOU GET YOUR MOST WELL-KNOWN GIGS: Joe Ely, John Mellencamp, and the Dixie Chicks? In all three cases 1 got the gig because [ had worked with someone in or very close to the band. With Joe Ely, I knew...

David Kahne's orchestral EQ concepts.(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "My favorite thing is arranging strings," says producer David Kahne (Paul McCartney, Tony Bennett, Regina Spektor), "So, one day, I was sitting at a console trying to figure out what mixing was, and I EQ'd a guitar...

The legendary Larry Carlton.(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... Guitar Player honored Larry Carlton with its fourth Legend Award at Muriel Anderson's All-Star Guitar Night, held during Summer NAMM in Nashville on June 21. The event took place at the vibey Ryman Auditorium--which hosted the Grand Ole Opry...

2008 Montreal Guitar Show.(RIFFS)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] BETWEEN FRIDAY JUNE 27 AND SUNDAY June 29, thousands of guitar enthusiasts attended the second annual Salon De Guitare De Montreal--a.k.a. the Montreal Guitar Show. Produced under the aegis of the Montreal Jazz...

Judas Priest's Rob Halford talks guitar.(RIFFS)(Interview)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... IN ADDITION TO PRIEST GUITARISTS Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing, you've also worked with Tony Iommi and Dimebag Darrell. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I've had the fortune of being in the company of some really talented players, even on a...

5.1 Strat!(RIFFS)(a Squier Stratocaster electric guitar plugged into a 5.1 speaker system)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LIKE MANY PEOPLE, Adam Johnson loves to experience movies in surround sound from the comfort of his own couch. But when he was installing his 5.1 system and saw the amplifier's six input jacks, the Oakland,...

Paul Gilbert on how not to get shocked.(RIFFS)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "HERE'S A GREAT SECRET," says shred king Gilbert. "If you are getting a small electrical shock when you touch your guitar and vocal mic at the same time, try this: Take a long guitar cable and plug one end into any...

Buck-O-Roo doubleneck.(RIFFS: VINTAGE VAULT)(history of a rare guitar's design)
October 1, 2008... BY NOW YOU PROBABLY KNOW THAT Bakersfield, California, was a major hub in the frenzied guitar-making times of the 1960s, and home to brands like Mosrite, Standel, Hallmark, and Gruggett. During the peak years of 1963 to 1968, thousands of...

Editor boy's big eight.(RIFFS: Web Hordes)(evaluation of songs posted on the Internet by amateur musicians)
October 1, 2008... GUITAR PLAYER INVITES all D.I.Y. artists and bands to share their guitar skills with our reader community. This opportunity is open to all MySpace musicians, or to any player/band with a Web site that has their music posted. All you have...

Bruce Barr.(PASSING NOTE)(In memoriam)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... Stompbox entrepreneur Bruce Barr, who died in an automobile accident on January 25, 2008, was an instrumental figure in the resurgence in popularity of effects pedals in the mid 1990s. Barr, who was born July 14, 1958, helped GP out immensely...

Jesse Lacey on cloning for inspiration.(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... "Even if you're committed to writing and playing original music, I think it's extremely important to learn as many different songs as you can," says Brand New guitarist Jesse Lacey, who recently launched a record label--Procrastinate! Music...

Walter Trout's emotional rescue.(RIFFS)(Interview)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "GUITARISTS OFTEN ASK ME IF I PLAY IN diatonic or pentatonic," says blues rocker Walter Trout, whose recent release is The Outsider [Megaforce/Provogue], "and I tell them that I used to use hair tonic and then I...

Judas Priest.(FEATURES: Metal)(interview with guitarists K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton)(Interview)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IN 1980, JUDAS PRIEST PENNED THE gloriously anthemic "Metal Gods"--replete with K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton's lockstep power-chord rhythms and a swirling solo, and Rob Halford's otherworldly vocals--but the truth...

Marc Ribot.(FEATURES: Jazz)(Interview)
October 1, 2008... MARC RIBOT'S THIRST FOR NEW MUSICAL POSSIBILITIES HAS BEEN THE governing factor throughout his remarkable 30-year career. His 18 albums straddle myriad genres, including jazz, rock, punk, avant-garde, noise, new music, and worldbeat. His...

Bill Cutler.(FEATURES: Recording)(Interview)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IT'S A STORY REMINISCENT OF THE ODYSSEY, where the Greek king Odysseus was bedeviled by sirens, a Cyclops, and various gods, goddesses, and demi-gods throughout a ten-year voyage home after the Trojan War. Well,...

Greg Howe.(FEATURES: Fusion)(Interview)
October 1, 2008... GREG HOWE DECIDED TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT playing guitar after seeing Edward Van Halen while in his early teens. He practiced like a fiend, and in 1988 inked a deal with Shrapnel Records, which led to a string of releases that distinguished him as...

Tommy Emmanuel.(FEATURES: Acoustic)(Interview)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] FINGERSTYLE SUPERSTAR TOMMY EMMANUEL won't give himself a break. Despite having to stop touring in 2007 due to exhaustion, he's back on the road again, and is booked solid through mid-2009. At these one-man...

Alvin Lee.(FEATURES: No Guitarist Left Behind)(Interview)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "THIS IS A LITTLE THING CALLED 'I'M GOING HOME,'" says Ten Years After's Alvin Lee in the 1970 documentary Woodstock. It's almost a whisper, as if the guitarist is just awaking from the deepest of dreams. But then, a...

Dean DeLeon.(FEATURES: Rock)(Interview)
October 1, 2008... WHEN THEY FIRST CAME ONTO THE NEWLY minted grunge scene in 1992, Stone Temple Pilots got more than their fair share of unfavorable press. Critics said the sludgy, modulated riffs of guitarist Dean DeLeo and his bass-playing brother Robert were...

Throwdown.(FEATURES: Thrash)(interview with guitarist Mark Choiniere)(Interview)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THANKS TO THE WELL-SCRUBBED FAMILY environment of Disneyland, and hitmakers such as No Doubt and the Offspring, it's easy to assume all Orange County, California bands aspire to a breezy, radio-friendly punk-pop...

Ed DeGenaro.(FEATURES: Outsider)(Interview)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "I'M THE POSTER BOY FOR A.D.D.," jokes German-born, Seattle-based Ed DeGenaro. "When I'm recording an album, I work on one song at a time, and when I'm finished I ask myself what I'm going to do next. Then I do...

Ry Cooder: I, Flathead Deluxe Edition.(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... RY COODER I, Flathead Deluxe Edition [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On the final disc in Cooder's California Trilogy, the slide, steel, and twang master tackles '60s-era small town life on the edge of the desert in the Searles Lake/Trona...

Paul Manousos: Common Thread.(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... PAUL MANOUSOS Common Thread [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Former GP brother in arms Darrin Fox positively kills on this collection of Americana tunes, Singer/songwriter Paul Manousos drives the songs with his acoustic strums with...

What's spinning in the editors' heads this month?(RANTS & RAVES)(sound recordings popular among magazine editors)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... MATT BLACKETT Elvis Costello, My Aim Is True Alanis Morissette, Flavors of Entanglement Protein, Songs About Cowgirls BARRY CLEVELAND Javier Garcia & Anden Sur, Mate Voodoo Martin Taylor, Fraternity Mike...

Los Fabulocos: Los Fabulocos.(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... Los Fabulocos Los Fabulocos [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Swinging out of the SoCal Chicano music scene, Los Fabulocos combine Tex-Mex border influences with '50s R&B and rockabilly, and a touch of zydeco to create their hybrid...

Dungen: 4.(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... Dungen 4 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On their appropriately--if less than creatively--titled fourth studio album, the neo-psychedelic Swedes once again present Day-Glo sound paintings using broad strokes--but this time with softer...

D.F.A.: 4th.(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... D.F.A. 4th [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Verona, Italy's D.F.A. (an acronym for Duty Free Area) are obviously indebted to '70s Canterbury Scene bands such as Hatfield and the North and National Health, but the group bring much more than...

Classic Electrics.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2008... CLASSIC ELECTRICS By Walter Carter [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] By Walter Carter This handy book isn't another lavish coffee-table tome of unobtainable guitars from the '50s, but rather a field guide to some 350 classic electric...

Guitar Identification 4th Edition: A Reference for Dating Guitars Made by Fender, Gibson, Gretsch, and Martin.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2008... GUITAR IDENTIFICATION 4TH EDITION: A REFERENCE FOR DATING GUITARS MADE BY FENDER, GIBSON, GRETSCH, AND MARTIN By A. R. Duchossoir [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] By A. R. Duchossoir The tile of this revised and updated 82-page book...

Bonny & Buzz: Bang It Again!(QUICK HITS)(Sound recording review)(Brief review)
October 1, 2008... BONNY & BUZZ Bang It Again! [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] If you love early-'60s-style instrumental twang-pop with just the right touch of kitsch, played beautifully on vintage instruments, and recorded old school, you can't miss with...

Greg Camp: Defektor.(QUICK HITS)(Sound recording review)(Brief review)
October 1, 2008... GREG CAMP Defektor [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Smashmouth's guitarist and hyper-creative "man behind the curtain"--the sonic wizard behind the pop/punk posse's multi-layered, multi'platinum hits--emerges with a surf-adelic solo...

Von Garcia: I Think A Think.(QUICK HITS)(Sound recording review)(Brief review)
October 1, 2008... VON GARCIA I Think A Think [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] James yon Buelow and Damon Trotta's ambient noise rock "collaborative musical collage" showcases a bevy of NYC's best improvisers--including guitarist extraordinaire Ben Monder on...

Checkpoint Charley: Songs One Through Twelve.(QUICK HITS)(Sound recording review)(Brief review)
October 1, 2008... CHECKPOINT CHARLEY Songs One Through Twelve [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Pop gods Jellyfish famously stole from everyone. Checkpoint Charley steals from Jellyfish. Brilliant! Great guitar tones, clever parts, and cool solos abound, as...

Greg Koch and Other Bad Men: On The Radio.(QUICK HITS)(Sound recording review)(Brief review)
October 1, 2008... GREG KOCH AND OTHER BAD MEN On The Radio [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Wisconsin Tele/Strat strangler who teaches GP readers how to "pummel the gristle with great vehemence" (and we're trusting him that this phrase somehow relates to...

Steve Cropper & Felix Cavaliere: Nudge It Up A Notch.(QUICK HIT)(Sound recording review)(Brief review)
October 1, 2008... STEVE CROPPER & FELIX CAVALIERE Nudge It Up A Notch [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Bulletproof grooves powered by gritty and greasy guitar and vocal tracks courtesy of two bullet-proof pioneers of blued-eyed soul. Soothing. When this disc...

Fulltone: RTO Robin Trower signature overdrive.(GEAR: New Gear)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... Utilizes JFET op amp with no input buffer for excellent touch sensitivity and clean-up no matter what pickups or audio signal is fed into it * Uses diode combination in op amp feedback loop to achieve natural sounding, slightly asymmetrical...

Boss: SL-20 slicer.(GEAR: New Gear)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... 50 onboard slice patterns with adjustable attack and duration * Harmonic Slicer generates percussive melodies * Tap Tempo * Attack, duration, wet/dry mix, and other parameters controllable via optional expression pedal * Variety of output...

Clemco Incorporated: connectour.(GEAR: New Gear)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... Allows easy installation of any desired components (pickups, potentiometers, capacitors, switches, printed circuits, etc.) in guitar's circuitry via solderless "in-parallel posts" * Once desired tone is achieved, connections may be left in...

Batten: string damper.(GEAR: New Gear)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... Stops open string noise with felt damper * Attaches to headstock * Adjustable tension arm flips up or down to allow open strings or harmonics to sound * AP 6720-003 is for headstocks with three-on-aside tuners; AP 6721-003 is for headstocks...

Reeves Amplification: custom 50 PS amplifier.(GEAR: New Gear)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... Built-in Power Scaling technology allows cranked tone at bedroom levels without lowering voltage to output tubes * 50 watts * Two EL34 power tubes, three 12AX7s, one 12AT7 * Switchable impedance and voltage selection * $2,149 factory direct"...

Luna Guitars: crane acoustic/electric guitar.(GEAR: New Gear)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... Dreadnought cutaway. Solid sitkaspruce top * Lacewoocl back and sides * Mahogany neck * Rosewood fretboard * Orion preamp with 4band equalizer and onboard digital tuner * $580 retail/$479 street * lunaguitars.com [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Louisiana hayride: Sonny Landreth unleashes a category 5 guitar storm with guests Eric Clapton, Robben Ford, Vince Gill, and Mark Knopfler on from the reach.(Interview)(Cover story)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "IT'S SO GREAT TO HEAR A HIGH-ENERGY PLAYER DOING SOMETHING unique and refreshing, and I think that more than anyone, Sonny is doing that right now." Those are the words of Eric Johnson reflecting on Louisiana slide...

Sonny Landreth's/slide secrets: the ultimate Guide to Both Sides of the slide.(LESSON: Master Class)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LIKE THOSE FAMOUS FICTIONAL KIDS who discover the gateway to Narnia in the back of a magical wardrobe, Sonny Landreth, too, has stumbled on a portal to another world--not one of lions and witches, but one of...

Todd Rundgren returns to the arena.(LESSON: Licks & Tricks)(Interview)
October 1, 2008... IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME. THAT'S WHAT UBER-MUSICIAN TODD RUNDGREN is counting on. "I figured if I made an album of arena-rock songs, maybe we'd end up playing them in arenas," he told audiences during our summer '08 tour. which previewed...

Beginner: Joe Satriani's blues bends and slides.(LESSONS: Guest Guru)(Interview)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ASKED WHAT HIS BIGGEST EPIPHANY was as a budding guitarist, Joe Satriani recalls a day growing up on Long Island when "some kid from the next town over" showed him the true firepower of the blues scale [Ex. 1].--Jude...

3 Brazen electrics.(GEAR: Bench Test)(Product/service evaluation)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DESIGNERS, BUSINESSMEN, AND ASSORTED wackos have started guitar companies for myriad reasons, but Steve Tsai followed a path of divine inspiration--as well as a delayed acceptance of his family legacy--to launch...

Source Audio Hot Hand MIDI-EXP.(GEAR: XTreme Guitar)(Product/service evaluation)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] SOURCE AUDIO'S HOT HAND PHASER/FLANGER--which was introduced in the August '07 GP--features a ring worn on the player's picking hand that controls the stompbox's parameters. The ring sends expression-pedal-style...

Boulder Creek Solitaire.(GEAR: Bench Test)(Product/service evaluation)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE CONCEPT IS SIMPLE: USE A BRACING SYSTEM that only minimally contacts the soundboard of an acoustic guitar--instead of the traditional-style wooden "X" bracing, which is glued entirely to the soundboard--and...

Randall RM100KH Kirk Hammett signature head and RS412KHX cab.(GEAR: Bench Test)(Product/service evaluation)
October 1, 2008... GUITAR PLAYERS OF A CERTAIN AGE CERTAINLY recall the Seymour Duncan Convertible amp. It was an idea that was way ahead of its time: an amp that you could revoice any way you wanted with ingenious tube modules. Play a country gig with clean tone...

Four Soundblox pedals from Source Audio.(GEAR: Bench Test)(Product/service evaluation)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WE LAST SAW THE FOLKS FROM SOURCE AUDIO when we reviewed their Hot Hand Phaser/ Flanger, an ingenious take on modulation effects that allowed real-time control of parameters with a wireless controller ring worn on...

Line 6 Micro Spider vs. Roland Micro Cube RX.(GEAR: Fight Club)(Product/service evaluation)
October 1, 2008... ON A GLACIALLY COLD U.S. TOUR WITH BX3 last winter, only one thing was more useful than our gloves for keeping our hands warm--Billy Sheehan's road worn Roland Micro Cube. Smaller than some lunch boxes yet loaded with a wide range of tones, the...

Bob Kilgore's Harmonic Capo.(GEAR: Accessory File)(Product/service evaluation)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I'M GOING TO CONFESS SOMETHING: IN MY callow youth, I had an anti-capo bias. I didn't like capos and I didn't like being around people who did. "Why don't you just learn barre chords?" said my intolerant former self....

Mighty bright: XtraFlex Duet2 music light.(GEAR: Accessory File)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE OLD JOKE ABOUT GETTING A GUITAR PLAYER to turn down by putting a chart in front of him could be due to the fact that charts can be pretty difficult to read in dim light. That's why the Duet2 ($39 retail/$24...

Accusound Silver Studio Pro.(GEAR: Accessory File)(guitar accessory)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE SILVER STUDIO PRO ($69 STREET) OFFERS superior signal conductivity via its dual electro-plated-silver copper conductors, and excellent immunity to RFI and EMI noise thanks to a braided copper shield in which the...

Red Bear Trading Classic II.(GEAR: Accessory File)(guitar picks)(Product/service evaluation)
October 1, 2008... ON THE WAY TO SUMMER NAMM, I BUMPED into my friend Doug at LAX, who showed me these faux tortoise-shell picks made from some bizarre dairy by-product. They looked real pretty, but I couldn't understand why Doug was so jazzed about...

Looperlative LP1.(GEAR: Bench Test)(Product/service evaluation)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] AS MORE AND MORE ARTISTS HAVE INCORPORATED live looping into their music, and their creative needs have become more sophisticated, manufacturers have responded by offering increasingly complex hardware devices. Many...

All about rectifiers.(GEAR: Sonic Essentials)(part of a guitar amplifier)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] EVEN AMONG GUITARISTS WHO KNOW A THING or two about tile basics of tube amps, the humble rectifier often remains an enigma. The marketing departments of plenty of amplifier manufacturers wave the term "tube...

Rocktron Banshee 2.(GEAR: Bench Test)(Product/service evaluation)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IT'S EASY TO CRED IT THE TALK BOX'S resurgence to Peter Frampton's Geico commercials and other recent high-profile talk-box sightings (such as the Velvet Revolver, Eagles, and Bon Jovi tours), but on the...

Righteous reverb tweaks.(GEAR: Shop Talk)(modifying electric guitars to produce reverb)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WHAT SORT OF MAINTENANCE OR MODS COULD I do to improve the reverb tones on my Fender black-face and silverface amplifiers?--Justin Hess, San Francisco, CA The reverb function of a tube/spring reverb can be very...

John Lee Hooker: August 1992.(BACK PAGE: Flashback)(Interview)(Excerpt)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "AIN'T A LOT OF CHORDS TO IT. IT'S JUST a big beat. And I sound just like a whole band. Now you dig it, and dig my feets."--"Teaching the Blues," 1961 Our search for the big beat led us to John Lee Hooker's house...