Guitar Player articles from September 2003

Guitar Player archives from September 2003

Community. (Soundhole).
September 1, 2003... What a pleasure it is that the majority of GP readers don't simply breeze through our pages each month and then toss the mag away--abandoning it as a relic of a half-hour or so of pleasant distraction. Nope. Because you're absolutely devoted to...

The Variax. (Feedback).(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2003... I just finished reading your article on the Line 6 Variax modeling guitar [July' 03]. Let me first congratulate you on a great, non-biased article. When I picked up the issue out of the marl pile and saw the cover, I was awestruck. Not with...

Sonny Landreth. (Feedback).(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2003... Thanks so much to Sonny Landreth and Andy Ellis for putting together a great Master Class ["Wild Side Slide," July '03]. I read an all-too-short article on Sonny about eight years ago, that mentioned his "behind the slide" technique. Though I...

Rick Derringer. (Feedback).(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2003... Thank you very much for the article on Rick Derringer ["Moment of Truth," July '03]. He deserves it. I hope someday he will again be on the cover of Guitar Player. He is still growing musically, and that's saying something. He is the most...

Fretwire. (Input Output).(brief notes on music groups, albums, festivals )
September 1, 2003... Some interesting and generally unrelated things have been going on in the music world. Here are a few of them: * In July, the Stray Cats reunited for the first time since 1992, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the group's inception....

Classical corner: Sharon Isbin. (Input Output).(guitarist)(includes advice on guitar music performance)(Interview)
September 1, 2003... One of today's top concert guitarists, Sharon Isbin is known for her emotional expressiveness and stunning virtuosity. On her latest disc, Baroque Favorites for Guitar [Warner Classics], Isbin performs music by Bach and Vivaldi over the soaring...

Blues joint: James Mathus. (Input Output).(guitarist )(Interview)
September 1, 2003... A blues record as raw as James Mathus Knockdown Society's Stop and Let the Devil Ride [Fast Horse] could only be made by a man who just stepped out of a time machine. Known mostly for his vaudevillian take on hot jazz with his former band, the...

Angels. (Input Output).(musician Joe Hughes, producer Mickie Most, photographer Joe Sia )(Obituary)
September 1, 2003... Joe "Guitar" Hughes Hughes--a musical partner and friend of Johnny Clyde Copeland, and a one- time member of Bobby "Blue" Bland's group--died after suffering a massive heart attack on May 15. He was 65. Although Hughes seldom ventured...

Buzz box: Ash. (Input Output).(guitarists Tim Wheeler, Charlotte Hatherley)(Interview)
September 1, 2003... "My only criticism of some American bands is that they find one style and stick to it," says Tim Wheeler, guitarist and frontperson for Ireland's Ash. "We don't limit ourselves." National pride aside, you won't catch Wheeler declaring...

Poison Ivy's evil 13: riffs I dig to death. (Input Output).(comments on music recordings )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... "The Witch," The Sonics Simple, angry, and scary use of two chords. "The Bat," The Ventures Two chords again. Evil and tough. Similar, but strangely different from Link Wray's "Rumble." "Buzz Saw," The Gee Cees A sparse...

Hello again: Robby Krieger. (Input Output).(guitarist)(musical act Doors 21st Century )(Interview)
September 1, 2003... Relaunching a band as cloaked in legend, mystery, and outright buffoonery as the Doors seems like it would be a paralyzing proposition. Especially when the group's main ticket to rock mythology--singer Jim Morrison--is, well, dead. But there's...

Excellent idea! Fender S-1 switch. (Input Output).(sound control device )
September 1, 2003... Pickup switching has evolved from the 3-position switch, to the 5-position, to guitars sprouting additional switches for out-of-phase, split coils, coil tap, and other configurations. But sometimes the "improvements" really just complicate...

Cool & coming soon. (Input Output).(upcoming music albums)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... August 5 My Morning Jacket, It Still Moves [BMG] Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Unclassified [Warner Brothers] August 12 Glasseater, Everything Is Beautiful When You Don't Look Down [Victory] Gene Loves Jezebel,...

Snarling dogs. (New Gear).(Wonder Wah 2, electric guitar pedal )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... The foot-shaped Wonder Wah 2 ($TBA) shares its sturdiness and simplicity with its predecessor, the Wonder Wah, but has a wider frequency range for cleaner highs and thicker bass. The pedal's no-frills feature list includes input and output...

1. Genz Benz. (New Gear).(GB412 G-Flex George Lynch cabinet guitar speakers )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... The GB412 G-Flex George Lynch ported 4x12 cabinet ($1,099) is built from birch plywood with MDF baffles and features a 1/2" plywood back that provides unique give, or "flex." Other features include heavy-duty metal handles, removable casters, a...

2. Blade. (New Gear).(Texas Deluxe, guitar )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... The Texas Deluxe ($995) features an AAA maple top on an alder body, gold hardware, two VS-1 Levinson single-coil pickups, a Levinson humbucker, and a vintage-style tremolo system. The Deluxe also sports Blade's Variable Spectrum Control (VSC)...

3. Re-creations. (New Gear).(Pneudimension wooden guitar stands )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Pneudimension guitar stands ($215 as pictured) are crafted from exotic hardwoods such as padauk, purple heart, walnut, and jatoba, and are finished with hand-rubbed tung oil to provide a durable finish. The sturdy, lightweight stands can be...

Seymour Duncan. (New Gear).(Twang Banger guitar pickup )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... The Twang Banger pickup ($89) was engineered to inject Tele-style twang into your Strat. One of the secrets of the high-output, single-coil pickup is a copper-coated steel plate attached to its underside that disperses the magnetic field the...

4. Marchione. (New Gear).(Mark Whitfield Signature Archtop, guitar )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Stephen Marchione and jazzer Mark Whitfield collaborated to create the Mark Whitfield signature archtop ($18,500). The 16" solid wood acoustic features an Engelmann spruce top, highly figured maple back and sides, a sugar maple neck with...

5. Rocky Mountain slides. (New Gear).(guitar slides )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Three years in development, Rocky Mountain slides ($21 each) capture the volume of glass while providing the warmth of ceramic models. The slides are hand-worked, finished in an "electric blue" glaze, and are equally responsive with electric or...

6. Sportsview. (New Gear).(Gibson The King, limited edition guitar )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Created to commemorate The career of auto racing legend Richard Petty, "The King" guitar ($5,995) is a collectible Gibson Les Paul adorned with artwork by re-knowned NASCAR artist Sam Bass. Each of the 43 limited-edition guitars (43 is the...

Rocktron. (New Gear).(amplifier Rampage R50DSP)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... The 2-channel (clean and overdrive), 50-watt Rampage R50DSP amp ($399) features two 8" Rocktron Velocity speakers, 3-band EQ, eight digital effects (including chorus, delay, reverb, and tremolo), an effect-mix control, speaker simulation on its...

Sahara Hotnights' Maria Andersson and Jennie Asplund may be Swedish, but they're a lot louder than ABBA. (Northern Lights).(musicians)(production of their music album Jennie Bomb )(Interview)
September 1, 2003... You've gotta hand it to Sweden. For a sleepy little country, they sure have given rock a major kick in the ass. Bands such as the Hives, International Noise Conspiracy, Division of Laura Lee, and the Hellacopters have not only buried their...

Otis Taylor's deep-trance blues. (The Real Deal).(guitarist )(Interview)
September 1, 2003... Otis Taylor is arguably the most relevant blues artist of our time. Besides tackling traditional blues themes such as murder, infidelity, and depression, Taylor confronts racism and repression--topics that were largely taboo for earlier...

Pure & easy: the Deftones' Stephen Carpenter just wants to have fun.(guitarist )(Interview)
September 1, 2003... Creation often manifests itself in strange and wonderful ways. In the rock world, music can be written and performed by a single mastermind, or that person could direct a band to support his or her vision. Or a charismatic frontperson can...

Heart full of soul: Jeff Beck plays it again with feeling.(guitarist)(his latest album Jeff )(Interview)(Cover Story)
September 1, 2003... Jeff Beck has always presented a moving target. Whether it's infusing the Yardbirds' blues-based pop with psychedelia, pioneering heavy metal with the first Jeff Beck Group, reinterpreting funk and soul with the second JBG, going full-tilt...

Thrash + burn: Anthrax's Scott Ian on riffs, rap, and rock radio.(guitarist )(Interview)
September 1, 2003... When you're cited as a pioneer in two genres of music, you must be doing something right. Such is the case for Anthrax, a band that's name-checked as forging thrash-metal and rap metal (thanks to 1987's super-charged hip-hop/metal ER I'm the...

Running down a dream: Marty Friedman shares the riffs and inspiration behind Music for Speeding.(guitarist)(includes chord progressions, playing techniques )(Interview)
September 1, 2003... "Being a good guitar player is dangerous," asserts Marty Friedman, "because if you have chops, people will want to hire you." Whoa, wait a second. Since when was getting paid good money to play guitar anything less than one of the highest...

Shane Theriot takes it out. (Guest Guru).(guitarist)(includes notes on chord progressions )(Interview)
September 1, 2003... POSSESSING FEROCIOUS chops and a hellacious sense of groove, Shane Theriot straddles the line between the street-schooled and formally trained 6-stringer. Playing with the Neville Brothers keeps him loose and greasy--in fact, Theriot's funk...

Hot guitarist alert! (Chops).(guitarist Hamilton Loomis)(includes notes on chord progressions )(Interview)
September 1, 2003... Name: Hamilton Loomis Home Base: Galveston, Texas ON THE FIRST TRACK OF HIS DEBUT ALBUM, KICKIN' IT [BLIND PIG], Hamilton Loomis claims through his lyrics that he's been "working real hard doing nothing at all." Well, don't believe...

Crazy eighths. (Chops).(the use of eighth notes in chord changes )
September 1, 2003... ACCORDING TO THE great jazz guitarist Joe Pass, one of the best ways to learn how to improvise lyrical and melodic lead lines is to solo over chord changes using an unbroken stream of eighth-notes. Limiting yourself to using only eighth-notes...

Flashback: Tal Farlow. (Chops).(jazz guitarist)(includes guitar chord progression )
September 1, 2003... THERE MAY BE BETTER KNOWN JAZZ LEGENDS, BUT few players had a bigger impact on the world of jazz guitar than the late Tal Farlow. In the mid-'40s, Farlow came to New York City to make a name for himself in the thriving bebop scene, and within...

Reader's challenge: Purple Hayes. (Chops).(guitar chord progression )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... JUST BECAUSE A CHORD progression is ordinary, it doesn't mean your guitar part has to be mundane. Check out how John Hayes of San Luis Obispo, California, handles a standard C-Am7-G7 progression. "Whether you're zipping along at Randy Rhoads...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin DVD How the West Was Won.(bassist John Paul Jones )(Interview)
September 1, 2003... 3-CD set "No Led Zeppelin concert was ever the same as the one before it," says Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, and nothing proves his claim better than the newly released Led Zeppelin DVD. Featuring more than five hours of...

Fu Manchu, Go For It ... Live!(Sound Recording Review)
September 1, 2003... With Fu Manchu, you know exactly what you're getting: big guitars, big riffs, and killer wah-wah-laden solos from Bob Batch. This two-CD set will keep the van a-rockin' for a long time. SPV.

Lillix, Falling Uphill.(Sound Recording Review)
September 1, 2003... Integrity. Raw power. Jaw-dropping riffs and solos. Those words and phrases have nothing to do with this cutesy, corporate-guitar-pop concoction. The word "ick" comes to mind, however. Maverick.

Henry Kaiser and Glen Phillips, Guitar Party.(Sound Recording Review)
September 1, 2003... The two guitarists dish up smokin' psychedelic '60s covers--Quicksilver, Airplane, Hendrix, Young, Byrds, etc.--and several related originals on this novel, but not novelty CD that was originally recorded in 1990. Gaff Music.

Cheap Trick, Special One.(Sound Recording Review)
September 1, 2003... From the Roger Daltrey-styled yelping of "Scent of a Woman" to the Beatle-esque songwriting to Rick Nielsen's patented rhythm punches and riff frenzies, this is everything a geezer needs to believe in rock and roll again. Big3 Records.

Ronnie Earl, I Feel Like Goin' On.(Sound Recording Review)
September 1, 2003... Earl is on fire throughout this howling collection of instrumental blues, which he cut live in the studio. Every track is a first take, and you can feel the adrenaline in Earl's raw, toothy Strat tones. Stony Plain.

Various artists, Guitar Ace: Link Wray Tribute.(Sound Recording Review)
September 1, 2003... Anything that acknowledges the feral majesty of Mr. Link Wray is A.O.K. in my book. This compilation does the job by offering some cool moments (Deke Dickerson, Dave Wronski, Boss Martians, Pollo Del Mar), but the mostly sedate covers...

Joseph Spence Happy All the Time.(Sound Recording Review)
September 1, 2003... A huge influence on the likes of Ry Cooder, Taj Mahal, and Peter Lang, Spence stands as one of the most original acoustic stylists ever. Hailing from the Andros Islands in the Bahamas, the long out-of-print Happy All the Time was Spence's first...

Bryan Sutton Bluegrass Guitar.(Sound Recording Review)
September 1, 2003... In this all-acoustic instrumental outing Sutton plays his custom Bourgeois dreadnought and battered '42 Martin D-18 with such toneful authority and fluid speed that you'll grin in disbelief. Even at breakneck tempos, his lines stay crisp and...

Various Artists Exile on Blues St.(Sound Recording Review)
September 1, 2003... The Rolling Stones were on exile in France facing tax evasion problems when they recorded the classic double-LP Exile on Main St. in 1972--a situation that may have itself increased the band's personal appreciation of the blues. But Jagger,...

Ray Wylie Hubbard Growl.(Sound Recording Review)
September 1, 2003... Love gone bad, broken dreams, heartache, and regret. With a raspy voice and an extraordinary eye for detail, Texas songster Hubbard spins these and other ominous themes into exquisite vignettes of life's darker side. But it's guitarist and...

Pink Floyd The Dark Side of the Moon.(guitar parts of music album )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... The miles of prose devoted to Pink Floyd's watershed The Dark Side of the Moon could probably stretch to, well, the moon. Hell, the nutty speculation that has surrounded Dark Side--from the album being a covert Wizard of Oz soundtrack to the...

Radiohead Hail to the Thief.(Sound Recording Review)
September 1, 2003... Radiohead's music-culture piss-offs are almost as impressive as the band's smash successes and oceans of ecstatic press. These guys seem to do whatever they damn well please and still get hits. Pablo Honey, 1993: Angst-ridden underground...

Morcheeba Parts of the Process.(Sound Recording Review)
September 1, 2003... Here's a languid, easy groove album that will ease you gently out of summer's warm carresses. The dreamy trip-hop soundscapes--brilliantly topped by the lilting vocals of Skye Edwards--are more about mood than rocking out, but that doesn't...

Travel guitar roundup. (Bench Tests).(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2003... The six guitars spotlighted here represent a miniscule sampling of the dozens of instruments that might legitimately be regarded as "travel" guitars. Then again, just exactly what is a travel guitar? Does an instrument have to be designed...

Fender '64 Vibroverb Custom. (Bench Tests).(electric guitar amplifier )(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2003... Guitar Player Editors' Pick Award Introduced in 1964, the Fender Vibroverb was essentially a Super Reverb fitted with a single 15 instead of four 10s (a change that required a shorter cabinet and a different output transformer). Fender...

Peavey V-Type NTB Limited Edition. (Bench Tests).(electric guitar)(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2003... Guitar Player Editors' Pick Award Dutch shredder and hair god Adrian Vandenberg burned it up with Whitesnake in the metal-licious '80s, and is currently rumor fodder since fading out of the spotlight after a 1997 Whitesnake reunion. (Did...

Zoom Fire-30. (Bench Tests).(sound effects device )(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2003... Guitar Player Editors' Pick Award Long a major player in the floor multi-effector world, Zoom has entered the combo arena with its ultra-affordable Fire-30 modeling amp ($279 street). Housed in a cleanly-constructed Tolex-covered enclosure,...

Kiso Klein OMK-1. (Bench Tests).(electric guitar )(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2003... One of the premier luthiers in the U.S., Steve Klein is known for his forward-thinking designs and immaculate execution. Klein electrics feature an ergonomic body shape and neck angle, and acoustic Kleins boast a ringing, bell-like bass and...

Summit TD-100. (Pro Audio Report).(electric guitar preamplifier )(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2003... Although tube emulators are popping up all over the plug-in world, some digital recordists will always default to a real live, glowing tube to process instrument signals. And even those who haven't made the leap to hard-disk recorders are...

Hamer Monaco III. (Bench Tests).(electric guitar )(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2003... Guitar Player Editors' Pick Award Hamer guru Jol Dantzig was unabashedly jazzed about his latest addition to the Monaco line when we checked in with him at NAMM last January. "The Monaco III is a guitar I've always wanted to make," he...

Carr Mercury. (Exotica).(guitar amplifier )(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2003... With its vintage suitcase-style cabinetry, round speaker cutout, and top-mounted controls, the Carr Mercury ($1,780 street) evokes guitar amps of the 1940s. But with modern features that include three preamp-gain options, fast-responding...

Gibson Les Paul Faded Double Cutaway. (Super Splurges Over $500).(electric guitar )(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2003... The retro thing is so totally overblown that even the uncoolest suburb in the Ukraine is most likely drowning in the detris of '50s and '60s America. But that doesn't stop the Les Paul Faded Double Cutaway--which is modeled after Les Paul...

Malden Holly Keyser. (Super Splurges Over $500).(electric guitar )(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2003... Looking for maximum bang from your hard-earned bucks? Dig the head-turning Holly Keyser ($695 street), which offers a hollow mahogany body, a 24 3/4" scale rosewood-on-mahogany neck, 24 medium frets, two ferrite/alnico humbuckers, chrome...

Yamaha CSF-60. (Super Splurges Over $500).(acoustic guitar )(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2003... Guitar Player Editors' Pick Award Small-bodied parlor guitars are so enticing--especially for playing around the house--and Yamaha's CSF-60 ($628 street w/hardshell case) brings such cool details as a solid spruce top, solid Sapele...

Kustom Quad 100 DFX. (Groovy Gear Under $500).(sound processing, special effects equipment )(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2003... Sorry, John Fogerty fans--there are no classic, tuck-and-roll cosmetics on the Kustom Quad 100 DFX ($340 street). What you get is a 100-watt, 2x12 solid-state combo that features two channels (each sporting 3-band EQ), as well as eight onboard...

Tascam CD-GT1. (Groovy Gear Under $500).(sound processing device; ear-training tool )(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2003... If Tascam's CD-GT1 ($149 street) had come out in the '80s--when fast guitarists such as Randy Rhoads, Allan Holdsworth, Steve Vai, and Stevie Ray Vaughan were inspiring legions of players to decode their speedy riffs--the handy gizmo probably...

Frostwave Funk-A-Duck. (Groovy Gear Under $500).(electric guitar pedal )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... The Funk-A-Duck ($225 street) is a highly sophisticated filtering device that has more in common with modular synths than simple stompbox filters. The Duck follows your input signal's dynamics (envelope), and uses that "control signal" to...

Planet Waves Circuit Breaker cable. (Badass Bargains Under $50).(for electric guitars )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Guitar Player Editors' Pick Award Designed to eliminate the annoying pops and squeals that occur when a conventional cable is removed from a guitar's output jack, the Planet Waves Circuit Breaker cable ($34 street) features a...

Shubb Deluxe capo. (Badass Bargains Under $50).(guitar accessory)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Does the world really need a new Shubb capo? After all, many players consider Shubb's original "C" model to be darn near perfect. It's ingeniously compact, virtually indestructible, and easily adjustable to suit varying neck thicknesses (so...

Electro-Harmonix strings. (Badass Bargains Under $50).(guitar strings )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Effects maker Electro-Harmonix recently introduced a series of guitar strings ($5 street) that incorporate pure-nickel windings over stainless-steel cores, and come in three sizes: 9s (.009-.042), 10s (.010-.046), and 11s (.011-.048). To see...

ADA 2FX Digital Multi-Effects. (Pawnshop Prize).(electric guitar accessory )(Column)
September 1, 2003... We take digital effects for granted these days, but, back in the early '80s, you had to be pretty well-heeled to be able to replace your Stone Age stompboxes with a rack full of blinking digital gear. However, Oakland, California-based ADA made...