Guitar Player articles from September 2007

Guitar Player archives from September 2007

Noize: from the editor.(Editorial)
September 1, 2007... Why do we do what we do? I usually don't care about such navel-gazing questions, and I know that out there in the cruel world, no one gives a hooey about how I might answer them. "Shut up and be glad you're breathing," my beloved, but...

Letter of the month!(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... I just wanted to thank the staff of Guitar Player for being psychic. I hear this band XTC for the first time, and you guys interview And)" Partridge in the next issue. I see this weird purple Marshall at the music store, and you promptly review...

Christmas in July.(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... Thank you so very much for the update on Andy Partridge [July '07]. Though I still love guitar as a sport, and catch the G3 tour when I can, years ago I realized that not every guitarist could realistically be top dog in the realm of lead...

June in July.(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... What a trip it was reading the GP Archives interview with Fanny's June Millington in the July issue. It's mind-blowing to think how much the vernacular has changed in the 34 years since this article made the scene. As a Pisces, I can really...

Don't recycle, reuse!(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... I'm sure I'm no different from many of your subscribers in that I'm unwilling to recycle a back issue. As a result, an enormous stack of past GPs has accumulated on my bookshelf. Long forgotten artist profiles and unmastered lessons beckon me...

A mentor supreme.(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... In June's "Coltrane-Style II-V-Is" Lesson, Corey Christiansen states that Coltrane's "descending in major thirds" tonal cycle "could have taken inspiration from the bridge changes to the Rodgers and Hart classic 'Have You Met Miss Jones.'"...

Linkin Park's Brad Delson.(RIFFS: Signal Chain)
September 1, 2007... CREATIVE EVOLUTION CAN BE A THRILLING, YET angst-ridden process for an artist, and, if the band seeks to perform its new sound for concert audiences, it can also strike fear into the hearts of their technicians. For Linkin Park's new smash,...

John McLaughlin.(RIFFS: Oeuvre Easy)
September 1, 2007... "MAHAVISHNU" JOHN MCLAUGHLIN'S recorded legacy comprises so many albums that even he can't keep track of them all. His contributions to seminal jazz-rock fusion recordings such as Tony Williams' Lifetime's Emergency and Turn it Over, and Miles...

Erdem Helvacioglu.(RIFFS: Bleeding Edge)
September 1, 2007... TURKISH GUITARIST AND ELECTRO-ACOUSTIC composer Erdem Helvacioglu's latest CD, Altered Realities [New Albion], presents the listener with a complex universe of beautifully layered and dynamically shifting sounds and textures that simultaneously...

The Top 40 beautifully reckless guitar solos.(RIFFS: GuitarPlayer 40 YEARS)
September 1, 2007... As chosen by The Fender Discussion Page forum Jan Akkerman "Hocus Pocus" (Focus, Moving Waves) Jeff Beck "Freeway Jam" (Blow By Blow) Jeff Beck "Going Down" (Jeff Beck Group) Jeff Beck "I've Been Used" (Rough and Ready) ...

Clutch's Tim Sult.(RIFFS: Rock)(Interview)
September 1, 2007... WITH NEARLY A DOZEN FULL-LENGTH albums to their credit, Clutch has grown its fan base the old fashioned way--with incessant touring. Besides winning converts one show at a time with pure rock fury (to reference the band's 2001 album of the same...

Pat Martino.(RIFFS: Jazz)(Interview)
September 1, 2007... "I THINK MY ABILITY TO BE IN CONTROL OF THE guitar at a young age was innately attained," says jazz legend Pat Martino. "The physical aspect of the guitar seemed to be second nature to me from the very beginning. Perhaps that was due to...

Queen V.(RIFFS: Rocker Girl)(Interview)
September 1, 2007... "QUEEN V WILL ROCK YOUR freakin' head off!" proclaims her band's MySpace headline, and who's gonna argue? The New York City-based singer/ songwriter and rhythm guitarist--who not surprisingly wields a Gibson Flying V as her weapon of...

Art Turner.(RIFFS: Acoustic)
September 1, 2007... "THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF A SOLO-ACOUSTIC guitar piece is that it must be evocative," explains Canadian fingerstylist Art Turner. "I admire guitarists who can put on a bear suit and do back flips on a motorcycle, but, musically, they bore time...

Nels Cline.(RIFFS: Session File)(Interview)
September 1, 2007... NELS CLINE HAD ONLY RECENTLY JOINED Wilco when he appeared on the cover of the March 2005 issue of GP, and, at that time, he was looking forward to recording his first album with the group. Sky Blue Sky [Nonesuch] was released earlier this...

Eli Cook.(RIFFS: Blues)
September 1, 2007... EVERYBODY KNOWS THE STORY OF THE crossroads, where blues guitarists go at midnight to trade their souls to the devil for musical prowess. It's just a myth, of course, but if it was true, 21-year-old firebrand Eli Cook could have bragging...

eBay prize: '90s Yamaha AEX-1500.(RIFFS: Vintage Vault)
September 1, 2007... IN THE EARLY DAYS OF EBAY, I USED TO do daily searches under "Electric Guitars," and look at every blessed guitar listed within the last 24 hours. This was fun when there weren't that many instruments to look at, and I found myself bidding on...

Editor boy's big eight.(RIFFS: Myspace Hordes)
September 1, 2007... GP IS EMBRACING D-I-Y MUSICIANS BY spotlighting thrilling (or, at least, interesting) guitar talents in this column and at guitarplayer.com. If you think you've got something going that our readers should hear, go to myspace.com/michaelmolenda...

Shiyani Ngcobo.(RIFFS: Afropop)(Biography)
September 1, 2007... SHIYANI NGCOBO IS A MASTER OF MASKANDA music--the hypnotic, fingerpicking, acoustic-guitar boogie of South Africa's Zulu people. It's a singer-songwriter genre with roots in the cycling, repetitive airs of the southern African mouth bow--an...

What's spinning in the editors' heads this month?(RANTS & RAVES)
September 1, 2007... MATT BLACKETT The Police, Outlandos D'Amour Planet X, Quantum Joe Bonamassa, Sloe Gin DAMIEN CASTANEDA Ganga Girl, Raising It Up Toto Bona Lokua, Toto Bona Lokua Najwa Karam, Hayda Haki BARRY CLEVELAND ...

The Nels Cline Singers: Draw Breath.(Audio)(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... This third instrumental disc from the "singers"--guitarist Cline, double bassist Devon Hoff, and drummer/electronics whiz Scott Amendola--is a mature statement that ably showcases Cline and Co.'s instrumental and improvisational prowess. These...

Richie Kotzen: Go Faster.(Audio)(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... In a 1970s America, Richie Kotzen would probably be an fiber-star. He has the looks, the guitar chops, the voice, the pop-songwriting skills, and the production savvy to deliver albums that are mesmerizing, uplifting, and thrilling. Go Faster...

Hayseed Dixie: Weapons of Gross Destruction.(Audio)(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... I'm a sucker for kick-ass bluegrass interpretations of non-bluegrass tunes, and there's probably no one better at it than the ridiculously talented Three Ring Circle, who shred brilliantly on songs by Jeff Beck and Stevie Wonder, among others....

Mike Keneally: Hot Special Edition, Boil that Dust Speck Special Edition.(Audio)(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Keneally fans will be delighted with these Special Edition releases of his first two albums: 1992's Hat and 1993's Boil That Dust Speck. Each includes a remastered CD of the original tracks, and a DVD containing what even enthusiasts will...

Danny Gatton: Live in 1977--The Humbler Stokes His Claim.(Audio)(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Recorded at a variety of small clubs in the Washington D.C. area, this album features tons of terrifying guitar work by the "Master Blaster of the Telecaster." At the time, Gatton was becoming legendary for his blazing speed and explosive...

Pink Floyd: Meddle.(Brief article)(Video recording review)
September 1, 2007... Pink Floyd: Meddle Widely known as the precursor to the epic Dark Side of the Moon, 1971's Meddle was Pink Floyd's most fully realized post-Syd Barrett offering. As with all of the Under Review series, a cadre of journalists weigh in on an...

Johnny Cash: The Man His World His Music.(DVD)(Brief article)(Video recording review)
September 1, 2007... This strange and intimate portrait of the Man in Black documents the Cash/Carter Family experience as they tour the U.S. in a motor home in the late '60s. The production has a bit of Blair Witch Project-like jumpiness thanks to the film crew's...

X2 Digital Wireless: XDS95 digital UHF wireless instrument system.(New Gear: GEAR)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Five user-selectable operating frequencies * 24-bit digital converters * 117dB dynamic range * 10Hz-12kHz frequency response * LED display for battery status, channel selection, and audio level * Operates approximately 8 hours on a single 9V...

Acoustica, Inc.: mixcraft 3 multitrack recording, editing, and mastering software.(New Gear: GEAR)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Automatic remixing with tempo detection * Support for Acid and GarageBand loops * Dozens of song construction kits for styles such as country, blues, hip-hop, rock, metal, punk, and reggae * 16 onboard effects (also supports VST and DirectX...

T.C. Electronic: ND-1 Nova Delay pedal.(New Gear: GEAR)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Six different delay types: delay line, dynamic, reverse, ping-pong, pan, and slap-back * Each type can be combined with audio coloration ranging from vintage tape to modern digital * Audio Tapping feature lets you set delay tempo by playing a...

Parkwood Guitars: PW-H4 hybrid electric/acoustic.(New Gear: GEAR)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Exotic Australian blackwood top over chambered mahogany body * Mahogany neck with rosewood fretboard * Two Seymour Duncan mini humbuckers (SM1N neck/SM3B bridge) * Fishman Powerbridge piezo system * Stereo jack allows you to run two amps with...

Henmanbevilacqua Guitars: S1.(New Gear: GEAR)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Northwestern alder, South American mahogany, or swamp ash body with maple top (flame or quilted) * Three-piece, 2S.5"-scale African sapelle bolt-on neck (12" radius) with ebony fretboard * 24 nickel silver frets * Humbuckers hand-wound by James...

Get'm Get'm wear: "GG" line guitar straps.(New Gear: GEAR)
September 1, 2007... New "Delux GG" styles feature the Get'm Get'm logo, leather trim, and studs * Partial proceeds go to animal rescue * 548-565 retail * getmgetm.com [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Different strings: Alex Lifeson gets out of his comfort zone to craft his biggest tones ever.(Interview)
September 1, 2007... IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO TALK ABOUT ALEX LIFESON WITHOUT TALKING about his band of the last three-plus decades--Rush. He makes Lip one third of this three headed beast that has defied all musical, business, and cultural logic since its self-titled...

Lifeson on his live rig.(Alex Lifeson )
September 1, 2007... "I use two Alex Lifeson Model Hughes & Kettner TriAmps as my main stereo sound," says Lifeson. "In two of my monitors, there's a 15ms delay between the two TriAmps so I can get a left and right sound, leaving the middle monitor open for vocals,...

10 things you gotta do to play like T-Bone Walker.(LESSONS)
September 1, 2007... MOUNT AN EXPEDITION IN SEARCH OF THE ORIGINAL BLUEPRINT FOR ELECTRIC blues guitar playing, and you'll find yourself journeying back to a time before SRV, Clapton, B.B., and Muddy--a time when the only guitarist laying down fat-toned,...

How blue can you get? Larry Carlton's tips on going deep with the blues.(LESSONS: Master Class)
September 1, 2007... HAVING WON MULTIPLE GRAMMY AWARDS, having released a successful string of solo albums, having played lead guitar on dozens of influential rock and pop records, and having a signature line of Gibson 335s produced in his name, Larry Carlton has...

Prince's irreverent riffing.(INTERMEDIATE)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... By virtue of his name alone, it's clear that Prince does pretty much whatever he wants whenever he wants to do it. (Would you have the audacity to sport a one-word term of royalty and entitlement--and later an unpronounceable symbol--as your...

Lyrical Larry Carlton turnaround.(ADVANCE)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Some will argue that a slow blues ain't fully legit if it ain't got lyrics--that the call-and-response interplay between voice and guitar is crucial to blues. That's generally true--unless the dude playing guitar is Larry Carlton, who, over a...

Harmonic Satch-uration.(INTERMEDIATE)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... In 1984, when Joe Satriani came out with the entrancing self-titled slab of vinyl that would be his first solo release, harmonics at the 12th and 7th frets had already been featured prominently on many a rock recording. (Think "Roundabout," by...

Doin' double duty on rush's "Tom Sawyer".(ADVANCE)(Rush )(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... It's a synthesizer rift. It was played by the bass player. And it's one of the coolest Rush riffs ever--Geddy Lee's entrancing 7/8 keyboard hook one minute and 33 seconds into "Tom Sawyer" (from 1981's Moving Pictures), which is transcribed...

Steve Khan on Wes Montgomery.(ADVANCE)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... "I have always been committed to improvised music," said Steve Khan in the March '79 GP. The jazz great and session ace proved this devotion by intensely studying and transcribing one of the greatest improvisers the guitar has ever known--Wes...

Inverted pedal tones.(INTERMEDIATE)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... If you ever find yourself letting the low E ring open while playing various chords above it on the higher strings, you're employing the harmonic practice known as pedal point. Specifically, that hypnotic, droning low E is a pedal tone. What...

Sonny Landreth: part four: the ghostly drone of sympathetic vibration.(BEGINNER)(Interview)
September 1, 2007... FROM DELTA BLUES TO MODERN ELECTRIC slide to his trademark "behind the glass" technique of playing fretted pitches and slide notes simultaneously, Sonny Landreth has a near supernatural ability to infuse his music with the most exciting and...

Western swing: roping in the rip-roarin' riffs of cowboy jazz.(LESSONS: Style Council)
September 1, 2007... TEXAS JUST HAS ITS OWN WAY OF DOING things, from politics co barbecue to music. So when big band swing jazz swept through the country in the '30s and '40s, the Lone Star state gave it a Texas-sized welcome, and then proceeded to put the cool....

Showdown! Five mid-power tube combos under $600.(GEAR)(Product/service evaluation)
September 1, 2007... FOR LIVE PLAYING, IT'S PRETTY HARD TO BEAT A tube amp in the 50-watt range. And when you shoehorn this medium power level in a 1x12 cabinet, you've got a portable stage rig that can be relied on to cut it in most gigging situations--even when...

Optek Fretlight 451 Pro.(GEAR: Bench Test)(Product/service evaluation)
September 1, 2007... I'VE BEEN A TEACHER SINCE THE EARLY'80S, AND I've always felt that the single most important thing any teacher can do is inspire the student. Get them hooked. Get them to that lightbulb moment where they're so determined to regain that feeling...

Blueridge BG-40 and BG-160.(GEAR: Bench Test)(Product/service evaluation)
September 1, 2007... HIGH-END ACOUSTIC GUITAR COMPANIES such as Collings and Santa Cruz have mastered the art of creating superlative, traditional-style fiat-top guitars. Their success in this arena has prompted the Blueridge company--an offshoot of South San...

Swing Classic X.(GEAR: Bench Test)(Product/service evaluation)
September 1, 2007... ALTHOUGH IT'S THE NUMBER-ONE GUITAR MAKER in its Korean homeland, Swing is just starting to establish its line in the United States. Dave Hunter reviewed the company's Telecaster-inspired BST in the April 2007 GP, and now we have another...

All about speaker cabinets.(GEAR: Sonic Essentials)
September 1, 2007... THERE'S AN info-byte popularly quoted lately that seeks to remind guitar obsessives that their amplifiers are responsible for 50 percent of their tone. Break down that figure, and it puts the humble speaker cabinet behind a considerable chunk...

Lovepedal Eternity Overdrive.(GEAR: Stompbox Fever)(Product/service evaluation)
September 1, 2007... WHILE I WAS GEEKING OVER ANDY Summers' custom stage rig during my interview with him for GP's June 2007 cover story, I noticed a stompbox I had never seen before--the Lovepedal Eternity Overdrive. "That's an amazing distortion pedal,"...

Fender Koil Kords.(GEAR: Accessory File)(Product/service evaluation)
September 1, 2007... COIL-STYLE CABLES HAVE A DISTINCT personality, and a reputation that's both good and bad. They certainly look cooler than straight cords--an opinion shaped by all those images of Beck, Clapton, Hendrix, and Page with coil cords draping from the...

John Lee Hooker 1992.(BACK 40: GP Archives)(Interview)(Excerpt)
September 1, 2007... AT 72, JOHN LEE HOOKER CAN PROUDLY LOOK back on a career that began in Clarksdale, Mississippi, during the 1930s. Unlike his contemporaries Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson, Hook didn't play roll-and-tumble Delta jukes, choosing instead to...