Premier Guitar 2018 01

RADIOHEAD'S ED O'BRIEN • BOOTSY COLLINS • SAMANTHA FISH • GUITAR NECKS 101
JANUARY 2018
JANUARY 2018
RIG
RUNDOWNS
311 &
Hail
N
THE AFGHA
WHIGS
TO THE
Texturalist
ED O'BRIEN OF RADIOHEAD
premierguitar.com
13
GEAR REVIEWS
GRETSCH / KHDK / MAYONES
OLD BLOOD NOISE / & MORE!
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Shown: Dragon Wood Elite
Fender Flea Jazz Bass, Gallien-Krueger Neo 212-II, Darkglass Electronics Microtubes 900, MXR M287 Sub Octave Bass Fuzz,
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TUNING UP
Bullsh*t Soundscapists vs. True-Blue Bloozmeisters

BY SHAWN HAMMOND @PG_shawnh
and cops his/her heroes licks down to the repetitive harmonic idea with organic
sycophantic T. Copycatting isn’t genre mutations. Similarly, many players more
exclusive. (What’s more boring: going adept than I generate pretty amazing
nuts with your analog delay’s feedback tremolo-like swells by simply working
control in order to sound exactly like their volume knobs in time with the
your favorite noise rocker, or cranking musical idea they’ve drilled down to in
your Klon clone to sound exactly like their heads.
your favorite wailing bloozmeister? Uh, I Of course, these three examples are
plead the Fifth … although at least there pretty simplistic, especially in comparison
are fewer people doing the former and to the crazy-ass things you can do with
I
t hasn’t been too long since one of there’s an element of surprise in how the some pedals on the market. And certainly
the world’s most famous blues-rock gear might respond.) it’s not lost on me that the whole idea
guitarists started a worldwide poop- But here’s my real point: One of the behind some unusual pedals is that they
storm by ranting about players who “can things it’s easy to not do is stop lusting spark creativity precisely because it’s
barely play a chord” using stompboxes to after new gear you sort of vaguely believe difficult to predict how they’ll respond.
create subpar soundscapes that apparently will help you make weird sounds, and So, my point isn’t that you should avoid
need to be unmasked in The No Spin instead to drill down and start thinking these pedals. But I do think all of us
Zone. It was surely an orgasmic catharsis about the exact sorts of effed-up sounds could spend more time brainstorming
for both sides of the dumb debate. After you want—and then seeing if there’s a before we even pick up our instruments,
all, periodically we all need new reason to way to get there without adding a new stomp on stomps, or twiddle knobs. We
shred each other for something, right? box to your board. can consider new ways to combine pedals
Broken down, the rant basically said Now admittedly, this concept only we already own, new ways to combine
A) music is not something enjoyed from occurred to me some time ago because I settings that are, perhaps, counterintuitive
a subjective personal standpoint born of was lusting after a stompbox that would or unorthodox. Learn to see the effort
myriad experiences, all equally valid, and put me on certain people’s lazy-artist list. as a dynamic interaction rather than
B) if something can’t be played only on If memory serves, I was hearing a sort of mere knob placement. Become more
acoustic guitar, then it’s not real music. synthy, robotic, very precise and evenly purposeful in what we want.
Which is funny, since that’s like saying dynamic arpeggiated effect in my head. In the end, whether you use no pedals,
a song played on acoustic guitar isn’t a But once I stepped back and stopped a blues-rocker’s standard complement, or
song because it can’t form words and looking for an easy way to automate it, a big-honkin’ board with enough flashing
emote like a human voice. But, setting I realized I could save my money and tap-tempo LEDs to require a warning
aside the rant’s logic, and its hypocrisy just adapt my playing to get essentially placard for adjacent epileptics, creativity
(basically, “Using the types of pedals I use the same effect. Sure, it might not have is what separates us from the bullshit
is cool, anything else is a cop-out”), I will the exact same waveform amplitude on soundscapists and blowhard blues purists.
now somewhat sheepishly confide that I each attack, but by using my thumb If you really want to be weird, it’s time to
discovered a modicum of agreement with to do a pedal tone on bass notes, while admit you’ve got a lot more weird inside
a smidgen of what said blues-rocker kind moving through higher intervals I heard you than some box. Or at least enough
of said. (How’s that for spin?) in my head, I got what I needed. Plus, to give it a run for its money. You just
Firstly, I will go on record—as I the entire endeavor served as an exercise gotta learn how to unlock it—and lose
have many times before, including in in developing the ability to create more the inhibitions born of fear that someone
gear reviews for Premier Guitar—that uniform amplitudes. might shame you about how you do your
I not only have no beef with weird I recently read an interview with thing. Shame is the real bullshit here,
pedal sounds, but I actually love Argentine singer-songwriter Juana friends. Not how many pedals you use.
them. However, I also think it’s not Molina in which she expressed a similar
unreasonable to say it’s more than sentiment with regard to constructing
plausible that you could buy the sorts long loops in the studio. Even when she
Illustration by drante
of pedals that yield “weird” sounds, and wants the exact same phrase repeated
end up sounding just as uninspired and for extended periods, instead of using Shawn Hammond
“me too” as someone who buys a Tube a looper pedal, she plays the part for Chief Content Officer
Screamer, a Les Paul, and a Blues Junior minutes on end in order to inject the shawn@premierguitar.com
premierguitar.com
IntroducIng martIn’s new tItanIum core strIngs
SuperIor TunIng STabIlITy • corroSIon reSISTance • leSS fInger faTIgue
FEEDBACK LOOP
Primus Rig Rundown
I’m not usually one to care a whole lot
about celebrity gear and all, but this was
most enjoyable [“Rig Rundown: Primus’
Larry LaLonde,” November 2017]. Ler is
the master of “things that sound like that”
and seems like one hell of a cool dude.
Here’s hoping for many more years on the
road and great albums from these guys.
—Rich Mueller,
via premierguitar.com
Spot On
Hey Shawn, a lot of your articles hit the
nail on the head for me. This one in
particular [“Tuning Up: Junkie Medicine
for Sad Sacks & Mofos,” November 2017]
really rings out at describing the feelings
I get as a guitar player. I don’t have to
be a professional, well-paid musician
to experience the euphoria of playing
or jamming with friends. Even my wife
recognizes when I’m “withdrawing.” I
Tragically Hip band there, I convinced my bandmates usually get the statement, “Your ass needs
Canada is in mourning as it has lost one to learn “New Orleans is Sinking,” and to go play your guitar!!” Thanks!
of its most unique and lauded artists. every time we played it, every snowbird —Brian W.,
Gord Downie succumbed to brain cancer in the club would be cheering! Gord gave Louisville, Kentucky
on Oct. 17, 2017. Gord was the beloved us Canadians history lessons via his poetic
frontman for the Tragically Hip; a band lyrics; from the last time the Leafs won the Tales from the Road
considered to be a national treasure. He Stanley Cup to how an unjustly convicted Great stories [“Road Dog: Epic Axe Failures,”
was diagnosed with cancer in 2016 and man was finally released from prison. Even September 2017]. I remember a show we did
wasted none of the time that he had left. in his last year he made it his mission to at a benefit event. When the other guitarist
The Hip staged a farewell tour, which educate Canada about the brutal residential (nicknamed Dizzy—long story) plugged in
culminated with an amazing show in schools that Native children were subjected his amp, he got Spanish radio though his
their hometown of Kingston, Ontario. to. His last solo album is being released amp. The look on his face was priceless. For
The show was televised nationally and tomorrow and I’m positive it will be a set of the next eight years, we would have a “Radio
I personally don’t know anyone that moving stories that will make us reflect and Dizzy” set checkpoint. At another gig, in the
hadn’t seen the last show! For whatever take notice. Our Prime Minister was on midst of my solo, my strap broke and I had
reason the band wasn’t overly popular in TV this morning and was man enough to to kneel through the entire song. I looked
the U.S., but their shows in Canada and publicly shed the same tears that those who at the harmonica player for help but he was
Europe were almost always sold out. loved Gord and the Hip shed in private. like, “What’s the problem?” … like this is
When I joined the Canadian Armed As a guitarist, and I may be the exception how I should usually play.
Forces in 1982, the Hip was a local bar here, the lyrics are the last part of a song —Jeff Logan,
band in Kingston, where I did most of my that I listen to, as I’m more interested in via premierguitar.com
trades training. We would go see them play understanding what the instruments are
at the Lakeview Manor and it was always a doing. There was a deep intelligence to all
Keep those
Photo by Ryan Merkley
fantastic time. It was great to follow them his lyrics! Gord’s lyrics always struck me as
these last 35+ years and they took all of us being something special.
comments coming!
Please send your suggestions, gripes,
for an amazing ride. When I was stationed —Giorgio Frausin,
comments, and good words directly to
at Tyndall AFB in Florida and started a Ottawa, Ontario, Canada info@premierguitar.com.
premierguitar.com
Socialize with Us!
I met Ted [Greene] at a seminar at the

New School for Social Research in NYC. I
was 13 yr old. When the crowd cleared,
I asked how. He said, practice.
—@ChrisBurgarella
I know exactly when not to use

distortion. When I’ve got a
Marshall Code amp.
—@DarrenBootland
1. Get a good soldering iron.

Practice soldering on an old pot & wire.
Do that FIRST.
—@One1Onemanband
If you don’t have years of woodworking

experience and a semi-professional
woodshop available, you can drill holes
in an old skateboard, add a lip to the
front to give it some tilt, and you’ve got
yourself a pretty decent “holey board.”
—Cain Kelly
Where does tone come from? Tubes?

Speakers? Strings? Wood? Fingers?
Ears? Nope. It comes from love
and respect. Amazing woman
[Maricela “MJ” Juarez].
James Geoghegan
premierguitar.com PREMIER GUITAR JANUARY 2018 13

CONTENTS January 2018
ARTISTS
48
Radiohead’s
Ed O’Brien
The 6-string “sweeper”
ruminates on his
journey in one of
modern rock’s most
celebrated bands.
58
Bootsy Collins
The P-Funk bass
legend discusses his
new album and his
quest for fresh sounds.
66
Samantha Fish
On traveling the byways
of rock, country, and LESSONS
hill country blues.
101 How to Handle Harmonics
73
104 Obsessive Progressive
Bloodclot 106 Blue Horizons
Hardcore vets Todd
Youth and Nick Oliveri 108 When Do I Use Distortion?
return to their roots.
83 REVIEWS
Peter K. Siegel
122 Mayones Hydra
The musican and 122 Baroni Labs Mini Amp 50
producer who recorded
classic albums by 123 RJM Mastermind LT
Roy Buchanan and
Doc Watson. 123 Traveler LTD EC-1 137 Old Blood Noise Endeavors
124 Grez Mendocino Fault
41
127 140
Top: Photo by Michael Weintrob
Wooly Coats Spanky MkII Serek Midwestern 2

Guitar Necks
A guitar neck can be as 131 KHDK Abyss 143 Mid-Fi Electronics Magick i
comfortable as an old 134 Gretsch Players Edition 146 RainSong CH-WS
pair of jeans. But it’s
complicated. Broadkaster 149 Rocket Surgeon Boris
premierguitar.com
DISCOVER THE LEGEND
After recording eleven studio albums this is the first

non-vintage amplifier I’ve been able to record with.
It has a pure natural sound that is classic.
- Lenny Kravitz
Black Magick Head
Black Magick Combo w/ 1x15 Cab
SuproUSA.com
Photo by Mathieu Bitton
On the Cover: RADIOHEAD'S ED O'BRIEN • BOOTSY COLLINS • SAMANTHA FISH • GUITAR NECKS 101
JANUARY 2018
Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien.
JANUARY 2018
3 SONG TABS
Photo by Jim Bennett/

VAN HALEN
"Mean Street"
KING CRIMSON Man"
Hail
Schizoid
"21st Century
DOC WATSON
Blossom"
"Blackberry
FilmMagic/Getty Images TO THE
CONTENTS January 2018

Texturalist
ED O'BRIEN OF RADIOHEAD
premierguitar.com
13
10 Tuning Up
GEAR REVIEWS
GRETSCH / KHDK / MAYONES
OLD BLOOD NOISE / & MORE!
24 Reader Guitar of the Month

25 Opening Notes
152 Staff Picks
166 Esoterica Electrica
168 Last Call
“The best advice
I ever got was
GEAR
when a session
musician 20 Gear Radar
told me to 30 Rig Rundowns
listen to other 34 Vintage Vault
instruments, or
36 Bottom Feeder
even learn how
to play them.” 38 Wizard of Odd
—Jol Dantzig, 56 Tone Tips
Esoterica Electrica,
120 Tools for the Task
p. 166
HOW-TO
92 Acoustic Soundboard
94 The Recording Guitarist
96 On Bass
98 Bass Bench
p. 34 110 Mod Garage
114 State of the Stomp
116 Ask Amp Man
118 Speaker Geeks
Top left: Photo by Ken Settle
premierguitar.com
They are bright enough
to make even the darkest
pickups come alive.
- Chris Loeﬄer, Harmony Central
UNCOATED PLAYERS ARE

MAKING THE SWITCH
TO OPTIWEB™ COATED ELECTRIC STRINGS
See what all the hype’s about at elixirstrings.com/make-the-switch
GORE, Elixir, NANOWEB, POLYWEB, OPTIWEB, great tone-long life, “e” icon and other designs are trademarks of W. L. Gore & Associates. © 1997-2016 W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.
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ONLY ON PremierGuitar.com…
Your guide to the latest stories, reviews, videos, and lessons.
FEATURED
Mike Stern’s Trip and Together Pangea’s Gear Obsession

In the summer of 2016, Mike Stern was en route to board a flight and kick off a European tour. But some hidden construction
debris in the street changed everything. He tripped and broke both of his humerus bones, suffering nerve damage to his right
hand. The accident was incredibly traumatic for Stern, who is notoriously obsessive about guitar. For decades, Stern had the
instrument in his hands for practically every waking moment. But as he told us in a recent interview, “spirit is everything.” His
journey to recovery involved multiple surgeries just to be able to hold a pick again, but he’s on the upswing, having released a
new, appropriately named album—Trip. Read the full interview on our website.
In other artist news, William Keegan (guitar), Danny Bengston (bass), and Roland Cosio (lead guitar) from Together
Pangea (pictured above) talk to us about the making of their new LP, Bulls and Roosters, how they incorporate British Invasion-
style vocal harmonies into their distinctive brand of garage rock, and their mutual love for Music Man hybrid amps. “It was kind
of ridiculous,” says Keegan. “At some point, we showed up and we all had Music Man gear. The sound guys were, like, “Man, I
haven’t seen one of those in a long time. You guys have all of them!”
NEW FOOTAGE!
Don’t You Cry Tonight: Guns N’ Roses
Rig Rundown
Rig Rundown fans are in for a treat. This month we went backstage with
Guns N’ Roses and got all the deets on the current touring gear of Slash,
Above left: Photo by Derek Perlman
Duff McKagan, and Richard Fortus. Highlights include Slash’s No. 1

Les Paul that he’s had since 1987 and played on the first tour supporting
Appetite for Destruction. And check out the Fender Duff McKagan
signature model based on his original ’80s-era MIJ Jazz Bass Special,
which combined a P-bass body with a J-bass neck and pickups from both
instruments—specifically a Fender vintage-style, split single-coil P-bass
middle pickup and a Seymour Duncan STKJ2B J-bass bridge pickup.
premierguitar.com
GUITARDOM’S
TOP TWEETS
Trans metalhead shredder Danica Roem

just became Virgina State Legislator.
That is metal as fuck.
—@_BrendonSmall
YOU HAVE
Someone please teach actors
pretending to play guitar
about changing chords
THE RIGHT
—@DanaSchwartzzz
A world that’s already given you
TO REMAIN
The Beatles and weed doesn’t
owe you anything.
—@Ron_White
Our Deputy Marshal distortion pedal

captures the unmistakable sound of
Plexi-era British tube amps, giving you
that full-stack character without
the vintage amp price tag.
This photo of Albert Einstein
playing an electric guitar is
Photoshopped #FakeNews
—@AlbertEinstein
outlawguitareffects.com

GEAR RADAR
New products on the horizon.
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company’s newest design company’s fecal-themed impulse response speaker are two independent, The respected bassist
features a maple body with stomp adds in a fuzz cab options, 70 effects, switchable reverb mixes, Justin Meldal-Johnsen’s
a rather unique bracing control knob that handles and a 52-second looper, and controls for length, signature model is based
system that utilizes “Rival the dirty gain. Bonus: the this multi-effects unit depth, and highs, along on the famous ’66 Mustang
Ribs.” Customizable circuit uses some NOS packs a ton of features in with a boost function that has been at his side for
features include six BC109C transistors. its rather small chassis. It to help tackle any decades. The new model
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is aimed at bassists is a nod to the vintage Colombia uses a custom jams your bag? The ALU9 semi-hollow guitar, the
who need tight low-end top-boost-style amps that transparent MOSFET VCA is part bit crusher, part Deluxe comes equipped
response in a durable, came to prominence in the that combines with a harmonizer, and entirely with Porter-designed
watertight enclosure. It ’60s rock craze. Inside sits constant-RMS depth control … odd. The Argentinian Gatekeeper H90 pickups, a
features a plywood frame, a pair of JJ EL84 power maintaining the perceived company’s latest is a molded maple body, a 12"
a frequency response that tubes, two 12AX7 preamp volume—no matter how sample rate reducer that ebony fretboard, vintage
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GEAR RADAR
Cont’d
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POLAK GUITARS MISSION RAILHAMMER MILKMAN PRS
Oxide ENGINEERING Reeves Gabrels Limited-Edition SE Standard 24
Looking for a slick guitar 529 USB Signature Pickups 18W Tweed Multi Foil
that gives you qualities Power Converter Robert Smith’s right hand Milkman’s Tim Marcus Created around a metal
of a Tele and Paul? Well, A handy solution for man was looking for a and Rock ’n’ Roll Relics’ finish first offered by PRS
the Oxide might just be powering pedals, this tone that drives hard Billy Rowe pay homage to in the late ’80s, their
one to check out with its little unit turns 5V USB and cuts through the mix the Fender Tremolux by flagship import boasts a
chambered body, Gotoh power into five isolated like a hot knife: enter creating a cathode-biased, mahogany body, a 24-fret
hardware, and 25.5" scale 9V outputs. Four of the Railhammer. The bridge single-channel 1x12 maple neck with PRS’
length with 24 frets. Inlay, outputs spit out 150 pickup has an overwound combo that has knobs wide-thin profile, PRS-
tonewood, and pickup mA for standard pedals coil for extra sustain and for volume, tone, tremolo designed tuners and trem,
configuration options are and a fifth output gives a slight “cocked wah speed, and depth. It’s built and is loaded with their
up to you! a whopping 500 mA for pedal” feel, while the neck with 12AX7s—for preamp 85/15 S humbuckers.
$3,100 street high-current stomps. is open and warm like an and tremolo—a 6V6, and $849 street
polakguitars.com $149 for Standard intensified vintage P.A.F. a 5Y3 rectifier tube. prsguitars.com
version, $199 for Pro $109 (per pickup) $3,099 street
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premierguitar.com
20
17
18
16
19
16 17 18 19 20
DR. Z ACOUSTIC PIGTRONIX NUNOMO ROCK ’N’ ROLL
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is a class-A, 15-watt and abused by generations the addition of drive and essence of a person styles, this fast looking
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single-channel combo B410C handles 400 watts offers the option of a fuzz they conceived a pitch- African mahogany body,
with a custom-designed through four custom- circuit that replicates the synchronized, extremely an African mahogany
transformer, buffered series designed traditional ferrite original Disnortion’s full- fast tremolo that slices neck paired with a
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or humbuckers. Acoustic sound with just pigtronix.com $190 street length), and offers choices
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drzamps.com

READER GUITAR
Capturing the Magic…

OF THE MONTH
Name: Russell Moser
Hometown: Sedro-Woolley, Washington
Guitar: Warmoth Partscaster
one pickup at a time I built this Warmoth Partscaster

when I was a sophomore in
high school (2010-11). I had an
American Strat and a cool Squier
Master Series Chambered Tele (still
have them!), but I wanted a guitar
tailored to my specs. After seeing
Warmoth in the “Five Hot Rodders
You Should Meet” article (January
2009), I chose them for my
parts. It was a nice perk
to discover that Warmoth
is based about 90 miles
south of my home in
the Northwest corner of
Washington State.
After saving a bunch of
money (birthday, mowing
lawns, etc.), I ordered a
pewter Stratocaster body
and a Warmoth Pro
Handmade in the USA lollarpickups.com 206.463.9838 Lollartron
LOLMuConTHIRD2017 compound radius neck,
Schaller locking tuners, a
2-post Fender tremolo, and a set of
DiMarzio Strat-sized humbuckers (Tone
Zone S in the bridge, Choppers in the neck
and middle). I wired the guitar’s neck and
bridge pickups to the same tone control,
but with a push-pull coil tap. I played it
in my high school jazz band and it played
well, but after two years the wiring gave out
and the guitar was relegated to the corner
of my room as I went off to college and
had no time to fix it.
Fast-forward four years: I decided to
revive the guitar during the summer of
2016. I replaced virtually all the wiring
except two of the pots and the pickups. The
guitar is now wired like an American Strat
with no push-pull pot, and a no-load tone-
bypass pot for the bridge and neck pickups.
After a quick setup by the guitar shop, this
guitar plays like a dream. It looks like a run-
of-the-mill Strat, but with the compound
radius neck and DiMarzios, this guitar can
do anything from blues to shred. It has
surprised some of my metal-head friends
on how well it plays (I’m personally a blues
and classic-rock guy). It took six years to
complete but was totally worth it!
Send your guitar story to

submissions@premierguitar.com.
premierguitar.com
OPENING NOTES
John 5
September 29, 2017
DTE Energy Music Theatre
Clarkston, MI
Photo by Ken Settle
The genre-bending Tele

connoisseur takes a new signature
Fender Telecaster Deluxe
prototype for “a test spin” at a
Rob Zombie show. “I love the
Telecaster because it’s the very first
electric guitar I ever saw on TV,
and I didn’t think there were any
other shapes or any other brands!”
OPENING NOTES
Stephen Stills
October 17, 2017
The Arcada Theatre
St. Charles, IL
Photo by Jim Summaria
The legendary Buffalo Springfield

and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
songwriter opens a chapter of his
vast catalog with the help of a 2004
limited edition D-45 Celtic Knot
(No. 2 of 30 made) outfitted with
a Fishman Matrix Infinity system.
“Martin guitars are so good it
makes no difference taking old ones
or the newer models out,” Stills
tells PG. “I don’t play anything
else—there is no reason to.”
premierguitar.com
OPENING NOTES
Warren Haynes
September 28, 2017
The Moody Theatre
Austin, TX
Photo by John Croxton
The Gov’t Mule frontman puts

slide to steel on his signature
Gibson Les Paul Standard loaded
with Burstbucker 1 neck and
Burstbucker 2 bridge pickups.
“The circuit design is by Peter
Miller and John Cutler—who did
a lot of work with Jerry Garcia—
and it brings back all the high end
when you have the volume knob
turned down, just by flipping a
switch,” says Haynes. “This makes
it more versatile than a normal
Les Paul.”
premierguitar.com
STUNNINGLY
ACCURATE .
OR, MORE
ACCURATELY,
STUNNING.
D ’A D D A R I O C H R O M AT I C P E D A L T U N E R
With its striking, full-color vertical display and quick, accurate
response, the new D’Addario Chromatic Pedal Tuner helps you
make sure not to miss the mark—even in demanding onstage
conditions. Its slim profile leaves room on your pedalboard for
all your effects, so it’s there when you need it, but out of the
way when you don’t.
D A D D A R I O . C O M / P E D A LT U N E R
RIG RUNDOWNS
Tim Mahoney, Nick Hexum & Aaron “P-Nut” Wills
311
Before their career-
spanning show
Click here to
watch this at Nashville’s
Rig Rundown. Marathon Music
Works, guitarists
Tim Mahoney,
singer Nick Hexum,
and bassist Aaron
“P-Nut” Wills walked
PG through their
various instruments
and discussed
how they use their
impressive load
of gear to cover
material from 14
studio albums.
GUITARS
Top left: Tim’s longtime
No. 1 is “Ol Blue”—a
PRS Custom 24 that
has been used on every
311 album and tour
since he got it from
Paul in 1999. When
testing out new gear or
pickups, Tim goes with
“Ol Blue” because he’s
most familiar with its
tone and can hear the
slightest changes.
Top right: Frontman/

guitarist Nick Hexum’s
gear lust started when
he was 14, and his
love for Les Pauls is
still there. He uses this
natural Gibson Les Paul
on most of the band’s
early work, like “Down”
and “Homebrew.”
BASS
Bottom: This 5-string
is from Aaron “P-Nut”
Wills’ signature series
and based on the
Streamer II body that
he first played
decades earlier.
premierguitar.com
AMPS
Mahoney dusted off
two studio veterans
and brought them out
on the road—a Bogner
Überschall and a Mesa/
Boogie Mark V. Both
heads crank out of their
own Diamond Custom
4x12 that are loaded
with Celestion
Vintage 30s.
EFFECTS
Hexum’s board starts
with a Boss TU-2
Chromatic Tuner, then
hits a Boss OC-2 Octave,
Electro-Harmonix
Q-Tron, MXR Blue Box,
Boss CS-3 Compression/
Sustainer, Strymon
TimeLine, Analog Man
King of Tone, Electro-
Harmonix POG, and
everything is powered
by a Voodoo Lab Pedal
Power 2 Plus.

RIG RUNDOWNS
John Curley, Jon Skibic, Rick G. Nelson, and Greg Dulli
THE AFGHAN WHIGS

From their gritty
garage roots in
Click here to
watch this 1986 to multiple
Rig Rundown. major deals, world
tours, breakups,
and reunions, the
Afghan Whigs—
including longtime
bassist John
Curley—hung with
Premier Guitar prior
to their jet-fueled
gig in Nashville.
GUITARS
Top left: Jon Skibic’s
No. 1 is this chambered
2012 Gibson Les Paul
Standard. This LP has
been upgraded with
MojoTone ’59 Clone
humbuckers with a
Mojotone harness and
Grover tuners.
Top right: Rick G.

Nelson’s No. 1 is
his 2013 Joe Parker
Spectre Pure Gold
featuring a pair of mini
humbuckers and strung
with Ernie Ball .010s.
Bottom: Jon’s backup is

a 2016 Yamaha Revstar
RSP20CR with Lollar
Imperials and TonePros
hardware. Both guitars
are strung with Ernie
Ball RPS Regular
Slinky strings.
premierguitar.com
AMPS
Frontman Greg Dulli
rocks a 100-watt, 6L6-
powered Mesa/Boogie
Lone Star 2x12 combo.
EFFECTS
Dulli runs a Shure
wireless unit that sends
the signal to a Boss
TU-3 tuner, MXR GT-
OD, J. Rockett Archer,
Alexander Pedals Royal
Cream (with artwork
designed by Dulli), and
a Boss DD-7 with tap
tempo. These live on a
Pedaltrain board that’s
powered by a Voodoo
Lab Pedal Power 2+.

premierguitar.com
VINTAGE VAULT
1955 Gretsch 6131 Jet Firebird

BY DAN ORKIN
G
retsch threw its hat into the tone projection, wonderfully sustained, Red” finish was used for Bo’s rectangular
ring of the expanding solidbody with infinite variety of tonal coloring. guitars as well as for later reproductions of
guitar market in 1953 with Twin Gretsch DynaSonic built-in pickups, the famed Billy-Bo Thunderbird.
the introduction of the deep black 6128 played singly or together at a touch of the Our featured Firebird comes from the
Duo Jet, later made famous by George fingertip switch, range from rich solo to Chicago Music Exchange and showcases
Harrison. By 1955, the Brooklyn-based commanding brilliance as you choose.” all the specs of the debut year. This guitar
builder spun this body shape out into Following its introduction, the 6131 carries its share of play wear and buckle
a series of new models with various Firebird underwent a set of updates that rash, with some fading on the edges
cosmetic flourishes. There was the sparkly were shared by most Gretsch solidbody common to Gretsches of this period.
6129 Silver Jet, the countrified orange models. Original rectangular inlays At the time of its introduction in 1955,
6130 Roundup and 6121 Chet Atkins made way for humptop blocks in 1956, the Firebird carried a price tag of $255.
Solid Body, the glistening 6134 White followed by thumbprints in 1958. The Today, a mid-’50s Firebird in original
Penguin, and this month’s featured guitar: latter year also brought Filter’Tron condition typically sells in the $4,000–
the 6131 Jet Firebird in “Oriental Red.” pickups to the model, replacing the $,6000 range.
Compared to the other major original DeArmond DynaSonics that Books consulted for this article include
American guitar brands of the day, were standard issue on early Gretsch Gretsch: The Guitars of the Fred Gretsch
Gretsch’s dazzling array of eye-catching electrics, along with an updated roller Company by Jay Scott and 50 Years of
instruments reflected a specific marketing bridge and a realignment of knobs and Gretsch Electrics: Half a Century of White
strategy geared toward younger players switches on the body. Falcons, Gents, Jets, and Other Great
in the nascent days of rock ’n’ roll. Much The Firebird lasted until 1971 in Guitars by Tony Bacon. Catalog references Opposite page:
like other builders in the ’50s, though, its original run, after making the leap, were found on gretschpages.com. The 6131 Jet
Firebird was
Gretsch continuously iterated on its like the rest of the models, to a double-
among Gretsch’s
original design, looking to strike a perfect cutaway body shape in 1961. Notably, DAN ORKIN is content 1955 models
director at music gear marketplace
balance of specs for the burgeoning a few years before Gretsch built him a Reverb.com, where he reviews launched to
solidbody format. now-iconic set of four custom rectangular the thousands of listings posted capture a bigger
daily to the site and manages the share of the
A 1955 Gretsch catalog described the guitars, Bo Diddley appeared on the cover Reverb Price Guide.
solidbody guitar
new Jet series this way: “A revelation of of his self-titled debut compilation with a market that
electronic perfection, notable for solid red Firebird in hand. This same “Oriental the company
entered in 1953.
Left: The
fretboard of this
ol’ ’55 features
the original
rectangular
inlays that made
way for humptop
blocks in 1956,
followed by
thumbprints in
1958.
Right: The
guitar’s control
array includes
a master tone
and two volume
controls—
one for each
pickup—at the
rounded bottom
of the body, and
a master volume
control on the
lower horn.

BOTTOM FEEDER
Click here to
hear this guitar.
Jay Turser JT-SM Hollowbody Jazz Guitar

BY WILL RAY
I
Photo 1: Scored n the last 10 years, I have slowly
for $200 after become a big fan of Jay Turser
2
a $45 partial guitars. They’re well-built, look
refund, on eBay,
this guitar was
cool, and are always in Bottom Feeder
consigned to price territory. 1
Will Ray’s closet This month’s guitar is a JT-SM model.
for five years It has a beautiful amber color, three
before he gave
gold P-90 pickups, and an intriguing
it a simple-
but-crucial switching system for the pickups that
makeover. gives you seven different combinations.
It measures 3 1/2" inches deep, features
Photo 2: These a flame-maple top, and has all-gold
P-90s were
removed by
hardware. I ended up winning the
the guitar’s auction for $245.
previous owner When I received the guitar, I was
and reinstalled kinda disappointed with the sound. The
improperly,
dog-ear pickups were too far away from
leading them to
slant at awkward the strings to have any punch, and they
angles until they were slanted towards the bridge and neck
were refitted at weird angles. The action was also very
and shimmed. high and the instrument had heavy-gauge
strings. I managed to change the strings
to a lighter gauge, and I lowered the
action but was then confronted with bad
neck buzzing that no amount of truss
rod adjusting could correct. I received
a partial refund of $45 from the seller
because of the fret buzzing problem. I
kinda wrote the guitar off as a dud, and
so I stuck it in a corner and forgot all
about it.
Fast forward five years. I looked at
it one day and wanted to see if I could
get it fixed up. The first thing I did was
address the weird angle of the pickups.
It turns out that the previous owner had Now I could somewhat adjust the height a total disaster and brought it back to
taken the pickups out and put them back of the pickup with the two pickup life again. Listen to my MP3 online
in backwards, creating opposite slanting mounting screws. and you’ll hear all the different pickup
of the pickups. I put them in the correct Bottom Feeder question for pickup combinations.
way and solved that problem. The next manufacturers: Why can’t someone make Bottom Feeder Tip #681: A guitar
problem was the wide distance from the a fully adjustable dog-ear P-90 pickup? wants to be loved and used. Like shelter
three pickups to the strings. I decided The next problem—the buzzing strings— dogs, they will always be grateful when
to shim the pickups. I already had some turned out to be the easiest to solve. The you rescue them.
black-plastic dog-ear P-90 spacers, so I bad buzzing seemed to have mysteriously
used a thin one under the neck pickup. disappeared over the years sitting in storage. WILL RAY is a founding member
of the Hellecasters guitar-twang
The bridge pickup, however, needed a Sometimes that happens—I don’t know why. trio. He also does guitar clinics
promoting his namesake G&L
shim that was in between the shim sizes I still have a slight neck buzz from a high signature model 6-string, and
I had, so I opted for some thin black fret, but it isn’t bad. produces artists and bands at his
studio in Asheville, North Carolina.
foam rubber that could be cut easily and So how do I like my JT-SM now? You can contact Will on Facebook
and at willray.biz.
inserted underneath the pickup housing. I really dig it! I took a guitar that was
premierguitar.com
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WIZARD OF ODD
1964 Supro Dual Tone

BY FRANK MEYERS
I
Photo 1: Made n case you haven’t noticed by now, ripping on one (and if anyone has ever 40 percent in production costs,
1
by Valco, this I really love old, strange guitars. figured out how to play “Ill in the Head,” so a large section of the factory
1964 Supro
Sure, I love a nice Les Paul or a please send me tabs). It must have been was converted to the production
Dual Tone has
a fiberglass well-worn Tele, but there’s something on some old poster I had hanging on of fiberglass guitars. Valco was
body that about the lesser-known brands I always my wall, or some zine clipping that I cut making some 80 different electric
the company find spellbinding. One of my first guitar out, but I noticed Ray’s weird looking guitar models at the time, and
marketed as loves was the Valco company and all guitar and was smitten. In the following 10 new Res-O-Glas models were
“Res-O-Glas.”
their interesting additions to the guitar- decades, I bought these Valco products planned for production. Among
Photo 2: Except playing universe. whenever I could afford them and soon I these was the most popular:
for a center Valco resided in Chicago, Illinois, was a member of the cult. Of course, Jack the Dual Tone. The Dual
block of wood, nestled among two behemoths of guitar White really made Res-O-Glas guitars Tone had existed as a
Res-O-Glas
instruments are
manufacturing back in the day—Kay and famous with the extensive use of his red production guitar for
mostly hollow. Harmony. Valco had been in business Airline, and more recently Dan Auerbach many years, but at this
since the 1920s and gained fame for has been playing his white Martinique time the formula changed
making fine resonator guitars. It was a (which retailed for a whopping $300 and a brand-new model
small company by some standards but back in the early ’60s). was offered to
they did produce their own pickups, Truthfully, the first time I ever held one the masses.
amps, and many other interesting of the fiberglass guitars I honestly thought I think I’ve
guitars with wacky shapes and unique it was a toy. Seriously! These instruments owned, at one
manufacturing techniques. (Ever hear of a are mostly hollow (except for a center time or another,
Kord-King neck?) block of wood), lightweight, and balance just about every
In the early ’60s, Valco ventured well. There is something about the hollow- version of Res-O-
into a new era with the introduction of ish construction and the hot Valco pickups Glas guitar that Valco
fiberglass guitars. These “Res-O-Glas” that create an expressive instrument. Heck, ever produced, but this
guitars were touted as being durable, I even obtained a copy of the Valco pickup time I’ll limit the focus to
beautiful, and totally functional. Well, design from the U.S. Patent Office, pre- my workhorse Dual Tone from 1964
these new guitars were all that, but never internet. Bless you, Ralph Keller, for your (see photos). This was one of the more
really competed at any sustainable level. awesome pickup design. accessible Supro offerings and, priced at
I suppose the first time I ever noticed Now, as much as I like old guitars, $160 at the time, Valco’s best seller. The
Valco guitars was when I saw the Dead amps, and effects, I also love old catalogs Dual Tone featured a Gibson scale, dual
Kennedys, and East Bay Ray was just and advertising, and tucked away in a pickups, and easy-to-use controls that
Music Trades magazine from 1962 was included a 3-way blade switch à la Fender
2 a superb article detailing Valco’s new Telecaster. But in typical Valco fashion,
fiberglass guitar-building techniques. the electronics were a bit odd (and
Then-company-president Robert probably interesting enough to warrant
Engelhardt seemed to be the main another column). The Dual Tones have
force behind this production shift as some fine appointments, like Kluson
Valco sought to make a more durable tuners, silver-nickel frets, and some really
product that was immune to climatic cool art-deco appointments. This guitar
change. Even though Mr. Engelhardt is the one you’ll most often see on the
was described in the article as liking used market and, in my opinion, it’s still
the “ring of a cash register about as well undervalued if you crave something that’s
as the strum of a well-tuned string,” a bit off the beaten path.
the company invested heavily in this
strange way of building guitars. The FRANK MEYERS is the author of
The History of Japanese Electric
story goes that in 1961 they began to Guitars and runs the website
DrowninginGuitars.com. He has
revamp the factory and invest in the been collecting and repairing
“new” technology. Chief engineer Walter guitars for 30 years and is primarily
interested in unique, eclectic gear
Churchill determined that Res-O-Glas and shedding light on the people
and history that contribute to our
bodies could save the company about love of music and guitars.
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What’s
in a
Neck?
YOU GRIP IT EVERY TIME YOU PLAY, AND IF YOU’RE LUCKY,
IT CAN FEEL AS FAMILIAR AND COMFORTABLE AS AN
OLD PAIR OF JEANS, BUT THERE’S MORE TO A GUITAR
NECK THAN MEETS THE EYE. DISCOVER THE ABCs—
MAKE THAT THE CUVs—OF THIS CRUCIAL APPENDAGE.
BY DAN FORMOSA
W
hatever your choice of guitar at the why you like what you like, and maybe also glimpse what
moment, your ability to play it depends on you might be missing.
an intimate physical relationship between The simple request I received to write an article about
your fretting hand and your guitar’s neck. guitar-neck design quickly turned into an extensive list of
How picky are you when entering into that relationship? You topics I wanted to cover. Any attempt to sort these topics
may be the type of player who demands a guitar neck with into categories—those that affect feel and playability,
very specific details—anything else just isn’t right. It’s sort of versus those that affect tone, versus those based on
a guitar-playing version of monogamy. construction—is sure to cause controversy. In fact, many
Photo by Andy Ellis
Or you may be into an open relationship: “Just give me can’t be separated. To create some sort of organization, I’ll
a guitar and I’ll play it.” In either case—and before I extend just loosely group them, cover the points one by one, and
this analogy too far for my own good—it can help to know ask for forgiveness later.

Fig. 1: Feel and Playability Neck finish. Another factor that can
In Gretsch’s Neck profile. When picking up a guitar, elicit strong opinions is how a builder
1951 catalog,
the 6192 and
perhaps the first thought to hit you—at seals the back of a wooden neck to
6193 models least in terms of playability—is the feel of protect it from sweat, skin oils, and
are described its neck. There are two related factors to the elements. A glossy polyurethane or
as having consider: the thickness of the neck and its nitrocellulose finish will feel different
a patented
profile shape. from a satin or Tung oil finish. The latter
“Miracle Neck.”
This design Preferences vary widely. Before two can allow your hand to more easily
offered an discussing neck shapes, it may help to slide along the neck, especially on a hot
asymmetrical ponder variations in hand sizes—a basic and sticky day.
profile for design consideration. A large male hand There’s no easy way to change your
enhanced
playability.
is approximately 27-percent bigger than current guitar’s neck to a Tung-oil finish.
a small female hand. A large guitar neck It requires sanding the finish down to
(such as a Fender U-shaped neck) is only bare wood. Before taking that drastic
about 17-percent thicker than Fender’s measure, try sprinkling baby powder
standard thin neck. Therefore, typical on your hand if you think your neck is
neck thicknesses don’t span a range as slowing you down.
varied as players’ hand sizes. Fretwire. If you play violin, cello,
Perhaps an even more pertinent or fretless bass, fret size is a non-issue.
measure concerns the curvature—the Guitarists, however, need to consider the
distance you feel as you wrap your hand fact that fretwire comes in various sizes. Fig. 1
around the back of the neck. (Picture a Frets are made from an alloy containing 18
tape measure wrapping under from the percent nickel-silver (a misnomer, because against the wood. Scalloped fretboards
6th string to the 1st string.) On typical there’s no actual silver—which is a good replicate that for a guitar. With a height
guitar necks, that distance varies by less thing, or we’d probably see people melting of .058", the largest size fretwire can
than 10 percent. If you’re at either end of down our precious vintage instruments). approach a scalloped feel. To get a sense
the hand-size spectrum, you may have a Early Fender guitars used relatively for this, try playing some Ibanez models
right to complain because you’ll be forced narrow frets: approximately .080" inches that sport jumbo frets on this order.
to adapt. wide and .043" tall. Gibson frets are Also, it surprises a few guitarists when
Something else to consider: While typically wider and just microscopically I mention that a pressed string doesn’t
you’re playing, different parts of your shorter. Wide frets can be just over .100", contact the fretboard. Rather, it spans
thumb contact the back of the neck. and taller frets around .050". There are the frets. Unless you have woefully low
With barre chords, your thumb may too many variables in playing styles and frets or super-light strings, the string itself
be flat against the center of the curve, individual finger physiology to generalize won’t contact the wood.
the neck’s thickest part. When playing about what fretwire may be more or less Scale length. The distance between
complex chords, your thumb’s tip may appropriate for different situations. Like the nut and the bridge determines the
be in contact. When playing basic riffs, many other guitar-related specs, it’s a length of the strings, and this is known
your thumb may rest at the edge of the matter of personal preference. Also, it as scale length. That measurement won’t
fretboard. When flying up and down can be difficult to A-B compare different be entirely precise, however, because
the neck, your thumb may not touch it fretwire sizes. You can try spending a few intonation adjustments or an angled bar
at all. Or for replicating a Merle Travis/ hours in a friendly guitar shop, but neck bridge results in variations in the length
Chet Atkins style of playing, your thumb shapes and string gauges are likely to vary of each string. A more accurate way
may be fully wrapped around the neck, as well, which can confuse the issue. to determine scale length: measure the
fretting a thumping bass line on the Though less common, scalloped distance from the nut to the 12th fret
low-E string. fretboards are related to fretwire height. and multiply by two.
Some necks are carved with an On a scalloped fretboard, the space Scale lengths can vary considerably.
asymmetrical profile that’s intended between frets is dished to keep the John Lennon’s 325 Rickenbacker had a
to improve playability. It’s not a new fingertips from touching the fretboard scale of just 20.75". A “3/4 size” guitar,
idea. Among Gretsch’s “Seven Points wood. These cylindrically concave shapes such as the Guild M-65, has a scale of
of Supremacy” attributed to their 1939 are great for certain techniques. Think 22.5". Gibson’s Les Paul measures 24.75".
Synchromatic was a “non-pressure” neck of the incredible bends a sitar player A Fender Telecaster’s neck is longer at
designed to relieve finger strain. This was produces. A sitar’s arched and elevated 25.5". Scale length for a baritone guitar
referred to as the “Miracle Neck” in later frets keep the player’s fingers off the can be much higher, like Danelectro’s
years (Fig. 1). fretboard and eliminate any friction 29.75" neck.
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Given identical strings, longer necks
require more tension to get into tune. Put
another way, shorter scales allow heavier
strings to be used with comparatively less
tension. It’s something to consider if you
think you’d like the effect of having more
metal driving your pickups.
Fretboard radii. Classical guitar
fretboards typically have no radius—they’re
completely flat. The fretboards on steel-
string acoustics will have a cylinder-like
radius along their entire length. That’s
true of electric guitar fretboards as well,
although conical shapes are also possible. In
the latter case, the radius starts tighter and
then flattens out as you go higher up the
neck. A neck with a compound radius is
less prone to buzzing during string bends.
Vintage Fender guitars have a radius of
7.25", which is noticeably curved. Other CUSTOM REPLACEMENT PARTS FOR ELECTRIC GUITAR & BASS, MADE WITH PASSION AND PRECISION.
guitar fretboards are flatter. The fretboards

on Taylor and Martin acoustics typically
have a 15" and 16" radius, respectively. WWW.WARMOTH.COM
Guild acoustics have a 12" radius. In (253) 845-0403
a perfect world, the bridge saddle will CUSTOM GUITAR & BASS PARTS MON-FRI 9AM TO 5PM PST
match the fretboard radius, but that’s not

always the case.
Some players prefer a smaller fretboard
radius for playing chords—especially barre
chords—because it mimics the finger’s
curve. But others prefer all the strings to
be at the same height (or close to it), citing
an increase in picking and fretting speed
when the string plane is relatively flat.
Fretboard width. This is typically
measured at the nut, and 1 11/16" is TURN OVER
a common width. Acoustic guitarists A NEW LEAF.
appreciate a little more space between MAPLE.
strings to accommodate fingerpicking,
Guaranteed for life.
so flattops often have a 1 3/4"
fretboard width. Rickenbacker necks www.kysermusical.com
can be notoriously narrow—1 5/8",

for example—although models vary.
Some manufacturers also offer specs for
fretboard width at the 12th fret (2 1/8"
for a Martin D-28) or at the high end
of the fretboard (just over 2 1/4" for a
Gibson Les Paul).
Tone
Neck and fretboard material. Different
woods used for the neck impart different
characteristics. Harder woods, such
as maple, result in a brighter tone.
KYSER® MUSICAL PRODUCTS MADE IN USA

Fig. 2: On Mahogany, which is softer, will warm cut so that the grain follows the neck’s
1-piece necks, things up. Fretboard wood also has an length—that is, until it reaches the
the headstock’s
angle causes
effect—ebony will surpass maple and far angled headstock, where the grain then
the grain to surpass rosewood for brightness. cuts across (Fig. 2). The greater the
run across the For characteristics of these and more angle, the more it cuts through. Lute
headstock, than two dozen other woods, check out makers solved that problem long ago
which can
Warmoth’s “Tone-O-Meter” ratings, by attaching a separate piece for the
put it at risk
structurally. which you’ll find on the company’s headstock, putting the grain in line with
website if you dig around in the general the headstock angle. Many guitar makers
Fig. 3: A scarf options section of the guitar necks tab. today do the same.
joint adds the Headstock mass. The idea that adding If your guitar has a 1-piece neck with an
headstock as a
separate piece,
mass to the headstock will increase angled headstock, you don’t need to knock
keeping the sustain and affect tone is controversial. it over to experience a headstock crack
wood grain Some guitar brands, such as Epiphone or break. Knocking over the case may be
in line with and the highly regarded Froggy Bottom sufficient to impart a whiplash injury.
the headstock
flattops, have oversized headstocks. Is Andy Powers, master guitar designer
for a stronger
part. Taylor there a sonic payoff or is this simply a at Taylor Guitars, reports that since the
Guitars uses an cosmetic decision? Rather than opining company moved to headstocks with the
S-shaped cut here, I suggest you test this theory by grain aligned, the number of broken
to join the neck simply clamping a capo to the headstock headstocks they see has been reduced to
and headstock.
While more of your guitar. Let us all know what almost zero. Taylor’s separate headstocks
aesthetically happens, if anything. were first fitted to the neck using a finger Fig. 3
pleasing than a joint. It was super strong, but due to
typical straight Construction staining differences, the crown shape that
scarf joint, this
Headstock angle. Angling the headstock resulted was noticeable and odd. Taylor nut, although the 1st and 2nd strings
“wave” cut also
offers increased allows the strings to pull tightly against subsequently changed to a scarf joint— require retainers (aka string trees) to
glue surface and the nut as they make their way to the an angled cut in the neck. But instead increase the otherwise shallow angle and
thus provides tuning pegs, and it’s an ancient technique of using the more typical straight cut, keep the strings from rattling in the nut
a stronger for stringed-instrument makers. they chose a subtle S-shaped cut. This slots as they head to the tuners.
connection.
Headstock angles can range from zero to increases the glue area compared to a Heel. When carving a single-piece
Fig. 4: Fender a full 90 degrees—although the latter will straight cut, and it looks better (Fig. 3). neck, the heel, like the headstock,
headstocks only apply if you play lute. Fender guitars take a different requires a sizable block of wood for
forgo an angle, An angled headstock on a 1-piece neck approach, as shown in Fig. 4. To keep construction, and much of this valuable
and instead
has two disadvantages. First, it requires manufacturing simple, necks are made material ultimately ends up as waste.
drop the surface
down, keeping a larger piece of wood for construction. from a flat piece of maple with no Because of this, the heel is often added
the wood grain Second, the headstock is more susceptible headstock angle. The front surface of as a separate part, using (hopefully) a
in line. to breaking, and this is related to wood the headstock sits below the fretboard, piece of wood cut from the same block
grain. On a 1-piece neck, the wood is providing the strings with an angle at the as the neck, so the color matches and the
Fig 2. & Fig 4 : Illustrations by Dan Formosa Fig. 3: Photo courtesy of Taylor Guitars
connection can be hidden.
Truss rod design. For a guitar to play
properly, its neck needs to have a slight
bow. This is called relief, and it allows
the strings to vibrate over the fretboard
without hitting the frets. Changing to
heavier strings will produce more of a
bow, as a result of increased pull on the
Fig. 2 neck. A reverse bow will cause buzzing,
Fig. 4
premierguitar.com
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 5: Here’s Thaddeus McHugh’s 1923 truss rod patent for Gibson. Intended for use with softer
woods, this truss rod curves up in the middle, which is opposite from modern designs.
Fig. 6: In Leo Fender’s 1964 patent, the truss rod dips down in the middle, which is the approach
widely used today. Tightening the truss rod forces it to straighten, pushing the middle of the neck
up, eliminating any bow.
WITH A SINGLE TRUSS ROD DESIGN, TIGHTENING

COMPRESSES THE NECK LENGTHWISE, AS THE WOOD
REACTS TO THE ROD’S INCREASED TENSION.
as a fretted string will also contact the frets hold the 6th string at the 1st fret, then fret
higher up the neck. and hold the string at the 14th fret. With the
Prior to the 1930s, the only hope to 6th string acting as a straightedge, you can
prevent forward bowing was to make necks now measure the string clearance at the 7th
strong enough to withstand string pull, and fret. Repeat the process with the 1st string.
this was done by incorporating pieces of wood If you tap either string against the 7th fret
or steel into the neck assembly to reinforce while pinning it at the 1st and 14th frets,
it. The introduction of an adjustable truss you’ll get an immediate sense of your current
rod changed that. This is a metal bar buried neck relief. It’s a quick way to keep tabs on
within the neck, running along its length. this important parameter, which can shift due
Any bow in the neck is adjusted by a nut to seasonal changes or when you change the
positioned at one end of the rod. Depending brand or gauge of strings.
on the manufacturer, you access this truss Thaddeus McHugh’s 1923 truss rod patent
rod nut either at the headstock (revealed by for Gibson shows a curved metal rod buried
removing the truss rod cover) or at the body along the center of the neck (Fig. 5). When
end of the neck. the nut at the end of the rod is tightened, a
The amount of neck relief depends on neck bowed by string tension straightens out.
personal preference, but measured at the 7th From a side view, the rod curves down at its
fret, it’s on the order of .010", or about the far ends.
diameter of a light-gauge 1st string. You can In contrast, virtually all single truss rods
use feeler gauges to measure this, or even used today—including Gibson’s—curve up
a business card. Here’s the technique for at the ends. It’s a design that positions the
checking fretboard relief: Capo or press and middle of the rod lower in the neck. Fig. 6

WW_CS_17-3620_2,5x9,875_USA.indd 1 06/11/17 10:14
Fig. 7: One
of the classic
methods for
shows a 1964 patent drawing for Fender’s
truss rod, which uses this “cupped”
design. With this shallow concave curve,
Oh, the Shape I’m In
attaching the
guitar’s neck tightening the rod forces it to straighten,
to its body, the pushing the middle of the neck up to
dovetail joint eliminate any bow.
dates back at With a single truss rod design,
least as far as
ancient Egypt.
tightening compresses the neck
lengthwise, as the wood reacts to the
“C” Shape “V” Shape “U” Shape
Fig. 8: The two rod’s increased tension. Also, the curved
sections of a channel required for a single truss
mortise-and- Fender describes its neck profiles using the letters C, U, and V. Though
rod is tricky to manufacture. A later
tenon joint—like these profiles have many period-specific subdivisions, such as ’50s V
the dovetail development is the double-rod truss rod,
or ’70s C, and variations in thicknesses (“deep U shape” or “modern C
joint—are which is intended to address these two
traditionally shape”), the idea is to convey the basic neck contour using familiar, easy-
issues. One rod resists the lengthwise
bonded with hot to-visualize symbols. Over the years, Fender’s approach has been adopted
compression of the neck, while the other
hide glue. by other manufacturers and evolved to include such colorful descriptions
creates the bow. Manufacturing is easier
as “boat V” and “modern vintage.”
because the double-rod assembly requires
It’s worth noting that for about a decade starting in the early ’60s,
only a straight slot in the neck. Some
Fender also used the letters A, B, C, and D to indicate neck width at the
double-rod models are also able to create
nut (1 1/2", 1 5/8", 1 3/4", and 1 7/8", respectively). Because these letters
a bow in either direction. A downside
were stamped on the end of the necks, they are sometimes mistaken for
to the double-rod design? Some added
neck-profile designations, but are actually unrelated.
weight in the neck.
When it comes to neck profiles, there’s no right or wrong, so play
Neck joints. Historically, the two
around. Remember that your initial encounter with another guitar may be
methods used to attach the neck to
brief, so don’t simply go with your first impression. Keep an open mind
the body are the dovetail joint (Fig. 7)
because your opinion can change if you spend time adjusting to—or
and mortise-and-tenon joint (Fig. 8).
maybe even living with—a different guitar neck for a while.
Traditionally bonded with heated hide
glue, both joints are designed to be strong
Fig 7. & Fig 8 : Illustrations by Dan Formosa Above: Illustration courtesy of fender.com
Fig. 7 Fig. 8
HISTORICALLY, THE TWO METHODS USED TO

ATTACH THE NECK TO THE BODY ARE THE DOVETAIL
JOINT AND MORTISE-AND-TENON JOINT.
premierguitar.com
Fig. 9 Fig. 9: Confident
in the strength
of their dovetail
joint, Gibson
declared it
“unbreakable”
in this 1934
mandolin ad.
SHUBB
and permanent. In fact, in an early ad, Gibson
proclaimed its dovetail joint “unbreakable” (Fig. 9).
As effective and strong as they are, these joints have
one disadvantage: When it comes time to reset the
neck—which is especially common with acoustic steel-
string guitars—removing it is tricky. It takes a skilled
pro to steam the joint and loosen it. (This requires
The best performers will settle for no less.
temporarily removing a fret above the neck joint,
drilling a small hole in the open slot, and carefully
heating the glue so it releases its grip on the joint.)
Although not well-received at its 1951
introduction, Leo Fender’s simple solution to this
thorny problem was to forego either of these two “I use Shubb capos every
traditional woodworking joints and bolt a heelless
time I perform; they always
neck onto the body. This made Fenders much less
expensive to manufacture—both in terms of labor work and sound great.
and materials—and it also worked really well. I love doing a quick capo
In 1999, Taylor Guitars bucked flattop release on some of my
tradition by introducing a bolt-on neck system arrangements and they’re
for its guitars. Super-precise computer numerical
control (CNC) neck-cutting machinery assures
so fast I never miss a lick!
a flawless fit. Neck resets on these instruments Shubb capos are definitely
can be done in mere minutes, and a luthier can part of my show!”
employ accurately machined wood shims to tweak — Doyle Dykes
the neck angle. But the bolt-on idea isn’t new. Kay
Kraft was using this technique to affix necks to
their acoustic guitars in the 1930s.
Over and out. We’ve covered a lot of ground
in this overview of the obvious and not-so-obvious
decisions that went into your guitar neck’s design,
and there’s more to investigate within each
topic. And we didn’t get into tuners—obvious
neck components that deserve an article of their
own—nor did we explore how your string choice
affects the neck because that would have taken
us a bit off topic. But for now, if we’ve shed light
on what caused you to become infatuated with
your current guitar’s neck in the first place, then
mission accomplished. Better yet: Perhaps the next
time you have a chance encounter with a different
neck, you’ll have the basis for establishing a whole
new and rewarding relationship. info@shubb.com • www.shubb.com
707-843-4068

Photo by Jim Bennett/FilmMagic/Getty Images
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Hail
TO THE
Texturalist
After decades of avoiding guitar interviews,
Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien steps out of the shadows to
gratefully ruminate on his journey in one of
modern rock’s most celebrated—and confounding—bands.
BY SHAWN HAMMOND
R
adiohead is one of those bands Greenwood (bass), and Phil Selway (drums) third outing that was the proverbial charm Opposite page:
that’s so big it’s impossible to not were so staunchly Oxfordian that they for the Oxfordshire five. Ed O’Brien
onstage with
know of them, yet somewhat easy refused to relocate and become part of Released on June 16, 1997, Radiohead’s a prototype
to not really have much of an opinion the more high-profile scene in London—a OK Computer struck listeners like a bleak Fender EOB
about their music—or at least not a well- mere 60 miles away. And, mind you, this yet startlingly beautiful soundtrack to a Sustainer Strat
informed one. Unless you’ve purposely stubbornness was way before they’d truly supercut collision between George Orwell’s at Austin City
Limits Festival
sought out the U.K. quintet’s tunes based come into their own, too. This was when, 1984, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World,
on October 7,
on the mountains of accolades they’ve as on Pablo Honey, their regard for bands and David Lynch’s Eraserhead. Chock-full 2016.
received over the last 25 years, there’s a like R.E.M., the Smiths, Pixies, Sonic of dystopian lyrics, it was augmented by
decent chance your familiarity is limited to Youth, and U2 was rather obviously worn both deliberately alien elements (such
“Creep,” the alternatingly melancholic and on their collective sleeve. (Which is not as the nightmarish sound collage and
manic single off their 1993 debut, Pablo to say that glimpses of future brilliance disembodied Macintosh-computer oration
Honey, that earned them lazy comparisons weren’t visible then, particularly in tracks on “Fitter Happier”) and an expanded
to Nirvana—and put them on the charts such as “Blow Out,” which paired Yorke’s array of traditional instruments (including
on both sides of the Atlantic. distinctive falsetto with Jonny Greenwood’s strings, glockenspiel, piano, and vintage
But this strange dichotomy exists and O’Brien’s dynamic shifts between keyboards). Just as importantly, its striking
largely because the quintet—which has off-kilter jazz chording and crescendoing guitar work established O’Brien and Jonny
been together since 1985, when they noise-rock implosions.) But the band’s as bona fide guitar icons for the coming
were all students at Abingdon School, just obtuseness only grew from there. millennium. And between its swelling,
outside of Oxford, England—has long been When The Bends came out in 1995, it seething riffs, stuttering ping-pong’d echoes,
rather willfully obtuse and insular. Even both proffered more singles—including “My and pedal-glitching feedback freakouts
before getting signed and jettisoning their Iron Lung,” “High and Dry,” and “Street (“Airbag”), tinkling acoustics floating
original moniker, On a Friday, Thom Yorke Spirit (Fade Out)”—and demonstrated a over gauzy layers of undulating, mutating
(vocals, rhythm guitar, programming), Ed more singular sound, with much more of textures (“Paranoid Android,” “Karma
O’Brien (guitars, vocals), Jonny Greenwood the auricular adventurousness that would Police”), and chiming Rickenbackers
(lead guitar, keys, programming), Colin come to define the band. But it was the (“Let Down,” “No Surprises”) were so

Radiohead many gorgeously addictive melodies that, and—as a film scorer himself (including for hole of electronica, string arrangements,
circa 1993 for legions of fans, the record became Paul Thomas Anderson’s award-winning and general experimentation (including
(clockwise from
the aural equivalent of the soma narcotic There Will Be Blood)—composers such the Charlie Mingus-influenced “Pyramid
upper right): Ed
O’Brien, Colin Huxley had written about. Over the years as György Ligeti, Olivier Messiaen, and Song,” and the New Orleans-jazz dirge jam
Greenwood, since, it’s gone on to be heralded by music Krzysztof Penderecki. on “Life in a Glass House”) as to pretty
Thom Yorke, publications the world over as one of the On the other hand, O’Brien—long the much obliterate any hopes of radio play.
Phil Selway, most important rock albums of all time, Radiohead member who’s experimented with In the process, the records also alienated a
and Jonny
Greenwood.
and, in 2015, it was entered into the more guitars and seemed the least ill-at-ease significant portion of fans who’d previously
U.S. Library of Congress as “culturally, in the spotlight—has stepped out from the thought themselves hardcore.
historically or aesthetically significant.” shadows more and more over the last two In fact, from that point onward, the
or three years, and not just with mainstream remaining faithful knew that if there was
No Surprises … Except publications. He’s appeared in videos by one thing they could count on, it’s that
Of course, anytime a band gets that sort Fender and The GigRig, and, best of all, at whenever a new Radiohead album hits, all
of success and acclaim, there are bets are off for what direction it’ll
vitriolic detractors. Naysayers take. And, at least according to
then and now tend to dismiss O’Brien, it seems the same can be
Radiohead as overhyped, self- said for members of the band, too.
indulgent self-loathers. And, “It’s constant evolution,” he says
again, much of that opinion is of the quintet’s writing process.
probably a drawback of the band’s “The essence of it is five people
go-it-alone attitude, as well as the with a songwriter—Thom—
fact that they don’t really play who puts these songs within the
the typical rock-star PR game. context of the rest of us.” He
Offstage, the band members adds, “By the time it gets to the
appear rather spotlight shy and rest of us, there’s only a certain
protective of their privacy, doing amount of room left. At times
very few interviews—and, sadly you go, like, ‘What the fuck am
for us 6-string-playing fans, I going to do?’”
practically no guitar-oriented This was why, for O’Brien, the
interviews. Yorke and Jonny are band’s trek down unknown roads
typically the most visible, with during the Kid A/Amnesiac period
the former mostly talking to was particularly frustrating.
large general-interest publications Not because he didn’t want to
about politics, and the latter go along, but because he was
pretty much only talking to very unsure of how to fit into the
niche-y outlets about almost new sonic landscape forming
anything but guitar. Recently, around Yorke’s seeming urge to
however, this dynamic has begun abandon all paths previously
to change a bit. At least partially. trodden. “I literally learned to
In his hard-to-track-down interviews, long last we’re proud—ecstatic, really—to play my instrument within the band, so I
Jonny—who has favored the same two say he recently took the time to talk to started off very limited—and I’m still very
or three Lace Sensor-equipped Fender Premier Guitar. limited,” O’Brien confides. “Ultimately,
Telecaster Pluses for most of the band’s the band’s not a welfare state. If you don’t
career—still tends to express his distaste How to Disappear Completely come up with something that serves the
for guitar magazines and “the totemic So what is it exactly that’s occasioned song, then you’re not going to play on it.”
worship” of the instrument. As he told Mr. O’Brien’s recent magnanimity with Understandably, the decreasing
The Quietus in 2014, “I’m always happiest guitar nerds? Only he could say for sure. emphasis on 6- and 12-strings was daunting
Photo by Neil Zlozower/Atlas Icons
… struggling with instruments I can’t But it seems that, in a way, it goes all the for O’Brien, who considers himself a
really play.” (Although, to be fair, he did way back to the sessions that resulted in guitarist first and foremost. Asked about
add, “I’d be lost if I couldn’t play [guitar] both 2000’s Kid A and 2001’s Amnesiac. how he adjusted, he contrasts his approach
too.”) Even so, when Jonny does grant Whether it was just part of the band’s with Greenwood. “Jonny is an amazing
interviews, he’s typically more interested in already-in-progress evolution or in obdurate musician, and he plays a lot of instruments.
discussing unusual instruments (such as the reaction to the adoration of OK Computer, So he might seek a sound by going through
ondes martenot, an early-1900s keyboard) both LPs went so far down the rabbit an ondes martenot or a keyboard or a
premierguitar.com
Rhodes or a piano.” In contrast, O’Brien says, “I seek out a Congratulations on the release of the EOB Strat. How did
guitar—or a different-sounding guitar.” all of that fall into place?
For the Kid A/Amnesiac sessions, O’Brien’s lifeline Well, there was no kind of ambition to necessarily make a guitar
“different-sounding” guitar ended up being the same Fender or do a collaboration. It really came from a dream that I had.
Eric Clapton Stratocaster he’d been playing for years—only It was a very strong dream, and I can’t remember the details,
now modified with a Fernandes Sustainer unit. For a player but I woke up and immediately thought of the Sustainer Strat
who’d grown up idolizing the Jam’s Paul Weller, Andy Summers that I’d been playing—what we called the “Frankenstrat.” Plank
of the Police, and the Smiths’ Johnny Marr—texturalists [Peter Clements], who looks after the Radiohead gear, put it
who specialized in creating space—it helped things fall together, and I’d been playing it for about 12 or 13 years. I
into place. Paired with generous amounts of reverb, echo, woke up—I was about half-awake—and I immediately fired
compression, and pitch-shifting, the Sustainer-equipped off an e-mail to the one person I knew at Fender, a guy called
guitar opened new possibilities and enabled O’Brien to Neil Whitcher [FMIC’s head of artist relations in Europe],
help generate the lush soundscapes populating Radiohead’s saying, “Would you be interested in collaborating and making
early-millennium outings. this Strat? I think we can make some improvements on it.”
And yet, even after Hail to the Thief (2003) and In Within a few hours, Neil wrote me back, saying, “This sounds
Rainbows (2007) hewed strongly back toward traditional great. Let me pass it on to Justin Norvell [senior vice president
guitar-rock form—with feral 6-strings blasting out of of products at Fender].” I wrote to Justin, and that kind of set
the gate on the former (“2=2+5”), and the latter being it all in motion really. In 2013, just over four and a half years
the band’s loosest, most traditional and soulful effort to ago, I wrote the e-mail. And here we are now.
date—everyone in their right mind knew it wouldn’t last.
True to form, Yorke’s writing on The King of Limbs (2011) What sorts of things did you hope to improve?
veered toward electronic trance vibes, and last year’s A The problem with the one I had was that it was great when
Moon Shaped Pool was somewhere in the middle—a bit it was sustaining, but it didn’t sound good as a normal,
more of an organic band effort, with plenty of fertile fields functioning guitar. What I wanted was to have this amazing
for atmospheric Sustainer work amidst the fuzzy bass lines Strat and—with a flick of a switch—you can enter a whole
and string arrangements, respectively, by Colin and Jonny other world with the Sustainer. I wanted it to sound great in
Greenwood (“Burn the Witch”), Yorke’s still-amazing falsetto normal guitar mode. Another big thing was I wanted a really
and lilting pianos (“The Numbers,” “True Love Awaits”), great neck on it. I love the [EOB] neck.
fingerpicked acoustics (“Present Tense” and “Desert Island
Disk”), and shuffling slow-builds haunted by otherworldly Did you ask for it to match something you already had?
background vocals (“Identikit”). No. I didn’t have a Strat that I was really happy with the neck.
Which brings us back to the question of magnanimity. About The Clapton Strat neck was good, but it wasn’t great for me.
midway between Limbs and Pool, O’Brien began talks with Fender flew me over to Corona and I went through the different
Fender Musical Instruments Corporation about developing a profiles of necks. The one that we ended up with was a ’56.
signature guitar. Unveiled at the 2017 Summer NAMM Show
in Nashville and available for sale in November, the EOB You mentioned Plank a minute ago—did you ever toy
Sustainer Stratocaster canonized O’Brien’s long relationship with the idea of adapting a Starcaster as a signature model
with the classic double-cut by combining custom specs and based on the semi-hollow guitars he built you years ago?
his favorite mod in a single instrument. Meanwhile, he’s begun No, I felt like it needed to have the solid body for the sustain
work on a solo album (to be released in 2019) with bassist to be really great. But actually that’s a good point. I’ve never
Nathan East (Eric Clapton, Daft Punk), drummer Omar done it [put a Sustainer] in a semi-acoustic hollowbody. That
Hakim (Miles Davis, David Bowie), and singer/guitarist Dave would be really interesting.
Okumu from the band the Invisible, and he and his Oxfordshire
mates were recently nominated for induction into the Rock Does having the signature guitar change how many guitars
and Roll Hall of Fame. you take on the road?
To be sure, O’Brien has a lot to talk about these days. And, It does. It’s made life a lot more boring for my tech, Adam. I
given the dearth of past guitar-focused interviews, we’re sad to think he used to really enjoy the fact that it was pretty much
say we had too little time to cover the breadth of questions that a different guitar every song. It kept him on his toes. Now
have built up over the last three decades. But we did our best. we’ll go through the setlist, and 50 or 60 percent of it is the
Thankfully, Radiohead’s chief texturalist was the consummate Sustainer Strat.
gentleman, manifesting himself to be both an out-and-out
guitar nut and a super-friendly guy. Two facts we hope bode So how many guitars are you taking on the road right now?
well for getting the honor again sometime soon—perhaps Well, I’ve got three EOB Strats. I’ve got my [Gibson ES-]335, a
even with Jonny in tow. (We can dream, right?) Rickenbacker [360] 6[-string], a Rick [360] 12[-string], and I’ve

O’Brien confides got a lovely Gretsch [G6137TCB Panther].
of his go-to That’s about it. It’s kind of minimal. I like
Rickenbacker being a little bit more nimble. I wouldn’t
360 12-string,
“I have to be
say we’re exactly nimble, but I like being
honest—I really light of imprint.
struggle with
the 12. The neck Are any of the EOBs in different tunings,
is so narrow, and
or are they just backups?
it’s a dog to play.
But they have a Yeah, basically they are all backups.
certain sound.”
Over the years you’ve experimented with
different guitars more than Jonny does.
Would you say that’s because you simply
enjoy switching it up more, or did it have
to do more with what you feel the nature
of your role in the band is—as more of
a texturalist?
I love guitars, and I’m very lucky to be in a
band that encourages finding new sounds.
My experimentation comes probably from Was your first one a 6- or a 12-string? are the most salient differences from your
my limitations, in the sense that I don’t It was a 6. I have to be honest—I really standpoint?
play lots of other instruments, whereas struggle with the 12. The neck is so narrow, If you want to reduce it to its simplistic
Jonny does. I could have sought out other and it’s a dog to play. I would love it if, terms, I think Thom is a great rhythm
instruments, but I guess I’m fascinated by someday, Rickenbacker did a 12-string guitarist—an amazing rhythm guitarist.
the guitar—that it has lots of different that was actually really nice to play. I’ve Jonny is a great lead guitarist. And I’m sort
applications and sounds. I quite like having got two 12s, and they’re just horrible. of in between. I’m the sweeper. I sweep up
limitations, because certainly for me, it But they have a certain sound. It’d be the shavings. I do a bit of rhythm, I do a
works to bring the best out. really nice if they were nice to play and bit of textural stuff. A lot of the time, if a
had that sound. song’s being written on guitar [by Thom],
Rickenbackers have been a mainstay for then there’s already a rhythm part there—
a long time, too. What drew you to them? When you look back at your career—from there’s a whole lot of room taken up. If he’s
I like the look of them! I mean, seriously— the On a Friday days up to now—what written with Jonny, usually Jonny’s worked
that was a big part. Also, they are iconic strikes you most about your evolution out some kind of part. By the time it gets
guitars, particularly in sort of the British as a musician? to the rest of us, there’s only a certain
lineage of bands, starting with the Beatles. I guess that I kept going, really. I literally amount of room left. That’s been good for
For me, it was Paul Weller and the Jam, learned to play my instrument within the me—it’s been challenging. At times you go,
playing his Rickenbacker. That was a really band, so I started off very limited—and like, “What the fuck am I going to do?”
iconic image. And Johnny Marr played a I’m still very limited. But I’ve been lucky, Ultimately, the band’s not a welfare state.
Rickenbacker in the earlier days. Then, of because I’ve been in a band that has not If you don’t come up with something that
course, Peter Buck—that was his thing. I required you to be a virtuoso. It’s about serves the song, then you’re not going to
was a huge R.E.M. fan. Rickenbackers are doing something different. I think I’ve play on it. That’s the bottom line. It’s kind
expensive guitars, so when we got the record always enjoyed … I love sound. I think of ruthless in that respect. But that’s also a
deal and I got the advance from EMI, I had that’s the thing overall: I love sound. To good challenge, because it keeps you out
a Squier Strat that I bought as a kid. We were me, as much as Brian Eno has been a of your comfort zone.
all allowed to buy one guitar. Jonny bought huge influence, I’ve been fortunate that
his Tele Plus. Thom bought a Tele, and I I’ve been allowed—within the band, but Do you feel like your journey into pedal
was always going to buy a Rickenbacker. also with the amount of great gear that experimentation, particularly post-OK
I used it a lot on Pablo Honey, The Bends, is available now—to do the things that Computer, was a natural evolution, a
and I was still using it on OK Computer. inspire me and make me happy. I’ve been result of an epiphany along the way, or
“No Surprises” is the Rickenbacker with a very lucky. more of a survival measure to find a place
Photo by Lindsey Best
capo. It’s a very distinctive sound—I still in the changing landscape?

love it. I’ve been in the studio [recording] Longtime fans probably feel like they It’s a bit of all of those things. Firstly
my own stuff, and I’ve still got a Rick 6 and have a handle on the guitar dynamic there’s a hunger—I was always inspired
a Rick 12 there. between you, Thom, and Jonny, but what by sound. There’s a bit of “that’s what
premierguitar.com
TOSIN ABASI
Shreds 8 strings.
Every single one is NYXL.
Right: the music needed.” There’s a bit of “that and “Climbing up the Walls,” were pretty
A notorious was my space.” And, to be frank, there’s much live takes. There were these moments
pedal collector,
a bit of “now I can afford to buy some when we were like, “Oh my god, did we
O’Brien says the
stomp that’s pedals.” I remember when we made OK just play that?”
“just blowing Computer … The Bends started it off a Of course, you never know. You hope
my mind at bit, but when we made OK Computer, I that other people feel that magic that you
the moment” was so euphoric really, because suddenly feel. Obviously the reaction, how it was It changes. I think we’re lucky. We’re living
is Hologram
Electronics’
all these things that I felt about sound received, was off the scale, really. It was in an era of extraordinary pedals. I have
Infinite Jets, and that I loved, I could bring into the interesting, because it was like that straight a basic pedalboard that I love. I’ve got a
which tracks music. And I think it served the music out of the doors. I remember the last time Cali76 compressor [by Origin Effects].
dynamics, really well. It was definitely a natural I read a review, it was an NME review, I’ve got a Kingsley boost called the Page.
samples your
evolution. A bit of inspiration, a bit of and it gave it 9 out of 10 and said it was I’ve always got a DigiTech Whammy. I’m
playing, and
“reinterprets” fear, a bit of everything. an extraordinary piece of work. I thought, big into delays. Catalinbread has done an
it via two well, this is the last review that I read, amazing job with the Belle Epoch Deluxe.
channels of When you guys were recording OK because I don’t like the way it has an effect It’s [a replica of ] the [Echoplex] EP-3. It
infinite sustain. Computer, did any of you have any inkling on me. It’s pumping up my ego and our sounds so great. I also really like what Joel
what an iconic record it was going to be? collective ego. I think I’ll just quietly not [Korte]’s doing at Chase Bliss Audio. He’s
No, obviously not. You can never know read these anymore. It was extraordinary doing some really, really great stuff.
how a culture’s going to judge it. But I the way it was received. But, you know, a
do know that, when we were making it, I lot of it’s timing. It’s tweak-o-rama with all those DIP
felt like we were making something really switches, huh?
magical. There were some challenging times, Do you have any favorite pedal recipes that Yes, bonkersly deep. But the one that is
but overall the sounds were in alignment you’ve come up with—combinations that just blowing my mind at the moment is
on that record. When we were making it, are the most fun for you to play—or does the Hologram [Electronics] Infinite Jets
some of the takes we did, like “Let Down” that change over time? [Resynthesizer] pedal. Do you know that?
premierguitar.com
I don’t.
Oh my god! You have to google it. It’s an
extraordinary pedal. Just brilliant. And they’ve
got another pedal [Dream Sequence]. That
one is off the scale. I’m really getting to enjoy
digging deep on that. I also wanted to mention
one other thing I’m using, apart from the
pedals. I’m using these Audio Kitchen amps
by a guy called Steve Crow in London, and
they are truly extraordinary. I’ve used them on
the road, and they’ve been amazing this last
year. I’ve been using them in the studio, and
they are extraordinary beasts. Amazing. I’ve
got the Little Chopper, the Big Chopper, and
the Base Chopper—Nathan East was using
that on my session, and he loved it.
Are you using those in addition to the

Fender Vibro-Kings you’ve been using since
2011 or so?
Well, our soundman complained about the
Vibro-Kings, because they were so loud. I was
forced to find an alternative. In doing so, I found
these Audio Kitchen amps. Obviously the Vibro-
Kings are extraordinary amps, but you know
how guitarists are. We like a change sometimes.
Last question: Stereotypically, at least,

guitarists are infamously obsessed with
gear, technique, “holy grail” tones, and
other technical minutiae—I suspect that’s
at least partly why you, Jonny, and Thom
haven’t been super eager to talk to guitar
magazines over the years.
Yeah, totally. You’re right.
If you could collectively grab these kinds of

guitarists by the shoulders, give them a bit
of a shake, and offer them a bit of advice,
what would it be?
Just do your thing. Be original. And be inspired.
All the great stuff comes out of inspiration,
doesn’t it? A lot of guitarists like to play blues:
If you’re going to play blues, dig deep. Try and
do something different with it. We were always
inspired by people like Sonic Youth—the way
they kind of mutilated their instruments, the
retuning. We were lucky that post-punk had
the golden era of guitarists. People like Johnny
Marr, John McGeoch [Magazine, Siouxsie
and the Banshees], the Edge—all these people
SET AND FORGET
were doing something really, really different
and unique, and not necessarily playing the
blues. So be different. Be yourself.
www.henrettaengineering.com

TONE TIPS
Guitar in the Social-Media Era

BY PETER THORN
I
Overwhelmed ’ve recently been thinking quite a it’s important to reach the
by guitar bit about guitar and the way it’s people who are simply just
virtuosity on
evolved throughout the YouTube and lovers of music.
the internet?
Session master social-media era. Seemingly every day B.B. King, Jimi
turned internet- you can tune in and find a new guitarist Hendrix, Eric Clapton,
guitar-sensei somewhere on the globe who blows you and Joe Satriani are
Tim Pierce has away with his or her skills. There’s an all good examples of
some great
advice about
endless amount of instructional material guitarists who were able
how to best just a click away. But amidst all this to reach far beyond the
use YouTube virtuosity, talent, and inspiration, I worry guitar community with
to learn guitar that some guitarists—of all proficiency their guitar-based music.
techniques.
levels—might get discouraged. In this Sometimes, guitarists tell me that their potential legality issues, it just adds an
month’s “Tone Tips,” I want to encourage kids or other family members like to listen element of pressure. From the musician’s
everyone out there to remember to my music. That is a compliment I love perspective, it provokes anxiety and is
something: This is supposed to be fun! to hear! If you write great songs and then distracting when you’re constantly being
Our best selves. When you are use your playing skills to serve the music, filmed and photographed. Not only that,
watching musicians doing mind-blowing I guarantee you will reach a far wider it detracts from everyone else’s experience
things on YouTube or Instagram, keep in audience. Given that our phones can be when multiple people are holding phones
mind that they are showing you their best used as 4-track recorders these days, it’s up high and blocking lines of sight.
selves. They’ve most likely taken ample certainly never been easier to document I don’t think it’s realistic to suggest it
time to warm up and practice whatever musical ideas when creativity strikes. should stop, but I do think we should
you are seeing them play. Trust me: It Play with others. It’s important to all exercise restraint and tact when we
wasn’t always as effortless for them as it remember how rewarding it is to jam reach for our phones at a show. When I’m
may appear. Take comfort in knowing with others. I recommend finding a way attending a show and an artist requests no
they had to start somewhere, too. to do it often, and for no other reason filming or photography, I abide by that
My good pal Tim Pierce recently or end goal than creativity’s sake. I was request. If it is allowed, I’ll take a selfie
made a YouTube lesson video called “5 in a bar in Hollywood the other night or stage shot or two to document the
Quick Tricks When You’re Stuck.” And it and there was a group of three musicians occasion, and maybe film a portion of a
contains some terrific advice on learning jamming in the corner. Most of the song, but then I put the phone away and
from other YouTube videos and virtuoso patrons weren’t paying attention, but enjoy the music. It’s what I like audience
guitarists. Tim suggests taking just one or the musicians were obviously enjoying members to do when I’m onstage!
two simple ideas, licks, or concepts from themselves anyway. Playing at home by It’s important to keep music an
each video. The trick here is to not get yourself can, of course, be enjoyable, organic, fun, and creative pursuit. With
overwhelmed or discouraged, and if you too, but jamming with others is really some restraint and common sense, we
can come away learning just one thing on another level. It was refreshing to see can utilize modern tech to enhance
from everything you watch—voilà—you a group of players simply enjoying their our musical lives by using it to help us
will have improved your playing! musical conversation with no one filming learn and create. In closing, I’d like to
Write! Playing incredible licks with it for YouTube or live streaming it on recommend the benefits of taking an
flawless technique is one thing, but it’s Instagram. Which brings me to…. occasional break from tech. Grab an
relatively pointless if those licks and Phones and cameras at shows. acoustic guitar, go sit on the porch, and
techniques aren’t used in service of a Today’s younger musicians may not get lost in some music for a while. Leave
great song. Music is not a sport. If you even remember a time without smart the phone inside. Until next month, I wish
find yourself spending all your playing phones. To them, live streaming and you great tone!
time practicing technique and soloing filming at shows is the norm. Yet
over backing tracks, it might be a good many older musicians really despise PETER THORN
is an L.A.-based guitarist who has
idea to allot some time for actually the prevalence of phone cameras and toured with Chris Cornell, Melissa
creating music. I find that a good gauge filming at their shows. They grew up in Etheridge, Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi, and
many others. He released a solo
is whether or not non-musicians seem a time when it wasn’t happening, so it’s album, Guitar Nerd, in 2011. Read
to enjoy your playing. It’s great if other easy to understand why it’s a frustrating more at peterthorn.com.
guitarists like what you do, but ultimately development for them. Beyond the
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E L E C T R I C G U I TA R BASS ACOUSTIC CLASSICAL MANDOLIN BANJO BAJO DULCIMER PEDAL STEEL R E S O N AT O R UKULELE AND MORE
The Parliament Funkadelic bass legend
discusses his groovetastic new album, his
6-foot pedalboard, an everlasting quest
for new sounds from space, and his lesser
known, yet very impressive, guitar playing.
BY TZVI GLUCKIN
W
hat hasn’t been written about bassist Bootsy Collins? has the Phase 90. Jimi Hendrix had the Uni-Vibe. And Bootsy
In 1970, when Collins was just 18, he joined Collins has the Mu-Tron III envelope filter. That watery
James Brown’s band and played bass on timeless thump isn’t just a Collins’ trademark—that’s what funky
classics like “Sex Machine,” “Super Bad,” and “Soul Power”— music sounds like.
which for some people is enough to establish him as one of Collins was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
the instrument’s all-time greats. But Collins was just getting two decades ago, but he not only shows no signs of slowing
started, and two years later he joined Parliament Funkadelic. down, he shows no signs of becoming a has-been. His new
Brown taught Collins how to interpret groove—he album, World Wide Funk, is surprisingly fresh. “I was trying to
emphasized the one, which means resolving phrases on the intertwine some of the young energy,” he says. “That’s kind of
downbeat—and Collins taught that concept to his new band. what I hang around now, a lot of young musicians, and being
That one defined the sound of P-Funk, which in turn helped around that inspires me even more. I tried to incorporate that
define the sound of funk, which—thanks to sampling and the into the album.”
popularity of hip-hop—was influential in shaping the next 40 World Wide Funk features guest appearances from fellow
years of popular music. bassists Victor Wooten, Stanley Clarke, Manou Gallo, and
Collins is central to seminal Parliament releases like Alissia Benveniste; guitarists Eric Gales and Buckethead;
Chocolate City and Mothership Connection, and even his “solo” drummer Dennis Chambers; rappers Doug E. Fresh, Chuck
project, Bootsy’s Rubber Band, scored a number one R&B hit D, Dru Down, and the Blvck Seeds; singers Kali Uchis,
with “Bootzilla” in 1978. He’s also a frequent collaborator and Musiq Soulchild, and October London… and many others.
since the ‘80s has worked with everyone from Bill Laswell to But this is Premier Guitar, so when we got Collins on
Fatboy Slim to Herbie Hancock to Buckethead. In 1990, he the phone, our first order of business was gear. We got the
was at the top of the charts as part of Deee-Lite’s mega-hit, lowdown on his early instruments and the history behind
Photo by Michael Weintrob
“Groove Is in the Heart,” and in the early 2000s performed what eventually led to his iconic star-shaped basses. We
the Monday Night Football theme with Hank Williams Jr. also discussed his never-ending obsession with pedals,
And that’s just part of his curriculum vitae. collaborating with other bassists, the recording of World Wide
Collins’ tonal wanderlust—in addition to his innovative Funk, and—this may even be a first—we even got him to talk
playing—defined the sound of funk as well. Eddie Van Halen about his little known, yet very impressive, guitar playing.
premierguitar.com
You’re known for your distinctive star- on the new album—I can’t think which
shaped basses, but obviously, that’s not one it was off the top of my head—but I
what you started with. I read that your played it on one of the songs and man, I
first instrument was a guitar strung up mean, nothing sounds like that. It’s like a TIDBIT:
World Wide
with bass strings. Is that true? dead-string sound—those old flatwound Funk, the latest
Well, it didn’t have bass strings at first. It strings on top of that hollow Vox bass album by
was a regular $29 job, a Silvertone guitar. guitar. It’s got a built-in fuzz on it and a Bootsy Collins,
The reason I put bass strings on it was built-in tuner. It was incredible. I used a was mostly
recorded in his
because I wanted to play with my brother lot of different things on this record to try Bootzilla Rehab
[Phelps “Catfish” Collins]. He played to give me a facelift. I’m still keeping the home studio. It
guitar and he was developing a good old stuff, but I’m adding a little newness Is the neck modeled after the Fender P? includes an intro
reputation. He’s about eight years older here and there. On different songs, I use After the Fender, yeah. by Iggy Pop and
appearances by
than I am. He was a teenager and I was, different pedals as well.
Victor Wooten,
like, 9 years old. And from the beginning What about the pickup configuration? Stanley Clarke,
I wanted to play with him. So, I figured if Were you still playing the Jazz bass It has both the Jazz bass pickups plus Eric Gales,
I got a guitar, I could at least learn how to when you joined Funkadelic? other things. How did you design that? Buckethead, and
play and then the next step would be to No, I went back to the P bass. That’s what That was designed originally off the Chuck D, just to
name a few.
play with him. When that next step came everybody was into, back at that time. Fender Jazz. Then I added the P-bass
up, he didn’t need another guitar player, I was like, “I got to get myself together pickups—that and a couple of other
he needed a bass player. I didn’t have a to play the P bass,” because the neck pickups as well. It had a combination of
bass, so I was like, “Okay, well, what do is different. I started playing it—and I the Fender P-bass and then what I threw
I do now?” I asked him if he would get started loving it. The first recordings I did up in there that I liked myself. But it’s
me four bass strings. He got me four bass with Parliament Funkadelic were with been a lot of upgrading since then.
strings, I unwound the thickness of it at that P bass. And that P bass is in the Rock
the end, I put them on the guitar, and and Roll Hall of Fame now [laughs]. What about the multiple outputs?
voilà!—that was my bass guitar. That multiple output allowed me to not
When did you get your first star-shaped use so many cables. It was just one cable
Did you still have that when you joined “Space Bass?” that went to the pedalboard and that’s
James Brown? The first Space Bass was made in 1975 by where the signal got split up. When I
Yeah. He loved my playing but he was a guy named Larry Pless at a place called first did it, it was just 2-way out. Then
really done with that guitar. The color of Gus Zoppi Music in Sterling Heights, it became 3-way and until, I would say,
it was beat and at that time Fender was Michigan. I took a drawing in there and up until the ’90s, it became 4-way out.
the main thing on the market. Everybody he was a young and up-and-coming guitar That’s what it is now. Every pickup has
had to play a Fender—either a P bass or maker. Wouldn’t nobody make it. I was up an output. There is one pickup unit in
a Jazz bass. I wanted one for the longest on 48th Street in New York—all up and there that has two on one output, which
time, but I couldn’t afford it. He dogged down there—and I was telling them about is designed like the Fender Jazz bass. So,
me out about my little bass, man, like, this star bass that I wanted, and nobody the guitar actually has five pickups.
“You can’t come up here on my stage was interested. I had to find somebody that
anymore with that thing.” He wound up would do it because, first of all, I didn’t Those outputs go to different amps?
getting me a Fender Jazz bass. have no money [laughs], and second of all, Yes. They go to different amps and
nobody was interested because it wasn’t hot different cabinets onstage. It’s a whole
Did you prefer the Jazz bass as opposed on the market. Nobody had a star bass. wall of different tones, different sounds.
to the Precision? Nobody was talking about a star bass. I was The pedals go to different amps as well.
Yes, especially at that time because I just like, “I’ve got to find somebody that’s just It kept growing. It started with a small,
loved the way the neck felt. It wasn’t wide into doing stuff.” And Gus Zoppi Music maybe 3-foot pedalboard case, and then
all the way up the neck. It was just a store was an accordion store—it wasn’t even it grew up to around 6 1/2 feet. That’s
perfect fit. And the sound of it—I loved a guitar store where I found this guy. I just where it’s currently at.
the P-bass sound, too, but I liked the happened to go in there, I started talking
body shape of the Jazz. It fit real good. to the owner, I asked him if he had any What’s on there?
suggestions, and he said, “Yes. I’ve got a I got everything and its mother [laughs].
Did you have a Vox bass with James young guy that’s working for me in the You got maybe four to six pedals on what
Brown as well? back that might be interested because he’s I call the high end and the same thing on
Yeah, I’ve still got that Vox bass [an Apollo always been wanting to make guitars.” So the mid-range. They’re different pedals,
IV] and I played it on one of the songs that’s how I found this guy. but they’re the same amount of pedals.

Give me different sounds—when I hear different sounds, it motivates me.”
Collins is known You got three rows: you got ultra-high, Worrell—who was the keyboard
for his colorful you got high end, you got mids, and player—I noticed any time he would do
costumes, but
then you got the low end that goes direct, a different sound, it would make him
it doesn’t stop
there. His bass which goes to my sub-woofers. It’s a lot play different. So, I didn’t feel so bad
tonal colors of configurations. People said, “Can’t you when I saw him doing it because he was
helped define just plug the thing in and play?” But I was really legit [laughs]. [Editor’s note: Worrell
the funk genre. hardheaded and I wanted to always be “in studied at the New England Conservatory
“It’s kind of like
painting,” he
search of ” and “let me find these different of Music in the 1960s and was awarded an
says. “It’s like, sounds,” you know? I’m glad I did. It honorary doctorate just before his death in
‘I don’t like that was very confusing to the engineers that 2016]. Here I was from the James Brown
color. Let me try started recording me first, because nobody school and we didn’t know nothing. I
another color.’”
was used to that. All they were used to didn’t know how to read. All I knew how
He’s shown
here in 1990 was, “Plug that thing in and let’s hit it.” to do was hear these sounds and I wanted
with his 1969 And, I don’t know, that era was changing. to play them.
Ampeg Synthesizers were coming in—it wasn’t
upright bass. in yet—but it was coming in. I guess Nowadays, do you experiment with
I wanted something different. I didn’t computer modeling, plug-ins, and
want just the same old bass sounds that things like that?
everybody got. So, I took a dive for it. I don’t. But I don’t knock it. It just seems
like everything is kind of “pre-” now. I like
In the studio, do you use that whole the fact of having to find my way through
pedalboard or do you just isolate what different things. You can compare it like
you need? this: You know how they used to tell you
When I do outside studio work, that to get lost? Well nowadays, you can’t even
pedalboard goes with me. Whatever is in get lost because you’ve got the GPS. But
the pedalboard pretty much stays. When getting lost was part of the experience.
I’m recording myself in my own studio, That was the part where you had to figure
I got the pedalboard plus a gazillion out how to get back—or how to get there.
pedals if I want to throw something in That’s being taken away and, to me, that
or take something out. It’s easy for me was the fun part. I don’t want to take that
BOOTSY COLLINS’ GEAR
at my studio where I can record things away. All those old pedals, the old stuff, I
the way I want to. But when I go out love it—anything you can step on.
doing stuff in other places, I just take the BASSES
main pedalboard and those are usually How much does that original Space • Assorted Warwick Signature models
the sounds I usually use. But on this new Bass weigh? It looks like it weighs a ton. (star-shaped and double-horned)
album, I was reaching for different things Well, you know, the first one actually did
on different songs. I had access to any and weigh a ton. I don’t know exactly what AMPS
everything, which was great. It helps fuel it weighed, but it was all solid wood and • Warwick PR 40 Jonas Hellborg Preamp (3)
me as well. Uplifts me. Give me different it was heavy. I never really paid it that • Hughes & Kettner BassBase 600
sounds—when I hear different sounds, it much attention because I guess I was so • SWR Mo’Bass
motivates me. Either they’re good—they young and energetic and I didn’t care. • Mesa/Boogie M9 Carbine
do something good to you—or it’s, “I I just wanted to play that star bass. I • dbx 120XP Subharmonic Synthesizer
don’t like that sound, let me try this other didn’t care what it weighed. I was really • Monster Power PRO
one.” Those are the kind of things I like concerned with how it sounded and what 2500 Rack PowerCenter
to deal with. It’s kind of like painting. It’s it looked like—and that’s pretty much • Mesa/Boogie Subway D-800 w/matching cabs
like, “I don’t like that color. Let me try it. If I could play it, then that’s what I • Ampeg Portaflex w/matching cab
another color.” That is part of my creative wanted. The one I got now that’s made • Assorted custom cabs with stars
process and it’s been that way forever. by Warwick, it’s much lighter. I notice it
now because I put the old one on—the
STRINGS
Do different pedals and sounds inspire 1975 one—and it’s heavy. But I never
Photo by Ebet Roberts
• DR Strings BZ-50 Bootzilla Signature

different types of riffs or make you play noticed that before.
Bass Strings (.050–.110)
differently?
Yes, and that goes mainly for bass. People don’t know that you’re also a
But I found out even with Bernie guitar player. I interviewed George
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Bootsy Collins
loves pedals. His
’board is taller
than the average
man (more than
6-feet long),
and while his
sound is most
associated with
the vintage
Mu-Tron III
envelope filter,
he’s not living in
yesteryear. He
has about two
dozen pedals on
his ’board and
another 30-plus
new pedals lying
around his
home studio.
BOOTSY COLLINS’ PEDALBOARD
(Left Section) (Middle Section) (Right Section)

• Electro-Harmonix H.O.G.2 • Beigel Sound Lab Mu-FX Tru-Tron 3X • DigiTech Space Station XP300
• Electro-Harmonix H.O.G.2 foot controller • Darkglass Duality fuzz • Lovetone Ring Stinger
• DigiTech Bass Whammy (blue) • Electro-Harmonix Metal Muff • Mu-Tron III
• Eventide H9 • Electro-Harmonix Bass Micro Synth • Korg ToneWorks G5 bass synth
• Mesa/Boogie Flux Drive • DOD FX25 Envelope Filter • Amptweaker FatMetal Pro
• Boss BF02 Flanger • Panda Audio Future Impact I. Bass Synth • Xotic Robotalk 2
• Boss DD-7 Digital Delay • DOD FX59 Thrash Master fuzz • Radial Firefly DI
• Boss DD-5 Digital Delay • Pigtronix Mothership 2 analog synthesizer
• DigiTech Whammy
Clinton and Blackbyrd McKnight a Do you play the rhythm guitar parts on then you space out. But of course, that’s
few years ago [“Parliament Funkadelic: the new album? Is that mostly you? the idea from back in the day. Now it’s like
A Funk Guitar Roundtable,” March A lot of it, yeah. And then Keith everything is outer space. But I can dig it.
2016] and they said your guitar playing Cheatham, who was playing a lot on the
is “dangerous.” road with us. He took Catfish’s place. Are your guitars recorded direct to the
[Laughs]. That’s pretty deep. Nah. I just I’d never found nobody that had Catfish board or do you have guitar amps and
play what I hear in my head and that’s locked down, other than Keith. He used effects set up in your studio as well?
usually when we’re coming up with to play with Sun [’70s/’80s R&B group], I got amps and I got direct. I got the
Photo courtesy of Bootsy Collins
stuff—like a track and a riff. I’m pretty and he plays on a lot of this new album. old 50-watt Ampeg with the two 12s. I
good at that because those are things It’s hard—it’s almost becoming a dinosaur mean, you name it. The old Epiphone,
I just hear. That’s probably why they thing to be able to do that, because that’s the old Gibson, the old Fender Twin
said it. But being amazing and not the emphasis now—but for me, it’s Reverb—all that old stuff, I got it. I
dangerous and all that? No, I doubt always about that groove, that lock, that got the B3 organ. I mean, fully blown.
that very seriously. riff, that hook. You get that going and Musicians come in and have a field day.
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It’s like having a studio with things you can touch. Rehab [home studio]—and the other people that I wanted to get, I had to
These are things you can actually get on and play. parts we had to send out. Iggy Pop see if it fit into their schedule. Some
And I don’t care what era a musician was brought did the intro at a studio in New of them came in and then had to
up in, when he’s able to sit down, jam, mess York. Dennis Chambers was on the leave right out. Some I had to send
around, and experiment—when he can do that— road, so this time he had to record the files to, and me and my engineer,
that’s when he fully gets a chance to open up with the drums where he was at. A lot of Tobe Donohue, interacted with the
his own self-expression and beat it out of himself. the musicians that I used were on the other musicians through Pro Tools.
I think it’s very important to be able to beat it road—because it was the summer
out, because otherwise you sit there and play with time and everybody was out. I took When you record in the studio, do
yourself. And I just don’t like playing with myself off to do this record. I had time to you sit in the control room or do
like that [laughs]. do whatever I needed to do. But the you sit with your amps and play?
Do you play guitar with a pick or do you strum

with your fingers?
With a pick. Just like my older brother Catfish. I
learned from him and he was the greatest at it.
You feature a lot of other bass players on the

new album as well. How do you arrange that?
It was about coordinating it and putting it together
in a way that doesn’t step on anybody’s toes. This
was like a team kind of thing. I didn’t want to do
it where it all just sounds like a whooof. You know
how you can put a lot of comedians together who
are all great on their own, but when you put them
together it just ain’t happening? Well, that’s the
same idea. I wanted it to be where you had your
own space and wasn’t nobody stepping on that.
That’s you. It’s your turn.
You travel with a second bass player in your live

act as well.
Yes. I started doing that because it kept getting
more difficult for me to perform and take care of
all the crazy business. It was just nuts. I’ve always
loved to play, but to play and take care of all
the airports—I mean, the road is just so stupid
now—and it’s like I needed somebody I could
rely on. I play and sing the songs and that was
getting difficult—playing, singing, and trying to
entertain the people was a little bit much for me.
If it was just getting up there and playing, okay, I
can do that. It was a lot of pressure lifted off when
I added that. It made playing and being onstage a
lot more fun.
When you play bass, does he lay out or do you

just have two basses going?
He drops his volume or he leaves the stage, it just
depends on what song it is.
How was the album recorded?

I engineered all the analog stuff. We did about 65
to 70 percent of the album here in the Bootzilla

Bootsy Collins’ I’m in the control room, because once I pretty much got my
first Space Bass
sound, it always stays set up. That’s a good thing because
was made in
1975 by a guy when I used to have to tear it down to go out on the road,
named Larry it was really draining to have to set it all back up. Through
Pless at Gus this album, it was always set up. All I had to do was turn
Zoppi Music in it on and if I needed to put a different pedal or different
Sterling Heights,
Michigan,
thing, it’s all sitting right there in the control room.
which was an
accordion shop. You didn’t slap at first. When did you start doing that?
Bootsy’s current Well, when I first started, I was playing with my thumb.
signature
Then the new thing was the fingerstyle. When I saw
Warwick star
basses have five Marshall Jones, of the Ohio Players, doing it with the
pickups with fingerstyle, I was like, “Wow, that’s the new way of
four outputs, playing.” I jumped on practicing like that and I got
each wired to good at it. And the next thing, Larry Graham came on
different amps
and cabinets.
the scene playing the slap, and I wanted to pick that
up and infiltrate that with what I was doing. And that’s
where it all started.
Many years ago, I was backstage at a P-Funk show and

you showed up wearing an amazing jacket that had
Photo by Ebet Roberts

an American flag on one side and a Soviet flag on the
other. Do you still have it?
Actually, I’ve still got that jacket. I mean, I probably
wouldn’t wear it right now. [Laughs.]
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With custom T-style and hollowbody axes riding shotgun,
road warrior Samantha Fish travels the byways of rock,
country, and hard-core Mississippi hill country blues to make
a new album, Belle of the West, with Luther Dickinson.
BY BILL MURPHY
S
omewhere on a two-lane blacktop
between Detroit and Indianapolis,
Samantha Fish is cruising along
with her band, thoroughly in
her element as she looks ahead to her
next gig. “On the road, always!” she says
over the crackle of her cell phone. “But
yeah, that’s why we do this: Music is the
universal language that we all speak and
can understand, and there’s something
people need in that, you know?”
She’s just 28, but after a decade of
playing in front of all kinds of crowds,
from the smallest clubs to the biggest
festivals, Fish radiates an upbeat
worldliness that has seeped into her
music—a rangy mix of garage rock, blues,
country and soul. Along the way, she’s
opened for Buddy Guy at his Legends
club in Chicago, shared bills with Johnny
Winter, George Thorogood, Corey
Harris, and Tab Benoit, and garnered
praise from The New York Times as “an
impressive blues guitarist who sings with
sweet power.” It’s been quite a journey
from her hometown in Kansas City,
Missouri, where she started out jamming
on drums with her father, her uncles, and ’n’ roll, and if his brothers were over, Primarily self-taught, she picked up
their friends before switching to guitar they’d be playing guitar to Black Sabbath everything she could from her idols—
when she was in her mid-teens. or Black Label Society—some kind of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Keith Richards,
“My father played guitar,” she says, metal. And then some friends might play Angus Young, Slash, the Heartbreakers’
Photo by Alysse Gafkjen
“and it’s funny because the style of music bluegrass or West Coast swing or country Mike Campbell—before she discovered the
would change based on whoever was over music—Americana, songwriter-type stuff. North Mississippi hill country blues sound
at the house. We listened to the radio And my mom sang in church, so you can of R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, and
growing up, so there was all this rock see how the lines are connected.” the Fat Possum label. At 17, she started
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hanging around Knuckleheads, the hottest blues-country saloon in Kansas City, and
eventually drew the attention of owner Frank Hicks, who got her time onstage and the
chance to cut her teeth with a slew of different blues and roots artists, including Benoit
TIDBIT:
and Michael Burks. In 2010, on the recommendation of St. Louis blues guitarslinger While cutting
Mike Zito, she landed a deal with the late Luther Allison’s label Ruf Records (founded in guitar tracks
1994 by Allison’s manager, Thomas Ruf), and she’s been making her mark ever since. for Belle of the
Belle of the West is Fish’s latest album, with a history of its own. Recorded near the end West, Fish’s
Category 5 amp
of 2015, the sessions were produced by the North Mississippi AllStars’ Luther Dickinson was in Zebra
at his father Jim Dickinson’s famed Zebra Ranch studio in Coldwater, Mississippi, just Ranch’s small
south of Memphis. At first, Fish and Dickinson had conceived of a more acoustic-based room, and she
follow-up to 2015’s Wild Heart, which they’d also worked on together in the fall of 2014. would stand
close to the large
But as more guest musicians came into the fold—including singer and fiddle player Lillie
room, where
Mae, known to many for her high-profile stint in Jack White’s Lazaretto band, as well as Luther Dickinson
Mississippi roots guitarists Lightnin’ Malcolm and Jimbo Mathus—the album took on a What was it like for you to be in would crank the
larger scope. [See sidebar, “Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch.”] the same room with all these great backing tracks to
During the session, with plenty of encouragement from Dickinson, Fish made some players to record Belle of the West? simulate a live
atmosphere.
discoveries while playing hollowbody guitars—particularly the Gibson ES-390. The fat, I think for that session, the first
feedback-hugging tone is a departure from the thinline Tele-style sound she gets with her day, I walked in feeling just super-
custom Delaney “Fish-o-caster,” and the new tonal direction inspired her to dig deeper intimidated, because I knew all these
into the underlying melodies of the songs before she tracked her solos. You can hear the really great musicians were there to
results in her gritty phrasing and tasteful hybrid picking near the end of the moody, soul- make my record, so I felt like I had
kissed standout “Don’t Say You Love Me,” or in the jazzy licks she throws down on the to get my shit together. But once
Mathus-penned title track. Occasionally, and especially live, there are strong nods to Jimi you settle into it, you learn a lot
Hendrix, too, in her mids-heavy sound, which she occasionally colors with a Micro POG from those kinds of sessions. I’m just
to create Octavia-inspired colors. And on her cigar box and oil can guitars, Fish’s raw watching and taking it in: like, how
slide tone is evocative of the howling juke joint sound of Burnside. do they approach a song? I think I’m a
“You know, we went into the studio with the best intentions of making an acoustic live player—I mean, that’s what we do
record,” Fish says with a laugh, “but I’ve got Luther in there with me, and we’re both all the time—so I’m not as seasoned
guitar players, so we ended up with something a little heavier, and I’m glad we did. He in the studio. Obviously there’s a
introduced me to hollowbody guitars and the different feedback you can get when you different approach to making records
ring out certain notes, and that really influenced my solos a lot. So it’s a semi-acoustic than playing live. You have to think
record—that’s the term we finally landed on when it was all said and done.” more melodically, and I’m starting to
As luck would have it, Belle of the West was tracked quickly—often just first or second do that more in my live show, too.
takes with the full band, which also features Amy LaVere on upright bass and Tikyra “TK” That’s something Luther taught me.
Jackson (of Southern Avenue) on drums, playing live on the floor. But almost as soon as
the album was mixed, Fish sensed the urge to get another project out of her system. Do you mean thinking outside a
“As a little time passed, I felt like we needed something higher octane to put out traditional blues pentatonic scale,
beforehand,” she says. She hooked up with Detroit-based producer Bobby Harlow or something different?
to tap into the no-frills, garage-rock spirit that inspired her as a kid. “That’s how the Like, not so many freaking notes,
Chills & Fever concept was formed. We recorded with members of the Detroit Cobras, really. Quit with all the licks and all
brought in a horn section from New Orleans, and put together this really high-energy the tricks, because they have no place
big band to do soul and rock ’n roll covers from the ’50s and ’60s.” When stacked on the record. That’s just the way it
against Belle of the West’s rootsy, soulful sound, Chills & Fever, which was released in is. And Luther has such a great way
March 2017, sounds unusually punked-out and jagged. “I know they’re dramatically of leading the song and letting the
different,” Fish explains, “but that was the idea. It’s two different concepts, Detroit and melody grow into something really
Mississippi, but it made sense to put out these two albums in one year for just that beautiful and big and dynamic.
reason—because they’re such concept records.” That’s one of my favorite things
Having recently relocated to New Orleans, Fish is poised to expand her musical about him. He plays so dynamically
horizons even further, but she still feels the pull of the Mississippi blues, no matter and melodically, and I learned that
where she calls home. “To me, it’s the core of rock ’n’ roll music. It’s this unpolished, from watching him. It’s something
guttural, raw sound that people seem to gravitate to over and over again. It just gets I’m still working on.
redone and modified. It’s weird how we kind of remove all the slickness every few
years, and come back to this real, almost aggressive, thing. I think it’s just because How did you meet Luther for the
that’s where our hearts are, you know? That authenticity resonates with people.” first time?

Samantha Fish
digs into one
of her Delaney
custom guitars: a
512 hollowbody
that she had
SAMANTHA FISH’S GEAR
built after the
sessions for
Belle of the GUITARS
West. Her other • Delaney signature SF1 “Fish-o-caster”
Delaney is (thinline T-style, with Amalfitano
her signature
humbuckers and fish-shaped soundhole)
Fish-o-caster.
• Delaney 512 hollowbody
• Gibson SG (late model, Alpine White)
• Fender Blacktop Telecaster
• Bohemian oil can guitar
• Stogie Box Blues 4-string cigar box
guitar with P-bass pickup
• Dean thin-body electric resonator
• Taylor Koa K24ce acoustic guitar
AMP
• Category 5 Amplification Andrew 2x12
combo with matching extension cabinet
EFFECTS
• Analogman King of Tone overdrive
• CAST Engineering Casper delay
• CAST Engineering Pulse Drive tremolo
• Electro-Harmonix Micro POG
• MXR Carbon Copy
• ZVEX Fuzz Factory
STRINGS, PICKS & SLIDES

• D’Addario Regular Light strings
(.010–.046)
• 1.0 mm picks (no brand preference)
• Various brass and glass slides
Well, before Wild Heart was even a I couldn’t believe how easy it was. So we acoustic stuff, everything you hear is my
concept, my manager and I were talking did Wild Heart in 2014, and then we Taylor Koa, the K24ce. And with Chills
about who we would want to work with came back together for Belle of the West. & Fever, I branched out again and got
next as a producer. We ran down a list the Alpine White Gibson SG. That was
of key people, and I’d just heard the Did your signature Delaney thinline a gimme for my childhood self, because
North Mississippi Allstars’ World Boogie figure into the making of this album? I was a big Angus Young fan, and still
Photo by Dan Locke/Frank White Photo Agency
Is Coming for the first time. I found I’ve got a couple of them that I use a lot am. So now the guitar arsenal is so vast,
out that Cody and Luther [Dickinson] live. But my newest guitar, the Delaney it’s ridiculous!
had done it themselves, and I liked the 512 hollowbody, I got because of the
sound of it—how they utilized different Belle of the West sessions. After making And you’re endorsed by Category 5
guitar tones, and how everything has the album, I thought I needed a big Amplification.
this modern, contemporary sound, with hollowbody guitar that really resonates, Yeah, for about five years now. I’m a creature
drumbeats that are really danceable and because the guitars Mike Delaney of habit, when I find something I really
exciting. So we just made a couple of had made for me in the past were like. I have people tell me, “Oh you should
phone calls, and he was into it. [Laughs.] the Telecaster-style thinlines. For the try this, or try that,” but I’m just stuck
premierguitar.com
on this one. I feel like it gives me a really You play “Poor Black Mattie” with all these incredible alternative artists. All
natural amplified tone. That’s just my tone. Lightnin’ Malcolm on Belle of the that music stems from Mississippi, but
[Don Ritter] does a really good job with West. How influenced were you by R.L. yeah, that song in particular is definitely
old-school wiring and tubes. I mean, to me Burnside’s original version? an R.L. Burnside, North Mississippi
nothing sounds better. I used a Fender Super A lot, definitely. You know, the North Allstars mash-up.
[model 5F4] before I had a Cat 5, and it’s Mississippi Allstars were a big influence
funny, I bought that amp for like $300. All on me when I started to play guitar, “Cowtown” is another song that jumps
the knobs were broken off, and I couldn’t too, and the whole North Mississippi out, especially because it has such a
afford to fix it for a long time. I was 18 years sound played a huge part in my musical groove to it. There’s a Texas twang in
old, and I played with the reverb up to 10 upbringing, just with the Fat Possum there, too—a little Steve Earle maybe?
for like a year. It was awful! So I was really [label] roster. I think it’s because I was That song is pretty personal. I was in
happy when I finally got the Cat 5. so into rock ’n’ roll that when I started Europe and the Kansas City Royals had
listening to blues, and especially when I just won the World Series, and this was
It sounds like you’re using effects pretty found Mississippi blues, it bridged that the funny part, because I was like, “I’m
sparingly—maybe just a fuzz on the solo gap between punk and rock. It had that gonna write a real anthem about what it
for “Blood in the Water,” for example? rawness of what I really like in blues feels like to be from this cowtown, and
Yeah, it’s there, but Tab Benoit got in my music, plus it has that danceable groove. how great it is.” Baseball had always been
brain about this, like, “I don’t use pedals, I started out on drums, and I realized pretty depressing in Kansas City, but for
I just make the sound I need,” and that that everything I like basically flows the first time in my life, I witnessed the
was some of the most important advice I through Mississippi. So when I finally demeanor of my town change. Everyone
got. I did away with my pedalboard for discovered R.L. Burnside, it blew my held their heads a little bit higher. It’s
a long time, but I just started venturing mind because he was doing exactly the amazing what something like that can do
back into it. Now I’m finally starting to kind of stuff that I was into. And they’ve for a city.
reincorporate pedals for actual effects, and inspired so many modern contemporary But like everything I write, it turned out
not as crutches like I used to use them. artists—Jack White, the Black Keys, and to be angsty and pissy and negative [laughs].
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I started out with the best intentions to quality, and that’s the only song I used it you’re really feeling the groove together.
write this beautiful, positive song, and it on. We tested it out live for a couple of I mean, that’s why I play music, for just
just turned brutal. You just follow where the years, but I just couldn’t find the right that kind of a moment. And when the
song takes you, and that took me to more album for it. Every time I tried to go into band feels it with their whole heart and
of a “I’ve gotta get out of this town” kind of the studio and redo it, thinking it had to you’re moving as one entity, then the
vibe. I mean, I love my hometown. Kansas be this certain way, it just didn’t vibe right. whole audience can join in on it. That’s
City is a great place, but I think everybody So for Belle of the West, I wanted to really a connecting, unifying thing.
has a love-hate relationship with where they completely reconstruct the song. I mean, And I think that’s something that you
grew up. And for the musical structure, the chord structure is similar, but the vibe won’t ever be able to reproduce. Everybody
I just wanted something upbeat. I was is different. We slowed it down a little, in the music industry can complain about
feeling really good after the Royals won, so and Malcolm is playing this staccato, their album sales dropping, but we just
I loaded it with upbeat country vibes, and off-kilter guitar in the background, and have to adapt to the current climate of
then it all fell apart lyrically. we’re doing the slide thing back and what we’ve been given. It sucks, but it is
forth. He’s one of my favorite guitarists what it is. I still value live performance,
“Gone for Good” is a real foot-stomper because he adds this whole extra element because that’s what inspired me the most
that recalls Led Zeppelin III. It’s not to everything. There are so many great when I started playing guitar. Going to see
too much of a leap to imagine a young guitar players on this record! But that was live shows inspired me to choose this career
Robert Plant singing it. a fun one to do. I feel like it’s one of the path. Records always felt a little far away. I
Wow, thanks! You know, I wrote that back higher-energy cuts on the album. couldn’t even touch them. But seeing this
in 2013. It was right after I recorded my stuff happen in front of me, that’s what did
second album, Black Wind Howlin’, but How does it feel when you get a groove it, and I don’t think that’ll ever change.
it didn’t make it onto Wild Heart, really like that locked up live?
because we’d been playing it live. I have Oh man, if it’s ever perfect, I’ll get Click here to read an interview
this really odd oil can guitar that I tune to goosebumps. It means you’ve transcended with Luther Dickinson about
an open G, and it has this raspy, resonator everybody counting with each other, and Zebra Ranch studio.
premierguitar.com
GLENN HUGHES
JOE BONAMASSA
JASON BONHAM
DEREK SHERINIAN
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Rock veterans Todd Youth and Nick Oliveri teamed up with
Cro-Mags’ singer John Joseph and drummer Joey Castillo
to form Bloodclot, a band with heart-punching riffs
Photo by Rick Rodney
and 140 years of combined hardcore experience.
BY DAVID VON BADER

A
merican hardcore punk has traveled the world, evolved and contains the kind of power and conviction that’s not only
through myriad sonic and ideological trends, and integral to this style of punk, but sorely lacking in 2017.
returned to its origins many times since its inception in The union of these four serendipitously marks the completion
the early 1980s. The form has reached and influenced of a circle dating back to the mid ’80s, when their paths first
astonishing numbers of people since its days as a fringe started crossing. Oliveri cut his teeth on thrash-inclined crossover
movement, and while you may not always be privy to it, hardcore, and appeared as an excited, long-haired teenager in
people from musical worlds as disparate as Moby and the the music video for the Cro-Mags anthem “We Gotta Know.”
Beastie Boys have deep roots in hardcore. Castillo’s career as a drummer began with L.A. punks Wasted
Despite the genre’s far reach and the scores of famous Youth, and it was during an East Coast tour with that group that
alumni, its club of true originators remains a small one. he first met Bloodclot frontman Joseph. While New York hardcore
And the group of musicians that was there for the advent legend Youth’s punk provenance requires little introduction,
of the genre and still continues to create new music in Bloodclot finds the guitarist returning to the genre (and the
its tradition is smaller still. With the new supergroup company of his former Danzig bandmate, Castillo) after recent
Bloodclot, a few of the style’s defining players and lifelong years spent working alongside rockers like Ace Frehley and the late
disciples seek to pump fresh hemoglobin into the body of Wrecking Crew guitarist and country music icon Glen Campbell.
hardcore the only way they know how: By returning to the Premier Guitar sat down with Youth and Oliveri over
roots they helped plant. slices of pizza at Scarr’s in New York’s Lower East Side—the
Fronted by John Joseph, original singer for the legendary neighborhood of Youth’s and Joseph’s hardcore education—to
Cro-Mags, Bloodclot’s violent pulse is provided by ex-Queens chat about writing and recording Up in Arms, Bloodclot’s
of the Stone Age rhythmic punishers Joey Castillo and Nick absolute barnstormer of a debut. They also discussed the
Oliveri (on drums and bass, respectively), with hardcore lifer influences that go into a record like this hardcore manifesto
and guitar journeyman Todd Youth (known from stints in after so many years in the game, the infallible glory of an old
Agnostic Front, Warzone, Murphy’s Law, Motörhead, and Les Paul through a loud Marshall, and literally stealing the
Danzig) handling 6-string duties. Bloodclot’s self-titled debut bass tone from the first Bad Brains album—right down to
finds the band forging hardcore that is incendiary, urgent, the settings.
TIDBIT: How do you say something new and Nick, you and Joey have done a lot in
After Up in Arms relevant in the hardcore idiom in 2017? the punk world since your respective
was recorded,
all of Oliveri’s
Todd Youth: Well, with this record, the departures from Queens of the Stone
bass tracks four guys involved all lived through the Age. But this is the first hardcore
were reamped era that defined that sound and were record you and John have done in a
through an old all a real part of that scene: It’s in our long time, right Todd?
Peavey Mark
DNA. I was actually there to see the Youth: I haven’t done a true hardcore record
IV to achieve a
more authentic Bad Brains at CBGB back in the day. since I was in Murphy’s Law in 1994.
vintage crossover John was a roadie for the Bad Brains. Oliveri: Since I left Queens, I’ve been
hardcore sound. Nick saw the Cro-Mags for the first trying very much to only play on things
time when he was 14 and is actually in I really like. I love the Bloodclot record
the video for “We Gotta Know,” and and I listen to it all the time.
I’ve known Joey since 1984 when he
first came to New York with Wasted and looking at the shit we did 30 years I think it’s safe to assume a lot of people
Youth. So we were all there for the ago and intellectualizing it. This is an that know you exclusively from your
beginning of this sound. That history authentic statement from the people that tenures in Queens of the Stone Age or
means the whole thing comes naturally, helped to invent the thing. And there Kyuss may be ignorant of your history
because we’re guys who helped to create are riffs on this album that come directly as a hardcore musician and fan, Nick.
it. John sang on [the Cro-Mags’ debut] from my past. For example, on the song Oliveri: I’ve been a member of the
The Age of Quarrel—as important a “Siva / Rudra” … the “Rudra” half is the Dwarves for 23 years now. The reason I
hardcore record as there is—so we very first riff I ever wrote, when I was left Kyuss was that it was already stoner-
felt really comfortable doing what 12 and playing bass in Agnostic Front. sludge stuff and the songs kept getting
we wanted to do without too much I brought that fast riff —as it appears slower and longer, and I just wanted to
concern for the direction. on “Siva / Rudra”—to [Agnostic Front play faster and shorter songs. I ended up
I pay attention to the new bands, singer] Roger Miret, and he slowed it joining the Dwarves at that point, which
and there are some good ones out there, down and it became “With Time” on the was perfect because I always wanted to
but a lot of these kids are going back Victim in Pain record. play fast. That’s the music that moves me!
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W H A T I S T H I S T H A T S T A N D S B E F O R E M E E
W W W. B L AC K C O U N T R Y C U S TO M S . C O. U K
N OW D I S T R I B U T E D E X C L U S I V E LY
I N T H E U SA B Y E M D M U S I C
T: 8 6 6 - 8 7 1 - 5 8 0 0 ( TO L L F R E E )
E : U SA @ E M D M U S I C . C O M
W W W. L A N E Y. C O. U K
Todd Youth, I remember when crossover hardcore similar in that it’s authentic, and I felt it
shown here happened, I truly loved it. It had the raw and the conviction behind it when I first
ripping on a
power that I couldn’t get really anywhere heard it. I was just lucky enough to get
customized
Tele with Jesse else. Bands like the Cro-Mags and in on it!
Malin’s St. Corrosion of Conformity, D.R.I.—that Youth: When we went into this, I asked
Mark’s Social in stuff came out when I was a kid, but I myself what I, as a Cro-Mags fan, would’ve
2010, says the still think that period in the ’80s was the liked to have heard from the second Cro-
secret to playing
great hardcore
best period of music. Bands like the Bad Mags record had things not changed with
6-string is to Brains were such a benchmark. the lineup. That thinking is a big part of
learn to play its the heart of the Bloodclot record.
intense rhythms How did Bloodclot come to fruition?
on acoustic
Youth: The current iteration of the Cro- Todd, as a player that’s built a career
guitar, “where
you can’t hide Mags had a gig, and A.J. Novello’s [of writing mean rhythm parts, is there a key
behind the Leeway] mom had just passed away and to this particular style of rhythm guitar?
power of he couldn’t make the gig. John called me Youth: This is going to sound nuts,
an amp.” up on a Wednesday and asked if I could but the key to it is learning to play that
do the gig on that Friday—no rehearsal, style on an acoustic guitar, where you
no soundcheck. I landed at 8:10 and I can’t hide behind the power of an amp.
was onstage by 8:45. The gig went well Another thing is avoiding the thrash
and John and I got to talking and we got guitar thing, where dudes do a lot of
into the idea of doing new shit together, alternate picking or do straight-down
so I started writing songs and demoing strokes, but don’t necessarily give a part
things and sending them to him. any movement. That thing has its place,
John put lyrics together in NYC and but for hardcore—and the Bad Brains
he came out to L.A. for a few days on again pop up as a huge point of reference
the way to Hawaii, where he was going here—I’ve always been drawn to the
to compete in an Iron Man competition. thing they had where the rhythm parts
He ended up tearing a ligament in his had a bounce to ’em. Despite how simple
leg and couldn’t do his race, but he was a fast guitar part may sound, when Dr.
already in L.A, so we had the time, and Know plays it, it has accent points that
we had the songs, and I called up a friend give it that vicious bounce, and it’s that TODD YOUTH’S GEAR
at NRG Studios and they did me a favor subtle shit that really makes a difference.
on short notice and we went in and cut Joey and I talk about this a lot, but the
three songs and those songs got us a deal truth is, hardcore guitar playing is what GUITARS
with Metal Blade. it is, but what the bass and drums do
• 1971 Gibson Les Paul Standard
are what gives it its power. The bass can
• 2017 ESP LTD EC-1000
Nick, how did you come into the fold? never be quite loud enough for me. As a
Oliveri: I was playing in a hardcore band rhythm player, the fact that I spent my
AMPS
called BL’AST, with Joey [Castillo], and formative years playing bass in Agnostic
• 1970s 100-watt Marshall JMP
Joey mentioned something about playing Front really shaped the way I do things,
• 1980s JCM800 with
in a new band—just asked if I’d be into and it taught me the importance of
L.A. Sound Design mods
it maybe, but it wasn’t something real yet. locking with a drummer in a hardcore
• 50-watt EVH 5150 III
It was just an idea being thrown around, band. The best hardcore records have
but eventually we talked with Todd the bass lock in with the bass drum as a
at a BL’AST show at the Roxy [in Los single entity and, to my ears, that’s where EFFECTS
Angeles] with Sick of It All, and Todd that violence comes from. It just makes • Ibanez Tube Screamer
sent me some songs after that to check you want to fuck shit up! Nick and Joey • Dunlop Cry Baby wah
out and I was blown away! The demos are have so much experience together that
absolutely insane. I immediately thought they lock in unlike anyone else. STRINGS & PICKS
to myself: “This is what I’ve been waiting • Dean Markley strings (.010–.046)
Photo by Jordi Vidal
to hear from John Joseph for years!” Nick, can you talk a bit about your • Dunlop Herco Flex 75 picks
For me, I’m a huge, big-time Cro-Mags philosophy as a bassist?
fan, and Age of Quarrel is the record for Oliveri: I always want to attack the parts
me. It’s the one. The Bloodclot record is and really command the rhythm of the
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song. I was a guitarist first, so I developed my We ended up reamping all of the that’s the key to the bass tone on this
picking style early, and I prefer the attack a pick bass on the album through a Mark album, again, following the theme
gives you in general. Lemmy from Motörhead IV, and as we’re reamping the bass— of doing things in line with how we
was like a God to me, and I really love his style which everyone can hear because we used to, right down to the settings.
of bass guitar. Obviously the Cro-Mags are did it so loud—Jay Baumgardner No pedals or anything.
there, too, so the sound from Age of Quarrel was [producer of Up in Arms and owner
hugely influential. There’s a lot to be said for of NRG Studios] walks in all proud Nick, what bass were you using
not overplaying and still having a fast, controlled and goes, “Is that my SVT?” And I to track?
right hand. go, “Nope, it’s a $150 Peavey!” And Oliveri: It’s a bass my pal made for
he yells at the engineer, “Find me one me. He built it out of Allparts stuff.
The bass guitar is such an integral part of the of those now!” It was hysterical, but He goes, “Bring me your favorite
record’s sound. What’d you guys use to track the
bass on the album?
Youth: The secret to the bass tone is actually a very
funny story. We started recording the bass and we
URBAN
brought in a vintage Marshall Super Bass, which
sounded great. The first thing I did when I played
in Motörhead was go up to Lemmy’s amp onstage
and check his settings: Everything was dimed, but
LEGEND
the bass was at zero! So we bring in the Super Bass
and use the Lemmy settings, and we bring in a
vintage SVT and that, too, sounded fantastic. Fast
forward to the mixing process and I say to myself,
“Fuck man, I’m not feeling the bass. I don’t like the
bass tone.” It didn’t have that thing I wanted where
it rides on top of everything and punches you.
So I start geeking out really hard to solve it
and I hit up Darryl Jenifer from the Bad Brains
and I ask him what he used on the ROIR cassette
Photo courtesy of inventor Ken Schaffer (on right.) August 24, 1977. Palladium, New York City.
(their 1982 debut, Bad Brains, on Reachout

International Records), and he goes, “Aw man, I
don’t know. We had so much stuff back then, I
really don’t know.” So I start digging and I find
a picture of the Brains rehearsing at 171 Avenue
A, which is where they lived, and also where
they recorded that cassette. And he was using
an old Peavey Mark IV. Then I came across a
photo of Brian Baker from Minor Threat using
the same amp, and I love Minor Threat’s bass
sound—especially on [1983’s] “Betray.” Then, I
saw a photo of Harley Flanagan playing at the first
Cro-Mags gig, taken around the time they were
recording the demo, which has a tone that I think
destroys the bass sound on Age of Quarrel. So all
of these guys were using Peavey Mark IVs, and I
call Darryl back and ask him if he remembers the
settings he used to use with the Mark IV, and he
goes “Oh yeah, man! I remember. I had the Mark
IV because I couldn’t afford an Ampeg at the time,
so that was my shit! Hell yeah, I remember my
settings. That was my amp forever!” So now I have
Darryl’s settings and I mention it to Nick and
send him a picture of the amp and he goes, “Oh
shit, I have three of those!”
solodallas.com
Despite his bass and I’ll make you something like bring to the table differently as a player
allegiance to it, but better.” I brought him the one I than when you were a kid and cut those
Bloodclot, Nick
use all the time, which is a P bass with seminal albums?
Oliveri has
multiple irons a Jazz Bass pickup added at the bridge, Youth: It’s painful when I listen to any
in the fire. Here, and he goes “Dude, how do you play Warzone shit, because it was done right
he’s onstage that thing with the action so high?” And when I was learning how to play lead
with Kyuss Lives!, it’s because I set them up myself, but I guitar and it’s just rough, but the reality
which features
Oliveri and two
learned how to deal with it because I pick is that my childhood—and my progress
other original fast and I don’t want the strings bouncing learning and coming up as a musician—is
members of off the neck too much. Pat came back on YouTube. Every year of my life as a
the influential with this awesome P-and-J Bass, loaded musician is on there, so I can see it was
stoner-rock band.
with Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder at about age 18 when I sort of went “ah!”
pickups and a Badass II bridge. It’s got and my guitar playing started clicking.
much lower action than my old bass, but At the record-release party, John summed
it doesn’t buzz or bounce too hard off the it up best when he said, “Between us,
fretboard. I used that for the album and there’s 140 years of playing experience
I’m loving that thing. in this band.” And that’s fuckin’ heavy,
man! So I think it’s just the kind of thing
Todd, what amps did you use to get that experience teaches: confidence and
those giant guitar sounds? efficiency. I don’t second guess myself
Youth: A 100-watt master volume JMP, these days.
which is the classic amp for hardcore, and
a JCM800 that was modded by Martin Nick, what was it like for you making
Golub at L.A. Sound Design to have just this record after having been involved
a little bit more gain. For some spots, I with so many different projects and
was using one of the new 50-watt EVH styles over the years?
NICK OLIVERI’S GEAR
5150 IIIs, and I love those amps! I can Oliveri: A lot of the bands I’ve played
get them to sound like a JMP at lower in and I’m known for being involved
volumes and they’re more reliable than with aren’t doing things that I’m into BASSES
• Custom Pat Rowan P+J Bass
some of the old Marshalls. anymore, and I feel like this is where
• Vintage Ampeg Dan Armstrong Lucite
I should really be musically. I’m very
What about guitars? proud of the music I’ve made with every
Youth: I cut most of it with a 1971 Les band I’ve been in over the years, but this AMPS
Paul Standard that was just smoking! project really satisfies what I’m about • Peavey Mark IV
DiMarzio Super Distortions. No funny as a player. It’s what I’ve always wanted
business: just a Les Paul into a Marshall! to do. I was just never surrounded STRINGS & PICKS
with the right people to do it. My • Dean Markley strings (.045–.105)
The instruments are so rhythmically whole childhood was spent listening to • Steve Clayton 1 mm picks
tight that it all works as a single unit. crossover hardcore and thrash and there’s
Did you track to a click? a lot of punk attitude in music I’ve made
Youth: No. Joey’s a human click! And in the past, but this is exactly what I’ve
that’s another thing with this kind of been waiting to do.
music: A click sucks all the soul out of it. tone on it a lot. Can you tell me what
It’s got to pull and push, and in certain Todd, the guitar solos on the record are you used on that one?
spots we sit far back on it, and other all burners. Were they premeditated or Youth: That’s that Les Paul into a Tube
spots we push it. Joe’s great and can play were you just letting it rip? Screamer, into a Dunlop wah, and then
all around a click, but working to a click Youth: It was all done on the fly, solo- into a Marshall. That solo there is my actual
really saps the human quality and that wise. I wanted to get more away from ode to Dr. Know’s style of lead guitar.
violent bounce from it. what I normally would do, which is that
Ace Frehley rock ’n’ roll thing, and get What is it about Doc Know’s playing
Photo by Emma Farrer
Todd, you’ve had an extremely varied more of a chaotic feel to things. that hooked you so deeply?
career. Coming back to making a Youth: I can’t think of a player who takes
traditional hardcore record after that My favorite solo on the record is in leads in the past 30 years that comes
kind of musical journey, what do you “Siva / Rudra.” I dig the chewy wah close to Doc as far as originality. His
premierguitar.com
note choices, but more importantly, his opened. When they played, between neighborhood dreads would be in there
fearlessness! He’s truly fearless, and if he the crazy pits and everything that was jamming. A drummer or a bass player or
hits a wrong note, he makes it sound right going on and the energy onstage, it just a guitarist wouldn’t show up, and I’d be
somehow. His feel is just so next level, and seemed like the band was levitating. I in there and fill in. So I learned how to
we have the same story in a lot of ways. He can still see it clearly now, and it was so play all of these different kinds of music
started as a bass player, like me. I think all magical. It was absolutely surreal. That in that bar. That, and being around dudes
guitarists should spend a year or two as a was a life-changing thing for me. At like the Bad Brains.
bass player in a band to really understand that moment, I knew I wanted to play I always tried to be a musician first.
the conversation that’s going on between music for the rest of my life. It was such Like when I first heard Mahavishnu
a bassist and a drummer. “Fast” Eddie a pivotal thing. Orchestra and caught “Inner Mounting
Clarke from Motörhead was also a huge Flame,” and it clicked that that was
influence on my style, and I think it comes I’ve always found the early East where the Bad Brains got a lot of
out the most in my playing these days. Coast hardcore scene to contain their intros and ideas from. I called
some truly gifted, athletic, outside- Doc and called him out on it, and he
Who would you cite as key influences thinking guitarists—especially laughed, but it has to do with New
on your development as a player, Nick? compared to some of their West Coast York being such a melting pot and
Oliveri: I think Chuck Dukowski from contemporaries. What’s your take on being surrounded by so much different
Black Flag is one of the best. I think why that is, Todd? shit. I think being a New Yorker at that
Lemmy was probably the best. John will Youth: There was a club [in New York] time, and in that world—where we
probably get mad at me for saying so, but called A7, and it’s known as Niagara these didn’t know where our next meal was
I think Harley Flanagan is a great bass days, but they had no liquor license and coming from unless the Hare Krishnas
player and his style obviously influenced it was an illegal bar and cops would come were serving food in the park—we were
me. But Lemmy was the big one for me. and raid it all the time. Bands wouldn’t playing for our lives. I try to still do
As a 14-year-old kid I went to see start until 2 in the morning, and that. I think we’re all coming from a
Motörhead play and the Cro-Mags Tuesday nights were reggae night and the place like that in this band.
Meet THE MA
HAL L KERS
D BOOT
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28 43
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founded and ran the hugely influential
Nonesuch Explorer series. A track from his
pioneering album of Japanese shakuhachi
music, A Bell Ringing in Empty Sky, earned
a place on the Voyager spacecraft along
with Chuck Berry, Beethoven, and Blind
Willie Johnson. Later, he was director
of A&R for Polydor’s American label,
followed by a stint as president of ATV
Records, and then, realizing that this work
was taking him away from the music he
loved, he left the corporate world to resume
his life as an independent producer and
musician in 1991.
Siegel remains a vital force in music as
a performer and archivist-producer. His
recent output continues to trumpet his
passion not just for the old-time music of
rural America of the 1920s and 1930s, but
for all music created with soul and true
Musician and producer Peter K. Siegel feeling. His recent releases include a 2013
recorded classic albums by Roy Buchanan, collection of union songs he performed
and recorded with Eli Smith, The Union
Joseph Spence, and Doc Watson. Now, he Makes Us Strong, which follows their
collaboration Twelve Tunes for Two Banjos,
reflects on a lifetime of historic music-making. and his latest release of never-before-heard
BY ELLIOTT SHARP
recordings by the late Appalachian singer
and banjoist Clarence Ashley, Live and in
A
Person—Greenwich Village 1963, which
n intriguing offer on Craigslist for parents, who had an extensive collection arrived last May. He’s currently preparing
a vintage Galiano Decalcomania of both albums and friends who were part a Doc Watson and Gaither Carlton album
parlor guitar brought me to of the then-burgeoning folk movement. he says is “really some of the best old-time
the Manhattan home of Peter K. Siegel. He started his career as a musician and music you’ll ever want to hear.”
The walls were decorated with an obvi- engineer with a deep involvement in New Siegel’s work as a producer and
ously well-loved Martin D-28, as well as York City’s Friends of Old Time Music recording engineer brought him into
a number of unique banjos and guitars, (FOTM), an organization that presented contact with an amazing constellation of
old and older. After examining the guitar 14 concerts that helped define the city’s musicians that include Maybelle Carter,
in question, which I happily purchased, folk scene in the early ’60s. Fifty-five Mississippi John Hurt, Sam McGee,
our conversation turned to instruments songs from those performances—all Fred McDowell, Hobart Smith, Frank
and, from there, to Siegel’s work in music. recorded by Siegel on his first reel-to-reel, Wakefield, Jesse Fuller, Rev. Gary Davis,
Many of his projects had resonated deeply a Tandberg 3B, and an Electro-Voice Neil Young, and Bob Dylan. He brought
with me: from the cacophonous joy of the microphone—were released as the three- to life recordings of musicians from
Even Dozen Jug Band to Joseph Spence’s CD box Friends of Old Time Music: The Indonesia, India, China, and Sweden,
rich Bahamian sounds to the exotic beauty Folk Arrival 1961–1965, produced by and cut the psychedelic rockers Earth
of Japanese and Carnatic music to the first Siegel on Smithsonian Folkways in 2016. Opera, as well as songsmiths Paul Siebel,
recordings of the legendary guitarist Roy In 1963, he co-founded the influential Tom Paxton, and Elliott Murphy, and
Buchanan. Siegel spoke with affection and Even Dozen Jug Band with Stefan the Grammy-nominated street singer
humor about the various musicians he had Grossman. The band also included Maria Oliver Smith. Some of these encounters
recorded or worked with, and it was clear Muldaur, John Sebastian, David Grisman, blossomed into friendships—especially
Photo by Tina Tinay
he had a thousand stories. Steve Katz, and Josh Rifkin, who all went with Doc Watson, Joseph Spence, and
When Siegel began to play guitar and on to notable careers of their own. Roy Buchanan. In our conversation, he
banjo in his teens, he was already deeply Siegel became a staff producer and spoke of these famed guitarists at length,
indoctrinated in folk music, thanks to his engineer for Elektra Records, where he as well as many other topics.
TIDBIT: allowed to touch anything! At Elektra, that it had to be with his band and we
The recently all the producers were trained to be only get two sessions. It was all short
released
recording engineers. They really taught notice, so we arranged for Roy to show
collection of
Siegel’s recordings it like, “You want to be a chef? You start up with his band. Let me tell you, Roy
from the by washing pots and pans.” I had some Buchanan—he spoke through his music.
influential Friends great teachers: Jac Holzman, founder of He didn’t speak a lot, himself. But in
of Old Time Music Electra, plus Paul Rothchild and Mark blues, especially, I can hear the words
concert series
includes 55 song
Abramson—a fabulous producer who that go with the notes. So he showed
performances worked for a long time at Elektra and up, and I worked with an engineer who
and a 60-page produced Judy Collins albums. My job could do this on the fly. In the next
booklet. at first was, every morning, align all the couple of nights, we recorded the first
machines, clean all the heads with head album and Roy was powerful enough
cleaner and a Q-tip, then—when they to make up for the fact that some of
could trust me a little bit—they had me the musicians didn’t have a lot of studio
do something which is a thing of the experience. And people who were
past: put leader in between tracks on an outside the studio who heard him were
album—white paper leader. Eventually, I saying, “What the fuck is that?” At the
got to record stuff. end, I said, “You got any more things
we could try out?” And one of them was
How did you come to record [the hit Willie Nelson wrote for Patsy
Roy Buchanan? Cline] “Sweet Dreams,” and he played
Around 1971, I got hired as the director that and it killed me. The band really
of A&R at Polydor. They had signed Roy, worked on that and it became a minor
and there were two albums produced. hit in England. That “Sweet Dreams”
Above: Digging around, I came upon a note Neither was deemed worthy of coming track still floors me. Roy Buchanan sold
Musician and about a recording you did of one of out. The relationship with Roy had a lot of copies, hundreds of thousands.
producer Peter
K. Siegel is an Dylan’s first “basement tapes.” deteriorated to not actual litigation, but a It really did the job for Roy. I stayed in
important figure That was in the basement of Gerde’s Folk number of lawyers’ letters back and forth. touch with Roy and we talked about
in American City, right after a Bill Monroe concert at He had a couple of guys representing him music a lot.
roots music. the NYU School of Education presented who were never going to get along with They wanted to do another record.
His recordings
have captured
by the FOTM. After the concert, there Polydor, and they wouldn’t let Roy talk I wanted it to be more about Roy—an
many historical was some kind of jam session going on to me. I went to D.C. for a meeting with instrumental record. What I wanted to
performances, with … I don’t remember. Gil Turner all of them, but Roy wasn’t there. I found do was have Roy playing the music he
and his own playing banjo, Bob Dylan singing ... out that he was playing at the Crossroads played: mostly blues, Chicago-style blues,
albums
anyway, Dylan says “Would you record club in Bladensburg, Maryland, caught B.B. King-style blues, some country stuff.
celebrate the
folk and protest me?” I said, “Sure.” I was hoping he his show, and went up to talk to him. We got this group together in Record
traditions. Siegel was going to say that! That was about We went back into this room, covered Plant’s Studio C and encouraged them
built his favorite the time of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan with beer bottles and overflowing to play the blues. And he played some
banjo from a album. He just had me record him for ashtrays. He had some favorite musicians well-known numbers like “After Hours,”
Boucher kit.
the fun of it. that I could really talk about. One of his and I encouraged him to play in different
Eventually I got hired by Elektra as big influences was Gatemouth Brown, styles, like, “Hey, you ever listen to
an apprentice engineer/producer. Thing and he loved Hank Williams. I could talk Elmore James?” And he did “Tribute to
about Elektra at that time, all their about any Hank Williams song. So we Elmore James.”
producers were also engineers, worked spent the evening talking about music. There’s a great take where he broke a
hands-on. At Atlantic, the producer I went back to New York and I told the string in the middle and kept going and
wouldn’t. Tom Dowd would be the people dealing with this fiasco, “I think going: “Five-String Blues.” We called it
engineer. At Columbia, the producer— if you talk to him now and tell him I’ll Second Album, which was the working
this was a union thing—was not allowed produce the record myself, he might title. That was the one that got a gold
to touch the board. They also had a agree to do it.” record. The sound was great. We worked
“machine man” in a little room behind a So they talked to the manager and on that with an engineer named Shelly
curtain. The engineer would be in charge the manager talked to Roy and they Yakus. I sat next to Shelly for so many
of the mics and mixing. The engineer came back with one of the most bizarre thousands of hours that it was like ESP.
would say “roll,” and the machine man counteroffers I’ve ever heard—which He knew what I wanted—how to do
would say “we’re rolling.” No one was we accepted. The counteroffer was stuff that I didn’t know how to get.
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Playing Styles, Enduring Influence
L
et’s take a quick look at the playing styles
and importance of Roy Buchanan, Doc
Watson, and Joseph Spence, as well as Peter
K. Siegel himself.
Siegel has an assured and sensitive hand on
both guitar and banjo. When he plays his well-
worn Martin D-28, one can clearly hear his love
for Doc Watson’s guitar stylings, and, on the banjo,
the stroke, frailing, and clawhammer styles of
Clarence Ashley and other old-time players. Siegel
plays a fretless banjo that he built from a Boucher
kit. It’s a reproduction of a Civil War-era instru-
ment that reflects beautifully on the African roots
of the banjo.
Working extensively with Watson, Spence, and
Buchanan, Siegel had a hand in presenting these
important players to a wider audience. One might
hear Watson and Spence as representing two great
rivers of guitar music: one from rural America and
the other from the Caribbean, extending from deep
into the 19th century and reflecting onward across swoops as punctuation for his phrases. He rarely
the 20th. Buchanan’s immediately recognizable strummed full chords—instead picking out two-
guitar sound elevated blues, rockabilly, country, and and three-note fragments which might be slid to
spirituals into an art of great intensity—simultane- create shifting countermelodies. He could sound
ously earthy and ethereal, and likewise straddling like two guitarists in a friendly argument, with
past and future. both commenting on his gruff and expository sing-
Watson took fiddle tunes, blues, sacred, and ing. One might even hear parallels with legend-
old-time songs from both the Scottish/Irish/ ary pianist and composer Thelonious Monk, also
English and African populations of rural America of Caribbean heritage, and whose music features
and synthesized something new. He developed angular singsong melodies with brilliant corners
streamlined techniques using a plectrum to create and buoyant grooves. Monk could seemingly bend
driving, fluid lines and approached fingerpicking notes with his use of close-interval clusters, and
with a thumbpick and one metal fingerpick for rich Spence’s slightly off-tempered tuning created
ringing melodies with alternating bass notes. He much the same effect.
was a huge admirer of Merle Travis’ playing, even In Buchanan’s hands, the Tele could scream, wail,
naming his son Merle, and in his musical DNA there talk, croon, preach, and even become a swooning
are strains of Travis and Chet Atkins, as well as the pedal steel. He liked to keep his amp dimed so he
Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers. His influence could zoom from a delicate whisper to a roar with
ranged widely across modern bluegrass, folk, and a subtle move from his pinky on the volume con-
country music. trol. This allowed him to create sounds by hitting
There has never been another guitarist like or flicking the bridge plate—and even blowing on
Spence. With a unique sense of timing and flow, a it. He was a master of artificial harmonics, which he
pianistic approach to moving lines, and even his generated by pinching a string between his pick and
tuning of the instrument, Spence remains peerless. thumb or finger to yield a scorching peal. Buchanan
His driving rhythms have roots in African songs, would play extreme bends, whether with his fingers
ragtime, blues, and calypso, and his melodies or behind the nut, for deep emotional effect. Using
reflect the English colonization of the Bahamas. what he called “circle picking,” he could shred light-
Using dropped-D tuning, Spence would snap ning fast lines—every note clearly articulated and
the strings and use quick glisses and downward rich with meaning.
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My whole philosophy about mixing is
that tracks are mixed the way they want to
be mixed. You could have a preconceived
idea of the sound, but it very rarely turns
out that way. In this case, Roy was clearly
the voice of the band. He had a little old
brown Fender amp—don’t remember what
model it was. He was not a screaming loud
guitar player. One of the things you may
have noticed: Stuff that’s played really loud
in the studio is not always the best way to
get it to sound loud. We got it to sound big.
Years later, the last time I actually saw Roy,
he said, “How did you get that sound?”
Let’s talk about one of the first highly

influential guitarists you recorded:
Joseph Spence.
Joseph Spence played guitar and did two
types of vocalizing. One is very incidental,
sort of like Erroll Garner or other guys who
make sounds while they’re playing, and he
also did a style of singing called rhyming.
It came out of the sponging. One of the
principal industries at the time in the
ad_OneControl_PremGuitar_3rdpage_NEW.qxp_Layout 6 2017-06-02 10:22 AM Page 1
Bahamas was gathering natural sponges. And
to do it, these crews of guys would go out
on a boat, rickety craft, four or five guys,
and dive for sponges. Anything can happen,
really dangerous, a lot of guys drowned, lot
of songs about that. They would go out for
weeks at a time and at night tie up the boats
together and they would sing. It became
kind of a competitive sport. They’d sing old
hymns they called anthems—really beautiful
three-chord songs where a group of people
would sing the anthem over and over again.
Typically someone would sing the melody,
someone would sing the treble, someone
else the bass. And the rhymer would start
improvising vocal parts, usually based on
Bible stories. It was improvised, but if you
do it enough you pretty much get a rap
going, and Spence had it down.
In the summer of ’65, the FOTM
produced the last of their series of concerts
at the New School, and one of the things
they produced was music from the
Bahamas. Pete Seeger volunteered to go
down there to look for musicians. He found
Joseph Spence, and arranged for Spence,
his sister Edith, her husband Raymond
Pinder, and their daughter Geneva Pinder
to come up. It was my job—as a volunteer,

They stop at a light and Doc jumps out and
hops in the back of the truck and says,
“Let me see that, son,” and he starts playing on the
banjo and blows Ralph’s mind.”
got it in 1962 or ’63. It was used but only Records], who sat on them for months.
lightly. I recorded all these songs with So when I got hired by Elektra, a year had
Joseph Spence playing that guitar. When gone by and Moe hadn’t done anything,
you’re 19 and suddenly you have Joseph so I went and asked Moe for the tape
Spence in your bedroom, it’s a big deal! back. Jac Holzman of Elektra had a label,
Then I got the idea to go to the Nonesuch, which was focusing mostly on
Bahamas to record people with my friend Baroque and pre-Baroque music. He came
and polymath musician, Jody Stecher. By out with what he called the Nonesuch
this time, I had a Nagra reel-to-reel tape International Series, so I played it for Jac
recorder, a good mic, and a rudimentary and he put out The Real Bahamas: In
understanding of how to produce records. Music and Song.
I could get a sound that [musicologist/
producer] Sam Charters didn’t have the You also met the Appalachian guitar
equipment to do. The first thing we did virtuoso Doc Watson through the
was find Joseph Spence. We had some FOTM concerts.
instructions that we got from Rothchild, After Doc Watson’s FOTM concert, Doc
to go to Nassau and from there to a little and [fiddle and banjo player] Gaither
village called Culmerville, and then ask Carlton stayed in New York City an extra
around. And it worked ... but people week. So there was a club on Sullivan
were suspicious: these two white guys Street between Bleecker and 3rd called
looking for Joseph Spence. Blind Lemon’s that was open for just like
We were only down there a week, two weeks. [Folksinger and musicologist]
week-and-a-half, yet we recorded so Ralph Rinzler was friends with whoever
much great stuff. We had this marathon had it, and they arranged for Doc and
recording session in the garden behind Gaither to play this gig for one night.
Edith Pinder’s house. We went all over Those are the tapes I’m now working
When Siegel first nobody got paid—to host Joseph Spence the island and recorded all these rhyming with. Doc was singing beautifully.
encountered and his family while they were in New groups. I had two microphones: an AKG The next thing that happened was
the legendary
Photo of Doc Watson in the Hugh Morton Photographs and Films Collection, copyright 1953,
York. Spence was legendary among people D24E and a Sony C-37. No mixer, but Ralph got him a gig at Gerde’s Folk
Doc Watson,
the Appalachian I knew. I got this idea to take Spence to the preamp allowed me to put the D24 City—a two-week gig, which I eventually
picker was the top of the Empire State Building and into the line input of the Nagra, and you put out as the album Doc Watson at
playing a goldtop he was appropriately gassed by the whole could mix the line input and mic input in Gerde’s Folk City. Doc was staying at
North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library

Les Paul— thing. Years later, Guy Droussart, the the recorder—a mono tape machine. We Ralph’s apartment on Christopher, a
much to the
consternation
Swiss guy who became the great expert on made a side trip to a place called Marsh sixth-floor walk-up, about a six- to eight-
of folk music Joseph Spence, was down in the Bahamas Harbor in the Abaco Keys because we block walk to Folk City. I got the job of
purists. at the Spence house and saw this little found a book in the Nassau Public Library taking him over there. Doc was blind but
snow globe of the Empire State Building that said in Marsh Harbor traditional never had a dog, never had a cane. You
that Spence had bought on that trip. British ballads are still performed as they just put your arm out and he’d hold on
I was living at home at the time. My were during the Revolutionary War. So we to it and walk. We talked a lot. On the
parents had an apartment on East 31st went there and actually recorded a woman nights that Ralph’s cousin Richard would
Street, and I took the whole gang back called Mistress Lyndall Albury, who sang take Doc over, I’d bring my tape recorder
and we went into my bedroom, and all those old ballads, apparently like they’d and record his performance. I started
I said, “Hey, let’s make tapes.” And I always been sung. We brought the tapes sending Doc tapes and he’d say which
recorded a lot of Joseph Spence in my back to New York and went through the ones he liked and we eventually put that
bedroom. Great stuff. He was playing process of fashioning an album, which out on Sugar Hill. That was his first solo
that guitar [points to a Martin D-28]. I we brought to Moe Asch [of Folkways appearance anywhere. You have no idea
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Josh Weaver/royal thunder yamaha.com/revstar
how surprised Doc was that people went There’s this whole story about how back the next day and he’s surprised to see
for this. He’d never been a professional Ralph Rinzler came to record [legendary that Doc Watson is still there, still playing
entertainer. He was very good at playing clawhammer banjo player and guitarist] the damn electric guitar. So, they’re all
the guitar and he played in a rockabilly Clarence Ashley. He’d met Clarence at the going to Ashley’s sister’s house to record.
band and dance bands. Union Grove Fiddle Convention in 1960, They’re driving in a pickup truck and
and he realized that this is the Clarence Ralph is in the back, open-air part of
Was he playing electric guitar? Ashley who recorded these great sides on the truck, playing a banjo. They stop at
Yeah! He didn’t have an acoustic guitar, Columbia [in 1929] and also with the a light and Doc jumps out and hops in
so he had to borrow one. He had grown Carolina Tar-Heels. Ralph found that the back of the truck and says, “Let me
up in a musical family in rural western Ashley could still sing and arranged to come see that, son,” and he starts playing on
North Carolina. Being blind in those days, back and record him. So Ralph returns a the banjo and blows Ralph’s mind. That’s
especially in rural North Carolina, there few months later with recording equipment, when Ralph realized what was going on.
were not a lot of job opportunities, so it and Ashley has this electric guitar player So by the time I met Doc, he had become
was one of the reasons he played music— accompanying him: Doc Watson. Now acquainted with the idea that people would
and he got really good at it. He was doing a Ralph is like, “No, we want to get the real like to hear his traditional music, which
lot of what we now call busking, but when folk music. We don’t want this electric he would never get paid for in North
he got married and had to try to make music. This is on Folkways.” And he asks Carolina—he couldn’t get people to sit still
a living, he worked in a rockabilly band Doc, “Could you maybe play that stuff on for it. And when he played at Gerde’s, he
for Jack Williams and they played dances. acoustic?” And Doc says, quite honestly, “I said he couldn’t believe that people would
The way I understand it is, they would haven’t played an acoustic in so long that if I sit quietly and listen to these old ballads.
sometimes do square dances and they didn’t try to play this stuff on acoustic, it wouldn’t It really blew his mind. Anyway, I always
have a fiddle player, and Doc was like, “I be very good.” And Ralph says, “We can’t stayed in touch with Doc and I always
think I can play that stuff on guitar,” which use that. We’ll go look for someone else.” loved his music—and he’s much featured
is how he developed his playing. I believe it So then, Ralph goes to find a banjo on that FOTM compilation. He was a
was on a goldtop Les Paul. player named Jack Johnson. He comes special, special musician.
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ACOUSTIC SOUNDBOARD
Honey, I Shrunk the Guitar

BY RICHARD JOHNSTON
S
Shown next to mall guitars weren’t considered early 1990s. One of the first steel-strings
a Collings OM, a big deal 25 years ago, but marketed with the word “parlor” was the
the Collings
whether you label them as baby, Larrivée P model, which featured 12 frets
Baby (right) was
one of the first parlor, piccolo, travel, or kids’ models, clear of the body and a 24" string scale.
widely available, undersized guitars have been the fastest- With its short neck and small body, it
very small growing segment of the acoustic guitar was a very cuddle-friendly design. Martin
guitars of high market in the new century. It’s not that won the how-small-can-you-make-it
build-quality,
and helped usher
“big” guitars don’t sell anymore, and contest with their Backpacker model—
in the popularity you’re certainly not going to see anybody which really could fit in a backpack—but
of “undersized” strapping on a baby or parlor model for everyday use and travel that didn’t guitar builders aren’t all following the
guitars that when fronting a bluegrass band, but include hiking trails, many players opted same playbook. Line up a half-dozen
boast the same
what happened? for something larger that delivered more rosewood OMs by different makers, and
appointments
as their big Some attribute the new popularity guitar-like tone. Taylor’s Baby models, the differences in tone are subtle since
brothers. of little guitars to specific artists, such introduced in 1996 and pictured on all the instruments are the same size
as Ed Sheeran and his preference for the Taylor catalog cover with infants and shape. But try the same with a Wee
pint-sized Martin LX1E models. And in diapers, were initially pitched as Lowden, Santa Cruz Firefly, Collings
let’s not forget about Canadian astronaut guitars for children. Most Taylor dealers, Parlor, and a Bourgeois Piccolo, and the
Chris Hadfield, who became a YouTube however, found that customers more tone and feel of each is distinctly different.
sensation by singing David Bowie’s often used their kids as an excuse to buy That’s because nearly all those four guitars
“Space Oddity” with a Larrivée parlor in a handy little guitar for themselves. have in common is that they’re small.
hand—while floating in space. But even Soon it was clear that many guitarists Acoustic stalwarts Martin and Taylor
before such high-profile appearances, wanted more deluxe woods and have continued to fuel the small-guitars
small guitars had been growing in appointments in a very small instrument. revolution with models slightly larger
popularity as players got tired of lugging Music industry insiders scoffed at the than their aforementioned pocket-sized
around heavy cases just to take a guitar idea that players would pay premium examples from the early ’90s. And
lesson or work out a new tune during prices for a guitar not much bigger than compared to a full-sized acoustic, these
their lunch break. Whether you like to a baritone uke, but were proven wrong models offer better tone and volume while
play sitting up in bed or in the back seat when Collings began offering a Baby still being far more portable when stuffed
of your car, bigger isn’t always better. And model in 1994 that sold for the same in a gig bag. Martin’s D Jr. is an 0-size
when traveling, of course, too often it’s price as a full-sized guitar of the same dreadnought model, but with a much
a choice between bringing a quite small style. The success of the late Bill Collings’ shorter string scale, while Taylor’s GS Mini
guitar or not bringing one at all. Baby proved what vintage-guitar fans (as the name suggests) looks like a very
Grand concert-size acoustics have long had known all along: A lightly built small jumbo. Thanks to modern pickup
been the default choice for a small guitar, little steel-string acoustic can sound very technology, such “bigger than too little”
but these classical-sized steel strings, usually much like a full-sized guitar, but with the acoustics offer a very credible plugged-in
a bit over 14" wide in the lower bout, still volume turned down a couple of notches. tone that expands their useful range.
left room for improvement if you wanted to Another revelation was that people Considering all the options now
get close and comfy with your instrument. devoted to the guitar are always ready available, the question becomes not just
For one thing, the typical 00 or GC model to embrace a new type of guitar that when you need a guitar, but given the
has a string scale just under 25", which expands their ability to enjoy playing. time and place and how you get there,
meant that with a 14-fret neck, a player’s And those accustomed to top-shelf how much guitar do you really need?
fretting hand is still a long way from his or instruments won’t flinch at paying for the
her lap when playing in first position. To be same quality in a much smaller format. RICHARD JOHNSTON
co-founded Gryphon Stringed
both more portable and more comfortable It’s not surprising that small- Instruments with Frank Ford
when played sitting in a scrunched position, production workshops looked to expand in 1969. He later shifted from
repairing vintage guitars
a very small body with a full-sized neck just sales by offering very small models, to writing about them, and
isn’t as effective a design. and there are enough little guitars on has contributed to dozens of
magazines and several books,
Although small guitars had been the market now to offer players a wide the most recent being Inventing
around for years, the number of new selection. These small guitars vary much the American Guitar. He
appraises musical instruments
entries in the field really heated up in the more than standard sizes because the for Antiques Road Show on PBS.
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THE RECORDING GUITARIST
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Solo Button

BY JOE GORE
S
Clergy of all gt. Pepper turned 50 in 2017. If would say, ‘Just play the tambourine
faiths agree: You he were American, he would have through the whole track and we’ll work
will go to hell if
received his AARP invitation letter it out later.’ And inevitably it would stay
your note attacks
don’t align with by now. through the whole track. You’d have this
the grid. Say hi to We know much about how the Beatles record full of everything from A to Z—
the Beatles when created the album, thanks to scores of none of the instruments ever stopped.
you get there! illicitly released but widely available And that was boring.”
outtakes. But the outtakes included on No track scrubbing. Nowadays tighten the looseness of some initial
this year’s pricy “expanded edition” boxed it’s common to scrutinize each track tracks. When parts don’t quite groove
set are particularly fascinating. individually before mixing. We remove perfectly, it’s often possible to add an
As most Beatles geeks know, Pepper clams and background noise. We align overdub that triangulates between their
was created on 4-track tape machines. downbeats to the grid. By modern feels, tying everything together. Paul’s bass
They’d fill up one tape, mix it down to standards, Beatles tracks are a bloody performs that trick over and over.
one or two tracks on another reel, and mess. But all that mattered was how a Space, the final frontier. Savvy
fill up the freed tracks with new parts. It performance felt in context. musicians like to lecture about the
was an awkward method that nonetheless It doesn’t help that our modern DAWs importance of aerating your parts with
produced great music. depict sound visually, so it’s easy to fixate silence, yet few today take the concept to
But what if some of the music’s on parts that are “wrong” because they Beatles extremes. In fact, many basic Sgt.
magic didn’t occur despite these don’t align to the grid. But the Beatles Pepper tracks consist of little more than
primitive techniques, but because of crew worked with their ears, not their eyes. straight quarter notes, with the occasional
them? Let’s discuss what the newly Ultimate tone. That’s a silly concept. open hat, guitar up-strum, or right-hand
released outtakes reveal. Sometimes it feels like we’ve had our piano syncopation implying the swing.
They had a roadmap. The band ears and minds poisoned by YouTube You know that Fadd9 guitar chord at the
and producer George Martin are famed videos, gear demos, and online debates beginning of “Getting Better” that goes
for their studio experimentation. But about “ultimate tone.” But only one ching ching ching ching-a, ching ching-a
the rough, first-take versions of these thing determines a tone’s quality: how ching ching? That’s pretty much Sgt.
songs reveal that the team knew their it suits the musical context. There’s no Pepper’s default groove. Funk, this ain’t.
destination before they rolled tape. The better example than Sgt. Pepper’s laser- Burn the solo button! These
initial tracks leave abundant space for the bright electric guitars. Few modern observations share a common theme: The
parts to come, and the big picture is easy players would be caught dead issuing Beatles had their eyes on the final result,
to perceive. such strident treble squawks. But they’re not the minute details of individual
The drums don’t drive. Unlike most perfect for these dense compositions. tracks. Nowadays we’re addicted to the
rock recordings, where the drummer Frankly, many Pepper tracks sound solo button. But since the Beatles crew
sets the pace and everyone else follows, lousy when soloed. Ringo’s kick has was working with bounced tracks, they
Ringo plays sparsely, often letting Paul’s little impact. (On the drum-heavy couldn’t solo many of the parts even if
keyboard define the feel. At times he “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club they’d wanted to. It was about the forest,
stops drumming, or strips it down to Band (Reprise) [Take 8],” you hear not the trees.
minimal kick, tom, or hat. There aren’t Paul hectoring Ringo to stomp the kick Few of us envy the travails of midcentury
many fills, but when they do occur, harder.) John’s acoustic guitar sounds boxy recording. It’s nice being able to record
they’re the center of attention. Everyone and flat in isolation. But in the midst of a 32 tracks on your phone! But it’s worth
else shuts up. dense track, it feels and sounds great. pausing to consider the things we may have
Also, the percussion parts vary over What matters most happens last. lost on our path to the present.
the course of a song—consistency be When you bounce tape, you lose high
damned. Paul discussed this in a 2005 end and definition. While many modern JOE GORE has recorded and
Drum! magazine interview with Robert rock records are built from the drums and performed with Tom Waits, PJ
Harvey, Tracy Chapman, Courtney
Doerschuk: “On Beatles records you’d bass up, Paul’s bass was usually one of Love, Marianne Faithfull, Les
have a tambourine for a verse, then it the last parts to be recorded. Sometimes Claypool, Flea, DJ Shadow, John
Cale, and many other artists. Joe
would stop and a snare or something drums were overdubbed as well. has written thousands of articles
about music and helps develop
would take over.... I was always trying Paul seems to be the most rhythmically music tools for Apple and other
to do that in the ’70s, but my producers definitive Beatle. In fact, his bass lines clients. He blogs at tonefiend.com.
premierguitar.com
ON BASS
Pedal Power
BY VICTOR BRODÉN
L
A ringing open et’s dive into a concept that’s
string (Photo 2) 1 2
quite common in many styles
would generally
be preferred of music and on many different
for a pedal instruments: the pedal tone (aka pedal
tone to avoid point). The term has developed a looser
dampening, definition over the years, but it originated
but you can’t
argue with the
in the classical world to describe
effectiveness of sustaining a single low note with a pipe
Tom Hamilton’s organ’s bass pedal while other voices,
12th-fret, pedal- notes, or chords change above it.
point position
I first encountered the term as a
(Photo 1) in his
classic “Sweet music-school student in my early 20s.
Emotion” riff. My jazz teacher had me pedal on the 5
an octave below the tonic in anticipation
of returning to the tonic, while the
other instruments went through a more share several examples of basing your line the 3rd string as our pedal tone (Photo
traditional sequence of turnaround on a pedal tone. 1), the riff hits G, the %7 (1st string, 12th
chords to lead back to the tonic. When fret). Hamilton then plays two plucks on
my ear first experienced the pedal sound, “Everytime You Go Away” the pedal tone, followed by the octave
I was amazed at the power the bass guitar The sweet bass riff Pino Palladino plays A (14th fret, 1st string), which is then
could wield by simply staying put. in the choruses of this 1985 Paul Young followed by two more plucks on our
The aural sensation is like a sailboat hit can almost be called a part, since it lower-octave pedal tone.
leaning over in strong winds or a sports reoccurs in the same place in every chorus The second half of the riff, which
car going around a curve and having throughout the song. The song is in the key puts a nice bow on the whole thing,
almost all its weight transferred to the of F and the riff happens between the 2nd consists of D (12th fret, 2nd string) and
outer two wheels. When you land back and 3rd voicings (Dm to Gm) of the back C# (2nd string, 11th fret) separated by
on the tonic after pedaling for a while, half of the chorus. I have used this pedal- yet another double-pluck on the pedal
it releases all musical tension—like our point-based fill so much that my production tone. Typically, this type of riff is played
sports car hitting a straight line and partner—who ends up editing most of my an octave down so you can use an open
getting its speed back, or the sailboat bass tracks—makes fun of me for it, even string as the pedal point (Photo 2)—thus
becoming upright again. though he’ll also admit to being a fan of this making the execution much easier—but
The sheer power of the pedal tone fast but very musical succession of notes. Hamilton’s riff certainly serves as a much
really puts the bassist in the driver’s seat The riff uses the major 3 as the pedal more musical ear-bender.
of a band in a big way. Over the years, point, which in this case is the A on the Enjoy practicing these tunes and be
I’ve come to hear and use the term in a 7th fret of the 2nd string. The riff starts sure to cut the pedal tone off so the other
more relaxed way, with it usually meaning with the pedal tone and then walks down notes can be heard clearly. Otherwise,
that you return to the pedal tone between the F major scale from F (1st string, 10th we’ll be back at the origin of the pedal
the other notes of your fill, riff, or bass fret) to D (1st string, 7th fret), while tone with the pipe organ sustaining
line, rather than have it constantly returning to the pedal point between every a rumbling bass note below the other
sound underneath the other notes note. Only the first half of the riff uses the notes. Happy pedaling!
you’re playing. With this version of the pedal tone; the second half contains an
definition, it seems that most hard rock F major triad starting on the 5 (C–F–A), VICTOR BRODÉN is a Nashville
and heavy metal riffs are based on the and finishes with a G, which serves as a bassist and producer, and the host
of The Lowdown Society Podcast.
concept. Though this application of the passing tone to the next chord voicing. Victor has toured and recorded
pedal point yields quite a different sonic with more than 30 major-label
artists, including LeAnn Rimes,
experience from the aforementioned jazz “Sweet Emotion” Richard Marx, Casting Crowns,
example, it remains an incredible tool for This classic bass riff from Aerosmith’s and Randy Houser. His credits
also include Grammy-winning
both writing music and creating dexterity Tom Hamilton makes a great dexterity albums and numerous television
exercises. So, using a pair of well-known and string-skipping exercise. After specials and network talk-show
performances. You can reach him
songs to illustrate the concept, I’d like to starting off with A on the 12th fret of at vbroden@yahoo.com
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BASS BENCH
Power to the Bass Peeps!

BY HEIKO HOEPFINGER
E
Top right: These ver wonder why most guitarists information it supplies.
equal loudness playing in a band can get the job The second part of our
contours reveal
done with an amp rated from power quest is technical—
the relationship
between sound 30 to 100 watts, while we bassists need the efficiency of the
pressure and to increase that power by as much as a speakers and cabinets,
frequency factor of 10 to be heard? Not only do we and the frequency-
when listeners have to wield heavier instruments during dependent nature of their
compared and
adjusted a gigs, we’re also schlepping far heavier performance.
test tone to a amps and cabinets before and after the These curves shown
reference tone. shows. Even with all this firepower, why in the chart are what the
is it that bassists still struggle to be heard A-weighting setting of the
in a band context? And why is it that our SPL or dB meter is taking
lower frequencies fight to cut through? into account as a way of
Basically, all we want is to be adjusting for variances in
perceived as having equal loudness. But how we perceive sound.
being a complex mix of psychological, (The A-weighting curve
physiological, and physical factors, on these meters wasn’t
loudness can’t be measured directly. That meant to be used at the
said, loudness is a subjective perception higher volumes found in
of sound pressure, and sound pressure is music venues, but that’s a different story.)
something we can measure. Don’t be confused by the word “phon” ∆dB ∆dB
Today, every gigging musician is in the diagram—it’s simply a term used
familiar with the sound pressure level to indicate pure tones. We’re talking +3 x2
(SPL) or dB meters used at gigs or about single test tones here, not the
music festivals to ensure a band’s volume perception of chords, which would only +6 x4
stays within prescribed limits. They’re make things even more confusing. No
easy to use, and the most important need for that! +10 x10
switch is the one that selects the At 41 Hz, the low E on a bass
different weighting curves, which are competes with the 330 Hz of a guitar’s +20 x100
A, C, and Z, although everyone just first string E, and at mild volumes,
uses the A-weighting curve without any the bass needs almost twice the sound close that gap in perceived equal loudness
further questions. pressure for an equal perception of across just a few decibels.
The A-weighting curve basically loudness. Fortunately, most of us will The equal-loudness contour curve
corrects for how we perceive the volume play at higher volumes around the 100- points at a roughly 10 dB difference
or loudness of different frequencies. phon curve, where the ear’s frequency- between the perception of the bass low
Since perception can’t be directly dependent perception comes into sort of E (41 Hz) and the guitar’s high E (330
measured, researchers measured the saturation with smaller contrasts among Hz). Our table reveals this requires
differences of sound pressure for several the different frequencies. almost 10 times the power from the amp.
frequencies in mass listening tests, where Alas, the decibel unit used to measure So, without digging too deeply into the
listeners had to compare and adjust test SPL doesn’t produce a linear scale. In details of acoustics and psychoacoustics,
Top: Illustration courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org

tones to achieve equal loudness against other words, 10 percent more amp it’s relatively easy to find good reasons for
a reference tone. The results of this wattage doesn’t get us from 100 to 110 our massively higher power needs when
averaged mass listening test are called dB. Nope: Decibel is a logarithmic scale amplifying the low end.
equal-loudness contours (see chart). In based on the larger unit “bel,” named
a way, it’s a map of our auditory system’s after inventor Alexander Graham Bell. HEIKO HOEPFINGER is a
German physicist and long-time
perception of frequencies. The decibel is one tenth of a bel. bassist, classical guitarist, and
One reason bassists require low-end The table at right shows the correlation motorcycle enthusiast. His work
on fuel cells for the European
power is linked to human biology— between the amp power needed to affect orbital glider Hermes led him to
the shape of the pinna, our external a certain change (∆) in dB. You can see form BassLab (basslab.de)—a
manufacturer of monocoque
ear, and how our brains process the how much the power must increase to guitars and basses.
premierguitar.com
LESSONS
How to Handle Harmonics

BY KIRBY JANE
C
ascading harmonics, also known
as “harp” harmonics, are often Chops: Intermediate
used in fingerstyle guitar. With Theory: Beginner
this technique, you play harmonics in
Lesson Overview:
seamless combination with normally
picked notes in a way that makes a guitar • Coax both natural and fretted harmonics out of your instrument.
ring like, well, a harp. Chet Atkins, Lenny • Combine fretted notes with harmonics in the style of Lenny Breau
Breau, and Tommy Emmanuel are among
those who have pioneered cascading
and Chet Atkins.
harmonics, and you can hear examples • Improve your picking technique with some challenging sleight-of-hand.
of this technique in their recordings.
You need significant hand strength and
control (as well as some basic math skills)
to play these shimmering sounds, but
with practice and determination, you can
learn this technique. Cascading harmonics
will increase the depth, emotionality, and CLICK HERE
TO LISTEN
compositional range of your playing. In
this lesson, I’ll break down how to create
both open and fretted harmonics, explain
how to play them cleanly, and provide tips
on how to get the best tone from them.
These exercises are intended to be
played with a thumbpick for clarity,
dexterity, and volume. You can use nails, a
normal pick, or your fingertip for picking
harmonics, but these methods may make An admitted disciple of both Chet and Lenny, Tommy Emmanuel demonstrates a wealth
it more difficult to play smoothly and get a of harmonics during his intro to The Beatles’ “Michelle.”
clear sound. I use either Dunlop Medium
thumbpicks or Fred Kelly Bumblebee hand so the notes ring out without being phrases and melody lines (Ex. 3 and Ex.
Jazz Heavy picks for harmonics. The choked. Once you’ve hit an open harmonic, 4). The 12th, 5th, 7th, and 9th frets aren’t
materials and edges of these picks are most there’s no need to stay in contact with that the only places to find natural harmonics,
comfortable for me, and I like the swivel string—the harmonic will continue to but they’re the clearest and thus the most
feature on the Bumblebee pick because it ring on its own. Try alternating between practical places to remember. Other places
reduces the range of motion necessary for upstrokes and downstrokes for this exercise. to reach clear harmonics are the 17th,
picking fretted harmonics. 19th, and 21st frets.
Click here for Ex. 1
Open Up! Click here for Ex. 3
You can create a basic octave harmonic In Ex. 2, you’ll alternate between
by plucking an open string and gently playing an open string and its respective Click here for Ex. 4
touching—not fretting—it at the 12th fret, harmonic at the 12th fret. Remember to
which is exactly at the midpoint between lift your finger off the string after you’ve The palette of open harmonic notes
the nut and bridge. If you lightly place a played each harmonic. available to you is, of course, determined
barre across all six strings at the 12th fret by the tuning you’re using. For example, it’s
and then strum them, you’ll hear all six Click here for Ex. 2 quite easy to play melodies in G major and
open-string notes an octave higher. You E minor when you’re in standard tuning
can also reach higher harmonic notes Intervals and Arpeggios with (Ex. 5), while dropped-D tuning gives you
by hovering over the 5th, 7th, and 9th Open Harmonics more room to play melodies with harmonics
frets (Ex. 1). After you’ve hit each set of You can use all these open, unfretted in the key of D, and DADGAD gives you a
harmonics, release the grip on your fretting harmonics to create standalone musical whole different range of harmonics.

All stringed instruments have harmonic points where the
12th, 5th, 7th, and 9th frets would hypothetically be.
It’s important to know that your a lot more compositional flexibility of space between your index finger and
harmonic reference points change when you and can essentially be used in any thumb will give the harmonic a clear tone
use capos. For example, if you were to capo key. The technique involves fretting a when you pick it. Too far away or too
your guitar on the 3rd fret, your 12th-fret chord, then using your picking hand to close, and the note will sound choked.
harmonic would be moved to the 15th fret, simultaneously touch the harmonic and In Ex. 7 and Ex. 8, we’ll still be using
since 12 + 3 = 15. Likewise, your 5th-fret pluck the string. the fretted harmonics, only this time we’re
harmonic would move to the 8th fret, the Ex. 6 involves fretting all six strings, altering the fretted notes so you can get
7th-fret harmonic would move to the 10th barred at the 4th fret, and then picking accustomed to playing different chords. For
fret, and your 9th-fret harmonic would the harmonic with your picking hand. In each note, just pick the harmonic of each
move to the 12th fret. Of course, if you use this instance, your octave harmonic will string exactly 12 frets higher than you’re
a partial capo, you’ll only have to recalculate be at the 16th fret (12 frets up), thanks fretting each note. In other words, spell out
these harmonic sweet spots on the strings to your 4th fret barre. It’s as if you have a the chord an octave up on the fretboard.
that are clamped down by the capo, capo on the 4th fret.
All stringed instruments have Click here for Ex. 7
harmonic points where the 12th, 5th, Click here for Ex. 6
7th, and 9th frets would hypothetically Click here for Ex. 8
be. The open harmonic’s sound is Your picking hand is doing two things
completely independent of the frets, and at once during this exercise: While The more varied these chords are, the
you can create harmonics regardless of extending your index finger, you’ll touch more control you will need to play them
what a stringed instrument is tuned to, or the octave harmonic at the 16th fret with well, so I suggest anchoring your picking-
whether the instrument has frets. your index fingertip. Then with your hand pinky on the body of the guitar as
thumb straight in line behind the index you pluck the harmonics. That way you’re
Fretted Harmonics finger, pluck the string at exactly the not stressing your arm and elbow while
These are a bit more difficult to play than same time that you touch the harmonic trying to hold your place. Some of the
the open harmonics, but they provide point on the string. One or two inches best sounding chord choices for cascading
premierguitar.com
harmonics are full voicings that include
CLICK HERE
a lot of jazzy colors. These work best TO LISTEN
for cascading harmonics because there
aren’t many duplicate notes being played
between the harmonics and the fretted
notes. Harmonics are often used to make
a melody line more interesting, but it’s
difficult to make a melody line, much less
an interesting one, if the notes you have
available to you are mostly the same. By
contrast, complex harmony can generate
the most ethereal sounds when played in
harmonic, or cascading harmonic form.
Alternating Fretted Notes

and Harmonics
This technique builds on the ability
to play fretted harmonics, only now it
involves mixing normally fretted notes
with fretted harmonic notes. To start
a cascading harmonic roll, you’d fret
a chord shape, then strum the 6th, This arrangement of “Tenderly” from Chet Atkins and Lenny Breau is an absolute
5th, and 4th strings. Then you’ll begin masterclass in how to incorporate harmonics into a melody.
alternating between picking a harmonic,
then a normal note, and back and forth, Our final example (Ex. 11) incorporates a Setup and Intonation
each time repositioning your picking technique called “Lenny Breau pull-offs,” It’s much easier to play harmonics on
hand to move to higher and lower string since Lenny was the first guitarist to play some guitars than others, so I encourage
sets (Ex. 9). harmonics like this. It requires immense you to try out different instruments
fretting strength and pinky dexterity, as to discover which one works best for
Click here for Ex. 9 well as lots of stability in your picking you. I find that acoustics and archtops
hand. I strongly suggest practicing this work best for me. Your action shouldn’t
Don’t push your hands past what you feel exercise with a metronome, and tackling be too high or it will feel impossible
is safe. If you practice this gradually and small chunks of it in a loop until it’s to hold the fretted notes necessary for
consistently, your hands will build up clean and you don’t get nervous when cascading harmonics. Conversely, if the
strength to hold the fretted notes without you think about playing it. action is too low, the harmonics will
accidentally decreasing pressure and get choked by vibrating against the
blunting the sustain, and the longer you Click here for Ex. 11 frets. Also, if your guitar is intonated
practice using the harmonic roll technique properly, it will be more in tune with
with your picking hand, the easier it will If you have trouble playing these exercises itself, and the overtones will ring
be to hit the harmonics accurately, and clearly, work through the passages as slowly together in a way that actually causes
with even, controlled timing. as you can manage. The goal is to know the guitar to sustain longer and feel
Ex. 10 features a cascading harmonic exactly what you’re playing, musically. alive in your hands. (It’s really eerie
roll with your picking hand, but this Also, it’s important to thoroughly analyze when this happens, but hands-down
time you’ll be fretting a chord instead of the range of motion you’re using, so you it is one of my favorite things about
a simple barre across all six strings. To can tackle any weak spots in your posture playing guitar.)
play this, fret the chord, then continue to and physical technique. Be sure you’re
use the harmonic roll with your picking sitting up straight and looking down at
KIRBY JANE is a Nashville-based
hand. What’s different? As you pick the the guitar neck, so you’re directly over the guitarist specializing in solo jazz
and Americana performance and
harmonic roll, you’ll be spelling out the frets where you’re touching the harmonics. fingerstyle arranging. Kirby is
chord shape in harmonics while you This sounds insignificant, but it’s a vital a protégé of Grammy-winning
guitarist John Knowles, C.G.P,
alternate between harmonic and standard step because it keeps your eyes in line with and has taught and performed
alongside some of the industry’s
fretted notes. the fretwire, and helps you aim and touch top acoustic guitarists, including
the harmonic sweet spot without having to Thom Bresh, Joe Robinson, and
Tommy Emmanuel, C.G.P. For more
Click here for Ex. 10 really calculate where it is. information, visit kirbyjane.net.

LESSONS
Obsessive Progressive: How to “Borrow” Chords

BY LEVI CLAY
O
ne of the most compelling
aspects of playing progressive Chops: Intermediate
rock is how the genre Theory: Intermediate
encourages you to turn simple concepts
Lesson Overview:
into something new. Nowhere is this
more evident than with simple major • Learn how to imply modal sounds with simple major triads.
triads, a sound you’ll hear used again and • Create riffs in the style of Steve Morse, John Petrucci, and
again in nearly every type of rock music.
A perfect example of someone who uses
Eddie Van Halen.
triads extensively is the great Steve Morse. • Understand how to effectively use modal interchange.
He has worked in many enduring bands,
including the Dixie Dregs, Kansas, and
Deep Purple, as well as the prog supergroup to know is that a triad is a three-note respectively) and you have a major triad.
Flying Colors. If you aren’t familiar with chord that most often consists of the It doesn’t matter what order, or inversion,
Steve’s work, check out “The Introduction” root, 3, and 5 of a given key. Imagine you the notes are in, the resulting triad will
below to see what he’s all about. are in the key of E major (E–F#–G#–A– have the same function.
Let’s get some basic terms and B–C#–D#). Take the first, third, and fifth In Ex. 1, you can see the notes of an
definitions out of the way. The first thing notes of the major scale (E, G#, and B, E triad played up the neck in inversions
CLICK HERE
TO LISTEN
premierguitar.com
against an E bass note. If you look
closely, you’ll see each chord stab contains
only the notes E, G#, and B.
It’s possible to extract more triads from

an E major scale, by simply starting on
any other note. For example, if you start
on F#, then take a note a third higher
(A), and a note a fifth higher (C#), you’ll
have an F#m triad. This concept goes a
bit beyond what we’ll focus on in this
lesson, but being aware of basic major-
scale harmony is an essential skill.
While it’s possible to use all these
triads, to keep this lesson simple, I’ll stick
to major triads. This is far from limiting—
in fact, you’ll find that 90 percent of rock
bands using these concepts also just stick
to good-old major triads!
The following examples (Ex. 2 and Ex.
3) combine E, A, and B major triads over When you play a major triad a whole-step
an E bass note to create more of a riff.
This has a classic E major sound because below the root, it yields a Mixolydian sound.
it uses all the notes of the major scale.
Click here for Ex. 2 when writing riffs in E major, if I include heard on many of his most famous riffs,
a D major triad, that’s borrowing a chord including “Panama” and “Jump.”
Click here for Ex. 3 from the E Mixolydian mode. The rule
to remember: When you play a major Click here for Ex. 7
One of the quickest ways to take these triad a whole-step below the root, it
triads and turn them into something, well, yields a Mixolydian sound. Ex. 5 offers a Our final example (Ex. 8) is inspired by
more prog, is by using modal interchange. taste of this. John Petrucci. This uses all the triads
You can think of this as “borrowing” we’ve covered so far, and adds an F major
chords from other keys to imply a modal Click here for Ex. 5 triad (borrowed from E Phrygian, E–F–
sound. In our previous examples, we’ve G–A–B–C–D)—and even an Eb major
stuck entirely to the notes that are diatonic It’s also possible to experiment with triad. The latter makes a tangy half-step
to the key of E. What would happen if we major triads from other modes to see passing chord into D.
looked at chords in the key of A? how they work against specific bass notes.
There are also three major triads in the For example, the E Aeolian mode (E–F#– Click here for Ex. 8
key of A—A, D, and E. Two of these triads G–A–B–C–D) contains the same notes as
also occur in the key of E, but D does G major (G–A–B–C–D E–F#). In Ex. 6, You can do a lot with this concept, and
not. When viewed from the perspective of I’m using G, D, and C major triads from there’s really no right or wrong way to
an E bass note, this outlier implies an E the key of G major to imply an Aeolian pursue it. The key is to experiment and find
Mixolydian (E–F#–G#–A–B–C#–D) sound. sound against the E bass note. sounds you like. So, get playing and see how
In Ex. 4, you can hear this in action. progressive you can get … good luck!
Click here for Ex. 4 LEVI CLAY is a London-based
Ex. 7 is a Van Halen-sounding riff that guitar player, teacher, and
transcriber. His unique approach
When comparing E major and incorporates triads from both E Aeolian to learning keeps him in constant
demand from students the world
E Mixolydian, the D triad is (C, D, and G) and E Mixolydian (D, over, and his expertise as a
characteristically Mixolydian, as its root E, and A). Combining triads this way is transcriber has introduced his work
to a whole new audience. For more
(D) isn’t found in the E major scale. So a huge part of Eddie’s style, and can be information, check out leviclaycom.

LESSONS
Blue Horizons: The Lyric Form

BY DAVID HAMBURGER
“P
hrasing” is a term that
gets thrown around a Chops: Intermediate
lot when people talk Theory: Beginner
about improvisation, and I remember
Lesson Overview:
being baffled by this as a kid learning
to play. Especially when some rocker • Let blues vocalists inspire your phrasing.
would sound off about how awesome • Get more mileage from your licks by varying their rhythmic patterns.
his phrasing was in a Guitar Player
interview and the next month all the
• Emulate the call-and-response style of such blues masters as B.B.
jazz cats would write in to laud the King, Freddie King, and Magic Sam.
phrasing of their favorite bebopper while
unflatteringly comparing said rocker’s
phrasing to the flatulence of various
barnyard denizens. “Wow,” I would
think, “this phrasing thing is clearly a big
deal,” while remaining pretty oblivious of CLICK HERE
what the word really meant. TO LISTEN
It turns out phrasing is basically just
how you play the things you play. At its
most fundamental, it’s where your ideas
or licks start and stop within the rhythmic
and harmonic pulse of the music. Getting
into more detail, it’s your attack and tone
and dynamics and personal timing—all
Magic Sam, “Sweet Home Chicago”
the essential details that make you sound
like yourself. But for the purpose of this
lesson, we’ll stick with the first part:
Phrasing is where you put the notes,
CLICK HERE
relative to the chord progression going by.
TO LISTEN
Specifically, we’re going to explore how
modeling the shape, length, and resolution
of your ideas on the form of classic blues
lyrics can serve as a shortcut to great
phrasing over a 12-bar blues. Contouring
your playing to the lyric structure of the
blues almost automatically results in space,
call-and-response sounds, and ideas that B.B. King, “Everyday I Have the Blues”
draw the listener through each subsequent
turning point in the form.
To begin, think about the melody to a
classic like “Sweet Home Chicago.” It has a
CLICK HERE
short opening phrase, followed by a longer TO LISTEN
answer: “da-DAH … DAH-da-DAH-da
DAH, DAH-da.” You can hear similar
phrasing on blues standards like “Everyday
I Have the Blues” and “I’m Tore Down.”
Below are a few examples of how established
guitar masters performed these tracks.
Ex. 1 is the guitar equivalent: a short
phrase (just two notes!) that lands on Freddie King, “I’m Tore Down”
premierguitar.com
CLICK HERE
TO LISTEN
the downbeat of measure one, beat 1,

answered by a longer phrase that starts at
the beginning of measure two and ends
on the and of 4, right on the doorstep
of measure three. Notice how the next
couple of measures are left empty—the
same way the lyrics leave some breathing
room (both literally and metaphorically) We can also draw out the pickup that Click here for Ex. 8
in “Sweet Home Chicago.” launches each line, using phrases that
start on, say, the and of 1 rather than the One more thing, as far as playing over the
Click here for Ex. 1 and of 3 or 4. Ex. 5 makes the first and first line. On the second verse of Freddie
second phrases a little more symmetrical, King’s “I’m Tore Down,” you can hear the
The second line of many blues lyrics is a and less like “Sweet Home Chicago,” but lyrics double up in the first line. It happens
repeat of the first line, although, because still retains the call-and-response feel. over stop-time in the rhythm section, but it
it is a repeat, singers often work some works even if the band keeps playing.
kind of variation into the melody. You Click here for Ex. 5 As applied to soloing, you can think of it
can do this too, by starting your phrases as squeezing a sort of ABAC structure into
a little earlier or a little later. Just make If you do stick to the short-long phrases the first four measures of the form: a short
sure they still resolve in the same place of the lyrics, there’s a handful of space lick in measure one, an answer in measure
rhythmically, as in Ex. 2. between your first and second phrase, two, a repeat of the original lick in measure
and a lot of space at the end of each line. three, and an answer to all of that in measure
Click here for Ex. 2 Space is great, space is tasteful—and you four, in a way that carries on and resolves to
don’t want to pack all the space full of the IV chord at the start of measure five.
The third line is generally where both stuff—but such spaces afford you the For a similar instrumental take on this
the lyrics and their melody have the opportunity to play your own rhythm idea, check out the ensemble riff that leads
biggest change-up, and “Sweet Home guitar hits, which, like space, will contrast into Duane Allman’s solo on the Allman
Chicago” is a perfect example of this nicely with your lead lines (Ex. 6). Brothers Band version of “Done Somebody
shift. In Ex. 3, the guitar equivalent Wrong” from the Fillmore recordings.
opens with a short pickup into the Click here for Ex. 6 Ex. 9 illustrates one way to apply
downbeat, just like lines 1 and 2, but this idea to the kind of licks we’ve
with new melodic material, and a phrase If we’re still thinking about this as a vocal been playing. Once you’ve grasped the
that doesn’t resolve until beat 3 of approach, we could also use the space at concept, try dropping it into the first four
measure nine. The answer, which takes the end of the line for what we all know measures of one of the longer solos above.
you from IV back to I, can be similar to it’s really best for: guitar fills! Play your
the answers in lines 2 and 3, or a place call-and-response “vocal lines” in the first Click here for Ex. 9
to insert something new and different. couple of measures, then play fills—short
licks that respond to all of that—towards Working with the lyric form is not only
Click here for Ex. 3 the end of each line (Ex. 7). a great way to develop your phrasing and
breathe some space into your solos, it’s
Cool, so there’s the lyric form—six Click here for Ex. 7 a way to go beyond generic jamming to
phrases that take you through a 12-bar create solos with a real musical connection
blues with the same overall shape and We’ve been using somewhat consistent licks to the songs you’re playing on. So before
balance as a blues lyric. Now let’s look at a for lines 1 and 2 throughout the longer you start wailing, take a moment to listen
few ways we can build on this framework. examples to keep the focus on how we’re to the words, and you’ll be overflowing
For starters, we can loosen up the varying things rhythmically, but changing up with ideas in no time.
phrasing a little. For example, instead of your licks more from line to line will create
resolving your licks on the first beat of a further variety, even as the rhythmic shape
DAVID HAMBURGER has
measure, typically by finishing your phrase of the lyric form continues to lend your released four solo albums, toured
the U.S. as the guitarist for Joan
on the root, you can delay that resolution soloing a satisfying sense of direction and Baez, and composed music for the
a little further into the measure, as in structure. Check out Ex. 8 and see if you Emmy-nominated CNN series High
Profits. He has authored more than
measure one of Ex. 4, or land on the root can still hear the call-and-response phrasing, two dozen books and videos for
Hal Leonard, Alfred, Homespun,
and keep playing, as in measure three. the resolution of each phrase, and the overall and Truefire, and is a contributing
lyric shape of things, despite incorporating editor to Acoustic Guitar. You can
find weekly video lessons from
Click here for Ex. 4 all the various changes we’ve discussed so far. David at fretboardconfidential.com.

LESSONS
When Do I Use Distortion?

BY JIM LILL
D
istortion is sugar. It tastes good.
When I was 13 my first amp Chops: Beginner
was, accidentally, a 10-watt Theory: Beginner
Epiphone bass amp. A bass amp. The kale
Lesson Overview:
salad of making things louder. Yuck.
But the first time I plugged in to a • Learn how distortion interacts with chord voicings.
proper guitar amp … wow. My little • Create more compelling guitar parts by cranking—or decreasing—the gain.
cousin had a pink Hello Kitty Squier
Strat that came with a tiny Squier guitar
• Realize that more gain isn’t always better.
amp. I was bored and plugged it in. Like
Marty McFly at Doc Brown’s workshop,
I struck those rusted strings and was
(figuratively) blown back 10 feet by the
power of distortion. Delicious distortion.
I spent the next hour going through all
the rock licks I knew. Suddenly, they made
sense. The double-stops in “Johnny B.
Goode,” the power chords in “The House
Is Rockin’,” the bends in “Simple Man,”
they all just worked. Up to that point it
had been Saltine crackers and unfrosted
Mini-Wheats. I was finally taking my first
bite of a well-deserved Pop-Tart.
Unfortunately, it became an addiction.
It got to the point where there was
no satisfying single-digit number on the
gain knob. My chocolate milk was more
chocolate than milk. I couldn’t play without
knowing each note I hit would have endless
sustain and 200-percent compression
without any possibility of touch or
dynamics. It was a sad era of my life and
I’m punished for it each time I watch a
video of me failing at making halfway
appropriate noises with my instrument for
an embarrassing number of years.
Somewhere along the way, a much metronome has since passed on, I carry way we’ll discover some situations where
smarter guitarist hipped me to the its spirit with me in my pocket in the overdrive is overkill.
concept of “taste” and I started to form of an app on my phone. A very
ween myself off the juice. It came with frequently visited app on my phone. Power Chords
withdrawals. All the things I thought Look, distortion isn’t a bad thing, but Power chords make playing guitar
I could play turned to plinky garbage. there is an epidemic sweeping the nation cool. You crank the amp, hit two notes
My tone wilted, my groove atrophied. that you’re not going to hear about together, and it’s the summer of ’69
The world was desaturated. Everything on the 6 o’clock news, and it’s a mass all over again. This isn’t an accident,
tasted bad. But I had a metronome that dependence on hard-clipped soundwaves. there’s actual science behind why. The
I borrowed from a friend’s older brother If you’re suffering from what I went musical distance between the two notes
after he stopped playing trombone, and through, you aren’t alone. You aren’t a in a power chord is called a fifth and is
that metronome became my cellmate. victim, you’re a survivor. Let’s go over very harmonically simple. When you
I spent hours, days, months with it some safe recipes where distortion is a add distortion to a note, it makes the
getting myself clean. And though that very worthwhile ingredient, and along the note more harmonically complex. So by
premierguitar.com
adding a harmonically simple note choice amp or pedal circuit literally can’t handle Click here for Ex. 4
to a harmonically complex tone, you get a the amount of level being fed into it and
perfect blend of guitar goodness (Ex. 1). it gives up, cutting the tops and bottoms Pinch Harmonics
On the flip side, musically complex off the waveform to squeeze the signal You know that squeal sound that your
chord strumming doesn’t always lend through to the other side. When those favorite guitarists whip out every now
itself to distortion. Jazz and acoustic giant sonic peaks get cut off, the pick and then? One of the ways to get that
players can play gorgeous upper-chord attack and note sustain get balanced out, sound is by using a pinch harmonic.
extensions and each note is crystal clear and that makes our playing sound much Functionally, it’s the same as playing a
and unsullied by the sonic mud that more even—especially high on the neck 12th-fret harmonic. You pick, then touch a
you’d get if your tried the same thing on where things can get extra plinky. spot on the string where there’s a node—a
a Schecter through a Splawn. This is also why a lot of traditional spot where the string vibrates less. The only
If you want to “Billie Joe Armstrong” country pickers use compressor pedals. difference is you’re doing both at almost the
your way through a show and play It’s the same clipping-the-transients and same time with your pick and the thumb
nothing but power chords, distortion is evening-out-the-notes reinforcement you’re using to hold your pick (Ex. 5).
your friend. without (in their case) the unwanted side The reason you need distortion is
effect of a distorted tone (Ex. 3). because of the “more harmonically
Click here for Ex. 1 complex tone” that you get with
Click here for Ex. 3 distortion. I alluded to this in Ex. 1,
Backwards Power Chords but it’s worth fleshing out a little more.
If you press the strings down on the same Get Low Each note you play has a series of
fret of the top two strings at the same time When our amp and pedal circuits are harmonics that get exponentially quieter
and pick them together, you’re playing shoving all that sound through to the other the higher they are. When you use
a “fourth.” It’s like a power chord but side and distortion is happening, there distortion and the signal is clipped, it
backwards (C–G is a fifth, and G–C is a is something called “release” that occurs evens out the levels of these harmonics,
fourth). And since it’s composed of the when the circuits are no longer being so while the 7th-fret harmonic on an
same notes as a power chord, it follows the overloaded. The way-too-loud signal gets acoustic guitar is almost inaudible, it
same logic of simple notes + complex tone clamped down, then when the level dies screams on a distorted electric guitar.
= good. That explains why the “Chuck off to a point where the circuit can handle This gives you more room to pull off
Berry” licks I was playing in my cousin’s it more normally, the compression is in its successful pinch harmonics.
basement sounded so good (Ex. 2). It’s a release phase. Even though the sound from Pick the note and pinch the pick so
lot of fourths and a lot of overdrive paired our guitar is getting quieter, the circuit’s your thumb flesh touches the string an
together in holy matrimony. compression is holding the sound back less instant after you pick. Depending on the
and less. The net result is the same overall note you’re playing, the harmonics will
Click here for Ex. 2 volume level, but a strange pumping be in different spots along the string, so
sensation accompanying it. search around and find the ones you like.
Singled-Out High Notes The concept might read as
Distortion doesn’t only affect how notes complicated, but it’s really easy to play Click here for Ex. 5
interact, it also plays a huge role in how around with this effect by palm muting
your single notes hold up over time. Yes, low strings (Ex. 4). If you think you might be addicted to
you should strive to be able to play your By palm muting the strings, we cause distortion, hope isn’t lost. You can still
Pantera solo through a Fender Twin on the sound to die off quickly. The signal grind your axes and unleash the devil’s
3 and not hear any dead notes, but just that goes through the amp or pedal is a fury on your wincing power tubes, but
because notes aren’t dead doesn’t mean big bassy spike, then a rapidly dwindling hopefully you have a better understanding
they’re alive. When you play high notes note sound. Each time we do that, we of what situations make the most of
on the guitar, the pick attack is often cause clipping with the spike, and we shooting glucose into your music’s veins
exaggerated and your guitar gives off the cause release with the quiet-but-not- … and that not every song calls for it.
perception of less sustain. The sustain is silence immediately following it, giving
there, you just can’t notice it when you’re us the beautiful chug-chug-chug sound JIM LILL is a professional
country musician and writer in
being bombarded by giant pluck bombs that drives so many of our favorite songs. Nashville. He tours as a guitarist
every time pick meets string. This requires distortion. Without it, and pedal-steel player with Josh
Thompson and runs a popular
This is where distortion can lend a the pick attacks aren’t clipped, the release YouTube channel featuring guitar
videos. He also curates the @
helping hand. isn’t noticeable, and you’re left with a GuitarLickADay Instagram account
Distortion is the sound we hear when meager plink-plink-plink. Chances are and hosts the Back from the Gig
Podcast. For more information,
an audio wave gets clipped, meaning the you’d rather have chug-chug-chug. visit jimlillmusic.com.

MOD GARAGE
Dan Armstrong’s “Super-Strat” Wiring

BY DIRK WACKER
O
ver the years I’ve been writing plus a DP3T on/on/on switch for the offered by this wiring. Here’s how to
Mod Garage, I’ve received bridge pickup. This let him access both interpret the letters: U means the switch
requests to explore wirings series and parallel switching for multiple is in the up position, D stands for down,
created by the late guitarist, luthier, session pickup combinations, and thus extract 12 and C indicates the bridge pickup’s 3-way
musician, and boy genius, Daniel “Dan” different tones from a standard Stratocaster. on/on/on switch is in the center position.
Kent Armstrong, who, sadly, passed away All the pickup combinations are in This wiring’s switching matrix is
in 2004. If you’re unfamiliar with his legacy, phase, so if you’re looking for out-of-phase challenging to operate, and you’ll need
I suggest you take a moment to check him tones, this arrangement may not be your some time to get familiar with the three
out online. Let’s start with his most famous cup of tea—at least not without some mods switches and how they work together. I
wiring scheme: the original Armstrong to yield these additional sounds. Armstrong’s know I couldn’t play a guitar wired this
“super-strat” wiring. Some of you may know circuit works on all guitars with three way onstage without a printed operation
this wiring. It was very common during the pickups, including those with humbuckers. manual describing all the different
whole “super-strat” era of the ’80s and early For this configuration, we’re using possibilities, but if you want to squeeze
’90s, and it’s still a landmark today. stock Stratocaster tone controls: the as many sounds as possible out of a Strat,
The basic idea is simple: You replace the middle and neck pickups each have an this is your ticket. This is a complex
standard 5-way switch with three individual individual tone pot, while the bridge circuit that requires solid soldering and
toggle switches—one for each of the three pickup has none. However, you can wiring skills, and isn’t a beginner’s project.
pickups—to coax as many different sounds further enhance the wiring’s sonic The shopping list. You can use your
as possible from one guitar. Though the flexibility by putting different cap values stock Stratocaster pickguard for this mod.
concept wasn’t new, Armstrong gave it a on each tone control— something I’ll Simply remove the 5-way switch and drill
twist. Instead of using three simple SPDT elaborate on in a moment. three holes to install the switches where
on/off switches, he used two DPDT on/on The switching matrix. The chart the 5-way switch was previously located.
switches for the neck and middle pickups, below shows the different combinations Of course, the slit that housed the original
Bridge pickup on/ on/ on Middle pickup on/ on Neck pickup on/ on Configuration
C U D neck pickup only
C D U middle pickup only
D U U bridge pickup only
C D D middle + neck in parallel
D U D bridge + neck in parallel
D D U bridge + middle in parallel
D D D all 3 pickups in parallel
C U U middle + neck in series
U U D bridge + middle in series
U D U bridge + neck in series
U U U all 3 pickups in series
U D D all 3 pickups in series/parallel
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Dan Armstrong’s 5-way switch will be visible between the ground wire to the metal part. If you Also, it’s not a crime to use different values
classic “super- three new switches. If that doesn’t seem don’t do this, your pickups will produce for each tone pot. For example, you could
strat” wiring appealing, buy a new pickguard that’s not all kinds of weird noises in series mode. experiment with a 0.01 µF for the middle
yields 12 sounds
from a standard pre-drilled for the standard 5-way switch. For this wiring, it’s also important to and a 6800 pF for the neck pickup.
3-pickup This will look much cleaner. connect the case for each of the three Because of the many wires in this circuit,
Fender Strat. Other than that, you only need a pair switches to ground. Depending on its I decided to follow Armstrong’s original
of 2-position DPDT on/on switches design, the switch may have a solder tab for approach for drawing the schematic. With
(for the middle and neck pickups), a this. If not, you’ll have to wrap a wire around all those wires crossing each other, a typical
single 3-position DP3T on/on/on switch the threaded part of the switch’s bushing and schematic looks way too confusing.
(for the bridge pickup), and some wire. solder it to ground on the other end. That’s it! We’ll revisit this wiring in
Rather than trying to save a few pennies Armstrong’s original schematic has an a future installment to implement some
on inferior budget switches, be sure to additional 0.05 µF capacitor connected nice mods. But next time, we’ll return to
use high-quality units. Poorly constructed between the volume pot case and the 4-conductor humbuckers and I’ll show
imports won’t last long, and they produce wire coming from the tremolo claw. This you how to determine which wire goes
all kinds of electronic and mechanical wire grounds the strings when you touch where, if you don’t have the color-code
noise when you’re operating them. them, and the 0.05 µF capacitor is meant scheme for the individual wires. And we’ll
The wiring. Again, this isn’t a beginner’s to protect you from electrical shocks. do this without buying super-expensive
project, so if you feel unsure about tackling This cap is optional—you can get all the gizmos like a pickup analyzer or a digital
such a complex circuit, I suggest hiring a pro circuit’s switching functionality without scope. Until then ... keep on modding!
to do this job for you—or at least starting it. In my opinion, a 0.05 µF cap isn’t a
with an easier mod to gain some experience. good choice to prevent electrical shocks. DIRK WACKER lives in Germany
If your pickups have a metal baseplate For this task, I prefer a 0.001 µF (1 nF) and has been a guitar addict since
age 5. He’s also a hardcore DIY-er
(like a Telecaster bridge pickup) and/or a cap with a minimum rating of 500 volts for guitars, amps, and stompboxes
Photo by Perry Bean
metal cover (like a Telecaster neck pickup wired in parallel with a 220k resistor. and runs a website on the subject
(singlecoil.com). When not
or a humbucker) that’s connected to the In the original wiring, Armstrong chose working at his guitar workbench,
pickup’s ground, you need to break this a 0.01 µF value for both tone caps, but he plays country, rockabilly, surf,
and flamenco. Contact him at
connection and solder a new, dedicated feel free to use whatever value you prefer. info@singlecoil.com.
premierguitar.com
STATE OF THE STOMP
The Future: Younger, More Female, or Else!

BY PHILIPPE HERNDON
A
few months back, an interesting
discussion took place after
an interview with EarthQuaker
Devices VP Julie Robbins was posted,
wherein she described our industry as
“male-dominated” and encouraged more
women to enter the business. Some
people viewed any efforts to create more
female employees or business owners as
an artificial balancing of the scales that
could disproportionately punish men
through arbitrary quotas. Others viewed
efforts to pursue female customers and
increase their participation as folly. If the previous generations, don’t see players of afford. (Retailers have told me they could
customer breakdown is 90/10, male to both sexes that they can identify with or use this to predict which Marshall amps
female, why waste time marketing to an aspire to be like, they will become more will go up in value or get reissued.)
imaginary market that we wish for, at the and more interested in becoming actors, They take on other responsibilities—
expense of appealing to the one we have? DJs, or reality TV stars than playing this buying a house, having and raising kids,
If an industry’s customer base is 90 instrument. As much as I binge watch all community involvement—that have
percent male, the interested applicants those CW and Netflix superhero shows, financial and time commitments that can
for employment are 90 percent male, I still wish the charismatic and attractive take priority over musical endeavors and
and the business’ industry participants young people in the casts were fronting expenses. And finally, if married, males tend
are 90 percent male, I don’t see any bands and writing riffs instead. And as to cede day-to-day control of household
problem with calling that industry “male- much as people my age stomp our feet finances to their spouses, reducing their
dominated.” Some people may see that about it, the lodestars of mainstream disposable income.
term as a pejorative. I think Robbins was popular culture have been the activities of There is a huge opportunity in getting
simply stating a matter of fact. charismatic and attractive young people. more young women to be interested in
Whether it should be that way is a I recently chatted with Robbins, the instrument. Not just for the various
legitimate matter of contention. My take and as we groaned at each other’s social reasons I believe in, but for the
as a former touring player and instructor, a demographic screenshots, we noted future viability of this instrument,
business school graduate, and an industry there are behavioral trends of males its accompanying art forms, and the
peer/competitor of EarthQuaker who’s aged 35 to 44 that should concern our ecosystem of surrounding businesses
been privy to the guitar mag media guides industry as a whole. I once semi-seriously supported by it. I’m not writing this
and retailer demographic breakdowns since described our own brand’s customers as: to “virtue signal.” I’ve had more male
1995: Unless the guitar industry eventually “kids who wear Atari T-shirts ironically, employees than female ones. That’s my
gets younger and more female in terms and grownups who wear Atari T-shirts company’s social media profile pictured
of its participants on all levels, then the unironically.” While I deeply love my here. And all I’ve written are concerns,
guitar is eventually going to fade and go “grown-up” customers, if that 35 to 44 not solutions. But if we’re interested in
the way of the saxophone. It will still be a bar graph continues to outpace the 18 to the future growth and sustainability of
cool instrument, but one that’s no longer 25 one, with the 90 to 95 percent male this industry, we need to look beyond
central to the music and art of the future. percentages we currently have, I think the market we have right now and begin
Over just the last generation, the bell we’re going to have a financial reckoning. asking the questions we need answered to
curve peak of interest in this instrument Grown-ups generally settle down and create the market we can imagine.
has begun to shift outside its previous stop touring or playing out as often—
ideal targets, from teenagers toward especially for original music in genres PHILIPPE HERNDON is the
founder and chief product
thirtysomethings. The market is as male as like rock. They try new gear less, as they designer at Caroline Guitar
it ever was, but it’s getting older, and that settle into their tried-and-true stuff that Company. One day he might
actually get around to making
has ripple effects throughout the entire reinforces what they perceive as their a guitar. He likes pretty much
culture. If young people, who are more sonic voice, or they buy the gear they any British TV series that
Netflix recommends for him.
sensitive to inequality of opportunity than wanted as 18-year-olds but couldn’t
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ASK AMP MAN To see a larger version of this
schematic, head online to
premierguitar.com/jan2018
Add Some Marshall Grit to a Fender Bassman

BY JEFF BOBER
Q:
Right: This Dear Amp Man, 5) Connect one end of the 2.7k resistor
illustration I want to take advantage of the half-unused tube in an AA371 and the 0.68 µF capacitor to terminal
shows the gain 3 of V2. Connect the other end of the
Bassman to get a little more gain. I’ve converted the amp to a Marshall
stage mod,
breaking out tone stack and other suggestions you’ve made very successfully, but resistor and capacitor to the center
the area around found nothing on tapping into the unused gain stage for the bass side. terminal of the terminal strip. You can
tube positions I’ve left the normal channel mostly stock and want more gain on the now solder pin 3 of V2.
V1 and V2 from 6) Connect one end of a 470k resistor to
modded side. The article you wrote on the Supro (“Modding a Supro
a schematic
6420 Thunderbolt,” September 2017) got me inspired to try this. Any the bottom terminal and the other end to
drawing of
an AA371 help would be greatly appreciated. the center terminal of the terminal strip.
Bassman amp Thanks, You may now solder the center terminal.
Kevin 7) Connect one end of the other 470k
resistor to the bottom terminal and the
other end to the top terminal. You may
A:
Hi Kevin, Before beginning, be sure the filter caps now solder the top terminal.
Bassman amps have always are discharged. If you don’t know how to 8) Connect another short wire to the
been a great platform for do this, find someone who does. Then: bottom terminal of the terminal strip. Cut to
mods—they’re easy to work on and there length and connect the other end to pin 2 of
are quite a few fun things you can do. 1) Install the terminal strip in a comfortable V1. You may now solder both connections.
Because I currently don’t have a Bassman location between tube positions V1 and V2.
to mod and then photograph, I’ll do the You’ll need to drill a small hole in the chassis That’s it. This modification is based on
next best thing and draw the modification and mount it using the 4-40 screw and nut. the typical front end of a Marshall 2204-
layout and connections directly on the Be sure the screw and nut are very tight. style head and approximates its gain control
Fender factory drawing of the physical This point will act as a ground connection. set to about 60 percent. The gain can be
layout. I’ll also give you a list of necessary 2) Unsolder the wire coming from the bass increased or decreased depending on the
parts and a step-by-step procedure. Let’s go! channel input jacks (red, according to the relative values of the 470k resistors. If you’d
This mod isn’t extensive, and you’ll schematic) that is connected to pin 2 of like to make the gain easily variable, you
only need a few parts and a couple of V1. Connect an additional piece of wire can replace the two 470k resistors with a 1
pieces of wire: to this and insulate the connection with mA pot. Simply remove the 470k resistors,
a piece of shrink tubing or tape. Cut to connect the CW terminal of the pot to
• one 3-lug terminal strip (the kind length and connect the other end to pin 2 the top terminal on the strip, the CCW
typically manufactured by Keystone) of V2 (the input to the unused half of V2). terminal to the center ground terminal,
• two 470k resistors (1/2 watt is 3) Connect one end of the 100k resistor and the wiper to the bottom terminal. This
sufficient, but I typically use 1 watt for to pin 1 of V2, but do not solder yet. is now your front-end gain control. Need
almost everything) Connect the other end to the eyelet more top end? Simply connect a small
• one 100k resistor where the two 100k V1 plate resistors are value cap (start with a 100 pF ceramic cap)
• one 2.7k resistor connected. You may need an additional between the CW and wiper terminal. As
• one 0.022 µF 600V capacitor (poly piece of wire to connect to the resistor, so with most tube amp modifications like this,
or foil) solder and insulate as necessary. feel free to experiment with slightly larger
• one 0.68 µF 25V or greater capacitor 4) Connect the 0.022 µF capacitor to or smaller resistor or capacitor values for
• two small pieces of shrink tubing or pin 1 of V2. You may now solder the your own custom version.
electrical tape connection. Connect the other end of the Now break out some humbuckers and
• one ¼" 4-40 screw and nut capacitor to the top terminal strip in the a 4x12, and rock on!
• less than a foot of 20- or 22-gauge wire drawing. Do not solder this end yet.
Photo courtesy of Wiki Commons
JEFF BOBER is one of the

WARNING: godfathers of the low-wattage amp
revolution. He co-founded and was
All tube amplifiers contain lethal voltages. The most dangerous voltages are originally the principal designer
stored in electrolytic capacitors, even after the amp has been unplugged from for Budda Amplification, though
he launched EAST Amplification
the wall. Before you touch anything inside the amp chassis, it’s imperative that (eastamplification.com) in 2010.
these capacitors are discharged. If you are unsure of this procedure, consult your You can catch his podcasts at
ampsandaxescast.com or email
local amp tech. him at pgampman@gmail.com.
premierguitar.com
SPEAKER GEEKS
Strange Brew
BY STEVEN FRYETTE
A
Sonic soulmates: fter seeing a recent video by
This combination Paul Rivera on the subject,
of vintage amp
I’ve become fascinated by the
and speaker
helped shape an interesting relationship between the
important era of Electro-Voice EVM12L and the blackface
American music. Fender Deluxe Reverb amp. I’ve known
Paul since filling the chief amp-tech
position at Valley Arts Guitars that he
vacated back in 1979, so I rang him up
to find out more. Rivera helped establish
Valley Arts as the go-to hub for pro
players in Southern California, and it is
here that my career in amp design began
to take shape.
On the phone, Paul basically reiterated
what he’d said in the video and, in
typical Rivera fashion, he encouraged—
make that challenged—me: “Go get
a Deluxe and an EV and do some
measurements.” That I did, and with
the kind cooperation of jazz/funk king
Paul Jackson Jr., for the speaker, and Joe
Gamble, a frequent Fryette demo-video
producer who provided an excellent early
’60s Deluxe, I was on my way.
Before we take the deep dive, let’s
look at the context in which the Deluxe
came into being. Intended as a student
model, and hitting the market just prior
to mass adoption of distortion as a sonic In the ’70s and ’80s, when LA’s studio A-listers
device, the Deluxe Reverb came with a
low-powered 12” speaker fitted with a
were schlepping their gear to several sessions
20-ounce magnet. This cost-conscious a day, this versatile, high-performance little
production choice no doubt presumed
that in those days one simply didn’t
package—beefed up with a few of the
turn the volume past 3 or 4. However, must-have Rivera mods of the time—was
as players began to explore the territory
beyond 3, they also ran up against the considered practically indispensable.
consequences of doing so. Enter the
speaker upgrade.
The iconic blackface Deluxe certainly roaring to the fore. I should note that for If you’re inclined to experiment, having a
has its own thing going, and although this experiment, I started by installing solid baseline is extremely important.
the current ’65 reissue comes stock with a custom, Fryette-spec Eminence P75 During the Valley Arts heyday of
a 100-watt Jensen C12K, much of the speaker. With its reasonable weight and the ’70s and early ’80s, replacement
original Deluxe mojo was defined by typical power-handling capacity, this speaker options were rather limited and
its strikingly underpowered speaker. speaker turns the stock Deluxe into a mostly aimed at increasing clarity and
Naturally, the minute you replace that much more versatile and giggable combo reliability. The JBL D120 and Altec
with even a moderately more robust than before. It also provided a nice point 417B were two of the most popular
unit, the sonic signature that the stock, of reference, being a well-known and options of the era. The D120 was notable
small-motor speaker is hiding comes fully documented entity, for this exercise. for its bold midrange and penetrating
premierguitar.com
top end—a prominent feature of the Deluxe Reverb, due in no small part to the nicely tailored top-end response of
Allman Brothers’ guitar sound, as Rivera’s tenure at Valley Arts. the 12L-equipped Deluxe. In short, the
fitted into a Marshall 4x12 cab. D120s With its very large magnet, relatively substantial moving mass embodied in the
had a distinctive—and to some ears, low inductance, and aluminum-wound 12L’s cone/voice coil/suspension assembly
annoying—nasal chirp due in part to the voice coil, along with the stiff cone, large is certainly going to inhibit extended top-
signature aluminum dustcap. You may dustcap, and compliant suspension, the end response, and this is borne out in
be surprised to know that those D-series EVM12L seemed to be just the right the speaker’s graph. You see an unusually
speakers were alnico types, and for all recipe to counter the flubby low end, smooth curve from 100 Hz to 2 kHz, a
their robust engineering, were fairly easy scooped mids, and brittle top end one nice presence peak at 5 kHz, followed by
to blow in an open-back cab. finds in the stock Deluxe with a typical a steep drop-off with little of the top-end
Rumor has it that the Allmans took speaker “upgrade.” That assessment still nasties normally present in a guitar speaker.
the backs off their JBL-loaded 4x12 holds surprisingly true, though installing The reason I find this combination
cabs in those days, not only because, a 20-pound speaker in a 40-pound amp so intriguing is that paired with an amp
as many believed, that made it easy to seems counterintuitive today. Contrary to where much more attention is paid to
replace speakers, but because the D120s what one might expect, the 12L brings the balance and synergy of the individual
projected so much better than the stock out the pleasing sparkle and warmth of components and speaker, the EVM12L can
Celestions that the band needed to the Deluxe without sounding too piercing be surprisingly disappointing. Yet in the
dissipate some of that sound pressure out on top or too muddy on the low end. Deluxe, the 6V6 power tubes driving an
the back. This, by the way, also made for After a fair bit of research and testing, otherwise modest output transformer are
a much more ambient playing experience and having spent considerable time delving allowed pretty much free rein to do their
onstage. I should know. I once tried into speaker inductance and reactive magic, while being massaged and refined
running a 100-watt amp into a 4x12 loads, I ran some of my observations by a speaker whose engineers probably
Greenback cab with its back off. While by Eminence speaker designer Anthony never considered this a likely application
the reflected sound was a boon to my live Lucas. Here’s what he had to say: for their considerable design effort.
gigging setup, I promptly blew 3 of the “Inductance is certainly a part of what In the ’70s and ’80s, when LA’s studio
4 speakers. Since these high-performance you’re hearing with the EVM12L in the A-listers were schlepping their gear to
replacement options were out of my blackface Deluxe, but not everything several sessions a day, and probably a
price range at the time, the originals got … maybe not even the most significant club gig at night, this versatile, high-
re-coned and I reinstalled the back on my part. With its 20-ounce magnet and performance little package—beefed up
4x12 cab. lightweight paper cone, the stock speaker with a few of the must-have Rivera mods
Also featuring alnico magnets and is both coloring and limiting what the of the time—was considered practically
metal dustcaps, the 417B was made amp can do. It’s much more a part of indispensable, and helped launch the
famous by Carlos Santana. Mick Taylor the tone-creating process, like it or not, portable powerhouse-amp revolution.
used 417Bs with the Stones in the early because this speaker has more limitations So, should you consider installing such
’70s, and later Randy Rhoades used them and likely a lot more peaks and dips a massive appendage into an otherwise
with Ozzy. Both the D120 and 417B in response. With its pro-audio cone, reasonably portable combo amp today?
had strong personalities, and they were the EVM12L offers flatter response, Only your chiropractor knows for sure,
as sought after by some as they were minimal-to-no speaker breakup, and a but if you can fairly well establish that
shunned by others for being somewhat much broader frequency-response range any sonic roadblocks in your amp are
overbearing on top. (down to 55 Hz). The 12L can handle likely caused by the stock speaker, it’s
Electro-Voice was already in the game the amp’s low-frequency range without certainly a worthwhile and potentially
with their SRO series, but with the advent getting muddy and breaking up, and it enlightening experiment.
of the EVM12L, there at last was an retains the amp’s clarity. You basically
alternative that was supremely reliable and get out what you put in because with its STEVEN FRYETTE is one of the
pioneers of multi-channel high-
sonically appealing to a wide variety of 2.5" voice coil and 80-ounce magnet, gain amps and tube power amps.
players. As such, the 12L became widely the speaker is essentially overkill for the He founded VHT Amplification,
now Fryette Amplification, is
adopted as the dominant workhorse application and it delivers as full a range a partner and design engineer
in the relaunch of Sound
speaker—so much so that it soon found as physically possible.” City Amplification, and has
its way into just about every amp available That last tidbit—“as full a range as played a key role in the design,
development, and relaunch of
at the time, including the very portable physically possible”—offers a clue to Fane guitar speakers.

TOOLS FOR THE TASK
Look for this icon
to click and
purchase the gear.
Micro Amps
Whether you’re tight on space, your neighbors hate you, you want a simple practice solution, or all of the above,
any of the following 10 micro-amp options can lend a plug-and-play hand. Bonus: All are priced to stuff a stocking.
1
ORANGE
Micro Crush PiX CR3 1
Dressed in unmistakable Orange styling, this 9V-powered
micro features an all-analog signal path, an onboard
2
tuner, and an overdrive switch to bring the heat.
$69 street
orangeamps.com
2
ROLAND
Micro Cube GX
Boasting eight amp tones, eight effects, and a memory
function to save your favorite settings, this micro also
interfaces with Apple products and can run up to 25
hours on six AA batteries.
$149 street
roland.com
3
3
MARSHALL
MS-4
Own a full-stack Marshall for well under $100 with this
1-watt screamer that has separate volume and gain dials,
a stand for angling upwards, and a headphone jack that
doubles as a preamp out.
$64 street
marshallamps.com
4
4
VOX
Mini3 G2
Designed to grab and go anywhere, this mini boasts 11
amp models, eight effects, an onboard tuner, and inputs
for a mic, headphones, and an auxiliary device.
$129 street
voxamps.com
5 5
BLACKSTAR
Fly 3
This 3-watt, 2-channel compact amp features the
company’s Infinite Shape Feature (ISF) for loads of tonal
options, a digital tape-delay effect, and can be DC or
battery powered.
$59 street
blackstaramps.com
premierguitar.com
6
LINE 6
Micro Spider
6 This wee 6-watt amp offers up four Spider amp models,
an acoustic-guitar model, a 3-band EQ, six effects, and an
onboard tuner with note-name display.
$134 street
line6.com
7
7 EVH
5150 III Micro Stack
Ideal for (really) small-room practice, this 1-watt little
brother in the EVH line houses a control set consisting of
gain, volume, and tone, and also features an integrated
tilt-back kickstand.
$49 street
evhgear.com
8 8
SONIC PIPE AMPLIFIERS
EL 3.1
This unique yet simple micro is powered by two 9V
9 batteries for 3 watts of power, and houses a 3" high-

performance driver, a brightness toggle, and gain control.
$45 street
sonicpipeamps.com
9
IK MULTIMEDIA
iRig Nano Amp
This tiny 3-watt amp is powered by three AA batteries
and can even drive a 4x12 cab. Additionally, it’ll serve as
an interface for iOS devices to access tones and recording
functionality galore.
$49 street
ikmultimedia.com
10 10
BOSS
Katana-Mini
Able to run on six AAs or an AC adaptor, this mini houses a
multi-stage analog gain circuit, 3-band analog EQ, tape-
style delay, and brown, crunch, and clean sound settings.
$99 street
boss.info

REVIEWS
Quick Hits
MAYONES BARONI LAB
Hydra Mini Amp 50
By Joe Charupakorn By Shawn Hammond
Mayones has been handcrafting For a long time, your average guitarist
guitars in Poland since 1982, would only discuss a little solid-state
but recently they’ve become a or digital amp like the Mini Amp 50
hot brand in the prog-metal stompbox from Baroni Lab in Genoa,
world. And with headless guitars Italy, in the context of using it as a backup
quickly becoming an instrument should their badass tube amp bite the
of choice in the genre, the dust mid-gig. But quality designs like Baroni’s latest class-D
Hydra, Mayones’ first headless, is offering now make the prospect much more intriguing for
a timely addition. both practicality’s sake and tone’s.
Like all Mayones axes, the With an output of 40 watts at 8 ohms, a speaker-
Hydra is exquisitely crafted. Our simulated out, an effects loop, a 3-band EQ, and a pre-loop
test model had a luxurious Trans footswitchable distortion circuit, the Mini boasts full-range
Graphite finish over a poplar fidelity—with healthy bass and sparkling trebles and upper
top and sapele back. Playability mids—and a tube-like responsiveness that’s somewhere
is great— fast runs were easy on the flat 16"-radius ebony between a brawny “American” design and a lower-powered
fretboard, and the contoured heel allowed easy access to the “British” flavor. That said, with master cranked, the Mini
uppermost region of the 24-fret neck. breaks up and gets about as loud as a similarly set tube amp
The Hydra’s Seymour Duncan Nazgûl (bridge) and of half its wattage.
Sentient (neck) pickups offer a ton of volume for clean My only complaints with the Baroni concern the
sounds. Both pickups can be coil-split via a push/pull volume distortion circuit: While there’s plenty of crunch, saturation,
pot, and with the neck pickup split, you can hear an almost and singing sustain on tap, engaging it—even with drive
acoustic guitar-like clarity strumming open chords. Cranking at minimum and drive volume at unity gain—reduces the
amp gain with both coils activated yields a tight low end and Mini’s clarity, note articulation, and bass oomph. A separate
great articulation for fast rhythms. With gain up high and EQ for the preamp (like Baroni’s 100- and 200-watt models
coils split, I got cool, unexpected vintage-style sounds. If you have) would likely help alleviate this.
want an impeccably crafted alternative to Strandberg and
Kiesel headless guitars, Hydra is well worth a play. TEST GEAR Gretsch G6609TFM Players Edition Broadkaster,
Goodsell open-back 1x12 with ceramic Weber Blue Dog, Goodsell
TEST GEAR Mesa/Boogie Mark IV amplifier. closed-back 1x12 with ceramic Weber Silver Bell, various pedals.
PROS Powerful sounds. PROS Nice, tube-like tones.

$3,000 street, mayones.com Surprising clean tones. $249 street, baroni-lab.eu Handy effects loop and
Impeccably built. Excellent speaker-simulator output.
access to whole fretboard. Potential gig saver.
Tones Tones
Playability CONS Pricey. Ease of Use CONS Drive circuit decreases
clarity and lacks its own EQ.
Build/Design Build/Design
Class-D output not as loud as
Value Value similarly rated tube amp.
CLICK HERE TO HEAR this guitar. CLICK HERE TO HEAR this amp.
premierguitar.com
RJM TRAVELER
Mastermind LT LTD EC-1
By Charles Saufley By Rich Osweiler
Pedalboards are growing. The “travel guitar” moniker often just means an instrument
Interest in better is smaller, cheaper, and/or kind of toy-like. Not so with
controlling them is Traveler Guitar. They’ve been in the portable-guitar
blossoming, too, which biz for 25 years and have built a reputation on quality
means increasing diversity construction and full-scale playability, so guitarists don’t
in cost and complexity feel like they’re giving something up by going stealth.
of switching systems. The MIDI-enabled Mastermind LT is The all-mahogany, ESP-humbucker-loaded LTD
from the streamlined school of switcher design, but simplicity EC-1 speaks to the aforementioned construction.
conceals a flexible, potent device. Our test LT came on a board I didn’t find a single blemish or component
with MIDI-enabled effects like the Eventide H9 and Strymon connection off-kilter, the fretwork was clean and
TimeLine, so we could explore the ease of accessing, storing, buttery smooth, and the setup excellent. One of the
and recalling presets from pedals with deep functionality. coolest features of a Traveler is the ability to simply plug
The interface is simple and elegant in execution and in a set of headphones and rip wherever and however loud
practice. The display is easy to read in just about any light. you like. Opting for headphones to start, I effortlessly shifted
Better still, programming presets (you can create as many through the four available settings—clean, boost, overdrive,
as 768 using up to 16 connected devices) is simple, logical, and distortion—which are accessed through the push-activated
and easy to swing on the fly if you discover new sounds at tone pot. Strong, distinct, unwanted-noise-free tones were
soundcheck or practice. And the contrasting worlds you can delivered thanks to the EC-1’s preamp and active pickup, and
create and navigate using just a few MIDI-enabled pedals each setting inspired sound-appropriate riffing. (I spent most of
are impressive. The tag of $399 isn’t cheap, given that you my time in overdrive land thanks to its creamy growl.)
also need to purchase a loop switcher (ours came with RJM’s The EC-1 is a light and tight guitar that’s fun to play, but
$349 Mini Effect Gizmo). But if you want a switcher with spending $600 on what will likely be an auxiliary axe might
a smaller footprint, the easy-to-use LT is a high-quality and sting a bit. However, for those who simply must have a guitar
highly creative tool. in close range always, and one that actually plays/sounds like
a real instrument you’d be fine gigging with, the EC-1 will fit
TEST GEAR Fender Champ, Fender Jaguar, pedalboard featuring that role nicely.
Strymon Mobius, Strymon TimeLine, Eventide H9, Ibanez Tube
Screamer Mini, Xotic SP Compressor, Mooer Juicer, and Mission TEST GEAR Monster Inspiration headphones, Focusrite Scarlett
Engineering Expression Pedal. 2i4 interface, C.M.I. Electronics SG-212 combo
PROS High quality. PROS Impressive build, good

$399 street, rjmmusic.com Easy to navigate. $599 street, travelerguitar.com tones, onboard effects, and
you can take it and play it just
CONS Slightly expensive about anywhere. Nice gig bag.
Ease of Use Tones
given lack of loop switcher.
Build/Design Playability CONS Tuners take some
getting used to.
Value Build/Design
Value
CLICK HERE TO HEAR this guitar.

REVIEWS
GREZ
Mendocino
By Joe Gore
C
oincidence or emerging trend? That’s what I wondered Not from Nashville
after unboxing the Grez Mendocino. It’s the third You won’t mistake the Mendocino for a Les Paul when you strap it
consecutive guitar I’ve reviewed that integrates on. With its chambered mahogany body, the guitar weighs a mere
elements from 1960s budget guitars into a high-performance 5 pounds. Despite the featherweight construction, the instrument
boutique beauty. balances nicely seated or standing. The top is solid old-growth
The main retro touch here is a pair of Lollar Gold Foil redwood. (The use of salvaged redwood is a design hallmark of
pickups. These are modernized versions of the inexpensive luthier Barry Grzebik.) It’s a gorgeous slice of wood with attractive
rubber-magnet pickups once used in cheapo Japanese Teisco figuration and a warm, golden hue that refracts through the guitar’s
guitars. (The pickups are no longer cheap: A pair of these will light nitro finish. The top is flat, not carved as on a Les Paul. Light-
typically set you back north of $300.) colored binding provides the perfect frame for this pretty picture.
Beyond its pickups, the Mendocino is an intriguing mix of The neck is also a thing of beauty. Carved from a single piece of
traditional and iconoclastic design. The single-cutaway body, Honduran mahogany, it has moderate heft and a slightly flattened
set neck, dual-pickup configuration, and Tune-o-matic bridge D shape. I love the headstock look, with its not-quite parallel lines,
are familiar Les Paul design elements. But elsewhere Mendocino delicate keyhole cutout, and retro-style Grover open-backed tuners.
strays far from the Gibson path. The 25"-inch-scale Macassar ebony fretboard is the stuff of 6-string
TonePros AVR2 bridge
Lollar Gold Foil pickups
Chambered mahogany
body with old-growth
redwood top
Custom trapeze
tailpiece
Nitro finish
Mahogany neck
premierguitar.com
dreams. All 21 jumbo-sized frets are process. I used to think that “the gold- pickups are screwed directly into the body
masterfully installed, with perfectly rounded foil-sound” was a combination of rubber- without mounting rings. You can’t adjust
ends. Fretboard feel doesn’t get much magnet pickups and the lightweight their height without adding a shim or
smoother than this. Small, understated (oh heck, we can just say “flimsy”) routing the body. Since Grez guitars are
position markers keep the visual focus on construction of the budget guitars that custom-made to order, consider requesting
the striking redwood top. The wooden originally housed them. In reality, you get more distance between the neck pickup
knobs add a fitting rustic touch. the same “acoustic-like” quality regardless and the strings if you want evenly matched
of guitar body type. And here, combined pickup output. If it weren’t for this detail,
That Hollow Feeling with the Mendocino’s light, resonant my ratings below would be even higher—
As you might expect, the light, hollow materials, they produce the mother of all perhaps even a perfect 20.
body provides an open, acoustic-like gold-foil tones.
quality. A metal tailpiece adds to the zingy The top end is so pretty that you The Verdict
resonance. (Naughty guitarists who enjoy might be tempted to focus on clean Mendocino is a unique instrument full
strumming behind the bridge and the nut tones. But Mendocino has a cool and of striking tones. If you dig the “acoustic-
will dig the pretty Aeolian harp textures, unconventional overdriven sound—fat, like” character of gold-foil pickups, you’ll
as heard at 00:31 in the demo clip.) loose, and full of ear-catching midrange probably love they way they interact with
Strummed unplugged, Mendocino has resonances. (For the distorted portions Mendocino’s light, resonant body. The
ample sustain with tons of treble energy, of the demo clip I plugged into a workmanship is stellar across the board,
but not in an overbearing way. It simply homemade Tone Bender Mk I clone, but especially on the smooth, sensual
feels lively and responsive, and plugging which is also fat, loose, and resonant. fretboard. This guitar delights the eye
in only reinforces the impression. You could get tighter tones with a more as much as the ear. The sole issue for
Mendocino’s dynamic response is contemporary distortion circuit.) me is the unequal output of the non-
extreme. It seems to amplify the nuances If you’re new to gold-foils, be aware height-adjustable pickups, though you
of your touch—so much so that it may the capacitive relationship between the can always request modifications on a
initially seem hard to control. But after pickups and guitar controls differs from custom instrument like this. The $2,800
only a few minutes of playing, I relished that of most other pickups. When you admission fee is steep, but Mendocino
those hair-trigger dynamics and their roll back the guitar volume, tones get has everything you expect in this ultra-
expressive possibilities. Players who dark really fast—it’s almost like you’re premium price range: superb materials,
emphasize subtle variations in touch and lowering the tone control. Don’t expect masterful workmanship, and, best of all,
dynamics are likely to be smitten. to go from hot distortion to crispy clean uniquely beautiful tones.
The Gold Foil pickups amplify all the via the guitar’s volume knob. This isn’t
above qualities. By nature, they have an an issue if you always play with the
“acoustic-like” character, with spacious guitar volume wide open. But if you’re CLICK HERE TO HEAR this guitar.
highs and wide-open mids, reinforced by accustomed to using the guitar’s volume
gratifyingly beefy lows. They also excel at knob as a distortion control, you’ll need
transmitting delicate dynamic variations. to modify your methods here. (Consider
They are a superb choice here—but they this an FYI rather than a criticism.)
have their quirks. Grez Mendocino
Just One Thing….
$2,800 street
Foiled Again I bestowed our Premier Gear Award grezguitars.com
I know these particular Lollar pickups on the Mendocino without a second
well and love them dearly. When I first thought. Still, there’s one significant Tones
got a pair, I tried them out in several caveat: As installed, the neck pickup is
Playability
guitars, learning a few things in the several dB louder than the bridge pickup.
Build/Design
At some amp settings, the neck can
sound distorted while the bridge remains Value
clean. (You can hear this in the final
seconds of the demo clip, where I strum PROS Unique look and sound. Superb
an open E chord with identical force on parts and workmanship. Vast dynamic
range. Glorious neck feel.
the bridge pickup, the neck pickup, and
then on the bridge pickup again.) CONS As installed, the neck pickup
Oh well, I figured, tastes differ when is noticeably louder than the bridge
it comes to pickup height. I’ll just grab pickup. Neither is height-adjustable.
my little screwdriver and … uh-oh. The

Grace Harbor
Guitars
For the beginning student to the
touring professional.
Outstanding tone, playability and
quality workmanship, California factory
set up and inspection.
Six models
Solid or Laminate Top
starting at $269
(with hardshell case and
free shipping to continental USA
address)
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Featured Artist Yvonne Silva is playing
a Grace Harbor Cutaway Dreadnought with
www.bourns.com/proaudio Electronics (GHD-100CE)
https://www.facebook.com/YvonneSilvaMusic/
premierguitar.com
REVIEWS
WOOLY COATS
Spanky MkII
By Jason Shadrick
C
ranking a vintage blackface Fender combo is a a place where he could build classic, simple circuits without
satisfying, almost primal experience. It doesn’t rearrange the extra bells and whistles of his 3rd Power line of amps. But
your internal organs the way a dimed plexi might. the 18-watt Spanky MkII has just enough bells and whistles
Instead, there’s a warm sweetness in those Fullerton designs that and old-school Fender tones to feel like a blackface classic that
players and builders have been chasing ever since. Thanks, Leo. never was—or the kind of amp that Leo might build in 2017.
Nashville amp guru Jamie Scott is happy standing on Leo’s We checked out the 1x12 combo version that comes loaded
shoulders, but he doesn’t mind breaking from tradition to with a 40-watt Eminence Alessandro GA-SC64 speaker. (A
take classic sounds forward. His Wooly Coats brand began as head version is also available.)
Midrange control Spring reverb

HybridMASTER volume control
Hi and low inputs
Solid pine cabinet

without considering the haunting
enhancements from spring reverb. And it’s
become a bit of a litmus test for amps in this
niche to see how faithful the reverb is to the
originals. For my tastes, Fender-style reverb
circuits tend to sound too deep too quickly.
(I’m not a devout surf rocker.) So I really
40-watt Eminence
appreciated Scott’s decision to tune his own
Alessandro
GA-SC64 speaker reverb to the overall vibe of classic spring-
style reverb, but with an intensity range that
doesn’t totally mask the dry signal.
The Verdict
Even the most closed-minded blackface
purist would find it hard to resist the
Spanky’s combination of vintage sounds
and contemporary volume control
features. The controls are well thought
out, the reverb is addictive, and the
Back to the Future out of the Wooly Coats line, but decided midrange helps bridge the gap between
The Spanky MkII borrows the vibe and to add it to the MkII version due to blackface and tweed tones. It’s also super
aesthetics of its blackface inspirations. customer demand. It doesn’t function like portable and road worthy. Given those
The solid pine cabinet is, well, solid. The a traditional attenuator, which diverts factors, the flexible volume attenuation
controls along the front would be familiar or dissipates some or all of the amplifier scheme, and the reasonable price, the
to even the most casual blackface fan, excess power. Rather, it regulates internal Spanky MkII stands a better than fair
save for a few thoughtful additions. There operating voltages, current flow, and chance of becoming a gigging classic.
are two separate inputs, low and high, audio signal levels across multiple circuits.
along with a 3-band EQ (yay for the mid HybridMASTER’s more intricate system
control!), a single knob for reverb, and a for fooling the output section means
volume and the HybidMASTER knob the amp retains more of its natural gain
that we’ll discuss in a minute. characteristics. And boy, does it make a
For many, the big addition to the control difference. I plugged in my Schroeder
setup will be the mid control. For years, the Chopper TL loaded with Jason Lollar
thing that stuck in guitarist’s craw about Special T pickups and left all the tone CLICK HERE TO WATCH A
vintage blackface combos (the Twin Reverb controls at noon. With the volume REVIEW DEMO of this amp.
is one exception) is the lack of midrange around 10 o’clock, I was able to adjust
relative to Fender’s British rivals. Scott’s the HybridMASTER control to fit the
addition of the mid control and the clever room I was in. On a recent pit band gig
way in which he voices were a revelation I was able to get the clean headroom I
Wooly Coats Spanky MkII
to my ears—enabling the amp to toe the needed at lower volume without coloring
lines between blackface, tweed, and tweed- (or subtracting color from) my tone. $1,699 street
3rdpower.com
influenced British amps in many beautiful When I cranked the HybridMASTER
ways. If I needed the amp to work as a control and the volume control past
Tones
pedal platform, I’d keep the mid control noon, the 18-watt circuit felt bigger and
Ease of Use
around 10 o’clock where things sounded more alive. The output was rich and
warm, round, and punchy. If I wanted organic with heaps of headroom. And Build/Design
more amp drive, I could push the mids to even though the amp’s controls felt very Value
summon growly, tweed-style grunt. Digging responsive, the amp felt most receptive to
in harder yielded even more bite and growl. playing dynamics and attenuation from PROS Flexible volume control.
my volume guitar volume knob. Effective midrange control. Difficult to
Headroom Boom find a bad sound.
One of the 3rd Power line’s most useful Classic Reverberations
CONS Reverb might not satisfy
features is the HybridMASTER control. It’s hard to think of all those iconic blackface purists.
Scott originally had planned to leave this recordings powered by blackface combos
premierguitar.com
REVIEWS
KHDK Separate dirty and

clean controls
Abyss
By Victor Brodén
Gain dial
Lo/hi voicing switch
I
have a love/hate relationship with bass overdrive pedals. I’ve
Passive, low-pass filter
often preferred the sound of hot tubes and 10" speakers
being pushed to the limit to any stompbox, but some of
my bass colleagues here in Nashville are obsessed with overdrive
and fuzz pedals. So much so that if they come out to one of my
gigs where I’m playing through a vintage SVT and later ask me
what dirt pedal I was using, it’s much to their surprise when
my answer is usually “none.” That said, I think the market in
recent years has been infused with several worthy contenders for
bass-specific overdrive that provide good low-end retention and
an alternative means to the vintage-tube growl I love. So yes, I
might be a tough customer, but I was looking forward to check-
ing out the Abyss overdrive from KHDK, the relatively new
pedal outfit founded by Metallica’s Kirk Hammett and industry
vet David Karon.
On the Surface
The Abyss communicates boutique straight out of the box,
with its included velvet pouch, and my very first impression
was that of a lightweight yet solid-feeling, high-end pedal. The designated to the highs for our distorted tone (and leaving
footswitch is sturdy and requires a good amount of pressure to the low-end completely unaffected), having separate clean
click and engage the pedal. Once engaged, there’s not only one and dirty controls on an overdrive pedal is heaven sent. While
but two LEDs to indicate operation—an original visual touch manufacturers have employed different solutions to this
I didn’t mind at all. The Abyss can be powered by either 9V predicament, most of the time it involves some sort of mix or
battery or DC power supply (not included). blend knob. I’ve never found these types of controls to be as
Four vintage-style, cream-white knobs marked with black effective in dialing up exactly the right amount of two vastly
position-indicator lines sit against the deep-ocean-themed different sounds. For me, two separate controls is the way to go.
graphics. Along with the blue hue of the enclosure, it all makes
for an easy-to-read pedal for dimly lit stages. Digging in the Dirt
The clean knob controls the volume of the direct signal. To hear the true nature of the pedal, I ran it through what I
Next is the gain dial for setting the distortion level, and to its consider to be a very clean rig: a Mesa/Boogie Subway D-800
right resides the dirty knob for controlling the output volume amp paired with a Mesa/Boogie 2x12 cabinet. For my bass,
of the overdriven signal. The treble dial is a cut only control, I plugged in a Sandberg TM5 with the pickup blend at 75
which means it doesn’t boost the high end when turned all the percent towards the neck pickup and kept it in passive mode for
way clockwise, but instead simply gives you the full spectrum a P-bass-oriented tone.
of your bass’ normal sound. The final control is a toggle switch With the pedal engaged and the dirty knob set to zero, I
that’s tied directly to the gain dial and is tucked in the middle of noticed a slight difference in tone—versus having the pedal
the four knobs to maneuver between the “lo” and “hi” settings. disengaged completely—but it was absolutely within an
acceptable level. (Actual true bypass is hard to come by.) The
Blending In clean (or direct) knob on the Abyss retains punch and low end
For those of us who don’t get the luxury of having a separate exceptionally well. And I found that the gain control provided an
rig and/or extra channel on the mixing board that’s solely even distortion increase across its sweep.

REVIEWS
The show stopper on the Abyss is the controls at noon except for the treble set
lo/hi toggle switch. With the lo setting, to 2 o’clock. It’s a bright, in-your-face
CLICK HERE TO WATCH A
I had a warmer, more vintage-sounding overdriven tone that still retains a soft low- REVIEW DEMO of this pedal.
overdrive at my fingertips. I set the gain end and musicality to its high overtones.
control at about 2 o’clock to keep the
distortion somewhat up front in the mix The Verdict
and to not venture into muffled-fuzz Versatility is the selling point of the
territory. I got to my ideal mix by setting Abyss, thanks to its two-in-one overdrive KHDK Abyss
the clean dial at 10 o’clock and the dirty capability. Anything from warm and $199 street
dial at 2 o’clock. And to keep the sound subtle to all-out screaming distortion khdkelectronics.com
buttery smooth, setting the treble control was at my fingertips. In fact, I believe it
at 10 o’clock provided the ideal amount of could potentially replace a few different Tones
warmth with the dirt for mainstream rock. pedals for the bassists who—like some Ease of Use
The hi setting roars the Abyss to life guitarists—currently use several different Build/Design
and turns the pedal into quite the wild overdrives and distortions side-by-side. Its Value
beast. It took me into Tim Commerford- built-in compression will likely impress
like territory and beyond as it provided players who normally employ a separate PROS Versatile tones from mild to
a small low-end boost and quite a bit of pedal or plug-in for that purpose when mutiny. Good retention of original
compression, which I personally enjoyed using higher-gain distortion settings. The signal. Impressive, natural-sounding
since I was coaxed by the pedal to dig in solid build-quality and appealing exterior compression. Dual LEDs.
harder with this setting engaged. It was doesn’t hurt the pedal, either. I found
here in the hi mode where I found my myself playing very differently with each CONS Input and output not marked.
Slight high-end hiss with the hi setting.
set-it-and-forget-it sound that will demand setting I tested, and when creativity Would have preferred to see clean and
attention once engaged in the middle comes in a small box, that makes for a dirty dials next to each other.
of an otherwise distortion-free song: all good day.
premierguitar.com
REVIEWS
GRETSCH
Players Edition Broadkaster
By Shawn Hammond
A
fter decades of largely being associated with country guitarists’ evolving preferences), the Broadkasters feature a host
and rockabilly, Gretsch introduced the Center Block of notable upgrades. The Bigsby B7’s string-anchoring bar has
series in 2013 in an effort to appeal to guitarists who holes through the center rather than those pesky little pegs—a
prefer a little more volume and gain. The series, which includes super-convenient feature that eliminates the time-consuming
entry-level Streamliners, mid-level Electromatics, and high-end pain in the keester of having to bend a J shape into the ball end
Japanese-built models, pairs Gretsch’s trademark laminated- of each string so it (hopefully) stays put while you wind the
maple semi-hollow construction with a spruce block running other end onto the tuning post. There’s also a no-load master
down the center of the body to reduce unwanted feedback. tone with a vintage-style Squeezebox paper-in-oil capacitor
Now, with the release of the center-block-equipped (which is removed from the circuit at maximum setting), a
G6609TFM Players Edition Broadkaster (as well as the more treble-bleed master volume circuit (also with a Squeezebox cap),
compact G6659TFM Broadkaster Jr. single-cut), Gretsch Gotoh locking tuners, and modern-style strap locks.
seems poised to break down even more doors, thanks to the Fit, finish, and setup on our 24.6"-scale Broadkaster were
Broadkasters’ new Full’Tron pickups. The company’s first exemplary in virtually every way. The bourbon stain over the
U.S.-made pickup debut in around 40 years, Full’Trons were “tiger-flame” maple top and back is luxuriant perfection (dark
designed specifically for Center Block instruments and feature cherry is also available), as is the aged-white binding running
alnico 5 and 2 magnets in the neck and bridge, respectively. from stem to stern. And from the Graph Tech Tusq XL nut
all the way up the medium-jumbo-wired, 12"-radiused ebony
Modern Meets Vintage fretboard, the G6609TFM proffered inviting, silky-smooth
As part of Gretsch’s relatively new Japanese-made Players Edition playability. Even the surprisingly easy responsiveness of the
series (launched in 2016 to further telegraph cognizance of vibrato spring was noteworthy.
Full’Tron pickups
1.75"-thick laminated maple

body with center block
String-through Bigsby B7
Neck and bridge

pickup volumes
Treble-bleed
master volume
No-load master tone
premierguitar.com
Broadkast in Progress Filter’Trons—the Broadkaster flaunts an fine-furniture-y—never mind the extra cost
I tested the G6609TFM through a variety upper midrange sparkle and compression it must add. More substantially, given the
of amps, including a Fender ’64 Custom that’s more pronounced and in-your-face Full’Trons’ stellar flexibility, some players
Deluxe Reverb, a ’76 Fender Vibro Champ, than the somewhat nasal, mid-scooped wishing for the best of old and new Gretsch
and a Jaguar HC50 running in tandem with sound of HS Filter’Trons. Whereas tones might like to see a modern iteration
a Goodsell Valpreaux 21—the latter being the Falcon easily yields warm, gritty, of the company’s traditional upper-horn
my go-to rig for a combination of lovely classic sounds reminiscent of iconic old- “mud switch”—one that would tweak the
old-school grit and clean, brawny headroom. school rock and country recordings, circuit to avail traditional Filter’Tron tones
My immediate tonal observations? The the Broadkaster can sound almost hi-fi at a flick.
Full’Trons are quite aptly named. But I’m in contrast—although the negative But this is nitpicking. I’ve played many
also happy to report that their visual vibe connotations most would associate with fine guitars in my day, and honestly, most
and “’Tron” naming convention aren’t that term are an injustice. With no volume of the time I find myself thinking, “This
merely an effort to capitalize on buzzword- or tone attenuation, these new pickups is nice, but my upgraded mid-level guitars
obsessed guitarists’ fixation on all things are so full-range that it’s possible to, for sound and play just as good—at a fraction of
vintage. The essential Filter’Tron character is example, get tones very much like a more the price.” I’m a firm believer that, if you put
here in spades—there’s just more of … well, resonant and open-sounding Strat. a pair of nice pickups in any solidbody with
kinda everything. But by no means does the Broadkaster decent fretwork and proper intonation, you
Specifics? Particularly on neck and have to sound modern or hi-fi. The can usually get it to sound and react as well
middle-position settings, there’s a sizable key to unlocking its magic is taking as boutique instruments. But I think there’s a
boost in bass presence. The Full’Trons are the time to explore the many possible lot more to making a hollow or semi-hollow
also hotter than many similar-style pickups. combinations of knob settings. I’ve guitar really sing—it’s much more of an
Although the net effect of the added output heard players complain that Gretsch’s art and a science to get the resonance and
and bass oomph will vary from rig to rig, at master volume is needless or in the way, breathy quality right. On the latter point,
times the Broadkaster’s more resonant body but here it’s an absolute gem. Besides Gretsch has done an astounding job with the
and hotter pickups sounded a little woofy being perfectly placed for on-the-fly Broadkaster. It’s the first guitar I’ve played in
for my taste when run at full bore. However, adjustments during glorious, infinitely a very long time where, the more I played it,
wailing blues and classic-rock riffers will sustaining fuzz excursions, the master the more I lusted.
likely be ecstatic about the neck Full’Tron’s volume (and tone control) need only be
searing fatness. Either way, the G6609TFM’s rolled back a bit (10–20 percent for the CLICK HERE TO WATCH A
handy control scheme renders the point former, maybe 20–30 percent for the REVIEW DEMO of this guitar.
moot: Simply adjust either the master or latter) to get tones incredibly close to
the neck unit’s volume—depending on your those available on the HS Filter’Tron-
tonal destination (more on this in a sec)—to equipped Falcon. Like most tone
reduce output and, therefore, bass wallop. controls, the Broadkaster’s attenuates
Voila—“problem” solved! treble more noticeably than mids through Gretsch G6609TFM Players
But extra beefiness is only half the most of its range, so you may not get Edition Broadkaster
Full’Tron picture. Regardless of pickup- the exact level of mid scoop, but you’ll $2,799 street
gretschguitars.com
selector position, most players will be struck get 90–95 percent there—a negligible
by the Broadkaster’s single-coil-like clarity difference, especially considering the
and chime. In fact, with tone and volume Full’Trons’ vast array of tones you could Tones
max’d, vintage hounds might be tempted never conjure from HS Filters. It’s this Playability
to dismiss the Full’Trons as too bright and sort of flexibility that enables the bridge Build/Design
modern sounding. A/B’d with a G6636T pickup to go from tough and/or cutting Value
Players Edition Falcon—an otherwise rock sounds to stellar slapback-soaked
identically spec’d instrument featuring rockabilly twang and traditional- PROS Super-flexible pickups and
Gretsch’s traditional High-Sensitive sounding surf runs with ease. controls yield traditional Filter’Tron
sounds and more modern tones with a
The Verdict fuller feel and lively sparkle. Impressive
build and setup quality.
My only complaints about Gretsch’s
G6609TFM Players Edition Broadkaster CONS Limited aesthetic options.
are fairly shallow: The lack of less- Miniscule nick on edge of 1st-string nut
flashy wood options and more color slot. Slight roughness on some interior
choices is a bummer for those of us kerfing cuts.
who find the flamed-maple thing too

Couple your pedalboards with our series of accessory
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designed for the war on tone. Rugged interior liners
with plush top panels to protect knobs and switches,
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Pick out your cases and pedalboards at www.monocreators.com,

or through any of our authorized resellers.
REVIEWS
OLD BLOOD
NOISE ENDEAVORS
Fault
By Matthew Holliman
N
ot long ago, I started to see a box called the
Black Fountain Delay on the pedalboards
Master volume
of ambient and atmospherically oriented
guitar players. I was impressed with its deep, warbling
oil-can-style delay textures, and when I discovered
the pedal was made by Old Blood Noise Endeavors, I
half-expected the company to be dedicated to oddball
delays, reverbs, and modulations. That turned out to
be partly true: OBNE’s modest but substantial catalog
to that point consisted of two delays, two reverbs, a
chorus, and a fuzz. However, the release of the Fault
overdrive/distortion demonstrates that OBNE also has
a knack for the simple stuff—nice natural amp breakup
from a two-channel cascading gain circuit.
Measuring the Fault Line

Operating the dual overdrive/distortion layout is
straightforward and simple thanks to several shared
controls. The 3-band EQ uses a useful cut/boost
configuration, employing a 100 Hz shelf filter on the
low end, a 500 Hz bell curve in the mids, and a 3 kHz
shelf filter for the high end. A single volume knob
controls the master output. The gain 1 knob adjusts
the first stage of gain, which ranges from mild breakup
to low- to mid-gain distortion. The gain 2 knob has a
higher gain range and is activated by pressing the gain
3-band cut/boost EQ
2 bypass. As we’ll see, the Fault’s wide range of drive
tones make its wider footprint worth it. No dice if
you’re interested in a 9V battery option, though. The
Fault only works via the crown-mounted 9V jack. same settings generated classic grinding, honking overdriven
tones. Scanning the gain 1’s arc of range clockwise adds
Breaking Ground progressively more body to the output, and by the time you
I explored the pedal’s potential with small amps, starting reach 9 o’clock the output generates killer dirty blues-rock
with a 5-watt Fender Champ 600 and a late-model Epiphone tones. The pedal feels very touch sensitive here, and it’s a great
Casino with stock P-90s. Engaging the Fault with gain 1 setting for moving from clean to dirty via picking intensity.
completely counterclockwise yielded a discernable but very Pushing further into the gain 1’s range delivers a very pleasant
light crunch. It was dynamic though. Gentle fingerpicking breakup—natural and very much akin to what the 5-watt amp
generated nearly clean tones, while picking with gusto at the actually sounds like when it’s really throttled, but without the

REVIEWS
speaker distortion. This setup is really you to set up gain 1 as more of a baseline
great for coaxing big tones out of little output and generate a much hotter,
amps without arousing the authorities. boosted lead tone when clicking into the
I was a bit hesitant about hitting 2nd stage. You can set up both channels
the Champ with the second gain stage, for more-or-less-equal output, but you CLICK HERE TO WATCH A
but I could get great tones at lower do sacrifice some of the cool quasi-fuzz REVIEW DEMO of this pedal.
amp volume and suprisingly heavy gain distortion tones that lie in wait at higher
2 settings. At around 2 o’clock—and gain 2 levels.
with a little extra low-end boost—sweet
Clapton/Cream tones were well within The Verdict
Old Blood Noise Endeavors Fault
reach. Better still, the Fault remained As far as dual-footswitch OD/
senstive to dynamics, and rolling back distortions go, the OBNE Fault is an $199 street
oldbloodnoise.com
my Les Paul’s volume yielded very nice exceptional sounding one —readily
sounding low-gain tones, while more able to move from mild crunch to full-
Tones
fiery sounds remained just a touch away. blown breakup bliss. There’s no tone
Ease of Use
My tests on an Orange OR50 and smothering going on. What you pick
4x12 cabinet found the Fault even more and how you play will shine through Build/Design
at home, and I could crank up the the Fault (warts and all, I might add), Value
volume of the amp without worrying delivering natural feeling output that’s
about speaker decay. One aspect of the truly characteristic of an amplifier PROS Authentic breakup tone. Cool,
Fault’s casacading gain configuration pushed to its limits. It’s great for small compact design.
that’s easy to hear coming from a big or large amplifiers and clean or dirty
amp is a distinct volume jump when you ones, and it is at home with single-coils CONS The shared EQ for both gain
stages may not work for everyone. No
engage gain 2. I actually really like this or humbcukers. Fault is a true equal- battery input.
feature of the cascading gain, as it allows opportunity rock and roll machine.
premierguitar.com
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REVIEWS
SEREK
Midwestern 2
By David Abdo
C
hicago luthier Jake Serek, the former Lakland bass Developing the Midwestern 2, Serek made the lower horn
craftsman, has developed his own take on vintage- smaller, carved a deeper cutaway, and added an extra fret. Like
inspired basses by combining passive electronics with its predecessor, the Midwestern 2 employs a 1-piece mahogany
clean, cool looks. Serek’s latest design is the Midwestern 2, an body and a 2-piece, quartersawn-mahogany neck. Our review
adaptation of his original short-scale line that brims with under- bass featured a jatoba fretboard upgrade, but pau ferro and
stated sophistication. Indian rosewood are the standard fretboard options.
Darkstar pickup fans will be pleased to know that Serek
Midwestern Topography employs a single Guild BS-1 as the stock pickup, though he also
The original Midwestern bass was influenced by Serek’s offers a nice selection of other choices, including the proprietary
procurement of a ’60s Epiphone Newport. While he appreciated line of pickups he has developed. On our tester Midwestern 2,
many aspects of the Newport, Serek knew he could make a pair of his handwound, wax-potted Singles were installed. The
improvements to the quirky instrument. single-coil pickups are manipulated with a simple control setup
Serek Singles pickups
1-piece mahogany body
Jatoba fretboard
2-piece mahogany neck
premierguitar.com
the Midwestern 2 delivered a thick,
warm tone with great sustain—ideal
Soloing the neck pickup revealed tones for recording in this genre. A funk tune
reminiscent of a Gibson EB, with full lows, required some slap work, so I engaged
both pickups and set the tone at about
scooped articulate mids, and harsh-free 70 percent. Though it may not have
delivered a completely spot-on, funky Jazz
highs that accentuated finger attack. Bass sound, it had a deep, aggressive tone
that worked quite well. Going from chart
to chart, it was evident the Midwestern
consisting of two knobs (volume and provided a comfortable platform for string 2 could be used in almost every musical
tone) and a 3-way pickup switch. skipping and smooth shifting. Every setting thrown its way.
Additional features consist of a bone fret was accessible and the deep cutaway
nut, Hipshot hardware, and a “satin invited explorations of the upper portions The Verdict
faded black” finish. While Serek offers of the instrument. Not only that, the Short-scale basses have enjoyed a
other options, this particular grouping of Midwestern 2 had an uncanny broken-in noticeable rise in popularity over the
components gave our Midwestern 2 tester feel, as if I’d been playing it for years. last few years, and the Midwestern 2 is
loads of tonal versatility and a pretty Serek’s Singles pickups sounded a shining example of what makes these
badass look. fantastic, despite the expected 60-cycle little rascals such a blast to play. Serek has
hum that comes with single-coils. created a portable instrument with big,
Monster of the Midway Soloing the neck pickup revealed tones articulate tones and supreme playability.
The Midwestern 2 impressed right out of reminiscent of a Gibson EB, with full Professionals might well find its vintage
the case. It was remarkably light at 6 1/2 lows, scooped articulate mids, and voice invaluable in the studio and onstage,
pounds, which made my back smile with harsh-free highs that accentuated finger while weekend warriors will consider it to
anticipation. The satin finish and sleek attack. Balancing both pickups delivered be … well, pretty damned fun. Serek may
demeanor made for the perfect aesthetic a Rickenbacker-meets-Jazz bass sound, be the new kid on the block, but it seems
combo and evoked fun nicknames for the providing stronger high-mids and tight he is already planting his flag near the
bass like “Darth Vader” and “Raider Bass.” lows. The bridge pickup on its own top of the short-scale mountain. If you’re
But the Midwestern 2 is way more didn’t deliver sounds as bark-y as a Jazz looking for a bass that will inject some
than just a pretty face. In a seated bass, but it produced an authoritative, fun and fire into your playing, give the
position, the bass balanced very well pointed timbre that would still please Midwestern 2 a good look.
on the thigh or between the legs, like a Jaco disciples.
classical guitar. It did, however, rest at The tone control did a great job
a horizontal position when worn on a shaping the sonic qualities of the Serek CLICK HERE TO WATCH A
REVIEW DEMO of this bass.
strap. This won’t be an issue for those single-coils. I experimented with the
who prefer this orientation, but it would dial in depth at a songwriter jam, where
have been nice for it to stay balanced at different bass sounds were required for
different angles. the various tunes. For example, by dialing
The playability was seemingly effortless, down the tone control and soloing Serek Midwestern 2
as the neck shape and fretboard radius the neck pickup for a country ballad,
$2,100 street (as outfitted)
serekbasses.com
Tones
Playability
Build/Design
Value
PROS Full-bodied tone and great

playability in a cool, comfy package.
Simply a very impressive short-scale bass.
CONS Slight balance issue when

strapped. Pricey.

from
NewMAD R
SO
ROFES
P
mpamp.com
www.bourns.com/proaudio
premierguitar.com
REVIEWS
MID-FI ELECTRONICS
Magick i
By Joe Gore
Runs at 12 or 22 watts
LED shows the amount of

envelope-controlled gain
A
quick look at Mid-Fi Electronics’ products page reveals right context. Yet the pedal
that builder Doug Tuttle doesn’t do clones. All his can also be subtle, thanks to
pedals seem to have some clever and unique angle. three tone-sculpting tools
His Magick i distortion is a great example. In fact, it’s such a that compliment the expected
unique distortion that you can’t explain it without talking gain and level controls.
about compressors. There’s a bass-cut knob,
situated upstream from
Special Ops the distortion portion
Old-school optical compressors use an internal light bulb of the circuit. But it
or LED that flashes in response to the input level. A nearby doesn’t simply cut bass.
photoresistor (that is, a light-dependent resistor, or LDR) Because low frequencies
translates the brightness of the bulb into a signal that controls disproportionately drive
an amplifier. Result: Loud sounds get more heavily compressed distortion circuits, trimming
than quiet ones. bass changes the character
Magick i employs a similar mechanism. But instead of setting of the distortion as well its
the amount of gain reduction, the light controls the gain/ frequency content. And you
distortion amount. Play louder, and the light flashes brightly, can get many useful tone
summoning more distortion. Play softer, and the distortion variations via this knob alone.
cleans up. Magick i’s controlling LED is internal, but a second Meanwhile, the treble-cut
LED serves as the pupil of the pedal’s eye graphic. It’s wired control is at the end of the
in parallel to the internal one, so you can observe its relative circuit, where it can rein in that fierce treble response. Its range
brightness while playing. is relatively subtle—the pedal can still get squawky with the
knob at its minimum position. But it can make the difference
Something’s Different between “ouch” and “cool.”
Tech-savvy players may be scratching their heads at this point, Finally, a small switch toggles between 12-watt and 22-watt
thinking, “Hey, distortion and overdrives already behave operation. The higher-wattage setting is louder and more
that way! Play harder, and you get heavier distortion. Why distorted, but with a nice sense of clean headroom. (Despite the
complicate things with an LED/LDR circuit?” variable wattage, Magick i runs on standard 9-volt power. It has
My best answer is, “It just feels different.” no battery compartment.)
Optical compressors have slow response relative to newer,
non-optical designs. That’s probably the main reason people Amp Imitator
still use them. Here, that means notes maintain strong, The extra controls vastly expand Magick i’s range. In fact,
percussive attack, even at fairly heavy settings. But once the it’s a pretty good “amp in a box,” as demonstrated in Doug
distortion kicks in, notes seem to breathe and pump. Notes Tuttle’s own demo video on his company’s website. The
decay less quickly, and they maintain peak distortion (and peak pedal’s treble energy is perfect for mimicking overheated
brightness) for longer than usual. It feels at times like you’re tweeds. With both treble and bass pulled back, you get
playing through a compressor. Are you? It’s a bit of a chicken/ solid early Marshall sounds. You can dial in many
egg question, since distortion, by nature, compresses. characteristics here.
Still, Magick i doesn’t do “transparent.” You can get
Sculpture Studio much tonal variation by setting your guitar’s volume knob
At maximum settings, Magick i coughs up a buzzy, full- at various spots in the upper-third of its range. But even at
frequency blat—an “ugly” sound that can work great in the low settings, it never truly cleans up like, say, a Fuzz Face or

REVIEWS
a Klon-style overdrive. And since both assembled by robots. Five medium-

compression and distortion add noise, gain 2N3904 silicon transistors and
aggressive settings get noisy. I find the a network of germanium and silicon
noise levels manageable, but if low diodes provide the crunch. CLICK HERE TO HEAR this pedal.
noise is a key feature for you, proceed
with caution. The Verdict
Whether or not you dig its tones,
Home Cookin’ Magick i represents a spark of creativity
Like all Mid-Fi pedals, Magick i in a cosmos of clones. Much of the
Mid-Fi Electronics Magick i
has a funky, homemade appearance, pedal’s character stems from its feel—
“decorated” with roughly applied spray especially the way notes sustain and $225 street
midfielectronics.com
paint and willfully inconsistent lettering. decay. It’s hard to describe but easy to
The interior is equally homemade. perceive, so I recommend trying before
Tones
There’s no printed circuit board— buying. At subtle settings it can mimic
Ease of Use
components are arranged on a piece of amps and help you sculpt tones in
generic through-hole board like you’d useful and expressive ways. Crank it, Build/Design
find in a DIY pedal project. though, and it shrieks. I suspect that Value
Adhesive foam tape covers the board’s some guitarists who primarily play at
top and bottom, steadying the otherwise home alone will recoil from Magick i’s PROS A unique distortion/compression
unsecured board and preventing shorts. innate brightness, while players with hybrid. Vast range of tones. Useful
studio tool.
But the components, wiring, and recording, production, and performance
assembly are all perfectly solid, and experience will grasp the utility of the
CONS Brightness may not appeal to some
there’s no reason to think Magick i will pedal’s strong note-attack and treble- ears. Feel may not appeal to some hands.
have a shorter lifespan than a pedal rich tones.
Enter for your chance to
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REVIEWS
RAINSONG
CH-WS
By Adam Perlmutter
I
’m a sucker for fine tonewoods like Adirondack spruce, satisfying resonance and response. It definitely performs as well
flamed maple, and Brazilian rosewood. I love traditional as many all-solid-wood guitars I’ve come across at the same
steel-string guitar construction and swoon for old Martins price—if not better. And, thanks to its carbon construction, it’s
and Gibsons and new Collings and Santa Cruz guitars in obviously one of the sturdiest guitars you can buy.
all their wooden glory. So when I received a new RainSong
CH-WS for review—built entirely from carbon and glass Building Forward
fiber—I felt a little out my comfort zone. The CH-WS is a member of RainSong’s new Concert Hybrid
But it took just a minute with the CH-WS before I set Series, which also includes parlor and OM models. It’s also the
aside my preconceptions about what a guitar should be and to company’s most affordable line to date.
understand why many players swear by carbon fiber instruments. Our review guitar came in RainSong’s signature body
The 12-fret CH-WS has a bold and confident voice, and shape, the WS. The body is relatively small but deep—5" at its
Fiberglass/carbon fiber
hybrid back and sides
High-gloss urethane
finish on top
Carbon fiber top
premierguitar.com
with a circle of D-28s. In open G and
It has headroom to spare if you have open C tunings, the CH-WS retains its
crisp, articulate qualities. Fretted and
to tangle with a circle of D-28s. open notes ring together beautifully,
though I missed some of the warm
overtones you typically hear from a solid
deepest—and is designed with projection guitars. The instrument is incredibly mahogany or spruce top in these tunings,
and bass richness in mind. As with all rugged, too. I accidentally knocked its top The CH-WS comes with an L.R.
the Concert Hybrid series, RainSong against the corner of a desk—the sort of Baggs Stage Pro Element pickup. Plugged
uses a less expensive carbon-ad-glass-fiber impact that probably would’ve left a nasty into a Fender Acoustastonic amp with
mixture for the back and sides, which scar on a nitrocellulose lacquer finished the pickup’s onboard controls set flat, the
helps make the line more accessibly wooden instrument, but there wasn’t guitar sounds clear and detailed and you
priced. The top, however, is made from even a hint of damage. Perhaps the only hear a very accurate representation of its
super-strong carbon fiber exclusively, “flaw” I could find was the absence of unplugged personality.
which accounts for the conspicuous lack the intoxicating aroma of a freshly made
of bracing. The bolt-on neck is made wooden instrument. The Verdict
from carbon fiber, too. Tusq is used for Most acoustic guitarists are acquainted
the nut, saddle, and bridge pins. Brilliantly Balanced with the havoc that extreme changes
Though I definitely prefer the look The first thing that struck me playing in climate and humidity can wreak on
of a wooden guitar, there’s something the CH-WS is how sonically balanced their instruments, like shifting frets,
appealing about the CH-WS’s minimalist, the guitar is. Bass, middle, and treble lifting bridges, and warping necks. The
monochrome appearance. The carbon output is even from string to string RainSong CH-WS is virtually immune
fiber itself reveals subtle attractive and between the lowest and highest to these problems, and the reduced
textures—most notably fine vertical notes on the fretboard. The guitar also maintenance it requires will alone
“grain” that’s not worlds away from a exhibits excellent dynamic response to make the near-$1,500 price tag worth
spruce soundboard. The chevron pattern changes in strumming intensity and it for travelling and touring musicians.
on the back, meanwhile, evokes the fingerpicking nuance. But with its rich, balanced sound and
flamed maple cap of a Gibson Les Paul. Thanks in part to the deep body outstanding playability, RainSong’s
It’s hard to judge a carbon-fiber and 12-fret neck configuration, the CH-WS has the goods to convince wood
guitar by the usual standards of guitar CH-WS has plenty of low-end oomph. purists of a great carbon fiber guitar’s
craftsmanship. Because there’s no bracing And though the guitar might not be an many musical possibilities.
or kerfing, the RainSong is a much simpler obvious choice for a traditional bluegrass
instrument. There’s no doubt, however, musician, it sounded really lively when
CLICK HERE TO WATCH A
that it is well built, with smooth edges on I played driving Carter-style rhythms. REVIEW DEMO of this guitar.
the body, tip-top fretwork, and a perfectly Flatpicked single-note lines also sound
notched nut and saddle. It feels light and robust and well-defined, and it has
balanced like the best traditionally built headroom to spare if you have to tangle
RainSong CH-WS
$1,499 street
rainsong.com
1 3/4" nut width Gotoh 18:1 tuners Tones

Playability
Build/Design
Value
PROS Great sounding and easy to play.

Excellent sonic balance. Ultra-tough car-
bon fiber construction.
CONS Can sound slightly less warm in

open tunings.

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REVIEWS
ROCKET SURGEON
Boris
By Charles Saufley
A
t some point along a journey of fuzz discovery, players
find out that Sovtek Big Muffs—while a picture of
Monster Island-scale, mid-scooped fuzz perfection
Traditional Muff-style
in isolation—can go missing in a big, burly rock mix. A lot
control array
of Muff clone builders tackle the problem using mid-boost
controls. Rocket Surgeon (the pedal building arm of Nordstrand
Audio) takes a different tack, relying on a simple switch that
effectively makes the Boris two Muffs in one: A traditional
mid-scooped Muff called “doom” and a mid-forward voice
called “nuclear.” Neither re-casts the Sovtek-era Muff sound in
a radical way, but both offer cool options for Muff newbies and
experienced players looking for new variations of classic Russian
Muff textures. Nuclear and doom modes
Red Star Rocket Craft

A lot of pedal makers seek boutique prices these days for craft
and components that are quite ordinary. Rocket Surgeon
isn’t one of them. The Boris is well put together and seems
designed to be repairable in the event something fails. The
footswitch and jacks, including the 9V jack, are affixed to the
enclosure and independent of the circuit board. The circuit
board reflects a thoughtful approach to circuit layout and
execution, with components arrayed neatly on a through-hole
board. The 9V battery, if you choose to use one, fits tidily
between the footswitch housing and the foam mounted on the
enclosure interior. The knobs, meanwhile, have a smooth but
firm resistance that enables precise adjustments and prevents
accidental changes. The whole feels like a piece of gear that will
survive real and rigorous touring.
You needn’t fear Boris being
Thermonuclear Expressions underpowered. It may be a more
In the vintage-voiced doom mode, the Boris sounds most
authentically Sovtek-like at treble-y tone settings. And it’s at
reserved Muff, but it is hardly quiet.
these trebly settings that the pedal feels most airy and responsive.
To my ears, Boris is neither as buzzy, nor as detailed as the needn’t fear the Boris being underpowered. It may be a more
“bubble font” Sovtek and two excellent “Civil War” clones I reserved Muff, but it is hardly quiet.
used as reference. But I really love the toppy, more searing side In nuclear mode, the Boris is much louder. And a lot of
of Muff circuits. And players that like the Gilmour or desert- players will get out over a barreling drummer or bass player
rock, power-haze personality of Russian Muffs might interpret via the dB bump alone. Nuclear mode’s EQ profile definitely
the same lack of top end effervescence as smoothness—a texture adds midrange along with the volume boost, as advertised. But
many Muff fans relish. At most equivalent settings it seems to the resulting EQ curve tends to sound relatively flat, and the
have slightly less output, too. But that is no bad thing, and you effect of that EQ profile varies significantly depending on your

REVIEWS
guitar, amp, and musical setting. My and wooly—a perfect vehicle for hazy
Stratocaster’s bridge pickup, for instance, syntheses of Disraeli Gears and Welcome
thrived in nuclear mode—sounding to Sky Valley.
smooth and present for leads and One upside to Boris’ nuclear tone
detailed when playing chords. Fender profile is that the smoother, less CLICK HERE TO HEAR this pedal.
single-coils also bring out the most gainy nature translated well to bass
unique and most pronounced effect of applications. It’s a fair bet that Nordstand
the midrange boost in nuclear mode—a Audio’s extensive history as a builder of
subtle cocked-wah texture that becomes basses and at least one bass-centric effect
more pronounced as you roll up the may have paid dividends here. Rocket Surgeon Boris
tone control. If you’re a Mick Ronson
$199 street
fan looking for a meatier fuzz texture The Verdict nordstrandaudio.com
than an Mk I Tone Bender, the Boris is a Boris underscores how wide and varied
great place to start. the Big Muff template can be. It seems Tones
Playing chords with humbuckers is tuned for players who like a Big Muff to
Ease of Use
a less ideal fit. Here the Boris can make be predictably even-tempered and smooth
Build/Design
the leveled EQ profile sound compressed at high volume. (Gilmour fans circa 1994
and even claustrophobic. And picking and stoner rock acolytes are likely to be Value
dynamics—never a super-strong suit psyched). Muff fans that prefer a Sovtek
of Muff-type stomps—suffer at all with tone turned to 10, or the laser heat PROS Sturdy, thoughtful construction.
Smooth Muff-like texture that work well
but the highest tone settings. Certain of early “triangle”-style Muffs may be
at high volumes with dirty amps.
humbucker lead tones are a delight, inclined to look elsewhere. But there are
however. Boris can tame a too-hot or copious audible treats to be found in the CONS Can sound highly compressed
ice-picky bridge humbucker. Neck Rocket Surgeon circuit—regardless of and less complex in nuclear mode.
pickup lead tones sound both focused your Big Muff biases.
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STAFF PICKS
Question & Obsession

Thinking back on 2017 in terms of live music, what guitar performances stand out the most?
Heart’s Nancy Wilson and PG editors discuss the best players they saw in the last year.
Who’s the most impressive

guitar player you saw
play live in 2017?
Nancy Wilson John G. Seabolt

Heart, Roadcase Royale Reader of the Month
A: Ryan Waters. I ought to A: Charlie Starr and Paul

know because I’m in a band Jackson from Blackberry
with him! Ryan has incredible Smoke. They aren’t out there
restraint as a player. He has trying to melt your face with
the amazing instinct to know speed sweeps, but what you
when to lay out and create do get is intricately laid-out
space inside a song. Then rhythms and progressions
when he rips into more lead with some awesome soulful
playing it becomes more leads. They can rock or they
meaningful by contrast. can groove; either way you
get some awesome songs
Current obsession: and playing.
Muscle Shoals, the
documentary. There’s so Current obsession:
much rich magical lore Pedals, especially the time-
connected to that studio based ones like the Strymon
room and the signature sound blueSky or Wampler’s Faux
of those recordings. Tape Echo. I love playing
It became a Mecca with the various sounds I can
for so many great create. Tone is a beast I’m
rock artists to sure I’ll pursue until I die.
Far left: Photo by Jeremy Danger Above: Photo by StaSea Photography

record there, and
those artists are
interviewed,
revealing their
experiences
making some
of the world’s
greatest rock
music.
premierguitar.com
Joe Gore Tessa Jeffers Rich Osweiler
Contributing Editor Managing Editor Associate Editor
A: Twenty-one-year-old San A: Hearing the Edge in A: Peter Townshend on a

Franciscan Matt Jaffe. He the flesh was the most cold August night in San
isn’t flashy—he seems more mesmerizing guitar “event” Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
interested in channeling in my life this year. It’s had a Townshend said how good
James Burton and Luther lasting impact because, yeah, it was to be in the Bay Area
Perkins. His tones are lovely. technical prowess is something, 50 summers after the Who’s
His rhythms are definitive. but less common is a feeling first run of shows in ’67 at the
He’s a prolific writer, a fine of “greatness” from hearing Fillmore before playing the
singer, and a passionate playing that is beautiful to Monterey Pop Festival. Damn,
performer, and he’s been your ears. He’s not a fretboard was he good. To see him wind
making good records since gymnast—he’s a tonal master. countless windmills, hear his
age 16. I hate the little And U2 isn’t really one of unmistakable sound, and
bastard. (Kidding.) my top bands, either. Lukas feel the energy from his
Nelson’s playing is pure fire, as playing—all at age 72—
Current obsession: well. Lookout for that guy. was remarkable.
The Kala U-Bass. I just did a
tour with Jane Wiedlin’s band, Current obsession: Current obsession:
Elettrodomestico, playing I’m loving the bolder Haven’t had a piano at
this ukulele-sized, rubber- designs from big-daddy home in more than 20 years,
stringed wonder throughout. manufacturers. I don’t hate but now that we do, I’m
It needs tons of downstream the PRS SE Standard 24 Multi- remembering how much I
processing to blunt the nasty Foil or the Gibson Modern love playing and how many
piezo characteristics, but once Double Cut. Do different! creative windows can open
you perform some corrective when you step away from
sonic surgery, you can feel the your main instrument.
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ESOTERICA ELECTRICA
The Tone Inside Your Head

BY JOL DANTZIG
W
Tone can be hat is tone? Guitarists
maddeningly speak of tone as though
elusive, but
it is static, knowable, and
sometimes tone
is hiding in reachable. This is a trick. The truth of
plain sight. the matter is that tone is in the moment,
and the moment makes it matter. Can
you remember the first time you heard
a guitar sound that made you sit up and
take notice?
For me, it was at the age of about 10.
I was at summer camp and we were all
marched into the gym for a “concert”
performed by a camp counselor. Of
course, we all wanted to go play and
not sit inside a gymnasium listening
to an adult torture us with music. The
counselor produced a Gibson jazz box
and plugged it into a small, combo amp.
I’d never seen either of these things in
person before. The program material
was “Greensleeves” or something equally
innocuous, but it really didn’t matter. was when a session musician told me to that work. This will make you a better
What stunned our little brains first was listen to other instruments, or even learn player and the music will sound better,
the volume, and I wondered: How can how to play them. “Immerse yourself too. This practice has the added benefit of
such a little thing make so much sound? in saxophone,” he confided. “Geek out rendering any instrument usable.
It seemed that the building’s windows on Hammond organ, or spend a month From time to time, I think about that
would blow out. But what a sound it was! listening to piano.” He said that divorcing gymnasium moment and I imagine I can
So round, so firm, so fully packed. I had one’s self from your primary instrument hear it again inside my head, exactly as
to make it mine. would allow you to understand it better I heard it then. This is the problem with
As a builder, I often speak with when you got back together. So, I listened tone. It’s like trying to mix paint to match
guitarists who are on a quest for such to jazz sax. I mean really listened—until I the memory of your childhood bedroom.
a mythical tone experience. Sure, some could recognize the different saxophones We all have a sound in our minds that is
of my customers are concerned with by pitch and hear the personality of like our North Star. Over time we collect
ergonomics, features, and playability, but different players. I also attempted to learn an entire constellation of reference sounds
these things also serve the greater purpose drums and keyboards. I suck at both, but that swirl around in our mental galaxy,
of enabling creative expression. Nothing it did make me understand that the tone but we often refer to one that takes us
brings you closer to conveying emotion in your head might not be the best for back to the Big Bang. I think this is why
than great tone, but tone is personal. fitting in with other instruments. we shuffle though instruments, amps,
Tone is elusive and it changes with the I’ve been able to play thousands of pickups, and pedals. Subconsciously, we
weather. When you hear it on a recording, guitars through tons of amps in almost are attempting to reach for a star. But
you think you know it. But when you every kind of environment. I have a pretty be careful: Sometimes that Billy Corgan
recreate that sound yourself, all of your good grasp of where basic guitar sounds distortion won’t make the final mix even
other senses stimulate you and twist your come from. This takes both time and if it is your holy grail tone.
perception. This is always the case when it experience, and you have to pay attention.
comes to tone. You can get close, but only Believe it or not, there’s something JOL DANTZIG is a noted
designer, builder, and player who
on rare occasions can you hit the bullseye good inside even the worst guitar. Play co-founded Hamer Guitars, one of
with any sort of consistency. everything you can get your hands on the first boutique guitar brands,
in 1973. Today, as the director
There’s another aspect to the pursuit and keep a mental notebook of those of Dantzig Guitar Design, he
of great tone. If you can’t use it, it’s not sounds. Get comfortable playing with continues to help define the art of
custom guitar. To learn more, visit
great at all. The best advice I ever got tones you don’t like, and go for the ones guitardesigner.com.
premierguitar.com
LAST CALL
How Songs Happen

BY JOHN BOHLINGER
D
John Bohlinger uring a few low points, my my happy-go-lucky past, I sang, “I was
helped write “I personal life could best be the life of the party…” My co-writers
Don’t Smoke,”
described as a carnival of finished the thought and the song was
a track on Lee
Brice’s new phuckupery. Luckily for me, when life done. With a bass, a few guitars, and
album. Warren goes to shit, I take the shit show on the somebody slapping out a groove on a
Haynes visited road, where I can effectively run from my couch, we played it down as Lee tweaked
the sessions to problems while earning a living playing the melody until he had it where he
cut a guitar track
for the song.
music with friends (#tourlife). wanted it. Once it felt right, a few of us
Around two years ago, during a pulled out our phones, hit record on a
particularly fubar phase, I was perhaps over voice memo app, and recorded the only
self-medicating in the early evening prior demo the song ever had.
to a show when a sober and concerned About a year later, Lee texted, “Come
friend/coworker asked, “You alright?” over to the studio. I’m recording ‘I
I replied, “I can’t get high enough to Don’t Smoke.’” When I walked in, my
get over her,” then stumbled toward the fellow members of Lee’s band, the Love
stage to play sad pedal steel alone in the Cannons, were running it down and
dark before doors opened. making notes on their charts. Co-writer
Luckily, I made that clever remark in Jon Stone and I got in the vocal booth enlisted his buddy Warren Haynes to do
front of three wildly talented songwriters: next to the booth where Lee was singing his thing with a Les Paul and a Coricidin
Lee Brice, Jon Stone, and Billy Montana, and playing acoustic. Jon and I quickly bottle. Haynes’ part was the perfect
who recognize a solid hook when they came up with our BGV parts and they approach. As a songwriter, I was thrilled,
hear it. (And have walls full of No. 1 “rolled tape.” It’s been a while, so I can’t because now I knew this song was going
plaques in their trophy rooms to prove remember how many takes we did, but to make the album, but as a guitarist I
it). They jumped on that hook like a it couldn’t have been more than two was humbled by Haynes’ genius.
puppy on a hotdog that rolled off your or three. It may have been one. Details The final arrangement had been
plate at a picnic. Roughly 30 minutes remain a bit foggy. further ramped up with the addition of
later, Lee texted me: “Come to the bus. Skip ahead five months: We had four a soul-drenched female gospel trio that
We’re writing your hook.” days off during the middle of a West took it to church. It was the kind of part
By the time I climbed the steps of Coast tour, so we hung in Bend, Oregon, that, once you hear it, you can’t imagine
that Prevost, these three had written a renting a big house on the Deschutes the song without it.
killer chorus, which is the songwriter’s River. After a day of kayaking, we The album, Lee Brice, with the song
equivalent of hitting the Powerball. brought the mobile recording rig into a “I Don’t Smoke” came out November
The facts are, if you have an infectious huge yoga/Zen room on the second floor 3 and can be purchased any place that
groove/chorus and you’re writing with a with a wall of windows overlooking the sells music. I stand to earn around two
multiplatinum artist/hit songwriter, you’re river and the Cascade Mountains in the cents per sale, so if a million of you could
probably going to have a solid song that background. Lee opened up the Pro Tools please buy this song today, I’m buying a
could earn you some dough re mi ($$$)! session of “I Don’t Smoke” and had me bargain ’57 goldtop as soon as my BMI
After playing the chorus, somebody lay down a few guitar solos as well as check comes in. Any money left over will
asked, “What do you think for the verse?” the pedal steel on a few other songs for be wasted on food and shelter.
Although still a tad wobbly legged and what would become his current album. The takeaway: There’s magical power in
low-eyed, I came up with a little melody I thought my “Don’t Smoke” part was collaboration. Hang around creative people
and began singing what I was feeling over pretty cool until our guitarist, Travis and keep your mind open, and you’ll find
the groove. Bettis, played his solos, which I liked that life is one big art project.
“Ever been so down, that you can’t better. I was beginning to think this song
see up?” might make the album. JOHN BOHLINGER is a Nashville-
based multi-instrumentalist best
Lee immediately followed my start Jump ahead another four months:
Photo by @NotByChase
known for leading the band on

with the next three lines, which finished We’re sitting on Lee’s bus after a gig. Lee NBC’s Nashville Star and serving
as music director for the CMT
the verse and lead us back to the chorus. says, “Listen to this,” as he presses play on Awards and specials on PBS
Second verse went much like the first. a Pro Tools session. “I Don’t Smoke” had and GAC. When not filming Rig
Rundowns and gear reviews for PG,
Bemoaning my current state and missing been taken to a whole new level when Lee John plays pedal steel for Lee Brice.
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What are some of the guitar products and brands mentioned in the document?

What are some of the guitar products and brands mentioned in the document?

What is the song and artist mentioned that John Bohlinger helped write?

What is the song and artist mentioned that John Bohlinger helped write?

RADIOHEAD'S ED O'BRIEN • BOOTSY COLLINS • SAMANTHA FISH • GUITAR NECKS 101

www.ovationguitars.com ©2017 Drum Workshop, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

* on purchases of select manufacturers’ products

(800) 222-4700 Sweetwater.com

Profiler Head Profiler Head Preamp or Profiler Rack Preamp

PRODUCTION & OPERATIONS

GEARHEAD COMMUNICATIONS, LLC

MODULATED MONOPHONIC written permission of the publisher.

It takes your input signal and brutally

POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to:

Bullsh*t Soundscapists vs. True-Blue Bloozmeisters

I met Ted [Greene] at a seminar at the

I know exactly when not to use

1. Get a good soldering iron.

If you don’t have years of woodworking

Where does tone come from? Tubes?

premierguitar.com PREMIER GUITAR JANUARY 2018 13

Wooly Coats Spanky MkII Serek Midwestern 2

After recording eleven studio albums this is the first

Black Magick Combo w/ 1x15 Cab

Photo by Jim Bennett/

FilmMagic/Getty Images TO THE

CONTENTS January 2018

24 Reader Guitar of the Month

UNCOATED PLAYERS ARE

Mike Stern’s Trip and Together Pangea’s Gear Obsession

Duff McKagan, and Richard Fortus. Highlights include Slash’s No. 1

Trans metalhead shredder Danica Roem

A world that’s already given you

Our Deputy Marshal distortion pedal

premierguitar.com PREMIER GUITAR JANUARY 2018 19

premierguitar.com PREMIER GUITAR JANUARY 2018 21

premierguitar.com PREMIER GUITAR JANUARY 2018 23

Capturing the Magic…

one pickup at a time I built this Warmoth Partscaster

Send your guitar story to

The genre-bending Tele

The legendary Buffalo Springfield

The Gov’t Mule frontman puts

Tim Mahoney, Nick Hexum & Aaron “P-Nut” Wills

Top right: Frontman/

premierguitar.com PREMIER GUITAR JANUARY 2018 31

John Curley, Jon Skibic, Rick G. Nelson, and Greg Dulli

THE AFGHAN WHIGS

Top right: Rick G.

Bottom: Jon’s backup is

premierguitar.com PREMIER GUITAR JANUARY 2018 33

1955 Gretsch 6131 Jet Firebird

premierguitar.com PREMIER GUITAR JANUARY 2018 35

Jay Turser JT-SM Hollowbody Jazz Guitar

1964 Supro Dual Tone

Upgrades without the Upcharge!

premierguitar.com PREMIER GUITAR JANUARY 2018 41

guitar fretboards are flatter. The fretboards

match the fretboard radius, but that’s not

can be notoriously narrow—1 5/8",

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