THE CLASH LONDON CALLING
THE FRAY HOW TO SAVE A LIFE ON HIS NEW PEDAL COMPANY
PLAY BETTER NOW! #276 FEBRUARY 2016
MEGADETH New album. New guitarist. A new era for Mustaine
Rob ‘Chappers’ Chapman Everything Everything KISS
E SORTED WITH G E T YO U R T E CH NI Q U ESSONS OUR RUT BUSTING L
R HY TH M CHORD
FASTER CHANGES
20
YOU C HO RD S T O MAK E Y L E V I T A E R C Y A PL LEAD
O UTSIDE OF THE
BLUES: PENTATONIC BOX L EA R N U NLO C K
TO PICK THE WAY RIGHT THE FRETBOARD
AINGCEROSTYULE SWOTRKIOCUT
+F
PLUS
LEARN TO PLAY
The Clash LONDON CALLING
Gretsch’s superaffordable new electrics!
EDITO R S LETTER
FUTURE PUBLISHING QUAY HOUSE, THE AMBURY, BATH, BA1 1UA Tel:01225 442244 Fax: 01225 822763 Email:totalguitar futurenet.com Website:www.totalguitar.co.uk EDITORIAL
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Content & Marketing Director Nial Ferguson Head of Content & Marketing, Film, Music & Games Declan Gough Group Editor-In-ChiefDaniel Griffiths Group Art DirectorGraham Dalzell Next issue on sale 12 February 2016
Printed in the UK by William Gibbons on behalf of Future. Distributed in the UK by Seymour Distribution Ltd, 2 East Poultry Avenue, London, EC1A 9PT. Tel: 0207 429 4000
Welcome… Happy New Year! This time last year we were prepping TG’s 20th Anniversary issue, andit barely feels like last month! Time can fly by so easily, and if you’re anything like me, it’s quite easy to put off your musical goals.Well, it’s thestart of the year and that’s exactly what we’re focussing on this issue – making time to improve . We’ ve linedup a load of tips to help you no matter what type of guitarist youare. You’ ll find ways of improving yo ur chord knowledge, breaking out of the same old patterns, or simplysortingout your basic techniques. fOcourse,it’ s not allaboutsolitarypractice, thoug h. There’ s definitely something to be said for remembering why we do all of this – to make music!o Swith that in m ind, we’ ve put som e short guides together to help and encourage you to get your musical endeavoursf of the ground this year, too. Before I go, just a quick reminder to check out our survey on p70, where we’ re asking fo r your fee dback on the mag. Onceyou’ ve done it,you’ ll be entered intoa prizedraw to win over £400 worth of TC Electronic pedals – not bad for answering a few questions! Enjoy the issue…
Future is an award-winning int ernational media group a nd leading digital business. We reach more than 49 million int ernat ional consume rs a month and create world-cl ass con ten t an d adv er ti si ng so l ut i on s f or pas si on at e consumersonli ne,on tablet smartphon e and inprin t. Future plc is a public comp any quoted on t he London Stock Exchange (symbol: FUTR). www.futureplc.com
Chief executive Zillah Byng-Maddick Non-executive chairman Peter Allen Richard Haley Tel +44 (0) 207 042 4000 ( Lond on) Tel +44 (0 )12 25 442 244 (Ba th)
Allconten tscopyrig ht© 201 6FuturePub lishin gLimitedorpublish edunderlicence.All right sreserv ed.No partofthis mag azinema yberepr oduce d,stored ,transm ittedorusedinanywaywithoutthepriorwritten permissionof thepublisher . FuturePublishingLimited companynumber2008885) isregisteredin EnglandandWales.Registered office:Register edoffic e:Quay House,TheAmbury , Bath,BA11UA . Allinformation containedi nthis publi cationisfor inform ationonlyandis,as faraswe areawar e,correctat thetimeof goin gtopres s. Futur ecannotacceptanyrespons ibilityforerror sorinaccur aciesinsuchinforma tion.Y ouareadvised tocontactmanufa cturer sandretailersdirectl ywithregardtothe priceandotherdetailsofprodu ctsor serv icesreferr edtointhis publication.Ap psandwebsite smentione dinthispublica tionarenot unde rour contro l.Wearenotrespons iblefortheircontentsoranychangesorupdatestothem. Ifyousubmitunsol icitedmater ialtous,youautom aticallygra ntFuturealicenceto publishyoursubm issio n inwholeor inpartin alleditionsofthe mag azine ,includinglicense deditionsworld wideandinanyphysical ordigitalforma t throu ghou ttheworl d.Anymate rialyousubm itissentatyourriskand,althoug hevery careistaken,neitherFutu renorits employe es,agentsorsubcon tractor sshallbe liableforlossordamage . We are committed to only using magazine paper which is derived from well managed, certified forestry and chlorine-free manufacture. Future Publishing and its paper suppliers have been independently certified in accordance with the rules of the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council).
Stuart Williams , Editor
MAKINGTHIS MONTH SMAG CHR IS BIRD
JOSH GARDNER
ROB LAING
TG’Stuition THISmonth, CANRob make editorhasspent Josh battled a New Year’ s this month designing technique trans-continental phone lines andresolution he actually sticks to? tutorials for our cover feature. bemused hotel staff in an attemptHe’ s been looking back athis first The idea is to develop essentials to chatto ExplosionsIn The Sky’ s guitar hero for inspira tion; “I’ d like rather than pushing yourself to Munaf Rayani in Delhi, India aboutto develop my vocal/playing your limits with more challenging the band’ s first UKtour since 2011. abilities by getting better at singing techniques. We’ ve covered lead, His New Year’ s resolution isto try while playing riffs. James Hetfield rhythm andfingerstyle, so there’ s to push himself by doing a phonernever made things easy for something for everyone! from down the bottom of a well… himself… so why should I!”
FEBRUARY 2016
3
CONTENTS MON ITOR First Look G retsch Stre am li ne r series... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 006 RiffoftheMonth W a l kTheM oo n– Shu t U p A nd D an ce ................................................................
008
OnTheUp M i lkTeeth,Ingl ori ous,W eather st ate ......... 010 OnTheRoad E xp losion s In T he Sky .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 012 InTheStudio W o lfm o th e r ...... ..... ...... ..... ...... ..... ...... ..... ... Five Minutes Alone… Ian T h o rn ley ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... MeAndMyGuitar To m m y T ha ye r .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . ScaleOfTheMonth M i nor Pent at oni c (Shape4 ).. . Albums T his m on th’s be st gu itar releases... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Feedback Your let ters .......................................................... Win Tayl or Big Baby Tayl or-e .............................................
014 016 018 020 022 024 025
FEA TURES White Buffalo The U S si nger -s ongwri te r on f i ndi ng hisfeetas
a songwrit er ,and So ns O f A narchy ...................
026
COVER FEATURE:Transform Your Playing Imp rov e your gui tarski ll s,st arta band, playgigs ,w ri te song s,r ecor d yourideas–we sho w you eve ryt hi ng yo u nee d tom ak e 2016 you r bes t gui ta r ye areve r! ........
030
Dorje A dayin th e l i f e ofYouTu be s uper s t ar sRob Chapman an d Rabe a M as s ad .............................................
046
Kirk Hammett Th e M etal l i ca gui tar -m ast er tal ks
about hi s l ates t vent ure - KD H K ef f ect s pedal s. . . . . . . . . . 052
Megadeth D ave M ust ai ne on ‘ i ntel l ect ualspeed
m etal’ , D uran D uran and bu rnt pinap ple .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. 056
SFORM YO UR PL AYING 030 TRAN MAKE2016 YOURBEST GUITA RYEAREVER!
Everything Everything N orthern el ectr o-rocker s on we i rd pedals,terri
ble guit ar and l andfi l l i ndie.. . . . . . . 062
JavierReyes The ot herhal fof A ni m al sA sLeader s
talks ab ou t his solo pro ject, M estis.... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 068
n o ss a Gs m da A fea Leo b B se g a Im tty Ge / dr a w y a H ta M itsr Cu ly O se n ag to sn Im a Bre tty e Jo G /e g s re b Ro eg kes ro la B e G Jy a n e o ts in o em Bran eL Jo rca : M: D C
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WHITE BUFFALO
FEBRURARY 2016
052
KIRKHAMMETT
056
MEGADETH
s t n r e e t v n o o C C
ISS UE 276
FEB RUA RY 201 6
TELL US WHATYO U THINK OF TG ANDWIN! SEE P70!
006 GRETSCH STREAMLINER
GEAR RETRO BARITONE ROUND UP 07
THE FRAY 102 ‘HOW TO SAVE A LIFE
H ags trom Retros ca pe C on dor .........................................
072
Bo ss D D -5 00 .........................................................................
076
V ictory V X Th e Kra ken ........................................................
077
Round-up R etro
Barit ones................................................. 078
D an elec tro ’58 Lon gho rn G uitar ...................................... 084 Fender Param oun t PM -3 Standa rd.... ............................. 085
Round-upW al rus
Audio Ef f ects ...................................... 086
IK M ulti m edia A m pliT ube 4 D eluxe ............................... 088
QuickTests IK M ult imedi a iR igA
coust ic / D igi Tech Ventur a Vibe ........................................................... 090
........................................................................... 091 Accessories
TECHNIQUES HAGSTROM
072 CONDOR
THE CLASH ‘LONDON CALLING’
04
TheC las h – Lon don C alli ng ..................... 094 ClassicTrack 102 Open-MicSongbook The Fr ay– H ow To Save A Life 106 GetYourGrades!RG T ......................................................
SUBSCRIBE NOW & SAVE! Choose from print, digital or bundled subscriptions on p108!
F E B R U R A RY 2 0 1 6
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FIRST LOOK…
Sweet Streams Gret sch unvei ls the ext raaff ordable new Stream li ner series electrics
B
ack in 1998, Gretsch’s Electromatic line was a dream come true for cash-strapped guitaristsin need of the company’s legendary mojo, and the revived Streamliner series makes the dream more achievable still. We managed to land a trio of new models – the G2420T Single Cutaway Hollow Body with Bigsby, G2622 Center-Block Double Cutaway and G2655 Center-Block Junior Double Cutaway – all of which are available with stoptail bridge for £350 or Bigsby vibrato for £395. Aside from the price tags and stunning looks – we love the to-the-edge inlays – there are a num ber of otherfeatures that set these apart from the Gretsches of yeste ryear
Photography: JoeBran ston
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F IR ST L O O K MO N IT O R
The new Stream liner ser ies m ak es the G retsch dr eam m or e achi ev abl e still
1 PICKUPS
2 BODIES
3 VIBRATO/ BRIDGE
ALL THREE of the new models offer a
WHETHER you desire classic Gretsch
FOR SOME, it just wouldn’tbe a Gretsch
brand-new pickup design from Gretsch: the Broad’Tron. These high-output humbuckers promisemeatylowsand midswith shimmeringhig hs,which shouldblend wellin a band mix. They look ace, too.
rockabilly vibe or feedback-busti ng accoutrements, t he gl oss- nished, laminated-maple Streamlinershave you cover ed,withhollo wbodyand centr eblock edmodelsscatter edacrosstherange.
without a Bigsby, andthe Bigsby-li censed B60 vibrat o is avai lableacross therange, asseen onthisG2420T.Nota wobble fan ? ThestunningV sto ptai loptio nis equallycool…
F E B R U A RY 2 0 1 6
7
O N T H E U P
r e rk a P w e h tt a M
: s d r o W
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Milk Teeth Gnarly British grungersetting g gross tones ntil recently,the chorusped al was “Iboug ht the Junior becaus e Iloved
U
cons idered about asf ashionabl e as Billy-Joe Armstrong’ stone,but then EamonnHolmes ,but a new breed Iwanted somethingthicker than that,” of bandisonce ag ain usingit to warp explainsChri s. “That wasthe ound s in my head, so i t’ sreall yj ust thick,dis torted mindsand ampstacksalike. Cas e in point: Stroud’ snois ilyexcell ent M ilkTeeth. tones:super loud and up s er big.”As i de “Ihave an Electr o-Harmonix Small Clone from the SmallClone, of course,thisisall chorusped al and I neverturn i t off!”s tateachieved s wi th judicious application of a guitari st Chri s. “It’ sj ust been on for forev Fu erzzrociousDemon King. “ It’ ss o gnarl y now.It broke re centlyand ti waslike,‘ W hy and t’ i sgot a feedb acklooperon it,which doesm yguitar sound weird?’Iwasj ust soisgreat for those grossnoises!” used to it beingon…” The fourpiece formed in their college we comm ent,that the band have igned s to super-slickUSpop-pu nkbehemot hs year with theSa ad ollection of H opelessRecords . c k EP –a c Oh don’ t theyonly wailing,rampaginggrunge with boisterous“A lot of peopl e say,‘ bounce. Newalbum il e h il d (due 29 sign pop-punkbands ?’ ”s aysChris. “W e’ re January)isyet another strongs tep forward not the usual ki nd ofband he t y’ d si gn, for a band that ’ salreadya thor oughly but I’ m hopingthat makesuss tand-out. excitingprospect. “W e’ ve j ust gotten a lot better at wri ting number onein like all the countries,ever, so it’ sa good itme [for the l abel] .” and consideringeach other’ sparts,” cons i dersChris. “That’ sthe main differenceM ilkTeeth b alance the ick s lyand the on the album.” sweet in equal,enthrallingmeas ure,but if One thingthat’ snot ch anged, we’ re the album whetsyour appetite for chorus’ d pleased to say,isMilkTeeth’ sguitar tone:grunge ri ffs,catch he t band n o tour with a unique j uxtaposition of coguitarist JosTonight h Ali ve thi sFebruary. Bannister’ ss parkli ngFenderJazzmaster and Twi n Rever bcombo and Chris’ Pi l e- U p G D od am n FOR FANS OF: D i nosaur
CityM K I IIhead. F E B R U A RY2 0 16
HEAR: Brickwork
ONTHE UP MONITOR
Weatherstate Punk front blowing in from theWest Country he 90sisin ri ght now, but take on pop-punkd oesnot feel just Bristol’ sWeatherstate get pretentiousor calculated, their pre-00skicksfromrighteous –both in the traditional punk-ier picks. On their killer new and the surf sense of the word. EP um bs t r uck ,frontman H arry H oski ns’vocalstyl e recalls RiversC uomo, particularlyhis Jawbreaker andTheM ovielife lead ri ffs,”s aysCallan. “Ilove his –we don’ t throw those names guitar sound aswel l ,that gritty, about lightly–while guitarist dirtyearlyvibe. We’ re s earching Callan Milward is bigon Weezer. for that ‘ zen tone’heaven.” “It might be a generational Keyto tha t purs uit isa s uper thing,”explainsCall an when we straightforward amp and effects askwhyeveryone’ ss uddenl y setup:j ust a Marshall JCM 800 obsessed with the Blair/ Blur era.and Tube Screamerfor Callan and “Igrew up with 90smus i c. Ihavea Black star HT Seriesfor Harry. “W e bothlove humbucker s,” and j umpingaround theliving addsCall an. “So H arryusesa room with mymum to Weezer, so it’ skind of gone full circle. All Studio. Our guitarsare butchered, these ki dsare redis coveringtheir but we wouldn’ t change them!” rootsand it’ scomingbackinnew music. Tousit feelsverynat ural.” FORFANSOF: Creeper,T he M ovie li fe Natural’ sa goodword. HEAR: StuckIn AHole W eatherstate’ sgravel-throated
T
Inglorious
Sessionsavantschannellinghard-rockheaven he worldisnotshorton “H e’ san insane guitarist,”s ays bandshopingtoreanimate W il of hiss parringpartner.W“e clas sic rock,but thereare went through a few guysbefore t two reas onswe’ re excitedabout Andreas,but theyeither coul dn’ British hardrockersI nglorious: theyareW il Taylor andAndreas side. I’ ve got a disgus tingsense of Eriksson–two mons ter guitaristshumour,but fortunatelyso does in oneband. eepsit “Theideaoriginallywasj ust to W hile Andreask back[ si nger]Nath [James, ex-Trans-Siberian Orches tra],” M arshall,W il favoursa 2014 explainsW il. “But once it came Firebird–a nod to he t band’ s togetherwe hadallthes e shit-hotmodern take on he t classics. assi c rockrevival, musiciansandj ust realisedthatit “In termsof cl there’ sa lotof people saying neededtobe a band.” W il andAnd reas ’interplay things ,”s urmisesWi l. “Planet Rockar e sayingwe’ re ‘ the future of rock’ n’roll’and all of that,but take s oloson he t band’ ss elf-titled we didn’ t set out to revive classic hese are j ust songswe all debut album (due 19 February) ,rock. T but while W il tendsto hold d ownlike playing!” the rhythm (egthe hip-shaking il a U n ti l I i e riff),Andreasgetsthe r e FORFANSOF: G unsN ’Ros es ,W i ner y D ogs a N ove m ber Ra i n -esque N HEAR: UntilI Die im d grands tandingopportunities. e
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FEBRUARY 2016
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se g a m Iy tte Gr / e ld fen es o M iTm is b r Co / ss ec Ac ldr o W e h T /s esc Ac to o h P e h T /s a m o h T y d du le “ iB n Da © re dn r Ga hs Jo : s d r o
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F E B R U A R Y2 0 1 6
ONTHE ROAD
MONITOR
E xp los io ns In T he Sk y Texanpost-rockaristocratsreturntotheUKforthefirsttimesince2011 Take
I
Ca re, T ak e Ca re, T ak e Care
“Ifeellikethethingsthatwehavebeen exhibitingalltheseyearswillbeampedup thatmuchmorethistimearound”
ha rd at work
E plosions InThe Sky’s UKtourbegins inGlas gow Barrow landson1 April2016 M unaf rock ing out with his custom Forshage S-type
nice FEBRUAR Y 2016
13
Stockdale wrote most of the parts on the album, including drums and bass
In t h e S t ud io AndrewStockdale has been the only constant in the band s line-up since 2006
A r t is t :
Guitar-wise,Stockda le stuck to thenstrum i ents
WOLFMOTHER Aus sie retro rock ersrevisit their rootsfor recordfour WOLFMOTHER’S CAREER hasbeen
any thing bu t plai n sail ing. A cross t he 11 years since the b and ’s w idely-lauded debu t, the A ussi e pow er tr io have shed se venmem ber s, wit hm ai nm anA ndre w Stockdaler em aini ng theon lyconstant. T he currentl ine-up,feat uringIanPeres (ba ss, keys) an d V in Steele ( dru m s), has been in place s ince 2012 , but St ockdale took it upo n him sel f t o w ri te new fourth record, Victorious . “I tho ug ht I’d re turn to m y roots an d just having d rum s, bassandaguit ari naroom and I’d start p laying gu itar, play ing rand om rif fs ,”s aysS tockdale. “T hen I’d lay d rum s over the to p a nd then I’d arrange the w hole thi ng. By the end of the day I’d h ave a son g. I w anted to cap ture that reckles s ab and on . It ’s goo d to have the respon si bili ty, t here’ s no on e to turn to a nd get an op inion… and I’m m y ha rshest cri ti c. ” T he one-m an band m ental i ty e xt ended to thestudioasw ell ,withStockdale–underthe wa tchf uleyeofprod ucerBrendan O ’Brien
he favours on stage
–l aying dow n vocals , guitar and bass. “A lot of the ton e is just from a M arshall H e roped in seasoned sessi on vets Joey 50 -w att Pl exi w it h a 6 0 s SG or a 335. I fi nd it W aronker and Josh Frees e f or drum s, w hil e helps to u se gear yo u u se li ve w hen you ’re in Peres contributed an a lbum ’s wo rth of keys. thestudio.Eversi ncestarti ng W olf m other, T he result is atypical ly W olf m othersl ab w it h everyth ing w e do I always think, ‘ W il l The Love That this get us a gig? W il l thi s wo rk on stage? ’ of big-riffed rock. For starters, You Give sound s l ik e supercharged Sab bath. Som epeoplegototown i nthestudi o “I’ve a lwa ys liked To ny Iom m i’s ap pro ach m akingthese huge m ulti -trac krecords but I wit h usi ng bi g power chor ds and the n wa nt itto wo rk l iv e, s o I st ic k to wh at I know. ” It doesn ’t take a h uge leap o f fai th to sug gest that W olfmo ther’ s revolvi ng line-up hassee nthei rm om entum tak e stall aga in and a gain since the bu zzof their deb ut. But, with Victorious, Stockdal e and co leavi ng space to letit breathe, ”Stockdale could be abo ut to fi nall y li ve up to their says. “ T hat w orks for a lot of rock an d b lues. init ial prom is e, and if their ti m e is now , t he T here’ sab itofLesli eW estf rom M oun tai nin soft ly -spoken fr ontm anisprepared. there, as we ll as Iom m i, there’ s som e Sm all “M usic is l ik e the ocean ,”he says, alm ost Faces in there too.” cryp ticall y. “Yo u’ve go t to b e rea dy to ca tch T he re’s a hea lthy sm attering o f Iom m i’s the w ave w hen it com es.. .and I’ m ready.” tone in the m ix as well, w it h the record’ s 70 s Wolfmother’s new album,ictorious, is released on rock vib es dialed right u p. It’s a big, sim ple rock record w ith a fi tti ngly be astl y soun d. 19 February 2016 on Universal Recor ds
“Everything we do I always think, ‘Will this getus a gig?’”
in a rl e
b m a h C rd a h c i R
:s rd o W
14
FEBRUARY 2016
of those. It was really that they would want a front guy who can
crowd and do that whole thing
More than a feeling…
when you note the whole way through, or
things. The quicker you can get dialled into that the better. I remember when I was at
M IN U T E SA L O N E
Somebody check my brain…
Secrets
I a n T hor nl e y
As the Big Wreck mainman strikes out aloneith w his debut solo album, was strange by design. We did it in he talks vibrato, Suhr th ings and why he didn’tjoin Velvet Revolver I got my first real six string… and I w as like, What, ‘ really? “I was an acoustic, I think it was a Fender. I got it for my 16th birthday or something like that. And it sat in my closet for a year. I thought, ‘This really hurts my
my Fiesta Red one because it has there and we had the audience a humbucker in the neck that
This is where my heart is… Just a castaway, an island It took a friend of mine who knew lost at sea… S tairw ay T o Heaven “If I was on a desert island with was onstage. And then trying to electricity and I could only take that. The guys were great and itMRI so it would measure my brain while I was listening to a song or a TC E lectronic Flashback also has on stage without a guitar. There all of this data gets recorded and As far as a guitar goes, I would se
W e had t he audi ence w ired up to h ear t m on itors a nd little m otion c apture hats” 16
F E B R U A RY2 016
one, and I felt kind of bad for the
Secret sisoutnow . For moreinfo, see
ww w.ianfl etchert hornley .com
ag Im tty eG / toa g Le tot Sc ©
MEANDMYGUITAR
Tommy Thayer KISS TheKISSguitaristtalks us thr ough hi s l ates t signatureEpiphone m odel ;the W hi te LightningLesPaul
“LAST SUMM ER,Gibso n mademea prototy pefor this guitar at the CustomShop . Theymadetwo for meact ually . I wanted a bright W hiteMetallicfinish, allhrom c e parts;pickup covers, pickguard, tuners and everythin g else.I endedup calli ngit the WhiteLightning. Actually, Eric Singer, our drum mer, inspiredme withtheguitar and helpedme choosethat name. Eric ’sa great guitar aficionadohimself, soI lovetohear what he hastosayandI tookhisadviceto hear t. After theiniti al two WhiteLightning s Gibs ondid,Epipho newantedtodo thisnewlimite d edition .”
“THE METALLIC Whiteisbeau tiful, andlooksgreat onstage. hethree T -ply binding,ou ymight seethat ona Les
Paul ustomand C I thought it wou ld nice.Blackbinding or greybinding wouldlookkindof blockyonthisso I though t thiswasanicetouch. ”
ofpeople have asked, whyEpiphone? WhynotGibs on? I actually decid edbeforeI er ev talked d toEpipho neor anybo dythat I w ante d to doanE Epiph oneguitar for mysi gnature. I wanted ittobesomething that wasmoreafford ableto every bodybecausebeing inKISS S,there ’sa lotof fans who wanttoowntheguita r tocollect it.Theydon ’t neces sarilypl ay. But also if you’ rea beginner andyou playat home or youplay profes sionally , it suitsall need sandcoversthe base s. They ’regreat uitars, g great valueand better for mos t people. Nothing agains t Gibso ns, becaus e I play Gibson, but they get more expen siveand aretougher for som e people. Sobefore it evenbecam e a question of Gibson or Epiphone, I wan tedtouseEpiphone .”
“I’M U SI NGSeym our Duncan JB pickups now . Whereasi n theSpacem an [Tomm y’ sother gnature si model] I was usingthe Gibso n 49 s,whicharevery goodpickupstoo. But for somereason last year I wasj ust m essing aroundwi th myguitarsand I askedtheguitartech toput Bsi J n asanalterna tive. I wa sjust looking for som ething differen t. Asguitarplaye rswealwaysdo that,
and I reallylikedthe wayit soun ded. So I ende d upchangin g all m ypickupsand I’musing theJBsnow.” n o s s a G m a d A
18
FEBRUARY 2016
OF THE MONTH
Minor Pentatonic (SHAPE 4)
b3 4 b7), which, in the key of A minor produce the notes A, C, D, E and G. When you play the scale shape shown in the diagram notice that the lowest note on the sixth
T hem i norp entatoni ci sthego-tosc al e f orm ostpl ayers . T hi sm onthw e exp l ore th e scal e in i ts f ou rth p ositi on
T
LED BALLOON
string isnot theroot note, butthe th it when you play thismonth’s licks.
TRACKS 09 10 A
5
G
in bar 2 of q 100 our Jimmy Page-inspired lead line can present a challenge because the notes are close together on the fretboard. You’ll need to choose whether to play the 15th fret notes with either 13 15 13 T your second and third, or third and fourth fingers. B
5
F
5
THE STRING bends
letring BU 12
12 15 13
13 15 13
14
14
15 1 5 (1 7 )
15 13 14
BU
BU
12
BU
15 1 5 (1 7 )
15 1 5 (1 7 )
BIG MAC THIS RIFF sees the scale played
N.C. 3
3
1 2 0 2
0
0
0 2
3
0
0
0 3
2
0
0
0 2 3
2
0
0
0
: g in k c a b d n a s r a it u G
20
strings descending through the scale shape. Hold the initial two notes of each string pair, then hammer on and pull off to the T next scale note on the lower string. Try to keep your fretting B fingers arched.
FEBRUARY2016
0 0 0
TRACKS 13 14
80
letring 12 13
2
3
Am 7
s th fi ifr G e lir a h C
1
3
3
q
3
2 3
LORD MA ER lick uses doublestops on each pairof
1 5 (1 7 )
TRACKS 11 12 q 115
an octave lower in open position, using open strings instead of the 12th fret notes. Play the bulk of the riff with fingers 2 and 3 positioned on the T 2nd and 3rd frets respectively and use your first finger to add B the first fret notes.
THIS COOL bluesy
BU 15
1 5 (1 7 )
14
letring 15
12 13
13 12
letring
14
13 12
12 12
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12 12
14 15
12
Mestis POLYSEMY BE TTER KNOW
DreamTheater
N as Tosin Abasi’ s co-guitarist in Animals As Leaders, Javier Reyes is deeply embedded in the tech-metal guitar revolution.Just asyou’d expect, the debut album from his Mestis project has much to offer in extended-range playing – utilisingalleight strings rather than chugging away on alow F. WherePolysemy stands out is in the Latin grooves peppered throughout, most notably on Menos Mal andMt Pleasant , and the underlying feeling that Reyes has chosen a more soulful and introspective fingerstyle approach. For us mere mortals, it’ s mind-boggling stuff indeed. Am it Sharma Download: Papillion
THEASTONISHING BENWELLS BLA CK STON ECHERR Y
THELAST ALBUM I BOUGHT… DWIGHT YOAKAM SECOND HAND HE ART
e in a t n o F y m im J ©
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“The Teles,thechicken pickin'… I love it,I absolutelyloveit.We grew up on country. Thethingwith rockis,a lotof the lead work is pretty distorted or effects-driven. Butin countryit’s super clean and there’s nothingtohidemistakes. You haveto appreciate that, especiallyin older country. It’s a whole other level of playing.”
I
n their three decades, Dream Theater have become the very reference point for progressive metal, their intricate and considered compositions sharing as muchin the spirit of classical formation as they do with their heavy metal roots. If anyone was wondering how a band of such stat ure go about furthering their conceptual escapism, 13th full-length,The Astonishing,presents a strong case for being their most elaborate narrative yet. It’s a dystopian revolution set in the distantfuture ofthe year 228 , conceived by guitaris t John Petrucci, who, it shouldcome as no surprise,oun s ds utterly maj estic from beginning to end. His acoustic, rhythm andlead work embodying the
glorioustracks split over two acts. The Gift Of Music is uplifting and exhilarating in a way that only Dream Theater truly can be, whileLord Nafaryusrevisits ome s of the gothic darkness explored on fan-favourite, Metropolis . Best of all,it’sresolutely Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory captivating throughout its entire 130 minutes:which makes you wonder, how many bands could actually pull this off? Dream Theater always have been – and always will be, it seems – in a class ofheir t own. Am it Sharma
EXCEPTIONAL
FEBRUARY2016
EXCELLENT
GOOD
Download: The Gift Of Music FORFANSOF
POOR
Bury Tomorrow EARTHBOUND AFTERTHE
successful but underwhelmingRunes , Earthbound sees the British metalcore crew regaining their momentum. Though they’re hardly rewri ting the rule book, Jason Cameron and Kristan Dawson’s twin-melodic death metal riffs come flying in thick and fast, and sound more urgent on the likes of The Burden , as they build to the huge choruses of Last Light, where the proficient clean and harsh vocal trade-offs take centre stage. 301's frantic pace leads to a pulverising breakdown whileMemories adds textures and moods to the never-ending assault of the riffs. Adam Rees Download: 301
ALBU MS MONITOR DVD:
Conrad Keely
Bloc Party
M egadeth
ORIGI NAL MACHINES
H MNS
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T he Rit chi e Bl ackm ore St ory
OU MA kno w Keel y asthe f r ont man of…A nd YouW i l lKnow U sBy The Tr ai lO fD ea d,buthi s firs t sol o LP se eshim bl end the i r groove -heavy art -rockw i th m ore lai d-back, intr ospecti ve m om ents. Throughoutthewhopping24 tr ac ks ,he cha nnel s a wide arr ay of esoteri c textures–psychedeli c wig-out s bum p agai nstpia noand-acou sti c ball adry,w hil e C am bodi an prog( he’ s l i ved i n the count rysi nce20 12) l eadsint o Ir is h fol k-rock stom ping. O riginal M achines i s a broa d re cor d ful lof inter esti ng ideas–it lac ks focus, but f ansof Tr ai lO fD ead’ s ‘ goi ng of fon one’mom ent sw i l ldi g i t. Josh Gardner Download: D rive Back To Phnom Penh
BAC K IN
2012, Bl oc Par ty sounded rej uvenate d, as Four rei gnited the Silent A larm spark. N ow,a rh yt hm l i ne- up ch ang e la ter , itseem s RussellLiss ack is i nte nt on goi ng f ul lG re enwood, hanging up hisTel ecas ter s forthe m ostpartand i nst ead em bra ci ng sa m pl er s and sy nths .Yet Bl oc Par tyar e no Radi ohea d,and – as i de f rom exper i m ent s with countr y sl i de pla yi ng ( T he G ood N ew s ) an d th e odd hoo k y si ngle-note li ne ( M y Tru e N am e ) –ther e’ s li ttl e vari ati on here. Ins tead,they run dangerousl y cl oseto occ upyi ng thesam e m i d-tem po m i ddle-of -the-r oad te rr i tor y asU 2 and C ol dpl ay . M ichael Astley-Brown Download: Exes
IF 2013 ’SSu
WI THA
Aidan Knight
Skunk Anansie
Dylan LeBlanc
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ANARCH TECTURE
CAUTIONAR
and hi s sel f -m onic ker ed band buil d upon thei r i nti m ate f olksound to cr eate somethi ng m uch m orem aj es ti c fo r Ea ch O t her .In a way thatrec al l s f el l ow Canadi an D an M ang an’ s superlative C lub M ed s ,Knight’s som bre,brooding vocal s are el evat ed by soar i ng rev erb-heav y elec tri c li nes, thund eri ng drum fill s and dra m ati c pi ano bre aks ,w hi ch makethealbum’smoreintimate m om entsal lthe m oreeff ec ti ve . Th e ti tl e tr ackb ri ngs i t al ltogether –ad el i cat e m i x of pic ked chords , ja z z y d r u m s a n d w h is p e re d , l anguid vocal s thatcreat e a haunti nglyb eauti fulsoundscape. Josh Gardner Download: Each O ther
firstpartofthatpuntastic ti tl e sugges tsa conti nuati on of the har deredged el ements theb and broug ht backint o 2012’s Black Traffic ,it ’s a re d herr i ng.W hi l e there’ s les s of A ce’ s overtl y spik y punk rockrif fs ,there’ s m ore of his i m pressi ve vers ati li ty here;serving a sl i ck er ,m ore atmo spheri c col l ect i on of songs.H e buil ds unsett l i ng tens i on with fil m noir twang i n theM as si veA tt ac kes que thr ob of V ictim ,dropsa bi g sur ger of a si ngal ong fuzz ri ffin Bullets ,getshissubt l e Edge-i sms on i n D eath T o T he Lovers and the n cal l s up the old spi ki nesson T hat Sinking Feeling . DavidHands Download: Bu llet s
BACK IN
per C oll ider had you wonderi ng whetherM ust ai ne’ s m eta lm oj o was waning ,prepar e to be dazzl ed.T hen st ar t head-banging.Becausethisis m ost l y them i x ofhigh-s peed di rt and th r as h bi tew e hopedfor .T he new fire of guit ari stK i ko Lourei ro and dru m m erC hr i sA dl ersee m s to hav e re i gni te d theD av es ; T h e T hreat Is Rea l se tsthe age nda of hulk i ng rhyt hm ri ff s and Kiko’ s bla zi ng but foc uss ed exoti c runs. Els ewhere,the ti tl e tr ackcaptures t h e Youthanasia -n cat chysi de of the band atit s bes t wit h a cl as si c ‘ D etho utr o ti m e cha nge.They’ re backon tr ack ,bri m m i ng wit h si gnatur e finess e and att i tude. Rob Laing Download: Dystopia
TALE
tr i o ofE urope an date s thatw i l lsee Blac km ore final l y, al beit briefl y,returning to his l egendary back cat al ogue w i th D ee p Pur pl e and Rai nbow,now i s theperf ectti m e to gai n a bette r underst anding of the m an behi nd them agi c.Sodoes A l an Ravens cr oft ’s doc do i t? H avi ng Rit chi e’ s ow n tak e here i s vi talher e am ong gl owing tes ti m oniesfr om peers . “Iw on’ t do what I ’ m tol d todo, ” th e m an r efl ec tson a notori ousl y si ngularm i ndset hesa yshehad f r om t heageof five.H e el abor at eson the succes ses and frus trat ions and even dem onstr atesw i th guit ar . It ’s fas ci nating rock hist ory. Rob Laing
The Temperance M ovement WHITEBEAR
AIDAN
KNIGHT
I F THE
2012, we were her al di ng 21-year -ol d Louis i ana songwrit er LeBla nc forhis st art l i ng m aturi ty , but se l f -doubt and thebo tt l e would si del i ne hi m .H i s comeback i s welc om e and as sur ed her e; theN ei lYoung compari sonsst i l l st and st rongin theti tl e tr ackand Ea sy W ay O ut .Thatmelancholic and el usi ve 70 s tonal i ty deeply permeatethe ac oust i csand pedal st eelli nes –pr oducersJohn Paul W hi te(fo rmerl y ofT he Civ i l W ar s ) and A l aba m a Sha ke s ’Ben Tanner arep erf ectcoll aborat ors her e –a nd LeBl anc ’s wearyb ut invi ti ng m elodiesfeelcom fortabl y fa m i l i ar .H e remainsa gi ft ed art i st . Rob Laing Download: C autionary Tale
al bum i sa superb col l ect i on thatsees them expanding thei r hori zons w hil e ret ai ning the i ntensi ty and pas si on.T he downsi de i s tha t Paul Sayerand Luke Potas hnic k’ s honed chopsand wil l i ngnes s to expl orea m orela yer ed tona l i tyon thi s re cor d ar e a huge partof i ts succ ess(and they sound huge), but Potas hnic k has si nce departed the band . Sti ll ,let’ s cel ebrate this ; Phi lC am pbel lispow eri ng thes e so ngshom e l i k e a hype r Pau l Rodger s and ther e’ s ev en nods to nineti es indieinfl uences j oining theb l uesand soul . Rob Laing Download: Ba ttl e Lines TTM’ S SECOND
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Thanks for the Jimi lessons last month. The whole feature along with the review reminded me just how unique the man really was. A one off. I must say, the quality of the lessons and audio examples were amazing, too. Not sure about getting one of the guitars, but I might have a go at my own Jimi-inspired Strat now!I’m off to kiss thesky, man! TOMO
S AMO S , via email
Thanks for your kind words, and trust us when you say that Fender has saved you a lot of hassle with its new signature model But if you are going to make your own Hendrix-inspired model, make sure you’ re in a well-ventilated area when you crack out the lighter fluid to set it on fire
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TH E DEE P CUT S
Wow, I’ ve just finished reading your James Bay piece from the
Dear TG, I noticed a few issues back that for the Classic Track
never going back. Digital modelling is every bit as good and convincing as analogue, as proved Fittingeffectsto by the many pros using units such yourguitardoesn’t
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have to be Kaoss… feature you’ ve not been selecting as Fractal’ s Axe-Fx. The days of the most famous or obvious lugging Marshall stacks and heavy choice, which I quite admire. For backlines around, however iconic example when you tabbed Thin that looks, are numbered. If you Lizzy you didn’ t chooseThe Boys play in clubs with decentPAs, you Are Back In Town you chose just don’t need a backline. With Emerald . Then, when you tabbed live music trending towards a TYLER W I LLI AM S, via email Metallica you didn’t chooseEnter quieter stage environment, and Sandman , One or Master Of with digital tones being more Puppets , you choseFor Whom The consistent than mic’d amps, using BA Y’S SIDE Bell Tolls . And when you tabbed a modelling unit direct to the PA is I saw that you got a bit of flak for out Led Zeppelin you didn’ t a very viable option. featuring James Bay onyour cover, chooseStairwayTo Heaven , Whole I have the Fractal Audio FX8 – , Kashmir , Black Dog , or the days of a pedalboard the size but I for one am glad. Playing the Lotta Love guitar isn’t just about metal, Immigrant Song , you chose the of the QE2 are over for me. In the which is frankly one of the most greatLemon Song . Please keep FX8 I have dozens of professional, laughable genres out there. this up TG! studio-quality effects in a small “Ooh, the bigscary bloke with JOSI AH LUCK, via email compact unit, which if purchased tattoos is going to play another We like to keep you guessing Josiah individually would cost a kidney Rest assured, we’ll keep on tabbing theor three.The bottomline is it’ s solo”Give me a break. I learned deep cuts (and the hits, too ) in 2016. guitar to chase tail, and so far down to individuals, but you can’ t THIS CHRIS M CKEND RI CK S I’m having more success playing dismiss the digitalrevolution, it’s MONTH W INNER via em ail songs that girls actually like than here to stay. D I GI T A L W I TN ES S dressing up like a WWE wrestler STEVE BEDELLE , Ottawa, Canada Send usyourpics andwin and trying to look hard ever will. In response to your recent letter You make some pretty solid points an Orange amp worth £199 Steve, particularly aboutgigging in Can I get an amen? ‘Digital Domination’, I’ve seen Email your shots to us with your full smaller venues. Anyone disagree? JUSTI N DAY, via email stage life from b oth sides and I’m name and address. The best wins an
December issue, I had no idea he could play like that! Thanks a lot for the interview, t’ i s refreshingto learn that a guy who is essentially making massively successful pop music is so intoevery aspect of guitar playing!
Orange Crush 35RT amp.
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BIGBAB TA LOR E TG’ S ACOUSTIC OF THE EARCOULD BE OURS TA Y LO R ’S Baby Taylor setthe barfor smallbodied strummers whenit launchednearly20 years ago.It was followed in2009by the Big Baby, which Taylor overhauled in 2015by adding theES-B pickup system.It seems the firm dida greatjob too, becausethisis the guitarthat you lot havevoted asthe best acoustic of 2015 in TG’s endof yearpoll! Equippedwith a spruce top,sapele backand sidesand onboardpreamp, thestarklyminimalistBig Baby-E is the perfect guitar to getyou gigging. We’re offeringone lucky TGreaderthe chance tobag one thismonth,and allyouhave todoto bein witha chanceis answerthe questionbelowcorrectly.
H ow many f re tsdoe s th e Tay l orBig Baby- E hav e? a )2 4 b )2 0 c) 2 1 En terat ww w.fut urec om ps.c o.uk/ tgr276taylor T&Cs: The com petition si open to UKentrants only. Under 18s st muobtain parental consent to enter this competition and be demons able totrate ’s this reasonable to satisfaction. Answers must be received between Total Guitar 11/1/2016 and 11/2/ 2016. The winnersillwbe selected at randomfrom all correct entries received between the relevant dates d willan be sent the prize free of charge. Each winner ill be wnoti ed within 28 days of the closing date and will be required tovegidetails ofa delivery address in the UK to which the prize should be sent. By entering his competition, t you consent to us using your personal details to send you information about products and services of Future and Taylor Guitars that may be of interest to you. For full terms and conditions, please go to: www.futurenet.com/futureonline/competitionrules.asp
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25
INTERV IEW THEWHITEBU FFA LO
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F E B R U A R Y2 0 1 6
THE WHITE BUFFALO INTERVIEW
Words
RobLaing
alocan be foundmakinga u B e t i h W e h T e d i l l o c k n u p d n a y r t Where coun alks totherwise knownas Jake Smith t s i t r a e h T . a n a c i r e m A f o d n i k l a i c e sp ingpeople with his voice s i r p r u s d n a y h c r a n A f O s n o S , g n i t i songwr
O
ne of the greats said it best; musician or a songwriter. It was just kind didn’t have anything in my life, I was ‘All I want is the truth,just gimme of what I did. Notdestinybut even afterpartying and drinking inSan Francisco. some truth’. Amen, John Lennon. a while I still didn’t consider myself an I didn’t really have the tools to get shows We’re always looking forit too, because ‘artist’ when I w as writing the early songs. that feeling of authenticity you get fromOnce I learned two songs, I started writing only when I moved to LA that I really an artist is often the very measure of their songs. As primitive as they were! ” started to focus, and when I met my wife worth. That sense of truth; is this coming who kind of cleaned me up a little bit to
e in o m e L rc a M ©
from the heart? Do they meanit? All writers lose confidence at times, realise that this is what I should do and It’srooted deep in The White did you have people around you what I really need to focus on.” Buffalo’s songs. Whether he’s being encouraging you to pursue this? autobiographical or sketching vivid tales “Yes, my parents and friends. Firstly, On reflection, do you think it was of shady characters in frontier towns with I didn’t know I could sing, I didn’t now k I beneficial that you had that time towork his rich voice and dreadnought, there’s an had this kind of voice. It was just there and out where you were as writer, to develop undeniable gravitas to it all that can only came out. I never did any choral thing your style as a writer first and foremost? come from an artist with an instinctive any singing at all [before that] and then“I really do. I write the majority [of songs] need to communicate. In return it to discover this odd resonance that I hadin this kind of narrative style and I’m not commands the listener’s attention; when naturally was kind of surprising and exactly sure where it came from. I never you become a White Buffalo fan, you shocking to most people. But there was wrote poetry or short stories. Looking tend to become a big one. It’s found the back it’s still kind of how I work today. songwriter, known to his friends as JakeIt’sone of those things where you’ve got It’s to rare –1 00 per cent of what I’ve Smith, being compared to Johnny Cash stay with it, believe in yourself and believe recorded on my albums is just from (the storytelling and outlaw spirit) and in what you’re doing but outside myself, from one mind. Which is a rare Eddie Vedder (the deep baritone and encouragement always helps of course.”thing these days. T o have that time where punk rock intensity), while reaching a I was honing it and creating my own worldwide audience through his songs’ So writing came first;you were honing thing, at least allowed it to be something inclusion on the hit television series, Sons your craft as a songwriter before goingsingular or something unique to what Ido, Of Anarchy . As his fourth album, Love And out regularly to perform? and what we do as a band.” The Death Of Damnation , gets a European “It was years. Even after I started writing release, we hunted Jake down to talk it was years. I ended up starting a band for There’s obviously acountry element to about the man behind the music. six months knowing like four chords, then your music, was it an important partof we started playing live and we were pretty your life growing up? Did songwriting follow quite quickly horrible. But at least it was a start. But “Yes it was a huge part. This was way for you after you picked up a guitar? then I holed up on my own. I’d play solo before I even had a guitar or writing songs. I would go to country music playing and it really did. Ididn’t learn years but I was always writing songs. concerts with my family and that was one other people’s ongs, s I just started writing It was honing that craft but not really of our family outings; we’d go camping songs. Not with an agenda to become a bringing it to people. And at that point Iand then go to country music concerts. FEBRUARY 2016
27
INTERVIEW THE WHITE BU FFALO
FORTUNA TE SON How The White Buffalo soundtracked ’s Sons Of Anarchy climatic finale
Jake often plays his acoustic through an electric amp to give his sound a little more grit
Viewers of biker gang saga Sons Of Anarchy will still have its concluding scene from last year branded in their memories. And behind the power of that seven-minute finale is its moving soundtrack; the song Come Join The Murder , co-written and performed by The White Buffalo. But that wasn’t actually the srcinal plan at all… “Initially it was supposed to be three episodes earlier,” explains SO A ’s Jake, “I think Kurt [Sutter, creator] heard it and fell in love, and wanted it to be the finale song.” Writing the song was also a very different process for an artist who usually writes with his Taylor dread’ in the solace of his garage. “It was essentially Kurt Sutter. He wrote the lyrics entirely and I sort of tweaked them to make them singable, but almost the whole song was written by him. Then me and the music supervisor Bob Thiele put it to music and melody. It was a different process, for sure. Singing something that’s not your own is a little bit… it’s harder to feel it, for me. But it was a cool experience.”
Ineverymomentthe lyrics areasimportant asthemelody” s e g a m I y t t e G r/ o t u ib r t n o C / n a ig n la F C ©
28
G rowing up in southern Calif ornia , itw as n’t a hugehub f orcount rym us i cbut by t he t i m e I’d gota gui t ar I had see n 40 or so c ountr y m us icc once rt s.T hen I gotto hig h sc hool and I sta rt ed li ste n to punk almostexcl us ive lyan d eve ryt hingon theradi o I t hought wasbull shit . I start ed real ly gett ing into that aes theti c, w hic h sti llblee dsin asw el l.T hisgenrebending thing; itiskind of country , but it ’s rockan d there’ ss om ep un kaesthetici n there. I’m alw ays tryi ng to grow that. “O nce I go t m y gu itar I s tarted to set tle i nto the great s on gw rit ers; guy s like Leon ard Co henandT ow nes VanZ andt,BobD yla n, E lli ot Sm ith. People w ho ’s word s matter; in everym om entthelyri cs areasi m portantas eac hw ordandm om enthas apurpose .” FEBRUARY2016
It sounds likeyou’vecarriedthat idea forward in yourown songs…
“I tr y to kee p i th ones t , al bei tsome ofm y songs are abou t total ly fantas ti calst oriesof drug dea l sgonebad or murder .A l otof t he songson the dark side arecom ple teim agi nati on, then there’ ssom e stuffthat com esfrom pers onal exper ie ncean d w ay m ore autobi ographi ca l. But skewed, twis te d vers ionsof the tr uth.”
have a lit tle mo re attack; ou r live s ho w is pretty aggress ive s o to be a ble to cut throug h the m ix it’ sgood toh ave a lit tle m ore grit on it. SoIo ft en play through an elec tri c amp , not an acousti c am p. It’ sa rarer soun d than other peop le are going for . “A n a cou stic isn’t often u sed as the le ad instrum en t, it’s often b ur ied in the m ix an d it’s all abou t the other in st rum ents. But w hen it’s on ly three gu ysand that’ sreall y yo ur on ly ins trum ent, other t han the bas sand rhythm tracks . A nd w e’re abo ut asfar from a jam ban d as you can get; ou r set is an h ou r and a half and I’m singing for about an h our an d 2 8 m inu tes of that. T her e’s no lead s, jam m ing or hula hooping.” Sons Of Anarchy How did the TV series come into your life?
“It w as actually m y law yer. I did n’t hav e m anagem ent or any repres entati on at the ti m eotherthana lawyer .H ecal ledthem usi c supervis or [ for the s ho w ]wh o he ha d a loose connecti on w it h and asked him to lunch. He T he idea that I w rit e a lot of songs t hat are intothe s hado w y realmsofgood an d evil. H e s aw the parall els in m y m usi c with the show and then th ey just s tarted using m y songs. T hen u lt imately t hey had m e c om e i n and , to reall y becom the soun sidng o stuff ft he show. It washuge for m e part ofe.” Were the effects quiteimmediate?
“Yes , on a n ightly basis Iw ou ld see peop le com m enti ng on soci al m edia. People w ould havingsom any trac ksonit,theyuseds eveno r eight of m y com po si tions that w eren’ t w ritt en forthes how and justmy ow nsongs,and [peo ple]kept on hearing this voice and these songs.U lt imately ,theyw ouldd ivedeeperand go back throu gh the catalogue. It s urp ris es m e that I’ ll go to a n ew place and a bu nch o f people w il l c om e out. Ithink that s how has been solel y respon si ble for a lot o fthat.” But would you say word of mouth still matters a lot for live artists too?
“I thin k th at’s been m y h ug est ass et. I thin k thatTV plac em entshavehelpedalotbecaus e you ’re pu tti ng it in the m ind and ears of You’re playing a rhythmic role ina trio withm ill ions of people, but ultim ately i t i s the w ord ofm ou th.A nd Id on ’tthink it’sun tilpeople drums and bass live and on record, how does that affect your approach to the sound? com e out toli ve s how s t hat you real ly hook “Som eti m es Igothrough the PA, and them .Ift heycom eoutan den joyitand have an exper ie nce,then you’ ve got a fa n forlif e. ” som etimes I’ ll play throu gh a T w in Rev erb, or I have a M usi c M an. I’ ll bring them out w hen Love And The Death Of White Buffalo’s M usic M an that I’ m playing, an d it’sgood to Damnationis out 12 February on Earache
i iams Bird, Ro Laing, Stuart , C ar ie Grif t s, Chris or s: Steve A swort oto grap y: Adam Gasson
so utions, and, even if e r s ’ r a e Y w e N e l b a t i v e n i e h t Come t e New Year, come managed to pay a visit to e t i u q t ’ n e v a d n a e k a c e h t you’re a read ack on ctise some guitar. You don’t a r p o t e m i t t a e r g a l l i t s s ’ t i , t e y our loca utine. Just a few minutes a da o r g n i k c e r w r e g n fi 7 / 4 2 a s you ed to co it sics, homing in on tec nique a n o g n i s u c o t u o t i ill su ce – ng t em rig t e and making sure you’re doi a re o essons that are guaranteed t e d i v o r p s r o t u t p o t s ’ G T el ver t e next 1 p r s to inspire you, plus we’ll t s o c 0 2 , k r o w d a e d n a m t rr . It’ i m p r o v e y o u b a n d , g e t g i g g i n g , w r i t e s o n g s a n e v e n r e c o r d t h e m , t o o a t r you ow to sta g to new heig ts in 2016! n i y a l p r u o y e k a t o t d e e n y b i everyt ing you could poss 30
FEBRUARY 2016
CONTENTS SpeedUpYour Changes ixYourF ingerpic ing
p32 p3
Better Bends
p34
Start A Band
p
FourthFingerSt rength
p36
PlayM ore Gigs
p37
0I nspiringC or s PickingTechnique
p p4
OutsideThePentatonic
p4
WriteMoreS ongs
p42
ConnectSc aleSh apes ecords Your So ng s
p43 p
TRAN SFORMYOUR PLAYING
1 5 minute technique
FIX1
SPEEDUPYOUR CHORDCHANGES m n ta ls o f y o u r r h y th G e t th e fu n d a m e ’s G T ith w d e u p to spe g u ita r te ch n iq u e s g e e x e r cis e b a s ic ch o r d ch a n
U
pon m enti on oftheword ‘rhyth m ’, you m ight assum e that picki ng-hand techniqu e is the sub ject of discussi on. Infact,afinely tunedrhyt hm workout shouldbeginw it hyourfret hand .Tri ckychordchanges m ustbe tac kledbefore you startthinki ng about picki ng andst rum m ing. T hetwo exerc is eswe’ve w ri ttenfoll ow abasicc hord
progressi on and they’r e desi gnedtoprom ote inst antaneous and independ entfretti ng fi nger m ovement–oneoft he m ostchall engingaspectsof chordp layi ng forplayersof alllevels. Practis e each exerci se sl ow lysothatyoucan identi fyanyp roblem areas andworkonthem.O nce you geta feel forthe change s start wo rk onyourrhythm.
TR ACKS 15 16
OPEN CHORDS C
G
Am
7
E
F
G
7
C
0/1 30 2 4 3
1 1 2 4 3
2 3
0 1 0 2 3
T B
3 0 0 0 2 3
0 1 2 2 0
1 0 0 1 0 2 0
1 1 2 3 3 1
1 0 0 0 2 3
0 1 0 2 3
ALTHOUGHTHISexercise isin openposition,yourfingers consta ntly change string/fre t – quite the cha llenge! T ricky changes such as F to G7 need care to avoi d scuffs
andbuzzes,sopractiseslowlyuntilthemovementsstart to fee l fluent.Graduallychallengeyourselfwith faster tempos.
TR ACKS 17 20
TOUGHER BARRE CHORDS C
T B
8 8 9 10 10 8
THERE ISmuch
G
Am
7 8 7 9 10
E
5 5 5 7 7 5
7
7 9 7 9 7
F
5 6 5 7 8
G
7
3 3 4 3 5 3
C
5 5 5 3
more movement here and several shape s include all four finge rs for added difficu lty. Getting your fingers intosition po for theC’shape ‘ (the G and F chords) is the most challenging part. Work very slowly at first and watch out for anynotes dead and buzzes.
32
FEBRUARY 2016
TRAN SFORMYOUR PLAYING
FIX YOUR FINGERPICKING
1 5 minute
its into shape n and get your dig Put that pick dow cises ngerpicking exer with our handy fi
technique
FIX2
A
lthough musical trends constantlychange,it seems there’salways a placein the UK chartsfor a littlefolk-tinged acoustic material. Most recently Jamie Lawsonand Ed Sheeran have been occupyingthat spacebut it’s a tradition that goes back to the Britishfolksceneof the1960sand it’s a sign of theacousticguitar’s enduringpopularity. Guitarists tend to develop strummingskills early on,but fingerpicking remains a challenge
for many. Ultimately, it boils down to developing independent movement in your picking fingers – and the musical exercises on this page are designed to promote theseskills. As a general rule, the thumb usually takes care of the bass strings (strings four to six), the first, second and third fingers play the third, second and first stringsrespectively, and the fourth finger is rarely used. You can find a brief explanation of the ‘pima’ fingerpicking notation Keeping your thumb to one side of your fingers helps prevent it style on p110 . colliding with your fingers
TRACK 21
FINGERPIC ING EXERCISE 1 G
A m 3
q
50/90
3
3
3
3
3
let ringthrough out
3 3
3
3 3
4
3 4
3
5 3
4
5 4
5 5
5
5 5
5
B
5
5
5
7
5
5
7
3
7
5
pi
m
a
impima
i
p
m
pi
m
a
p
impi
ma
i
p
m
p
l help you get used to theteady s quarter note puls e on the fourth, fifth and sixth string s; APPROACH THISexerciseinthreeways:1)Thumb-pickthe bass notes – this wil 2)Pickthetreblestringstogetusedtothebasicfirst,second andthird finge r movements; 3)Finally, put both bassand treble togetherfor the full fingerstyle workout.
TRACK 22
FINGERPIC ING EXERCISE 2 B7
C
Em 3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
let ring throughout 0 1
0 1
0
B
2 0
0
2 0
2
0 0
2
2
0 0
0
3
0 0
0
0 0
0
1
0
2
2
2
2
0
p
i
a m
p
i
a m
p
i
a m
p
i
a m
p
i
a m
p
i
a m
p
i
a m
p
i
a m
IT CANbe useful here to secure the second and third fingers of your picking hand against one another so they move as one whenplaying the two-string chord. It can also
help to begin by practising the Em shape in bar 2. As with the first example, you can break up the arpeggios into separate bass note/treble note parts initially.
FEB RUARY
201 6
33
TRA NSFORMYO URPLAYING
BETTER W BENDS
15 m inute technique
U pgrade your soloi ng ski ll sw i t h lesson on t he TG’ s expressi ve l ead m ost guit ar t echni que
FIX3 TRA CK23
1. BAS I C BEND LIC K q =8 1
hether you’re into rock, blues or metal, as soon as you start playing guitar solos you’ll likely find yourself using string bends – and this calls for a slick, tight technique. It takes a combination ofstrength, control, feel and a lot of practice, but these six short licks guide you through some great techniques that’ll raise your string bending skills to new heights. The licks can easily be adapted into any key and style, so you can apply the techniques to your own solos. We’ve compiled all six licks into one audio file over a simple backing track. Each lick is played twice before a short space for you to play back the same lick in a ‘listen and repeat’ style. Each lick provides a different challenge, getting gradually more difficult as they progress.
2. PEN TATON IC LINE Bm
Bm 3
1
3
3
BU
BU
BU
7
T
7
10 (1 2)
1
3
1
7 10 (1 2)
3
3
BU 7
7
7 10 (1 2)
7 10 (1 2)
1
3
1
3 BU 7
B
T
1
3
3 BU
7
10 (1 2)
BU
7
9 (1 1 )
BU
7
7
9 (1 1 )
7
7
B
a basi c bendlicksprea d ove r twostri ngs .It’s a gr eatexer cis e togetyour thi rdfin gerwarmed up.Remember tosupportthebend wit h you r secondfi nge r. THISIS
3 . BEND , TH EN FRET
K dev el opsthe pre vi ous id ea acros s thr ee st ri ngs .C ont in ue touse your thi rd fingerfor each bend,focussingon good int onati on and avoidi ng note blee d. TH ISLIC
4. PRE- BEND I NG ADJACENT S TRING S Bm
3
3
2
PB 9
9(1 1 )
(1 2)
( 11 )
( 9)
2
9 (1 0)
( 9)
hold bend
PB 9
BD
BU 10
BD
3
2
3
3
3 PB 10
BU
2
3
3
1
T
3
7
10 (1 2)
7
7
7
B
BU
T
BU BD
BD
10 (1 2)
(11 )
( 9)
9 (1 1 )
7
BU
( 9)
15
1 4(1 6)
(1 6)
B
Lukat her -i nspi redli ck addsa fret te d not e toa one- to ne bendon th e same str ing at the end of beat1) . It’s a tricky but hig hlyexpressi ve techni que. THISSTEVE
by-product of the init ialse cond-string bend you’ll‘pre-bend’ the thirdstring. Next,pick thethirdstring , then rel ease the pre-b end fora Jimi Hendrix- sty leline. A S A
6. O BLI Q UE BEN DS
5. TH E ‘H O LD ’BE N D
Bm Bm
3
1
3
2
3
1
3
1 3 3
3
hold bend
T
BU 9 (1 1 )
7 10
10
BD
T (11 ) ( 9 )
7
B
10 10 (1 2)
BU BD
B
(1 0)
10 9 (11
)
BU BD
( 9)
9 11
(1 2)
BU
(11 )
7 9
BD
1
here is to hold the bend the fi rst note)so it rings out as you play the rest of the notes. Th is is great f or finger strength as yo u can ’t suppor t your bend . THEIDEA
34
F E B R U A R Y2 0 1 6
helps nail down the idea of keeping the upper string stil l while the bends are being executed. As alwa ys, support the bend with any spare fingers you have. TH ISLI CK
TRA NSFO RM YO UR PLAYI NG
2016 M USICA L GO ALS
S t art A Ba nd P la y in g m u sic w it h o th e r p e o p le c a n b e o n e o f th e b e s t w a y s t o q u ic k ly im p ro ve y o u r p la y in g a n d a ll - r o u n d m u sic ia n s h ip . H e r e a r e 1 0 w a y s t o ki ck- st artyourband in 20 1 6
Ignore your doubts
Learn some songs
G ett ing in a room to play mu sic can be T hesearet hekind ofdou bts thatc anstopus from ever progress ing further with ou r goals . C rush the f ear and d oit! Y ou w il l m es sup, but tha t’s wh at p racticin g is for.
O nce you have your potential band together, avoid th e rehearsal by pic king three or four covers to lear n beforehand. Even Make time ifyou d on ’t plan on O ne of the biggest obstacl es in pu tti ng a ba nd bein g a covers b an d, it’ ll togeth er is actually getting started. It’ s easy to breaktheic e.Beop en to tryi ng som e s on gs sayj ustdo it.Pract ic ingtw ic ea w eekm ight you don ’tknow / li ketoo –itc ould inform an no t be realist ic, bu t s tart w ith sm all s teps; on e unexp ect ed new direc ti on for you r band. or two pract ic es a m onth for tw otothree Choose a practi ce space can feel like a chore, playing m usic w ith other T he am pswill be knackered, t he PA tooq uiet peo ple is grea t f or relievin g st ress ! an d y ou ’ll m ost li kely get a sho ck off the m ics , bu t this is the sw eatbo x w her e yo u’ll realis e
Find your ate bandm s lookin g to develop th e coll abora tive s ide of you r playing, you ’re going to be look ing for a crac k team ofli ke-mind ed folk. Y ou m ay already h ave som e peop le i n yo ur si ghts. If so, approachthem .Ifnot,s couryou rlocal m usi c shop, pap ers and G um tree l is tings. Sites such asM eetandj am .c om all ow you tosear chfor m usi ci ansinyou rarea,and als osetupyo ur w ork, you could alw ayss kip s om e ofthe details by loo king for an exis ting ban d to join!
of the game. Som e of t he best developm ents w ill be un expected ( inst rum entation, genres, arrangem ent, e tc )and if you allow them to hap pen ,you ’lls ou nd li key ou rsel ves,rather than just c op ying yo ur favou rite ban d.
Don’t obs essover gear…
your ldfeel than relthe axed, and imm mersasedter inplyouran. muYou ssichou , rather doom m etal band n ext doo r. Look for s om ew here i n rea chofeve rybandm em ber ,andshoparound for t he on e wh ic h w orks bes t f or you. So m e include b ackli ne hire, othersdo n’t. Som e w ill let you book bytheh our,s om ew il lhavese t slots . Som e will let you p ay by band m em ber per-ho ur –excell entifyou ’rea trioor du o!
Bforutbuying do think t i t! Tgear here’ somab eounew thansstno better arti excuse ng or joining a ban d. Tak e a look a t you r gear , and if you fee ll ikeyoun eedtou pgradeap artof you r rig t hen do it, but do n’t go m ad. Perha ps use som e m iles ton es as incen tives if i t helps – for exam ple, once you have three gigs und er yourbelt ,buythat new am pyou need!
Don’tet l direc ‘ tion’ get in the ayw
O nceyo u’reh app ytha ttheb and is n’tgoing to kill eac h o ther , boo k a gig. C all i n a favou r, hype yo urse lf to prom oters , do w hatever you can to get o n a bill . O bviou sl y yo u’ll need to give you rsel f a reali st ic am ou nt of time to learn or w rit e a 30-m inute s et, so m aybe look ahead by a si x to eight w eeks. Th ere’snothin g like a bitofpres suretogetyour band offt hegrou nd . It’ll f orce you tom ake d eci si on s, and h elp bu il d the m om ent um youneed.
It’s im po rtant to app roach a b and w ith a certain a m ou nt o f ‘vision’ , bu t try n ot to let it overrule eve rythi ng. C om prom is e is the nam e
Don’tworry about het ilne-up “B ut there are barely any m usi ci ans in m y area !”D on ’t s ee this as a pr ob lem – tur n it into them s playe r? forsom eone plays .N obas L ook w ho keys , or think abou t experim enting w it h an o ct ave ped al. Plenty of i nst rum ental band s sim ply never got your bigge stl im it ati on c ould bec om eyour tr adem ark!
Book a gig!
Go and atc w h live m usic T hisis particularlyimp ortant ifyou hav en’t played li ve in a w hile , or m aybe even ever before.Getou ttoloc algi gsandop en-m ic nights and payattenti on tothew aythatother bandsdoit. H ow do theaudie ncere ac t? H ow A ll ofthes e thingsw il l help shap e yo ur b and ’s dyn am ic into a fearles s l ive engine! FEBRUARY 2016
35
TRAN SFORMYOUR PLAYING
H T R U O F R U O Y D L I BU H T G N E R T S R E G N FI
1 5 minute technique
digit. it’s their weakest For most players improve o t s e s i ad exerc e l o t a g e l s ’ G T w o Foll ting performance ourth-finger fret your f
FIX4
M
any players take athree-fingered approach to lead guitar, relegatingtheir fourthfinger to just occasional use. If this sounds like you, we urge you to add one or two dexterity exercises into your regular practice routine – you’ll broaden your soloing horizons as wide stretch licks, impressive scale runs and slick legato lines all become easier to play. We’re taking a two-pronged attack, homing in on pull-offs and hammer-ons to help you develop strength and coordination in this under-used finger. You can easily simplify each exercise by focusing your attention on a shorter four- or eight-note section.
TRACKS 24 26
PULL-OFF ARPEGGIOS E m q
B m
55/110 4
4 1
4 1
1
4 1
1
4
4 1
1
4
4 1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
let ring throughout 1 0
7
1 0
7
1 0
8
7
1 0
8 9
7
1 0
8
7
1 2
8
9
7
1 0
7
9
7
1 2
7
9
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
B
THISLICKisallaboutimprovingthe‘snap’youshould get when executing a pull-off. Aim for a squar e pull-off, ie, towar ds the floor, ra ther than angling towards the nut.
Try theEmshapewithyourfirstfingerbarredoverthe three strings– this will allow an easiertransitionto theBm shape.
HAMM ER-ON ROC A
5 1
1
TRACKS 27 30
LIC
4
4
Bdim
7 7
10
7
10
10
7
D
4
1
4
1
5959 6969
A/ C
4
1
4
1
10
9 9
14
9
14
12
9
4
1
4
1
12
7 7
11
7
10
7
10
11
B INCREASING SPEED will inevitably up the difficulty of this rock lick, so only raise your tempo when you can play the line cleanly and comfortably . To increase the
difficulty , you could try adding pull-offs to each group of fournotes.
36
FEB RUARY
201 6
TRA NSFO RMYO URPLAYING
2016 MUSICA L GOALS
Pl a y M o r e G i g s Pl ayi ng live is the ul tim at e goalf or m ost m usi ci ans.H er e’s how you can ge t out of the pr act ice r oom and ont o the st ag e thi s ye ar Refineyour soun d H avi ng w eekl y prac ti ce sand play ing through a s etisal lw el land good,but asw i th pra c ti c ing guit ar , you need to be rehea rs ing the ri ght t hing s . Know i ng your par tss hould be a gi ve n, now i t’ sti m e to f oc uson re al l y w orki ng your the s ong order , and m ec hanic sof tr ans it ioni ng bet w een them (tunings , guit ar change setc ), and thi nk aboutext ra m at er i alto inc ludeasa oil ed m ac hine,st artboo king gi gs .
Getadem o goi ng to be appr oac hi ng ve nuesand prom ote rsabout play ing,they’ re going to a dec entquali tydem o t oget herin no ti m e. Ch e threofyourband e or four s ongsthat bes mt repr es ent t he oos s ound and ge tthe re c ordi ng f rom one ofyour gi gs , or a f ull s tudio rec ording.
Findbandslikeyours l oc albandsw ho pl ay a s imil arst yl e to you and te am up f or gi gs . Bet w ee n yourfol l ow i ngs , you’ l lpic k up new f ansa nd hel p t o bui l d your
Getoutoftown! You’ re the heroesofyou r loc alsc ene,bu t you’ ve found yours el vespl ayi ng the s am e s wap –w her e yousha rea bi l lin bot h ofyour ve nuesand promoter sfornext t ime. n o s s a G m a d A
Befriendpromoters Prom oter sare the gat ekee persof loc al venues .
opportunit ie scom e yourway.Some venueswillhave who bookeve rygi g, othersmighthavea handfulofdifferent reg ular sw ho cov er differen t st yles. thatare happening w ho i sputt i ng the m on and ge tin t ouc h.You c oul d betheperf ec t l oc als upportband f or bi gge r ac t sw ho are c om i ng thr ough thevenue.
Thinkahead t hi nk ahe ad.M ap outthem aj oreve nt si n t he
Thinkaboutvideo O ne of t he bes t w ay sof ge t t i ng prom ot er sto pay at te nti on t o yo ur ba nd i st o s hoota vi deo . Y ou do n’ thav e t o gom a d – ge t a go od s ound ata gi g or re hears al , s etu p s om e c am er as(you c an ev en us e your phone f or t he vi s uals ) and edi t t hem tog et her . W e’ d s ugges t c apt uri ng your audio ra t hertha n re l yi ng on t he m i c on yo ur c am e ra .
ca le ndar; w eddings , s eas onal part ie s , N ew Yea r’ sE ve and the li ke ar e us ual l y booked w el lin adva nc e,s o you pub gi gsbe t ween now and t he t ypeofeve nt s you’ re tar get ing,m ake s ure you’ re armed w it h inf orm ati on w hen potent ia l cl ie nts approac , avaibaggi labi ng li tyand deta il sareh you. gonnaR atem sake gi gslatconter inac t the yeara loteas ie r.
Putonyou r ownevent! on your own gi g! You’ l ln ee d a s uit abl e ve nue and enough ofa f ol l ow i ng tocove r yourcos ts , buta gr ea tw ayto s t ar tist o hi ngea gi g ar ound an ev ent(H al lowee n, Bank H ol ida ys , et c ) and i fyou don’ th aveenough m at er i al . You’ llneed to te llasm any peopleas pos s ibl e,an d s tar t s m al l– you don’ tw anttoend up s hel l i ng out m orem oneytha n you t akeon t he door .
Beselective Ye s , thi sisaboutpla yi ng m oregigsi n 201 6, prom is es‘ good expos ure’foryour band, you’ ll dia ryw it h dat eswhic h m ig ht m ean you c an’ t consof eac h date– tr avel , expens esand the am ount oflabouryou’ llhaveto put i n ve rs us the expos ure/oppo rt unityfor pic king up bet t ergigs /act ualpaym ent . O h, and s t ay away FEBRUARY 2016
37
F
20 PIRINGCHORDS f s o n g w r it in g If y o u ' re in n e e d o n a s w e s how y ou o d a e r in s p ir a tio n , s r ite c h o r d s h a p e s o m e o f o u r fa v o u r u o y e k a t o t d e th a t a re g u a ra n te ig h t s p la y in g t o n e w h e
INS
T hem inortonalityofthes echordscr eates a som bre vibe perfec t f or sad songs
M el anch ol i c chords
IfyoucompareanAmajorchordtoAminoryouwill hearthatthe formersounds bright andcheerful, whereas theotheris sadand mournful.Thisis thanks tothechan gefrom a major 3rd toa minor 3rd.These
x o
o o
TRA CK31
shapesall exploit thatminor 3rd, tocreatea dark, moody atmosphere.The open strings enableyou toreachnotesthat can't necessarily be frettedand have a sad, droningsound.
o o o
o
o o
1
T
5
7
1
x
o 1
1
5 2
3
3
3
4
4
3
Amadd9
Emadd9
M el l ow chor ds
o
o o
o
x 1
FEB RUARY
3
201 6
1
T
2
C m9 38
o
x
3
2 2
2
TRA CK32
perfect for folky acoustic material. We’ve played the Fmaj7 chord ‘thumb over the neck’-style, but if this is too much of a challenge, you cansimply omit the lowest twostrings all together.
1 1
Dmadd9
Try out the se s hapesf or a wa rm, c om fort i ng ef f ec t th at ’s suita ble fo r b a llad s or m ellow jaz ztu ne s
The C#m9 and Am11 shapes shown here are very common jazz guitar chords as used by players such as George Benson orWes Montgomery. The Eadd9 and Fmaj7 chordshave an open,airy soundthat’s
x
Bmadd11
4
3
4
3
4
4
Eadd9
Am11
F m a j7
TRANSORMY OUR PLA Y ING T he close intervals in these chords give offanun easy ,haun tingair
M ysteri ous chords
Twonotesthatare a tone orsemitone apart are naturally dissonant,as the frequencies fighteach other. This isnot necessarily a badthing, as demonstratedby thesechords, whichutilise those
x x
x
o
o
x
1
3
1
o
x 1
2
2
3
3
x 4
1
2
2
TRA CK33
close intervalsin order toput thelisteneron edge. TheAm9/E chord istrickyto finger atfirst,so try positioningyour secondand fourthfingers before addingyourfirstand third.
3
4
3
4
4
E m b6
Tension inmusicworksbestin smalldoses,so,rathe r thanusing these chordsfor a whole song or section, usethem fleetingly.Forexample,if youhavea song in thekeyofA,goingtoanEchordhasanatural,
x
o o
1
2
E7 9
Thesechordsarebasedon thebright, cheerfulsound of major chords, with 9th and 11th intervals added to provide a lushness thatworks beautifully with a clean
2
B bdim7
Caug
o o 5
x o
TRA CK35
o
1
o o 7
1
2 3
Aadd9
1 2
1
4
3 3
Cadd9
3
electric soundor an acoustic guitar. TheAadd9and Badd11 chords use the same shape a tone apart; alternatingbetween themsounds great.
o
3
1
2
T he m ajor tonal i ty and open s ound ofthes e c hords cr eatesanelatingan dinspir ingatm osphere
U pli ft i ng chords
2
o
4
Fm a j7 1 1
o
o
3
4
3
x
o 1
4
x
x
1 3
TRA CK34
predictablefeel. You can enhancethings by switchingto thetensesound ingE7#9 chord. TheCaugchordwork s ina similar wayin the key ofF major.
x
2
A m aj7 11
Try out thes e s hapes f or an angular , cl ashi ng sound that take sthe li s tene r by s urpri s e
T ense chor ds
6
B bm a j7 1 1
Dadd9/11
Aadd9 11
4
4
Badd11 FEB RUARY
201 6
39
TRAN SFORMYOUR PLAYING
EAKYOUR TW E U I N H C E T G N I K C I P
1 5 minute
o your pick all adjustments t Making some sm s will give your ing TG’s exercise s i t c a r p d n a e l g n a w lease of life lead playing a ne
technique
FIX5
P
icking cleanly while moving from one string to another is a key part of guitar playing, no matter what genre you’re into, be it metal, funk or folk. A lot of players experience the problem of hitting the wrong string or just not developing enough speed, despite practising regularly. Monster pickers such as Zakk Wylde and John Petrucci have a trick up their sleeve and the answer lies in their pick angle. The biggest myth with picking is that the tip of the pick simply moves down and up. This is true, but it also needs to move in and out, to enable it to move from string to string without hitting an idle string. In the following exercises, play the downstrokes so that the tip of yourpick endsup just in between twostrings, butplay theupstrokes with a slight ‘outward’ motion, moving your pick away from the strings, ready to shift to the next one.
1 USETHEEDGEOFYOURPICK Angle your pick so that the e dge hits the string first this helps the pick to glide across the string.
2 USETHEPOINTOFYOURPICK Only the tip should touc h the string if your pick sits too deep it can catch, making it harder to play the next note.
3 MOVE AWAY FROMTHE STRING… Following an upstroke move your pick ‘up and out’ to make it easier to move to the next string. Aim to be no more than about 10mm away from the string.
4 ...BUT DON’T MOVETOO FAR Ideally, the distance your pick moves for a downstroke should be the same as for an upstroke to maintain even timing, so keep your ‘up and out’ movements small.
TRACKS 36 37
STRAIGHT PIC ING q
q
1 30
1 20 1
4
4
3
4
3 1
3
1
TRACKS 38 39
TRIPLET PIC ING
1
3
3
5 8
5
8 7
5
5
87578 7
5
B
B THIS LICK has
two notes n o each string , so use down ‘ up’style alternate pic king. Use the u‘p and out’motion as youhange c from thehird t string backot the second.
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201 6
THISTRIPLET feel lick has one note on the second string and five notes on the
third string . An ‘ up and out’motion on h t e last note ofthe bar sets up th e repeat.
TRA NSFO RMYO URPLAYING
E H T E D I S T U O Y A PL X O B C I N O T A T N E P
1 5 minute
ca le s t ic - s o u n d in g s a t o n ic is a fa n t a tes o n e h t T h e m in o r p e n t b etw een lls in s o m e g a p s i f G T . n w o s t i n o ge h a t p r o - s t y le e d g iv e y o u r s o lo s t to
technique
FIX6
T
hename‘minorpentatonic’tellsyoua pentatonic scale as a framework,but add other lotabout this essential scale;there are notes fora morecolourful,yet still blues-rock five ‘penta-’)notesor ‘tones’ ‘-tonic’)so , und. Soyou get the sound ofthe more and ‘minor’ tells youthat one of these notes isaunusualintervals, butwithouthaving to learn minor3rd,giving youa dark, moodysound loadsmorescale shapes. muchlike minor chords. The likes ofBB King The b5th interval is a goodinterval to start and Eric Clapton have played amazingsolos adding to your pentatonic lines and themajor 2nd willalmostalways sound good.The major usingjust thisscale. However, youcan take these basics a step 6th soundsnicein passing, butthereareno further. Players suchas JoeBonamassa and hard and fast rules.We’ve writtena lickto fuel KennyWayneShepherd usethe minor yourinspiration.
THE MINOR PENTATONIC SCALE… Learn the all-important intervalsand notes… MINOR PENTATONIC INTERVALS
1 b3 4 5b7 NOTESIN COM MON EYS A minor pentatonic:A C D E G E minor pentatonic:E G A B D D minor pentatonic:D F G A C
A M INO R PENTATO N IC SC A LE W ITH ‘O UT SI DE ’NO TE S
EA RE a lo tof not es her e,but atthe heartistheA minorpenta ton icscaleshown scale.W e’ve hig hli ght ed in greenthe ‘outsi de’notesthat you can experi ment with. THER
wit h bl ack and reddots .Blackdots arerootnotesand
PENTA TO NIC / O UT SI DE N OT ES LIC K q.
reddotsare oth ernotesfrom
the
TRA CKS 40 41
90
T
7
5 5
8
7 7
BU
5 5 7
7
7
5
9)
5 5
8
7
5 8
7
5 7
4
7
B
is based around the notes in the scale diagram a nd is played with a funky 12/8 blues feel. As you play the lick, tr y to identi fy t he notes taken from the sc mo re importantly, t hose c rucial ‘outside’ notes. Take note of the sound a nd m ood of the ou tside notes so you c an ap ply them to your own pentatonic licks. TH ISLI CK
FE BRU A RY 20 16
ale and,
41
TRA NSFORMYO URPLAYING
2016 M USICA L GO ALS
WriteMoreSongs W ri ti ng m usi c i s an ongoingproces s thatnev err eal l y end s,b ut i f you f eel l i keyou ’vebee nstucki na rut, now ’s the ti m e to changethat.Fol l ow thes eti psand you ’l l be pen ning great m usi c i n no ti m e Change your routine Writer’s block ?We’ve all been there. Som eti m es you just can’t seem t o come up with anyt hing ins pir ing on yourguita r. So
pl ugg edin or unpl ugg ed,… ev enyour t ype ofplect rum. Small chang escan make the diff ere nce bet ween hitt ing a bric k wall and a new way fo rward. A guit ar holds an inc redi ble am oun t of potential, and sometim es it ’s just about hearing or approaching i t in a dif fe rent way t o unt ap it .
Give yourself limits Som eti m es, just gett ing st arted can be the
withouteve n coming up with so much as an open chord. Try se tt ing yourse lf chall enges ; writ e a rif f usi ng only t hreenotes , come up with a si ngle -c hord gro ove , writ ingin a ce rt ain st yleor eve n a t ime limit . Once yo u st art , itcan quic kly fr ee up your creat ivit y
to be a h ook , an d ther e’s nothing wrong w it h using a simple part. If anything, you ’ll need space for oth er instrumen ts and vocals.
Make decisions If you ’re w riting parts regularly , chances are that you have a scrat chpad o f ideas kicking aro und , thes e Learn other people’s songs could be writt en dow n, recorde d on a phone Th ere’s a difference betw een listenin g to a or com puter , or comm itt ed to mem ory . Cho ose song you love ( or even o ne you don ’t)and one, an d set as ide some tim e to turn it into a learning to play it. Y ou get inside t he song an d learn abou t chord progressions and transitions details , just aim to end u p w ith the m ain in a han ds- on w ay that a book can never sections of a tun e (verse, choru s, bridge) . Th is conv ey. Try som e of the est ablished classics; w ay yo u’ll feel like y ou ’re getting som ew here, how are t hey st rum m ed? H ow does t he vocal interact with the chord s? Wh ere are they
Collaboration is underrated
It’s q uite am az ing w hat can happen w hen two m usicians with ideas get toget her; you m ight end up creating something bigger t han yo ur separate parts. If you’ re in a ba nd , try pairin g Manage your expectations off w ith a mem ber wh o is keen t o contribute How of t en do you co me up wit h a kil le r rif f or and give yourself t im e for w riting ses sions. Th at’s not to say the ban d w on ’t w rite together take itan y furt her bec ause you can’ t think of in the rehearsal r oom but the dynam ic is where togo next ?On e ofthe big ge st p robl ems diff erent. With less cooks in the kitchen yo u issett ing st andards too high. If you have a m ight f eel more relaxed sit ting down bril liantriff , letthe next partresolve to acoustically , presenting your ideas and trying somethingelse.N ot ever y part of a song needs diff erent ap proaches.
Don’t get in the way of an id
ea
Your phone isyour demo buddy; most have an audio re cor der m eani ng y ou al w ays have a m eans to capt ure your g uit ar or voic e quickly . Keep a st ockpile of your ideas, m aybe eve n cat egor ize t hem too, and play them bac k w hen you hav e the t ime or inclinat ion to develop an idea. S oon you ’ll have a healt hy st ockpil e t o choose f rom.
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FEBRUARY 2016
com ing from lyrically? You can learn so m w hile adding to your repertoire.
uch
Road-test You d on’t t ruly k now how you feel about a
it at the local open
-mic n ight acoustically . You
reacti on to your son g on the night m ight give
w ith your writing. Acou st ic is also a great te st of a son g, of cou rse if it’s grind core tha t m ight not be the case, but s tripping a song dow n to its essential layers show s its m ettle. If it ma kes a connect ion w it h you as a perf ormer and people in the audience, it w ill s pur you o n.
Keep writing Sou nd s obviou s but don ’t f orget this; you w ill only get bet ter as a s ongw riter over t im e. Pursue the good, the bad and the ugly ideas
bec om e m ore att uned to w hat ideas will end
are just dead ends. M ore of you r songs w ill become keepers And sometim es, even with ideas you ’re initially u nin spired by, going back to t hem the next day might change you r perspective. Persis t, because every step you take is progress .
TRA NSFO RMYO URPLAYING
15
L
egendssuc h asJ im m y Page, Slas h,Stevie Ray Vaugha n,PeterGreen and other sall usethe m inor pentatonicscale extensively .And, despite their differing playing styles, they all share one thing:they rarelyonf c ine themselvestojust one area of t he fretboard. The notesofthe minor pentatonicscale c an be foundall overthefretboardandareusuallylearned asf ivedifferentshapesc overingallsixstrings. Inthis lessonwe’ resim plifyingthingsands preadingofthe fiveshapesov erjust threestrings. Prac tiseeach shapeonitsown,thentakealookat thetwolicks we’ vewrittentoseehowyoucan jointheshapes togetherto covertheneckinam usical way. Onceyouhavelearnedbothlicks,youcancombine them intoonelonger linespanningall fiveshapes. W e’ vesuppliedanextraaudioexam pleto dem onstratehowthissounds ,aswellasabacking tracktopractiseover.
minut e technique
FIX7
CONNECTSCALE SHAPESACROSS THENECK
ursoloing ard andexpand yo Explorethefretbo s pe ha linkingscales w ithTG ’slesson on
SHAPE2
SHAPE 4
FI VE SHAPES O F THE A M I NO R PENTATON I C SC ALE
SHAPE 1
SHAPE 3
SHAPE 5
H OF th e fiveshapes st art s and fini sheson a rootnot e markedwitha bl ack dot )andcoversone oct aveof th e A minorpenta ton icscale.Pl ay shape s 1,2, 4 and 5 starti ng on your first f inger; f or sha pe 3, you’ ll need to start on your fourth finger or your thir d if you prefer) . Take note of wh ere notes a re shared between sh apes. EAC
LIC K BAS ED O N SHAPES 1 AN D 2
TRA CKS 42 43
LI CK B ASED O N S HA PES 4 AN D 5
80
80 1
1
TRA CKS 44 45
3
1
1 1
1 1
kc to rse ttu h S E R /e n tu r Fo se m Ja ©
3
T
7 7
B
5 5
10
9
T
7 10 7
10
7
8
moves through shapes 1 and 2 of the scale. Try t o keep track of the sha pe you ’re in as you m ove up the fretboa rd. The final note is a first-fi nger slide to the 12th fret so you cou ld say you are in sh ape 3 here. W e’re joining this lick up with the next one so this sli de helps w ith t he ch ange of position. TH I SLIC
K
15 17 15 12 14 12
12 14 17
15 17 1 5 17
14
B
is based in shapes 4 and 5 an d is best played using only your f irst and third fingers. Use you r first finger for t he 12th fret notes until the sli de show n with a short diagonal line between two notes)sees you m ove up to the 14th fret . Slidi ng is an ea sy way to m ake the position shift s easier. TH ISLI CK
FE BRU A RY 20 16
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TRA NSFORMYO URPLAYING
2016 MUSICA L GOALS
Record Your Songs W he t he r y ou ne ed a de m o t o he l p g e tm or e gi gs ,or an EP /al bum t o s t r eam t o you r f ans , re c ordi ng i s m ore acc es s i bl e now than ev er .G et your i deasdow n t hi s yea r wit h t hes e eas y s te ps Make sure you’re ready
Ifyou nee d t o re co rd a drum m er , you’ll need moreinput sand mics , butyou co uld als o consi der using oneof t he many gr ea t drum s ampleplug ins suc h asToont rac k’s EZ Drumm eror Rehearse, then rehearse some more Super iorD rumm er. Fai lingthat , you coul d you’re going to be Jus tlikea gi g,you s houl d know t he s ong slike boo k a s t udioto t rac k yourdrums,the n do t he re lea si ng your music,you’ llw antto mix –and theback ofyour hand bef oreyou st artroll ing. res t offthe cloc k mostlikel y mast er –your t unes . Mast eri ng can The dif fe renc e be twee n thi s and a gigisthat bea bitofa dark art ; itreq uire s exp eri ence d thisw ill be comm it te d for ever On ce you’ve Try going live ear s and exp ens iveeq uipment , buta q uick se tt ledon your so ngs , ge t rehe ars ing.Book a Thisis by fa r thesimple stfo rm ofget ti ng your Googlew illuncoversome mast er ing couple of pract ice s bef ore you’re due to rec ord id ea sdown,and ca n makefo r a gr e atde mo if enginee rs with se rious cre dentia ls off ering Bef oreyou st ep fo otin a st udio,you’ ll needto make sur e tha t your so ng ide asare comple te . There ’s no ti me tobe making dec is ionson st ruct ure,lyri csand part s oncethe redlight ison, s o dec ideon yourso ng f ormat s , t ieup any lo os e endsand s t ic k t o t hem.
and pay at te nti on toany rec urri ng mist akes t hatyo u ortheba nd ar em aki ng , andw or k on them until they’re se am les s.S pending ti me on t hisst uf fnow willm akefora morerel axe d and enjoyablerecording se ss ion, and ult imate ly, thebes trecor dingyou can make.
Book a studio Studiosdon ’t have to cos t a fort une, ther e are plent y of well-e quipp ed place s availab le at an aff ordablelevel. You’re norm ally looking atbet ween £150 to£300perday , fo r which you’ll ge t useof dec entm icsand ge ar , plus s omeonewho knowshow t o us e itall . Ther e’s
on yourpla yi ng,rat hertha n wheretoplugin theXLR cab le .
donew el l.The keyisin t he pre par at io n, and t heirser vic esfro m around £30pertrac k. At your PA’s mixing des k will be atthe ce ntr e ofit that price, it’s a no-brainer al l.Setup in a re hea rs alroom and s pe nd a bi t oftime plac ingyour mics /ins tr umentsin the ro om.Run t he m al l in t o t hem ix erand t akea li ne outint o a lap t op oreve n yourphoneto ge t a st ere o rec ordi ng.You won’ tbe abl e tom ix Bu zzes, sq u eak s and rattles
Get your gear in order
te st s and ge t t he bala nceof eac h ins tr um ent rig ht.Y ou coul d als o usethism et hod to capt ure ins tr um ent al tr acksand add voc als lat er . Fail ing that , wait until you’re playing a gi g wit h a s ound eng ine erand t akea f ee d f rom t he de s k f ora well - mixe d f re e demo
can ru in the perfect take. G ive y our gear a once over bef ore you record and put any p roblems right. If you can st retch to get ti ng you r guitar set up then go for it .
Collaborate long distance
You’re a si nger- songwrit er, but you wan t rea l music ianson your rec ordi ng. Thisused Or do it yourself t o mean hea vyst udiorat esand f undi ng a Of course , ther e’s als o something to be sai d hoard ofh ungrygunsli nger s t o playon fo r inve st ing in your own se tu p fo r rec ordi ng. your tr acks . But the reis anot her way . Your req uire mentsw illbe bas ed on what ty pes Online rec ordi ng so ft ware suc h asBandLab of inst rum entsyou’ re recor ding and the spac e removes the limitat ions of geog raphy , and you hav e t o do itin.Form os tpeop le , an you can pos tyour ide asfor col lab orat ion int er fa cew it h a coupl e ofinputs( fo r your with ot her music ians . ins tr umentsand mics )willbe enough to Don’t forget the ‘post’ ove rdubyour gui t arsand voc al sone ata ti me, then you’ll justn eed an inst rum ent m ic Rec ordi ng your ide asis halfthe st ory . In t he (a Shure SM57 isst andard fo r guit ar cab s) and cas e oflive /demo re cor dings , mixing and a conde nse r mic fo r acous ti c guit arsor voc als . mast eri ng mightn otbe ascrit ic al.If,how eve r, 44
FEBRUARY 2016
fr esh st rings in eno ugh tim e for t he tuning to set tl e, and look at get t intonation on ti m. Iet’ (llansav d money ) further down the line
INTERVIEW DORJE
“I’m the founder and owner of Chdaopems athnaGtuhiataprpse…n Itm o!?eaItnw, washo a complete fluke!” 46
FEBRUAR Y 2016
DORJE INTERVIEW
W o r d s :Amit Sharma P h o t o g r a p h y :Joe Branston
A DAY WITH…
DORJE
Youmightnotknowthe band,butyou’veprob ablywatche doneofRob ChapmanandRabeaMassaad ’sgea rdem os.TGhitstheroad withDorj eto findouthowY ouTubesucc esshel pedmakethei rdream scom etrue… ake no mistake, the internethasreinvent ed theYouTub e channelhe started on 18 November 2006, which waymodern mus iciansg o about being heard. talliesover 1 00 milion viewsaltogether. For him and W hile maj or labelsonceangled d the key sto fellow YouTuberRabea Massaad,it’ sbecome a job, but also fame,YouTub e and Faceb ookhave givenartistsa veh icle one that’ shelped th eir band Dor je achieve widermusi cal to showcas e their talentsand ui bld a muchmore organiambitions–their c, a ta ly st EP even hit No 1on the iTunes dedicat ed followi ng. The UK’ sveryow n RobChapma n,for UK rockchartas lt year. TGmeetsup wi th them out on the example,now hasnear ly3 0, 000 s ubs cribersto the
M
NIGEL TUFNELL APRK It’s a cold, rainy Wednesday afternoon in North London when a small van pulls up to Tufnell Park’s Boston Music Rooms. From inside emerges a familiar face amongthe online guitar community, Rob “Chappers” Chapman, perhaps best knownfor his gear demosfor Guildford retailer Andertons. Or as the man behind UK-based Korean-manufactured brand Chapman Guitars. Or even the frontman of Dorje, whoheadline this very venue tonight. With him is Rabea Massaad: leadguitarist in Dorje, Chapman Guitars cohort, Victory Amps demonstrator collaborator, and part-time tutor. Before the alt-metal quartet blitz through tracks off their Catalyst EP, they’ll host a clinic for VIP ticket-holders. Which, given the size of their band, is a tad unusual. But then this isn’t Rabea (l) and Rob (r) unload their gear to your usual cast kick off a long day… of characters… FEBRUARY 2016
47
N o roa dies her e, it’s all s till very DIY f or D orje at this po int
who the fuck does that happen to? It was a complete fluke! We’ ve been doing this for a few years Theboyshaveto kee p upwithreal now and have put a little team workontheroad together. It’ s literally me, one other guy who edits a lot of videos until showtime,” laughs Rabea. “I do the and does social media, a general mana ger, YouTube thing with Rob, but alsorun an online plus [Andertons owner and ‘The Captain’in music school. Alongside tha t, I also do a lot of many Chappers videos] Lee Anderton. So s a lot when I’m on the road, most of itis taken care After equipment has been loaded and a quick audio engineering for Andertons, there’ line check performed, we find the two of emails flying around daily about doing gear of by the manager, but I’ ll get the odd email guitarists hard at work on their laptops, demos and video shoots. And then with about prototype issues or maybe looking at enjoying a well-earne d brew. In some ways, Victory andChapman, I’ m always trying to new woods or restructuring a few models. life on the road isn’tthat different at all... arrange datesto lookat thingsor redesign ” Right now I’ m working onmusic for a Jack “Basically a day in the life of me is eat some “And I’m the founder and owner of Daniels advert, they asked for The White Chapman Guitars,”laughs Chappers.“Imean, Stripes onacid!” It’ s a hard knock life, eh? foodand siton myphone answering emails
WEARETHEROAD CREW
it?’” grins Rabea,when askedabout his Kraken head during the Q&A. “For the first time ever, I was designing an amplifier andthinking about all the amazing tones I wanted inside it. This guitar is the first prototype of my signature Chapman model, based on the ML-3 with a T-type shape and some new features. First of all it has a flame maple cap, the body is alder and bolt-on. There’ s also a tone pot Rabea playing his which is a coil split, but that will si gnature Chapman change intoa five way blade.I’m ML -3 guita r using the Bare Knuckle Warpig ceramic bridge pickup and a little Seymour 59 in the neck, so I can get more Stratty/bluesy tones Dorje – pronounced Dor-jay, in case out of it. It’s a wicked guitarwith you were wondering – run through a unique tone because of the some songs as 15 VIP fans different woods.” sheepishly gather in front of the “I’m using my signature Victory stage. It has to be said, the Chapman RD1 head,” reveals Chappers. “I asked for the most simple gun ned Guitars and Victory Amps sound quite exceptional indeed. The Dorje Plexi sound, but with an effects axemen take us through the key loop and all the bells and whistles. components of both rigs... I wanted a home tone of two watts “Victory said, ‘We want to design and then 25 watts forlive... and I’ve a metal amp, what do never had it on full volu m e on tour. y ou want on
CLINICAL GRAFFITI
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FEBRUARY 2016
Not m any small bands do V IP clinics before their gigs…
Chappers: “T his gui tar si my Chapmansignat ureGhostfret. Everything abou t it is perfect for my hands,romt f he Ca nadian flame m aple top, sapele wings on either si de and Seymou r Duncan hum buckers, to the neck-through build – ’s it just everything I’ve wanted. But of course, being Rob Chappers, that’ ll probabl y chan ge next year . So thenI’ ll make that as well! laughs]”
DORJE INTERVIEW
bass ist. Basically, I ordered a pi z z a and got a whole new band!” “I t was weird – he had shaved all his hair off for charity, ” laughs R ob and R abea invi te TG into t heir R abea. “I’d nev er seen hi m backstage room, to explai n m ore without dreads. H e was wearing about how the band for med a nd som e random safari hat and I was the chance m eeti ng that thi nking, ‘I swear I know brought them together . thi s guy! ’ I recogni sed the voice and said, “I t’s a funny story, ” ‘Y ou’re t hat guy begins C happers. “I don’t know if you off YouTube!’ can tell , we’re both So, I gured big f ans of food! I needed to ask him [ laug hs] I was lming to jam because h e’ s a well known guitar in G uil dfor d and went player and I was s tudyi ng to a pub that does really nice pi z z a. The person t hat at A C M tr yi ng t o meet peopl e serv ed me was R abea. A s it tur ns and get som ewhere!” out, he l ive d w it h a drum mer and A nd the rest, is hist ory…
O ROTS BLOODYROOTS
T’ IS ALONGW AYTOTH ETO P
.
P
They m ay be inter net f amo us, but D orje have t o endure the less glam orous elem ents of touring l ife. That hour of rockstardom on stage ever y night comes at a cost, and in hindsight, a lot of com edy gold… “W e’v e endured ever ythi ng you can thi nk of, ” adm it s C happers. “I ’ve been proposed t o by a couple of guys, our van broke down a lmos t every ni ght, we’ve slept in hotels that were falli ng apa rt, with r aw sewa ge outside t he windows... W hen we pointed t hat out, we were tol d we’d alr eady seen the room. ‘W okay ell , th en!’ O ne t ime Be n [ M i nal , drums] got f ood poisoning and when w e were about t o go o n s tage , he w as in the toi let s on his knees! H e had to clean o ff, run on, get through the set and then ba ck to the toil et!”
Rabea playing his Chapman sig nature mode l on s tage
C h a p p er s in fu l l - o n f r o n t m a n m o d e at t h e D o r je g ig
SHO WTIME The room is full and it’ s time for D orje to hit the stage. Thei r grungey anthems have a technica l edge w ithout ever fal ling into the common pitfalls of tech-metal, with the melodic fl air of bands such as A lt er Br idge and Incubus as m uch as thei r bi gge st her oes in U K tech-metal progeni tors Sik th. A nd though the band only have two E P s to t heir nam e, tonight’s crowd seem more than familiar with thei r work. Q uit e simply, i t’s a roari ng succ ess.
FE BRU A RY 20 16
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INTERVIEW D ORJE
MEETTHE FANS!
Chappersand Rabeameet their public
H ere’s w ha t three of the V IP ti ckethol ders had to say ab ou t toda y’s D orje clin ic...
KIERON CATON FROM CRANHAM “I’m a huge fan of
VIRTUALINSANITY
hadex-military guys in theUS postme hand-wired, exotic-woodPlexis. Anything you could conceive hashappened... allbecauseof theinternet. Even After mingling with fans and getting pictures takenwiththe clinics,allof the interest comes down to after thegig,we askthe twoguitarists howit feels our online presence. Honestly, sometimesthe VIPs to see your posts tally thousands of views, canbe a bitnervous,becausewe’requite inyour comments andinteractions. Is itpurelya good face andthey canbe quiteyoung.So wetryto make thing? Doesit ever getweird? sure we’realways talking because otherwise I’ll feel like they aren’t getting whattheyneed.” “I’ve had everything youc an imaginefrom YouTube,” shrugsChappers.“I’ve had letters come “For a while, I hadthis guy sendingme lifeadvice throughmy doorwith a littlevideoinsideabout andlife tips from Mumbai,”deadpans Rabea.“He’d howpeoplefound my home addressthrough sendoverthese45-minute voice messages telling analysingmy videos,I’vehaddeath threats, I’ve me how I should approach things! It’s very strange.”
BEN HIRONS
THENEXTCHAP TER Asthe band pack upand get ready to hit the road oncemore, Chappers lls usin on the future changesthatare ahead forC hapman Guitars. “I’m like theideasguy, whowill see a body andseeifwecanmakeitourown.Or nda tweak thatsomeonedidto their guitarand see ifwe canpay them some moneyto bring itout!Because Chapmanis allabout people takingour guitars anddoingwhat theywantto them. They’re like a blank canvas and I love that.It’s going tobe a bigpart ofwhat we do movingforwards. Ev ery one lov es We’vebeen lying low, packi ngt heir cables growing slow, we’ve put up aft er agi g no money into the marketing. It’s all just YouTube and touring! “We’relaunching ChapmanGuitars again at NAMM because we didn’t have anybranding in place last time. Butwe’ve been takingon newretailers everymonth in America, Singapore,Thailand, Israe .. l. it’s beenreallygrowing. So we thoughtwe better start payingattentionand takeait bitmore seriously!” 50
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Chappers Dorje. I found theand clinic was really good and informative. It’s hard when you have a favourite band, they don’t usually have the time to sit down and talk to you on an individual level or even shake your hand. Especially with successful bands, I totally understand they don’t have time to do that for everyone... but itmeans a lot to the fans. And I think for the musician, it makes them feel like a professional musician too! I thought the guitars sounded amazing today. I’ve got a signature bass as well, so listening to Dave talk about his rig really helped me make the most out of mine back at home. I’d say my favourite Dorje trackAll is, just for that instrumental bit!”
FROMFULHAM “The clinic was absolutely brilliant. I came here just to get as much information I can for my singing and guitar playing, and I feel like I got a lot of worthwhile tuition that I can put into practice when I gethome. I actually play one ofRob’s signature guitars, the ML2 in natural, it’s absolutely beautiful and one of my favourite guitars ever made. It’s really nice, man! My favourite Dorje song is probably White Dove and I’d say the one thing I get from Dorje that I don’t find in other bands is progress. Their music feels fresh and is close to my soul!”
TOM JACKLIN FROMGRIMSBY “I found today really informative, helpful and all in all, good fun. I actually discovered Rob about three years ago completely by accident. I had
Get inthe van– Dorj e loadupto hit the roadagain
a withRose one of my guitars, it problem had a Floyd bridge and I decided to block it off, so I went on YouTube and his video was the first one to come up. I’ve been watching ever since! Myfavourite track is either White Dove orAll, because they’re the two I can play on guitar! laughs]”
INTERVIEW K IRK HAMMETT
“How are we going to move forward if someone doesn’t cross the line somewhere?” 52
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g r e b s e k la B y a J ©
KIRKHAMMETT INTERVIEW
Words: MichaelAstley-Brown
ASTER OFMCIRCUITS As they unleash KHDK Electronics upon unsuspecting guitarists across the globe, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett and industry pro David Karon reveal their plans to shake up the effects pedal world n between making movies, headlining fest ivals and recording a new album,you’d think
I
plate. Yet when old friend and industry vet David Karon suggested a new venture – a pedal
company – Kirk jumped at the chance. First introduced through Anthrax’s Scott Ian, the pair had already made waves with Hammett’s signature Randall amps, but KHDK Electronics affords them complete creative control, and provides the keys to unlocking the “unholy sounds” inside Kirk’s head. With three pedals already under their belt – Kirk’s signature Ghoul Screamer, the No 1 Overdrive and No 2 Clean Boost – Kirk and David gave TG the lowdown on wh y KHDK has them so excited…
What made you want to start KHDK? have some really super-cool i deas that we’re Kirk Hammett:“Well, it actually was not my sitting on that will slowly come out, and I’m idea to start a pedal company;it was the DK super, super-excited about it all. More excited – Dave Karon – and we were just sitting than I ever expected to be, honestly.” around, talking about how much easier it is to do stuff these days because of the internet What was the thought process behind the and computers and technology and whatnot,Ghoul Screamer? and all of a sudden, he said, ‘You kn ow w hat KH: “Well, I always thought that the Tube We should start a pedal company,’ and I said, Screamer was great, and a classic sound, but ‘Good idea; let’s do it!’ [lau ghs] after using one for 30-odd years or so, there “It was along the lines of, ‘Let’s start a have been other times where I’ve thought, record company; people do it all the time!’ ‘Wow, I wish I could get a little more bottom But wh en I agreed to start this pedal out of it,’ or, if ‘ I coul d ju st compresslittle it a company, I realised that it’snot li ke a record bit more for just this little situation,’ or, ‘ if company, and not a whole lot of people do it!I coul d ju st get a little bit more of the Tube [laughs] I see it as another avenue of Screamersound.’ I really wanted to just open expression, and a good way to experiment it up and try and expand the potential of it. with things, and a good way to learn about And so we expanded every knob: we took the other stuff, and I’m learning what the limits tone knob – added top, added middle, added are and what limits can be broken, and we bottom – we took the gain, and added some FEBRUARY 2016
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INTERVIEW K IRK HAMMETT
GIMME FUEL, GIMME FIRE, GIMME ANTONINSALVA David Karon on KHDK’s Czech engineering whiz “We’ re working with Antonin Salva in the Czech Republic – he was introduced to me by [Matt Bellamy’s] guitar tech, Jason Baskin, who I worked with before, with Dan Donegan from Disturbed. He was working with Antonin building Smashing Pumpkins rigs for Billy [Corgan] and Jeff [Schroeder], customising all these Randalls. “That was really interestingto us. As well as that, it was somebody young and different. There’ s a tonne of great engineers out there, but we just wanted a different perspective so we met with him and he just was the right fit; he’s been our lead engineer ever since. “We work well as a team, the three of us. He’s as much of a stickler about thequality coming out of the factory as we are, so he always has the final say, which is also why we really wanted him, because quality is our number one priority: quality and ton e.”
Kirk’s Ghoul Screamer pedal is a twist on the famous green box
“ This is the first time you’ll see a p e d a l c o m p a n y b e in g d r iv e n b y a n a c t ua l g u i t a r p l a y e r ”
compres si on and ways to work with that. And so, basic ally , w e added m ore to it .” D avi d Karon: “ We increa sed a l ot of the ran ge of the po ts – so, the gain pot has less gain in the minim um for more c lean b oost and m ore making t o justm ix thew holereco rdi ng gain in t he maxim um . When you h ave t he process up; I w ant to use this st uff to s hak e it switches all up, it’s like a traditional 80 8 w ith all u p an d start it in a different place. I j ust high-end compon ents , and t hen, wh en all the switches are dow n, the bass increases, the overdrive has more bottom-end, the highs w iden, it sounds brighter . Th e body switch is a mid-enhan cer , so it makes it more prese nt. And then the com press ion sw itc h is like a headroom , so you have three vers ions of headroom :one being less , two an d then three bein g the m ost. So, it’ s to optim ise the pushing of your tubes on you r amp .” K H : “I’m sure th at peo ple o ut ther e are scream ing, ‘H eresy Wh y is he m ess ing with such a classic soun d?’I m ight be m essing with a classic sound, but fucking hell, how are we gonna m ove f orw ard if someone do esn’t cross th e lin e som ew her e? It’s lik e m usic:s om eone h as to cross the line for it to get anyw here. Som eti m es I f eel like an an arch ist, becau se I’m ta kin g stuff an d I’m asking Dave and our engineer Antonin [Salva ], an d sayin g, ‘H ey, w ell, can w e do thi s?’An d th ey’ll sa y, ‘Well , w e ca n d o th is,’or, ‘If w e do this, w e’re gon na screw this up and w on’t be able to do this’ and w hatn ot.”
H aveyouusedthepeda l withM etal li cayet ? K H : “ You kn ow, w e ha ven’t really tou red since it cam e ou t, but I’ ve been using it in rehearsals , and I plan to u se it w hile w e record… I w ant to use everyt hing that w e’re 54
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wa nt a new st arting s pot.”
W hatwast hethi nkingbehi ndtheN o2 CleanBoost andN o1O verdri ve? K H : “ Som ething that’s alw ays n eeded is a clean bo ost. Alw ays. If you’ re a gu itar player in a band and a riff i s coming up and you wa nt it to be loud an d heavy, s tep on that clean boo st. You’re in a ban d, an d you r guitar solo’s com ing up ? Step on that bo ost. It’s lik e Hammett hasbeen using hisKHDKpedals in Metallicarehearsals
KIRK HAMMETT INTERVIEW
SHIFTIN G GEAR Five other guitarists who started their own companies Zakk Wylde The former Ozzy man made headlines this year when he announced Wylde Audio, makers of bullseyed and pointyguitars, plus highwattage heads, set to be distributed by Schecter.
Earl Slick 2014 saw David Bowie’s longstanding guitarist and collaborator release a line of surprisingly affordabl e Gibson and Fender-inspired designs with worn finishes, under the name Slick Guitars.
Eddie Van Halen tryi ng to achieve in an analogue form at – w e don ’t wan t to jum p into the d igital wo rld yet ”
W ehavetoask:
is thereawahcom
David and Kirk worked on Ham mett’s Randall K H : “Well, of course I signature amps, too w ho you ’re t alk ing to
ing?
mean , come on:look [lau ghs] ”
air: you n eed oxygen to breat he; w hen you’re Y o u s e n t p e d a ls o u t t o t h e li k e s o f J o e in a ban d, you n eed a boost. [ laugh s] Th e D upl anti er ,D anD oneganandRob Cag giano; why didyou choosethoseplayers distortion pedal is based on this obscure pedal that I found in E urope that was only m ade for eig ht mon ths or s o, and then the m aker j ust st opped m akin g it. An d I can un derstand w hy:he proba bly did n’t sell any , because it’ s so over-the-t op a nd w eird. I had been using this partic ular pedal for a w hile, and it was start ing to show sig ns of breaking dow n, so it was im perativ e for us to des ign something along those lines. W e m ade it a litt le bit quieter , a little bit m ore u sable, a lit tle bit m ore functional. I love how the dist ortion turned out; and if you hook u p the No 1 pedal and the Ghou l Screamer tog ether , oh m y god , it’s just n ext level. W atch ou t, because it’ s an un holy sou nd ”
W hatotherproduct scanweexpect ? K H : “Well, I h ave a lo t of great ideas, a nd I’m really afr aid to m ention them right now, because som eone else migh t jum p on top of them So, at this point, I really can’ t s ay very m uch, bu t without a doubt, I’ m guaranteeing you that som e of the stuff that’ s going to be comin g out in the next year or t w o is gonna be pretty different, radically different.” D K : “We’ve got 1 5 di fferent pro du cts in the w orks – I’m sendin g a co uple of fuz z pedals out to Kirk today for test ing. We go through a lot of ideas. Ou r biggest lim itation is st ayin g ana logue, so som e of the idea s w e’re still
in totest them out? D partic K : “ Kirkularan d I a re both just m assive fans of G ojira, an d they’re just su ch great guy s to w ork w ith, and J oe has j ust got such an intricate, diff erent approa ch to guitar playin g, and K irk’s great f riend s with h im , so he was an imm ediat e choic e. Dan and Rob I’ve been w orkin g toget her for alm ost 1 5 year s now, so they’ re reall y great frien ds, very trust ed ears for me that will be h onest with w ha tever w e’re do ing a nd just say it like it is, and not just try t o cand y-coat anythin g. The honest voice is what w e need, and they have really discernin g tast e for their tone.” K H : “ Th e grea t thin g is th at th ey’re just lo vin g it. John 5 just shot m e a text, and I said, ‘H ey bro , I’ll send you w ha tever yo u n eed.’ ’C os he’s a goo d frien d o f m ine, too . M y goal is t o ou tfit all m y friends, for sure [laugh s]”
W hat are your amb it ions for t he c om pany? D K : “Th is is som ething w e wa nt to leave t o our children – I m ean, obviously , Kirk h as a m assive legacy – but he w ants to leave this compa ny as a legacy , as do I, and w e have m ajor pla ns:we ’re look in g at releasin g at leas t a fe w m ore pedals in 201 6. We have at least f ive that are potentially r eady to go.” K H : “We’re all very in spired an d ver y, very excited a bou t this. I thin k it’s the first t im e
After signature models with Music Man and Peavey, Eddie finally set up shopwith Fender to create EVH Gear – from 5150s to Wolfgangs and Stripes, every era of Eddie’s tone is available.
TomScholz For the Boston guitarist and mechanical engineer, the urge to create was more than a feeling, and his line of Rockman headphone amplifiers made him the srcinal guitar gear businessman and innovator.
Brian May May built the srcinal Red Special with his dad back in the 60s – to save him the trouble of p utting more together by hand, the Q ueen guitarist aunched l Brian May Guita rs in 2004, which produces the Special in various guises, from electrics toukuleles. you ’ll see a pedal com pan y actually bein g driven by an actual guitar player , like Tom Scholz and Rockm an – I really don ’t know of any other guitar players out t here w ho are actually makin g pedals . I know there are a lot of guitar player s out there makin g am ps, there are a lot of guitar players ou t t here m aking guitars and w hatnot, and a lot of players ou t t here en dorsing stuff, but the fact that I’ m m akin g peda ls, and w e’re trying to just m ix i t all up , it’s fun for m e a nd it’s super- cool, and Dave an d I are really , really en joy in g it. It’s a b ig su rp rise , an d I ’m just really ins pired, and hopefully through m y inspiration and m y excitemen t, it ’ll catch on w ith other players an d w e can j ust spread the good, good vibe.” FEBRUARY 2016
eg a Im ire W / isse W kr a M se g a Im tty e G /n a n liFag C n la Hs s Ro n o ss Ga m a d A © 55
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M EG ADET H
INTERV IEW
P
Dave ustai M ne si intotal control . There ar e nomore com prom ises, andhe’s taki ngnoprison ers iw th Megadeth’s latestbu almof ‘intellectual spee dmetal ’, ‘Dyst opia’.W e meethe t oss b , andnewrecr uit KikoLoureiro Words Jonathan Horsley Photography Joseph Branston
Dystopia ,andofa
D
ALLHAILTHENEWFLESH Ad le r , w ho ispull ing double s hif tson thi stour , is Dystopia D yst opia
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INTERV IEW MEG ADET H
D ave M ust aineand new recr uit KikoLoureiro sho w off theirD ean and Ibane z signatu res
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MEGADETH
that Conquer Or Die Eruption
Mustaine
INTERVIEW
“I consider myself to be a betterrhythmlayer p than a lead player”
RUSTINPINEAPPLE
LEADDRUMS,LEADBASS
Dystopia
STRAIGHTFROMTHESOURCE
PANICATTHEDISCO Peace Sells… PeaceSells
Meet Kiko Loureiro, the man whose blazing leads will set the world afire H e’s a produc t of hisenvir onm ent…
and influences and different atmospheres, “The most difficult thing is to go onstage andthentryto incorporate that into a and play the songs that you’ve just learned “I come from Brazil, so I was always very metalband.” with the guys who have been playing that interested in the Brazilian music, which is very related and connected to jazz, the song for 20,30 years.” H e does n’t need a st ac k ofgear… harmonies and the improvisation.” M egadeth is al l about precis ion… “I have a signaturemodelfromIbanez, theKIKO100,and I mainlyuse that. “[Mustaine]really wants me to play it the A nyth i nggoes… way it was created, like the downstrokes, “I was a guy who was trying to learn asI just use my one guitar that I feel comfortable [with].” upstrokes. The riff’s palm-muting had to much as possible in different styles. Why be precise. The A chord could not be open not listen to Greek music, or Spanish, or South American, or Arabian, Hawaiian Torhere’ s a diff erence betw een kn ow ing string; it has to be fifth fret... It really makes a difference.” Japanese? Bring these different moodsthe songs and owning them…
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s e g a Im ty te G / ro tu ib trn o C / n ilo s p E ©
Fivereasonswhy DystopiaseesMegadeth back in business
1 THE THRE AT IS RE New Megadeth guitarist iko Loureiro started out in Brazillian metal band Angra Mustaine is excited about making music on his own terms
AL
Marching to a trademark Mega-groove,thisseesMustaine in full-onsneermodewith Loureiro engaging himin a searinglead duels. Mustaine takes this oneon points.
2DY STO PIA
Oneof thealbum’s catchiest songs hasa verse that’s reminiscentof Hanger 18 ’spedal-pointeighth-note ’n’squawk.The title trackis alsoa goodshowcase forLoureiro to enter themelodicshredwormhole.
TheConj uring 3 is a grea t son be uvi t lit’s 4 gogt, d worshipinit! 5
CO N Q U E R O R DIE
Mustainewanted Loureiroto play somethinglike Eruption here,but with a knuckle-poppin’nylonguitarintro, thisinstrumentalis SpanishFly too.
FATAL ILL U SIO N
NotsinceSymphonyOfDestruction has Dave‘Junior’ Ellefson’sbass been on theattack like this,but hisbottom endwork isjustpart ofwhatmakes FatalIllusio nsuchan aggressive, helter-skelter track.
BU LL E T TO THE BRAIN
A sort of hard-rocking prequel to Wake Up Dead , complete with gang vox and a lead break that references Hanger 18’s frantic outro solo.
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PurpleRain
TAKINGCAREOFBUSINESS D ys topia C ru sh ’E m Risk Ru st In Pe ac e lineup reunion
K il li ngIs M yBusi nes s… An d their debut, Bu sines sIs G ood ! Th e Con juri ng with
M egadeth’s new album, Dystopia , is out 2 2 Janua ry 2 0 1 6 on Tr adecraf t Recor ds
INTERV IEW EV ERY THINGEV E ERY THING
Theystud iedjazz, writeon laptop s and don ’t care about one. t MeetJonat han iggs H andAlex R obertshaw, the gu itar pl ayers whoare m akingpopprogres sive
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R
idiculously-s choo led m usic ians, rai sed on 90sroc k,m aki ng adventurouss ynth- lade n pop tune s. You m ig ht not expe c t thos e ingr edie ntsto m ake a gre at band,but Everyt hi ng Everyt hingare f arfrom your ave rag e bunc h ofkidswit h gui ta rs . At a t i m e when ot herbandsofth e er a were pedal li ng O as isknock- off sto the deli ght of the tr endy m usi c pres s, f rontman Jonathan H ig gs , guit ari st Alex Roberts haw and thei r E very thi ng E ver ythi ng bandm ate sw eretaki ng a ver y dif fe rentroute. Pac king a sound thatshi ft severywhere fr om Futur e O fT he Lef tpos t - roc k t o Tal ki ng H ea ds synt h-popvia Johnny M arrm el odie sand epi c Jonny G re enwood sounds c apes , t he Bri t fours om e have proven thatB ri t roc k does n’t have to be al l are na-s ized c hords and obnoxiousattitude. Ins te ad, on lat es t al bum GetToHeaven,they show tha t l es scan be m ore . And ve ry dif f er ent . Ju st take a li st to the rec ord’ stit le trac k and opener To TheBladeto hear Alex jolt ing in and out of li f e,sparki ng fr om res tr aine d pati ence to el ec tr if ying energ y in the bli nk of an eye. TG m etup wit h t he duo duri ng t he band’ s re c entheadl i ne tourand we l ooked toget ins ide theh eadsof thes e two ref res hingl y prog ress ive songw rite rs.
“We all had our Zoom 505s trying to do ‘OK Computer’in a village hall”
Whendid guitar first comeintoyourlives ? Alex: “Itw asthrough li s te ning to bandsin
ti m e.W henyo u’veplayedguitaral l of your lif e an d th en you get a lap top it’s exci ting to
Alex: “I li ke guita ris tsthat
m y ea d.rl yRage t ee nsAgai , t hensmt us pl aye T hei cmM yacolhiderbrot ne,N i rvher ana,s BloodSugar Sex Magikby theC hil i Pe ppers . Blur and Radiohead c am e a li tt lelat er .” Jon: “Sm as hing Pum pki ns asw el l.A nythi ng t hatw asgrung e or al t . You l ea rne d t hat you want ed t o ro c k outw i t h a gui t arfr om Am er i c a and the n you l ea rne d t hatyou wan te d to useeff ec tswh en you li s te ned t o Radiohe ad.W e al lw entthr ough t hat t ra ns i ti on, we al lh ad our s hi t t y Z oom 505s t ryi ng t o m ake OKComputer c ome t o l i f e i n a vill age hall and itj ust didn ’t w ork [laughs] .”
fiw nd ou t all ofstthese hings you il iarcan ithsound hatyot u’ renothattfam w doit h. O nce a song isfi ll ed u p w it h a ll oft hese great soun dsdoyo ureall yw anttoplaybigchords andstr um ?N o,it w ouldbea m es s .Youhave to thin k ab ou t the sonic space that is left ov er . T hat’ show itwasforthe fi rs ttwo records.O n thenew album w em adeaconsc iouse ff ortt o w rit e from a guitar point of view. ”
Str okesw It ’sthat ki ndoyable of thi ng w ereeregood there issf or om that ethi . ng very enj to li s te n to underneat h thelead voc al .” Jon: “I t hi nk i fyou m akeyour s ongsgood enough to not need a voc althen the y’re goi ng t o bere al l y go od whenyou do putoneon. W ell , ei ther that or they’ llbe too ful l,w hic h w e’re also gu ilty of [laugh s].”
How muchof a game changerwas Radiohead for you,guitar-wise ? Jon: “I re al l y hea r Jonny G re enwood and hi s
atti tude in A lex’s playing. R adioh ead aren’ t est ablishm ent tech-y , they’ re an archic tech-y . T hey m ake s tuf f and bre ak stuf f, w hic h I really like, an d h e d oes that w ith a g uitar. It’ s no t abou t pris tine ton e, it ’s all abou t m akin g som ethingyo u’ven everheard before.” Alex: “ It’s abou t creati ng m oo d m ore th an it is abo ut sit ting on top o f a t rack.” Your playing is incredibly sparse at times, it’s making a lot from very little Alex: “ I have a love of s ynth a nd so does Jon ,
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You’re certainly not your typical four-piece British guitar band... Jon: “ W egrewu pw hil ethewh oleO as is
Brit pop thing w as happen ing and w e got t he tai l- end oftheLibert ines w henw ew ere form ingthe ban d and itputu sofft hatj angly , ful l s oun d. We w anted t o be m uch m eaner and lea ner .W ew ereantial otofw hatw as hap penin g in the mu sic indu st ry at t he time, es pecial ly i n the U K. W e reall y hated that landfil l indie era. We tho ugh t it w as al l brainles s. Ires pect it a bit m ore n ow but b ack the n it w as, ‘W e’re yo un g, w e ha te this s tuff, can w e d est roy it, please? ’W e d idn ’t ha ve laptops at that point in the band so al l we h ad toexpress that feel ing w asour gu it ars. W e tri edtom akethi ngss oangu larandm akethe arrangem ents interes ti ng. So m uch of m usic iss o laz y, all the cli chesofp laying a g uitar bore the absolute hell out ofus.”
do s ub-m elody pl ay i ng –Grah am Coxon,Johnny M ar r,the
Doyoutendto start writingwitha guitaror a laptop? Alex: “It’sb oth. M ore oft en on the las t album
I woul d ha vea mel odyinm y he adand t he n I’d go to guit ar . It’sthe idea that you can have a t houg hton an i ns t rumentand putit str ai ghtint o a m ac hineand t urn i t i nt o a full y-fl edged thing, that’ s w hat’ s great abou t havi ng a l apt op athand. Jon wil lsomet i m es have s om et hing,an ins ane la ptop cr eat i on an d we ha vet o t hi nk ab outhow we c an make i tw or k asa ba nd.W e al lhaveto bat t l e an d wor k i toutina ro om.” R e g r e t isan interesting guitartrackon
thenewreco rd.Theguitarpartreally movesthesong Jon: “D ude, that isa ter ri ble guit ar tra ck!
I w rote that t un e, i t was a s im ple thing I used to sing aro un d th e h ou se because it’ s s o du m b. It was a cas e of playing it out reall y
EV ERY THINGEV ERY THING INTERV IEW Jon’s main guitars are a G&L ASAT(l) and a Fender Telecaster (r)
M AY RR’ SE GUITAR HA WIR Howabotched 355has orm fedAlex's trademarksound Live, Alex favours his 1977 Gibson ES-355, and it's a guitar with one very famous previous owner. “I've got an old 335 that I bought a few years ago and since buying that I haven't played anything else,” he says. “It belonged to Johnny Marr. He gave it to a crew member and then he sold it on and I bought it from that person. Johnny Marr confirmed that it used to be his. The problem is that it's wired totally wrong, to the point that you can't go near it for fear of changing the sound. It's pretty unique, someone has totally botched it but it sounds great. In the studio I have to tune it up to the part quite a lot but then live it is ever-so-slightly out. The only modifications are the series of errors since 1977 that happened in the wiring. But I've never played a guitar that sounds so good.”
Jon’s minimal ’board has just boost, reverb, delay and a tuner!
ss oquare Iw anted toplay h arm onoving y in a les s w ay .It’ off satverys he quare-m harm on y.Livethatsongisl ikeam as s ive guitars olothatis veryquietinthem ix.Th at is n’t regim ented at all li ve, I just ha ve a s tarti nga nd end point.T hat’ sve ryliberat ing and a lot of f un .” s tanda rdlyon thes eoffbeats .W erecorded it and itwasquiteretroand no tli keu s ,itwasn’ t very forward-l ooking and w e wan ted t o s hakeitupsow egotthis m iddleei ghtand w e encourag ed A lextoplay all over it and ruin it. H edi dthat us inghi s [M W FX ] Ju dd er pedal, w it h this reall y horriblekind ofs narlington e. T hesong totall ylurchest othe lef t wh en you get t o that point initand thats avesi tfrom beingast raightretr othinga nd that i s a reall y good exam ple of usi ng a traditi on alst ructure and thenthrow ingitas ide.I’ m quite proud ofwh atwedidw it hthat. ” Alex: “Th atJud deris abitofas ignaturefor thenew rec ord,li keon theendof Sprin g/ Su n / W in ter/ D r ea d, thatrepeatingsolothing is just entirely that ped al. You can do totally un reali s ti cthingswithitand itma kesyou s ou nd li keSteveVaion crac k.T here’ sa
tongue-i n-c heekh um our toitas w el l,wh ic h is s om ething w e’ re into. It’s Zappa-like. It can m ake you soun d like an ou trageous guit aris t oritc anm akeyousound li kethew ors t gu itaris t. I like being o n th at li ne.”
A re you able to do that often? Tha t reckless abandon feel seem s pivotal t o this band it w as no because w e had Jon: “In the past
thes e com plex s on gs and w e s tuck to our gun s regim entally and w e had to st ic k to therule s otherwis ew ew ould fuck ever ything up. O n this record w e s et as ide w ho le s ect ionsofs on gswh erew e tol dA lext odo w hatthef uckhe w anted. I fel t we ha d this res ou rce that w as very m uch und erus ed.M ike’ s [Spearm an] notgoingtoplay adrum s olo un les s you absolutely force him to,Jez[Prit chard]w il lprobablyplaya bass s olo bu t nobo dy w ants that. So w e gaveA lexthes ese ct ionsand toldhim tojust m es sabout.Ithinkth at’ sbeenreall ygoo d forhim,good fort hes oun dand goodforthe w ho leatm osphere.It’ snow les sofaf eel w hereit’ sas ifwe’reonaclic kan dw ehave to
“Alltheclichesofplaying aguitarboretheabsolute helloutofus”
seems li ke one that has a real No Reptiles free-form feel to it… Alex: “Live,t hatsongis agrow ing,am biti ou s
thing,bu ton recordit’ sal labou ttryi ng tofi nd apo cketi nth edist anceform etosi t in. I felt like there w as a lot of in-your -fac e s ynth st uff and there w asn’t a lot of dis tance
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INTERV IEW EV ERY THINGEV ERY THING
A L E X ’S G E A R
Unlike Jon, Alex’s ’board is a much big ger affair, with a myriad of boutique pedals
Alex’s ES-335 , formerly owned by one Mr J Marr of Manchester …
get totheend of the songothe rwise we’re dead.” Alex : “I remember we wereat a festival andI saw the Bad Seedsplay. They were playing and thesongw asgettingfas ter andfas ter andloude r andloude r and you felt likeat anymome nt itwas all goingto fall apart. Nick Cavewasin the crowd and it waschaos. I’m gettingmore into thatkind ofthing , there isa great atmospherein a room when someoneis freely expressing themselvesand it could go wro ng,thatis reallyexc iti ng.I wen t to go seeKing sOf Leon once andit wasso boring , itwas just likelis teningto the CD really loud. It’s niceto havespa ceto experimentlive, like onSpring Sun… an d theendof Get To Heavenwhere there’s an anti-solo moment.”
That solo is a fantastic guit ar mom ent, but not what you w ould call a fantastic piece of playing, perhaps! Jon: “The end ofGet To Heavenis just really bad gui tar playin g for a mom ent,which is fun ny kno winghow reallygoodAle x is. That’s hisopport unityto shine and he does thisrea lly shitsol o on purpose with a not very good tone andit wasre corded in a hotel room. We tried it again through some amps Do es that sum up the feel of the band – it’s butit sound edtoo good! If it wasthi sgre at not perfect bu t it is emotion-packed? soloit wouldbe horrible.” Jon: “We arehighly trained in music and Alex : “There wasone moment where Jeremy know what we’re doing, but it’s so asked why thatbit wasin there andit imp ortant to realise that isn’ t the be all and soun ded shitand thatmademe wantto keep end all and know when to throw all of that it in even more. It draws emotion out of away. If the music is all one colour then you people, it goes from this super slick can’t see anythin g.” produ ction to feelinglike thesongis about to fall apart. I wantedthatlightand shade. It’s b een five years since you released your I w as just thinking, ‘What wou ld Graham debut album.H ow have you evol vedas Coxon do What woul d Dave Longstreth do ’gu ita ris ts s in ce th en ? Having sections like that makes for a more Alex : “I d on’t think I’ve strummed a chord vibrant album.” since I joined the band.” 66
FE BRU A RY 20 16
Alex uses an MWFX Judder to sample, gargle and generally mangle his notes
“Idon’tthink I’vestrum med achordsinceI joinedtheband” Jon: “We’ve saved that for al bum four!” Alex : “I’ve become a better listener playing with p eople all the time. I’ve learned to find a place for suitable guitar parts. I’ ve learned to not play.When you fi rst join a band, everyone just all plays at the same time.” Jon: “Everyone has always had space to do their own thing , butit usedto betha t everyon e wasdoin g their own thingall at the same time so no one knew what the fuck wasgoi ng on!”
E verything E verything’s GetToHeaven available now on Sony Records
is
INTER VIEW JA VIERRE YES
REY ES OF LIGHT He m ay be happ y tobe theidem s aninAnimals As Lead ers, but Javi er R eyes si creati ng his ownsou ndwithside-p roject,Mesti s W ords: Amit Sharma
nyonethat hasread aboutAnimals As The context hespe aksof can behea rd all Leaderswill befamili arwith the name over Polysemy – a synthesisof thegutTosin Abasi. Less is known, however, punching metal we’ve grown to expect from of hispartner-in-crime, Javier Reyes – the him with themore percussive plainsof Latin other half of the band’s ferociouseight-string American-style shufflesand syncopated grooves. There’s more than enough assault. Together they’ve been among those responsiblefor championing the progressive subterranean riffing across the board, soundscapesof tech-metal to glorious heights. though in truth, it’s songssuc h as Pura Vida Buteven though much of hisown fretwork is and Mt Pleasantthatshowcase a different equally aschallenging asthatof his fellow side of theguitar ist, with melodic jazz-fusion atthe very core of hisessence. In fact, this guitarist, Reyes haslong shied from the
thing wh ich is ultimately who I am. It’s an expression of my personality. Some of this music soun dsmorelike methanme speaking! Tha t wasmy ultimategoal and it feltverydiffer entto AAL.” One other remarkable aspectof Polysemy is just how fluid Reyes’playing sounds from beginning to end. The soft melodies seem to roll and tumble back and forth with the ebb and fl ow of shifting time signatures. It’ s quite the antithesis to the modern age of burst-
limelight. Even now, returning with Polysemy – thedebut full-length from his other project, Mestis – recognition is not something the 34-year-old LA resident particularlycraves. “I’m not a big fan of being the centre of attention,”he laughs. “That’s not really my goal. And also another reason I’ve teamed up wit h JoeLes ter andDav e Timnick from Intronautfor the livevers ion of Mestis. Thepoint of thisband isto notbe the focus. I just wantto play sick music wit h sick musicians who I get alongwith! It’s essentially my music – some of thematerial I wrote backin 201 3 fora bedroom project justshooting the shit in my home studio – butev entuallyI wantto wor k wit h these guysto add more to it. It’s just my own little fun thing.” As for hisplace in AAL, taking the back seat was not only something that suited him, but also partof thejob description all along . “In thatband I play more of a supporting role,”he says. “But it’s what I was hired for and I’m good at it. So that’s what I do. With Mestis, I don’t feel like I’m playing anything harder, but the context of the material allows for my own style to be more present.”
picking shred wizards queued up on YouTube – which only adds to the charm of its dreamlike atmospheres… “I used a lot of fingerpicking on thealbum,”admit s Reyes. “It’s essentially my forte. It’s somethingI studied a lotand eventually becameone of my strongestpoints, soI wanted to incorporate that. I wanted to highlight these fingerpicking skillsthrough material that felt uniq ue. I actuallytrie d notto go toocrazyon thisalbum asfar astechnique, the majori tyof it isall fin gerpi cking . I can play every songwitho uta pick, just my hands! There’s only one song with the thump techniq uewe use in AAL. I puttha t in there for thesevere techyfans , otherwise I would have been criticised! [laughs]” Reyeshasploughed a greatdeal of time and effortinto creating something distinct from hismain band here, buthe’s at leastgot a sense of humour if some listenersfoc us moreon itssimila rities to AAL. “It’s inherently different. But obviously there will besomeshared influ ences: I’m in both frickin’bands! [laughs]”
A
latest body of workeve n delvesbac k toa timewhen the musici an gaveup gui tar to focuson… hisrap career !
“Thepoint ofhits bandis tonot be the focus.I justwant toplaysick m usic with sick m usica i ns whoI get lo angwith! It’ s justmy ownlittle funthing”
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FEBRUARY 2016
“Fora long timeI actually stoppedw ritin g guitar-based music and only wrote hip-hop,” he laugh s. “I wasreally influenced by guys like Mos Def, Nas, older stuff like Notorious B.I.G . Asmuch ofa div a KanyeWest is, I think theguy is very talented and forwardthinking. It’s innovative, timelessmusic. To me, hip-hop is morefocus ed on that, rather than trying to makethe fastestblastbeat or craziest timesigna ture… Which is cool! “And actually I learned a lot fromit. Then I wentback to AAL and became thisguita r personality... it felt like I had left that hip-hop worl d andI wantedto bringit back. I’m also Latin American,so I wan ted toinclud e my upbring ingin the music too. I wan ted metal, hip -hop,prog , Latin America all in thisone Polysemyis out now on Sum
erian Recor ds
o i rz
a M i D ry r a L ©
JAVIERREY ES INTERVIEW
M ONTAGEOFTE CH Javier Reyes tal ks abo ut the gear sed he tocaptu u re them ipressi ve gui tarsoun ds of‘Polysem y’ ... E record I used m ysignatureeight-str ing ES P, w hich has an as h bod y w it h a fi ve-piece walnut, m aple andpadu ak neck, pl us an ebon y fretboard . I t also features m y s i gnature D i M arzi o pickups,wh ic hIthinkp la y a huge role i n m y tone. Is pen talotoft ime w it h them designi ng these pickup s, they let you reall y hearthesoundofthe guitar itsel f. T here’s only som anyst epsbeyond buyingm yguit art osound li ke m e! “A ft erthatm yA xe-Fx i s m y nextgo -to piece of ” ONTH
gear. I did all m y tracking ontheA xe-Fx, therewas nothi ngm i c’ dup onthe al bu m . I w entstrai ght into the m on it ors! It’ s m y bedroom proj ect, I di dn’t wan na go crazy w it hstudioand all the exorbitantcosts. Iw anted todo thi susi ngthe bare m i nimum . Even the plugins, there w eren’t reall y anythirdparty one s–I just usedthe stock Lo gic one s. I only need ed this to sound goodenoughforme,and forthat,Logicdoesag reat jo b . I f y o u w e r e t o se e m y m i xsessi ons,they’renot thatex tensive atall !”
FE BRU A RY 20 16
69
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HagstromRetroscapeCondor Retr o-tas ti c sol i dbod y fr om the Swedes.. .
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REVIEW HAGSTROM CONDOR
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HAGSTRO MC ONDOR
GEA R
HAGSTROM
RESTROSCAPECONDOR£619 ASwedish rar e birdof h te 6 0s takes ght fli on ce again
TH E
condor isabig palmful,easytoget on with, featheryv ulturething ands houldhitit offwith mos t that conductsitsbusi nes sinSouth guitarists. In classic H ags trom America.TheHagström Condor, on theotherhand,isareissue of a fromRes inator, a tough wood guitar launchedb ytheSwedis h composite materialwith someof manufac turerastheCorvettebackthelooksandsonicpropertiesof in 1963. You don’ t ever wantto get ebony . The ’ board iss tampedwith thetwoconfus ed. W e shouldpoint outthatanybird-relatedpuns that with a 381mm (1 -inch) radius– follow aremade pos sible thanks to Hagstromrenamingi tsorignal Corvette model the‘ Condor’ for perfectlycutGraphTechBlack theUSmarket in the60s,probablyTusqX L topnut. becaus e Gretschalreadyp roduced Playabilityisperfect, with no itsownCorvette-tagg edmodel at buzzi ngorchok ingduringstri ng thetime. bendsanywhere on the L ikeitsvintage predecessor, the reissue Res troscapeCondorcomes provid esa retro shimmer–more acros sa bit like a GibsonSG wobblyHankMarvinthan wearinga Stratocas ter cos tume. dive-bombingEddie Van Halen – Themahog anybodyfeaturesa andreturns to pitcheverytime. glued-inmahog anynec kwith a Great, we hear youcrow… but 629mm (24.7 -inch) scalelength whataboutthos e switches? W ell, like theSG,whilethepickup youget an on/ offslider switchfor
ATAGLAN CE BODY : Mahogany NECK: M ahogany,ued-i gln SCALE: 628mm(24.75”)
NECK Condor’s fingerboard is formed from Resinator, a woodbased composite material that has the appearance and some of the tonal properties of ebony T H E
FING ERB OARD :Resinator FRETS: 22,mediumj umbo
lnico PICKU PS:3xRetro-SA Vsinglecoils CO NTRO LS:3xpickupon off, bass cut,aster m toneon off, mute,master vol ume HA RDW ARE: Chrom eTremar vibrato andtune-a-m atic bridge , 15:1ratiosealedtuners No LEFT HA ND ED: FINISH: Brow nBurst (show n), Black Gloss,CherrySunbu rst, TobaccoSunburst Rosetti 0137 6550 033 CON TA CT: www.hagstromguitars.eu
VIBRATO Condorcomesloadedwith theclassicHagstromTremar unit – it’s silky smooth in operation and maintains perfect tuning thanks to the bridge’s roller saddles T H E
CONTROLS pickuphasitsown on offsliderswitch.The remainingthree switches offertonalvariations, includingabass-cut function EACH
You’llfindsometonesyou haven’ tencou nteredbefore layoutands ix-in-line tunershaveeach pickup.Thatmeans you a Strat vibe. In fact, thesrcinal can engage one,two or all three Corvette/ Condor ’ sheads tock pickupsatonce, so thi si sa lookedremarkab lyclos e to that vers atileguitar.Theremainingtrio of a Strat,andit’ snosurprise that of slidersoffertonemanipulation: thishasbeentweakedintoa less ‘ master tone on/ off ’ ,‘ bas scut’and controver sial shapefor thereissue.‘ mute’ . Asitsname suggests,bas s Rattlingthroug h thespecsheet,cutsucksthebottom-endf romthe thethreeRetro-Salnico V-loaded toneandreveals someicytreb le. single-coilpickupsarewiredtoa Thisisy ourclassic 60sspy/ surf master volume, andthesix-switch guitarsoundwhenyourun the chromepanel thatdominates the bridge pickup onitsown.In the guitar’ slowerbout.M oreon the otherpos itions ,it allowsthe latterin a moment. Theremainder guitar to cutthroug h,addinggreat of the Condor’ ss hinyplumage stringseparation andclarityto n o s a G m a d A y h p a r g o t o h P
cons istsof anedwith old-s chool Trem overdriven anddistor tedstuf f. the vib rato team a tune -o-ar Y ou might thinkthat mute cuts matic bridge,with roller saddles, si gnalcompletely. Actually,i t’ s anchor edto the guitar’ sbody . more like a trumpet mute, If theneckwason an internet datingsite,it wouldlikelydes cribethevolume.Thiswork sbest when itself as‘ more to l ove’ . It’ sanice compingjazzyrhythm
FEBRUARY 2016
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REVIEW HAGSTROMCONDOR
S wede little rock ’n’ rollers! A potted history of the kings of Scandinavia
TheTremar vibrato andmyriadswitches give a realretrovi
UntilSwedishmanufacturer Hagstrom began producing guitars in 1958, it was best known The srcinal Condor’s for accordions. Take a look at its Strat-ish headstock has early guitar models, and you’ll been given a makeover find them wrapped in the same pearloid and sparkle finishes they used on Hagstrom’s well-regarded squeeze boxes. With the rock ’n’ roll explosion of the 50s, and thescarcity of American instruments in Europe, local manufacturers took up the slack. There was Hofner and Framus
FENDER STANDARD STRATOCASTER PLUSTOP £569 This latest incarnatio nofthe srcinal three-singlecoil tone machine featuresa flame maple top. Finish options are Tobacco Sunburst with a rosewood fingerboard and Aged Cherry Burst with a maple ’board.
in Germany, Burns and Vox in the UK, and Hagstrom inScandinavia. The company introduced a number of innovations, including the first eight-string bass, the Swede Patch 2000 – an early guitar synth – and the H-Expander Truss Rod, which ushered in the development of super slim neck profiles. Notable Hagström wielders include Elvis Presley and Pat Smear of The Germs, but the man who really put the brand on the map was BjörnUlvæ us of ABBA. Mamma mia, indeed
DA NELE CTRO ‘63 £499 Theking of retroscoresbig with a lightwe ightbodyan ultra-playable neck.The finishes Red Sparkle Burst and three metal flakes (Turquoise,Black and Red) are pure 60s cool.
chords, but it’ s a little dark a nd they possess more than enough muddy for anything else. Master output for rock and metal, even if some tones you haven’t tone on/off fattens up whatever the guitar looks a bit demure forencountered before. Interms pickup selection is engaged at the heavy brigade. of build quality, sounds and the time, and conversely leaves The South American Condor playability , the Condor is up there ITALIA MODENA CLASSIC comes with a pretty big bill. in the retro guitar pecking order.£779 O eredin SilverSparkleand the off position. With itsSRP of £619, our reissue E d Mitchell As cool as a bank of switches Hagstrom doesn’t. You ’re getting BlueSparkle fin ishes,this S looks, how many of a lot of guitar your money, U the tone controls onus ouractually guitars? use even if the tonefor switches are more M The novelty of the toneslidersmay gimmicky than essential. The M wear off, but the soundof those pickup switches , on the other A R single coils will endure. They’re hand, are one of this guitar’ s big Y bright and clear for country, blu es,selling points. There are some and other roots endeavours, yetgreat pickup combinations at your
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FEATURES SOUNDQUALITY VALUEFORMONEY BUILDQUALITY PLAYABILITY OVERALL RATING
pearloid-b tributeto the gaudyacked Eko guitars of the 60s comes with three minihumbuckers and a vintage vibrato.
REVIEW BOSS DD 500
CONNE CTIONS BESIDES the usual
stereo ins and outs, you c an pl ug in an expression pedal, sync tempos via M ID I, pl us swap out presets from you r P C via the U SB por t
EDITING
FOO TSWITCHES
THE D D -500 o ff ers
HIT A and B toget her to
bountiful parameters for each delay type, as well as the ability to choose buffered or true bypass and assign functions to the tap/ control footswitch
bank down through presets, hit B and tap/ control to bank up; hold A or B f or two seconds and you head into looper mode
ATA GLAN CE
Digital delayped al TYPE: value, CO NTRO LS:Mode,time/ feed back, effect level, ton e, m od depth ;down, up,exit,edit keys uts, 2xoutp uts, SO CKET S:2xinp contr ol/express ion,USB, MIDI in/out, pow er truebyp ass BY PA SS:Bufferedor owersupply not POW ER:9Vp included), 4xAAbatteri es RolandUK CO NT ACT: 0179270 270 1 www .roland.c o.uk
BOSS D D -50 0
D I G I TA L D ELAY
£275
An almightyecho-heavyaddition tothe tenacious DDseries
BACK
in 1 983, Bosswas
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FEBRUARY 2016
Michael Astley-Brown
TheDD-500ranksamongthe besthigh-enddelayunits
S U M M A R Y
FEATURES SOUNDQUALITY VALUEFORMONEY BUILDQUALITY USABILITY OVERALLRATING
GEAR
VICTORYVXTHE KRAKEN
FOOTSWITCHING TWOseparatefootswitch
inputsallowyoutoswitch betweeneitherbothgain channels,orbetweenboth mastercontrols
ATA GLAN CE
All-valveheadwith TYPE:
CONTRO LS DESPITE the lunchbox proportions, the front
WA TTAGE
control panel doesn’t feel at all cluttered, with a straightfoward layout and chunky knobs
A low-power mode,
VICTORYVX THE KRAKEN £829
switches the amp down to 15 watts, or two watts in single-ended mode
Acute-loo king amp ho using monstroustones any might THE comp rela ti velynew
be on the s cene, but Victory am ps has been m aking seri ou s w aves. W hile i ts am pshavepre vious lybee naim ed at rockplayers and shredd ers s uch asGu thrieG ovan,thelates t additi on totherangeis aim edat not jus t at the m etal player… but the extended -range m etal player . T heKrakenaw akes … So, w hat m akes Vict ory m etalm arket? W ell ,ithas n’t ente redunacc om panied,f orw hen des igningtheam ptheyw is ely extended-rangetones ,R abea M as s aad(w hoh imse lf hadbeen experim enti ng w it h a m ulti tude of diffe rentam psetupsf orh is
51 50,an dit’ st hosetwo ic onic am ps that provided the inspirati on fort hetw o-c hann elVic torywe (orchann elone)repres enti ng m odd edM ars hallt erri tory ,and channeltw om etal -f rie ndly A m eri canst ylehigh-gai n. Plugged intoc hann el one on a m od erate gain s etti ng, w e’ re
T heK raken’ sf eroci ty isvery m uch hous ed i n channeltw o, and w hatabrutalbeas t it ’ s beenhidi ng!Ifyou’ rea fa n of M es huggah,Peri pheryand the li ke thenyou w il lal m ost cer tai nly be fam il iar with the s up er-t ight eigh t-s tring w ielding gu itaris ts , and ru nn ing our ow n eight- s tri ng
ahugeam ountofgai natour dispo sal. In st ead , cl ass ic rock ton es rem inis cent of Z eppelin and even
throu gh th e Victory , it pro ves im poss ibl enottoconjure up s im il arlyheavyandd extrous polyrhythm ic rif fs .Th e tonesare
baritam oneps voic guitar ings. s ),to R help the abeatwis eak guit ari s tw it hR obC hapm anfrontedrockers D orje(s eep46) w ho, prior t othe bir th of The K raken , had a setup consis ting of a M ars hall JCM 900andaPeavey
ers tage and out ofthe pow compact butpowerful 2x1 2 vertical c ab. B ut as great as that s oun ds, w e’ rekeento,ahem , rel eas etheKraken w it hou r eight- s tri ng Strandberg Bo den.
incrl ow ediblyF#w ,andellposi-f ocusti vel ed, y even the punch on throughthecabw it hout eve r s olow ork is s harp and aggress ive on ch ann el 2 es peciall y, w ith m ountains ofgai non tap.E ven
The tones are ncred i iblywellfocused, evenonthe lowF#
2gainmodes 50/ 2watts RM S O UTPUT: 4x12A X7, 2x6L6 VA LVES: switchabletoEL34s) m treble, CO NTRO LS: Bass, iddle, master 1,master 2, chan nel 1gain, chann el2gain SOC KET S:Serieseffectsloop sendand return; 3xspeak er outputs;2xfootswitchinputs W EIGH T:8.2kg DIMEN SIONS:[HxWxD] 185x342x185mm yV212-V V O PTIONS:Victor Vertical CabinetwithCelestion Vintage 30s £499) VictoryAmplification CONT ACT: www.victoryamps.com
wit h t he ga i n di m ed,t he amp, w hilen ois ier , retai ns an as tonis hing cl arit y and s im ply ref usesto s oun d over-s aturate d. A longside Fra ctal ’ sa ll- digital Axe-Fx,thereareanumberof long-es tabl is hed A m eri can- m ade metalampsthatdominatethe s tagesof our m etal -pl aying heroes , and i tw i l ltak e qui t e s om e amp tokn oc k the m of fthei r per c h. Com ingin atles sthan hal fthe pri ceof it scom pet it ors , T he Krak en c oul d wel lbe t hatamp. Co ntrol le d fe roc it y in a ti ny pac kage,itvery m uch li vesup t o i t sname and gi ve n t he opportunit y, coul d ver y w el l devour the opposi ti on! Darran Charles S U M M A R Y
FEATURES SOUNDQUALITY VALUEFORMONEY BUILDQUALITY USABILITY OVERALLRATING
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ROUNDUP RETRO BARIT ONE ROUND UP
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GEAR ROUND UP Words: JonathanHo rsley Photography: OllyCurtis
RETRO BA RITON E R O UND UP Take control of your low-end with three baritone
electrics that harken back to a bygone era, when the electric was redefining counry rock ’n’roguitar ll some growl and twang ! and giving
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ROUND UP RETRO BARITONE RO UND UP
FIRST
popularised in the mid-1950s, the baritone muscles inon the bassist’ s tonal fiefdom, and as a result has a reputation as a specialist’s instrument. In truth, it’s as versatile as any of its six-stringed kin. In country,the ‘tic-tac’baritonebasslinefast became a means of exorcising post-divorce angst. The baritone was a regular feature on Spaghetti Western scores, while saltwater surf-rock wouldn’t be the same withoutits post-pubescent baritone twang, and in more recent years, the baritone has become a familiar weapon for metallers looking for new frontiers of heavy. Typically tuned a fourth below standard tuning, BEADF#B, or a perfect fifth, ADGCE, the baritone has a longer scale length, while adde d bulk in the body’s bracinghelps keepit in tune. The launch of the PRS SE 277 SemiHollow Soapbar – with chambered back, f-hole and P-90 pickups – inspired us to look at two other baritones that also imbue a sense of classicism. Hagstrom’ s Viking Deluxe is a semi-hollow double-cut with a P-90, while a vintage-voiced humbucker in the bridge promises some snarl. The Danelectro,meanwhile well, the Danelectro takes us right back to 1956 with lipstick pickups and a masonite body, tappingintoour most bass-ic instincts.
A baritone muscles in on the bas sist’s tonalfiefdo m
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DA
N EL EC TRO
’56 BARITONE £499 Bass ’venturer
THE
Danelectro ’56 has a pickup, the cleans are all w ooden wonderful homemade rum ble and feel nstincti i vely ‘ bass’. With feel. Its minimalist construction boaststhe gain cracked up, the neck pickup two single-coil lipstick pickups, a rolls out a gutsy, crude tone, not as nasal three-way select or, a master volume,a as you’d get from a standard guitar tone knob that’s arguably superfluous,but more of an elephantine, Serengeti and a Masonite front and back, bracedmating call. Full-blown fuzz and hyperwith poplar frames. Masonite is more gain bring out something truly bestial in commonly used to make the tables in the ’56 that its creator , Nathan Daniel, your local diner and will never be the could never have dreamed of. most sought-after tone wood, but it addsSwitching to the neck pickup is a a Happy Days vibe to the Dano’s voice. paradigm shifter; this is where the The ’56 is all attitude and all neck. Attwang is kept, all rockabilly bite and 756mm (29.75 inches), its scale is the clarity, just begging for alittle slapback longest of the group– it’s almost a bass–echo or tremolo to bring out the best and has a clubby C-profile neck. Nobodyin what could be considered the Dano’s sets up camp in the bass’s frequenciesArt tohur Fonzarelli mode.Or you could map out solo ideas, but think of the ’56take the nuclear option and engage as a guitar for lead rhythm playing. both pickups for raucous, unruly gain, Tonally, it has three distinct voices, unleashing the rebel spirit that the ’56 all of which are a lot of fun. In the neck Baritone epitomises.
GEA R ROUND UP
V I K I NG D EL U X EB A RI T O N E £699
HAGSTROM
The rumble for your jungle
PRSS
FIRST
im press ions of H agst rom ’s dem ure sem i-ho llow V iking a re tha t it ’s a straigh t jaz zan d ro ck ’n ’ro ller, an d that’ s certainly h alf-true. T he P-90-esq ue
K orea , there’ s a li then ess to the Vik ing. T he D anelec tro s eem s built for rhythm bu t the Viking feel s l ike an a ll- rou nd er . T he Cust om 58B hum bucke r i n the bridge is bright and resonan t, capable of
P-Urified si ngle coil in the neck h as enou gh teet h to bite through those low frequen cies an d ar ticula te jaz zy cho rd s w ith a f air degree of s eparation , wh ile w it h a breaking-up am p, t he Viking c an h an d le blu esy ro ck ’n ’ro ll as easily as w arm , s on oro us jaz zton es. T he neck, m eanw hile , i st hick but com fort able,wh il ethe Resi nator fre tboard,un iq ueto allH ags trom gu itars, i s a com po sit e m aterial tha t’s designed as a m ore ton ally rel iable alternative t o ebo ny. A lthou gh stri ngbending w it h a set of0.01 3si san O lymp ian chore and acc es s to the upper fret s i s l ike getti ng a w ork v is a for N orth
dis hingo utasubterraneancoun tryvibe a la Lee H az lewoo d, and chew y, s inewy clas sic -rock ton es – albeit rend ered in sphincter-troubling registers. Indeed,t hem oreyoucra nkup the gain, t he m ore the Viking D eluxe revea ls its elfas a surprisi ngly g oo d o ption for m etal, certai nly alternative rock and grunge,w it h full -bl ow n fuz zpedal act ionbringingo utah arm onical lyric h and throaty roar , underpinn ed w it h the auth ority of its low er tuning. W hetheryou loveit sDrJ ekyll cl eans orsucc um btoitsM is terH ydealter- ego, theVikingD eluxeis suretoap pealto trad itiona lis ts an d icon oclasts alike.
E 27 7
I - H AO RL £795 LO W SSOE MA PB The beauty among the beasts MOVING
on from the D an electro ’s rou gh ’n’read y ch arm s and the Vik ing’s few un tidy nigg les, it ’sst riking just h ow m etic ulou sthePR S 27 7 ’sf itand fi nishis . PR Sh asahis toryw it hb arit ones,of cours e. Its SE m odel f or Staind m an M ikeM ushokbecam eacultc las sic ,and has becom e m uch soug ht-aft er s ince i ts disc on tinuation. T his semi is the tam er oft hetwon ewSE 27 7m odels ,t heother ofw hichis atwin-hu m buckers oli dbo dy . T he 27 7 sem i i s a hand som e beas t, featuringtha tclas si cPR S si lhou ette
get to grips w ith, as a prov ider of low end grun t and rhythm that al so w aves you on tothe top o ft he fret board. W hil ethePRSSE SoapbarP -90s m ean th e 27 7 is n’t as ton ally versatile as theD anelectro,there’ ss til la dyn am is m toit .T hebridgepickuph aspl entyof pugn aci oussnapw it hcleantones, and harm onic res pon se w hen the gain is diall edin.T hou ghthen eckpic kup takes a little of th at treb ly ed ge o ff, the re’s s till plenty o fchim e, in w hat isa clas si call y vo iced ba riton e tha t’s great fun to p lay . IftheD anelectro’ 56 ist he guitaryo u
w itShba flridge amise matidy aplestve ring-t neer .hrou Th e gh PR constructi on that’ sno to nly com fortable on the palm but anchors t he guitar with a sense of s tability . T he 2 7 7 refers t o its 27 .7-inchs cal elength,and intermsof pla ya bility, i t’s the ea siest of th e th ree to
ightones lendc toover yourband, m andate that w eir d Rm am thein Viking D eluxe c onfou ndsexpect ati onsofwh at a s edate, s em i-hollow can sou nd like, the nthi s PRS SE 277 Semi- H oll ow So apb ar is the on e you ’d take ho m e to m eett hep arents …
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ROUND UP RETRO BARITONE ROUND UP
VERDICT THE DANELECTRO’56 is a c harac ter t hat resists ma ss m arket
appea l, and is sure to appeal to t hose raised on D ick Dale, D uane Eddy or M udhoney ali ke. The Ha gst rom V iki ng Deluxe, m eanw hil e, reall y surprised us with i ts raucous a nd an imalist ic appetit e for lashings an d lashings of gain. Set against those
DANELECTRO ’56 BA RITO N E £499
HAGSTROMVIKING DE
PRS SE 27 7 SE M I-HO LL OW SOAPBAR £795
ATAGLANCE
ATAG LAN CE
ATAGLA NCE
BODY:Contouredplyflamed
BOD Y:Bevelledmaple w/flamemaple veneer Maple N ECK: SCA LE:704mm(27.7”) Rosewood FINGERBO ARD : FRET S:22 PI CK UPS:2xPRSSE Soapbar CO NTRO LS: 1xvolume, 1xtone, -wa 3ypickup selector HA RDW ARE : PRS-designed plate-stylebridge– chrom e No LEFT HA ND ED: Sun burst FINISH :Vintage (show n), ray G Black PRSGuitars CON TA CT:
asonit e, laminated BOD Y:M woodframe Maple N ECK: SCA LE:756mm(29.75”) Rosewood FINGERB OARD: FRET S:24 PICK UPS:2xLipsticksinglecoils one , 1xvolum e, CO NTRO LS: 1xt 3-waypickupselector HA RDW ARE : Intonatable saddledbri dge– hrom c e No LEFT HA NDED: Black, FINISH :Gloss SilverFlake(show n) JohnHornby CON TA CT: Skew es01132865381 www.jhs.co.uk
S U M M A R Y
FEATURES SOUND QUALITY VALUE FOR MONEY BUILD QUALITY PLAYABILITY
OVERALLRATING
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two, the PRS SE 277 i s the classiest propositi on, and the m ost playable, courtesy of a wide, fl at neck and s horter sca le. All have a trebl y brightness belying thei r freq uenc y placem ent, and a n indivi dualist bent t hat could cha nge the way you thi nk about barit one guit ars a nd revolut ionise your playing.
FEBRUARY 2016
maple, sem i-hol low Maple N ECK: SCA LE:711mm(28”) FINGERBO ARD :Resinator (woodcomposite) FRET S:22 PI CK UPS:1xHagstrom Custom58’C(bridge), 1xP-U ri edhum bucker -sized P-90(neck) CO NTRO LS: 2xvolume, 2xtone HA RDW ARE : Longtravel tune-o-matic wbridge / Hagstr omstoptai l – chrom e No LEFT HA ND ED: FINISH :TobaccoSunburst (show n), Black Goss,Cosmic BlackBurst Rosetti CO NT ACT: 013765500 33 www.hagstromguitars.eu
Europe 012 2387 430 1 www.prsguitars.com
S U M M A R Y
S U M M A R Y
FEATURES SOUND QUALITY VALUE FOR MONEY BUILD QUALITY PLAYABILITY
OVERALLRATING
FEATURES SOUND QUALITY VALUE FOR MONEY BUILD QUALITY PLAYABILITY
OVERALLRATING
REVIEW DANO ’58 LONGHORN
DANELECTRO’ 5 8
L O N G H O RN G U I TA R
£499
excellent playability thanks to its shallow D -pro le neck and 21 medium frets. Y ou won’t nd any buz zing or string choking here
Thecurious caseof the reissueguitarthatnever was… tro WHEN Dunanelec veil ed it s
Rumbleis t he iconic ton
ca tal ogue li ste d two bas sm odels and a str angecont rapt i on dubbed th e ‘G u itarlin ’. It’s n ot ju st a clever nam e; thiss ix- stri ng guitar had an all ow f or m andoli n-es que sound s att he bodyend ofthenec k.W hi l e it didn ’t setan y sal es records, the G uit arl in w asimm orta li sed w hen proto- punk fuz zl ege nd Link W ray us ed one i n t he l at e 50s . So, thi snew Longhorn G uit ar , w it h it sregular 21 -f ret neck, didn’ t exis t back in ’58, but w e’re glad it the li ghtw eightb ody isconst ructe d f rom M as oni t e (we know i tas hardboard) panelsgl ued to a hardwood f rame.T he Longhorn’ s body i ssha ped li ke an Anci ent
G erm aniu m -f uelled fuz z, the L on gho rn’s bit ing brid ge pickup pu llsoff i ts prim iti ve blues s ou nd –it’s the m iss ing L ink , if yo u w ill. C lean, the pickup is perfect for cou ntry licks, ped al s teel im press ions, and To m Petty- st yle chord w ork. Aided by those s teel saddles, the neck un it has a deep w ellof twan gatits dis posal ,abit li ke a seri ouslyporkyS tratpi ckup. As w it hanyD ano,thepi ckups are run in seri es w hen combined, produ ci ng a fat hum bucker- li ke tone w it h a d as h o fs parkle t hat w orks atreatf orbig,L edZep-i sh rock rif fs and thick Seven Nation Army-s tyle fuz z. B ack o ff the ga in a bit and you ’ll al soreveal a tasty rockabilly sound.
Longhor
n Ser i esi n 1 958 ,the
Link W ray’son ce -banned e w e’re looking f or here, and w it h som e
In evands eryrespe t, thes Laotten nghti orn dem evercyone’ on G re ek harp c al le d a l yre , gi vi ng i ta uniq ue vis ual impact . M ore important,how ever , the deep cut aways gi ve grea t ac ce ssto the upper fr et s, w hil e the spindlybo dy hornsm ai nta i n bal anc e on a str ap. m aplen ec k hasa ros ewoo d ’board, 21 well -dr es sed m edi um f re tsand al um i nium to p nut,pluss i x vintage- styl e tunerso n the ‘C oke unc appe d i n 1 955 .M ea nwhil e,t he singl e- coi l pic kups areo f the now lege ndary Lipst ic k tube varie ty , ea c h wire d toit sow n c onc ent ri c –aka ‘st acked’ –volu m e and tone c ontrole- w, ay andtogg sel leswit ec te d viaa thre ch.In a break f rom vi ntagespec , the hardtai l bri dge hassi x indi vi dual saddles w it h adjust able height and i ntona ti on i n pla c e ofthe ol dsc hool D ano ros ewood bl oc k.
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D espite i ts rath er eccentric looks,the L ongh orn isas tonall y versat ileasaTelecas terand an absolute peach to p lay . T hat said, not everyonew il lvi bew it hits quirky ret ropackaging.Youcould play it saf e and get s im ilar thrill s from the reiss ue o fthe ’ 59 tw in-cut 3021 Short horn St andar d Dano thatJim m yPage use dfors om e Kashmirkarm a. T hat s aid, i n every res pect , t he Lo ngh orn dem and s everyon e’sattenti on .T he guitar that never was c ould turn ou t t o be the one you can’tli vew it hou t. Ed Mitchell S U M M A R Y
FEATURES SOUNDQU ALI TY VA LUE FOR MON EY BUIL DQU ALITY PLAY ABILI TY OVERALL RAT ING
NECK THE ’58 L onghor n has
ATAGL AN CE
Masonite BODY: w/ hardwood frame
Maple, bolt-on NECK: 25” (635mm) SCALE: Rosewood FING ERB OARD : 21, medium FRETS: 2xLipsticksinglecoils PIC KU PS: CON TROLS :2xconcentric volume and tone,3-way pickup selectortoggleswitch HARDW ARE :Chrome 6-saddle hardtailbridge, vintage-style tuners No LEFT HAND ED: CopperBurstonly FI NISH: CONTA CT:JohnHornbySkewes 01132 865 381 www.jhs.co.uk
BODY THE unique body shape is
borrowed f rom an A ncient Greek harp. Those deep cutaways and long horns give exc ellen t acc ess to the upper frets
PICKUPS THE iconic L ipsti ck tube
pickups provide a fantastic tonal palett e, which ranges from primitive blues to country, rockabilly and majestic British rock
FENDERPARAMOUNTPM 3
GEAR
FENDER PARAMOUNT
P M -3 STA N D A RD
£519
Fenderdoesn’ t justmakeelectrics andamps;they make some ratherfine, affordableelectro-acoustics, too… you’ re looking
for a full y
fe atured stage- ready ele ct ro but w ant a guitarthat’ llbe justas us ef ul athom e and f or re c ordi ng, Fe nderm i ghtnotbe on your m ust -t ry li st.T he Para m ount seri es c oul d beaboutto c hang e your m ind.T hisnew Chines e- m ade range of thre e guit ars , in both Sta ndard and D el uxe l eve l s, were cre ated by Fend er’stop luthie rs and f eat ure num er ousFender deta il s, such as 60schec kerboar d shape i ns pi re d by the7 0sF ser i es ac oust ic s, a 70s bri dge des ig n, a la te4 0s -s tyl e Fender logo and the ‘cloud ’pickgu ard style from Fen der’ s Kin gm an acoustic s. T hat said,the ac tualbody styl es are quitegen eri c,w it h cl as sy
IF
acousticstyl
e, and feel s just as
comfort abl e play ed seat ed or str appe d on. T he c uta way al l ows eas ieracces sto the upp er fre ts , too,w hic h m akesita vers at il e guit ar . M any play ersal so li ke the way a 000 re c ords . An d al l thattrans la te sinto a very play ableguita r. T he PM -3 isf ai rl y li ghtl y buil t and li ght in w ei ght, res onant and res ponsi ve.It has a 643mm sc al e l eng t h and a wider45m m nut.It’ sa combinati on thatm akesboth A cous ti ca ll y, itcombinesa tr imm er bas sres ponsethan the drea dnought wit h a bal anc ed m i drang e and c ri sp m odern hig hs that ’llno doubt m el low w it h
EK WI H it sbound edge s
and small ‘vintage’fret s,it doesn’tfeelquitelikeyour S t ra to r l e. hen ec k shapeisa ful l-shou lder ed
ATA GLAN CE
SolidSitkaspruce TOP:
‘C ’– pverymainstr eam and very laya ble
dMahogany BA CK&S IDES:Soli Mahogany N ECK: m SCA LE:643m
25. 3”)
Boundrosewood FINGERBOA RD: , smal l FRET S:20 Fender/FishmanPM ELECT RICS: Systemw/ side-mou nted volume, bassandtreb lecontro ls;on board tune randph ases witch HARDW ARE : Nickel-plated vintag e-style tun ers No LEFT HA ND ED: natural FIN ISH:Gloss as reviewe d) Fender GBI CO NT ACT: 0134 2331700 www.fender.com
PREA H Fen er / Fis manpr ea mpis apropriet arydesignforthes enew guita rs, with onb oar d tune r,p ha se s wi t c p l ust r e l ea n as sEQ
B DY S asa ‘tri ple 0’bodysize,thisis th eonlycut way Paramount,andinit St an ar es i gn at i on featuresallsolid wood construction:spruce andmahogany. e l ux ev er si on (£629) hasrose wood backandsides
It ’sksthe ound nature tic theallb-rox es for us that three-a-s ide head st ocks. T here’ s a dreadn ough t, parlour and, as here, a ‘triple 0’ – the o nly cutaw ay in th e tri o. A long w it h all s oli d w ood const ructi on,F enderh ast eam ed up w ithacou st icpickup spec iali st s Fis hm antocr eat eanew preamp sys tem : a mo dern -s tyle design w ith a s m all squashed -oval tuner display .Itfeaturesthree rub berkno bbed rotaries f or b ass , treble and volum e. You engage the tuner by press ing on on e s ide of the display, and there ’s a ph ase switch on the o ther s ide. Each pream p is app arently voiced to suit the particular bod y st yle, too. T his triple 0 is based industr y-s tandard 000 onbodM yartin’ ,w it hs a tighter wa is t than the larger dreadn ough tand is notic eably bigger than the Par am oun t pa rlo u r. Its ‘h alfw ay ’size m ean s that’ s pretty m uch id eal for an y
pla yi ng.Plugge d i n, we heargood st ring-to-s tringbalan ce,and there ’sq uite a m od ern , ‘enh an ced’ ton ality – an u biq uito us piez o tone, w hichisn’ thu gelyn aturalsoun ding but certainly s its in w ith the m ajority o f electros at this price and higher . B ut it’s the all-rou nd na ture th at ticks the b ox es f or u s: a great littl e hom e/ pract ic e/ rec ording guitar that has prett y m uch all you need for live perform ance at a tidy price tha t includ es a har d case. Fen de r’s aco u stics ha ve ju st go tten b etter. Dave Burrluck S U M M A R Y
FEATURES SOUN D UALI TY VA LUE FOR MON EY BUILDUA LITY PLAY ABILITY
OVERALL RATING
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ROUND UP WALRUS AU DI
WALRUS AUDIO ROUN D U P We cherry pick a quartet of stompboxes from this boutique American manufacturer, w hich promisesvintagetones thatmeetmodernexpectations
i nO kl ahom a, W al rus A udio has a wide s pectr um of artis ts f rom the across the alternative world
BASED
st om pingon it s hand -bu ilt , s creen-printed bo utiq ue effects. W ha t’s m ore, the co m pa ny’s boxes, s uch as the recentl y-launched M essner O verdrive ( nam ed after a m ou ntainee r, no less) , arecreati nga seri ousb uz zi nthe toneho und wo rl d. W hat better t ime , t hen , t o take a look? Joini ng the M essner i n this roun d-u p are the eq uall y-si zed IronH orseD istorti on ,and the larger Bell wether A nalog D elay and D escent – thelatt erah igh-specreverbunitwithan onbo ardoctav eup/ dow nfunct i on. W hi l etheM es sner andIr onH ors edraw pow er fr om a si ngle nine-vol t battery apieceora m ainsadaptor( ano ptional extra) ,theBell wether and D escentcan only be run courtesy of the N ati ona l G ri d. A gain, you ’ll have to shell out for a m ains ad ap tor if you do n’t have a suitable it em kn ock ing a bo ut. Le t’s see w ha t’s occurri ng un der those unu sual graph ic s.
WALRUS AUDIO
WALRUS AUDIO
MESSNER£179
DESCENT£279
The pinnacle of transparency SP EC’ D A S a low-gain transparent
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FEBRUARY 2016
Get a room... and much more
overdriv e, t he M essneri s desi gned toall ow thetone ofyourgu it artoshine throu gh .It’salsoo ne ofthe subtlest overd rive units we’ ve ever co m e acro ss, even w it h th e ga in con trol at ful l ti lt. In the ‘ closed ’po siti on , t he m ini-tog gle sw it ch eng ages the internal cli p
reverbun it features three m ain setti ng s: hall , revers e and shim m er. T he fi rst two are sel f-explanatory an d you can get anything from a sub tl e room reverb t o avirt ual cavernous space. Shim m eris toughe rtod escri be tothe uninit iat ed, it’s li ke an am bient thro b o r w arble,
diodespress f orsom breakup and to com i on.T eextr his maode responds thed ynam ic sofou rplayingb eautif ull y, unleashing som e extra bit e w it h rob ust rhythm wo rk. T hink M ik e Ca m pb ell ’s soun do nT om Petty’ s American Girl and Refugee for ref eren ce.
almot he st lother ik e amchurch Like odo es, rgan it cansoun be run d. in conj unctionw iththe onb oard octaver w it h it s range of plus/ m inus one octave. I f youthinkthe rever bo nyo ur am pis cutt ingi t, you need to get aload of this thing.
THISOUTSTANDING
GEAR
ROUND UP
WALRUS AUDIO
B EL L W ETH ER £329 Theultimate‘vintage’echomachine AN ANALOGUE delay witha level of on-the-fly
controllability we’d onlyexpectfrom a digital machine, theBellwetheris a mind-blowing piece ofwork. The taptempo getsthingsoff to a startmatching thedelayto thespeed ofyour playing. What’s great is that you can quickly chop yourrepeats into quarternotes,eighth notes, dotted eighthnotes andtriplets. We also like thevintage degradationof eachsuccess repeat,a warm by-product of analogue bucket brigade’ technologyand how tweaking therateand depth controls adds some wowandflutter’fora pretty convincing 60s tapedelayeffect.Thatold cliché that we’rejust scratchingthe surface’was coined forthe likes of the Bellwether. It’s a monster.
WALRUS AUDIO
I R O N HO RS E
£159
Old school brutality WAY MORE hirsute than the Messner, this
filthy beast secretes thick 70s-style distortion that works great for old Sabbath riffs. There’s more good news thanks to a toggle switch that flicks between a trio of clipping diodes to offer different distortion tones. Experiment with the toggle, distortion and tone controls and you’ll find glam riff-fuel such as T-Rex and Bowie,
AT A GLANCE TYPE: Overdrive,
analogue delay, reverb and distortion pedals SOCKETS: Messner: input, output, 9V power; Descent: input, left/right outputs, expression pedal (optional), remote pedal (optional), 9V power input; Bellwether: input, left/ right outputs, expression pedal (optional), remote pedal (optional), 9V power input; Iron Horse: input, output, 9V power BYPASS: True bypass POWER: Messner & Iron Horse: 9V battery or mains adaptor [not supplied]; Bellwether & Descent: mains adaptor only [not supplied] CONTACT: Face +32 3844 6797 www.face.be
The Bellwether is a mind-blowing piece of work… it’s a monster
and a cracking stab at the Stooges’ I Wanna Be Your Dog proto-punk sound. Addictive, versatile and just plain fun. Don’t look this horse’s gifts in the mouth.
MESSNER
DESCENT
S U M M A R Y
S U M M A R Y
FEATURES SOUND QUALITY VALUE FOR MONEY BUILD QUALITY USABILITY
OVERALLRATING
FEATURES SOUND QUALITY VALUE FOR MONEY BUILD QUALITY USABILITY
OVERALLRATING
BELLWETHER
IRON HORSE
S U M M A R Y
S U M M A R Y
FEATURES SOUND QUALITY VALUE FOR MONEY BUILD QUALITY USABILITY
OVERALLRATING
FEATURES SOUND QUALITY VALUE FOR MONEY BUILD QUALITY USABILITY
OVERALLRATING
FEBRUARY 2016
87
REVIEW AMPLITUBE4
ATA GLAN CE
ps, AM PS: 25am 29cabs , 29spe aker models , 11m icrophones EFFECT S:
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90
FEBRUARY 2016
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FEATURES SOUNDQU ALI TY VA LUE FOR MO NEY BUIL DQU ALITY USABILITY
OVERALL RAT ING
G EAR ACCESSORIES
DEAN
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FEBRUARY 2016
91
C lassic TRA CK
THE CLASH LONDON CA L L I N G TG takes on an a ll- ti m e classi c tr ack a nd discovers there’s m ore to p unk than three chords an
d an atti tude
yc engA ot oh P tei h W kn raF / fea Leb o B ©
CLASSIC TRACK THECLA SH
E S ex P isto ls b la z ed t he trail for Bri tish punk rock , T he C lash cam e to r epresent a more musicall y and lyrical ly adv entur ous pu nk style in the lat e 7 0s and ear ly 8 0s. S ong wri ter/ g ui ta rists Joe S trumm er a nd M ick Jones al so hel d a reb ellious left - wing poli tical ideol og y that g arnered fans all over the world. 1979’s Lon don C alli ng album m ar ked a chang e in musical dir ecti on, f eatur ing a b roader pal ette of sty les, incl uding re g g ae, ska, jaz z and soul . In keepi ng w ith the post-punk v ibe the t rack features a minor key, staccato guitar chords and an ALT HOUGH TH
SOUNDADVICE Everything you need to know before playing London Calling’ Get the sound The recorded sound is an amalgamation of single coil- and humbucker-equipped guitarsusing at least two amps set at different levels of gain and reverb, so naturally a dual-guitar lineup is the most authentic option. For a
unconv enti onal Phry g ian mod al tonal ity. T he song ’s re peat ing Em- F chords ar e the root ( Em) and, crucial ly, a b2nd(F), inst ead of the m ore usual major 2nd in terval of major and min or keys. D uri ng the t rack these two c hords (a s emitone apart, re mem b er) are pl ayed at the sam e time creating a tense and ‘outside’ feel, b ut wit hout actual ly seem ing to, er, cl ash! Read on, for T G ’s t ab of the ful l track.
x x x
Chords THEREARE
onlya few chords to learn here. There are three Em shapes, so, if you struggle with one shape, simply swap it for another. Note that a few other chord names are shown above the notation; these are implied’ ‘ chords that take into account notes played by the bass and other guitars layered into the mix. Don’t worry about these
GAIN
x x 1
7
M ID
TREBLE
x x 1
7
2
REVERB
12
Em
1
1
5
Em
x x
1
2
3
Em
8
1
3
3 4
x x
x x x 1
2
3
potentially confusing chord though – just follow the tab. names,
BASS
one-guitar setup opt for a lightly overdriven amp with a British-style combo such as a Vox AC30. It’s not what Jones and Strummer used, but it is a good compromise. Use a pedal with a reverse delay effect to get the right vibe for the solo.
1
10
F
x x
x
x x
10
x 1
10 2
3
3 3
3
3
F
3
3
G
3 3
3
G D
D
Scales THEUNUSUAL
reverse sound effects in the solo are near impossible to recreate faithfully, but it is easy to tell that Mick Jones used the E minor pentatonic scale (E G A B D), so experiment with the shape shown here. The final verse drops briefly into the E natural minor scale and we’ve given you a one-octave pattern to try out. Learn these basic shapes, and the music should make more sense.
12
1
1
3 4
1
3
1
1
1
9
1
1
2
2
4 4
4
1
3 4 4
E minor pentatonic scale
E natural minor scale
F E B R U A R Y 2 016
95
CLA SSICTRA CK TH ECL ASH
Full track + backing (tracks 6- 7) song comes with a full demo track and a backing track (minus guitar ) on your C D. Simp ly insert the disc in your player, press play andjam along,guitaraokestyle! THIS
LONDON
CALL
ING
Music and Lyrics by Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon & Topper Headon © 1979 Nineden L td. Universal Music Publ ishing Limited US/CAN reproduced by kind permission of Hal Leonard Corporation UK/EU reproduced by kind permission of Music Sales Ltd. AllRightsReserved. InternationalCopyrightSecured.
H T ECLA SH
ALSOAV AIL ABLE: PLAYGUI TA RW ITH TH ECLASH Guitar notation and TAB with full lyrics & chord names, 56pp. £14.95 ref. AM983103 Take your place at the front of British punk legends The Clash with the help of these specially recorded full band backing tracks and tab transcriptions. The accompanying CD has two specially recorded backing tracks of each song, one a full demo with guitar showing you how the song should sound and the other without guitar for you to play along with. Includes:I Fought The Law Should I Stay Or Should I Go, Tommy Gun, White andRiot four more.
INTRO
London Calling
FULL TAB
3
=
134 E m
F
1 2 3
7 8 9
T
E m
F
Play 3t imes
2 3 1
7 8 9
7 8 9
7 8 9
5 6 5
5 6 5
5 6 5
5 6 5
7 8 9
7 8 9
7 8 9
7 8 9
5 6 5
5 6 5
5 6 5
5 6 5
B 1
THIS FAMOUS intro actually contain s two guitars; one playing on ly Em, and the othe ‘stabbing’ your pick hand throug h the chord – create the staccato effect with quick ‘on/of
r Em and F – we’ve tabbed the latter be f’ fretting pressure.
cause it’s the best way to play the part withou
t a second guitarist. Avo
id
INTRO( OVERDUB) E m
F
E m
F
0:15
T
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
B 1
THIS OVERDUB – consisting of one G note repea ting on every bea Staccato dots over the notes tell you to play with an abrupt, detache
t- creeps in ove r the main intro pa rt. The cre scendo (<) over the tab tells you to gradually pick loude d feel – release fretting pressure to achieve this effect.
r, so start off playing fairly
softly.
VERSE 1 E m
E m /F
G
6
G 1 3 3 3
1 2 4 3
h tw r o ls A ve tSe :
g in k c a b d n a
0:22 7 8 9 9
T B 1
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
c o n t. s im .
s r a ti u G
96
7 8 9 9
FEBRUARY 2016
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
1 0 1 2 1 2 1 2
1 0 1 2 1 2 1 2
1 0 1 2 1 2 1 2
1 0 1 2 1 2 1 2
CLASSIC TRACK THECLA SH
VERSE 1 (CONTINUED )
E m
G 6
E m /F
7 8 9 9
T
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
G
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
1 1 1 1
0 2 2 2
1 1 1 1
0 2 2 2
1 1 1 1
0 2 2 2
1 1 1 1
0 2 2 2
1 1 1 1
0 2 2 2
1 1 1 1
0 2 2 2
B5
E m
7 8 9 9
T B
G 6
E m /F
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
G
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
1 1 1 1
0 2 2 2
1 1 1 1
0 2 2 2
9
E m
E m /F
7 8 9 9
T B
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
6
G
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
G
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
1 1 1 1
0 2 2 2
1 1 1 1
0 2 2 2
1 1 1 1
0 2 2 2
1 1 1 1
0 2 2 2
13
IT CANbe he lpful to play a sli ght ‘ghost’ strum on the rests in bars 1 to 8 –sim ply strum as norma l but don’ t make c ontact w ith the strings. This will help to even out your groove an your pick ha nd’s feel and m ome ntum throughout the vers e. Be ready to c hange to an ‘on the bea t’groove in bar 9.
d timing, maintaining
CHORUS E m
G 1 1 1 3
0:50
/ GD D
E m
3 3
G
/ GD D
1 2 3
3
2:20
1:35
T B
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 4
1 2 1 2 1 2
1 0 1 1 1 2
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 4
1 2 1 2 1 2
1 0 1 1 1 2
1
FEBRUARY 2016
97
CLASSIC TRACK THECLA SH
CHORUS (CONTINUED ) E m
G
1 1 1 1
T B
/GD D
2 2 2 4
E m
1 2 1 2 1 2
D
1 1 1 1
1 0 1 1 1 2
2 2 2 4
1 2
5
YOU R MAIN aim here in this sparse rhythm pa rt is to play each chord bang on time. A barre to allow for a q uick pivoting movemen t to t he D c hord that follows.
ll the space be tween the ch ords can m ake timing errors stand out. Pl
ay the 12th fret G/ D ch ord with a thir d finger
VERSE2 E m
G 6
F
G
w/feedba ck
1 :06
T
1 2 1 2 1 2
1 2
B
1 2 1 2 1 2
1 4
1
E m
F
6
G
G
Play 3 times
ad lib 3rd time 7 8 9 9
T B
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
5
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
1 1 1 1
0 2 2 2
1 1 1 1
0 2 2 2
1 1 1 1
0 2 2 2
1 1 1 1
0 2 2 2
cont. sim.
THE TWO notes that open this sec tion are loud in the mix, so if generate the feedbac k over the fol lowing three bars.
you are playing live, now is a good ti
me to boost your signal with an overdrive or booster peda
l. The extra loudnes s will also help you
INTERLUDE 1 E m
F
6
G
G
1:51 7 8 9 9
T B
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
1
cont. sim.
98
FEBRUARY 2016
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
1 1 1 1
0 2 2 2
1 1 1 1
0 2 2 2
1 1 1 1
0 2 2 2
1 1 1 1
0 2 2 2
CLA SSICTRA CK TH ECLA SH
INTERLUD E1 (CO NTINUED ) Em
F
7 8 9 9
T B
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
8 10 10 10
G
8 10 10 10
8 10 10 10
8 10 10 10
6
G
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
10 12 12 12
10 12 12 12
10 12 12 12
10 12 12 12
ALREADY played lots of onbeat stabs earlier on in the track, so these down picked staccato chords sh ould present no surprises. Try to think beyond the pure mech anics of your picking motion and feel’ a sense of the musical rhythm and timing ou as y lock in with the backing track. YO U’VE
SOLO Em
F
Ba ckwards
gtr . arr. for st
G
and ard gtr.
6
3
2 1
2:06
PB 14
BU BD
T
1 6) 7
B
15 1 4)
14
1
G
Em
F 3
3
1 7)
3 1
1
15 1 7)
1 5)
1
3
3
3
PB 15
BU
BD
T
3
15
15
15
B
15 12 15
12
BU 15 1 7)
BD 1 7]
BD 1 5)
1 7)
1 5)
15 12 12 12 12 14
14
12
14
4
CLASSIC TRACK THECLA SH
SOLO (CONTINUE D) G 6
E m
3
PB12
T
(1 4 )
(1 4 ) (1 4 )
(1 4 )
(1 4 ) (1 4 )
(1 4 )
(1 4 ) (1 4 )
1 2
21
41
1 4
B 7
THE SOLO is made u p of two or more overdub bed bac kwards gu itar solos, so, with such w hack y sounds , there’s room for you to improvise with your own E m Flashbac k pedal has a backwards delay func tion which you could use for a similar sound and vibe.
inor pentatonic ideas. TC
Electronic’ s
INTERLUDE 2 E m
F
E m
F
2:36 7 8 9 9
T B
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
1
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
F
7 8 9 9
B
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
cont. sim.
E m
T
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
E m
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
F
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
5
THE TRACK returns to the recurring theme of staccato chord stabs he are the most cruc ial elements of an authentic rendition.
re, but, once again, with a f ew variations on the shapes an
d the progression. The timing of your picking
hand an d the staccato feel
VE RS E 3 E m
F
E m
F
3
3 2
2:50
T B
7 8 9 9
1
100
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
cont. sim.
FEBRUARY 2016
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
01
9
01
9
3
CLASSIC TRACK THECLA SH
VER SE 3 (C ONT INU ED) E m
F
E m
F
3
T B
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
01
2
9
2
01
4
21
5
E m
F
E m
F
E m
morse code effects
T B
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
7 8 9 9
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
8 1 0 1 0 1 0
7 8 9 9
9
BARS 5 and 8 are lead lines, so you m toggli ng a pickup switch betwee
ay need to m ome ntarily boost your volume. Alternatively, keep the chords going if you prefer not to pl n on and off position. The y spell out t he international Mors e Code for SO S.
ay the lead line. The effec
ts at the end are likely done by
OVERS EA S SUBSCRIPTIONS
O RDERINGIS EASY! SUBSCRIBE FROM € 37 37! ORDERONLINEAT myfavm.ag/TGoverseas
ic m n e p O OK SONGBO
THEFRAY
HOWTO S AV E A L I F E
Try out the piano arpeggios of The Fray’s modern pop-rock staple on your guitar TAKENFROM theband’sdebutalbum of the same name, How To Save A Life catapult ed T he Fray int o the b ig ti m e. Although the song is pri maril y pianob ased, the upli fting int ro ar peg g ios ma ke for an inspiri ng fingersty le guitar part – hence our t ab is an ar rangem ent of Fr ay singer/ piani st Isaac S lade’s pi ano li ne. T he challe ng e li es in recre ating the piano’s capacit y f or produci ng loud and soft notes across a wide dy namic range; y ou’ll need to emphasise certain not es, and play other notes al m ost sil ently. T hi s b oi ls down t o y our fi ngerpi cking techni q ue and how ad ept you are at control ling the force of each fing er. s e g a Im tt y e /G dr a w y a H ta M
10 2
g reat way to pr i s toand t ake any thrAeeor four-note seqactise uence repeat it over and over . O n each cycle si mply pick harder with one finger – y our other fing ers conti nue to pick at ‘norm al’ level. It’s a surpri singly toug h exercise. b ut one that wil l really improv e yo ur fingerpi cking techni q ue.
F E B R U A R Y2 0 16
OPEN MIC SONGBO OK THE FRAY
HOW TO SAVE A
LIFE
W ords and M usi c by Joseph King and Isaac Slade © 2005 EM I APRIL M USI C INC. a nd AARO N ED W ARD S P UBLI SHING W W reproduced by k ind permiss ion of H al Leonard Corporati on A ll Right s Control l ed and A dmini st er ed by EM I APR IL M U SI C INC . A ll Rights Reserved. Internati onal Co pyright Secured. Used by Perm issi on.
THE FRAY
Ho w T o Sa v e A L i f e INTRO/VERSE q=122
B
D m/A 4
2
1
1
3
4
(
)
3
2
(
)
let ring throughout
T
11
B
13
13 10
10
10
12 1
a p
m
10
imp
m
10
im
a p
B
m
imp
m
im
1
3
(
7
Dm
1
1
10 12
( 12 )
D m /A
4
10
12 12
1
T
10
12
( 13 )
3
2
)
10 10 10
10
10
12
B
13
3
a p
m
imp
m
13
10
10
10
12
( 13 )
10
10
12
12
12
im
a p
m
ima
m
im
PI CKACCENT
ED notes (marked > ) slightly louder so that they stand out . Note that you pick with your thumb only on beats 1dan 3; thumb-picking every beat ten ds to give an upbeat vibe– not what you wanthere. Notes inbrackets areghost ‘ notes’and must be picked softly. Ifgerpicking fin is a challeng e simply strum along.
Chords HOWTOSaveALife is
h rt o w s lA e v te S
g in k c a b d n a s r a t i u G
in the i‘n between fret markers’key of bB, so that means you’ ll be using barre chords throughout the track. Still, at least most of the shapes are fingerfriendly ‘E shape’barre chords. The only exception is the tricky ‘C shape’Bbchord, where you’ll need plenty of reach and strength. Practise the chord shapes and the progression first, before turning your attention to the fingerstyle part.
x
x 1
1
10
6
1
1
2
1
x 1
10
1
1
10
1
1
1
1
3
3
1
1
1
1
2
4
3
3
4
3
4
4
4
Bb
Bb
Dm/A
x 1
1
1
x 1
10
4
Eb
Dm7
x x
x 1
1
2 3
11
2
3
1
1
1
1
3
1
1
1
2 3
3
3
4
3
4
F
F/ A
F/ A
Gm
Gm7
FEBRUARY 2016
103
Backing track
(track 48)
THISsong comes with a backing track (minus guitar)
on your CD. Simply insert the disc in your player, press play and jam along guitaraoke style!
I nt r o Bb
Bb
D m/ A
R p t ch o r u s
D m/ A D m
V e r se 1
R p t int r o
Bb
D m/ A
b
S t e p o n e y o u s a y , “W e n e e d t o t a lk .” H e w a lk Bs , D m/A
Bb
Dm
V er se 3
Y o u s a y , “S i t d o w n . I t ’ s ju s t a t a lk .” D m/ A
H e s m i le s p o li t e ly b a c k a t y o u
Bb Gm
D m/ A D m
You
sta re
Bb
p o l it e l y
r ig h t o n
th ro u g h Bb
D m/ A
S o m e s o r t o f w in d o w t o y o u r r i g h t D m/A
Bb
Dm
A s h e g o e s le f t a n d y o u s t a y r ig h t Dm
Y o u b e g in t o w o n d e r w h y y o u c a m e
D m/ A D m/ A
D r i v e u n t il y o u lo s e t h e r o a d Gm
D m/A
O r b r e a k w i t h t h e o n e s y o u ’ v e fo l l o w e d
Bb
D m/ A
H e w il l d o o n e o f t w o t h in g s Gm
D m/ A D m
H e w il l a d m i t t o e v e r y t h i n g
Bb
D m/ A Gm
Eb
F
Gm
W h e r e d i d I g o w r o n g ? I lo s t a f r i e n d Bb
F/ A
Bb
F/ A
D m/ A
Bb
B r eak d o w n Bb
H a d I k n o w n h o w t o s a v e a l i fe
Bb
D m/ A Bb
D m/ A
D m/ A
L e t h im k n o w t h a t y o u k n o w b e s t ‘ c a u s e D m/ A
Dm
D m/ A
Bb
D m/ A
D m/ A
D m/ A
Dm Gm
L a y d o w n a li s t o f w h a t is w r o n g D m/ A
Dm
T bh e t h in g s y o u t o l d h im a l l a l o n g D m/ A
P ra y to G o d H e h e a rs y o u a n d I D m/ A D m
P ra y to G o d H e h e a rs y o u
FEB RUARY
201 6
Bb
D m/ A
Dm
R p t int r o
Bb
H o w t o s a v e a li f e D m/ A
Dm
Bb
H o w t o s a v e a l if e
W i t h o u t g r a n t i n g in n o c e n c e D m/ A
Bb
D m/ A
T r y t o s li p p a s t h is d e fe n c e
10 4
Dm
O ut r o
A f t e r a ll y o u d o k n o w b e s t
B
Bb
R p t ch o r u s X 2
Bb
Gm
Dm
H o w t o s a v e a l i fe
V e r se 2
Bb
D m/ A
H o w t o s a v e a li f e
R p t int r o
Gm
Dm
A n d y o u ’ ll b e g i n t o w o n d e r w h y y o u c a m e
R p t ch o r u s X 2
ES ob m e w h e r e a l o n e i n t hFe b i t t e r n e s s a n d G m I w o u ld h a v e s t a y e d u p w it h y o u a l l n ig h t
Bb
Dm
O r h e ’ ll s a y h e ’s j u s t n o t t h e s a m e
Ch o r u s
Gm
Bb
Dm
Y o u lo w e r y o u r s a n d g r a n t h i m o n e la s t c h o ic e
Bb
D m/ A
B e t w e e n t h e li n e s o f fe a r a n d b la m e D m/ A
D m/ A
A s h e b e g in s t o r a i s e h is v o ic e
Bb
VIDE O LESSON
GETYOURGRADES!
RGTACO USTICPRE LIM INARY GRADE
www.bit .ly tg276 video
ohrds andchanges TG kicks off a short series for beginner guitarists covering GT’s Preliminary acoustic guitar grade next few iss ues TG is l ookingatRG T ’sPrel i m i naryG rade acousti cguitarexam s.W e’ rekic king offwithalookatth echo rdsyou’l lbe tes tedonify outakeRG T ’sexam . T heseareessenti alc ho rdsthatevery guitari sts ho uldknow ,s oyo u must ded ic ate s om e practi ce ti m e to l ear ni ng them. G etthe bas i csdow n
andhu ndreds,per hapsthousands ofsongs w il l open u pto you . G enerall y, chordsarew ri tten dow n either as ‘ chordb oxes’ (adiagram oftheg uitar’ sfret board , w it hd otstel l ingyouw heretop lac e yourfingers)orastab lat ure(aka ‘tab’ , wh ich uses six l ines to repre sent guit ar st ri ngs,w i th num bers
OV ERTHE
MAJ OR CHO RDS
RGT is th e U K’s only specialist guitar exam in ation boa rd. Find free downloads of all RGT syllabu se s, and lo cate a gui tar tu tor in your ar ea, at www.RGT.org
MI NO R CH OR DS x
o
o
o
x o 1
1 2 3
2
o o o
RGT Exam
indicating frets ). Bo th styles are incl ud ed below . Startby tryi ngthe cho rdshapes. D , Em andA m ar ear guabl yt he easi est; G , C andD m aret ougherfor m ostpeop le. A s you gain a l itt le confidence, t ry the chord chan ge exerci se, andw atch TG ’s vi deo for furt her ti ps and advi ce.
x x o
3
o
x x o
o o o
1 1
1
2
3
2
2
2
3
3
3
C
Am
D
G
Dm
Em
EMINOR(writtenas‘Em’),AmandDm are the ht ree minor chords you needtoknow.Aimtoplayallthechordsusing thetips,ratherthan the fronts ofyourfingers.Thisgiveseachfingerthe smallest ‘footprint’and helps preventyoufromaccidentallytouchingother strings and muti ng them out.
GMAJOR(writtensimplyas‘G’),C andD arethethreemajorchordsyouneed toknowat Preliminary Grade.The dotstellyou whichstringstopressdownon andat whichfret.The numberstellyouwhichfingers touse.Positionyour fingersas close tothe frets aspossibleandpressdownfirmlyon thestrings.
CH ORD CH AN GE EXERC I SES
T B
C
A m
0 1 0 2 3
0 1 2 2 0
m E
m A
0 0 0 2 2 0
0 1 2 2 0
G
D
3 0 0 0 2 3
2 3 2 0
ONCE YOU ’VEhada goat thechordsyoucan trychangingbetween them. Thisisa key partof playingtheguitar assteady chord changesare atthe heartofevery chord progression.Practising changesis also agood test ofwhetheryou’venailed thebasic shapes.Thethreechangesshown hereeachhavetheirownchallenges.
10 6
FEBRUARY 2016
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OR A LSS I FENDERTONEF ATION A NEWGENER
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ONLY £52! IwTw’Sw. EmA YT OS CRIines. BE...co . uk / tgr subs yfSav our i tU emBS agaz TERMS & CONDITIONS Pricesand savingsquoted are compared to buying full priced UK print and digital issues. You will receive 13 issuesin a year. If you are dissatisfied in any way you can write to usor call usto cancel your subscription at any time and
we will refund you for all unmailed iss ues. Pricescorrect at point of print and subject to change. For full termsand conditionsplease visi t: http://myfavm.ag/magterms. O ffer ends12/0 2/2016. FEBRU A RY 20 16
10 9
TECHNIQUES
TA B GUI DE
TabGuide G etm oref rom T G byund
ers tandi ngou reas y-t o-fol l ow m usi c al ter m sandsi gns
WHAT IS TAB? TAB is short for tablature, a
notational system u sed to give detailed information as to where notes should be played on the fretboard.Tab appears underneath conventional music notation as six horizontal lines that represent the strings of the guitar, from
the sixth thick)string atthe bottom to the first thin)string at the top.On these lines, numbers repres ent the frets where you should place your fingers.For example, an A note on the 2nd fret, third string, will be shown as a number ‘2’ on the third line down on the tab.
Unfretted strings are shown with a ‘0’.The key and time signatures are shown in the traditional notation.TG also includes a timestamp to tell you where in the srcinal track you’ll find each example. Finally, atempo marking is expressed in beats per minute.
FRETBOXES: CHORDS,SCALESANDCAPONOTATION HAN DLABELL ING 3
2
NUTANDFRETBOARD i
1
m
CHORDEXAMPLE
o o o o o o
a
o o o
c
4
1 T
p 2
3
G HEREarethe abbreviat ionsused foreach finger.Frettinghand: 1,2,3, 4,(T)
THIS diagramrepresentsa G chord.The ‘o’sare open strings,and a circled number THIS fretboxdiagram repres entsthe guitar’sfretboard exactly , asseen inthe photo.
Picking hand:p (thumb), i (index), m(middle), a (annular),c (little nger) Thisdesign isused forease ofvisualis inga fretboar d scale or chordquick ly.
isa fretti ng hand finger.A black‘o’or circled number isthe rootnote (here,G) .
CAPOEXAMPLE
SCA LEEXAM PLE
CAPO NO TA TO IN
o o o
CAPO2ND FRET
CAPO2ND FRET
x
o
o
4
1 1 2
1 1 1 2 2
2
1 2 2
3 3
3
3
4 4 4 4 4
A maj orscale
A (G)
D (C)
THEbluelineinthe diag ramrepres entsacapo –fo rthisA chor d,placeit attheHEREthechordlook slikea C inthe tab,butthe capoon the2nd fret rai sesthe
THEfretbox diagramillustrat esthe frethand fingeringfor the A major scale using
2ndfret.Caposcha ngethe fre t numberorder ing.Here,thesrcin al5th fre t nowpit chto makeita D.T he2nd fretcapo’d note sare sho wn witha ‘0’inthe tabas iftheywere openstri ngs . beco mesthe 3rdfret ,7 thfretnow 5thfret ,etc.
blac kdotsfor rootnotesandreddotsfor othe rscaletones .T hephoto showspartof thescal e bein g play edon thefourt h stringwiththe first ,thirdand fou rthfin gers .
GUITAR TECHNIQUES: PICKING DOW NANDUPPICKING
TREMOLOPICKING
THEsymbols under the tab tell you the
EACH of
first note is to be down-picked and the second note is to be up-picked.
110
FEBRUARY 2016
PALMMUTING
PALM-MUTE by resting the edge of the four notes are to be alternate-p icked (dow n and up-picked) your picking hand palm on the strings near the bridge saddles. . very rapidly and continuously
PICKRAKE
DRAGthe
APPREGGIATEDCHORD
pick across the strings shown PLAYthe notes of the chord by with a single sweep. This is often used strumming across the relevant strings to aug men t a rake’s last note. in the directi on of the arrow head.
TECHNIQUES
TA B GUIDE
FRETTINGHAND HA MMER ON&PUL L OFF
NOTETRI LLS
SLIDES(G LISSANDO)
FRE THANDT APPI NG
FR ETHA NDM UTING
thefirst note then hammerdown A FT E R picking thefirstnote,rapidly P ICK thefirstnoteand then slide tothe SO U N D thenotes marked witha square X M A R K IN G S represent notes and on thestring forthesecondnote.Pickthealternatebetweenthetwo notes shownin next.Forthe lasttwonotespickthefirst, by hammering-on/tappingwith yourfret stringsthat aremutedbyyour fret hand third note andpull-off forthefourthnote.brackets usinghammer-ons andpull-offs. slideto thenext and thenre-pickit(RP). handfingers, instead of picking. whenstruckbyyourpicking hand. P ICK
BENDINGANDVIBRATO BENDA NDREL EASE
RE IP CK EDBEND
PREEN D B
UARTER Q TO NEBEND
VIB RAT O
the first note (here, the 5th BE N D up to the pitch shown in the SIL E N T LY bend the string up from theP ICK 5th the note then bend up a quarter- Y O U R fretting hand vibrates the string by fret)and bend up to the pitch of the brackets, then re-pick the note while fret (PB5)to the pitchof the 7th fret note, tone (a very small amount). This is small bend-ups andreleases. Exagger ate bracketednote,beforereleasingagain. holding the bent note at the pitch shown. pick it and release tothe 5th fret note. sometimes referred to as a ‘blues curl’ . this effect to create a‘wide’vibrato. FR E T
HARMONICS NA TURAL HA RMO NI CS
ARTIF ICIAL HARM ONICS
P ICK
E T the note as shown, then lightly the note whileover lightly touching FR the string directly the fret place yourindex finger directly over ‘ x’ indicated.A chiming harmonic results. fret(AH‘x’)and pick (with a pick, p or ) a.
PI NC HEDHARM ONICS
TA PPEDHARM ONICS
TO UC HEDHARM ONI CS
A FT E R
LA CE your finger on the note as shown, A P R E V IO U SLY sounded note is the with note the in the dig intofretting the string sidetriangle, of Pbut your sound it with a quick pick hand tap touched at above the fret marked TCH thumb as you sound it with the pick.the fret shown (TH17)for a harmonic.(eg, TCH 9)for it to soun d a harmonic.
VIBRATOBAR/WHAMMYBAR W HA MMYBAR BEND S
S COPAN DDO OP
SUSTAI NEDNO TEAN DDI VEBO MB
GARG LE
W HA MMYBARVI BRATO
note is picked as shown, then theSCO O P :depress the bar just before A N O T E is sustained then the vibrato SO U N D the note and flick’the ‘ vibrato G E N T LY rock the whammy bar to striking the note and release. Doop: bar is depressed to slack. The square bar with your picking hand so ti ‘quivers’ vibrato bar is raised and lowered to the . repeatedly bend the pitch up and down. lower the bar slightly after picking note. pitches shownin brackets. bracket indicates a further articulation. This results in a gargl ‘ ing’sound This sounds similar to fret hand vibrato. THE
OTHERS PI CKSCRA PE
VIO LINING
edge of the pick is dragged eitherT U R N the volume control down, down or up along the lower strings tosound the note(s)and then turn th e produce a scraped sound. volume up for a smooth fade in. THE
N FIGERNUMBER ING
PI MAD IRECTIO NS
PI CKHA NDTA PPING
numbers in the traditional A N Y kind of fingerpick ing TA P (hammer-on)witha fingerof notation refer to the fingers requiredrequir to ements are shownat the bottom yourpickinghandontothe fret marked play each note. of the tab notation. with a circle.Usuallywith ‘i’or ‘m’. THE
FEBRUARY 2016
11 1
T he Fina l C ou nt dow n
THINGS OU’LL SEE AT A GUITAR SHOW 9 . Ridic ulous i nstrum ents Booth girls –becaus e all guitar player are 14-year-oldhorndogs
Q uadrupl e-neck ed b asses, lava-lamp lut es, mirr or-effect mandoli ns, glow- in-the-dark ukelel es… no sane per son would ever b uy one, of course, b ut it m ight just draw punters close enoug h to the b ooth for t he sales gonk s to st art plugg ing thei r boring new practi se comb o.
8 . Fun k bassi sts For reasons unkn own, the default soundtrack of the guitar t rade show is a hot-b utter ed, porn- flickstyle sl ap ’n’ pop. O n the fir st day, it mak es you feel like S haft. By the thir d day, y ou’ll b e ready to cut the ir thumb s off with some secateurs.
7 . U npopula rbra nds Tuck ed away in a corner of W areho use Z, you’ll spot a forl orn-looking gentleman sat at a camping table, wonderi ng why his guitar s trap g romm ets aren’t r eall y setting the w orld on fire. W hatever you do, don’t mak e eye contact .
6 . Short-li ved si gnatu re m odels
1 0 . G l am ourgir l s D ressed like t hey’v e just walked out o f a K id Rock v ideo, t he onl y thing m ore depre ssi ng than the comp any that hired them – an d its b elief that g uitari sts are al l h or ny teenage b oys – is t he look on the ladi es’ faces w hen they try to s um m on up som e ent husiasm for the new‘revolutionary’ b udget axe they ’re m odel ling …
For one weekend, everyb ody’s fussing over the b rand ne w m odel for the ageing g lam star , which has a star -shaped headstock and its own mak eup b ag . Eight m onths lat er, the guitar will b e pull ed due to poor sales and they’ll b e all over eBay.
W e’re always making friends on the guitar show floor
2 . D od gy f oo d
W hile your eardr ums wonder why you’re trying to perforate 5 . V irt uosi ty them, your st omach Back hom e, you’re the b est p layer at the barb ecue, is wonder ing why the ab le tomuddle thr ough Communication Breakdown only thing that’ s com e with onl y a f ew b um notes. H ere , the she er down the pipe i n the concentr ationof warp-speedw iddl ersmeans you last thre e days has b een won’t touch a g uitar all weekend, for fear of b eing P ringles, sausages, laughed outof the b uilding. b eer and chi ps, and if yo u’re t rying to reenact 4 . D -li st c elebrities Super Size Me up there. Sure, the re ar e b ig nam es who m ake fleet ing It’s the r ecipe for a long, appearances, b ut mostly, the b ooths ar e rough flight home… inha b itedb y esot eric singer -song writ erswho may once ha ve pla yed in D ie Tot en H ose n, wear snakeskinw aist coatsandspendset - b reaks eati ng sandwiches fr om a tupper ware box .
3 . L ess erins trum ents W ander bey ond the guitar e x hibitor s and y ou’ll enter t he g rim world of other inst ruments, f rom the cavem en b atter ing on drum k its to the ner ds fingering the latest sy nthesiser s. It only co nfirms whatyou already k new: g uitar rul es. Come for th e gear, stay for the plentiful sausages
112
FEBRUARY 2016
1 . T otal G ui tar And finally, som ewhere i n the m elee, y ou’ll find us, y our int repi d g earhounds, b raving the tinnit us, steer ing clear of the slap- b ass demos, el b owing past other guitar journos, risk ing the food poi soni ng and pra y ing to the g ods of w ifi, iynou our q uest o b rigngear t he b esttnew fir st. H ey, it ’s a t oug h job, b ut someon e’ s g ot to do i t…
W o r d s : H
e n r y Y a t e s P h o t o g r a p h y :
i S t o c k
1 0 0 9
