Guitarist

The Guitar Player's Bible

Guitarist2 min read
Heart Wood
Not every player takes a close interest in acoustic guitars and that’s a shame but in some ways it’s understandable. Sitting alone with an acoustic guitar can feel almost intimidating at times. There’s no amp to make you mighty, no pedals to flatter
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Editor’s Highlights
This issue sees the debut technique column from guitar whizz Robbie Calvo, whose aim is to buff your playing to a shine Taylor’s American Dream series of acoustics brings the Californian maker’s coveted US acoustics within reach of the average playe
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Guitarist
Darren Phillips darren.phillips@futurenet.com Lucy Rice lucy.rice@futurenet.com Jamie Dickson jamie.dickson@futurenet.com David Mead david.mead@futurenet.com Scott Rowley scott.rowley@futurenet.com Dave Burrluck dave@daveburrluck.com Jaso
Guitarist5 min read
And So It Began…
While we were enjoying the sunshine and positive vibe of this year’s NAMM Show in California back in January, there were a few corks being popped on the Fender stand. 2020 marks the 70th anniversary of the year this game began, when Leo Fender and hi
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Fender 70th Anniversary Broadcaster
PRICE: £2,009 (inc case) ORIGIN: USA TYPE: Single-cutaway solidbody electric BODY: Ash NECK: Slab-sawn maple,‘50 Broadcaster ‘U’ profile, bolt-on SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”) NUT/WIDTH: Bone/41.84mm FINGERBOARD: Maple (neck face), black dot mar
Guitarist4 min read
LANEY CUB-SUPER12 Boutique To Go
Established in 1967, Laney is one of the UK’s longest-established amp companies with a history that’s at the heart of the Black Country’s significant (yet often overlooked) contribution to rock guitar. Founder Lyndon Laney’s rock credentials were ass
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Laney Cub-super12
PRICE: £399 ORIGIN: UK TYPE: Valve preamp and power amp with digital reverb OUTPUT: 15W or 1W VALVES: 3x 12AX7, 2x EL84 DIMENSIONS: 399 (h) x 430 (w) x 233mm (d) WEIGHT (kg/lb): 12/26 CABINET: Plywood CHANNELS: 1, with a foot-switchable boost
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The Wishlist
CONTACT SethBaccusGuitars EMAIL seth@sethbaccus.com WEB www.sethbaccus.com We last reviewed one of Cornwall-based guitar maker Seth Baccus’s creations in issue 449 with the sumptuous set-neck Nautilus Classic. This bolt-on Shoreline couldn’t be more
Guitarist3 min read
Gas Supply
CONTACT Fender EAS PHONE 0845 305 1122 WEB www.fender.com If there’s one thing that looks cooler than a pristine Fender Strat or Tele, it’s one that looks like it’s been through the years. To that end, Fender has announced some beautifully beat-up R
Guitarist1 min read
Also Out Now...
In other Fender-shaped news, Rancid and Transplants big cheese Tom Armstrong is celebrating the arrival of his Anniversary Hellcat signature model. Based on his original concert-sized 60s acoustic, the Tim Armstrong Anniversary Hellcat features a sol
Guitarist2 min read
The Players
English classical guitarist Julian Bream passed away at his home in Wiltshire on 14 August, aged 87. He will be remembered as one of the greatest solo guitar players to emerge in the 20th century, following Spain’s Andrés Segovia in bringing classica
Guitarist2 min read
Also This Month
Guitarist was saddened to hear of the passing of luthier Chris Eccleshall on 13 August, aged 72. One of the UK’s finest guitar builders and repairers, he made custom-built electric and acoustic guitars and was also an authorised repairer of Martin, G
Guitarist4 min read
Albums
Bassist Roger Glover termed this new album as “Deep Purple is putting the Deep back into Purple”, an intriguing notion considering how unique this rock band is. It’s valid, too: the music is punchy, strong and exploratory suggesting their enthusiasm
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Start Me Up
George Marios is a Greek-born songwriter and session player, currently carrying out touring guitar duties in cult prog band The Pineapple Thief. With influences as diverse as Sting, Pink Floyd and early Dream Theater, George has produced an album ful
Guitarist3 min read
Back In The Game
My last live gig was on Saturday 16 March 2020. At that point, we had anywhere from three to six shows a month in the calendar, plus a 30-date autumn tour fully scheduled. But after the government announced lockdown a mere week after that last outing
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Switching Gears
Thankfully, this month has seen the (tentative) return of studio sessions in the larger studios. Predictably, after five months of working mostly online, the first two sessions I had come in – both at Abbey Road, at Studios 1 and 2 respectively – wer
Guitarist1 min read
Gas Of The Month
What? Fender American Professional Telecaster, Daphne Blue Where seen? Merchant City Music, Glasgow (guitar.co.uk) Price? £1,549 Before I knew I’d be getting a Custom Shop Daphne Blue Tele I was seriously close to purchasing one of these. We absolute
Guitarist3 min read
More Than A Maker
The time has come, at long last. Musician friends in my social media feeds this week are announcing their first real outdoor gigs since March, welcome news for us all who have been otherwise confined to our laptops and tablets for live-stream videos
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Star Letter
Dear Guitarist, having seen the recent photos you’ve published of lockdown guitar builds, I thought I’d send along the project my little boy Ezra has just completed, with only a little help from his dad. As an inveterate tinkerer with a decent collec
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Diminished & Half-Diminished Chords
Improvisation and composition have always been about working with harmony – and that’s where we’re headed this month. Diminished chords are not commonplace but they feature in many jazz, pop and rock songs, as well as neo-classical! Half-diminished s
Guitarist6 min read
Feedback
As a person of a certain vintage, born just a couple of years before the first Telecaster, I was a confirmed analogue man. I have a possibly excessive number of pedals collected over the years going back to the original Tone Benders. Apart from an il
Guitarist8 min read
Larkin Poe
From the bandmates scattered into solitary lockdown, to the fans left wondering if they have felt the hot crush of the front row for the final time, these have been hard months for all who thrive on rock ’n’ roll’s fundamental push-and-pull. Larkin P
Guitarist2 min read
Requests…
Reader Paul Kelly wants to see more inexpensive guitars, recording tips and diverse British makers in the mag in coming issues... Hi, just want to throw in a few thoughts about the mag! Quite a few of the last issues have been superb, featuring band
Guitarist1 min read
Something Old, Something New
Rebecca: “My absolute favourite acoustic guitar is one that was recently built for me by Paul Beard. He is traditionally a resophonic guitar maker – he makes dobros and slide guitars. But he recently started this Deco series of acoustic guitars [pict
Guitarist2 min read
The Acoustic Issue
For many players, the acoustic guitar can be a bit of an afterthought. It’s ironic that many guitarists for whom only Custom Shop stuff will suffice for their electric needs will content themselves with a single modestly priced acoustic to cover thei
Guitarist7 min read
The Appliance Of Tone Science
Eddie Green has worked in the aerospace industry for many years, contributing to the construction of jet fighters such as the Jaguar, Tornado and Lightning, as well as specialising in stress analysis at English Electric and BAE Systems. But he’s also
Guitarist7 min read
Knights Of The Acoustic Round Table
Master luthier and designer for Taylor Guitars www.taylorguitars.com Chief craftsman and founder at Atkin Guitars www.atkinguitars.com Founder and design head at Lowden Guitars www.lowdenguitars.com Master craftsman and luthier at McNally Gu
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Size Matters: The House Of Martin
In a world of sweeping generalisations where “everything tastes like chicken” you might be tempted to say, well, when it comes down to it, an acoustic guitar sounds like an acoustic guitar. But there’s a lot more to it than that, although maybe not a
Guitarist9 min read
The Acoustic Issue Buyer’s Guide
Every guitar in this guide has been reviewed in Guitaristand has gained a 9/10 rating (or equivalent) or 10/10 rating, achieving either a GuitaristChoice or GuitaristGold Award,or has otherwise been highly commended. That means we feel their build qu
Guitarist1 min readBotany
A Word On Spruce
Picea sitchensis Found in North America and Canada, this is the most common wood for tops. It offers a good mix of strength, clarity and dynamic range over a variety of styles and looks. Find it on everything from budget boxes to high-end Martins. Pi
Guitarist1 min read
Travel Light
This serious small-bodied/travel guitar has a big voice and a tidy build with solid top/laminated back and sides construction, 597mm (23.5-inch) scale length, and 42.8mm (1.685-inch) nut width. It comes with a gigbag and optional pickup. This design
Guitarist1 min read
To Cut Or Not To Cut?
For fans of the classics of yesteryear, acoustic guitars should simply not have cutaways. Conversely, it’s almost odd when you see a ‘modern’ acoustic, like a Taylor, without one. Sonically, the jury’s out on whether non-cut or cut is better, and whe
Guitarist1 min read
All In One
Going straight through the PA live is all very well, but taking back some control of your sound and expanding your horizons is better. Boss may well have solved problems you didn’t even know you had with its VE-8 Acoustic Singer (£334) unit by puttin
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PICKUPS & SOURCES Let’s transduce, baby
This is a thin strip of transducing material that’s sandwiched between the bottom of your string saddle and the wood of the bridge, in the saddle slot. Pretty much any mid-price electro-acoustic guitar. These are small transducers, usually attached t
Guitarist1 min read
Bag It Up
Give your dread a fighting chance with this budget gigbag. The rugged 400-denier polyester outer layer takes moderate abuse on the chin, while the 5mm inner padding keeps your guitar scratch-free. It’s not just Taylor owners who can enjoy its gigbag
Guitarist1 min read
On Your Marks
This new Chinese-made parlour-size completely wrong-footed PRS Europe who simply can’t keep up with demand. PRS’s ‘X’/Classical bracing and superb attention to detail are more than evident here. A classic of many a new guitarist over the years, the
Guitarist1 min readChemistry
Acoustic String Basics
Acoustic strings are usually thicker than electric strings, which means stiffer string tension. Broadly speaking,‘standard’ acoustic sets are 0.011 to 0.052 (extra light) 0.012 to 0.054 (light) and 0.013 to 0.056 (medium). There are many other varian
Guitarist1 min read
Three For Pre
A studio-quality live sound is a footswitch away with the Session pedal, with frequency-specific compression EQ and tone-shaping saturation control to serve up warmth and harmonics. This stereo preamp/active DI gives two flexible tone-packed channel
Guitarist1 min read
New Age
Torrefied guitar tops might be something you’ve read about already, and they’re a feature we could be hearing a lot more about in the coming years. Torrefaction is a process used by brands including Gibson, Martin, Takamine and Taylor, among others,
Guitarist1 min read
Electro Enhancement
This mini pedal-sized ‘acoustic pickup enhancer’ for under-saddle pickups helps to deal with plasticky piezo ‘quack’ with one control for Body; the more you dial in, the more low-end compression you get so it’s a matter of balancing that for your nee
Guitarist1 min read
SUSTAINABILITY & BEYOND
Sustainable woods and eco-friendly practice are rightfully informing our choices, with brands increasingly seeking out sustainable timber sources. Bob Taylor’s work with ebony and koa is just one example but Martin, Yamaha, Fender, Gibson and PRS hav
Guitarist2 min read
Amp It!
Fender markets the 40 as a simple ‘grab and go’ solution, but the spec sheet belies the competitive price tag. From the onboard reverb to the whizzer cone that works alongside the six-inch speaker for better high-frequency response, this combo is pun
Guitarist3 min read
PART1: CLAPTON & PAGE ACOUSTIC GIANTS
Although both primarily known for their electric work – Clapton in the Blues Breakers, Cream, Derek And The Dominos and as a solo artist, and Page primarily in Led Zeppelin and various collaborative forays – these two British icons have also done muc
Guitarist1 min read
Track Record
The ‘unplugged’ session that started a craze, with everyone ditching their electrics to demonstrate their songs in a new stripped-down arrangement. Glean a few secrets by watching up close. Clapton gets back to his roots here by performing covers of
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Part1: Acoustic Style Eric Clapton
THESE MELODIC CHORDS will have a familiar ring to most Clapton fans. Mixing chord shapes with melodic details and linking lines gives a very self-contained part, further enhanced by the piano-style chording in bars 3 and 4. THIS RHYTHMIC CLAWHAMMER
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Part1: Acoustic Style Jimmy Page
USING ONE OF PAGE’S FAVOURITE TUNINGS, DADGAD (low to high), this example mixes exotic scale patterns with occasionally dissonant chords. The hammer-ons and pull-offs are a little fiddly at first but a few plays through should make it more comfortabl
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Part2: Fingerpicking Fingerpicking Patterns
The world of fingerstyle guitar is so vast and verdant that it can sometimes seem overwhelming. So rich is it in various stylistic roots, from Brazilian bossa nova to the traditional folk songs of Britain, that knowing where to start is a problem in
Guitarist6 min read
Living The Dream
CONTACT Taylor Guitars PHONE 00800 23750011 WEB www.taylorguitars.com 1 So, what is the American Dream? This is Taylor’s response to COVID-19’s effect on people’s desire to play great guitars but with perhaps compromised financial situations. Hence
Guitarist8 min read
Exacting Standards
When it comes to electric guitars, there is one that sits firm in the hard rock throne as Gibson’s crowning glory: the Les Paul Standard. From Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Peter Green to Gary Moore, Slash and Joe Bonamassa, the ’Burst has prevail
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Taylor American Dream Ad17 Blacktop
PRICE: £1,715 (inc soft case) ORIGIN: USA TYPE: 14-fret Grand Pacific acoustic TOP: Solid spruce with revealed edges and V-Class bracing BACK/SIDES: Solid ovangkol MAX RIM DEPTH: 117.5mm MAX BODY WIDTH: 406.4mm NECK: Mahogany SCALE LENGTH: 64
Guitarist1 min read
The Rivals
With its street price of around £1,500 Gibson’s J-45 Studio is a modern take on the company’s vintage workhorse round-shouldered dreadnought. It offers great value, too. The walnut body and Sitka spruce top means it’s pretty close to the Taylor AD17
Guitarist1 min read
Taylor American Dream Ad27
PRICE: £1,619 (inc soft case) ORIGIN: USA TYPE: 14-fret Grand Pacific acoustic TOP: Solid mahogany with V-Class bracing BACK/SIDES: Solid sapele MAX RIM DEPTH: 117.5mm MAX BODY WIDTH: 406.4mm NECK: Mahogany SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”) TUNERS
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Full Circle
Taylor Guitars officially started on 15 October 1974. Bob Taylor and his partners, Kurt Listug and Steve Schemmer, had purchased the store where they worked building guitars – the American Dream – from owner Sam Radding. They found they couldn’t actu
Guitarist8 min read
Time Warp
CONTACT JHS PHONE 01132 865381 WEB www.danelectro.com 1 Are Danos still made from plywood and hardboard? Back in the 50s, Danelectro pioneered a very different construction using a wood frame (poplar and/or pine) topped front and back with Masonite
Guitarist1 min read
The Rivals
Silvertone’s 1303/U2 (£199) is a very affordable take on the Danelectro U-2, though it’s spec’d with a mahogany body and maple top. The quality of the 1423 (£279) we took on Longtermers test back in 2018 really wasn’t bad. Godin’s Radiator (£799) is
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Under The Hood
Both guitars have rear-mounted controls. The ’57’s are accessed via a circular plastic plate held in place by a single central bolt, screwing into a metal bracket that isn’t fixed to anything: it’s a simple clamp that’s not easy to screw back in afte
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The Dano Story
History might have consigned Danelectro to the cheap and cheerful basket but Nathaniel Daniel shone very brightly back in the forward-looking America of the 1950s and 60s. He’d begun making amps in the bedroom of his parents’ New York apartment befor
Guitarist3 min read
Lip Gloss
One aspect of the new ’59 Divine is the ‘Vintage 50s’ pickups. “The pickups are a great replica of the best 50s pickups,” Steve Ridinger of Dano owners the Evets Corporation told us at the guitars’ launch at NAMM earlier this year. “We looked at a lo
Guitarist1 min read
Danelectro ’57 Guitar
PRICE: £799 ORIGIN: Korea TYPE: Single-cutaway semi-hollow electric BODY: Composite top and back over solid-wood frame NECK: Maple, C profile, bolt-on SCALE LENGTH: 635 mm (25”) NUT/WIDTH: Bone/42mm FINGERBOARD: Pau ferro, small white dot inla
Guitarist1 min read
Danelectro ’59 Divine
PRICE: £899 ORIGIN: Korea TYPE: Double-cutaway semi-hollow electric BODY: Composite top and back over solid-wood frame NECK: Maple, C profile bolt-on SCALE LENGTH: 635 mm (25”) NUT/WIDTH: Bone/42.69mm FINGERBOARD: Pau ferro, small white dot in
Guitarist4 min readTechnology & Engineering
OLD BLOOD NOISE ENDEAVORS Minim
Pedals specifically designed to create complex ambiences have become quite a thing of late – and the Old Blood Noise Endeavors Minim falls right into that category. While some pedals weave their sonic tapestry simply via a combination of reverb and d
Guitarist3 min read
ROUND-UP Nobels pedals
If there’s one overdrive pedal that’s been used by pros but has slipped under the popular radar, it’s the ODR-1. Finished in a similar green hue to the Tubescreamer, the ODR-1 came about because designer Kai Tachibana was not keen on the fact that th
Guitarist2 min readTechnology & Engineering
Racks Entertainment
I have come back to the guitar after a 10-year hiatus but I’m struggling to find inspiration in my guitar sound. I love guitar music from the 80s so, in theory, I should have some big refrigerator-sized rack units made for me (which is not so practic
Guitarist3 min readTechnology & Engineering
Longtermers
Armed with a seemingly limitless array of possibilities, can Rod find the sounds he needs to put music to poetry using Empress Effects’“modular synthesizer in pedal form” – the almighty Zoia? Empress Effects’ Zoia has achieved a virtual cult follow
Guitarist4 min read
Walter Trout
What was the first serious guitar that you bought with your own money? “My own money? I have to say that it was kind of a loan. My grandmother took me to 8th Street Music in Philadelphia in 1968 and so I was 17. I’d been playing a little while and
Guitarist8 min read
The Dark Side
I’ll wager the majority, if not all, of the Telecasters you own (or have owned) will have what we call ‘modern’ wiring. It’s also pretty much the default and most simple circuit for any two-pickup guitar: a three-way pickup switch (voicing bridge, bo
Guitarist3 min read
Gibson ‘Dreadnought’ Jumbos
Gibson’s dreadnought designs have been a mainstay of the flat-top world ever since its debut, the Jumbo, was released in 1934. The concept was developed in 1916 when Martin made the mahogany-bodied ‘Extra Grand’-sized 111 and 222 models for music ret
Guitarist3 min read
Value Matters
Q I have owned many guitars over the years. I must have bought and sold close to 100 guitars in my search for the ‘perfect’ one. Anyway, one of the guitars I had on my journey was a Japanese Fender Francis Rossi signature Telecaster. I didn’t have it
Guitarist3 min read
Pure Genius
Playing the guitar is still K&K Sound founder Dieter Kaudel’s favourite hobby, as the impressive array of albums listed on his own artist website (www.dietrimusic.com) attests to. “I’m both a musician and a tinkerer,” he tells us down the line from K
Guitarist1 min read
Noel Gallagher’s 1968 Gibson Trini Lopez Standard
Six-digit serial number impressed into rear of headstock Asymmetrical ‘non-reverse’ Firebird style; unbound; no headstock motif; black finish; gold Gibson logo decal ES-335-style double-cutaway thinline; arched top and back; laminated maple top, back
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The Evolution Of The Trini Lopez Standard
ES-335 released First production models; 111/16” nut; nickel-plated hardware; Cherry finish T-top humbuckers; nut width decreases; chrome-plated hardware; c. 320 shipped Sparkling Burgundy and Cherry finishes; c. 485 shipped ‘Bonnet’ knobs ch
Guitarist2 min read
Classic Gear
In August this year, Mexican-American guitar legend Trini Lopez – the man once hailed by Gibson as “probably the most exciting young star in the music business” – sadly passed away at the age of 83 after contracting COVID-19. Born Trinidad Lopez III
Guitarist2 min read
Reverb Rarities
The first decade of Gibson Les Paul production has been written about perhaps more than any other topic in the annals of vintage guitar history. As many readers already know, Gibson had phased out the use of the classic single-cutaway Les Paul shape
Guitarist4 min read
Trading Licks
Difficulty 10 mins per example Tutor: Robbie Calvo | Gear used: Yamaha Revstar 720B, Line 6 Helix THIS ISSUE we’re welcoming a new contributor, Robbie Calvo. Now based in Hawaii, the London native is a long-time Nashville session player, having
Guitarist2 min read
Blues Headlines
Difficulty 10 mins per example Tutor: Richard Barrett | Gear used: Knaggs SSC, Vox AC15 C1 THIS FIRST EXAMPLE begins with a no-holds-barred Chuck Berry-type repeated phrase. Though the transcription shows six identical repeats, don’t take this
Guitarist2 min read
Practising Page-isms
COMING UP THROUGH SKIFFLE, BLUES, ROCK ’N’ ROLL, FOLK, then a fairly well-known rock band that encompassed all of this and more, Jimmy Page has never been afraid to take radically different approaches to both his playing and composition. However, he
Guitarist1 min read
Hear It Here
Jimmy is on fine form as an already experienced session guitarist now given free rein in the recording studio. Much of the Led Zep sound is already fully formed with Jimmy’s solos on Good Times Bad Times, Communication Breakdown and I Can’t Quit You
Guitarist1 min read
Next Month
Exploring the brand’s US heritage plus a look at some new models Carey Standard and limited-run 10th Anniversary Carey Elite Custom A life of riffing in the name of raging against the machine Next issue on sale: 16 October 2020 ■

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