CATEGORIES

jackie venson-on emotive tones

jackie venson may be tagged as a “blues artist,” but the austin-born guitarist/composer doesn’t allow media labels to fence in her stylistic diversity.

last man shredding

the ferocious legend that is buddy guy may be the final link to early chicago blues guitarists, but he’s not going quietly into that good night.

big sky, cowboy chords, and telling stories

bob weir draws on his teenaged campfire performances for blue mountain.

John 5 On Shredding, Diversity, And Keeping Audiences Engaged

“THIS IS ENTERTAINMENT—THAT’S what we do,” says John 5, who just released the new John 5 and the Creatures album, It’s Alive (his first to be offered on vinyl).

Joey Tafolla On Channeling Legends In The Graham Bonnet Band

FOR FORMER SHRAPNEL RECORDS alum Joey Tafolla—his releases on the label include 1987’s Out of the Sun and 1997’s Infra- Blue—it’s hard to think of a sweeter gig than playing with Alcatrazz, Rainbow, and Michael Schenker Group vocalist Graham Bonnet.

Remembering Terry Kath

THERE WEREN’T MANY GUITARISTS who made Jimi Hendrix sweat, but in 1968, he saw one who got under his skin. It was at the Whiskey a Go Go in Los Angeles, where Hendrix caught a set by the then-unknown group, Chicago Transit Authority. Impressed by their performance, he made his way backstage, and raved, “You guys are mother**kers. The horns are like one set of lungs, and your guitar player is better than me.”

My Signal Paths For “Lock & Loaded” featuring Gary Hoey

AS THE SON OF A WORLD WAR II VETeran, I have a fondness for those who serve their country, and that soldier’s sense of duty is what inspired my recent album, Band of Brothers [Cleopatra].

The Shape Of Things

IN THE EARLY 2000s, ON an evening stroll in Cordoba, Spain, I walked past the small shop of my friend Manuel Reyes, who builds flamenco guitars.

Joan Armatrading

JOAN ARMATRADING IS one of the greatest songwriters alive, and because her songs have had such an impact, many have overlooked her guitar playing. But Joan has been playing rhythm and lead—and on both electric and acoustic guitars— on all of her albums since the beginning of her career. What really knocked me out from our interview, though, was her self assuredness and her singular vision as a writer, player, and arranger. The mark of a master is how easy they make it all seem to the rest of us. 

3 Shred Strategies For The Studio

THERE ARE NO UNBREAKABLE RULES in music, but if I dared propose a couple, it would be that shred tracks must be [a] savage, [b] clear and articulate, and [c] seductive in their surprise and ear-stickiness.

Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man

ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTSBig five-knob control interfaceBBD analog delay soundBonus Chorus-Vibrato effectHard-wired AC power cordWet and dry outputs

Solo on the Side

Super Session Guitarist Rafael Moreira Goes His Own Way—temporarily— With Magnetico’s Death Race

Little Steven's Big Sound

Steven Van Zandt on the “five Crafts” of Rock and Roll

Gurus Brivido

Gurus Brivido

Ceriatone 2202

Ceriatone 2202

Preparing A Stylistic Stew

Jon Stickley on Eclectic Flat-top

Universal Audio

Apollo Twin MkII Quad

Pete Thorn's Session Essentials

IF YOU’VE PATROLLED YOUTUBE FOR cool gear demos, you’ve likely come across Pete Thorn, who is one of the video-sharing website’s most prolific product reviewers. But the tone-obsessed guitarist has also done studio sessions and/or worked stages with Chris Cornell, Courtney Love, Pink, Alicia Keys, Melissa Etheridge, and others. If anyone knows how to “give good tone” it’s Thorn, and here he reveals his must-have session gear.

Mike Matthews On Celebrating 50 Years Of Electro-Harmonix

AS FOUNDER OF ELECTRO- Harmonix, Mike Matthews certainly deserves his 2012 Guitar Player Hall of Fame Award for Manufacturing Legend. But the man is also a force of nature. He’s someone I’d bet would laugh during a zombie apocalypse with unlit cigar in hand and a master plan for continued existence in tow—well, as long as the fish were still biting. His company has survived union thugs, bankruptcy, strong-arm tactics in its Russian tube factory, and five decades of competing in the roller-coaster-in-flames wild ride of the guitar industry.

Three Ways To Get Terrific Speaker-Cab Tones At Home

TONS OF HOME RECORDISTS UTILIZE DIGITAL-AMP MODELS for their guitar tones, and they are simple and great-sounding solutions. However, at times, you might get a bug to explore some other tonal options that also work in personal-studio situations. Here are three relatively new tools I’ve tried recently, and I really dug the results.

Jason Isbell

My Musical Life in Five Riffs

True Friends

Scott Sharrard on Recording Gregg Allman’s Farewell Album, Southern Blood

Earthquaker Devices Data Corrupter Modulated Monophonic Harmonizing PLL

AS GUITARISTS WHO LOVE TO EXPERIMENT with bizarre sounds, how could we pass up anything called a “modulated monophonic harmonizing PLL?” The phrase itself almost makes no sense, unless you’re one of the science nerds on The Big Bang Theory. But it portends secret labs and clandestine government agencies messing with the fabric of time and space, so count us in.

Machine Head

Powered by Classic Gear, Rick Nielsen Revs Up Cheap Trick’s Latest Release, We’re All Alright

A Season In Hell

Gretchen Menn Reinterprets Dante’s Inferno & Rethinks the Concept of an Instrumental Guitar Album

A Little Help From His Friends

Ricky Phillips, Eric Singer, and a Bevy of Guest Stars Help Finish Ronnie Montrose’s Last Album

Let It Flow!

Two Seemingly Disparate Guitar Geniuses Converge to Hail the Glories of Improvisation

Electro-Harmonix

Operation Overlord And Tone Corset.

BOSS BOX-40 40th Anniversary Box Set

IN 2014, WE PARTNERED WITH BOSS to produce a comprehensive digital resource entitled Guitar Player Celebrates 100 BOSS Compact Pedals. The staff was buried in specs, tones, and artist interviews for months, and we had a marvelous time getting first-hand access to the company’s Compact Pedal archives.

Celestion G12H-150 Redback And Limited Edition G12-35XC

CELESTION CONTINUES TO PUSH AN “it’s back” theme as a distinguisher of variations on classic guitar speakers, this time with the über-powerful 150-watt G12H-150 Redback ($169 street) topping out well above the Greenbacks and Creambacks of this world. Alongside it, the G12-35XC ($169 street) is a Limited Edition that applies the company’s cumulative knowledge to a new vintage-meets-modern take on the legendary Pulsonic cone. I tested each speaker in a 1x12 StoneAge cabinet with a Les Paul and a Stratocaster into JTM45-style and AC15-style amps.