Premier Guitar - 2012-05

10 Tips forsummer GiGGinGPractical and technical advicefor the musician in season.

diGiTal adVanTaGeIn addition to the kick-butt stuff in our May 2012 print edition, you also get the following fantastic material when you head online to premierguitar.com.

sponsored by fendermayhiGhliGhTs

BlueRidge BG-2500 Super Ju& 112 Cab Dr. Z MAX 8 StudProgrammable EQ Laney Iro

REVIEWBuilder profile: Kyle ChaseThis vintage replica builder can hear differences in tone, from wire to wire.

nada surfFrontman/guitarist Matthew Caws candidly discusses his creative process.

Fender Johnny Marr Signature Jaguar Warwick Jack Bruce Survivor Vox DelayLab Fargen Retro Classic

mbo EBS Reidmar 250 Bass Head and ClassicLine 110 io Reverend Pete Anderson Eastsider S Source Audio nheart IRT 120H Larry Alan Infinity Driver

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Gigging Gear Showcase: WEB3 As the concert season beckons, we highlight some of the most cutting-edge gear available for the working guitarist. Digital-Only Reviews: DR1 VHT Special 12/20 RT DR3 DigiTech iStompDR5 Fender Machete DR7 BilT El Hombre DR9 Digital Recorder Roundup

CLICk HERE to sign up for your FREE subscription to Premier Guitars digital magazine!

MAY 2012

Chase AudioGuitardoms Most OCD NOS Builder?

DragonForceHerman Li and Sam TotmanUnleash The Power Within

Vox Fender EBS Warwick Reverend Laney Blueridge Fargen Source Audio Larry Alan

10 GuitAr & BAss reviews

Summer GiGGinG TipS nada Surf paul GilberT leSSon

The Kansas & Deep Purple Legend and Bassist Dave LaRue on Their Stereotype-Busting New Supergroup

5Digital-Only Reviews!

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MAY 2012

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6 PREMIER GUITAR MAY 2012 premierguitar.com

EDITORIAL Editor in Chief Shawn Hammond

Managing Editor Tessa Jeffers

Senior Editor Andy Ellis

Gear Editor Charles Saufley

Senior Art Editor Angela Cox

Senior Art Editor Meghan Molumby

Web Content Editor Rebecca Dirks

Associate Editor Chris Kies

Associate Editor Rich Osweiler

Associate Editor Jason Shadrick

Video Editor Steve Worthington

Acoustic Editor Gayla Drake Paul

Web Production Assistant Champ Long

PRODUCTION & OPERATIONs Operations Manager Shannon Burmeister

Circulation Manager Lois Stodola

Production Coordinator Luke Viertel

Technology Manager John Parks

sALEs/MARKETING Advertising/Artist Relations

Brett Petrusek

Director of Business Development

Jessica Sullivan

Director of Retail Sales

Dave Westin

Marketing Manager Nick Ireland

Multimedia Coordinator Matt Roberts

GEARhEAD COMMUNICATIONs, LLCChairman Peter F. Sprague

President Patricia A. Sprague

Managing Director Gary Ciocci

WEBsITEs Our Portal

premierguitar.com Our Online Magazine:

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The information and advertising set forth herein has been obtained from sources believed to be Gearhead Communications, L.L.C., however, does not warrant complete accuracy of such information and assumes no responsibility for any consequences arising from the use thereof or reliance thereon. Publisher reserves the right to reject or cancel any advertisement or space reservation at any time without notice. Publisher shall not be liable for any costs or damages if for any reason it fails to publish an advertisement. This publication may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Copyright 2012. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Premier Guitar is a publication of Gearhead Communications, L.L.C.

Premier Guitar [ISSN 1945-077X (print) ISSN 1945-0788 (online)] is published monthly. Subscription rates: $29.99 (12 issues), $49.99 (24 issues) Call for Canada, Mexico and foreign subscription rates 877-704-4327; email address for customer service [email protected].

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Distributed to the music trade by Hal Leonard Corporation.

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Gear Fest Gastronomy: Feast Your Eyes BY shawn hammond

A s I write this, Im look-ing out the window of a transatlantic flight to Frankfurt, Germany. Yes, gear editor Charles Saufley and I are head-ed to the annual Musikmesse trade showpossibly the big-gest gear show in the world. We make quite a few trips like this each yeartreks to feast our eyes and ears on the latest guitars, amps, effects, and other gizmos being unveiled by com-panies from around the globe. We do it so we can update you in virtual real time with our Facebook posts from the floor, as well as the photo galleries that soon follow them at premierguitar.com.

As with any massive feast, theres always a tantalizing array of stuff at Musikmesse that wed love to spend hours and hours

withif only we didnt have to move on to the next exhibitors booth to bust out our trusty Shure SM57 and shoot a demo video for you to watch at your leisure on our YouTube channel or our website. Like you, were always on the lookout for new tone toys to put to use in our own musical endeavors, so these trips are kind of a catch-22: Were stoked to get to see and hear all this new stuffoften the solder fumes have hardly dissipated before the new con-traption is blaring through the exhibition hallsbut our pace on the showroom floor is so fast that we have to bid adieu to these new sirens of sound mere minutes after hearing their enchanting calls. Our only sol-ace is the hope that well soon get the gear in for a review. (If

you go back and check dates youll find that, more often than not, were reviewing the cool new gear from NAMM and Musikmesse shows before anyone else, too.)

As I think about the gear feast Im flying toward at more than 500 miles per hour, I real-ize that these trips always tend to entail literal culinary feasts, tooand theyre pretty much always just as diverse as the products we see at the shows themselves. Every year when we head off to Musikmesse, we look forward to eating delectable platters of butter chicken and other amazing dishes at Frankfurts Bombay Palacethey know us by name. Sometimes there are cool parties where we take in multi-course meals with amazing wines and

exotic desserts. And sometimes were forcing down food thats either hardly fit to eat or com-pletely alien to our culinary sen-sibilities (for the record, I am one of the adventurous staffers).

Next issue, well be show-ing you the highlights of the Musikmesse 2012 gear feast. In the meantime, Ive included pictures of some of our more interesting meals from gear trips of yore. As you take a look, you may very well see food that turns your stomachwhether its because of the huge thumb hole in my other-wise run-of-the-mill Summer NAMM 2011 pork sandwich or the exotic meats from our Winter NAMM 2011 trip to the Korean barbecue.

One thing you can count on though, is that the PG staff is incredibly diverse, so well cover anything and everything at the Musikmesse smorgasbord: Some of us drool over the stuff thats more familiar looking or sounding, while others dig the whacked-out stuff. And a lot of the time were all knocked out when we try something we thought we werent into, only to find out we really dig itjust like with those slimy blobs of meat from the Korean barbecue.

Until next time!

Shawn [email protected]

1. Luthier Jens Ritter (left) and PG gear editor Charles Saufley enjoy a variety of authentic Italian pizzas during our post-Musikmesse trip to visit Ritters factory in Deidesheim, Germany, last year. 2. One night during Winter NAMM 2011, some of the PG staff went to a Korean barbecue joint and enjoyed baby squid and the tongue, stomach, and heart of a cow, among other things. 3. I began my Summer NAMM 2011 trip by visiting the airport caf and ordering a pulled-pork sandwich that arrived bearing the indelible handprint of its maker. 4. With this years Musikmesse trip, the fun began before Id even left town. My spinach-tomato-and-mushroom omelet from the local diner came out looking like a formaldehyde-soaked internal organ. Cutting into it brought a gush of high-school biology-class memories.

1 2

3 4

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TABLE OF COnTEnTS > FEATURES & REVIEWS

126 FEndER Johnny Marr Signature Jaguar130 WARWIck Jack Bruce Survivor133 Vox DelayLab137 FARgEn Retro Classic142 BlUERIdgE BG-2500 Super Jumbo145 EBS Reidmar 250 Bass Head and Classicline 110 & 112 Cab150 REVEREnd Pete Anderson Eastsider S153 SoURcE AUdIo Programmable EQ157 lAnEy Ironheart IRT120H162 lARRy AlAn Infinity Driver

REVIEWS

107

Ph

oto

by

Mar

ina

Rav

izza

FEATURES75 Steve Morse & dave laRue

Supergroup Flying Colors breaks boundaries with its self-titled debut.

87 10 Tips for Summer gigging

Practical and technical advice for the musician in season.

97 dragonForceHerman Li and Sam Totman make a new album with a new vocalist.

107 nada SurfFrontman/guitarist Matthew Caws candidly discusses his creative process.

117 Builder Profile: kyle chase

This vintage replica builder can hear differences in tone, from wire to wire.

contents Volume 17 Issue 5 May 2012

Nada Surf

Reverend Pete Anderson Eastsider S

150Laney Ironheart IRT120H

157

premierguitar.com

Pete Anderson Eastsider S

117 Builder Profile: kyle kyle k

This vintage replica builder can hear differences in tone, from wire to wire.

Reverend Pete Anderson Eastsider S

150

Warwick Jack Bruce Survivor

130

Jackson Ampworks Atlantic

Victoria Silver Sonic

Sand

berg T

M-4

Santa Cruz

Pre-War

Gretsch G6120

Fano Psonicsphear

Fender CS

63 Tele Custom

cme6.com 1-888-686-7872more than just vintage


TABLE OF COnTEnTS > lESSonS & dEPARTMEnTS

lESSonS63 kick out the Jams

Donna Grantis

66 Fingerstyle WorkoutDoug Wamble

68 Beyond BluesCorey Christiansen

71 Shred your EnthusiasmPaul Gilbert

contents (Contd) Volume 17 Issue 5 May 2012

19 opening notes

24 letters

26 news

28 Staff PicksPG editors and Middle Class Ruts Zack Lopez give advice for summer gigging.

30 Media ReviewsThe Cult: Choice of Weapon Plus: Carolina Chocolate Drops, Ned Evett, The Mars Volta, and Prester John

166 new Products

168 gear of the Month1966 Fender Mustang, 1961 Fender Princeton, and Vintage Gibson Maestro Fuzz-Tone FZ-1A

170 Modern Builder VaultXylem Handmade Basses and Guitars

176 last callWhen is a Song Finished?

dEPARTMEnTS

56gIggIng & REcoRdIng

34 Tone TipsTone Stacking with Two Amps

36 on TrackSession Dos and Donts

38 on BassA Lesson for Substitutes

40 guitar TracksChoosing an Audio Interface

TEch TIPS

42 State of the StompRaising the Bar of Wah Design

44 Esoterica ElectricaPerfectly Imperfect

46 Acoustic SoundboardListening Deeply to Acoustic Guitar Sound

colUMnS48 Ask Amp Man

Resuscitating a Sound City Concord Combo

50 Mod garageFender Esquire Basics

52 The Bass BenchCheap and Easy Bass Mods

VInTAgE & UPkEEP

54 Bottom FeederSX Hawk MN P90

56 Vintage Vault1962 Fiesta Red Fender Jaguar

58 Trash or TreasureSupro Brentwood

60 Restoring an originalRestoring a 1963 Gibson EB-OF Fuzztone Bass

on ThE coVER Music Man Steve Morse Signature model (photo by Mike Murray Studios), and DragonForce (photo by Jukka O. Kauppinen).

19

Ph

oto

by

Jim

Su

mm

aria

Vintage Vault

Opening Notes

Extending your tone lifelike no other stringEvery time you play your guitar, tiny bits of you are left to invade the windings to contaminate your strings and kill your tone. Elixir Strings are the only strings that keep dirt out of the windings by coating the entire string. Our ultra-thin NANOWEB Coating provides a clean, smooth feel and players tell us their tone lasts longer than any other string, uncoated or coated.

Learn more about Taylor Guitars and find out why Bob loves Elixir Strings: www.elixirstrings.com/bobtaylor

Guitar Shown:Taylor SolidBody Standard Double Cutaway in Borrego Red

GORE, ELIXIR, NANOWEB, POLYWEB, GREAT TONE LONG LIFE, e icon, anddesigns are trademarks of W. L. Gore & Associates. 2011 W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.

Sometimes someone comes up with a different idea. It changes all the rules of the game. Thats what happened when Elixir started making strings. - Bob Taylor

ELX-001-ADV-US-NOV11


WEB ExCLuSiVES

This month on PremierGuitar.com

Head to facebook.com/premierguitaronly on FAcEBook...

Top 3 Mods for the Top 3 Guitars Mod Garage columnist Dirk Wacker takes to the web for an extended mod guide focusing on the top three most popular modifications for the top three most popular guitars: Les Paul, Tele, and Strat. With three different difficulty levels for each instrument, theres a mod for just about everyone in this feature.Online April 25. Search for 3 Mods for 3 Guitars

FAcEBook PhoTo oF ThE MonThThink you gig hard? Dan Armstrong of British Columbia shared the evidence of his battles on our Facebook wall, saying Little bit of blood on my Godin LGX from a show I played. Good times. Admittedly we werent sure whether to be grossed out or impressed, but impressed won out and earned Armstrong his place in these pages.

To submit your photo for consider-ation, post any guitar-related photo (that you own the rights to) and a cool caption to our Facebook wall. Take us back in time with kitschy shots of your first band, knock us out with the beauty of your favorite guitar, or make us laugh, and you could find your picture here next month!

Rig Rundowns Ramp Up!As summer touring season kicks off, were throwing our Rig Rundowns into high gear! Head online for the following brand new videos, and more coming out every week!

Bonus Feature PhotosWant to see more photos from this issues artist and

gear features? Look for the Facebook logo in select articles then click on the Photos tab on our Facebook page to access additional pictures for that piece. This month you can see more shots of DragonForce, as well as Kyle Chases NOS replica creations.

Guns N Roses Ron Bumblefoot Thal, DJ Ashba, and Richard Fortus (online now!)

John Jorgenson (online now!)The Black Keys Dan Auerbach(online now!)

Every Time I Die (online April 16)

premierguitar.com PREMIER GUITAR MAY 2012 17

WEB ExCLuSiVES

John 5 onGod Told Me To The Tele-master behind the twisted tones of Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson is back with another solo album in May. We catch up with him to talk about his latest solo effort.Online April 18. Search for Interview: John 5 on God Told Me To

Online-Only Gear Reviews Want even more gear reviews? Check out whats new online this month at premierguitar.com/reviews: Online Now DigiTech iStomp, Squier Vintage Modified Surf Strat Online April 18 Epiphone ES-339 Ultra, Metal Pedals Rawhide Online April 25 Breedlove Voice Revival 000/SME, Carl Martin Opto Envelope

WIn IT!Sign up for our weekly news-letter at premierguitar.com/newsletter or Like us on

Facebook for access to these weekly giveaways.

Hardwire HT-6 Polyphonic Tuner

April 18-24

MxR noise ClampApril 24-May 1

Fryer Treble Booster Deluxe

May 2-8

Lehle D.Loop SGoSMay 9-22

Poll oF ThE MonTh

Do you regularly play any less-traditional cousins of the 6-string guitar?

Go Inside Electro-Harmonix Take a tour through the New York City facility where Big Muffs

and POGs take shape, guided by the mastermind behind it all: Mike Matthews. Plus, get an exclusive first listen to the companys

latest toys: the SuperEgo synth pedal and Crying Tone wah.Demos online now! Search for Electro-Harmonix

SuperEgo Engine and Crying Tone Demos Tour online May 1. Search for Electro-Harmonix Factory Tour

51%Nope, traditional

6-string all the way.

14%6-String

Downtuned11%

7-String Guitar

7%12-String

2%Ukulele

2%Mandolin

4%More than one of the above

4%Bass

5%6-StringBaritone

This month on PremierGuitar.com

Poll oF ThE MonTh

Do you regularly play any less-traditional cousins of the 6-string guitar?

51%Nope, traditional

6-string all the way.

14%6-String

Downtuned11%

7-String Guitar

7%12-String

2%Ukulele

2%Mandolin

4%More than one of the above

4%Bass

5%6-StringBaritone

Top 3 Mods for the Top 3 Guitars Mod Garage columnist Dirk Wacker takes to the web for an extended mod guide focusing on the top three most popular modifications for the top three most popular guitars: Les Paul, Tele, and Strat. With three different difficulty levels for each instrument, theres a mod for just about everyone in this feature.Online April 25. Search for 3 Mods for 3 Guitars

Xtremely Satisfying

Thats what Orianthi says about her Dean Markley HELIX

Strings. Whether shes rocking out with Steve Vai, Santana,

Prince, Alice Cooper, or Carrie Underwood, or playing the

Eric Clapton Crossroads Festival, Orianthi knows she can

rely on the Xtremely satisfying tone, feel, and longevity of

HELIX strings.

Want Xtreme satisfaction? Easy. Try HELIX for yourself.

As Ori says, Its all words until you try em.

Find out more at DeanMarkley.com

Helix Strings: Ingeniously twisted for enhanced tone, sustain, and longevity.

Made in the U.S.A.

2012 Dean Markley


oPEnIng noTES

ROnniE MOnTROSEJune 1974

Chicago, IL The Auditorium TheatrePhoto by Jim Summaria

After fighting prostate cancer for many years, legendary American rock guitarist Ronnie Montrose

passed away on March 3 in his San Francisco-area home. He was 64 years old. Best known for his work as the leader of the band Montrose, the guitar wizard

also played alongside such luminaries as Edgar Winter, Van Morrison, Boz Scaggs, and Herbie Hancock.

Captured in this photo doing what he did best, Ronnie Montrose lets loose with his trademarked and timeless tone at a summer of 74 concert in Chicago.


oPEnIng noTES


oPEnIng noTES

EDDiE VAn HALEnFebruary 20, 2012

The Palace of Auburn HillsAuburn Hills, MI

Photo by Ken Settle

Just two nights into Van Halens North American tour support-ing their first studio album with David Lee Roth in almost 30 years, an inspired Eddie Van Halen opens the show with their classic cover, You Really Got Me. Looking quite at home in front of a massive wall of EVH 5150 III amps and cabs, Van Halen wields his EVH Wolfgang to deliver the sonic mastery

only he can to a sold-out crowd of enthused Motor City rockers.


oPEnIng noTES

THE REVEREnD HORTOn HEAT

March 10, 2012The Observatory

Santa Ana, CAPhoto by Harmony Gerber

Serving up a grin with a double dose of psychobilly, Jim Heath (aka the Reverend

Horton Heat) fires things up at the Observatory Rockabilly Festival in Orange

County with his Gretsch G6120RHH Reverend Horton Heat signature model.

Built to his specifications, including the pinned bridge and locking tuners to

accommodate Heaths aggressive style, the guitar is outfitted with a pair of TV Jones Classic pickups and adorned with

Western-themed fretboard inlays.

MAKING THEIR NAMESNo other maker of guitars and basses has the Signature Series line that ESP/LTD offers. With instruments designed by legendary players like Kirk Hammett (Metallica), Jeff Hanneman (Slayer), and Rob Caggiano (Anthrax), as well as our new generation of players like Whitechapel and Suicide Silence, we make the guitars and basses that your heroes play. Sign up for our Signature Series at your ESP/LTD dealer today.

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ALEX WADE Whitechapel

KIRK HAMMETT Metallica

JEFF HANNEMAN Slayer

ROB CAGGIANO Anthrax

BUZ MCGRATH Unearth

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ZACH HOUSEHOLDER Whitechapel

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AW-7 DRSB

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BS-7 STBLK

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been relocated. How can you account for perfect intonation in this instance?Jerry Gilsterap

Hi Jerry, great question! First, youre right: The distance between the nut and 12th fret mustequal the distance between the 12th fret and the saddles. The Warmoth baritone neck has 24 frets, as opposed to the 21 frets on a vintage Tele. (The American Vintage 69 Telecaster Thinline we converted shipped with a 21-fret neck.)

The Warmoths extra three frets push the neck back away from the saddles the precise amount needed to stretch the distance between the 12th fret and the saddles to match the nut-to-12th-fret distance. Remember that because of the longer scale, all the frets are spaced apart a bit wider, and that includes frets 12-24. Whoever figured this out deserves kudos. Im sure it required some serious math calculations.

I should mention that the 24th fret sits right at the end of the

neck block. The fretboard itself has a 3/8" lip that goes past the neck block and is suspended over the body. This is simply cosmet-ica way to follow the 24th fret with a bit of rosewood before the fretboard ends.

Several other brands of bari-tone necks use this same 24-fret strategy. In fact, I own a 28"-scale Gibson Les Paul baritone (one heck of a guitar) that also has a 24-fret neck. A Les Paul with 24 frets is something to behold. Its body, bridge, and tailpiece are sized and spaced the same as a standard Les Paul, so the folks at Gibson use the 24-fret technique to make the LP body work with a long-scale neck.

Thats the secret.

Cheers,Andy Ellis

Heartfelt, HandwrittenWe were absolutely pumped to receive this piece of snail mail from a faithful reader. Its not every day that someone uses an actual pen and paper to send a message!

LETTERS

keep those comments coming!Please send your sugges-tions, gripes, comments, and good words directly to [email protected].

PG TAkES nEW YORkHey Rebecca and Jason, It was a real honor to meet you guys today! You guys are awesome and Premier Guitar is my favorite magazine to go to when I try to stay current on music and guitar rigs of the pros. Hope you enjoy the rest of your visit in NY and tell Admiral Joe Perry I say Hi please.

Sincerely, Matthew WangNew York, New York

your Feedback

Forgotten HeroesWhat a wonderfuland lengthyarticle on the incred-ible Jimmy Wyble, complete with great photos and some tab/score. Id love to see more on Wyble, es-pecially his contrapuntal approach to playing, perhaps by David Oakes or Sid Jacobs. Best feature Ive seen in a guitar mag in a long time. Thanks, Premier Guitar!Dennis Roberts via Facebook

Thank you, Dennis! So glad you dug the piece. There are so many other Forgotten Heroes candidates to get to that we cant promise well put out more on Jimmy in the near future, but well definite-ly keep him in mind for future lesson material. Have a great one!

Bakers Dozen?Someone tell John Bohlinger, in as nice a way as possible, please, that there are indeed 12 notes and the 13th one is the octave.Robert DiMaio via Facebook

Haha, yes, a few readers have pointed that out. Our bad for not catching in editing, and John responded to readers on his online article: Whoops, Eddie was right... and so was Chris and Steve Wright and the rest. There are 12. I am a high-functioning idiot.

Down to EarthWhat is itthe staff members fight to see who can come up with the most obscure bands to listen to just so they can be different [Staff Picks: PG Gets Pumped, April 2012]? I understand not being a music lemming, but come on, enough is enough with the obscurity. The Shins? Ben Folds Five? Hush Arbors? Dirty Three? My heads going to explode. I have to read this train wreck of musical obscurity with a morbid fascination every issue. Other-wise, great magazine.Phil Starr Groveport, Ohio

Going the DistanceDear Premier Guitar,Love the magazine. Have a big question regarding the article on building the Fender Tele Bari-tone [How to Convert Your Axe to a Baritone, February 2012]. Your photographs show the extra length of the new neck, indicating it will fit in the pocket of the tele body,creating a longer length for the 12th fret. Ive always under-stood the measurement from the nut to the 12th fret, and the measurement from the 12th fret to the bridge had to be equal. I did not notice the bridge having

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DUN_Strings_Product_Premier.pdf 1 8/17/11 4:34 PM

innOVATiOn

Purdue Students create the ghost PedalThe new pedal technology uses sensors attached to the players foot to control a wah-style effect wirelessly. The technology can be activated or deactivated onstage at any time by tap-ping the sensor and is patent-pending. The Ghost Pedal was created as a senior project in Purdues School of Mechanical Engineering, and the creators hope to license the technology to pedal makers.engineering.purdue.edu/ME

HOnORED

Rock and Roll hall of Fame Inducts 2012 classThe Rock Hall will welcome Guns N Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Faces/Small Faces, and Donovan, as well as honoring Freddie King with an Early Influence award in an April 14, 2012 ceremony. rockhall.com

DOCuMEnTARY

BBc Profiles Vox historyVox Pop: How Dartford Powered the British Beat Boom is a 30-minute documentary pro-duced by the BBC document-ing the rise and influence of Vox Amplifiers. The documen-tary includes interviews with Vox players as well as factory workers from the 1960s and


nEWS

OBiTuARY

Ronnie Montrose dies at 64Montrose, who was best known for his work with Sammy Hagar in the group Montrose, also recorded classic tracks with Van Morrison, Edgar Winter, and Gamma. He succumbed to a lengthy battle with prostate cancer on March 3, 2012.

Bugs henderson dies at 69Henderson was a well-known guitarist in the Texas blues scene and shared the stage with the likes of B.B. King, Eric Clapton, and Ted Nugent. He was diagnosed with cancer last year and died of complications on March 8, 2012.

CLiniCS

national guitar Workshop Master Artist Series AnnouncedRobben Ford, Pat Metheny, Chick Corea, and John Scofield will each hold Master Artist Series workshops during the month of August. Daily activi-ties will include master classes, rhythm rehearsals, jam sessions, and performances. guitarworkshop.com

can be watched in full on the BBC website.bbc.com

RELEASED

Jimmy Page Releases Experimental Work from 70sThe avant garde project Lucifer Rising and Other Sound Tracks was released for public con-sumption on March 20, 2012 after having been kept under wraps for four decades. In a statement, Page called the work, a musical diary of avant-garde compositions and experiments.jimmypage.com

WEiRD

Marshall Unveils the Mini FridgeHot on the heels of success with their licensed headphones, Marshall unveiled a slightly stranger entry into the consum-er goods market in March with the Marshall Fridge. The mini fridge is styled like a mini stack and includes 4.4 cubic feet of space, a high-efficiency freezer, and knobs that go to 11. The fridge will sell for $300 and be available in October.marshallfridge.com

news Bits

Purdue alumnus Robbie Hoye, from left, and Purdue graduate stu-dent Will Black present the technology that powers the Ghost Pedal. Photo courtesy Purdue Research Foundation


Randy Lutz

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Beyond The Expected

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STAFF PiCkS

Zack lopez,Middle class Rut Guest PickerWhat are you listening to? Street Legal by Bob Dylan.What is your best advice for summer gigging? Know yourself and what youre getting into. Four bottles of water for every bottle of booze. One pack of condoms for every bottle you finish. $50k in the bank for every condom that breaks. Nine months of anxiety. Next summer you will not be touring.

charles SaufleyGear EditorWhat are you listening to? Gunn-Truscinski Duo, Sand City. Acoustic improviser Steve Gunn and drummer John Truscinski are simultaneously heavy, airy, and medi-tative on this gorgeous LP of beautifully executed and organically meandering tunes and improvisations.What is your best advice for summer gigging? Beer and lemonade. Bring a good Gabor Szabo mix tape.

Jason ShadrickAssociate EditorWhat are you listening to? Organic Instrumentals, Michael Landau. Known as a sideman to the stars, Landau steps out on his own with this album made especially for guitar nerds. His fluid chops and pristine tone will likely catch the attention of more than those who hang at the Baked Potato.What is your best advice for summer gigging? Bring a backup. Between the heat, rain, and the drunken dude who insists on sitting in, something always breaks down.

Andy EllisSenior EditorWhat are you listening to? Dustin Wong, Dreams Say, View, Create, Shadow Leads. Imagine the richly layered phase-pattern lines and rhythms of Philip Glass and Steve Reich translated to 6-string, toss in a little Discipline-era King Crimson, and youve got the kaleidoscopic, loop-driven sound of this inventive guitarist. Stunning.What is your best advice for summer gigging? Stay hydrated, wear a brimmed hat if the stage is outdoors, and dig all those tank tops.

Tessa JeffersManaging EditorWhat are you listening to? I thought I knew M. Wards sound, but the peek-a-boo, eclec-tic electric layers (subtle rockabilly!?) in A Wasteland Companion came out of nowhere and climbed on top of my current playlist.What is your best advice for summer gigging? If you get stuck playing a stuffy afternoon slot, pretend the suns about ready to eclipse and its your job to light the place up. Or, pretend theyre all naked. Also, what Zack Lopez said.

chris kiesAssociate EditorWhat are you listening to? Ive been jamming to dynamic live perfor-mances lately: David Bowies Live in Santa Monica 72, Cashs At Folsom Prison, Misfits Evilive, Panteras Official Live: 101 Proof, The Black Crowes Warpaint Live, Chris Cornells Songbook, and Queens of the Stone Ages Rated R.What is your best advice for summer gigging? Always say yes to any gigs and never take the purple acid, man.

Shawn hammondEditor in ChiefWhat are you listening to? Adestria, Chapters. Adventurous metalcore with brutal breakdowns, aggro/melodic vocals, and intriguingly intri-cate mellow sections.What is your best advice for summer gigging? Make sure your tuner is visible in direct sunlight, otherwise doom will follow. Oh, and bring a powerful fan, but make sure you plug it into a different circuit than your pedalboard and amp.

Rich osweilerAssociate EditorWhat are you listening to? Ive been spinning Cowboy Junkies The Wilderness, the latest and last installment to their four-record Nomad Series. The bands melancholy alt-country is a pretty perfect backdrop to this weeks nonstop Bay Area rain.What is your best advice for summer gigging? Friends dont make friends ride in the trunk! When its hot out there and youre driving some distance, keep your instruments up front when pos-sible or youre asking for trouble.

Rebecca dirksWeb Content EditorWhat are you listening to? The Black Keys, El Camino. After watching the band tear it up live following a Rig Rundown shoot, I couldnt resist employing the boisterous, fun rock tracks as my springtime Yay, its getting warm! soundtrack.What is your best advice for summer gigging? Put asses in seatsuse those dreaded social networks to get fans to your shows and make some money. But dont forget to have fun!

Best Advice For Summer Gigging The bus (or van, or station wagon) is packed, the porta-potties await, and hopefully the masses are ready to rock. Tis the season for concerts, so we enlisted the help of Middle Class Rut guitarist Zack Lopez to help us offer tips for basking in the heat of the moment.

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ALBuM

carolina chocolate dropsLeaving EdenNonesuch

Foot-tapping ensues right out of the barn on the Carolina Chocolate Drops sopho-more effort, as the thunder-picking melody

the Carolina Chocolate Drops are among the onlyif not the onlyblack traditional string band this side of, well, anywhere. Its fair to say founding members Rhiannon Giddens and Dom Flemons have knocked hard on the doors of their past. For Leaving Eden, the follow-up to 2010s Grammy win-ning Genuine Negro Jig, the group enlisted Nashville producer Buddy Miller (Emmylou Harris, Solomon Burke, Robert Plant), beat-boxer Adam Matta, Brooklyn guitarist/banjoist Hubby Jenkins, and cellist Leyla McCalla to expand upon these firm roots.

The Piedmont multi-instrumentalists may be of a vanishing breed who call and respond to their ancestors, arranging clas-sics like Briggs Corn Shucking Jig, dating as far back as 1855. But the CCD spirit reflected in todays world is unmistakable in original tunes like Country Girlwritten by Giddens as an ode to her North Carolina stomping groundsor by reinventing clas-sic selections of their string-playing mentors. The groups self-proclaimed modern take on traditional sound is eclectic and exciting: Each arrangement is nuanced and interesting vocally, instrumentally and lyricallyfrom the a cappella chain-gang vibe of Read em John, to the unique use of jugs, quills and bones. Vocals are split diversely between the magnificent, bluesy songbird Giddens and her spitfire counterpart Flemons, not to men-tion Mattas instrumental bass vocal talents.

Casual listeners may not discern that the underlying hip-hoppin bass line in Ruby (Are You Mad at Your Man?) is a human voicethats right, Matta lays down the low end with his voice on several tracks. Guitar purists might notice audible rhythm and acoustic fingerpick-ing here and there, but its absence is the true indication to the heart of this sound. The banjo is to this style of roots music what the electric guitar is to modern rock. Fiddle and mandolin paired with acoustic guitar are power-string combos in most bluegrass and folk groups, but the Carolina Chocolate Drops make a powerful case for straight-up banjo with anything.

The Drops are stylists, but rare are those who can simultaneously hold up a genre while innovating within it. This is where the old meets new magic happens and the hoo-tenanny spills into the town square, revealing Southern string music for then and now, oozing with soul and interpreted authentical-ly right down to the last drop. Tessa JeffersMust-hear tracks: Riros House, Country Girl

MEDiA REViEWS

ALBuM

The cultChoice of WeaponCooking Vinyl Records

The early 80s frequently get a bad rapmost times for good reason. During the window of time following punk and preceding grunge, synth-heavy new wave music reigned king. Thankfully, the era didnt keep quality and soulful hard rock start-ups from making an entry, and some seriously influen-tial and important music did come from the days of excessive mousse and neon. Sitting at or near the very top of that list is The Cult, not only one of the most powerful, straight-ahead, intense rock bands to emanate from the time, but a band that has endured and evolved for decades with their totally unique brand of hypnotic, riff-based rock.

The Cult continues to bring it with their first studio record in five years: Choice of Weapon. Written by the principal and founding members Billy Duffy and Ian Astbury, the album was recorded between July and December 2011 in a handful of locales before the finishing touches were applied by long-time Cult collaborator/producer Bob Rock. Backed by drummer John Tempesta and bassist Chris Wyse, the hallmark guitar work of Duffy and haunting colors of Astburys shamanic voice on Choice of Weapon will likely have Cult devoteesand newbies alikein disbelief that its been almost 30 years since the band broke onto the scene.

Both the very first track Honey from a Knife and the albums first single For the Animals had me ready to jump into my car and drive really fast, reminiscent of the feeling I got from forceful tunes like King Contrary Man or Outlaw from Electric, a record many contend is one of the important rock albums of the past 25 years. The records third track, The Wolf, has a vague resemblance to Loves She Sells Sanctuary, but Choice of Weapon is not Electric, nor is it Love or Sonic Temple. Its an effort that seems to draw on the groups entire career while still bringing a freshness to their vast but core landscape of modern, driving, psychedelic rock.

Both Lucifer and Until the Light Takes Us deliver the trance inducing, shoe-gaze fire the Cult has always been so capable of serving up. Lucifer in particular pos-sesses a vibe similarbut much heavierto the heyday of the Manchester acid house scene, and brought me back to Phoenix, a dark, driving Love tune and one of my personal favorite Cult offerings.

Let me emphasize again that Choice of Weapon is not a rehash from a band with their best days far behind them. After watching them tear it up live on their last couple of tours, Id say theyve got quite a few ahead. Astbury and Duffy truly sound as intense and inspired as ever. We have great fans and they deserve our best, says Duffy, and I feel this is one of our best records maybe the best. While Ill need a few more lis-tens before possibly reaching that agreement, its not that far-fetched. Rich OsweilerMust-hear track: Lucifer

of a 5-string banjo collides with a fiddle moan going rounds with a primitive yet wildly syncopated fife-and-drum beat in Riros House. It doesnt take long to real-ize theres something important about that galloping banjo (several models appear on the album: 5-string, 4-string, 5-string cello banjo, and a 5-string gourd), an instrument with roots in African-American traditional music, and more specifically, Africans in Colonial America. Its been said


ALBuM

ned Evett TreehouseRaging Krill

Once in a great while, a guitarist finds a way to add a new twist to an old story. Such is the case with Ned Evett, who plays roadhouse boogie, amped-up folk-blues, and swampy ballads onget thisfretless elec-tric, flattop, and resonator guitars.

On Treehouse, Evetts new opus, were treated to 14 superb originals featuring his raspy vocals, cinematic lyrics, and cleverly lay-ered guitar parts that blend elements of Delta blues, Indian sarod, and Southern rock with the keening slide tones of early-70s George Harrison and Badfinger. Its an improbable mix, yet so cool.

Evetts custom guitars feature mirror-glass fingerboards, a design he evolved while liv-ing in the Bay Area. (Most of his guitars have a dead-flat fingerboard, although he has a Danelectro with a radiused playing surface.) The glass enhances sustain and lends a unique, singing clarity to his riffs, chords, and solos. Sometimes Evett stops the strings with his fingertips, but when he wants a note to have more bite, hell press it down with a fingernail. Together with his formidable fingerpicking chops, this flesh-or-nail fretting technique provides Evett with a wide range of organic tones. One moment hell be soaring like a violin, and then hell grab a low note and make it growl, not unlike a fretless bassist.

The mighty Adrian Belew produced Treehouse in his Nashville-area studio, help-ing Evett by selecting the songs and guiding the albums sonic direction. But other than playing percussion on one track and adding sparse rhythm guitar to another, Belew stands aside to let Evett handle the 6-string duties.

With his fretless instruments, Evett manages to capture the melismatic beauty of slide guitar, yet is able to finger chords, intervals, and complex lead lines like a standard guitarist. Its an amazing amalgam of two worlds that are normally segregated, and Evett moves between them effortlessly. The album is beautifully mixeda great headphone experienceand offers enough sonic nooks and crannies to keep you com-ing back for yet another listen. Andy EllisMust-hear track: Sayonara Serenade

MEDiA REViEWS

ALBuM

The Mars Volta NoctourniquetWarner Bros.

The Mars Voltas guitarist, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, has been so busy this year that you couldnt be faulted for wondering if he believes in the Mayan prognostication about the world ending this December: So far hes toured as bassist with Le Butcherettes, taken his band the Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group to Panama, reunited At the Drive-In, premiered his film Los Chidos at SXSW, and released the Mars Voltas sixth record, Noctourniquetall before May. Either way, the latter serves up enough pop-prog experimentalism to be the perfect 12/21/12 death march or a sneering, post-punk middle-finger salute to doomsday.

The Whip Hand terrorizes eardrums with buzz-saw guitar runs during its chorus, while its verses are more soothing, thanks to Rodriguez-Lopezs reverse-delay riffs. Vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala agilely carries Aegis, while Marcel Rodriguez-Lopezs trippy key-boards and Omars ethereal chords crisscross each other and build to an explosive chorus of instrumental mayhem and vocal pyrotechnics. The Malkin Jewel features Bixler-Zavala doing a ghostly Jack White-style vocal in the verse before unleashing his signature howl over Rodriguez-Lopezs reggae-ish riffs and bassist Juan Alderetes growling string slides.

While Noctourniquet isnt your dads prog rock, it does provide some Pink Floyd-inspired journeys (think Echoes from 1970s Meddle) in its mellower songsespecially the atmospherically creepy Vedamalady, the hauntingly brooding Empty Vessels Make the Loudest Sound, and the ambient, weightless drifting of In Absentia. And there are even hints of At the Drive-Ins manic power in Molochwalker, which hangs its groove on Omars wah-driven rhythms and half-cocked-wah solowhich is easily the albums best lead.

Overall, with Noctourniquet, Rodriguez-Lopez and company rein things in a smidge and create the bands most accessible, iTunes-friendly album to date. But Mars Volta purists shouldnt tweak too much over thattheres enough key-board-fueled textures, wacky compositions, and celestial guitar work to appease any cosmonaut in need of a soundtrack. Chris KiesMust-hear track: Molochwalker

ALBuM

Prester John Rise O Fainthearted GirlsQuixotic Music

Prester John is a duo comprising under-ground guitar hero Shawn Persinger and mandolinist David Miller, both remark-able instrumentalists and engaging singers. Persinger is the songwriter, penning some wildly entertaining, funny, clever-but-never-cheesy, smart and snarky songs. The melodies are strong, catchy and unique, with a current of pop sensibility running under the clear influences of everything from Dawg music to heavy metal to the Beatles to gypsy jazz to bluegrass, with the occasional neo-classical flight of fancy thrown in for good measure.

The original Prester John was a character in the Dark Ages who wrote letters describing a mythical, golden kingdom where he was surrounded by infidels and barbarians, and was requesting the assistance of the Christian armies to deliver his kingdom. The king-dom was never found. It is tempting to wax philosophic about Shawn Persingers choice of Prester John as some kind of icon, but with tongue firmly in cheek, Persingers website says the reason is marketing. And that actually explains it really well, even as it explains noth-ing at all. Which is clearly the point. Ahem.

Persingers slightly warped sense of humor is always front and center, even in the poignant Six Hour Bus, but the virtuosity never takes a back seat. Persinger is a powerful player, capable of driving a groove hard, playing tender fingerstyle, or flinging a flurry of lightning fast, dead accurate riffs, and dont you forget it. Millers mandolin runs nearly the same gamut, and the combination is wonderfully complementary, especially on the drill-team precise Best Intentions, or counterpoint-ing gorgeously on Peerless, or just play-fully throwing lines back and forth. These two are razor sharp rhythmically no matter what theyre playing. Dear Martha has one of the coolest grooves on the recordthe guitar and mando harmonize, counter-point and drive each other relentlessly. The fact that these two keep the energy and the drive high without speeding up the tempo speaks volumes about their musicianship. Altogether enjoyable! Gayla Drake PaulMust-hear track: First Date

This changes everything

The Stompbox You Can Change With Your PhoneThe iStomp is a single effect stompbox that works like traditional stompboxes. What makes the iStomp better than other stompboxes is the ability to turn the iStomp in to any pedal without having to take it off your pedalboard. Simply connect your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad to the iStomp and in about the same time it takes to download a song you can turn your iStomp from a distortion to a reverb, delay to a phaser, or chorus to any other pedal.

DigiTech Stomp Shop AppThere are more than 20 different pedals to choose from in the app with many more to come. Download the app for free to be first to try all the new pedals as they are released.

digitech.com

iStomp_Ad-Premier_Guitar.indd 1 1/12/12 9:44 AM


GiGGinG & recordinG > Tone Tips

PAUL TFo ALLen is a multi-instrumentalist who has worked withBig & Rich,Adele,Sebastian Bach, 112,Jake Owen, Larry The Cable Guy, and many others. He also has his own project called Ten Finger Orchestra. Reach him at [email protected].

Tone STAckinG wiTh Two AmPS BY Paul TFO allen

You have two amps and you like them both for different reasons. While youve tried using pedals to get all your clean, crunchy, and overdriven sounds with just one amp, you cant seem to dial up a crunch sound thats as good as what you can get from your second amp. So you say to your-self, Hey, Ill just go out of the left and right outputs of one of my pedals, plug one of these outputs into each amp, and have the best of both worlds, right? Not exactly. If you want to use two amps simultaneously, there are some things you need to know before you flip on those power switches.

When you plug into two amps, youll often hear a strong humming sound that vibrates out of your speakers. One of the reasons this happens is due to ground hum. You may be thinking that picking up one of those little adaptors and turning your amps 3-prong plug into a 2-prong plug could be the answer, right? Though it will lift the ground and get rid of the hum, you might get the shock of your life if you touch your lips to a micro-phone onstage while playing your guitar. Being the recipient of a shock due to improp-er grounding feels about as good as receiving a squarely landed hook from a heavyweight champion. I learned this lesson the hard way!

So how do you safely use two amps with-out getting ground hum? My favorite way to play through a pair of amps is via a Little Lehle, which is a dual-mono box. To help explain how a dual-mono signal is different from a stereo signal, I called Rooster at Trailer Trash Pedalboards.

A stereo signal is where your effects have a stereo image, like a ping-pong delay or a rotary pedals spinning horn. There are also tremolos that work in stereo, so they will ping-pong the tremolo back and forth between the two amps, explains Rooster. A dual-mono signal has both amps receiving the exact same signal at all times, so tremolos will throb at the same rate through both amps. And if a delay is set to, say, 500 ms, both amps will repeat at 500 ms, etc.

The most obvious application for using a box to route your signal into two different amps is when you want to use one amp for your clean sound and the other for over-driven tones. The Little Lehle allows me to use each amp independently, while giving me the option to play through both amps at the same time. This is also known as an A/B/Y configuration.

The two isolated transformers inside the Little Lehle take care of the ground hum normally caused by using two amps. If youre not planning on using the amplifiers simulta-neously, you could also just use an A/B box, since you wouldnt need the Y capability. With that in mind, going with a cheaper A/B box may be appealing to your wallet, but be sure to try them out in the store before you make your purchase. That way you can be sure the box doesnt have any hum issues.

Another interesting aspect of using two completely different amps at the same time is how they respond differently. Lets say play-ing a note is like jumping off of a building. You strike the note (the jumping point) and the way the note comes out of the amp (the landing) is like the type of material it lands on. My Soldano Lucky 13 makes the note feel like its getting cradled by a giant tram-poline before getting flung back into the air on the rebound. Conversely, my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe feels more like the note is land-ing on a large block of foam. One sound is not necessarily superior to the other, but when you have the same note landing on two different surfaces (amps), your tone gets a massive, spread-out feeling. Thats because you have two different responses partnering up to create one huge stack of tone.

Using several different speakers further expands that feeling of being spread out. Something I like to do with the Little Lehle

during a song is use a single amp for verses, and then kick on both amps for choruses. For instance, Ill use my Hot Rod Deluxe alone for a verse, and when it comes time for the chorus, Ill engage the Soldano that Ill have plugged into two different cabs on opposite sides of the stage. This configuration really thickens up the sound and is a great way to give choruses that added boost of energy.

Beefing up your tone doesnt always mean that you have to buy a new pedal, swap out your pickups, or replace some other tone-changing apparatus. Sometimes the best way to add muscle to your sound is by simply combining a couple of amps that you already own. Experiment with stacking several sounds together until you find the combination that best suits your playing style. See you next month!

A Soldano Lucky 13 head and cab join forces with a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe to create a massive guitar tone.

Being the recipient of a shock due to improper grounding feels about as good as receiving a squarely landed hook from a heavyweight champion.

@Ibanez_USAOfficial Ibanez

Guitars USA .com

Talk about dressed to the nines the TS9 30th Anniversary model features illuminating green LEDs, a custom green-plated finish, transparent green knobs,

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GiGGinG & recordinG > on Track

SeSSion doS And donTS BY Rich TOzzOli

Do it right or dont do it at all. We all know theres a lot of truth to that saying, so why is it that some people dont take the time to actually do things right? I bring this up because in the past week alone, I was on three separate sessions where the musicians I was recording were not prepared to work. This got me so mad, I decided to review session etiquette with the goal of making life better for you and those you record with. While some of the following may be obvious, these simple ideas can help you achieve better tracks and a more rewarding end result.

Be prepared. Okay, you knew I would say that. But wow, in all three sessions I did, none of the musicians were ready to go! If youre coming to my studio to cut a part, listen to the song before you arrive. How much is that to ask? It will make the overall flow of the session go much smooth-er than if you require time to learn your part on the spot while I keep looping the track. Plus, youre pissing off the producer (me) and engineer (me).

On the second session, I was cutting guitars for a drummer with a home studio. When I arrived, he hadnt yet bothered checking that the lines on his drums were all hooked up correctly. So the tracks were all over the place, and it took an hour and a half of me dialing in his rig before we even dropped a note. While we got everything done, it was a vibe crusher to arrive ready to play and then realize the equipment wasnt set up. When clients arrive at my studio, I have every mic, DI box, and line checked ahead of time. They literally walk in, say

hello, get some levels, and were ready to go. I call that my no thinking strategy. I dont want musicians to think about the part or the process, I just want them to do it.

Have your headphone mixes ready. This directly relates to the point above. When the client is ready to go, so am I. Ive already checked the headphone levels before they arrive, and Ive got extra exten-sion cables ready in case they want to move

around. I even have several different head-phones available, if theyre not comfortable with the ones Ive initially given them.

Show up on time. Pros get to a session early. Dont come 45 minutes late (which happened this week). If youre going to be late, have the courtesy to call. It shows respect and is the right thing to do. The engineers time is valuable and so is yours. So dont waste it by showing up late (unless, of course, theres a valid reason).

Have backup gear ready. As mentioned above, I always have extra headphones on hand in case a set goes down. I make sure to have extra mic cables, stands, picks, strings,

capos, slides, guitar stands, hard drives, speakerseven full recording systems. For example, Ive run Pro Tools LE sessions on my laptop when my HD rig was bugging out, and that backup laptop rig has saved my butt a few times. If something can break, it willat the most inopportune time.

Use templates. Many of you produce and record in your own studios. When someone comes in to play, it helps to have

session templatessetups with tracks and mixer channels correctly configured in your recording softwareready to grab those spur-of-the-moment creative ideas. This especially applies to us guitar players when the amp sounds just right and the vibe is all there. You want to capture as much of that sound as possible. So Ill have session tem-plates ready with drum loops, effects, busses and sends. Again, no thinking allowed.

Warm up in advance. If possible, spend a few minutes playing your instrument before you arrive at a session. Again, while this may seem obvious, you dont want to get there with stiff fingers and spend a half hour defrosting them. Besides, if youve already been shedding that day, youll play better on the session. And that, of course, will lead to more work for you.

By being fully prepared, you show that youre a professional. You show that you care about yourself and the work youre about to do. You demonstrate respect for those who youre working with. Its not that hard to do it right. But after all the seriousness, always have funits music after all!

When someone comes in to play, it helps to have session templatessetups with tracks and mixer channels correctly configured in your recording softwareready to grab those spur-of-the-moment creative ideas.

Be prepared like fretless bassist Joe Capozio.

rich ToZZoLi is a Grammy-nominated engineer and mixer who has worked with artists ranging from Al Di Meola to Ace Frehley. A life-long guitarist, hes also the author of Pro Tools Surround Sound Mixing and The Ultimate Guitar Tone Handbook, as well as a composer

for shows such as Fox NFL, Pawn Stars, American Restoration, and Gene Simmons Family Jewels.

STeve cook has been fighting his rock-star frontman urges for decades, holding down the low end for such artists as Steve Cropper, Sister Hazel, and Phil Vassar. Join in his touring therapy on Twitter @shinybass.


GiGGinG & recordinG > on Bass

A LeSSon For SUbSTiTUTeS BY STeve cOOk

A few months back, I received a call completely out of the blue. It was the musical director for country artist Luke Bryan, wanting to know if I could fill in for a few shows on the Jason Aldean tour. Their bass player needed some time off for a family emergency, and the bus would be rolling out Thursday. This call came in on a Tuesday, and he told me he would let me know later that evening if I were needed. Well, the confirmation came at 10:30 that night, and I was faced with 60 minutes of music to learn. No charts on stage also meant Id have to act like Id been there for a while. This kind of call is actually not that uncommon in Nashville. If you have ever wondered about the processor want to be ready for this situationplease read on.

How did i get here?My history with the Luke Bryan camp goes back to 2008, when he was just starting out and was the first opener on the Dierks Bentley tour. I was playing with the second opening band, and when a tour lasts three to four months, its hard not to get to know your tour mates. There is more to a gig than music: Because youre on the road all the time, you also have to be a decent hang. Living quarters on a tour bus are very tight, so everyone has to be cool.

Wait, how many songs are there?The work tape I received was actually just a board tape from a show the previous week. The bass was tough to pick out, and I found myself having to A/B the reference tape with YouTube videos to get a handle on what the bass was doing. I really dont like using charts, because having my nose buried in the floor wont make for an interesting show. The argument of right notes versus stage pres-ence is valid, but to me, only the stationary guyskeys, steel guitar, and drumsshould use charts. Its up to the other players to give the best show possible, and yes, hit all the right notes. That means homework.

Wheres bus call? Theres a long list of questions you should ask when you get that call to sub. Where the bus (or flight) is being met is good to start with. Before you get on the bus, youll need to find out what gear you need (are you using his gear or your own?), and if the band uses in-ears (IEMs) or wedges for monitors.

If they are using in-ears, youll need to bring your own molds. Before getting on that bus, you should certainly ask what youre being paid. This is show business after all!

Other important questions relate to the actual show. Do you stand in one place, is there anything in particular you have to wear, and are there any cues you should know about? When you get a 30-foot cryo (smoke) plume firing between your legs when you least expect it, you can see how small details can sometimes be overlooked. And yes, that happened to me on the first night.

I arrived at bus call and introduced myself to everyone. Since this bus call was late at night, I pretty much went to bed while listen-ing to the previous weeks show. The next day, I spent a lot of time running through the show with a headphone amp. Later, I found out we wouldnt be getting a soundcheck. So now its two hours until 12,000 people file in, and no rehearsal. I did, however, get a couple of minutes to dial in the bass rig to my lik-ing. I didnt have my usual molds with me, so I decided then and there that I would have an identical set made for situations like this. That way, I could keep a set with the produc-tion manager for my regular gig and travel with the other. All said, the show went very wellwith the exception of the aforemen-tioned smokebut I still spent the next three days listening and practicing the show.

Did that just happen?Lets fast-forward to the third show (of three) in the run. With just 10 minutes before we

were supposed to hit the stage, the bass tech finds me and tells me he broke a string while tuning my bass. I told him it wasnt a prob-lem and that we could just put another on from his workbox, even if the gauges were different. But as it turned out, somehow the capstan in the machine head had sheared off, so there was no chance of restringing. I quickly grabbed the other bass normally used for Lukes show. But now I was cooking in someone elses kitchen, and I wasnt really sure what I would hear without time to dial any-thing in. It turns out the sellout crowd didnt care. Again, its our job to make it work.

The Final WordThere are a few things to always remember when you play on someone elses stage. The first rule of thumb: Its not your gig. You are there to help out and not settle yourself into something thats not yours. Second, dont get too crazy musically unless asked to do so. Play your notes, lay down the groove, and everything else will fall into place. Being a sub can be a nerve-racking, musically challenging task, but the rewards are more than money and good catering. There is great pride to be had when nailing a show on short notice, and by demonstrating that piece of mind youre more likely to get calls in the future.

No rehearsal? The show must go on. Yours truly rocking out with Luke Bryan.

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miTch GALLAGher is the former Editor in Chief of EQ magazine. His book is Guitar Tone: Pursuing the Ultimate Guitar Sound. In addition to being a writer, he is a freelance recording engineer/producer/mastering engineer, teaches music busi-ness and audio recording at Indiana

University/Purdue University, and is Sweetwaters Editorial Director. www.mitchgallagher.com


GiGGinG & recordinG > guiTar Tracks

chooSinG An AUdio inTerFAce BY MiTch GallaGheR

Last months column [How to Build A Recording Rig, Pt. 2, April 2012] was the third chapter on choosing the right equipment for your recording studio. Weve looked at strategies for narrowing down the options, discussed how to choose a recording centerpiece, and began exploring the pos-sibilities for audio interfaces. Evaluating these things will help you narrow down your audio interface choices, but there is more to exam-ine in order to solve this part of the puzzle.

Software Compatibility. The interface you choose has to work with the software you will be using. Fortunately, most inter-faces support ASIO, CoreAudio, or other protocols that allow them to work with most audio software packages. This also applies to Pro Tools, which for years was a closed system when it came to audio inter-faces, but is now open and can work with just about any unit on the market.

That said, some interfaces are more com-patible than others. That means in some cases, there is tight integration between a particular interface and a particular piece of software. For example, some of Steinbergs audio interfaces provide access to features in the companys Cubase and Nuendo software that arent available when using audio inter-faces from other manufacturers. It works the other way as well. Avids high-end Pro Tools audio interfaces have extra features available when using Pro Tools software. The Pro Tools interfaces will work with other software pack-ages, but you cant take advantage of those extra features if youre not running Pro Tools.

Connectivity. The next factor we need to look at is connectivityinputs and outputs. This is one of the most important things to think about when choosing an interface, and there are several different types of I/O connections.

Analog inputs are where the audio signals get routed into the interface from various devices such as keyboards, drum machines, external mic preamps, and more. An input doesnt necessarily mean there is a micro-phone preamp built into the interface. Many analog inputs only accept line level, which is a higher level than a microphone puts out (well talk more about mic pre-amps later in an upcoming column).

There are two types of analog inputsbalanced and unbalanced. Unbalanced connectors used to be considered semi-pro-fessional, though this designation has faded.

Unbalanced connectors use a single conduc-tor for the signal and a second conductor for the ground/shield. For example, guitars and keyboards are unbalanced devices. Balanced gear utilizes XLR or TRS connectors, which have two conductors for the signal and a third for the ground/shield. With this, bal-anced connections are much more immune to picking up airborne noise and the signal can be run for longer distances. Typically, pro equipment will have balanced connec-tions, including most studio gear like mic preamps, compressors, EQs, and mixers.

The two operating levels for analog inputs are -10 dBV and +4 dBu. The differences arent really important, as long as you match the levels of all the devices you are connect-ing. That means connecting -10 gear to -10 inputs and +4 gear to +4 inputs for best results, unless you are using some sort of lev-el-matching device. In most cases, +4 will be balanced, while -10 gear will be unbalanced.

Like analog inputs, analog outputs can be balanced (+4) or unbalanced (-10). Analog outputs are used to feed the signal to exter-nal components such as compressors, limit-ers, EQs, effects boxes, mixers, and more. Unless youre planning to use these types of external gear in your studio during mix-down, you may not need that many outputs.

Digital I/O allows the routing of digital signals into and out of the interface. This is useful for connecting certain preamps, key-boards, effects processors, and some digital

mixers. And having digital I/O can help the interface be more flexible when hooking up external gear. A digital connection can also be the cleanest way to get a signal in and out, since the signal doesnt have to be recon-verted to and from analog multiple times.

Monitor outputs are used to hook up your studio monitors or speakers, and usually have a dedicated volume control. Without monitor outputs, youll need to have an external box to route the signal to your speakers and con-trol their volume. Some interfaces have two sets of monitor outputs, allowing you to hook up two sets of speakers. Switching between two sets can give you a broader reference for sonically evaluating your recordings.

Headphone outputs are essential for musi-cians to be able to hear themselves without the sound from the studio speakers bleeding into the microphones. Having more than one head-phone output is useful when you are recording more than one musician at a time. And sepa-rately addressable, multiple headphone outputs are even better, since they allow each musician to hear their own version of the mix.

Next time around, more on how to make your studio rig rock!

1. The 2-channel Roland Duo-Capture offers a surprising amount of connectivity with a mic pre-amp and line input, stereo outputs, and headphone outs for around $80 street. 2. A higher-end audio interface like the MOTU 896mk3 Hybrid can connect via Firewire or USB. 3. Introduced at the 2012 NAMM Show, the Universal Audio Apollo combines a full-featured audio interface with 18 inputs and 24 outputs, along with onboard DSP processing chips for running the companys acclaimed UAD-2 plug-ins, many of which emulate vintage studio gear.

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www.shure.com 2012 Shure Incorporated

kevin boLembAch is the president and founder of Godlyke, the U.S.distributor for many well-known boutique effect brands, includ-ing Maxon, Guyatone, EMMA, and Providence.


Tech TiPS > sTaTe oF THe sTomp

rAiSinG The bAr oF wAh deSiGn BY kevin BOleMBach

According to effectsdatabase.com (a very informative and thoroughly researched website that I highly recom-mend visiting), more than 300 new brands of effects pedals and more than 2,000 individual effects devices were brought to market in 2011. With more than 300 new models and close to 40 new brands appearing on the radar in the first seven weeks of this new year, this deluge of stompers shows no sign of slowing down.

Despite this jaw-droppingly large amount of releases, one vital component appears to be lacking amongst the vast majority of new arrivals: innovation. It seems that many brands are playing it safe, sticking with subtle variations on tried-and-true concepts, rather than mak-ing any possibly risky moves that might take them away from the general direction of the flock.

Yet every so often a daring maverick grabs the wheel and steers the industry in a decidedly forwardif not slightly off-centerdirection. One such innovator is a small company called Plutoneium (com-plete with intentional tone misspelling) and their unique brand of weapons-grade sonic engineering. This slogan is fully realized in their flagship product, the Chi-Wah-Wah.

As we all know, a Chihuahua is a very tiny breed of dog. Likewise, the Chi-Wah-Wah is a very tiny breed of wah pedalabout the same size as a standard

Boss pedal, to be exact. But as the double-entendre name suggests, theres a lot of energy packed into this tiny beast, and its bark and bite belie its diminutive nature.

Despite its compact design, every single aspect of the Chi-Wah-Wah screams qual-ity. Plutoneium deserves to be commended for their spare no expense approach to manufacturinga lot of larger and better-known brands could learn from this. For

example, the CWWs casing is made from 1.5 mm rolled steel and features a tough powder-coated finish. The bottom plate is attached by four sturdy Allen screws, the nameplate is riveted to the casing, and jack labels are actually etched into the chassis. Top-mounted controls allow the user to tweak the effect on the fly (well discuss this concept in a future column) and knurled metal knobs with set screws sit atop metal pot shafts. Bulletproof.

However, the unique aspect of the CWW lies not in its construction, but rather its ergonomics. Unlike a traditional wah pedal where the bass frequencies sit at the heel position of the treadle and treble at the toe, the CWW is set up in a reverse fashion with bass at the top position of its tiny treadle.

While at first this may seem coun-terintuitive, the genius of this design becomes evident when you consider that the CWWs wah effect is automatically activated by simply pressing down on the treadle. As soon as your foot applies pres-sure to the treadle (its tension is adjust-able), the wah effect engages and, starting in the lower frequencies, moves through the mid- and upper-frequencies as more foot pressure is applied.

Plutoneium refers to this feature as wah-on-demand. While it may sound strange or even sacrilegious to the wah purist, its actually much easier than hav-ing to step down hard on a wah treadle to engage (or not engageoops!) the switch, then rock your heel back to grab the bass frequencies first.

This design also makes for much faster and more precise control over the wah effect, since you are using your body weightrather than the position of your ankleto control the treadle sweep. While it does take some getting used to, the CWWs new way to wah can actually be far more expressive than the traditional wah design.

Of course, a pedals ergonomics rarely take a front-seat to sound quality, but once

again the CWW has this aspect of wah design covered in spades. The CWWs inductor-based circuit can be adjusted by the level, contour, and gain knobs men-tioned earlier to give the user a wide palette of wah textures, ranging from smooth and mellow to sharp, loud, and obnoxious.

When youre done making the CWW squawk, simply take your foot off of the treadle. The pedal features a short time delay where the wah stays active before disengaging the effect using a buffered, optical switching circuit. Dual LEDs indi-cate power and effect respectively, making it easy to tell the CWWs current status at a glance.

Praises aside, there are a couple of aspects of the CWWs operation that may bother some users. Since the treadle is spring-loaded it cant be set in a half-cocked position, meaning no Michael Schenker imitations. In addition, the bypass delay does take some getting used to and can be somewhat awkward if you need to move between effected and clean sounds very quickly. However, based on the CWWs ingenious operation, bulletproof construction, exceptional sound quality, and ultra-compact design of this pedal, I believe Plutoneium has successfully raised the bar of wah design and I suggest other manufacturers take note.

Every so often a daring maverick grabs the wheel and steers the industry in a decidedly forwardif not slightly off-centerdirection.

The Plutoneium Chi-Wah-Wah uses a pressure-activated treadle to control wah sweep and speed.

joL dAnTZiG is a noted designer, builder, and player who co-founded Hamer Guitars, one of the first boutique guitar brands, in 1973. Today, as the director of Dantzig Guitar Design, he continues to help define the art of custom guitar. To learn more, visit guitardesigner.com.


Tech TiPS > esoTerica elecTrica

PerFecTLy imPerFecT BY JOl DanTziG

With an unfiltered Camel perched on his lower lip, he crouched before the family spinet. On the side of the keyboard, a tumbler of bourbon rippled slightly as his hands caressed the chords to Dear Landlord. At the age of 16, I wasnt a big Dylan fan yet. But as Laurence sang the words, I was beginning to understand much more than just this song. There was such confidence in his voice that any imperfection in pitch or tone was not only overlooked, but also seemed to add urgency to the unfolding story. It was here, in the home of my best friend Philip, that I began to understand what makes perfect art.

Philip, Laurence, and their four broth-ers had moved to Chicago from Houston. Sons of a college professor and war hero, their household was a repository of alter-native culture in our neighborhooda wood paneled enclave full of books and music. Their mother was always humming to herself while flying around the kitchen, the room where I learned what great Mexican food was all about.

I introduced these friends to Hendrix, Humble Pie, The Who, and Bukowski in exchange for an immersion in Miles, Monk, Ornette Coleman, and Kerouac. And my sense of melody, harmony, and rhythm evolved with their influence before our worlds collided in 1971 at the intersection of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Listening to the polyrhythmic chaos of this seminal band challenged ideas about what made a guitar solo great. Intonation be dammed, John McLaughlin played his guitar as though it was a percussion instrument. It truly was perfection of a di

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Premier Guitar - 2012-05