Guitar Interactive 31 2015 Paul Kossoff

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02 Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 31

SEYMOUR DUNCAN
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GUITAR INTERACTIVE_HOW TO USE
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Welcome to Guitar Interactive Issue 31
Gary
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Editor - brad@guitarinteractivemagazine.com
W
elcome to GI issue 31! Gary Cooper Video Editors -
Producing a tribute issue
gary@guitarinteractivemagazine.com James Masterton & Dave Kidd
to great Paul Kossoff is
something we’ve wanted to Contributors - Sound Engineering -
a long time. For guitarists ‘in the know’ Michael Casswell, Levi Clay, Gary Martin Hayles & Gwyn Mathias
s regarded as one of the masters of the Cooper, Phil Harris, Andi Picker Cameras -
Blues explosion (ask Joe Bonamassa) Review team - Rich Jones & Mike Thorpe
tragically short life meant that his Doug Cartwright, Michael Casswell, Social Media Managers -
tion never spread as far as it should Andi Picker, Lewis Turner, Tom Quayle,
f nothing else, we hope that our David Jones & Dan Smith
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e will bring this guitar genius to the
on of a wider circle of players. Columns - Steve Jones
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GUITAR INTERACTIVE_CONTENTS
CONTENTS
INTERVIEWS COMPETITION WINNERS
012_Paul Kossoff - The Magic Lives 062_In Issue 29 we gave away a
On. GI pays tribute to the Free and Washburn Nuno Bettencourt guitar!
Backstreet Crawler legend. Gary Find out if you won.
Cooper profiles Koss’s short but 063_Also up for grabs in Issue 29
spectacular career and recalls an was a fabulous YouRock Gen2 MIDI
interview in the 1970s, Phil Harris guitar with Radius neck. Did you
tracks down two of Koss’s Les Pauls win? Find out here!
and unravels their secrets.
DOWNLOADS
030_Ola Englund - Polar Star.
Levi Cay meets the Swedish metal 064_All the featured downloads
master. from this issue + exclusive Guitar
Pro Lite tab software FREE
FEATURE: download!
040_SPEAKER SWAP. Andi Picker REVIEWS - GUITARS, AMPS & FX
investigates how much you can
improve your sound by replacing 072_Ibanez Roadcore rc 1320
speakers. 078_PRS SE STD 24
TECH SESSION 084_ESP LTD EC-401VF
050_Paul Kossoff - Michael 088_Washburn PXM27CE 7-string
Casswell shows you how to get to
grips with the elusive style of one of 096_G&L Will Ray Tribute Signature
the all-time greats. with Hipshot B Bender
COMPETITION 102_Fishman Fluence pickups
058_WIN a Peerless Retromatic 110_Peerless Retromatic P1 with
P1 with Stetsbar tremolo in our Stetsbar tremolo
fantastic free-entry competition! 114_Thomas BluGuitar Amp1
BASSMENT COMPETITION 122_Orange Crush 20 &35 RT
060_WIN a Red Witch Factotum combos
Octa-Drive bass pedal in our second 128_Music Man 212 hd 130 combo
amazing free-entry competition!
134_T-Rex Creamer Reverb, Replay
Box and Quint Machine FX
144_Dunlop Clyde McCoy Wah

LIVE SOUND! Quiet Room Columns
Everything you need to take your 224_Giorgio Serci - Creative
music live! Fingerstyle
150_Exclusive - Jaime Vendera’s THE BASSMENT
Vocal Bootcamp pt. 11 Reviews:
Reviews 232_Music Man Sabre bass
156_TC Helicon VoiceLive 2 FX 238_Laney RB6 combo
162_Wharfedale Pro Titan 12 D PA 244_TC BH 550 & BH800 bass
system heads
170_Boss VE 2 Vocal Harmonist FX 252_Ashdown Dr Green FX pedals
MAKING TRACKS COLUMNS

Recording for the practical musician 260_Tom Quayle
178_Andi Picker on track planning 264_Michael Casswell - Pro
Reviews Concepts
184_JBL LSR305 nearfield monitors 268_Sam Bell - Extended Guitar
190_Focusrite Scarlet Solo interface 272_Lewis Turner - Back To Basics
194_Tascam DR-44WL recorder 276_Martin Goulding - Modern Rock
Techniques
THE QUIET ROOM 282_Steve Trovato - Country style

guitar
Reviews:
202_Taylor 718
208_Tanglewood Evolution IV
series
212_Cort SFX CED NS
216_LR Bags M1, Element and iBeam
pickups
ESP

SEYMOUR DUNCAN
INTERV HOT LICKS AND LIFE STO

VIEWS
RIES
INTERVIEWS_PAUL KOSSOFF
P A U L K O S S O F F
The Magic Live

Paul Kossoff, the young British guitarist who made his name with Free and
Backstreet Crawler, died almost four decades ago, yet left behind a legacy
of tone and feel that few have even approached, let alone matched. In
this special tribute issue, Gary Cooper recalls interviewing the great
guitar player in the 1970s, and assesses his career. Phil Harris discusses
Kossoff’s sound and style, demonstrating two vintage Les Pauls owned
and played by the legend. Later in the issue Michael Casswell offers an
exclusive Tech Session on a playing style that still sends shivers down
your spine, almost forty years later.

es On
INTERVIEWS_PAUL
GEORGE
NUNO KOSSOFF
BETTENCOURT
LYNCH
Paul Kossoff - It’s still All Right Now

by Gary Cooper
‘W
hen the short-lived ‘Trad you put Clapton above Beck? And if you
Jazz’ craze swept across do, what about Peter Green? Or Jimmy
Britain in the early 1960s Page? But it’s ultimately a futile exercise.
it brought with it, almost In the end all you can say is whose playing
unnoticed at the time, a passenger that had moved you the most. And if you’re the
a far longer lasting influence. While the kind of person who is moved more by feel
tooting melodies and strumming rhythms than raw technique, then one of the most
imported from Dixieland were soon more expressive players to have emerged during
or less forgotten, some of the British Jazz that truly golden era was Paul Kossoff, who
players who championed the New Orleans made his name with the band Free, then
sound had also brought across from the died tragically young at the age of 26, in
USA Blues musicians who had been largely 1976.
superseded at home. It was no big deal
at first. A few tours of dingy clubs, lots Kossoff, born in September 1950, was a
of whisky, and a music that, really, had few years younger than that first wave of
little obvious connection to the musical British Blues players (and in your teens
sensibility at the time. True, British youth, and early twenties a few years can be a
like youth anywhere, was disaffected, big gap) and Free, the band he made his
grumpy and looking for its own music, name with, missed being in the first wave
but what did that actually have to do with of homegrown Blues superstars - indeed
the life experiences of Muddy Waters, it was seeing Eric Clapton play that made
Howling Wolf or Leadbelly? Koss, as he was known, decide to take up
the guitar once again - though this time
Somehow, though, the seed fell on fertile with a different sound in mind than he’d
ground, particularly in the London area, had when he’d taken classical guitar lessons
where Blues first smouldered and then as a child.
caught fire. Cyril Davis and Alexis Korner
preached the word and disciples like Paul had been born into a talented family.
John Mayall, the Rolling Stones and The His father, David Kossoff was a much
Yardbirds went forth to convert the world loved actor of Russian Jewish extraction
- always with the guitar to the fore. who had a successful career in the UK.
And here’s a factoid to impress at your next
One result was a generation of astonishing party. One of Kossoff ’s earlier successes
guitarists. Trying to rank them is a game was playing ‘Lemmy’ - an astronaut in the
to while away any rainy afternoon - do early BBC radio Sci-Fi series, Journey Into

Marshall
Paul Kossoff - Agony and Ecstasy
PAUL KOSSOFF - Agony and Ecstasy

Paul Kossoff ’s trademark sound was one of the defining 1960’s Les Paul/Marshall
tones played with an astonishing sense of ‘touch’ and feel. GI’s resident vintage
guitar expert, Phil Harris, talks about his memories of encountering Koss in
London’s guitar scene, his involvement with the Paul Kossoff Foundation and the
sunburst Les Pauls that Koss used to produce one of the finest guitar sounds ever
recorded.

Free - All Right Now [totp]
Space. And that is where a certain Mr and got to know, and hear, most of the
Kilmister got his nickname from. But I great players of that era. He was soon
digress... marked out himself as one of the players
you had to hear. A friend of mine, who
Kossoff Junior, meanwhile, met with owned a shop in Denmark St at the
pretty much instant success; his band time, recalls how Koss would wander
Black Cat Bones touring with American in, sit cross legged on top of a cab, take
Blues pianist Champion Jack Dupree and a Gibson off his wall and start wailing
the Peter Green led Fleetwood Mac. He away at volumes that made it impossible
had served his apprenticeship in probably to think or even talk. He did the same
the best town in the world to learn his in the Orange shop round the corner, as
chosen trade at the time, London, and he Phil Harris recalls in our video, and no
took full advantage of it, working in one one would have dreamed of stopping him.
of the most prestigious shops in town, Having that astonishing sound howling
Selmers in Charing Cross Rd, where he out of your door was an advertisement no
met the new boy in town, Jimi Hendrix, money on earth could have bought.

PRS
By 1968, Koss, accompanied by the single. Even players who had never heard
Bones’ drummer, Simon Kirke, teamed- of Free, or Paul Kossoff, suddenly sat up
up with singer Paul Rodgers and bass and listened - who the hell was that? And
player Andy Fraser to form what was to where did he get that vibrato?
be Koss’s biggest band, Free. They toured
extensively, producing two landmark Legend has it that ‘where did he get that
albums, Tons Of Sobs in 1968 and Free in vibrato’ was a question asked of Koss
1969 then hit the jackpot with Fire And by no lesser mortal than Eric Clapton,
Water, released in 1970 and containing though only Clapton knows whether it’s
the single All Right Now - still a hit on true. True or not, it’s a question he should
every classic Rock station around in the have asked because Koss had a style that,
world over 40 years later. As was the way for all that it adhered to most of orthodox
back then, the song wrapped itself around Blues traits, was instantly recognisable and
a short but absolutely unforgettable packed a charge of emotional voltage that
solo - probably one of the best Les Paul few else could match. Whatever was going
sounds ever to grace an international hit on inside Paul’s head, it was producing
tormented playing.
FREE - MR.BIG(LIVE 1970)

PAUL KOSSOFF - The Black Beauty Years
PAUL KOSSOFF - The Black Beauty Years

Koss didn’t start out as a sunburst Les Paul player - in fact he cut his teeth on
a similarly vintage (mid-1950s) ‘Black Beauty’ which Phil Harris brought into
GI’s studio to demonstrate how it all began and how the sound Koss began
experimenting with grew into one of the defining Les Paul sounds of the era.
I BROKE WITH MY USUAL UNWRITTEN RULE (AVOID

THE TABLOID STUFF - STICK TO MUSIC) AND ASKED
HIM ABOUT HIS DRUG PROBLEMS.
It would be easy to say ‘ah, that was the for one final Free album, Heartbreaker, in
drugs’ but it’s just as likely that the drugs 1973.
were also a consequence of Paul’s inner
demons. Without dipping down into the This time, the split was final. Rodgers
seamy stories of the time (and this was and Kirke formed Bad Company, while
decades before ‘rehab’ became a buzzword) Koss wandered off to associate with some
drugs were cheap, easy to come by and, very bad company indeed - the genius
most importantly, consumed by many acoustic player and songwriter John
without the slightest understanding of Martyn. Both were prodigious consumers
what they were taking. of illicit chemicals so the 1975 tour they
undertook together must have been...quite
Though drugs were to be Koss’s undoing an experience.
they weren’t the only thing tearing the
young band apart. Kossoff and bass player My own encounter with Koss was during
Andy Fraser had a very uneasy relationship 1975. He’d recorded a single album, Back
and there were other tensions that saw Street Crawler (the title explains itself ),
the band break up following the release of in 1973, and following his survival of
Highway, in 1970. A live album followed the John Martyn tour, he put together a
a year later, following which, Kossoff band named after the album. I’d arranged
went off with Japanese bass player Tetsu to meet him in West London’s Basing
Yamauchi and the American keyboard St studios, the home of Island records,
player John ‘Rabbit’ Bundrick. They and then one of the coolest places in
released one album, Kossoff, Kirke, Tetsu town. With the wonderful gift of 20/20
and Rabbit. hindsight I should have spent longer and
tried to get more material but I’d been
Free had become an on again/off again asked to produce a very short article
project, whose fluctuations were eagerly and who was to know that within a few
reported by the weekly music press of the months he would be dead, having suffered
time. The band reformed for the album a heart attack while flying across the USA
Free at Last, released in 1972, then Fraser with his new band.
left to be replaced by Tetsu and Rabbit

I say ‘who was to know?’ because the story that, a coroner’s report said he was free
at the time of my interview the story was from drugs when he suffered a heart attack
that Koss had got himself together at long en route to New York in March 1976 and
last and was, in the parlance of the time I remember being physically shocked when
‘healthy’. I’m no psychopharmacologist, I heard the news, because he had seemed,
even if I can spell it, and all I can say is if frail, at least coherent when we had met,
that he seemed straight to me. He was not so long before.
small, nervous, well mannered, articulate
and for some reason I broke with my It was Koss’s style and playing that were
usual unwritten rule (avoid the tabloid more germane to my article at the time,
stuff - stick to music) and asked him about which, as I say, had been commissioned
his drug problems. That wasn’t very cool as a short, ‘one-pager’ (itself a measure
back then, either. Many of the people of how far Koss’s star had fallen since the
you interviewed in the 1970s were either demise of Free - once he would have made
out of their heads, had been out of their the cover). He told me how he didn’t like
heads, or were pretty soon going to be. skinny necks - hence his Les Paul. “I’ve
But Koss had been quite public about his always played a Les Paul because I like a
problems before, so I asked him how he square fat neck. I just don’t like these tiny
had managed to defeat his demons. little flat frets and skinny necks because
you can’t get hold of them. The same
“Honestly it was the final debasing with strings. I use Gibson Sonomatics
of myself that ultimately brought my for fourth, fifth and sixth which are very
conscience back.” he told me. “It had got heavy, I use a plain banjo string as a third,
to the stage when my best friends couldn’t which is also thick like a wire-wound, and
even trust me with £6. I didn’t resent I use a pretty heavy first and second.
that but I feel better for having passed
that stage”. He also said (though I didn’t “The reason is that I pick very hard and
include it in my article, which eventually if you’ve got light strings they vibrate too
appeared, un-bylined, in a guitar mag of much and sound floppy. The way I string
the era) that what had finally stopped him the guitar you’ve got to fight for your
was hitting rock bottom and realising that sound and it comes out with a straining
he simply could not have got any lower. feel. Anyway, if I played with ultra light
gauge strings, I’d bang out a big fat chord
How true that was, and whether he later and everything would be out of tune.”
relapsed, is a moot point. My friend,
the American journalist Steven Rosen, Indeed, when questioned by another
recounts in an interview he wrote a few interviewer about his occasional use of a
months after mine, that Koss was in a Strat, its relative inability to remain in tune
pretty bad way when he interviewed him, was one of his complaints and one of the
which was in January ‘76. Having said reasons why he was mainly a Les Paul man.

Back to the tensions with Andy Fraser that lived US brand that really made its name
made Free the fun gig it must certainly with bass amps. They were everything that
not have been, I asked Koss about the Marshall’s were not - most particularly they
curiously subdued presence of the guitar in were solid state, clean sounding and one of
so many Free mixes. As a guitar nut, it was the reasons why some American guitarists
something that had really frustrated me of the era sounded so... well, anaemic is
about the band’s albums. I loved what the one word that comes to mind, until they
rest of the band did but I wanted to hear rediscovered the joys of valves. Looking
more of the guitar, damnit! back, I can’t imagine why I didn’t ask more
about this. Maybe I did? The cassette tape
“A lot of the time when I was in the studio in which my interview was recorded is,
with Free, I was pretty dominated by sadly, long gone and my memory is blank.
Andy, and I ended up playing what he
wanted me to play. I started coming out of One thing is for sure, had Koss switched
that with Free At Last and now I’m doing to a transistorised amp he’d have been
what I wanted to do.” hard-pressed to get that trademark wailing,
anguished tone, not least because, true
Re-reading my article from the time (1975 to the era, he wasn’t a fan of pedals (not
don’t forget) I came across one astonishing altogether surprising, the pedals of 1975
revelation that I had completely forgotten. left a lot to be desired). Koss was one of
Paul Kossoff ’s sound may be associated that generation like Peter Green and Rory
with the Les Paul but its inseparable Gallagher - they just plugged in and got
partner was a Marshall stack - and it just about everything from their fingers,
pretty much always had been. And yet he tone and volume controls.
told me that he had been playing around
with Acoustic amps at the time and was Koss did use a phaser from time to time
considering switching. This is mind- but for the most part the sound you
blowing in retrospect (if you’ll forgive the hear is a Marshall valve 100 head of the
lapse back into ‘70s speak!). Acoustic, for era feeding two 4x12s. He is on record
those who don’t recall them, was a short- as having said that he had Marshall fit
THE WAY I STRING THE GUITAR YOU’VE GOT TO FIGHT

FOR YOUR SOUND AND IT COMES OUT WITH
A STRAINING FEEL.
bass speakers in his cabs as he preferred a Les Paul, Paul Kossoff would have to be
the sound but Phil Harris, GI’s resident high on it - ask Joe Bonamassa, who has a
vintage gear expert, who features heavily spoken a lot about his recognition of Koss’s
in this tribute, is sceptical. He says that mastery of the instrument.
Free’s roadie of the time told him that the
band had just one set of gear and they set Back to guitars. We tracked down Koss’s
it up more or less as it came. That said, first Les Paul, the black mid-1950s,
it’s highly likely that, as was the way at the Custom ‘black beauty’ which Phil Harris
time, Andy Fraser would have had one of talks us through and demonstrates in our
Koss’s cabs placed behind him and Koss accompanying video. Phil also discusses
vice versa, so that they could hear one the ‘58 ‘burst that he had once owned and
another better. Monitors? That’s just how that had been swapped by Koss with Eric
it was, back then. Clapton after a Blind Faith gig in 1969.
That vies for fame along with the battered
There is another consideration too, while ‘58 (or was it ‘59? No one seems to know)
we are discussing amplifiers - and it points with the infamous neck break, which Phil
to a lesson every young guitarist needs to Harris borrowed from its current owner,
learn. If you look at the YouTube videos ex-Beckett guitarist Arthur Ramm, at one
that go with this article, you will see of the Northern Guitar Shows in the UK
that on some of them Kossoff is actually last year and demonstrates to great effect in
using an Orange rig - no doubt what was our second video. Joe Bonamassa, too, has
available at the German TV studio where played this guitar on stage and he seems
that session was filmed. And yet the sound to veer towards it being a ‘59 - though
is still pure Kossoff. This doesn’t take he, too, says it’s hard to say for sure.
anything away from the Les Paul/Marshall He concurs about the size of that neck,
combination that formed the archetypal though!
Paul Kossoff sound, but it does prove what
we on GI are always saying - that gear is Talk about Paul Kossoff ’s playing
important but that a great guitarist’s sound inevitably turns to his extraordinarily
comes from his fingers. effective vibrato technique. This wasn’t a
fixed quantity, however. Koss himself said
Having said at the beginning of this how hard he had worked at it and how
feature that making lists and rankings are long it had taken him to perfect. It also
a pointless pursuit, it’s a game few can changed. Listen to early Free albums and
resist and if you were to draw one up of then the Backstreet Crawler and you can
who got the definitive Blues sound out of hear for yourself how it developed in speed

Phil Harris - Live with the ‘broken neck’ sunburst
PAUL KOSSOFF - Live with the ‘broken

neck’ sunburst
One of Koss’s best known Les Pauls (he had three main Bursts) was the late
1950s guitar currently owned by former Becket guitarist Arthur Ramm. Becket
supported Free at a number of the band’s gigs in the North of England and on
one occasion Ramm and Kossoff swapped guitars when Kossoff damaged his. A
swap was arranged but later the guitars were swapped back again and it wasn’t
until after Kossoff ’s death, in 1976, that Ramm was finally able to acquire
the guitar, which he still owns today. This was the guitar famously repaired by
London guitar specialist Sam Li (not ‘Sam Lee’ as it is sometimes reported). The
guitar suffered a neck break and in the repair the serial number went missing.
This was the guitar replicated by Gibson for its 2012 Paul Kossoff reissue,
complete with all the signs of a neck repair! Gibson billed it as a 1959.
Arthur Ramm allowed Phil Harris to play the guitar at one of the UK’s Northern
Guitar Shows last year, where this video was filmed. It was also the Burst that Joe
Bonamassa waxed so enthusiastically about when he played it live.
and intensity, though never in emotional impact. It’s a cliché, but a well deserved one: Koss
could make his guitar cry.
So check out the YouTubes we’ve selected, check out Phil Harris’s videos, then study Michael
Casswell’s Tech Session on one of the greatest, if also one of the shortest lived, guitar heroes of
a remarkable era. Most of all, check out the man himself on his recorded material. Remember,
this isn’t about technique, it’s about feel. And there are few guitar players that have even
approached the sheer emotionality of Paul Kossoff ’s heartfelt playing. •
FREE - Fire & Water ( Live BEATCLUB Germany ) *HQ Audio*

Fishman
INTERVIEWS_OLA ENGLUND

O L A E N G L U N D
Polar Star
So how do you get to be a guitar superstar in 2015? Sweden’s Ola
Englund took the direct route - via YouTube. Now heavily endorsed
and internationally famed, Levi Clay took notes.
INTERVIEWS_OLA
GEORGE
NUNOENGLUND
BETTENCOURT
LYNCH
‘I
n terms of musical exports, Sweden has a rich history of talented guitar players
to its name. From pioneers like Yngwie Malmsteen, the list of players from
this wonderful country just goes on and on; Mikael Åkerfeldt, Andreas Öberg,
Fredrik Thordendal, The Amott brothers and Mattias Eklundh are just the tip
of the iceberg. So when we bring up the name Ola Englund, the chances are he’s worth
taking seriously!
Born in Stockholm in 1981, Ola Englund picked up the guitar at about the age of 13
with the intention of making a mark on the ladies. Back then he was listening to bands
like Nirvana, but it wasn’t long before he fell into the metal scene, devouring hours of
Pantera, Slayer and Machine Head.
Ola Englund Interview

TC Electronic
The thing with Ola is that while he’s one to record at home, Ola had all the help he
hell of a guitar player, he’s managed to gain needed from his online peers.
even more respect as a producer and tone
freak for no reason other than it being This embracing of technology and change
a huge part of what he was interested in in the industry was always Ola’s forte
when growing up. though as his first big break outside of
a minor record deal was his dedication
In Ola’s own words, “I heard the song to YouTube. Being a self confessed gear
Walk, by Pantera and I was like ‘wow nerd, he loved the idea of checking out
that’s the most awesome guitar sound I’ve all the latest gear on YouTube, but in his
ever heard, it’s ballsy and aggressive and own words, “Every video clip sounded
it makes me tingle inside!’ How did he and looked like crap, probably recorded
manage to sound like that, and why can’t with their Nokia whatever phone or
I sound like that with my Squier Strat and compact camera”. So to his little studio
Fender Concert amp?” he went, taking one of his amps and
miking it up properly, recording lots of
That level of interest resulted in Ola guitars, capturing proper video and mixing
hanging out in studios and asking and editing it all carefully. His videos
experienced guys questions, along with were a hit, and soon he was spending
spending lots of time on the Internet his weekends playing with all the top
reading up on forums like the Andy Sneap gear which companies would send him
one. In the pre-Facebook world, message to demo. It’s not the most traditional
boards were huge and there was a much path into the industry, but it’s certainly
bigger sense of community and family becoming a more popular one.
than you see today, so while trying to learn
When it comes to gear Ola has a couple of notab

endorsements, Washburn currently offer nine va
on his Solar signature model, with some great fe
Seymour Duncan pickups and the Evertune bridg

ble
ariations
eatures like
ge.
The secret to the successes of Anthrax’s

experiments comes back to the honesty
of the motives behind the music.
It was also enough for him to achieve for recording tight Metal guitars as it
celebrity status at NAMM, which actually stops strings from going out or tune, or
came as a shock to Ola, but one that was sharp when you hit them hard, so from
enough to urge him to quit his job as the guitar to the amp everything is finely
an accountant and do the music thing tuned to deliver Ola’s brutally tight rhythm
full time. This paid off rather quickly, as style with a sonic authority not heard from
within a year he’d been both a member of the average player.
Six Feet Under and The Haunted and was
quickly gaining serious tour experience When it comes to recordings, it’s essential
and more fans, because, under all this talk you check out The Haunted’s 2014
of production, we haven’t focused on just offering, Exit Wounds as it features Ola as
how fantastic a player Ola is: if you want lead guitarist. And then there’s his pride
modern Metal, he’s absolutely one of the and joy - his own band, Feared. Their
best. debut album, Vinter, is a must hear for
fans of Metal.
When it comes to gear Ola has a couple
of notable endorsements, Washburn The beauty of his Ola Englund’s YouTube
currently offer nine variations on his strategy is that over time, his band
Solar signature model, with some great Feared have been programmed into his
features like Seymour Duncan pickups subscribers’ minds, and with over 80,000
and the Evertune bridge. He also has his subscribers and 25 million hits, that’s a lot
own Randall amp, aptly named the Satan. of people who know your music, and a lot
This 120 Watt beast offers a wide variety of fans ready to buy. Purists may object
of tones, but ultimately it’s designed to that it’s a far cry from slogging your way to
be the definitive modern Metal amp. The the top but guys like Ola are here to stay,
Evertune, meanwhile, is a fantastic tool and after checking him out live, I think
that’s fair enough. •

Randall
FEATUR W H AI NT T YE OR UV I RE W
E AS L FL RY O NME ET DH ET OG RKE

RES
KE NA OT WS
FEATURES_REPLACING SPEAKERS
SPEAKER SWAP
What’s the best way to improve your sound?
A new guitar? A new amp? New FX? New
fingers? Down at GI Towers we reckon one of
the best ways of reinvigorating your sound is by
replacing the speakers in your cab or combo.
But which speakers? And how? Andi Picker
volunteered to play Baron Frankenstein,
Levi Clay played Igor and US speaker maker
Eminence donated the transplants. But did
we end up with a Hammer horror movie or the
Sound Of Music?
‘W
but oddly it do
Tone. Over th
built buffers an
actually chang

e all know that a guitarist’s sound is in her or his fingers. Eddie through a Fender Champ sounds
like Eddie, Jimi through a Vox, Brent through a Marshall, Bonnie through anything - they all
sound like themselves. This single fact should close down much of the music equipment industry,
oesn’t. I have never met a group of people so dedicated to a single obsession as guitarists seeking The
he years I’ve swapped-out pickups, pots, caps, bridges, nuts, valves, transformers, & tone stacks. I’ve
nd bypasses, made leads and rewired transmitters, but I recently realised that the only time I’ve ever
ged a speaker in a cab was to replace something that was broken.
Stop and think about it for a moment; in

a “traditional” electric guitar set-up using POWER HANDLING
a real amp and cab (as against some sort of
emulator) the only thing that we actually Some popular speakers are rated to handle
hear is the speaker; it’s the part of the amp outputs of around 20 Watts or less,
system that changes an electric signal into others will handle 75 Watts or more.
sound. It’s going to be significant, so let’s Exactly what the numbers mean isn’t
take a look at the three main reasons why always very well defined - but if you want
we might want to do a speaker swap. to run a 100 Watt head into a 2x12 cab
Tone you probably don’t want it to be loaded
Different speakers sound different, no with 20W speakers. Unlike tone, which is
doubt at all about this. Depending on how very subjective, we can fairly safely say that
the speaker is made it may be brighter, higher power rating is better than lower,
darker, smoother or more aggressive. except that changes in construction that
It’s always going to be difficult to define affect power handling also tend to affect
“better” unless you have a clear idea of the sound! A number of manufacturers
what you’re aiming for, but “different” is today attempt to make sonic recreations of
easy. classic speakers but with better specs based
on new designs and materials.
Replacing Speakers

SENSITIVITY OTHER FACTORS
This is all about how loud the speaker Other things to consider when choosing
sounds - how much sound it creates for speakers,
an amount of input. If you have a low Weight - yup, those chunky speakers with
powered amp that struggles to be heard massive magnets and voice-coils actually
in a gig or rehearsal or that doesn’t have do weigh more than the old-school spindly
enough headroom, then running it ones, and it makes a difference when you
through a more sensitive speaker could load a couple of 4x12 cabs with them (it
make all the difference. On the other makes less of a difference when your roadie
hand, if you want to run a tube amp flat- has to carry them - obviously).
out (even a 5 Watter can be way too loud
for studio/home use) then a less sensitive Impedance - this reflects how the speaker
speaker can help. Like power handling, loads the amp. Common guitar speakers
construction factors that affect sensitivity are 8 Ohm or 16 Ohm: connect a pair in
also affect the tone. series and you add the impedances (so 2 x
8 Ohm speakers gives 16 Ohms), connect
them in parallel and it’s a little more
complex, but for similar speakers you get Cabinet construction – size, closed back,
½ of the original value of one speaker (so open back, semi-open, ported, floating
2 x 8 Ohm speakers gives 4 Ohms). Solid baffle, ply, pine, finish – lots of variables
state amps will typically require a quoted and difficult to test - thankfully not much
minimum impedance, tube amps will of an issue with a straight swap-out.
typically require a specific impedance. For a straight speaker swap, we can figure
Size - lots of speaker sizes have been used out what we need for most of these factors
with guitar amps - if you want a smaller quite simply. The speaker needs to fit into
cab, perhaps try building one around a the existing hole in the baffle, it needs
smaller speaker. Most common “classic” to have the correct impedance, it needs
guitar speakers are 12” or 10”, but there to handle enough power, and we should
are plenty of examples both bigger or know if we want to be louder or quieter
smaller. than what we start with. Of course, it’s

then got to sound the way we want it to. the “Redcoat” (British voiced) range and
It’s all a nice idea, but proof is heard by proudly made in the USA!
doing so I decided to bite the bullet and I can get all poetic about the differences,
to swap out the speakers in a couple of my but it makes more sense for you to hear
cabs. them, so here’s what I’ve done; I set up
First-up is a Blackstar HT-5. This amp each cab in front of a fixed microphone
gets a lot of home and studio use because and recorded a sample of guitar playing,
it sounds really good at low levels. It has a then swapped the speakers, put the cab
compressed sound that’s a bit of a double- back in the same place and recorded it
edged sword; it captures that full-on stack again. In order to keep things as similar
sensation at (relatively ) low volumes, but as possible, I re-amped a sample of guitar
whenever I’ve tried to use it as a rehearsal playing (thanks again to Mr Levi Clay
amp it just runs out of headroom. I for the playing) so that the performances
wanted this one to be “similar-but-more”. are identical, and left the amp settings
alone. Each cab has a SM57 close-up, and
The second swap is a 2x12 that I bought a Sennheiser Mk8 LDC a couple of feet
many years ago. The original speakers were back. On the video you can hear the SM57
dead when I bought it, so I replaced them panned hard left and the Mk8 hard right.
with a pair of 75 Watt units that I found Because I fitted two different speakers in
cheap and bought without testing. These the 2x12 cab, I moved the SM57 from one
speakers are much loved for Rock and to the other, but left the Mk8 in placed to
Metal tones, but for me they’re a bit too catch the combined cab sound.
edgy; I’d prefer something a little warmer
and complex sounding, but still able to Conclusions? There’s a certain “option
handle the output of a full-on JCM 800. anxiety” with swapping components in
your signal chain, and the massive range of
So, what to choose? Well, one of the speakers available is good for choice, not
largest speaker manufactures in the world so good for peace-of-mind. I can certainly
is Eminence, based in Kentucky, USA. say that the 2x12 cabinet is, to my ears,
They’ve been manufacturing speakers since an order of magnitude better than it was,
the mid 1960s, and produce a huge range the unmatched speakers give a lovely
of guitar units with both original voicings combination of depth and punch to the
and “classic” British and American tones, overall sound and open up a range of new
but designed from the ground-up with possibilities for close miking. The 1x10
improved specs. After a few hours trawling is certainly louder, but it’s also somehow
their online sound samples and a few richer and more three dimensional (sorry
emails swapped with their support team if we start to sound like a Hi-Fi mag here).
and I took delivery of a 10” “Ramrod “ for I’m extremely pleased with both updates
the HT5 and a “The Governor” and “CV- and it strikes me that the improvements are
75” combination for the 2 x 12 - all part of
both greater and rather cheaper than the last time I installing a new set of NOS output tubes
in an amp (and they should last longer too!). My only problem now is that I’m wondering if I
can justify buying another couple of cabs to try some different variations. •

ON TEST
EMINENCE Redcoat 10” Resonance 101Hz
“Ramrod Usable Frequency Range*** 70Hz-
MSRP £92.38 US $79.99 5kHz
Sensitivity 102
GI star rating: Four stars
Magnet Weight 56 oz.
Nominal Basket Diameter 10”,
254mm Gap Height 0.312”, 7.92mm
Nominal Impedance* 8 ohms Voice Coil Diameter 1.75”, 44.5mm
Power Rating** Watts 75W / Music EMINENCE Redcoat 12” “CV-
Program N/A 75”
MSRP £92.38 US $99.99
Resonance 101Hz
Usable Frequency Range*** 80Hz-
5kHz Nominal Basket Diameter 12”,
305mm
Sensitivity 100
Nominal Impedance* 8 ohms
Power Rating** Watts 75W / Music
Gap Height 0.312”, 7.92mm
Program N/A
Voice Coil Diameter 1.5”, 38.1mm
Resonance 79Hz
EMINENCE Redcoat 12”“The
Usable Frequency Range*** 80Hz-
Governor”
5.5kHz
MSRP £92.23 US $104.99
Sensitivity 102.2 dB
Nominal Basket Diameter 12”,
304.8mm Gap Height 0.313”, 8mm
Nominal Impedance* 8 ohms Voice Coil Diameter 1.75”, 44.5mm
Power Rating** Watts 75W / Music
Program N/A
TECH
SESSIO PUTTING I

H
ONS
T ALL TOGETHER
TECH SESSIONS_PAUL KOSSOFF
TABLATURE DOWNLOADS
BACKING TRACK
GUITAR PRO 6 PDF
DOWNLOAD DOWNLOAD

Paul Kossoff -
The Magic Lives on

As part of our tribute to the magical talent of Paul Kossoff,
Michael Casswell delivers an exclusive Guitar Interactive
Tech Session. If you’ve ever wondered how Koss did it -
here’s the perfect starting point!
In March 1976, Paul Kossoff died from one of the best. It’s a way of thinking
heroin related heart problems aged 26, and approach that I absorbed as a
and here we are nearly 40 years later young player. While all my friends were
taking a look at his style and sound. It’s a listening to Punk and New Wave, I went
testament not only to him as a player, but back and listened to the subtle differences
a whole era of playing that gets missed for instance in how Clapton and Peter
today by young hungry guitar players Green would apply vibrato compared to
that consider speed playing, coupled with Paul Kossoff. These sort of iconic players
hyper technique, are what learning the were a fantastic grounding for me as a
guitar is about. young guitarist, because it was the perfect
vehicle to build more technical styles
What Kossoff had, as well as many upon. So many young players in today’s
other great players from that ‘68-’75 ‘YouTube’ world want to run before they
time frame such as Peter Green, Eric can walk, the consequence of which is
Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Rory Gallagher huge gaps in their playing that should
and Jeff Beck, to name a few, is a touch, be filled with feel, soul, tone, expression,
tone and feel that made every note phrasing and rhythm.
mean something. Each player had a
recognisable personality delivered in the Kossoff was the perfect match for Paul
way they would phrase, bend and vib a Rodgers’ soulful Blues Rock voice in the
note, and Paul Kossoff was up there as band Free. That’s the essence of what
Paul Kossoff delivered on the guitar, soulful the table and to this day Paul Rodgers is a
Blues Rock. So although there is nothing singer’s singer.
particularly hard technique wise in our style
file, what is extremely hard to emulate is the Apart from great Blues style guitar soloing,
way Paul Kossoff would play a few notes and Paul Kossoff often voiced simple chords in
just sound fantastic. Basically it was really ways which made the drum, bass, guitar
great Blues playing, put into the format of format sound bigger and more interesting
great songwriting, delivered by four young than usual. Inverting chords, or using triads
guys who called themselves ‘Free,’ which over an open string pedalling the tonic key,
worked and struck a chord with the masses. were tricks that Kossoff was one of the first
Each member of Free brought something to to use, and when you listen back to those
Paul Kossoff Tech Session Performance

Ibanez
old Free albums, it was definitely part of the As far as tone goes, well we know it was all
band’s trademark sound. Kossoff made the about his ‘59 Les Paul and point to point
guitar parts sound like there was more going wired Marshalls from the day. I used one of
on than there actually was. All the members my Les Pauls and a more modern Marshall
of Free dabbled in piano, so often there pushed a little bit at the front end with an
would be simple piano parts added to the old Boss CS2 compressor. After Free split
studio recordings. up, Paul Kossoff employed his Strats more,
and even a few pedals of the day to push
I have tried to capture the elements of both his amps at the front end. But due to his
Free as a band, and Kossoff as a player in sad death, we will all probably associate the
our backing track. My solo is improvised sound he made with a Les Paul more than a
using Blues licks that Paul Kossoff and other Strat, which is why I chose one as the guitar
players of the era employed, but also using to do this style analysis with.
Paul’s trademark quick urgent finger vibrato,
which hopefully makes the whole thing more If you are reaching for the Kossoff sound
specific to his sound. As a note about ‘that’ and a vintage Les Paul/Marshall set-up is out
vibrato, it seems to me that Paul Kossoff of you price range (and who can afford that
dramatically changed his finger vibrato post sort of gear these days?!) don’t despair. For
Free. When you listen to his playing on surprisingly little money you can pick up a
‘Back Street Crawler’ it is much slower and really good guitar in the ‘sort of ’ Les Paul
a little wider than the vibrato he was using mode, like the Vintage V100 for silly money,
in his Free years. Was it a work in progress? which the GI team still rate as one of the
Was it the chemicals in his system changing finest value for money guitars on the market
his approach? We will never know, but I today, and if you can’t find one of those there
associate the Free years vibrato as the sound are plenty of Epiphone Les Pauls around.
we would recognise as Paul Kossoff. Would Ideally, you are going to want a valve/tube
you also agree with me that Angus Young amp to get the sound and in a perfect world
from AC/DC has huge elements of Kossoff ’s that would mean a Marshall, but most
vib in his playing? good valve amps driven hard will get you
somewhere close.

I hope you like the backing track. You need and those smaller inverted power chords he
to be on top of your E minor pentatonics for employed. Oh, and don’t forget tone, feel,
the A section and be able to mix up your A soul, phrasing, expression, string bending,
minor and A major pentatonic shapes for the dynamics, guitar parts, songwriting, rhythm
B section. But if you really want to sound playing...... need I go on! •
like Paul Kossoff, think about that vibrato,
Paul Kossoff Tech Session Lesson
COMPET YOUR CHANCES TO

TITIONS
WIN
COMPETITION_YOUR CHANCE TO WIN!
a Peerless Retromatic P 1 with Stetsb

WIN in our free entry competition!
We like to keep you on your toes at GI and in that you can retrofit one to most guitars
in this issue we’re giving you the chance to without leaving marks or damage on the
win an exceptional prize - no, not a pointy instrument - meaning most guitars can now
headstock shred machine, but one of the have a brilliant trem that really works, but
coolest guitars on the market today - a without mangling your vintage instrument to
Peerless Retromatic P1. Even better, our get it. Michael Casswell reviewed a Stetsbar
Retromatic comes ready-fitted with the Pro II for us way back in issue 4 and said:
superb Stetsbar Pro II tremolo system! “Yes it works, and yes, it is really good! It’s
not even very expensive! This is a fantastic
We’ve reviewed the very guitar we’re giving product that will be the answer to many a
away elsewhere in this issue, so make sure dream!
you read Levi Clay’s review, to see and hear
how this actual fine looking guitar plays! We have our review Peerless Retromatic P1
We’ve reviewed another Retromatic model in with Stetsbar Pro II trem to give away - and
the past, too, when Tom Quayle concluded: all you have to do to enter our competition is
“There’s a lot to recommend with the Peerless answer a few easy questions!
Retromatic - this is a very good guitar and,
although its visual appeal will be limited to All you have to do is click to enter, simply
certain genres, it would be comfortable in a answer the simple questions (tick A, B or
wide variety of playing scenarios thanks to C) and fill out the form! One lucky winner
the huge number of tones on offer. Retro- with the correct answers will be chosen at
rockers should check it out immediately but random and will win a Peerless Retromatic
other players seeking a versatile, well made, P1 with Stetsbar Pro II tremolo!
mid-priced guitar could do well to check out
its retro charms too.”
We love the Stetsbar systems, too! The

Stetsbar Pro II tremolo system is unique
ENTER
The Rules:
1/ All entries must be received by 2nd March 2015. 2/ Only one entry per person is allowed. 3/ No cash alternative is offered instead of the
this competition. 5/ One winner will be chosen, at random, from registered readers of Guitar Interactive who provide the correct answers. 6
notification of having won within 10 days, otherwise prizes may be forfeited and alternative winners chosen. 8/ Winners may be responsible
Prizewinners must consent to having their name and city/country (e.g. ‘Andres Segovia, Madrid, Spain’) published in a future issue.

bar Pro II tremolo
Questions
All you have to do is answer the following
questions online.
Q1. Peerless Retromatics feature pickups

designed by?
A/ Monty’s Guitars, London
B/ DiMarzio
C/ Fender
Q2. The Stetsbar Pro II can be retrofitted

to a Gibson ES335?
A/ True
B/ False
One lucky winner with the correct answers

will win our review Peerless Retromatic p1
with Stetsbar Pro II tremolo. Please Note:
Be sure to check your emails regularly!
Winners will be notified by email and we
have had a couple of unclaimed prizes,
which have been reallocated to other
entrants!
e stated prize. 4/ Employees of Guitar Interactive, Peerless Guitars, Stetsbar or Madison & Fifth and their immediate families, are ineligible for
6/ The judges’ decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into regarding this competition. 7/ Winning entrants must respond to email
e for import duty where levied. Where possible prizes will be despatched from the winner’s own country, but this will not always be possible. 9/
COMPETITION_YOUR CHANCE TO WIN!
Win a Red Witch Factotum Bass Sub-O

WIN our amazing free entry Bassment compe
Hailing from New Zealand, Red Witch “Not only does it look fantastic with that
pedals are one of the pros’ secret weapons chrome finish and neat scripting, but you
- with a list of users that some of the get two great bass effects in one box!”
bigger brands would die for. Dan Veall
found out one reason why when he You can read Dan’s review here
reviewed the new Factotum Bass Sub- Two pedals in one, the Factotum can
Octave Drive pedal in issue 30, saying: bring an entirely new dimension to your
“Anyone who has tried using guitar bass sound - and we have one to give away
distortion pedals on bass will most likely absolutely free!
notice that though you can get the sound
gnarly, the chances of your bass end
staying intact are slim, unless you have a
way of keeping the lows mixed in. The
Factotum sorts this for you allowing
you to retain your bass guitar’s natural
full tone through the signal path.” and
ENTER
The
The Rules:
Rules:
1/ All entries must be received by 5th January 2015. 2/ Only one entry per person is allowed. 3/ No cash alternative is offered instead of the
1/ All entries must be received by 2nd March 2015. 2/ No cash alternative is offered instead of the stated prize. 3/ Employees of Red Witch,
winners will be chosen, at random, from registered readers of Guitar Interactive who provide the correct answers. 6/ The judges’ decision is
from registered readers of Guitar Interactive who provide the correct answers. 5/ The judges’ decision is final. No correspondence will be ent
within 10 days, otherwise prizes may be forfeited and alternative winners chosen. 8/ Winners may be responsible for import duty where levi
may be forfeited and alternative winners chosen. 7/ Winners may be responsible for import duty where levied. Where possible prizes will be
to having their name and city/country (e.g. ‘Andres Segovia, Madrid, Spain’) published in a future issue.
country (e.g. ‘Andres Segovia, Madrid, Spain’) published in a future issue.

Octave Drive in
etition!
Questions
All you have to do is answer the following questions online.
Q1. Before the late, great Jack Bruce Q2.The Red Witch Factotum pedal
formed Cream, which of these Sixties combines which two bass effects?
bands did he play in?
A/ Sub-Octave/Flanger
A/ King Crimson
B/ Sub-Octave/Chorus
B/ The Graham Bond Organisation
C/ Sub-Octave/Distortion
C/ The Moody Blues
One lucky winner with the correct answers will be chosen at random. Please Note: Be sure
to check your emails regularly! Winners will be notified by email and we have recently had a
couple of unclaimed prizes, which have been reallocated to other entrants!
e stated prize. 4/ Employees of Guitar Interactive or TC Electronic and their immediate families, are ineligible for this competition. 5/ Two
, Guitar Interactive, or LickLibrary, and their immediate families, are ineligible for this competition. 4/ One winner will be chosen, at random,
final. No correspondence will be entered into regarding this competition. 7/ Winning entrants must respond to email notification of having won
tered into regarding this competition. 6/ Winning entrants must respond to email notification of having won within 10 days, otherwise prizes
ied. Where possible prizes will be despatched from the winner’s own country, but this will not always be possible. 9/ Prizewinners must consent
e despatched from the winner’s own country, but this will not always be possible. 8/ Prizewinners must consent to having their name and city/
COMPETITION_THE WINNERS!
GUITAR INTERACTIVE ISSUE 29 WASHBURN NUNO BETTENCOURT

N2TATTOOK GUITAR COMPETITION - THE WINNER!
As we said at the time, what could be better in an issue

featuring an interview with Nuno Bettencourt than the
chance to win one of his amazing signature Washburn
guitars for free?! We were giving away a Washburn
N2TattooK - and all you had to do to enter our
competition was answer a few easy questions!
In our review of the Washburn in that issue, Doug

Cartwright said: “It sounds authentic in high gain Rock
scenarios, feels great in your hands thanks to the classic
Bettencourt neck profile and importantly it does look the
part!” That certainly sums-up another great Rock guitar
from the Metal Masters at Washburn!
We had a ton of entries, as you’d expect

- but who was the lucky winner?
Step forward, John Jackson of Letchworth, Hertfordshire,

UK - congratulations, John!

GUITAR INTERACTIVE ISSUE 29 YOUROCK GEN 2 MIDI GUITAR +
RADIUS NECK - THE WINNER!
In Issue 29 we had one of YouRock’s remarkable Gen 2 MIDI guitars

up for grabs and it featured the new Radius neck which transforms
an already impressive guitar into something very special. Tom Quayle
reviewed the Radius neck for us in that issue and concluded: “The
Radius neck takes the already great YRG Gen 2 Guitar and promotes it
to a serious musical instrument that will feel familiar and comfortable
for all guitar players, especially those who favour a legato or more left
hand based approach to playing. I’ve already used it extensively on
recordings and couldn’t be happier with the results and playability. For
those who already own the YRG Gen 2 this is an essential purchase,
and for those on the fence, the Radius neck may be just the required
element to help you make the decision to buy. By far and away the
most effective MIDI guitar solution on the market at this price point!”
We had an amazing number of entries readers

hoping to win this MIDI guitar market leader - but
only one could win and that was:
Jon Berger of Apple Valley, Minnesota, USA - Congratulations, Jon!
iGUITAR_FEATURED DOWNLOADS
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Registered readers of Guitar
Interactive can download a FREE
copy of Guitar Pro 6 Lite just by
clicking on the link on this page!
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TAB for guitar, bass, and other
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ar Interactive subscribers!
TABLATURE DOWNLOADS FOR LESSONS
Our TAB downloads are FREE for all subscribers in both PDF and Guitar Pro 6 Format.
To get your hands on this month's notation tablature, subscribe or download now!
Tech Session - Paul Kossoff DOWNLOAD DOWNLOAD
Giorgio Serci - Study n.20 DOWNLOAD DOWNLOAD
Tom Quayle - Swing Time Feel DOWNLOAD DOWNLOAD
Sam Bell - Extended Guitar DOWNLOAD DOWNLOAD
Lewis Turner - 5 Pentatonic Shapes DOWNLOAD DOWNLOAD
Martin Goulding - Rock Legato DOWNLOAD DOWNLOAD
Steve Trovato - Playing Over Changes DOWNLOAD DOWNLOAD
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THE
REVIEW GUITARS, A

E
WS
MPS AND EFFECTS
REVIEWS_GUITAR REVIEW
Ibanez Roadcore RC 1320 Prestige

What happens when an Ibanez Roadcore gets ‘the treatment’ from the renowned luthiers
Tom Quayle gets a taste of a one of 2015’s most appetising newcomers.
‘B
ack in issue 25 we the ‘Tight-Tune’ bridge and ‘Sure
reviewed a duo of Grip III’ knobs, but has been
4.0
Ibanez Roadcore upgraded with a pair of genuine
guitars, the RC330 and RC365 Seymour Duncan humbuckers,
models, giving them positive which replace the Ibanez ‘in-
feedback and praising their great house’ models from the more
STAR RATING build quality and tonal abilities. wallet friendly model. Also new
Those Roadcore models sit at the for the RC-3120 are a set of
PROS: lower end of the price spectrum
for Ibanez and while they are
Gotoh Magnum Lock tuners,
a significant and worthwhile
Japanese Ibanez build
great guitars for the money, they upgrade from the RC-320. There
quality
aren’t up there with the Japanese is also a real bone nut and a high
High end hardware produced J-Custom models, quality Ibanez hardshell case.
or the USA Custom Shop The guitar also features string-
Retro good looks with guitars. Now, for 2015, Ibanez through construction, a coil-tap
modern touches has decided to release a special switch on the tone control and all
version of the RC320 guitar (the chrome hardware, other than the
Excellent and versatile
only Roadcore model we didn’t bridge pickup, which is finished
tones
review in our initial test) calling in black.
Hardcase included it the RC-1320 and this one is
produced by high-end master As with all Japanese made
CONS: builders at the Japanese Ibanez Ibanez guitars, the RC-1320 is
May be hard for some factory immaculately constructed and
to justify the extra finished. The plain mahogany
expense compared Built to the same high specs as body comes in a quality dark
to the already superb the other guitars in the Ibanez brown sunburst, giving a subtle
RC320 model Prestige range, the RC-1320 has a and classy look to the guitar. The
mahogany body and maple neck body shape might not suit all
with a rosewood fretboard. The tastes but this is an undeniably
guitar features similar hardware good looking guitar that strikes
to its lower priced sibling, such as a good balance between classic/

s at Ibanez’s Japanese factory?
retro and modern features

without being too niche in its
design aesthetic.
The medium frets are excellently

finished up to the usual Prestige
standards with rolled fret edges
for comfort and good looks.
This level of finish is followed
through to the exclusive RC
neck design, it being one of the
most comfortable Ibanez neck
shapes I’ve ever tried, with a
very hand-friendly profile and
width that makes playing easy.
Similarly, the Sure Grip III
knobs are very comfortable to
use thanks to their rubber grips,
although for my taste, the three
way switch is located a little
too far back for easy access and
might have been better placed
just below the bridge as opposed
to behind it, allowing the hand
to remain around the playing
position whilst switching pickups.
Tuning stability is also a strong
point for this Prestige model,
thanks to the excellent bridge
and locking tuners and straight
from the factory, the intonation
Ibanez Roadcore RC 1320 Prestige
is very musical throughout the guitar’s that you’d expect a darker, more rounded
range. Upper fret access is easy thanks to sound from this wood choice. The guitar
the generous cutaway and smooth neck exhibits excellent note separation and a
joint making the guitar comfortable to play very dynamic and immediate attack for
throughout the neck’s length. both clean and overdriven sounds. There is
an almost ‘chambered-body’ quality to the
Tonally, the original Roadcore guitars tone with lots of ‘air’ and a slight breathy
were all quality performers and scored quality to tones that is very pleasing to both
highly in our review, even with the stock the ears and hands. The bridge pickup is
Ibanez pickups onboard. The RC-1320 hot enough to cater for the heavier side
is also impressive but raises the bar even of the tonal spectrum and copes with
higher thanks to the Seymour Duncan high gain sounds admirably, whilst also
JB and 59 pickups in the bridge and coping excellently with more subtle low
neck positions respectively. In all three gain overdrive sounds. The mid position
positions the clarity from this mahogany offers great, nasal, hollow tones, especially
bodied guitar is really noticeable, given

Laney
when combined with the coil-split for pretty bid for players with different tastes and
authentic T-style guitar impressions. The it succeeds. The Roadcores offer a design
neck humbucker is thick and warm sounding that doesn’t necessarily pigeon-hole itself
without ever feeling muddy giving a versatile into any one genre and can fill a range of
range of tones from this simple dual pickup applications both tonally and visually. The
configuration. budget-friendly Roadcore models are already
excellent guitars and, presumably, the custom
It seems to us at GI that the Roadcore range shop versions are for Ibanez’s name users, so
represents a very conscious effort on Ibanez’s the Japanese Prestige version bumps up the
part to break out of the pointy headstock appeal and specs to the professional/expert
mould, which it pretty much rules. This player level, offering a guitar that feels,
isn’t an easy task when you’re as famed for sounds and looks fantastic for not a huge
speed machines as Ibanez, but it’s essential amount of money, considering the quality of
for a guitar maker not to get typecast. The instrument on offer. It’s no wonder that some
Metal and Thrash markets are finite - and of Rock’s new breed of players are picking up
who can say how tastes will evolve in the on these guitars - they would make a superb
future? The Roadcore range is Ibanez’s addition to any player’s arsenal. •

TECH SPEC
Ibanez Roadcore RC 1320 Seymour Duncan 59 Model (H) neck
Prestige pickups
MSRP £939 US $ TBC Seymour Duncan JB Model (H) bridge
Made in: Japan pickups
Dark Brown Sunburst finish Coil-tap switch on tone control (push/

pull)
RC Maple neck
Sure Grip III knobs
Mahogany body
Tight-Tune bridge
Rosewood fretboard w/Acrylic block
inlay Chrome hardware
Medium frets w/Prestige fret edge Gotoh Magnum Lock machineheads

treatment Hardshell case included
Bone nut
PRS SE Standard 24
A PRS for how much?! Now even absolute beginners can start with a PRS from the new fo
corners been cut in the bid to get prices down? Tom Quayle takes a long, hard look at on
‘P
aul Reed Smith low price but claimed to offer
released the original build quality and hardware as
5.0
PRS Standard 24 close as possible to the company’s
guitar at the NAMM show way more expensive guitars. We’ve
back in 1985 and it has since reviewed, and been impressed by,
become as classic and revered as a lot of guitars from Indonesian
STAR RATING any of the most famous guitar factories over our 31 issues of GI
models out there, with a roster of magazine so we had high hopes
users populated by an impressive for these new SE versions. The
PROS: array of guitar heroes. As a
custom US-made guitar it has
question is: can they possibly
do justice to such an illustrious
Amazing value for always had a boutique level price name?
money tag, putting it out of reach for
the average player - that is, until Essentially the SE Standard 24
Superb build quality is a stripped back version of the
PRS released its Korean made
and hardware original US made guitars we
SE models, allowing the average,
non-professional guitarist to all know and love. You’ll find
Cool finishes
obtain a surprisingly generous no flame or quilt tops here but
Great and versatile and well made slice of the full fat rather a classic PRS mahogany
tones PRS pie. body and neck finished in a
range of colours including
Gig bag included The SE models have been Tobacco Sunburst, Opaque
wildly successful since release Black and Translucent Blue and
with an amazing level of Cherry, plus the opaque, metallic
CONS: quality considering the price ‘Platinum’ finish, extending up
Absolutely none at this but, where Paul Reed Smith is the back of the neck and with
price. concerned, you can be sure he’s a matching headstock, which
always looking one step ahead. graced our review sample.
For 2015, PRS is releasing the
SE Standard range, made in The neck features a rosewood
Indonesia, selling at an all new fretboard complete with the
familiar, intricate PRS bird inlays

or 2015 Indonesian-made SE range. But have too many
ne of the most talked about new guitars for years.
and the equivalent of a PRS Wide

Thin neck profile. In order to keep
production costs as low as possible the
body shape is a simplified version of the
more expensive USA models but retains
the core visual appeal and is still a highly
attractive design that looks every bit as
cool as its more expensive siblings. The
guitar features very solid hardware for
this price point in the form of two PRS
SE humbuckers, an HFS Treble in the
bridge and an SE Vintage Bass in the
neck, an official PRS tremolo, volume
and tone controls with a 3-way switch
and, impressively for the price, a coil tap
offering single coil tones. PRS is even
throwing in a decent quality SE gig bag
for free that is more than adequate for
the average user and attractive enough to
be worn with pride!
Compared to the Korean made SE’s you

might fear that the Indonesian made
guitars will suffer from some production
and construction shortcuts in order
to achieve the impressive price point.
But despite a thorough inspection we
could find no signs of it. In fact our
sample was pretty much flawless in
every respect thanks to superb body/
neck construction and finishing, great
PRS SE Standard 24
fretwork and a clever selection of hardware, might be the best I’ve ever tried for a guitar
producing an overall package that that is considered a budget friendly option.
represents amazing value for money. Tremolo action is as smooth as butter with
both downward and upward operation
The playability is also remarkable for a thanks to the floating setup and a trem arm
guitar of this price, with a very comfortable that is exactly the right length and height
neck shape matched very nicely to the 25” to allow comfortable playing whilst holding
scale length. Upper fret access is no issue onto the bar.
thanks to the contoured lower cutaway
and both chordal and lead parts feel super Tonally the SE Standard 24 is punching
comfortable throughout the guitar’s range. way above its weight thanks to the pair of
Tuning stability is also very good, matched high quality SE humbuckers. The bridge
with accurate intonation and a bridge that HFS offers chimey clean tones with a

Orange
real punch to them without being too high having to reconsider their budget ranges to
output for subtle dynamics and volume match this quality level. It’s certainly going
changes. For overdriven tone the HFS is to turn a few heads and could be one of the
superb at both crunchy sounds and high best starter/budget guitars ever produced - so
gain Rock or lead, with a focused sound that good that it should be considered even by
will really cut through a mix well. The HFS pros as a backup guitar for use on the road.
also feels great to play with a lovely response Considering that PRS is throwing a quality
that gives this guitar a far more expensive gig bag into the deal you’d be mad not to
feel than the price suggests. The SE Vintage check these out and PRS are definitely onto a
in the neck offers impressively warm tones winner for 2015.
thanks to the all mahogany construction
but with enough high end to cut through We tried as hard as we could to curb our
with thick, creamy lead tones. Thanks to enthusiasm, but there was no escaping the
the coil tap there are a total of six sounds conclusion this is one of a tiny handful of
on offer here, making the SE Standard 24 a products we have ever reviewed that we
very versatile guitar with tones that far out genuinely feel deserves a full five stars -
perform its price tag. especially when you see the street prices!
Though no official US MSRP had been
This is one of those few scenarios where the announced as we closed to press, our spies
value for money is so great in a product that suggest they will be under $799. And that’s
it’s very hard to find any negatives to speak of just amazing. Congratulations, PRS! •
at all. This Indonesian PRS is so good in fact
that it could mean quite a few companies

TECH SPEC
PRS SE Standard 24 Neck Profile: Wide Thin
MSRP £459 US $ TBC Bridge: PRS Tremolo
Body: Mahogany Bridge Pickup: SE HFS Treble
Finish: Platinum Neck Pickup: SE Vintage Bass
Neck: Mahogany Controls: Vol / Tone (w/ Coil Tap) / 3
Fretboard: Rosewood Way Blade
Inlays: Birds Gigbag: SE Gigbag
ESP LTD EC-401 VF DMZ

In an issue dedicated to the great Paul Kossoff we knew we had to review at least one gu
obvious Gibson/Epiphone route the only way to go? We’ve been hugely impressed by ESP
it was time to check out the classically styled ESP LTD EC-401 VF DMZ. Michael Casswell
‘E
SP launched the LTD models - a more affordable EC40.
brand into our lives in The promise is to deliver the
4.0
the mid-’90s to give Eclipse experience for a faction of
a more affordable alternative to the cost. But does it? Read on!
the guitars and basses from its
prestigious mother company, The actual model name of this
ESP. The reputation and quality guitar is the LTD EC-401 VF
STAR RATING DMZ, which may be tricky to
of ESP guitars has always been up
remember after a couple of large
PROS: there with the best and the made
in Japan LTD guitars certainly wines with your meal! The DMZ
Great pickups part of the name obviously refers
have always been great guitars for
the money with a huge model to the onboard DiMarzio PAF
Well made
range that can just as easily style 36th Anniversary pickups,
Classic looks & sound cater for beginners as it can the which is a promising start. In
experienced pro. fact, let’s deal with them right
Case included away, as they’re the heart of the
The LTD Eclipse range is guitar, if you like. Right off, I
CONS: probably the series you’re most
likely to be looking at if you’re
can tell you that they sound just
great, and do the humbucker
None at this price thing very well. The sign of
after a ‘Les Paul’ type guitar by
LTD, and it sells well because it a good humbucker is how it
is a very stylish and consistently cleans up the gain when you use
high quality Japanese guitar. the volume pots. If it cleans up
I’ve been handed quite a few of nicely and still retains some nice
them to try out by students and character and definition, then it
colleagues and they are always is probably a good pick up, and
great. You get the feeling a ‘bad’ these DiMarzios do just that.
one wouldn’t be allowed to leave Each pick up has its own volume
the factory in Japan. What we and there is one universal tone,
have on review, on the other so you can get some nice blends
hand, is one of the non-Japanese of both pick up in the middle

uitar that promised that warm, wild sound. But is the
P’s LTD models in the past couple of years so we decided
reviewed this cost effective classic.
position of the 3-way selector.

This is one ‘budget’ guitar where
you certainly won’t be thinking
about swapping out the pickups
after a year or so!
Moving on, there are, thankfully,

no surprises in the wood used.
We have a mahogany neck and
body with a nicely figured maple
cap which in this case is Tobacco
Burst. There’s no shortage of
choice in colours for this guitar
though, and personally, my
favourite finish for this guitar
would be the ‘Lemon Drop’,
which is a very pale faded amber,
almost yellow colour. But if
Tobacco burst is your thing, then
search no more, this is your LTD.
If not, check out that gorgeous
Lemon Drop finish that’s one of
several LTD alternatives!
The set neck is described as

a ‘Thin U’ contour and is
comfortable in the way that
more modern speed necks are,
with a rosewood board with
big pearloid fret markers, 22
frets, a nice 350mm flat radius
ESP LTD EC-401 VF DMZ
(good for string bends) and a 42mm nut. tuning peg are needed for this sort of guitar,
The nut is described as ‘moulded’ which and without that I was getting some tuning
probably means it’s made from some kind problems initially. As I kept stretching the
of composite that does the job nicely. If strings, as you’d expect, the guitar started to
we’re getting back to the Paul Kossoff thing settle down and take more extreme string
it is not the big fat neck that Koss liked bending, but make allowances for a tricky
but, from the point of view of most players playing demonstration when you watch the
today - especially less experienced ones - video and bear in mind if you try one what
not many really want to work that hard and I said. With its strings properly stretched
a slimmer neck is going to satisfy far more and with that extra winding, this guitar will
buyers than a hairy chested alternative! be just fine.
The strings on our sample seemed pretty Getting back to the sound, this is an
new and were still bedding in. As a tip, interesting an interesting guitar. The
I find a couple more string winds on the DiMarzios give you that absolutely classical

twin humbucker, mahogany/maple cap bodied sound that will take you very well into
the realms of the Les Paul type tones, but it is also still its own guitar, with qualities and
characteristics that will reward exploring.
In this price bracket, the quality of build, pickups and hardware, has to make it one of the
ESP LTD EC-401 VF DMZ one the better choices to check out if this is the kind of guitar
you want. And why not? It’s a classic format for all the right reasons! •
Correction: in the video this guitar is incorrectly referred to. The model reviewed is the ESP
LTD EC-401 VF DMZ.
TECH SPEC
ESP LTD EC-401 VF DMZ Neck Contour: Thin U
MSRP £669 US $1,041 Frets/Type: 22 XJ
Made in: China Hardware Color: Chrome
Construction: Set-Neck Strap Button: Standard
Scale: 24.75” Tuners: Grover
Body: Mahogany Bridge: TOM Bridge & Tailpiece
Top: Flamed Maple Neck PU: DiMarzio PAF 36th
Neck: Mahogany Anniversary
Fingerboard: Rosewood Bridge PU: DiMarzio PAF 36th

Anniversary
Fingerboard Radius: 350mm
Electronics: Passive
Finish: Tobacco Sunburst
Electronics Layout: Vol/Vol/Tone/
Nut Width: 42mm Toggle Switch
Nut Type: Molded
Washburn Parallaxe PXM27CE

Still looking for the seven-string guitar that can tempt you to make the switch?
Doug Cartwright checks out a shredtastic newcomer from veterans Washburn.
‘W
ashburn has been rings, really nailing the modern
carving out a Metal aesthetic with a look that
4.0
real niche for itself should appeal to anyone who
with specialised shred machines desires a truly contemporary riff
of doom, so much so that it has machine.
become one leaders among the
chuggy-chuggy/widdly-widdly The guitar continued to impress
STAR RATING as I checked over its features,
varieties of hard Rock and
contemporary Metal (we think including neck-through
PROS: he means that as a compliment
- Ed). With the 7-string guitar
construction with a five ply
maple/mahogany neck and alder
Great build quality wings. Although neck-through
and fantastic hardware seeing something of a renaissance
in the last few years, thanks to construction seems to have fallen
Bonus high-end the seemingly endless wave of out of favour amongst many
features Djent bands hitting the scene, of the new generation of Metal
Washburn has decided it’s time players, the old guard still stick
Carbon Black matte to release a new extended range with it firmly and a large majority
finish is ultra cool guitar to satisfy even the most of the world’s most iconic Heavy
CONS: discerning of modern Meshuggah Metal guitars are built in this way.
The black chrome hardware was
Parallaxe inlay is clones.
also top-notch, including a tune-
underwhelming
The first thing that struck me o-matic bridge, Grover machine
Headstock not the upon unboxing the PXM27CE heads and the classic EMG 707
sexiest design ever was how great the instrument pickups in both neck and bridge
looks. Washburn has gone with positions.
High-tech shredders a sleek matte black finish and
may dislike the neck an overall stripped-back vibe, Plugging in and inspecting
profile and weight. But including no fretboard position the PXM27CE more closely,
Metal players will love markers on the face of the guitar I discovered that the neck
it (side dots ensure you can still see was not as I’d expected from
where you are!) and no pickup reading the guitar’s description.
Featuring 24 frets and an ebony

fingerboard, the profile of
the neck was wide and fat;
whilst I wouldn’t describe it
as obese by any means, this is
definitely the muscle on the
team of Metal neck profiles
and not the sprinter. It might
not be going to win the legato
100 meters for high-tech
shredders but it’s definitely
going to win the downpicked
rhythm arm-wrestle for fans
of real Metal aggression, and
in my opinion Washburn has
struck a great balance between
ease of execution and overall
sturdiness of construction
here. I own several high-tech
shredder guitars which play
great in the studio but just
don’t cut it live, where the
adrenaline of a full-on Metal
performance makes them feel
disappointingly lightweight
and fragile, and conversations
with my contemporaries have
revealed that many gigging
Metal players also feel this way
about super-thin neck profiles.
Well done, Washburn!
Washburn Parallaxe PXM27CE
Plugged in the In addition, most of the technically advanced

players that I speak to find that they have
Washburn proved moved away from thinner neck types as
they’ve become more developed and feel that
to be an absolute the profile has less impact on their abilities
beast, with a than other factors including set-up, scale
length and cutaways. It’s this philosophy
tight and focused which wins through on this guitar, as the set-
low end that up was immaculate straight out of the box,
the scale length is a comfortable 25.5 inches
responded great (there’s a current trend for baritone scale
7-strings, but that really seems unnecessary
to fast picking and here), and the PXM Double Cutaway is
huge, palm-muted absolutely superb!
chords alike.

Fractal
The design, which obviously takes its cues One final feature of the guitar that I
from the Stephens Extended Cutaway particularly liked was the inclusion of
that Washburn famously use on their the Buzz Feiten tuning system, cut into
classic Nuno Bettencourt line of guitars, a graphite nut. This guitar modification
combines brilliantly with the neck-through improves the instrument’s intonation and is a
construction to perfectly illustrate why I favourite of players on the LA session scene,
believe this to really be the superior neck so it’s great to see it included as a standard
construction method; with no heel to speak feature on this series of production guitars.
of, the upper fret access is unbelievable and
counterbalances the chunkiness of the neck Overall, the only things I could really fault
to ensure that even the most ridiculous of on this guitar were aesthetic details which
Bill and Ted-style guitar gymnastics can be are always a matter of opinion. To me, the
performed in comfort. headstock is a little bloated and I disliked
the Parallaxe inlay on the 12th fret, which

I think is a bit pointless - the guitar would Metal ERG players for well over a decade.
have benefited from a blank fretboard. Both The guitar features a volume and a tone
of these things are minor matters of taste knob, eschewing the Metal tradition of doing
however, as all in all I still feel that this is away with the tone control, to my absolute
a killer looking guitar thanks to that uber- delight. The tone knob is an important
cool Carbon Black finish. The quality of control for smoothing clean tones on high
construction and finish was also high, with output pickups, and its inclusion here vastly
immaculate fretwork and paint throughout. increases the PXM27CE’s versatility and
practicality. On reflection it’s difficult to
Plugged in the Washburn proved to be an imagine a modern Metal scenario where
absolute beast, with a tight and focused low this guitar wouldn’t be able to produce an
end that responded great to fast picking and appropriately huge tone.
huge, palm-muted chords alike. This is again
a testament to the great EMG 707 pickups, The PXM27CE is a triumph then, as should
which have been one of the top choices for be expected from a company with 130 years

of guitar building experience. Although its specifications including the neck-through
price dictates that this is an instrument for construction and Buzz Feiten tuning system
serious players, its specs, construction and that should ensure this guitar will avoid
heritage combine to guarantee satisfaction being left on the periphery of the current
for real-world gigging Metal musicians and scene (if you’ll excuse the pun) and instead
anyone who’s serious about defending the see plenty of real-world action on the
faith with some low-end power. frontline of the live metal underground. •
While this guitar has all the basics covered,

it’s Washburn’s inclusion of less standard
TECH SPEC
Washburn Parallaxe PXM27CE Feiton tuning system installed
7-string Scale: 25.5
Bridge: Black Chrome Tune-o-matic
MSRP £819.00 US$1,604.90 Tuners: Black Chrome
Made in: Indonesia Grover Exclusive 18:1
Pickups: EMG 707/EMG 707
Construction: Neck-through Controls: 1 volume/1
Body: Alder tone, 3-way toggle switch
Neck: 5 ply Maple/Mahogany Finish: Carbon Black matte finish
Fretboard: 24 Frets, Ebony Inlays:
Side dots, Parallaxe inlay at 12th fret
Cutaway: PXM Double Cutaway
Nut: Graphite, 43mm, Buzz
G&L Tribute Will Ray Signature

So, you want a guitar that will out-Tele a Tele? It has to have a B-Bender? And it mustn’t
that...Michael Casswell might have found the very thing you’re looking for.
‘I
f you want a guitar like a slightly hotter over wound
the Nashville sessioner to Will’s specs version in the
4.0
and one third of the bridge. I am very impressed by
Hellecasters Will Ray, then the sound and response of these
G&L has launched its ‘made in pick ups which impart a really
Indonesia’ Tribute series, which sweet sounding ‘snap’ that is both
STAR RATING replicates Will’s G&L custom woody and fat. Obviously the
shop versions at a fraction of the chambered swamp ash body is a
PROS: cost. The ‘Tribute’ series guitars
feature all-American hardware, so
contributing factor but still, the
pick ups are certainly full of tone
Very well made
pick ups, pots and the fantastic and overall the guitar gives the
Great versatile sound Hipshot B-Bender bridge should impression it could easily switch
be exactly the same as on Will’s to most styles of music in the
Hipshot B-Bender own guitars. Indonesian build right hands. Added versatility
quality is also generally very good comes from the push-pull tone
Good price
and our review guitar is a very pot which gives you additional
fine hot rodded Telecaster-style pick up combinations of neck
CONS: instrument indeed. and bridge or all three pick ups
together. So you can basically get
That B-Bender takes The body is chambered with some beautiful Strat, Tele and
some getting used to! a cool F-hole and made from P90 style tones from this one
my favourite tone wood, guitar, and every pick up setting
swamp ash, which is a light and you select sounds musical and
resonant wood that is sweet in expressive.
the highs, tight in the low end
and with a nice bark in the mids To add to the fun, we have the
- perfect for guitars aiming for onboard Hipshot B-Bender,
that Stratocaster or Telecaster which I must emphasise I have
territory. On board we have G&L never used until this guitar
magnetic field Z-coil pick ups review, so I apologise if I am not
for the neck and middle, with up to Will Ray standard, but if

cost a fortune? Funny you should mention
Part of the magic

of Will Ray is what
he does with the
stealth slide, the
B Bender and then
the combination of
both.
you have a fair understanding of

your inversions on the top four
strings, it won’t be long before
you get that B string moving in
ways that can’t be done normally.
It’s great fun and a real cool
sound once you are close to
understanding what it does and
how you do it, which involves
pushing your hip against a tough
looking bar that in turn raises just
G&L Tribute Will Ray Signature
the B string, to create some great pedal steel style sounds. Hence the first standing up guitar
review this magazine has seen! (no, we’re not paying extra! - Ed)
You also get with this guitar, as part of the whole Will Ray package, something called a
‘Stealth Slide’ and a Stealth Slide Will Ray instructional DVD. The Stealth Slide is basically
a steel slide that you wear like a ring, thus enabling you to play as normal but slipping in
some cool slide licks. Part of the magic of Will Ray is what he does with the stealth slide, the

Strings & Things
B Bender and then the combination of both. In the DVD, Will shows you many tricks and
licks, but be prepared to practice, because he makes it look easy, and it simply is not!
Overall this is a great guitar for the money, as I would expect from a name like G&L. I have
played a few of the all-American G&Ls over the years, and they have consistently been really
nice instruments. This is the first Indonesian assembled G&L I have played and again I’m
impressed. The guitar sounds great and the B-Bender adds a huge dimension you can’t get
from most other guitars out there.
To sum up I would say great fun (if not a little scary when you have never used a B-Bender
before and you are expected to demo it on a world wide online magazine straight away!) and
I’m most impressed! •

TECH SPEC
G&L Tribute Will Ray Signature TUNING KEYS 18:1 ratio, sealed-
MSRP £775 US $1,429 back
Made in: Indonesia BRIDGE G&L Saddle Lock with

nickel plated die-cast saddles
PICKUPS: G&L Magnetic Field
Design Z-coil pickups in neck and Hipshot B-bender
middle positions; WR spec over- CONTROLS
wound bridge pickup with extended-
length pole pieces for wider bobbin 5 position pickup selector, volume,
aperture tone with push/pull function enabling
additional pickup combinations of
BODY WOOD Swamp Ash neck+bridge or all 3 pickups together
COLOR 3-Tone Sunburst OTHER
NECK WOOD Hard Rock Maple Two WR instructional videos included:
with Rosewood fingerboard B-Bender Mania and Stealth Slide
NECK RADIUS 12” (304.8mm) Pair of WR’s trademark slide rings
NECK WIDTH AT NUT 1 5/8” included
(41.3mm)
REVIEWS_PICKUPS REVIEW
Fishman Fluence Single Coil Pickups

Fishman takes a giant leap from acoustic instrument pickups to a range for solid bodied
We handed a Fishman Fluence-loaded guitar to Tom Quayle and left him in a locked room
‘T
he general design of circuit printing technology, which
the electric guitar allows the company to ‘print’
4.5
pickup has remained wire coils onto a circuit board in
much the same for the last 80 a highly reliable and controllable
years. There have been small manner. By printing the coils
innovations here and there but in this way you can ensure that
STAR RATING all types are primarily based on each coil is exactly the same as
the same principle of a copper the next and can be consistently
wire wrapped around a magnet re-produced from pickup to
PROS: with individual pole pieces to
convert the vibrations of each
pickup. Fishman prints 48 layers
of coils and stacks them on top
Amazing sounding
single coils string into an electromagnetic of one another to produce pickup
signal. Now Fishman, whose capability, then attaches another
Active design reputation has been made at the 48 layers below this with the coil
eliminates all of the forefront of acoustic instruments direction perfectly reversed. It
issues associated with pickups (most recently with places a spacer in between both
traditional pickup the Triple Play Wireless MIDI sets of layers so that they can’t
design pickup, reviewed in Issue 22) has communicate and the result is
taken those 80 years of pickup a totally noiseless system, since
100% consistency design and totally rethought each set of layers are perfectly
from pickup to pickup the concept. In essence, it has matched opposites of one another
Dual voice design retained the elements that and cancel any hum or noise.
we all love but removed the
250 hr battery life issues such as noise, hum and The single coil versions that
Fishman sent us for review use
CONS: inductance issues that even the
best traditional pickups can suffer Alnico IV rod magnets in the
Battery may put many core of the pickup but magnets
from. Impressed? You should be!
off can vary fairly widely from
Fishman’s Fluence pickups are specimen to specimen, giving
More involved
essentially based on modern differences from pickup to pickup
installation than
traditional pickups

s
guitars - in the process more or less reinventing the entire concept.
m to investigate.
even with the same type of magnet. must be active and battery powered.
To counter this, Fishman set about As with all active systems there are
using its own methods to flatten out advantages and some small disadvantages
the properties of each magnet so that to this. The first huge advantage of
it had a perfect platform to then tailor this system is that Fishman can store
the frequencies of the pickup, boosting two completely different frequency
certain frequencies while attenuating settings for each pickup with different
others, so that every pickup will be voicings selectable at the flick or push
identical. of a switch. For the single coil version
there is a vintage single coil tone and a
In order to achieve this level of ‘Texas Hot’ mode, both available in any
frequency control a pre-amp has to be position using a three single coil set-up.
used and this means that the system Voice 1 has a peak frequency of 4kHz
Fishman has developed its own lithium ion b

replacements or fit underneath a pick guard
from a single charge.
Fishman Fluence Single Coil Pickups
while Voice 2, Texas Hot, has a lower peak frequency of 3kHz for more midrange and cut
and an overall boost to the level. The voice selection can be done via a push-pull switch on
a tone or volume control, or mapped to a separate switch if required, although this involves
more installation issues. Voice switching is a true first in the pickup world, achieving two
unique voices from a single pickup with no digital modelling involved at all and is an amazing
addition to have on a guitar.

batteries that can either act as backplate
d and which offer up to 250 hours of play
Another big benefit of an active system is means a battery. Guitar players historically
that cable capacitance is no longer an issue, shy away from such systems due to short
allowing you to run long cable lengths with battery lives and the added expense of
no loss of tone to speak of. You will also no changing batteries all the time. However,
longer experience a loss of high end whilst Fishman has developed its own lithium ion
lowering your volume control allowing batteries that can either act as backplate
constant tone at all volume settings. Of replacements or fit underneath a pick guard
course, some players like this effect, so this and which offer up to 250 hours of play
has to be borne in mind. from a single charge. The battery features a
mini-USB slot and can be charged using the
The downside is that active systems require included charger cable and wall socket, but
some form of power, which in this case you could charge from a computer equally
well. 250 hours represents 10 days and 10 response from both voices. Our sample set
hours of play time, not bad at all from a came fitted to a superb Fret-King guitar but
single battery pack, which takes around two you can take it as read that the vintage mode
hours to charge fully from our tests. It should is everything you could want from a ‘60s
be stressed that you don’t have to use this style Strat pickup, while the ‘Texas’ mode
power source. If you’d rather, you can drive adds some serious ‘girth’ to the tone for that
these pickups using a standard 9V battery. Stevie Ray tone that is so coveted by many
players. Check out the video to hear what I
Tonally, the single coil models are superb mean.
performers with amazing clarity and dynamic

Revelation
At the time of writing, though Fishman has announced a range of humbuckers, prices for
these haven’t been announced and none were available for review, so we’re looking forward to
trying them later and will report as soon as we can. In the meantime, for Strat and Strat-like
guitar owners, having both of these tones at your beck and call is incredible and the fact that
Fishman can guarantee each pickup is identical to the last is an amazing achievement in a
market place full of mystery and snake oil. If we can get over the hangup about using batteries
in our guitars (and after all, compared to the pathetic battery life of most smart phones these
days, 250 hours is a great achievement!) then this system represents an incredible advance in
pickup design that every guitarist should be seriously excited about, especially as the prices
aren’t hugely different to those of other replacement pickups. Highly recommended! •

TECH SPEC
Fishman Fluence PRF-STR, MAGNETIC MATERIAL Alnico IV
single width pickups
MAGNETIC CIRCUIT Rod magnets
Set of three: £235 US $292.14
TYPICAL GAUSS STRENGTH AT
Individually: £115 US $142.79 STRING 260 Gauss
Optional rechargeable battery pack: POLE SPACING 52.2mm
£109 US $133.27
OUTPUT IMPEDANCE 2k
Made in: USA
CURRENT DRAW 2.4mA
Colours: white or black
BATTERY Battery 9-volt or optional
VOICE 1 battery pack
Vintage Single-Coil BATTERY LIFE 250 hours
VOICE 1 PEAK FREQUENCY
4kHz
VOICE 2
Hot Texas Single-Coil
VOICE 2 PEAK FREQUENCY 3kHz
Peerless P1 Retromatic with optional

Peerless ups the appeal of the fabulous looking Retromatic with a Stetsbar trem
option. Levi Clay gets to practice his Rockabilly licks on the new P1.
‘I
t’s always exciting to acoustic punch, so it’s not as loud
get our hands on a as you might assume. The build
4.0
Peerless guitar at Guitar quality is solid as you’d expect
Interactive, from the classic looks from a Peerless, one of Korea’s top
of the hollow body guitars to the makers and absolute specialists
class of the Martin Taylor models, with semi-solids and archtops.
STAR RATING Peerless are always lookers,
and the Retromatic range is no In terms of left hand handling,
we’ve got a nice soft C neck built
PROS: different, but do they play as cool
as they look? of maple that’s really nothing to
Unique looks complain about, it’s a real three
Good tones It’s impossible to deny the retro bears situation: it’s not too big,
Great tremolo look of this model, from the it’s not too small and therefore
distinctive shape of the headstock will be suitable for just about
CONS: to the unique pickguard and
range of colours, nothing brings
any player. The fretwork is
immaculate and well polished,
The colour won’t be for
everyone
up the vibe of an old American not too skinny, not too big,
diner more effectively. Our review catering to the biggest market
Neither will the single
model came in Teal Green, but for sure. The neck is finished in
pickup
with the options of Ivory, Black, opaque black, while the rosewood
Honey Sunburst, Red, Natural fingerboard features 22 frets (with
or Gold there’s something for a lovely eye catching angle on
everyone here. Bodywise we have the 22nd) and some retro looking
a laminated maple arched single inlays that have enough of a twist
cutaway with a chambered block from the classic look without
with an F hole. It’s something having to resort to something
that isn’t too thick for a rocker, outlandish to stand out.
but not too thin for a jazzer. The
block stops it feeding back like an The P1 comes loaded with a
old 175 might, but at the same single bridge pickup (designed
time that cuts off some of the by London pickup designers

al Stetsbar Pro II trem system
If you’re into your

Blues, Rock and Roll,
Jazz, or even Country,
the chances are that
the Retromatic P1 will
do the trick for you.
Peerless P1 Retromatic with optional Stetsbar Pro II trem system
Monty’s Guitars) which gives enough everything a Bigsby does but with a little
quality in tone that you don’t feel you’re more reliability and stability. We reviewed
missing out on that neck pickup, it’s really one on its own way, way back in issue 4
not like it’s totally unreasonable that there but the conclusion remains the same. To
are players who might only need a bridge start with, there are Stetsbar Pro II trems
pickup (Eddie Van Halen, anyone?) and that you can buy (and for not a huge
if that’s a real deal breaker then check out amount of money) and retrofit to almost
the P2. It delivers with both the cleans and any guitar without marking it in any way.
the crunch tones, and even with the 7.4k That ancient Les Paul Jnr? A vintage Tele?
rating, it actually functions pretty well as A 335? No problem at all! If you’ve not
the pressure increases. used one it’s really hard to describe how
smooth the action on the bar is, almost
The real cool option here is the inclusion like a vintage trem with one spring. It’s
of a Stetsbar tremolo system which was absolutely effortless and a joy to play with.
designed as a retrofit unit, but anyone with It’s never going to deliver Dimebag style
experience here will tell you that it does bombs, but if that’s what you’re after, then

this probably isn’t going to be the guitar for So who does the guitar appeal to, or who
you to begin with. In this case, the Stetsbar would I recommend it for? Well ultimately
has been fitted by Peerless as an option and it’s going to do the trick for anyone who digs
we reckon it’s a fabulous choice. While you the look, because as a player there’s no doubt
can absolutely order the guitar without the that it delivers. If you’re into your Blues,
tremolo system, it’s definitely better for it Rock and Roll, Jazz, or even Country, the
and really doesn’t result in any sort of trade- chances are that the Retromatic P1 will do
off. It’s much better to have it and not need the trick for you. (And you can win this very
it than need it and not have it! guitar in out free entry competition in this very
issue! - Ed) •
TECH SPEC
Peerless Retromatic P1 with Top Laminated Maple
Stetsbar Pro II Tremolo
Back Laminated Maple
MSRP £1,199 US $TBC
Sides Laminated Maple
Neck Wood Maple
Body Depth 44mm Mahogany Sustain
Fingerboard Rosewood Block
Scale 628mm
Width At Nut 42mm Body Width 381mm

Width At End Fret 57mm Bridge Roller
Neck Joint 15 F Tailpiece Stop
Number Of Frets 22 F Controls 1 Vol, 1 Tone, 1 Switch, 1
Binding Aged White Varitone
Fingerboard Inlays Mother Of Pearl Machine Heads Sg33
Nut Urite Pickups Peerless, Design By

Montys 1x Humbucker
Body Shape Archtop Cutaway
REVIEWS_AMP REVIEW
Thomas Blug BluGuitar Amp 1

Could Germany’s guitar ace Thomas Blug have come up with the perfect amp for the
travelling player? Tom Quayle (no stranger to airport lounges, himself!) finds out.
‘G
igging guitar players, physical and tonal requirements
especially those of gigging guitarists to produce a
4.5
flying, have always small, floor based amplifier with
dreamt of an amplifier that would four channels and an incredible
fit in a gig bag yet sound and 100 Watt Class-D output stage
feel as good as the beloved amp courtesy of an innovative and
STAR RATING they have at home. Various amp highly reliable ‘Nanotube’
companies have tried to fit the power stage. In case you were
bill with a bevy of ‘lunchbox’ wondering, ‘Nanotube’ refers
PROS: amps, packing tone and power to the use of a genuine tube (or
Amazing size and design into a miniature head format, valve if you prefer) in the power
Incredibly loud but these are still often too big amp stage, but instead of a 6l6, or
Four great sounding for taking onto planes or fitting EL34 or similar, it’s a very small
channels into your gig bag and can often Russian mil-spec design. The
Highly reliable tube have compromised output levels technology is all analogue in its
power stage
due to the smaller power stages signal path, other than the digital
All analogue design
(other than reverb) required. Enter the BluGuitar spring-style reverb, with a great
In built spring reverb AMP1 from Thomas Blug. sounding and responding solid
Feature rich - direct Thomas is a superb guitar player state front end matched to the
recording, FX loop, from Germany, with a highly Nanotube power section, offering
Preset mode etc. successful playing career and a single clean channel and three
Highly portable and many years of experience aiding discreet overdrive channels,
light weight
amp designers from an electronics Vintage, Classic and Modern.
Great value for money
and tonal perspective: in fact he
had a great deal to do with the Each channel has a shared 3-band
CONS: design of the amazing Hughes EQ with each band isolated from
and Kettner Triamp series back in the others to allow precise tonal
For full features and
the 1990s. shaping. The Clean channel
flexibility the REMOTE features a Volume control and
1 is required heavy piece
of equipment Thomas has used his extensive the Overdrive channels have a
knowledge of amp design and the shared Gain and Master control

between them. In addition each of the effective at shaping the tone and also allow
channels, other than the Vintage, has a each channel to be setup for solo boosts if
secondary Volume and Tone control on the required. An overall Master dial controls the
side of the unit offering further control so output level for all channels globally and can
that you’re not stuck with the same settings operate from whisper quiet to a full raging
for each channel. These controls are very 100 Watts if required from this impressive
REVIEWS_AMP REVIEW
Using the boost of course, but for those requiring even

more flexibility it creates a package that
can take things is obscenely powerful and flexible for the
size. Also included is a superb boost control
into heavy Blues that can be tailored to give anything from a
territory for this transparent volume boost to a dirty, character
filled addition that will take the Classic or
highly dynamic Modern channels into full saturated territory.
and useful Thomas has even thought to include a noise
gate with ‘OFF, SOFT and METAL’ settings,
channel. although we found the unit so quiet that
it was never required in the studio. For the
travelling guitarist the AMP1 also includes
a modern switching power supply that will
always deliver the correct voltage to the unit
and inconceivably small power section.
regardless of where you are in world. Finally,
Construction is based around a metal head
an innovative power soak allows power
shell.
attenuation down to milliwatt levels or for
The AMP1 is also feature rich, especially silent recording when a speaker isn’t plugged
considering its size and footprint, offering in without any of the heat buildup associated
an FX loop that can be switched to series with this kind of technology (this can only
or parallel, speaker simulated REC out and be operated via the REMOTE 1 footswitch).
headphones socket, 8 and 16 ohm speaker
Three onboard footswitches allow for
outs and a full remote suite called the
channel switching, engaging the boost and
REMOTE 1, operated via midi that adds
switching the digital reverb on and off,
a whole new level of control to the already
although it’s worth bearing in mind that,
impressive functionality, offering up to 36
without REMOTE 1, you must select each
presets that can recall any of the settings
overdrive channel manually using a four
and functions that the AMP1 offers. The
way dial and can only switch from clean to
REMOTE 1 must be purchased separately

Thomas Blug BluGuitar Amp 1
your chosen overdrive channel using the Plugged into our 4x12 studio cab the first
footswitch. Having said that, a separate thing to notice about the AMP1 tonally is
selectable preset mode allows you to instead just how loud this thing can be. The 100
use the footswitches to recall three presets Watt Nanotube kicks out an incredible level
which can store any of the channel settings of sound pressure and volume and even
and whether the reverb/boost is on or off. more impressively sounds great at both quiet
and raging volume settings with no loss of
REVIEWS_AMP REVIEW
On its own though it offers an amazing

tonal package that will be very hard to
resist for any guitar player who values
good tone and is limited for space.
dynamics or tonal performance at either allowing you to play with the amp rather
end of the spectrum. The clean channel is than fighting it. The Vintage channel is
tubey and responsive just like a vintage style pure old school, with breakup tones that are
clean tone should be, with plenty of low end perfect for Strat style position 2 & 4 tones
thunk and bell like top end. Playing with and neck position rhythm sounds.
this channel feels easy and focused without
feeling too tight or immediate, meaning that Using the boost can take things into heavy
both chordal and lead work cuts through Blues territory for this highly dynamic

Morley
REVIEWS_AMP REVIEW
and useful channel. For those requiring AMP1 and combine beautifully with the
higher gain sounds the Classic and Modern lovely spring reverb and effects loop. Direct
channels offer huge amounts of gain, tones are very good too and offer a great
especially with the boost engaged at higher way to record or practice with a supremely
settings and whilst both can offer a range of portable set-up featuring lots of versatility.
tones from mid-scooped thrash settings to
mid heavy, creamy saturated lead tones, they All in all the AMP1 is a bit of a revelation
both have a tonal characteristic and response and the closest anyone has come to
of their own with enough of a difference producing a super portable, floor based
to justify their inclusion. Both clean up device that could actually replace your amp
beautifully with the guitar’s volume control head for both gigging and studio work. It
and with the gain control set to a medium actually WILL fit in your gig bag and is built
level each of the four channels can really well enough to last on the road, and when
offer you the diversity of a four channel amp combined with the REMOTE 1 offers an
ranging from super clean, edge of breakup, incredible level of versatility and flexibility.
crunch and lead tones with ease. Utilising On its own though it offers an amazing
the custom tone controls on the side allow tonal package that will be very hard to resist
for even more control taking the channels for any guitar player who values good tone
from one tonal extreme to the other for and is limited for space. For the travelling
further diversity and flexibility. The sounds musician it is a must have and something
on offer are extremely impressive from the this reviewer is extremely tempted by! •

TECH SPEC
BluGuitar Amp 1 Reverb on/off
Midi - Optional REMOTE 1

MSRP £589 US TBC footswitch or custom midi operation
via Midi adaptor
Made in: Unknown
Outputs - Headphones/Direct out, FX
Channels - Clean, Vintage, Classic & Loop, 8&16 ohm speaker outs, Midi
Modern in/out
Power Section - 100 Watt NanoTube Voltage - AC100-240V switching

power supply
Effects - Reverb, Effects Loop (series/
parallel) & Noise Gate Dimensions - 245 x 68 x192 mm
Switches - Clean/Overdrive, Boost, Weight - 1.2kg
REVIEWS_AMP REVIEW
Orange Crush 20 RT and 35RT

Orange has re-invented its highly affordable Crush range for 2015. Debuting at this
year’s NAMM show, GI got an early look and Levi Clay was first in the queue.
‘O
range amplification is synonymous with British guitar tone, having
craft the sound of British guitar amplification for almost 50 years. I
4.5
introduced in 2000, the Crush series was launched as a range of pra
amps offering good solid state tone on a budget. The latest addition to the series
Crush 12, 20, 20RT and 35RT, and I couldn’t wait to try them out.
STAR RATING
PROS:
Fantastic tones
Great line out cab

simulation
Tuner and Reverb are

excellent
Great price
Free beginner’s Rock

course
CONS:
EQ not as responsive
as it could be
Footswitch would have

been nice
None at this price

helped It’s worth pointing out that these amps are a complete redesign of the old amps with
Initially some great features, but let’s talk from the ground up.
actice
s is the As the numbers suggest, the Crush 12 is a 12 Watt, the 20 is a 20 Watt etc. We were sent
the 20RT and 35RT to check out, so it’s worth explaining that the RT stands for “reverb
and tuner” which doesn’t come on the smaller models. Aside from that, the only other
REVIEWS_AMP REVIEW
Orange Crush 20 RT and 35RT
differences are that the 35 has an effects Aside from both amps having great dirt
loop and a 10 inch speaker, but the 20 channels, they both feature a solid clean
doesn’t have an effects loop and comes with tone selectable with either the switch on
an 8 inch speaker. the amp or via a footswitch (which isn’t
included, but any external switch will
Both amps feature an impressive four stage work).
pre-amp which puts a range of complex
tones in the hands of the player, with a pre- As far as three band EQs go for a clean
amp section featuring low noise operational channel, it’s a pretty standard affair here
amps to provide four stages of gain - and for an amp of this type. It almost feels like
a quick turn of the gain knob really shows Orange has held back on these knobs in
how in depth these amps can go. If you’re the sense that they’re confident enough
into Jazz, Blues, Country, Rock, Metal or in the tone out of the box that the EQ
anything else, the chances are you’ll be able knobs don’t need a massive sweep, but in
to find a tone that delivers in the practice all fairness, for the target market, that’s not
room. a bad thing at all. I remember learning to

JHS
REVIEWS_AMP REVIEW
play and using my little practice amp and you’ve got a great feature here. If you check
what I wanted was for it to sound good, the video you’ll hear a great example of the
but I didn’t really know how to - the Crush amp both miked up and via line out and it
series will take care of that! genuinely is incredible just how different
the tones are. Both totally usable, and both
The reverb and tuner on both amps are impressive.
more than satisfactory, with a very organic
and warm spring reverb and a fast tracking The last feature that highlights how
built in chromatic tuner which facilitates perfect these are for the practice market
fast tuning on the fly with the LED based is that all new Crush users will be given
display. the Orange Rock Guitar Beginner online
course available for free. This fantastic little
For me, the most exciting feature of this course is an introduction to proper music
amp is the cabinet simulation on the education, theory, reading notes, reading
headphone out. For recording at home, tabs etc., all a fantastic offering for anyone
getting a good tone captured can be a serious about learning the instrument.
pain for someone who doesn’t have much More info on these can be found on the
experience with miking techniques. For Orange site.
these users Orange have a great built-in
4x12 cabinet simulation which is accessed It’s sometimes the case that solid state amps
via the headphone port, so either as a are scoffed at by gear heads (though some
tool for practising with headphones, or players actually prefer them - Ed), but these
recording via line out into your computer, new Orange Crush combos do what they

do supremely well and really aren’t any the worse for not being valve/tube based - not least
because one of the results is a really keen price! Created for home use, for practising or
recording with your full tone, they do it better than most products on the market, so get
down your local dealer and try one out now. •
TECH SPEC
Orange Crush 20 RT and 35RT Channel Switching
MSRP £139 & £199 US $189 & 4 stage pre-amp
$259
Cab simulation
Made in China
Crush 35RT
Crush 20RT
As above plus:
1x 8” speaker
10” speaker
20 Watts
35 Watts
Spring Reverb
FX loop
Chromatic Tuner
REVIEWS_COMBO REVIEW
Music Man 212 HD 130 combo

Finally, they’re back! After three decades as just a fond memory, Music Man has
reintroduced its once hugely successful amp range. Tom Quayle revisits the
legend.
‘T he original Music traditional tube based power stage

Man amplifier was but like most amps made back
4.0
produced in the mid then, by today’s standards, they
to late ‘70s from a design by ex- were expensive to build. That,
Fender man Tom Walker, and coupled with internal company
was called the ‘Sixty Five’. It problems, led to the cessation
STAR RATING was the first product of the new of the Music Man amp range in
Music Man company formed in 1983 and in 1984 the company,
1974 with another former Fender which was by then in deep
PROS: employee, Forrest White and, of trouble, was purchased by the
Well built and course, Leo Fender himself. The string maker, Ernie Ball. Sterling
lightweight history of the company, and of Ball (the current owner of the
Leo’s involvement in particular, brand) states that he has often
Great, versatile clean eventually became quite been approached to re-introduce
tones complicated, but suffice it to say, the Music Man amplifier range
the Music Man amps, notably but he struggled to find anyone
Superb pedal base
the guitar combos, became very that would do the original design
Quality reverb and popular, particularly among justice, but when approached by
tremolo circuits professional players and especially Marco Di Virgillis, of Markbass
among the Country fraternity, and DV Mark amps, he felt he’d
Switching power who enjoyed their reputation found the perfect partner. The
supply for sparkling clean sounds and new range was announced with a
extremely high output. fanfare at the 2014 NAMM show
CONS: The original amplifier was an
in California, but supply has
been so limited that it has taken
No included interesting design for the time a whole year before we have been
footswitch since it contained a solid state able to get our hands on one to
pre-amp based on the new ‘op- find out what the reincarnated
No effects loop
amp’ circuits that were coming amps are actually like.
Expensive onto the market, matched to a

For our review Music Man sent us a 212 HD130 combo featuring the same solid state pre-
amp design matched with four EL34’s and a single ECC83 driver in the power stage for an
impressive 130 Watts output. The amp features two identical sounding channels except for
the included Tremolo effect and Reverb on channel two with controls for Intensity and Speed.
Each channel has two inputs, Volume, Treble, Mid and Bass controls and a Bright/Normal
Music Man 212 HD 130 combo
The new 212 switch. For the power section there is a

global master volume control and a Normal/
HD130 combo is Deep switch for taming or adding bottom
a very impressive end resonance. Since the amp is designed to
be pretty much clean all the way up there
package, is no effects loop, but to bring things bang
especially for up to date the new model features two

custom designed 12” DV Mark Neoclassic
those looking for neodymium speakers. This technology
allows for a super-lightweight speaker -
a great clean base obviously a bonus for a 2x12 combo like
for pedals. this, offering lighter weight speakers that
sound and respond like traditional ones. As a
consequence, this large 2x12 combo weighs
just an impressively manageable 19.6kg.

Melbay
Also new is a switching power supply up quite a bit if pushed hard but there is
allowing the user to move from 120V to an incredible amount of clean headroom
240V as required with the flick of a switch, available here thanks to that quartet of EL34
facilitating use of the amplifier anywhere tubes. The sound is familiar but the solid
in the world. Finally a footswitch can be state front end gives it a unique character
purchased separately for switching reverb and all of its own, especially in the attack of the
tremolo on or off on channel two. tone which seems faster and more forgiving
than some equivalent all clean tube amps.
Judging from our sample, build quality on The speakers sound great, with plenty of
these new combos is superb with extremely bottom end thunk and clarity, especially
solid construction and components that with the bright and deep controls engaged.
should offer the same reliability much The three band EQ works well to produce
revered back in the 1970s and ‘80s. All of a bevy of musical tones with a lot of range
the controls are responsive and solid and the for each control allowing accurate shaping
closed back offers a lot of protection for the as required. With a drive pedal and delay
internal circuitry and tubes. It’s also very plugged into the front end the superb clean
refreshing to pick up a combo of this size base offers a great platform for getting the
and not feel that your back is under threat or best from pedals and it’s surprising how
to keep looking at the carrying handle with the solid state front end reacts every bit as
suspicion! dynamically as a tube amp. The onboard
Plugging in a Strat-style guitar with two Reverb and Tremolo effects are lush
single coils and humbucker in the bridge sounding, although for the price of this
to channel two it is immediately obvious amplifier, they really should have including
that this new combo is all about those clean the footswitch.
tones. It’s a loud and immediate sounding So what do we make of this reintroduced,
amplifier with amazing dynamic and pick and just ever so slightly remodelled, classic?
response that is screaming to be a base for Well, the new 212 HD130 combo is a very
pedal board players. Both channels will break

impressive package, especially for those looking for a great clean base for pedals. How well it
will compete in an already crowded market of relatively expensive, high-end clean amplifiers is
anyone’s guess but for those worried about the lack of a tube based pre-amp, rest assured that
these new amps perform very well. The only concern for the Music Man range is whether it
can find its place with anyone other than existing fans of the original models - only time will
tell. In the meantime I recommend that you check one out! •
TECH SPEC
Music Man 212 HD 130 Other Controls (common) MASTER -
MSRP £1,499.99 US $ TBC Normal/Deep
Channels: Two Speaker size 2x12” DV Mark

NEOCLASSIC
Preamps: Solid State
Speaker Impedance | Power Handling
Power Output: 130W 8 | 300W
Power Tubes: 4 X EL34 + 1 x ECC83 Other Features Footswitch input for

(driver) rev and tremolo (Ch 2) Voltage selector
120V/240V
Controls (Ch 1) Normal/Bright -
Volume - Treble - Middle - Bass Dimensions (W/H/D) 27” / 68.6cm |
20.47” / 52cm | 10.98” / 27.9cm
Controls (Ch 2) Normal/Bright -
Volume - Treble - Middle - Bass Reverb Weight 43.20 lbs /19.6 Kg
- Intensity/Speed (Tremolo)
REVIEWS_PEDALS REVIEW
T-Rex Creamer Reverb, Replay Box

T-Rex pedals make a welcome return to GI’s review pages with three of the Danish
company’s heavy duty stomp boxes. Are they the towering monsters, or headed for
extinction? Doug Cartwright goes all Jurassic on us.
‘T
-Rex is a small but growing name audio noise”) the metal toggle switches, jack
in the guitar world, arriving on connectors… even the research that’s gone
the scene in 1996 and quickly into making sure the foot switches ‘click’ in a
making a mark internationally. We looked satisfying manner. Spending time with these
at a whole nest of T-Rex pedals, way, way pedals, it was obvious that they will hold up
back in GI issue three (that’s prehistoric all well to the claims made in the marketing
right - Ed) so it was high time that we waded blurb; I could find nothing to fault in the
back into the primordial swamp to try some design, components or layout of any of the
more! three.
The Quint Machine, Creamer Reverb T-Rex Creamer Reverb
4.5
and Replay Box all arrived in attractive
packaging, with distinctive looks that Plugging in the Creamer
nonetheless tied them all together with Reverb first, I was impressed
T-Rex’s overall retro-tinged image. Of the by the simple layout and
three pedals, the Quint Machine, which versatility of the pedal.
STAR RATING The Creamer features three
is an innovative octave pedal, is definitely
my favorite in terms of appearance as the reverb types (spring, room
combination of purple and cream looks and hall) and is a digital reverb effect;
really classy, whilst the 1970’s brown and however, it maintains an analogue dry signal
cream of the Creamer was, for me, the least throughout, blending the digital effect in
attractive of the three, aesthetically speaking. without affecting the original tone in any
way. This is a great idea and a nice touch,
In terms of build quality and reliability, which should reassure tone purists who may
T-Rex is easily up there with the best. panic at the thought of a digital effect in
The company’s website goes into eye- their signal chain, and in practice I found
watering detail about the durability of it to work superbly. All three reverb effects
the potentiometers they use (“the military were satisfying and definitely useable, whilst
standard is 40,000 circle-turns before the simple Reverb and Decay knobs offered
wearing out, the T-Rex standard goes up to all the control you could wish for with a
100,000 circle-turns before showing signs of Reverb effect.

and Quint Machine
As an added bonus, the Tone control is an extremely effective third knob that is designed for
adjusting/rolling off the high frequencies of the reverb (the wet signal only), which is ideal
for taming the sound if it becomes too bright without altering the original tone. A welcome
addition that really improves the applicability of the pedal.
T-Rex Creamer Reverb
PROS: CONS:
Everything you could want from It’s brown
a reverb effect
Tone control for attenuating high

frequencies of wet signal a nice touch
Analogue dry signal maintained

KORG &
STRESBAR
T-Rex Replay Box Volume, Wet/Dry Mix and Repeat (which
4.5
controls the amount of repeats) offers all
The Replay Box was the next the control required for a delay effect, but
pedal I tested, a stereo delay the really knockout feature of the pedal
effect with the same analogue is the tap tempo button, one of the great
STAR RATING dry/digital wet design as the advantages of digital technology in an analog
Creamer. The first thing that pedal. Combined with a subdivision switch
struck me about the pedal allowing quarter notes, triplets and dotted
was how absolutely tiny it is considering eighth notes, this is a powerful feature that
its functionality! If you need a stereo delay transforms the function, reliability and
but have space limitation issues this pedal overall usability of the pedal. It’s absolutely
will pretty much win out on that point outstanding to have this feature on such a
alone, but there was more good news once I small pedal, and combined with its size and
plugged it in. The simple control layout of

the fact it’s also in stereo I can’t help but admit this is one of the most impressive delay pedals
I’ve ever come across.
T-Rex Reply Box
PROS: CONS:
Fantastic quality of effect, and stereo! A Tone control would have been nice -
but there’s no obvious space.
All the controls you could reasonably
need
Tap tempo with subdivision switch is

awesome!
It’s tiny. Absolutely tiny.
T-Rex Quint Machine to play a 5th up and gives each modulated
4.5
sound its own volume control. These volume
Finally, the Quint Machine is controls allow for a vast array of sounds
an example of T-Rex creating through blending each individual harmony,
an exciting and innovative new and the overall Mix control then allows the
STAR RATING take on a classic pedal. Octave Wet/Dry mix of the effect to be set to the
doubling has always been a user’s preference.
cool effect, great for everything
from organ and 12-string emulation through The Quint Machine was everything a good
to funky rhythms and powerful Rock tones. pedal should be: fun, versatile and inspiring.
Typically these pedals allow the addition It’s super easy to operate and could be used
of an octave harmony both up and down in so many applications, from subtle organ-y
one octave from the note being played, but Jazz settings to rip-your-face-off classic Rock
the Quint Machine also adds in the option riffs and beyond. It’s difficult to imagine
T-Rex Quint Machine

any guitar player who wouldn’t find something cool and enjoyable to use this pedal for, and
although it’s not really an essential effect for anyone in terms of every song, every gig use,
it’s definitely well worth checking out for anybody who likes to have fun, experiment and be
creative in their music and playing.
PROS: CONS:
Nice, innovative approach to a classic Not an essential pedal, but everyone
concept should own one!
Massive range of different applications
Volume controls for each harmony open

up the possibilities of the effect no end
Fun, inspiring sounds
CONCLUSION
Over all, these three pedals are a great demonstration of the breadth of T-Rex’s line and really
live up to their mission statement for improving and innovating effects pedal design. The
size, ease of use and satisfying tones of all three pedals means they’re definitely worthy of
exploration from any player looking to add effects of these types to their board, and the effort
and workmanship that’s gone into the components ensures you can buy with confidence.
Great pedals! •

TECH SPEC
T-Rex Creamer Reverb, Replay Replay Box:
Box and Quint Machine Controls: Mix, Repeat, Tempo
MSRPs
W x H x D: 60 x 50 x 115mm
Creamer: £175 US $249
Replay Box: £179 US $299

Quint Machine:
Quint Machine: £179 US $299 Controls: Mix, + 1 fifth, + 1 octave, -
Made in: China 1 octave
Casings: Metal W x H xD: 60x50x117mm
Power: 9v battery or transformer
Creamer:
Controls: On/Off, Reverb, Decay,

Tone, Mode
W x H x D: 60 x 50 x 115mm
REVIEWS_PEDAL REVIEW
Dunlop Clyde McCoy Cry Baby Wah W

What, another new wah wah pedal? Levi Clay looked unconvinced.
And then he tried one...
‘I
t’s no secret that the industry, there’s a lot of mystery
wah pedal market is surrounding these old vintage
4.0
a saturated one, even pieces of gear, the idea being that
Dunlop (being one of the they don’t make them like they
originators of the sound) has used to and the real tone is found
almost 20 different wahs on in these period pieces. With the
STAR RATING the market, so do we really wah pedal, this is actually 100%
need another one? I’d always true as the circuitry did change
PROS: assumed the answer was no, then
I sat down with the new Clyde
over time. The original wahs were
made with Halo inductors. The
Incredible tones
McCoy Cry Baby Wah Wah. inductor is probably the most
Sturdy Construction important part of a wah pedal as
Invented by Brad Plunkett for it shapes the “Q” in your tonal
Classic formate Thomas Organ company, the spectrum, and over the years
original patent dates back to companies have used components
November 1966. Back then the
CONS: unit was branded with both
like the Fasels, the Film Cans,
TDKs, Stack of Dimes etc. The
The price may put Vox and Dunlop, even though Halo inductors had an incredible
some off both were made by the same tone, but they tended to become
company (Thomas Organ), this microphonic quite quickly,
just allowed them to distribute rendering the wah useless.
everywhere as Vox had exclusive
dealers at the time. It was likened For this new release, the masters
to the trumpet sounds of Clyde at Dunlop have redesigned and
McCoy, so the owners decided to manufactured a Halo-esque
licence his name and the Clyde inductor, aptly named the HI01
McCoy Cry Baby was born. Halo Inductor. Just sitting and
playing with this wah for a few
Over the years the design has minutes and you know exactly
changed a lot, but as with why they put in the time. Some
just about everything in the may argue that doesn’t justify

Wah
over double the price of the stock

Cry Baby, but I would say those
critics probably haven’t played
with this wah!
In terms of features, this wah is

of the “less is more” school of
thought, just offering you the one
wah sound housed in the classic
Dunlop housing. There’s option
for a 9 volt supply, and the pedal
is engaged by clicking down with
the toe. Would it be nice to have
more features? Possibly, but what
it does, it does so perfectly that I
find it hard to really find fault in
doing one thing really well. It’s
a simple wah made solidly from
premium components giving you
that vintage tone on a budget.
Now you can leave your prized
$1,000 wah at home and hit the
road with something just as good
and three times as reliable.
This wah is a must try for

any serious tone chaser as it’s
probably exactly what you’ve been
searching for, excuse the pun, but
this is the real McCoy! (I knew
that was coming - Ed). •
REVIEWS_PEDAL REVIEW
Dunlop Clyde McCoy Cry Baby Wah Wah
TECH SPEC
Dunlop Clyde McCoy Cry Baby Max Output +7.6 dBV
Wah Wah
Max Gain +18 dB
MSRP £169 US $285.70
Filter Center Freq. 410 Hz to 2.2 kHz
Made in: Unknown
Noise Floor < -89 dBV
SPECIFICATIONS
Bypass Hardwired
Input Impedance 70 kΩ
Current Draw 600 µA
Output Impedance 20 kΩ
Power Supply 9 volts DC battery or
Max Input -9.0 dBV mains adaptor

House
LIVE
SOUND
ALL YOU NEED TO TAKE YOUR S

E
D!
SOUND ON STAGE
LIVE SOUND_JAIME VENDERA’S VOCAL BOOTCAMP
JAIME VENDERA’S
Vocal Part 11
Bootcamp -
Jaime Vendera - the world’s top Rock vocal
coach - brings you everything you need to know
to deliver the perfect vocal performance! In this
issue: Vocal Health.
I see you’ve made it back to yet another own online vocal school, the Vendera
Vocal Bootcamp. Thanx 4 hanging Vocal Academy (VVA).
with me! We’re already up to eleven
bootcamps and counting and we’re In the early nineties, I studied at a
just getting started. I don’t know vocal school myself. Since then, I’ve
if you’ve figured it out yet, but I’ve dreamed of creating something similar.
been diabolically micro-dosing you Guitar Interactive Magazine and VVA
with intense “vocal shots” of singing have made that dream a reality. Since
knowledge to boost your vocal immunity the launch of Jaime Vendera’s Vocal
in order to take your voice to the next Bootcamp, I’ve received hundreds of
level. All these tips, tricks, and tactics are emails from people watching and reading
mini pieces of a gigantic jigsaw puzzle GI series. I’m humbled by the support
based on my vocal training methods as and love and happy that this series is
described in books such as Raise Your helping singers achieve the voice they’ve
Voice and Reclaim Your Voice, audio always wanted.
and video programs such as the Extreme With that said, I’m hoping you’re
Scream series and the Beyond the Voice realizing that singing is NOT rocket
video series, and of course, the ideology surgery (yes I meant to say rocket
that forms the curriculum for my very surgery). You don’t need 500 “new

times when prepping for a gig that the flu

bug or some other form of virus or bacteria
grabs hold of your vocal cords, squeezes
the life out of them, plastering them with
tar-thick phlegm, while taking pot shots
with razor blades at those delicate little
sound producers. We want to avoid this
scenario and we can minimize the chance
of this happening by starting a daily vocal
health regimen by implementing many of
the following sprays, vitamins, minerals,
and methods into our daily routine to help
turn the voice around. So, let’s dive right
in...
NOTE: The following list is based on

products that I have personally tested,
and improved” vocal terms to explain the which have worked for me, aiding in
sounds you’re making, nor do you need keeping my voice in shape when performing
1001 vocal exercises to improve your voice. on television shows and vocal workshops
You just need REAL, simplistic, solid around the world. Considering that we
information and exercises to achieve your are human instruments, these products
goals. That’s what I deliver through all of may work differently for each individual.
my vocal training avenues. For those who Therefore, I suggest trying each product or
are wondering what is to come in the Vocal method for yourself to decide which work
Bootcamp series, I assure you that you’ll best for your body and voice.
continue to love it! I will be adding more
Superior Vocal Health Products
vocal exercises and song demos as we move
forward in this series. Be forewarned; it I cannot say enough positive things about
WILL get crazy! Enough jabberin’...It’s time this organic herbal product line. The Throat
to cover some vocal health for all you singers Saver spray, Sinus Clear Out drops, and
in the studio and on the road... Vocal Rescue gargle now travel with me
everywhere I go, especially on long flights to
First things first; NEVER forget that you
cities like Tokyo and Shanghai. I must warn
ARE your instrument! Therefore, you
you; these products have some bite to the
MUST live every minute as your instrument.
them, really opening up the sinus passages
This means taking care of your body by
and lungs. But, it’s a good bite. Whenever
watching what you eat, getting plenty of
I am vocally down, I reach for this triple
exercise, both physical and vocal, drinking
vocal boosting combination. I love the
plenty of water, and so forth. But, there are
SVH product line so much that I personally

Vocal Health
published the owner, David Aaron Katz’ zinc daily. Make sure it is not the hard candy
book, Superior Vocal Health. Check out the kind. You want the zinc lozenges that are
SVH line at www.superiorvocalhealth.com. chalky and dissolve in your mouth. I take
several per day. There are many brands on
Vocal Eze Spray the market. Simple search online to find zinc
Vocal Eze is the perfect spray to use daily. It lozenges in your area.
has a sweet taste and is full of herbs that feed Throat Coat Tea
the voice. It keeps the voice feeling smooth
and well-oiled. I’ve been using it for years Throat Coat Tea, from Traditional
and will always be a huge fan of this “food Medicinals, contains both slippery elm and
for voice.” Check it out at www.VocalEze. licorice root. As explained in the video, each
com. of these herbs are important for vocal health
in different ways; one is a demulcent which
Zinc Tablets coats the pharynx and the other acts as a
Zinc is the singer’s mineral, ‘nuff said! Take natural inflammation reducer. Speaking of
licorice, here’s a bonus tip that is especially
useful for smokers who are trying to quit. stress release.

Look online for natural licorice sticks.
These are actual twigs, not candy, but Hydration
small branches from a licorice tree. Many Hydration must occur inside and out.
smokers turn to chewing on things like First, it’s all about drinking lots of water.
plastic straws when weaning themselves I personally drink around two gallons per
off of cigarettes. A licorice stick will not day, and all my water is enhanced with
only help to reduce vocal cord swelling singer’s water sachets from Singerswater.
that may occur from smoker’s cough, com. These little packets contain coral
but also give you another focal point calcium and other trace minerals such as
to replace the “cigarette in mouth” silver, which boost the immune system
sensation. I use them, (and I am NOT a and supercharge your water for better
smoker) because they taste great and help absorption. FYI- I am always working
top soothe the voice. behind the scenes, studying the latest
Vitamin C in vocal health. So, I must inform you
that the singer’s water sachets have been
Vitamin C is something we need daily, enhanced and improved since the filming
especially if you are a smoker. Smoking of this video and no longer come in the
destroys the vitamin C within the body. packets labelled “X20.” The new packets
Please note, with all this “smoking” that you will see on the site are labelled
talk that it is important for ALL singers “Balance.”
(smoking and non-smoking) to take
vitamin C daily. I’ve only mentioned As well as drinking more water, steaming
smoking in this Vocal Bootcamp because is beneficial. At home, I use a Venta-
I have many students who smoke, Sonic steamer. When I travel, I use the
so I knew it needed to be addressed. same portable steamer that I demoed in
FYI- Smoking is NOT what gives you the video. I also have a habit of steaming
that cool grit sound (though that’s the up my hotel room. Speaking of which,
subject for another lesson.) The best I’ve got an AMAZING way to warm up
type of vitamin C is one that dissolves the entire voice and body when shower
in water. Some form of C powder, such steaming. If your voice needs a good
as Emergen-C or Crew Brew from warm up and a quick one, hop into a
the makers of Vocal Eze is best. Both hot shower after it’s been running for
Emergen-C and Crew Brew also contain at least five minutes to steam up the
B vitamins which is beneficial for mental room. When in the shower, perform my

Vocal Stress Release program (described travel, I use a product called Airborne
in Raise Your Voice and Beyond the effervescent tablets in a bottle of water
Ultimate Vocal Warm Up) while to boost my immune system when in
simultaneously vocalizing along to the huge crowds like airports and airplanes.
Ultimate Vocal Warm Up mp3 (that you Unfortunately, I forgot to buy extra
received for free many Bootcamps ago.) Airborne and did not have enough
If your voice is hoarse, you might want for the round trip. Lo and behold, I
to use the Voice RX Warm Up mp3 got sick on the way back and didn’t
instead and follow the vocal recovery address the issue. Whatever virus I
routine from the Voice RX eBook. caught on the plane quickly mutated
into a wicked bacteria that lodged itself
Neti Pot in my lymphoids in the back of my
Start using a Neti pot daily, period! throat. I struggled for months, even
Sinus health begins with sinus flushing. used my old faithful apple cider vinegar/
This simple daily act can prevent a lot of colloidal silver combo, which lessened
future headaches, no pun intended, by the problem but didn’t rid my body of
keeping debris flushed from the sinuses, the culprit. It wasn’t until I mega-dosed
preventing that debris from setting up on GSE that the problem began to fade
an environment in the sinus cavities that away. So, now I keep it with me at all
can allow infection to grow and spread. times.
I use the sinus care line from Neilmed. Bottom line, I don’t want to turn you
com, but any Neti pot will work. into a paranoid hypochondriac. But I
As with every Vocal Bootcamp article, I do want you taking better care of your
always like to slip in a few extra pointers, instrument, which is YOU! These tips
like the licorice stick tip. Another great are just the tip of the iceberg. There are
tip is to keep a bottle of Nutribiotics over a hundred pages in my own books
GSE (grape seed extract) in your gig dedicated to vocal health. So, starting
bag. It helps to break down bacteria today, decide to make vocal health a
in the body. While natural antibiotics, priority and you’re voice will last tour
such as organic apple cider vinegar is after tour! See you next Vocal Bootcamp. •
great for attacking viruses, GSE works
on bacteria that likes to stick around
and create havoc. Point in case, I was
in Tokyo, Japan filming a TV show in
the summer of 2014. Usually when I
LIVE SOUND_FX MONITOR REVIEW
TC Helicon VoiceSolo FX150

With the gigging season in full swing we grabbed the opportunity we’d been waiting for a
innovative VoiceSolo FX150 for a ‘real world’ test.
‘T
he VoiceSolo FX150 is essentially for the 3-channel mixer and effects, a
an all-in-one monitor/PA system continuous ‘EDIT’ controller and finally, a
in one (very) compact package. master volume control. Channels 1 and 2
And compact it is - TC Helicon has managed are identical, with control over Level, ‘Vocal
to cram a 6½” speaker and a 3-channel mixer Tone’ (more on that later), 3-band EQ and
with FX into a rigid, high impact polystyrene Reverb level. The Aux section is fed by a
cabinet measuring just 210mm x 286mm x mini jack input on the rear and has controls
184 mm and weighing in at just 3 kg! for Level, 3-band EQ and a voice-cancelling
feature to let you sing, or play along with
Occupying most of the front of the unit your favourite tracks.
behind a rugged steel mesh grille is the
Tannoy dual-concentric driver, powered by All editing of parameters is done via the
a 150W class D power amplifier and more EDIT knob and a press of the desired
than loud enough to work as a personal function button, which helpfully changes
monitor on a live stage. There’s an adapter colour to confirm what you’re adjusting.
for mounting onto a standard tripod stand, Once a button is pressed, the current value is
should you wish to use it as a small PA displayed via the nine blue LEDs around the
system. The angled cabinet also lets you EDIT knob - this isn’t as limited as it seems,
use it on the floor as a monitor, or by using as rather than being restricted to nine steps,
the integral ‘easy clip’ design, it can be the LEDs light up adjacent to each other
positioned on the upper section of a mic and grow brighter, the further you turn the
stand. When using a boom type stand, the notched dial until the next one starts to glow.
monitor is placed in the perfect position
pointing up at the performer, with all The reverb section comprises nine different
controls within arm’s reach. styles (taken from the flagship VoiceLive
3 - see our review in issue 27 - Ed) and are
To the right of the speaker are 18 backlit accessed via the STYLE button and selected
buttons that give you access to all controls by the EDIT knob. These are a selection

4.5
SEE
REVIEWS
and sent Mick Wilson out on the road with TC Helicon’s STAR RATING
FOR BOTH
PROS:
Well made
Great FX
Easy to use
Very flexible
Good value
CONS:
Region specific
power supply
of Halls, Rooms, Plates etc. with dark and light versions

of various lengths - I gravitated to one or two choices, but
there’s something for every style here. A press of the ‘Vocal
Tone’ button on channels 1 and 2 activates the “Adaptive
Tone” circuit, which comprises of an enhanced EQ curve,
compressor, de-esser and gate. This is a one stop shop setting
and quickly gets you up and running with minimal fuss -

this would generally be used if the (Ch. 1, 2 Aux and reverb), or just
FX150 is being run as a small PA Channel 1. This is used in foldback
system, as when in monitor mode, mode, where the performer can
one would normally want to hear plug a mic/instrument directly into
the vocal sound exactly as it is going the FX150 and then send the dry
out of the main PA. signal on to the mixing desk, while
a band monitor mix is fed to input
I should add, by the way, that the 2. This then gives you independent
VoiceSolo 150 is fully compatible control over the individual voice/
with the innovative mic control instrument, relative to the band
system fitted into the Sennheiser monitor mix - effectively giving
e835 mic which I reviewed back in each artist more of themselves in
GI issue 21. Used together, the mic their own monitor. This works
and this monitor could be a very extremely well and would save a
handy combination. lot of time in sound checks, where
To the rear, channel 1 and 2 inputs band members may end up having
are on a combi XLR/jack, with a to compromise their own level for
Hi-Z instrument switch on channel the sake of others.
1. The input of channel 2 is true Along with the mini jack aux input
bypassed to an XLR THRU output is a +48v Phantom power switch, a
for use when daisy-chaining several mini USB connector for firmware
units together for stage monitoring updates etc. (no audio, I’m afraid)
(which would in turn go into and the power adapter connector
input 2 on the next FX150 and (the adapter is in-line and has more
so on). Next up is a switchable than enough cable length to reach
XLR output. This has a dual the floor without straining the
function, allowing it to be used as a connector).
conventional ‘FULL MIX’ output
TC Helicon VoiceSolo FX150
I have used this recently for on stage monitoring at several acoustic gigs and found it
invaluable - I ran it purely as a foldback monitor and due to the mic stand positioning, it
didn’t need to be very loud to be effective. The EQ is more than adequate to get a great
sound on vocals and acoustic guitar and, coupled with the TC-quality effects, I’d be more
than happy to run this as the main mixer for a small PA system, along with two powered
cabinets fed from the mix output.
A very flexible and great sounding piece of kit, the VoiceSolo FX150 would be very
effective in the corner of a small bar/club as a PA for a solo performer, either on its own, or
with an extension speaker. For me though, I’d want to keep this in my bag as ‘safety-net’
monitoring solution that would get me out of trouble on a live stage, whatever the size of
venue! •

TECH SPEC
TC Helicon VoiceSolo FX150 Master Volume Control
MSRP £225 US $299
Channel 1 and 2
Made in: Unknown
Level
Loudspeaker Full Range 6.5
Adaptive Vocal Tone on/off
Tannoy 2-way coaxial ICT Driver
Amplifier 150W Class-D 3 band EQ
Smart Power compensation
and protection Reverb send
Power supply (supplied) 42.5V, 1.5A
Aux Channel
Analog Inputs
Level
XLR/TRS Combo Jacks (channel 1
and 2) Voice Cancel
1/8 Stereo Aux Input 3 band EQ
Analog Outputs 9 Reverb types
XLR true stage monitor pass thru Rear Panel
(channel 2)
Hi-Z enable (Channel 1)
XLR processed mix output
Output select: Full mix/Channel 1
Other Processed
USB for software updates Phantom power on/off
Mic Control using TC-Helicon MP- Height: 8.25 inches (210 mm)
75 Microphone or Sennheiser e 835 fx
mic Width: 11.25 inches (286 mm)
Control Depth: 7.25 inches (184 mm)
Front panel Weight: 6.75 lbs (3 kg)
Encoder with light ring for mix

controls
LIVE SOUND_SPEAKERS REVIEW
Wharfedale Pro Titan 12D active speakers

Mick Wilson was looking for a portable system to take out on a small, professional gig. W
thought, the newly reduced in price Wharfedale Pro Titan 12D. So, how did you get on, Mic
‘F
or those of us of a certain RMS for the LF driver and 50W RMS for
age, the name Wharfedale is the HF driver so a combined total of 300W
synonymous with quality Hi-Fi RMS. Because raw Wattage ratings can be
speakers that, in the home recording boom pretty meaningless (so much depends on
of the ‘80s and ‘90s, even made their way the speaker’s efficiency), let me say that this
into home studios as reference monitors. In translates to a maximum SPL of 127dB,
the late ‘90s, Wharfedale was incorporated which is pretty impressive for such a small,
into the IAG group based in China, joining lightweight package!
other premium Hi-Fi brands such as Quad,
Mission, LEAK, Audiolab and several Construction-wise, the cabinet is made
others. This is where some of their iconic from tough, moulded polypropylene with
models such as the Denton and Diamond recessed handles - these have a rubberised
Series are still made today and are still finish to the inside and make the cabinet
picking up a raft of Hi-Fi magazine awards. very easy to handle. A point of note is that,
even taking into consideration the size
The Titan 12D on review here, is part of a of the driver, these are one of the lightest
range of active and passive units made under PA speakers I’ve ever carried - I can only
the Wharfedale Pro banner for both PA and imagine how light the passive versions are
installation use. The 12D sits in between without the amplifier onboard! To put a
the 8D and the 15D in the active range (as number on that - the 12D weighs just 12kg
you’ve guessed, the numbers being the size or around 26 1/2 lbs.
of the LF driver in inches), all of which can
be combined with a 12” or 15” sub-woofer. At the top of the unit, the 1” titanium
Power wise, the 12D uses a Class D power tweeter sits at the back of an elliptical horn
module which means it runs cool enough design, which has an accompanying circular
to dispense with heat sinks and fins. The blue LED (there is a switch to turn this off if
module is bi-amped and delivers 250W preferred, but it looks kind of cool and also
lets you know the unit is on). The cabinet

4.5
What better than that mainstay of the club/pub circuit, we
STAR RATING
ck?
PROS:
Lightweight
Loud
Great sound
Great value
CONS:
None at this price
LIVE SOUND_PA REVIEW
is a ported design, with one aperture either has “rigging points” with different thread
side of the cabinet, separating the horn from sizes to accommodate bolts for brackets or
the 12” moisture-proof driver, which sits hangers for permanent installation or even
behind a substantial grille. The sides of the stacking multiple units together. Incidentally.
cabinet are angled, so that it can also be used That reference to ‘moisture proof ’ means
lying down as an on-stage monitor. At the that, provided you take reasonable care, these
base, there is a standard mounting hole for handy speakers can also be used for outdoor
use with a tripod stand and the cabinet itself gigs - very useful in summer!

Wharfedale Pro Titan 12D active speakers
The rear of the unit is very comprehensive 90Hz roll off filter switch to counter any
and gives you the option to use the “boominess” at the bottom end if it’s
cabinet independently, or with a mixer being used in a monitoring situation.
and/or second cabinet. There are two
inputs on XLR/jack combi connectors A cool function is the “Loop/Mix”
and a stereo input on phono (these are button, which determines what is sent to
internally summed to mono). Input A the line level XLR output connector. In
has a gain selection switch for mic/line LOOP mode, the signal of input B is sent
level, allowing you to connect a dynamic to the output XLR, bypassing the volume
mic directly, if you’re not using a mixer. and EQ section, but still appearing in the
Input B is fixed at line level, but both speaker alongside input A. This means
have independent volume controls. that, if you were using several cabinets
There is a Hi/Lo shelf EQ to tailor the as a monitor system, a band mix could
sound even more as well as an additional be daisy-chained to all the units (into
Due to the nature of the size of the drivers, I

end, but the highs and lows of the guitar and
additional EQ (other than that from the smal
input B) and each performer could also send a wide area and there were no discernible
a separate feed of themselves into input A for dead spots when walking around the room.
more “me”. With the switch in MIX mode, If you were to make the move to a full band
both inputs act the same and are sent to the performance, just the 12D cabinets on their
XLR output. own, would possibly struggle to keep up over
a loud drum kit and guitar/bass amplifiers,
I had the opportunity to use two 12D but that said, a couple of the 15Ds, combined
cabinets (with a mixer) for an acoustic gig with one of Wharfedale’s new lightweight
in a venue of around 75/100 people. As I subs, the Titan 15ASUBMKII, either side
mentioned earlier, my first revelation was would make a great pub/club PA for any
being able to carry both cabinets 100m from gigging band.
the car and lift them up onto the speaker
stands with minimum effort (when you’re Many readers will be pretty familiar with
carrying equipment into a venue that’s already Wharfedale’s PA products and may wonder
open, this is a welcome bonus). In this why we’ve chosen to look at such a long-
instance, the on-stage volume was relatively established product. The reason is simple.
low, so the audience was hearing the PA Due to the opening of a new manufacturing
almost exclusively. The 12Ds were more than facility in China, IAG says it has been able to
up to the task and were impressively loud. reduce the price considerably and it seemed
Due to the nature of the size of the drivers, I to us that it’s sometimes too easy to overlook
wasn’t expecting a trouser flapping low end, an established product when the market is
but the highs and lows of the guitar and voice swamped with so much new gear. We wanted
came over equally well without any additional to see how an established market leader stood
EQ (other than that from the small mixer). up to some of its newer rivals and especially
The design of the horn and cabinet itself given the new pricing, I can only say it does -
meant that the sound was delivered over quite and how.

I wasn’t expecting a trouser flapping low
d voice came over equally well without any
ll mixer).
Taking account of various comments about the sound of the vocals and acoustic guitar,
I’d say that Wharfedale were justified in putting the word “pro” on the cabinets – I’d
happily use them again and may try to get one more gig in before I have to return
them…… •
TECH SPEC
Wharfedale 12D active speakers Enclosure Finish Injection Moulded
MSRP £229 each US $350 Polypropylene
Made in: China Pole Mount Type 35mm insert
SPECIFICATIONS Rigging 10 x M8 / Optional

Bracket
Configuration 2-way Bi-
Amplified Input XLR / Jack Combi, RCA Phono
Woofer 12” Output XLR
Tweeter 1” Titanium Protection Independent LF and HF

Limiters
Frequency Response 55Hz -
20kHz Net Weight 12.4kg / 27.28lbs
Power (RMS/Peak) 300W / 600W Gross Weight 15.5kg / 34.1lbs
EQ High / Low Shelving Dimensions (H x W x D) 556 x 384 x

312mm
Nominal Coverage 90° x 60°

TC HELICON
LIVE SOUND_VOCAL FX REVIEW
Boss VE-2 Vocal Harmonist

Looking for a simple stomp box to improve your vocal performance? Mick Wilson checks
‘W
ith the VE-2 bypass switch, which occupies
Vocal Harmonist, almost the entire bottom half
the guys at Roland of the unit. Far from stealing
Boss have made it even easier any ‘real estate’ from any of the
to get a great vocal sound in a other controls, there’s plenty of
compact and (very) affordable space for all the other dedicated
format. Although primarily knobs and buttons and in action,
aimed at guitarist/singers, this is lets you concentrate on your
for anyone looking to add effects performance, rather than keep
and real-time harmonies to their looking down to make sure your
vocals without spending ages foot is in the right place or not.
on set-up or wading through
manuals and menus. With its To the left, the ECHO knob
simple layout, this unit can help controls the effects section.
you achieve a polished vocal The effects are split onto three
sound with the minimum of fuss, sections, with each effect
but has some extra functions up increasing in volume and
its sleeve too. intensity as you turn the knob
through REVERB, REV/DELAY
Size-wise, the VE-2 has roughly and DELAY. This is a simple
the same footprint as two of Boss’ fixed parameter affair, but the
regular stomp pedals, with all the sounds themselves are good and
functions accessible from the top very usable.
of the red, brushed metal panel,
which wraps around the sides of Next up are three further
the plastic casing for a rugged knobs and a row of seven LEDs
feel. Pride of place is given over to navigate you through the
to the large harmony on/off, harmony section. BALANCE

4.0
STAR RATING
s out a prime contender from Boss.
PROS:
Easy to use
USB port is very

welcome
Great intro to vocal FX
CONS:
You might want more
facilities after a while
Boss VE-2 Vocal Harmonist
controls how much of the added harmonies The unit however comes into its own when
that you hear in relation to your own voice. the ‘Auto Harmonist’ feature is engaged - this
The TYPE knob is a continuous controller, is activated by the dedicated backlit button,
which scrolls through the 12 different or comes on automatically when a guitar is
harmony choices indicated by the row of plugged into the guitar input on the rear.
LEDs above. There are one or two harmonies In this mode, the key signature choice is
available at the same time from a choice of bypassed and the additional harmonies are
two above plus octave and two below plus chosen relative to the key of the incoming
octave. The final knob in the section is KEY, guitar signal - this works extremely well and
which lets you define which key signature even a held note will change from, say, major
you’re playing in, through an octave to minor if the guitar chord changes. This is
including all intervals. Although accurate, not to say that the singer has to be the one
this can be fairly limited if you’re playing playing the guitar themselves - you could
extended inversions of chords, or (God take a feed from the guitarist and the singer
forbid) you hit a key change! can kick in the effect as and when they want.
There is a further option, where you have a

combination of the two modes - the unit
listens to the guitar input and then reverts
to the chosen key signature when there is
no guitar signal present (good for break
downs or when the guitarist is getting the
drinks in…yeah, right).
A VARIATION button gives you a

further 12 harmony effects. These are not
additional notes, but more of a fatter and
wider version of the previous set. I’m not
exactly sure what the technology being As mentioned, there is a guitar input jack
used here is, but it sounds a little like a and a thru output to go to an amp/pa, as
chorus/detune process that just makes the well as a mini jack for phones/line out.
backing vocal section a little ‘bigger’. Along with the ubiquitous Boss adaptor
connector, the unit can also be powered
Concentrating on the direct signal, a by four standard or rechargeable AA
dual function ENHANCE button adds batteries. Finally, if that lot wasn’t enough,
a subtle compression and EQ circuit to there’s a USB type B port for transmission
cope with on stage dynamics and get a of audio in and out - a welcome and
good vocal sound from the start, while a unexpected utility on an affordable pedal
second press activates a gentle pitch auto- like this.
correct function, which also helps produce
more stable harmonies. Once you’ve got This is a very useful piece of kit and does
the desired setting for your own voice, what it does extremely well - if you want
key and choice of one or two harmony control over more functions and more
parts, the unit has three memories for presets and memories, then you’ll have to
storing your favourite settings (all of look elsewhere, or further up the Roland
which can still turn harmonies on/off Boss range. If you’re a solo guitarist/
independently). These can be recalled and singer, or a singer in a band that wants
stored (much easier) with an additional to improve your current vocal sound and
footswitch. add a harmony or two, then the VE-2 is a
great place to start. •
The rear panel is equally well laid out,
with mic input (incl. phantom power
and sensitivity knob) and output (incl.
ground lift) on balanced XLR connectors.
TECH SPEC
Roland Boss VE-2 Vocal XLR OUT jack: XLR type
Harmonist PHONES/LINE OUT jack: Stereo
MSRP £175 US $279 miniature phone type
Made in: Unknown VARIATION, MEMORY INC jack:
Nominal Input Level 1/4-inch TRS phone type
MIC IN: -40 dBu (MicSens = Center) USB COMPUTER port: USB type B
GUITAR IN: -10 dBu DC IN jack
Input Impedance Power Supply
MIC IN: 4 k ohms Rechargeable Ni-MH battery (AA,
GUITAR IN: 1 M ohm HR6) x 4
Nominal Output Level Alkaline battery (AA, LR6) x 4
XLR OUT: -40 dBu AC Adaptor (sold separately)
PHONES/LINE OUT: -20 dBu Current Draw
GUITAR THRU: -10 dBu 200 mA Max. (9 V)
Output Impedance Expected battery life under continuous
use:
XLR OUT: 600 ohms
Rechargeable Ni-MH battery(*1):
PHONES/LINE OUT: 33 ohms
Approx. 12 hours (phantom power:
Effect Types OFF), Approx. 8 hours (phantom
HARMONY, ECHO, ENHANCE power: ON)
Number of Harmony Types Alkaline battery: Approx. 11 hours
12 x 2(VARIATION) (phantom power: OFF), Approx. 7
Number of Memory: 3 hours (phantom power: ON)
Connectors Size and Weight
MIC IN jack: XLR type, balanced, Width 156 mm 6-3/16 inches
phantom power (DC 46 V, 10 mA Depth 116 mm 4-10/16 inches
Max) Height 64 mm 2-9/16 inches
GUITAR IN jack: 1/4-inch phone Weight 600 g 1 lbs. 6 oz.
type
GUITAR THRU jack: 1/4-inch phone
type

Social Media
MAKIN
TRACK RECORDING FOR THE R

NG
KS
REAL WORLD
MAKING TRACKS_READY, SET, PREPARE
MAKING TRACKS - RECORDING F

Andi Picker guides you through the mix...

FOR THE PRACTICAL MUSICIAN
Ready, Set, Prepare. Mix preparation
part 1 - sorting the tracks
‘O
ver the past couple of A full production recording on
instalments of Making the other hand may run into
Tracks we’ve looked at the tens of tracks, with modern pop
basic mix tools; level, EQ, pan and arrangements often delivering over
compression, and with a basic grasp of a hundred individual tracks to the
those we can start to shape a selection mix engineer. With this many tracks
of tracks into a finished recording. But you can waste literally hours of mix
there’s a step that may be worth-while time trying to find parts, or worse,
to consider before we start; let’s call it suddenly find something that you
mix preparation. forgot you needed to include after
you’ve already mixed over its space in
Say you record a demo version of the music.
a typical song; you might set up a
track of drums using a drum virtual Mixing is a unique blend of art and
instrument, than add a couple of technique; the art is about deciding
tracks of rhythm guitar, a lead guitar what to do in order to create an
track, bass, vocal and perhaps a emotional response to the music, and
keyboards pair. Allow a couple of the technique is the use of tools and
extra tracks for send effects like reverb methods to realise those decisions.
and delay and you’re still looking at We practice technique in order to
less than a dozen tracks. These will perform art, and as we mix we tend to
fit onto a single screen of just about get immersed in the art and therefore
any DAW and it’s pretty easy to find the emotion of the music. Now even
and select any part of your mix with a I think that sounds a bit New Age,
single glance and mouse click. but I promise you that spending a
quarter of an hour trying to find the accordion solo that may or may not be called AUDIO73
or something like that on page six of the project window isn’t very good for your emotional-
contact state. So, why not get all the “sensible “stuff done before we start to mix then we can
engage our creative brain-cells and create music with as little distraction as possible.
In the video that goes with this article I’m sorting through a recording with a lot of tracks to
get it ready for mixing, and you can check out the detail there. In the meantime, let’s break
down the basics for reference.

Name
This one should be so obvious, but it clearly isn’t.
If you are making the original recordings, NAME
THEM PROPERLY (yes, I know I’m shouting). Got a
recording of the top of a snare drum with a SM57? Call
it “Snaretop57” instead of “AUDIO12”. If you are “just”
the mixer, call whoever did the recording and beg for a
set of properly named tracks (if you charge for mixing,
double your price if tracks aren’t clearly named). I feel
strongly about this - poor labelling wastes hours and
destroys your vibe.
Sort
You may have a hundred individual tracks to work with,
if 20 of them are drum tracks, drag them next to each
other (easily done if they’re properly named), colour code
them, add pictures and put them into a named folder.
Group
This is about understanding how parts fit into an
arrangement. I’ll often run several levels of groups, so
a drum kit might have kick inner/outer mics sent to
a group, snare upper/lower mics to another, toms to
another, overheads to another, room to another, then
those groups along with any other individual tracks sent
to a DRUMS group. Each individual track and group
can be adjusted/effected on its own, but in the end an
entire kit can be adjusted from a single fader. Consider
groups for backing vocals, background instruments etc.;
sometimes I’ll even group ALL the instruments together
for easy automation against the main vocal.
Sorting The Tracks
The Spare Parts

Sometimes a mix may appear to be huge, but you find that it has multiple versions of some
parts, like six alternate guitar solos of four sets of bagpipe pads. I argue that it’s down to the
artist/producer to decide which they want; if you seem to have lots of tracks that do the same
things then make a call and check. If it’s your own recording then you’re probably wishing
that you’d named your tracks properly when you recorded them and made some decisions on
alternate takes. Make decisions now and clear the spare tracks out of your mix
Comping
Comping is about assembling a killer take from several passes. Like spare parts, multiple takes
for comping add to the track count. Group them together to reduce track count and get the
comps done before you start mixing (I’ll look at pre-mix editing in part 2 of Mix Preparation).

Ear Candy
Some tracks are essential to the flow of a song, others are there to add colour and interest to
specific sections of the arrangement. I’ll sometimes group the “ear candy” tracks together for
simplicity, so I might have a folder with bells, bleeps, ooh-aaah vocals, pick-scrapes and so on
that only occur occasionally in the mix.
One of the great benefits of working with a DAW is that we can have unlimited numbers of
tracks; great for trying ideas, less great for handling the mix at a later date. I’ll typically do
prep as a separate session to mixing; it’s easy enough to do with 50% concentration and if
I loop the whole piece of music and let it play continuously as I’m working I find that I’ve
generally got an idea of where I want to take it by the time I start the proper job. Mix Prep
tends to be a bit dull (many of the top mixers have assistants to do this stuff for them) but an
hour of work before you start the mix can pay itself back many times over both in time saved
and distractions avoided when it comes time to make music.
You can find more articles about recording, Or contact me at Guitar Interactive
or contact me on my website at Magazine
www.thedustbowlaudio.com makingtracks@guitarinteractivemagazine.com
MAKING TRACKS_MONITOR REVIEW
JBL is
JBL LSR305 active nearfield monitors end of
Picker
‘D
espite the mantra that calls this flair the Image Control
the “home/project” Waveguide, and it’s one of those
4.0
studio is killing design features that started life
the commercial music creation on JBL’s top-end M2 Master
market, there seem to be plenty Reference (big!) monitors.
of old-school manufacturers
happily working their way into Around the back are the power
STAR RATING inlet and switch, XLR and TRS
the smaller studios. The great
news for budget sensitive studio balanced inputs, +4/-10dB input
is that it’s often possible to get the sensitivity switch, LF/HF trim
PROS: benefits of high-end design work switches each allowing +/- 2dB
in a cost-friendly package, and adjustments, a volume knob
Wide and solid stereo
image that’s what the LSR305 monitors and power switch, and the JBL
from JBM seems to be offering. Patented “Slip Stream” bass reflex
Clear, natural sound
port. I almost missed a couple of
Well controlled bass at The LSR305s are two-way neat features (or non-features)
sensible levels
nearfield monitors with a 5” on the back panel - there’s no
Good price low frequency driver and a 1” input voltage selector - the power
soft-dome tweeter. The MDF supply will work with anything
CONS: cabinets are finished with a fairly from 100 to 240 Volts/50 or 60
Rear port means that you standard black foil with sloped Hz, and there are no cooling fins
may need to cautious edges to reduce refraction on because the built-in amplifiers are
about positioning very the corners. All told they look Class-D devices (which makes the
close to a wall or corner pretty similar to lots of other monitors both economical and
An additional LF cut small studio monitors; except cool to use, and light in weight).
option for ½ space or ¼ for the HF driver wave guide
space positioning would be which looks as though it may OK, hook them up and let’s
good
have been borrowed from a cave try them. On power up you get
somewhere near Gotham City! an indicator light on the front
That Bat-Horn is designed to panel, and first impression is that
spread the high frequency sound the sound is warm and full and
for a wide and stable stereo image without being boxy. After a few
and it appears to work. JBL minutes I couldn’t resist turning

one of the most respected names in speaker design. But does expertise at the top-
f the pro market necessarily translate into products useful in a home studio? Andi
r checks out a pair of very affordable new nearfields from the US monitor masters.
JBL LSR305 active nearfield monitors
them all the way up up with AlterBridge’s low mids got a bit unruly, and a few minutes
“Cry of Achilles“ blasting. They go loud, spent carefully positioning it certainly paid
but not stupidly so, and I popped the low off in terms of clarity. Bear in mind though
frequency switch to the -2dB position to that this was with the speakers full-up which
reduce the enthusiasm of the lows and is NOT the role of nearfields; listening at
low mids a bit. I’m not sure quite why the my more “conversational” level they behaved
options for the bass trim are -2/0/+2 dB as very well indeed with good definition and
I can’t actually imagine wanting more bass excellent stereo sweetspot.
out of this box, and a greater cut might be
useful if you need to position the speakers There are lots of speakers available at around
close to a wall or corner. The 5” driver really the price of the LSR305s, and I honestly
does move under a heavy bass onslaught, couldn’t pick a single model and say “this
and the rear bass port pumps some serious is the one to buy” because we all have our
air too. When I deliberately put one of the own internal image of what we want our
speakers a bit too close to a wall the bottom/ monitors to sound like in our room. That

TASCAM
said, the LSR305s have a lot to recommend more low-end drive, and a 10” sub-woofer if
them, and I’d certainly put them on my must- you really hate your neighbours!
audition list if I was after a pair of monitors
at this price point. Note that there’s a bigger I think these speakers stand up very well to
8” driver model if you want more power and anything I’ve heard at their price point – try a
pair and see if they match your “inner ear”. •
TECH SPEC
JBL LSR305 active nearfield High Frequency Driver: 25mm soft
monitors dome
MSRP £258 per pair US $199.99 Mid/Low frequency driver: 127 mm
Made in: Unknown Cabinet dimensions: 298 x 185 x 231

mm
Type: 2 way, active, nearfield monitor
Weight: 4.6 kg
Frequency Response: 43Hz – 24kHz,
level not quoted
Maximum SPL: 108 dB

TANNOY
MAKING TRACKS_INTERFACE REVIEW
Focusrite Scarlett Solo Audio Interface Revi
‘B
ack in issue 25 I instrument channel. The mic
reviewed the Focusrite input has a front panel XLR
4.0
Scarlett 2i2 interface, socket, a button for phantom
and said, “the 2i2 is small and power and a dedicated gain
light and red. And simple!” control with Focusrite’s really neat
multi-colour halo level indicator
Well, the Scarlett Solo is smaller, around it. The instrument/line
STAR RATING lighter, just as red. And simpler! channel has a TRS balanced jack
There does come a point past socket, instrument/line switch
which there doesn’t seem to be and a matching gain knob/
PROS: much point in reducing size for halo indicator set-up. Add a
the sake of it, and whilst the monitor level knob and single
Easily portable
Solo is certainly a bit smaller headphone socket, with a switch
Very simple to set up (it’s about 35mm narrower) it’s for Direct Monitor (switches the
and use honestly not really much more input directly to the output so
portable in practical terms. A you can hear it without latency
Good software package quick read through the spec sheet for recording) and that’s the
shows very similar (but slightly front taken care of. Flip the
Subjectively nice
different in a few areas) numbers, unit around and the back’s even
sound
so what is the point? simpler - just a USB connector
A quick online search suggests (no power socket) a pair of RCA
CONS: a possible answer; the 2i2 isn’t phono outputs, and a security
socket. Those unbalanced outputs
exactly expensive but the Solo
Unbalanced output may put a few people off, but in
appears to have a street-price
may be a concern practice I had no issues and a pair
about 20% lower, which gives
very entry level access to the of phono leads is easier to fold
Scarlett range - and that’s a good into a bag than a pair of balanced
thing. XLR or TRS leads.
What the Solo gives you The unit couldn’t be much easier
is a single channel Scarlett to use, connect to computer, plug
microphone pre-amp and a line/ in a source or two, make noise,
turn-up gain - if the halo goes red

What, yet another new audio interface from the audio gurus at Focusrite?
iew Andi Picker looked puzzled. Then the light came on.
on the loud bits, turn it down until it doesn’t 24 bit/96kHz converters, metal case and
- and record. You get a license for Ableton dead simple operation. It’s great for basic
Live Lite and the Scarlett plug-in suite recording (bear in mind that you can’t record
along with a bunch of Loopmaster samples stereo with this configuration); if you need
and Novation’s Bass Station plug-in, so you more, well the range extends in logical steps
can literally begin recording by adding a up to the eight analogue input (plus digital
microphone and a couple of leads (oh, and a and MIDI) 18i20.
computer).
Effectively, then what we have here is
The feature set on the Solo is basic, but budget-friendly interface with Scarlett
you get the Scarlett preamp which gives a quality - just make sure the IO meets your
lot of quality at a surprisingly low price, needs! •
MAKING TRACKS_INTERFACE REVIEW
Focusrite Scarlett Solo Audio Interface Review
TECH SPEC
Focusrite Scarlett Solo Interface Monitor out
2 x RCA Phono unbalanced plus
MSRP £129.99 US $124.99 ¼”headphone
Made in: China In the box
Type2-in/2-out audio interface
Conversion 96kHz, 24 bit Focusrite Scarlett Solo Interface
Mic preamp gain -4 dB
to +46 dB USB lead
USB connection USB Software drivers

2 Ableton Live Lite DAW
Inputs 1x Focusrite Scarlett Plugins (compressor,
XLR mic Eq, gate, reverb)
1x
TRS line/instrument

CARLSBRO/
STUDIOMASTER
MAKING TRACKS_RECORDER REVIEW
Tascam mo
Tascam DR-44WL Portable Recorder new produc
‘T
ascam has a long put a “Home” button top-left
history in portable on the control panel. To record,
4.0
audio recording; press the Record button followed
heck, it invented the legendary by the Track/Input buttons for
“Portastudio” name way back the tracks you want to record and
in the last century, and the then hit record again - and you’re
STAR RATING company has been innovating doing it. Need phantom power
ever since. The DR-44WL is a to the external sockets? There’s
hand-held 4-track recorder with a switch on the side for that.
a pair of XY shock mounted Line level inputs - switch on the
PROS: condenser microphones on one side. Adjust input level - there’s a
Easily portable - with a end and two locking Neutrik switch and a dial to do that. It’s
useful carry case combi sockets (line/mic - no not quite as simple as having an
instrument sadly) at the other. It always-on dial for each channel,
Easy to use supports uncompressed multi- but it’s quick and compact once
track recording up to 96kHz/24 you get your head around it,
Good sound
bit and/or MP3, sound on sound and anyway, there’s a rather neat
Wireless data transfer recording, and has built-in alternative.
limiter and automatic recording
Wireless remote level reduction, dual stereo On the left hand side of the case
control recording (saves a -12dB safety is a Wi-Fi button, and when you
copy) reverb, low cut filter and a press this you can connect to a
wireless device for file transfer,
CONS: mid-side decoder.
or for wireless control from an
No instrument input In real world use this type of Android or iOS device. Yup,
device stands or falls on its ease you can use the high tech wizzy
No app for my of use, and I found that after a interface or your ‘phone or tablet
Windows ‘phone few minutes of working through to remote control the recorder
(awww - Ed) the menu to get it set up the way using the free DR Control app
I want it, it’s pretty simple to fire (unless you’ve got a Windows
up. A couple of times I forgot ‘phone like I have. Ah well, dig
where I was, and said a quiet out the Android tablet and let’s
“thank you” to the designer who give it a go). Connecting the

ore or less invented the home recording market and still tends to lead the field with
cts. Andi Picker tests out its latest field recorder, the DR-44WL.
Tascam DR-44WL Portable Recorder
DR-44WL to the device is dead simple, a particular time. Note that the app originally
flashing blue indicator turns solid and an had very (very) poor ratings online – it
image of the recorder display with a number appears to have been pretty well unusable in
of options appears on the screen. I know that its earliest releases. But I have version 1.1.5
tablet control isn’t exactly new, but this is so and it seems to work and be stable on my
useful; I can place the recorder on a stand Nexus 7 running Android 5.0.
where I want it to be for the built-in mics
and control it from where I need to be for Sound quality is rarely an issue with modern
the other 20 things I need to be doing at any hand-held recorders, certainly placement is

far more significant than the quality
differences between most of the
units I’ve tried. I’d have expected
Tascam to have properly sorted
pres and converters and so far as
I can tell, they have. The wireless
control makes it easier to position
the recorder for sound rather than
convenience, and that’s why I’m so
pleased to have it.
Just a few other things to mention;

the unit ships with a 4 GB micro
SD card and a set of batteries, as
well as a USB cable, multi-national
power supply, hot shoe adaptor
for camera mounting, mic stand
adapter, foam windshield and a soft
case for the unit. Excellent work
Tascam!
So long as the inputs match your

needs the DR-44WL could be just
about everything you need; a well
thought out portable recorder with
added flexibility of wireless data
transfer and remote control, with a
good set of accessories in the box. •
TECH SPEC
Tascam DR-44WL Phantom power +24/+48V
MSRP: £249 US $374.99 Inputs 2 x combo mic /balanced line,

plus XY stereo pair condenser mics
Made in: Unknown
Outputs 1/8” headphone/line-out,
Type 4 channel audio recorder mono monitor speaker
Conversion MP3 320 kbps, WAV Recording media Up-to 128Gb SD/
96kHz, 24 bit SDHC/SDXC cards
Maximum SPL 132 dB SPL

PRESONUS
THE
QUIE
ROOM
WHEN ONLY ACOUSTIC WI

E
ET
M
LL DO
THE QUIETROOM_GUITAR REVIEW
Taylor 718e Grand Orchestra Acoust

Sometimes, not only is an acoustic guitar the only thing that will do, but a BIG acoustic g
mighty Grand Orchestra 718e.
‘T
aylor now has a huge dark ebony and features subtle
range of acoustic diamond inlays and an Indian
4.0
guitars available rosewood headstock overlay.
within its catalogue, ranging The design is completed with
from small bodied parlour guitars grained ivoroid binding running
to large Jumbo type models and around the entire body, neck and
STAR RATING price points to suit almost all headstock with grained ivoroid
budgets. The 718e model is based also used for the three band
on the company’s largest, the rosette. The guitar also has an
PROS: ‘Grand Orchestra’ body size, and
features a truly impressive array
ebony bridge and bridge pins
matched with Taylor’s own nickel
Taylor build quality of woods and detailed flourishes. tuners at the other end.
and components
Superb balanced tone The back and sides of the 718e Onboard electronics are in
Suits strumming, are made from beautifully grained the form of Taylor’s own
finger picking and Indian rosewood with impressive, Expression System 2 offering a
plectrum work chocolatey lines running subtle and simple solution to
throughout the wood. The top is getting the most acoustically
Traditional good looks
Sitka spruce and features a lovely accurate amplified sound from
Deluxe hard case vintage style Tobacco Sunburst their guitars. This new system
Expression 2 is superb finish that matches superbly with positions three adjustable pickup
the sides. The neck and heel are sensors behind the saddle for
CONS: made from Tropical mahogany more accurate translation and
Body size may be and finished with a satin feel as response to the guitar’s energy
too large for smaller opposed to the gloss used for the as it is transferred to the saddle.
players top, back and sides and is also This allows for a more natural
given a matching sunburst paint and warm acoustic tone than
job like the top. The fretboard is traditional piezo based systems

tic Guitar
guitar is called for. Tom Quayle checks out Taylor’s
The 718e feels

extremely solid
in the hands and,
even with the large
body size, is very
comfortable to hold
and play.
where the pickup is located
directly under the saddle, giving
a thinner more brittle tone. As is
usual with all of the Expression
systems there are the standard
Volume and Tone controls but
driven by a slightly hotter pre-
amp making the guitar more
plug and play friendly for both
performers and sound mixers.
As you can see from our video,

the 718e is a stunning looking
guitar from all angles and
is constructed to the usual
exacting standards demanded
Taylor 718e Grand Orchestra Acoustic Guitar
by the company. Externally the Taylor size, is very comfortable to hold and
is gorgeous, with a flawless finish play. Tuning is a breeze thanks to the
and build, world class fretwork and quality Taylor tuners and, once the
beautiful detailing on the inlays, rosette strings were fully stretched in, tuning
and sunburst. Internally the guitar is stability is rock solid for extended
as good as anything you are likely to playing sessions. The included deluxe
encounter with super clean bracing and hard case is also constructed superbly
a very nicely hidden installation of the and is both strong and tasteful
Expression System 2 set-up. with plenty of space for strings and
accessories as required. Overall, the
The 718e feels extremely solid in the entire package is everything you would
hands and, even with the large body

For serious acoustic guitar players
looking for a large body shape, ‘do it all’
kind of acoustic that is built to the most
demanding and exacting specifications,
then the Taylor 718e would certainly fit
the bill.
expect from high up the range of one of the acoustic tone that feels very easy to play
World’s leading makers. dynamically and musically with, but without
the tonal compromise that can often be
Tonally, the 718e produces a lovely, warm associated with piezo based pickups.
sound that can be surprisingly subtle
considering the sheer size of the body Taylor has really hit the mark with the Grand
shape. This is certainly not just a guitar Orchestra body size and, although the 718e
for strumming chords on as the balanced is an expensive proposition for the average
response allows for fingerstyle work and guitarist, the asking price really isn’t that high
single note plectrum runs to be equally well when you compare it with similar models
catered for, with rich bass and detailed high from other prestige makers. It is also the kind
end that can both shout and whisper when of instrument that should appeal to a wide
required. Thanks to the size of the body the range of players thanks to its amazingly wide
718e produces a very wide frequency range tonal and dynamic response and traditional
and therefore records or performs live very good looks.
well indeed, whether using the excellent
onboard Expression system or miked up For serious acoustic guitar players looking for
directly. We found that miking at the tail a large body shape, ‘do it all’ kind of acoustic
end of the body and around the 15th fret that is built to the most demanding and
gave two very different but gorgeous tones exacting specifications, then the Taylor 718e
that really show this guitar at its best and would certainly fit the bill. I’d start saving
the Expression system gives a warm, highly now if I were you! •
TECH SPEC
Taylor 718e Grand Orchestra Binding: Grained Ivoroid
MSRP £2,665 US $3,579 Bridge Inlay: None
Made in: USA Bridge Pins: Ebony
Shape: Grand Orchestra Tuners: Taylor Nickel
Back/Side Wood: Indian Rosewood Truss Rod Cover: Indian Rosewood
Scale length: 25-1/2” Back/Side Finish: Gloss
Top Wood: Sitka Spruce Top Finish: Gloss
Body Length: 20 5/8” Neck Finish: Satin
Electronics: Expression System 2® Pickguard: Rosewood
Body Width: 16 3/4” Case: Taylor Deluxe Hard-shell Brown
Cutaway: None Number of Frets: 20
Body Depth: 5” Armrest Binding: None
Nut & Saddle: Tusq Nut/Micarta Back Config: 2-piece No Wedge
Saddle
Strings: Elixir Phosphor Bronze
Neck Width:1-3/4” Medium
Neck/Heel: Tropical Mahogany Buttons: Nickel
Bracing: Grand Orchestra Bracing Fretboard Binding: Grained Ivoroid
Fretboard Wood: Ebony Heel Cap Binding: Grained Ivoroid
Fretboard Inlay: Heritage Diamonds Heel length: 3-7/8
Headstock Overlay:Indian Rosewood

Lowden
Tanglewood Evolution IV TSF CE TS

Tanglewood sets out to prove it can still take on the big boys and win - even in the most
Michael Casswell tests one of the new Evolution IVs.
4.5
‘M aking an expensive
acoustic guitar
isn’t easy but
in some ways, making an
new baby, the Evolution IV stand
up to its many rivals?
The first thing to say is that the

inexpensive one is even harder. Evolution IV is a well made
To begin with you have to have guitar that is very playable,
STAR RATING them made in the Far East in with a nice even response in all
a factory you probably don’t the frequencies. It even comes
own, with all that means in with the onboard Fishman Isys
PROS: ensuring quality control, then preamp that sounds great and is
Nicely made you have to transport them across dead simple to use, with just a
the world to all the different volume, tone and tuner to deal
Very playable
markets they will sell in. Given with. It’s virtually plug in and go
Simple EQ
that acoustic guitars don’t really because it instantly sounds good.
enjoy travel, that makes doing Sometimes you can get bogged
CONS: it at a bargain price a tough call. down with EQ options on some
EQ could be better Fortunately, Tanglewood has pre-amps, but in this case, less
tremendous experience at this, is definitely more. Later on you
having been one of the first ‘new might want more, but to get you
wave’ acoustic guitar brands. started, this is great.
Nevertheless, if you are looking Finer points of the design for
for an affordable, easily playable the Evolution series came from
and usable acoustic guitar, you Swedish guitar builder and
are absolutely spoilt for choice in luthier Michael Sanden. I can’t
today’s market. Never has it been exactly say what Michael Sanden’s
so easy to get so much for your contributions were, because
money, so how does Tanglewood’s on the face of it, everything

SB
hotly contested part of the market.
looks fairly usual and nothing

particularly jumps out as being a
design departure from the norm,
but I’m sure the Tanglewood and
Michael Sanden collaboration
has played its part somewhere.
It’s usually in things we can’t see
easily, such as the bracing, which
on the Evolution is tapered and
parallel apparently. Looking
inside the guitar it all looks very
neat and well put together.
The body shape on our sample

model is classed as a ‘Super
Folk’ and obviously the cutaway
makes playing up the dusty end
much easier. A very nice touch
is the maple binding around the
body, which looks great against
the sunburst spruce top and
mahogany back and sides. These
aren’t solid woods, which may
seem to put the Evolution at a
disadvantage compared to some
rivals, but there’s something
to be said for the stability of
Tanglewood Evolution IV TSF CE TSB
laminates. They are calling this finish in place by the ABS pins. The nut width
Tobacco burst, by the way. The neck is is 43mm and feels good.
mahogany with a rosewood board which
is again bound nicely with maple. It So we have an English name, a Chinese
feels comfortable to play, so should cater manufacturer and Swedish designer,
for most hand sizes. The bridge is also that between them have come up with
rosewood with a compensated saddle a perfectly well made guitar that is fine
made from ‘nubone’ and strings are kept value for money. I probably should add

that the Evolution IV series has a lot of options, in case a Super Folk size wasn’t quite what
you were after. According to Tanglewood’s website, the company offers this range in sizes
from a Dreadnought down to a parlour size and even includes both a 12-string model and an
acoustic bass. If they are all as good as this, Tanglewood is going to do very well with these -
as are its customers. It’s up against some stiff competition including from the ‘big boys’ like
Yamaha and Fender but it more than holds its own, living up to Tanglewood’s reputation of
giving that bit extra for your money. •
TECH SPEC
Tanglewood Evolution IV TSF NUT (WIDTH Nubone (43mm)
CE TSB SCALE LENGTH 650mm
MSRP £299 US $TBC BRIDGE
PINS ABS Black, White Dots
Made in: China MACHINE
HEADS Chrome, Small Buttons
SHAPE Super Folk FINISH Tobacco Sunburst Gloss
TOP Spruce EQ Fishman ISYS
BACK Mahogany STRINGS D’Addario EXP 11
SIDES Mahogany Upper Bout Width 285mm
BRACING Tapered Lower Bout Width 388mm
Parallel by M.Sanden Waist Width 229mm
NECK Mahogany Body Depth (Top)
FINGERBOARD Rosewood 94mm Body Depth (Bottom)
BRIDGE Rosewood 100mm Body Length 480mm
BINDING Maple Overall Length 1000mm
SADDLE Nubone, Compensated
Cort SFX-CED-NS electro-acoustic

Aimed at probably the most fiercely competitive sector of the fiercely competitive acous
on all comers in the ‘bang for your buck’ challenge. Lewis Turner puts it to the test.
‘C
entred in South were no seeping glue, blemishes,
Korea, Cort is or sharp fret edges, the die
4.5
one of the largest cast tuners are of good quality,
guitar makers in the world and smooth and adjustable should
doesn’t just sell guitars under its they start to come loose over
own name - in fact it has long time. So far so good! Now how
STAR RATING produced instruments for many does it handle?
other companies as well. With
such production facilities it has The Cort’s maple neck with
PROS: huge advantages of scale which
means its own guitars can offer
its rosewood fingerboard was a
pleasure to play, a comfortable
Well made and really great value. We’ve had a few size making barre chords and
finished Cort acoustics here in the Quiet harder stretches a breeze,
Room and have always been mainly thanks to its modern
Excellent wood choice V-shape. 20 frets and a generous
and combination pleasantly surprised with their
build quality and sound. In this cutaway make the upper end
Well set-up and easy to review we’re taking a look at the fairly accessible, the set-up on
play SFX-CED-NS, bit of a mouthful, our sample was spot on with a
but let’s see what it has to offer. perfect action that made it easy
Great tones As always be sure to check out to play, but didn’t sacrifice tone
the video to hear it for yourself. and sound quality, there were no
CONS: issues with fret buzz anywhere on
Slightly low acoustic First impressions are that this the board. The dovetail neck joint
volume is a good looking acoustic, the was well constructed and didn’t
NS standing for Natural Satin, a hinder fretboard access as much
May want to upgrade cool dark finish on the headstock as some fixed joints can.
pickup in the future and matching tuners. The finish
throughout was great, there What impressed us most
about the Cort SFX was the

stic guitar market, Cort’s SFX-CED-NS defiantly takes
The 718e feels

extremely solid
in the hands and,
even with the large
body size, is very
comfortable to hold
and play.
construction, given the price
range it sits in. This model has
a solid cedar top with solid
mahogany back and sides, as well
as a slightly arched back to give
full sound projection. Both cedar
and mahogany tend to bring
out the bottom end on the tone
spectrum, which gives a very
warm sounding guitar. Some feel
this combination possibly lacks
a little top end sparkle, but it
comes down to personal taste.
However if this is your sort of
sound, this is high quality wood
Cort has used in this guitar, so
you certainly won’t be disappointed and Soundwise, although a fairly small sized
being all-solid, it should mature well. The acoustic, thanks to the wood choice and
rosewood bridge, scalloped X-Bracing, arched back it didn’t lack too much on the
premium abalone rosette, abalone inlay, and volume front, and depending on how you
ivory binding also add to the overall high play it, it is also a very dynamic instrument,
quality of this guitar. comfortable in many different acoustic styles.
One thing you might want to bear in mind is As well as good quality wood you are also
that cedar is quite a soft wood, so it may well getting an electro-acoustic, which is good
dent and scratch more easily than some other at this price. The electrics some courtesy of
types, but then people pay a lot of money the familiar Fishman Isys Plus with Sonicore
these days for that vintage worn look! pickup, that also provides a built in tuner.
Cort SFX-CED-NS electro-acoustic

The system worked well on this guitar - in fact it brought out some of that missing top
end. It’s not the best acoustic pickup in the world, but for the price of guitar it’s hard to
fault, and the built-in tuner works perfectly.
The acoustic market is saturated these days, especially in the “lower” price bracket, so it’s
hard for manufacturers to produce an instrument that really stands out from the crowd,
but the Cort SFX-CED-NS certainly manages to, not only for its looks, but for the high-
end finish and attention to detail throughout. The acoustic tone is also top notch, thanks
to the high quality wood used and great set-up. The pickup may not be the greatest but
the basic tone is there in spades so if you wish to upgrade the electrics in the future then
you will only further enhance this guitar, I think this Cort would sound awesome miked-
up through a decent PA, as is my preferred way to mic an acoustic anyway. A top electro-
acoustic all round, well worth checking out! •
TECH SPEC
Taylor 718e Grand Orchestra Binding: ivory
Cort SFX-CED-NS electro-acoustic Fretboard: rosewood, 43mm nut width
MSRP £299 US $ TBC Frets: 20
Made in: Indonesia Scale: 25.3” (643mm)
Construction: dovetail neck joint Inlay: abalone inlay
Cutaway: venetian single cutaway Tuners: die cast gold with black knobs
Body: sfx shape(83*83mm body Rosette: premium abalone
depth), solid cedar top with solid
mahogany back & mahogany sides Bridge: rosewood
Neck: maple Electronics: Fishman ISYS plus -

Sonicore pickup
THE QUIETROOM_PICKUP REVIEW
LR Baggs M1, Element and iBeam pic

Even if you bought an exclusively acoustic guitar on purpose, sooner or later you’re almo
So where do you start looking for the ideal pickup? Lewis Turner checks out three differ
‘G
ive someone an acoustic guitar manufacturers, LR Baggs: the M1, Element
and at some point they will and iBeam. We also have a guitar that’s
inevitably want/need to amplify fitted with all three to give a quick test and
it, and that opens a whole can of worms. In comparison, be sure to check out the video
my experience the best sounding option is so you can hear them each and see how they
to stick a good couple of mics in front of it, fit. Let’s take a look at each one individually,
as this tends to yield the most natural tone. their spec and most importantly what they
However, this option is not always practical. sound like.
Many acoustics come fitted with electrics,
built-in tuners and pickups, but what if LR Baggs M1:
you have just a standard acoustic guitar
and miking is not always an option? Well
there are many acoustic pickups available on
4.0 The M1 is a traditional
across-the-soundhole under
the strings type. It’s a patented
the market and you should take your time
choosing them as they can drastically alter STAR RATING humbucking pickup with a
twist. In a common stacked
the tone of the instrument. You also need to humbucker, the lower coil
think how you want the pick up to be fitted, cancels hum, but this pickup claims to
do you want to be taking a drill and jigsaw unlock the lower coil with a “carefully tuned
to your beloved expensive acoustic or would support that allows it to capture higher
you rather have something that fits under the frequency resonances”. The idea being
strings? that as the pickup moves with the guitar’s
soundboard, a body signal is created in the
suspended coil that should add presence and
In this review we are looking at three options realism to the amplified sound.
from one of the leading acoustic pickup

ckups
ost guaranteed to want to amplify it.
rent options from top US maker, LR Baggs.
This is the type of after fit pickup we are the pickup although quite large wasn’t
used to seeing on acoustics. It’s very simple obtrusive, although it does stand out like a
to attach and even comes with a special sore thumb... Sound wise, this produced the
cable to come straight out of the sound hole biggest sound out of the three: a big acoustic
should you not wish to install a jack socket. tone with high feedback resistance, giving
There is an individual volume control toggle punchy string attack. If getting up on stage
on the pickup that was very sensitive and and belting out a few big strummy numbers
responded well to micro adjustments, the is your thing, then this could be the perfect
pole pieces are also adjustable enabling you pickup for you. It also handled the picked
to tune it perfectly to your guitar and style. quieter playing well, but you always got the
The one on our test guitar had been installed feeling that it really wanted you to attack!
well, giving a perfect balance between strings,
PROS: CONS:
Easy to fit It will change the look of your acoustic
Adjustable poles Not too responsive to dynamic changes
Big sound
No feedback issues
LR Baggs M1, Element and iBeam pickups

LR Baggs Element: Most under saddle pickups are dependent
4.0
on string compression for their sound,
The one size fits all Element the element was engineered to mirror the
under saddle pickup is the soundboards actual movement as you play.
complete opposite of the A flexible film sensor only two thousandths
M1 in terms of visibility. of an inch thick picks up the guitar’s most
STAR RATING Unless you look really closely
delicate nuances.
it’s hard to see. Hidden in
the saddle slots is a class A endpin pre-amp In use, this is a highly dynamic pickup that
and a soundhole-mounted volume control, responded to both attacking strumming,
which is the only thing you can just about delicate picking and everything in between.
see. I have my own personal opinion on It also generated one of the clearest tones
these discrete volume controls, which is with pristine highs and sweet mids. You
that they are great for the looks, but not would need to dig in a bit more to get the
so practical for volume changes on the fly. type of volume generated from the M1 but
it is possible.
PROS: CONS:
Discreet Possibly a tricky install
Fantastic dynamic range Fiddly volume control for on the fly

adjustments.
Great clarity
LR Baggs iBeam bridge plate with peel and stick adhesive.
4.5
Out of the three this pickup for me was the
The iBeam design employs most natural, and closest to mic sounding.
a matched pair of virtually There was great dynamic response and a feel
weightless film sensors that of air being moved with the natural qualities
STAR RATING flex much like diaphragms of the guitar being picked up just like a mic
in a stereo mic. A key would. Once again this set-up uses the little
advantage over typical bridge volume wheel that I’m on the fence about,
plate sensors is that the iBeam’s response but aside from that it really was faultless.
pattern that inhibits feedback and string Probably the lowest output of all three, but
squeak. Weighing less than 1/3 of an ounce, that’s a small price to pay for the rewarding,
the pickup should not alter the guitar’s warm authentic tone.
natural acoustics and easily mounts to the

PROS: CONS:
Fantastic natural tone That volume control!
Easy install
Natural string to string balance and

dynamics
CONCLUSION
So there you have it, these are three great acoustic pickups, each with their own unique
voice. Be sure to check out the video to hear them, then it’s just a question of deciding
which one suits your needs and your playing style. We’ve awarded the iBeam active an extra
half a star as it combines a great price with superb sound quality but it’s impossible to say
which is actually the ‘best’ because so much depends on what you expect and what you’re
trying to achieve. Whichever fundamental type you want, under saddle, soundhole, or stick-
on and whichever sound or installation method appeals to you most, one of these three is
likely to satisfy! •

TECH SPEC
LR Baggs acoustic pickups: Pre attached Element pickup
MSRPs: Fits both 3/32” and 1/8” saddle slots
M1 Active: £204.95 Soundhole mounted volume control
US $249
Battery type: single 9v
IBeam Active: £164.95 US $199
Battery life: 1,000 hrs
Element Active: £142.00 US $189
LR Baggs iBeam spec:
M1Tec spec:
Quick and easy installation
High feedback resistant
Includes iBeam placement jig (pin
Adjustable pole pieces bridge guitars only)
Quiet hum free operation Peel and Stick
Built in Gold Plated 1/8” Jack Fits most x braced guitars
Includes a pre-wired strap pack harness All discrete Class A preamp for warm,
and 10’ cable for no modifications. analog sound.
Element spec: Available in steel and nylon string
All discrete endpin preamp versions
THE QUIETROOM_GIORGIO SERCI

Giorgio Serci
Creative Fingerstyle Study n.21
Hello there and welcome to Guitar tone, tuning the 6th string to a note
Interactive’s Quiet Room. In this other than ‘E’ or, in fact, using any
column we’ll be looking at another alternative tuning, could take some
composition of mine called Study time to get used to. This is because
n. 20. As always, I like to share our muscle memory can lead us to
with you a few compositional ideas play the wrong note or to play with
which I hope will stimulate your a little hesitancy, as certain notes,
appetite for knowledge on different which would normally be found on
harmonic, melodic and rhythmic a particular fret when in standard
concepts, applicable to composition tuning, would be available on a
and arranging. different fret.
As this piece is in the key of D, I Rhythmic, melodic and harmonic

have decided to tune the 6th string ingredients:
down to a D, for a lower and fuller
sounding root note. While this is a While the rhythmic narrative of
very common arranging strategy, as the melody and the harmony are
it expands the guitar range of one predominantly of a syncopated
Giorgio Serci
nature, featuring mainly sixteenths Em, as previously done in bar 4.

subdivisions and occasional quaver triples
(bar. 16 etc.), the bass line consists of a A wide variety of extended and altered
simple quarter-note pattern which we’ll chords have been used for a contrasting
be playing with our ‘p’ finger. The only harmonic narrative. Some of my favorite
rhythmic variations are to be found in bar 1 chords are the E/D and the Eb/A found
and 9, where the roots are pushed. in bar 16, 18 and 20. You may want to
research this topic further and try to spot
A recurrent strategy, which I have used to other similar chords within the piece.
colour the harmony of this piece, is the
use of secondary dominant chords. These I would strongly recommend exploring the
create a momentary change of tonality and above-mentioned techniques to write your
can add some tension and release or simply own pieces. We have to allow ourselves
an element of surprise to the piece. This to make mistakes and we should try to
is evident in bar 12, where I imply an E7 understand why we like or not a particular
following the Esus4, instead of choosing an sound, a chord progression or modulation.

Eventually, these sounds will become part of and little f on fret 2 of D and G. Beat 2:
your musical lexicon and you’ll be able to use Middle f on fret 2 of A followed by open G
these with fluidity and effectiveness. and B.
The picking-hand pattern is Bar 5: Little f on fret 5 of D (6th), open D
predominantly as follows: (4th), G and B, followed by index on fret 2 of
B, index and ring f on fret 3 and 4 of B and
(Please note E=low E string, e= high E string) D, while middle f on fret 4 of D (6th). Next
‘p’ on the E and A strings, then ‘i, m, a’ on open e and ring and little f on fret 2 of G
strings G, B, e. and B.
Play this part in a relaxed and clear manner, Bar 6: While the previous double-stop still
making sure your thumb is a little forward rings, middle f on fret 2 of D (6th). Next,
compared to the ‘i, m, a’ fingers, in order open e followed by index on fret 1 of G and
to prevent it from colliding with the ‘i’ little f on fret 3 of B. Next open B and then
finger. As always, focus on attack and tonal e.
consistency. The melody and the supporting Bar 7: While the previous ‘e’ still rings, play
harmonies will be played with the ‘a’ finger, an open A, then ring f on fret 5 of D, middle
so more attack is needed to outline the f on fret 4 of G and index f on fret 3 of B.
melody. Next open A, then open e and then fret 5 of
Next we are going to look at the left hand D, 4 of G and 2 of B with index f.
part: Bar 8: While the previous chord still rings,
Bar 1: Open D (6th string), ring f on fret 4 play an open A twice and then an open D on
of G, middle f on fret 2 of e, pull off to fret 2 the ‘a’ of 2. (2e+a)
of the same strings with a 3/6 barre’. Open G Bar 9: As bar 1
and e. Beat 2: While open G and e ring, play
an open D (4th), then fret 2 of G, e. Middle f Bar 10: As bar 2
on fret 3 of B and ring f on fret 4 of D.
Bar 11: As bar 3.
Bar 2: Index on fret 2 of A, little f on fret 4
of G and then fret 4 of D and 3 of B. Bar 12: As bar 4 but with G# (index on fret
1 of G) instead of G natural.
Beat 2: While the previous double-stop still
rings, play an open A, then open e and open Bar 13: As bar 5.
G, B and index on fret 2 of e. Bar 14: While the previous double-stop still
Bar 3: Little f on fret 5 of D (6th), open e, rings, middle f on fret 2 of D (6th). Next,
fret 4 of D and 3 of B respectively with ring open ‘e’ followed by open G and little f on
and index f with middle f on fret 4 of D fret 3 of B with open A. Next, middle f on
(6th). Open B, and open e. fret 3 of B.
Bar 4: Middle f on fret 2 of D (6th), ring Bar 15: Open D (6th), A, ring f on fret
4 of D, index f on fret 2 of G. (Beat 2):
Arpeggiate as triplets, fret 3 of B, fret 2 of ‘e’ When repeating any section twice or more,
with index f and fret 5 of ‘e’ with little f. you may want to play ‘sul ponticello’, (closer
to the bridge) or ‘sul tasto’ (over the frets) for
Bar 16: Open D (6th), index on fret 4 of G, more contrasting results.
B and e (barre’), with the middle f on fret 5
of B. Next fret 5 of B and fret 4 of e. (beat Make sure you highlight the melody (singing
2): same pattern one fret down and with is a great strategy to play the melody in more
open A. assertive and singing-like manner).
Bar 17: As bar 15 but with index on fret 2 Focus on minimum-movement approach, as
of G and e and middle f on fret 3 of B. this will help delivering the piece in a more
accurate and consistent manner, while saving
Bar 18: As bar 16 energy.
Bar 19: Open D (6th), A, d (4th), index on This will complete this creative fingerstyle
fret 2 of e and G and little f on fret 5 of B, to lesson.
finish with a Dadd2.
I hope you will enjoy playing this study piece
Congratulations, you have completed and that this will give you some ideas on how
Study n.20! to write your own solo guitar compositions.
As always, you will be able to download a If you would like to listen to any more of
transcription by selecting the menu option in my compositions, please check the previous
this page. issues of Guitar Interactive Magazine as
well as any of my CDs, available from my
I strongly recommend experimenting with a website: www.giorgioserci.com
few picking variations, changing the chords
as you wish in terms of voicing (higher or You can also find me on twitter @
lower), as well as trying the same picking giorgioserci as well as on facebook.com/
pattern on a different chord progression, giorgiosercimusic
or using a ‘capo’ on fret 2 for a brighter Till the next time, Good-bye!
outcome.
Giorgio Serci has a

brand new CD out now -
Scaramouche!

TABLATURE DOWNLOADS
GUITAR PRO 6 PDF
DOWNLOAD DOWNLOAD
Guitar Interactive’s classical guitar You can buy Scaramouche from:

expert, Giorgio Serci, has a brand new
CD out this month. Called Scaramouche, http://www.giorgioserci.com/Giorgio_
it showcases Giorgio’s wide-ranging Serci/Discography.html
musical tastes and sees him joined by
vocalist Filomena Campus exploring a
diverse range of material.
THE
BASSME THE

E
ENT
E PLACE FOR BASS
THE BASSMENT_BASS REVIEW
MUSIC MAN CLASSIC SABRE

Music Man’s vintage Sabre Bass is back. But is this twin pickup US-built bass still cutting
Dan Veall reviews the other classic Music Man bass.
4.0 ‘W
hile Music Man’s familiar Stingray basses, you’ll
Stingray bass have spotted the Classic Sabre
established itself has pickups with covers hiding
as a classic right from the get-go, the pole pieces. Interestingly,
STAR RATING the 1978 launched Sabre was a bit it is because the neck pickup
less rapturously received. It wasn’t actually has eight pairs of poles
exactly a flop for the Californian rather than the eight huge single
company but the twin pickupped poles that are seen on a more
PROS: Sabre just never seemed to usual ‘ray configuration. Music
Wide palette of sounds establish itself as firmly as the Man wanted a uniform look
from the electronics Stingray. None the less, Music apparently, so decided to hide
onboard Man must have sensed a demand the poles completely. Why the
Familiar Music Man as the company now has it back 16 pole pieces? I understand
bass feel on the market as the ‘Classic’ that the original design had
reissue version and we’ve had one eight poles on both pickups and
CONS: down here in the Bassment to try. the neck position caused tone
issues. I assume this would be
You’ll have trouble To jump right in at the deep because of the magnetic pole
deciding which great end, acoustically our review bass pieces pulling on the strings and
colour and neck wood was resonant and fairly loud in that the smaller 16 poles would
you want! the quiet studio, which is always be less of a problem. Either way,
May be a handful if a good start, but the Sabre’s both pickups have a big fat sound
you’re used to skinny acoustic performance can only and that’s what you are expecting
necks. hint at what’s in store for us with right? Have a listen to the video
those huge pickups waiting to and see what you think!
be let loose when we plug in!
Incidentally, on the subject of
those pickups, unlike the more

edge, or has time dulled the experience?
Moving on to the woodwork, the

Music Man website describes the
Sabre basses as being available with
either rosewood or maple fretboards.
The neck on our example was
enveloped in a high gloss natural
aged yellow polyester finish - and
just take a look at the beautiful bird’s
eye maple that stretches up to the
headstock too. You can also go for
a flame maple wood instead as an
option that will look equally tasty.
The ash body of the Classic Sabre

is a proven tone wood in my view
and although usually a bit heavier
than some other choices delivers a
big acoustic chime in this bass. I feel
that is probably also down to the
high quality hardware including that
huge bridge piece.
The Sabre’s 34” scale is of course

very familiar and a standard of many
a bass guitar so no surprises there.
The neck profile is akin to a classic
C carve with a slight shallowing of
the profile though it’s still a good
palmful in width. Players with smaller hands may find it a bit too much but don’t rule the
Sabre out until you’ve spent time with it.
When it comes to pickup switching on this bass, it’s here that we can enjoy a feature upgrade
over the original Sabre bass, but things don’t have to get confusing - one single five-way blade
switch deals up plenty of sounds. I’ve made my life a little easier as I’ve copied this description
direct from Music Man:
Music Man Classic Sabre

Elixir
Each pickup has two sets of coils, 1&2 pickup. It is unmistakeably ‘ray all the
are in the bridge pickup 3&4 in the way though!
neck pickup.
There’s no question regarding the
Switch Configuration (all quality of build of any Music Man
combinations are in parallel): bass - they really are superbly well
put together, always from the finest
1-Coils 1 & 2 materials, right down to the choice of
2-Coils 1, 2 & 3 (rear coil of neck sturdy hardware. So what you’re getting
pickup) here is a beautifully made instrument
from great materials and components
3-Coils 1, 2, 3 & 4 that packs bags of features and a superb
range tones from vintage to ultra
4-Coil 3 modern, whilst retaining a character
5-Coils 3 & 4 that is very much from the Music Man
stable.
Once you’ve found the setting you
like the sound of most then it’s over I found the only thing to catch me off
to the onboard active EQ for further guard was that although our sample
tweaking. There’s a fair amount of was very well set up, it did seem to
boost and cut available, so again plenty fight me a bit, yet I couldn’t quite put
of scope for honing that perfect sound. my finger what it was specifically. I
found my playing less fluid than usual.
The Sabre does what you expect from Put that down to personal choice,
the ‘ray range, producing aggressive maybe because in every objective
zingy bass tones when the EQ is hyped respect this is a great bass. •
a little. The classic ‘ray sounds are in
there of course but there’s a whole
lot more available from that second

TECH SPEC
Music Man Classic Sabre Neck Wood:Choice of birdseye or
flame maple
MSRP £2,029.99 US $2,845
Fingerboard:Fretted - maple or
Made in: USA rosewood
Size:13” wide, 1.75” thick, 45” long Neck Finish:High gloss polyester
(33cm wide, 4.5cm thick, 114.3cm
long) Neck Colors:Natural aged yellow finish
Weight:10 lbs, 8 oz (4.77 kg) - varies Tuning Machines:Schaller BM, with
slightly tapered string posts
Body Wood:Ash Truss Rod:Adjustable - no component
or string removal
Body Colors:Standard Classic
Collection colors Neck Attachment:6 bolts - perfect
alignment with no shifting
Bridge:Music Man top loading chrome
plated, hardened steel bridge plate with Controls:2-band active preamp; vol,
“Classic” stainless steel saddles and treble, bass
adjustable mute pads
Switching:5-way lever pickup selector
Pickguard:Standard - black or white;
optional - shell Pickups:Standard - neck pickup - 16
pole humbucker with Alnico magnets
Scale Length:34” (86.4cm) and solid black cover, bridge - 8 pole
humbucker with Alnico magnets and
Neck Radius:11” (27.9cm) solid black cover, with patented Music
Man “Silent Circuit”, which reduces
Headstock Size:Only 8.25” (21cm) hum and retains true single coil sound
long
Left Handed:No
Frets:21 - High profile, wide
Strings:45w-65w-80w-100w (Super
Neck Width:1.625” (41.3mm) at nut Slinky Bass #2834)
2.5” (63.5mm) at last fret
THE BASSMENT_COMBO REVIEW
LANEY RB6 COMBO

Looking for the perfect small-medium gig bass combo? Laney brings its decades of expe
Dan Veall investigates.
‘H
ere’s UK veteran further optimising your bass level
4.0
amp maker Laney going in to the RB’s signal path.
in for more Laney knows that us bass players
‘Bassment treatment’ of one of like to keep our playing in check
their well established series of at times and to that end they have
STAR RATING bass amplification. The RB6 included a compressor on board.
is just part of a wider range of The compressor, although very
backline from Laney known as simple and not including some of
the ‘Richter’ series. Within the the extra controls of a studio or
PROS: range are the RB1 practice amp pedal compressor, does an ample
with an 8” speaker, the RB3 that job of managing your louder
Performance driven has a 12” speaker and 65 Watts notes thus giving you a smoother
monitor style combo. output. The RB7 and RB8 are bass output level when playing
Stacked full of useful 300 Watt amplifiers that feature a passages. Two LEDs are there to
features. 2x10 configuration and single 15” show that the compressor has
speaker arrangement, respectively. been enabled and to let you know
The 165 Watt RB6 sits sort of in that the compressor’s threshold
CONS: the middle of the range of combos has been passed and that it is
- and if you need something actively doing its job.
Rear mounted a little more from the Richter
connections could be range, there is also a separate head Next up, in addition to shelving
a pain to get to mid and cabinets available too. bass and treble EQ controls,
performance. Laney has provided a full
Over to the front panel, as we graphic equaliser and further
Monitor shaped look into what the RB6 has on tonal tweaking in the form
cabinets can suffer offer. For the tweakers amongst of an enhancer circuit. With
from less bottom us the RB6 has a whole host of such options it’s easy to get
end that full sized features. Left to right we have: overwhelmed with fiddling, but
equivalent cabinets. Normal and High level inputs to Laney’s tidy layout keeps things
suit a range of instruments with easy to understand. The controls
differing output levels. Both are are wide ranging and I’d suggest
serviced by a single gain control if you are unsure, start by making

erience to bear in the Richter RB6 - and comes up with a useful twist on the kickback design.
small adjustments to each. A little goes a Frankly, you’re best leaving it engaged on this
long way here. Moving on then to what is combo, it’s there for a reason.
essentially the output side, Laney knows that
we delicate, shy, retiring individuals (ha ha!) Other than the volume control there is an
love to rock out and be heard! So, to protect ‘aux in’ for connecting an external device
our gear the RB6 has a limiter circuit to such as a drum machine to play along with
keep things from going in to meltdown mid- and there is a front mounted DI output in
performance should we be edging toward the form of an XLR socket. There is a switch
earthquake bass velocities. You do have the to turn off the tweeter too that is a great idea
option via a switch to bypass the limiter. if you are using distortion pedals.
Laney RB6 Combo

Around the back of the ported cabinet - harm will come to the cables, but it’s going
which as you can see is a superb kick-back to be more difficult to get round to see what
‘monitor style’ shape - you’ll find a power has fallen out on a dark and crowded gig
socket, power selector for use in other stage. I know those occasions well!
countries and mains switch at one end, while
a tuner output and effects loop for external The 165 Watt combo deals up a tight and
professional processors finish up the features rounded tone that I feel would be good for
and connections. Let’s look at the combo in smaller gigs, teaching and practice routines
its monitor position. It’s a very useful way of but also fine for monitoring performances
making sure you can hear your performance, owing to its kickback design. The single 15”
especially on crowded stages. Often the low speaker and defeatable tweeter do a good job
end flaps passed our kneecaps and we don’t of delivering a tight tone with top end that
get to hear the full quality of our bass sound has bite but a smoother tone when pushing
that this combo produces well. Having the with drive pedals when needed.
speaker directed at your ears instead means Weighing in at 18.5Kg it’s not a hefty
you will hear your performance more clearly beast either, which will please the upwardly
and you probably won’t have to turn up as mobile, especially when it comes to the 2am
loud either. If you are playing stages with load out, post-gig!
PA support, the engineer will probably love
you even more because your on stage sound Overall, the Laney RB6 is a versatile amp
won’t interfere with his ‘front of house’ mix. with a more controllable and shapeable tone
Happy engineer? Great sounding gig! than some of its obvious rivals. This is a good
as it makes it a more versatile performer. It
The only downside I can see with having the also has a great feature set, making it a very
connections mentioned round the back is sensible choice for the gigging player. •
if the combo is in its monitor position. No
TECH SPEC
Laney RB6 combo Headphone Socket No
MSRP £219 US $499 Inputs Normal & High
Made in: China Kick Proof Metal Grill Yes
Cabinet Design Kickback Combo Limiter Yes : Switchable (with
CD Input Yes (mini Jack) status LED)
Compressor Yes Master Presence Control No
DI Socket Yes : Pre EQ XLR Master volume Yes
Packed Dimensions (HxWxD mm) Power 165 Watts

580 x 535 x 460 Weight 21.1 Kg Packed, 18.5 Kg
Drivers 15” Custom Driver + Unit
Switchable horn Unit Dims - for int. case (HxWxD
Enhance Yes mm) 553 x 485 x 410
Equalisation Bass, 7-band graphic

Mid, Treble & Enhance
FX Loop(s) Yes

BASS LESSONS
Bass Guitar from Scratch DVD Latest QX6:SCALES DVD wrap 5/6/08 16:02 Page 1
BASS FROM BASS

GUITAR SCRATCH A complete bass guitar course for
GUITAR
LIBRARY
absolute beginners with Phil Williams

This easy-to-follow tutorial is ideal if you’ve just
FROM SCRATCH
bought your first bass guitar, or if there’s been a
guitar sitting around somewhere just waiting to
be played… This DVD will take you from novice
level through to intermediate level. Yet it
BASS GUITAR FROM SCRATCH
requires no prior knowledge at all: it truly is for

someone starting “from scratch”.
Slowly but surely, the tutor guides you through

all the things that a beginner needs to know
and, very importantly, points out what can go
Phil Williams is a highly sought wrong. Each of the carefully designed chapters
after freelance bass player, introduce commonly used scales and technique
gradually and strategically, along with some
A complete
writer and teacher. He has
played and toured with many practical theory – nothing too demanding, just
well known bands and artists as enough to help you understand what you’re
doing and why.
bass guitar
diverse as Gary Barlow, Roger
Daltrey and Keith Emerson to
name just a few. His playing can You’ll soon be playing scales, picking out
course for
be heard on numerous film and melodies and, hopefully, writing some songs of
TV soundtracks. your own! Making music has never been so easy!
absolute
Check out more of Phil’s
lessons on broadband TV at
Web Support
licklibrary.com • Download bass guitar technique lessons
beginners!
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UK £19.99 Log on and learn at licklibrary.com
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DVD bass lessons, online lessons.
All styles, beginner to advanced
THE BASSMENT_HEAD REVIEW
TC BH 550 & BH800 BASS HEADS

TC Electronic has taken its highly successful BH250 head and whacked up the power. Doe
‘A
ll new from TC our instrument input level with
4.5
Electronic, two bass the gain control that features a
amplifier heads that red ‘peak’ LED to let us know
build on the already strong when we are over-cooking our
foundations of the BH250, an level going in to the pre-amplifier
STAR RATING amp that itself has won many circuitry. Both heads feature TC
hearts in the bass world thanks Electronic’s ‘Interactive Equaliser’
FOR BOTH
to its big sounds, ‘TonePrint’ - a feature I really like. Essentially,
effects and ‘amp in your pocket’ unlike the more usual graphic
PROS: diminutive proportions. equaliser that allows you to boost
or cut levels around a specific
Light weight What was left for TC to do to frequency centre, this system will
improve on such an already boost a different frequency (80hz)
No need to carry ‘go successful amp? The only natural
to’ pedals. to the one that it cuts when you
way for the new BH heads was back the dial off the other way
Lots of power on tap up - and that means MORE (50hz). It’s something you have
POWER! So the BH550 and to hear but to give you an idea of
Small enough to fit in BH800 heads we have in for
a gig bag review here are visually identical
to each other but they come in
Round the world plug two flavours; and in comparison
and play. to the BH250 that’s Louder and
Clever smart phone More Louder! Ha!
app for loading effects. As usual I’ll walk through the
features with my thoughts and
CONS: to give you an idea what these
machines have on offer.
Limited tuner
So, it’s Input jack on the left hand
functionality unless
side and then we are into the EQ
you stay in standard
section but not before we have set
tuning.

es this range now offer everything a modern bassist needs? Dan Veall finds out.
its benefits, boosting this control allows you string on your bass, however the high C
to hone that ‘kick drum’ punch - just what string is identified by the D and G LEDs
we need! Meanwhile, backing the control lighting up together. I’m unsure why the
off would be equally great for getting rid of tuner wasn’t just six LEDs, one for each
those ‘woofy subs’ in difficult rooms, while string, but no bother. The two green LEDs
the centre frequency is low enough to not on the right hand side serve to let you know
mess with the tone of the instrument too if you are too high, too low or right on in
much. Clever! This ‘two frequency cut and tune for that identified string note. Another
boost’ idea continues throughout the four thought about the tuner is that it can’t ‘do’
band equaliser as TC deals up the most likely chromatic tuning, which would have been
frequency centres that usually get boosted. useful if you drop tune a semi-tone.
Naturally, the same theory is applied for
frequencies that tend to get cut. Let us move on! The BH550 and BH800
feature TC Electronic’s clever TonePrint
Above the four band EQ is a super simple onboard effects. To put it simply - they
and accurate tuner that can handle six string have the ability to store two separate ‘effects
basses. Each red LED applies to a separate blocks’, one in each Tone Print ‘slot’ (1 and
TC BH 550 Review
2 as seen on the front panel) and the knob assigned to

each TonePrint is programmed in the TonePrint effect
itself to adjust a parameter within that effect. So, for
example, the speed of a chorus effect, the amount of
drive on a distortion effect or the mix in an octaver
effect. That’s not the whole story though! Armed with
a smartphone app or your computer, you can send
new effects settings from an online library to your
amp head so it’s preprogrammed ready for your next
performance. The App is so easy to use, you could
even reprogramme the head between sets!

A three way switch on the front selects either switches and forgetting to flip it back when you
tone print or in the centre position allows the get home. Job done!
effects to be muted. This functionality can also
be carried out on a TC three way foot switch The BH heads have a single Speakon socket
available separately. as an output and although I’d like to see two
personally, this is in no way a limitation as most
All of the effects have been carefully tweaked for bass guitar cabinets feature daisy chain ins and
bass guitar so not only useful to the seasoned outs for connecting more than one to the head.
knob twiddler but a welcoming hand for those A massive thumbs up for TC is that it clearly
who are looking to try out bass effects without says on the back that this head can be used
the worry of buying the wrong thing. without a cabinet - ideal for practising with
head phones or using it as a recording pre-amp
Round the back of these sub 3kg amplifiers, connected to the D.I. output. The fact that it
TC Electronic offers useful facilities rather than clearly says on the amplifier relieves any worry
overcrowding them with bells and whistles. when you are away from the user manual. And
Firstly, I love that you can pretty much plug your cabinets! The three-way pedal socket,
in the power anywhere in the world and this USB connector, auxiliary input (for connecting
amplifier will auto-sense the mains supply an MP3 player for example) and a headphone
from 100-240v. No messing around with slide

socket for silent practice are neatly lined up shape the amplifier’s operating characteristics.
and clearly marked also. This leaves us with The BH heads here have a more modern slant
the aforementioned D.I. out connector and its and thus do not feature the APM circuitry. If
selector switch for sending a pre or post EQ you are undecided about which to choose, it’s
signal out of this socket. It should be noted that down to trying both out as the features vary
on the ‘pre’ setting, you will not hear any EQ greatly. Both are very capable and you will not
settings or tone print, just the clean bass signal. be disappointed with the new BH heads. I really
So use the post setting to hear any adjustments like the clarity and low end punch with the BH
you have made on the front panel EQ and heads that demonstrate TC’s commitment to
TonePrints. offering up a wide range of quality amplification
for all tastes and needs.
This is another great amplifier from TC
Electronic - well, pair of amplifiers! They’re For once again being able to crowd so much
different beasts to the RH450 and RH750 into such small boxes it has to be top marks -
amplifier heads that are tailored differently. The especially at these prices! •
RH series were designed to give the user an
organic ‘valve-like’ playing experience. These
made use of TC’s proprietary APM circuitry to
TECH SPEC
TC Electronic BH 550 & BH800 Master level / Headphones output
bass heads Studio quality headphone amp
MSRP £419 & £499 US $749.99 Recommended HP impedance 32 to
&$899.99 600 Ohm
Made in: Unknown Mains supply 100 to 240 V~ 50/60 Hz
Input connector 1/4” jack (200 W @ 1/8 of maximum output)
Input impedance 500 kOhm / 100 pF Power module rating BH550: 550 W
BH800: 800 W
Gain range -96 to 41 dB
Speaker output Neutrik speakOnTM
Tone control
Balanced output Balanced XLR, pre/
Bass 50 Hz @ Gain -24 to 0 dB; 80 Hz post preamp
@ Gain 0 to +24 dB
Balanced output maximum +2 dBu
Low Mids 200 Hz @ Gain -24 to 0
dB; 160 Hz @ Gain 0 to +24 dB Bal. output optimal load impedance
600 Ohm
High Mids 630 Hz @ Gain -24 to 0
dB; 800 Hz @ Gain 0 to +24 dB Rehearsal input 1/8” jack input, fits to
iPod®
Treble 1800 Hz @ Gain -24 to 0 dB;
4000 Hz @ Gain 0 to +24 dB Humidity Maximum 90 % non-
condensing
TonePrint (two slots) 0 to 10
embedded parameters for TonePrints Dimensions 241 x 55 x 279 mm / 11”
x 9.5” x 2.2”
Tuner Bass Tuner, always on
Weight BH550: 2.8 kg / 6.1 pounds
Tuning range B0 (30.87 Hz) to C4 BH800: 3.0 kg / 6.6 pounds
(523.25 Hz)
Finish Brushed and anodised
Mute Mutes speaker output, phones aluminum front plate, metal chassis
output and balanced output

Rotosound Strings
THE BASSMENT_PEDAL REVIEW
DR GREEN BASS PEDALS BY ASHDOWN EN

We’d been meaning to take Dan Veall to the doctor for some time now - life in our dingy
face and a bunch of Dr Green effects pedals instead of a prescription? Next time we’re tr
‘S
uperbly dealt up in a Dr Green pedal board with an
illuminated green logo, six bass orientated pedals from the
‘tone laboratories’ of Ashdown Engineering in the UK arrived
in the Bassment for a bit of friendly abuse a few weeks ago. They are
the bass equivalents of the Dr Green pedals offered by Ashdown’s guitar
amp brand, Hayden, which have been very well received by reviewers,
so we had high hopes for them. They share the basics of construction,
power sources and so on, so I’m going to cover all that in the conclusion
and get to the important bit first - how they work and sound!
PROS:
All metal casing and
heavy duty foot switch
means that these
pedals should take Dr Green Doctors
quite a kicking
Boutique but
reasonably priced in
4.0 Note
comparison to market Here’s a very useful

equivalents. STAR RATING all analogue envelope
Six most useful bass filter. When I say
effects useful, I mean fun!
Top mounted Unusually again the controls marked out
connectors help to save on the physical hardware don’t match the
on pedal board ‘real photographs on the Ashdown website at
estate’. the time of writing, so there was some
confusion as to what does what. Still,
CONS: maybe being less influenced by control
Some of the effects names made me more likely to throw
were a little hissy
Expected more control
over the Bearded Lady
pedal

NGINEERING
y Bassment has left him looking a bit pale. But who knew he’d walk out with a smile on his
rying the vet!
caution to the wind and just turn knobs until

it made a crazy noise I liked!
The Doctor’s Note features a resonant peak

level control as well as a pair of controls that
govern the direction of the filter slope (low
to high or high to low) and also the LP/
HF knob for further sculpting of the filter’s
character. I loved the ‘sub drop’ type effects
I could get with this pedal as well as some
truly eardrum splitting top end that you’d
have to use some sort of restraint with live!
Grab your decent earphones to hear those in
the video!
The Tourniquet/
4.0 Aspirin
An all-analogue compressor
pedal with three simple
STAR RATING controls. I felt The
Tourniquet was a useful
tool for controlling your
bass guitar dynamics, which is what a
compressor should do. Sure it did a good job
of limiting my loud notes but I really liked
how, when pushed to extremes it was able
Dr Green Bass Pedals Review
to recreate those squashy overly compressed sounds without excessive noise artefacts in
this case. It did become a little hissy on very high gain settings, but I’ve come to expect
this as fairly normal for this style of unit. Lower settings and softer compression rewards
you with a nice punch and almost valve-like characteristics. The three controls for input
level, output level and threshold make setting up a breeze. I’d go as far as saying that you
can ignore the manual and just use your ears to decide if it sounds good. Confusingly,
on the Ashdown website this pedal is described as both the ‘The Aspirin’ as well as ‘The
Tourniquet’.
Octa Dose
4.5 Based on Ashdown’s now famous Sub Harmoniser found on their bass
heads, the Octa Dose dishes up a lower octave bass sound in this all-
analogue design. Two simple controls for the effect level and direct bass
signal level, there’s really almost nothing else to say about setting up!
STAR RATING Plug in, twist the knobs until you find the sound you are after then
rock-out!

You can engage the pedal so that you only hear the sub
octave effect on its own making, for some cool synth
bass sounds, or have a clean dry signal with just a hint
of octave sound in it that would work nicely for fretless
bass. I had to do the acid test to see how far down my bass
neck the pedal tracked and was pleased to hear it made
it down to the B note on my A string thus giving me a
usable octave below equalling that of an open B string on
a 5-string bass! That said, the octave effect sounds great
when you are higher up the neck anyway, so that’s just
being hyper critical. This is another really nice pedal from
the range!
Bearded Lady
3.5 Time to get gritty with the Bearded

Lady vintage style fuzz pedal! Again,
this has a simple control layout and the
description on Ashdown’s site made this
STAR RATING pedal a breeze to understand how it
works. Even so, it was the only one
that I found some settings didn’t
yield totally the sounds I was expecting.
The Bearded Lady pedal can almost be described as

two separate mini pedals. A fuzz pedal that affects
your top end frequencies and another fuzz that only
affects the lower frequencies of your bass. The Hi
Fuzz control sets the amount of gain (intensity of the
fuzz effect) and it has a Hi Level control to set the
level. On the right hand side of the pedal similarly a
Lo Fuzz knob and Lo Out level control for the low
end.
It should be possible, as an example, to set lots of low

end ‘fuzz’ for a stodgy dirty low end but to leave the
top end less driven, thus allowing more clarity from
your instrument voice or vice versa. You could have
a very distorted fizzy top end of your instrument
but leave the meat of your bass sound relatively
untouched.
I was expecting to be able to wind the top Bass Verb
3.5
end down to create a big fat bass end, but
on this occasion we seemed to always have Last up and keeping it very
a huge amount of high frequencies coming simple, the Bass Verb a
through at varying amounts of distortion. fairly flexible reverb pedal
Maybe it needs more fiddling with? That STAR RATING for all your ambient sound
said, it did a very good old-school gritty needs. The mix and depth
bass tone through our studio monitor bass knobs vary the ratio of dry
amp with the tweeter switched off. signal to the depth of the
reverb effect from small hall sounds to what
Dr Green Tune Up could be described as playing at the bottom
of the ocean! This pedal isn’t in the Eventide
A nicely simple to use and
4.0
or Lexicon effect arenas (though neither
accurate bass tuner that is the price!) but the reverb effect is warm
when engaged mutes the enough. However, the one thing to be aware
output socket for silent of with extreme settings on this pedal is that
tuning. It can do full
STAR RATING chromatic tuning as well
there can be a noticeable level drop off when
engaging the effect, unless you keep the mix
as the ability to drop tune control set high. This will leave as much
to three semi-tones below of your clean bass signal present as well as
standard tuning. Its display is large and the reverb - you may lose your volume in a
bright and I was pleased to see it handled an performance otherwise.
open B string on my bass with ease. Great
stuff!

CONCLUSION
All six pedals offer up some very usable noticeable hiss coming from some of the
sounds and come in all metal construction, pedals, which became apparent more when
with heavy duty foot switches and easy to all were enabled. All judgements about FX
read printing. They are also pretty colourful! pedals are subjective, so you might want to
They’re dead easy to use and can do a lot audition these beforehand so you can form
to spice up your bass sound and creativity. your own opinions on how they suit your
My favourites were the compressor and style and rig. •
octaver pedals, but we did experience some
TECH SPEC
Dr Green Bass FX pedals Bearded Lady £59 US
MSRPs: $89
The Aspirin/Tourniquet £69 US Octa Dose £69 US $99

$99 Tune Up £69 US $99
Dr’s Note £69 US $99 See website for specifications. www.
Bass Verb £99 US $149 ashdownmusic.com
COLUM YOUR FREE GUITAR UNIVER

MNS
RSITY
COLUMNS_TOM QUAYLE
C O L U M N
Tom Quayle
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T H E

Developing Time
Feel Part 3
Hi guys and welcome back to my column The swing 16th note is not a sound that is
for issue 31. For this issue we’re once again normally used in Jazz in the same way that
returning to the topic of Time Feel but this traditional 8th note swing is applied in a
time with a focus on a specific sub-division Bebop or straight ahead Jazz context. The
- the swing 16th note. Let’s dive straight in time feel we’ll be going for is a sound often
by defining what a 16th note is for those associated with Latin and Funk/Rock based
who haven’t done a lot of work with rhythms fusion players such as Greg Howe. Greg
and sub-divisions. Music is divided in bars employs this time feel a lot in his music and
and beats, with a specified number of beats it’s a more pronounced or exaggerated form
per bar depending on the type and genre of swing than Jazz musicians tend to use.
of music being played. The most common As ever, the best approach here is to listen
number of beats per bar is 4 and 3 but for as much as possible to the time feel I am
our purposes we’ll be sticking with 4 beats demonstrating in the video and get your ears
per bar. Each of these beats can be further used to the sound. Once you have the feel in
broken down into smaller chunks of time your mind and ears the next step is to follow
known as sub-divisions and when we divide the exercises I teach in the video to develop
each beat into four further equal sections the technical facility to play the feel correctly.
we have four sounds per beat which equals Swing 16ths are a little trickier at first than
sixteen sounds per bar - hence 16th notes. straight 16ths and take a bit of getting used
Swing 16ths are a time feel based variation to but once you have the technical facility
on the standard 16th note where the first of down you will find this a very useful and
every two 16th notes is made slightly longer cool addition to your playing that can even
and the second a little shorter giving a feel be employed effectively over straight 16th
somewhere between a straight 16th and a note grooves. Normally the feel would be
triplet feel, where only the first and third used when the band are grooving with swung
triplet of each three note grouping is played. 16ths but utilising the swung version over a
You’ll see an example of how this looks and straight groove creates a cool tension.
how we actually notate this feel in the PDF
file that accompanies this lesson.
COLUMNS_TOM QUAYLE
The exercises are based on simple scalar ideas maintain the time feel. This will be a real test
initially so that you can work on the time at first but is a great indicator as to how well
feel in a familiar setting. You should practice you have integrated the new time feel on a
switching between the straight and swing technical and aural level.
16ths so that you develop full control over
each of them and can change at will. Once I wish you lots of luck with this new sound
this is in place and you feel very comfortable - it’s a very cool string to have in your guitar
with the exercises you can begin to attempt bow!
some improvisation with this new sound, See you next time guys. •
moving around the fretboard whilst trying to
Time Feel Part 3

Rotosound Pedals
COLUMNS_MICHAEL CASSWELL
MICHAEL CASSWELL
©All imagery Louise Ince

PRO CONCEPTS
MU TI NG
When I was a kid, I remember There are many times that muting is
reading an interview with Police essential, and in this Pro Concepts, I
guitarist Andy Summers, who was have tried to illustrate three occasions
talking about how it was an art to be you would need to be able to mute
able to control an electric guitar at precisely and to a high level. Two of
volume on big stages, with powerful these three examples I would consider
amplifiers. This resonated with me essential, if you want to sound more
and at the time, I watched closely professional.
how certain players I admired could
seemingly attack their guitar but keep Example 1 is the least important of
things contained, controlled and what we are looking at. This is the
precise. Part of this skill came from muting of the lower strings as you
be able to mute unwanted noise from rake up to your B or E string to
other strings and allow your target execute a Brian May style string bend.
notes or chords to sing out clearly. Brian does this a lot, and so do a lot
When I started stretching my guitar of Blues players and general Rock
wings by using more gain for dirty players. It can sound dramatic and
tones and compressor pedals for clean dynamic (depending on what you
chiming rhythms, being able to mute play immediately afterwards) and is
out unwanted strings became an an easy and instant muting technique
essential skill that seemed to sound that doesn’t too much effort to get
much more professional than players right.
who didn’t give much thought to it What is much harder, but much
and ended up sounding sloppy or cooler, is what I talk about in example
trashy. Fine for a Punk Rock vibe, but 2. This is where we hit all 6 strings,
I was always more excited by players but only sound one. This is a great
that could really play, and I wanted SRV, Hendrix, Bonamassa Blues
that kind of precision, part of which tool, or a great John Frusciante, Nile
came from being able to cleverly Rogers funk tool. The mechanics on
mute what you didn’t want or need. how to do this will vary from player
COLUMNS_MICHAEL CASSWELL
Muting

to player, depending on your hand size, what top of your delivery. All your favourite players
pick you use, how you hold the pick etc. I try do it and it’s something that doesn’t get talked
to illustrate how I do it, but you may have to about or illustrated enough I feel.
tweak things your end to get it working for
you. And I strongly suggest you do get this There are many other areas of muting that we
technique nailed, because it’s a cool sound can look at another time. For example when
that will make you sound better and give using a bottleneck, or when palm muting
your playing some ‘soul’. alternate picked lines, but examples two and
three are a good place to start, and I hope my
Example 3 (the B section to example 2) explanation, and the camera close ups, get
is also invaluable tool and very essential. you closer to understanding what the aim is
Being able to squeeze and mute a chord in here.
a controlled rhythmic fashion, gives a huge
boost to your rhythm chops. It works in As usual you can always ask me questions
almost all genres from Gypsy Jazz to Metal, on the usual social media sites or my
that squeeze and release technique, especially LickLibrary.com Q &A forum.
in conjunction with palm muting from your Here’s to 2015! •
picking hand, is a massive tool to sound on
Complaints About The Noise. The long-awaited new

album from Michael Casswell!
Michael Casswell, one of Guitar Interactive’s

most popular contributors, an internationally
respected teacher and a top session player,
has a brand new album out - Complaints
About The Noise!
You can get Complaints About The Noise

from Licklibrary, Amazon or as a download
from iTunes!
BUY NOW!
EXT
COLUMNS_SAM BELL
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TENDED
PART12
GUITAR by Sam Bell

Writing Extended
The chord sequence that I chose is as
Range Riffs follows:
Welcome to my latest installment of the Ab Gsus4 Cm Bb7

extended range guitar column. In this issue The chord progression has two different
we are going to explore a low end 8-string endings the first one is:
riff that utilises the bottom four strings and
minimal notes but also manages to highlight Ab Gsus4 Cm Bmaj7
an implied chord sequence.
And the second one is:
Before I had the riff idea I initially had just
the rhythm which is based around a triplet Ab Gsus4 Cm Eb7
timing. I really liked the way the rhythm was
simple enough to repeat but really catchy, Once I chose this chord progression, I
it just needed one more thing, Harmony. decided to follow the route notes of each
I am not personally into the sound of just chord using the rhythm that I had come up
chugging away on one note unless the song with previously. I noticed that I accented
really calls for it, so I needed to get a chord beat 3 of each bar, this is where the snare
progression happening to base my riff hit would usually reside. This gave me
around. inspiration to take the route note rhythm
version of this riff and expand it.
I see the riff as made up of two parts.
COLUMNS_SAM BELL
The first part are the low notes defining the that I liked and subconsciously my theory
harmonic movement of the riff and the second knowledge helped me find what I heard in my
part is the static C note that occurs on the A head materialise quicker. I then started playing
string 3rd fret. This note changes at one point around with different interval jumps when I
to highlight a substantial change harmony, heard the natural accents in the groove that I
however this is an artistic decision that had come up with. After a bit of thought and
went with where I could hear the riff going experimentation I had come up with the bones
harmonically. The C note in conjunction with of the riff.
the moving route notes highlighted certain
tones from each chord. Ab to C is a major 3rd, Following on from there I fleshed the idea out
highlighting to very important notes from with choosing the right places to play the notes
an Ab triad. The G to C movement implies a on the 8-string. With so many notes available
perfect 4th which highlights our Gsus4 chord. on the 8-string you really have a lot of room to
C to C is just an octave, which highlights the get creative with the different timbres of each
route note of our Cm chord in the sequence. available note, different Cs on different strings
Bb to C is a major 2nd interval which gives us may sound the same pitch wise, the size of the
a 9th sound over our Bb7 chord. On the 2nd string and where it is placed on the fingerboard
and 4th passes of the chord progression we have can make a huge difference to the overall tone,
a slightly different ending chord each time. attack and shape of the note. This is something
The first one Bmaj7 is where our C pedal note to really be aware of on 8-string, it’s one of
descends to Bb, giving us a Major 7th interval. the main reasons people can get discouraged
The second one is Eb7, however the notes in at first because they are just finding notes and
the riff highlight Eb and C which gives us a sticking with them even though they might
major 6th interval. This gives us an Eb13 sound not be satisfied with the tone and the way it
which I feel is a nice way of ending the riff. feels to play. Be sure to take a look around the
When using dominant 7th chords you are given fretboard of your 8-string before you decide to
lots of opportunity to modulate the riff outside set the riff in stone!
of its original key centre without it sounding
too obvious whilst retaining a melodic The next thing I did as a songwriter and
resolution. arranger was to flesh out the track arrangement
itself, I decided to put some synth strings in
Whilst there is a lot of theory there, it wasn’t the background to expand the idea and settle
something I was actively thinking about whilst it into more of a chorus/hook style section of
coming up with the riff. If I were to summarise a song. Ironically as I type this, this riff doesn’t
the basic steps I went through to come up belong in any of my songs...yet, however I feel
with the basic riff it would have been to find a even if you are just writing one riff, it is always
rhythm and groove first. I would jam on this good to take it as far as you can, this is good
groove over a programmed drum backing in for your musicianship, and your riff bank!
Cubase. Whilst this is happening I would have
started throwing other notes in to the groove,
eventually my ear would catch something

Hopefully this column has proved more of a creative insight into how I come up
with riffs on my 8-string. See if any of the methods mentioned above help you with
your writing on the 8-string. It’s important to remember that the same thing might
not work for everyone, so as always, have fun experimenting! Until next time, have
fun writing extended range riffs! •
Extended Guitar Part 12
I would also like to mention that my band Mask of Judas have just
released our new single GRAVITY. I have taught many sections from
this tune in previous columns for Guitar Interactive Magazine, it’s
both a terrifying and melodic 8-string tune!
You can find the new single to download for FREE from here:
http://www.maskofjudas.bandcamp.com/track/gravity
COLUMNS_SAM BELL
COLUMNS_LEWIS TURNER
Guitar Interactive reviewer and top session pl

Stuck in a rut? Want to get back into playing after
B
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WITH LEWIS TUR N E R
BACK TO
BASICS
layer, Lewis Turner takes us Back To Basics in his new column.
a break? Lost in theory? Lewis helps you find the music again.
BACK TO BASICS #7, FIVE POSITIONS

OF THE MINOR PENTATONIC SCALE.
We’ve discussed in previous columns how the good idea before you even look at the written
same note can be found in a variety of places out shapes provided to just try to find them
on the guitar fretboard, and hopefully you yourself, you will find a vast number of ways
are starting to find them with a bit more ease. to play the same 5 notes.
We have also looked at the “well known”
pentatonic shape often referred to as shape Over the years five “common” shapes have
1 and how to get the most out of it. The been taught as being the Five shapes, and
minor pentatonic scale is constructed using that’s what you will find on the attached Tab,
the Root – b3rd - 4th - 5th - b7th intervals and demonstrated on the video. You will
(more about intervals in later lessons), in the also find the accompanying chord shape for
key of A minor this gives us the following each scale shape. The chord associated with
notes; A – C – D – E – G. These 5 notes minor pentatonic scale is the minor 7 chord;
can be found all over the fretboard and it’s a Root – b3 – 5 – b7, in A minor, A – C – E
COLUMNS_SAM BELL
COLUMNS_LEWIS TURNER
– G. I can’t stress enough the importance shapes means you can spread yourself along
of learning the chord shape alongside the the length of the fretboard moving between
scale shape. Over my years of teaching I positions rather than just running up and
always drum home this point and it quite down one box shape. This means a change
often falls on deaf ears, as people just want in tone and often wider intervallic sounds,
to get to the lead stuff! However, they check out what guys like Eric Johnson do
will eventually have to play chords or play with just a good old pentatonic scale! It
over changes and those that can visualise will give you more freedom to be expressive
the chord shape and then the scale shape and hopefully get out the sounds you have
around it, always come out on top. I go into in your head, it should also help you break
more detail in the video about how best to away from that clichéd sound that this scale
practice these shapes, plus recommended has a reputation for, it will make you play it
fingerings, so be sure to check it out. The in a different way.
five shapes are built from each degree of the
scale; shape 1 starts from A, shape 2 from These five shapes are also the five shapes
C, shape 3 from D and so on. All the five for the Major pentatonic scale (which will
notes exists in each shape they just start also be covered in future lessons) so you
from a different note, they don’t all have don’t actually have to learn any new shapes.
to start from an A note to be an A minor The pentatonic scale is five 7ths of a full on
pentatonic scale. Now at this point you may Major/minor scale, therefore the better you
be thinking, “If they all contain the same know these the easier it will be to learn their
notes as good old shape 1, why do I need to bigger brothers. Learning shapes in set areas
learn five different versions of it across the of the neck will also help when it comes to
fretboard?” playing over changes, as will visualising the
chord shapes as mentioned above. Finally,
In short you don’t! Many a great player has knowledge is power! I don’t believe in the
been successful knowing very little in terms notion that “Knowing theory and loads of
of scale shapes. As we have looked at in the different techniques, will make me a colder
past it’s what YOU do with it that makes player” that’s something that lazy people say
the difference. However, I assume you are who can’t be bothered to learn new things!
reading this article and magazine because As with anything it’s a matter of learning
you want to be the best guitarist you can the new thing/concept in a set way and then
be, and even the greatest will run out of applying it in a musical way which is the
ideas and end up sounding a bit repetitive most important thing. As mentioned in the
using just that one position. Learning more video the best way to learn these is to play

the chord first then the scale built around it, you’re still struggling with shape 2 it
using a metronome once you have the shape doesn’t matter, music is not a competition!
to memory is also a good idea. Be sure to check out my website www.
lewisturnerguitar.com for all things guitar.
If this is new to you then take it slowly and Good luck with this issues lesson, next time
remember that people learn at different we will be looking at how to practice them
speeds, so don’t panic if your mate has and link them together. •
all five shapes down in five minutes and
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Back to Basics #7, Five Positions of the Minor Pentatonic Scale
COLUMNS_MARTIN GOULDING
Modern Rock Techniques with

Martin Goulding

No. 6: Developing Horizontal Two-String Runs.
Hi there and welcome to this month’s and extending runs when improvising.
Modern Rock Techniques column, with A well used trademark in the styles of
the sixth part in our series looking at the modern Rock virtuosos such as Steve Vai,
legato technique. This issue we are going Joe Satriani and Richie Kotzen, this week’s
to take some of the main patterns that routine features both half-roll and full-
we’ve been developing as vertical runs over roll legato styles played using sextuplet,
the course of the series, and apply them septuplet and quintuplet subdivisions.
horizontally - ascending the fretboard using
the high two-string set (B and E strings). This time I’ll be demonstrating the
sextuplet and septuplet examples at
Practising our patterns horizontally will 120bpm over the backing track ‘Hard
help us to develop our visualisation of the Rocker’, with the quintuplets played at
scale as it ascends configured over a two- 160bpm over our other backing track
string set. This concept can be further ‘Full Roller’. Both of these tracks are based
applied to the middle D and G strings around a hard-rock feel in A Dorian, and
followed by the low E and A strings, and are downloadable along with the tablature
can be useful for breaking out of position by following the link on the page.
sextuplet feel by tapping your foot every six
Get the tone notes on the beat.
To get a good modern Rock tone, set the Example 2

gain on your amp to maximum, with
the bass and treble set slightly boosted (1 This second example features the septuplet
o’clock), and the mid-range either slightly pattern that we looked at in issue 27 - again
scooped (10 o’clock) for rhythm or boosted applied this week to our A Dorian two-
(1-2 o’clock) for lead. For the lesson, I used string framework. With seven notes per beat,
my Ibanez J Custom with Bare Knuckles this example has a slightly faster and more
VH II pick-ups, through an Axe-FX II complex ‘full-roll’ sound in comparison to
- set up with the Brit Super amp (based our previous half-roll sextuplet example.
on the Marshall AFD head), along with a
tubescreamer style overdrive pedal and some With more stamina required, be sure to
stereo delay. shake out your hands and arms as soon as
you feel any tension or fatigue arise. Try
Example 1 taking smaller sections and working on two
positions at a time - gradually building the
Our first example configures the notes of whole idea shape by shape.
the A Dorian mode on the high B and E
strings starting from the position 7 area, and Hammer down hard and from a height at
using the half-roll sextuplet pattern that we first, gradually refining as you apply speed
focussed on in issue 26. The pattern ascends over the weeks and months. Try to pull-off
through the positions every two beats until lightly and cleanly with no dissonant noises.
it reaches the octave, where it finishes with a Remember to mute the lower string above
bend and vibrato from the b7th degree up to the one you are playing with the tip of the
the root note. fretting hand first finger as well any higher
strings underneath.
Try to keep the hand position fairly square
and dropped with plenty of space from The example ascends the fretboard to the
the underside of the neck to the cup of the octave, before targeting a semitone bend on
hand and with space between the individual the high E string from the 9th degree to the
digits. As you reach the 12th fret and b3rd and finishing with vibrato.
ascend towards the finishing bend, the hand
position should move into a slight forwards Example 3
angle - with the thumb moving up into the Our third example features the quintuplet
upper-half of the neck, and finally clamping pattern which we’ve been looking at recently
over once the bend is struck. The vibrato - from issue 29 covering vertical runs, to
will come from a rotation of the forearm last month’s solo study Full-Roller, which
and wrist and with the fingers remaining featured some quintuplet ideas.
rigid. Try to pick lightly, and reinforce the

No. 7: Developing Horizontal Two-String Runs.
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GUITAR PRO 6 PDF
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This time, we’ll look at applying After ascending the fretboard to
the pattern through our two-string the octave, the final phrase uses a
framework in A Dorian. As you hammer-on-from-nowhere on the B
ascend position by position, try to string - hitting down hard and from
tap your foot on the beat every five a height using the third finger. The
notes. On beats 2 and 4 of each bar, phrase then moves to the high E
the accent will fall on the hammered string root, before quickly returning
fourth finger note, so be sure to to the B string and targeting a bend
coordinate your foot to reinforce this from the b7th degree up to the
feel. Practice slowly until you have resolving root note and finishing with
established the feel of the grouping slow-wide vibrato.
and are able to repeat continuously
with good timing and a consistent That’s all for this issue, thanks for
tone. joining me and I’ll see you next issue
for the eighth part in our legato
As this technique is known to induce series, which will be looking at using
rapidly escalating tension and fatigue, slides to move through the positions.
make sure you shake out your hands In the meantime, please feel free to
and arms frequently as it arises. After visit my site at
a week or so, your stamina will start www.martingoulding.com •
to improve and the discomfort will
become less as you gain familiarity
with the technique.
COLUMNS_STEVE TROVATO
ro v a t o
te v e T
w ith S
Country Guitar
Techniques
Guitar Interactive is delighted to add yet another world
class player to our team, one of America’s most respected
guitar teachers, Steve Trovato. Steve, who will be teaching
us Country style techniques, is a renowned educator, having
published dozens of guitar instruction methods for Warner
Brothers, Hal Leonard and Alfred Music Publishers. He
has also released several recordings under his own name
all of which have been met with great reviews. Steve has
been interviewed by guitar music publications world-wide
and is the recipient of numerous awards as both educator
and artist. He currently holds a position as a member
of the Studio Guitar and Contemporary Popular Music
Performance Departments at the University of Southern
California.
Lesson 6: Whiz Kid Example 1.
Objective: In this lesson you will learn how

This one is a Country two beat in the key of
to adjust or change a note in Country licks
E. It’s a I, IV, V7 , I progression with each
to outline each chord or “play over the
chord receiving two measures.
changes”. To play a lick that demonstrates
this technique. Picking direction is critical for this one.
Most Country progressions are fairly simple The first lick is played over the E chord and
harmonically. Being mostly diatonic, many is in the 12th position. Play a G# at the
r
players use just one scale to fit the entire 17th fret using a down stroke. Then bend it
progression. This scale being the major up a half step using and upstroke, release the
pentatonic. bend without picking at all. The next three
notes are played on strings one and two at
Let’s look at a way of changing chord tones
the 12th fret. Play this phrase twice.
within a lick to fit each chord. Learn 3 solos.
The third time play it but don’t bend at the
16 fret.
COLUMNS_STEVE TROVATO
The phrasing is interesting because it As in example 1, it features the concept

contains two 6 note phrases and then of moving the top note within each
one 4 note phrase. When the entire lick phrase down in half steps to outline the
is played it comes out to exactly 8 beats chords. This rockabilly type lick is in the
or two measures. open position. Start by sliding into G#
on the first string from a half step below.
The second chord of the progression The remaining 3 notes are E (First
is played over the A chord. To play it, string) C# and B (second string).
simply play the same lick as you played
for the E chord but lower the first note To outline the A chord play the same
to G natural rather than G#. phrase but simply move the top note
down a half step. To outline the B7
The third chord is a B7. In order to chord, move the top note down another
capture the sound of a B7 chord all half-step.
you need to do is move the top note of
the lick down another half-step. This Example 3:
concept involves changing the top note
of each phrase to outline the arpeggio of This one is a Country two beat in
each chord. the key of A. It’s 8 bars long and the
progression is A, D, E7 and A with each
The last note is a whole step bend from chord receiving two measures.
D to E on the second string with vibrato
added at the top of the bend. The riff is played on the top two strings.
As the chords change, the notes within
Example 2: each lick change to outline the new
chord.
This one is a Country two beat in
the key of E. It’s 8 bars long and the Play the first lick over the A chord as
progression is E, A, B7 and E with each described in the video. For the D chord,
chord receiving two measures. play the same riff but move the note on
the second string from C# to D.

For the E7 chord move the top note
down a half step to G#. TABLATURE DOWNLOADS
Use strict alternate picking throughout.
GUITAR PRO 6 PDF
Practice slowly and have fun! •
DOWNLOAD DOWNLOAD
Lesson 6: Whiz Kid
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DEAN

02 Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 31

DEAN 2 ELIXIR 235 EMINENCE 8/9 ERNIE BALL 99 FISHMAN 29 FRA

04 Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 31

06 Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 31

MAKING TRACKS COLUMNS

THE QUIET ROOM 282_Steve Trovato - Country style

08 Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 31

10 Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 31

The Magic Live

12 Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 31

Paul Kossoff - It’s still All Right Now

14 Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 31

Paul Kossoff - Agony and Ecstasy

PAUL KOSSOFF - Agony and Ecstasy

16 Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 31

Free - All Right Now [totp]

18 Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 31

FREE - MR.BIG(LIVE 1970)

20 Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 31

PAUL KOSSOFF - The Black Beauty Years

I BROKE WITH MY USUAL UNWRITTEN RULE (AVOID

22 Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 31

24 Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 31

THE WAY I STRING THE GUITAR YOU’VE GOT TO FIGHT

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PAUL KOSSOFF - Live with the ‘broken

FREE - Fire & Water ( Live BEATCLUB Germany ) *HQ Audio*

28 Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 31

30 Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 31

Ola Englund Interview

32 Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 31

When it comes to gear Ola has a couple of notab

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The secret to the successes of Anthrax’s

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40 Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 31

Stop and think about it for a moment; in

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50 Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 31

The Magic Lives on

Paul Kossoff Tech Session Performance

52 Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 31

54 Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 31

Paul Kossoff Tech Session Lesson

56 Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 31

a Peerless Retromatic P 1 with Stetsb

We love the Stetsbar systems, too! The

58 Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 31

Q1. Peerless Retromatics feature pickups

A/ Monty’s Guitars, London

Q2. The Stetsbar Pro II can be retrofitted

One lucky winner with the correct answers

Win a Red Witch Factotum Bass Sub-O

60 Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 31

GUITAR INTERACTIVE ISSUE 29 WASHBURN NUNO BETTENCOURT

As we said at the time, what could be better in an issue

In our review of the Washburn in that issue, Doug

We had a ton of entries, as you’d expect

FREE - Fire & Water ( Live BEATCLUB Germany ) HQ Audio