THe BeATles Alice in cHAins Hozier

LeT IT Be Them BoneS Someone new

Squier
Jazzmaster HH
The coolest sub-
£200 electric?

The CompleTe

Blues
Rock
nAmm
rePort

15
New gear
bargaiNs
Lesson
Learn the licks that shaped 50
for 2017!

years of blues-inspired guitar

riff of
the month

The Clash
Should I Stay
or Should I go

IntervIews how to…

Feeder ✔ Cut noise
from your Strat
Avenged ✔ Understand and
Sevenfold APRIL 2017
use compression
joe Satriani ✔ Build lead speed
 editor’s letter
Future Publishing

Welcome…
Quay House, THe ambury, baTH, ba1 1ua
Tel 01225 442244 Fax: 01225 822763
Email totalguitar@futurenet.com
Website: www.totalguitar.co.uk

ediTorial
Editor Stuart Williams
Content Editor Rob Laing
Production Editor Josh Gardner
Art Editor Leanne O’Hara
Senior Music Editor Jason Sidwell
Guitars Feature & Tuition Editor Chris Bird
Content Editor, Musicradar.com Michael Astley-Brown
2017 marks the 50th anniversary of two
Music Co-ordinator Polly Beauchamp
seminal blues-rock albums: The Jimi Hendrix
ConTribuTors
Steve Allsworth, Richard Barrett, Jon Bishop, Phil Capone, Rich Chamberlain,
Experience’s Are You Experienced? and
Sarah Clark, Trevor Curwen, Jack Ellis, Charlie Griffiths, Jonathan Horsley,
Andy McGregor, Matthew Parker, Adam Rees, Amit Sharma, Henry Yates
Cream’s Disraeli Gears. Now, we aren’t saying
Music Engraver Simon Troup
that blues-rock began here, but it’s certainly a
Photography Joe Branston, Adam Gasson, Olly Curtis, Joby Sessions, Will Ireland,
Neil Godwin
big landmark, so this issue, we’re taking a look
adverTising at five decades of blues-inspired rock guitar,
Phone: 01225 442244 Fax: 01225 732285
Senior Advertising Manager Lara Jaggon, lara.jaggon@futurenet.com
and filtering it down into 14 pages of lessons
Director of Agency Sales Matt Downs, matt.downs@futurenet.com
Head of Strategic Partnerships Clare Jonik, clare.jonik@futurenet.com
for each era – it’s the complete lesson!
markeTing Elsewhere we’re showing you how to play
Marketing Director Sascha Kimmel
a grunge classic – and get to grips with 7/8 timing – with Alice In Chains’
ProduCTion & disTribuTion
Production Controller Frances Twentyman
Them Bones, an acoustic arrangement of The Beatles’ Let It Be courtesy
Head of Production UK & US Mark Constance
Printed in the UK by: William Gibbons & Sons Ltd on behalf of Future
of Rockschool, and contemporary singer-songwriter Hozier’s mammoth
Distributed by: Marketforce, 2nd Floor, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf
London, E14 5HU
hit Someone New is the subject of this month’s Open-mic Songbook.
Overseas distribution by: Seymour International
We’ve got a feast for gearheads this issue, too, starting on p32 with a
CirCulaTion
Trade Marketing Manager Michelle Brock 0207 429 3683
rundown of Feeder main man, Grant Nicholas’ live set-up: get ready for
subsCriPTions some Fender offset envy. It continues with our picks from this year’s
UK reader order line & enquiries: 0844 848 2852
Overseas reader order line & enquiries: +44 (0)1604 251045
NAMM Show, where we fought through the racks of pricey boutique gear
Online enquiries: www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk
to bring you a refined list of the coolest stuff for under a grand. Then
Email: totalguitar@myfavouritemagazines.co.uk
03
liCensing there’s our usual GAS Station selection, this month we round up four
Senior Licensing & Syndication Manager
Matt Ellis, matt.ellis@futurenet.com Tel: + 44 (0)1225 442244
blues-friendly overdrives, and a quartet of keenly priced retro-rock
managemenT electrics, as well as an insanely affordable Jazzmaster from Squier!
Publishing Director Aaron Asadi
Editorial Director, Design Ross Andrews
Check back next issue, where we’ll be bringing you another edition of
Group Editor-In-Chief Daniel Griffiths
Group Art Director Graham Dalzell
the most diverse, useful and accessible guitar mag on the market!
Next issue on sale 7 April 2017

Stuart Williams Editor

Future is an award-winning international media group and
leading digital business. We reach more than 49 million
international consumers a month and create world-class
content and advertising solutions for passionate
consumers online, on tablet & smartphone and in print. making this month’s mag
Future plc is a public Chief executive Zillah Byng-Thorne
company quoted on the Chairman Peter Allen
London Stock Exchange Chief financial officer Penny Ladkin-Brand
(symbol: FUTR). Tel +44 (0)207 042 4000 (London)
www.futureplc.com Tel +44 (0)1225 442 244 (Bath)

All contents copyright © 2017 Future Publishing Limited or published under licence. All rights reserved. No
part of this magazine may be reproduced, stored, transmitted or used in any way without the prior written
permission of the publisher.
Future Publishing Limited (company number 2008885) is registered in England and Wales. Registered
office: Registered office: Quay House, The Ambury, Bath, BA1 1UA. All information contained in this
publication is for information only and is, as far as we are aware, correct at the time of going to press.
Future cannot accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information. You are advised
to contact manufacturers and retailers directly with regard to the price and other details of products or
services referred to in this publication. Apps and websites mentioned in this publication are not under our
control. We are not responsible for their contents or any changes or updates to them.
CHris bird JosH gardner rob laing
If you submit unsolicited material to us, you automatically grant Future a licence to publish your submission Chris and contributor Richard Josh last spoke to Minus The Bear Players can get a lot of guitar for
in whole or in part in all editions of the magazine, including licensed editions worldwide and in any physical
or digital format throughout the world. Any material you submit is sent at your risk and, although every Barrett prove they’ve still got the guitarist Dave Knudson for TG their money these days. But as Rob
care is taken, neither Future nor its employees, agents or subcontractors shall be liable for loss or damage. blues in this month’s huge 14-page way back in 2012, but with the became smitten testing Taylor’s
We are committed to only using magazine paper feature on 50 years of blues-rock. Seattle band finally back with their new entry-level Academy Series on
which is derived from well managed, certified When asked his favourite guitarist first new album in five years, the p96 he started to think about the
forestry and chlorine-free manufacture. Future
Publishing and its paper suppliers have been of the genre the big man says, time seemed right to talk to the subjective concept of value – is it
independently certified in accordance with the “Gary Moore or Jeff Healey, but effects whiz about Botch, worth spending more money on
rules of the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council).
don’t ask me to choose… it’ll be Boogies and Baseball. Read his something you absolutely love
someone else next week.” Five Minutes Alone on p10 over something you really like?

april 2017 ToTal GuiTar

 #291
the gas
Contents
042
sta t ion
The compleTe
blues-rock
lesson
From Clapton to Bonamassa and
everything in between, we take you
on a whistle-stop technique tour of
five decades of blues-rock. It’ll get
your chops smokin’ – guaranteed!

04

Cover & disc photography: Joby Sessions laurens Van Houten / Frank White photo agency Stefan Hoederath/redferns
Photography: Joby Sessions Bob King/redferns Olly Curtis

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ToTal GuiTar april 2017

 conTenTs

Monitor
006 First Look
008 Scene
010 Five Minutes Alone: Dave Knudson
012 On The Up
014 Me & My Guitar: Fredrik Thordendal
016 Album Reviews
018 Back Track: Johnny Marr
020 WIN! LTD MK-600

How to
022 20 Minutes To… Faster lead
024 Riff Of The Month: The Clash –
Should I Stay Or Should I Go
026 Getting Started With… The minor
pentatonic scale
028 The TG Guide To Effects: Compression
030 What The F? More rhythms

Features
032 Rig Tour: Feeder
036 Avenged Sevenfold
042 The Complete Blues-rock Lesson
058 Joe Satriani 05
062 Best Affordable New Gear For 2017

036 Learn to PLay

066 Jam Track: Prog
Avenged 068 Classic Track:
Alice In Chains – Them Bones
sevenfold 074 Open-mic Songbook:
Hozier – Someone New
076 The Turnaround: Albert King

068 090 tG unPLuGGed

Alice in squier 084 Martin Harley
chAins JAzzmAsTer 086 Rockschool: The Beatles – Let It Be

Them bones tHe Gas station

088 Start Me Up
090 Squier Affinity Jazzmaster HH
094 Shergold Masquerader
096 Taylor Academy 12e
098 The TG Test: Retro Solidbodies
104 Group Test: Blues overdrives
106 Ernie Ball Ambient Delay
108 Fix Your Guitar

114 The Playlist: James Alex

April 2017 ToTal GuiTar

 Monitor
people ✪ news ✪ noise

FiT For
The Fishman Fluence pickups
are the headline addition to
the new Corona

a ’KinG
Fret-King unveils new Corona
with Fishman Fluence pickups
e know what you’re

W
thinking: you’ve seen
Fret-King’s take on the
quintessential double-
cut outline before, so
what’s new? Three of
the most cutting-edge pickups on the
06 market, that’s what. The Trevor Wilkinson-
pioneered brand has once again partnered
with Fishman to bring its active Fluence
pickups to Fret-King models, but this time,
they’re a whole lot more affordable; the
Corona you see before you is £749. Bearing
in mind a set of Fluence single coils alone
would set you back over £300, plus the
guitar’s top-notch Wilkinson hardware, it’s
a lot of alder-bodied, hard-rock maple-
necked electric for the money. Let us take
you deeper into its wealth of features…
Photography: Joby Sessions

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

 FirSt LooK
people ✪ news ✪ noise

07

uP close
1 Pickups
These Fluence pickups
offer two voices: true
single-coil output, and
a hot yet hum-free
overwound tone,
accessed via a push/
pull tone knob

2 Hardware
wilkinson’s wV6sB
bridge and e-Z lok
machine heads promise
to keep this baby in
tune no matter how
wide your bends or deep
your divebombs

3 rechargeable!
A built-in battery pack
provides power to the
pickups, and it’s charged
via a mini-U sB cable –
three hours of charge
provides 250 hours of
playing time!

april 2017 ToTal GuiTar

 Monitor
people ✪ news ✪ noise

gear
scene
Your month in guitars
Co-bay-n
Kurt Cobain’s Hagstrom
Blue Sparkle Deluxe was
auctioned for charity on
Ebay. It was owned by the
late Nirvana frontman
from late 1992 until his
death in 1994, after which
Courtney Love gave it to a
close friend before it ended
up with collector, Nathan
Fasold. Nirvana tech Earnie
Bailey originally converted
the right-hand guitar for
southpaw Kurt.
A portion of the proceeds
from the sale will go to
Transition Projects –
giving life-saving and
life-changing assistance to
08 some of Portland, Oregon’s
most vulnerable residents.

gear

Vai’s Legacy
When Steve Vai needed a
portable alternative for his
signature Carvin Legacy
amp in compact carry-on © ddp USA / Rex / Shutterstock
luggage dimensions, the
company’s response was
this Legacy Drive Preamp
pedal (a hefty $499). It’s comebacK
packing four gain stages

with 12AX7 tubes into its
metal chassis with the full
preamp circuit and tone
stack from the 100-watt
amp. The drive channel’s
presence control adjusts
the ‘edge’ of your sound;
from warm thickness up
to more cutting tones.
When Now
John Mayer
eleasing a signature PRS amp and guitar – including what his guitar fans really want; a Trio
R that very few of us can hope of affording is
all very well, but we can now at least say
the John Mayer musical comeback is fully
underway. His world tour kicks off in the
performance with bassist Pino Palladino and drummer
Steve Jordan. And in addition, Mayer has already
released the first two four-song EPs from his The Search
For Everything project, and will be release one EP a
US in March, hitting London’s O2 Arena on 11 and 12 month for the rest of 2017 to create a 48-song collection.
May for shows that will include electric and acoustic sets When Now

ToTal GuiTar APRIL 2017


© Austin Hargrave
live
hrh BLues
ans of the new generation of blues-rock artists Dan Patlansky and Finnish slide supremo Erja Lyytinen
F won’t find a better summit of talent in the UK
this year than this weekender at Sheffield’s O2
confirm this is an international showcase. King King and
Ten Years Afer will headline and we recommend Gary
Academy. Young bucks Aaron Keylock and Laurence Moore fans check out Simon McBride, too.
Jones will fly the British blues flag but South Africa’s When 15 and 16 April
live
MaLLory
knox
s the Cambridgeshire
A band storm back after
three years with third
album, Wired, guitarists Joe
Savins and James Gillett are
itching to return to touring.
“We’re really excited to get
back out on the road and play
some new songs,” James tells
us. “Me and Joe have had a
total gear overhaul too since
the last campaign so our rigs
are sounding the best they’ve
ever sounded.” They’re also
bringing Fatherson and
Lonely The Brave along, and
this will be your last chance to
see the latter live for a while.
When From 20 March
scene
people ✪ news ✪ noise
don’T Miss…
The best guitar
events this month
The Magpie salute
When 12-14 April
Rich Robinson and Marc
Ford’s new 10-piece band
will be playing their solo
songs and Black Crowes
classics during a four-night
stand at Fulham’s Under
The Bridge venue. Crowes
alumni Sven Pipien also
features on bass.
09
The Who
When 30 March and 1 April
Roger Daltrey and Pete
Townshend will perform
their 1969 rock opera
concept album, Tommy,
for the first time since 1989
for these acoustic special
shows. It will be in aid of
the Teenage Cancer Trust,
of which Daltrey is patron.
© Shervin Lainez Trinity Mirror / Mirrorpix / Alamy Stock Photo Barrie Wentzell
hendrix’s Flat
When Now
With the 50th anniversary
of Are You Experienced?
this year, it’s an even
better reason to make a
pilgrimage to Jimi’s old flat
in Mayfair that’s been
restored to look as it did
when he lived there.
handelhendrix.org
APRIL 2017 ToTal GuiTar
 Monitor
people ✪ news ✪ noise
10
Dave has been a
faithful pRs user for
over 15 years now
five minutes alone
Dave KnuDson
The Minus The Bear guitar wizard talks jetlagged gigs,
dashed baseball dreams and bitter Boogie baggage…
I got my first real six string…
“The first guitar I got was a used Hohner
acoustic something or another that was like 50
bucks. I saw the video for One by Metallica and
I was like, ‘Okay, I suck at baseball, I have to do
something else… Mom, can I get guitar
lessons?’ [laughs]. The first electric guitar I got
was a Cherry Red Kramer that was almost like
a little Strat knock-off. So it had a white
pickguard and all that, but it was Kramer –
because back then that was the stuff!”
“I suck at baseball, I have to do somethIng
else… mom, can I get guItar lessons?”
ToTal GuiTar april 2017
Hot for teacher…
“I went through various stages of taking guitar
lessons. At first I took them for a year just to get
used to it and then I had different teacher, who
was one of the ones where you bring in a tape
and he’d figure out the song and show you how
to play the riffs. So I’d bring in a tape with like,
Slayer and Soundgarden, and then he’d be like
‘What is this?!’ because he was this old dude!
But he’d figure it out for me and write it down
in tab, and I’d kind of go from there.”
We are the Romans…
“The first real band I was in was Botch! But the
first four or five years we were just dorks in
high school who didn’t have anything better to
do. We were absolutely atrocious! We’d have
one song in the set that was a weird ska song,
and then there was one that was us trying to be
a metal band, and then we’d do a Helmet
cover… It was horrible music!”
Boogie nights are always the best in town…
“As soon as Botch broke up I sold my original
[Mesa/Boogie] Dual Rectifier. I just wanted to
get rid of all that stuff – it kinda felt like it was a
lot of baggage. So, I sold it to Brian [Cook], our
bass player [now of Russian Circles], and he
ended up selling it to some Botch superfan on
eBay, who lives in some Eastern European
country… don’t even know which one! [laughs]
So that’s one I regret – at the time I was just
bitter about that band so I wanted to exorcise
the demons by getting rid of all the stuff that
reminded me of it. Not that I would use it much
these days, it’s just a piece of my history that
I wish I still had around so I could plug in and
play through it if I wanted to reminisce and
get all nostalgic!”
But I’m lost
without you…
“Aside from a guitar
and an amp, the Line
6 DL-4 is essential
to do the looping
and sampling side of
things, because
that’s a very unique
part of my sound,
and I almost try to
use it as a different
instrument.”
They make beer commercials like this…
“My worst gig was probably one of the very
early Botch European tours. We had just flown
in that day from Seattle and the first show was
in Mannheim, Germany. We probably hadn’t
slept, the crowd didn’t understand what was
happening… we would just play songs back
to back to back without any breaks, so I think
people thought that we were playing a
25-minute song… and they were naturally
Photography: Will ireland Daniel Boczarski/redferns via Getty images
kinda dumbfounded! So, I’d brought over two
guitars, right? And I was probably jet-lagged
and angry about something, but then during
the set one of my guitars stopped working…
and so I threw it around my back and picked up
the other guitar… but then that didn’t work
either. So I ended up just smashing them
together… and then the show ended! [laughs]”
Minus The Bear’s new album, VOIDS, is out
3 March on Suicide Squeeze
 Monitor
people ✪ NewS
peOple news ✪ NOISe
noise
12
Temples
Bright, bold and innovative, Temples banish doom and gloom
ames Bagshaw
J is the frontman,
guitarist and
producer behind
Kettering psych
pop band Temples. Both of
their albums, including
vibrant second effort Volcano,
were recorded in his bedroom.
“People like Chet Atkins
and Les Paul, the true
innovators, appeal to me more
than anything,” he tells TG.
“You can’t hear them in our
music directly, but from a
production point of view they
changed everything.”
There’s a fearlessness to
Temples’ own endeavours.
They produce a boisterous
ToTal GuiTar april 2017
psychedelic emulsion that
appeals to tonal glass-
swillers, vinyl crate diggers
and fans of Tame Impala-
esque warped melodies alike,
but they’re still not afraid to
slaughter some holy cows.
“It’s easy to be a purist,”
says James. “But if [Atkins or
Paul] had our technology, it’s
ridiculous to think that they
wouldn’t use it. We like to
blend the two worlds.”
James takes this melding of
the analogue and digital to
“There’s noThing wrong wiTh hi-fideliTy – as
long iT doesn’T sound like pop Tripe!”
interesting places: layering
sine wave effects to create
tape-like sounds, changing
timbres by manipulating
recording speeds in a DAW, or
splitting his Gretsches –
including a 60s Tennesseean
and a White Falcon (“Because
it’s rude not to…”) – through
a delayed stereo amp set-up
to give it double-track-style
width. As a result Volcano
makes for a rich and - more
FOR FANS OF Tame Impala, Jacco Gardner HeAR Certainty
importantly – contemporary
listen. At once nuanced and
yet still big, bold and melodic.
“It was important for us to
make something that stood
up against other [modern]
music,” concludes James.
“Not because we fear it, but
because you can embrace it
from a production point of
view. There’s nothing wrong
with hi-fidelity – as long it
doesn’t sound like pop tripe!”
 oOnN tHE
THE UP
people ✪ NewS
peOple news ✪ NOISe
noise

BruTus BlaCk Foxxes

Post-punks making the brutal beautiful Gut-wrenching grit-rockers paint it black
elgium’s Brutus are the results in scale and space, as he industry is rife with and a trio with deft dynamic ear.

B product of a broad but

heavy back catalogue of
influences, combining
blustering punk, black metal beats
and reverb-clad post-rock tones.
Guitarist Stijn Vanhoegaerden is
the elastic centre that binds these
dynamic elements. His butterfly-
in-a-hurricane approach is
channeled through a ’74 Gibson
Les Paul Deluxe Goldtop, a 50-watt
Marshall Plexi reissue and a few
slapback and reverb pedals. It’s a
simple set-up but one which
evidenced on their electrifying and
appropriately-titled debut Burst.
“I love Johnny Marr’s playing,
how much melody he brings to the
songs,” says Stijn, prompted on
the dichotomy of his influences.
“Every Smiths riff sounds like it
should be played by five guitar
players, then on the other hand
I like Joe Strummer – because all
you really need is three chords!”
FOR FANS OF Refused, les Savy Fav
HeAR All Along
Justin Hollar
T beige and vanilla,” says
Mark Holley, frontman
of Exeter’s Black
Foxxes. “Bands are chomping at
the bit to step into the ordinary,
and I wanted to change that.” The
three-piece are certainly hard to
ignore, recalling Manchester
Orchestra and Brand New with a
bit of Radiohead’s introverted,
uniquely-British weirdness.
Last year’s debut I’m Not Well
was a line in the sand, showcasing
an endearingly earnest songwriter
Mark conjures his palette of gritty,
evolving distortions from a
modded Manson MA Classic
(with TV Jones and Manson
MBK-1 pickups), plus a Fender ’68
Princeton and Vox AC30. “I just
have them all running at the same 13
time,” comments Mark. “Its
delicious.” TG heartily agrees.
Catch it for yourself when the band
tour with You Me At Six in April.
FOR FANS OF Manchester Orchestra
HeAR whatever lets You Cope

Joe Pearson

peaness
wHO Chester trio, with guitarist Carleia
“Balla” Balbenta
SOuNdS lIke Addictive DIY indie-pop with
warm humour and flesh-hungry ear worms
GeAR Fender Telecaster Thinline, Roland
JC-120, Boss SD-1 & TR-2
Consuumer
wHO Noisy Hereford two-piece, with guitarist
peTer silBerman
wHO The Antlers’ frontman goes solo
Joe Walsh SOuNdS lIke A minimalist, delicate guitarist
SOuNdS lIke In Utero chugged by Drenge and effectively exploring silence and space – rock’s
vomited onto the pavement outside Spar final frontiers
GeAR Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster, Carlsbro GeAR 2004 Les Paul Studio Baritone, 1960s
TC60, Way Huge Echo-Puss Giovanni Classical, 1960s Fender Pro Reverb

FOR FANS OF Courtney Barnett, Swearin’ FOR FANS OF wet Nuns, Melvins FOR FANS OF The Antlers, Jeff Buckley
HeAR Same place HeAR Shattered Fruit HeAR karuna

april 2017 ToTal GuiTar

 Monitor
people ✪ news ✪ noise
me and my guitar
mÅrten hagström
MeShuggah
Mårten deals with
arthritis on tour using
this unique version of his
M8M signature model by
the Ibanez Custom Shop
1
1 “I first noticed a problem with
my shoulder a couple of years
back at a German festival – me and
someone got into a wrestling fight
in a corridor… he fell on top of me
and I busted my shoulder. But
14 I didn’t get it checked. I usually
work out at home so I just worked
my way through it, but then when
I busted my other shoulder and
tore the AC [acromioclavicular]
ligament I started overusing this
one and I had to go and see the
doctor because it hurt so much.
I had an x-ray and he told me,
‘You’ve got arthritis and it’s pretty
bad.’ From there on it’s been rehab.
But it’s not a big deal. When I’m
playing, sometimes it’s worse, but
I’m 45 and we’ve been on the road
for a lot of years – your body takes
a beating. I expect this to happen,
I’ve just got to handle it right.”
2
2 “This is one that I had Tak
[Hosono, Ibanez Master
Builder] from the Ibanez Custom
Shop make for me with my
shoulder in mind. The Custom Shop
guys are amazing. For them to do
a guitar can take a while, but they
made it happen in two months.”
ToTal GuiTar april 2017
3 “This is not the usual 29.4-inch scale, it’s a
28-inch. It’s alder like my standard M8M,
but shorter, and he hollowed it out [in places].
He really didn’t tell me how but he’s done stuff
inside the body – it’s lighter. You lose a bit of the
baritone thing but it’s not a major change as
far as a live setting is concerned, it’s not going
to show. It’s just going to feel different. For me
playing stuff like [plays the clean arpeggiated
part from Meshuggah’s Future Breed Machine]
it’s pretty long and as it’s the last song of the
set, you’re usually pretty tired, too… so that
inch and a half makes a shit load of difference.
It doesn’t feel an inch and a half – it feels
like ukulele to baritone because it’s so
much more in your hand. It kind of
makes sense to sacrifice a little
bit of tone to have playability
when you’re hurting.”
4
4 “We always have locked
nuts and fine tuners,
whichever way we choose to do
it, because it just wouldn’t work
in a live setting otherwise. We
hammer away and I’m pretty
rough with my guitars.”
3
5 “The Lundgren [M8] pickup
is a representation of what
the guitar is; it’s very all-round.
It doesn’t really freak out in any
one frequency. It doesn’t have
a lot of low end punch, it doesn’t
really sit with that EMG active
kind of top end, it doesn’t have
the power of an old DiMarzio, .
But it represents the guitar
because it’s pretty linear – it
doesn’t boost in a lot of areas.
If you put it in a bad guitar it’s
not going to sound as good, but
when you have a balanced build
that sounds good acoustically
5
it’s going to be clearer. And the
way you can play with all this
distortion going on… it’s not a
dynamic guitar tone, but
these pickups make it so.
Because you can play the
instrument – it doesn’t
translate shit you don’t want.”
 Monitor
people ✪ news ✪ noise

albums
Mallory KnoX
Wired

B
ritish rock is in a good place right now,
thanks to a generation of guitar bands
including Lonely The Brave, Lower Than
Atlantis, Twin Atlantic, Deaf Havana, and of
course, Mallory Knox. For their third album
they’ve focussed on their upbeat anthemic
tendencies, which will no doubt pay dividends
live. Bassist and songwriter Sam Douglas’s
vocal interplay with frontman Mikey Chapman
gives this band a distinct dynamic and it’s been
allowed to shine here. Joe Savins’ chiming
Photography: Jimmy Hubabrd

layers with James Gillett’s are still a driving

force too – and the guitarists haven’t caked the
sound in programming like some do at this
stage in the game, letting Mallory Knox’s
musicianship do the talking.
16 David Hands

Mastodon download Falling In Love

emperor of sand
It was on 2011’s The Hunter, that truly
came of age as songwriters; vocal
melodies became more central to the
stories, while ideas from the various
members were filtered concisely and
wisely, without ever compromising
creativity. It also allowed Brent Hinds and
Bill Kelliher’s classic rock melodics to
bubble closer to the surface. Emperor Of
Sand continues to build on this foundation.
There’s a few left turns, too – but they
make sense. Show Yourself has a QOTSA
leanness to it, Ancient Kingdom finds Troy
Sanders singing its majestic chorus over
church bells with a Live And Dangerous-
sized solo from Hinds thrown in for good
measure. He and Kelliher are really on KXM
their A-games with lead and riffs here -
taking us on a journey into fire on Jaguar
scatterbrain
God and going super-size anthemic for

It’s their strongest in terms of vocal
dynamic and there’s a sense they’ve
really fine-tuned the compositions in
pre-production – making bold transitions
between meters and the towering Brann
Dailor-sung choruses in Roots Remain and
Steambreather seem effortless.
the last album i bought…
martin harley
ryan adams heartbreaker
Photography: Joby Sessions
Clandestiny. For an album concerned with
death lurking in its conceptual shadows
it’s wonderfully life-affirming; Mastodon
are still very much alive and kicking as one
of our generation’s greatest rock bands.
Rob Laing
download steambreather
K
XM, the supergroup featuring George
Lynch, Dug Pinnick and Ray Luzier, were
unable to tour their excellent 2014 debut,
but nonetheless they’ve found time to put
out a follow-up. Written as they recorded,
Scatterbrain certainly has a fresh feel that is
both to its benefit and detriment. Breakout
starts with a monstrous Lynch groove, but
descends into a messy jam that could have
perhaps benefited from a little more time
for refinement. Big Sky Country again brings
a massive riff but we’re treated to a soaring
solo and neck-cracking riff-fest to see us out.

“i’ve had it in different
forms so i’ve re-bought it,
revisted it. i’ve always
liked his songwriting, but
i’ve been in a phase of
listening to him recently.
live at Carnegie hall, too…
he is incredible on his own
with a guitar. it’s that
combination of acoustic
and vocal. on paper it’s
easy, but it’s really not.”
More stellar work from Lynch and co. Let’s
hope they get to tour it this time.
Rich Chamberlain
download Big Sky Country

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

exCeptional | exCellent
Brent CoBB
shine on rainy day
C F
ountry music now seems to fall into two
camps; pop music with a pedal-steel
tagged on, and artists writing songs that
has the integrity and authenticity continue the
lineage of American folk music. Thankfully,
Brent Cobb falls into the latter, and if you
recognise the Cobb name, it’s because he’s the
cousin of Dave – the Nashville producing ace
who has worked with Chris Stapleton and Jason
Isbell. He does a fine job of capturing songs
driven by acoustic and well placed phased
electric guitar to conjure the peaceful easy
feeling of the seventies. Brent’s already found
success in Nashville as a songwriter and this is
a superb collection of songs that blend James
Taylor vibes with genuine southern charm.
Rob Laing
download Black Crow
art of anarChy
the madness
A P
OA had a difficult start, with Scott Weiland
seemingly disowning his role on their
debut before his passing. Now they’ve
teamed up with former Creed man Scott Stapp,
another singer who’s faced his demons, and it
sees them reborn. Stapp lends intensity and
sincerity to the heavy rock provided by Ron
‘Bumblefoot’ Thal, Disturbed bassist John
Moyer and guitar and drum-playing twins, Jon
and Vince Votta. They sound much more like
a unit than their debut, with 1000 Degrees, No
Surrender and Won’t Let You Down especially
concise and hooky with Thal reeling out an
expressive solo on the latter. A surprisingly
strong turnaround against the odds.
Rob Laing
download No Surrender
| good | for fans of | poor
Wille & the Bandits
steal
our albums in and Wille Edwards’s power
trio have certainly put the miles in to earn
themselves a formidable live reputation.
They’re an interesting proposition; bonding
Deep Purple dynamics with the lap-steel
groove of John Butler on opener Miles Away.
Rhythm section Matt Brooks and Andrew
Naumann are integral to the engine room;
whether forming the surprisingly Dire
Straits-esque bedrock for Scared Of The Sun or
grungey driving force of the political Atoned.
Classic rock fans will appreciate the 70s
swagger in Hot Rocks and 1970, but the drama in
Crossfire Memories and earthy anthem Living
Free shine brightest here, catching a breath to
best showcase the band’s chemistry.
David Hands
download Crossfire Memories
Creeper
eternity, in your arms
erhaps the most-anticipated British debut
album in recent years, Eternity, In Your
Arms sees Creeper build on the stellar
work put in by the band’s slew of pre-album
EPs. Black Rain’s mid-tempo punk and the
breakneck Poison Pens provide a stunning
one-two opening barrage of Bad Religion-
meets-AFI blows. The superb Misery brings
the pace down in spine-tingling fashion,
allowing Ian Miles and Oliver Burdett to slow
a more stripped-down side to their playing,
before Down Below brings the tempo back up.
The brooding I Choose To Live Is an anthemic
closer befitting what feels like a big album
from a soon to be huge band.
Rich Chamberlain
download Misery
ALBUMS
people ✪ news ✪ noise
live
Live,
Volume 2
gary clark jr
W e’ve often found ourselves reaching for
Gary Clark Jr’s first live album before
his first major label release; where Blak And
Blu felt caught between two worlds, Live laid
bare the reputation that was earned on the
Austin scene, and that instinctive edge to
his playing that proves he is a bluesman for
the ages. Because the stage is where this
music really comes alive, the follow-up
lends a rawer feel to the slickness of recent
album The Story Of Sonny Boy Slim. The set
choice doesn’t scale the heights of volume
one’s energy but The Healing’s impassioned
message takes on a more intimate turn
here, as does a starker slide reading of delta
blues standard My Baby’s Gone compared to
his earlier versions, segueing into show-
stopping fuzz monster of a closer, Numb.
Rob Laing
17
reissue
The Great Cold
Distance – 10th
Anniversary
Deluxe Edition
katatonia
T here’s no doubt that the 2006 seventh
album from the consistently impressive
Swedish progressive metallers is one of
their best, and heaviest, too. And this
four-disc hardback package is the ultimate
edition; rounding up the record’s B-sides
– which are easily up to the standard of the
album and well worth a fan’s time with
Unfurl showcasing the band’s trippy,
mellower side at its most sublime. Included
in this deluxe edition is also the special
one-off performance of the album in
Bulgaria with the Plovdiv Philharmonic
Orchestra who have also played with
Paradise Lost and Opeth. They certainly add
to the atmosphere of some songs – July and
In The White in particular. It’s just a shame
the gig wasn’t filmed too, but the 5.1 mixes
of the album and gig will make this a
desirable package for audiophile fans.
Rob Laing
download My Twin
april 2017 ToTal GuiTar
 Monitor
people ✪ news ✪ noise
Marr has used a variety
of guitars in his career,
but favours Jaguars
and Jazzmasters
these days

back track
18

A guitArist’s guide to the Artists you need to know

Hear it!
Johnny Marr Listen to the tg
Johnny Marr playlist
on spotify
When Johnny Marr informed The bit.ly/tg291marr
Guardian in 2013 that he had
“invented indie”, nobody was arguing.
On four thrilling albums with The start with
Smiths, the melodic shimmer of his
fretwork was a tonic to the 80s shred
The Queen Is DeaD (1986)
The SmiThS
scene and the starting pistol for a new

breed of guitar hero. Since the
seminal Manchester band split in
1987, he’s grown into the genre’s elder
statesman, acclaimed as both a solo
Words: henry Yates
1
By 1985, The Smiths were darlings of the rock press, but Marr fretted
that only a “serious piece of work” would cement their place in history.
Recording at Surrey’s Jacob Studios, the pressure was showing. Marr’s
weight dropped to seven stone as he fuelled round-the-clock sessions
with brandy and cocaine, but this was their finest hour. On the epic title track’s
feral howls of feedback, the bereft acoustic lament of I Know It’s Over and the

artist and trophy guitarist for Modest bittersweet jangle of The Boy With The Thorn In His Side, Marr’s guitar had never
Mouse, The Cribs, among others. Here packed such emotional punch, and when we arrived at suicide-pact singalong
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, classic status was beyond doubt.
are six of his best… Download: The Boy With The Thorn In His Side

ToTal GuiTar april 2017


then try
haTful of hollow
(1984)
The SmiThS
2
It was only a rag-bag of radio sessions,
but Hatful Of Hollow outsold The Smiths’
damp-squib self-titled debut, and
captured the band’s live muscle, too. Marr was
masterful on the glistening sevenths of Heaven
Knows I’m Miserable Now, the aching fingerstyle
of Back To The Old House and the doomed lilt of
Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want. But
it was How Soon Is Now? that announced him as
far more than a jangler – with the guitarist and
producer John Porter feeding the rhythm part
through four Fender Twins and manually
controlling the tremolo to create that juddering
swampscape. This supposed stopgap is now
regarded as the pick of their early run.
Download: How Soon Is Now?
worth a spin
we were DeaD
Before The shIp
even sank (2007)
modeST mouSe
5
Marr flew to Portland in 2005 for a trial
with Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock
(“He’s a pusher of buttons,” the guitarist
reflected. “He was interested in getting
ferociously drunk, and playing at each other at
incredible volume…”). Initiation passed, Marr
supplied sharp-elbowed riffs to counterpoint
Brock on the likes of Dashboard and We’ve Got
Everything. “I took it as a triumph for alternative
music,” noted Marr when the album topped
the US charts. “Music like ours didn’t get to
number one in America…”
Download: Dashboard
don’t miss out
MeaT Is MurDer (1985)
The SmiThS
3 The SmiThS
Marr remembers the band “firing on all
cylinders” as they recorded at Liverpool’s
Amazon Studios, and the guitarist caught
the sparks on his first self-produced album.
Morrissey was at his bristling best – skewering
targets from meat-eaters to local headmasters
– and Marr showed a tougher side to his guitar
palette, too, with the gunshot licks of Nowhere
Fast, the terminal-velocity What She Said and
Rusholme Ruffians’ chunky rockabilly clatter.
For better or worse, there was even an unlikely
funk workout on Barbarism Begins At Home,
while a lovesick fanbase were catered for by the
bereft lilt of That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore: the
perfect soundtrack for holding a wilted bouquet
on an ex’s doorstep in the pouring rain.
Download: That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore
wild card
Ignore The
IgnoranT (2009)
The CribS
6 I
Some were sceptical when Marr was
unveiled as stunt guitarist for the chaotic
Yorkshire indie-rockers in 2008, and
Ignore The Ignorant didn’t always take full
advantage of his melodic flair and touch. Still,
there was attitude in spades, with Marr tearing
into We Were Aborted, displaying slide chops for
Cheat On Me, punishing the whammy bar, and
even pulling out some wild lead breaks for City
Of Bugs (“A solo either has to be heartbreakingly
tuneful,” he noted, “or aggressive and trippy”).
The guitarist was gone by April 2011, leaving
behind a handful of memorable tracks, and a
question mark over what might have been.
Download: We Were Aborted
back track
people ✪ news ✪ noise
also recommended
sTrangeways,
here we CoMe (1987)
4
The Smiths’ final burst of brilliance.
Marr went into Bath’s Wool Hall studio
with a fresh ethos – fewer overdubs, less
jangle, more space. Some songs didn’t feature
any guitar at all, but the balance was redressed
by the arpeggiated dazzle of Girlfriend In A Coma
and the dovetailing licks of Stop Me If You Think
You’ve Heard This One Before. Morrissey and Marr
both cited Strangeways as their favourite Smiths
album, but before it even hit the shelves,
the exhausted guitarist had split. “With
everything that had happened,” he wrote in his
autobiography, “I just thought, ‘Fuck you’.”
Download: Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard 19
This One Before
avoid!
BooMslang (2003)
JohnnY marr &
The healerS
f recent solo efforts, The Messenger and
Playland, were qualified successes,
back in the early 2000s, Marr
floundered wearing the frontman’s hat
on an album that sailed mighty close to
landfill indie. There was serviceable
fretwork and solid hooks on highlights
that include Something To Shout About and
Down On The Corner, but too much of the
material passed in a fog of ugly riffing
and generic Britrock vocals. It was
strange and depressing to hear indie
guitar’s great originator and icon
sounding like an also-ran.
april 2017 ToTal GuiTar
 competition

WIN! Worth
LtD £1,379

mK-600
signeD by miLLe
20

petrozza
get your hanDs on the Kreator
main man’s signature moDeL

G
erman thrash-metal mahogany body with three-piece
pioneers Kreator have just maple neck and 24-fret rosewood
released their 14th album, fingerboard, plus the Military Green
Gods Of Violence, and to Satin finish, and guitars don’t get
celebrate, we have an LTD much more playable than this.
MK-600 Mille Petrozza signature To be in with a chance of winning
model – signed by the Kreator this signed metal beast, plus a copy
frontman himself – to give away. of Gods Of Violence, simply answer
Designed around a modified the following question correctly:
version of ESP’s classic Arrow
outline, Petrozza’s LTD packs a What is the name of Kreator’s
streamlined body built for getting 1985 debut album?
heavy. It’s one seriously well-spec’d a) Endless Pain
beast, too, with a Floyd Rose locking b) Incessant Rain
vibrato, Grover tuners and Fishman c) Everlasting Gain
Fluence humbuckers, which offer
multiple voices. Enter at bit.ly/tg291ltd
Pair that with a neck-through- Competition closes on
body design at 24.75-inch scale, 6 April 2017

T&Cs: The competition is open to UK entrants only. Under 18s must obtain parental consent to enter this competition and be able to demonstrate this to Total Guitar’s reasonable satisfaction. Answers must be received
between 28/1/17 to 06/4/17. The winners will be selected at random from all correct entries received between the relevant dates and will be sent the prize free of charge. Each winner will be notified within 28 days of the
closing date and will be required to give details of a delivery address in the UK to which the prize should be sent. By entering this competition, you consent to us using your personal details to send you information about
products and services of Future and Faith Guitars that may be of interest to you. For full terms and conditions, please go to: www.futurenet.com/futureonline/competitionrules.asp

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

 how to

what you will learn

Improve your speed with hammer-ons and pull-offs
Increase your alternate picking speed
Get faster as you shift around the fretboard

22
20 minutes to…

Faster lead licks

Hasten your hammer-ons and perk up your picking with TG’s rock-style soloing exercises
t doesn’t matter what kind of blues and more, so every guitarist can expect to your fingers start to ‘remember’ the required

I music you’re into, improving

your playing speed is a central
part of the learning process,
especially when it comes to
tackle a speedy line occasionally.
With that in mind we’re looking at some
technical exercises designed to help you
improve your speed; they also double up as cool
movements. Accuracy and timing are
important so resist any urge to play faster than
you really can – you’ll ingrain ‘bad habits’ that
are difficult to undo later. Practise slowly with
soloing. Far from being the preserve of rock licks in their own right. The process is a metronome to monitor your progress and to
shredders such as Joe Satriani or Paul Gilbert, simple; start slow and speed up a little at a time. challenge you, before jamming along with TG’s
fast licks are found throughout rock, metal, This is to develop muscle memory, whereby audio tracks.

Blues scale legato TRACK 8

œ bœ œ
q = 60-100

& 44 .. œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ..
œ œ œ œ
4
1 3 1 1 1
3 1 3 3 1 3

6 6 6 6

T . .
A
B
. 5 7 5
7 5 7
5 7 5
7 5 7
5 8 5
7 5 7
5 8 5
7 5 7 .

The blues scale is great for most styles of music, from rock and folk to metal, jazz and, obviously, blues. In this exercise we’re focusing on using hammer-ons and pull-offs
(aka legato). Aim to keep the notes even in length and volume, and play the picked notes at the same volume – this will help as you get faster.

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

 20 minutes to faster lead licks

pentatonic Runs TRACK 9

As with the first exercise, move your whole hand from the wrist in order to move the string, and lock the side of your first finger knuckle under the neck for a stable grip. You ll be

œ œ
playing bass strings here so pull the string down towards the floor to adjust your vibrato.

# œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
& 44 .. œ ..
3 3 1 1 3 3 3
1 1 1 1 1
3 1 3 3

T . 12 .
. .
12 12
A 12
14 12
14 14 12
14
14 12 14 14 12
14
B
⇥ ≤ ⇥ ≤ ⇥ ≤ ⇥ ≤ ⇥ ≤ ⇥ ≤ ⇥ ≤ ⇥ ≤
Our Slash-inspired E minor pentatonic (E G A B D) lick will help you tighten up your alternate picking. Four notes are played for every musical pulse – so play down-up-down-
up to keep time. Focus on timing that first downstroke bang on the beat and the rest should fall into place. Try not to emphasise downstrokes or you’ll start to lose time.

shifting up and down a stRing TRACK 10

œ œ
& 44 .. œ 1
3 œ 4 œ 1 œ 2 œ 4 œ 1 œ 2 œ 4
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ..
6 6 6 6

T . .
A
B
. 7 9 10 9 10 12 10 12 14 9 10 12 7 9 10 9 10 12 10 12 14 9 10 12 .
⇥ ≤ ⇥ ≤ ⇥ ≤ ⇥ ≤

The focus of this exercise is shifting up and down a string, in each case playing a three-note phrase with hammer-ons before moving. Concentrate on making sure your 23
first finger lands on the first note of each new phrase with good timing and allow your other two fingers to follow.

shoRt BuRsts of speed TRACK 11

#4 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
& 4 .. œ œ œ œ œ œ ..
3 4
4 1
1 2

T . .
A
B
. 9 10 12
9 11 12
9 10 12
9 11 12
9 10 12
9 11 12
.
⇥ ≤ ⇥ ≤ ⇥ ≤ ⇥ ≤ ⇥ ≤ ⇥ ≤ ⇥ ≤ ⇥ ≤ ⇥ ≤
This lick will help you with those tricky solos where you have to play in quick bursts. Our exercise starts off with a four-notes-per-beat pattern before a fast burst of six
notes at the end. Use alternating downstrokes and upstrokes for a picking challenge or treat the exercise as a simpler fretting workout by using hammer-ons.

Practice Plan
1. One minute: Play through the first exercise at a slow, easy tempo
2. One minute: increase the tempo by five bpm and repeat
3. One minute: increase the tempo by another five bpm and repeat
4. One minute: increase the tempo by another five bpm and repeat
5. One minute: increase the tempo to your maximum limit and just go for it
Remember, you’ll see improvements in your speed provided you focus on gradual tempo increases rather than blasting away too fast.
Listen closely as you practise and if five bpm is too much of an increase, try two or three bpm.

neXt MOntH 20 minutes to better whammy bar skills

april 2017 ToTal GuiTar
 how to

whAT you will leArn

Two basic open chords
Offbeat timing
riff of the month Punk-style downstrokes

The Clash

Words: Phil Capone Photography: Michael Brito / Alamy Stock Photo

Get the tone channeL Overdrive

24 Should I Stay Or Should I Go

gain baSS Mid TrebLe reverb
he Clash were one of the so make sure that you don’t hit the idle

T most successful and most

influential of all the 1970s
punk bands. Should I Stay
Or Should I Go? was
originally released in September 1982,
and provided the band with a deserved
Top 20 hit. Ironically, the song was
then re-released in March 1991
(following the success of a Levi’s TV
commercial) and shot straight to the
top of the UK charts a full five years
after the group had disbanded.
The song opens with a simple but
effective two-chord riff using open D
and G shapes. Guitarists Mick Jones and
Joe Strummer play tight and clean here,
strings on the D chord and that you
mute your guitar out all together during
the gaps between the chords. Play firm
downstrokes for an aggressive punky
sound. The riff starts on a rest – not a
problem in the unaccompanied intro
but once the band gets going it’s vital
to remember to come in on the offbeat
immediately after the kick drum.
Cheat sheet…
Appears at: 0:00-0:08
Tempo: 114bpm
Key/scale: D major
Main techniques: Downpicking/offbeat
chords/strumming
Mick Jones and Joe Strummer were
valve amp devotees and their big sound
is the result of them being cranked and
played loud. They played a Les Paul and
a Telecaster respectively and this blend
of humbuckers and single-coil pickups
provides both weight and treble bite.
Select a bridge pickup and raise your
amp’s treble if your guitar is sporting a
humbucker. Lower the treble and raise
Les Paul (Humbucker)
the bass if you have single coils.
Should I Stay or
Should I Go the ClaSh: the SInGleS
Music and lyrics by Mick Jones and Joe
Strummer © 1982. Universal Music
(Piano, Vocal & Guitar, 125pp, £16.95 ref. HL00307035)
This folio features all the singles by The Clash arranged for
Publishing Limited.
Worldwide reproduced by kind
Piano, Vocal and Guitar featuring guitar chord symbols,
boxes and complete lyrics for every song. Includes hits such
permission of Music Sales Limited as ‘London Calling’, ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go’ and ‘Rock
All Rights Reserved. International The Casbah’.
Copyright Secured. Available from: www.musicroom.com

Intro TracK 12

j j j j .
œ nœ œ
q =114 D G D G D

## 4 œœ œœ œœ œ œ œ œ œœœ ‰ g ¿¿ ¿ ¿ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœœ ‰ Œ
& 4 ‰ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœœ ggg ¿¿¿ ggg ¿¿¿ ‰ œ œœœ œœœ œœœ œœ œ œœœ Œ
œœ œœ œœ œœ œ ggg ¿¿ g g œ œœ œœœ œœœ œœ œ
œ œ œ œ
g ¿¿¿ g ¿¿ gg ¿¿¿
w/slight distortion

g
g
gg ¿ gggg ¿¿ ggg ¿
2 2 2 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 2
T 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 3 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 3 10 13 15
A 2
0
2
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
2
0
2
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
B 2
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
3

This tab shows the intro riff, from the start of the track until the band come in at 0:08. The muted notes in bar 2 and the lead fill in bar 4 only occur here in the intro, but you
can continue to follow the chords into the verse – which follows the same pattern before changing to g and F chords later on.

ToTal GuiTar APril 2017

 how to
What you WIll learn
The notes of the A minor pentatonic scale
Two A minor pentatonic scale shapes
Two musical lines based on the scale
GettinG
Started With…

The minor
penTaTonic
scale
Try out this essential scale and unlock the soloing tricks
of some of the greatest guitarists of all time
“Crikey, we’re getting into the technical
stuff now! What on earth is the minor
pentatonic scale?”
Don’t worry about complicated terms – music
is full of them, and many simple concepts have
potentially confusing names. Thankfully, the
26 minor pentatonic scale is easy to play and to
understand. It’s the most important scale in
rock and blues based guitar music. Players such
as Eric Clapton, Tony Iommi, Slash, Mike
McCready, Jack White and a host of others use
the scale at the core of their solos.
“Great! I’d love to play like some of those
guys. But bear with me here… what is a
scale and what does it mean if it’s ‘minor’
and ‘pentatonic’?”
Good question! A scale is a group of notes
played one note at a time in order of pitch,
either up or down. There are lots of scales and
every one has its own character – perfect for
different musical moods. We’re looking at a
minor scale, which, just like minor chords, has
a dark, moody sound. Pentatonic simply means
there are five notes (‘penta’ means five; ‘tonic’
refers to tones or notes).
Shapely fiGureS…
Two A minor pentatonic scale shapes
The A minor pentatonic scale uses A, C, D, E and
“okay I think I understand all that, but how G notes. The guitar repeats notes across the
do I start to use the scale in my playing?” fretboard, allowing you to play the scale in
Take a look at the first scale box on the right. different neck positions – that’s why there are
two shapes to try out. Learn the shapes first,
It shows the notes of the A minor pentatonic
then turn your attention to our musical licks.
scale in an easy to play shape. The lowest note
is A, and that’s why it’s called the ‘A’ minor A D G E
pentatonic scale. The dots show you where the
C
notes of the scale are on the fretboard. Play one
note at a time starting on the low A. E A
C D G
“there are more than five notes though.
how come?”
The five notes are A, C, D, E and G. After G, you
reach another A note and start the scale again, A minor
higher in pitch. Each A note is marked with a pentatonic scale
black dot so you can see where the scale
restarts. Red dots are other notes in the scale. A D G C E A
5
“It’s really easy to play actually. What
should I do next?” E A D
Try playing the first riff tabbed below. It uses C G C
notes from the scale you just played. As you get
the hang of it, try making up your own ideas.
When you’re confident with the first scale A minor
shape, try the more difficult second shape and pentatonic scale
the lick we’ve tabbed to go with it.

Easy opEn position lick TRACK 13 HigHEr up tHE frEtboard TRACKs 14-15

œ œ ~~~
q =100
A5

& 44 .. & 44 .. œ
A5

œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ .. œ œ œ Œ ..
1/4

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
~~~
. . . 5
.
1/4

T T
. . . .
1 8
A 0 2
0
2
0 2 2
A 7 5
7 5
B 0 3 B 7 5
8 5

Fret with your first finger at the 1st fret, your second finger at the 2nd fret and This lick is spread over four frets, so it’s a good opportunity to practise using all
your third finger at the 3rd fret. All notes are from the A minor pentatonic scale. four fretting fingers. This kind of lick sounds great in rock and blues.

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

 how to

The TG Guide To effecTs

Get the most out of your pedals

1 2
Sustain
This will add more
compression to your signal, so
cranking it up will make the
effect more noticeable both in
terms of feel and sound
Compression
Attack
The attack control governs
how quickly the compression kicks
in – it’s measured in milliseconds.
Setting it for a longer time will allow
the early stages of your picking to
remain uncompressed
Meet the unfairly maligned Swiss Army
Knife of your pedalboard
ompression: it’s on gain (this adjusts the outgoing volume

4
2 C every recording you hear,
but remains something
of a mystery to many
musicians. First, let’s
look at what it does. A compressor
reduces the dynamic range of your
signal, squashing the louder peaks
and forcing your guitar sound to a
28 more consistent level. When the
sound goes above a certain level (the
1 threshold), the volume gets turned
down. Studio compressors do this with
3 a range of controls – threshold (how
much of your signal will have
compression applied to it), ratio (how
much compression is applied) attack
(how quickly the compression kicks
in after reaching the threshold level),
release (how quickly the signal level
returns to normal after being
compressed), output or ‘make-up
of the signal to make up for the gain
reduction applied).
Guitar compressor pedals come in
a few different forms, some with
simplified control layout, others with
studio-style controls. The MXR Dyna
Comp, for example, features just
output and sensitivity controls, while
others offer control over the attack, or
a blend control to mix your effected
signal with your dry sound.
With a few different settings, you
can use a compressor as a complete
problem-solver: boost your volume,
add pick attack, fatten your sound, get
more sustain and a lot more!
whAt you’LL LeArn
How a compressor pedal works
Different uses for compression
Common compression settings

you can use a compressor to boost

your volume, fatten your sound,
get more sustain and a lot more!

3 Level
The level control is the
overall output. As compression
reduces gain, you can make up
for it by turning this up
4 Blend
Some pedals split your signal,
and allow you to blend in the
uncompressed signal with the
compressed one using this control

ToTal GuiTar april 2017


must try…
MXR dyna coMp £79
If you’re new to compressors, this pedalboard
staple is a great starting point. And with only
two controls to play around with, it will ease
you in to learning about the finer points of
compressing your sound. That said, the lack
of controls does limit your options if you
want really to get your hands dirty – but for
no-fuss compression, it’s the go-to.
Recommended settings
6 6
8
ATTACk CompreSSion ouTpuT
squashed-Town funk
To get a really snappy clean funk sound, run
a single-coil pickup into your compressor.
Set your attack time to a longer setting so
that the initial power of your pick doesn’t
get compressed. Then, apply a liberal
amount of compression to the rest of the
signal. Try not to boost the output too high
to avoid pushing your amp into overdrive
Boss cs-3 coMpRessoR Tc elecTRonic
susTaineR £79 hypeRGRaviTy £109
Perhaps the most instantly recognisable
compression pedal around, the humble CS-3
is used by guitarists from pub bands to arenas.
It’s been popular for so long because it gives
you a good trade-off between flexibility and
being overwhelmed with too many options.
5
3 7
10
ATTACk CompreSSion ouTpuT
iMpRessoR BoosT
You can use your compressor as a boost for
different sections of the set simply by
tweaking a few settings. In this case, you
don’t really need to apply a lot of actual
compression to your dry guitar signal. Keep
the squash to a minimum, but punch up the
output. This will give you a few extra dBs of
gain to stomp on when you need it
effects guide
29
This comp includes different modes to replicate
TC’s studio box wizardry, plus a ‘stompbox’
inspired compressor sound. You get standard
controls, but there’s also a blend control for
mixing the compressed and original signals.
The only compressor you’ll ever need.
7
10
ATTACk CompreSSion ouTpuT
susTain iMpRoveR
If you want more sustain for solos, but don’t
want to add more gain, use a compressor.
Set your attack to a longer time to avoid
squashing your notes. With your picking
intact, ramp up the compression to increase
the sustain on the tail of your note. Set your
output to either match your uncompressed
tone, or add a little extra for a boost
april 2017 ToTal GuiTar
 how to what you will learn
How musical rhythms work in 4/4 time
How long each note you play should last
What the F? Three musical examples with various rhythms

more rhythms ast month we looked at some essential basics of rhythm and how a

Building on last month’s basics, learn

how rhythms are written in music
L four-count is almost certainly at the heart of most of the music you
listen to. However, if you want to tackle funkier and more varied
rhythms you’ll need to look at some new note values. In this lesson
we’ll stick to music that follows a four-count (known technically as
4/4 or ‘four-four’ time), but we’re looking at a wider selection of rhythms. This
notation and played on the guitar can help you read music or serve as a springboard for your own rhythm ideas.

1. long notes: whole notes and half notes TRACKs 16-17

q = 120
These musical symbols tell you how long each note you play
Asus 2 Bsus 2 G6

w
& 44 .. www # ## ˙˙˙˙ ˙˙˙˙ ..
should last. Whole notes last for four beats (so you'd play Play 4 times
just one whole note if you count to four) and half notes last

w ˙

Ó Ó
for two beats. Every note has a corresponding ‘rest’ (a
period of silence).

. .

w h
0 2 0
T
. .
0 2 3
A 2
2
4
4
4
5
B 0 2

In 4/4 time each bar of music has four beats. In bar 1, a whole note fills the bar; in bar 2, two
whole note and rest half note and rest
half notes add up to four beats. You can still count to four to keep time.

30
2. short notes: eighth notes and 16th notes TRACKs 18-19
q = 80
C G

œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
Faster notes are divided into shorter lengths: A quarter note Play 4 times

& 44 .. œœœœ œœœœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ ..

lasts for one beat, an eighth note lasts for half a beat and a

œœœ
œœœ œœœ œœœ œœœ œœœ œœœ œœœ
16th note lasts for a quarter of a beat. You can mix these
rhythms up however you like as long as you get exactly four
beats for every bar.

≈
. .
Œ ‰
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
T
. .
1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

q e x
A 0
2
0
2
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
B 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2

⇥ ⇥ ⇥ ⇥ ≤ ⇥ ≤ ≤ ⇥
3 3 3 3 3 3

This chord progression mixes up quarter, eighth and 16th note rhythms. Notice that
quarter note and rest eighth note and rest 16th note and rest
consecutive eighths and 16ths are 'beamed' together to make it easier to read.

3. dotted notes TRACKs 20-21

q = 98

# 4 œœ .. œ ¿¿ œ. œœ ¿¿
œœœ ...
Bm7

œœœ
A dot placed after any note tells you to increase its time

& # 4 .. œ . ¿¿ ¿ œ œ œ ¿ ¿ .. œœ ¿¿ œ. œ . œ œ
Play 3 times 1/4 1/4
by half. So a dotted quarter note lasts one and a half beats;
a dotted eighth note lasts for three quarters of a beat, and
so on. If this is all a bit fraction-tastic just remember that

¿¿ ¿¿
the notes and rests in each bar of music must add up to

. ¿¿ ¿ . 777 777 ¿¿ 7 7
Œ ‰
four beats.
¿ ¿
7
1/4 1/4

T
. . 7 7
7 7
A 7 7

q. e.
7 7 9 7 9 9
B
⇥ ≤⇥⇥≤ ⇥⇥⇥ ⇥ ≤ ⇥ ⇥⇥ ≤⇥
We’ve used several dotted eighth notes here in this funky line. Dotted eighths last for three
dotted quarter note and rest dotted eighth note and rest
quarters of a beat so you’ll often see 16th notes filling in the gaps.

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

32

ToTal GuiTar april 2017


2 3
feeder
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it – and that’s especially true if
you’ve got as many vintage Fenders as Grant Nicholas
’m old school,” Grant
I Nicholas admits. “There’s a
lot to be said with keeping
with something you know
and having your own
character.” Amen to that. Grant still wears
his 90s values proudly on his sleeve in
Feeder, so there’s no Fractals in sight.
Instead we have drool-worthy vintage
Fenders and a good ’ol pedalboard with
fuzz machines and delay oddities. “I do
Words: Rob Laing Photography: Olly Curtis
use pretty much all of them in a set,” says
Grant, who’s been considering a switching
system. “You have to remember, I’m
trying to cover nine albums. But it is a lot
of pedals – I’m tap dancing sometimes!”
4 are much more versatile
Guitars
1966 fender
Jazzmaster
‘Old BrOWn’
1 “This is Old Brown, the
first Jazzmaster that I ever
got. I part exchanged an
American DigiTech Whammy
for it that I wasn’t really
using much. This guy in
Walthamstow really wanted a
Whammy pedal so I gave him
one and about £300, which
was a pretty good deal! It’s
obviously had a life but
I really like the neck on it – the
big headstock and the square
inlays. The original pickups
say ’66 on the back which
makes sense with the
headstock. I’ve replaced the
bridge pickup with a Seymour
Duncan Quarter Pounder,
which I use on most of my
live guitars.
“I think it was probably
refinished years ago as it’s
a funny colour, like a Tobacco
Sunburst, which is probably
not original. I’ve just fitted
a Staytrem, it’s like the
Mustang bridge. Really, really
good. I’ve got a couple of
guitars with it on now. I used
to buy the Allparts Mustang
rig tour
bridges, but the Staytrems
with better adjustments and
something on the saddle, so
they don’t wobble around.
1967 fender
Jazzmaster
2 “This is quite new, the
first time I’ve toured this
one. It’s been refinished, but
other than the Mastery bridge
I changed recently, it’s pretty
much original. This one has
two Seymour Duncans – the
Vintage one and a Quarter
Pounder. It looks quite new,
and I got it for an absolute
bargain as well – I only paid
£1,700 for it with the
original case. I was lucky.”
1964 fender
Jazzmaster ‘Wales’
3 “Both my [silver sparkle]
1964s have dot inlays.
This is one of my best
sounding guitars, especially
for drop D stuff. All the guitars
are down a step at the 33
moment because I like the
sound, and the album [All
Bright Electric] is down a step,
so I’ve tried to make songs
work. I’m using a capo for
all the standard songs like
Just A Day, Buck Rogers and
Just The Way I’m Feeling.
I like the big fat sound in C#,
it was more a recording thing
at first and you have to make
sure it’s not too low to sing
over but sometimes when you
have a really high song it can
help you a little bit. A lot of
American bands do it to save
their voices. We’re doing an
hour and 40 minute sets
which are the longest we’ve
ever played so it can help.”
1972 fender
telecaster
4 “I’ve just got this baby
back out. This was one of
the main guitars on Silent Cry
because I was using more
Tele on that record. I’ve got a
black custom one that’s in
the lockup, too. I was mixing
it up between Teles and
Jazzmasters. I got it from
where Tommy [Gleeson
apRiL 2017 ToTal GuiTar
 rig tour
16 15
5 6
34
Feeder touring guitarist and former
Slaves To Gravity frontman] used
to work, Vintage And Rare. When
we finished recording Comfort In
Sound, because it was a really big
record for us, our manager said,
‘Go out and treat yourselves to
some guitars’ so I think Taka
[Hirose, bass] bought a 60s Jazz
bass, which is beautiful and worth
a lot of money now. I bought this,
the ’59 Jazzmaster and a 1967
Gibson ES-340 for an absolute
bargain. Three guitars… which
was outrageous really as I’ve never
done it again in my life! I only paid
about £2,200 for this with the
original case. It’s nicely beaten up.
It has an Andy Summers Police
vibe which I really liked about it.”
PedalBOard
JHs suPerBOlt V2
5 “It’s an overdrive. I’m using
this for the track called Eskimo
for the verse sound. It’s kind of on
the edge – like an amp just
ToTal GuiTar april
november
2017 2015
17
14
7 8
breaking up. It’s a really versatile
pedal, and similar to the Blues
Driver. I bought it to do my solo
stuff so I could overdrive the
acoustic a little but I never used it.
If I had more room on the ‘board I’d
put my Pete Cornish pedal on there
but it’s so big.”
BOss Blues driVer
6 “It’s just a really good
all-round pedal and I find
them really robust. They’re great
for that in-between sound. Loads
of bands use these, they’re just
really good. They’re great at that
classic rock sound and you can do a
lot with them.
BOutique tOne Bender-
style fuzz
7 “I bought it on Ebay, some guy
made it. I just took a gamble
on it because I thought it would
be really good if I could get a Tone
Bender in a smaller box without
having to get one made. It’s
actually really close so he’s either
18
13 12 11
9 10
taken the guts of a Tone Bender all of the guitars on the record, too
and put it in there or managed to – I didn’t use any strobe tuners for
replicate it in some way. So it’s a it. They may not be as exact as
backup for my Tonebender and I’ve some of them out there, but
set it on a lower level that I’m using they’re easy to use.”
on some of the new songs.”
mOrley Bad HOrsey 2 WaH
BOss ls-2
line selectOr 11 “My use of it can vary from
track to track. I’m using it
8 “That activates the Tone
Bender because I was a bit
nervous about the old switches.
quite a lot on the song Tender for
sweeping effects with the delays.
I use it on Eskimo a little, for
I’m also driving it a bit more psychedelic rocking out bits. I use it
[with the boutique pedal] so it’s
changing the sound slightly.”
cOlOrsOund sOla sOund
suPa tOne Bender
9 “The settings rarely change
on this. In soundcheck I might
back off the top end a bit because it
does make a difference – it’s really
fierce in some venues.”
BOss tu-2
10 “I’ve got two or three of
these. I’m just used to
them now. I even used this to tune

Grant mods most of
his Jazzmasters with
Seymour Duncan
Quarter Pounders
for slow sweeps, I’m not doing any
wah solos with it or anything like
that. I used to have a standard Vox
one but I found that it’s so hard to
turn the switch off sometimes.
I quite like the fact it’s instant with
this one.”
BOss tr-2
12 “I’ve had this for years.
I use it on the intro of
Yesterday Went Too Soon, it’s really
just set for that but it’s not in the
set for tonight.”
mXr PHase 90
13 “I’ve always had a phaser
on my pedalboard. I just
like them – they’re crazy. I’ve got
the larger control cover there so
I can change it with my foot on
stage. I use that quite a lot when
I’m doing things like Descend,
though we haven’t played that on
this tour. A lot of the early Feeder
stuff had some mad phaser stuff
that was on fast speeds, so you get
that fast, almost synthy, sound.”
“It’s about GettING a Good souNd, oNce you have, as
loNG as you’re Good at rhythm that Is the key”
19
electrO-HarmOniX
memOry man deluXe
14 “This and the Tone Bender
are really key to my live
sound. I just use it a lot for solos,
I’m using it on the vibrato setting
mainly. It’s great for recording,
too. I’ve got some really old
Memory Mans but they’re just too
big and unreliable to take on the
road. They’re proper old-school
sounding, which I why I like them;
that organic analogue sound.”
BOss dd-3
15 “I’ve used this pedal for
years now – since the early
Feeder days – and have a few of
them at home as backups. I really
like the early ones more than the
later [Boss DD delays], they just
sound a bit better to me. There’s
too many options to play with on
the newer ones. The DD-3 is used
as a general delay that I put on if
I feel like it. It does get used a lot,
sometimes in a verse to give it a
little bit of depth.”
ariOn sad-1
16 “It’s started playing up
on this tour for the first
time in 20 years. It was given to
me by Darren who is now part of
our management team. I thought
it looked a bit crap and plasticky.
Plugged it in and thought it
sounded brilliant; it’s got a real
analogue old school sound to it
that does something I love. I did
buy another one of these on Ebay,
plugged it in and it sounded
completely different. They’re
getting hard to find now, and this
is probably 25 years old now. It’s
like it’s alive, every time you plug
it in it’s different… a really funny
pedal. It gets used a lot.”
line 6 dl4
17 “I use it more for the tap
tempo when I want to do
a few trippy things. I don’t use it
much, but it’s a useful pedal to
have on your ’board. It’s a backup
if I have issues with any of the
other delay pedals, too.”
feeder
35
The JMI AC30 has been
a key part of Grant’s
backline for a while now
mXr m133 micrO amP
18 “It’s a little boost, so if I’m
really struggling to hear
myself on a solo I can just hit that.
It’s just like a volume boost.”
amPs
fender deVille 212
& Jmi ac30
19 “Apart from the Comfort In
Sound tour when I had the
Boogie, this has been my set-up
for years with either been a DeVille
or a Twin. The DeVille is adding the
top and bottom with sparkle, then
the JMI is all the dark and
midrange. That is my sound, it’s
quite a full sound, and it’s Feeder’s
sound. It works and I’ve come back
to it. It’s really about getting a
good sound, once you have, as long
as you’re good at rhythm, that is a
key of playing guitar.”
Feeder tour the UK from 24
March. New single, Another Day
On Earth, is out 17 March.
april 2017 ToTal GuiTar
 interview

Bats Out
36

They’ve become one of

The mosT definiTive
hard rock bands of a
generaTion, headlining
The biggesT venues and
Topping charTs around
The world. avenged
sevenfold guiTarisTs
synysTer gaTes and
Zacky vengeance Take
Tg deep inside The very
hearT of The sTage…

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

 interview / avenged sevenfOld
Of Hell
B
ackstage at the
London O2 Arena,
inside a room with
a revolving wall
that leads into a
blue creative suite stacked with
vinyl and magazines, through a
secret bookshelf that opens
into a games room, we find
Avenged Sevenfold guitarists
Synyster Gates and Zacky
Vengeance. The Californian
quintet will be playing their
biggest headline show on these
shores in under an hour – the
first of two nights in the largest
room the capital can afford –
though you would never have
guessed it from their calm,
measured demeanor.
While Synyster thrives on
theory books and virtuososity,
Zacky could be considered the
man holding it all together –
the Izzy Stradlin to Synyster’s
Slash. The pair have a rare
dynamic – one where there are
no bruised egos, and their live
operations are executed with
laser-like precision, on par with
the metal mastery you’d expect
from the likes of Metallica and
Maiden. Along with Slipknot
and Trivium, they stand as one
of few legitimate successors to
that throne. But ask Synyster
or Zacky if they’re indulging in
any excessive rock star tropes
they could easily get away with
if their hearts desired – using a
different guitar for every song,
or blasting through vintage
amps worth more than a house,
for example – and the notion
will be laughed off most
modestly indeed…
Words Amit Sharma
Photography Will Ireland
Have you ever been tempted to
dust off the vintage relics for
your live arsenal and go
full-diva, so to speak?
Synyster: “Maybe I could have
one guitar for every one or two
songs, but it hasn’t gotten that
crazy yet! We’re waiting to get
paid for these shows. The
cheque’s in the mail… classic!
I have a pretty cool guitar
collection at home, there are 10
main guys, I don’t need a fuckin’
hundred of ’em. There’s a ’54 37
Strat, ‘Brownie’, which has a
classic Clapton vibe and I just got
a Les Paul Junior in TV Yellow.
I must admit, sometimes it’s fun
to bust out the old Goldtops
every now and then.”
Zacky: “I prefer to keep my rig
as simple as possible. Syn has
got more of the crazy shit,
I prefer something a bit more
foolproof. I just grew up playing
punk rock guitar, that’s more
my background.”
Your latest album, The Stage,
feels like your most elaborate
offering to date. Is there an
element of snobbery from
some prog fans who wrote you
off as a radio-rock band?
Synyster: “We kinda were a
radio-rock band. We were still
pretty technical, but I think the
prog people hated us because we
didn’t do a bunch of weird time
signatures… which are cool at
times, but I’m more interested in
progressive harmony. We’re
more about other things over
odd timings: orchestration,
composition, horn/vocal
arrangements – that’s where
april 2017 ToTal GuiTar
 interview
we get super weird. I love everything
from Britney Spears to Michael Jackson.
When there’s chaos happening, I want
to sound like that and make people
wonder, ‘What the fuck were these guys
thinking?’ after a closer look at it.”
Zacky: “I remember playing the
Underworld early on, then the Astoria
and getting the biggest backlash from
all the London fans wanting to tear us
down to see if we’re the real deal. So we
said, ‘Alright, we’re not coming back.
We’re cancelling the tour and starting
from the ground up.’ We’ve shown
everyone we are musicians first and
foremost, we’ll produce our own albums
and play The 100 Club. We earned
people’s respect. We’re not the band on
MTV, wearing a bunch of makeup.
We’ve proved we’re the real deal.”

There are some really dramatic tonal

shifts and key changes all over the
album that are almost Disney-like
in orchestration…
Synyster: “My dad always said you can
create your own weather. You can create
your own root notes and superimpose
38 more progressions over them to get this
major/minor tonality with layers of key
changes. I love John Williams, Mr
Bungle, Danny Elfman, Igor Stravinsky,
Maurice Ravel, classical cats and then
jazz guys like Holdsworth. Obviously
photography: Jeremy Danger

you can’t always be crazy, but it’s about

tension and resolution. When you
decipher what’s happening, there’s
whole tone and augmented shit all over
the place. I got into a lot of that stuff on
this record. You need to have some
theory and understand what the fuck
you’re doing. Invent your own scales if
you want. If it’s something you’ve never
heard before, all the better. It will always
lead to something.”
Zacky: “The album is progressive in
nature, but in spirit it’s very punk rock
– about not giving a fuck, doing what we
want to do. Me and [singer] M. Shadows
always send each other books and
articles to read, bouncing ideas. I gave
him something about artificial
intelligence, he sent me a book by Bill
Nye called Undeniable: Evolution and the
Science Of Creation, which really inspired
me to pursue The Stage music video.
Everything an artist does is scary, but we
do it anyway. If someone tries to steer
you off-course, push them outta the
way and get back on course. Never
giving up, that’s what I truly believe all
the greatest bands have done.”
So what have you learned from each
other along the way?
Zacky: “I’ve learned a great deal of lead
techniques from Syn, but I’ve never
taken a formal guitar lesson in my life.
If you told me to play an A chord,
I wouldn’t even know what it was made
of. I don’t even know what’s on my
pedalboard… my tech controls it all.
If I had to write a solo, it would probably
take me all day and sound pretty poor.
But as far as playing what I want, I don’t
think there’s anything I can’t do at this
point. We can read each other’s minds
almost telepathically now, there’s no
doubt about it. We’re really lucky to
have that dynamic.”
Synyster: “I think we come from similar
but different schools of music. Zacky’s a
punk-rocker by nature. Look at his right
hand chug rhythms and shit like that,
he’s got great sensibility. He makes fun
of me all day long for being a guitar
nerd! [laughs] He doesn’t want to do
that. He wants to walk out on stage,
drink as many beers as he can and rock
out. It’s brilliant! With that, you usually
get a shitty player and he’s not. Zacky’s
an amazing songwriter.”
Are songs such as the 15-minute Exist
the product of you pushing each
other’s boundaries?
Synyster: “Definitely! Whenever we
write something over both of our heads,
we take the time to learn and appreciate
it. Even on the harmonies, Zacky loves
pulling those technique things off… he
just doesn’t need to be that himself as a
player. We lucked out in the way our
personalities mesh. The whole band is
that way. One guy is better at business,
the other social media, this or that.
Everyone supplements each other.”

ToTal GuiTar april 2017


Zacky: “The challenge is writing all of
that crazy shit. You should always write
“If I wasn’t in this band
above your skill level. We both do, and
going back to learn old songs makes us
better each time. Our dynamic is a great
thing – with Syn being trained, he
introduced more solos. If I came up with
a lead line, he’d be able to put a dual on
it to make it sound awesome like Iron
Maiden. I asked him how he knew all
that and he explained, ‘It’s just a fifth
above this!’ His natural inclination is
soloing. He’ll be jamming gypsy jazz
backstage, just improvising crazy shit
– he can play on top of anything.”
The flamenco guitar outro to the
opening title track is a great example
of just how well-rounded you are
as musicians…
Synyster: “I don’t really have a
repertoire of flamenco playing! But in
the studio, one of the greatest things is
you can work out the kinks and do your
version of anything. I’m certainly not
studied when it comes to classical and
flamenco, but I still enjoy listening to it.
When you write something like that,
you can fake your way pretty well.
You’ll know if it sucks or sounds
horrible pretty quick!”
Zacky: “There are guitar players in other
bands that I won’t mention that want to
go head-to-head with Syn to show off
their skills against his. If anyone felt
that way about me, it would be like,
‘You’ve already fuckin’ won that battle,
dork… I couldn’t care less so I’ll go hang
with friends!’ To me, it’s all about going
on stage and putting on a great show.
We perform to the best of our abilities,
but the guitar is merely a tool to deliver
that performance.”
What’s been your biggest revelation
while learning guitar – is there
anything that noticeably accelerated
your technical development?
Synyster: “I renovated my style at 19
years old when I came across by Return
To Forever by Chick Corea, which had
Frank Gambale on guitar. Back then we
didn’t have access to much information
so I only knew about legato or alternate
picking. To hear all these notes
happening and so fast… it blew my
mind. So my dad got me this book and
I started learning the pick strokes:
‘Down, down, up? Up, up, down? What
the fuck is this?’ And then the
revelation of economy picking took
place. It took me about two years and
I never felt like a naturally gifted player
interview / avenged sevenfold
I could be a much
better guitar player”
until I got my head around that. I might
suck at tapping, legato, alternate… but
I can play smoothly and acceptable to
my ear using that one technique.
That’s my secret.”
Zacky: “Ultimately, it came when
I started dialling back the distortion.
Early on, you turn it up to 11 and it
masks everything. You think that’s how
it is supposed to sound. But when you’re
playing bigger venues or recording
bigger albums, you have to cut your gain
in half, which forces you to listen and
get tighter. I’ve had the privilege of
watching guys like James Hetfield up
close… listen to how tight his rhythm is
on the crunch channel! If you practice
and aspire to do that, you will. I don’t
think there’s anything that can’t be
achieved without practice… except for
feel, I guess.”
So where do you feel your biggest
weaknesses lie as guitarists?
Synyster: “Legato is definitely the worst
thing in the world for me. I love Allan
Holdsworth but my left hand can’t do it,
it never will. That frustrates the shit
outta me. I’ve studied his playing as
much as any fan, but I’m not as gifted.
And his right hand might not do what
mine does. I’d say my strength lies
composing solos that capture the energy
and spirit of a song. Petrucci once said
there aren’t enough hours in the day to
practice and I agree. If I wasn’t in this
band, I could be a much better guitar
Synester and Zacky
form a super-tight
guitar twosome live
player… but that doesn’t totally make
sense because I’ve worked in studios
with great producers on arrangements,
sometimes almost to a fault.”
Zacky: “My biggest peeve is having to
practise. I get so pissed off when Syn
writes a dual lead that’s slightly out of
my ability and he does on every album!
[laughs] Whenever he suggests them,
I have to say, ‘Dude, I can’t fuckin’ play
that!’ Then he’ll show me and I’ll learn
it. He’d rather practice all day, whereas
I don’t. It’s just a tool to create visuals
and play way too loud. As for musical
perfection, I don’t believe in it. I think
you’re chasing an impossible dream.
Having fun and enjoying it is always
the most important thing.”
There’s a lot of social commentary in
The Stage. How did the political unrest
around the world rematerialise as
sounds coming out of your amps?
Zacky: “As I’ve gotten older, I watch the
news and it feels like the same things
keep occurring. People are going to get
a painful history lesson one way or
another. They’ll either get it in class or
in real-life. It would be nice if people
could see all the warning signs, but they 39
never do. There will always be war and
dictators as long as people allow it.
There are those trying to create
technologies [for the body] to help heal
itself – some of our songs are about
nanobots that can regenerate organs or
cure cancers. Then there are the people
holding up pitchforks because they
think someone fuckin’ stole a job they
never had in the first place. It’s very sad
and unfortunate circumstances. I feel
it’s important to look beyond the future
in a way. Looking at the universe to
understand who we are as people. We’re
a small grain of sand in a sky full of stars
that are innumerable. Hopefully this
will inspire people to realise all the
small shit they worry about day-to-day
is pretty insignificant.”
Synyster: “When you read a book or
watch a film or just talk about
something, it does filter into music.
With Exist, for example, we wanted to
write the soundtrack to the Big Bang
theory. The riffs come easy when you
have a philosophy. It’s the days you
don’t have shit to talk about, the
coffee’s not waking you up, you’re tired
of writing… that’s when it gets tough.”
Avenged Sevenfold’s latest album,
The Stage is available now on
Capitol Records
april 2017 ToTal GuiTar
 interview
1 Stage eSSentialS
Synyster and Zacky walk us through the
rig for their current world tour…
SynySter GateS
1 Schecter Synyster
Custom/Standard
“I’m still using the Schecter
signatures with some
Sustainiacs and Seymour
Duncan Invaders – though
I’ll be switching over to my
new signature pickups, which
just came out and I’m really
excited about. They took a
while to develop, the incredible
people at Schecter helped
make it all happen. There are
little things here and there
that they bring. We designed
our guitars to supplement all
the different sounds we might
2 need. Whenever it calls for
something old-school, these
can do it.”
2 Schecter Hellwin amplifier
40
“I don’t even know if the amps
are even for sale anymore or
what’s going on with that, but
I know I still love them! I’m
really not at a loss with the
Schecter around. We worked
extensively on those cleans so
if I dial back the tone and stick
4 all in, which was fucking brutal
3 guitar tech thought it sounded
ToTal GuiTar april 2017
it on the neck or split it, I can
do a number of things. I play all
sorts of weird styles, we listen
to so much weird stuff and
have done since we were kids.
I sent Schecter an old
Polytone amp to emulate for
my cleans, I wanna play jazz on
that motherfucker, and you
can! As well as that Fender
Princeton sparkly clean, that
all came from what I was
listening to – things like Jeff
Buckley’s Grace. Dude, the
rhythms on that… are you
kidding me? I designed my
gear to get those sparkly,
tones. We love classic sounds,
so it does future, past and
present in one.”
3 Fractal audio axe-Fx II
“I use a Fractal in the loop just
for effects, like backwards
reverbs and delays on Angels.
I really like the harmonizer –
you can do a lot of intelligent
harmonising, like jumping from
a sixth above to a sixth below.
We’re going to play a new song
called God Damn tonight, which
goes from minor back and
forth, so we had to program it
and took forever. I might need
a major third or a minor third
over certain chords. We’re
using 16 different intelligent
harmonizers to pitch-shift. For
the standard harmonies, Zacky
and I cruise up and just do our
thing. But for the harmonies on
a song like God Damn or City Of
Evil, which is full to the brim of
harmonies doing everything,
now we can have solid
rhythms behind it all, instead
of sacrificing anything. We
couldn’t really do that before.”
4 Godin Multiac
“I use the Godin at the end of
The Stage. It was actually
recommended to me by my
friends at Sweetwater. I’m in
the middle of converting one
of my acoustics to nylon and
as soon as it’s ready, I will be
using that.”
5
ZaCky VenGeanCe
5 Schecter Zacky
Vengeance Custom
“My Schecter signature is tried
and true, it’s the one I’ve been
playing since I stage-dived at
our first London headline show
and broke my other guitar.
I needed one for the Unholy
Confessions video and I didn’t
have enough money to buy
one, so Schecter gave me it for
free. I’ve been playing that –
different colours and
hardware – but same fuckin’
guitar since day one.”
6 Jet City amplification
100HDM Head
“I play Jet City amps, they’re
small, Soldano-made amps.
They only cost about 500 or
600 bucks, I’ve never fucked
around with boutique, you
don’t need them to go out and
rule the world. I could never
afford them, either! So I play
one of the cheapest amps on
the market, and it sounds
killer. They sent one out, my
great and so did I. I’ve been
loyal to Schecter, and I feel the
same way about Jet City. The
affordability plays a big part,
I don’t want fans to need to
save for a lifetime to get one.”
6
 The CompleTe

Blues
Rock
Lesson
42

Words Chris Bird, Richard Barrett

Photography Joby Sessions

M
any of the most loved guitarists of all time play
traditional blues mixed up with a hefty slab of
rock attitude. Since Jimi Hendrix tore up the
rule book in 1967, blues-rock has branched out into the
rich varied style we know today. Read on as we look at
the signature playing techniques and guitarists of the
last five decades…

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

 43

april 2017 ToTal GuiTar

 Cover feature
Brit blues legend
Peter Green has
inspired generations
of guitarists

1960S
The oRiginS
of BlueS-RoCk
The 60s brought us Jimi Hendrix,
Cream, the Marshall stack and fuzz
distortion. Read on and learn the
styles of the early legends
44

I
n the 60s a new breed of
young bands discovered
the blues styles of the
generation before and
busied themselves reinventing
and revitalising it with loud
guitars and attitude aplenty.
The hub of this activity was
centred in London, though, of
course, it spread beyond the
boundaries of the UK to the
US, where the movement
became known as the ‘British
Invasion’. The far-reaching
impact of Peter Green, Eric
Clapton, Jeff Beck and
more can be heard in
each subsequent
generation of aspiring blues
based guitarists. Clapton and
Green’s solos were often
minor pentatonic and blues
scale based, but their
individuality lies in ‘phrasing’
– a gift for melodic invention
delivered with their own
instantly recognisable lyrical
styles. Focus in particular on
The blues scale
string bending and vibrato as
This versatile scale will help you play more than just blues
you try our tab examples.
The minor pentatonic scale (turn to dissonant sound – the blues scale is
p26 for more info) is arguably the used extensively in rock, metal, folk,
most common scale in rock and country and more. We’ve shown the

Sound Advice blues. One simple change turns this

essential run of notes into the blues
D blues scales here.

For a typical late 60s tone keep your scale, as shown here. Despite the
amp’s gain light with just a hint of break
HeAr it!
blues moniker – with its edgy, Cream - Sunshine Of Your Love (riff)
up. Back then, without the benefit of
preamp gain controls, players like eric 10
Clapton and Jimi Hendrix would max out 1 4
the volume and eQ on their amps so
that a combination of power amp and 1 4
photography: ray Stevenson/rEX/Shutterstock

speaker distortion was achieved – and

at truly awe inspiring volume levels. 1 3 4
Modelling amp users can of course
emulate this without causing an 1 3
undue breach of the peace. Use fuzz
distortion for dirtier solo sounds and 1 2 3
dial in spring reverb for ambience.
1 4

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

 backing Tracks
Backing track mp3s for all of our tabbed examples can be
found on your Guitar skills CD. To access them, simply insert
the disc into your PC and navigate to the folder marked ‘mp3s’
The ulTimaTe blues-rock lesson

let’s get Rolling 60S BlueS-Tinged pop-RoCk lineS TRACK 22

3
j
q =156 q q =
q q

# ## 4 nœ œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ nœ j
B7
1. 2.

nœ œ œ œ œ
1/4
E D A D

& # 4 .. œj œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ . . j œ nœ œ œ nœ
œ œ . . œ
1/4

nœ œ nœ œ œ j
œ nœ w
let ring throughout 1/4

. . .
1/4
0 0 3 0
T
. . .
3 3 0 3 0 3 0 3
A 2 4 4 4 2 0
2 0 2
0 2 4 4 2 0
2
0 2 4 4 2 0
2 0
B 2

Taking a John Lee Hooker-style open position riff and mixing in a bit of e minor pentatonic scale (e G A B D) gives us this bluesy pop-rock vibe exemplified by the Rolling stones,
the Yardbirds and many others. Go easy on any vibrato and keep those bluesy quarter-tone bends subtle – it’s more of a feel thing than an actual pitch to bend to.

gReeny Blues BlueS meeTS Ballad wiTh lyRiCal phRaSing TRACK 23

Dm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
œ w œ œ œ
œ œ œ
j
œ
& b 44 ‰
q =120 œ
J .. ‰
slow
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ rake

.
BU
10
T
.
10 13 (15 ) 10 13 10
A 10 12

B
1

Bb Bb
˙~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. 2.

.
˙~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ˙~~~~~~~~~~~
C A

. œ œ ˙~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ œ œ œ j
.
..
3
œ

&b ‰ ‰ J Œ Œ
45

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.
BU
T
.
10 10 11 (13 )
A 10 12 10
14
10 12

B
3

Adding a little more gain and a lot more reverb, this solo phrase calls to mind some of Peter Green’s revered work with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and Fleetwood Mac.
Tone and phrasing give this line its impact – the rake into the high D note in bar 2 is a prime example of how Green could make one note really sing.

cReamy tones Riffing and lead lineS ComBined TRACK 24

q = 120

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~

1.

##4
A C D A

j
& # 4 œ n œ. œ j œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ
j

nœ œ j œ œ
œ
œ œ œ
œ

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~

T BU BD

A 2 0 2
0 2
0
2 4
2 4 2
4
2 2 4 (5) (4) 2
4
B 0 0 0 3
1

### ~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~

2.

.. œ œ œ œ
E

& œ nœ œ j œ œ œ j
œ nœ œ.
œ œ œ œ nœ J J œ œ
œ œ

let ring
~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ œ ~~~~~~
T .
.
3 3 3 3
A 2 0
0 2
0
2 0
2 4 4 4 4 2 0
2 2
0

B 3
0
4

With a dirtier amp tone here, this Cream-era Clapton-style line shows how he and many other players would seamlessly combine riff and solo lines in the blues-rock
style. Take care on the slide in bar 2 – it’ll help with the position shift, but you’ll need to be accurate.

april 2017 ToTal GuiTar

 Cover feature
Jimi-style Rhythm paRTial ChoRdS foR SmaRTeR RhyThm playing TRACK 25

œœ .. œœ œ œœ œœ. œ
q =76

œœ .. œœ # œ œœ œ œ
1. 2.

œ .. œœ # œ œœ œ œœ œœ. . # œ œ œ œ
C G A E B 1/4

4 œ . œ œ œ j œ j œ
œ #œ œ œ œœ œ # œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ
& 4 œj œœ œ . œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œœ œ œ œœ .
1/4 1/4

#œ #œ œ œ
j
œ
.
1/4
7
T
.
8 8 8 8 10 10 10 7 1/4

A
1/4
5 5 5 5 7 7 7 9 7 7 9 9 9 11 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 7 7
5 5 5 7 5 7 7 9 9 7 9 9 11 11 9 11 9 9 9 9 11 9 9 9 11 9 7 7 9 7
B 5 7 7 5 7 9 11 11 9 11 9 9 9 7 5
7

Mixing blues with soul, this Jimi Hendrix-style folky chord progression also covers the territory between rhythm and lead guitar, picking out lots of little melodic details before
breaking into full solo mode in the final bar. Use a clean tone with a hint of breakup using your guitar’s neck pickup.

1970S
a golden eRa
of BlueS-RoCk
46 The explosion of the 60s led to a golden
era as bands such as Black Sabbath,
Led Zeppelin and more became popular

W
ith bands such as Led
Zeppelin and Black
Sabbath on the rise, by
the 1970s the distorted
guitar was taking centre stage.
Dirty tones still came mostly from
cranked Marshalls – later aided by
the development of the master
volume, meaning guitarists could
overdrive the preamp with a gain
control to give a different flavour
of distortion without splitting as
many ears. It wasn’t all about gain
though; bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd
and Allman Brothers Band dialled
in cleaner ‘hot country’ tones. Dire
Straits took a similar approach. On
the technique side, Deep Purple’s
Ritchie Blackmore brought rock
solid timing and impressive speed
picking to the table and in 1978
Van Halen’s debut album rewrote
the rule book for rock guitar,
influencing scores of later players.

Sound Advice
Many sonic elements of the 60s endured into
the 70s, but you’re free to add more gain to
beef up riffs and make fluid soloing easier.
Despite totally different sounds, Les Pauls and
stratocasters arguably ruled the blues-rock
photography: andre Csillag/rEX/Shutterstock

roost. Generally, use a single coil-equipped

guitar for cleaner, funky or country-rock tones,
or humbuckers for a fatter more distorted
sound. Many bucked these trends though, so
do experiment with your gear. echoes,
Few guitarists have
phasers, flangers and chorus pedals became
been as influential as
more widely available as the decade wore on.
Led Zep’s Jimmy Page

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

 The ulTimaTe blues-rock lesson

PuRPle, Black oR Blue? haRd-RoCk-STyle poweRChoRdS TRACK 26

j3

q =129 q q =
q q
D/F #
~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~
1. 2.
Am7 C5 D5 G5 D5

& 44 œœ œœ .. œœ
3

œœ ˙˙ œœ ˙˙ œœ ˙˙
3

œœ œœœœœ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ ¿ œ
# œœ
~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ PM PM PM PM

.
PM PM PM PM PM PM

T
.
3
A ¿
5 5 5 5 5 5 7 0 2 7
5 5 5 5 5 5 7 0 0 7 7 5 5
B 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 3 5 5 0 2
3
0
2
5 5 7 7
8

Jumping straight in about halfway through the decade highlights how far techniques developed in a few short years, with powerchord riffing and palm-muting giving a chunky,
defined typical 70s vibe. Having said this, don’t push the gain levels too hard or you’ll end up with more of an 80s sound.

stRait uP Rock CounTRy and Clean Tone RoCk lineS TRACK 27

Bb
q =125

œ
1. 2.

˙ œœ œ ˙˙ œœ œ œ œ œœ œœœ œ ˙
Dm C C A

4 gg ˙˙ ˙˙ œœ
‰ Jœœ ˙˙
œ œ œ ˙
3

b œ ˙ œ œ .. œœ # œœ ‰ œœ ˙˙
3

& 4 g ˙ œ œ œ
J

T gg 10 .
g 10 .
11 10 8 10 8 6 6 8 8 6 5 5
A 12
9
10
9 7
8
7
8
7
8
9
10
9
10
7
8
6
7
6
7 47
B

not all players were looking for more gain from their amps – this typical hot country kind of tone highlights just how diverse blues-based styles were becoming in the 70s.
our lick is achieved by playing fingerstyle through a moderately cranked – but reasonably clean – Fender combo with a dash of reverb.

Boogie Riff BlueS Boogie Riff in RoCk TRACK 28

q = 90

##4
A D/A A D/A A D/A A A D/A A D/A

& # 4 œœœ œœ œœ œ
œœ
œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ
1/4

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ. œ œ. œ œ. œ œ. œ œ. œ œ. œ œ. œ œ nœ œ nœ œ. œ œ. œ œ. œ œ. œ
T 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 2 3 2 3
A 2
2
2
4
2
2
2
4
2
2
2
4
2
2
1/4
2
2
2
4
2
2
2
4
B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
3
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

1. 2.
D5

### œ
D/A D/A A C D

&
œ œ œ .. œ nœ. œœ œœ œœ œœ
nœ œ œ œ œ n œ. œ œ
j
œ œ œ œ
œ œ
T .
A
B
7
5
0
7
4
0
7
4 . 2
2
5 7
5
5
5
5
7 9
7
7
9
7 9
7 7
7

Backtracking a little to earlier in the decade, this Faces/Free-style convergence of blues, rock and soul favours a lightly overdriven bridge pickup tone. Most important is
the staccato feel of those open fifth string bass notes in between each chord. It’s essentially a variation on the traditional rock ’n’ roll-style boogie riff.

april 2017 ToTal GuiTar

 Cover feature
Blank Pages BlueS SCale RoCk Riffing TRACK 29

q =76

& 44
N.C. 1/4

œ. œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ
1/4 1/4

œ. œ œ œ #œ œ œ. œ œ œ #œ œ. œ œ œ #œ œ
T 1/4

A
1/4 1/4
7 5 7 5 5 7 5
B 0 0 0 5 6 7 0 3 0 0 0 5 6 7 7 0 0 0 5 6 7 0 3

1. 2.
C5 D5 G D
œœ œœ # œœ ..
& œ. œœ œœ œœ .. œ. œ ‰ œ œ œ.
œ #œ œ J
œ. œ œ œ œ. œ
T .
.
8 7
A 7
5
5
7
7 7 7
7
9
7
7
B 0 0 0 5 6 7 0 0 0

The 70s was the decade of the guitar riff and our example demonstrates how blues, rock and funk combined to give a previously unheard element. Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin
and Deep Purple were among the many purveyors of this genre. notice how the bass is joining in on the act by playing in unison with the guitar line.

48
THe 70S waS THe decade of
THe Riff: wHen blueS, Rock
and funk combined To give a
pReviouSly unHeaRd elemenT

Power uP! x x x x x x x x x x x
Learn the chord shapes
that give rock its
chunky sound
1 1
The ‘powerchord’ shapes
shown here omit crucial
notes that give major and
minor chords musical light 3 3 4 3 4
and shade. Instead they
have a solid, chunky sound G5 G5 G5/D
that’s ideally suited to
heavier music such as hard 1 BASic powercHord 2 tHree-note 3 root note on top
photography: Fin Costello / Staff/ redferns

rock and metal. It’s perhaps Just two notes form the basic powercHord Ditch the lowest note of the
no surprise that powerchord powerchorc shape, but pick This ‘full’ shape has a fatter three-note powerchord for this
riffs gained popularity as carefully to make sure all the idle sound, perfect for a longer classic ‘inverted’ powerchord
amplifier technology gave strings stay silent. This shape is ringing sound or just more shape as used in Deep Purple’s
more and more gain. great for a thin, but solid sound. weight generally. Smoke On The Water.

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

 The ulTimaTe blues-rock lesson

1980S
BlueS-RoCk
BRoadenS ouT
In a new era of virtuoso playing and
high-production values, blues took a
new direction in the 80s

S
ome say traditional Halen’s influence spawned a
playing was lost in generation of virtuosos, with
a sea of technical Joe Satriani and Yngwie
virtuosity, studio Malmsteen both citing Jimi
production and spandex in the Hendrix as a massive
80s, but blues was at the heart influence, too. Going against
of the emerging New Wave the grain, Guns N’ Roses’
Of British Heavy Metal (aka rougher, less production-
NWOBHM). Acts such as Judas heavy debut, Appetite For
Priest, Saxon and Iron Maiden Destruction, proved that the
took a heavier turn compared combination of Les Paul and
to 70s pioneers Black Sabbath Marshall amp still had all the 49
and Deep Purple. Eddie Van attitude you could need.

Sound Advice
By the mid-80s guitar rigs were more eddie Van Halen
high-tech and stereo set-ups providing rewrote the rulebook
wide-panning modulation- and delay-soaked for guitarists
lead tones were commonplace. The Boss Ds-1
distortion pedal provided drive tones for many,
and Marshall JCM 800 and Mesa Boogie Mark
series amps gave more drive than ever before.
Metallica’s James Hetfield and Whitesnake’s blueS waS aT THe HeaRT of THe
emeRging new wave of bRiTiSH
John sykes scooped out their amps’ midrange
for era-defining metal tones. The decade saw
the rise of the ‘superstrat’ – most typically
based on a strat-shaped body and equipped
with high output pickups and locking vibratos. Heavy meTal in THe 80S
maiden voyages RoCk- and nwoBhm-STyle downpiCking TRACK 30

q =167
1. 2.

#
E5 C 5/E A 5/E C 5/E A5

& 44 .. œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ œ œ œ œ
.
œ . œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ
œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœœ œœœœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœœ œœœœ
photography: Sipa press/rEX/Shutterstock

. .
PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM

T
A
B
. 9
7
9
7
9
7
9
7
9
7
5
3
5
3
2
0
2
0
2
0
. 5
3
5
3
2
0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 5 3 2

Alternating quickly between muted bass notes and crunchy powerchords became an essential riff technique for every rock and metal guitarist by the early 80s. Use
downpicking for an energetic metal vibe, using your pick hand to carefully mute out the open fifth string while the chords ring out.

april 2017 ToTal GuiTar

 Cover feature
satch-elicious inSTRumenTal RoCk-STyle lead TRACK 31

Em7
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ D/C
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
w ˙
q =120

#4
j
w ˙
œ œ .. œ
j
œ œ
3 œ 3

& 4 Œ Œ Œ œ
œ 3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
T .
.
10 12 8 10

A 7 9 9 7
10 9
B
1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. 2.
Em7 D/C D/C

# w ˙ w ˙ œ œ œ .. œ . œ ˙ ˙
3 Scoop
j
J
3

& Œ œ œ Ó
œ

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.
Scoop

T
.
7 8 7 [7] 7 8 [8]
A 9 7
7 9

B
5

Fast forwarding to later in the decade, this high-gain, reverb-soaked melody is reminiscent of some of the instrumental guitar albums of the 80s. Tricks such as sliding
down to a note are simple yet effective and locking vibratos meant more guitarists than ever were ‘scooping’ into notes and ‘dive-bombing’ out.

thRash it out aggReSSive meTal-STyle Riff TRACK 32

q =161
Bb5 Bb5
1. 2.

#4
50 E5 A5 G5 A5 G5 E5 A5 A5 G5 A5

& 4 œ nœ œ nœ
..
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œœœœ œ œ
bœ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œb œ œ œ œ œ œ œ # œ n œ œ œ œ œ œœ œœ œ

.
PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM

T
A
B
9
7 8 7 5 7 5
9
7 8 7
. 7 5 7
0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 5 0 0 3 0 0 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 5 0 0 0 10 9 8 7 5 0 0 3 5

With its rapid fire bass notes, this rhythm technique became more and more refined as the decade progressed, the likes of Metallica and Megadeth setting the trend on
their way to being the biggest thrash bands of all time. The key? e, of course! The open e string is used for its weighty sound and ease of use around the fretted powerchords.

sounds of The rich and famous

Use these techniques to ape the slick sounds of the 80s guitar virtuosos
1 rHytHmic viBrAto 2 wHAmmy BAr pHrASing 3 tApping
Vibrato is the fluctuation in pitch that you As locking vibratos became commonplace, so Brought to the masses by Van Halen, tapping
create by wobbling the string when you fret too did a host of related techniques. Simply is an easy way to play fast. Tap at the 12th fret
a note. Sync the speed of your vibrato to the dipping the bar as you lead into a note (known with a finger on your pick hand, then hammer
rhythm of the music for a tidy pro sound. as a scoop) gives a fluid, vocal-like quality. on or pull off at the 5th and 8th frets.

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

 The ulTimaTe blues-rock lesson

aPPetite foR instRuction funky haRd RoCk-STyle Riffing TRACK 33

##4
q =83

& # 4 Œ nœ ..
N.C.

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ #œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ
T .
A
B
. 0 2 0 2 3 4
2
4 3 2 0 2 3 2 0
20 2 0 2 2 0 2 2 0 2 2 0
1

A/C #
###
1. 2.
B5 A5 D5 D5 E5

& œ
.. œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ #œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ œ

T .
A
B 0 2 0 2 3 4
2
4 0
4
2
2
0
. 7
5
7
4
7
5
9
7
2 0 2 2 0 2 2 0 2
3

This sleazy, funky Led Zeppelin-on-steroids riff typifies the sound of many 80s sunset strip ‘hair metal’ bands. It’s a 16th note rhythm that needs to be played with down-up-
style picking to keep the timing steady and the groove funky. Take care not to rush the tempo and remember to set your gain a little lower than the thrash riff.

1990S
51

going BaCk
To The BlueS
As many returned to blues and a
raft of new bands took inspiration
from the golden era, the 90s saw a
boom in blues-rock

H
aving travelled far relationships with retro rigs.
along the road Gary Moore and Eric Clapton
towards high tech both returned to blues,
rigs, high-gain tones releasing seminal albums (Still
and virtuoso technique, the Got The Blues and Journeyman)
photography: pOp-EYE/ullstein bild via Getty images

90s saw a reaction in the and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s

opposite direction – guitarists
looked back to early blues and
to the rock legends of the 70s
golden era. Many who had
forsaken classic instruments
for pointy headstocked
SuperStrats were rekindling
tragic death in 1990 surely
inspired many, too. Elsewhere,
younger grunge bands such as
Soundgarden and Pearl Jam
Gary Moore gave blues
continued to innovate, while
a boot up the rear with
drawing from classic rock and his seminal 1990 album
blues influences.

april 2017 ToTal GuiTar

 Cover feature

photography: rEX/Shutterstock
Sound Advice
Though many bands took tonal inspiration
from the 60s and 70s, dynamic range was
wider in the 90s, encompassing some of that
80s high-gain heft – particularly apparent in
Kim Thayil’s intense playing with soundgarden.
Gary Moore kept a more traditional sound, but
also with tons of gain – usually courtesy of a
Marshall 100-watt head and an Ibanez Tube
screamer. Jeff Healey and Kenny Wayne
shepherd both used medium to high gain
tones with their strats, as did Pearl Jam’s Mike
McCready, and all three are keen wah users.

Some of THaT 80S HigH-gain

HefT waS paRTiculaRly appaRenT
in kim THayil’S inTenSe
playing wiTH SoundgaRden Kenny Wayne shepherd
brought sRV-tinged
tones to the 90s and 00s

52
in a Jam RoCk and gRunge CRoSSoveR TRACK 34

q = 84 1. 2.
E Esus 4 E Esus 4 E Esus 4 G A Dadd 11 C

# ## 4 œ. œ œ
n n œœ ... œœ œœ
.. n n œœ ..
nœ ˙
& # 4 œ œ œ. n n œœ¿ .. œœ œœ œœ ˙˙ n œœ ..
œ
œœœ
œ
œœœ
n œœœ ˙˙
1/4

œ ˙ œ œ ˙˙
1/4

œ œœœ œ œœ œ ¿ ¿ n œ
œ. œœœ œ. œœœ . œ œ. œ œ œ ˙
T
3 3
. 5 5 3

.
3 3 3 3 1
A ¿ ¿
1/4 1/4
0 0 2 0 0 0
2 2 2 0 0 2 4 4 2
B 0 0 2 4 0 0 2 4 4
0 2
4 0 0 2 4 0 0 0
0 5 5 3

Using a medium gain tone and a humbucker equipped guitar, this blues-tinged grunge style riff requires a light touch and subtle palm-muting, saving the full on attack only for
the chords at crucial points. Remember to keep the dynamics nice and clear – exaggerate the difference between loud and soft where you can.

yeP, still got em! fieRy melodiC BlueS lead TRACK 35

b
œ œ~~~~ j ~~~
q.= 89

œ . œ œ œ œ~~~~
1.

œ . œ œ œ œ~~~~ ~~~~
2.

j . œ .
œ œ
. œ œ œ œ . œ . œ œ œ # œ~~~ œ. œ œ œ œ ˙
Fmaj 7 Esus 4 Bm7 5

œœœ . œœœ œ
Am Em/G E E

. œœœ . œœ
j j

& 12
œ
.. J ..
œ

8 ‰

~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~

to bridge p/u

. .
BU BD BU BD BU BD BU BD BU BD BU BU

T
. .
13 15 15 (17 ) [17 ](15 )13 12 13 13 (15 ) [15 ](13 )12 10 12 12 (13 ) [13 ](12 )10 12 (13 ) (12 ) [12 ](13 )(12 )10 13 15 (12 ) 13 12 15 (17 )

A 14 13 14 14

This simple but carefully played solo line is typical of the contemporary sound Gary Moore was producing when he returned to playing blues in 1990. His highly melodic style
means a purely pentatonic approach won’t cut it – we’re using the A natural minor scale (A B C D e F G) for its emotive and tuneful qualities.

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

 Cover feature
in a sPin funk- and Soul-Tinged RhyThm TRACK 36

q = 96

### 4 . .
n œœ # œ œ œœ œœ n œœ n œœ œœ œ œœ œœ œœ ..
A 7

& 4 n œ œ œ œ œ. œ n œ œ œ œ œ.
1/4 1/4

œ
1/4 1/4

T 5 7 7 5 5 [5] 7 7 5
A 5 7 7 7 7
5 6
7
7 7 5
7 0 5 7 7 7 7
5 [5]
7
7 7 5

B
1

~~~~
1. 2.

œ œ œ œ œ œj n œ œ œ œ œ œ~~~~~ n œ # œ œ n œ # œ œ n œ # œ n œ n œ # œ œj œ œ
D7 C7 D7 C7

### œ . œ œ
œ n œ # œ
& nœ œ œ œ œ nœ #œ œ œ œ nœ œ ..

~~~~~ ~~~~
.
BU BD BU

T
.
5 7 7 5 10 12 10 12 (13 ) [13 ] (12 ) 10 10 10 12 13 12 (13 )

A 5 7 7 7 7
5 6
7
7 7 5
7
10 11 11 11 11 10 11 10 11 10 11 10 11

B
3

Funky rhythm playing has always been present in blues-rock in one form or another, and, in the 90s, the likes of The Black Crowes and The spin Doctors made it a trademark.
Typically, our riff mixes up melodic detail with two-note ‘diad’ shapes. Keep an eye out for ‘staccato’ dots over or under the notes – these tell you to play with a short, abrupt feel.

stevie’s legacy Taking The BlueS Boogie Riff fuRTheR TRACK 37

j 3

q =120 q q =
q q

# ## 4 n œœ œœ œœ œœ œ n œ
1/4 1/4

œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œj œœ œœ œj œœ œœ œj œœ œœ
& # 4 ..
E 3 1.

œ œ œ bœ œ nœ
j j j j j
nœ œ œ œ nœ
54
3

.
1/4 1/4

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 7 7 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
T
.
3 5 5 3 5 5 3 5 5 3 5 5 8 8 8 8 0 3 0 3 5 5 3 5 5 3 5 5 3 5 5
A 2 3 2 0

B
1

#
œœ œœ
2.

# # # # n œœ œœ œœ œœ
1/4 A B7 9

œ nœ œ . œ œ œ œ n œœ œœ œœ
œœ
3

& . n œœ. œœ. œ œœ. œ œœ. œ bœ œ nœ

œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ
3

.
1/4

7 7 9 9 7 7 0 0 0 0 0 0
T
.
8 8 10 10 8 8 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 0
A 0 0
2
0
4
0 2
1
2
1
2 3 2 0

B 0 4 2 2

Texas blues legend stevie Ray Vaughan died tragically in 1990, but his legacy would inspire players such as Jeff Healey, Kenny Wayne shepherd and many more through the 90s
and on to the present day. This lick shows how he would switch between melodies and blues grooves with ease. We used a strat with the middle and neck pickups selected.

boogie along o o
Outline a chord progression one note at a time…
The ‘blues boogie’ riff has long been at the core of
1 1
blues and blues-based rock. The idea is to outline a
chord progression using a selection of notes, a) taken 2 2
straight from the chords, and b) played near to the
3 3 3 3
chord notes to help link things together. Crucially,
this is done one or two notes at a time. Experiment
with the notes shown here to outline riffs based on E
and A chords. Boogie riff in E Boogie riff in A

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

 The ulTimaTe blues-rock lesson

2000S-Today
BlueS-RoCk
Gary Clark Jr with his
epiphone Casino

ComeS full
CiRCle
With decades of classic artists to
draw on, today sees a greater mix
of blues-rock than ever before

I
n recent years blues-rock has
become more diverse and there has
never been a greater variety of
players to listen to. Bands such as
the Black Keys, John Mayer, Jack
White, Eric Gales, Gary Clark Jr and
many more mix up country, funk, 55
folk, rock and traditional blues
techniques in a whole variety
of ways, while virtuosos such
as Joe Bonamassa inspire
Sound Advice
more technical players. A marriage of high tech and traditional values
Essentially we’ve come full inspires today’s blues and rock players. Using
a quality clean tone as a platform for various
circle, as guitarists explore drives and other effects is especially hot right
influences spanning over 50 now. some players even ‘stack’ different
years – and it’s reflected in types of overdrive, clean boost and distortion
the gear too. Some players pedals to get the best of all possible worlds. of
course, boutique amps and huge pedalboards
have stuck with simple valve
come with high price tags, so, unless you have
amp rigs, but the vast array of deep pockets, a digital modelling amp is a
retro combos, modelling modernist solution. Purists may sneer, but
amps and effect pedals Line 6, Blackstar, Vox and Marshall all offer
makes it easy for any player great affordable gear that’ll get you close to
many classic tones.
to change their tone with a
relatively small investment.

stRat me uP hendRix-influenCed Soul-BlueS liCk TRACK 38

q.= 82

œœ œœ œ œ A~~~~~ œœ œœ œ œ A
E7
~~~~
A7

œ . œ œ œj œ œ œ ~~~ œ ~~~ œœ
E E A B

# # # 12 J œ œ œ œ œj œœ .. œœ ‰ œ œ J œ œ œ œ. œj œœ .. ‰ œ œ
j j
j . œ œj œœ œj œœ œœ ..
& # 8 œ œ
œ j j œ j
œ
œ J Œ.
J J
~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~
photography: Greg allen/rEX/Shutterstock

12 12 7 7 12 12 7 7
T 12 14 14 7 9 7
BU
9 12
BU
12 14 12 7 9 7 12
A 9 9
9 11
[9]
[ 11 ]
9 11 11 (13 ) 11 (13 ) 11 9
11
9 9 9
9 11 9 11 11 13
11 9 9
13 9 11 9 11
B

John Mayer and Kenny Wayne shepherd share a love of boutique strat tones and soulful blues. It’s clear there is a Hendrix/sRV influence at play here, too. We recorded our
example using the neck pickup of a strat with the gain set fairly low. Pick fairly hard and make your vibrato as crazy as you wish!

april 2017 ToTal GuiTar

 Cover feature
off the hook delTa-influenCed Boogie Riffing TRACK 39

q = 82 Double time feel

##
E5

& # # 44 ..
œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ
. .
œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ
T . 0 0 0 0 0 0

.
0 0 0 0 0 0
A
B 2
0 3 0 0 3 0
0 2 2
0 3 0 0 3 0
0 2
1

1. 2.

####
A5 B5 B5 D5 B5

& œœ œœ œœ .. œœ œœ n œœ œœ œœ œœ
œœ. n œ œœ œœ œœ
1/4

œ œ œ œ . œ . œ œ nœ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ

T .
.
3 3
A 2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
4
4
4
4
4
4
1/4
4
4
4
4
2
0
2
0
4
4
4
4
B 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 2 0 2 2 0 2
3
2 0 2 2 2

This example brings country, folk and blues together like a modern take on John Lee Hooker. A guitar with a bridge single coil (especially a Telecaster) is perfect for this,
though it’s always possible to work with what you’ve got to give it your unique flavour. Don’t get too hung up on minute details, it’s the feel that counts!

Blues JR lyRiCal diSToRTed lead phRaSing TRACK 40

j ~~~~~~~~~~
q =77 1. 2.

˙~~~~~~~~
.
Am7 Am7 Bm7
œ ˙
w~~~~~~~~~
Em Bm Am
œœœœ œ
#4 . œ œ œ œ œ . œ œ œ œ~~~~œ œ œ œ œ œj œ œ œ œ
1/4
j j
œ .. œ
& 4 ..
œ j j
Œ
56 œ œ

~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~

. .
BU 1/4

T
. .
BU BU BD BU BD BU BD BU
15 (17 ) 15 12 12 12 15 12
A 14 14 (16 ) 14 (16 )(14 )12
14
12 14 11 (12 ) ( 11 )(12 )( 11 ) 9 [9]
14
12 14 14 (16 ) 14 12
14
B
Modern purveyors of blues lead guitar such as Gary Clark Jr have brought the concept of a lyrical, fuzz-style high-gain tone back into the spotlight. A simple e minor
pentatonic scale (e G A B D) line is at the heart of this lick. Take care to target the right note with each string bend.

Blue and White gaRage RoCk Revival-STyle RhyThm TRACK 41

q =120 1.

j j j j
# # # 4 œœ
E D C D E D
œ œ œœ œœ œœ n œœ
& # 4 .. œœ ‰ œœ n œœ ‰ œ
œ
n n œœ ‰ œœœ n œœœ ‰
œœ
œ œ ‰ œ œ ‰
œœ
œ
œ œ œ
J nœ œ nœ œ nœ œ J nœ œ

T .
.
9 9 7 7 5 5 7 7 9 9 7 7
A 9
9
9
9
7
7
7
7
5
5
5
5
7
7
7
7
9
9
9
9
7
7
7
7
B 7 7 5 5 3 3 5 5 7 7 5 5
1

2.
C D B E G C D B

# ## œ œ œ œœ
n œœœ œœ œœœ n n œœ œ n œœœ
3 3

& # n nn œœœ # œœ ..
œœ œ # œœ œœ
nœ œ œ Œ
œ
‰
œ nœ ‰ œ n n œœ nœ œ œ Œ
œ œ J J nœ œ œ

T .
.
5 7 4 9 9 12 12 5 7 4
A 5
5
7
7
2
4
9
9
9
9
12
12
12
12
5
5
7
7
2
4
B 3 5 2 7 7 10 10 3 5 2

4
Featuring just guitar and drums, this example looks at the garage rock style of The White stripes. The consecutive major chords are a way of sounding a little like an
open-tuned guitar; it’s also a great way to briefly hop outside of the key signature without anyone really noticing. It’s a clever way to challenge your listener’s ear.

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

 feature
Riding
the wave 30 years on from its release, Joe Satriani’s Surfing With The Alien
remains one of instrumental guitar’s landmark albums.
Here, Satch looks back and shares the lessons learned while
58 recording a multi-platinum record on a shoestring budget…
Words Michael Astley-Brown Photograph Jesse Wild
I
f you’re a guitarist of any kind,
chances are you’ve at least heard
Surfing With The Alien. Over the three
decades since its release, the album
has become essential listening for
legions of players – a masterclass in
fusing technique and melody. But in the run-up
to its recording, Joe Satriani didn’t exactly fit
the guitar hero mould he occupies today.
Back in the mid-80s, Satch was working in
guitar stores and sharing his knowledge with
eager young players. Thanks to the help of
former student Steve Vai, he’d landed a record
deal and already had one album to his name,
but high hopes for his second release were
scuppered when he received word of its $13,000
budget, in an age where albums routinely cost
$100,000-plus. It left Joe and producer John
Cuniberti to stretch their limited resources to
the limit in San Francisco’s Hyde Street Studios.
But even when time was tight and the gear
selection even tighter, Joe somehow made it
work, and the resultant album gave life to shred
staples such as Always With Me, Always With You,
Satch Boogie and the iconic title track.
This is the inside story of a true labour of love,
an album that changed instrumental guitar
forever and one that guitarists of all stripes can
learn from. Take it away, Joe…
ToTal GuiTar april 2017
Go with your Gut
“The idea for the album was to celebrate
everything that I liked about electric guitar,
my roots, and the players I still really like.
So, it went from Chuck Berry to Hendrix,
from Wes Montgomery to Allan Holdsworth,
I wanted to celebrate all of it. I grew up listening
to The Beatles and the Stones, and Jimmy Page,
and Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, and I wanted all
of that in there. But at the same time a large
part of my playing is Tony Iommi and Billy
Gibbons. I’m just a sum of all of the guitar
players I thought were really cool. And I wanted
to make an album that was about that.
“I pitched the album to Relativity Records’
president, Barry Kobrin, in that exact way. And
he looked at me funny, because it was such an
untrendy thing to do, but he said, ‘Well, okay.’
He’d heard me play Satch Boogie at a club in New
York, and so he said, ‘Is the album going to be
like that?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, pretty much, with
a couple of left turns here and there!’”
EvEn thE chEapEst
GEar has its usEs
“For that particular record, I had two
Kramer guitars. They were both Pacers and
one was put together from parts at the Guitar
Center. Eventually, I realised that the thing was
joe satriani

59

Joe wanted ‘Surfing

With The Alien’ to
reflect his varied
guitar influences

april 2017 ToTal GuiTar

 feature
60
Joe’s guitar options have
expanded an awful lot since
those early studio sessions
really great if you wanted to play out of
tune all the time! But I had a connection
with it, and that became the guitar that
I used for my first EP and Not Of This
Earth, and then with Surfing With The
Alien. And by then I had purchased a
second, cheaper version of that Kramer
that had three single-coil pickups. It
had the thinnest, brightest sound I’d
ever heard, and that’s what I used for
those very clear sounds for the song
Ice 9. It’s such a poorly constructed
guitar, but it was inexpensive and I’m
just grateful that companies do that.
They make guitars and they sell them
for cheap for people who don’t have a
lot of money, because that’s who I was
at the time, and, so, it helped me out at
a time when I needed it.”
switch up
your sound
“I also had a guitar that I put together
from parts. It was a Boogie Body Strat
body made out of hard-rock maple. It
had an ESP neck that was a ’59 vintage
style, 7.5[-inch] radius, ebony fretboard.
If I didn’t need the whammy bar, I’d use
that guitar: clean, funky, bluesy. I still
ToTal GuiTar april 2017
“it was vEry important that wE
Got it riGht BEcausE i could only
afford two rEEls of tapE!”
have that guitar today. It’s on every
record I’ve made doing something. I had
[Joe’s guitar tech] Gary Brawer make
me two or three different pickguards
that were preloaded with different
kinds of pickups.
“So, for the ‘humbuckers in the Strat
body’ sound, I had a black pickguard
with two Seymour Duncan pickups in it.
It was a 59 in the neck and a JB in the
bridge, and I would screw that one in
when I needed that kind of a sound, and
then when I needed to do really Stratty
kind of sounds, I would tell John
Cuniberti to take a break, I’d take the
strings off, unscrew the pickguard, put
in a new pickguard with the Strat
pickups, screw it, and string it up, and
then do that part.
“That was because I couldn’t afford
all these different guitars; I basically had
three guitars and a bunch of pickguards.
The poor man’s guitar arsenal!”
Joe has always
preferred improvising
solos in the studio
BE ruthlEss
“[The song] Surfing With The Alien
was a bit longer, actually: there was a
pre-chorus section that at the very
last minute John and I decided to get
rid of. I played John Cuniberti my
four-track cassette version of the song
and I said, ‘Well, this is the way the
track goes, but I don’t know about that
part. It’s 16 bars extra of a pre-chorus
section,’ and John looked at me like,
‘Well, if you’re having second thoughts,
let’s just get rid of it.’
“It was very important that we got it
right, because we were recording to
two-inch recording tape, and I could
only afford two reels of tape! There was
no editing after the fact, and none of
this cut-and-paste thing that you can
do 24 hours a day like we do today.
Editing was destructive: it was done
with a razor blade back then.
“So, the decision was made: ‘Okay,
the hell with that part; who needs a
pre-chorus, right?’ And it was a good
decision because it focused more on the
fun aspect of the song.”
KEEp it frEsh
“Crushing Day’s guitar solo was really
long, and so I thought, ‘I’d better
work some of this shit out.’ All the
other ones are improvised. But, in
retrospect, I regret [working that one
out] because I’ve always found that
when you’re on stage and you’re playing
 joe satriani

night after night, that sticking to the
script is one of the things that will kill
you in the end: it’s a solo killer. And
songs that are pliable, songs that have
built into them improvisations are the
ones that can keep you in them, they
can keep growing, and the audience still
feels the original intent of the song,
even though you’re still working within
that improvisation. So even songs like
Always With Me, Always With You or Satch
Boogie or Echo or Surfing With The Alien,
there’s so much improvisation built into
them they can still be played around
with live and remain intact.”
somEtimEs
simplicity is KEy
“I had a moment when I was writing
in my apartment for the record
where I was saying that I should not
be afraid of the power and the beauty
of major keys. And that year after year
I hear people using I-IV-V progressions,
I-VI-IV-V progressions, and the musos
will always roll their eyes because
they’re looking for cluster chords and
unusual time signatures and
challenging things.
“But if you walk around in the real
world you see, ‘Wow’. I went to a
stadium and there were 100,000 people
singing the song that had three chords
in it and you go, ‘This is humanity.
This is people coming together, being
united by a simple melody over a simple
chord, that hits to the core of their very
being.’ They’re not getting together
100,000 people at a time to sing
something in 17/8 that traverses four
different key signatures!
“I love the simplicity and the power
behind getting those three chords right
and not throwing in 17 other chords
when they’re really unnecessary.
I mean, the chord progression for the
solo in Circles is so simple. It’s based on
I-IV-V and there’s three chords. But
it’s the juxtaposition with the
beginning and the end that makes it
such a release, in a way. And that’s what
I’ve learned when listening to the great
classical composers: that they use
complexity and simplicity like they
able to mix that. Can we just plug you
directly into the tape machine?’
“And so we used that black Boogie
Strat and we recorded the arpeggios
totally dry, no amplifier, just into a mic
preamp into the tape machine. And
then, of course, as we went to layer the
track, I realised that he was completely
right and he was looking ahead. He was
saying, ‘If there’s going to be percussion
and there’s going to be this melody
that’s got some delay and reverb on it,
we can’t have these arpeggios piling up
on each other with all these delays.’
Being that I’m usually the guitar player
with his head in the clouds and out of
space not thinking at times, it hadn’t
dawned on me that it would be a
problem if we recorded everything that
way. So we have to thank John for
taking control of the situation!”
taKE your
inspiration
somEwhErE nEw
“I wanted to take two-handed
tapping to some different level, so
with Midnight and with Satch Boogie’s
middle section, I was thinking, ‘What
has Eddie [Van Halen] not done?’ 61
I mean, Eddie is a genius. He’s the
number one guitar player of my
generation, but I thought, ‘I’m not
going to step on his toes.’
“And so I applied things to the idea of From techniques to sucking, or to remind you that you’ve
fashion, Joe has
tapping the ’board that I thought moved just played something really great and
always been about
into an area that Eddie hadn’t explored. pushing boundaries you’d be an idiot to erase it.
And that was one of the things I felt, “I remember playing the record to
‘Well, I know he hasn’t done this kind Steve Vai. He really loved the record,
of a swing, groove, and I know that he and he was really helping me out quite
doesn’t work with pitch axis things, so a bit with my career back then – he
I’ll take the technique and do something connected me to Relativity Records and
different with it.’ And then using it as a he introduced me to A&R wizard Cliff
bridge in a boogie song I thought was Cultreri back in 1985. But when it came
the weirdest thing!” to talking about Crushing Day, Steve just
said, ‘Yes, it’s a really cool song... the
find your solo’s kind of worked out though, isn’t
trustEd Ears it?’ And it was that little comment
“Most of the time, I like to improvise between friends that was very telling,
in the studio and I create an because I knew that, out of everybody,
environment in the room where I’m he knows everything; when he listens to
performing, not just for myself but me play, he knows the backstory just
for, in this case, John Cuniberti. And because he knows me.
John’s always really good at looking at “We’ve been with each other since we
Photography: David a. Smith/Getty images Ebet roberts

were equal tools.”
thinK ahEad
“When I came in to record Always
With Me, Always With You, I played
John the rhythm part and it had
stereo chorus and echoes everywhere.
And he looked at me and said, ‘Well, I’m
not recording that crap. We’ll never be
me and saying, ‘Oh, that really sucked.
There’s no way I’m letting you keep that
one,’ or, ‘There’s no way I’m erasing
that. That’s really great.’ And when
you’re playing, you really don’t have any
idea what’s good or what’s not good.
That’s why I think producers are really
good, or at least having a good friend
who is not afraid to tell you that you’re
were kids, but he noticed there was
something fishy about it right away.
It’s not in my nature to do that, and he
thought it was weird that I would work
out a solo when he knows that’s not
generally what I do. And what I should
have known when he said that was,
that was going to haunt me for the rest
of my career!”

april 2017 ToTal GuiTar

 feature
The best affordable
Bargain hunting? Let TG take the work out of it for you as we round up some
unbelievably priced gear from this year’s NAMM Show
from
£859
Gretsch
Electromatic
Center-Block 2017
62 Don’t tell Gretsch, but we reckon
they’ve got something wrong with
their calculator. Following on from
2016’s bargain Streamliner range,
comes this latest update to the
Electromatic line. The Center-Block
has been added to three body
styles (5620 single-cutaway, 5622
double-cut- and 5655 JR double-
cut), and in addition, each model is
fitted with a genuine Bigsby and
Blacktop Filter’Tron/ Super Hilo’Tron
pickups. They aren’t peanuts, but
they’re serious bang for your buck.
from
£399
ToTal GuiTar april 2017
DigiTech pedals
When it comes to effects, few brands
are pushing the sonic boundaries at
affordable prices like DigiTech. At this
year’s NAMM, the Big D (along with sister
brand DOD) lifted the lid on not one, but
five brand new pedals. As well as the DOD
Rubberneck Delay and Mini Volume/
Expression pedal, there was the DigiTech
CabDryVR cab sim pedal. Unanimously
wowing the crowds, though, was the
Freqout – a feedback-generating pedal
offering controlled, smooth harmonics
at any volume. The momentary switch
option, interval control and ability to turn
your dry signal off means that it’s loaded
with potential for going way beyond
replicating the howl of your Marshall.
from
We can’t wait to get our hands on it!
£89
Gibson S series
For many of us, affording a real Gibson
is a far-off dream, but that’s about to
change with Gibson’s S Series. Featuring
five different models (M2, Firebird Zero,
SG Fusion, Les Paul Custom Studio and
Les Paul Custom Special), the S Series puts
a USA Gibson within reach, starting at an
unbelievable £399 for the single-cut M2.
All the S Series guitars share set Slim
Taper necks, nitrocellulose finishes,
Double-Slug humbuckers and self-
lubricating TekToid nuts. Oh, and every
model even comes with a padded Gibson
gigbag. Keep your eyes peeled, as we’re
hoping to get our hands on these shortly.
from
£160
Fender CD series
The Big F’s Classic Design acoustics
have long been a go-to for the cash-
strapped strummer, but as of now they’ve
got even better. Starting out at just £160,
the expanded line adds 11 new models,
ranging from the CD-60s – all-mahogany
with a solid top – to the CD-140SCE-12
(£365) spruce-topped 12-string, and
plenty in between. Lefties will be glad to
hear that they haven’t been forgotten (at
least with the basic models), too!
from
£199
Vox MV series
Vox’s new MV Series, looks like it
could offer something different to
the crowded mini-amp market. The
teeny MV features ‘Nutube’ tech; a
bijou new valve that punches way
above its inconsiderable weight.
The Nutube preamp section is met
by a Class D power amp to produce
a 50-watt micro head weighing in at
just under half a kilogram! Available
in Clean, Rock and AC flavours,
paired with its lightweight cab you
have a hugely portable gig rig!

new gear for 2017!
from
£469
Cort/Manson
Stage series
On the back of the success of
their Matt Bellamy model, Cort and
Manson’s collaboration continues
with the new Stage series. Both
the M-Jet and Classic TC share
Manson’s MA body shape with the
M-Jet featuring a bolt-on, 24-fret
neck and dual humbuckers. The TC
Classic, on the other hand, offers
two newly designed single coils in
a T-style configuration. Both guitars
are priced at £469, and will be
available mid-late spring.
£148
EHX Canyon
Straight after the NAMM Show, EHX
unveiled the jewel in its 2017 crown: the
Canyon delay. As well as nine different
delay effects – spanning everything from
digital delay to analogue, modulated,
shimmer, tape and more – the Canyon
also includes a sample and hold feature
and a 62-second looper. All of this is
bundled into one of the company’s
‘Nano’ enclosures, making this a sure
fire competitor to TC’s Flashback.
namm 2017
from
PRS Sonzera £699
Despite blazing a trail with what are
probably the best mid-level guitars on
the market, ‘affordable’ isn’t always
associated with PRS. The Sonzera amp
line aims to change that perception.
The range comprises a 20-watt combo,
50-watt combo and 50-watt head and
cab, starting at £699. Each model has two
channels, each seemingly designed to be
closely related tonally, or to give a
completely different feel depending on
how you choose to use it. The Sonzera 20
features 6L6 power valves, while the
50-watters use EL34s, with both already
finding fans among Minus The Bear,
Black Stone Cherry and Snarky Puppy.
Boss Acoustic 63
Singer Live
Not very long ago, acoustic amps
were a slightly superfluous product,
with many strummers opting to go
directly into a PA, get the engineer
to add a splash of reverb and be
done with it. But playing acoustic
live has become a much more
sophisticated affair with imaging,
effects and loopers all common.
The new Boss Acoustic Singer Live
includes all of the above, plus an
additional channel for plugging in
Supro guitars
from
£649 a mic and applying effects to your
Following on from its amp revival, voice too. At 60 watts, it’ll be more
Supro has brought joy to retroheads than loud enough for smaller gigs,
everywhere by putting out two new but there’s also the Acoustic Singer
lines of electric guitars. The Island and Professional, offering 120 watts for
Americana Series’ sees no less than 14 those who need more power.
new guitars, including some mid-priced
throwbacks that we love the look of. The
Island Series Jamesport (£799, reviewed from
on p98), Westbury (£899) and Hampton £469
(£999) are single-cut alder bodies, and
feature gold foil pickups respectively,
complete with a 50s wiring for the volume
and tone controls. The Americana Series,
meanwhile, includes plenty of affordable
models such as the single-pickup Sahara
and Belmont models (£649), the twin-
pickup Coronado II (£799), plus the Jet
Airliner lap-steel (£369).
april 2017 ToTal GuiTar
 feature
Mooer Devin
Townsend
Ocean Machine
Hevy Devy’s signature pedal gives you
two delay modules and one reverb, into
which you can load from a total of 17
different delay types, and nine reverb
effects. On top of this, there’s a looper and
24 preset slots for saving your sounds.
We had a quick go on it at NAMM, and to
our minds, this could be one of the most
feature-packed time-based effects pedals
on the market. Fans of ambient sounds
won’t want to miss this one when it hits
out shores, least of all because we’re
expecting it to retail for around £250!
£250
64
Charvel Joe
Duplantier Pro Mod
The first edition of the Gojira
frontman’s signature guitar looked
great, but not so much the eye-
watering street price just shy of
£3,000. Thankfully Charvel has now
come up with a way more affordable
Pro Mod version of his guitar. Taking
a San Dimas Style 2 body, adding
a pair of humbuckers, an oiled,
graphite-reinforced, compound
radius neck and finishing it off with
a black-bound, Satin White finish,
they’ve come up with one of the
sleekest and most functional metal
guitars we’ve seen in years. You’ll
pick one up for under £500, too!
from
£480
ToTal GuiTar april 2017
Blackstar
Echo series
In this age of do-it-all modelling
amps, it’s easy to forget that
sometimes, simplicity is a good
thing. It’s been a while since we’ve
seen a stripped-back practice amp,
and while these can bring back
memories of the nasty distortion
and flapping speakers of our first
‘guitar pack amps’, Blackstar’s new
Echo 10 (£59.99) and 15 (£84.99)
look like they’re bringing the ‘first
amp’ up to snuff. Both feature two
channels, Blackstar’s IFS controls
and a three-inch speaker along with
£445 an analogue-style echo, while the
Guild M-240E 15 builds on the 10 by adding gain
Troubadour and tone controls.
Guild has been prolific with its
acoustics over the last couple of years,
and we fell in love with the affordable
Archback series when we tried it last
summer. Now, it’s offering the M-240E
as the Troubadour: a none-more-trendy
looking strummer harking back to the
Guild F-20 folk guitar from the 60s. from
The 240e is a travel-sized, smaller body
guitar, and the Troubador has the same
£59
solid spruce top/mahogany sides and
arched mahogany back, but this time in
a classy vintage sunburst. The electronics
have also been swapped – from a piezo
to a magnetic DeArmond ToneBoss
humbucker. The whole lot comes in a
padded gig bag, and we’ll be looking at as
soon as we can get our hands on one!
Fender Noir series
As we perused the Fender stand at
NAMM, wondering which organs to sell
to afford a Custom Shop model, a trio of
guitars off to one side caught our eye: the
Noir Series Stratocaster, Telecaster and from
Precision bass. These Mexican-made
beauties are a special edition, so they
£539
won’t be around forever, but look at them!
Both have alder bodies with rosewood
necks, while the Strat comes in HSS
pickup configuration (the humbucker is
split using the five-way switch), along
with the familiar vintage-style vibrato.
Available in any colour you like, as long
as it’s Satin Black, the Noir series also
features a matching headstock (with
red-outlined Fender logo) and a black/
red/black three-ply scratchplate. Not
bad for just over £500!
 ja m
T r ac k
jam track play guitar with a band!

prog
rock
Try out your best lead ideas and
arpeggios as you jam along with TG’s
authentic prog-inspired backing track

P
rogressive rock (aka prog) This month’s jam track blends Dark
developed in the mid-60s, Side Of The Moon-era Pink Floyd and
with bands eschewing 90s Radiohead sounds to provide you
established pop conventions in with the ultimate prog jam! The verse
favour of jazz and classical influences, is in E minor – the minor key and slow
sophisticated chord progressions and tempo provide a melancholy vibe. The
experimentation with effects. Pink chorus is much the same, but uses
Floyd, King Crimson and Yes were key powerchords for a rock-style edge. The
early players who would go on to bridge brings a key change to A minor,
inspire later prog-metal acts such as before leading back into the verse on a
Dream Theater and Opeth as well as a couple of jazz chords (B7#9 and B7b9). Pink Floyd’s
66 host of progressive alt-rock and We’ve written out the chords for you to David Gilmour
art-rock bands, including Porcupine follow, as well some scale shapes to is a prog rock
legend
Tree and Radiohead. build your solos around.

scales chords o o o o x

F T
1
or a simple approach use the E minor here are plenty of chords to learn as 7
pentatonic scale as a basis for soloing you jam along to the backing track. 1 1
over the track, then develop your ideas Try playing along with arpeggios
3 2
with the E natural minor scale. Try switching (one note at a time) or strum the shapes
to the A Dorian mode for a more melodic in full. The B7#9 and B79 are passing 3 4
approach when you reach the bridge. chords, designed to turn the progression
around on a tense-sounding note.
Emadd9 Bm
x o x o x x x x x x x x x
1 1 1 1 1 1
12

1 2 3 1
3 3 3
2 3 1
4 4 4
3 4
3 3
Guitars and backing: Jon Bishop Photography: Ian Dickson/REX/Shutterstock

E minor
pentatonic scale Cadd9 E5 B5 C5
x o o o x x x x x

1 1 1 1 1 1 2
11 4 x 8 8
1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 3

2 2 3 4 4

3 3 3 4 3 3 4 4 4 3 3 3

4 4 4 4 4 4 4

E natural minor scale A Dorian mode Am7 Bm7 B7#9 B7b9

ToTal GuiTar apRIl 2017

 backing track (track 42)
This song comes with a backing track on your CD. Simply
insert the disc in your player, press play and jam along,
guitaraoke style!
jam track / prog rock

jam traCk prog rock Lead lick

~~~~ ~~~~ œ œ ~~~~ œœ ~~~~~~~

q =74

# 4 ¿ ~~~~~~~~~
9
œœ œœ
jœ œ œ œœ œ œ Œ
1/4 1/4
Emadd Bm C Em

& 4 ‰ J ˙. œ œœ œ
jœ jœ
œ œ œœjœ œ œœ œ
j œ œ œ œ œœ œ
j œ œœ
œ œ

0:31
~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ 3

7
1/4

7
1/4
~~~~~~~
¿ 2
T BU BUBD BU BD 8 8
A 2 4 4 ( 5 ) 4 ( 5 )( 4 ) 2 5 7 5 7 7 9
7 9
7 5 7 7 (9) (7) 5 7 9
7 9 9 9

B 7

We’ve played this lick over the backing track to give you some inspiration for your own lead ideas. To develop the melody, we’ve covered a range of an octave and a half,
with string bends, vibrato and rhythmic flourishes mixed in for good measure. Use a medium overdrive tone with delay and a light phaser effect for ambience.

jam track

Dark Side Of The Rock

67
Cheat sheet
Tempo: 74bpm
Time signature: 4/4
key/scale: E minor

Verse

||: Emadd9 / / / | Bm / / / | Cadd9 / / / | Emadd9 / / / :||

chorus

||: E5 / / / | B5 / / / | C5 / / / | E5 / / / :||

Bridge

| Am7 / / / | Bm7 / / / | Cadd9 / / / | B7#9 / B7b9 / ||

We’ve laid out the sections of the track and the chords here so take a moment to think about how you’ll develop your ad libs. Remember,
the chorus has a heavier sound than the verse, so try playing with more intensity here. Phrase your licks around an A root note in the bridge.

apRIl 2017 ToTal GuiTar

 ALICE IN
CHAINS
them bones
68

25 years after AIC released

their breakthrough album
Dirt, we look at Jerry
Cantrell’s cool 7/8 riffing
in Them Bones
Photography: Bob King/Redferns

TOTAL GUITAR APRIL 2017

 CL ASSIC
T R AC K

T SOUND ADVICE
hem Bones appeared on
Alice In Chains’ 1992
album Dirt, which
became a breakthrough
platinum hit and Everything you need to know before playing ‘Them Bones’
brought international recognition.

C
The song’s 7/8 time signature antrell usually uses his G&L
(where each bar comprises seven
eighth notes) is unusual and may
Get the tone CHANNEL DISTORTION Rampage guitar equipped with
just a single bridge position
take practice. Count aloud to keep humbucker. Tonal variations in the solo
time (count ‘one-two-three-four- come courtesy of his Dunlop Cry Baby
five-six-sev’) but remember that wah pedal – all the rest is in Jerry’s
Jerry Cantrell’s intro chops along fingers! Amp-wise he used a Bogner Fish
GAIN BASS MID TREBLE REVERB
at double speed. Listen out for the preamp and a modified Marshall
hi-hat – which is in time with the JCM800. The rhythm guitars are
count. Don’t get caught out by the Use a bridge position multi-tracked, so dial in some light
humbucker for a
chorus, which reverts to 4/4 time. chorus to emulate the effect.
weighty rhythm
The solo is typical Cantrell. He sound and a biting
doesn’t panic playing in 7/8 time, tone in the solo
delivering fluent, musical phrases
at the beginning of every bar. The
original recording is in drop Db
tuning (drop D with all six strings EFFECTS
down a further semitone), but Wah/chorus
we’ve stuck to drop D (DADGBE).

CHORDS SCALES 69

A J
side from the opening Dm7 and an extended two-octave D5 erry Cantrell was one of the more accomplished lead players of
shape, all of these are basic powerchords played one-fingered the 90s grunge movement. His solo in Them Bones showcases
thanks to the drop D tuning. With such easy chords, it’s a great fluent, melodic phrasing over what is a tricky chord progression
opportunity to focus your attention on nailing the timing to the very (thanks to its ‘one fret at a time’ chromatic changes) and a time
best of your ability – aim for slick fret hand shifts and steady timing signature that changes from 7/8 to 4/4 and back to 7/8 again. Learn
in both hands. the scale shapes and you’ll gain some insight as to how he
O O O X O O O X X X O O O X constructed his solo. Note that these shapes are for drop D tuning.
2
5
3 2

3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2 10
1 2

D A D G B E D A D G B E D A D G B E 3 3 3 3
Dm7 D5 D5
3 3 4 4 4
X X X X X X X X X X X X
4
1 1 1 D A D G B E D A D G B E

1 1 1 D blues scale D minor pentatonic

scale (shape 1)
1 1 1

1 1 1
D A D G B E D A D G B E D A D G B E D A D G B E 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
12 14 17
D#5 E5 F5 A5
2 2 2 2 1 1 2 2
X X X X X X X X X
3 2 2 3
1 1 1
8 8 8
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 4 4 4 4
1 1 1
4 4
Guitars and backing: Kit Morgan

1 1 1
D A D G B E D A D G B E D A D G B E

D minor pentatonic D natural minor D natural minor

scale (shape 2) scale scale
D A D G B E D A D G B E D A D G B E

Bb5 B5 C5

APRIL 2017 TOTAL GUITAR

 CL ASSIC
T R AC K

ALICE IN CHAINS
them bones
FULL
TAB
tHEM bOnES
Written by Jerry Cantrell. Copyright © 1992 Buttnugget Publishing (ASCAP)
US/Canada Reproduced by kind permission of Hal Leonard Corporation.
UK/EU reproduced by kind permission of Faber Music Limited
All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured

alice in chains them bones intro

q = 82

~~ D 5 D # 5 ~~ D D
#5
~~ D D
#5
1. 2.
Dm7 E5 F5 D5 Dm7 5 E F D 5 Dm 5 E5 F 7 5 5 5

œ œœ .. œœ
& b 78 .. œœ œ œ # œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ n œ œ œœ œœ œœ # œœ œœ œœ œœ n œœ œœ œœ œ n œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ # œœ œœ œœ œœ n œœ œœ œœ œœ
œ ‰
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ n œœ œœ œœ œœ œ œ
0:00 œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ # œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ n œ œ œ œ œ œ # œ œ œ œ œ œ œ >œ
0:36
~~ PM
~~ PM
~~ PM
E
T GB . 65 .
. 00 00 00 11 11 11 11 22 22 22 33 00 00 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 0 0 .
6 6
A D 5
0
5
0 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3
B A D 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 0 0
0
0 0
0 0 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 0 0
0 0 1 1 1 1 2
0
2
0 0 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3
2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3
cont. sim.

Jerry uses downstrokes here in the intro. Alternate down- and upstrokes may be easier to play, but you will lose the urgent, menacing sound. Try to emphasise the two
70 highest notes of the opening chord. Played in time with the singer Layne Staley’s ‘aah’s, they have an aggressive quality which sounds great if you can really milk it.

alice in chains them bones Verse

D5 D#5 E5 F5

7 œ j
& b 8 .. œœ ..
Play 8 times

œœ œœ
œœ # ## œœœ n œœœ .. œ œ
0:10
0:46
.

. .
1:49
E
T
. .
B 3
A G
D
2
0 1 2 3
B A
D
0
0
1
1
2
2
3
3

This is essentially a simpler version of the intro, with an open D5 chord kicking off proceedings. Remember to keep counting to seven to stay in time. Jerry usually
continues with downstrokes here, but, as it falls between beats 6 and 7, you may prefer to play the F5 chord with an upstroke to keep your pick hand moving in time.

alice in chains them bones chorus

Bb5 Bb5
œ
A5 C5 B5

4
& b 4 œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ nœ #œ œ œœœ œœ œœ œœ œœ n œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ n b œœ ‰
0:30
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #nœ œ œ œ œ bœ
1:07
E
T B 10
A G
D 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 9 11
9
10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 8
B A 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 8

⇥ ⇥ ⇥ ≤ ⇥ ≤ ≤ ≤ ⇥ ⇥ ⇥ ⇥ ⇥ ≤ ⇥ ≤ ≤ ≤ ≤
Photography: Bob King/Redferns

D 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 7 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 8

Make the flourish at the end of bar 1 easier by using your first finger to play the opening powerchords. With your first finger on the 7th fret you’ll be in the right spot to land
on the 9th fret with your third finger. The chorus ends abruptly on a rest, so make sure to quickly mute your guitar strings all together here.

TOTAL GUITAR APRIL 2017

 Full track + backing (trackS 43-44)
This song comes with a full demo track and a backing
track (minus guitar) on your CD. Simply insert the disc in
your player, press play and jam along, guitaraoke style!
alice in chains / them bones

alice in chains them bones Solo

Dm7 D5 D#5 E5 F5 D5 Dm7 D5 D#5 E5 F5 D5

r ~~~~~~ œœ
& b 78 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ b œ œ œ œ ⇥ œ #œ œ œ œ ¿ ¿
œ œ œ.
~~~~~~
1:12
PM PM PM PM
E
T
¿ ¿
B 6
G BU
A D 3 3 5 6 5 3 (4) 5 7
5

B A
D
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 3 5 3
1

Dm7 D5 D#5 E5 F5 D5 Dm7 D5 D#5 E5 F5 D5

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ~~~~~~~~ œ œ œ
3 3

j
j j j

&b
œ œ œ
œ œj œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
~~~~~~~~
T BU BU BD BU BD

A 12 (14) 12 (14) [14 ] (12) 12 (14) (12) 10

12 10 12 10 BU BD
B 12 12 10 8 10 (12) (10) 8
3

D#5 D#5
Dm7
~~~~~~~E
D5 F D 5 5 5 Dm7 D5 E5 F5 D5

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ~~~~~~~
. œ œ~~~~~~~
. œ œ œ œ œ
& b œ œ nœ
j
œ
#œ

~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ PM

T
A 14 14
17 17 17 15 14 15 14
15 14 15
14 15
71
B 16 17 17 17
15 17 19
15 17
5

D#5 D#5
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dm7 D5 E5 F5 D5 Dm7 D5 E5 F5 D5

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
wide wide

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ j
J 44
œ

&b
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
wide
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
wide

T BU BU

A 14 14 15 17 (19) 17 15 17 15 14 12 14 14 (17)

B
7

b5 Bb5
√B A5 C5
œ
B5

œ œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ~~~~~~~
œ œ œ œ œ œj œ œ . œ œ~~~~~~~~
j

œ œ œ.
œ
4 78
j

&b4
BU
15 (17) 15 13 13
BU BD ~~~~~~~~ BU
20 (22) 20 18 17 17
BU ~~~~~~~
T 15 15 15 (17) [17 ] (15) 15 20 20 (22) 20 18 18
A 19 19

B
9

D#5 D#5
(√)
Dm7 D5 E5 F5 D5 Dm7 D 5 E5 F5 D5

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ~~~~~
œ œ œ . œ œ œwide œ œ
7 œ
j j
b ⇥ R
œ
& 8
BU ~~~~~
wide

T 18 20 18 18 20 18 18 20 18 18 20 18 18 20 18 20 18 18 20 18 18 20 (22) 20 18 18
A 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 [19 ] 10 12

B
11

april 2017 ToTal GuiTar

 CL ASSIC
T R AC K
alice in chains them bones Solo (continued)

D#5 D#5
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
Dm7 D5 E5 F5 D5 Dm7 D5 E5 F5 D5
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œj
&b
3
RP
grad.
T BU BD BU BD

A [12 ] (14) (14) (14) (14) (14) (14) (14) (12) 10

12
10 (12) (10)
12 10 12 12 12 12 10 10
B 12 [12 ]
13

If you have a wah pedal use it for subtle tonal variations, using only delicate movements of the pedal. The opening run of 16th notes in bar 1 is best played with down-up-
style alternate picking, but most of the rest of the solo is fairly fluid, allowing you to pick more freely. Maybe take a down-up approach in bars 6, 7, 10 and 14 too.

alice in chains them bones Outro chorus

Bb5 Bb5
A5
œ C5 B5

& b 44 .. œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œ œ œ nœ #œ œ œœœ œœ œœ œœ œœ # n œ œ œ œœ œœ n b œœ œœ ..
œ œ œ œ œ œœ œœ œœ œ œ œ œ œ n œœ œœ œœ œ œ bœ œ
2:10

T
E
. .
. .
B 10
A G
D 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 9 11
9
10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 8 8
B A
D
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
7
7
7
7 7
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
9
9
9
9
9
9
8
8
8
8
1

72

Bb5 Bb5
œ
A5 C5 B5

& b œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œ œ œ nœ #œ œ œœ œœ œœ œœ # n œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ n b œœ .. œœ Œ Ó
œ œ œ œ œ œœ œœ œœ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ bœ. œ
T 10
A 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 9 11
9
10 10 10 10 9 9 9 8 [8 ]
B 8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
7
7
7
7 7
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
9
9
9
9
9
9
8
8
[8 ]
[8 ]
3

This is essentially the same part as the earlier choruses but with some parts repeated. Whereas the intro and verses are downpicked, Jerry plays the choruses with
down-up-style strumming. This gives a lighter feel in contrast with the more aggressive parts.

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 learn
to pl ay
open-mic songbook
hozier
someone new
Soul-style staccato chords are at the heart of
Hozier’s huge 2015 electric fingerstyle hit

I
rish singer and guitarist Andrew
Hozier-Byrne, better known as
Hozier, released this single in 2015
from his eponymous debut album.
Although it’s based around some simple
chord shapes, fingerstyle technique is
used to give more control over the
soul-style staccato chords and provide a
warmer sound. Generally the thumb is
used for the bass notes with index,
middle and ring taking the higher
strings. Occasionally the thumb (fleshy
part) can brush/strum downwards
through the chords, or the first finger
can pull back in an upward motion for
the opposite effect. As the verse
develops, thumb and finger notes
separate into broken chords.
On some live versions Hozier uses
a pick, so if you’re not used to the
fingerstyle this can be a useful option.
It’s a great technique to develop on the
electric however, as it can create
fantastic dynamic range and make rests
in between chords easier to manage.
Someone new
Words and Music by Andrew Hozier-Byrne
Copyright © 2014 Sony/ATV Music Publishing Allegro (UK), EMI Blackwood Music Inc.
and The Evolving Music Company Limited
All Rights Administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, 424 Church Street,
Suite 1200, Nashville, TN 37219
International Copyright Secured All Rights Reserved
Reprinted by Permission of Hal Leonard LLC

74
hozier someone new Intro TRACK 45

q = 92

j j j j j j
D5 D5

j
G Bm C G Bm C

# œ ˙˙ œ ˙
& 44 .. ˙˙˙ œ
‰ œœ ‰ œœ ˙˙ ‰ œœ ‰ œœ .. ˙˙
œ. œœ ˙˙
œ
‰ œœ ‰ œœ ˙˙˙ ‰ œœ œœ
œ. œ
˙ œ. œ œ. œ
T . .
. .
3 5 3 3 5 3 3
A 4
5
4
4
5
5
2
0
4
5
4
4
5
5
2
0
2
0
B 5
3
2 3 5
3
2 3
1

Em D
j Bm C
j
# œœ œœœ œ œœ œœ œœ œœ
& œ. œ ‰
œ œœœ œœ œœ
œ ‰ œœ œœ œœ
. œ .
Photography: Gary Mather / Alamy Stock Photo
T 8 7 7 3 5 5
A 9
9
7
7
7
7
4
4
5
5
5
5
B 7 5 5 2 3 3
5

Watch out for the ‘syncopated’ rhythms here – that means certain chords fall in between the main pulse of the music. For example, the opening G chord lands plum on beat
1, but the Bm chord that follows is between beats 3 and 4 rather than on a beat. C also falls in an ‘offbeat’ position. Listen carefully to the audio to pick up the groove.

chords
x x x x x

1 1 1 1
5
Chords such as the G, C, D and E shapes shown here are more 1 1 1 1
commonly played using a first finger barre across five or six strings. 1 3 4 2
Hozier simplifies things by playing only the root notes – a useful trick
2 3 4 3 4
that’ll help stop your fingers fatiguing halfway through the song.
Some of the shapes are quite similar – so try to keep finger 3 4
movements small and efficient wherever you can. G Am Bm B7

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

 backing TRack (TRack 45)
This song comes with a backing track (minus guitar) on
your CD. Simply insert the disc in your player, press play
and jam along, guitaraoke style!
hozier / someone new

song sheet
So m eo ne Ne w
intro Verse 2
G / Bm C / / D / G / Bm C / / D / x2 G Bm C D5
There’s an art to life’s distractions Every day with someone new, I’ve

Verse 1 Em D Am
Fallen in love just a little oh a little bit
G Somehow escape the burning weight
Bm C D5
Go and take this the wrong way, you knew Bm C Every day with someone new, I’ve
Em D the art of scraping through
Bm C
Who I was with every step that I ran to you Em
G Bm C D5 Fallen in love just a little oh a little bit
G Some like to imagine
Bm C D5
Only blue or black days Em D G Every day with someone new, I’ve
Em The dark caress of someone else, I guess
D G
Electing strange perfections in any C7
C Fallen in love just a little oh a little bit
C any thrill will do
stranger I choose
Every day with someone new, I’ve
Bridge Bm
Bridge C7 Bm
D
Fallen in love just a little oh a little bit every day
C7 Would things be easier
Bm
Would things be easier

Em7
Em7 Dm7
If there was a right way, honey there is no chorus 3
Dm7
If there was a right way, honey there is no G Bm C D
C7 Talk with every stranger, the stranger the better
C7 right way, and so I 75
right way, and so I G Bm C D
Talk with every stranger, the stranger the better
Repeat Chorus
G Bm C
chorus D
Talk with every stranger, the stranger the better
G Bm C Middle G Bm C D
Fall in love just a little oh a little bit Am Talk with every stranger, the stranger the better
Em
I wake at the first cringe of morning
D G
Every day with someone new I C B7 Em Repeat Chorus
And my heart’s already sinned
Bm C
Fall in love just a little oh a little bit C B7
How pure how sweet the love
D G
Every day with someone new I Em
Aretha yeah you would pray for him
Bm C
Fall in love just a little oh a little bit
‘C ause God knows
D G
Every day with someone new I Am
I’ve fallen just a little oh a little bit
Bm C
Fall in love just a little oh a little bit
Every day with someone new, I’ve
D
Every day with someone new Em
Fallen in love just a little oh a little bit

x x x x x x x o x x o o o o x x

1 1 1 1 1 1
5 5 7
1 2 2 3 3

1 1 1 1 2 3 4 2 3 3

2 3 4 3 4

C C7 D D5 Dm7 Em Em7

april 2017 ToTal GuiTar

 turn
A rou n D

the turnaround licks of the blues legends

albert king
Learn from one of the original pioneers of electric
blues, with five specially recorded and transcribed
examples plus backing tracks to play them over

T
hese days, when seemingly everybody is
influenced by everybody else, it’s worth
remembering just how much of a
pioneer Albert King was as far back as
the 1950s, with his unusual set up and playing
style. Using a right handed guitar flipped over
to play left handed meant he was basically
playing upside down, so, where a more
conventional player pushes up to bend the
treble strings, Albert would pull down.
As if that weren’t enough, he played in lower
tunings with very light strings and he picked
using just his thumb. This trademark method
would play a huge part in his note choice and
phrasing. His playing was mainly pentatonic,
but his unique method gave him his own
sound. Even so, you can capture his sound and
style in standard tuning – just be prepared to
work a little harder on those string bends if
your guitar isn’t sporting a set of gauge 0.008
strings! We’re staying in standard tuning as we
look at the licks and tricks of the blues legend.
For a more authentic vibe, tune every string
down by three semitones (Albert’s tunings
were more unconventional than this) and play
our tab three frets higher than transcribed.

1 born under a sharp sign TRACK 46

76

√ D7
q = 94

# ~~ n œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ⇥ n œ ~~~~~~~~
œ nœ œ
j3

& # 44 ‰ Jœ œ œ ‰ œœ
j j j
1/4 1/4 1/4
œ
Œ Ó ‰
œ œ œ
1/4

J J
~~ 13 15 1/4 1/4
BU
15 (17)
1/4
1/4

13
BU
RP
BD
15 15 (17) ( 17 )(15) 13
BU
15 (17) 13
~~~~~~~~
T 15 15 15 15
A 14

Right from the start, you can hear most of the notes are pushed (or pulled, in Albert’s case!) slightly sharp – not an unusual occurrence in blues, but Albert did it more than
most. The sliding doublestop at the end was one of Albert’s favourite ways to finish a phrase.

2 king of the bends TRACK 47

G D7

œ œ œ œj 3œ œj œ œ œ~~~ n œ œ œj œ œ
# 4 œ. œ #œ
J œ œ œ ˙~~~~~~~~~ ‰ nœ œ nœ œ
& #4 ‰ J J
j j 3 1/4

œŒ Ó
nœ nœ

10
BU
13 (15)
BU
(16)
BU
(17) 13
BU
(17)
BU BU BU
13 (15) 13 (15 ) 13 (15 ) 13 10
~~~ 10 13 10~~~~~~~~ 1/4

T 13 10 BU BD
A 12 (14) (12 ) 10
12
10
12
B
Photography: Paul Natkin/Getty Images

12

Though faithfully transcribed here, you can afford to be flexible with the timing of these slow, wide bends – in fact, too ‘in time’ is not necessarily a good thing! Loose is far
more authentic. After a wild bending workout like this, Albert would often shift to a more pentatonic approach as featured in bar 3, with a little flourish at the end.

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

 Full tracks + backings (tracks 46-52)
These tab examples come with audio tracks on your CD.
Simply insert the disc in your player, press play and jam
along, guitaraoke style!
the turnaround / albert king

3 ‘pent’ up blues TRACK 48

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A G

œ œ nœ n œ œ œj œ œ
# 4 œ j œ œ nœ n œ œ œ. œ œ n œ œ.
& #4
1/4 1/4

Œ ‰
œ

10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1/4 1/4

T 13 10 BU BD 13 10 BU BD
A 12 (14) (12 ) 10 12 (14) (12) 10
12
12 10
12 10
B 12
1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
D7

œ œ œ œ œ.
A

## n œ œ œ Œ
1/4

& ‰ ˙ œ Œ

1/4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
T BU BD

A 10
12
12 (14) (12) 10
12
B 12 12 [12 ]
3

Here we have various subtle and not so subtle string bends incorporated into some rhythmic pentatonic phrases. Note the regular ‘breathing’ spaces (shown with rests in
the notation) which help to frame each phrase nicely. The last bend in bar 3 is quite wide – it can afford to go a little sharp if you want to get carried away!

4 three’s no crowd TRACK 49

77

œ œ œ œj œ
q =120

œ~~~ œ~~~ n œ œ3 œ œ ˙~~~~~~~~~~~

. œ œœ
A

### 4
3 j

‰ Jœ
nœ

Œ Ó ‰ J Œ Ó
& 4
~~~ ~~~ BU BU BU ~~~~~~~~~~~
T 10 10 13 (17) 13 (17) 13 13 (15) 13 10 13 10 10 [10 ]
A 9 [9 ]

This example features some slow, wide bends and crotchet triplets. Do use a bit of ‘artistic license’ with the timing of these – you don’t to be too regimented in blues. As
you can see, this is all about the way you deliver each line, rather than having oodles of notes to learn. We finish with another of Albert’s favourite doublestop slides.

5 take a rest TRACK 50

œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ. œ ˙ œ œ ˙~~~~~~~~~~
E D A

### 4 n œ œ œj œ œ n œ
j j j 3
1/4

nœ œ nœ

& 4 ‰ J ‰ J Œ ‰ œ
BU BU BD
PB13
BD BU BU
1/4
~~~~~~~~~~
T 10 13 (15) 13 (15) (13) (15) (13) 13 (17 ) 13 (15) 13 10 8 5 BU BD
A 7 (9) (7) 5
7
B

By now, you may be seriously considering lighter strings with all these wide bends, but stick with it for the final exercise! Watch here for staccato hits, quarter-tone bends,
vibrato – even the short rests are important to the overall feel. As ever, have a bit of fun with the timing – you’ll know if you push it too far!

april 2017 ToTal GuiTar

 Tab Guide
Get more from TG by understanding our easy-to-follow musical terms and signs
What is tab?
Tab is short for tablature, a guitar, from the sixth (thick) down on the tab. Unfretted
notational system used to give string at the bottom to the first strings are shown with a ‘0’. The
detailed information as to where (thin) string at the top. On these key and time signatures are
notes should be played on the lines, numbers represent which shown in the notation. TG also
fretboard. Tab appears frets you place your fingers. For includes a timestamp to tell you
underneath conventional music example, an A note on the 2nd where in the original track you’ll
notation as six horizontal lines fret, third string, will be shown find each example and tempo
that represent the strings of the as a number ‘2’ on the third line expressed in beats per minute.

Fret BOXes: chOrds, scales and caPO nOtatiOn

Hand labelling nut and Fretboard cHord example

2 m o o o o o o o o o
3 1 i a
4 c
1
T p
2 3
78

Here are the abbreviations used for each finger. Fretting hand: 1, 2, 3, 4, (T) This fretbox diagram represents the guitar’s fretboard exactly, as seen in the This diagram represents a G chord. The ‘o’s are open strings, and a circled number
Picking hand: p (thumb), i (index), m (middle), a (annular), c (little finger) photo. This design is used for ease of visualising a fretboard scale or chord quickly. is a fretting hand finger. A black ‘o’ or circled number is the root note (here, G).

capo example capo notation scale example

o o o x o o
CAPO 2nd
FRET >
CAPO 2nd
FRET > 4 1 1 1 1
1
2 2 2 2
1 2
3 3
2 3 3
4 4 4 4 4

A (G)
The blue line in the diagram represents a capo – for this A chord, place it at the
2nd fret. Capos change the fret number ordering. Here, the original 5th fret
now becomes the 3rd fret, 7th fret now 5th fret, etc.
d (C)
Here the chord looks like a C in the tab, but the capo on the 2nd fret raises the
pitch to make it a D. The 2nd fret capo’d notes are shown with a ‘0’ in the tab
as if they were open strings.
A major scale
The fret box diagram illustrates the fret hand fingering for the A major scale using
black dots for root notes and red dots for other scale tones. The photo shows part
of the scale being played on the fourth string with the first, third and fourth fingers.

Guitar techniques: PickinG

down and up-picking tremolo picking palm muting pick rake appreggiated cHord

The symbols under the tab tell you the Each of the four notes are to be Palm-mute by resting the edge of your Drag the pick across the strings shown Play the notes of the chord by
first note is to be down-picked and the alternate-picked (down and up-picked) picking hand palm on the strings near with a single sweep. This is often used strumming across the relevant strings
second note is to be up-picked. very rapidly and continuously. the bridge saddles. to augment a rake’s last note. in the direction of the arrow head.

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

 tab guide

FrettinG hand
Hammer-on & note trills slides (glissando) Fret-Hand tapping Fret-Hand muting
pull-oFF

Pick the first note then hammer down on After picking the first note, rapidly Pick the first note and then slide to the Sound the notes marked with a square by X markings represent notes and strings
the string for the second note. Pick the alternate between the two notes shown in next. For the last two notes pick the first, hammering-on/tapping with your fret hand that are muted by your fret hand when
third note and pull-off for the fourth note. brackets using hammer-ons and pull-offs. slide to the next and then re-pick it (RP). fingers, instead of picking. struck by your picking hand.

BendinG and ViBratO

bend and release re-picked bend pre-bend quarter-tone bend Vibrato

Fret the first note (here, the 5th fret) and Bend up to the pitch shown in the Silently bend the string up from the 5th Pick the note then bend up a quarter- Your fretting hand vibrates the string by
bend up to the pitch of the bracketed brackets, then re-pick the note while fret (PB5) to the pitch of the 7th fret note, tone (a very small amount). This is small bend-ups and releases. Exaggerate
note, before releasing again. holding the bent note at the pitch shown. pick it and release to the 5th fret note. sometimes referred to as a ‘blues curl’. this effect to create a ‘wide’ vibrato.

harmOnics

natural Harmonics artiFicial pincHed Harmonics tapped Harmonics toucHed Harmonics

Harmonics

79

Pick the note while lightly touching the Fret the note as shown, then lightly place After fretting the note in the triangle, Place your finger on the note as shown, A previously sounded note is touched
string directly over the fret indicated. your index finger directly over ‘x’ fret dig into the string with the side of your but sound it with a quick pick hand tap at above the fret marked TCH (eg, TCH 9)
A chiming harmonic results. (AH‘x’) and pick (with a pick, p or a). thumb as you sound it with the pick. the fret shown (TH17) for a harmonic. for it to sound a harmonic.

ViBratO Bar / whammy Bar

wHammy bar bends scoop and doop sustained note gargle wHammy bar Vibrato
and diVebomb

The note is picked as shown, then the Scoop: depress the bar just before A Note is sustained then the vibrato Sound the note and ‘flick’ the vibrato bar Gently rock the whammy bar to
vibrato bar is raised and lowered to the striking the note and release. Doop: bar is depressed to slack. The square with your picking hand so it ‘quivers’. This repeatedly bend the pitch up and down.
pitches shown in brackets. lower the bar slightly after picking note. bracket indicates a further articulation. results in a ‘gargling’ sound! This sounds similar to fret hand vibrato.
Others

pick scrape Violining Finger numbering pima directions pick Hand tapping

The edge of the pick is dragged either Turn the volume control down, sound The numbers in the traditional notation Any kind of fingerpicking requirements Tap (hammer-on) with a finger of your
down or up along the lower strings to the note(s) and then turn the volume up refer to the fingers required to play are shown at the bottom of the picking hand onto the fret marked with
produce a scraped sound. for a smooth fade in. each note. tab notation. a circle. Usually with ‘i’ or ‘m’.

april 2017 ToTal GuiTar

 On sale 7 april

Learn more
chords!
expand your vocabulary with
our guide to different chords,
and how to use them!
plus
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Dire Straits ‘Sultans Of Swing’ Katatonia

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Unplugged 83

YOUR MONTH IN THE ACOUSTIC WORLD

2016 ToTal GuiTar

APRIL 2017
december
 Acoustic
Martin Harley
The hard-working rooTs musician Tells us how
going To nashville helped him hone in on his
playing To reach new heighTs
I
‘ ’ll tell you where I’m going, when I get
there’, so says Martin Harley in his
autobiographical signature song One For
The Road. And after a dozen years of
touring various continents, it seems to
us that one of the country’s finest blues/folk/
country/swing/slide guitar musicians (yep,
he’s certainly versatile) might be nearing his
destination on new album, Static In The Wires.
“I feel like I’m in a great place,” he tells us.
“And I’ve made a good record with people
84 whose talents I’ve recognised and enjoyed.”
It’s very good, in fact. And one of those
people is US bassist Daniel Kimbro, co-credited
on his second record with Harley following
2015’s Live At Southern Ground. The two hit it off
after an impromptu set together at a Tennessee
festival and you could even say he’s the Danny
Thompson to Harley’s John Martyn… “I’d
always been a fan,” Martin concurs.
“They achieved so much with two
instruments – there’s a lot to be learned
from that. Daniel can go in all kinds of
directions. He can go down some pretty
deep rabbit holes because his musical
vocabulary is broad enough to do that.”
Martin’s music has always reflected
American connections; inspired to play
slide by Ry Cooder’s Paris, Texas
soundtrack, his influences are a melting
pot of everyone from Kelly Joe Phelps to
Bukowski, Tom Waits and Kyuss, but the
delta has always run deep in his
Weissenborn playing and it wasn’t
surprising when he took a trip to work in
America in 2012. His stop in Nashville
had a huge effect on him – jamming with
modern hero of Americana, Chris
Stapleton and gigging in a writer’s circle
at the famed Bluebird Cafe. “I was the
only person there who hadn’t had a
multi-platinum hit,” laughs Martin. “But
everyone told their stories and did their
thing. You’re facing four other
songwriters and I just got a kick out of it.”
ToTal GuiTar april 2017
Words Rob Laing Photography Joby Sessions
The proudly-independent musician certainly
has the songs hold his own in such company.
But being exposed to the Music City’s hotbed of
guitar talent made him reflect on his playing.
“It really made me sit up and take notice
again,” he admits. “Because you’re going to see
someone on a Tuesday night in Nashville with
no cover charge who’s going to blow your mind
skill-wise. Just seeing the standard of
musicianship made me conscious of the
choices that I’m making. The choices to use less
notes and ask, what am I trying to say?”
The answer was refining what he’d achieved
on the six albums leading up to tracking Static In
The Wires Joe McMahan’s Wow & Flutter studio
in Nashville’s increasingly hip east side. The
Jerry Douglas-guesting slide fest of Feet Don’t
Fail Me is a feast of flair, but less really is more
elsewhere. “It’s an exercise in reduction,” he
Weissenborn
To Do iT
Thinking of playing lap-steel guitar?
Here’s Martin’s three slide rules
1. PRePaRe
“Getting experience with alternate tunings and alternate
picking on regular guitar is a great basis to move to
lap-steel. Have a comfortable fingerpicking technique like
Travis picking. Because you don’t strum the Weissenborn
with a regular pick; you’ll use thumb pick or fingers.”
2. Don’T oveRPlay
“I was fairly accomplished on a regular acoustic, but then
when I went to slide, it became quite limiting. Accept that
maybe you could do more with less notes. It’s deciding
what to take away that gives you the benefit.”
3. CHooSe THe RIgHT Tool
“The Weissenborn shines more as a solo instrument,
so a duo or alone is where it’s at. If I’m going to be in
anything that’s more than two instruments, as soon as
electric bass and drums come in I’m going to plug in
with an electric lap-steel.”
reflects. “How can I make a song work and how
can I make a solo work without using too many
words and too many notes.”
That mindset spilled into the intimate tones
too. He’s an accomplished fingerstyle player,
but on the road with Daniel, Martin is able to
focus on allowing his Anderwood, Andreas
Cuntz and original Kona Weissenborns to shine
too. They’re all characterised by their hollow
and resonant necks and the potential for
expression they offer is unique. “I realised
there was this dedicated thing with a resonance
to it and it sits on your lap,” he reflects. “It had
what I was looking for – a complete sound.
A very deep bass. You’re tuned into an open
chord so you can alternate your picking without
fretting and then suddenly you’ve got this
linear voice with the slide which is much more
like a human voice than a fretted instrument.”
Despite all the Nashville creativity, the
charismatic bluesman is still very much
UK-based, as his young family and a
relentless touring schedule that takes
him up and down this country proves.
He’s also balancing the workload of
managing as an independent artist on his
own Del Mundo Records; “If you buy a
record from the website that’s often me
going down the Post Office with the kids
to send it. Sometimes the running of that
does get in the way of making music but
that’s the way it is. I’m not sure I’d want
it any different.”
Martin’s hard work ethic is continuing
to pay off; with Static In The Wires a
testament that with persistence and
great tunes, you get what you give as an
artist. “I like my job,” he concludes.
“I have made it work, but by working
really hard to get there. And I think if you
constantly try and make good records,
hopefully good things will happen.”
Martin Harley’s Static In The Wires is
available now on Del Mundo Records
 interview / MArtin HArley

“The
Weissenborn
had what I
was looking for
– a complete
sound”

85

april 2017 ToTal GuiTar

 Acoustic
Rockschool
beatles
let it be
Four chords and some easy melodies are all
you need to play Rockschool’s Grade One
arrangement of this classic Beatles tune

l
et it be is a classic Lennon/
McCartney number from the
Beatles’ 1970 album of the same
name. Rockschool’s arrangement
starts with some intro chords which lead
into the melody during the verse. The
chords are a classic‘four-chord trick’
built on the first, fourth, fifth and sixth
notes of the C major scale (C D E F G A
B). The chords are C, F, G and Am, so you
can see how chords and scale relate to
each other.
Make sure your chords ring out
cleanly and your fingertips are planted
firmly behind the appropriate frets. F is
played with a barre – you’ll be pressing
down on two strings with one finger so
take time to find the best hand position.
If you take Rockschool’s exam you must
follow the tab exactly as printed, but the
melody is ripe for embellishments in
your own time. A couple of bluesy bends,
slides, pull-offs or hammer-ons will put
your own stamp on proceedings.

86

The Rockschool Acoustic

Guitar Grade One book contains
everything you need to pass
your Grade One exam in one
essential book. For more info,
visit: www.rslawards.com
Let It Be
Words & Music by John Lennon & Paul McCartney
© Copyright 1970 sony/ATV Music Publishing
All Rights Reserved. International Copyright secured.

beatles let it be TRACKs 53-54

q =70

œœ œœ
C G Am F

4 œœ œœ œœœ œœ œœ œœ
&4 œœœ œœœ œœ
œœ
œ
œœœ œœ œœœ œœ œœ

0 0 3 3 0 0 1 1
T 1 1 3 3 1 1 1 1
A 0
2
0
2
0
0
0
0
2
2
2
2
2
3
2
3
B 3 3 2
3
2
3
0 0
1
Guitar: James Betteridge Photography: Art Zelin/Getty Images

œœ œœ
C G F C

œ œœ ˙ ˙˙
& œœœ œœœ œœ œœ ˙˙˙ ˙˙˙
œ œœ œœ
0 0 3 3 1 0
T 1 1 3 3 1 1
A 0
2
0
2
0
0
0
0
2
3
0
2
B 3 3 2
3
2
3
3
3

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

 FuLL track + BackIng (tracks 53-54)
This song comes with a full demo track and a backing
track (minus guitar) on your CD. simply insert the disc in
your player, press play and jam along, guitaraoke style!
beatles / let it be

œ œ œ
C G Am F

œ œ œ
& .. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

T . 0 0 0

.
1 3 3 3 1 1
A 0 0 2
2
0 0

B
5

œ
C
œ œ œ
G
œ œ œ ˙.
F
œ
C
œ
&

0 0 1 0 0 0
T 3 3 1 3
A
B
7

Am
œ œ
G
œ œ œ
F
˙
C

&œ œ œ œ

0 3 5 3 3 0
T 1 1
A 2 0

B
9

87

œ
C
œ œ œ
G
œ œ œ ˙
F C
..
& Ó

T
0 0 1 0 0
.
.
3 3 1
A
B
11

˙˙
F C G C

˙ ˙ ˙˙
& ˙˙˙ ˙˙˙˙ ˙ ˙˙˙
˙˙˙
1 0 3 0
T 1 1 3 1
A 2
3
0
2
0
0
0
2
B 3 2
3
3
13

˙ œœ œœ
F C G F C

˙˙ ˙˙
& ˙˙˙ ˙˙˙ œ œœ ˙˙˙
œœœ
1 0 3 1 0
T 1 1 3 1 1
A 2
3
0
2
0
0
2
3
0
2
B 3 2
3
3
15

You can play fingerstyle or with a pick. If you use a pick, we suggest that you use alternate picking during the melody – that’s a ‘down-up-down-up’-style picking motion.
The chord lines are more spaced out and are suited to an ‘all-downstrokes’ approach. Gentle strums will sound sweeter than harder picking.

april 2017 ToTal GuiTar

 90

the gas
station reaL worLd reviews of tHe
Best new Gear 94

Welcome to the GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome*)

Station! Every issue, the TG scours the market for the
hottest new gear and brings you transparent reviews
that you can trust. From the smallest of accessories
that make your life easier, to big investments such as
brand new guitars, amps and effects pedals – if it’s 96
88 worth your attention, you’ll find it here!

how we test Best Buy AwArd

CurAtion no snAke oil

Our product selection is
driven by our love of gear.
We select the most exciting
products on the market every
month to bring you opinions
you can trust.
fACe-vAlue reviews
We’re not gear snobs here at
Total Guitar. We judge on it on
whether it looks good, sounds
good and plays well – not by
the name on the headstock.
TG Best Buy Awards are
reserved for stand-out 089 start Me up
products that earn a five-star Five new products to get you started
You won’t find us getting rating. This is the best, most
exciting new gear that you
hung up on hokey mythology
or nonsense marketing speak:
need to check out 090 squier affinity
we aim to bring you bullshit-
free opinions on the gear
series JazzMaster HH
you’re interested in. Dirt cheap offset that’s ready to rock
Best Buy
we CAn’t Be Bought
TG review scores are a true
award 094 sHerGoLd Masquerader
Retro revival rocker you didn’t know you needed
reflection of our experts’
opinion on the product
they’ve been testing. You’ll
never find a rating in our
Best for…
Different guitarists have
096 tayLor acadeMy 12e
different needs. This badge
New entry-level acoustic from the US giant
mag that has been bought
highlights a particular strength
and paid for.

*WHAT IS GAS?
Gear Acquisition Syndrome
is the guitar-player’s
never-ending urge to acquire
new gear, irrespective of
whether they actually need it.
Don’t pretend you don’t
have it – we all do!
that a product has in a TG Test
or Group Test, so you can 098 tHe tG test:
reAl world reviews
We test every product under
choose what’s best for you
retro soLidBodies
the conditions that they were Four classic electrics go head to head
designed for. For example,
if an amp is designed to be
played loud, rest assured Best 104 Group test:
that we’ll have tested it at
rehearsal/gig volumes!
for… BLues overdrives
Four boxes to bring some sizzle to your licks

SuperB, A BeST Buy excellenT ABove AverAGe kIT Some ISSueS poor
106 ernie BaLL aMBient deLay
Delay with expression pedal control

ToTal GuiTar april 2017


02
01
start Me up!
Five awesome new products to get your gear engine revving this month…
elixir optiweB
1 2
The coated string experts
at Elixir have been beavering
away for some time on the
latest advancement in their
coated string tech, and the
brand new Optiweb range is the
result. Optiweb is a lightweight
coating that Elixir promises will
provide long-lasting tone while
sounding indistinguishable from
traditional uncoated strings.
As if that wasn’t enough it also
protects strings from the
elements for a longer tone life
while allowing them to vibrate
with less damping, to retain a
crisp tone with a natural feel.
(£11.95, elixirstrings.co.uk)
Vox Amplug 2
Vox’s amPlug 2 has three
new flavours: Clean, Blues
and Lead. Clean delivers a
boutique-inspired, erm, cleans,
while Blues serves up American
amp-style drive and Lead gives
you an ultra-hot high-gain sound.
As with other amPlugs, there are
nine onboard effects, while
improved cab simulation and a
multi-stage gain circuit ensure
they sound better than ever.
You’ll get 17 hours of battery life
out of ’em, and an aux in lets you
jam along to your phone, too.
(£39.95, www.voxamps.com)
03
D’ADDArio BeAtles
Accessories
3 5
The Beatles are back at
D’Addario with a new range
of straps and picks that
won’t let you down. Four straps
are available – Meet The Beatles,
Yellow Submarine, Revolver and
the classy Sgt Pepper’s number
pictured above – and all are
non-leather and vegan-friendly,
too. Pick-wise, you can get your
hands on a blister daisy pick pack
or this snazzy collectable pick tin,
with plecs adorned with classic
Beatles albums. Fab!
(£46.50 [strap], from £8.50
[picks], www.daddario.com)
rolAnD ruBix22
4
Roland has given its range
of audio interfaces the
once-over for 2017, and
we’re liking the looks of the
smallest and most affordable
in the range, the Rubix22. Two
XLR combi jacks offer stereo
recording possibilities, while
the Hi-Z input is ideal for going
straight in and hooking up to
plugins. Condenser mic fans will
be pleased to note the presence
of phantom power, and Roland
has even thrown in a copy of
Ableton Live Lite to boot.
(£119, www.roland.co.uk)
gas station
05
04
89
DoD mini Volume/
expression
Simultaneously reviving
and shrinking DOD’s old
treadle format, these new
launches come in both volume
and expression formats. Both
have all-steel construction and
gear drive for extra durability,
plus non-slip rubber pads and
treadle throws that are equal
to units twice their size. The Mini
Volume features a 500k pot,
while the Expression offers a
TRS/TS/RTS selector, so it will
work with any stompbox you
can throw at it. By the hand of
DOD, these pedals are useful.
(£89, www.digitech.com)
april 2017 ToTal GuiTar
 t h e ga s
station

90

ToTal GuiTar april 2017


Squier Affinity
SerieS JAzzmASter HH
Make Jazzmasters rock again
O
kay, so the Squier Affinity
Series Jazzmaster looks
like a Jazzmaster in
profile. The body shape is
unmistakable, iconic
– y’know, weird to the point that,
in an alternate reality, it’s a
much-loved coffee table in some
avant-garde Californian condo.
And the big ol’ paddle of its ’68
Stratocaster headstock is pure
CBS-era Fender, when the
then-owners felt it necessary to
upscale the dimensions to make
room for a bigger logo. So far, so
very Jazzmaster-y. But the Squier
Affinity Series is unafraid to
play fast and loose with the
Jazzmaster’s spec and brief when
it’s called for, and it’s aware that it
It’s been strIpped down
and bulked up for rock
wasn’t jazz-playing sophisticates
that made the Jazzmaster famous
in the first place.
This here’s a Jazzmaster that’s
been stripped down and bulked
up to ready it for the hurly-burly
of hard rock, hard blues, hard
anything. Gone is the fuss of the
vibrato and in its place is a
six-saddle hardtail bridge that’s
nice, neat and super-steady, a
design switcharoo that’s a little
like taping up your windows before
a storm. The classic Jazzmaster
switching system – which was
always a bit like offering a secret
handshake anyway – and the
rhythm and lead tone circuit is
gone, too, both victim of this
newfound pragmatism. In its place
is a conventional pair of master
photography: Olly Curtis
pots for volume and tone, and a
three-way blade pickup selector.
And about those pickups: anyone
tuning in for the warm, mellow
review
1 Body
£195 The Affinity Series
is available in Arctic
At A GlAnce
White and Black, but Body: Alder
we’d love to see a Neck: Maple, C-shape
Candy Apple Red or Scale: 25.5”
Seafoam Green finish FiNgerBoard:
sometime soon Rosewood
2 FretS
Medium-gauge
FretS: 22, medium
PickuPS: 2x
Standard Humbucker
frets offer a nice, (neck and bridge)
and organic tone of the classic feel that goes coNtrolS: 1x volume,
Jazzmaster’s single-coil soapbars against the trend for 1x tone, 1x three-way
will get a shock to find two jumbo frets, which selector
you’ll find everywhere, Hardware: Chrome
relatively hot humbuckers in the even on J Mascis’s leFt-HaNded: No
bridge and neck. This battle- signature Jazzmaster FiNiSH: Arctic White
ready Jazzmaster don’t surf. (pictured), Black
There’s no doubting the
thinking behind this. Squier is
3 PickuPS
These
humbuckers are bright
coNtact: Fender GBI
01342 331700
www.fender.com
offering an electric with some and punchy, but this
Jazzmaster mojo and feel while Jazzmaster is worth
reining in its eccentricity, and, as modding: a Seymour
is their mission as Fender’s Duncan Hot
Jazzmaster single coil
affordable diffusion brand, they in the neck could be
do so to appeal to the widest incredible 2
demographic of players. The brand
did something similar with the
now-discontinued Jagmaster,
which featured a vibrato and a pair 91
of Duncan Designed humbuckers,
but, as the name suggests, that
came somewhere between a
Jazzmaster and a Fender Jaguar.
The Affinity Series Jazzmaster is
a winner because it’s so playable;
it is a whole lot of fun, and
certainly doesn’t play like a guitar 3
that’d give you change from £200.
Across the board, Squier’s Affinity
Series is a little more generously
spec’d than the entry-level Bullet
Series, a little less than the Deluxe
Series, and retails for around £195.
1
Featuring a one-piece, bolted-on
maple neck that’s satin-smooth
and cut into a svelte C-profile, the
Affinity Series Jazzmaster is quick,
guaranteed not to gum up on your
sweaty fretting hand, and
extremely forgiving. Guitarists
who have just started their journey
with their instrument will find it
accommodating and encouraging.
That asymmetrical, offset body
is not just visual iconoclasm
either; it’s cut to make the
APRIL 2017 ToTal GuiTar
 t h e ga s
station
the name Game
Why the Jazzmaster was
never much about jazz
H
as there been a more
misnamed guitar than the
Jazzmaster? Introduced at
NAMM in 1958, it was hoped
that the Jazzmaster would prove
a revolutionary alternative to
conventional archtop jazzers.
As it transpired, the artists who
played them turned out to be
the trailblazers. In the 60s, likes
The Surfaris and The Ventures
hijacked the Jazzmaster for the
92 rolling skronk and twang of
surf rock. A decade later, the
Jazzmaster found its oddball
body in the hands of Elvis
Costello, and Tom Verlaine and
Jimmy Rip of alt-rock pioneers,
Television. Its niche was among
the mavericks – Sonic Youth’s
Thurston Moore et al and of
course, J Mascis: founder of
Dinosaur Jr. And if that wasn’t
far away enough from planet
jazzer, Slipknot’s Jim Root
uses one, too – albeit a
weaponised signature model
that’s tooled up for metal.
guitar sit comfortably when
playing seated, and makes good
on that promise. It also sounds the
part. Seated in an alder body, the
humbuckers are hot, but they’re
not so over-bearing that they lose
the snap and tightness of a classic
Fender tone. Again, it’s not quite
classic Jazzmaster tone and not
nearly so versatile – but for a
all-purpose rocker, you could do
a lot worse at this price.
The Affinity Series Jazzmaster is
well served by a tone control with
plenty of range. With a clean
sound, rolling that tone back
ToTal GuiTar APRIL 2017
The notoriously annoying
Jazzmaster bridge has
been swapped for a
standard hardtail
AlSo try...
AriA 1532
retro
Based on the 1968 Aria
1532T, this vintage
beaut has a mondo
bizzarro appeal and
a warm, organic
tone not dissimilar
to a classic
Jazzmaster
£249
The Squier dispenses
with the Jazzmaster’s ibAnez rC220-AAM
fiddly control layout Featuring a similarly
iconoclastic offset
mahogany body, a
unveils a nasal woodiness that just rock needs. When you crank bolt-on maple neck
and rosewood
about keeps the Jazzmaster true the gain up further, you’ll find a fingerboard, this
to its name, and there’s a lovely high-gain sweet spot somewhere is serious option
articulation to busy, note-heavy between Iron Maiden bark and that promises
phrases. With the tone up full Seattle grunge. And that confirms warm, rich classic £229
rock tones
there’s a huge amount of suspicions that this Jazzmaster is
brightness, that authoritative snap more Crazy Train than Blue Train
we love from Fender instruments – but that’s okay by us.
YAMAhA
without it ever being shrill. It’s Jonathan Horsley
PACifiCA 112VCX
brilliant for some fingerpicking
feAtureS Don’t be put off by the
blues, for double-stops and Pacifica’s ubiquity:
Sound quAlity
chicken pickin’. As you dial in you’ll find it for cheaper
SuMMarY
more gain, the Affinity Series vAlue for money than list price, it’s
Jazzmaster responds with a nice build quAlity incredibly playable,
and has a similar
dynamic crunch that should cater plAyAbility
tonal range
£275
for any and all of your vintage hard overAll rAtinG
 t h e ga s
station

94

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

 review

SHERGOLD MASQUERADER 1 MacHiNeHeadS

These staggered- At A GLAncE
height locking tuners

SM01-SD
are hassle-free and Body: Mahogany
help the Masquerader Neck: Rosewood,

£765 hold its tuning no

matter how hard
bolt-on
Scale: 25.5”
you play it
1 FiNgerBoard:

A retro rocker you didn’t know you wanted 2 toNe aNd

coil-SPlit
Rosewood
FretS: 22 hard nickel
medium-jumbo

I
f the name Shergold has you
thinking, who?! Don’t worry
– you’re not alone. A British
brand founded in 1968,
Shergold enjoyed its ahem,
golden years in the mid-70s and
early 80s – when Genesis’s Mike
Rutherford could be seen rocking a
double-neck – before falling on
hard times. Well, under Barnes &
Mullins’ ownership, and from the
mind of master luthier Patrick
James Eggle, Shergold is back, and
in style. The Masquerader is the
only model available so far, but it
makes a case for being the only
guitar you’d ever need.
A double-cut electric with a
more bulbous profile than a Strat,
the Masquerader has a contoured
This 500k tone pot PickuPS: 1x USA
crunch, then an authoritative hard has heaps of range, Seymour Duncan SP90
rock and metal bark that’ll give its coil-split offering (neck), 1x USA Seymour
powerchords some attitude and some single-coil Duncan TB-4
twang from your Trembucker
leads bite. The SP-90, meanwhile, bridge ’bucker coNtrolS: 1x volume,
is a gutsy and bright single-coil 1x tone w/ coil-split,
counterpoint to the Trembucker’s
high-output mids. It is lithe and 3 iNlayS
These hand-inlaid
aluminium line fret
3-position selector
switch
Hardware: PJE Design
responsive, with supple and lively
markers are a neat, Shergold Custom T
cleans; roll the tone back and minimalist touch, a bridge, chrome with
there’s a thick, nasal woodiness, design feature that’s compensated brass
lovely for precise jazz licks, and the repeated on the side saddles, Staggered
position’s markers 3 Height Locking
more gain you add, the more P-90
machineheads
rock crispness shines through.
leFt-HaNded: No
Everything about the FiNiSH: Thru-Cherry
Masquerader feels assured, solid, (pictured), Thru-Dirty
and stable – even the pickup Blonde, Thru-Black,
Solid Battleship Grey
selector. The neck is satin-
coNtact:
smooth, clubby but quick and Barnes & Mullins 95
super-comfortable, and for a 01691 652449
bolt-on construction, there’s a shergoldguitars.com

It reaches across the aIsle

to guItarIsts of all faIths bESt bUy
AwARD

mahogany body with a hand- wealth of durable sustain, so when

finished rosewood neck and
’board, a rounded headstock with
Shergold’s enamel shield logo,
and comes with three pickup
options. Arguably, the most
exciting of these is the Seymour
Duncan SP-90 (neck) and TB-4
Trembucker (bridge), as deployed
in this SM01-SD. It’s a sound
that reaches across the aisle to
guitarists of all faiths: rock,
blues, jazz… even metal.
The Trembucker is one of the
best all-round rock humbuckers
on the market, powerful without
being a thermonuclear spoiler of
tonewoods. For clean tones it still
has plenty of cut, hinting that it’s
straining at the lead, so when you
Photography: Joseph Branston
you bend and hold there’s plenty
of time to practise your Gary
Moore solo-face. So, with all that
in mind, and assuming you’ve
hitherto never coveted the
Shergold Masquerader, whose
name should it be mentioned in
the same breath with? Well, at this
price, it’ll give pause to those
whose gear-lust is piqued by a
Gibson SG Standard, a PRS SE
Custom 22, or Guild S-100 Polara,
and to those needing a pro-quality
workhorse with a vintage vibe.
Make no mistake, the Shergold
Masquerader is the real deal.
Jonathan Horsley 2
FEAtURES
SOUnD QUALity

roll up the gain, warm break-up

SuMMarY

comes naturally – a sweet spot for vALUE FOR MOnEy

throaty blues. As you crank the bUiLD QUALity
gain, the Masquerader responds pLAyAbiLity
with more power; first, AC/DC OvERALL RAtinG

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ToTal GuiTar april 2017

 review

Taylor 1 GuiTar Body

The 12e gives more aT a Glance
for less, rewarding

academy 12e
softer playing with Body: Grand Concert

£659 dynamic resonance.

So it’s a good practical
electro acoustic
Top: Solid Sitka Spruce
option for fingerstyle Back & sides:
and practising at Layered sapele

School’s in for Taylor’s entry level guitars

lower levels Neck: Sapele
scale: 632mm

2 arm resT (24.875”)

T
The choice of FreTs: 20
here are certain guitars And it plays very well indeed. mahogany for the elecTrics:
players will aspire to own Low action, no buzz and Taylor NT armrest does make Taylor ES-B
as they develop – a Les neck with an Ebony ’board that it more visually Hardware: Taylor
conspicuous, but it 100/200 18:1
Paul, a proper Tele… makes us wish we’d had this guitar really does enhance chrome tuners
maybe a PRS. And for when we started. But the sounds the playing leFT-HaNded: Yes,
acoustic players, their wishlist will here suggest a guitar that could be experience here no extra charge
often have two names at the top; a trade-up for existing acoustic FiNisH: Matte
Martin and Taylor. But despite
their high-end reputations, both
owners too. It’s a Taylor spruce top
and we expected brightness, but
3 es-B
coNTrols
Setting the tone flat
coNTacT:
Taylor Guitars
+31(0)20 667 6033
these titans of tonewood have the high mids here really sing for at 12 o’clock is good taylorguitars.com
been making moves to woo chord work. You’re trading some for fingerpicking, but
entry-level players in recent years of the low end depth of a larger- there’s plenty of
treble for cutting
– Martin with its Dreadnought Jr bodied dreadnought but we’d be through a band mix,
and, even further back, Taylor’s quite happy to for the addictive and without any
impressive travel models, the Baby chorusy trebles when we dig in. plasticky piezo quack
and GS Mini. With the full-size And in DADGAD that character
Academy Series though, Taylor is helps melodies to stand out in besT buy
really getting serious, and this the midst of strumming. award 97
Grand Concert model, nylon Plugging in, it’s time to take
version and a dreadnought are all stock of the ES-B. It’s still an

We Wish We’d had this 1

When We started playing 3

available in standard (£563 for the
12) and electro options, as here.
For so-called ‘beginner’ guitars
they’re dearer than some of the
competition. But is the Taylor
difference more than money?
The solid spruce top is paler
than we’re used to, but it does
give the Academy it’s own clean
aesthetic. Designer and Taylor
master luthier Andy Powers
wanted to create a guitar for
newcomers that’s ‘more inviting,
more forgiving, more comfortable’
here but with a simpler more
minimal design, too. One of the
features with a foot in both camps
is the most noticeable – the
mahogany arm rest for the picking
arm. While it may look strange
photography: Joseph Branston
Expression System but a distinct
version we’ve seen on the Baby
and Big Baby models. Beginners
gain an onboard tuner but lose the
bass control in place of a ‘tone’
(treble roll-off). While we’d like
to be able to boost the low end
there’s no doubt the all-round
performance here represents
the character organically, and is
notably more ‘acoustic’ than other
stock piezo systems we’ve tested.
So is the Academy worth the
extra cost? Compared with much
of its competition at this price,
it’s the difference between a good
guitar and a great one.
Rob Laing
2
FeaTures
sound qualiTy

and puzzling to some, they idea is

SuMMarY

to make the playing experience value For money

more comfortable. And it works, build qualiTy
it feels right; drawing the guitar playabiliTy
closer to the body when playing. overall raTinG

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RetRo Solidbody
electRicS
Words Jonathan Horsley
Photography Neil Godwin

98

ToTal GuiTar april 2017


Modern life getting you down? Experience the
sound of yesteryear without the excruciating
vintage price tag with these old-school rockers
T
he electric guitar is not yet 100 years old
but already we are forensically scouring
its history in search of authentic tone
from a bygone era. Already we’re
sighing, “They don’t make ’em like
they use to.” But they do. Take the Danelectro
DG67-YL, a banana milkshake yellow electric,
its design straight from 1967. With a pair of
lipstick pickups and asymmetrical masonite
semi-hollow body, it has an oddball quality,
unmistakably Dano. But if you think the
Dano’s weird, wait until you see the Hagstrom
Retroscape H-II. An aggressively horned
double-cut with an arcane switching system and
the tg teSt
99
dainty vibrato, the H-II is a real curio that
promises an easy ride courtesy of that famed
Hagstrom neck profile. Then there’s the Supro
Jamesport. This minimalistic, super-cool electric
takes the unique Supro Ozark bevelled body
from the 60s, plants one Gold Foil single coil
pickup someway past the bridge position, and
sounds like a decades-old echo from rock ’n’ roll
history. Rounding out this issue’s quartet is the
Gretsch Electromatic G5438 Pro Jet; with a
swanky gold finish and pearloid pickguard, it’s
as handsome a single-cut as you’ll see, and
promises ‘that great Gretsch sound’ – a
trademarked guarantor of old-school tone.
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GreTsch elecTromaTic haGsTrom

G5438 Pro JeT £445
The gold standard
This is kind of like a Les Paul, right?
Wrong. Okay, it is a single-cut and dates back to a similar era, but
it’s very different. The Pro Jet has a basswood body with an arched
maple top, and like many of Gretsch’s solidbody electrics, it’s
chambered, making it lighter, and, they say, more resonant.
What’s the deal with those pickups?
The Pro Jet sports a pair of Gretsch’s Black Top Filter’Tron pickups,
gving you a bright snap and twang that’ll cut through any mix.
Created by Ray Butts as a means of killing the buzz that near drove
reTroscaPe h-ii £599
Switching things up
There are a lot of switches here… what are they for?!
Okay, so there’s a killswitch in the upper horn… largely useless.
There are on/off switches for neck and bridge pickups – all quite
simple – and then a mute switch that cuts output to a fraction and a
master tone that toggles between the H-II’s natural elastic twang
for jazzier, woody warmth. Think of them as factory presets.
Is it true the neck was inspired by a fighter jet?
That is indeed correct! Hagstrom’s patented H-Expander truss road
was inspired by the wing design of a Saab J-35 Draken fighter jet.

100

country guitar legend Chet Atkins mad in 1954, the Filter’Tron is But what makes the H-II a top gun is that this clever truss rob
regarded as the first humbucker – just predating Seth Lover’s PAF, invention allows for low action and thin, super-stable neck – which
which became the core of Gibson’s sound. should mean slick playability in spades.

So, what’s this ‘Great Gretsch sound’ you mentioned?
In short, it’s incredible. Uncanny, even. For here we are in 2017, and
yet you fret a couple of doublestops on the Pro Jet Electromatic and
all of a sudden it’s like you’re the Fonz, just waiting for Richie, Joanie
and Chachi to show up. The cleans are sharp and jazzy, but just take
your amp into overdrive and you’re in rockabilly heaven.
What does it sound like with the afterburners on?
Settle down, Maverick. Cranking up the overdrive drowns the H-II’s
subtle charms, and it can be a little muddy. But those cleans?
They’re incredible. There’s sassy elastic spank with the neck pickup,
sharp twang in the bridge, toggle the master tone and open your
chord grimoire to the dim7s, et voila! You’re a master of jazz.

At A glAnce At A glAnce
Key features: Chambered Key features: Alder body with
basswood body with arched-maple bolt-on maple neck, 24.75” scale,
top, 24.6” scale, 22 medium-jumbo Resinator fretboard, 22 medium
frets, 2x “Black Top” Filter’Tron jumbo frets, Trema vibrato,
humbuckers, Anchored Adjusto- 2x Hagstrom Ceramic C-Spin
Matic bridge single coils
finish: Gold [as reviewed], Silver finish: Aged Sky Blue [as
Sparkle, Black reviewed], Three-Tone Sunburst,
ContaCt: Fender GBI Black, White
01342 331700 ContaCt: Rosetti
www.gretschguitars.com 01376 550033
www.hagstromguitars.com

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

 the tg teSt

DanelecTro suPro
DG67-Yl £499
JamesPorT £799
They call me mellow yellow The bronzed Adonis
Where have we seen this before? Supro? Super… er, who?
Well, the Dano’s body looks rather like it been cut from the counter More famous for its amps, the likes of which were used by Hendrix,
in some idyllic US diner on Route 66. And in truth, it’s probably Jimmy Page and Albert Lee, Supro was no slouch when it came to
made from the same material, too, what with its masonite laminate putting a guitar together back in the day either. While the Jamesport
body and vinyl linoleum trim. But this is exactly the retro vibe that is the most expensive guitar here, it offers some serious vintage
makes Danelectro so cool. quality and spec. And that finish has to be seen to be believed.

They make some bold claims about the neck don’t they? What era are we talking?
Yes, they do: “Arguably the best neck feel of any guitar at any price”, The Jamesport is a bolt straight out of the swinging 60s. Its body
says Dano. That’s quite a statement, but it is a real skinny Minnie is based on the Supro’s Ozark body shape and has a bevelled profile

101

and a lot of fun. It wouldn’t be out of place on some hi-tech shred
machine, but this 67 Dano isn’t for the quinoa-munching shred
yogi in your life; it’s a rock ’n’ roll machine.
What about that Dano twang?
It’s all there. Bright, responsive, and a little unruly once you dial in
the gain – or even better, run it through your favourite fuzz pedal.
The trademark Dano Lipstick single coils are a dainty but pugnacious
pairing. The Shadows, surf rock, classic 70s-style dinosaur rock a la
Blue Cheer; the Danelectro 67 eats it all up.
for comfort. Pretty darn suave, but hinting at some serious power
underneath the hood…
What does it sound like?
Surprisingly versatile despite having only one humbucker-sized
Gold Foil single-coil pickup, a tone and a volume knob. There’s a lot
of play between the sharp 60s hippy jangle, and an aggressive rock
bite. Named for the coastal town of Jamesport, New York, and part
of the Island Series, we’re happy to report that there is plenty of
gnarly chew here that makes it perfect for surf rock.

At A glAnce At A glAnce
Key features: Masonite, Key features: Alder Vintage Ozark
semi-hollow laminate frame body, solid body with set maple neck,
25” scale, 21 frets, 2x Lipstick 25.5” scale, 50s wiring volume and
single coils tone controls, 1x Vintage Gold Foil
finish: Dano Yellow [as reviewed], singe coil, Wave tailpiece
Red, Black, Aqua finish: Bronze [as reviewed],
ContaCt: JHS Antique White, Jet Black, Tobacco
0113 286 5381 Sunburst, Blue Metallic
www.danelectro.com ContaCt: JHS
0113 286 5381
www.suprousa.com

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The Supro’s unusual

heaD To heaD
looks are enhanced by
the ‘wave’ tailpiece

Which of our retro axes

belongs in your future?

n
o two guitars here are alike. You’ve
got the studied refinement of the
Hagstrom, the majesty of its Aged
Sky Blue finish, the weirdness of its
switching system. Then there’s the
auric splendour of the Gretsch Pro Jet, a
stunning singlecut with that breeding, that
Gretsch DNA. Then there’s the Danelectro 67,
its voice even louder than the yellow finish,
uniquely lightweight, full of skronk and attitude
from deceptively powerful pickups. And there’s
the Supro with its classy minimalism, that
finish and tailpiece hard to beat.
In terms of playability, the Hagstrom
nicotine-yellow neck is incredible, and even
though the bridge is a little squeaky, the Tremar
vibrato a stiff ol’ wobbler, it still feels like the
Hagstrom is on your side. The Danelectro, well,
that invites all sorts of abuse; it’s a joy for rock
102 ’n’ roll rhythm playing and disgorging a
chaotic, shambling lead break. Some might

the SupRo’S tone will

cAtch you off-guARd;
thAt Single coil iS
wARm And Rich
find the Pro Jet off-balance when playing
seated, but there is no quibbling with its clubby
neck profile, which comfortably seats the hand,
offering plenty support. The Supro, too, enjoys The sides of Dano
a clubbier neck profile, but with a satin finish bodies are usually
that helps you glide across it. covered in this vinyl
The Supro’s tone will catch you off-guard; binding tape
that big humbucker-sized single coil is
deceptively sharp, but warm and rich, dynamic,
and there is a lot of range in that tone knob.
While the Hagstrom’s cleans are untouchable,
remember that Kurt Cobain once played one; so
while its distorted tone won’t be tight, it can be
a little muddy, it nonetheless has a lovely feral
character to it. The Danelectro’s pickups are
wired in series, so the middle position with
both pickups selected has some real oomph,
perfect for hot-rodded rock. The Gretsch,
meanwhile, well, its tone is so hot you could
grill hamburgers by wafting it in front of the
speaker cone. Tex-mex shuffle, country, blues,
jazz, rockabilly… You name it, and it’ll play it.

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final verDicT
Which old-school electric is the right one for you?

W
ith guitars like these, you’ve got
to assess your needs. What are
you going to be playing? If the
answer to this isn’t death metal,
then one of this group is going
to make a very persuasive case for being ‘the
one’. For those with a little extra cash and
don’t mind shelling out the extra £200,
then the Supro offers a truly unique piece of
American vintage guitar. It’s a player and a
workhorse; its pickup position finds a sweet
spot somewhere past the bridge, and brings
both brightness and warmth. The ideal surf
rock guitar? Maybe, but then you’ve got the
Danelectro, which is just begging for a Fender
Twin and a little tremolo for a spot of surf
action, and then, with a more svelte neck, its
off-kilter looks, and a little more tonal range,
it might be a better bet.
The sophisticates might boil this test down
between the urbane Swede, the Hagstrom, or
the classy American hot-rod, the Gretsch. If
you’re looking for a guitar with unbeatable
cleans, then go for the Hagstrom, but if you
wanted that versatility and the kudos that
comes with a Gretsch, well, we wouldn’t
think ill of you. Indeed, it’s hard to look past
that finish, that build, and that tone.
Ultimately, you can’t go wrong here.
Without breaking the bank, you could get
yourself some old-school tone, old-school
cool. And you know what they say about the
classics: they never go out of style.

GreTscH elecTromaTic HaGsTrom DanelecTro DG67-Yl supro JamesporT

G5438 pro JeT reTroscape H-ii

beSt vAlue beSt beSt foR beSt foR

foR money foR jAzz Rockin’ vintAge
kudoS

103

beSt buy
AwARd

feAtuReS feAtuReS feAtuReS feAtuReS

Sound quAlity Sound quAlity Sound quAlity Sound quAlity
summarY

summarY

summarY

summarY

vAlue foR money vAlue foR money vAlue foR money vAlue foR money
build quAlity build quAlity build quAlity build quAlity
plAyAbility plAyAbility plAyAbility plAyAbility
oveRAll RAting oveRAll RAting oveRAll RAting oveRAll RAting

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station

best buy best buy

award award

104

Blues overdrive pedals

A MXr Badass Xvive sweet leo

n overdrive pedal is an
overdrive pedal, right? £99 £62
Well, while that is
generally about the size Modified od Cool for Cats

D
of it, the truth is that not all
overdrives are created equal – Badass By name, Badass By nature oes Xvive’s latest roar like a lion? Well,
maybe – but the Leo here actually refers

B
and some lend themselves
esides standard output and gain knobs, to Mr Fender. No surprise, then that this
better to particular styles of
MXR’s Custom Badass Modified OD mini pedal – designed by renowned German
music than others. For example,
offers plenty of tonal tweaks. In normal axe-slinger Thomas Blug – has more than just
what works for high-octane
mode, the sound is pretty transparent but the a hint of what some of those early tweed and
classic rock won’t necessarily
Bump switch’s alternate EQ voicing boosts blackface amps were famous for, with a range
cut it in a blues context, and
lows and mids to put you in Tube Screamer from a glassy clean boost, through subtle
vice versa. And with so many
territory, pushing your sound forward for grittiness to cranked combo raunch. The tone
overdrives on the market – from
more sustain. The 100Hz knob boosts or cuts knob offers a practical range that perfectly
both obscure boutique builders
around that frequency so you can really fatten focuses your guitar’s upper-mid presence,
working in a shed to the big
up the bottom or make it lean and mean, but the secret weapon is the Growl knob,
mainstream names – there’s
while the tone knob dials in ice pick treble or which dials a gorgeous extra dimension of
an awful lot to choose from, so
tones it down for a smoother vibe. It’s an harmonic complexity into the driven sound.
how do you know what to pick?
excellent low to mid-gain overdrive with wide With oodles of nuance this is a versatile asset
Well, here we’ve rounded up
tonal options and rock-solid MXR build. for any pedalboard.
four sub-£100 pedals that are
ideally suited to the task – Features Features
they’re all no-nonsense sound quality sound quality
suMMarY

suMMarY

overdrives that can push your value For money value For money
amp harder for that extra bite build quality build quality
coupled with the sweet sustain usability usability
that blues players crave. overall rating overall rating

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

 pedal round-up

105
Do you have the blues about which overdrive pedal to buy?
Let us help with four affordable contenders

TC electronic £49 Mooer £58 at a glance

Cinders overdrive Blues Crab Type Overdrive pedals
Bypass True bypass
power 9V power adapter (not
you shall go to the Brawl… Claw extra tone from your amp supplied); TC Electronic and
MXR will also take a 9V battery

O T
ne of a range of 13 affordable pedals he word is that Mooer’s Blues Crab mini ConTaCT
that TC unleashed en masse late last pedal owes more than something of MXr
Westside Distribution
year, the Cinders is designed to deliver a debt to Marshall’s much-loved 90s
0844 326 2000
transparent valve amp-style overdrive. Blues Breaker pedal, itself designed to inject a westsidedistribution.com
Juxtaposition of the volume and drive knobs bit of a mid-60s Marshall amp vibe into your Xvive
lets you dial in a wide range of sounds from sound. This is a low-level overdrive, one that JHS
a clean boost up to pretty high levels of drive excels at all those just-beyond-clean tones, 01132 865 381
www.jhs.co.uk
of the sort that might be expected from a adding an edge with an adjustable extra
TC electronic
distortion pedal. The tone knob handles the shading of grit, delivered via a sensible tone 0800 917 8926
top-end, but you’ll need to tweak it at the control. Nicely sensitive, this is a pedal where www.tcelectronic.com
same time as the other knobs as it’s very the sound can get dirtier in response to your Mooer
Strings & Things
interactive. With plenty to suit blues players playing: just dig in for grittiness. Sitting in
01273 440 442
looking for bite and dirt on a budget, front of a good amp, this is an inexpensive yet www.mooeraudio.co.uk
Cinders could get your tone smouldering. classy complement to take it up a notch.

Features Features
sound quality sound quality
suMMarY

suMMarY

value For money value For money

build quality build quality
usability usability
overall rating overall rating

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106
ErniE Ball
amBiEnt DElay
Express yourself with this treadle-enabled echo
I
ncreasingly, delay pedals
seek to bend to guitarists’
every whim – with multiple
modes, modulation and
pitch-shifting now par for
the course. But with its latest
pedal, Ernie Ball has taken us on
a different tack by offering just
a single delay and reverb mode
with full-sized expression control
modelled on EB’s famous volume
pedal design.
The Ambient Delay features
three knobs: time and feedback,
to tweak the digital delay (with the
option of an external tap tempo
footswitch); plus reverb, which
thErE’s hugE pOtEntial, anD thE
OvErall vOicing is spOt-On
ToTal GuiTar april 2017
£249
adjusts the level of an all-purpose
plate reverb. The overall level of
the combined effects is handled by
the big ol’ treadle, and offers up
a host of new sonic opportunities.
By keeping knob twiddling to
a minimum, Ernie Ball invites a
fresh approach to delay. At its
most basic, you can easily get
a ducking delay (where repeats
cut out while you’re playing and
resume when you stop), but you
can also use it to fade in an
effected part to build to huge
crescendos, or dramatically cut
trails. Since the pedal’s always
on, courtesy of a transparent
buffer circuit, you can dial in the
ambience on the fly, too.
at a glancE
We love what EB has done Type: Delay/reverb
here. There’s a huge amount of pedal w/ expression
potential, and the overall voicing ConTrols: Reverb,
feedback, time, max
is spot-on. It’s a shame the delay effect signal trimpot,
can’t be dialled out completely to level (via expression)
make full use of the reverb, and soCkeTs: Input, output,
the pedal is expensive, given you tap tempo, power
Bypass: Buffered
can get a multi-function
power: 9V power
stompbox and expression pedal supply only
for less. Provided you’ve got the ConTaCT:
loot, however, this is a superb one- Strings & Things Ltd
stop ambience shop. 01273 440 442
www.ernieball.com
Michael Astley-Brown
fEaturEs
sOunD Quality
SuMMarY
valuE fOr mOnEy
BuilD Quality
usaBility
OvErall rating
A. ......... ...... ..... ... ...... ...m
............ ....... .. Guitar Basics.

....... ... ........ ....... ... .........

...........

............. ..... ... ....... .......

.......... .. .........

..
........ . w..... .. ........ m...., ....
..., ...k, ....., ...k, ......... ... j.zz .....

AVAILABLE NOW
at www.fabermusicstore.com

This Year’s Best Buys

Join us for our special Gear Of The Year issue to discover
our picks for the best guitars, amps and effects of 2016

Guitarist magazine is also available on

Newsstand for iPhone, iPad & iPod touch

Order online at www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk

 t h e ga s
station

Aluminium foil is
good for more than

Fix Your GuiTAr

just cooking your
baked potatoes…

How To SHield
108

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n
using dece uld also
les. Yo u co
cab
er n oiseless
consid
pickups!
single-coil

This (hum) killer technique for fighting earth

noise will upgrade any guitar
Words: Jack Ellis

I
n the world of audio,
hum and interference
in your signal are the
enemy – the extraneous
sound that you hear in
your chain is known as noise.
Guitar pickups are actually
thousands of turns or tiny wire
wrapped around a magnet
and they are an antenna for
picking up accidental noise
alongside the actual string’s
signal. Single-coil pickups are
completely unprotected with
the P-90 being the “noisiest”
type, whereas humbucking
double-coil pickups are
cleverly designed to “buck the
hum” hence the name. Single
coils have no such protection,
and so they need all the help
they can get!
It’s not just the pickups
either – the rest of your
guitar’s circuit can let in noise,
too. To combat this we apply
foil to the rear of the pickguard
and the walls of the electronics
Meet Your expert
cavity will create a aluminium Jack ellis runs Jack’s
box to block out nastiness and Instrument Services
what you need screwdriver 40w soldering iron from his workshop in
keep the signal clean. Aluminium foil Wire cutters Safety goggles Manchester. In his career
With this upgrade your shielding tape Wiring diagram for Multimeter set to he has worked on
Electrical you guitar 20k ohms thousands of instruments,
guitar’s hum will be reduced, from simple fixes and
insulation tape Jiffy bag or
as any noise creeping in upgrades, to complete
Scissors soft cloth Skill level rebuilds. For more info, see:
through the main circuit will Philips 60/40 solder Intermediate www.jacksinstrument
quite literally be foiled! services.com

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

 fix your guitar

1 We’re going to shield a Strat-type guitar today – its single-coil pickup can do with
the noise-reducing help! Conveniently, the Strat has all it’s guts mounted to the
pickguard, so servicing it is pretty easy, too! Chop off the strings and take off the
2 Gently lift the pickguard upwards, taking care not to damage the finish. Depending
on which type of Strat you may have there will be some wires attached. Our Strat
has three of them that we need to disconnect: two wires to the jack socket (the signal
scratchplate screws, and store the screws in a pot so you don’t lose them. and earth wires) and a string earth wire which is connected to the chrome bridge.

109

3 Get yourself something soft to rest the scratchplate on to reduce the risk of a
scratched paint job. You should be able to find a wiring diagram for your guitar
online, but it’s also a good idea to make some notes on where the wires we’re about
4 Time to cut the wires. By leaving a millimetre or two of the cable attached to the
pot, you can use it as a breadcrumb trail when it comes to re-soldering later. If
your wires are all the same colour, you can label them with some masking tape. Make
to remove go – take some pictures on your phone if that helps. life easier for yourself by also removing the jack socket.

5 This is the foil tape (no, not the stuff you use for cooking!) it costs about a fiver
and has an adhesive back to make application easier. Before you stick it down
give the electronics cavity a clean and clear out troublesome dust. Luckily this
6 Foil it! Cover each nook and cranny to minimise interference getting to the wiring.
We’re going to cover the walls and bottom of the electrics cavity and the pickup
routs, too – walls included. Try to be as neat as you can, but more importantly make
scratchplate is already shielded. If yours isn’t, it’s definitely worth doing that, too. sure it’s firmly stuck to the walls.

april 2017 ToTal GuiTar

 t h e ga s
station

7 With the cavities covered, cut an extra piece of foil tape. This little fella is going to
be used as a tab to make sure the rear of the pickguard (which is already foil
shielded) makes contact with the cavity shielding when the screws are done up.
8 Using the guide you made earlier, reconnect all the wires you chopped with a
soldering iron. We’ve covered soldering before, so tin your connections and take
care not to melt the plastic shielding on your wires. Take it steady, and enlist an extra
Stick this over the screw hole next to the pickup selector switch. hand from someone if you need to steady the scratchplate while you handle the iron.

110

9 With all the wires soldered, we’re nearly ready. Before we screw the scratchplate
down, lets do a couple of tests. The two prongs of your multimeter should read “0”
when you attach it to each part of the shielding. This means you have no resistance
10 Flip over the scratchplate and put it in place. Before screwing, make sure you
haven’t trapped any wires and plug the jack lead into an amp. Strike your tuning
fork and test each pickup, switch position and pot. If you get any whiff of a crackle
between each piece, and we now have a nice solid box around the electronics. investigate – the downside to foil shielding is that they are now conductive…

11 As a result of this conductivity, if any terminal or wire other than an earth

connection makes contact with the foil you’ll get a short circuit, and kill your
output. If you find that this is happening, move the wire so it cant touch the foil or to be
extra sure, insulate the offending wire with electrical tape.
12 Once you’re sure it’s all working properly, you can finally screw down your
scratchplate – this seals the lid on your newly shielded electronics cavity. If you
have it plugged into the amp at this point you will hear the hum disappear as the
pickguard drops on. Voilà, electrical hum can now buzz off.

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

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april 2017 ToTal GuiTar

 the playlist

The Playlist
The punk rockers’ leader lets us into his classic rock and
The song I’d like to cover… Staring At
The Sun – Ultra Vivid Scene
“It’s just a beautifully crafted song, and the
guitar work is really incredible. That song
should have been gigantic, but I think it was
written 20 years too soon. I can’t play the
part yet, it’s so weird and beautiful that my
fingers aren’t cooperating quite yet.”

indie-fuelled record collection To introduce someone to our band I’d

play them... Bad Art And Weirdo Ideas –

T
Beach Slang
he song that inspired me “I think that song encapsulates Beach Slang
to play… Pinball Wizard – pretty well; the raw guitar tones with the
The Who Johnny Marr-esque picking over it. And the
“Pete Townshend’s the reason messaging, [it’s about] a kind of cracked-but-
I play, he feels like a god to not-broken spirit.”
me. Then I saw a high school production
of Tommy, with school kids playing those The most challenging song of ours to
songs, and I thought, ‘You can be 15 or 16 perform live is… The Perfect High –
and play songs that Townshend wrote?’ Beach Slang
It cracked my whole head open; I thought, “We’ve been faking it and getting by pretty
‘Maybe I can have a go at this’.” well so far! [laughs] I think some of the stuff
on the new record’s going to [challenge us].
I wish I wrote this riff… Don’t Fear I brought more Britpop, shoegaze and
The Reaper – Blue Öyster Cult nu-wave stuff into it, and I think that might
“This is my ‘am I in tune?’ be challenging because it’s not so dependent
riff. That thing is on a full-throttle wall of sound. The Perfect
timeless, there’s no one High in particular I think might be particularly
114 that doesn’t hear the challenging once we start doing it in front of a
first few picks and room of people.”
know that riff. I’m a
real rock ’n’ roll My favourite solo is... Eruption –
romantic, you know Van Halen
when you hear the “I think it would be incredible to walk into
first few notes and parties and play Eruption, but that’s never
everyone’s like going to happen. Guitar solos, I see the
‘aaaah!’ Don’t Fear power of them, but I never try to
The Reaper’s always play a hundred notes –
had that on me.” I try to play

The first song

I learned to
play…Smoke On
The Water –
Deep Purple
“I learned that
and Rock And three
Roll Ain’t Noise that make you
Pollution by AC/DC feel something.
in the same lesson. Take Disorder by Joy
I know Smoke On The Division – that kind of
Water is a lot of people’s first, stuff. A couple of notes
but yes, those were my first two.” that really reach
into you, I think
I’m currently listening to… Caught I subscribe to that
By The Fuzz – Supergrass more. I think that
Words: Rob Laing Photo: Joseph Branston

“I’m rediscovering it. There’s just hits a little harder and

a relentlessness to that song; resonates deeper.
there’s this bridge and pre-chorus
that I really wish I wrote. I’m trying Beach Slang support Green Day at
to rip it off but it’s so perfect that the British Summer Time festival at
I can’t without stealing it!” London’s Hyde Park on 1 July.

ToTal GuiTar april 2017

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