Big Bill Broonzy
Perhaps because he died just prior to the Folk Boom and a few years before the Blues Revival, Bill Broonzy doesn’t get proper credit. Besides being the first American bluesman to tour England, where future stars of British rock and folk saw him perform, he was a major influence on Muddy Waters, who dedicated his […]
Dan Wilson
A riveting soloist, Dan Wilson honed his chops as a sideman to jazz greats like organist Joey DeFrancesco and bassist Christian McBride. If his latest, Vessels of Wood and Earth, occasionally sounds reminiscent of a young George Benson, that’s no accident, as the ’60s soul-jazz wave was a key influence. Throughout the hard-swinging album, Wilson […]
Gibson’s Memphis ES-275
Take a quick glance at the Gibson Memphis ES-275 and you might think this is a venerable Gibson from decades past – except it’s a brand-new model. Crafted at the guitar maker’s Memphis facility, this hollowbody cleverly merges ideas from the company’s hallowed past into a fresh and interesting thinline animal. Like the L-5 archtop, […]
Mu-FX Phasor 2X
Mastermind effects mad scientist Mike Beigel is back with another re-creation of a classic Musitronics effect. The Mu-FX Phasor 2X is a time machine back to the bad old ’70s that includes several smart upgrades which make the future look a little bit brighter. In case you weren’t paying attention back in ’72, Beigel was […]
Guy Pratt
Guy Pratt has been the bass player for Pink Floyd since signing on for the tour to support 1987’s A Momentary Lapse of Reason. With the gig came a rapid accumulation of basses. “I arrived for rehearsals in Toronto with the paltry stable of a Steinberger, a Status II fretless, and ‘Betsy’ – my ’64 […]
Blackstar Nominated for NAMM TEC Award
Each year, the NAMM Foundation gathers artists, fans, and music-industry professionals for an evening celebrating the achievements of producers, engineers, creators, and companies. This year’s NAMM Technical Excellence & Creativity Awards (TEC) ceremony will take place January 21 in Anaheim, honoring technical achievement in 25 categories and creative achievement in eight categories. Blackstar’s Artist Series amplifiers have been nominated […]
ValveTrain PowerTrain Studio 20
We’ve all watched the guitar amp deconstruct before our eyes, as pedals, preamps, and power amps all shrink – and migrate to the pedalboard. The builders at ValveTrain know this, and have developed a way to deploy your favorite stompboxes and modeling gear, yet retain that essential tube tone. Enter the PowerTrain Studio 20 and […]
Fender Joe Strummer Campfire
Punk legend Joe Strummer might not be the first name that comes to mind when the subject turns to “acoustic guitars.” But in fact, all-night hootenannies hosted by the former Clash frontman at the Glastonbury Festival became the stuff of myth. Thus, the inspiration for this small-body acoustic/electric. The Campfire’s outward appearances certainly befit punk’s […]
Roland Micro Cube
Roland Micro Cube Price: $130 (street) Info: www.rolandus.com. Every once in a while you have to pinch yourself and thank your lucky stars to be a guitarist in the 21st century. The Roland Micro Cube is a good illustration of this phenomenon; a dinky, portable amp that runs on AA batteries, it weighs just over […]
Nancy Wilson
After the release of the acclaimed Red Velvet Car in 2010, sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson and their band, Heart, could have rested on their laurels. Instead, the sisters went straight to work with producer Ben Mink on a set of songs that flowed from the collaboration. Where Nancy’s guitar contributions on Red Velvet Car […]
Metropolitan Tanglewood
Many guitar aficionados are aware of the instruments proffered by Houston’s Alamo Music. The Texas manufacturer has created unique low-end (sonically, that is) items, some as regular production basses, others as prototype and/or custom-orders. Among the most unique and rare were no more than a half-dozen map-shaped Metropolitan Tanglewood basses created in the mid/late ’90s. […]
Cliff Gallup
There was a custom at Owen Bradley Film & Recording Studios in Nashville; artists cut vocal tracks with backing from Bradley’s crack team of session musicians including guitarists Grady Martin, Hank Garland, and Harold Bradley. The artist’s bandmates stayed home or watched from the sidelines. The A-team was in place on May 4, 1956, when Capitol […]
Lightnin’ Malcolm’s One-Man Wizardry
First-Rate Blues with Juke Joint Swagger Lightnin’ Malcolm learned blues first-hand from legends of the genre, and it shows! Here, he plays “Jungle” from his new album, “Eye Of The Storm,” using his G&L ASAT Special running through a Fender Hot Rod Deville. Our review of the album appears in the March issue. Read Now!
Tracii Guns
There’s no denying that with Tracii Guns manning L.A. Guns’ lead-guitar slot, the sleaze veterans become a different animal. Since re-entering the fold in 2016, Guns – a single-cut-wielding maestro with flash and endless-yet-affable swagger – has reinvigorated his namesake band. With an array of vintage Les Pauls and some pretty reissues at his disposal, […]
The Pettyjohn Crush Compressor
Compressors can be a real mystery to guitarists who don’t understand the concept. Recording engineers bandy about words like “hard-knee” and “soft-knee” compression, “ratio,” “threshold,” and “transparency”; these are not guitarist-friendly terms. A test run on Pettyjohn’s Crush presents a good opportunity to discuss compressors in everyday guit-box talk. Let’s start with the phrase “studio-grade.” […]
Todd Park Mohr
The latest album from Colorado’s Big Head Todd and the Monsters, New World Arisin’, delivers what fans have come expect from a band that has spent slightly longer than three decades honing its sound. The most obvious attributes are great songs and blistering lead guitar from namesake Todd Park Mohr. But, Mohr points to a […]
Fender Coronado XII Wildwood
Sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Yea, baby! Okay, to be honest, there’s no real evidence that this 1967 Fender Coronado XII Wildwood was ever associated with sex or rock and roll… But drugs? For sure! Now, this guitar does date from 1967, the Summer of Love, so there’s a good chance it witnessed the […]