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“Her roaring mastery of her trusty Gibson Les Paul Custom rivaled the best of her male contemporaries”: A lost Sister Rosetta Tharpe live album featuring never-before-heard recordings has been unearthed – and it’s set for release this year

Guitar World -

21 tracks discovered by “The Indiana Jones of jazz” have been compiled into a new live album, which will contain liner notes from Tharpe experts and contemporary artists, including Susan Tedeschi, Billy Gibbons, Bonnie Raitt and more

“I loved the sound of doubled guitars, but it just becomes a slog. I couldn’t hate the process more… it goes right against the immediacy I wanted for this record”: Why Jawbox hero J. Robbins changed his attitude to recording… and smashing guitars

Guitar World -

The Jawbox leader, who regrets breaking his “dearest companion” Jazzmaster, shares his love of hand-built Hiwatt clones, how Stone Temple Pilots hooked him up with his live guitar arsenal, and what it was like to snag Naked Raygun’s “secret shredder” John Haggerty for his latest album, Basilisk

“Being a hired gun for a band – you’re disposable”: Gus G on why he turned down auditions for Megadeth and Machine Head

Guitar.com -

Gus G performing live

No one can dispute that Gus G’s resume is pretty impressive. In addition to his current band Firewind, the Greek metal guitarist has also lent his chops to Arch Enemy, Nightrage, and most notably, Ozzy Osbourne.

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he’s had the chance to audition for numerous other big-name metal outfits, including Megadeth and Machine Head. In the case of those two, though, he turned the opportunities down.

In a new conversation on the Chuck Shute Podcast, Gus G explains how his stint with Ozzy Osbourne steered him away from auditioning for other already-known metal groups.

“I’ve had offers to audition for other bands and stuff – not to join, but to audition – but I didn’t do it,” he says [via Guitar World]. “During my time with Ozzy, Megadeth reached out. I said, ‘Well, I can’t really leave Ozzy for that,’ even though I’m a huge Megadeth fan.

“Two weeks later, Kiko [Loureiro] was in the band. And Kiko was a buddy of mine; we’ve known each other. His old band Angra and Firewind have toured together, so I knew him and I thought he was a great fit.”

The chance to audition for Megadeth came as the band were looking to replace guitarist Chris Broderick, who now plays in In Flames.

Kiko Loureiro went on to serve a near ten-year stint in Megadeth, before announcing his departure late last year.

Another opportunity came in 2019 when Machine Head offered Gus G an audition, two years after he left Ozzy Osbourne’s band, but again, he turned it down.

“I’m not sure if I’m really made for being a hired-gun kind of guy,” Gus G continues. “I’m enjoying calling my own shots. It’s two different worlds doing those things.

“Doing your own thing, of course, involves a lot of risks – financial, of course, because you don’t know if things will work out…if people are gonna like it.

“Then, of course, being a hired gun for a band, you don’t have to worry about any of that. But you’re also disposable.”

The post “Being a hired gun for a band – you’re disposable”: Gus G on why he turned down auditions for Megadeth and Machine Head appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Billy Joel wants to form a supergroup with John Mayer, Sting and Don Henley

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Billy Joel, John Mayer, and Sting

What do John Mayer, Sting and Don Henley have in common? They’ve all been named as potential candidates for Billy Joel’s imaginary supergroup, for one.

The Piano Man, who’s currently on tour in the US, reveals in a new chat with Howard Stern that the thought of “putting together” his own band has, in fact, crossed his mind.

“Wouldn’t it have been great if George Harrison and Tom Petty had asked you to be in The Traveling Wilburys?” Stern mused. To which Joel replied: “I wanted to do something like that.”

“I thought about putting together a band: Me, Don Henley, and Sting, and maybe John Mayer on guitar.”

As for why the group did not materialise, the musician said: “Well, everybody’s busy… you always say to the other guys yeah I’ll see you on the road we’ll get together and you never do it.”

Joel added that he would work with musicians he has a friendly relationship with, like Sting. When asked about the possibility of having his buddy Paul McCartney on board though, the artist was quick to shut things down: “He was in the super-est group of all-time. I don’t have the nerve to do that,” Joel explained.

Macca’s former Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr, on the other hand, is welcome to join.

“He’s a great drummer,” Joel noted. “He doesn’t get the credit he deserves.”

Watch the full exchange below.

To see a list of Billy Joel’s upcoming tour dates, head to his official website.

The post Billy Joel wants to form a supergroup with John Mayer, Sting and Don Henley appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

“Technical playing can get cleaner, and that’s possibly even more challenging than just being faster”: We met the academics who study shred guitar for a living – they explained why it’s changed dramatically since the ’80s, and the 3 ways it can develop

Guitar World -

A new study documents the challenges facing modern-day virtuosos, who not only have to balance perfection and authenticity, but now have to be “10 things that used to be 10 full-time professions”

Jens Ritter’s new Encore guitar amp is $40,000 of white gold-covered, sapphire-encrusted luxury

Guitar.com -

Jen Ritter's Encore Guitar Tube Amp

Conventional is probably the last word one would use to describe Jen Ritter’s new Encore tube amplifier. Quite the opposite, the German luthier’s latest creation — a beacon of artistry, he says — is here to shake up everything you’ve ever known about guitar amps.

To start, the Encore no doubt looks like it belongs in a museum more so than in a studio or on stage. The amp’s wave-like, diner sign-looking shape, coupled with its glossy red-white finish is reminiscent of ’50s and ’60s futurism, and embodies what the brand calls the “emotional design vibes of an era that revolutionised music and culture.”

Design isn’t the only thing that’s out of this world when it comes to the Encore. Equally dizzying is the amp’s eye-watering $40,000 price tag, which gets you some really cool (and bougie) features like hand-selected tubes encased in 18-karat white gold covers, and ice-frosted, white gold-coated control knobs set with blue sapphires.

Jens Ritter EncoreCredit: Jens Ritter

Each unit is also equipped with a polished stainless steel chassis with laser engravings of famous guitar players’ names, as well as yours if you so desire.

Under its hood, Encore features a meticulously handwired, point-to-point construction, and delivers up to 58 watts of power. The two-channel amp is also said to be tonally inspired by Ritter’s favourite amplifiers: the Fender Bassman and the Dumble Classic.

With the Encore, you’ll get two clean channels on tap (each with its own three-band EQ), advanced tone shaping controls, a serial effects loop, selectable mains voltage and flexible speaker impedance. The amp also uses two different 12-inch speakers: a Jensen loudspeaker in an open-back design for a warmer, more resonant sound, and an Electro-Voice loudspeaker housed in a bass reflex system, delivering punchy and tight low frequencies.

To top things off, each unit is delivered in a custom-made flight case, complete with “state-of-the-art” speaker cables and a power cord. And with only three units produced annually, each one taking up to seven months to build, you’d be sure of the amp’s exclusivity.

Learn more at Jens Ritter Instruments.

The post Jens Ritter’s new Encore guitar amp is $40,000 of white gold-covered, sapphire-encrusted luxury appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

“Maybe because I don’t fly over the frets and do as many notes as I can between the clicks?”: Mick Mars on being called an “underrated” guitar player of the ’80s

Guitar.com -

Mick Mars performing live

Is Mick Mars one of the most underrated guitar players of the ’80s? The man himself chimes in on the debate in a new interview with Detroit’s WRIF radio station.

Speaking with host Meltdown, the former Mötley Crüe guitarist says [via Blabbermouth]: “Well, that’s okay. It’s okay with me [if] you think I’m underrated. I think there’s a lot of people who think like you, as well [as those who don’t feel that way] so much.”

“Maybe because I don’t fly over the frets and do 900 – how many notes can I fit between the clicks? I don’t know,” Mars muses, before singling out Alvin Lee of Ten Years After as a guitarist who deserves praise for playing fast and playing well.

“Probably the guitar player that played a speed that I would have liked to play, but I never really delved into that deep was Alvin Lee when he did I’m Going Home,” he says.

“That, to me, was fast playing. ‘cause it was melodic and the notes were clean, and it fit the song. And so, that was where my face went, like, ‘Oh, you can do that too? Okay.’”

And when Meltdown points out how Mars’ guitar solo for Mötley Crüe’s Home Sweet Home was “the perfect guitar solo”, the guitarist replies: “Oh, thank you. That just came up. I didn’t really have anything planned. I just winged it, actually, and just played it and perfected it, of course. It was real minor things, but it is what it was when I played it. It’s pretty much how it is.”

In the meantime, Mars’ solo debut album The Other Side of Mars is set to arrive on 23 February. The 72-year-old has also confirmed that more new music is in the works, saying: “I’m working now on ideas for the second [solo] record — if I live that long; no, I’m kidding — I’m working right now on my second thing with some ideas and stuff. And it’s, like, what I’m hearing is another step further.”

Listen to the album’s lead single, Loyal To The Lie, below.

The post “Maybe because I don’t fly over the frets and do as many notes as I can between the clicks?”: Mick Mars on being called an “underrated” guitar player of the ’80s appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Paul McCartney reunited with stolen Höfner bass after more than 50 years

Guitar.com -

Paul McCartney performs on stage, playing Hofner 500/1 violin bass guitar

It’s official: The Höfner bass that Paul McCartney used in the Beatles’ Let It Be sessions has finally been found, more than 50 years after it was stolen off the back of a van in London.

Last September, the Lost Bass Project announced their mission to reunite the Beatle with his beloved 1961 Höfner 500/1 bass guitar, in a search that Telegraph and Rolling Stone journalist Scott Jones described as “the most exciting challenge I’ve ever faced”.

Breaking the news in a Facebook post last night, The Fab 5 revealed that the bass was returned to McCartney last September.

“Rauidhri Guest inherited the bass from his dad who recently passed away and the bass had been previously sitting in his attic in Hastings, England apparently restrung right handed, and he not knowing who it once belonged to for all these years,” the post explained.

“Sources said the family – who found the Hofner in a loft while clearing a house – are said to have approached Sir Paul and reps at his home. The guitar has been inspected and authenticated as genuine. When it was found, the family are said to have had no idea at the treasure in their attic, at first.”

BREAKING NEWS: Paul McCartney’s original 1961 Hofner bass, custom ordered through the Steinway shop in Hamburg, Germany,…

Posted by The Fab 5 on Thursday, February 15, 2024

Macca has also confirmed the news on his website, stating: “Following the launch of last year’s Lost Bass project, Paul’s 1961 Höfner 500/1 bass guitar, which was stolen in 1972, has been returned. The guitar has been authenticated by Höfner and Paul is incredibly grateful to all those involved.”

According to the Lost Bass project, the Höfner is complete and still with its original case, though it will need some repairs to make it playable again.

The left-handed violin bass was the first McCartney ever owned, hastily purchased for £30 in Hamburg in 1961 when bassist Stuart Sutcliffe dropped out of The Beatles and Paul was elected to fill in for him.

After the bass went missing, McCartney purchased a new Höfner in 1963, and continued to use it throughout the rest of the Beatles’ career.

The post Paul McCartney reunited with stolen Höfner bass after more than 50 years appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Manson MA Junior & Verona Junior review: Streamlined for heavy action

Guitar.com -

Manson Verona Junior and MA Junior, photo by Adam Gasson

£1,399, mansonguitarworks.com

Manson Guitar Works has decades of experience creating the advanced sonic weaponry demanded by boundary-busting players such as John Paul Jones, Graham Coxon and (now majority shareholder) Matt Bellamy.

Offering a range of electric guitars built in tits Devon UK factory, Manson are the people you go to when you need a little something off the beaten path, and this pair of rocktacular new models shows exactly why. They also represent the most affordable Manson models built in Devon to date.

Manson MA Junior, photo by Adam GassonManson MA Junior. Image: Adam Gasson

Is one pickup enough?

Back in the 1980s there was a trend for the more cloven-hoofed guitarist to eschew the effete niceties of a neck or middle pickup and take to the stage with nothing more than a bridge humbucker, a Floyd Rose, and a super-size can of hairspray for protection. It was the era of the ‘Super Strat’ after all – when excess and flash were basic requirements and if you didn’t have to reach above your head to adjust the controls then your amp was too small.

In a return to these heady moments of minimalist decadence, Manson has unleashed the MA and Verona Junior models – practically identical guitars in Stabilo highlighter finishes with a single Manson Dirty Rascal humbucker glowering in the bridge position.

Both guitars have familiar outlines. The MA has the single-cut T-style outline of Manson’s Matt Bellamy signature while the Verona – a shape first previewed by Bellamy on Muse’s world tour in 2023 – leans heavily into the Fender S for inspiration. Aside from that there is little to separate them in terms of specs.

Manson Verona Junior, photo by Adam GassonManson Verona Junior. Image: Adam Gasson

What is Obeche?

Both guitars are made from Obeche – an African white wood often used in the frames of speedboats for its strength, light weight and straight grain. Although both bodies have been lovingly coated in their matte finishes there is still visible wood grain which adds to the stripped-back feel of these guitars.

The necks are maple with rosewood fingerboards, there is no inlay work whatsoever. Just 22 well-seated medium jumbo frets, a tusq nut and low-key side dot fretmarkers. There are no string trees but the tuner posts are staggered in height giving you a beautiful break angle on the treble strings. Straight, no chaser, being the order of the day.

It is readily apparent that Manson has refused to compromise in any of the core materials used. The matte finish scratch plates are hard anodised aluminium, and the bridge and tuners are Gotoh. The latter being a set of mini 510s. Always a pleasure to see and relatively rare outside of the high-end luthiery world.

Manson Verona Junior headstock, photo by Adam GassonManson Verona Junior headstock. Image: Adam Gasson

Do you need a tone control?

While the spec is high quality, it’s streamlined; these Juniors do away with the tone control and includes a kill switch to accompany the volume knob. That same single knob does have a push-push coil tap function should you wish, but I can’t help feeling that these guitars will see the most service with both barrels engaged. As is fitting.

Both guitars come in a Mono padded gig bag – high quality, and one of the best protective soft cases in its field but rarely bundled with stock guitar models. Another nod to the high-quality “humbucker on a stick” leitmotif.

All this and yet, both instruments are defiantly hard-tailed. This could get interesting.

Manson Verona Junior pickups, photo by Adam GassonManson Verona Junior pickups. Image: Adam Gasson

For those about to rock

It’s difficult to decide which of these fluorescent beasts to begin with – however, as a confirmed Telecaster enjoyer I strap on the MA before the Verona and go into an old Cornford amp. Intent on keeping things clean, at least to begin with.

The first thing to notice is that the input socket is on the scratchplate itself which means you’ll need an angled jack to keep things tidy. Once you’re in though, the rest is plain sailing.

Our initial clean explorations are about as interesting as we expected. These guitars are not intended for the wood-library blues hound. There is some clean mileage to be had with the coil-tapped sound and a smear of delay but it’s very much in the Morello, Shaffer and Borland end of things. There is little to prod you towards earnest lyrical balladry here. Probably a good thing.

If you’re going to name your humbucker ‘Dirty Rascal’ then it had better deliver both crushing immediacy and the lighthearted cheekiness of a Dickensian orphan or you’ve got it wrong. Happily, as soon as we wind up the amp to ASBO levels a sense of heavy homeostasis returns.

These guitars offer a huge amount of fun for any genre that encourages an open-hearted rejection of subtlety. Monolithic riffs, crushing chugs, howling feedback – they love it. The soft V neck carve might not be the first choice of shred guitarists who lean towards the flat/thin end of things for their calisthenic explorations, but it feels comfortable throughout my test drive. In short, you can pull out a number of evocative textures from the needly sleaze of Sunset Strip to a dead crow-huffing session in Iowa without breaking a sweat.

Manson MA Junior pickups, photo by Adam GassonManson MA Junior pickups. Image: Adam Gasson

We need to talk about kill switches

So here’s the thing; if you are used to using a twin volume control guitar such a 74 Telecaster Custom – with one pickup switched off in order to get your stutter on – then you may find the use of a kill switch counterintuitive to begin with. Whereas the first approach has you actively engaging the guitar to switch it on, the kill switch approach is the opposite – you’re turning it off. This means that certain examples of the oeuvre, such as the intro to Know Your Enemy, can sound a little anaemic until you get the hang of the timing.

Then there is the lack of a vibrato of any kind. Sure, if you’re looking at this sort of guitar then you may already have a whammy or Ricochet on your pedalboard but some of us want to go neeeeeeeyyyyyyyarghhhhhwobwobwob as well as beep-beep-beep, right?

But there’s possible scope for such options in the future. As it stands right now these Juniors are entirely UK-made guitars with a genuine pedigree. Quite frankly you already knew if you wanted one of these before you read this far. You do. You want one.

Manson MA Junior fingerboard, photo by Adam GassonManson MA Junior fingerboard. Image: Adam Gasson

If you like these, try these:

The post Manson MA Junior & Verona Junior review: Streamlined for heavy action appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Podcast 451: Matt the Electrician

Fretboard Journal -



Austin’s Matt the Electrician joins us this week to talk about his new album, The Ocean Knocked Me Down. He also gives us a mini master class on being a productive songwriter!

During the podcast, we also talk about John Allison Guitars, the Austin music scene today, the weekly songwriting group helmed by Bob Schneider and so much more.

https://matttheelectrician.bandcamp.com

Registration is now open to attend our 2024 Fretboard Summit: https://fretboardsummit.org/

If you enjoy this episode, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and consider joining the Fretboard Journal’s new Patreon page.

Thank you to our sponsors: Mike & Mike’s Guitar BarPeghead Nation (use the promo code FRETBOARD and get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription); and Stringjoy Strings (get 10% off your order with the FRETBOARD discount code). This episode is also sponsored by iZotope. Use the discount code FRET10 to save 10% off of your Izotope order.

 

The post Podcast 451: Matt the Electrician first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

Guitar for Introverts: Grant Gordy

Fretboard Journal -



For our third Guitar for Introverts, we speak with Grant Gordy (Mr Sun, David Grisman Quintet), a Brooklyn-based guitarist and composer. In this wide-ranging conversation, we talk about his early meetings with the guitar, color wheels and the circle of fifths, composing, and more.

To learn more about Grant and his music:
https://www.grantgordy.com

Guitar for Introverts is hosted by Jamie Stillway for the Fretboard Journal network of guitar podcasts.

 

The post Guitar for Introverts: Grant Gordy first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

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