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REVIEWS: Squier Vintage Modified Cabronita Tele Eventide H9 Traynor SB115 Knaggs Severn Trembuck Tier 3 Little Walter Twin 50/22 Acid Age Electronics Acid Pig

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DECEMBER Highlights

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54108 Rock Star GuitarsThe story behind some of the most iconic axes in the world.

84 Kings of LeonMatthew Followill and his kin return to prove the naysayers wrong (again).

97TriviumThe Florida metal foursome returns with a vengeance.

115The MelvinsThe genre-bending sludge rockers pull a switcheroo on their 19th album.

1322013 Gear AwardsWe salute 35 tone toys thatll rock your rig.

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GUITAR & BASS REVIEWSEVENTIDE / PRS / TRAYNOR / SQUIER / KNAGGS

T-REX / LITTLE WALTER / & MORE

39 GUITARS, BASSES, PEDALS & AMPS THAT'LL ROCK YOUR RIG

AXES OF THE GODS

Page, Beck, Richards, Wylde, Kramer & More

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DECEMBER 2013

The new Night Train G2 not only delivers that instantly recognizable, VOX full-tube sound sought after by guitarists the world over, now it offers you far more tonal flexibility in a beautifully styled, easy-to-use and highly capable compact package you can use at home, rehearsal, in a recording suite or live onstage. And we just added a new 15 Watt combo amp to the range!

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Pick up a Destroyer. Its your turn to feel the surge.

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premierguitar.com6 PREMIER GUITAR DECEMBER 2013

Publisher Jon Levy

EDITORIAL Editor in Chief Shawn Hammond

Managing Editor Tessa Jeffers Senior Editor Andy Ellis Senior Editor Joe Gore

Gear Editor Charles Saufley Senior Art Editor Meghan Molumby

Associate Editor Chris Kies Associate Editor Rich Osweiler

Associate Editor Jason Shadrick Nashville Correspondent John Bohlinger

Nashville Video Editor Perry Bean Photo Editor Kristen Berry

PRODUCTION & OPERATIONS Operations Manager Shannon Burmeister

Circulation Manager Lois Stodola Production Coordinator Luke Viertel

SALES/MARKETING Advertising Director Brett Petrusek Advertising Director Dave Westin

Marketing Director Christina Nantz Marketing Manager Matt Roberts

GEARHEAD COMMUNICATIONS, LLCChairman Peter F. Sprague

President Patricia A. Sprague

Managing Director Gary Ciocci

WEBSITES Our Portal

premierguitar.com Our Online Magazine:

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

Copyright 2013. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Premier Guitar is a publication of Gearhead Communications, L.L.C.

Premier Guitar [ISSN 1945-077X (print) ISSN 1945-0788 (online)] is published monthly. Subscription rates: $24.95 (12 issues), $39.95 (24 issues) Call for Canada, Mexico and foreign subscription rates 877-704-4327; email address for customer service [email protected].

PREMIER GUITAR (USPS 025-017) Volume 18, Issue 12

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TUNING UP

I dont believe in fate. I dont believe in destiny. I dont believe in purpose-driven cosmic convergences or signs from beyond. But that doesnt mean Im not awed, humbled, and dumbfounded by a lot of the same things that other people might attach those labels to. And I do believe we should find insights and edification in these beautiful bits of randomness. We should

let them strike us with their profundity, humor, and bizarreness. Let them expand our being, let them strengthen our resolve, let them cleanse us. If we dont, then were just clocking time here on the third stoneand not the kind of time that our drummers would high-five us for.

This morning, just like every morning, my phone played random songs as I got ready for work. One of the first tunes to come up was an Ozzy Osbourne tune. Often that means I press the skip buttonIm not the hugest Ozzy fan. I own the Randy Rhoads albums, and thats it.

Next thing I know, Im sitting on the floor in tears.

A sickened mind and spirit The mirror tells me lies Could I mistake myself for someone Who lives behind my eyes? Will he escape my soul Or will he live in me? Is he trying to get out Or trying to enter me?

Two years ago today my dad passed away. He was a practicing physician till nearly the end, but the last couple of years he battled Parkinsons disease. It destroyed his body, mind, and dignity. We watched as he lost mobility and sank into the horror of dementia. For the last year or so, he often didnt recognize us, and his days were riddled with lucid hallucinations of gruesome things happening to his loved ones on TV, in his dreams, in his bedroom at the care facility. He would call up to make sure we were okay, confused at how he could be seeing us on the screen in front of him and hearing our voices on the phone.

I expected to be melancholy and torn on the anniversary of dads passing, even though that day was something of a liberation, a long-awaited tragic day of peace. But I wasnt prepared for this. By the time Ozzy and Rhoads came to that liltingly beautiful bridge with bells, acoustic guitar, strings, and a choir, I was kind of a wreck.

Voices in the darkness Scream away my mental health Can I ask a question To help me save me from myself? Enemies fill up the pages Are they me? Monday til Sunday in stages Set me free

Like a lot of people, Id always thought of the Ozzman as that wild-but-amiable guy who bit the heads off bats and/or doves and generally made a spectacle of himselfeither purposely or accidentallywherever he went. Ive seen the fake blood and the camp and all the smart little marketing props hes used to carve out a career for himself, and Ive kind of dismissed it as brainless stuff to shout and pump your fist along to. It turns out, I havent given him a fair shake over the years.

My dad wouldve hated Ozzys music, to say nothing of his whole shtick. But stillwhat were the odds of hearing that songby someone whos suffered an affliction similar to my dadson that particular morning? I know, I know: A) A statistician would need to know how many songs are in my phone, as well as get some code from Apple, to accurately answer that, and B) a whole bunch of more confounding code from my brain is the real reason I suddenly found meaning as I heard those words for the thousandth time.

But as heavy as it can sometimes be, that mystery is the beauty of life, isnt it? We find new facets of meaning and emotion and experience, put them through our mysterious code processors, and as musicians we filter them through our neurons and fingers into our instruments, and have no idea exactly when, why, or how we will touch someone else.

The Day Ozzy Channeled My Dad BY SHAWN HAMMOND

Shawn [email protected]

Dad holding his first grandchild

in happier times.

@PG_shawnh

+ Available Everywhere martinguitar.com


Keep those comments coming!Please send your suggestions, gripes, comments, and good words directly to [email protected].

Crystal SpeaksThis Tak was a gift to me, from Melissa Etheridge [Last Call: Someday Youll Regret That Relic Job, November 2013]. I played it on television in front of 30 million people. Nothing fake about that. Its special to me, so I decided to put it on the cover of my second studio release, which was produced by the badass Steve Berlin of Los Lobos. This Tak plays like a dream, who gives a [expletive] what it looks like? People who write blogs should probably check the facts before they go and say things that are rude and extremely hurtful. And by the way, Ive put holes in my Martin that I played for 8-12 hours a day in the subways of Chicago. I know what a weathered guitar looks, plays, and feels like. Willie wouldnt judge someone the way you have. Willie warrants peace. Have a nice day! Crystal Bowersox,

via premierguitar.com

I apologize to Crystal Bowersox or anyone offended by my comments about the relic job on her guitar.Although I researched this Takamine,I could not find its origin.As it turns out, this guitar was a very cool and generous gift from Melissa Etheridge.However, this does not change the fact that

this guitar remains an example of unbelievable relic work that could not occur through 50 years of hard gigs. Relic jobs,much like stickers, custom scratch pads, and knobs, are just embellishments that many of us use to make our guitars unique.Im not condemning anyones aesthetic decisionsto each their own. That said, the process is supposed to make new guitars look (and perhaps feel) old, played, and lovednot sanded and dragged around the kitchen.Sincerely,John Bohlinger

Albinis AxesWas just sent the Albini photo feature [Gallery: Russian Circles at Electrical Audio in Chicago, October 2013] in what I assume is your newest issue. I worked on a lot of guitars for Steve; the Strat in the middle is a 12-string neck from an old acoustic bolted to a Strat body with four banjo tuners down the middle of the headstock. It had 16 .009s spaced evenly, looking something like an egg slicer. It can be tuned any old way. He had us also build one for Sonic Youth. It had a penis-shaped pearl inlay on the headstock inscribed sonic 16. Also, the Veleno aluminum guitar in the picture, I set up lefty. It was elaborate because all of the bridge pieces had to come apart and a new nut cut. It was used in the Nirvana record In Utero on many songs. It was brought back to be made righty again several weeks after the session. The Travis Bean and many others I still work on periodically. You can see more of my work in the new issue (30)

of The Fretboard Journal and at ChicagoGuitarRepair.com. Thank You,Geoff Benge,

via premierguitar.com

Too GoodThis [Beyond Blues: Moving Past the Pentatonic Scale] will take weeks for me to digest, but its more valuable than anything I learned from my guitar teacher so far!letts, via premierguitar.com

The Trem TopicCongrats on putting together a fabulous magazine month after month!

I really enjoyed your recent article Titans of the Tremolo [November 2013]. As a player who uses the trem bar a lot, Im really pleased you decided to devote a feature to this fantastic system.

Have to say, however, that I was astounded that there was no mention of the King of Tremolo, Hank Marvin. Further, there was no mention of his fabulous fellow Newcastle alum, Miss Zoe McCulloch and her incredible all-girl instrumental band, the Crickettes. Like Hank, Zoe is a Master of the tremolo bar!

Please give these folks the recognition they so richly deserve and keep up the great work at Premier Guitar.Cheers,Bill Wardwell

San Mateo, California

I love #stompboxtober from @premierguitar.

That is all.Andrew W. Barlow,

@awz_b

Check out all the different guitar tunings. Rig

RundownGovt Mules Warren Haynes. Thnx @

premierguitar Guitarbeau, @gear_slutz

New Rig Rundown from @premierguitar w/Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes! Cool B7d @

gibsonguitar & B6d @GretschUSA!

Bigsby, @Bigsby

There are so many killers [Titans of Tremolo, November 2013] ...

but a semi-recent fave is Rich Woman by

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. T-Bone Burnetts stroke of genius was to

set the vibrato tempo up not as a triplet, but as a true 3 against 4. Gives the whole track a really

woozy, unhinged quality, especially in the little

instrumental breaks. Took a bit of practice to learn

to tap-tempo that cleanly!Ken E. Taylor

FEEDBACK LOOPSocialize with Us!

premierguitar.com PREMIER GUITAR DECEMBER 2013 11


CONTENTS December 2013

132

2013Gear Awards

We salute 35 tone toys thatll rock your rig.

75

Studio Legends:Andrew Scheps

A chat with the engineer who mixed

Black Sabbaths return to the charts.

37

Windy City GemsLocal bluesman

Daniel Ivankovich shares favorites from

his personal collection.

54

108 Rock Star Guitars

The story behind some of the most iconic axes

in the world.

166 Squier Vintage Modified Cabronita Tele171 Eventide H9174 Traynor SB115178 Knaggs Severn182 Little Walter Twin 50/22187 Acid Age Electronics Acid Pig190 Worland Prairie195 Daredevil Atomic Cock198 PRS Grainger203 T-Rex Magnus

REVIEWS

84

Kings of LeonMatthew Followill and his kin return

to prove the naysayers wrong (again).

97

TriviumThe Florida metal foursome returns with a vengeance.

106

Pierre BensusanThe acoustic fingerstyle

virtuoso looks back on four decades of

DADGAD.

ARTISTS

32

Deap VallyClassically trained

guitarist Lindsey Troy gets fierce with her

Fender Mustang and Big Muff.

115

The MelvinsThe genre-bending

sludge rockers pull a switcheroo on their

19th album.

Vintage Modified Cabronita Tele

Twin 50/22

Acid Pig

Atomic Cock

Vintage Modified Cabronita Tele

Abo

ve R

ight

: Pho

to b

y Li

sa S

. Joh

nson

HANDCRAFTED GUITARS & MANDOLINS. THATS WHAT WE DO. COMMITTED TO A HIGH STANDARD OF QUALITY, EASTMAN GUITARS USES ONLY PREMIUM TONEWOODS AND THE FINEST APPOINTMENTS. ALONGSIDE THE TALENT AND ACCOMPLISHMENT OF OUR DESIGNERS

AND LUTHIERS, COMBINED WITH OUR COMPANY PHILOSOPHY, WE CONTINUE ONE OF THE MOST FASCINATING MUSICAL TRADITIONS THE WORLD HAS KNOWN.

NICK URATA | DEVOTCHKA | EASTMAN T386

www.EASTMANGUITARS.com


18 News Bits20 Gear Radar23 Opening Notes206 Media Reviews208 Staff Picks220 Next Month in PG222 Esoterica Electrica224 Last Call

GEAR28 Rig Rundowns52 Modern Builder Vault70 Trash or Treasure72 Vintage Vault82 Tone Tips94 Guitar Tracks

HOW-TO124 Acoustic Soundboard126 Guitar Shop 101128 Bass Bench130 On Bass160 Mod Garage162 Ask Amp Man164 State of the Stomp

If you want to take your

looping from four-bar

bedroom jams to a performance environment,

start thinking of your looper as an instrument, not an effect.

Ethan Tufts, State of the Stomp,

p. 164

Abo

ve L

eft:

Pho

to b

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yre

Berm

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CONTENTS December 2013

On the Cover: Lakland Decade 6, Ibanez

Iron Label RGIR20FE, Catalinbread Echorec,

Bogner Ecstasy Red, and Carr Impala

DECEMBER 2013


DECEMBER 2013


GUITAR & BASS REVIEWSEVENTIDE / PRS / TRAYNOR / SQUIER / KNAGGS

T-REX / LITTLE WALTER / & MORE

AXES OF THE GODS

Page, Beck, Richards, Wylde, Kramer & More

premierguitar.com

DECEMBER 2013

GORE, ELIXIR, NANOWEB, POLYWEB, GREAT TONE LONG LIFE, e icon, and other designs are trademarks of W. L. Gore & Associates. 2013 W. L. Gore & Associates, (UK) Limited

ELX-259-ADV-US-JUN13

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Elixir Strings Acoustic Phosphor Bronze deliver distinctive phosphor bronze warmth and sparkle - together with extended tone life. Elixir Strings is the only coated string brand to protect the entire string, keeping tone-killing gunk out of the gaps between the string windings. Our innovative Anti-Rust Plated Plain Steel Strings prevent corrosion, ensuring longer life for the entire set.Guitarists tell us Elixir Strings retain their tone longer than any other string, uncoated or coated.

Acoustic Phosphor BronzeThe tone you love for longer

Eric Bibb plays Elixir Strings Acoustic Phosphor Bronze with NANOWEB Coating, Medium Gauge .013 - .056

The warmth and depth of Strings is really important to my overall sound. They feel great and their tone lasts an incredibly long time. - Eric Bibb

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FEATURED

LESSONS

BEYOND BLUES Moving Past the Pentatonic Scale

By Levi Clay

FRETBOARD WORKSHOPA Pentatonic

Approach to ModesBy Aurelien Budynek

TWANG 101Travis Picking Essentials

By Tom Monda

FUTURE ROCK How to Build Long Lines From Motifs

By Emil Werstler

Access all of our lessons online, for free, with streaming audio and

downloadable, printable notation PDFs.

ONLY ON PremierGuitar.comYour guide to the latest stories, reviews, videos, and lessons on PremierGuitar.com

Pro AdviceWhen Premier Guitar traveled to the Full Moon Resort in Big Indian, New York, this summer for Paul Gilberts Great Guitar Escape, Gilbert went in-depth about his approach to mentoring other players. Not only that, but camp instructor Andy Timmons chimed in as well, giving insight into topics like conveying unquantifiable musicality and dynamics (how to get the feel).

In other artist news, look for our web-exclusive interview with Jonny Lang, whos just released Fight for My Soul after a seven-year hiatus. And in addition to the 10 gear reviews in this issue, check out three more digital-only reviews online later this month: Phil Jones Double Four, TC Electronic Mini Hall of Fame Reverb (with video), and the PRS S2 Starla!

Galleries GaloreTheres always something to drool over in the realm of gear porn, and we can never fit it all onto these pages. If you missed some of our recent galleries, you can find them online by clicking the Gallery sidebar on the right side of our new, pimped-out website homepage. Recent photo essays include two Reader Pedalboards (Part 1 and 2), gear rundowns with ZZ Top and Russian Circles at Electrical Audio in Chicago, as well as a floor report from the L.A. Amp and Custom Guitar Show.

GO ONLINE

Guitar Center paid tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan at the L.A. Amp Show with a collection of SRVs vintage gear, including his original Uni-Vibe, a Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, a Tycobrahe Octavia, a 53 Diaz-modded Fender Bassman, a Fender Vibratone cab, and a custom Hamiltone S-style.

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PRESENTATIONPRS Guitar on Permanent Display at NYCs Metropolitan Museum of ArtNew York, NY In early October, Paul Reed Smith Guitars presented a custom electric guitar for permanent display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The event was open to the public at the Temple of Dendur in the Sackler Wing. The exquisite guitar, a gift from Mr. and Mrs. Warren Esanu [Mr. Esanu is a founding partner and chairman of Paul Reed Smith Guitars Limited Partnership], was designed for the exhibit and features a McCarty-style body, a 25" scale, curly red maple top, African ribbon mahogany back, red heart abalone body purfling, and a light tiger eye microburst finish with natural binding. The curly maple neck features 22 frets, bird inlays cut from mammoth ivory found in arctic ice, ebony fretboard and headstock veneer, a bone nut, and PRS Phase III locking tuners. The PRS 408 humbuckers are controlled by a 3-way selector and master volume and tone controls. Because the museum wants the instrument to be played, PRS also provided the prototype so if its ever on loan, another will be on display in its place.

Guitar legend John McLaughlin introduced the instrument to the world and performed with it. Electric guitar is meant to rock, swing, boogie, and get downall those things that you wouldnt normally associate with such an illustrious place as the Metropolitan museum. I feel very honored to be here, he said. At the end of his performance, the fusion maestro raised the guitar in the air and kissed it. Joe Charupakorn prsguitars.com

HALL OF FAMENirvana, Deep Purple, and KISS among Rock and Roll Hall of Fame NomineesCleveland, OH The 2014 inductees are chosen by a secret ballot of over 600 individual voters consisting of all past inductees of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, musicians, historians, critics and members of the music industry. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will again offer fans the opportunity to officially participate in the induction selection process. Beginning October 16 and continuing through December 10 at 5 p.m. EST. Votes can be cast at

rockhall.com, rollingstone.com, and usatoday.com. The top five artists, as selected by the public, will constitute a fans ballot that will be tallied along with the other ballots to choose the 2014 inductees.

Joining KISS, Deep Purple, and Nirvana are The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Chic, Peter Gabriel, Hall and Oates, LL Cool J, The Meters, N.W. A., The Replacements, Linda Rondstadt, Cat Stevens, Link Wray, Yes, and the Zombies. To be eligible for nomination, an individual artist or band must have released its first sin-gle or album at least 25 years prior to the year of nomina-tion. The 2014 Nominees had

to release their first recording no later than 1988.

The 29th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held in April 2014 in New York City. Venue and public ticket sale information will be announced at a later date. The Induction Ceremony will be presented on HBO in May. All induct-ees are ultimately represented in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, the nonprofit orga-nization that tells the story of rock and rolls global impact via special exhibits, educa-tional programs and its library and archives. rockhall.com

NEWS BITS

GUITARDOMSTOP TWEETS

We are awash in an ocean of TLCs!

@aguilaramp

Breaking: Southern rock band Government Mule has shut down! Enough is enough

@duffmckagan

I have figured out my DJ name: THE IVORY TOWER

@billy (Billy Corgan)

In honor of meeting my maker, theres this...

@troyvanleeuwen

God was competing with our light show

tonight. Cant wait to see some pictures because it looked absolutely insane

from the stage!@trent_reznor

Geek Alert: changing the battery in my gold Klon Centaur (thanks

Charlie!) notice the goop on the PC board.

@jbonamassa


CAMPAdrian Belew, Tony Levin, and Pat Mastelotto to Host Three of a Perfect Pair Music CampBig Indian, NY Guitarist Adrian Belew, bassist Tony Levin and drummer Pat Mastelotto bring their Three of a Perfect Pair Music Camp back to Full Moon Resort in Big Indian, NY, for its third year in 2014. The weeklong getawayrunning from Monday, August 11 through Friday, August 15will feature performances, workshops, social and recreational activities, all set against the idyllic backdrop of the Catskill Mountains. The camp is part of the Music Masters Camp Series held at Full Moon Resort.

Together in past incarnations of King Crimson as well as the current Crimson ProjeKCt and separately through countless other bands, projects and collaborations, Belew, Levin, and Mastelottohave helped forge the his-tory of modern rock music over careers spanning five decades.

At the Three of a Perfect Pair Music Camp, Adrian, Tony and Pat will share meals, tales from the road, and maybe even the stage during after-hours jam sessions with camp-ers. Whether campers play guitar, drums, bassor no instrument at allThree of a Perfect Pair offers a rare opportunity to learn, to play, and to make new friends amongst renowned musicians.

We get pretty up close and personal. Several have ongoing emails or come to gigs throughout the year. They become pals, says Mastelotto. Adrian Belew adds, A beautiful 100-acre facility on top of the world where at night it looks like you are in a fishbowl full of stars, fantastic friendly people excited about music, an awesome staff and surprisingly good food, nightly drinks and a bonfire and rub-bing elbows with a world-class band willing to share knowledge and tell plenty of funny road stories...whats not to love?

All activities will be held at Full Moon Resort in Big Indian, NY, which features an eclectic array of rustic country-inn accommodations as well as primitive tent camping.musicmasterscamp.com


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Charles ThompsonSeptember 9, 2013El Rey TheatreLos Angeles, CAPhoto by Lindsey Best

Back with the first new Pixies material in more than 20 years, the bands frontman (aka Black Francis) brings some to an L.A. crowd with his early-60s, all-original Gibson SG.

OPENING NOTES


Jeff BeckSeptember 27, 2013Hard Rock LiveHollywood, FLPhoto by Sayre Berman

The guitar legend delivers the goods on the opening night of his 2013 fall tour with his No. 1 Strat, a mid-90s namesake signature model thats loaded with a set of custom pups made by John Suhr during his tenure at Fender.

OPENING NOTES


Joe HottingerSeptember 15, 2013Discovery ParkSacramento, CAPhoto by Silvia Paveri

The Halestorm guitarist tears into their set at the 2013 Aftershock Festival with the axe Fender built for him that includes a Tele body, Strat neck, a single humbucker in the bridge, and a kill switch.

OPENING NOTES


Michael FrantiSeptember 11, 2013House of BluesBoston, MAPhoto by Rich Gastwirt

The turbo-energetic frontman for Michael Franti & Spearhead gets down to the ground during their set with his main axe, a 2010 Maton ECW80 dreadnought thats outfitted with a Maton AP5 Pro pickup and handpainted by artist Clark Hipolito.

OPENING NOTES

albert


RIG RUNDOWNS

John Scofield and Avi Bortnick take us thorugh their vast effects rigs used for the current berjam Deux tour.

JOHN SCOFIELDTop Right: When backline is provided, Scofield requests two reissue Vox AC30TB amps and then chooses one to use during soundcheck. When possible, his preference is for pre-2006 models.

Bottom Right: In the berjam group, Scofield needs a rather large palette of effects. This pedalboard, put together by Mason Marangella from Vertex Effects, covers all the bases. The signal enters the board through a Vertex input buffer and then through a true-bypass loop that contains a DigiTech Whammy XP-100. From there it goes through a TC Electronic PolyTune Mini, Vertex Axis Wah, J. Rockett Blue Note overdrive, and a Vertex-modified Boss GE-7 Equalizer. Next is a breakout insert interface going into a Vertex-modified Boss CE-3 Chorus, Neunaber Technology Wet Reverb, and another Vertex true-bypass loop (for the Boomerang Phrase Sampler and Electro-Harmonix Micro Synth). Finally, the signal ends at another interface (single output buffer/splitter, splitting mono signal to two amplifiers).

John Scofield & Avi Bortnick

BERJAMFACTOID

Whenever Scofield uses his Boomerang Phrase Sampler, he takes off his shoe to

better control his loops.


AVI BORTNICKBortnick needs to cover a lot of tonal bases in berjam, including triggering all the samples in real time, so his rig combines a traditional guitar/pedal/amp setup with a more modern software-based approach.

The guitar first goes through an A/B switcher that toggles between the pedals on his board and a Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6 USB interface. From the interface, the signal goes to his Apple MacBook Air (running Ableton Live and MIDI Guitar) and a Korg Electribe.

Once the signal leaves Bortnicks A/B box, it goes into an Electro-Harmonix Frequency Analyzer, WrightSounds Fuzz-Stang, Vemuram Jan Ray, DOD FX-17 Wah/Volume, Boss CE-2 Chorus, Boss TR-2 Tremolo, MXR Carbon Copy, and a Strymon El Capistan.


Synyster Gates & Zacky Vengeance

AVENGED SEVENFOLD

RIG RUNDOWNS

Avenged Sevenfolds Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance have a similar mantra when it comes to their gear: Keep it simple and consistent. As Schecter devotees, they both carry an array of their signature models, a few effects, and some heavy-duty tube amps to deliver their high-energy metalcore jams.

SYNYSTER GATESGuitarsAvenged Sevenfolds Synyster Gates uses an array of his signature Schecter guitars in a variety of colors and tunings (standard, drop D, and drop C#). Each guitar has a Seymour Duncan Invader in the bridge position and a Sustainiac at the neck.

Amps and EffectsGates signal goes through an Audio-Technica wireless unit and into his Schecter Hellwin 100-watt head. The EL34-powered amp has three channels, a built-in noise gate, and a separate input designed for active pickups. The Hellwin also has MIDI functions, which allows Gates to switch channels from his Fractal Audio MFC-101 foot controller. The Fractal Audio Axe-Fx II handles all of Gates effects and is routed through the Hellwins effects loop.


ZACKY VENGEANCEGuitarsMuch like Gates, Zacky uses a handful of his Schecter signature model guitars and each sports a different finish and tuning. His main guitar has a set of Seymour Duncan JB humbuckers, along with some intricate engraving on both the pickup cover and ring.

EffectsZackys effects are housed in a rack offstage and he controls them via a Voodoo Lab Ground Control Pro MIDI Foot Controller. He uses an ISP Technologies Decimator Noise Reduction pedal, an MXR ZW38 Black Label Chorus, an MXR Custom Comp, and an Ibanez LF7 Lo-Fi Filter pedal. When he switches to acoustic guitar, his signal is routed through a Whirlwind A/B box.

AmpsFor amps, Zacky uses a Jet City 100HDM head. This amp is loaded with four 6L6 power tubes and five 12AX7 preamp tubes, and it boasts a half-power switch that drops the output from 100 to 50 watts.


By Tessa Jeffers

Classically trained Lindsey Troy plugged in three years ago and quickly fell in love with her Fender Mustang and a Big Muff.

W hat if music had an odor? We asked Deap Vally frontwoman and guitarist Lindsey Troy to hypothesize what her bands tunes might smell like. Her answer: Peaches, patchouli, garlic, and dirty panties.

On the Southern California duos debut, Sistrionix, sexy femininity underlies a whole lot of scuzzy, fuzzy, rocking blues jams. Troys vocals are equally biting. Her delivery possesses an unabashed and unwavering quality in both high and low registers. (I love Nina Simone, Fiona Apple, John Lennon, Screaming Jay Hawkins, Janis Joplin, Joan Jett, Courtney Love, she says.)

But Troy wasnt always an in-your-face playershe started on classical guitar and fingerpicking. Her father, a rock biographer, taught her Knockin On Heavens Door when she was 10. She didnt get serious about guitar until age 16, graduating from a cheap, shitty child-size guitar to a Baby Taylor, and borrowing her dads full-sized Taylor acoustic whenever she could get her hands on it.

Believe it or not, Troy only plugged in three years ago, when she met Deap Vallys other half, drummer Julie Edwards. The first electric Troy played was a wood-finished 1976 Fender Mustang, which remains her No. 1 axe. At first

she just liked it because it was free. My dad bought it off of his friend who was hard up for money and living in his van, she recalls. First I just asked my dad for it because he wasnt using it, I needed a guitar, and I was broke. But then I fell in love with it. Im really protective of it. Its old, it has its own sound, its light, and Im just used to playing it.

Troys main guitar influence was her sister Anna, two years her senior. They had a family band. Shes a fantastic guitar player, says Lindsey. She was always better than me, and I really looked up to her and admired her, As a teenager Lindsey was into softer pickers like Elliott Smith, but now cites harder-edged influences: Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Nick Zinner, Jack White, Joan Jett, and Tony Iommi.

Despite the fact that Deap Vally is often compared to other rock duos such as the White Stripes and the Black Keys, they didnt set out to be a two-piece. The first time we jammed together we played with a female bass player, Troy says. The bassist, Ashley Dzerigian, was too busy with other commitments (shes currently playing with Adam Lambert and Maximum Hedrum), so the band carried on without bass, and that format progressed naturally for Troy and Edwards. Pho

to b

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hris

Kie

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DEAP VALLY


As a two-piece, you just get those comparisons, Troy notes. But those groups laid a lot of groundwork for two-pieces, showing that its possible to have a full, cool, original sound with two members. Being in a duo makes it easier to play in sync with each other. Its kind of like having sex with one person versus having sex with three people. The duos songwriting is collaborativethey conceptualize and develop ideas together, whether a song is born from a lyrical concept, a guitar riff, or a beat.

Whether riffing or soloing, Troy tends to mix notes and chords. I try to keep a chord in there every measure to ground the solo so it doesnt drift into the abyss, she says. But who knows? Maybe Ill experiment more with the abyss on the next record.Pho

to b

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Kie

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GUITARS 1976 Fender Mustang

Backup modern Mustang

AMPSFender Deluxe

Fender Bassman reissue

EFFECTS/STRINGSElectro-Harmonix Big Muff

DeltaLab DD1 Digital Delay Roland Space Echo

DAddario .011-.049 (strings)

LINDSEY TROYS GEAR

xxxx

DEAP VALLY

Being in a duo makes it easier to play in

sync with each other. Its kind of like having

sex with one person versus having sex

with three people.


Troy, who loves playing with sonic textures, admits she suffers from chronic pedal lust: I bought a pedal and fell in love, then bought another pedal and fell in love. So on and so on. But I intentionally kept my pedalboard very minimal on this first album because I wanted to really hone our sound and lay the framework of what Deap Vally is.

Yet some not-so-simple effects did make their way on the album. Your Love, for example, features Hendrix-flavored reverse echo. We used a vintage analog [Roland] Space Echo for that bit, Troy divulges. That was one of our favorite toys on this record.

But the one pedal Troy cant live without is her Electro-Harmonix Big Muff. Its hard to imagine using any other fuzz pedal, she says. I tend to be a believer in, If it aint broke dont fix it. I suppose something else could take my breath away. I played around with my friends [Z. Vex] Woolly Mammoth, and

that thing seemed pretty sick. To cover more ground and fill the void of not having a bassist, Troy blasts her fuzz riffs through a Fender Deluxe and a Fender Bassman reissue, running simultaneously.

Troy is also branching out into slide playing, incorporating it on Six Feet Under, the closing track of Sistrionix and her favorite song to play live on tour opening for Arctic Monkeys and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Its just so drippy and swampy and aching, she says. It adds a really nice dynamic shift to the set. Its like getting in a really hot Jacuzzi after going down some crazy water slides.

At the end of the day, Troy just wants to make noise she digs. Her no-frills

attitude helps her music stand out while giving her the confidence to be truly creative. Her advice to budding guitarists is to go for it on your own at the beginning, and really spend time with your instrument. In his biography, Keith Richards talks about how every guitar player should start on acoustic because its muscularly much more challenging, she says. Theres a lot to be said for that, and Im really glad to have had all those years playing acoustic to really get my chops. But when the time comes that you want to plug in, dont be afraid to make noise and try shit out. You cant really go wrongits about having fun.

Deap Vallys Lindsey Troy and Julie Edwards give an intimate performance during a live session recording (Troys beloved Big Muff makes a cameo at 0:48).YouTube search term: Deap Vally Baby I Call Hell (In Deapth Session)

Deap Vally guitarist Lindsey

Troy (right) met drummer Julie

Edwards (left) in a crochet class

that Edwards was teaching.

YOUTUBE IT

Phot

o by

Bry

an S

heffi

eld

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Chicago built guitars the way Detroit built cars. For much of the 20th century, the

United States was largely rural and people tended to buy guitars and other musical instruments from catalogs. Chicagos centralitywith access to the Mississippi River, the St. Lawrence Seaway, and later the rails and highwaysmade the city a major manufacturing, commercial, and distribution center. Its no accident that catalog and retail giants Sears, Roebuck & Co. (for many decades Americas largest retailer), Montgomery Ward, Spiegel, and others were founded there, and that these retailers played a critical role in the creation and distribution of guitars, amplifiers, and other musical instruments.

From the 1930s through the early 60s, Chicago was the world capital of guitar making, says Daniel Ivankovich, AKA Chicago Slim, guitarist for the Chicago Blues All-Stars, orthopedic surgeon, and medical director of the OnePatient Global Health Initiative. National, Supro, Harmony, Kay, Silvertonethey were all made here by the hundreds of thousands.

Those companies and others headquartered in Chicago shared and

swapped parts and designs and sold to the same distributors. Due to the low cost and wide distribution of their instruments, they produced far more guitars than Gibson or Fender. Some of their instruments were of dubious quality, often dismissed as dime store guitars, but others wereand areexcellent. More important, the ready availability of these guitars led to their prevalence in blues, country, early rock n roll, and the British Invasion.

You cant deny the influence of Chicago blues and Chicago-built guitars on contemporary rock, says Ivankovich. British musicians were enthralled by anything black and from Chicago. When the guys in England heard and saw these blues guys with their crazy guitars and outfits, they were copying every piece.

Ivankovich has spent decades assembling a collection of Chicago-built guitars, which includes all the major Chicago manufacturers and the dozens of brands under which their instruments were marketed. Those department store guitars were very innovative, he says, referring to the building materials and manufacturing methods used to

mass-produce the comparatively low-cost instruments. Ive got picture after picture of artists who played Montgomery Ward guitars because they were affordable. They were everywhere. Maybe there wasnt a Gibson dealer in your town, but there was a Sears, Roebuck catalog or store.

Chicago-built guitars, like the bluesmen who played them, were discounteduntil they received third-party validation from England. Racism and segregation were too pervasive, says Ivankovich. In the United States, Hendrix was a prophet without honor. He had to go to England to get discovered. Hendrix started playing on a Supro Ozark. Eric Clapton played a Kay Jazz II and a Thinline. Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and all those guys had various Chicago guitars that theyd seen the blues guys playing. Jimmy Page certainly knew about Supro amps! Those guys were studious, looking at pictures and figuring things out. Half a world away, they were getting Chess 45s, Kay guitars, and Supro amps.

Lets take a closer look at some of the Chicago brands that helped shape guitar history.

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS MCMAHON

Chicago was the epicenter of musical instrument manufacturing and distribution for three decades. Here, guitarist Daniel Ivankovich

shares two-dozen favorites from his personal collection.

24 Windy City Gems

Above: Whats Old Is New - J.B. Hutto to Jack WhiteJ.B. Hutto was never an official endorsee, but hes often associated with a red Supro or Airline Res-O-Glas guitar, Ivankovich says. Hutto featured one on the cover of his Hawk Squat and Slidewinder albums. Jimmy Reed used many different Valco guitars and often played the J.B. Hutto model in the studio and live. Jack White re-invigorated the model when the White Stripes made their debut using the Montgomery Ward Airline Res-O-Glas guitar. Whites visibility has made this model the most collectible of all Airline guitars. Though not as high profile due to its rarity, the Airline Professional was gorgeous and, with its 3-pickup versatility, allowed players to shape almost any tone.


SilvertoneIn terms of sheer numbers, Silvertone may be the most successful musical instrument brand ever, yet they didnt make their own guitars. The Silvertone name, owned by Sears, Roebuck & Co., adorned instruments made by many Chicago-based manufacturers, includ-ing Harmony Guitars, Kay Musical Instruments, and Valco, who manufactured and sold guitars under the National, Dobro, Supro, and Airline brands. The Silvertone brand offered nationwide distribution via the Sears catalog, which reached virtually every house-hold in the United States, rich or poor, black or white.

All the big department stores got into private-label selling, and not just for musical instruments,

Above: Airline Amp-In Case (Made by Valco)This is a 22-inch short-scale guitar with Valco single-coil pickups and a built-in tremolo circuit, says guitar collector Daniel Ivankovich. The short scale really adds fatness for open-tuned slide playing. The Valco amp-in-case is about 5 watts and has a similar tube configuration as the Fender Champ. No wonder it sounds so good. Blues monster all the way!

Right: Airline Barney Kessel Artist (Made By Kay) Where else could you find highly figured maple like this at a budget price? The sharp double cutaway is what sets this Airline Barney Kessel Kay apart from other semi-hollow body guitars of the era. Three Kay Kleenex Box pickups scream bad-ass versatility and the Dakaware selector switch offers four pickup options, the last of which creates an out-of-phase type tone, Ivankovich says.

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says Bruce Zinky of Supro USA/Zinky Electronics. Its an advantage, since you dont have to compete on price with any other store with a proprietary branded product. Montgomery Ward was selling Airline against the Silvertone product at Sears, Roebuck. Sharp eyes might note that the Airline guitar could be Valco-made, and the Silvertone might be Danelectro. The customer bought what was available in their town. There was no Internet. There was no Guitar Center. There wasnt a lot of choice. You bought what you could get, and in a small town, the Sears, Roebuck catalog was often the first and only choice.

New Jerseys Danelectro and Japans Teisco also built Silvertone instruments. Koreas Samick Musical Instrument Co. recently revived the Silvertone brand.

HarmonyFor the better part of the 20th century, the Harmony Guitar Co. was one of the worlds largest and most successful musi-cal instrument manufacturers. According

to Tom Wheelers American Guitars: An Illustrated History, they made half the guitars built in the United States, thanks to their role as the principal instrument supplier to Sears, Roebuck.

Harmony produced mandolins, ukuleles, guitars, and other instruments under the Harmony brand and under the Silvertone brand for Sears. They also made private-label instruments for other retailers under the Vogue, Valencia, Johnny Marvin, and Monterey brands, according to Westheimer Corp., which now owns the Harmony brand.

Harmony was founded in 1892 and bought by Sears, Roebuck & Co. in 1916. Harmony reported annual sales of 250,000 units in 1923 and 500,000 in 1930, according to Wheeler. For perspective, in 1974, a total of 2.3 million fretted instruments were sold.

In a move that illustrates Sears manufacturing muscle and marketing prowess, the company purchased the brands, but not the factories,

Opposite Page: Silvertone Amp-In Case (Model 1457 Made by Danelectro) This is a roots rockers boyhood dream, Ivankovich says of this Danelectro 1457, which was sold between 1964 and 1966. The guitar is a double-cutaway, 21-fret design with a Masonite-covered pine body, Masonite pickguard, two lipstick pickups, stacked volume and tone knobs and a 3-way switch. The case amp barks through an 8-inch Jensen speaker powered by 5 watts of tube-tremolo saturated voicing via a rectified single-ended 6V6 power section.

BiltmoreBiltmore is a very rare off-shoot Harmony brand. The detail and finish quality on this square neck Hawaiian guitar is astounding, Ivankovich says.


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of instrument manufacturer Oscar Schmidt Co. in 1939. These included Schmidts La Scala, Stella, and Sovereign brands, according to American Guitars. Oscar Schmidt is now part of U.S. Music Corp., which also owns the Washburn brand. Washburn had deep connection to Chicago blues by virtue of proximity to Chicagos Maxwell Street Market, where Lyon & Healy, creators of the Washburn brand, were headquartered.

Harmony and Sears parted in 1940, but Harmony continued to grow, propelled by the baby boom, the rise of folk music, and the emergence of rock and roll. But by the end of the60s Asian imports began to erode market share and profits. The U.S. recessions of the 70s brought rising unemployment, inflation, surging energy costs, and higher credit prices. Harmony went out of business in 1975, but the brand has been revived, and Westheimer sells Harmony guitars to this day.

KayDespite being a high-volume manufacturer, Kay had roots in old-world manufacturing. The company originated as the Groeschel Instrument Co., which later changed its name to Stromberg-Voisinet. The brand became Kay in 1928 when Stromberg-Voisinet employee Henry Kuhrmeyer purchased the company. (That same year Stromberg-Voisinet released the Stromberg Electro, one of the first electric guitars to hit the market.)

Like Harmony, Kay built and sold stringed instruments under its own brand and a slew of others, including Airline and Sherwood Deluxe (for Montgomery Ward), Custom Kraft (for St. Louis Music), Old Kraftsman (for Spiegel), Orpheum (for Wards Catalogue), Penncrest (for J.C. Penney), plus Silvertone and Supertone for Sears.

Kays tend to rank higher than Harmony guitars in quality and price, but below Gibsons. The Gold Kay archtops, created to compete with

premium brands such as Gibson and Fender, featured distinctive pickup covers that are sometimes referred to as Kessel boxes (after guitarist Barney Kessel, who had a signature Kay model) or Kleenex boxes. Another hallmark is the Kelvinator headstock with its huge gold and pearl plastic ornamentation.

In 1955 Kuhrmeyer sold his portion of the company to Sidney Katz, formerly of Harmony. The company rode the rock nroll wave through the mid 60s, expanding into new markets and new products, including amplifiers and budget guitars. (Kay outsourced the amp production to Valco.)

The company opened a new larger plant outside of Chicago in 1964, where, according to Wheeler, they were building 1,500 guitars per day, distributed to 7,000 retailers nationwide via 45 distribution companies. Kay was sold in to jukebox manufacturer Seeberg Corp. in 1965, and then to Valco two years later. By then guitar sales were in decline, and the company

Opposite Page: Sovereign Deluxe Jumbo (left) This is an amazing piece of sonic eye candy, Ivankovich says. With its tobacco burst and double pickguard, it holds its own against most any acoustic of the era.Jazz Artist (right) This was Harmonys answer to jazz players looking for a higher quality instrument. H68 pickups are modified double-mustache types.

Left: Jimmy Reed Thin Twin (Kay K5910) Jimmy Reeds signature guitar was a semi-hollowbody with twin blade pickups, Ivankovich says.


Above: Howlin Wolf Bass

(Kay K5965

Right: Jimmy Reed Thin Twin (Kay K5910)

The Thin Twin is shown here

with a Silvertone headstock.

was auctioned off in 1969, according to kingofkays.com, a site dedicated to Kay guitars. The assets went to Syl Weindling and Barry Hornstein of W.M.I, which imported Teisco Del Rey guitars from Japan. The Kay brand then was applied to imported instruments in the early 70s.

In addition to guitars, Kay made high-quality upright basses. That division was acquired by Engelhardt-Link, which still produces instruments.

ValcoIn many ways, Valcos story is a classic American tale of reinvention, which is to say that separating fact from fiction is dif-ficult and possibly pointless.

We do know this much: Before there was Valco, there was the National Stringed Instrument Corp., a California-based manufacturer of resonator guitars dating back to the 20s, and the Dobro Manufacturing Co. National created steel-bodied guitars, notably the tri-cone, which used three resonating metal cones to amplify the sound, and the biscuit,


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which featured a single resonating cone. Then, as now, guitar players wanted to be heard, and that desire drove the development of these resonator guitars and the electric guitars and the amplifiers that would soon follow.

George Beauchamp, one of Nationals founders, is credited by some with creating the Frying Pan, an electric lap steel guitar, in 1931 with Adolph Rickenbacker. Rickenbacker had founded Ro-Pat-In Corp., which became Electro String, which eventually evolved into Rickenbacker International Corp. He worked at National, and later at Dobro, and was largely responsible for the production methods that made it possible to mass-produce metal and Bakelite guitar bodies.

In 1927 or 28, John Dopyera, another Nationals founder, started Dobro Corp. with his four brothers. They also produced resonator guitars and were direct National competitors. (The Dobro features a

different resonating device, a single bowl-shaped resonator, which Dopyera developed but kept from National.)

The Dobro name is a mash-up of Dopyera and brother, and which also means good in Slovak, the brothers native language. Dopyera retained some National ownership rights and responsibilities, and there was what we would now call co-opetition between the companies. They effectively merged in the early 30s, becoming the National Dobro Co.

Louis Dopyera and employees Victor Smith and Al Frost bought the

company around 1934 and renamed it Valco, combining the first letters of the founders first names. In 1936 they relocated to Chicago to be near suppliers and other manufacturers, according to Victor Smith, as quoted in Wheelers book. Other Dopyeras started other guitar companies in warmer climates.

Using parts from Harmony and Regal (another significant Chicago-based guitar manufacturer), they built wooden-body resonator guitars, Spanish guitars, lap steels, and later, electric guitars and amps. Regal also built resonator guitars using Valco parts, selling them under its own

There was no internet. There was no Guitar Center. There wasnt a lot of choice. You bought what you could get, and in a small town, the Sears, Roebuck catalog was often the

first and only choice. Bruce Zinky, Supro Amps


Supro StratfordValcos answers to the Gibsons ES-335 were

Supro Stratford, Carlisle, Clermont and Croydon

models. The tobacco burst Stratford is an

incredibly well-built 3-pickup guitar with

an elaborate switching network and midrange

boost that makes a thin-sounding bridge single-

coil pickup sound fat like a P-90 or PAF pickup.

This Stratford was loaned to a local blues

musician during an album tracking session.

Unfortunately, the saddle for the low-E

broke and the guitar was rendered unplayable,

Ivankovich says. When he returned it, the

bluesman grinned and said that he saved the session by performing a custom modification

that made the guitar sound like money and

play like butta. Look closely and youll see.


TonemasterNorman English was a lap steel player who ran a music studio in Lansing, Michigan. He had a good relationship with Valco and was able to order custom instruments directly from them. English Electronics Tonemaster brand offered several sought after lap steels, Res-O-Glas guitars and amps, Ivankovich says of these Tonemasters.

The lap steels have a 25-inch scale and Valcos legendary string-through pickups. Ry Cooders Coodercaster guitar is based on the Valco string-through-bridge pickup and single-coil neck configuration.

The amp is powered by a dual 6V6 circuit, very much like a Fender Deluxe, with a 10-inch Jensen speaker.


brand. Valco created the Supro brand, applying it to Regal- and Harmony-built student acoustic models. They later used the Supro brand on electrics, amps, and bass guitars. They also introduced the Airline brand, under which they sold the same guitars and through Montgomery Ward.

To those outside the manufacturing industry, these business relationships may seem counterintuitive. But to those in the industry, its business as usual.

Our sports-focused nation may imagine a competition between companies, says Zinky. But these companies were just trying to sell a few more units. Collaboration between factories was all good, because everyone got paid. When you have machinery that breaks down, or one factory with an overstock of necks, you do what you must to alleviate the problem. When

you have a big contract or order you cant fill, you do what you must to fill it.

Despite this genius for adaptability, Valco went out of business in 1968, a year after merging with Kay. Americas guitar lust had waned, the economy slowed, and cheaper imports flooded the market.

The industry just keeps chasing the cheapest source, says Mike Robinson, president of Eastwood Guitars Inc., which now owns Airline and other vintage guitar brands and sells their replicas. It wasnt that different in the 60s. But now you see less of the exact same models with the exact same parts, only with different brands. The only exceptions are the very least expensive Fender and Gibson copies, because those are such generic designs.

Opposite Page (bottom): Montclair (H956), Rocket (H54) Redburst and Jamboree (H1250) These were period pieces, whose jet black finish and Harmometal trim embodied a mix of aesthetics that totaled out at cool, Ivankovich says.

Left: Res-O-Glas - Retro Cool For The 21st Century (Kay K5910)


Though mass produced and frequently dismissed, these department store guitars are different from most guitars built now, in that they were built in the United States by people who were more likely to play them than, say, a factory worker in Korea or Indonesia. And many of them were, and remain, genuinely fine instruments that are increasingly sought after by collectors such as Ivankovich.

The late-50s guitars had a neck shape that was easy to play with small hands, but felt substantial, even if you had big hands, notes Zinky. The pickups always sounded musical. And then there were

the amps. Every Supro amp from the 30s through the 50s sounds like a good rock record when you turn it all the way upexcept for the ones that sound like fantastic rock records. I dont believe that can be said for any other brand.

The Department Store Guitar RevivalNowadays the Kay, Supro, National, and Silvertone brands are enjoying renewed popularity. Replicas of these distinctive guitars are common, and bands such as the Black Keys, Grizzly Bear, the National, and the White

Stripes and using these instruments (and their reproductions) to create something simultaneously new, gritty, and authentic.

Every time someone hits with one of these time machines, it makes everything thats old new again, says Ivankovich. Thats whats so cool about Jack White and the Black Keys discovering the Harmony and Airline stuff. Its the same mentality that drove the blues guys: The other stuff is too expensive! Who the hell can pay $10,000 for a Les Paul? Go get an Airline, a van, and trailer.

National/Supro Resophonic

Student Guitars

www.m

o-ka.ne

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Knaggs Best Thingwww.knaggsguitars.com/dealers


MODERN BUILDER VAULT

KOZM Guitars BY RICH OSWEILER

Modern guitars for modern times, is a fitting mission statement for Jeff Kosmoskis KOZM Guitars. One glance at any of his ergonomic instruments and its quickly apparent that the luthier isnt interested in producing modern-day versions of guitars that came on the scene 50-plus years ago.

The self-taught builder is a mechanical engineer with a background in product design and computer-aided design (CAD). Hes played guitar since grade school but didnt always want to be a luthier. The idea of actually making my own guitar seemed kind of strange, he says. Why spend the time making your own guitar, when you can just buy one and let you focus on the main taskcreating new music?

About six years ago, however, Kosmoski was working at a company with a number of guitarists, some of whom were into kit guitars and making their own bodies. It got Kosmoski thinking: If he could use his background and skills with modern 3-D CAD tools to design and build any guitar he could imagine, what would he come up with?

Some boutique luthiers pride themselves on not using CNC for valid reasons, but Kosmoski embraces the technology for his builds because

it allows him to create the instruments he envisions. That is, modern, curvaceous guitars that leave the past behind by moving away from flat, 2-D guitar design rooted in 1950s technology. Yes, there will always be those who say the old ways are the best ways, says Kosmoski. At the end of the day, however, the important question is, Can you make the material do what you want it to do? If your vision is limited by your tools, maybe its time to try new tools.

Kosmoskis isnt influenced by a specific designer or instrument manufacturer per se, but he does have a design modus operandi. In general, Im inspired by people who arent afraid of shattering paradigms, people who think way outside the boxSalvador Dali, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Nikola Tesla. He considers Les Paul a visionary and says, Im pretty sure that if he was just coming on the scene today, hed be using CAD and a computer-controlled router to design and build guitars.

Kosmoski builds both electrics and acoustics, and doesnt necessarily have a model he considers his signature or one hes most pleased with. To be honest, Im more interested in my next guitar designto see what I can come up with and to see how its going to sound, shares the builder. Although I like building electrics, these days Im more intrigued with the possibilities in the acoustic guitar realm. In some ways, Im just scratching the surface of whats possible. Theres a lot of room in the design space of 3-D, ergonomic, organic acoustic guitars. Kosmoski contends happy with the way his acoustics sound so far, but added, Im eager to see how far I can modify the sound by altering the body geometry, the size and location of the sound holes, the stiffeners, wall thicknesses, and woods.

Guitar players are an interesting breed, says the luthier. In a realm thats all about breaking the mold, moving forward, and being innovative, Im intrigued that so many guitarists feel obliged to reach for the guitars of yesterday. Most builders today are confined to the world of flat. However, the human body isnt flat. Nor is the natural world in general. I strive to make my guitars as ergonomic, organic, non-flat, and seductive as possible. kozmguitars.com

MT (Mutated Tele) Kosmoski says his

MT model draws its sonic influ-

ence from both a Telecaster and a Gretsch G5125.

This slippery salmon-finished

version has an alder body with

a maple spine, and a maple neck

with and an East Indian rosewood

fretboard. The Tele-style bridge

and sealed tuning machines are

both from Gotoh. For electronics,

Kosmoski outfits the MTs with a pair

of DiMarziosa True Velvet DP178

single-coil in the bridge and a

DP190 Air Classic in the neck.

PRICING & AVAILABILITYKosmoski is currently only selling direct through his website, but hopes to have some of his acoustic models in Portland, Oregon, guitar stores soon. The base price for his guitars is $2,395 for the acoustics and $2,595 for the electrics, and Kosmoski highly encourages customer involvement in the build process. Because I dont start making the guitar until everything is designed on the computer, I have the ability to take screen images of the design, and email them to the customer, says Kosmoski.My CAD software also lets me play with colors and details, so if the customer doesnt like something, we can manipulate the design until we get it right.


Heresy 1 The Heresy 1 is a fine example of the boundaries Kosmoski is pushing in the acoustic arena. By using CAD technology and CNC, hes able to machine stiffening ribs as part of his overall support system directly out of the interior of the front and back halves of the bodymeaning a design with integral braces and no need for the traditional glue-in variety. Speaking of the side-ported body, it features a hard-maple front and an African mahogany back, with an ebony mid-ring separating the two components. The Heresys bolt-on neck is constructed with a hard maple center thats flanked on each side by African mahogany, and then dressed with an East Indian rosewood fretboard and Bolivian rosewood headstock.

AW (Arched Wave)It has three single-coils and a 5-way selector switch, but the AW model is not your fathers Strat. This AWs body is constructed from a piece of resonant hard maple in the central area, bordered by strips of ribbon mahogany on each side, and then followed by Eastern ash for the outer areas. The neck is maple and is topped with an East Indian rosewood fretboard. The sleek, black hardware appointments include a Hipshot hardtail bridge and Gotoh 510 sealed tuning machines. The single-coil trio is made up of DiMarzio True Velvets with a DP176 in the bridge, a DP175S in the middle, and a DP175 in the neck.


BOOK EXCERPT COMPILED BY CORBIN REIFF

Photographer Lisa S. Johnson captures the story behind rocks most iconic axes, with

commentary from the guitarists themselves.

About 15 years ago, Lisa S. Johnson was working as a technical sales representative for Kodak. In order to gain a greater knowledge of the companys product line, she bought her own professional-grade camera gear and began shooting still images in her spare time. As fate would have it, one night she found herself at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City, the Monday-night court of one Les Paul. The always-gracious Paul allowed her to photograph his guitars, and thus began a quest that would span years and send Johnson far and wide in search of guitar playersand instrumentsof all stripes.

The culmination of that journey is available now. 108 Rock Star Guitars is a 396-page, leather-bound behemoth brimming with beautiful, elegant images of some of the most iconic and recognized instruments the world has ever known. The artists who allowed their most prized possessions to be photographed by Johnson read like a veritable whos who of rock-guitar royalty. Whats more, Johnsons work is threaded with personal stories detailing her own epic adventure to discover and celebrate these wondrous instruments. Here, were delighted to share 11 of the books most compelling images and stories.


ACE FREHLEYModified Gibson Les Paul UFO Light Guitar

I met Aces tech backstage at Mandalay Bay, and he guided me through an obstacle course of road cases as the crew readied for what would be an epic showSkid Row and Ted Nugent performing in support of Kiss. He had staked out a small room near the stage, to work on guitars in relative peace, and it was here, in a craftsmans special lair, that he showed me three of Aces special axes and divulged their secrets. Ace frequently plays this Les Paul when Kiss performs New York Groove. It was built by luthier/guitar tech extraordinaire Steve Carr. Lisa S. Johnson, 108 Rock Star Guitars

108 ROCK STAR GUITARS


ALEX LIFESON1976 Gibson ES-335 Stereo

This is my baby, the original. When I pick this guitar up and play, it feels so different. Its got a tiny neckthats how they used to do them in the 70s. Alex Lifeson


Its not about what you play, or how.Its why?

We never claimed that our handmade pickups sound better. Our artists

and customers certainly did and we trust that they know why. Since

making the first Lundgren pickups in 1990 our ambition has always

been to find the short cut between your heart and ears. If youre still

searching, trust your heart; trust our pickups.www.lundgrenpickups.com

American distributor Conklin guitars

In the process of finding the perfect pickup for our 8-strings we stumbled upon

Lundgren Pickups. They had it all and still reign supreme. Unchallenged.

Fredrik Thordendal and Mrten Hagstrm of Meshuggah with Lundgren Pickups since 2000.


BILLY GIBBONSThe Fur Gibson Explorer

Known as the fur guitars for obvious reasons. Made by luthier/furrier Matthew Klein at the Gibson Custom Shop in Nashville. In concert, Billy and Dusty strap on these fuzzy monsters when ZZ Top kicks into the song Legs. Dont let their soft appearance fool you; these guitars rock hard. Lisa S. Johnson, 108 Rock Star Guitars



JEFF BECKFender Stratocaster (1993 Neck, 1995 Body)

I waited three hours before being ushered into the presence of Jeff Becks cherished Frankenstratso-called because it was fashioned from various Fender parts, with a neck circa 1993 intended solely for internal use at the Fender factory bolted to a standard-issue 1995 body. The neck, its headstock stamped with the serial number 04, was a gift from Fender. A long crack snakes down the necks backside, but the guitar is in perfect working order, as anyone whos heard Jeff play will tell you. Lisa S. Johnson, 108 Rock Star Guitars


JIMMY PAGE1968 Gibson EDS 1275 SG Double Neck

Perhaps no other guitar rises to the level of rock n roll icon as much as Jimmys SG double neck. See her up close and youll swear shes been to hell and back, despite her frequent ascensions via the Stairway to Heaven. Jimmy performs the intro of that most famous of Zeppelin songs on the twelve-string, utilizing the six-string on the songs more raucous sections and the solo. Lisa S. Johnson, 108 Rock Star Guitars


Double up on a classic.One of T-Rexs rst eects, the original Alberta overdrive has been embraced by guitarists around the globe. So much so, in fact, that many found themselves using two Albertas in their eects

chain - one for creamy rhythm sounds, and the other for piercing solos.

Aware of just how valuable pedal board real estate can be, weve introduced the Alberta II.This dual-channel powerhouse doubles your tonal range without increasing its physical footprint.

Now you can easily swap between your amps clean sound, an on-the-edge overdrive from Now you can easily swap between your amps clean sound, an on-the-edge overdrive from channel 1, and a punchy, wide open rock tone from channel 2. Plus, ip the new FAT switch for

even thicker tone on either channel.

FUEL IT WITH AFUEL TANK

t-rex-eects.com


JOE WALSH1958 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop

Ask Joe Walsh what his fondest guitar-related memory is and hell tell you of the day his first guitar, a Sears and Roebuck Silvertone, arrived at his doorstep. Ask Joe Walsh about his worst guitar-related memory and you get this: Falling out of a tree and breaking the neck of my Les Paul. It was, at least, a fall that taught him not to venture into trees with nice guitars, which is perhaps one of the most valuable lessons a guitarist can learn.

Manufactured before Gibson replaced goldtop finishes with sunbursts in July of 1958, this particular modelwhich Joe received as a gift from his wife is one of the most expensive six-strings a collector can buy. Lisa S. Johnson, 108 Rock Star Guitars



ROBBY KRIEGER1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard

This Kriegerburst is Robbys favorite LPan inspiring work of art that never fails to encourage him to new musical heights. Although he regrets not purchasing the prettiest burst he ever saw for $3K back in the 70s, he finds this one to be truly exceptional. It features an extra slim neck and weighs just under 8 pounds. Due to its rarity, Robby never takes this guitar on the road. Lisa S. Johnson, 108 Rock Star Guitars


PETER FRAMPTON2000 Signature Gibson Les Paul

In the next edition of this book I hope to include Peters original 54 [Les Paul], scarred and burned from its Caribbean adventures but again regularly joining Frampton onstage. Meantime, here is the Signature model he used as his main guitar in 2001, complete with his signature etched into the 12th fret inlay. Lisa S. Johnson, 108 Rock Star Guitars



SLASH1987 Gibson Les Paul Standard

A cigarette ember fell on this guitar while Slash was performing with Alice Cooper. Mid-song, one with the music, he let the ember burn, leaving a charred reminder of rock n roll nirvana. Lisa S. Johnson, 108 Rock Star Guitars



WAYNE KRAMER2010 Signature Stars and Stripes Fender Stratocaster

The guitar pictured here is a reissue. When I asked after the original Stars and Stripes six-string, the control room fell profoundly silent. It went up a hole in my arm, Wayne said, watchful and intense. Tears welled in my eyes. His answer spoke of a dark remembrance, of a day when he had sold part of his soul for a fix. Lisa S. Johnson, 108 Rock Star Guitars


ZAKK WYLDE1981 Gibson Les Paul The Grail

In the days before Zakk teamed up with Ozzy, he received this guitar as a gift from his parents. Its original crme finish made it virtually indistinguishable from a Les Paul favored by Randy Rhoads (RIP). Out of respect for Randy, Zakk refinished the guitar with the bulls eye pattern featured on movie posters for Alfred Hitchcocks Vertigo. Lisa S. Johnson, 108 Rock Star Guitars



Gator oers a huge selection for every guitarist.Gig bags for the gigging rocker to ATA ight cases for the touring shredder. Pack up yourguitars, pedals, amps and amp heads withease and hit the road with Gator.

Strings that protect your guitars bridge plate while delivering exceptional tone.

martinguitar.com/strings


TRASH OR TREASURE

Hey Burt,Youre rightIm not too familiar with the Peavey

T-15, but thats because its one of the less common T-Series guitars produced. I hear a lot more about Peaveys T-60 guitar and T-40 bass.

Mississippi-based Peavey Electronics, as many of us know, first made its mark as an electronics company that produced amplifiers and PA equipment. Though Hartley Peavey used to draw sketches of guitars in high school, he never intended to become a guitar builder. But because of his companys success in the amplifier marketaccording to Peaveylarge guitar manufacturers such as Gibson and Fender were pressuring dealers to buy their proprietary amplifiers if the dealers wanted to carry their guitars. So Peavey decided to fight fire with fire and compete by building guitars too.

The 1970s were an experimental time for guitar makers. Manufacturers were struggling to produce more guitars at a lower cost, and quality often suffered. Hartley Peavey looked for a better way

and took note from his gun collection, because mass-production techniques were successfully being used to join wooden rifle stocks to the barrels with precision fits. Peavey had the idea to shape guitar necks on a copy lathesomething no other guitar manufacturer had tried up until then. By using computers and a machine to create the neck, every one was essentially the same. This method allowed

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