Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol. 119 i Australian Guitar

WIN A SET OF BUFFALO SOLDIER HEADPHONES FROM HOUSE OF MARLEY WORTH $199! The Buffalo Soldier headphones feature Bluetooth compatibility with A2DP stereo sound, which ensures a high fidelity soundscape when listening to music wirelessly. Coupled with 40mm dynamic drivers, these headphones will provide crisp treble and deep bass with minimal rattling at paramount volumes. Something that can frustrate people with Bluetooth listening is the constant need to recharge. Luckily, the Buffalo Soldier headphones boast a 16-hour charge thanks to a powerful lithium-ion battery. Simply plug the unit in via USB and away you go. However, if wireless isn’t your thing, these headphones come with a removable audio cable with a one-button remote and gold-plated plugs for a wired override. Controlling these on-ear headphones without the optional cable has never…

The holiday season is a great time to relax and sit back with a good book. This issue, we feature interviews with two renowned Australian bass players that both have something in common – they’ve both penned and published tell–all books. Steve talks to Mark Evans (ex-AC/DC) about his book, Dirty Deeds, and Bob Daisley’s (who hasn’t he played with) For Facts Sake. Check out the interviews, and if you haven’t already, grab a copy of the books! Both are entertaining and very insightful reads. FROM THE VAULT: A VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH MARK EVANS A few days after his 19th birthday, rock ‘n’ roll lover Mark Evans wandered into his local venue to check AC/DC out, and his life would never be the same again. Two days later, he was…

Bluesfest, as the name suggests, has historically been a freakin’ cornucopia of top-flight guitarship, and the 2017 event is shaping up to maintain that mighty tradition. With seven stages and over 200 performances spread out across an enormous five days in the glorious surrounds of Byron Bay, it’s easy to be spoiled for choice: and that’s why we’ve gone through every artist announced (so far) and pulled out a few that you’d be mad to miss – some new faces, some downright legends, and some once-in-a-lifetime opportunities... 10 BUDDY GUY They don’t call him the King Of The Blues for nothing: he’s influnenced everyone from Eric Clapton to Jimmy Page, from Jimi Hendrix to Stevie Ray Vaughan. He kicked back with BB King and Muddy Waters, and changed the way…

Varies Cables can seem like the most unexciting gear in guitar-dom. They’re usually the last thing we think of upgrading, and that sucks. Why? Because the cable is your lifeline - it stands between you and the rest of your equipment. You know how a chain is only as good as its weakest link? That’s doubly true of a signal chain, where your precious, clear-sounding $5000 guitar can be instantly rendered muffled and noisy by cheap cords. Nordost to the rescue! They make pro-level audio and video cables: the kind you’ll find in obscenely expensive audiophile home stereo setups. They show the same love to your guitar signal, too - Nordost sent us a few cables from their AX Angel series to try out, which are equally at home onstage…

METALLICA Hardwired…to Self-Destruct UNIVERSAL However unquestionable their legacy may be, it goes without saying that Metallica have grown a little hit-or-miss in recent times. Between the middling St. Anger [2003], weak Death Magnetic [2008] and downright abysmal Lulu [2011 - that one perhaps evading ‘canonical’ status, though, being a throwaway collab with Lou Reed], we’d learned not to get our hopes up when it came to the metal Gods’ tenth full-length. But, satire-esque title and ridiculous cover art be damned, Hardwired…to Self-Destruct is a shining (albeit touchy) return to form. Lead single “Hardwired” kicks the two-disc trip off with a bang, an apathetic battering of gnarly shred urging the immediate strain of headbang that ‘Talica haven’t authentically wrung in well over a decade. It’s met in quick succession by “Atlas,…

Simon & Patrick is part of the Godin family of guitar brands designed and manufactured in Quebec, Canada, by Robert Godin and his team of committed luthiers. For over four decades, Godin has been passionately pursuing his dream of building better and better guitars – instruments for real people at realistic prices. To listen to him talk about guitars and construction techniques is to receive a master-level education on these subjects, and it’s all based on personal experience, solid research and an almost child-like sense of excited wonder. Simon & Patrick - named after Robert’s sons - is one of a half dozen brands, each one having it’s own general type (electric or acoustic; nylon or steel) and price point. This particular marque represents traditional guitar types (dreadnoughts, folk, parlours)…

Ever since the 2016 New Model Year, Gibson has catered to both schools of thought: Traditional (T) and High Performance (HP). The former has more old-school appointments, whereas the latter has all the whizz-bang self-tuning giblets and such. The Les Paul Standard is, of course, the flagship of the Gibson family, so the 2017 Standard T represents the pinnacle of Gibson USA’s guitar craft. Spec for spec, the 2017 model is pretty similar to the 2016 one, but a few little improvements have been made that add up to a lot of extra guitar for your buck. For starters, there’s new Ultra-Modern weight relief, which Gibson is keeping pretty quiet about for now but have claimed allows for comfortable play and greater sonic depth. From the sounds of it, it’s…

When Wallis Bird penned her 2014 record Architect, the Irish folk singer-songwriter was living the life of a Londoner that had decided to uproot and move to a different city. “I was kind of living the craziness that Berlin had to offer,” she explains. “No sleep, no food, lots to drink and lots of partying. It was wild and wonderful, but the record took a beating from that.” Beating may be a bit harsh - it’s still an excellent album, but one with an underlying sense of urgency. Now that her feet are well and truly on firm soil, Bird’s latest work, Home, is a lot more grounded. “It’s the complete opposite of Architect,” she continues. “Home is the process of me falling into a beautiful, secure relationship, moving into…

Within 24 hours of launching the Official Tommy Emmanuel Shop on Reverb, he’d sold off around 30 items, including a wide range of classic guitars and amps netting over $70,000 for his chosen causes. Among the guitars that Emmanuel sold to fans was his “Pay It Forward” Martin, which he bought to help a friend in need and sold to continue helping others. Emmanuel has been involved with Guitar For Vets for several years, advocating for veterans struggling with PTSD and championing the healing power of music. The charity - which helps provide guitars to veterans in need - will receive a portion of the benefits from Emmanuel’s Reverb shop. Proceeds will also go toward MusiCares and Doctors Without Borders.…

When I first started this journey, I brought along a band that filled in the gaps of what I lacked,” Frank Iero says of new album, Parachutes - his second with backing band The Patience (formerly known as the Cellabration). “I was uncomfortable in my position, so I brought a celebration - or a cellabration - to distract from my awkwardness. Now in my life I need to learn how to slow down and love where I am. I need the patience to appreciate the now.” That ‘now’ is a place where Frank is free express his own life experiences, untethered by the stylistic strings of his former band, one My Chemical Romance. Iero appreciates the fans of that band (informally, the MCRmy) and their endless support: he’s such a…

“YOU WANT TO FEEL SUPER, SUPER CONNECTED TO WHAT YOU’RE WORKING WITH.” Animals As Leaders are coming to town with their latest instrumental epic, The Madness of Many. But, for some reason, Tosin Abasi has decided to make life difficult for himself by ditching the digital setup he’s used for years in favour of old-school analogue equipment. Sure, it sounds great, looks cool and - in Abasi’s case at least - can improve your playing, but it’s so much stuff. Still, he says it’s all worth the extra effort, because the more time he spent with analogue gear, the more he began to notice subtle differences that fit the new album like a glove. So okay, maybe it is worth the extra effort - plus, the rig he’s bringing down…

While reverb has the capability to simulate actual acoustic environments, delay is something different. Whether it’s a 100% accurate digital repeat of the original signal; or a warm, funky, dirty and gritty analog reproduction; or a modulated, filtered, pitch-shifted reimagining, delay is not something that happens ‘to’ your guitar signal so much as something that happens ‘because of’ it. You can use delay as a simple echo effect, or as a complex rhythmic one - for vintage rockabilly-style slapback echo or for modern progressive metal glittery soundscapes. Here are eight different delays which all bring their own thing to the table. MXR CARBON COPY The reigning king of analog delay pedals - as far as many players are concerned - the Carbon Copy excels at slightly muffled and warm echo…

Fender’s offset guitars are enjoying a huge revival at the moment. The fat tones of the Jazzmaster, the bright punch of the Jaguar and the warm charm of the Mustang - there are plenty of players who are tapping into the tones of these instruments as an alternative to Strat, Tele and Les Paul sounds. Though all of these guitar shapes date back to the ‘50s or ‘60s, they tend to look a bit more in line with ‘80s post-punk than their Stratocaster and Telecaster brothers. Fender seems to have carefully observed the changing fortunes of their offset guitars on the vintage market, because they’ve recently put more attention into their Jazzmasters and Jaguars. Now it’s the Mustang and Duo-Sonic’s turn. Originally conceived as student guitars with shorter scale lengths…

Music Man has a heritage based very much in the Fender tradition, not terribly surprising given that Leo Fender was a prime figure in the early days of Tri-Sonix and Musitek Inc, the corporate stepping stones to Music Man. Leo’s commitment to his methodology remains clear today in the construction techniques still employed by the Music Man luthiers: twin cutaway bodies, bolt-on necks, straight string pull, etc - proven features for the contemporary electric bass. CLASSIC DNA 2016 has seen the release of two basses that represent Music Man’s closest link to this heritage, loaded with Fender DNA: the Cutlass and the Caprice. The Cutlass has that P-Bass vibe: one great sound in a simple, traditional format. The new Caprice takes this to the next level with an extra pickup,…

The Firebird is one of Gibson’s more underappreciated models. In the hands of players like Dave Grohl or Johnny Winter, it takes on iconic status. However, it’s probably not the first model you think of when you hear someone mention the Gibson name. It was originally designed by car designer Ray Dietrich, but the Studio model does away with some of the original’s more quirky additions (like the raised centre section and the banjo-style tuners). The Studio is meant to give you some of that classic Firebird mojo but in a slightly more manageable instrument, in a similar fashion to how the Gibson Les Paul Studio takes away some of the flashier elements and replaces them with more workhorse-like appointments. A BIRD IN THE HAND The body and neck are…

Metallica have been using ESP guitars since the ‘80s, and several of these instruments have passed into the realms of Metallica legend. James Hetfield’s ‘EET’ FUK guitar and Kirk Hammett’s ‘Caution HOT’ KH-2 are just the beginning of a legacy trapped under iceberg. There are currently around two dozen ESP and LTD models for the two guitarists right now - let’s have a look at some of them. JAMES HETFIELD There are three shapes in the current Hetfield line-up. The Snakebyte is a fresh take on the EX-type design, updated with comfortable bevelling and more unique contouring. The pickups are Hetfield’s EMG Het Set, which are a modified and refined take on the EMG 60 neck and 81 pickups that he’s used for decades. The Snakebyte is available in Snow…

OUR ANALYSIS FIND YOUR PERFECT MATCH Founded in 1989 in Los Angeles, Matchless are renowned for their point-to-point hand-wired, premium quality amplifiers - with them, they've become one of the best sounding and most durable amps on the market. Their first design, the 30-watt DC-30 still remains their most sought after, used by such rockers as Bruce Springsteen, Brian May, Joe Perry, Billy Duffy and Neil Young. The lower 15-watt range shines its target on bedroom players who also need a solid stage setup with enough volume to overcome a loud drummer. There are three models in the 15-watt range - Spitfire, Lightning and Nighthawk - each with their own characteristics. The Spitfire’s focus is on clean sounds for jazz, blues, chord melody, country picking, and rock; the Lightning produces…

SEPULTURA Machine Messiah NUCLEAR BLAST Sepultura isn’t the kind of band that’s content on siting on their stylistic laurels. Even though this leaves listeners with some uncertainty as to how new records will sound, you can generally go in knowing that a Sepultura album will be solid. However, Machine Messiah spends so much time testing the waters in different heavy metal scenes that it forgets to plant its feet on firm ground. Between throwbacks to various stages of their career and new ideas such as light-symphonic metal, the album tentatively toys with a bunch of different genres, but doesn’t commit to one for more than a song or two. And in this scramble to cram in as many new ideas as possible, Sepultura has forgotten to write interesting tracks. Instead,…

THE CLASSICS NEVER GO OUT STYLE Peavey’s Classic line of amps have never quite had the prestige of other amps, but they’ve always been dependable stalwarts of jam rooms and venues the world over. The Classic 20 MH aims to take this humble-yet-quality amp and box it down into something truly lightweight and compact. Fueled by two EL84s in the power section and a trio of 12AX7s in the preamp, there’s no reason to believe that the small size will necessarily mean cheap solid-state tone. In addition to the tube sound, the Classic 20 MH boasts switchable 1-, 5- and 20-watt modes, impedance switching for 8 and 16 ohm cabs, a Tube Status Indicator circuit with lights to show the state of the amp’s tubes and biasing, a headphone output,…

Surprises can be good, but every now and then, something comes along that makes you scratch your head and consider what you really believe. When a company comes out with a questionable product, it’s easy to ignore it or laugh it off as a passing fad. But when it’s a crowd like Music Man, you need to take a moment. Unlike other major manufacturers, these guys aren’t swayed by fads and fashion - they produce contemporary guitars, but at the same time, they pay homage to the past. THE ARTIST BEHIND THE MAGIC The Music Man St. Vincent is the signature guitar for Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent), an American multi-instrumentalist who makes some of the most creative new music you will have heard in a long time. Her St.…

The Line 6 Helix is a revolution in guitar signal processing. This is what folks in 1980 might have imagined the guitar would be like in 2017. It’s a full-function sound centre that does pretty much everything you’ll ever need a guitar device to do - how the heck do you review something like that? We’ll give it a shot! SO WHAT IS IT? At the most basic level, the Helix is a multi-effects floorboard processor and amp simulator, but it can be more or less than that depending on what you need it to do. In other words, it can function as a controller for your existing system, it can be your entire signal chain apart from your guitar itself, or it can integrate seamlessly with the rest of…