Australian Guitar Vol. 112

JVB AUK-20 SOPRANO UKULELE Are you a budding ukulele player and want to avoid those colourful bargain-priced ukes that just won’t stay in tune? The JVB AUK-20 Soprano Ukulele hits the mark perfectly for those looking for a quality instrument at an affordable but not bargain-based price. With a beautiful, rich wooden exterior it comes with chrome-plated machine heads, Cupro nickel frets and a vinyl carry bag. For your chance to score one, tell us which song you’d most like to play on a ukulele and who you’d like to play it to! THE WALKING DEAD THE COMPLETE SEASON 1-5 BOX SET At Australian Guitar we like to practise a healthy work-to-reward ratio system. One that has worked for us recently is to practise for 20 minutes for every 60…

It has been almost 10 years since we shot our first Australian Guitar video interview, so in this issue we have a look at where we started and feature re-edits of a couple of exclusive and classic interview segments: A VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH PETE WELLS Recorded in late 2005, this video interview is what we believe to be the last Pete Wells gave before he lost his battle with prostate cancer early in 2006. From 1976, Pete Wells was the founder and slide guitarist in Australian hard rock band Rose Tattoo. A multi-instrumentalist and vocalist in his own right, he co-wrote at least 17 tracks, including the single, “One Of The Boys” before leaving the band in early 1983. Previously Pete was the bass guitarist with the pioneering heavy metal…

PREPARING YOUR MUSIC FOR MASTERING Writing and recording music is an extremely creative process. So much time and effort is put into making sure that all of the musical parts have been performed correctly, and then once they have been captured, the mixing process begins. Mastering is the process of taking the completed audio project and offering further sonic enhancements to ensure that the overall level and clarity of the song meet the standards of a commercial release. Along with this is preparing your project for whatever destination format is required. With this in mind, the mastering engineer is responsible for putting the finishing touches and sheen to your mix, before it is distributed or released, so it is extremely important that before you submit your work for mastering, you…

Independent Music Products, exclusive distributor of the Fractal Audio Systems Axe-Fx II Multi-FX and amp emulator and the MFC-101 foot controller are very proud to announce Karnivool as their newest endorsee. The band will be joining a host of other guitarists and groups in endorsing the product for Independent Music Products including Brett Garsed, Michael Dolce, Peter Northcote, Forrester Savell, Dead Letter Circus and Silent Underground Studios. Karnivool, known for their amazing guitar sounds, intricate textures, complex rhythms and soaring vocals have released three critically acclaimed albums, the most recent of which, Asymmetry, hit #1 on the ARIA charts. The band have toured the world using the Axe-FX II from Melbourne to Mumbai, Sydney to Stockholm and most points in between, but are currently back in their home town of…

CURRENTLY PLAYING WITH: Dividers, Surprise Wasp and Bagster USUALLY FOUND PLAYING: I’ve got a strange taste in guitars – anything that feels good in the hand. I range from playing crappy Korean-made Schecters through to old Gibsons. I recently picked up a Hagstrom which is getting put through its paces at the moment. It’s a heavy piece of work (all mahogany) but sounds great. YEARS ON THE FRETBOARD: Jesus… too many to count. I probably started playing when I was seven or eight, so that’s over 20 years ago now. I moisturise though so you can barely tell [laughs]. I likely developed into a proper ‘guitarist’ when I suffered a broken leg from playing football growing up. I was stuck in the hospital for two weeks and my old man…

THE PROS AND CONS OF MODS In the last issue we started a two-part piece looking at modifications and how these can impact the value of a used instrument. In part one, we covered vintage instruments. In part two, we’re going to talk about newer “modern” guitars, where collectability isn’t something you have to worry about as much. There are still a few things to consider though. Okay, so there’s really just the one big overarching theme that needs to be pointed out with this topic, even though there will no doubt be those who argue or disagree with it, so let’s just deal with it upfront and get it out of the way… UPGRADES DON’T INCREASE THE RESALE VALUE OF A GUITAR In a general sense, at least. In…