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PLUS! KAKI KING BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE DEF LEPPARD KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD HOMETOWN HEROES TROPICAL F*** STORM XAVIER RUDD THE INNOVATORS 28 THE BRAINS WHO CHANGED (INC. GST) THE WAY WE PLAY VOLUME 128 9 771329 768001 $10.99 NZ $11.90 OFTEN IMITATED. NEVER DUPLICATED.

INTRODUCING THE PLAYER SERIES TELECASTER®

NEW PICKUPS. NEW COLORS. AUTHENTIC TONE. 14 18

30 66

CONTENT 14 BAK Journey into the mystical world of Baklandia with an interdimensional axe god. 16 DEF LEPPARD Def Leppard return to Oz this November to celebrate their mega-smash Hysteria album. We get the lowdown on that tour, plus Phil Collen’s new arsenal of gear. 18 XAVIER RUDD The spiritual singer-songwriter returns with his first solo album in six years, and plenty of beautifully recorded guitar tones. 74

22 KAKI KING REGULARS TESTING

Peter Hodgson explores the unconventional methods that make Kaki King’s new 6 News 68 KRK Rokit 5 G3 live show – a spectacle of lights and sound – so intriguing. Studio Monitors 32 Subscriptions 74 TOP SHELF: Victory 18 LUCA BRASI 70 Recording Tips V130 The Super 78 Album Reviews Countess Four albums in, the Tassie pub-punk powerhouse have made the ambitious masterpiece they always wished they could. 80 Lead 86 Positive Grid BIAS Mini Guitar Head 81 Shredded Metal BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE 88 Line 6 Powercab 112 Plus 30 82 Gettin’ The Blues 90 Squier Contemporary Rock ain’t dead, but the Welsh shredders are breathing new life into it anyway. 84 Modern Theory Active Stratocaster HH 92 Faith Venus 38 COVER STORY: THE INNOVATORS Natural Series

From the ultra-suave Jimi Hendrix to the rule-destroying Tom Morello, the guitar has 94 Cliff Burton Fuzz Box found a home with some of the world’s most inventive and ingenious creatives. In this by Morley Man FX 16-page special, we take a deeper look at the instrument’s biggest game-changers. 96 Cort Classic CT 4 | AUSTRALIAN GUITAR DIGITAL

COMPLETE TABLATU THIS ISSUE’S DIGITAL Carlos Acoustic Guitar Amplification carlosjuan.eu CONTENT IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY Recognised as the world’s finest acoustic guitar amplification guitarheroes.com.au/carlos.htm AUSTRALIAN GUITAR DIGITAL #128 PLUS! IN EACH ISSUE, WE BRING YOU VIDEO INTERVIEWS WITH AUSTRALIAN AND KAKI KING INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS, SAMPLE TRACKS, VIDEO TUTORIALS, AND STYLE STUDIES BULLET FOR COMPLETE WITH TABLATURE AND BACKING TRACKS. MY VALENTINE DEF LEPPARD KENNY WAYNE EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS SHEPHERD HOMETOWN HEROES A VIDEO INTERVIEW TROPICAL WITH MICHAEL COGGINS F*** STORM Finding his niche initially in the World Music XAVIER RUDD scene, Coggins went on to perform regularly with most of Sydney’s African artists, including Afro THE Moses (Ghana), Chris Gudu (Zimbabwe), Keyim Ba (Guinea) and Dereb Desalegn (Ethiopia), Yasmin & Fanous (Sudan), and Chosani Afrique (Senegal). INNOVATORS Coggins is featured on more than ten albums and has regularly toured Australia with Chris 28 THE BRAINS WHO CHANGED Gudu and Afro Pamoja, both as a support act for ( NC. GST) THE WAY WE PLAY VOLUME 126

$10 99 NZ $11.90 visiting international artists Hugh Masekela and Jah 9 771329 768001 Prayzah, and in their own right as a headline act. Since 2014, Coggins has performed more than 100 shows with award-winning jazz/rock group The # Subterraneans, and more than 50 shows with Sonic 128 Mayhem Orchestra. In 2017, with the support of the Australia Council, Coggins toured the Northern Territory with Chosani Afrique, performing in Darwin, Katherine, Tennant EDITORIAL Creek, Alice Springs, and Melbourne. EDITOR Lachlan Marks FREELANCE DESIGNER Glen Downey EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Matt Doria FROM THE VAULT: COLUMNISTS PHIL EMMANUEL OAM Adrian Whyte, Jimmy Lardner-Brown, In May, the world lost one of its finest guitarists Peter Hodgson, Reg Barber, Rob Long with the passing of Phil Emmanuel. CONTRIBUTORS Phil and his brother Tommy, playing together Alex Wilson, Andrew P Street, Emily Swanson, as the Emmanuel Brothers, had graced stages all Matt Doria, Noni Mitchell, Peter Hodgson, over the world with names such as Chet Atkins, Peter Zaluzny, Sarah Comey, Steve Henderson Duane Eddy, America, Hank B Marvin, John ADVERTISING Farnham, Jimmy Barnes, INXS, Dolly Parton and NATIONAL ADVERTISING MANAGER Lewis Preece Willie Nelson, to name just a few. EMAIL [email protected] Emmanuel had also performed alongside Carlos Santana, Eric Clapton, James Morrison, Lee ADVERTISING CO-ORDINATOR Di Preece Kernaghan, Slim Dusty and Midnight Oil. EMAIL [email protected] This live performance was recorded at the 2008 iteration of the Tamworth Country Music Festival, and highlights Emmanuel’s passion for the guitar, SUBSCRIPTIONS his craft and his dedication for mentoring young and emerging guitarists. www.mymagazines.com.au In addition to the many accolades his name Toll free 1300 361 146 or +61 2 9901 6111 bears, Emmanuel was awarded an OAM (Order Locked Bag 3355, St Leonards NSW 1590 of Australia Medal) in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday honours list. TUTORIAL VIDEOS EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN David Gardiner MASTERS OF SLIDE GUITAR IMPROVISING UNPLUGGED BY MANAGING DIRECTOR Hamish Bayliss ROCK WITH WITH STEVE WITH STEVE ARRANGEMENT Australian Guitar is published by nextmedia Pty Ltd ACN: 128 805 970, Level 6, Building A, 207 Pacific Hwy, St Leonards NSW 2065 © 2017. All rights reserved. No part of this STEVE FLACK FLACK FLACK Steve presents one of magazine may be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the prior permission of the Steve presents a tutorial Steve presents an Steve explores the his unaccompanied publisher. Printed by Bluestar Sydney, distributed by distributed in Australia by Gordon and Gotch. ISSN 1329-7686. The publisher will not accept responsibility or any liability based on the style of a ongoing series ‘secrets’ to arrangements of for the correctness of information or opinions expressed in the publication. All material submitted is at the owner’s risk and, while every care will be taken nextmedia does not ‘Master of Rock Guitar’. covering slide guitar improvisation. This issue popular music for accept liability for loss or damage. This issue continues a techniques. This issue presents the second the guitar. This PRIVACY POLICY series covering classic presents part three of part of an improv-style issue features an We value the integrity of your personal information. If you provide personal information through your participation in any competitions, surveys or offers featured in this issue Australian songs – in our look at a style in study of John Coltrane’s interpretation of of Australian Guitar, this will be used to provide the products or services that you have requested and to improve the content of our magazines. Your details may be provided to this one, part one of an the vein of Dave Hole. “Giant Steps”. Includes the classic Stevie third parties who assist us in this purpose. In the event of organisations providing prizes INXS-style study. Includes Includes backing track, tablature, solo and Wonder tune “Living or offers to our readers, we may pass your details on to them. From time to time, we may use the information you provide us to inform you of other products, services and events backing tracks, tablature tablature and Guitar backing tracks, and In The City”. our company has to offer. We may also give your information to other organisations which may use it to inform you about their products, services and events, unless you tell us not and Guitar Pro 6 files. Pro 6 files. Guitar Pro 6 files. Includes tablature. to so. You are welcome to access the information that we hold about you by getting in touch with our privacy officer, who can be contacted at nextmedia, Locked Bag 5555, St Leonards, NSW 1590. Also available are our regular columns, supporting tracks and tablature, ______www.nextmedia.com.au ______plus artist tracks, What’s New, gear galleries and more!

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6 | NEWS

MARY WEBB HAIL MARY WITH HER UNIQUE FINGERPICKING GUITAR STYLE AND ARRESTING VOCAL, AUSSIE SINGER-SONGWRITER MARY WEBB HAS MADE A NAME FOR HERSELF AROUND THE GLOBE.

How would you describe your own voice. I’ve toyed with the idea style of guitar playing? of loop stations, electric guitars It’s folky, jazzy, mostly fingerpicking and effects pedals, but there’s and often sparse. It feels to me like a something wonderful about keeping friend and companion to my singing, it so simple. There’s nothing to hide rather than a wingman. It has its behind, so it’s all about the music own character and moods – it can and making people feel. be vulnerable or fierce and it can be minimal or centre-stage. Finally, what are your plans for The guitar I play is a three-quarter the rest of 2018 and beyond? size parlour guitar and is very After a big tour for Love Like responsive. The subtlest change in Planets, which has recently come to an plucking velocity or touch affects end, I’m starting to write new material the whole tone and attitude of that again and pursue some potential moment. I have to treat it with cross-genre collaborations. Winter respect, or it speaks up! That’s one is a good time for me to slow down, of the things I love about playing it, regroup and make space for creativity though – using that responsiveness to to flow. I’m really looking forward to emphasise different beats or notes, or playing at the Australian Hi-Fi & AV suggest different emotions. Show in Melbourne this October, where Mike [Kirkham, producer] will also be What kind of equipment do presenting a session on the making of you travel with these days, and Love Like Planets. I hope I can keep what are the strengths of your making music that moves people for current setup? many years to come! I play and travel solo, and my Photo: Lauren Connelly setup is very minimal: I have a Head to australianguitarmag.com.au small Timberidge guitar and my for our in-depth interview 2018 MELBOURNE GUITAR SHOW SET TO BE BIGGEST YET

he Melbourne Guitar Show, set “After an awesome show last year, BOB SPENCER Tto rock the Caulfield Racecourse we’re looking forward to continuing on August 4th and 5th, boasts the tradition the show is creating. a gigantic first announcement We’re very pleased to present Albert lineup, including Albert Lee,Daniel Lee on his 75th birthday tour, as Champagne, Jeff Lang, Nick Charles, well as the usual host of wonderful Bob Spencer, Shannon Bourne, Fiona players we present,” says the show’s Boyes, James Ryan, Phil Manning, Nat organiser, Rob Walker. Allison, Brett Kingman, Alison Ferrier, When pre-ordered online via Cat Canteri, Scott Darlow, Rackett, Van australianmusician.com.au, an Larkins, Justin Bernasconi and Rohan adult day pass will cost $20. Adult Stevenson, with more to be announced weekend passes are $30, with family over the coming weeks. day passes running at $35, consession In addition to some killer day passes at $10, concession performances from the artists on this weekend passes at $15, and premium massive lineup, the show will also hold tickets at $40. a monster exhibition that will feature electric and acoustic guitars, effects pedals, amps and more state-of-the-art guitar technology, both homegrown and from around the world. Drawing over 5,500 guitar lovers and enthusiasts to last year’s exhibit, the Melbourne Guitar Show offers a hands-on chance to see, hear and play a broad range of the world’s favourite brands. The show will also see exhibitors offering great show deals, and give punters the rare opportunity to get close to some handcrafted and locally made instruments, plus epic Photo: Jason Rosewarn guitar and gear collections.

| australianguitarmag.com.au THU 4OCTENMORETHEATRE SYDNEY

FRI 5 OCTEATONSHILL HOTEL BRISBANE SAT 6 OCT the forum MELBOURNE NEW ALBUM LAY IT ON DOWN OUT NOW KennyWayneShepherd.com 8 | FEATURE

FROM DUSK

FOR MOST BANDS, THE DREADED ‘SOPHOMORE SLUMP’ IS A GOLDMINE FOR ANXIETY. DMA’S, ON THE OTHER HAND, WERE KEEN TO HIT LP2 WITH AN ESPECIALLY LAIDBACK ATTITUDE. WORDS BY MATT DORIA.

here’s something fascinating about the way it all,’ it was, ‘Okay, cool, we can be in a comfortable all these finicky solos or using too many pedals; TDMA’s compose themselves onstage. Oasis headspace and get really creative with this.’ I wanted it to be very locked in on the rhythm nods are amplified by the lackadaisical And that’s exactly what they did. For Now retains aspect and I wanted to be a lot more spot on with gravitas that frontman Tommy O’Dell wields, the gloomy, reverb-laden incandescence that made my playing. Because on the last record, a lot of axemen Johnny Took and Matt Mason jamming their debut album – 2016’s infectious Hills End – a the rhythms aren’t as tight as I’d have liked, and I to their hearts’ content on either side of him. near-iconic slice of Australian rock, but with a think that was because we did the drums last, so Their high-stakes Britpop flair is larger than life in bigger budget on its side and some newfound we were all over the place as far as our tightness every way imaginable, which makes it all the more knowledge in its writers, sprinkles some new goes. There’s a lot less guitar overdubs and a lot surprising when our meeting with Took and Mason flavour into the band’s signature dish. more live guitar on this record, too, which just finds them in a notedly relaxed state. “I’m not going to say that [For Now] is better makes the whole thing a lot more punchy.” We’re at the cosy Lady Hampshire on the in terms of songwriting because I think we nailed As far as the guitars themselves go, Mason outskirts of their native Sydney, pop-punk covers a lot of the songs on Hills End,” Mason specifies, swears by Fender kit. “I’ve used Gibson guitars of early Aughts pop tracks blaring from overhead. “But sonically, it’s just a whole different world. A before, but I always revert back to Fenders because The three of us, Took with a seafood chowder in lot of the guitars on Hills End were recorded in a I just like them more,” he notes bluntly. There’s hand and Mason on his fifth plain tonic water, the bedroom where you’d have to open a window to a full slate of Jazzmasters, Strats, Teles and ultimate rock’n’roll combo, huddle at a table. In keep cool, and then shut it so that the sound of the Mustangs in his arsenal. Took is more of a Gibson a lot of ways, the iconic bar is a second home for main street didn’t bleed into your mics… Which, man, favouring an unknown acoustic model for DMA’s – it is, after all, where they recorded a solid y’know, it probably did on a lot of the recordings. his atmospheric noodling. His more transcendent chunk of their new album. But this time around, we had a proper studio to work, though, comes from a prized possession once “This place was so good to record in,” says Took. record all of the guitars in and we knew what we thought to be long gone: a 1958 Maton MS-500. “We’d drink a couple of beers and hang out, go to were doing a little better.” “There were particular tones on Hills End that Nando’s up the road, and really just rock out. It With a slew of A1 recording gear and more I just couldn’t get from any other guitar,” he was cool because we knew all of the staff here and time to hone in on their talents – not to mention gleams. “It has this real lack of attack, but all this the owner is a good mate of ours, so we could be a guitar collection most of us could only dream of atmospheric stuff and these almost angelic textures. jamming upstairs until two o’clock in the morning laying our hands on – it’s not hard to assume that I wasn’t quite getting them from any of the Fenders and the pub would still be going, and we could just Mason and Took went above and beyond with the and whatnot, and I was like, ‘Where the f*** did that come down and chill out after a session. We got riffs. But as they’re quick to point out, that wasn’t sound go!?’ And then our manager Leon dug up the the foundations of the record down at The Grove the case – and perhaps for the better. Instead, Maton – it’d been lost in his apartment for, like, a Studios, but it was nice to be up here when we had the pair approached writing from a more lowkey year – and it was so… It has so much warmth, and to do a lot of the creative stuff with the guitars angle, placing less pressure on themselves to write this particular pickup setting is perfect for when because we could really take our time. impressive and outlandish parts, and more on… you don’t want to hear the attack of the strings at I could be drinking a beer while Mason was writing Well, not being pressured at all. all, and you just want that warm, kind of synth-y a few riffs. It wasn’t like, ‘We’re in a big studio now, “I actually felt like I put less effort into this one,” textural stuff. When I discovered that, it was a total we have to do this quickly because we’re paying for Mason chuckles. “I wasn’t really focused on playing game changer. And I bought it for, like, $350.”

| australianguitarmag.com.au

10 | FEATURE CAN’T GET NO

KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD’S LONG AND STORIED CAREER COULD SERVE AS A DEFINITION FOR THE SUCCESSFUL MODERN GUITARIST. AUSTRALIAN GUITAR CAUGHT UP WITH HIM TO TALK ABOUT HIS NEW ALBUM, UPCOMING TOUR DATES AND FEELINGS TOWARD THE CONTROVERSIAL DELAY PEDAL.

WORDS BY ALEX WILSON.

enny Wayne Shepherd doesn’t cut any “With some guys, it’s all about melody. For Kcorners – as is to be expected from the me, it’s about the energy. It’s about what kind outspoken blues icon as he nears his of vibe you want to convey with the song, and third decade in the spotlight. “I think you’ve that can be anything from an aggressive shred got to aim high,” he says of his aspirations to a tender strum. I’ll play to that mood.” going into the studio for his most recent full- Shepherd also has some advice for the less length offering, Lay It On Down. “You want to experienced among us, who are still building achieve greatness. 20 years into my career, my their solo chops: “I think of a solo like I’m goal is to make the best album I have so far.” climbing a hill,” he explains. “I go up, I reach Despite all the albums that hit the a peak, and then I want to get back down charts at #1, all the top 10 singles, Grammy smoothly. I learned early that you need to take nominations and a secure spot as one of his the listener on a journey and keep that in the generation’s premiere guitarists, Shepherd back of your mind.” won’t allow himself to rest on his laurels. In terms of the guitars and amps he often With previous records either paying lays his talents into, Shepherd has a favoured deep tribute to his traditional blues roots ’61 Strat, but also plays models from ’58, ’59 or exploring his considerable skills in rock, as well as his own signature series and custom 2017’s Lay It On Down features tracks that shop models, and an assortment of guitars contain some of his most accessible and from other companies. Important to note as most diverse material to date. Having well is that many of his Fender amps have his first taste of success as a 16-year-old been custom-wired by Alexander Dumble, a Louisianian signing an album deal with one-man powerhouse behind some of the most Giant Records (R.I.P.), Shepherd has grown prodigious amps in the game (all of which are musically at the same time as he’s racked up 100 percent handmade, of course). millions on millions in record sales. Despite having so many guitars at his Naturally, this gives him an easy and disposal, it’s the diversity in amp options that amiable confidence about his music, mixed makes the most difference to Shepherd’s tone. with the humility to think that his best work “You can have one guitar and four different might still be around the corner. amps, and you’ll get four entirely different “We don’t really have a definite roadmap sounds,” he says. “90 percent of my playing when we’re going into the studio,” he says, is the guitar and the amplifier.” Among the “Just very basic demos; an acoustic guitar, many pedals he owns, Shepherd singles out vocals – stuff like that. But soon, everything the Analog Man Queen Of Tone and the Roger comes alive, and that’s when we start Mayer Octavia as particular favourites. But discovering all the directions that the songs overall, he expresses some reservations about are going to head in.” the overuse of pedals – particularly delay. Hunkering down at his home studio “I use it very sparingly,” he admits. “I feel with top-level Nashville producer Marshall like some guys need to lay pedals on all the Altman, Shepherd was able to conjure up the time to cover things up a bit, and having that horn-driven soul of “Diamonds And Gold”, delay off forces me a better player.” the driving AOR (album-oriented rock) of Coming to Australia later this year for some “Nothing But The Night” and the country of his first shows in six years, Shepherd will stylings of “A Hard Lesson Learned”. have his crack band in tow. American blues While Lay It On Down foregrounds his and American rock aren’t exactly tearing up formidable skills as a band frontman and the charts at the moment (unless found on singer-songwriter, fans of Shepherd’s peerless Shepherd’s albums, of course) but he believes blues guitar chops will not be left feeling the live experience can bring something extra empty-handed. His trademark solos pepper the special for the punter. record all over, with the title track in particular “We guarantee a good a good show,” he featuring some especially tasty licks. asserts, “So we hope that people will come “When it’s time to solo, I just go out into the out and we hope they’ll be people that have studio, clear my mind and play what I feel is never seen us before – maybe we can make appropriate in the song,” he tells us. them fans!”

| australianguitarmag.com.au

12 | FEATURE COUNTRY BOY

COUNTRY GUITAR LEGEND ALBERT LEE IS BRINGING HIS UNIQUELY BLAZING STYLE AND UNMISTAKABLE ERNIE BALL MUSIC MAN GUITAR TO THE MELBOURNE GUITAR FESTIVAL. WORDS BY PETER HODGSON.

f you’ve never witnessed the Ernie Ball since the early ‘70s when I Igreat Albert Lee standing first went to Los Angeles. When they onstage, signature Ernie Ball started making guitars in the ‘80s, Music Man guitar in hand and I put in my two cents as to what I playing his signature song “Country would like in a guitar. The first one Boy”, you’re in for a hell of a treat was the Silhouette, which I really this year. Albert looks like a quiet, loved. One of my Silhouettes is still unassuming chap with a slight aura one of my favourite guitars. of bashfulness – until he lays his “But the guitar I play now was hands on that guitar and instantly actually an afterthought! It was transforms into an all-shreddin’, made as the second guitar they were all-singin’ machine. going to put out on the market, and Lee’s command of the guitar is it didn’t get a lot of attention at the almost supernatural, like he’s able first trade show they displayed it to slow down time to blast through at. But in the meantime, Sterling blazingly fast, yet sweetly melodic Ball had one made for himself with licks that we mere mortals couldn’t a maple neck and body, and when even grasp. And yet in person, he he saw that I liked it, he said, ‘Well goes back to being that shy, sweet you’d better have this, then!’ And I guy, about to turn 75 but with no continued to play that for the next signs of slowing down any time soon, few years, until they were able to as evidenced by the fact he’ll be put it in their product line and put playing shows throughout Australia my name on it.” for basically the entire month of Albert’s guitar comes loaded with August, including at the Melbourne a trio of custom Seymour Duncan Guitar Show, Adelaide Guitar Festival single coils – a unique twist given and Sydney Guitar Festival. that most Music Man guitars feature “I have to say I’m a little either Music Man or DiMarzio concerned by how many shows I’m pickups. “Seymour’s been a dear playing,” Lee laughs. “I always love friend for many years,” Lee says. being in Australia and seeing as “He’s always been very generous much of the country as I can, but if with his time, and he said whatever it works out, I’ll be very happy! I’m I want, I could have. So I thought it pretty set in my ways, so wherever would only be fair that I would get I am, I’m going to get up there for him involved in that guitar and in the an hour and a half, sing a bunch of pickups. And I’m really happy with it. songs and play!” “Compared with a lot of guys, Lee’s signature Music Man guitar I think my tone is very clean and is an angular take on a Stratocaster pristine sounding. I’ve always loved design filtered through Music Man’s that single coil sound of a Tele or unique design aesthetic, and it’s a Strat, and it’s representative of been a very successful model for what you put into it. I think with many years now. “I’m up against a humbuckers, you can disguise a lot lot of competition within the Ernie of things and a lot of guys sound Ball family,” he says. “Lukather, alike, which is just gonna happen. Petrucci – they’re basically metal But what I like is that old rock’n’roll guys when it comes to tone, and I’ve sound – bright and clean – not that always strove for a clean sound with treble that cuts your head off, but minimal effects. So that guitar is just really nice and clear. All the basically a Stratocaster on steroids. guitar players my age loved Buddy But it sounds great, looks great and Holly, for example, and that stays feels great. I’ve been involved with with you for life.”

| australianguitarmag.com.au

14 | FEATURE

BAK

IT’S NOT EVERY DAY THAT A ROUTINE BAND INTERVIEW TURNS INTO A MEETING WITH A MYTHICAL INTERDIMENSIONAL BEING WHO HAPPENS TO PLAY GUITAR. AUSTRALIAN GUITAR CHECKS OUT THIS STRANGEST OF MUSICAL OFFERINGS. WORDS BY ALEX WILSON.

he Bakmaster, resplendent in glory as he find the rare BaK Orchid (and his encounter with and three. It can be tuned in various ways and takes Tis, is a creature of great imagination with the Bakmaster along the way). On top of this, different names according to its region and size. It’s a penchant for a pithy quote. “These days, Flower is accompanied by several artistic video like the lute or the oud, but has a much longer neck musicians say less is more,” he clacks his beak clips that bring the listener more deeply into this with movable microtonal frets.” gently. “But for me, more is more. I want music to intriguing multiverse. The Bakmaster has many more releases (he calls be big, ambitious and all-encompassing.” To the average music fan, the songs on Flower them ‘BaKpacks’) recorded, ready to go after Flower And who is this Bakmaster? Ask him and he’ll tell can best be described using the Bakmaster’s has spent some time in the world. At the moment, you: “Grand observer, guide and oracle to the BaK favoured genre tag: ethno-prog. While claiming no he’s most comfortable in the studio, working long universe. An interdimensional being hailing from particular influence, the Bakmaster’s guitar stylings hours with a mysterious German audio engineer, Baklandia – the universe between universes, the are reminiscent of both John Petrucci of Dream flown in from his home country to an undisclosed space between spaces, the time between time and Theater and Adam Jones of Tool. Compositionally, location to work with the Bakmaster. the void between existence and oblivion.” his songs walk a tightrope between progressive Live performance hasn’t been on the agenda for BaK, then, is the vehicle for the Bakmaster’s metal’s aggression and the scope of modern movie the Bakmaster thus far. Given the complex nature musical output. It’s not so much a band (BaK has soundtracks. Orchestral and world music elements of the music and the all-consuming nature of his never performed live) but more an artistic concept. are as important in the sound of BaK as crunchy riffs. amibition to represent Baklandia faithfully, the True to his role as a guide, BaK is a means for the In terms of guitars used for the recordings, the regular pub gig is just not going to cut it. multiverse to be captured artistically. Bakmaster has quite a collection – this is less than “I know this must sound odd to you, but if we’re “It’s complete entertainment,” intones the surprising, of course, considering he’s a being going to play live, the first show will need to be a Bakmaster. “Richard Wagner had a concept called capable of transcending time and space. He speaks stadium show,” he says. “I’ve put too much into Gesamtkunstwerk – it describes the bringing together fondly of limited edition models by Suhr and composing and writing this music and nurturing this of the musical, the visual and the conceptual into one Caparison, as well as two Jerry Jones sitars. world to have it be performed in a small location complete artistic package.” The Bakmaster has also taught himself to play by a handful of people and a laptop. If and when Accordingly, BaK’s latest musical output is more the ba lama, sometimes called a saz. “It’s a Turkish we take it live, it’s going to need to involve lots of than just the EP, Flower. It also includes a comic stringed instrument,” the Bakmaster explains. “There people and the right visual presentation to take you book detailing the quest of the Orchid Hunter to are seven strings divided into courses of two, two into that world.”

| australianguitarmag.com.au

16 | FEATURE

DEF LEPPARD RETURN TO AUSTRALIA IN NOVEMBER TO CELEBRATE THEIR MEGA-SMASH HYSTERIA ALBUM. PHIL COLLEN WILL BE BRINGING SOME NEW GUITAR GEAR WITH HIM, TOO. WORDS BY PETER HODGSON.

ef Leppard’s fourth album, Hysteria, has with him probably about five years ago, and he Dgone through an interesting life. Selling just gets better all the time. It’s crazy. He’s so about a bajillion copies in the ‘80s, it was talented, and I’ve never known anyone to work so a slick, state-of-the-art record that blended pop hard. He’s great to be around, too, which makes melodies with a heavy rock sensibility. Over time, all the difference in the world. He pushes you to it started to sound quite dated – especially as be a better player, singer... Everything.” bands went back to basics in the ‘90s. Australian audiences will soon have the rare Then, something strange happened: advances opportunity to hear this classic album performed in recording technology meant it was easier to in full, along with a selection of other choice cuts. get that pristine, produced, orchestrated sound, “You have to please most of the people,” and now, Hysteria sounds incredibly current Collen notes. “You have to do the songs everyone again. Put aside the fact that you’ve heard “Pour expects or they’ll be really upset. So you play the Some Sugar On Me” a million times and listen to a hits, and then you have a little bit of space for track like “Gods Of War” instead, and you’ll notice maybe one song for you. It’s a great problem to that Def Leppard were employing production have; ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’, ‘Photograph’, tricks in 1987 that producers use as a matter of ‘Hysteria’, ‘Love Bites’ – you have to do those routine now – except that Leppard were doing it songs otherwise you really piss off a lot of people! all one track at a time. On tape. But then we’ll put in a new song or throw a deep “Credit for that should go to [producer] Mutt cut in. The fact that we’re doing all of Hysteria Lange,” guitarist Phil Collen says. “He was so means we’re doing a bunch of songs we don’t ahead of the curve, and he still is! I last worked normally do, like ‘Gods Of War’ and ‘Excitable’.”

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In other major news, Def Leppard’s entire discography has finally made its way onto streaming services, opening up some deeper gems to fans who may have missed certain albums. And already, Collen is noticing how fans’ relationships to the catalogue are changing. “You can actually see what countries – and even what towns – people are streaming from and what they’re listening to,” he beams. “One song that’s become really popular in the States recently is ‘When Love And Hate Collides’, which we never really released as a single over there. It got to #1 in England and #2 in Ireland and it was a big hit in other places, but not the States. But now it’s becoming a really popular song, so we’re going to play it this year on the American tour. “You can literally look at the towns and say, ‘In this town, this song is really popular.’ I remember ‘Run Riot’ being really popular in Australia while it wasn’t in the States – we’d play it in Oz and everyone would go wild!” Being an avowed guitar nut, Collen always has fun new pieces to talk about. “I’ve always got cool new guitars,” he laughs. “I use the Jackson PC-1. Me and Larry DiMarzio are really good friends, and he’s been working on a signature pickup for me that I’ve got in one of my PC-1s. I tried it on a Strat on the G3 tour, and we’ve been tweaking it and tweaking it, so I’m excited about that. “But what I’m really excited about is the fact I’ve just changed my backline. I’ve used the same amps for pretty much 20 years – a Marshall JMP-1 with an old Randall power amp, through a Fractal Axe-Fx for the effects. On the G3 tour, the company Blackstar made this really lovely amp based on an ID:60 amp – a 300-watt version in stereo – and I had four two-by-12 cabinets. But for the new Def Leppard tour, there’s a third gen Fractal and I’m not using any amps or power amps – I’m just using the Fractal, and these two little powered speakers by a company called Atomic, which both put out about 1,000 watts. You could put all of that in a backpack, almost! I’m so excited about that. “Vivian Campbell came down last week; he plugged into my thing and went, ‘Oh my god!’ so I think he’s going to go over to it, and so is Ric Savage, and it’s a whole new format for us. John Petrucci got one to try out on the G3 tour and I heard this sound coming out of his dressing room. I walked past and said, ‘Oh my god, what’s that?’ And he said, ‘It’s this new Fractal. Grab your guitar!’ I plugged in, and it was the best sound I’ve ever had. So he sent me over his presets and my tech modified them for Def Leppard, and that’s the sound I’m gonna be using out on tour. It’s crazy!” 18 | FEATURE IN FROM THE STORM

XAVIER RUDD RETURNS WITH HIS FIRST SOLO ALBUM IN SIX YEARS, AND PLENTY OF BEAUTIFULLY RECORDED GUITAR TONES. WORDS BY PETER HODGSON.

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t’s been quite a while between solo LPs for Aussie Isinger-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Xavier Rudd. It’s not like he’s been inactive, though: 2012’s Spirit Bird kept him busy for a while, and in 2015 he released the album Nanna with The United Nations. But now, the time is right for more Xavier Rudd music in the form of his seventh full-length solo release, Storm Boy. “I’m literally just singing about the things that are going on around me,” Rudd says. Environmental work, activism, veganism, spiritualism, surfing, camping trips in the bush and hanging with his family on the beach; everything Rudd does, he pours into songwriting. And since releasing Spirit Bird, he’s also – awww – fallen in love. “It’s definitely a theme on [Storm Boy],” he says. “Life feels strong and solid for me now, and this record is in a different space. It’s a solid space. I feel like I’ve come to the end of that chapter where I’ve learned a bunch of lessons and I’ve been shown a bunch of things spiritually.”

So what have you been up to since we last had a chance to speak? I guess it’s like a journal of chapters in my life. This last five or six years has not been unlike other chapters in that it’s been super eventful in lots of ways. I’ve learned lots of things, and in a way, I’ve come full circle with some personal things. And this album tracks a bit of that. I got married to my amazing partner; she’s brought a lot of love and excitement into my world, so there’s a bit of that on the album. I’ve been touring around the world and connecting with a lot of amazing players, so there’s a lot of that on the album as well. But there are also songs that I wrote ten years ago, that either weren’t really ready before or I didn’t feel like it was their time.

Do you feel that the record with The United Nations fed into this one in a way? They’re separate projects, really. I had some of this stuff on the burner before I started working on that project – as well as during and after – but they’re really separate. The United Nations stuff, I wrote that specifically for that project and it was an amazing project with an amazing group of people. We toured the world, and to actually do that as a band with 20 | FEATURE

everyone coming from different backgrounds was awesome. To be honest, I’ve love to do some shows with them again some day. But this album is a continuation of my path, which I’ve been on for a long time.

From a guitarist’s perspective, what went into the record? Tim Kill’s guitars are featured a lot on this record. I think he’s the most beautiful luthier I’ve ever seen. He’s incredible, and what he’s doing these days is next level. He built me two six-strings that are kind of smaller-bodied, really beautiful blackwood guitars that feature on this album a bit. I also used a chaturangui, which I think was the first one he made years ago. I used a few different Weissenborn-style slide guitars on this record as well – a baritone made by Neil Russell, and another one of his which is a small-scale teardrop guitar. I used another blackwood guitar made by Phil Carson-Crickmore, too. I also used a semi-hollowbody Fender Telecaster, which I got in Brooklyn a couple of years ago and is just beautiful, and a square-necked Tri-Cone National guitar from around 1927. It’s super old, and it’s a super beautiful instrument. I often use it on recordings, and on this record, it’s on a song called “Before I Go”. We basically just had a mic hovering over me and the National, so it’s pretty old-school as far as the recording technique goes. That thing is just so beautiful, and you just can’t replicate that sound.

There’s something really deep to that resonator sound because it’s an older form of amplification from before we had electric guitars, and it has certain old connotations to us, but in its time, it was cutting-edge. Yeah. But it’s funny because in a way, it’s still cutting edge because the way people play on them today doesn’t sound like what they were playing on them back then.

Do you like to buy your guitars new, or do you prefer used ones with their own stories already in them? I don’t mind, y’know, as long as it’s a beautiful guitar. Sometimes the older guitars have a tone you just can’t get from a new guitar, and that comes from years of body sweat and whatever else leaking into the wood and creating a vibe all of its own – but then you get new guitars that really sing. I don’t mind either way.

Do you have any cool recent gear finds beyond what you used on the record? I have a beautiful Gibson ES-335 that I think we talked about the last time you interviewed me, but that’s still on my radar because I’ve been playing it a lot lately. The only new guitar that I’ve had in the last few years is Tim’s. Speaking of which, I didn’t tell you about the beautiful 12-string he built me, which also features on the album! And my wife recently had Tim build me a Weissenborn-style guitar – a really pretty short-scale one – as a surprise for my birthday, which was amazing. I didn’t know that was coming. I’ve always been into the craftsmanship and the artistic side of instruments, and Tim goes really over and above with his artistic layouts. He uses all sorts of ideas with quartz stone, distressed timbers, inlays… He’s just really special, and I love that because my grandfather made instruments too, and he was a very artistic guy. It’s incredible what Australian luthiers are doing these days.

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KAKI KING TAKES VISUALS AND TURNS THEM INTO MUSIC VIA SOME SURPRISING METHODS. WORDS BY PETER HODGSON. PHOTOS BY SIMONE THE CECCHETTI. aki King is a visionary guitarist, but more Kthan that, she’s a visionary musician. Literally. Originally known for her percussive acoustic guitar compositions, King’s style has morphed over the years into a more free-flowing, expressive and expansive repertoire presented with a strong visual component. Her current show, The Neck Is A Bridge To The Body, is as much conceptual as it is musical, with digital images projected onto King’s all-white Ovation guitar. Another recent project, Bruises, uses data on King’s daughter’s illness as a jumping- NECK off point for a musical and visual representation of a tough time in her young family’s life.

You’re about to play the Adelaide Guitar Festival, which is a really interesting event because it’s not just for guitar geeks, it’s more arts-based and broad. I think I’ve done that festival in years past and it was fantastic. And you’re right, I think it’s a much wider draw than just the guitar police. I’m very much looking forward to it. I’ll be performing The Neck Is The Bridge To The Body – the multimedia IS A show with projections onto my guitar. I’m able to perform the entire piece too, which is great.

You must be a really visual person if you’re expressing yourself in this way… Actually I’m not! I’m pretty new to experiencing the world in this way. Looking back, the impetus behind this show was getting laser eye surgery. Before I was 28, I had corrective lenses and contacts and it was hard to see… It wasn’t difficult to get around and I wasn’t impaired, but I struggled with distance, and looking at this wasn’t as interesting to me as looking at them. BRIDGE I have well-trained ears and poorly-trained eyes. And the side effect of the surgery was that things looked different; they looked incredible. And the contrast! Black was so black, and light was so light. I started to see the world differently, and suddenly, looking at the world was fascinating. How I thought of colour and contrast was completely different, and I think that was the start of me being interested in the world in a visual way.

I have synesthesia, so I tend to choose guitar colours that evoke certain creative TO THE connotations for me. You’ve kind of taken that to the extreme by using a pure white guitar and projecting colours onto it. It does look incredible, and even when I walk in and see my video engineer mapping onto the guitar, I think, “This looks so cool!” So essentially, with the projection mapping, we don’t just project onto the top but we also project onto the belly. We set the guitar up on stands so it doesn’t move, BODY and then we take a 3D scan of the entire stage. 24 | FEATURE

Then we cut the guitar out of that scan and run it back through the program so that the projector only projects light onto that part of the stage. And then you have to deal with overspill and uneven stages. It may sound complicated, but it really isn’t. It doesn’t take that much time. The concept is basically a digital stencil, so you just take everything that isn’t a guitar out of the projector.

Bruises is a really touching project as well. What can you us about that? My daughter developed an autoimmune disorder where the body attacks your blood platelets. It thinks they’re a virus, or something else that needs to be removed. So your platelet levels can drop very dramatically, and that’s what happened to my daughter. One day she was completely fine, and the next day she was completely covered in blisters. It was terrifying. They diagnosed her with Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, or ITP. My son was three weeks old at the time, so he and my wife went away and I stayed with my daughter when she went in the hospital. The project came about when I was working with this artist, Giorgia

Lupi, who takes data and turns it into something very meaningful. She likes to observe the way you feel about a certain thing or a certain act – the amount of times you use your left hand, the number of times you look in the mirror during the day, the amount of times you check the clock and for what reason... I’d been working with her on several projects where I was collecting data and turning it into music. I knew how to collect data, and I knew it was calming in a way. So I started to collect data on my daughter – her bruises, what she looked like – and on myself; my hopes, my fears… We took that data and turned it into something. It’s 120 days of data collection turned into a visual key and an animated presentation that I wrote music to. To this day, it’s an incredibly difficult thing to perform and talk about, but it’s easier than reliving the nightmare that was going on and the fear of the unknown, and the fact that my daughter couldn’t get her platelet levels up. It’s definitely a rollercoaster of a disease, and the piece that we did ended up being more important from a caretaker’s perspective. I mean, she was fine. The disease itself doesn’t hurt and she was blissfully unaware. She’d just turned three and didn’t even have the language to describe anything about what was going on. So Bruises is about myself and what I went through as a parent more than anything else, and it’s about taking something horrible and turning it into art.

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, S LUCA BRASI WWAY TOTO THETHE

TOP(SOTOP THEY COULD ROCK AND ROLL) FOUR ALBUMS IN, LUCA BRASI HAVE MADE THE AMBITIOUS PUB-PUNK MASTERPIECE THEY ALWAYS WISHED THEY COULD. MATT DORIA FINDS OUT WHAT MAKES STAY CLICK SO WELL WITH AXEMAN TOM BUSBY.

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ive years ago, this scribe caught Luca Brasi Fplay a ~2,000,000-decibel set to a crowd of flannel-clad punks in a beatdown dive bar accentuated with the faint scent of middle-age regret. It was far from the kind of setting you’d want to take a first date to, but to stand in a human tsunami – drenched in sweat and dodging wave upon wave of crowd surfers – was the only way to truly appreciate the anti-gaudy and intensely honest brand of noise the Tassie pub-punk powerhouse wore so feverishly on their sleeve… But goddamn, how things have changed. Their latest king hit to the eardrums, Stay, is as honest as anything the Brasi boys have thrown us in days past – if not moreso. It’s dirt-raw and never veers too far from the fist-pumping jam material our mates have always delivered, but all things considered, it’s also a much more grandiose record. Stay takes itself a little more seriously than prior efforts have, melodies and rhythms showing the virtuosity of a band that sat down and really thought about themselves before stepping into the booth. It’s a narrative echoed by lead guitarist Tom Busby, who – amidst frozen shudders inflicted by the harsh Tasmanian winter – sounds utterly relieved that LP4 is finally in the bag. “We worked harder and pushed ourselves further than ever,” he says. “I think it’s certainly our most complete record – it’s not a bunch of songs that we’ve just slapped together... Not that we’ve ever done that! We’ve always tried to make ourselves a well-rounded record, but I think we’ve done it better than ever this time around. I think it ebbs and flows pretty good, and we weren’t too fixated on what was ‘punk rock’ or not. We might have thought about that a little too much in the past, but when we were finished with this one, we were like, ‘Huh, this is kind of chill’ – well, chill for what we thought we would ever do! And y’know, there were some times I was pulling my hair out while I still had it, but altogether, we had a f***ing awesome time writing and recording it.” With ex-Kisschasy frontman Darren Cordeaux in the producer’s chair (alongside longtime collaborators Jimmy Balderston and Nic White), Luca Brasi were free to explore a much groovier and more easygoing vibe in their songwriting. Yeah, it’s less heavy-hitting than we’re used to, but not so much as to say it’s a vice rather than a virtue, because in place of the crunching riffs and scatterpaced drums lie towering soundscapes and rollicking buildups that lead into glorious, goosebump-inducing payoffs. Stay is best described as ambitious – it feels like the album Luca Brasi have always dreamed of conjuring up, and after close to a decade attuning them to the process, they hit the studio with the confidence needed to kick such a dream into reality. “I’m glad you used the word ‘ambitious’,” Busby notes, “Because that’s definitely the vibe we had going into the writing process. I definitely feel like there’s a lot riding on this album, because we know that if it does really well for us, we’ll be able to bump everything up another notch. And we really want to be able to do that soon, because we’re all getting older. I mean, when we started this band, we were all 20, 22, 23 – I’m the only one of us that hasn’t hit his 30s yet! Two blokes in the band have kids now, too, so it’s getting harder for us to go as hard as we used to be able to. I kind of feel like this is our last big… Well, I probably shouldn’t say that in an interview, but I feel as though if we just worked our asses off while we still can, then we can take what we’ve achieved so far even further, and that’s a really exciting prospect to us.” 28 | FEATURE

Obviously, we’re going to press Busby on that little in kitchens to earn a scrap, Richardson landed a the final product came to be without any grand ‘last big’ quip – last big what!? Could the end of Luca full-time teaching gig, and Patrick Marshall (rhythm proposition or Mission Impossible-esque blueprints. Brasi be imminent, and could Stay end up being their guitar) and Danny Flood (drums) both had daughters. “We didn’t really set out to go, ‘Okay, this is the kind de facto swansong? “Well,” Busby stutters, “Every That’s not even touching on the batshit mental of record we’re going to make,’ or, ‘We’re going to time we finish a record, I’m like, ‘Holy f***. I don’t touring schedule they’d juggled inbetween it all, so make this sort of music now,’” Busby says. “It just kind know if I could possibly do that again.’ That’s kind of as expected, writing for Stay was a little more taxing of happens by accident. Last time we did, though – last how I feel right now.” than your average punk album. time we said, ‘Let’s make a really fast and punchy sort But don’t start tearing up just yet, because like in “It took f***ing forever,” Busby sighs with the force of album.’ We wrote ‘Aeroplane’ first and then went, any mid-set speech from the band’s frontman, Tyler of a thousand suns. “The first two songs we started ‘Okay, let’s do a whole record just like that from go to Richardson, our mate on the guitar is keeping positive. writing were ‘Got To Give’ and ‘The Calm And The woah,’ but it didn’t really end up working out like that; “But y’know,” he continues, “It’s like that for a while, Ease’, and that happened a couple of weeks after If we had some slower jams on there and it took a really and then you pick up a guitar one day, you come up This Is All We’re Going To Be came out. So it took two different shape to what we initially envisioned. with a sick riff, demo it, send it to the boys, and all of a years to write ten f***ing songs! This time, we just focused on the simple philosophy sudden you’re like, ‘Righto! Let’s start it up again!’ “There were other songs that didn’t make it, where of making the music that we wanted to listen to. We “Especially after the last one [2016’s If This Is All I’d spend an entire week or two working on some riffs, just wanted to push the melodic side a bit more so that We’re Going To Be], I was so drained. I was like, ‘I then a month later realise they actually came from when the songs kicked in and got heavier or fuller, it don’t know if I have it in me to do this again – not at a Blink-182 song and have to scrap it. And that did really made an impact. We were chasing more of those this caliber.’ Y’know, it’s easy to write those really happen! I was listening to Spotify at home one day and ‘kick in the gut’ moments instead of just palm-muting shit punk songs. When I’m on the couch, those just a Blink song came up on shuffle, and I was like, ‘Huh, power chords for three minutes and calling it a song.” fall out of me! But writing these bigger and more this sounds like a demo I did six months months ago Some of that stylistic evolution was borne of ambitious songs… At the moment, I feel like going, that we just started to work on lyrics for… Ah, shit.’ I necessity rather than choice, though. “For the first ‘No! No way!’ But I’ve said that before. I really hope was so embarrassed. The boys absolutely roasted me time in this band,” Busby admits, “We’d write a guitar [Stay] isn’t our last record, and I mean, we’ll probably for it, too, and I just had to be like, ‘Yeah, fair call.’ riff or put together a few sketches for a song and go, give writing a new crack in a few months time. But I “So writing this album took ages, but like I said, ‘Hold on, we’ve done this already.’ I’ve never had that definitely feel like this is our best record, and when we just wanted it to be really special and really feeling before, because y’know, usually you’d write a the band is done, people will say this was the one great. And when we got a few proper songs out riff and you go, ‘Sweet, new music that we can work that really defined us. of ourselves and we had a good idea of where we on!’ But this time we had to go, ‘Well, that sounds “But mind you, Dave Grohl said the same thing wanted to take the album, that spurred us to keep cool, but we can’t do anything with it because it’s just about In Your Honour, and he f***ed it on that, so…” going. I think we’re all really pumped with what we a variation of something we did in the past.’ Stay is also an impressive release for just how got out of it in the end.” “So that made it pretty frustrating at times, but gruelling it was to get over the finish line. The Perhaps even more remarkable than the album it also gave us the opportunity to explore some past two years had seen the band busier than itself is the fact that, thanks in no short part to the different kinds of ideas. We’re still the same band, but ever – Busby was buckling down at Uni and working band’s excruciatingly longwinded writing process, it’s like we’re in the next chapter of that band.”

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ROCK ISN’T DEAD, BUT ONE OF ITS BIGGEST NAMES ARE BREATHING SOME NEW LIFE INTO IT ANYWAY. GRAVITY IS THE ETHEREAL NEW OPUS FROM BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, AND MATT DORIA NEEDS TO KNOW JUST HOW THE HELL IT CAME TO BE.

hat’s the first thing you envision when is spot on – there’s nothing too crazy or too different, recording techniques. Namely – and this is a bit of WBullet For My Valentine pop into your but it is different enough that people will bring it up an ironic one, given the electronic slick that coats mind? Aside from, “Oh man, I need to every time we talk to them.” Gravity at every turn – the band were eager to keep bust out my Poison 12-inch again,” you probably It comes at a strange point on the timeline for instruments unscathed in the mixing booth. They’re conjure up a sweat-and-beer-stained image of a the three-time Kerrang! Award recipients. Their last distinctly raw, with guitars unfettered by outlandish gruff, leather jacketed gang from the alleyways two records – 2013’s Temper Temper and 2015’s pedals and Tuck left surprisingly bare with his spewing thick, visceral, no-f***s-given rock’n’roll, Venom – both delivered some of Bullet’s most talents on show. the likes of which your mum would wish you’d turn intense music to date, the latter especially diving “We tried a lot of our old tricks and we used a lot the bloody hell down, Jonathan! It’s a school night! deep into a world of spine-shattering thrash and of the old effects, just for a little bit of ear candy But alas, that was the Bullet of yore. Math class tooth-pulling metalcore. But to hell with making on certain parts,” Tuck says, “But we ended up is over, you’ve long clocked out of your last shift LP6 a predictable notch on the board, said the stripping it all back in the end. It just felt a bit too at Maccas, and the Bridgend blokes are now a foursome. There’s no such thing as the “perfect gimmicky. We did use some effects when we thought shimmering bastion of heavily caffeinated pop-rock. time” to take a risk that could change the course of it would be necessary, but we took a lot of them off But y’know, a good one. The kind you’d actually your life thereafter, after all, and so 2018 seemed as because we felt that they kind of interrupted or got want to show your mates, and not just furtively bop good a year as any for Bullet to shake things up. But in the way of the song’s foundations. The simplicity along to in your rundown ‘06 Mitsubishi Lancer of course, such an earthquake didn’t come without a of the music is actually what makes this album so (it’s okay Johnny, your secret’s safe with us). Their few shattered glasses. f***ing heavy, and it became apparent really quickly first record in this scary new landscape – where “I just knew that it was the right time to take that when we tried to mess with that by putting in glittery synths mingle flirtily with raw guitars and a leap like this,” Tuck asserts. “I had a very clear different sounds and messing with other techniques, pounding bass – is Gravity, 40 inescapable minutes vision of where I wanted to go on this record. it just didnt sound right.” of the band’s most paralysing music yet. It begs the Trying to explain that to the boys, but not having an Of course, one thing that remained the same was question: how the hell did Bullet end up here!? example of what the vision actually was – that was Tuck’s impenetrable love for the guitar. And like “It just came from dissecting where we are in obviously quite a difficult process and a difficult all great guitarists, there’s one specific category of our career,” explains (the inhumanly charismatic) thing for them to understand. And a lot of the axe the young punk froths especially hard over: the Matt Tuck, Bullet’s longtime vocalist and resident stuff that [Michael Paget, lead guitars] and Jamie humble Gibson Les Paul. Tuck owns a whole suite of rhythmic badass. “Y’know, analysing what we’ve [Mathias, bass] were writing recalled a far older them, most equipped with custom specs – almost done in the past and what we’d like to achieve in version of what this band used to be. It was very always demanding some variation of an EMG pickup. the future, and not wanting to stand still and be flashy and riff-based – which is great! Y’know, they “It’s just the heritage,” Tuck gushes of his love stale or uncreative. We’ve had a very specific writing were great riffs and it was a massive vibe, but… It the Les Paul – we can almost see him drooling at formula for the last 20 years and five records, and just felt like every other band had been there and the chin from over our shoddy phone line. “It’s the that has done us very, very well – y’know, we’re done that – and us especially. name, the history, the way they feel when you play never going to be ungrateful for that and we’re “I wanted to change and I wanted to be pushed. I them, the sound… That snap you get when you never going to forget it – but we needed to look want to step out of my comfort zone and challenge open the case! Mate, it’s everything. It’s the holy towards the future, and we didn’t want to write myself as a songwriter, and nothing that was grail of guitars, y’know – you’ve got your Les Pauls music that we’d already done in the past anymore. happening were any of those things. It was just and you’ve got your Strats; those are the only two “We asked ourselves, ‘What haven’t we done, and the same old shit, and it was really scaring me to guitars that really matter when you think about it. how can we do it better than anything we have?’ It go down that road again. So yeah, it was difficult. When I was a kid, those were the guitars I never took a lot of time to get to Gravity! It took about three And it upset people – there were a lot of egos thought I’d be able to own. I used to dream about months of writing before we settled on a single track being dented in those first few weeks – but it was it every day when I was playing my shitty Encore at all, so the shift in style wasn’t something we took something that I just felt so passionate about. And and the kind of thrift shop guitars you have to have at all lightly. It was something we really took our time thankfully, after we wrote a few songs and started when you’re growing up and you have no f***ing about to make sure that if we took our time about to get some skeletons together for this album, that’s money. And the Les Pauls… They’re just icons of to make sure that if we were going to take a bit of a when the penny dropped and the lightbulb moment what we do, and they’re that for a reason.” direction change, we would do it in the right way. And came for those guys.” Anyone else feel like they need to burst into a personally, I think we’ve done it. I think the balance With a new sound in their pocket came some new standing ovation? SUBSCRIBE TODAY

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| australianguitarmag.com.au 34 | HOT GEAR HOT GEAR

‘64 CUSTOM DELUXE REVERB RRP: $4,999 • fender.com.au Played on countless hit recordings, the mid-’60s Deluxe Reverb is a timeless Fender classic and one of the most indispensable workhorse guitar amps ever made. Moderately powered and producing a full, snappy and crystalline tone, the pedal-friendly ‘64 Custom Deluxe Reverb carries on that legacy with incredible vintage-style tones, thanks to its modified all-tube, handwired AB763 circuitry. Featuring Bright and Normal channels, tube-driven spring reverb and tremolo on both channels, and 20 watts of output power, this is the go-to amp for warm, clean tones and moderate breakup.

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usic is built Mon in equal measure on innovation and inspiration. Every now THE and then, a player comes along with the perfect balance of the two: the inspiration to do something different, and the ability to pull their vision off. The lucky ones go on to change the way the rest of us approach the instrument. It happened in the ‘50s and ‘60s when thousands of players began throwing out their low E string, shifting the remaining strings down a slot and using a banjo string for the high E, before light-gauge guitar string sets were a thing. It happened when thousands of players realised that turning an amp up to the point of distortion was actually a positive thing, instead of something to be avoided. And it happened when the following players brought new approaches THERE ARE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WHO CAN PLAY to the instrument – THE GUITAR REALLY WELL. THOUSANDS PLAY WITH approaches that were THEIR OWN UNIQUE STYLE, BUT THERE WILL ONLY both different enough EVER BE A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE THAT PERMANENTLY to turn heads, and CHANGE HOW WE SEE, HEAR AND PLAY THE accessible enough for INSTRUMENT. TODAY, WE SALUTE THEM, AND the average player to OFFER SOME HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS IN TERMS OF incorporate into their LEARNING SOME TASTY LICKS AND FOLLOWING IN own shredding. THEIR FOOTSTEPS. WORDS BY PETER HODGSON GUITAR PLAYERS WHO 10 REVOLUTIONISED THE INSTRUMENT 38 | FEATURE

JIMI HENDRIX The Fuzzlord HISTORY Between 1966 and 1970, Jimi Hendrix redefined what the guitar is. That he could do so much in such a short timespan speaks volumes for his talent, and his death in 1970 left the rock world with perhaps its greatest ‘what if?’ moment: If Hendrix could go from the rock of “Foxy Lady” (recorded in late ‘66) to the science fiction soundscapes of “And The Gods Made Love” or “1983… (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)” – both recorded between July ‘67 and August ‘68 – in such a short time span, where would he be now if he was still with us? Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be, and Hendrix left us all too soon with only three studio LPs to his name: Are You Experienced (1967), Axis: Bold As Love (1967) and Electric Ladyland (1968).

GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS Before Hendrix came along, guitar basically sounded like ‘dink dinka- dink dink’. After Jimi, guitar sounded like ‘Booooooowwwwwrrrrowrrlll’. He took it from a polite sounding instrument to the ultimate expression of the human condition: love, just, anger, inspiration, peace, violence… Hendrix treated the guitar as an extension of his personality, and he wasn’t afraid to get abstract in order to get his point across. When we think of Hendrix, we tend to think of fuzz, wah wah, whammy bar dips, burning Stratocasters and weird sounds – but even players who don’t do any of those things are influenced by Hendrix whether they know it or not, simply because he made it okay to really be yourself on the instrument.

WHERE TO START Purple Haze Relatively straightforward riffs make learning this funky track a lot of fun to learn and play.

BOSS LEVEL Machine Gun A jam-based war protest where Hendrix wrings 12 minutes of intense solos, percussive riffs and hellish battleground sounds out of his instrument. If you can make this song your own, you’re a true guitarist.

| australianguitarmag.com.au | 39 MICHAEL HEDGES The Acoustic Boundary-Smasher HISTORY Michael Hedges studied classical guitar and composition before turning his passion to the steel-string acoustic, exploring alternate tunings, open-string techniques, slap harmonics, percussive thumps and the exploration of silence as a compositional element. His first albums for the new-age Windham Hill label, Breakfast In The Field (1981) and Aerial Boundaries (1984), had Hedges unfairly pegged as a new-age artist. But he consistently pushed against such categorisations.

GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS Popularising the use of altered tunings, harp-style runs and guitar-as-percussion. Today, an entire movement of guitarists has taken what Hedges began and expanded upon it. But of course, Hedges is the original and the best.

WHERE TO START All Along The Watchtower A great example of how Hedges personalised this Dylan-via-Hendrix classic.

BOSS LEVEL Ragamuffin It’s not just the complexity of the melody, rhythm and harmonics. It’s in the dynamic range that Hedges explores from one section to the next, and within the picking strength of individual notes in specific chords. 40 | FEATURE | 40

ST VINCENT The Abstractress HISTORY Annie Clark was probably destined for musical greatness – her uncle is fingerstyle legend Tuck Andress, after all – and after studying at the Berklee School of Music and touring as a guitarist for both The Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens, she emerged in 2007 with her first St. Vincent album, Marry Me. For many, however, it wasn’t until 2012’s collaboration with David Byrne, Love This Giant, that her uniquely angular playing grabbed their attention. 2014’s St. Vincent and 2017’s Masseduction further explored this Devo-meets-Adrian- Belew-at-an-art-show style, and her Ernie Ball Music Man signature guitar celebrates her individuality and achievement on the instrument.

GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS St. Vincent is an incredibly versatile player, from ‘30s-style fingerpicking to ultra-modern, abstract, effects-laden freak-outs and Robert Fripp-style brainy licks. And she’s able to do it all within the context of a pop song in a way that we’ve never really heard before.

WHERE TO START Slow Disco This is one of St. Vincent’s most straightforward, chord-based songs, but it will connect you to her musical sensibilities before you try to tackle…

BOSS LEVEL Birth In Reverse This track is crammed full of spiky single-note riffs, dirty fuzz melodies and clangy chords before a synth-like middle section throws hammer-ons, pull-offs and odd rhythmic couplings at you.

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EDDIE VAN HALEN The Tapmaster General HISTORY A smiling kid from Pasadena, California via Holland, Eddie Van Halen embodied everything about late ‘70s LA: hot rod cars, backyard parties and Sunset Strip excess. Van Halen was already a local legend long before his namesake band was signed to Warner Bros, and while the band still exists at least on paper (and released a cracking comeback album, A Different Kind Of Truth, in 2012), much of Van Halen’s legacy and influence was forged in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s.

GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS Other players had experimented with some variation on two-handed tapping on record, including Frank Zappa, Steve Hackett of Genesis and even KISS’s Ace Frehley, but Van Halen brought a whole new dexterity to the technique, incorporating influences from his time as a piano prodigy. Van Halen changed a lot of things, from guitar construction to effects use, all the way to whammy bar techniques (he had the first ever Floyd Rose). And tapping isn’t just a trick to him: it’s an organically integrated part of his natural style.

WHERE TO START Eruption The tapped section – it ain’t easy, but nothing EVH is.

BOSS LEVEL Mean Streets The intro to “Mean Streets”, with its percussive slaps, tapped harmonics and controlled feedback, is very hard to master. 42 | FEATURE

STEVE VAI The Seventh Son HISTORY At the age of 18, Steve Vai impressed Frank Zappa enough to earn a job transcribing complex compositions. By 20, Vai occupied the coveted ‘stunt guitar’ role in Frank’s band, before moving on to a series of rock projects (Alcatrazz, David Lee Roth, Whitesnake) and finally finding his true artistic voice on 1990’s smash Passion And Warfare.

GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS Vai’s guitar innovations are as influential as his playing. His signature Ibanez JEM incorporates features like an HSH pickup layout, back-routed Floyd Rose tremolo, 24 frets and a sculpted neck joint – all of which are now standard features across dozens of guitar brands. But Vai’s inclusion in this list is for the development of his seven-string guitar with Ibanez. At first dismissed as a shredder’s toy, the piece soon found its place in the music of bands like Korn and Meshuggah, and now almost every guitar brand in the world offers seven-string models. Vai’s creation helped push the voice of heavy guitar lower and lower, to the point where it almost sounds strange to hear metal played on a standard six-string guitar today.

WHERE TO START Ya Yo Gakk It’s simple and fun, and it will have you alternating between low-B chugs and higher chord fragments.

BOSS LEVEL The Riddle A tour-de-force exploring the entire range of what the seven-string is capable of, from the lowest, gruntiest of notes to the highest screams.

| australianguitarmag.com.au | 43 MESHUGGAH The Djentlemen HISTORY Sweden’s Meshuggah began as a progressive metal band in 1987, eventually finding their sound in seven-string Ibanez guitars in the ‘90s before really finding their sound in custom eight-stringers. Combining jazz fusion, metal, prog and death metal influences, Meshuggah’s Fredrik Thordendal and Mårten Hagström have crafted a uniquely rhythmic and incredibly influential guitar sound.

GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS Meshuggah’s influence goes well beyond just guitar players, but if it wasn’t for Thordendal and Hagström, there would be no djent – no Periphery, no TesseracT, no The Contortionist, no Animals As Leaders… Meshuggah’s willingness to explore both rhythm and really, really low notes has expanded what the guitar can do for metal, and they’ve pushed the technical development of the instrument and its related gear further through their use of custom eight-string guitars and amplifiers like the new Fortin Meshuggah head.

WHERE TO START Shed This one is not physically difficult, so it’s a great place to start. Its overlapping rhythms will keep you concentrating and focused.

BOSS LEVEL I It’s a 2004 track that combines brutal speed picking and crushing palm-mutes with fusion-inspired lead guitar parts. And at 21 minutes long, there’s a lot to master. 44 | FEATURE

TOM MORELLO The Nightwatchman HISTORY A Harvard political science student, a former stripper (his nickname was Meat Swinger), a political activist, an extra on Star Trek: Voyager, the man who introduced his buddies Adam Jones and Maynard James Keenan to Danny Carey (leading to the formation of Tool), a comic author... Tom Morello is living proof of the theory that if you lead an interesting life, you’ll make interesting music. Morello’s revolutionary guitar playing has featured in a number of different contexts: Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave, Street Sweeper Social Club, Prophets Of Rage, Bruce Springsteen, his acoustic protest song alter ego The Nightwatchman… Morello channels his distinctive voice into a wide variety of contexts, always reframing his unmistakable sound in new and interesting ways.

GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS Morello popularised the DigiTech Whammy Pedal early into the legendary red stomper’s existence, but his whammy use is just one example of his textural fearlessness on guitar, wrenching an infinite array of sounds from a simple rig consisting of delay, tremolo, an EQ, a phaser and a wah. Everything else comes out of how Morello interacts with the guitar itself, whether via killswitches for stutter effects or in imitating record scratching.

WHERE TO START Killing In The Name Of It’s the ultimate groovy riff, and if you can get your hands and feet on a whammy pedal, the solo is deceptively simple.

BOSS LEVEL Shadow On The Sun (SOLO) If you can nail this bizarre, chattery, harmonised piece of genius, you’re well on your way to applying Morello’s originality to your own playing.

| australianguitarmag.com.au | 45 LINK WRAY The Power HISTORY A Native American guitarist who served in the Korean War, Link Wray was known for his raw and dirty approach to instrumental guitar, often performing songs named for American Indian tribes (“Apache”, “Comanche” and his native “Shawnee”), but it’s his first hit, “Rumble”, that redefined the guitar. The song was even banned in several cities because it was feared its subject matter would incite gang violence – even though it didn’t have any lyrics! Wray continued playing right up to his death in 2005 at the age of 76, and some recently unearthed recordings are planned to be released this year.

GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS “Rumble” pioneered two crucial building blocks for what would come to be known as rock guitar: the power chord, and distortion (which Wray achieved by poking holes in his amp’s speakers, an irreversible mod that led to an irresistible guitar sound). Part of the magic of “Rumble” is in how Wray lets his chords hang threateningly in the air. It sounds like something bad is about to go down.

WHERE TO START Rumble It’s the perfect beginners’ guitar song.

BOSS LEVEL Rumble Again, but this time with the right attitude, which you can only get after you’ve lived a little. 46 | FEATURE

Les’s unprecedented multitrack recording system. she also pushed him to meet her on her own LES PAUL & A syndicated TV show, LesPaul&MaryFordAt elevated musical level. Home, ran from ‘54 to ’55 and featured charming banter and beautiful music. But Paul and Ford’s WHERE TO START MARY FORD relationship wasn’t to last, and they divorced How High The Moon acrimoniously in 1964. One of Paul’s more straightforward guitar The Hummingbirds performances accompanying a beautiful GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS multitracked Ford vocal. HISTORY Paul was a total overachiever: the solidbody Les Paul was always an innovator – this is the electric guitar, high-impedance pickups, slapback man that sketched up a patent for the harmonica tape delays, multitrack recording, looping, weird BOSS LEVEL stand while he was still a kid – and his namesake tremolo systems... He did it all. But some of Hummingbird Gibson guitars are legendary. his greatest achievements came in his musical Paul weaves a fluttering array of sped-up and The husband-and-wife duo of Les Paul and collaborations with Ford, often with the two harmonised guitar parts inspired by the song’s Mary Ford were introduced to each other by playing Gibson goldtops. namesake bird. And the audio quality of the entire Gene Autry in 1946, married in 1949 and began Although their relationship didn’t last, Ford track is beyond stunning – especially for something scoring pop hits in 1950, usually built around was clearly Paul’s muse in the happy years but recorded in 1955.

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DAVE MUSTAINE The Rhythm Master HISTORY Dave Mustaine was a key component in Metallica’s early days – heck, he even did all the between-song banter because James Hetfield was too shy. When he moved on to Megadeth, he took thrash in a more progressive direction, leading to one of the genre’s undisputed classics with 1990’s Rust In Peace. Mustaine has kept Megadeth going strong (sans a brief hiatus) ever since with a variety of lineups, and received the ultimate validation with Megadeth’s first Grammy win for their 2016 Dystopia album.

GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS Mustaine’s work with Megadeth alone earns him a key place in thrash history, but we must remember that he was also instrumental in creating Metallica’s guitar sound, teaching James Hetfield the riffs to classics like “The Four Horsemen” and “Jump In The Fire”, and working with Hetfield to fine-tune the palm-muted, aggressively-picked, complex beast that is thrash rhythm guitar. Without Mustaine’s influence on Hetfield, Metallica would sound very different, and without Megadeth’s influence on thrash, there’s no telling what modern metal would sound like.

WHERE TO START Jump In The Fire (Metallica but written by Mustaine) Everything you need to learn about early thrash guitar is in here.

BOSS LEVEL Holy Wars . . .The Punishment Due The time shifts, the complex riffs, the wild soloing… “Holy Wars” still sounds state-of-the-art today. 48 | FEATURE HONOURABLE MENTIONS

WHERE TO START JOHNNY This Charming Man By The Smiths, this is instantly recognisable, MARR ever evolving, and a lesson in originality. BOSS LEVEL The Texturalist Hey Angel Taken from Marr’s new album, Call The Comet. Marr’s precisely overbent notes in the lead GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS melody add tension and movement. Making the guitar cool for indie kids and making indie cool for guitar kids. Also, putting up with Morrissey.

WHERE TO START KIM THAYILL Spoonman This riff is simple enough for beginners to pick The Alternator up pretty quickly, and there’s something physically satisfying about the way it weaves its way down GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS the guitar’s neck. Popularising alternate tunings that had BOSS LEVEL previously been more common in acoustic Rusty Cage music that didn’t sound like trucks blasting Weird note groupings. Honky fixed wah wah over arctic tundra. tones. The low E string tuned down to B. And the slow section that goes from three bars of 3/4 time, one bar of 5/4, one bar of 3/4 and finally one bar of 2/4 before repeating again... Yikes.

JIMMY PAG The Orchestrator GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS Playing the open-stringed licks in “Heartbreaker” that inspired Eddie Van Halen t explore two-handed tapping, rocking the violin bow on a guitar, and mastering the art of guitar orchestration as first demonstrated by Les Paul WHERE TO START Rock And Roll Pop on some headphones and it’s easy to pic out the individual guitar parts that make this a multi-layered masterpiece. BOSS LEVEL Shake My Tree From the Coverdale•Page album. You’ll hear six- and 12-string acoustic guitars, electric six-strings and electric baritones combined for a massive, multi-spectral take on the monster main riff.

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WHERE TO START POISON IVY Human Fly This jam is fuzzed-up punk and part twangy, The Rockabilly surf-inspired horror-punk. Royal BOSS LEVEL Hang Up GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS It’s repetitive and simple, but full of attitude With The Cramps, Bridging ‘50s rockabilly and brattiness. Think of Link Wray in stilettos and and rock’n’roll with early punk, and incorporating comin’ at ya with a knife. the kind of B-movie-esque, horror-driven and sexed-up humour that Rob Zombie would later take to new extremes.

WHERE TO START FRANK Uluru A relatively restrained instrumental GAMBALE that explores Gambale’s melodic side. BOSS LEVEL The Shredsweeper We,ll Remember December GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS Gambale himself has said that Pioneering sweep picking, and doing so in a musical the bridge of “We’ll Remember context rather than a widdly-widdly way that sounds December” is one of his most like a guitar exercise. Gambale’s Modes: No More terrifying licks. Good luck. Mystery instructional video not only taught thousands of guitarists how to unlock modes, but also how to play them really, really fast and with purpose.

ROBERT SMITH The G oth father GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS Turning simple single-note melodies and minimal effects into gothic perfection.

WHERE TO START Pictures Of You Listen to how Smith builds up each fresh new layer of guitar and Bass VI until the song kicks into full gear. It’s like a literal step-by-step how-t for layering parts.

BOSS LEVEL Shake My Tree This track from 1992’s Wish blended Smith-and-co’s characteristic layering with a little more of a grunge sensibility, with every part locking together from brash chords to ultra-precise bends. 50 | FEATURE

WHERE TO START KAKI KING Playing With Pink Noise A great introduction to King’s The Percussivist explosive style. BOSS LEVEL GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS The Neck Is The Bridge King’s innovative guitar-as-percussion style To The Body got the jump on a whole acoustic movement, and A multimedia presentation involving can be directly credited for a large chunk of the images projected on to her guitar current crop of guitarists exploring the fringes of while King plays virtuosic textures what an acoustic guitar can do. and melodies. Overthe course of her career, she has expanded her style well beyond that for which she originally found fame, and has incorporated intriguing high-tech visuals into her work.

WHERE TO START JOAN JETT Bad Reputation by The Runaways The A punky, dirty rock’n’roll anthem that sticks a Cherry Bomber middle finger up at society. BOSS LEVEL GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS I Love Rock N Roll From the very beginning of her career to Listen to the way Jett and co-guitarist Ricky today, Jett has been an outspoken feminist who Byrd play off each other, building a cycle of uses her guitar to smash through boundaries tension and release between chord stabs and and speak her mind. Her perfectly in-the-pocket single notes and splitting what is effectively one playing is always just what the song needs – guitar part into two. especially if the song needs to take no crap.

TONY IOMMI The Metal Monarch GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS Inventing metal through a combination of dark imagery and an industrial accident that robbed him of two fretting-hand fingertips, necessitating lower tunings and shifting power-chord shapes around to create riffs. WHERE TO START Iron Man Iommi at his riffiest. BOSS LEVEL The Sabbath Stones Taken from the criminally-overlooked Tyr album of 1990. Iommi takes the style he began forging in the ‘70s and applies it to progressive metal in a way that sounds more like 2000s Gothenburg metal than you may expect.

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THE PLAYERS IN THE PRECEDING ENTRIES HAVE ALL HAD A LASTING ALTERNATE INFLUENCE ON GUITAR. THE FOLLOWING ONES CERTAINLY HAVE THEIR FANS, BUT YOU DON’T HEAR THEIR IMPRINT ON QUITE AS UNIVERSE MANY PLAYERS – OFTEN BECAUSE THEY’RE SO DAMN INNOVATIVE AND SINGULAR THAT IT’S HARD ENOUGH TO GRASP, LET ALONE COPY THEIR UNIQUE STYLES. IN AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE, OUR BRAINS HAVE INNOVATORS EVOLVED TO COMPREHEND WHAT THESE PLAYERS ARE DOING.

WHERE TO START REEVES Baby Universal The post-chorus melody in Tin Machine’s “Baby Universal” is a study GABRELS in sustain and whammy control. BOSS LEVEL GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS A Small Plot Of Land As David Bowie’s right-hand man from the The solo to the dark industrial garage punk of Tin Machine through to the jazz weirdness, it’s full of hippy dream that was Hours... and everywhere uncomfortably outside notes and in-between, Gabrels’ impressionistic style is part weird, skittering speed-licks. blazing technique, part abstract sonic terrorism.

from The Presidents Of The United States RICKY WILSON America and Morphine to The White Stripes. WHERE TO START GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS STROBE LIGHT By the time he joined the B-52’s in 1976, he had Just like Wilson intended, with its DADxBB already created a new style that merged elements tuning on a late ‘60s Mosrite Mark V. of new-wave, post-punk and surf music. He was also a pioneer of odd tunings, often removing BOSS LEVEL a string or two from his guitar altogether and ROCK LOBSTER creating weird new tunings with what was left All attitude, weird melodies and staying just (undoubtedly his most unique was CFxxFF, tuned a smidgeon ahead of the drummer without up to 445Hz). Wilson died of AIDS in 1985, leaving losing the beat. behind a legacy of work that prefaced everything

WHERE TO START Not A Pretty Girl ANI DIFRANCO A choice example of DiFranco’s raking guitar attack and clever use GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS of open strings. Another example of interesting life equalling interesting music, DiFranco became an BOSS LEVEL: emancipated minor at 15 and began college at Angry Anymore 16. Her style is built around rapid staccato Opens with banjo and progresses picking and alternate tunings, and is so to guitar work with a pure, ringing idiosyncratic that it’s hard to imagine anyone innocence which lifts up the song’s tale but herself being able to play it. of transcendence through past griefs.

WHERE TO START DAVID TORN & Sunday Torn’s work on Bowie’s “Sunday” is a bright electronic ROBERT FRIPP soundscape built from layers of crystal clear guitar. BOSS LEVEL GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS Mother Hold The Candle, Steady While I Torn and Fripp are both masters of the art of looping, Shave The Chicken s Lip and both have played with David Bowie (who seemed Pulled from King Crimson’s THRaKaTTaK live to be a magnet for innovative guitar players). Both album. Fripp and co-guitarist Adrian Belew weave guitarists have such singular styles, and yet such broad flat-out weird textures and melodies around each discographies that they are impossible to nail down or to other, all improvised live using their song “Thrak” steal too much influence from. as a springboard. 52 | FEATURE

WHERE TO START Return Expedition STANLEY JORDAN There are some tricky bits to get your head around, but this one is mainly accessible enough to serve as an GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS introduction to Jordan’s advanced technique. Developing two-handed tapping (often on two guitars simultaneously) as a combined melody and rhythm BOSS LEVEL: technique. It’s taken decades for players like Tosin Abasi, Eleanor Rigby Felix Martin and Balawan to catch up to what he pioneered. Jordan’s arrangement of The Beatles’ hit.

WHERE TO START The Return Of Per Ulv TERJE RYPDAL This cut demonstrates Rypdal’s command of melody and phrasing, and GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS won’t break your fingers... Mostly. A guitarist and composer from Norway, Rypdal is as comfortable composing classical pieces as he is exploring BOSS LEVEL: the boundaries of jazz and microtonal guitar. Rypdal Last Nite even sometimes plays an eight-string Stratocaster. No, he Yeah, good luck playing it like doesn’t djent. Yes, his playing is incredibly identifiable. Rypdal does.

WHERE TO START ALLAN HOLDSWORTH Countdown One of Holdsworth’s more accessible GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS pieces and a good insight into his style. It’s not that Holdsworth was unknown, it’s that few could approach the genius of his playing, whether we’re BOSS LEVEL: talking about his incredibly complex chord melodies Devil Take The Hindmost or his faster-than-light scalar playing. Eddie Van Halen Good luck though. Unless your name is idolised him, but couldn’t even approach him when it Garsed or Vai, you’re gonna be in for some came to fusion. serious woodsheddin’.

WHERE TO START Potato MIKE KENEALLY Gorgeous pop melodies, a ‘70s jazz-influenced guitar solo and one of the GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS catchiest choruses you’ll ever hear. Another of Zappa’s stunt guitarists, Keneally can comfortably stand side-by-side with Steve Vai, Joe Satriani BOSS LEVEL: or even Screaming Jay Hawkins, playing exactly whatever Cause Of Breakfast he’s asked however complex or simple. But when he cuts Weird syncopated riffs are just the start of loose on his own material, Keneally is one of the most what makes this song challenging. Just wait original and intuitively gifted guitarists in the world. ‘til you hear the solo.

ROWLAND WHERE TO START Shivers S. HOWARD The Boys Next Door classic was written by Howard when he was 16. He had an uneasy relationship to the song, but it’s GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS a great place to start in order to give his later work context. A unique and inimitable stylist through his work with BOSS LEVEL: bands like The Birthday Party and The Boys Next Door, Nick The Stripper the late Howard was a fan of and major exponent of the Ugly, dark and confronting... The song, that is. We dont glories of dissonance. His playing wasn’t always pretty, know the stripper, although he’s portrayed in equally but he played it like he lived it, every note telling a story grotesque terms in the lyrics. This song is a masterclass in how nobody could play like Howard, distilling inner-city angst and danger into notes and riffs.

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twitter.com/HIFIAVSHOW njŘƋƬŽɁɁǘƖƋɁȧʤŘˁʊǜʁŘǚǔŘȭǒǔǞŘ˸ʊǒɁ˹ chestergroup.org 56 | TABLATURE

Hey Joe ฀฀ Words and Music by Billy Roberts ฀฀

Intro ฀฀฀฀฀ Moderately slow Rock q =78 ฀฀฀฀฀฀ µ(E ) ฀฀฀฀฀฀ 3

5 mf w/ slight dist. 00 0 3553 0 7 7 4 20 1 4 7 7 7 7 = 0 2 2 5 4 22 7 9 7 9 9 4 5 5 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0

Verse C G D A M

1. Hey Joe, uh, where you go- in’ with that

333 3 33

! ! 5 *T T 5 5 5 5 5 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 5 4 4 4 4 7 7 2 2 2 2 2 5 5 5 5 5 5 7 7 7 2 2 2 2 2 33 5 797 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 35 *T = Thumb on 6th string

E C G

gun in your hand? Hey Joe, 333

5 55 5! M ! T T 5 5 5 5 3 0 5 3 3 3 3 1 1 5 4 4 4 4 2 0 200 0 2 200200 5 5 5 5 5 5 2 2 2 033 0 0 3 35

Copyright © 1962 Third Palm Music and Ensign Music Copyright Renewed All Rights Administered by BMG Rights Management (US) LLC All Rights Reserved Used by Permission

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D A E 6 =M ==M I said where you go- in’ with that gun in your hand? Al- right. 33 M 5 M ! M ! 1/4 M 1/4 1/4

2 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 7 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 7 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 5 790 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 30 0 0 03 03 C G 6 E

I’m go- in’ down to shoot my old la- dy,

3

3 5kk 33 3 ! 3 3 ! 0 00 0 5 5 5 3 3 0 0 0 33 5 5 5 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 2 44 420 5 4 4 4 4 4 2 2 k 5 5 2 2 33 0 0 3 D A E 3

you know I caught her mess- in’ ’round with an-e oth -r man.

3

3 55 5 let ring 7 7 7 5 5 7 5 5 5 5 5 0 0 0 7 6 6 6 6 6 1 1 1 7 2 2 2 0 0 79 2 2 2 2 2 5 0 0 0

C G 5 3 M Yeah! I’m go- in’ down to shoot my old la- dy, 3 3 33 3 ! ! 3 5 5 5 3 3 0 0 5 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 0 0 5 4 4 4 4 4 2 2 0 0 2 2 2 2 0 5 5 2 2 0 2 2 2 2 0 33 0 000 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 58 | TABLATURE

D A E 3

you know I caught her mess- in’ ’round with an-e oth -r man. Huh! And that ain’t

M M 0 0 7 5 7 5 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 7 5 7 6 6 6 0 0 0 1 1 1 111 7 5 7 7 7 7 7 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 5 5 2 2 2 2 2 5 0 0 0 0 Verse C G

too cool. 2. Uh, hey Joe, 33 33 3 5

! 3 !!1/4 1/4! 1/4 ! 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 335 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 4 4 4 4 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 5 5 5 5 5 33 7 3 3 3 3

D M

I heard you shot your wom an- down, you shot her down now. 33 3 !

2 2 2 2 2 9 7 7 7 7 7 7 9 9 9 9 7 2 2 2 2 2 9 7 7 7 7 7 7 9 9 9 9 7 2 2 2 2 2 9 7 7 7 7 7 7 9 9 9 9 5 7890 0 0 0 0 0 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 0

C

Uh, hey Joe, 3

! ! 3 5 5 5 3 3 9 7 7 7 7 9 9 9 9 9 9 10 9 5 3 3 3 3 3 9 7 7 7 7 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 5 4 4 4 4 4 9 7 7 7 7 9 9 9 9 9 9 11 9 5 5 7 7 7 7 7 7 33 3

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DA E 33 3 I heard you shot your old la dy- down, you shot her down in the ground. 3 333

33

7 7 5 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 5 5 5 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 6 6 6 6 6 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 2 2 2 2 2 2 5 79 5 00 0 0 C MM 3

Yeah! Yes, I did, I shot her, 3 3

! ! 3 4 4 4 4 4 0 0 0 0 M 5 5 5 3 3 X X X X X 0 0 0 0 5 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 1 1 1 1 1 5 4 4 4 4 4 2 2 2 2 2 5 75 2 33 0 0 3 D A E M

you know I caught her mess- in’ ’round, mess -in’ ’round town. 3

5 3 33

0 0 0 7 7 7 5 5 5 5 5 5 0 0 0 X 7 7 7 6 6 7 6 6 6 1 1 1 X 12 12 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 2 2 2 X 12 14 12 14 55 0 14 0 C G

M Uh, yes I did, I shot her, 3

! 3 5! T 5 5 5 3 3 5 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 4 4 4 4 4 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 5 5 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 33 000 0 0 0 0 0 3 60 | TABLATURE

D E M you know I caught my old la dy- mess in’-’round town. And I gave her the 3 33 3

33 3 3 7 7 5 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 5 5 5 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 9 7 7 7 7 7 7 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 7 9 97 2 2 2 5 0 0 0

Guitar Solo CG M gun. I shot her. 5! ²²²² M²²²²²²²²²

f 1 1 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 12 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 15 ²²²² 15 12 ²²²²²²²²²²² 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 14 14 12 12 14

A ! M²² ! 5 M²²²² 5 ²² M

11hold bend 1 1 12 15 ²²² 15 12 12 ²²²² 12 15 15 ²²²²² 14 14 12 14 12 12 12 12 13 12 14 14 12 14 14 14 12 14 0

CGDA ! M²² ! ! ²²²² ! 3 3 1 1 1/2 1 11 12 12 12 12 12 15 ²²² 12 12 12 15 12 12 15 12 ²²²²²² 12 15 15 14 14 14 12 14 14 14 14

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CG ²²²²²²²²² ²²²M ²²² ! E !E! M mf

²²²²²²²²²²² 12²²²²²²²²²² 12 14 11 12 14 14 14 14 3 234 0 15 0123

DA E

!E

9 9 9 7 7 7 7 7 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 7 7 7 7 7 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 5 456 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 23 45 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Verse C D

3. Hey Joe, uh, where you gon- na run

8 8 8 8 7 7 7 7 7 5 5 7 7 5 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 7 7 5 5 5 5 5 9 9 9 9 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 5 5 5 5 5

E

to now?

let ring 0 00 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 0 0 00 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 0 0 0 62 | TABLATURE

C DA

Hey Joe, I said, where you gon- na run 3 33 3

! ! 3 33 5 5 5 3 3 5 3 3 3 3 3 7 7 7 7 7 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 33 5 5 5 5 5 5 3 5

E

to now, where you, where you gon- na go? Well, dig it! ²² ² E

1/4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ²²²² 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 12 12 14 12 14 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 12 12 14 12 14 14 12 12 14 14 12 14 0 C D E M

I’m goin’ way down south, way down to 3

! ! 33 5 5 5 3 3 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 0 0 7 7 7 7 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 0 0 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 0 9 9 9 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 33 3 9 75 3 5

Mex-c i -o way. )))))))) )))))))) M M

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8)))))))))))))))))) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 0 2 2 2 0 0 0

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Outro C D M M I’m goin’ way down south, way down where I

M !E ! !E !E M 3 2345 456 M 01 2 3 23 45

can be free.

9 9 9 7 7 7 7 9 9 9 9 9 9 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 7 7 7 7 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 7 7 7 7 9 9 9 9 9 9 11 11 12 12 11 12 11 9 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 0

C D A M

Ain’t no hang- man gon- na, he ain’t gon na- put a rope a- round 3 33 3

! ! 3 5 5 5 3 3 5 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 5 4 4 4 4 4 7 2 2 2 2 2 2 5 5 7 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 33 5 79 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3

E Repeat and fade M .

M

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 M 2 0 M ORIGINAL DESIGNS. FENDER TONE. ORIGINAL DESIGNS.

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RECORDING TECHNIQUES WITH MICK GORDON HOW ONE MAN WROTE THE SOUNDTRACK TO HELL. WORDS BY PETER ZALUZNY.

ou might not know his came out of it, and I’ll build libraries that push and pull. If you just layer up What role did reverb play? Yname, but if you’re into of things that happen during those your parts, compress everything and I hate reverb, generally, but I do video games, odds are Mick experimentation periods. give it a bit of an EQ, it’ll sound like use a couple of other things that play Gordon’s music has hammered its My philosophy with mockups is that music. And that’s fine, but this super the same role as reverb. If I’m using a way through your headphones at I usually try to demo the track with surgical method is more akin to what drum kit, for example, I usually run a some point in the last few years. the worst sounds I can find – Sawtooth an EDM artist might do. mic from the drummer’s position into This one-man crew from waves, 808 kick drums, noise snares a guitar amp that’s in a neighbouring Queensland has composed, produced and stuff like that – because if you So it’s closer to an EDM mix than room, and then we’ll record that and performed the soundtracks can make the song good with those the metal or djent feel it’s often amp using a far mic. That gives us an to some of this generation’s most bad sounds, then you know it’s going associated with? interesting room reverb tone that’s memorable games, including Prey, to be a good song. That was how I Philosophically, it was more of an more effective than, say, an ‘80s linear Wolfenstein: The New Order and the approached Doom. EDM mix with some sort of lower mid- reverb on your snare. 2016 reboot of Doom. I’d get to that point with a range to allow the eighth and ninth Yep those destructive, visceral combination of all sorts of things strings to come through. A lot of EDM Does that mean you’ve got a tones that shattered your skull as you on the chain: parallel compression, stuff is sub, kick and snare at 200Hz, never-ending wall of effects, too? eviscerated Hell’s arm with chainsaws, transient designers, 20 different 2000Hz, 5000Hz and upwards. So I I’ve totally lost count [laughs]. I’m shotguns and the mighty BFG were plug-ins... Plus, I get bored if kind of took that – and then the lower not even kidding. I have four large born in the brain of one guy. And with something’s subtle, and Doom was the mid-range of 300 to 600Hz – from cupboards with 24 shelves, all full of the Doom reboot’s soundtrack finally biggest, loudest, most offensive game heavier genres. different pedals. seeing a release on vinyl and CD this I’d ever looked at doing. year, it seemed like the perfect time Did that contribute to the Did you use those, or plugins, to to learn the stories behind some very Was it tough to EQ a soundtrack relentless punch that pulses create distortion? memorable music. that’s so complex and punchy? through the soundtrack? The majority of my pedals are When a note hits a point, I want The trick with that is that your ear distortion or drive circuit pedals. I How did you go about finding to make sure I’m pushing all the needs a relative point to judge what’s like hardware distortion more than sounds and tones that suited the frequencies that best represent that punchy and what’s not. If everything plugins, because you can feed a really in-your-face action of Doom? note. Then, when the next hit comes is punchy then nothing is punchy, so strong signal through hardware and it Doom was about pushing the in, those things get shifted out of the you need those background sounds will maintain the note. extremes with everything, and that way and whatever needs to take the and those atmospheric elements. I have pedals with really nice philosophy was the most important centre stage comes forward. That’s an Then, when the kick comes in, that transformers, and I have lots of thing. Instead of six-string guitars, incredibly time consuming process, comparison makes it feel much louder. really old, cool valve equipment. it was nine-string guitars. We had but it’s how that [punchy] Doom sound The most important part of that, I bought Jeff Lang’s Ampex Tube five-string bases tuned all the way comes about. Every single 16th or rather than compression settings, is preamp that they used to use in the down to F-sharp, and everything in eighth or quarter note gets attention. the philosophy of pushing air. If you ‘50s for tape recorders, and I’ve got the mix was really over-compressed “BFG Division”, for example, is just take a drum kit and compress it a Culture Vulture that I really like. I and over-distorted. technically a sextuplet rhythm, but it to the point where the speakers aren’t love Soviet stuff because they’ve got I like to spend a lot of time has that groove there and the hit on moving, you’re not pushing air, you’re completely random components. I creating the sounds in Ableton, the first note. As that comes about just generating noise. Whereas a great love distortion, and the philosophy FL Studio or Cubase, and I like to in the mix, I’m tweaking the settings drum kit that’s compressed in a nice of it too. Everything is distorted experiment without any rules. Then, everywhere to make that groove come way really pushes with the beat – all the time – everything! To me, I’ll look out for anything cool that through as much as possible. It needs that’s what I’m aiming for. distortion is music.

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www.jands.com.au 68 | REVIEWS

KRK ROKIT 5 G3 STUDIO MONITORS ALEX WILSON INVESTIGATES THE LATEST ITERATION OF THESE COMMON, LOW-BUDGET STUDIO MONITORS TO SEE IF THEY DELIVER THE GOODS.

f you’ve spent any amount of time in small of course, that is provided you know what you’re However, this is also where the potential Iproject studios, you’ve likely come across a listening out for. problems start. There’s no getting around the pair of KRK Rokits. Their astoundingly low fact that these hyped sub frequencies lead to price has made them mainstays for upcoming BASS FOUNDATIONS a somewhat inaccurate representation of the producers, and the bright yellow branding means The Rokit 5 G3s provide a relatively flat sound you’re playing through the Rokits, and your they stick out like a sore thumb (but, like, in a response in the midrange and treble frequencies. mileage with these speakers will depend on how totally good way). I feel as though there’s some degree of top-end you approach this fact. Since their initial release 25 years ago, the KRK attenuation happening here, but it’s nothing too Certainly, mixing to reference tracks with Rokits been one of the highest selling and most bad. They just sound a little darker than other great bass response or checking your mix on consistently popular sets of speakers out there. speakers, while still providing enough clarity in different speakers will go some way to managing Not only will you find the monitors in studio the ever-important high mids to represent a mix and mitigating this aspect of the Rokits. At the environments, but they are finding their way the way it deserves to be. very least, the user will need to ensure that their more and more into the DJ booth as well. This The characteristic Rokit sound comes from critical listening skills are in play to get the most is largely due to their famously pronounced low the speakers’ exaggerated lower frequencies. value out of the Rokits’ low price. frequency response, which makes them a go-to This is a bit of a double-edged sword. It certainly In a recent issue, we reviewed a pair of KRK’s option for those who want to mix contemporary makes them exciting to listen to – the hefty lows V4 monitors, which came as the company’s styles that need the sub to be hyped. in the mix increase the perceived loudness of the attempt to make a cheap set of monitors with The Rokit 5 G3 pair is the latest set of speakers sound, and also makes mixing and producing an a more accurate response. Comparing the in this product line and size. And despite having enjoyable experience. Those big lows mean that Rokits with the V4s in a brick and mortar store a commercial winner on their hands, KRK seem your mix is going to sound fat and punchy without would be a good way to decide which one is keen on continually optimising and refining this too much trouble. more worth your purchase. design, as they’ve done here. There’s definitely a welcome gratification For five-inch near-field monitors, they sound factor here – even after long hours holed up in ROKIT SCIENCE quite good. While certainly not providing the the mixing booth, these monitors are still going In terms of the specs making this sound, world’s most accurate listening experience, to pump out your song in a way that makes it each pair has a high quality one-inch soft-dome they’re capable of helping you pull a great mix – sound good and stay fresh. tweeter that can reproduce sound up to 35

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RRP: $249

kilohertz, passing well beyond the average reduce noise from diffraction, air turbulence, and THE BOTTOM LINE human’s upper hearing limit; if you like your music bass issues caused by close placement to walls. When all is said and done, the KRK Rokit loud, this will surely be a lucrative feature. The A factory-installed foam pad helps minimise monitors are some of the most popular in their larger woofer is made of a glass-Aramid composite vibration, and the enclosure itself is designed to class for a reason: they provide a tremendous designed to provide a clear response in both the reduce resonances caused by similar vibrations. amount of value for a tremendously small mids and lows. In terms of controls, volume can be tailored amount of money. The overall size of the speaker is between -30 decibels and +6 decibels. Low The combination of an incredibly low price 246-by-188-by-284 millimetres, and it weighs in at and high frequencies can be boost or cut point with the generally good frequency response a very light 5.9 kilograms. When switched on, the independently, at settings of -2 decibels, -1 makes the Rokits ideal for someone just starting KRK logo on the front lights up in white and yellow, decibel, 0 decibels and +2 decibels. There’s out in the world of near-field studio monitors, which we must admit looks pretty damn cool – as capacity for connections via balanced XLR, either as a producer or listener. In fact, anyone in does the stylish curved port sitting between the balanced ¼” TRS and unbalanced RCA. Power this position would be remiss not to at least check woofer and the base. comes from a standard IEC kettle cable. them out in person. In fact, a few clever design choices regarding the All in all, its specs feature nothing that While their particular frequency response won’t ports mean the Rokits are optimised for smaller reinvents the wheel, but a lot of welcome be suited to all tastes, the overall quality of this studio spaces. The speaker’s front-facing ports flexibility nonetheless. product means it remains a serious contender.

TOP 5 FEATURES WHAT WE RECKON CONTACT • Switchable boost and cut on bass and treble frequencies PROS CONS JANDS • Foam base padding Fun and punchywhen mixing Pronounced bass will not be to Ph: (02) 9582 0909 • Front-facing ports to reduce noise and resonance Incredibly affordable everyone’s taste Web: jands.com.au • Stylish curved port between the woofer and base A great introductory product • One-inch soft-dome tweeter 70 | HOME RECORDING

DRUMMING UP MORE BUSINESS ROB LONG SNARES – ER, WE MEAN SHARES – A FEW INVALUABLE TIPS FOR PRODUCING SOME QUALITY DRUM SOUNDS.

n the last issue, we took a brief to provide a richer tone, but less Ilook at the evolution of drum volume and attack. As you'd probably sounds through history, and come to expect, thicker shells are the discussed different ways to approach opposite. Obviously, larger diameter your microphone count, choice and drums produce lower tones – as do placement. There are, however, deeper drums. countless factors influencing the way Snare drums vary the most. drums sound on a recording before Generally, wood is warm, full-bodied the mics even come into the equation. and rich, while metal is louder, As a home producer, the more of brighter and sharper. Snares are these variables you're aware of, the typically a signature element in a more chance you’ll have of dealing track, so nailing them is critical. with issues, chasing tones, guiding Most experienced drummers have musicians and being able to produce their favourites, but as a producer, an outcome, rather than simply it’s often necessary to suggest throwing mics up in front of the kit changing things up in some way – and hoping for the best. especially if you're working on an Fair warning, this article isn’t EP or full-length album. Hearing actually aimed at drummers; it’s the same snare on every song is a aimed at the people who work with little monotonous and fairly limited them and want to learn how to tweak creatively. I have about six different the sound at the source. Getting a sounding snares in my studio, and I great tone is a team effort between strongly encourage their usage. the drummer and the engineer. The key is to be aware of a range Rather than reaching for plugins, of tones and subtle differences. Are effects or replacement samples in you chasing a ‘crack’ or a deep, fat order to rescue or completely rework thud? A short hit, or one that's long drum takes after the fact, engineers and resonant? Dry? Wet? Is there too should make decisions about the final much snare rattle, or not enough? sounds before the drummer has even Audition a set of snare samples played a beat. and picture what kind of song each would suit. As an exercise, listen to HERE KIT-Y KIT-Y ! snare drums across a broad range of The evolution of the drum kit genres and eras (rock, country, jazz, is well documented, from the late metal, '60s, '80s and so on) and see 19th century when multiple drums if you can find a sample that matches were played by multiple people to a specific tone. This valuable ear create rhythms, to the invention of training familiarises you with what’s the bass drum pedal, which allowed ‘typical’ for various situations. one person alone to build similar rhythms, but in a new way. Thus, an TUNE IN TO TUNING industry was born, and drum design This brings us to the ‘black art’ is ever-evolving to this very day. of drum tuning. With a stringed Unless you’re hiring in tailor-made instrument, you’re tuning for pitch, kits, it’s unlikely you’ll have the and it’s either correct or it’s not. chance to choose the perfect kit for With drums, you’re tuning for pitch every session – a little background and tone. Two drum heads – top and knowledge is still handy, though. bottom – equal double the complexity. Most drums are made from some The top ‘batter head’ is generally type of timber and are constructed thicker than the bottom ‘resonant of plywood (layers of sheet timber head’, which resonates in response to glued together). But as you’ll soon the top head. find out, that’s just the beginning! The There are as many ways to tune shell material, thickness, construction a drum as there are drummers, but style, diameter and depth all play a the general conventions are that the part. For example, mahogany shells top skin is looser, and also that the are generally softer, warmer, and tension on each lug is as consistent produce deep lows, whereas birch as possible. Each drum tends to have ABOVE: shells tend to be louder a brighter a sweet spot where it ‘sings’. The top THE LOUDEST with a stronger attack. Thinner head controls attack and ring, while THING ABOUT THE SILENT FILM ERA shells are more sensitive and tend the bottom head controls resonance,

| australianguitarmag.com.au | 71

LEFT: ABOVE: sustain, overtones and timbre. If STACKS ON DON'T SLEEP the bottom head is too tight, it will STACKS ON ON THIS STAAACKS! TECHNIQUE tend to produce longer overtones which can be boomy and generally unpleasant. If it’s too loose, you tend to get an unnatural and choked ‘donk’ with little resonance and clarity. With kick drums, many people will tune the front, resonant head lower that the batter head to get a deeper note. DON’T BE A WET BLANKET! Next, let's look at the other dark art: dampening. Reasons for dampening a drum include the minimisation of ringing, overtones and sustain, or to cut high-pitch frequencies, tone or volume. Remember, drums naturally resonate, and a well-tuned drum has a pleasing resonance! When any instrument is put under studio mics, it inevitably sounds different to rehearsals or a gig – every little rattle and overtone is amplified. Thus, too often a badly tuned drum ends up with the top head covered in tape before any attempt is made to deal with the tuning – usually because it’s an ‘easy fix’. Over-dampening may leave you with a lifeless sounding cardboard box, in which case the drum should be retuned from scratch. Of course, the type of drum head heavily influences the sustain and resonance of the drum, and it’s not ridiculous to keep at least a couple of snare heads at hand in the studio. There’s a wealth of heads available with built-in dampening effects, including double ply heads, heads with inlaid rings around the edge, hydraulic heads with a layer of oil 72 | HOME RECORDING

ABOVE: RIGHT: A TRICK WORTH PAYING FOR A FULL KIT FOR YOUR FULL KIT

between two skins... The list goes on. This usually happens when drums Minimal dampening is totally are tuned too closely together. legit, and there are many ways to Tuning one a little higher or lower approach it. Duct tape is cheap, and should help minimise this. one strip toward the edge of the Of course, there are many genres head can be enough to tone down that call for each drum sound almost the sustain; a small piece of paper as if they are completely isolated towel or felt taped to the head can from the rest of the kit. Generally, also be effective. noise gates can deal with this in Commercially made Moongel is a mixdown. But little things can help – great product to keep in your studio. a blanket laid out over the front half It’s a non-toxic and self-adhesive of the kit that also covers the kick gel that sticks to drum heads and mic; a piece of foam straddled over While possibly 90 percent of tracks their place. As for the kick drum, the doesn’t leave residue. Muffling rings the snare and tom mics behind the call for typical matched wooden old "20 cent piece taped to the kick are pre-cut out of drum skins that capsule to narrow the pickup area; sticks, it’s nice to change things up skin trick" is great for adding some run the whole circumference of the setting the hi-hat pedal abnormally every once in a while. Heavy sticks extra ‘click’ to your sound! drum and sit neatly inside the rim. high about the snare drum to stop are a ten and steel brushes are a one Every engineer and producer Similarly, an old drumhead with hats spilling into the snare mic (most on the loudness/attack scale. The should spend time with a drummer the metal rim cut off can be placed drummers will hate you for changing options in-between are worth looking and completely pull down a kit, directly on top of the skin to act as a their setup, though). at, and it's crucial to know what tune and retune each drum, swap dual layer dampening system. Then, Either way, make sure you listen they sound like. I love the sound of out snare drums, and just generally there's a personal favourite: the to the kit as a whole as much as ‘hotrods’, which are almost like a get their head around some of the wallet on the snare. you listen to each individual drum. bunch of kebab sticks taped together possibilities before a microphone By default, when you strike one Monitor your tom mics and see how – you’ll still plenty of attack, but even comes into the room. It’s the drum, any other drum in the room much spill you are getting from the still not trigger a drum to the same only way to really isolate issues and will make a sound as well through kick and snare, for example – many velocity as a full stick. get to know the possibilities. ‘sympathetic resonance'. Sometimes engineers will literally delete or Nylon brushes are heavier than you’ll be going for a nice, open, mute the tom tracks when they are steel; they’ll give more attack and resonant sound with lots of ‘room’ in not being played. be easier for non-jazz players to use. Rob Long is a the mix. In this case, the resonance Finally, a set of mallets is great for multi-instrumentalist is generally your friend and adds BRUSH UP ON YOUR cymbal swells and atmospheric tom colour. But there are times when STICKWORK tom work (think timpani). Likewise, and producer working it can get ugly – the most common Last but not least, choosing the check out the range of different kick @FunkyLizardStudios situation is when a rack tom is right implement to hit the drums beater options – these are typically triggered by a snare, or vice versa. with can really turn a track around. wooden, plastic or felt. They all have in Newcastle

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VICTORY V130 THE SUPER COUNTESS ALEX WILSON CHECKS OUT THIS HOT-RODDED ROCK MACHINE FROM ONE OF TODAY’S BIGGEST UPSTART AMP COMPANIES.

he amp’s physical build looks elegant and Marshall and Mesa notes on the palette, with an This is complemented by the shared EQ, which I can Tfeels dependable. There’s a nice heft to aftertaste of Soldano. The generous saturation of honestly say is one of the best and most musical the wood and steel frame, complimented the circuit never sacrifices clarity, instead adding guitar amp EQs I’ve encountered. It may not be by a classy design and colour scheme. While you layers of harmonic depth to the distortion. You'll much to look at, but each control affects the sound certainly couldn’t fit the V130 in the overhead need to hear it for yourself, but suffice to say, in such a gratifying and useful way. compartment, it still feels relatively compact and Victory are on to something with this tone that For instance, push the midrange all the way and lightweight for its product class. feels both fresh and familiar. your guitar will be honking and snarling with the Turning it on, players familiar with the original In terms of voicing, the overdrive channel’s Voice best of them. Pull it back all the way, however, and V30 will immediately hear familiar sounds. While II is modeled on the old V30. It’s the heaviest of you’ll be rocking a smiling EQ that actually sounds... the newer amp is overall brighter than its ancestor, the two, emphasising thick bass and extra gain. Good! These choices translate really well across the it retains the same core tone and gain structure. The Voice I offers a smidge less distortion, cuts the bass different channels, giving the amp real versatility. clean tone is punchy and assertive. The increased slightly and brightens up the tops. I like how the Say you’re doing a gig or project that requires wattage means there’s far more headroom than Voice switch offers a different take on the same a dark guitar tone - just adjust the EQ to get in could be managed on the original Countess, yet sound, rather than radically altering it. the right spot, and you still have those same a player can still dig into the circuit and find that The same could be said for the voice on the clean familiar tonal moves available via the channels pleasing tube compression if they desire. channel, and the overall effect here is to give the and voice switching. There’s a lot to recommend Engaging the voice switch adds some extra amp a real sense of sonic unity – which it achieves this school of amp design, which favours broad gain. Sounding similar to a Fulltone OCD through a wholeheartedly. A player will find that there’s real strokes over finicky detail. Fender Twin, the crunchy brashness of this setting versatility here, but all the footswitchable changes If that's not your cup of tea, then this may not be would be a fine match for classic rock playing. don’t compromise the organic feeling of the amp. It the amp for you. But, bear in mind that if you’re sold There’s a certain something to the V130's feels like its responding holistically as it gets pushed on the basic tones here, it wouldn’t be hard to add overdrive channel that just works. It’s got strong in different directions. some extra EQ flexibility via a stompbox.

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IN-DEPTH SPECIFICATIONS With a diverse lineup of high-quality tube heads already on the shelf, the V130 Super Countess only helps firm Victory’s position at the forefront of modern boutique amp manufacturing. The original V30 Countess, small enough for airline carry-on, was a remarkable product that garnered the brand kudos and association with leading players like Guthrie Govan. However fine as that amp was, its small size led to certain sonic and technical limitations.

Much like Fender’s Super Bassman, the upgraded Super Countess expands upon the original design, rather than massively overhauling the fundamentals. Other Victory models have also benefited from larger and louder revisions – take for example the VX100 Super Kraken, the Sheriff 44 and the V40 master volumes for each channel, and a shared EQ Deluxe – so there’s some nice symmetry there. WHY IT’S ON THE section with bass, mid and treble controls. There’s no TOP SHELF onboard reverb, but there is an FX loop onboard. The V130's two channels are the requisite clean and It’s hard to identify faults with the V130. Sure, there overdrive, with a switchable voice on each channel are things it doesn’t have – I personally would've An interesting tidbit: the ‘standby’ switch on the V130 that amounts to four distinct sounds at the player’s loved some kind of direct out with a phantom load has been relabeled ‘preheat’. It does precisely what feet. The original Countess had 40 watts of power, for speakerless recording – but no amp can be all the standby switch does, the new label originating in but the V130 has cranked things up to 100 with high things to all players. Taken as a rock amp that will EU legislation. Lawmakers are apparently concerned and low output modes. This extra juice flows through respond exceptionally to a variety of styles, listened that the uninitiated may leave the amp on perpetually four 12AX7s in the pre and and six 6L6s in the power to with ears or a mic on a cab, there’s precious little section. Rounding out the frontplate are seperate in the same way one may leave a TV set on ‘standby’. that the V130’s design could improve upon.

WHY YOU’RE PROBABLY WHAT YOU SHOULD RRP: $2,899 GOING TO WANT IT CONSIDER FIRST IN-STORE: $2,699 While one certainly couldn’t call the V130 cheap, I Do you want a guitar tone that takes some of the think there’s a genuine value to be had here. Given best elementsofclassic and modern sounds?Do the sonic quality, build integrity and versatility of you have several thousand dollars to splurge on a CONTACT thisamplifier, moneyput towards thisamp would really nice tube amp?Areyou not that bothered by be well spent. I feel that this could be a lifetime having a shared EQ? If your answers to the above GLADESVILLE GUITAR FACTORY amp – a potential go-to that could stay with rock questions are all 'yes', then you owe ittoyourself to players as they change their sound and approach check out the V130 Super Countess. You might just Ph: (02) 9817 2173 over the years. find yourself a rock‘n'roll mate for life. Web: guitarfactory.net

78 | CD REVIEWS PAGAN THE FRONT BOTTOMS Black Wash Ann EVP WUAKASKOLE / FUELED BY RAMEN / WARNER OP PICK In an era of shorter After neutering their attention spans, once impervious there’s something potency with 2017’s intensely thrilling middle-of-the-road about a debut that Going Grey album, doesn’t let up for The Front Bottoms its 11-song stretch. have now cracked the Nikki Brumen’s vocals code to their balance screech with an of shimmery pop irrepressible urgency and powerful rock that’s impossible to ignore, yet there’s much more flavours. The second instalment in the Grandma at work for the Melbourne four-piece than just EP series – and the first release under their own a woman with a brutal scream. Xavier Santilli’s Wuakaskole Records banner – Ann sees them tackle menacing riffs mixed with the stick-in-your-skull five of their earliest and roughest demos (plus one rhythms of “Death Before Disco” will have you all-new cut, the heavy-vibed “Tie Dye Dragon”) dancing through fist pumps; in the bassline groove with an enticing new angle. Strings and keys stand MIDDLE KIDS of “Year Of The Dog” and the tightness and punch out wherever present, but unlike on LP4, guitars Lost Friends of “The Greatest Love Songs”, there’s a manic are undeniably front and centre here, layered and Every Time I Die-esque energy at play. Black Wash played loose like Brian Sella does best. Short, sweet INDEPENDENT / UNIVERSAL is a threatening and potent brew of blackened and extremely fun, Ann proves there’s still plenty of rock’n’roll – a real beast of its own making. gas in the tank for these lovesick legends. ost Friends – the EMILY SWANSON MATT DORIA long-awaited L MAYDAY PARADE CROSSFAITH debut LP from the Sydney-based indie Sunnyland Ex_Machina jammers in Middle RISE / BMG UNFD Kids – is like the perfect Though it never quite Three years since frappuccino in audible hits the spine-tickling they abandoned the form. In place of an highs of 2015’s Mike album model in espresso shot, there’s Sapone-produced favour of half-yearly a bitterness that comes Black Lines, the EP releases (all of from the sharp and Tallahassee quintet’s which have been, er, sombre lyricisms; there’s a creaminess in the dusty sixth full offering is less than great), the reverb and psychedelic warbles that glisten the guitars, an impossibly ravecore ravagers in and a sweetness in the emphatic and homely vocals charming and Crossfaith have once that frontwoman Hannah Joy conquers like an absolute inventive pop-punk again found their goddess (her keywork is also damn near compelling romp. Guitars – albeit mixed a little too cleanly for footing. So much so, defying every expectation, that enough to snap anyone out of a coma). our tastes – are bursting with life, Brooks Betts and LP5 is undoubtedly their strongest release thus far. Texture is incredibly vital here too: the rough-edged Alex Garcia both endlessly impassioned from cover A post-apocalyptic concept album fusing elements production offers a decent level of icy crunch, while to cover. The record as a whole is notedly more of Metallican thrash and electronica with disgusting the always exhilarating melodies deliver an ethereal palatable than previous efforts – it’s certainly more virtuosity, Ex_Machina is as ambitious as it is smoothness to round it all out. And much like the pop than punk – but such hasn’t muted Mayday’s intense. It’s Crossfaith’s heaviest album, yet their perfect frappuccino, its sadly inevitable end comes far talent for conjuring some massively impactful jams. most experimental and unashamedly dancey. The too soon and has us left ever so desperate for more, our In fact, the honey-sweet melodies at play make way polarising mashup of sounds won’t make any new hearts yearning more and more impatiently for another for some of their most undeniable anthems yet. Well converts out of their existing naysayers, but to taste until we’re finally able to wrap our hands (or ears) titled, Sunnyland is a playful summer-ready album those already head over heels for the Jäger-loving around a second dose. perfect to warm up this especially vicious winter. Japanese maniacs, Ex_Machina will be an instant hit. Setting aside our comparisons to delicious summer SARAH COMEY MATT DORIA treats, Lost Friends is just a great album through and through. Every other cut is the type of meteoric anthem OLIVIA CHANEY HIGH TENSION you’d expect to see close out an arena show, striking an Shelter Purge indelible harmony of ardour and poise (see especially: NONESUCH COOKING VINYL “Edge Of Town”, “Bought It” and “Never Start”). Those Shelter sees Chaney Forget everything you that don’t come not as pace-stunting filler tracks but building on her craft know of High Tension: some much appreciated respite. They often dig deeper in creating an eclectic Purge is a rip-roaring into a rawer and more vulnerable side of the fast-rising crossover of classical rebirth for the trio, a melancholic country twinge drizzled like syrup and contemporary Melbourne hardcore (sorry) over numbers like the cantering “Maryland” and music. Her first staples, and with goosebump-coaxing title track. instrument is the their gain pedals in Even such cuts are undeniable bangers, though, the piano, but she’s overdrive, a goddamn former especially brewing up to an inescapably eruptive equally at home and terrifyingly brutal outro. Ditto for the heartfelt closer “So Long, Farewell, proficient on acoustic one. Thick, merciless I’m Gone”, which rolls in as a lackadaisical ballad and and electric guitars, as we hear on this record to breakdowns and sulfuric acid solos pad the album builds into the album’s single most intense and stunning great effect. A true multi-instrumentalist, she also at every turn, newcomer Mike Deslandes a moment, Joy pouring every last drop of her energy into adds cello and the warm drone of Indian downright monster with axe in hand. He and snare one final showstopping chorus. harmonium to the mix. She shines with a minimalist queen Lauren Hammel forge a filth-laden frame Best served on sleepy Sunday mornings and in the approach, highlighting pure tones, sparse piano that allows frontwoman Karina Utomo to rip what vessel of your most choice pair of headphones, Lost chords, chiming and lingering guitars, resonant are, by a long margin, some of the goriest, most Friends is the kind of debut album you see artists open tunings and delicate, effortless fingerpicking. visceral and unforgettable vocals we’ve heard in far balloon to instant superstars on. It’s loud, yet luscious, Her lyrics and imagery echo times both past and too long. Make sure to have 000 on standby when and the songwriting never hiccups in the virtuosity on present – the ‘olde worlde’ era, and more personal spinning this LP – the velocity with which it’ll make show. And the best part? Zero calories. modern and urban experiences and concerns. you want to thrash your limbs is absolutely unsafe. MATT DORIA NONI MITCHELL MATT DORIA

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MUSICAL CONCEPTS FOR GUITAR WITH REG BARBER COLUMN AUDIO AT AUSTRALIANGUITARMAG.COM.AU

MAKING PRACTISE PERFECT

n this issue, I want to cover 1 Isomething I get asked about a lot: what can you practise to get faster? The answer is not what you practise, but how you practise. Getting faster is easy if you set yourself some goals and stick religiously to a practise routine. Personally, I have found it easiest to practise for 15 minutes per day, first thing in the morning before any distractions get in the way. Because they are technical exercises that don’t require too much thought, just repetition, I find it almost like a form 2 of meditation, and I end up thinking about what I have to get done that day. Crucial to my technique is a place where everything I need to practise with is set up and ready to go. I have an iTunes playlist of metronome tracks that goes for exactly 15 minutes; each track goes for one minute, and I start by ordering the tracks in increments of 10bpm (beats per minute). If it’s a new technical exercise, I might start at 60bpm, then 70, then 80. I’ll do that for a few weeks before I delete the 60bpm track and add one at 90bpm – and so forth. I’ve become so 3 used to practicing like this that I have reminders set in my phone to alert me when I need to update my metronome playlist. Practise starts to become fun after a month or two, and I feel like something isn’t right if I haven’t practised in the morning. EXERCISE #1 Exercise #1 is a great technical exercise to build down-picking speed. Many years ago. I had a goal in mind to learn how to play “Blackened” by on this exercise and you should be learn to improvise with. Bars three When ascending through the Metallica, down-picked like James nicely warmed up! and four outline the A minor arpeggio scales, sweep with a down-up-down Hetfield does at 190bpm. I struggled starting on the A string – again, a chord motion, and when descending with it for ages until I came across a EXERCISE #2 shape that most guitarists should be through the scales, use an warm-up exercise that Dimebag Darrel Exercise #2 outlines two A minor rather familiar with. up-down-up motion. This may seem used before shows. arpeggios. I use this as a sweep picking The difficulty when I was learning unnatural at first, but it is the most The first two bars of Exercise #1 technical exercise and shift these to sweep pick arpeggios was figuring efficient way to cross from string to outline what Dimebag used to warm patterns up and down the out how to use them in my playing. By string when you’re playing an uneven up. It’s entirely designed for warming neck chromatically. The 7:8 and 6:8 working out how to sweep shapes I was number of notes per string. up the right hand and works great note groupings look complex, but already familiar with, it became very I play through the modes up and for building up down-picking speed. the lowest and highest note fall on easy to chuck them into solos. down the fretboard for three minutes, I took this idea and combined it with each beat of the bar. You’ll find it and for the last six minutes of my my favourite left hand warm-up: easier if you start slow; I started out at EXERCISE #3 practise routine, I improvise using ‘crab walking’. The third and fourth 60bpm and worked my way up Exercise #3 outlines the modes both Exercise #2 and #3 over a chord bars show the down-picking exercise over a period of months, until it of the C major scale. This pattern plays progression in C major. This is really combined with crab walking across the became muscle memory. the notes as 16ths, but uses important, because otherwise these low E and A strings. Both of these shapes should be the three-notes-per-string pattern. I will just remain technical exercises Continue this pattern across all familiar – the first two bars outline the use sweep picking to get even faster. and you wont bridge them into strings and up the fretboard, until you basic pentatonic blues box, which is Pay close attention to the up and down your playing. Make up any diatonic reach the 15th position. Three minutes usually the first scale most guitarists pick markings. progression in C and give it a go!

| australianguitarmag.com.au SHREDDED METAL WITH JIMMY LARDNER-BROWN

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POWER CHORDS AND DYADS

he humble power chord is a Tstaple of heavy metal rhythm 1 guitar. Seriously, nothing feels better than cranking up a Marshall and ‘chunking’ out a low E5! Whilst power chords are by far the most common chords used in metal, the music theory behind them is often overlooked by metal musicians. For this column, rather than discuss flashy ‘shred’ guitar licks, I want to explain how power chords are constructed, along with some different variations. EXERCISE #1 2 A power chord is built from the first and fifth notes of a major (or natural minor) scale. As such, they are often referred to as ‘root/fifth’ power chords. What makes them interesting is that they don’t contain the crucial third degree (the note that determines whether a chord is of a major or minor tonality). Therefore, power chords are ‘neutral’ or ‘undetermined’ chords. 3 Power chords are so common in heavy metal since when played with heavy distortion, multiple string major/minor chords will sound messy and muddy, whereas power chords still sound crisp and clear. Exercise #1 illustrates some different ways to play an E5 chord. In its simplest form, a power chord will consist of the root note as the lowest note (in pitch) and the fifth degree (Bar #1). You can also double up the root note by playing the octave (Bar #2). Power chords can easily be moved around to different keys by shifting the shape up and down the fretboard to the appropriate root note, and they can also be played on different groups of strings (Bars #3 and #4: root fifth string. Bars #5 and #6: root fourth string). The remaining chords are all dyads. (#5) fifth and diminished fifth (b5) E5/B, F5/C, and Eb5/Bb chords are A dyad is simply a two-note chord, interval respectively. The last two used. The next line starts with an EXERCISE #2 however they can imply more complex bars are basic major and minor third Esus4(no3) dyad followed by a series An awesome power chord variation three or four note chords. Dyads can dyad shapes. of diatonic major and minor third is to voice the fifth degree in the bass be great for adding more colour to dyads (Bars #5 and #6). The riff (Bar #1). The chord would therefore metal riffs, as opposed to just using EXERCISE #3 concludes with a variation of the be in the first inversion (E5/B). power chords. Naming dyads can be I’ve written a short riff that opening bar, and then a low open E5 This adds some extra ‘grit’ to a bit tricky, but I’ve used a naming incorporates all of the above (Bars #7 and #8). power chords that have the root note system that hopefully makes sense. mentioned chords from Exercise One of the best examples of a song on the fifth string. It’s important to Depending on what note you #2. The first two bars feature that expertly mixes power chords with recognise here that although B is the consider the root, the dyad in Bar #2 E5, Eaug(no3), Edim(no3), with a different types of dyads is Megadeth’s lowest note, E is still the root (and could either be considered an E5 in descending barred line of Bb5/F, “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due”. if you’re playing in a band, the bass first inversion or a B fourth interval. A5/E,G5/D, E5/B. Bars #3 and #4 Check that out, and try to write some guitar would play an E). Bars #3 and #4 outline an augmented are similar, but here, three-note similar riffs of your own! 82 | TECHNIQUE

BLUES AND BEYOND WITH ADRIAN WHYTE COLUMN AUDIO AT AUSTRALIANGUITARMAG.COM.AU

DJANGO AND THE BLUES: PART ONE

Standard tuning jango Reinhardt still holds = 120 a strong place in the line 12Major Pentatonic Minor Pentatonic D 1 234 of guitar players who are E-Gt credited with the instrument’s current status. His fast and beautiful single note runs, emphatic octaves and 8 810 10 8 thrumming chords are arguably yet 79 97 57 710 10 7 57 to be surpassed as the true voice of 710 10 7 57 810 10 8 5 8 the guitar. Surprisingly, many of the concepts he used drew from simple 3 Harmonic Minor one. In this issue, we’ll look at a scale 567 8 primer for what we might find in a typical Reinhardt improv piece. In the next one, we will apply these ideas in 585 454 an etude of sorts! 58 85 56 75 457 75 67 75 578 EXERCISE #1 85 578 The major pentatonic scale is perhaps the sweetest and simplest 4 Major 6 Arpeggio sound in Western music. Did you 9101112 know that this scale is simply the major scale with the semitone steps removed? It also lacks a tritone 8 65 810 10 8 interval. This means there is very 754 9 9 76 710 10 7 little dissonance in the relationship 875 710 10 7 of any two notes within this scale, 875 8 which means melodically sound ideas are easily achievable. Alternate your 56A Minor Arpeggio Diminished Arpeggio picking, but keep in mind that you 13 14 15 16 want to be able to play these fast eventually!

8128 47 4 10 10 6 6 EXERCISE #2 9 9 47 Everybody knows the minor 710 10 7 6 pentatonic scale! It makes perfect 8 sense over minor chords and it works over major chords. I don’t have the 17 space to theorise why it works over major chords, but the basic reasoning is simply that the minor third takes the listener’s ear right up to the edge 74 6 of the major third, creating tension but also implying the major third at the same time. It gets complicated quicker than a workplace romance, so has that very romantic European chord. C major six arpeggio can move up one semitone and play I’ll leave that there! side, so be careful to avoid the work with a C major chord, or more diminished from there. For example, aforementioned office romance! specifically a C major six chord, if you have E7, play an F diminished EXERCISE #3 although the simplified application scale. Here’s another tip: any note The harmonic minor scale is the EXERCISES #4 AND #5 will generally work. A minor arpeggio in a diminished scale can be the minor scale with a natural seventh. Here, we’re looking at arpeggios. will go with the A minor chord. Both root note – so if you see an F in1/1 the You will notice in many minor blues Arpeggios are more or less a scale of these arpeggios could have great pattern, its an F diminished. If you – be it Reinhardt or Eric Clapton – that utilises the tones found in chords. effects at any point of a progression in see a G#, its a G# diminished. If this the ‘five’ chord will be a dominant Reinhardt regularly uses the major the key of C or A minor. is blowing your mind, hopefully some seven. In A minor, that would be six arpeggio and the minor arpeggio. of the examples I’ll be showing off in an E7. An E7 has a G#, which is the I have provided two octaves of the EXERCISE #6 the next issue will help. natural seventh of A minor – hence major arpeggio and one octave of the I kept this separate because it’s a one reason the harmonic minor is minor arpeggio, specific to some of bit more of a complicated arpeggio. SUMMARY so useful! Get used to the slightly the more common thing Reinhardt This arpeggio can work as a G7b9, Learn these scales, alternate your awkward fingering for this one. It’s does. Simply put, we can apply these or as an E7b9. Confused? You’re picking, and listen to some Django up to you how you approach it, but as arpeggios to the relevant chord, or supposed to be. A simple trick is Reinhardt before our next lesson. always, try to be efficient. This scale even the relevant key despite the to take any dominant seven chord, Thank you. See you next time!

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84 | TECHNIQUE

LEAD WORK WITH PETER HODGSON COLUMN AUDIO AT AUSTRALIANGUITARMAG.COM.AU

SOLOING SECRETS: THE HIRAJOSHI SCALE cales are funny things. SThey’re incredibly important to understanding how music works, and they function as great Figure 1A ZZZZZ Figure 1B ZZZZZ Figure 1C ZZZZZ Figure 2 finger exercises too. But at a certain 1 point they can become little cages, if     4 
  
  you let them. Sometimes you’ll find 4 

 
 
the perfect note lurking outside of   the scale you’re using for the rest of    the song or solo – this is the kind of thinking that most likely led to the flatted fifth being added to the minor pentatonic scale, and leading to the creation of the minor blues scale. Of course, you can only add so many notes to a scale before it simply becomes the chromatic scale, which Figure 3 tends to be where my personal 5 approach to soloing sits right now.   
   
 At some point, I started to see the 

 

 
 

 
guitar as just one long string, and the     intervals I’d memorised from years of studying scales meant I was suddenly able to go straight for melodies I was hearing in my head in realtime, rather than basically hitting different scale degrees like I was previously. It’s common to hear musicians say, “Learn everything, and then forget it,” and then for some smartass to hit Figure 4 back with a Spinal Tap-esque, “Well I 7 don’t know it, so isn’t that the same as   forgetting?” But that’s not it: the point   is to learn as much as you can, so that  it becomes intuitive and you can form  a musical sentence as instantly as you can form a linguistic one. Having said that, here’s my favourite scale of all time: the Hirajoshi scale. It began life as a tuning devised by Yatsuhashi Kengy (1614-1685) for the koto. I’m drawn third degree of the major scale) and sounding scale, but easy to play and especially when you first start to its tranquil peacefulness, but if remove a few notes. The easiest way remember (as shown in Figure #2). learning. It also leads you towards you lean on certain notes within the to approach this scale is to imagine it One easy way to find your way some of the more unusual and drastic scale, it can also give you a more as a pair of patterns repeating across around this scale is to pick a intervallic leaps that are somewhat melancholic texture. You’ll hear it each new pair of strings. pattern on two adjacent strings, masked when you play the scale in popping up a lot in the work of Jason Figure #1A is the Hirajoshi scale then move it up an octave on the the way outlined in Figure #2. Becker and Marty Friedman in their in the key of A, starting on the fifth next string pair and then the next A great way to practise this scale classic shred metal duo Cacophony, fret of the low E string. It goes Root, one. This is a good way to build is to set up some kind of droning where Jason seemed especially fond of second, minor third on the bottom tension, then release it with a big root note loop. That way, you can digging into its slightly surreal nature. string, then fifth, minor sixth on the sustained root note or chord. compare each note of the scale It’s a five-note scale, but nothing next one. Now all you have to do is Figure #4 is another way of looking against the root and see which ones like the minor pentatonic we all learn. leap to the next octave of the root (in at the same scale, but this time it’s build tension, which ones release it Unlike the minor pentatonic, which this case, the A note at the seventh laid out in a two-note-per-string and which ones are neutral. seems purpose-built to encourage fret of the D string) and start that manner that breaks us out of the I use it at the beginning of the an intuitive and free-form approach, pattern again (as shown in Figure temptation to fall into repetitive solo in my song “Hyperreality”, Hirajoshi is a little more thinky, and it’s #1B). Finally, hit that A at the tenth box patterns. You’ll go from playing where it plays against some long harder to play fast with because it can fret of the B string, and you’re in place two frets apart to four frets apart to sustaining minor chords before involve some odd intervallic leaps. to repeat the pattern again an even one fret apart, with no particularly switching to some bluesier licks, Here’s how to play Hirajoshi: higher octave (Figure #1C). identifiable pattern to latch onto. and then finally an utterly gross and start with the Phrygian mode (the And there you go: an exotic- You really have to think about it, indulgent shredfest.

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86 | REVIEWS

POSITIVE GRID BIAS MINI GUITAR HEAD POSITIVE GRID TAKES ITS BIAS HEAD AND SHRINKS IT RIGHT DOWN TO ‘CHUCK IT IN YOUR GIGBAG’ SIZE. WORDS BY PETER HODGSON

ositive Grid’s range of amp modelling products Speaker Out (four-to-16 ohm), an XLR Line Out with BIAS’s real secret, whether we’re talking about a Poccupies a unique niche, available in software ground lift, mini MIDI in/out jacks, a footswitch jack, hardware device like this or a software one like the and hardware versions in everything from and the effect loop send and return jacks. apps and plugins, is its component-level modelling. smartphone apps to full-on amplifier heads. The More companies are going for these mini MIDI While the front panel controls only let you access company knows it’s on a winner with its BIAS Head jacks instead of standard 5-pin MIDI plugs as of late, basic amp functions, the included BIAS Pro amp and BIAS Rack units, but with the new BIAS Mini and though it does save space, it means more bits designer software lets you get right down to the Guitar, they’ve managed to pack all that processing to fiddle about with. This unit is simply too small nitty gritty of amp design, letting you choose power into a unit small enough that you could to include full-sized MIDI jacks, and it also includes between different preamp and power amp circuits, probably even figure out a way to mount it on a adapter cables, so Positive Grid gets a pass here. change the tubes and transformers (including pedalboard if you’re clever. There are 16 onboard custom amplifier presets, the number of tubes, so you can basically do It occupies only half a standard rack space, but though there are thousands more available on what Eddie Van Halen did when designing the will just as happily sit on top of your speaker cabinet Positive Grid’s ToneCloud (including presets by shred original 5150: “That ain’t quite it, how about or on a desk in your home recording setup. And legend Rusty Cooley). There are nine built-in reverbs adding another tube?”), add clipping diodes and it only weighs about two kilograms, yet it packs a and a built-in noise gate, and the effects loop is experiment with different rectifiers. whopping 300 watts of power. glitchless (it doesn’t mute at patch recall). There’s You can set all sorts of other parameters, too, built-in Bluetooth for mobile control, which is really like tube bias, high and low shelves, resonance and HONEY I SHRUNK THE HEAD handy for onstage use. Whack an iPad on your mic presence controls, and much more. Let’s start with the controls: there are knobs for stand and you’ll have access to your controls in Preset, then Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble and Master (all realtime without having to walk back to your amp. CONFIRMATION BIAS of which go to 11 and you know why), then a rotary There’s USB for connecting to a Mac or PC, and All that flexibility wouldn’t mean anything if the encoder with a Push To Select feature for dialling you can load and sent custom impulse responses tone wasn’t up to scratch, and that’s where BIAS in the speaker output, line out, volume, FX send or (IRs) to line outputs exclusively while running into a – in all its forms – really shines it where it counts. headphone level. Around the back, you’ll find the speaker cabinet at the same time. If you’re the kind of player who likes very even

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RRP: $1,176 dynamics, you can configure your sound right down No! Shut up and play your guitar and make the to forget you’re playing through a digital amp to the finest component level in order to get a people dance, damn it!” That may sound restrictive, unless you’re editing sounds (hopefully prior to nice big compressed grind. If you like more air and but it’s not: it puts the focus on the tone so you the gig, not during it). So really, all of these things dynamics in your tone, you can do that too. don’t disappear up your own butt. If that’s what you would just get in the way of what BIAS Mini Guitar Positive Grid has done something very clever really want, you can use the software to achieve it. is meant to be. by keeping all of that extra control away from the But Positive Grid knows that a guitarist’s real job is hardware interface of the amp, because frankly, to sound great and make audiences rock out, not to THE BOTTOM LINE you could lose yourself in all the options. What stand there pressing buttons. If you’ve reached this far into the review, they’ve done instead is included 16 presets that Are there any drawbacks to this system? Well, you already know if this is for you. Do you need run the full gamut from crystal clean to utterly its reverbs sound great, but it would be nice to the flexibility of digital but prefer the tactile pissed off distortion mayhem (with plenty of have more onboard effects. Again, however, that interactivity of a regular amp, and you don’t need great, dynamic ‘in-between’ sounds that clean up would add to the complexity. And if there were two dozen reverse pitch-shifted modulated delays beautifully with guitar volume knob tweaks) with more effects like delay, then you’d probably want at your fingertips? If so, you’ve probably already the most simple amp-style controls, so you can’t stereo outputs, which would complicate things on got a Helix or something of that ilk, and you’re get stuck in edit windows in the middle of a show. the back panel. quite happy. Positive Grid has been very clever It’s almost as if Positive Grid are saying, “Want An LCD screen could be nice, but it would mess in spotting a hole in the digital modelling more treble? Turn the treble knob. Want to change with the intentional illusion of this being a real market, and they’re creating the perfect family your power tubes to EL34 in the middle of a solo? amp. Instead, the idea here is that you’re supposed of products to fill it. TOP 5 FEATURES WHAT WE RECKON CONTACT • 16 amp models PROS CONS LINK AUDIO • Bluethooth connectivity Infinite sound-sculpting possibilities Ph: (03) 8373 4817 • 300-watt power amp Mono only Web: linkaudio.com.au • XLR line out Very lightweight • Bias Pro software included 88 | REVIEWS

LINE 6 POWERCAB 112 PLUS NEED TO AMPLIFY YOUR MODELLER, BUT STANDARD PA SYSTEMS AND POWER AMPS ARE KIND OF UNSATISFYING? LINE 6 HAS THE ANSWER. WORDS BY PETER HODGSON.

here’s something interesting going on in they only mic up the drums and vocals? What if 112 Plus take care of all that for more of an Tthe guitar world. Digital modellers like you just want to jam with your buds in the garage? authentic amp feel. the Line 6 Helix, Fractal Audio Axe-Fx and Well, that’s where the Line 6 Powercab series Powercab isn’t modelling specific cabinet Kemper Profiler are great for low-profile stage comes in: an active speaker system designed to types like a one-by-15 or a four-by-12, but rather setups, so touring bands love them because get your processor up to a neighbour-pissing-off specific speakers, so the idea is that it gives you a hauling around a full amp rig ain’t cheap. Just volume on your terms, not some sound engineer’s. more faithful sonic experience. The speaker types plug your processor into the mixing desk, and It’s designed by guitarists for guitarists, and it’s a included are Vintage 30, Greenback, Creamback, you’re off and shredding. much more elegant system than carting around a P12Q, Swamp Thang and Blue Bell. But at the higher end of the touring budget, power amp and a quaddie. The Powercab 112 Plus has several powerful some bands like to still have real speaker cabs features that advance above the more onstage for the full ‘rock god’ effect – something SPEAK NOW stripped-back Powercab 112, such as a two-inch to make the pants flap and the pickups feed back The Powercab 112 Plus is a one-by-12-inch LCD, 128 user preset locations, MIDI In/Out, when the whole band is wearing in-ear monitors active speaker system designed to deliver an AES/EBU and L6 LINK digital I/O, a multipurpose and the stage volume is down to just drums and authentic ‘amp in the room’ playing experience second input, and a USB audio interface. You can backing vocals. So those players will use power when paired with any modeller. But it’s more than also load up to 128 third party speaker cabinet amps and a range of guitar cabs, defeating the just a powered speaker. Sure, set it to Flat mode impulse responses (IRs). cost benefits of going digital. and you’ll get exactly that: a flat-EQ, faithful The system includes a clean 250-watt power But there’s another segment of the rendition of whatever signal is coming out of your amplifier with a custom hybrid coaxial speaker, modeller-user market that has been criminally processor. But the Powercab 112 Plus takes it a which features the same range and power overlooked until recently: the player who wants step further by offering virtual recreations of six handling capabilities as a PA speaker, but with the sonic benefits of a jillion presets, amps and different speaker types. the rapid transient response of a guitar speaker. effects, but doesn’t have a PA system to blast it The idea is that you bypass the speaker cab This is so the Powercab 112 Plus can give you the through. What if you’re playing a small gig where models in your processor and let the Powercab feel – the push/pull – of playing through a real

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RRP: $1,599

guitar speaker, but also the fidelity and headroom different modellers, including a Line 6 Helix sound of various modelled cabinets, or to use your to accurately reproduce your fancy reverbs and and my trusty old Boss GT-8. Use it in Flat mode modeller’s cabs. I get a feeling a lot of players delays without unpleasant distortion. and it’s more or less like playing your modeller are going to really appreciate the depth and It’s loud as hell, too, reaching a landlord-baiting through a PA or your home studio monitor. It’s personality of the six speaker models onboard, 125-decibel SPL maximum volume. really fun to mess around with the different and might find themselves bypassing their The cabinet itself is constructed of sturdy speaker options and find the one that suits the modeller’s speaker section more often than not. plywood with a curved back for increased rigidity particular musical situation. and decreased weight. In fact, it weighs only 16 Because the unit is MIDI-enabled, you can THE BOTTOM LINE kilograms, which is pretty manageable. There’s program those speaker changes into your device’s This is a very functional unit that does much also a flip-out kickstand for angling it towards presets. Go from a ‘Marshall JCM800 through more than just make your modeller audible. It’s you, whether in the backline or as a monitor at Greenbacks’ type of sound to a ‘Twin through a stage-friendly, easily cartable sound solution the front of the stage. Jensens’ setting at the stomp of a foot. that becomes an actual part of your rig rather Of course, if you want to go much further than than just a speaker. It also looks really cool, and I HAVE THE POWER the inbuilt speaker, there’s also the option of we all know that’s important – even when we I tested the Powercab 112 Plus with a few using onboard IRs in Flat mode to capture the pretend it isn’t. TOP 5 FEATURES WHAT WE RECKON CONTACT • Choice of flat response or six classic guitar speaker models PROS CONS YAMAHA AUSTRALIA • 250-watt amplifier Great speaker models No stereo version on the market (yet) Ph: (03) 9693 5111 • 12-inch custom hybrid coaxial driver Lightweight Web: au.yamaha.com • Curved plywood construction MIDI is great • 128 presets 90 | REVIEWS

SQUIER CONTEMPORARY ACTIVE STRATOCASTER HH HOW MUCH GUITAR CAN YOU GET FOR A GRAND WHEN IT SAYS SQUIER ON THE HEADSTOCK? QUITE A LOT, IT TURNS OUT! WORDS BY PETER HODGSON.

ack in the ‘80s, Fender offered a really everything we’ve learned about shred guitars since The pickups are active ceramic humbuckers, Bfun guitar line called the Contemporary the ‘80s and applies it to a truly capable and classy somewhat EMG-like with a standard three-position Stratocaster, produced in Japan and offering lookin’ rock and metal guitar. blade switch and Master Volume and Master Tone humbuckers and locking tremolos. They were crazy controls. There’s no coil-splitting option, though amounts of fun (although some of the bridges BE ONE OF THE POPLAR KIDS I feel like this guitar is made for distortion, not offered were better than others), and they helped The body is made of poplar – not the most clean tones. Any clean tones you do find yourself to keep Fender relevant in a changing market obvious choice for a Stratocaster, but a good using with this axe are likely to be of the Slayer, where everyone wanted ‘Superstrats’ with names piece of poplar can be a great guitar wood. I have “Something evil is about to happen” variety, rather like Ibanez, Jackson and Kramer on the headstock. a Buddy Blaze seven-string prototype made of than a country twang or bluesy spank. If you want Now, the Contemporary name is back on a poplar, which has a really unique harmonic profile: those tones, you shouldn’t be looking at this guitar. range of high-quality Squier Stratocasters and tight bass, crisp highs and prominent, vocal upper It’s also worth noting that in the earliest day Telecasters, most of which retail at $899 and mids. It reminds me of when you add a thick maple days of Squier, the brand was known for great, feature fixed (in the case of the Tele) or non- top to basswood, like on a Music Man Axis or EVH high-quality instruments. Over the years, the locking (Strat) bridges, with the exception of the Wolfgang. I immediately noticed the same kind of brand has been known for more affordable, Contemporary Active Stratocaster HH, which has a snap and sing from this Squier, although in this entry-level guitars, but over the last decade or Floyd Rose tremolo and a pair of specially designed case, we’ve got a rosewood fingerboard instead of so, Squier has really moved back into pro-quality active humbuckers and comes in at an RRP of $999. the ebony of my Blaze. instruments. Proof of that is in the use of an actual This isn’t just a Squier-ized retread of the The body and neck are finished in satin Floyd Rose tremolo in this model instead of a ‘80s Contemporary Stratocasters, though – that polyurethane, giving the guitar a more metal-esque licensed unit – but hardware choice alone doesn’t wouldn’t be very contemporary, would it? This look, and the neck finish is natural satin too for tell the full story. Squier has stepped up its game model has a reversed ‘70s-style headstock with a smooth feel. There are 22 frets instead of the as guitar-making technology has progressed, and a slim C-shaped neck profile, 12-inch fingerboard traditional Stratocaster 21, and the hardware is the brand is worth a serious second look if you radius and narrow-tall frets. In short, it takes black chrome-plated. haven’t played one in a while.

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RRP: $999

STRATUS REPORT clean tones available when both pickups are used Floyd hate are over, man), there’s a little bit of It’s eerie how much this guitar feels like a together – it’s not quite an indie jangle, but you’ll a learning curve to changing strings. But just Fender rather than a Squier instrument. The neck get plenty of mileage out of ‘em if needed. remember: if you break a string with a Floyd, is super comfortable, as is the setup. A sculpted These pickups respond well to picking strength you can just unwind a little more string from the neck joint would have been nice for those really and fretting-hand phrasing, but the downside is headstock and lock it back into the bridge. Try widdly notes, but that’s a minor niggle. Sonically, that if your playing is a little less fancy, this guitar that with a Les Paul! the bridge pickup is quite sharp and crunchy – might sound a little more dull with the stock certainly not as dark as I might have expected pickups. I can imagine a lot of players upgrading THE BOTTOM LINE from an ‘own-brand’ pickup. It has some really these pickups to EMG or Fishman actives – not It’s clear that this is a really well-made, great- great pick attack that cuts through even insane necessarily because the stock pickups themselves playing guitar with perfectly usable pickups: a levels of gain, and it has a nice edge to it when lack anything, but because it’s already such a little bit of an upgrade down the line would really played clean too, if that’s your thing. solid guitar that a little investment in new pickups push this guitar up another level, but it’s not Flip to the neck pickup, and the guitar takes would push it into some really unique territory. exactly a slouch as it is. And it really does tap on a noodly character that’s especially effective The Floyd Rose holds its tuning as reliably into the spirit of those original Contemporary for sweep picking or other super fast techniques. as ever. If you’ve never used a Floyd (and it’s Stratocasters, while learning from where those There are actually some pretty sweet, dynamic 2018, so what’s the hold-up!? The days of ‘90s guitars didn’t quite get it right. TOP 5 FEATURES WHAT WE RECKON CONTACT • Poplar body PROS CONS FENDER AUSTRALIA • Active Squier pickups Great tuning stability Ph: (02) 9666 5077 • 12-inch fretboard radius Pickups aren’t quite EMGs or Fishmans Web: fender.com.au • Real Floyd Rose tremolo Super fast neck • 22 frets 92 | REVIEWS

FAITH VENUS NATURAL SERIES JUST ANOTHER AUDITORIUM? WE’LL SEE... WORDS BY STEVE HENDERSON

he auditorium guitar is a venerable design “Oh, another auditorium” balanced with a a subtle volute behind the nut that is almost Tthat has stood the test of time. It’s been heartfelt, “Nice rosette!” unnoticeable. It feels very stable, too, even tuning around way longer than the dreadnought So, still in its case, I casually raked the strings down to Drop D, then Drop C, then the whole has, and while overshadowed for a few decades, and this wonderfully balanced sound leapt out. lot down a tone from Standard. The Venus just the model has seen a revival in the last 20 years The volume is remarkable but, as is its tonality. doesn’t seem to mind. or so due to acoustic music making a comeback. Picking it up (still ringing, by the way), it feels The spruce top doesn’t either, delivering rich Before the 1940s, when the dreadnought really lighter than expected. The solid Englemann top low notes no matter the tuning and without took off, the auditorium (like Martin’s 000 and shows a soft, straight grain with plenty of silking. any flubbiness or wolf tones. Complex chords Gibson’s L-00) was the guitar of choice for tone The solid mahogany body is light and resonant, have great note definition: try an open-string E and projection. In fact, prior to the ‘30s, it was and slightly deeper than a 000. The mahogany minor 11 (kind of like a B minor over E) and you’ll the largest flattop available. neck has a confident feel, the macassar ebony hear each string speak without any negative fretboard feels great, and the rosewood bridge interaction with the next. Raise the root note to a ONE IN A MILLION and headstock overlay add an extra layer of C, and there’s still plenty of clarity. During the 1990s, acoustic music underwent class. And speaking of class, the gold Grovers The bass notes are tight and defined. There’s no a major resurgence, probably in reaction to the with ebony buttons and the beautifully rendered subsonic thump, so if that’s what you’re looking dark days of the synthesised ‘80s. But the guitar abalone rosette are nice touches. for, you might fare better with a dreadnought. of choice was generally a dreadnought, until There’s a three-dimensional refinedness to Clapton and a few other started performing CRYSTAL CLEAR the tone that causes the fundamental to ring with 000s and such. These days, everyone Playing the Venus is like meeting an old friend. clearly, followed by the octave and fifth above makes a 000-style guitar, from entry level The neck has a familiar, lived-in feel and the harmonics (those first two critical notes from the brands to Martin’s 000-45 and Olson’s custom generous ebony fretboard and polished frets harmonic series) that quickly bloom out of that models. So when I opened the case of this Faith offer no resistance – negotiating this neck is fundamental. This happens even with fretted acoustic, there were mixed feelings: a laconic, a pleasure. It has a comfortable D-shape with notes all along the neck.

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RRP: $1,595

This means chords have a complex harmonic becomes more complex as it sustains. In a band but that’s not the point) and it adds some extra structure. They’re rich and vibrant, and upper situation, the guitar is light and comfy to move style to the overall appearance. fret partials combined with open strings work around with, and the smaller body lowers the incredibly well on the Venus. Even down the neck, feedback threshold. THE BOTTOM LINE chords like Bb Maj7 #11 display no harmonic Plugged in, the Fishman INK3 preamp and The Venus has a satin finish everywhere except clash. All over the neck, fretted notes interact under saddle pickup do a fine job of accurately the top, which is glossed. This is not just for the sweetly with open strings, and the string-to-string representing the acoustic sound. I used a Fishman cosmetic bonus: a gloss soundboard reduces the intonation is perfect. Loudbox Mini and a Fishman SA220 to test the noise of forearms brushing top when strumming pickup tone, and both gave an excellent account and finger movement when fingerpicking. I AM VENUS, HEAR ME ROAR! of the Venus’ unplugged sound. Personally, I think every guitar should have a The Venus has a surprisingly high level of If you’re a fingerstylist, the Venus may be just gloss top just for these reasons – the Venus is a projection. Yeah, it’s loud, but it’s also a quality what you’re looking for. It has an articulate neck clear example of a gloss top’s benefits. sound. When strummed, the Venus compresses and fingerboard combination, and the smaller The Venus comes in a stylish arched case, just a little, then delivers the full tone. This body means a more comfortable right-hand which you’ll need because you’ll want to take it doesn’t mean there’s any latency, though – on the position. The cutaway offers freedom of access to everywhere. The Faith Venus is an exceptional contrary, the Venus delivers its tone fast, and it those higher positions (which you may hardly use, example of the luthier’s art. TOP 5 FEATURES WHAT WE RECKON CONTACT • Glossed spruce top PROS CONS CMC MUSIC • Gold Grovers with ebony buttons and abalone rosette Richtones They said I couldn’t keep it Ph: (02) 9905 2511 • Ebony fretboard Plenty of volume Web: cmcmusic.com.au • D-shape neck Plays effortlessly • Mahogany body, slightly deeper than a 000 94 | REVIEWS

MORLEY MAN FX CLIFF BURTON FUZZ BOX MORLEY TAKES THEIR ICONIC FUZZ SOUND – AS USED BY METALLICA BASS LEGEND CLIFF BURTON – AND SPLITS IT OFF FROM THE WAH-WAH THAT IT USUALLY RIDES WITH. PETER HODGSON ASKS THE VITAL QUESTION: DOES IT STAND ON ITS OWN?

he sounds that Metallica bassist Cliff Burton killer-sounding pedal, but Morley realised they were Okay, so it’s not compact. But what is it? It’s a Twrung out of his Rickenbacker and Aria onto something special with the fuzz circuit, which re-housing of the fuzz from the Power Fuzz Wah, with basses through his Morley fuzz wah in the often gets overlooked due to the monstrous power the same Intensity and Vintage/Modern controls, band’s early days ignited a revolution. As precise of the wah. So now, with the blessing of Burton’s but in this case, Morley has turned the Vintage/ and powerful as Burton’s clean tone was, it was estate, they’ve taken the fuzz circuit, wrenched Modern switch into a chunky footswitch instead of a on tracks like “For Whom The Bell Tolls” and it away from the wah and released it as the Cliff little toggle switch. They’ve also added a Tone knob “(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth” that Burton cemented Burton Fuzz Box by Morley Man FX. for shaping the character of the fuzz and tailoring his metal legacy; these were standout bass First thing’s first: I’m not sure I buy Morley’s it more to your personal sound. And there’s a Level moments where his tone took on all the aggression marketing angle that “if you’re looking for Cliff control for matching the dirty volume to your clean of his six-string chums, and then some. Just think of Burton’s growly Fuzz tone, but don’t need the Wah one, or slamming a tube preamp with extra power the iconic footage on the Cliff ‘Em All tribute film: – or don’t have the space on your pedalboard for for even more grind. It’s housed in a cold-rolled steel Burton really owned those sounds, those effects, a footpedal – this is all you need. The Cliff Burton case with a Quick-Clip battery compartment on the those licks and those spotlight moments. Fuzz Box simply gives you the Fuzz side of the Power bottom (or a nine-volt power supply, not included), Fuzz Wah in a compact stomp box.” This thing isn’t and is hand-built in Carey, Illinois. CLIFF NOTES compact. It’s about the size of a VHS cassette, so Morley released the Cliff Burton Tribute Series there’s no way to apply the word ‘compact’ to this FOR WHOM THE FUZZ GROWLS Power Fuzz Wah a little while ago, taking inspiration unit when there are pedals out there as tiny as Since Morley recommends this pedal for guitar from the ‘70s Power Fuzz Wah that Burton used Mooer’s range of mini stompers and the like. I think and bass, I tried it with both, and through a variety with Metallica. It incorporates independent wah a more appropriate way to market this pedal is of amps. As a bass fuzz, the Vintage mode goes and fuzz sections, and is voiced to be able to handle something like, “This thing is chunky and solid as hell, from a really satisfying treble toothiness to a any instrument: guitar, bass – hell, Morley even and there’s no way you’ll miss it because it takes up chunky distortion, then to a really extreme, angry, recommended plugging a keyboard into it. It’s a the width of about three regular pedals!” stoner-approved fuzz with more dirt and filth than

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RRP: $239

you’ll ever need. Flip it into Modern mode and it you tame some of the hairiness for a smoother and Sure, you can get some great vintage tones by has a clearer type of distortion. It’s really great warmer sound, or crank it right up for much more of running into a clean channel and using some to have the two on hand (or at your feet) with the an aggressive sizzle. more moderate fuzz Intensity settings, but to be footswitch, because you can go from a clean tone to And it’s a monster on the guitar. The folks at completely honest, it’s just more fun to let this pedal Modern mode for a big distorted metal or rock riff, Australian Morley distributors Innovative Music get really ugly. And it goes without saying that it has then kick in the Vintage mode for a really pissed off recommended trying it into an already overdriven no problem handling the low notes on a seven-string. vintage fuzz vibe. amp, so I dialled in my best crunch tone on a Once you get up to those more extreme Intensity Marshall DSL50 clean channel (which reaches THE BOTTOM LINE levels, this pedal seems to perform more or less the JCM800 levels of grind when pushed), strapped Those who are seeking to emulate Burton’s iconic same regardless of which pickup you use or what on an Ormsby SX GTR seven-string and let ‘er rip. tones would probably rather stick with his signature kind of bass you’re playing – but it’ll reveal some Again, the two modes provide similar levels of tight Fuzz Wah – after all, how else are you going to play nice subtleties at lower Intensity levels. And it’s (Modern) and loose (Vintage) fuzz tones, but when the “Bells” intro? But if you’re after a bass fuzz that great when used in a split signal chain with a clean recontextualised by the guitar and running into an can go from edgy to goddamn filthy, and that you can tone and this growling monster side by side. The already overdriven preamp, this thing sounds part maybe forge your own signature sound out of, this Tone control is a great addition to the circuit, letting Mastodon, part Sleep and all brutal. one will do it for you. TOP 5 FEATURES WHAT WE RECKON CONTACT • Vintage/Modern footswitch PROS CONS INNOVATIVE MUSIC • Exclusive tone control Flexible sound options Ph: (03) 9540 0658 • Great for guitar or bass Sizeable footprint! Web: innovativemusic.com.au • Sturdy steel housing Equally suitable for guitar or bass • Approved by Cliff’s father Mode footswitch is very useful 96 | REVIEWS

CORT CLASSIC TC WHEN ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST EXPERIENCED MAINSTREAM GUITAR MAKERS TEAMS UP WITH ONE OF THE FINEST CUSTOM LUTHIERS, COOL STUFF IS BOUND TO HAPPEN. WORDS BY PETER HODGSON.

he case of Cort Guitars is a very interesting While the M-Jet is designed with high-output until you get up close and notice how finely they Tone. Over the years, the company has made pickups for heavier styles, the model on review guide the break angle of the string to eliminate guitars not just for their own brand, but also here is the Classic TC, which is available in Scotch extraneous noises and enhance intonation accuracy as an OEM supplier plenty of other big names such Blonde Natural and Ice Blue Metallic finishes. and height adjustment. as Ibanez, G&L and Squier. These aren’t just any stock standard OEM pickups, Their Parkwood line of acoustics was eventually CORT ON THE RUN either: Manson designed and voiced them with the spun off into its own brand, and more recently, The Classic TC is designed from the ground up goal of making sure they go beyond the standard Tele the company has partnered with luthier Hugh by Manson and his team in the UK, and it screams sound you may expect, pushing things into a little Manson of Manson Guitar Works, perhaps “custom guitar” with a series of very distinctive more of a modern direction with the understanding most famously known for the instruments he design tweaks. Manson himself worked on the that players who buy this guitar will most likely spend has crafted for Muse’s Matt Bellamy and Led body styling, with a specially sculpted tummy as much time running through overdrive or fuzz as Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones. cut on the back of the guitar which is designed they will through a pristine clean setup. Cort has never really tried to establish any one for maximum comfort, while also minimising the The other major tweak here, compared to standard shape as its definitive model, but since Manson amount of wood removed. Ditto for the forearm designs, is a spoke nut hotrod truss rod which is came on board with the Matt Bellamy series a contour, which isn’t as steep as on some guitars, adjusted at the body end of the neck. It’s similar to few years ago, Manson’s vaguely Tele-ish outline but is more carefully angled. the method those at Ernie Ball Music Man employ. has become a little more closely associated with The control plate and hardware aren’t your The body is made of ash with a Canadian hard Cort. They’ve now partnered on a new line in the standard off-the-shelf Tele type; there’s a three-way maple neck and a rosewood or jatoba fingerboard, form of the Classic TC and the M-Jet, which are blade switch inbetween the volume with a compound radius that goes from a slightly not exactly re-spec’d Bellamy models – the outlines and tone pots, and Manson even specified the exact curved 12-inches at the first fret to a noticeably more look a little more squeezed and rounded than the travel distance of the switch. A similar shred-friendly 15.75-inches at the 22nd fret. The guitars in that series – but are still quite clearly level of attention was paid to the bridge saddles, scale length is your standard 25.5-inches, and the Manson-derived. which might look pretty standard from a glance, fingerboard inlays are simple dots.

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RRP: $799

THE HAUNTED MANSON extremely reactive to your picking and phrasing intentionally designed to remove specific areas True to Manson’s intensions, the Classic TC choices, in that “I’m a session player for Steely of drag, so that the lower bout can gently weigh sounds a hair more modern than a traditional Dan” kind of way. And the tone control is really the guitar down into a more ergonomic and Telecaster; the pickups feel a little higher-powered effective and musical. natural position. and more controlled in the treble range. The middle The neck is also ridiculously fast. Traditional pickup selector setting is particularly fun, with a Telecasters can be somewhat punishing for THE BOTTOM LINE perfectly balanced mix of neck-pickup smokiness players who are used to more modern guitars, Although a lot of players tend to think of Cort as a and bridge-pickup spank. but the Classic TC really takes care of that with budget brand, their association with Manson seems The neck pickup sounds a little dark by itself, the compound radius and superbly finished frets. to have lifted their profile and market perception. which is common for Tele-style pickups, and is And again, in keeping with Manson’s design This is a very versatile instrument that’s very maybe better suited to clean and semi-dirty tones requirements, the forearm contour and tummy cut much suited to advanced players as well as those rather than a really in-your-face noodly neck are very comfortable. on a budget. And while it’s priced well above the pickup. You can get a bit of that bluesy edge by It’s also a nicely balanced guitar to play sitting typical beginner’s entry point, it would be a heck of digging really hard with the pick, too. down or standing up. In fact, it’s almost like the a guitar for those willing to splash a little extra cash But the bridge pickup is the real star here. It’s forearm contour and treble-side cutaway are for their first electric. TOP 5 FEATURES WHAT WE RECKON CONTACT • Ash body PROS CONS DYNAMIC MUSIC • Custom-designed pickups Really, reallyplayable neck Ph: (02) 9939 1299 • Compound radius fretboard None Web: dynamicmusic.com.au • Custom bridge saddles Uniquely voiced pickups • 22 frets 98 | FINAL NOTE

HOT TROPIC IN WHICH ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S MOST COMPELLING ARTISTS FINDS NEW INSPIRATION WITH YOUNG BLOOD, PITCH PEDALS AND THE LEAST RADIO-FRIENDLY NAME IN THE INDUSTRY. WORDS BY ANDREW P STREET (ESPECIALLY ALL THE CUSSING). PHOTO BY JAMIE WDZIEKONSKI.

ith Tropical F*** Storm, the clue is in up on drum machines, like that riff in the choruses of garde composers that no-one’s ever heard of.’” Wthe name. There’s something distinctly ‘Soft Power’ – that was made up on a drum machine The excitement in the band is not merely humid, carnal and aggressive about the through a weird Eventide PitchFactor pedal.” compositional, though. The Drones’ first gig was band, and despite Gareth Liddiard (of The Drones So what were the key toys for the album? “You in 1997, and Liddiard is thoroughly enjoying re- fame) having been at this rock’n’roll game for over know Teenage Engineering? They’re a company experiencing the thrill of doing things for the first 20 years, he’s clearly not expecting this band to be from Scandinavia – they make the OP-1 synthesiser time through his younger bandmates. the fortune-making commercial breakthrough. and these drum machines, which are like 80 f***ing “Hannah and Erica, they’re 30 and 32. They’re And if A Laughing Death In Meatspace shares a bucks and they’re amazing,” he testifies with the keen and they’re free and it’s all novel for them. lot of DNA with The Drones thanks to the presence zeal of a religious convert. “They’re the size of a Like, if we go and play at the f***ing Fillmore in of Liddiard and bassist Fiona Kitschin, it’s DNA in little calculator and they take you down strange little San Francisco they’re like, ‘Holy shit!’ We’ve done it the sense of splatter patterns around a crime scene. passages that you’d otherwise never go down.” before with The Drones, and it’s great, but it’s kind That’s largely because of the influence of Packet drum machines are not necessarily the of like, ‘Oh, cool.’ They’re just kind of jaded.” drummer Lauren Hammell (High Tension) and inspiration that you’d expect for a man best known Which leads to the obvious question: what’s the Harmony vocalist Erica Dunn on guitar, who for tearing animal howls out of his Jaguar, but as status of Liddiard and Kitschin’s main gig? together push the band in strange directions. If far as Liddiard is concerned, it’s the same impulse. “It’s on hold because Steve [Hesketch, keys] and single “You Let My Tyres Down” could plausibly be “Back in the ‘90s, we were trying to figure out a Chris [Strybosch, drums] have kids – two kids each a Drones song, the same couldn’t be said of the weird way to do shit, and now it’s become easier. and mortgages and other jobs,” he shrugs. “So it’s aggressive, nightmarish hip hop of “Soft Power or It’s just wild: we can make album after album after just too hard. It’s not impossible, but it takes a lot the mosquito riffs of “The Future Of History”. album of weird and wacky shit, and people are of pushing to get the wheels turning.” “The approach is just to try not to do anything more up for it these days.” Speaking as the father of a 18 month old, I normal,” Liddiard explains. “So we’ve used drum Why is that? “Well, the upside of the internet can’t begin to imagine how parents do anything machines and just strange kinds of sequencing is that kids are exposed to crazy shit, y’know? creative under any circumstances. “Oh, it’s full on, stuff, just to get ideas, and then we learn how to So if you do something completely left of centre, man. I mean, having a day job, and then having play them on our actual instruments.” they’ll be ready for it. In the ‘90s, I remember proper rehearsals, and then going on tour and His argument is that “if you sort of make listening to Wu Tang and my rock’n’roll friends were recording... It’s a lot. So yeah, it’s definitely not something up on the guitar, you end up making up a bamboozled. I was like, ‘Man, this is just popular done, we’ve just put it on ice for a while. We’re just standard guitar riff, most of the time. Your hands go f***ing western music! This isn’t even the Moroccan waiting for the f***ing kids to move out, and then to those shapes. Some of our guitar lines are made shit I listen to, or the 1920s Jazz, or the weird avant we’ll get back into it!”

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