2016 Premier Guitar

We all know the usual suspects when it comes to amps that bring the heavy, but for those who want something crazier—something more off the combat-boot-beaten path—our cover story takes a look at obscure amps that absolutely destroy. Meanwhile, PG Bass Bench blogger Heiko Hoepfinger takes us inside The Holy Grail Guitar Show, an annual gathering of top luthiers that’s fast becoming the most talked about and respected guitar-gear gathering in Europe. Artist interviews this month include Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine and Dave Ellefson, Shana Cleveland from wicked Seattle surf-rock outfit La Luz, flattop fingerstyle master Mark Goldenberg and jazz guru Eric Skye, Jazzmaster-wielding sonic agitator Ava Mendoza, and Tortoise’s Jeff Parker. Our latest Forgotten Heroes piece celebrates the amazing and irresistibly funky life of Kool & the Gang co-founder and bassist Robert “Kool” Bell. Gear reviews this month include the new PRS SE 277 baritone, the Ibanez Talman TM330, MXR’s new EVH 5150 Overdrive, the Carr Lincoln combo, Fender’s new Acoustic SFX amp, the Catalinbread Katzenkönig, DLS Effects’ RotoSPIN, Ampeg’s PF-50T, Mojo Hand Fx’s El Guapo, Providence’s Bass Boot Comp, the Siegmund Doppler Stereo combo, TC Electronic’s Hypergravity, DryBell’s Vibe Machine, Sire’s Marcus Miller signature 4-string, and a roundup of the latest loop-switchers from Boss, RJM Music, and Carl Martin.

Our annual pedalboards of the stars issue gives you an up-close-and-personal look at the coolest stomp stations from Billy Gibbons, Eagles of Death Metal, Slipknot, John Fogerty, Heart, Between the Buried and Me, My Morning Jacket, and Best Coast. We’ve also got a MIDI-guitar primer by Avi Bortnick—who incorporates a laptop into his rig onstage with jazz legend John Scofield—that shows you how to get started with minimal cost and surprising ease. In our interviews section this month we talk to Ben Monder and Tim Lefebvre about the sessions for David Bowie’s farewell masterpiece, as well as speak with Anthrax’s Scott Ian and Jonathan Donais (formerly of Shadows Fall), Gemma Thompson from London-based post-punk outfit Savages, Brad Shultz and Daniel Tichenor from Cage the Elephant, Sun Club’s Mikey Powers and Shane McCord, and Ride’s Andy Bell and Mark Gardener. Gear reviews this month include the Music Man St. Vincent, the PRS SE A15AL Alex Lifeson thinline acoustic, Dr. Z’s Z-Lux, Mesa/Boogie’s Subway D-800 bass head, the Dusky D20 head, ThorpyFx’s Muffroom Cloud, F-Pedal’s Eddie Kramer-designed PhazeVibe Lite, Dr. No’s RoadRunner Octave Fuzz Wah, and more.

Looking for your next gear fix? Our cover story this month takes you inside the Winter 2016 NAMM show to give you a look at the most intriguing new guitars, basses, amps, effects, and accessories to keep your eyes peeled for at your local shop.
Meanwhile, our review lineup assesses 13 new tone toys, including Fender’s Jimi Hendrix Strat, Warwick’s Adam Clayton signature bass, the MXR Carbon Copy Bright, Allen Eden’s 1987 solidbody, the Radial Headload, Ventura Valve Amplifiers’ VVA50, the Echopark F-1 Dual Germanium fuzz, Magnetic Effects White Atom, Bergantino’s B|Amp, and Tyyster’s Pelti 12-string. Our artist features this issue includechats with Stephen Carpenter and Chino Moreno of Deftones, Ben Harper, Wolfmother’s Andrew Stockdale, Lucinda Williams and Bill Frisell, jazz guitarist Liberty Ellman, and John Jorgenson. We’ve also got a roundtable discussion with Parliament-Funkadelic’s George Clinton and guitarists Michael Hampton (aka Kidd Funkadelic), Dewayne “Blackbyrd” McKnight, and Ricky Rouse about the seminal funk outfit’s history and the gear, techniques, and musical approaches on their R&B masterpieces. To top things off, we offer tips and tricks on how to create quality recordings on the go with your phone, tablet, or laptop.

Twice a year we bring you a slew of guitar-modding projects to sate your DIY appetite. This time around we’ve got an entry-level piece on the dos and don’ts of building a parts guitar, a how-to on optimizing acoustic and electric guitar for lap-slide playing, and experimental builder Yuri Landman’s drone-guitar project for former Sonic Youth axe man Thurston Moore. Plus, we also have our usual gallery of readers’ DIY projects! In our artist section this month we climb aboard the Axes & Anchors rock cruise—which boasts performances by Yngwie Malmsteen, Zakk Wylde, Marty Friedman, Alex Skolnick, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, and more—to take you behind the scenes on perhaps the most shredding boat ride ever. We also talk to Adam Hann from up-and-coming British neo-New Wave outfit the 1975, American Primitive acoustic guitarist Glenn Jones, and acclaimed Malian songwriter/guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Rokia Traoré. As for gear, our 13 reviews include two cool new reissues—Hagstrom’s Impala, and the Boss VB-2W Waza Craft Vibrato—T-Rex’s remarkable new Replicator tape delay, Vintage’s Jerry Donahue signature T-style guitar, Blackstar’s Artist 15, the Henriksen Bud amp, Line 6’s Helix multi-effector, and the Eastwood Surfcaster bass. We also take a look at unusual gadgets that really deliver—sometimes even saving the day.

In our cover story this issue, we talk to Tal Wilkenfeld, the young bassist who gained worldwide attention backing Jeff Beck, about her stunning stylistic development as singer-songwriter, guitarist, and bandleader. Other artist features include chats with recent Rock Roll Hall of Fame inductees Rick Nielsen, Tom Petersson, and Robin Zander of Cheap Trick, as well as jazz virtuoso Julian Lage, Asking Alexandria’s Ben Bruce and Cameron Liddell, world-music-bass-goddess-turned-vocalist/songwriter Esperanza Spalding, and former Hüsker Dü frontman Bob Mould. The latest in our Forgotten Heroes series looks at the ongoing, astonishingly prodigious career of studio ace Reggie Young—whose credits include stints with Elvis, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and countless other legends. Meanwhile, DrowningInGuitars.com’s Frank Meyers—one of the world’s foremost experts on quirky vintage gear—takes us back in time to the 1960s amp-in-guitar craze. Our gear reviews include a roundup of six new dirt boxes—Mojo Hand Fx’s Sacred Cow, J Coloccia’s Id, Oddfellow’s the Bishop, the Zen Zero Red Crown, and Pettyjohn’s PettyDrive—in addition to reviews of Fender’s new Bassbreaker 45 and American Elite Precision bass, the Electro-Harmonix Super Pulsar, IK Multimedia’s iRig Acoustic, Cusack Music’s Reverb SME, Strymon’s Dig, the Dean Zelinsky LaVoce Z-Glide Custom, Blackstar’s Artist 15 combo, the Darkglass Microtubes B7K Ultra, the Pigtronix Echolution2 Ultra Pro, and 3Leaf Audio’s WonderLove envelope filter.

This month our gear reviews include a killer array of acoustic tone toys—from Martin’s D Jr. to the Cole Clark CCFL2EC, Taylor’s 562ce, and parlor flattops from Fender and Ibanez, and DiMarzio’s new Black Angel soundhole pickup—as well as Marshall’s JCM 25/50 2555X Silver Jubilee head, the Ethos Clean-Fusion preamp, L.R. Baggs’ Stadium bass DI, Schroeder Amplification’s SA9+, the Keeley ME-8 Multi-Echo, SolidGoldFX’s Horizon, and Mike Lull’s TXB4 bass. Meanwhile, in our interviews section, famed record producers Zeuss (Rob Zombie, Hatebreed), and Steve Evetts (the Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die) offer tips and tricks for recording crushing guitar tones, while Paul Gilbert, Nigerian Tuareg guitarist Bombino, Lukas Nelson (country icon Willie Nelson’s son), neo-bluegrass renegade Michael Daves, genre-spanning veteran Gary Lucas, Jeremy Earl and Jarvis Taveniere from folk-rock outfit Woods, and world-music guitar guru Adam Rudolph dissect the songwriting, recording, and gear behind their latest albums.

To kick off our annual Amp Issue, we’ve enlisted Tim Schroeder of Schroeder Amplification (whose clients include Nels Cline and Jeff Tweedy) to show you crucial things to consider before adding a previously owned amp to your arsenal. We also take you inside Hi-Tone Amplification, a Columbus, Indiana, outfit that’s making painstaking handwired clones of vintage Hiwatt amps with the exclusive endorsement of the family of the legendary U.K. brand’s late founder, Dave Reeves. We also review three new guitar amps—the EVH 5150 III LBX, Supro Black Magick, and Laney GH50R—as well as two powerful new bass rigs, Peavey’s MiniMEGA and Genzler’s Magellan 800. Our artist features this issue include chats with J Mascis and Lou Barlow from Dinosaur Jr., Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart from bluesy avant-garage duo the Kills, Duke Erikson and Steve Marker of electro-pop outfit Garbage, seminal punk guitarist East Bay Ray of Dead Kennedys, and Jeremy Earl and Jarvis Taveniere from psych-folk band Woods. We’ve even got a lesson from senior editor Andy Ellis on how to adapt to the new techniques, tools, and fingerings needed to make a foray into the high lonesome aural wonderland of lap steel. Our review section is rounded out with looks at the PHred DockStar Flame Maple, Matthews Effects’ Astronomer reverb, Walrus Audio’s Vanguard phaser, the Chase Bliss Spectre flanger, Red Panda’s Bitmap, the Gretsch Streamliner G2622T, Fredric’s Deeply Unpleasant Companion, and the Providence Heat Blaster.

PG scoured the floor at the annual Summer NAMM gear expo in Nashville, and our cover story this issue shares the deets on the most enticing new guitars, basses, amps, effects, and doodads to watch for at your local shop. In other gear coverage, our reviews section includes a practice-amp roundup that gives you the straight dirt on five new combos—the Marshall CODE 25, Vox AV30, Ibanez TSA5TVR, Orange Crush 35RT, and Roland Blues Cube—as well as reviews of Fender’s new American Elite Telecaster, Peavey’s revamped Classic 30, Schecter’s Michael Anthony signature 4-string, the Alvarez Delta00TSB, Source Audio’s Nemesis, the Alexander La Calavera, EarthQuaker Devices’ Spatial Delivery, the Ashdown RM-500-EVO, Ibanez’s Mini Chorus, Jim Dunlop’s Mini Volume, Electro-Harmonix Bass Preacher, and more. Meanwhile, our interviews this month include chats with Les Claypool and Sean Lennon, Bjarte Lund Rolland and Maciek Ofstad from Norwegian metal outfit Kvelertak, former Black Crowe Rich Robinson, Thrice’s Dustin Kensrue and Teppei Teranishi, Eric Krasno, and Scandinavian experimental guitarist Stian Westerhus.

The vaunted annual Pedal Issue returns! This year it sports an amazing cover by noted French illustrator/guitarist/stompbox-junkie McBess, as well as 33 guitar- and bass-pedal reviews by our astute team of pedal addicts. But that’s not all—we also take you inside the wacky labs where the folks at Union Tube & Transistor, Chase Bliss Audio, Hungry Robot, Fuzzrocious, Mantic Conceptual, Cusack Music, 3Leaf Audio, and Darkglass zap unicorns with shrink rays to put clangorous tones in little metal boxes. Meanwhile, our artist interviews this month include chats with Rage Against the Machine and Prophets of Rage bassist Tim Commerford, Screaming Females’ Marissa Paternoster and “King” Mike Abbate, jazz maestro Charlie Hunter, possessed Australian bluesman C.W. Stoneking, and Deerhoof’s John Dieterich and Ed Rodríguez. We also visit with the brain trust behind Recovery Unplugged, Jail Guitar Doors, and other rehab centers that have found success using guitar and musical activities to help patients overcome substance addiction. And finally, our latest Forgotten Heroes piece recounts the rich life and legacy of the father of free-jazz guitar, Sonny Sharrock.

This month our “Echoes from the Garage” cover story examines not just at the seminal bands, guitarists, and gear from the ’60s garage-rock movement, but also looks at the effect they had on subsequent rock forms from the ’70s to today. In other artist coverage, shred lords Steve Vai and Devin Townsend interview each other about their latest releases, Modern Primitive / Passion & Warfare and Transcendence, respectively. We also talk to Pixies’ Joey Santiago and bassist Paz Lenchantin, bluesman Dex Romweber, Stargazer Lilies’ John Cep and Kim Field, Steve Rothery from storied U.K. prog outfit Marillion, and Stephen Egerton from legendary SoCal punk quartet Descendents. We’ve also got a feature lesson by gypsy-jazz scholar Michael Horowitz on the essential elements of Django Reinhardt’s groundbreaking style. Our gear reviews this month include in-depth looks at the retro-vibed Danelectro ’64 and Guild S-200 T-Bird 6-strings, as well as Fender’s new Mustang PJ bass, the Tremulator Plus, Bogner’s new Goldfinger 54 Phi head and 2x12, the Parson 1975HW head, Experimental Noize’s Aphazing, Taurus’ Stomp-Head 5.CE, Mu-Fx’s Boostron 3, the Cort 5B Plus AS bass, CopperSound’s Telegraph Stutter, TC Electronic’s WireTap Riff Recorder, and Journey Instruments’ OB660 bass.