PaulGilbert

GEAR REVIEWS INTERVIEWS GUITAR LESSONS
THE GUITAR PLAYER’S BIBLE
www.guitarist.co.uk | £5.50 | December 2011
CD
INSIDE
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO
GEAR DEMOS
LESSONS
ISSUE 349
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW &
FEATURE FILM PREVIEW
Backstage
with the King
Of The Blues
Paul Gilbert
On Mr Big & playing
really, really fast
ROGER McGUINN
KENNY WAYNE
SHEPHERD
REVIEWED
Holey Guitar!
teaches you to play
£5.50
Fretlight
FG-421
The guitar that
DECEMBER 2011
New Ibanez
Premium series!
Line 6 DT25
EVH Wolfgang
Fender Blacktop
Strat HH FR
Fractal Axe-FX II
Jackson Ampworks
Pete Turner resonator
Nik Huber Orca DSB
Manson
Works #006
Guitar +
= Record
No soundproofing required, just the HT-1’s unique 1 Watt
valve push-pull circuitry and stunning speaker emulated
output. If you want harmonically rich valve tone on your
recordings, it’s an easy equation.
CD Contents
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Theincredibleguitar
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Handsonwiththis
greatoverdrive
Larrivée 000-3 Ltd
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Hear the gear, see the gear,
become a better player!
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On The Road with Paul Gilbert
Fractal Audio Axe-Fx II
Ibanez RG3250MZ
Ibanez RGD2120Z
Nik Huber Orca DSB
EVH Wolfgang Stealth
Fender Blacktop
Stratocaster HH
Larrivée 000-3 Ltd
BMF El Jefe
Blues You Can Use
Five Steps To Angus Young
Shape Up
Exotic Scales
Troubleshooting
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December 2011 Guitarist 3
Limited Edition 60th Anniversary Telecaster®
The Fender Telecaster
electrifying the blues
since 1951.
www.fender.com
© 2011 FMIC. Fender®, Make History™, Telecaster®, Tele® and the distinctive headstock design commonly found on these guitars are trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Cover CD produced by
Mastered by
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Adam Crute
Welcome to the December issue of
Guitarist. We’ve doffed a solitary,
single-page cap to the holiday
season – some festive guitar music
recommendations to replace the
usual Christmas muzak – but this
issue’s focus is on an entirely
different King.
It’s the second time I’ve mentioned him recently in
this space, not least because every time we find out
more about BB King, the story gets even more
inspiring. Guitarist is working with acclaimed music
film director Jon Brewer as he prepares to release a
full-length feature film, BB King: The Life Of Riley, to
be premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2012.
We’ve secured an exclusive one-hour documentary
that was made alongside the film, for a standalone mag
and DVD release in February, the contents of which
have moved us all. To whet the whistle, we thought it
timely to run Jamie Dickson’s interview with BB,
conducted backstage at the Royal Albert Hall. Before
you read it, do yourself a favour and download King’s
incredible Live At The Regal album from 1965 and play
it good and loud. Dare I say they really don’t make
music like that any more.
Thank BB, then, that 2011’s guitars are a good deal
better than those a half-century ago. Yes they are:
quality, choice, value… Whether you’re making the
investment of a lifetime in the simply jaw-dropping Nik
Huber Orca DSB on p94 – a colossal £4,199 – or getting
maximum bang for buck with the Fender Blacktop HH
Strat Floyd Rose on p98, the route to a great guitar is so
much easier today than when Riley B King was a lad.
To us, that makes him all the more remarkable. BB,
this one is dedicated to you! Enjoy the issue…
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MickTaylor Editor-in-chief
The Guitar Player’s Bible
Issue 349 December 2011
Future plc, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath, BA1 2BW.
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December 2011 Guitarist 5
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Motörhead´s
Phil Campbell,
Funeral for a Friend´s’
Gavin Burrough
Trapt´s
Robb Torres
teamed up with Framus to write a new chapter of music history.
Check us out on:
Family Owned
Distribution:
Branches:
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Phone
01618 390 666
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01612 146 161
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E-Mail: [email protected]
Shanghai / P.R.China • Dübendorf / Switzerland • Praha / Czech & Slovakia Republic • Warsaw / Poland • New York / USA
Visit us on the World Wide Web: www.framus.de • www.framus-vintage.de • www.war wick-distribution.de
Contents
Issue 349 December 2011
84
Ibanez RG 3250MZ,
RGD2120Z & RG870Z
The motherlode of eighties rock
guitar design reinvigorates its electric line with
a range of alluring mid-to-high-end models.
We don our spandex and divebomb in
Every issue…
3
5
12
14
CD contents
For the final time… what’s
on your packed CD
Welcome…
From the editor
Feedback
Your letters to Guitarist
Frontend
The latest guitar news
and views
32
34
36
38
Guitarist Vault
Get all your Guitarist video
and audio content from our
new online service
Perfect 10
Rick Parfitt
Columns
What Goes Around
Tony Bacon
First Play
Manson Works #006
41
Music
The best new music reviewed
and artists interviewed
154
Subscribe
157
184
Tips Q&A
Discounted issues and a
free gift
Your gear queries answered
Reader Ads
Buy, sell, exchange and
recruit – for free
December 2011 Guitarist 7
This Month
56
66
74
80
Gear Reviews
BB King
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
The still-regal 86-year-old bluesman on how he first fell in love
with the guitar, and how long he hopes to continue playing
Paul Gilbert
The thinking man’s
shredder talks about
the Mr Big reunion and
what the future holds
Roger McGuinn
The Byrds legend covers
Rickys, sea shanties,
electric folk – and his
visit to ‘Stones-henge’
Kenny Wayne
Shepherd
The blues-rock maestro
guides us through his
tone artillery
94
Nick Huber
Orca DSB
Could this be the
ultimate single-cut?
148
104
124
Italia Rimini 6, Godin
Multiac Encore Nylon,
Gibson MM Les Paul
A beautiful all-solid
Canadian acoustic at
a surprising price point
Pro-level guitar
preamp/FX
processing, refined
Longterm Test
Larrivée 000-3R Ltd
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
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8 Guitarist December 2011
Fractal Axe-Fx II
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MonmouthStreet,Bath,BA12BW.
84
Ibanez RG3250MZ, RGD2120Z
& RG870Z
CDDEMO
94
Nik Huber Orca DSB
98
EVH Wolfgang & Fender CDDEMO
Blacktop Strat HH Floyd Rose
104
Larrivée 000-3R Ltd
Guitars that wear their rock
hearts on their collective sleeve
CDDEMO
It really doesn’t get much better
than this. Anywhere, any time…
Two double-locking beauties that
owe it all to Edward Van Halen
An all-solid-wood Canadian
12-fretter at a decent price
CDDEMO
108
A pro-standard, UK-made, singlecone, wooden-bodied resonator
112
Acoustic combo with onboard
effects and sufficient headroom
Pete Turner Marrakech
Fishman Loudbox Artist
114
Jackson Ampworks
Atlantic 3.0
118
Line 6 DT25
124
Fractal Axe-Fx II
CDDEMO
128
BMF pedals
CDDEMO
131
Washburn Stu Hamm SH B3
135
BOSS Micro BR BR-80
138
Optek Fretlight FG-421
143
Quick Test
Texan tones and incredible
quality from the boutique brand
Line 6 and Reinhold Bogner’s
collaboration yields results
We find out if this high-spec
modeller can live up to the hype
Including clean boost, overdrive,
silicon fuzz and a compressor
We check out a new signature
bass: it’s Hammer time
A pocket-sized recording solution
for any guitarist
Follow the lights on the fretboard
to learn guitar. Really…?
Planet Waves NS Mini Headstock
Tuner, Fender CF-140S steelstring acoustic, Sugartone Starjet,
Fishman Black Stack soundhole
pickup, Fender Blues Junior Mk
III Ltd, 4Pockets Stompbox
See page 3