CATEGORIES

Mixing Guitar In A Headphones World

HOW YOU MIX YOUR MUSIC determines how listeners will hear your music. For decades, mixing was done through speakers, because that was the dominant way people heard music. A standard recommendation was not to mix through headphones—except as a reality check—because they distorted the sense of space and stereo separation.

Counterfeit Gibson Les Paul Custom

I WAS DOING RESEARCH for one of my Whack Job columns when I came across a link that lead to a link that lead to some thumbnails—but no shots of the headstock—of a brand new, green Les Paul with a price of $225, shipped directly from China. Hmm. We’ve all heard about counterfeit guitars, so for a $225 gamble, I decided to see if this was one of those knock-offs.

Suzi Quatro

WHEN I WAS A KID IN THE  ’70s, you could name the serious women players on one hand. I was introduced to Suzi Quatro from her appearances as Leather Tuscadero on Happy Days, but prior to that, she was a multi-million selling artist with a reputation as a badass rock chick. Actually, she may have been the first “rock chick.” She dressed in black leather, played the hell out of the bass, and held her own with a group of rough Detroit dudes.

The X Factor

Phil X on Going From Sub Guitarist to a Full Member of Bon Jovi

MGL Lead Master 50

MGL Lead Master 50

Mesa/Boogie

Rosette 300/Two Eight

An Un-Electric Evening

Joe Bonamassa Unplugs to Record Live at Carnegie Hall

Peavey 6505 Piranha

Peavey 6505 Piranha

Planet Of The Axe

Yeah. The Headline Is A Whimsical Nod To The Film Planet Of The Apes. But The Fact That Young Players May Not Be Continuing Their Obsession With The Guitar Is No Joke.

Brian May's Three-Dimensional Mind

BRIAN MAY HAS NEVER REALLY BEEN interested in doing anything halfway.

Line 6 Helix LT

LINE 6’S HELIX AMP AND EFFECTS modeler instantly became one of the go-to devices for a subset of players who eschew amps onstage in favor of emulations.

Keeley D&M Drive Overdrive Pedal

DAN STEINHARDT AND MICK TAYLOR love them some pedals.

Sophia Radisch On Getting Noticed

AT JUST 19 YEARS OLD, CANADA’S Sophia Radisch has generated tons of support from fans and gear manufacturers.

War Of The Worlds

Tyler Bates on Film Scoring, Producing Marilyn Manson, and Abandoning Ego

A Demisemiquaver Rest

Asha Mevlana Builds a Teeny Musical Habitat

Signature Sound/Signature Guitar

Nita Strauss on Tone and her new Ibanez JIVA.

Technological Sorcery

Stevic MacKay Chases the Impossible Tone

Committing To The Song

Ali Handal Cuts Back the Blazing Solos to Focus on Composition.

Paul Reed Smith On Fighting The Good Fight

Paul Reed Smith On Fighting The Good Fight

A Full-Bodied Tonal Bouquet

Paoletti Guitars Uses Century-Old Wood from Wine Barrels.

Jon Herington on Constructing Solos that Don't Suck! 

Jon Herington Has Performed with Steely Dan since 1999, and founders Walter Brecker and Donald Fagen are far from slouches when it comes to evaluating guitar solos. (To quote Bill Murray from Stripes: “That’s the fact, Jack!”) But as delightfully terrifying as that gig can be for a guitarist, Herington is definitely up for the challenge, and in addition to Steely Dan, his exquisitely crafted solos have graced projects for Boz Skaggs, Bette Midler, Madeleine Peyroux, and others. He has also released five albums as a solo artist. His latest, Adult Entertainment, is what he calls “pop music for grownups,” and many of his solos pay tribute to the players who inspired him as a youngster.

Fractal Audio Systems AX8 Amp Modeler/Multi-FX Processor

APTLY DESCRIBED BY THE MANUFACturer as an “all-in-one Amp Modeler + Multi-FX Pedalboard Processor,” the AX8 ($1,249 direct) packs a considerable amount of the firepower of Fractal Audio’s flagship Axe-Fx II processor and companion MFC-101 MIDI Foot Controller into a compact, floor-based unit that sells for less than half the price of those two units bundledtogether. That firepower includes Fractal’s proprietary Quantum amplifier and UltraRes cabinet modeling engines, as well as the same 256 amplifier and 179 “factory” cabinet models employed by the Axe-Fx II. The AX8 can also load “user” cabinet IRs from Fractal Audio’s Cab-Packs or third-party collections, or “custom” IRs created on the Axe-Fx II or using Fractal Audio’s CabLabsoftware. And although there are fewer effects offered in the AX8, all the staples are covered with multiple versions of each (43 reverbs, 18 delays, 34 overdrive and distortion effects, etc.), and the effects algorithms themselves are identical to those used in the Axe-Fx II. A fully featured looper and even a cool mono synth are also included.

Do It In The Raw!

Adam Levy Reveals How to Make a Naked Guitar & Drums Record— and It Has Nothing to Do With the Black Keys or White Stripes

Glam Bam Reboot

The Struts’ Adam Slack Pays Homage to a Guitar Hero

Songwriting Chops

Diamond Rowe Explores Melodic Shred

Atomic Ampli-Firebox Tube-Amp Modeling Pedal

EMERGING SOLIDLY FROM ATOMIC’S amp-modeling wheelhouse, the new Ampli-Firebox ($299 direct) aims to deliver the most compact and form-factor-familiar live modeling tool yet. Its success in that realm might just make it a first-call solution for many players in search of a backup amp or all-in-one virtual rig for fly dates, or both. The unit contains the same tech created by Studio Devil for Atomic’s more fully featured Amplifire 12, all packed into a rugged 4.5” x 3.5” x 1.5” pedal with eight knobs, three toggle switches, and two foot switches, with both ¼” and XLR outputs (one 3-way toggle assigns cab simulation to either or both, so you can run a ¼” cable to your backline amp without sim and an XLR feed to front-of-house with sim), input for standard 9V center-negative power supply (included), and a USB out to connect to Mac or PC, where all the deep-dive setup takes place.

Spooky Steel

Daniel Lanois Embraces Ambient Moods on Goodbye to Language

Prasanna

Traveling the Globe With All Terrain Guitar

Mesa/Boogie Mark JP-2C

THE LONG-AWAITED RETURN OF THE coveted Mark IIC+ amplifiers that Mesa/Boogie produced in the 1980s has finally been realized with the introduction of the John petrucci inspired JP-2C, which is both a IIC+ at heart and Mesa’s first “unlimited build” signature model.

funk-jazz in the fast lane

aleks sever lays it down on extravagant.