Home//Total Guitar/June 2022/In This Issue
Total Guitar|June 2022Welcome…While putting this month’s cover feature together, it struck me just how inseparable Jack White’s technique is from his tone. Perhaps this is true of any guitarist, but I think it’s especially so with Jack. To the extent that if you want to try and play like him you may not get his feel, or you may even struggle to play the part if you haven’t dialled in a ballpark tone.Of course his trademark tones come, by and large, from a blend of pitch shifters and raucous fuzz distortion (we’ll reveal his methods later on!). His killswitch-style ‘stutter’ rhythm technique on Ball And Biscuit and Black Math relies on a heavily compressed fuzz tone. His bluesy staccato soloing on tracks like Lazaretto also benefits from a similar setup. A classic…1 min
Total Guitar|June 2022KING POWER!A brand new amp from Orange, The Marcus King MK Ultra is a 30-watt, all-valve head, equipped with two 12AX7 preamp valves, and a pair of 6L6s in the output. Controls are limited to Volume, Sing (treble) and Deep (bass), with Orange saying it’s designed to work with your guitar and pedals to help shape the tone rather than “sit on top of it”. As blues-rock maestro Marcus says: “For me to have a signature amp with Orange is just like a childhood dream that’s come true. It’s a uniquely crafted American amplifier by a British company for a uniquely crafted American man.” It’s out now for £2,400.…1 min
Total Guitar|June 2022JENNA SAYS...I’ve been talking to Paul about ‘ending with a win’: making sure he always succeeds at something just before he puts the guitar down. That way he finishes with a positive feeling and he’s going to be more motivated to pick the guitar up again. As teacher, my job is to keep those wins coming thick and fast by choosing the right material. Paul could take on more complex riffs now, and he would master some with enough practice. The trouble is, there would be a lot of frustration along the way and he could easily get put off. Instead, we’re doing a riff with just two notes. This reminds Paul of skills he’s learned already, like picking and fretting. I’ve added quarter-tone bends and pull-offs. He picked up these…1 min
Total Guitar|June 2022“My hands feel like someone poured concrete in them!”First discovered by many when his explosive NPR Tiny Desk Concert aired on YouTube back in 2015, Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz - or Fantastic Negrito, as you’ll more likely know him - has one of the most incredible and unique musical life stories imaginable. Indeed fantastical at times, and calamitous at others, it would probably be deemed too implausible by even the most fanciful of Hollywood movie directors - if it weren’t entirely true, that is.After growing up in an Orthodox Muslim household in Massachusetts, Xavier’s cultural horizons exploded into full technicolour when he relocated to California in the 1980s, settling in “beautiful, grimy old west Oakland”, as he calls it. He learned to play and write music on multiple instruments by infiltrating classes at the University Of Berkeley, and by…10 min
Total Guitar|June 2022“IF YOU KNOW THREE CHORDS YOU CAN STRUM ALONG!”“WHAT’S IMPORTANT TO ME IS A GUITAR THAT I CAN TAKE ON THE ROAD AND TAKE ANYWHERE”Bluegrass belongs to a long tradition but having the weight of history on its shoulders does not preclude it from existing as a radical art form. This musical style – light on its feet, effervescent, joyous, on occasion elegiac and melancholy – has been woven together from myriad influences, a uniquely American story of many cultures and different voices all bringing something to the party in a sound that welcomes it all.That, too, is true of the players and their abilities. There’s a virtuosic element to the bluegrass rank-and-file, among whom we’ll find latter-day phenoms in the likes of Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle – players whose technical ecstasy brings lightning into a largely…10 min
Total Guitar|June 2022LAYER YOUR CHORDS…Vivian: In a really good Def Leppard song Phil and I are never playing the same parts. In the hard rock world there’s this school of thought that you have two guitar parts playing the same thing to make it sound heavier. If I get a demo from Phil, I would never play the chords in the same register he’s put them down already. I just try inversions. There’s countless ways you can play a chord up the guitar neck. But the bridge section in Hysteriawhere the notes were recorded one at a time for the chord – we’ve never done anything like that since. I think that’s too much work! Phil: If you want to make it broader, if someone’s playing a powerchord or a barre chord, and the…1 min
Total Guitar|June 2022PEDAL SHOPPING-PING-PING!BOSS DD-3TA classic all-round delay pedalType: DigitalThe Boss DD-3 has been a staple digital delay for 30 years, and the reason is no secret – it sounds amazing. Pristine delays, a pleasant timbre, and an EQ profile that works equally well in a band context or studio mix, make this a no-brainer for everybody from bedroom musicians to pros. With this latest version, Boss has added a tap-tempo input, allowing you to use an external tap source to control the delay time.TC ELECTRONIC FLASHBACK 2Options galore and expression functionality, tooType: DigitalWith a decent range of presets that cover all the basics – analogue delay, tape echo, a pristine digital mode and some more sound effect-type delays, the TC Flashback 2 is an impressive piece of kit for the money. In…2 min
Total Guitar|June 2022TRACK BY TRACK Fear Of The Dawn1 Taking Me BackThe big single, released back in October last year, is a near-perfect presentation of everything guitar players love about Jack White. The opening fanfare of harmonised feedback is brief and abrupt, exploding into the same idea played on the lower string, bouncing from A to B before moving down a step from G to A. It’s a simple enough idea, though it’s White’s finishing touches that give it gravitas – from its behind-the-beat feel to the descending slides that follow on from the main punches. In the video, he is seen playing a blue sparkle custom Telecaster through a pedalboard that includes a Triplegraph – the octave pedal he co-designed with CopperSound a few years ago – as well as other favourites like his Mantic Flex, a…5 min
Total Guitar|June 2022SOUND ADVICE…Jack has experimented with various pedals over the years, but these three pedals should form the core of any tribute rig.1 ELECTRO-HARMONIX BIG MUFF PIWind up the distortion on this classic fuzz pedal. You’re aiming for maximum compression.2 ELECTRO-HARMONIX POGUsed for both octave-up and octave-down sounds, it’s an essential effect to have in your arsenal.3 DIGITECH WHAMMYDon’t own one? Any expression pedal-equipped digital multi-effects floorboard will have a similar option.…1 min
Total Guitar|June 2022THE POLICE MESSAGE IN A BOTTLEBursting onto the scene in the late 70s, The Police’s highly distinctive and original post-punk, reggae-tinged blend of pop and rock placed them at the very cutting edge of the new wave movement.The most demanding aspect of this opener from 1979’s Regatta De Blanc album is the reach required to fret guitarist Andy summers’ signature sus2 chord shapes. In particular, F#sus2 is quite the finger-stretcher as it falls low down on the fretboard where the frets are farthest apart.The sequence contains no open strings, however, so you could easily practise the piece higher up the neck to gradually build your stretching ability.For example, try starting at the 7th fret so your first chord would be Esus2, followed by Csus2 (8th fret), Dsus2 (10th fret) and Asus2 (5th fret). Take it…4 min
Total Guitar|June 2022GRETA VAN FLEET YOU’RE THE ONEFormed in Michigan, USA in 2012, Greta Van Fleet is led by the three Kiszka brothers: twins Josh (vocals) and Jake (guitar), and younger brother Sam (bass). Danny Wagner completes the line up on drums.You’re The One was the second single to be released from their debut album Anthem Of The Peaceful Army (2018), and you can play the whole track as a simple acoustic strummer using open D, A and G chords if you like. However, it’d be a shame to ignore Jake Kiszka’s tasty guitar work. Our tab will help you dig a little deeper.You could be mistaken for thinking the intro acoustic line was played fingerstyle but, in fact, it’s tastefully and accurately picked. As such, it’s tricky to play note-for-note, so make sure to practise slowly…2 min
Total Guitar|June 2022START ME UP!HARLEY BENTON MR-SERIES1 The German brand has revealed its Mosriteinspired models, with baritone and left-handed options, too. While the MR-Classic features P-90 pickups, the MR-Modern offers humbuckers with coil-splitting and a relatively premium spec, including stainless steel frets, 12” radius Macassar ebony fretboard, Wilkinson locking tuners and Wilkinson VS-50 II precision tremolo. The Classic’s body is basswood, while the Modern’s is alder.MR-Classic £209, MR-Modern £293 www.harleybenton.comBLACKSTAR JJN 32 The British amp and US blues heroes form a potent partnership, even when they go mini. The JJN 3 is a limited edition take on Blackstar’s super-popular Fly 3 series, offering a two-channel, three-watt combo that can run on batteries, or mains. A Blues Power switch will get you in the tone zone, and there’s global EQ courtesy via Blackstar’s ISF control,…2 min
Total Guitar|June 2022JET GUITARS JS-400 £169If you keep an eye on our First Look section, you’ll have spotted the Jet JS-400 last issue. Jet has been around for a couple of years now having started in 2020 with founder and guitar builder, Primoz Virant heading up the design and specs.We say design, but it isn’t unfair to note that Jet Guitars - alongside many other brands in the lower price bracket - are highly derivative. The difference is here it’s more of a concept, and seemingly one that is trying to squeeze in as many features for as little money as possible. While the prices of everything else in our lives are skyrocketing, ironically Jet is keeping things grounded. are a number of series, largely organised by body shape, pickup type, and finish. Our review…3 min
Total Guitar|June 2022NICK COGAN DRUG CHURCHNick Cogan, one of two guitarists in US post-hardcore band Drug Church, has a pithy description of their new album Hygiene, a potent mix of melodic earworms and combustible riffs. “It’s catchy music through the lens of chainsaw guitars!” he says.In his youth, Nick’s interest in the guitar was sparked by hearing Billie Joe Armstrong’s chunky, angular playing on Green Day’s breakout record Dookie, and its influence still looms large on his playing. In true punk rock style, Hygiene - the fourth album from the New York State quartet - clocks in at a lean 26 minutes, with only a minority of its tracks crashing up to the three minute mark. Explains Nick, “My least favourite thing is listening to a song that I like, and being like, ‘That was…2 min
Total Guitar|June 2022DOWN THE LINE…18 months ago, Conor Curley of Fontaines D.C. told TG: “We’re not great musicians but we can play a three chord song and give it some welly!” So much has changed since then. The two-guitar partnership between Conor and Carlos O’Connell has reached a new level on the Irish band’s new album Skinty Fia, leading to comparisons with some of the greatest guitar groups of all time - from Joy Division and The Smiths to The Stone Roses and Oasis. This photo of Conor is from the Fontaines’ recent gig on March 23, 2022 at the Alcatraz club in Milan, Italy.…1 min
Total Guitar|June 2022TEXAS HEAT!Fancy channeling Billy Gibbons’ tones from ZZ Top’s 70s classic Tres Hombres? Well, thanks to J. Rockett, now you can. The El Hombre isn’t a signature pedal, but it is based on getting you in reach of Billy’s ballpark. J. Rockett is calling it a Texas Heat overdrive, and as such the El Hombre promises to take you from “mild to wild” with its amp-like harmonics and dynamic response. The three-control layout features gain and volume, with the tone renamed as ‘bite’. When fully open, J. Rockett says it’ll give you aggressive drive, but with the bite dialled back it’s a smoother, Dumble style sound.The El Hombre is available now, priced at £199.…1 min
Total Guitar|June 2022BRIGHT SPARKThe Positive Grid Spark brought new life to the practice amp market upon its arrival, but the company is looking to change the game once more with the Spark Mini - a pint-sized version of the Spark that goes small on footprint, but remains big on features.For the uninitiated, the Spark is a modelling amp housing 33 amps, 43 effects alongside Bluetooth and USB connectivity, and the Spark Mini boasts the same head count. The difference is, it’s clocking in at just 146.5 x 123 x 165mm, runs off a rechargeable battery, and has minimal controls. On the top panel, there are controls for your guitar level, incoming audio level and a selector for one of four presets. That’s because it’s largely controlled by a smartphone or tablet, allowing for…1 min
Total Guitar|June 2022BENDS AND PULL-OFFSIn the third month learning, Paul is discovering what everyone does: mastering guitar basics takes a while. That means going back over the same stuff again and again. Young kids might be happy with endless repetition (as you’ll know if you’ve ever asked one to pick a movie), but for most learners it’s important to find new twists to keep things fresh. You can think of learning like a spiral: you return to the same concepts regularly, but you’re a bit further up each time. This month’s riff uses the E minor pentatonic scale again, but we’re adding new techniques in the form of string bends and pull-offs.TEACHERJENNA SCARAMANGAJenna has taught guitar for 15 years at music colleges, schools, and IGF summer camps. She studied with Guthrie Govan at BIMM,…2 min
Total Guitar|June 2022“I freedom to experiment”When the new Feeder album Torpedo shot to number five on the UK chart in April, it was a sweet moment for a band that has been a fixture on the British rock scene since the late 90s. “We were totally blown away with the response to it,” says guitarist/vocalist Grant Nicholas. It was also something of a surprise. “Honestly, it was going to be a fanbaseonly record, a mini release that we weren’t even going to take to radio,” he says. “But then some people heard it and told us we should definitely put it out. And we’ve got loads more material written, so there’s going to be another record hopefully next year – it’s kind of like a double album in two halves.”Talking from the band’s rehearsal room…5 min
Total Guitar|June 2022BLUEGRASS ESSENTIALSOne of America’s oldest forms of music, bluegrass was once derided as Hillbilly car-chase music dominated by rattling banjos and insane acoustic guitar picking. However, with the huge popularity of a new generation of artists like Molly Tuttle and Billy Strings, the style has been freshened up and guitarists are discovering how much fun bluegrass can be. With that in mind, it’s time to get you started with some essential bluegrass basics.Whilst it can sound like country music to the uninitiated, bluegrass is very much its own style, with unique instrumentation usually made up of vocals, guitar, banjo, upright bass and mandolin, plus resonator guitars often appearing, too. Drumkit accompaniment isn’t so common – bluegrass players lock in with great timing and thinking percussively is a key element of the…2 min
Total Guitar|June 2022CREATE HOOKS EVERYWHEREPhil: I always go back to Killer Queen (a number 2 UK hit for Queen in 1974). There’s a hook almost like every two bars or something!Vivian: In Def Leppard world we wouldn’t be very excited about just power chords. Normally we’d be looking for a jangle to go on top. The jangle is what starts to elevate it to something other than the ordinary. That’s not just a chord thing. We’re looking for a part to go on top of that.Phil: You can even do lead parts around the vocal, but you have to have that bedrock there. On the title track from Hysteriawe had the vocal melody beforehand and Steve (Clark) would come up with something different. Again, it’s got to respect the melody. As Keith Richards so…1 min
Total Guitar|June 2022JACK WHITE 21ST CENTURY GUITAR HEROAs he returns with not one, but two solo albums, Jack White reveals that he’s in a good place with his guitar playing. “There are places I’ve never gone before,” he says, “and techniques I thought I wasn’t capable of doing.” In our exclusive interview, Jack talks us through his guitar playing and songwriting approaches, how he balances his trademark fuzz guitar tones with synth sounds, and he discusses his gear preferences, from inexpensive junk-shop instruments to modern signature models. Also in our 22-page special feature: we chart Jack’s influence as a guitarist, writer, arranger, producer, and creator of a mini-empire in Third Man Records, and we profile some selected highlights of his extensive gear collection. Plus! We take you inside Jack’s playing style with our tab lessons, and show…1 min
Total Guitar|June 2022Many Faces of Jack WhiteIn the heyday of the guitar hero, the 1960s and 70s, you could hardly move for them. Guitars were the dominant instrument in popular culture and those who could conjure riffs were gods among mortals. But while great new electric guitarists turn up daily, guitar heroes – names bordering on the mythical, who take over the mainstream and whose names become synonymous with awesome licks – come along less often. In the 21st Century, the one who stands tallest is Jack White.One man who graduated from guitar hero to guitar god is Jeff Beck. When Beck invited The White Stripes to join him on stage at his 2002 Royal Festival Hall residency, it suggested a passing of the torch. Beck, who many call the greatest living guitarist, spotted White’s genius.The…14 min
Total Guitar|June 2022CHANGE YOUR STRIPESPlay like Jack White... That’s easy, right? Well, in some respects perhaps, yes. The open chords and basic strumming in The White Stripes’ Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground, for example, are achievable for all but absolute beginners.Jack spread his guitar-playing wings with Brendan Benson in The Raconteurs, and his epic Jimmy Page-inspired solos in live shows are something to behold. But it’s since 2012’s solo debut, Blunderbuss, that his musical eccentricity and broad range of influences have truly shone through.Still, there are consistent threads in his playing throughout his entire career – and his tone is at the heart of it. Get a ballpark White-esque tone and you’ll find it easier to get a feel for his playing. Fuzz-driven, octave- and powerchord-based riffs figure highly, alongside ear-catching pentatonic and…2 min
Total Guitar|June 2022GET THE SOUNDSummers was a one-guitar man in the early days, playing a 1963 Telecaster that had been modded with a Gibson PAF neck humbucker, an out of phase switch and a built-in preamp – though it’s the bridge single-coil pickup he favoured for Message In A Bottle. He used an Electro Harmonix Electric Mistress flanger originally, but, assuming you don’t have one too, it’s worth experimenting with a chorus pedal to try and recreate the song’s watery shimmer. A dash of compression will help too.Amp-wise, Summers told TG he doesn’t recall what he used in the studio, but Marshall 1959 Super Lead heads and Marshall cabs appeared in his live rig.…1 min
Total Guitar|June 2022TAB GUIDEWhat is tab?Tab is short for tablature, a notational system used to give detailed information as to where notes should be played on the fretboard. Tab appears underneath conventional music notation as six horizontal lines that represent the strings of the guitar, from the sixth (thick) string at the bottom to the first (thin) string at the top. On these lines, numbers represent which frets you place your fingers. For example, an A note on the 2nd fret, third string, will be shown as a number ‘2’ on the third line down on the tab. Unfretted strings are shown with a ‘0’. The key and time signatures are shown in the notation. TG also includes a timestamp to tell you where in the original track you’ll find each example and…1 min
Total Guitar|June 2022FENDER PLAYER PLUS METEORA HH £999Considering Fender’s most popular designs are now elderly in age but still iconic because they were so well crafted at birth, the company has been pretty bold with them in recent years. The Acoustasonic fused the acoustic world with the electric Strat, Tele and Jazzmaster, while the Parallel Universe and Paranormal series have allowed Fender and Squier designers to have fun and surprise players.“A VERY DIFFERENT SHAPE AND A BOLD TALKING POINT”The Meteora was introduced as part of the Parallel Universe series in 2018 but was no mashup of the previously familiar; it’s a very different shape for Fender, and a bold talking point, looking like some vision of the future from the 60s or 70s. Now, after a standard HH Alternate Reality Mexican model in 2019, it’s stepped up…4 min
Total Guitar|June 2022ALSO TRY...FENDER VINTERA 70S TELECASTER THINLINEThis Shell Pink option offers similar-voiced Wide Range humbuckers to the Meteora. But the vintage 7.25” radius maple fretboard and hardtail make for a different proposition elsewhere.HAGSTROM FANTOMENIf they’re good enough for Ghost’s Nameless Ghouls, they’re good enough for us. This 25.5” scale model also features Lundgren humbuckers with coil splitting.EPIPHONE EXTURA PROPHECYThe Explorer blueprint reworked: Fishman Fluence active pickups access PAF and single-coil tones and the body features the deeper cutaway of Gibson’s cult Futura model.…1 min
Total Guitar|June 2022HEADRUSH MX5 £399The flagship Headrush may be a couple of years old, but it set a new benchmark for realistic amp modelling at an affordable price-point. The MX5 promises to take all the learnings of the floorboard, and distil them down to a compact, affordable core. Does it deliver?Our usual benchmark is whether we can get a decent patch going without using the manual. This proves easy, thanks to the touchscreen, and we’re up-and-running with a great Klon emulation into a pitch-shifted delay in no time. Lessons from their previous products, and firmware updates in the intervening years reveal a much-improved UI that’s lightning-fast to learn and quick to make edits. Complex chains are a breeze, with user-friendly tips for assembling mono or stereo rigs.“A MORE POWERFUL BEAST THAN THE FULL-FAT FLOORBOARD”Once…2 min
Total Guitar|June 2022“WE HAVE NO AMPS – AND CRAPPY GUITARS!”Inspired by Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins and Veruca Salt, LA band Momma party like it’s 1995 on their new album Household Name. And when it comes to gear, guitarist/ vocalist duo Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten aren’t fussy...How would you describe your sound?Allegra: It’s alternative rock with grungy influences. Someone once said that we were neo-grunge, which we thought was really funny. I’m down for that comparison, but we don’t really listen to much grunge besides Nirvana, so I don’t know how fair it’d be to call ourselves that.Household Name is your third record, but is the first you’ve recorded in a studio. What was that like?Etta: We had all of the gear at our disposal, so that was super fun. Our bass player and producer Aron [Kobayashi Ritch] is…2 min
Total Guitar|June 2022CARRY ON SCREAMING!Continuing its more affordable, utilitarian 3 Series range of pedals, JHS has set its sights on the Tube Screamer for the latest addition to the line-up. With its DNA coming from JHS’ 2008 Strong Mod pedal, it’s an affordable re-working of the classic Tube Screamer design, which JHS says refines the circuit to give a “much cleaner and overall more powerful tone” with more clean headroom, better suitability when used as a boost and versatile tone and gain controls.As with all JHS 3 Series pedals, this one’s available for £99.…1 min
Total Guitar|June 2022THE BLACK KEYSWild Child is the first single from The Black Keys’ 11th studio album Dropout Boogie, which comes a year after the release of the Mississippi blues-inspired covers album Delta Kream.Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach begins the song with a Nile Rodgers-esque funky riff using Gm, B b and C triads around the 3rd to 5th frets. The funkiness comes from the strumming motion, so keep your pick moving down and up with 16th-note timing.The next part features distorted powerchords on the lower strings: G5, B b 5, C5 and A5 have their root notes on the sixth string, and there’s a D5 built on the fifth string. The odd chord out (coming in after the B b 5) is a D minor diad played at the 10th fret, sixth string…1 min
Total Guitar|June 2022PAUL SAYS...It will be some time before I can say with any real confidence that I have mastered bends and pull-offs, but it was certainly a major breakthrough for me to put these things into practice. Working them into 20th Century Boy is particularly pleasing. Makes me feel like a proper player! And Jenna’s idea of ending with a win is a great approach. It helps with my confidence and makes me want to play as much as possible.I still have difficulty with fretting - just getting my fingers spread without deadening the strings. What helps most with this is proper placement of my thumb on the fretting hand. And as we all know, everything gets better with practice, so with that in mind I am now storing my guitar in…1 min
Total Guitar|June 2022“I DO AS MUCH WITH MY FEET AS I DO WITH MY HANDS!”In 2019, Bloc Party returned to their roots with a tour where they performed their platinum-selling debut album Silent Alarm in full. Buzzing from that tour, they started writing their sixth album. “We wanted to capture the energy and the chemistry that the four of us were forming from playing live again,” says lead guitarist Russell Lissack. They finished their initial writing period in March 2020, so you know what happened next...Unlike other bands, however, recording remotely and sharing files online was not an option for Bloc Party. As Russell puts it: “Touring Silent Alarm was quite instrumental in the writing process. We wanted that same energy when we were in the room bouncing ideas off each other. I think I don’t think it would have been the same if…8 min
Total Guitar|June 2022HOW TO CREATE A ROCK ANTHEM BY DEF LEPPARDOnly four British bands have had two ten-million selling albums in America. The first three - The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. And the fourth? No, not The Rolling Stones. Not The Who. Not Queen. It’s Def Leppard.Formed in Sheffield in 1977, the band rose to fame in the 80s with the two blockbuster albums that sealed their place in that exclusive club - 1983’s Pyromania and 1987’s Hysteria. And the key to this success is their mastery of the rock anthem - as illustrated in hit songs such as Pour Some Sugar On Me, Animal, Photograph, Rocket, Rock Of Ages and Let’s Get Rocked.This summer they head out at last for the twice-postponed Stadium Tour in the US with Mötley Crüe, Poison and Joan Jett. But while Leppard…8 min
Total Guitar|June 2022DELAY TACTICSDefined as the distinct repetition of sound, dedicated delay effects were first seen in recording studios in the 1950s in the shape of cumbersome tape-echo units that used reels of magnetic tape (just like an old audio cassette) to record and play back sound. Solid-state technology brought delay to a more practical stompbox format in the 1970s. And, although many of the most common delays these days are digital, many replicate the natural warmth and grain of much-loved early tape echoes and analogue pedals.Here, we’re looking at five ways to use the effect, from epic atmospherics and post-rock ambience to synth-like swells and timed rhythmic parts. On the subject of timed delays, you’ll need solid rhythm skills, of course, but also an understanding of how delay time (usually expressed in…4 min
Total Guitar|June 2022“I’M THE PROUDEST I’VE BEEN IN MY LIFE OF MY GUITAR PLAYING”Jack White believes that he’s reaching a new peak as a guitarist. “There are places I’ve never gone before,” he says, “and techniques I thought I wasn’t capable of doing…”It is a big statement that Jack White is making this year - with the release of not one but two new solo albums. And yet, as the man himself says, this is not the result of some intensely calculated master plan. In fact, he had no plan at all...“I know people won’t believe me when I say this, but I don’t really ever have a plan to make an album once I get involved in it,” he explains. “I always sort of start falling into it and find myself in the middle of it, and then I say, ‘Oh, wow.…16 min
Total Guitar|June 2022Jack White and the retro future of guitarJack White cast himself as a rock ’n’ roll revivalist as The White Stripes were making their bones at the Gold Dollar in Detroit, reanimating garage punk with the hectic industrial pulse of the city. But that was never the whole story.Over the years he has been equally a Nikola Tesla figure, an innovator, taking a pedalboard ex machina approach to electric guitar tone, demonstrating a design and entrepreneurial acumen that has made his label, Third Man Records, a self-sustaining indie powerhouse.His gear choices add to the intrigue. This is the man who coated his go-to 50s Kay archtop with paper and made the Airline fibre-glass bodied electric a must-have, and yet he does not restrict himself to pawnshop gold. Heck, he was on the cover of this magazine with…7 min
Total Guitar|June 2022RIFF LESSONSJack White has most certainly carved out his own niche in terms of both guitar sound and style. Be it with The White Stripes, The Raconteurs or in his own solo work, his idiosyncratic fuzz driven mixture of groove and note choice is easily recognisable. Most people would be happy with the commercial success of The White Stripes and the bona fide classic riff of Seven Nation Army which came with it, but Jack shows no sign of slowing down, with his latest Fear of the Dawn being his fourth solo album.Here we’re looking at a handful of our favourite White-penned riffs, starting with a classic White Stripes tune Icky Thump, whose ear-worm infectiousness will help you recognise the Dorian mode, the groovy Lazaretto to help you sit in the…4 min
Total Guitar|June 2022THE DARKNESS I BELIEVE IN A THING CALLED LOVE2 003 saw Lowestoft glam rockers The Darkness propelled to stardom as their debut album Permission To Land topped the charts, and a raft of feel-good singles inspired by classic acts like Queen, AC/DC, Aerosmith and Def Leppard saw the band bring fun back to rock music. I Believe In A Thing Called Love was the band’s third single – and it’s probably fair to say it remains their biggest and best known track.Rockschool’s Grade Two arrangement covers the all-important opening riff, a verse and chorus, plus an abridged version of Dan Hawkins’ main guitar solo (the song’s second of three lead breaks). You can either play along with our audio or use the tab to help you play to the original track. There’s enough info in the transcription to…1 min
Total Guitar|June 2022THE GAS STATIONWelcome to the GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome*) Station! Every issue, TG scours the market for the hottest new gear and brings you transparent reviews that you can trust. From the smallest of accessories that make your life easier, to big investments, such as brand new guitars, amps and effects pedals – if it’s worth your attention, you’ll find it here!HOW WE TESTCURATIONOur product selection is driven by our love of gear. We select the most exciting products on the market every month to bring you opinions you can trust.FACE-VALUE REVIEWSWe’re not gear snobs here atTotal Guitar. We judge it on whether it looks good, sounds good and plays well – not by the name on the headstock.*WHAT IS GAS?Gear Acquisition Syndrome is the guitar-player’s never-ending urge to acquire new gear,…2 min
Total Guitar|June 2022AT A GLANCEBODY: AlderNECK: MapleSCALE: 648mm (25.5”)FINGERBOARD: Pau Ferro, 12” radiusFRETS: 22, medium jumboPICKUPS: Fender Fireball humbuckers with coil-splitting via S1 switch on VolumeCONTROLS: Volume, Tone x 2, 3-way selectorHARDWARE: Fender Deluxe locking tuners, Fender 2-point synchronized tremolo with brushed steel block saddlesLEFT-HANDED: NoGig bag: IncludedFINISH: Belair Blue (reviewed), 3-Colour Sunburst (with maple fretboard), Cosmic Jade (with pau ferro fretboard), Silverburst (with maple fretboard)CONTACT: Fender, www.fender.com…1 min
Total Guitar|June 2022LINE 6 CATALYST 100 1X12 COMBO£465“A PERFECT MODELLING COMBO”Line 6’s first product was the AxSys 212 combo, which went on sale in 1996, followed by the original POD a couple of years later, bringing digital modelling to the masses at affordable prices and changing electric guitar forever. Ever since, Line 6 have pushed the envelope, applying their technology to amps, effects pedals, guitars, wireless systems and more. Now part of Yamaha, Line 6’s latest offering is the Catalyst – a smart-looking combo packing the very latest modelling advances into an interface that looks remarkably like a conventional amp.On the top-mounted control panel, there’s a rotary selector with a choice of six voices, followed by reassuringly familiar knobs for gain, bass, mid, treble, presence and volume. There are also separate level controls for the Catalyst’s boost…3 min
Total Guitar|June 2022MAESTRO INVADER DISTORTION £139One of five new pedals recently released as part of Gibson’s Maestro range, the Invader Distortion can operate with or without an internal noise gate engaged and follows the classic distortion pedal format of Gain, Level and Tone knobs.“THE VOICING IS NATURAL WITH NO SUBDUED FREQUENCIES”With Gain set to its minimum there’s actually very nice just-beyond-clean overdrive with unity gain at around midday on the Level knob, leaving plenty left if you want to bring a boost on with it. Advancing the Gain knob minimally you’ll find more low-level raunchy drive but it doesn’t take long until you are getting into the fully-cranked stack sounds and then on into high gain distortion, full of sustain and easily squeezed out harmonics.The pedal’s overall voicing is very natural, with no obviously hyped…2 min
