TUNING UP
It’s one thing to like The Who and Kiss, and
to dabble a bit with guitars, but it’s another
thing entirely if you know Pete Towshend’s
signal chain on Live at Leeds, what kind of
pickups are in Ace Frehley’s old tobacco sunburst Les Paul Standard, and can give someone pointers on how to hire the right engineer to work on an album. If you’re already in
the latter camp or are in the process of making that transition, well… here we are. You’re
not in this alone.
Some good news—we’ve expanded our
approach to bringing you this kind of content
“the way you want it,” as we like to say. First,
a refresher. Some of you dig an old-school,
glossy print magazine, some of you read the
free online version of our magazine that looks
Guitar Addicts
just like a magazine, and some of you read
the regular web versions of our magazine
articles. Now there’s a fourth version of our
magazine available through our new iPhone
app. Once you download the app, which is
free, you can read entire issues of Premier
Guitar on the go (and download them for
offline reading!). The PG iPhone app also
allows you to catch up on our daily gear
news coverage and watch PG’s ever-growing
library of video content. Plus, you can search,
share and bookmark your favorites for later
reading—and it’s all free for your iPhone and
i Touch. Just go to the i Tunes store and search
for “Premier Guitar” under apps.
As for the issue at hand, we’re stoked
about our candid conversation with Pete
Townshend. We learned an awful lot in this
interview and are excited to hear what you
think about it. This is also our recording-focused issue of the year, so we go into the
studio with Ace Frehley, give you tips on what
you should know before you embark on your
own studio projects, and cover a number of
topics that make a big difference by the time
your booked studio date arrives. Also, one
of the companies that has helped legions of
players create their own home recording setups, Line 6, has participated in a reader-driven
interview. The company’s engineers answer
your questions in this month’s “Go Ahead and
Ask” segment. (Bob Taylor of Taylor Guitars is
next, don’t forget to submit your question for
Bob at premierguitar.com/goaheadandask)
In the final installment of our three-part
exploration of understanding tone, John
Bohlinger goes where some players refuse to
go—into the realm of tonal belief systems.
We’re certainly not going to agree on these
matters, but it sure is interesting to break
everything down. We round out the issue
with an analysis of the multi-track master
tapes from Dokken’s “Dream Warriors.” And
we take a look at one of the biggest gigs you
could ever hope to be a part of: the Grammy
Awards show. Talk about a big production
with a lot of gear.
This month’s gear review lineup includes our
in-depth look at Digidesign’s Eleven Rack,
which promises to be the ultimate tool for
the recording guitarist, but is also designed
as a stand-alone unit without the need for
a computer, so you can play out with it and
get the same sounds you used in the studio. Also, we look at the Model E1 guitar
from Moog, a boutique offering from Nikita
Guitars, a new bass from Xotic, and we dig
into the new American Special line of Strats
and Teles from Fender. Not enough of a
gear fix for you? Check out our reviews of
Creation Audio Labs’ Holy Fire overdrive/
distortion, TC Electronic’s cool new Poly Tune,
and Egnater’s Renegade amp. There’s more,
but you get the picture—if you’re a guitar
addict like us, you’ve come to the right place.
Cheers,
Joe Coffey
joe@premierguitar.com
