PARSONS
GUITARS
Why Big Name Players
are Hooked
Matchless, Fender, Orange,
Electro-Harmonix, Guild, Strymon,
Munn, ZT, JBovier, Z. Vex
Flooding Devastates
Music City Treasures
TRAGEDY NASHVILLE
IN
Dark Horse Luthier for Jack White
and the Gretsch Custom Shop
THE BLACK KEYS
COLLINGS AND
TOM ANDERSON
13 GEAR REVIEWS
RODRIGO Y GABRIELA
KAKI KING
FILLING BIG SHOES
5 Shredders on What it
Takes to Replace a Legend
Dan Auerbach Details
the Soulful New Album
and His Quirky Gear
Head-Banging Nylon-String
Sensations
The Acoustic Phenom
on Hamers and Her New Trio
HOT NEW GEAR
www.premierguitar.com
Pictured:
Thecustom1963Fender
Esquirethat Luther
Perkinsplayedonstage
withJohnnyCashwas
amongtheinstruments
damagedinNashville’s
May2010flood.
www.premierguitar.com
12 GEAR REVIEWS
GUITARS FOR VETS
37 Picks from NAMM
and the NY Amp Show
Vox,Mesa/Boogie, Dunlop,
Reverend,Dynamic, Amptweaker,
Port City,Kala, Harden,Aracom
Helping PTSD Sufferers
Find HopeThrough Music
Pictured: Parsons Guitars’ new Diablo Antigua model
features an aged-copper top hand-etched by Shawne Reeves.
$5.95 U.S.
UNSUNG HEROES OF ’60S ROCK
SECRETSOFTHEMASTERS
11 Axemen Overshadowed by Hendrix, Page,and Beck
Behind the Doobies’ “China Grove”
$5.95U.S.
Reigniting the Spark
I want to say that your magazine has ignited
a love of guitar mags that has been absent
for quite a few years. I look forward to PG
every month. Unlike other guitar mags, yours
has a wealth of info that I can tuck into. As a
predominantly acoustic player I would like to
see a bit more info there, but your mag still
shines. Keep it up!
Greg Ingold
Eugene, Oregon
Thanks for your feedback, Greg. We
appreciate your thoughts and assure you
we’ll try to do a better job of satiating your
acoustic cravings.
Review Ratings
Love your mag but have a question about
your product reviews. Do you ever review
something where you give it less than 4 out
of 5 stars? Or are you afraid of liability or
pissing a manufacturer off with a less than
stellar review?
Dan Sekerak
Oregon City, Oregon
Hi, Daniel. We pride ourselves on being
willing to tell it like it is in gear reviews. Part
of the process that PG fans don’t see, though,
is that we closely monitor the gear market to
bring you reviews of stuff that’s likely to be
useful to a wide variety of players. If we hear
about or receive products that we’re not very
enthused about, we usually don’t run them—
we’d rather use the space to tell you about
something half decent than rip on something
you’re not going to want after we tell you
it’s not that great. Make sense? Thanks for
reading—and for taking the time to write. It
means a lot to us.
LETTERS
Singing Praises to the
Unsung Heroes
I enjoyed the “Unsung Heroes” article by
Bob Cianci [August 2010]. It was a pleasant
surprise to see Zal Yanovsky and John
Cipollina mentioned in a current publication.
They are two of the guys (albeit very
dissimilar) that many players of my vintage
admired and tried to learn from. The “Who
Do You Love” jam from Quicksilver’s Happy
Trails album is a forgotten gem that belongs
in every rock guitarist’s collection. It was way
ahead of its time. And ol’ Zal proved that
you don’t have to shred to make music. Also,
is it my imagination, or does the photo of
Cipollina with his Carvin resemble Mr. Vai?
Greg Souligny
Galt, California
Hey, Greg. Thanks for the kudos. We’re
happy to provide a welcome trip down
memory lane. And y’know, you’re right—
there is sort of a Vai resemblance there.
Giddy Like a Teenager
I am stationed in Iraq and I play in a band
over here called Attack of the Camel
Spiders. I just became acquainted with your
magazine a few months ago and, frankly,
was floored. I have read your competition
over the last 20 years or so, and always felt
that they were missing something. When I
picked up your mag and began to read it,
I couldn’t stop. Not just one or two articles
and advertisements caught my eye—the
entire magazine pulled me in. I found myself
getting giddy like a teenager again. From the
gear reviews to the lessons, you guys had me
thoroughly engaged. For example, I’ve always
wanted to know how the Nashville Number
System [May 2010] worked and, alas, there it
was! Needless to say, you guys rock. Please
keep it coming! What a welcome change for
the working musician. (I appreciate that you
include acoustic and bass guitars, too.)
I was also floored that [Esoterica Electrica
columnist] Jol Dantzig took the time to
respond to the question you forwarded to
him [regarding problems with a Tony Iommi
Signature SG neck that felt sticky in Iraq’s
extreme heat]. One of my all-time favorite
guitars (which I don’t have anymore) was a USA
Hamer Studio Archtop doublecut that played
circles around my friends’ Les Pauls. I took
Jol’s advice and lightly sanded the neck on the
Gibson Iommi. It has helped out wonderfully.
I do plan on sanding the neck down to the
wood after I get back to the States.
Keep up the good work!
Eric Tidwell
MRAP vehicle technician,
402nd Army Field Support Brigade
Tallil, Iraq
Attack of the Camel Spiders (left to right)—Eric “Scorpion”
Tidwell with his Tony Iommi SG, Damion “Slabster” Radford,
Scott “A-Mox” Amox, and Kerry “Hemp” Hemphill—show
off their June 2010 and May 2010 issues of PG.
Thanks so much for your kind feedback and
the pic, Eric! (Nice guitars!) We’re stoked
you like the mag and are happy to hear Jol’s
suggestion helped out. Be safe!
Corrections
In the August 2010 issue’s Table of Contents,
we mixed up our famous Jacks named
after colors and said that Randy Parsons of
Parsons Guitars has made instruments for
Jack Black. We intended to say Jack White.
Also, a last-minute snafu led to a headline
error for the Amptweaker TightDrive review
on page 188, which was mistakenly labeled
“Amptweaker Bass TightDrive.” The Bass
TightDrive review began on page 191. We
apologize for the mix up.
Keep those comments coming!
Please send your suggestions, gripes, comments, and good words directly to info@premierguitar.com.
You can also send snail mail to Premier Guitar, Three Research Center, Marion, IA 52302.
Please remember to include your full name. Selected letters may be edited for clarity.
