TUNING UP
First Things First
Cover Designs by Meghan Molumby, Shawn Hammond and
Angela Cox. Guitarist image courtesy of RetroClipArt.com.
Fab Four: This very special issue of Premier Guitar—our annual “Pedal Issue”—is being distributed at random with four different covers, each featuring a fully functional custom one-off pedal with this issue’s cover lines
printed right on its face. You can enter to win the stompboxes—(left to right) a Diamond Pedals Halo Chorus, a JAM Pedals RetroVibe, a Digi Tech Whammy, and an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi—at premierguitar.com.
As you’ve probably surmised by now, this
November 2010 issue of Premier Guitar is
pretty special. Editorial Director Joe Coffey,
who usually writes in this space, is on the
road as we put this issue to bed, so he
asked me to fill you in.
What makes this issue so special—besides
the fact that it’s our highly anticipated
annual “Pedal Issue” packed with 30 stompbox reviews and three captivating artist
interviews—is that it’s a huge first in at least
three ways. For starters, as far as we’re
aware, this is the first guitar publication ever
to print its cover text right on the face of not
one but four fully functional and 100 percent
badass custom stompboxes: The Digi Tech
Whammy (in never-before-used “candy
apple red” finish) and Electro-Harmonix
Big Muff Pi are accepted the world over
as all-time classics, while Diamond Pedals
in Nova Scotia, Canada, contributed their
wonderful Halo Chorus, and JAM Pedals in
Athens, Greece, created the retro-righteous
RetroVibe. We extend a hearty and heartfelt thanks to each of these companies and
everyone who made this possible.
8 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2010
Our second first this month? This is the first
PG to feature four different covers, each
highlighting one of the aforementioned
custom pedals. These four iterations of
the November issue have been distributed
at random to both retail newsstands and
subscribers. If you’re a collector who simply
must have the three issues that aren’t in
your hand right now—and you’ve already
hightailed it down to your local bookstore,
but to no avail—relax: For $14.99 you can
get the other three straight from us. Simply
email ( info@premierguitar.com) or call us
(877-704-4327) to work out the details. Oh,
and did I mention that you can enter to win
these one-of-a-kind stompboxes online at
premierguitar.com?
We’re also stoked to report that Inquiry
Management Systems, a publishing
research firm that tracks all the major US
guitar magazines, has verified that this is
the first to hit the mammoth 272-page
mark. (In all likelihood, it’s the biggest
ever—period—but that’s difficult to verify
categorically.) So for all intents and purposes, the November 2010 Premier Guitar is
THE BIGGEST guitar magazine EVER. That’s
pretty heavy—literally and figuratively.
Last but not least, this issue is the first
with our new Gear Editor Charles Saufley.
Charles has worked previously as an editor
at Acoustic Guitar, and he’s been contribut-
ing to PG for a few months now (he wrote
the September 2010 feature “Zen Guitar for
the 22nd Century . . . and Beyond”). As you
can imagine, accomplishing all these firsts
has been a bit like birthing a 272-pound
baby—it’s nearly killed all of us. And none
more so than Charles. Not only has he had
to hit the ground running with a new com-
pany (and from 2000 miles away), but he’s
also had to manage, edit, and fact-check
four times as many reviews as normal—and
pen two features (Zakk Wylde on p. 213
and “ 5 Boutique Stompbox Builders You
Should Know” on p. 86). Welcome, Charlie!
Because this issue full of firsts has been
such a massive endeavor—and so fulfilling to see come together—I want to be
the first to thank the rest of our fantastic
staff for their awe-inspiring work ethic: our
totally on-the-ball admin team, our remarkably respectful sales crew, Chris Kies for all
the stellar web videos, Rebecca Dirks for
engaging weekly web content, Meghan
Molumby and Angela Cox for their patience
and impeccable taste, Adam Moore for his
wrangling, Joe Coffey for his vision, Jason
Shadrick for keeping our music theory
straight and chipping in anywhere and
everywhere, and Andy Ellis for his chops,
wit, and wisdom. (Doh! I forgot another
first: Andy’s fantastic new monthly instructional column, “Rhythm & Grooves,” on p.
78. And be sure to tune in for Jason’s first
monthly instructional column next month.)
It’s going to be tough to beat this one, but
something tells me this first-rate staff still
has a few surprises up its sleeve.
Enjoy!
www.premierguitar.com
Shawn Hammond
shawn@premierguitar.com
