THE WATER COOLER
The editors of
offer up some unsolicited opinions about guitars and 6-string life.
Joe Strummer Biopic in the Works – In a world where Justin Bieber already
has a biopic coming out (seriously), we’re thankful that Strummer’s getting his due with this
project by the same guys behind this year’s Ian Dury film, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll.
Axl More Petty Than Ever – Axl Rose is suing Guitar Hero creators for using
Slash’s image in game play based on Guns N’ Roses songs—something he claims he prohibited when allowing them to use “Welcome to the Jungle” in the game. Some advice: Perhaps letting this one go would’ve been a better option than publicly admitting what a petty jerk you are.
Kirk Hammett Kicks Toddler – A video of Hammett accidentally kicking a prop
beach ball into his stage manager’s toddler daughter and sending her flying off the stage went
viral this month. Though scary in the moment, she’s fine and they remain buddies, so you can
watch the remix and laugh guilt-free.
Cry Baby Doc Coming – Dunlop recently released a stylish trailer featuring everyone from Slash, EVH, Buddy Guy, Zakk Wylde, Dweezil Zappa, Kirk Hammett, and more waxing
poetic on the wah wah. February 2011 can’t come soon enough—though we’re crossing our
fingers that the both the originators and current boutique builders get their due.
WEBWHISPERS
A sampling of what we’ve heard on premierguitar.com in the past month
Required reading for guitarists. Betcha
most people don’t know what’s in this
article, but think they do.
Makes you want to take
lessons again.
Funny how guitar
techs talk about
‘straightforward setups,’
then go on to describe
all kinds of pedals, amps,
and signal splits. Derek
Trucks is about the only
guy I know of with a
straightforward setup.
– Ken, on “Shapes of Things:
A Brief History of the Peculiar
Behind-the-Scenes War Over Guitar
– G, on “Video Lesson:
Jazz Guitar Comping by
John Pizzarelli,” December
2010 Web Exclusive
– Leroy, on
“Jimmy Herring: Triple-T
Threat,” December 2010
Absolutely, I can’t play very well at
all unless I’m playing humbuckers
thru a tube amp. I know that’s
limiting myself, but I can’t stand my
tone unless that’s what I’m using.
Not only am I tonally dependent, I
can play on the same exact rig with
the same guitar one night and then
fall apart miserably a day later (or
sometimes even just a few hours
later). Is there a support group for
this? I might need one … It feels great to not be tonally dependent … I
have plenty of amps and pedals, and enjoy trying
different configurations of effects, and really love to
plug straight into a class A/B amp ... it’s sometimes
a challenge and keeps things interesting.
New Flanger is as good as the
original! And that is saying a lot. I’d
strongly recommend getting it. I
also see they’ve got the Final Phase
out, but haven’t tried that yet.
– Jackson, on “A/DA
Flanger Reissue Review,”
December 2010
– Chad, Michael, and Rock on “Are You Tonally
Dependant?” November 2010 Web Exclusive
