Guitar Noize

Wow this is a tough couple of exercises from Martin Andres of Pomegranate Tiger. If you are not aware of his music it is pretty challenging progressive metal which relies on his excellent technique to be able to play the various riffs and solos. The first exercise alone made me wince just watching, I’m definitely going to give these a go.

Private lessons Online or In person with Martin are available via his BANDHAPPY profile (see below) or email [email protected] for more info. Martin takes students of all skill levels.

http://www.bandhappy.com/profile/martin_pomegranate_tiger

LEARN TO PLAY POMEGRANATE TIGER SONGS!

Guitar books + Jam along tracks now available only at Sheet Happens Publishing.

This is an interesting guitar from Electra, the Phoenix S is based off the vintage Electra Phoenix X110 but this model actually has a much more vintage look than the X110 thanks to the sharper lines and deeper scooped curves. I don’t know much about the brand Electra but apparently it became Westone, my second guitar and first proper guitar was a Westone super-strat and it was killer! The brand was recently revived by Ben Chafin (ex Dean Guitars head builder & owner of Chafin Custom Guitars) & Mick Donner (who has worked for Dean, Gibson, Peavey Electronics, Parker Guitars, and Washburn Guitars. Mick designed the Washburn AB40 and AB20 acoustic bass and signature Peavey instruments for Jeff Berlin, Brian Bromberg and Rudy Sarzo).

The Phoenix S has a swamp ash body, 25.5” scale maple C shape bolt on neck, a 12” radius maple fretboard, 22 jumbo frets, black dot inlays, and a GraphTech Tusq nut. The three Electra MagnaFlux SC single coil configuration teamed with the Electra Analog Tone Blend control allows for any and all combinations of the three pickups, in conjunction with the standard 5-way switch. It has Hipshot inline tuners and a vintage style tremolo bridge and is available in either Trans Black or Sunburst.

The Phoenix S includes the new Electra SWC Neck Connection. The system utilizes allen head metal bolts and reciprocal metal threaded bushings in the neck that Electra claim provide a tighter, more functional connection than a traditional bolt-on neck design.

You can find out more at the Electra Guitars website.

Combining their industry experience and ingenuity with the business leadership of CEO Gene Ymiolek, Electra have built a diverse line of guitars and basses with street prices in the $599 to $999 price range. “The new Electra Guitars are designed from the ground up by some of the best luthiers in the business. We believe they provide better quality, more tone, and outperform guitars and basses twice their price.”

Jackson Guitars are building a special run of Custom Select guitars for 2014 hand built in the USA. There are 12 models available including the Jackson Custom Shop Limited Edition 30th Anniversary Soloist

This master-built limited-run homage to the godfather of high-performance guitars is the perfect combination of past and present, with features that evoke the Soloist’s debut year of 1984 and contemporary Jackson design elements.

Hand-built by longtime Jackson Master Builder Mike Shannon, the 30th Anniversary Soloist is armed with a poplar body and a three-piece quartersawn through-body maple neck with original-era “old skool” neck joint. Other fearsome features include a compound-radius ebony fingerboard with 24 frets and mother-of-pearl inlays, EMG® SA1 active single-coil neck and middle pickups, EMG® 81 active humbucking bridge pickup, three mini pickup-selector switches, top-mounted vintage-style “1984” Floyd Rose® bridge and more. Available in original Gloss Black, Ivory, Ferrari Red, Pink and Yellow finishes, and includes commemorative 30th Anniversary Soloist hard-shell case.

Also available is the Special Edition Kelly KE3H in Gloss Black, one of the most badass Jackson guitars I’ve seen in a long time.

3 humbuckers, gold hardware, Floyd rose, reverse headstock, this Kelly KE3H has classic rock looks reminiscent of the old 70’s Destroyer with it’s unique and menacing body shape and modern features. This guitar is only available in black, as it should be. Check out more info here.

Cracking the Code is a documentary series about the mechanics of virtuoso shred guitar technique featuring high-speed, slow-motion camera views of licks from picking legends like Michael Angelo Batio, Rusty Cooley, Frank Gambale, Steve Morse, Tommy Emmanuel, Mike Stern, and many others. Judging by the examples from the videos above, different licks are played and explained and then played at 2 different slow motion speeds with a camera looking at the picking hand so you can see exactly how each player attacks each pattern which I’ve never seen done before. It is more than a documentary it is also an instructional course. The idea is to answer the question “Why are some players seemingly super-powered?”

The surprising answer is that the world’s top guitarists rely on a system of highly efficient, highly precise, and yet nearly subconscious mechanical techniques. To replicate this, students of the instrument would have to traverse years of practice, only to arrive independently at precisely the same set of subtle hand movements.

Senior producer Brendan Schlagel describes the series as “Wonder Years”-meets-“Mythbusters” style, for guitar players. You can watch the entirety of Season 1 on their YouTube channel. Check out Troy’s amazing analysis of Steve Vai solos!

Keep an eye on the website and YouTube channel for upcoming season 2 trailers.
Cracking the Code

I’ve always liked the look of PRS semi-hollowbody guitars, Emil Werstler has a particularly nice model that he uses a lot for recording. I assume that the models I have seen are either customs or just not Custom 24 versions however as this particular guitar pictured above is part of a short run of Custom 24 Semi-hollow guitars that is apparently a first for PRS.

The 2014 Custom 24 Semi-Hollow adds a semi-hollow body with an f-hole for the first time in PRS’s nearly thirty year history. The 2014 Custom 24 Semi-Hollow has all of the versatility and reliability of the Core Custom. The addition of a chambered, semi-hollow body gives this guitar added midrange and resonance while losing none of the instrument’s tried-and-true character.

The Custom 24 Semi-hollow include a carved, figured maple top with mahogany back, 25” scale length, 24 fret “Pattern Regular” mahogany neck with East Indian rosewood fretboard, Bird inlays, PRS Phase III locking tuners (nickel hardware), uncovered 59/09 treble and bass pickups, and PRS’s patented Tremolo. Color options include PRS’s most popular current offerings and fewer than 200 of these instruments will be made for this small batch run.

You can see more photos and the available colours here - http://www.prsguitars.com/custom24semihollow/

Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell has teamed up with LA Amp builder extraordinaire Dave Friedman of Friedman Amplification to create a new signature amp called the “Double J”. Jerry says he has been working on this amp with Friedman for 6 years to get to the final signature model, I guess Jerry wanted to be sure the amp would be absolutely perfect before he put his name on it. Sounds pretty great which, should come as no surprise considering Friedman’s reputation.

Check out more info about Friedman Amplification here - http://friedmanamplification.com/

Stone Deaf FX have announced their new line of pedals: Unique Paracentric filter design.

…a silicon fuzz circuit and a plexi type distortion circuit that allow you to carve your tone up like a highly skilled surgeon while boosting those frequencies to shine through in your live or recorded mix. In addition to these infinite tonal possibilities we have enabled each pedal to act like a wah, phaser and tone control via a dedicated expression pedal.

Check out the demos of the Trashy Blonde Paracentric Distortion Filter and Fig Fumb Paracentric Fuzz Filter below, they certainly do seem pretty unique in their design and a lot of fun too. Both pedals feature a Paracentric filter design allowing boosting and cutting of every frequency in a speakers range. Twin channel modes for clean and distorted filtered tones and an Expression Input to use it as a wah, phaser or on the fly tone control.

Trashy Blonde Paracentric Distortion Filter

Fig Fumb Paracentric Fuzz Filter

Ok so normally I’m not really into gimmicky pedals but having played around with the EHX POG2 and spent most of the time trying to get a convincing organ sound so imagine my excitement when I saw the EHX B9 demo video above. Seriously how good does it sound?! I don’t know how often I would use it but I REALLY want it.

Press Release
The B9’s layout is straight forward and intuitive. A nine-position switch allows the player to select among different popular organ types. The Organ volume knob controls the overall volume of the Organ preset while Dry volume controls the volume of the untreated instrument level at the Organ Output jack. This enables a player to mix the sound of their original instrument with the organ to create lush layers, or mute it entirely.

A Mod control adjusts the modulation speed. The type of modulation provided is contingent on the preset and matched to it. A Click control was designed to simulate the harmonic percussion effect that is a sonic signature of many classic organs. For maximum authenticity, the click is added to the very first note or chord played and only retriggers when current notes have been released and their amplitude falls below a threshold.

EHX.com

To mark the launch of the new Suhr PT-100 Amplifier, Pete Thorn will be doing 3 clinics where he will demonstrate his new signature Amplifier and Cabinet as well as perform some of his music and of course like any good clinic there will be giveaways and a Q&A session where you can ask Pete about his gear or get valuable insights from his industry experience.

Register Now at Select Dealers -
6/26 - Vintage King Audio - http://vintageking.com/contacts
6/27 - Matt’s Music - http://www.mattsmusic.com/contact.html
6/28 - Distinctive Guitar - http://www.distinctiveguitar.com/contact

Check out Suhr’s Facebook page for more details.

Check out Pete’s demo of his signature amp below:

Ola Englund demonstrates the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop Slug, “Measuring at 48k DCR, it gives off an immense sound that is perfect for stoner and doom metal.” The Slug is available in a 6,7 or 8 string version and costs $130.