It's actually a new-ish video of Paul Gilbert playing Procol Harem's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" on a custom Ibanez "2000" light-show guitar in honor of the 2,000th "Video Exchange" from his Rock Online Guitar School.
From the school:
Guitarists can have access to Gilbert's full rock guitar course (beginning to advanced), access to thousands of his past Video Exchanges and get the opportunity to learn from him directly with new Video Exchanges of your own, by signing up at Gilbert's Online Rock Guitar School at Artistworks.
ESP Guitars (Summer NAMM booth 1232) has introduced an entirely new series to the LTD guitar brand.
The new SN Series, with six new guitar models, is based on a popular ESP model often requested but never before available outside Japan.
“The new SN Series represents the best of both worlds,” says ESP president and CEO Matt Masciandaro. “It’s based on a traditional shape, but offers high performance components and build quality for professional musicians in a variety of genres while still maintaining the affordable price point of our LTD brand.”
The new SN Series comprises six new guitars under the LTD Deluxe “1000 Series” range, and several of the new models mark the first time that the highly-acclaimed Fishman Fluence pickups have been incorporated into LTD offerings.
The LTD SN-1000FR/FM/Maple comes in Aqua Marine finish, and includes a lightweight and tonal basswood body with a flamed maple top along with a maple fingerboard with 24 extra jumbo frets. It features a Floyd Rose tremolo, and is powered by a set of EMG 85 (bridge) and SA (middle/neck) active pickups. Similarly, the LTD SN-1000FR/FM/Rosewood offers the same feature set with a rosewood fingerboard and a gorgeous Copper Sunburst finish. Another Floyd Rose-equipped model, the LTD SN-1000FR/Rosewood, features an alder body and maple neck with 24-fret rosewood fingerboard, and includes two Fishman Fluence modern humbuckers (ceramic bridge and alnico neck). It’s available in Charcoal Metallic finish.
For less-extreme playing styles, the SN Series is also being offered with a Wilkinson VSVG vintage tremolo system. The LTD SN-1000W/Maple/PW offers an alder body and maple neck/fingerboard with 22 extra jumbo frets and a set of Seymour Duncan Custom 5/ SSL-3/ SSL-3 pickups, and is finished in Pearl White.
The LTD SN-1000W/Rosewood offers the same feature set with a rosewood fingerboard and a great-looking Charcoal Metallic finish with white pickguard. The LTD SN-1000W/Maple/TSB is another traditional alder-bodied model using the Wilkinson tremolo, and includes Fishman Fluence single pickups. It comes in Tobacco Sunburst finish.
All LTD SN Series guitars employ bolt-on construction and a fast-feeling thin U-shaped neck. They will be available at authorized ESP dealers in the USA and international distributors this fall.
More information on the LTD SN Series is available at espguitars.com.
For more Summer NAMM Show news, bookmark GuitarWorld.com's dedicated Summer NAMM 2015 page. And don't forget to follow GW on Twitter for more "live on the NAMM Show floor" coverage.
ESP Guitars (Summer NAMM booth 1232) has announced two new LTD Deluxe “1000 Series” guitars at Summer NAMM 2015.
The new models are the EC-1000 KOA and the M-1000 KOA, and they make use of exotic Hawaiian koa wood tops. The new koa models will have limited availability through select ESP dealers and international distributors.
“Koa is a beautiful tonewood that is as well known for its distinctive look as its articulate effect on a guitar’s sound,” says says ESP president and CEO Matt Masciandaro. “We’re happy to offer a new choice to ESP customers with these three new LTD Deluxe guitars.”
Koa is native to the Hawaiian Islands, and has a well-deserved reputation for its recognizable grain pattern and natural reddish tint as well as its balanced sound, adding brightness to tone without taking away from a guitar’s warmth.
The LTD EC-1000 KOA provides a koa veneer top on a mahogany body, with set-through construction at 24.75” scale. It offers a 5-piece mahogany/bubinga thin U-shaped neck with a 24-fret ebony fingerboard, and black hardware. It includes a set of Seymour Duncan Custom 5 (neck) and Jazz (bridge) pickups.
The M-1000 KOA adds a koa veneer top on to its mahogany body, with neck-through-body construction at 25.5” scale. Its 5-piece maple/bubinga neck has an ebony fingerboard with 24 extra jumbo frets, and adds a Floyd Rose tremolo as well as DiMarzio ST-2 custom passive pickups.
More information on the new LTD koa wood models is available on the ESP Guitars web site at espguitars.com.
For more Summer NAMM Show news, bookmark GuitarWorld.com's dedicated Summer NAMM 2015 page. And don't forget to follow GW on Twitter for more "live on the NAMM Show floor" coverage.
After the successful introduction of two new LTD Signature Series basses for jazz fusion bassist Bunny Brunel at the NAMM Show in January, ESP Guitars (Summer NAMM booth 1232) is adding to the bass player’s arsenal with two more signature instruments at the 2015 Summer NAMM Show.
The LTD BB-1005/QM/Black Aqua and the LTD BB-1005 QM/Burnt Orange join Brunel’s growing line of signature basses.
“Bunny Brunel is a respected bass player as a solo artist and as a sideman for many of the world’s finest musicians in several musical genres,” says Matt Masciandaro, ESP president and CEO.
“We were very happy with the excellent response to the introduction of Bunny’s first ESP signature basses in January, and we’re confident that the new models will continue to add to the excitement of bass players who admire Bunny’s virtuoso-level performances.”
Both of the new models are fretted five-string basses with an impressive feature set designed to handle the professional studio and stage considerations of an in-demand player like Bunny Brunel. Available in Black Aqua and Burnt Orange finishes, they incorporate neck-thru-body construction, quilted maple top, ebony fingerboard, and a special Aguilar pickup set with an OBP-3 active preamp, as well as a Hipshot A-style bridge and Hipshot tuners with an extender on the lowest string. They join the current Brunel LTD Signature Series models that include a 4-string fretted and a 5-string fretless model.
Primarily known as a jazz fusion bassist, Bunny Brunel’s resume looks like a “who’s who” of the jazz world, having played with Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, Jack DeJohnette, Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, Stanley Clarke, Dizzy Gillespie, Tania Maria, Patrick Moraz, Ziggy Marley, Al Di Meola and many more.
His melodic approach to bass playing covers everything from smooth fretless growls to tight funk popping. He is a member of the fusion group CAB and also lends his talents to film and TV scoring. He has also just released his latest solo album, Invent Your Future, which features jazz fusion notables Patrick Moraz, Virgil Donati, Patrice Rushen, and many more, and includes songs composed by Brunel as well as Chick Corea, Jaco Pastorius and others.
More information, visit a href="http://www.espguitars.com/">espguitars.com.
For more Summer NAMM Show news, bookmark GuitarWorld.com's dedicated Summer NAMM 2015 page. And don't forget to follow GW on Twitter for more "live on the NAMM Show floor" coverage.
Amy Winehouse received so much acclaim for her voice that everyone forgot that she was also a fairly decent guitarist.
Winehouse was a devoted Strat player, and she appears in several videos—with her Strat—as in the “Stronger Than Me” video below.
Winehouse’s guitar talents came to mind this past weekend when I saw Amy, the new documentary about the late singer. I suddenly recalled a promotional film she made with Fender back in 2004, in which she explains her love for the Strat and why she chose it to be her main instrument.
The occasion for this promo was a concert at Wembley Arena on September 24, 2004, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Strat. Winehouse performed there among some of the giants who have played the Strat, including David Gilmour, Joe Walsh and Gary Moore. The concert was released as the film The Strat Pack: Live in Concert, in 2005.
Bassist Billy Sheehan recently appeared on Eddie Trunk’s podcast, where he revealed that Van Halen had twice invited him to join the group to replace Michael Anthony.
Sheehan also noted in that interview that he has played with all the members of Van Halen (he was a member of David Lee Roth’s solo band), including a live performance with Eddie. That occasion took place November 17, 1996, at an ALS benefit show for Jason Becker.
The ALS Benefit Concert was an eight-hour fundraiser for Becker, who was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease one week after he joined David Lee Roth’s band in 1989. For the event, Eddie assembled a band that included himself, Sheehan, guitarist Steve Lukather and Mr. Big drummer Pat Torpey.
You can see video of that performance below. In it, they play the Surfaris’ “Wipe Out,” Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times, Bad Times” (at the 1:50 mark), Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing” (6:40), Van Halen’s “Ain’t Talkin’ ’Bout Love” (13:00), the Beatles’ “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” (17:20) and Hendrix’s “Fire” (26:25).
The video is fan-shot and has the usual problems, but as its title notes, it is a “must see” document of the evening.
To celebrate the second anniversary of the PRS S2 Series, PRS Guitars is introducing two new metallic finishes, “Ice Blue Fire Mist” and “Egyptian Gold," to the all-mahogany guitars in the S2 line, including the S2 Mira, Mira Semi-Hollow, Singlecut Standard, Standard 22, Standard 24, Starla and Vela.
The new metallic finishes utilize various sizes of metallic flake resulting in a shimmering finish that shows off the contours of the guitar.
Rich Hannon, PRS Artist Relations & Development representative promises that the new S2 metallic finishes will soon be debuted on stages across the country in several “shining” new bands.
In 2013, PRS Guitars unveiled the S2 Series. Considered one of the most significant product launches in the company’s history, the S2 Series of instruments were originally available in three models—the S2 Starla, S2 Mira, and S2 Custom 24.
Over the course of two years, PRS has introduced several semi-hollow instruments, a group of all-mahogany pickguard guitars, as well as the popular S2 Vela featuring an offset body style. Each model offers the fit, feel and attention to detail the craftsmen of PRS are known for in a more accessible price point: $1,179 to $1,579 USD. S2 Series guitars have been road tested by a diverse group of musicians (from The Lower Dens to Keb Mo) and on stages at festivals across the country, including SXSW, the Vans Warped Tour, Rock on the Range, Carolina Rebellion, and Welcome to Rockville.
The significant investment from PRS in developing the S2 series is the continuation of a long-term plan to supply more artists and players with tools to create music by diversifying the company’s offerings both vertically and horizontally. With their retro-inspired vibe, hallmark PRS quality, popular price tag, and now, metallic finishes, the S2 Series has become a new voice and aesthetic for the music industry.
To explore the S2 Series and to see the new finishes, visit prsguitars.com.
For more Summer NAMM Show news, bookmark GuitarWorld.com's dedicated Summer NAMM 2015 page. And don't forget to follow GW on Twitter for more "live on the NAMM Show floor" coverage.
Today, GuitarWorld.com presents the exclusive premiere of Scale The Summit's satirical new Eighties-themed music video for "Stolas."
It's the first single from the band's upcoming album, V, which will be released September 18 via Prosthetic Records.
The hilarious clip, which was directed by Eddie Zapata, is a pop-up throwback to the music-video shows of three decades ago, a time when image—and hair, obviously—spoke volumes.
V (as in "five") actually features 10 tracks, all of which bridge a seemingly huge gap between technicality and accessibility. The album was mixed and mastered by Jamie King (BTBAM, the Contortionist) and is already available for pre-order at prostheticrecords.com.
Digital pre-orders, which include an instant download of "Stolas" (which you can check out below!) also are available via iTunes, Bandcamp and Amazon.
At the Summer NAMM Show, Taylor Guitars is introducing a limited run of Grand Auditorium shaped guitars featuring a trio of stunning tonewoods.
Featured back and side tonewood options include quilted sapele, flamed mahogany or blackheart sassafras, paired with a premium Sitka spruce top.
Each model features a dramatic, hand-crafted Florentine cutaway and a new appointment package to accent these hand-selected woods.
Quilted sapele, a truly rare find, is flatsawn, highlighting the natural quilt of the wood and permitting for slightly more flexibility. Tonally, this translates into more projection and warmth.
Flamed mahogany, noted for its visual appeal, offers players a naturally strong midrange response. "A player can expect the classic clear and dry sound mahogany lends to the aural mix," shares Taylor master guitar designer Andy Powers. "The natural warmth of the wood balances its fundamental strong character in a way that makes the wood appropriate for nearly any style of playing."
Blackheart sassafras is known for its striking variegation of blonde and brown hues, with a sonic personality that melds a dry, woody response with the note distinction and focus of maple and the top-end overtones of rosewood.
While each tonewood claims a unique visual and sonic quality, Powers says, the three share similarities in different parts of their personalities. "The sapele is similar to mahogany in its clarity, although slightly more vibrant with a touch more upper register chime," he explains. "The blackheart sassafras has balance very much like mahogany but with a slightly more present midrange overtone response. Together, they make a unique suite of three instruments in a collection, with subtle tonal distinctions."
Each guitar is accented by a sharp Florentine cutaway, which is more labor-intensive to create than a softer Venetian cutaway, but as Powers notes, offers greater access to the highest portion of the fingerboard. "This upper register playability encourages guitarists to explore the articulate and expressive high notes of these guitars," he says.
The Limiteds are enhanced by a rich appointment package featuring Indian rosewood binding and curly maple edge trim. A new "Capstone" inlay of mother-of-pearl and rosewood graces the fretboard and rosette, and the guitar body is finished in high gloss. Inside, premium Adirondack CV bracing gives each guitar more sonic sparkle. The models come equipped with Taylor's award-winning Expression System 2 electronics, which debuted in 2014 and feature a revolutionary piezo pickup design that gives players a more authentic amplified acoustic tone. Each guitar comes in a deluxe hardshell case.
The Limited Edition models will be available only at Authorized Taylor Guitars dealers starting in September. Models will be available in a Grand Auditorium body shape in the 514ce-FM LTD, 514ce-QS LTD and 714ce-S LTD.
For more Summer NAMM Show news, bookmark GuitarWorld.com's dedicated Summer NAMM 2015 page. And don't forget to follow GW on Twitter for more "live on the NAMM Show floor" coverage.
IK Multimedia has announced the availability of two new sound libraries for SampleTank 3 for Mac and PC.
Exclusively made for the ultimate sound and groove workstation, these collections are: Future Synths, a comprehensive collection of synthesizer leads, pads, basses and more that are perfect for all kinds of electronic dance music from big room EDM to underground techno.
Hugh Padgham Drums, a massive library of drum kits and MIDI patterns that give producers adjustable control of Hugh Padgham's unique "stone room" sound, as heard on his classic works with Phil Collins, The Human League, Abba's Frida Lyngstad and countless others.
Future Synths
The brand new Future Synths sound library provides a lifetime's worth of sound design knowledge at the flick of a button. Inspired by the pumping sounds of Hardwell, Tiesto, Afrojack and other top-tier artists, it comes with 150 easy-to-use instruments that can be used to make everything from hands-in-the-air EDM anthems to slamming underground techno bangers and beyond.
Future Synths is a one-stop shop of essential synth sounds specifically tuned for the dancefloor. It has 40 leads that drift from clean to crystalline, 40 big and bold synth basses, 25 dreamy atmospheric pads, 30 uniquely modern plucks and 15 contemporary FX.
In all cases, these synth sounds have been designed to give SampleTank 3 users access to the same ultra-futuristic sound palette used by today's most famous electronic dance music producers.
Hugh Padgham Drums
SampleTank 3's already impressive rhythm section just got even better. Hugh Padgham Drums is a new high-definition Sound Library with over 3,600 drum kit samples and 240 MIDI patterns recorded by the eponymous engineer-producer in an extremely live-sounding stone room with multiple microphones. Musicians are able to adjust the mix of each instrument to include both room-miked and close-miked samples. This provides reverby rhythms (like the "gated drum sound") that maintain their punch and aggressiveness - just like Padgham's work in the '80s.
The library lets musicians play with his signature sound by providing 20 drum kit instruments that each offer an adjustable amount of room atmosphere that can be dialed in for artistic flair. There are 2 kick drums, 2 snare drums, 6 toms, 5 cymbals and plenty of hi-hats, and all of these hits are provided with multiple velocities and round-robin samples. It's just the ticket for getting that tone that Padgham used for Phil Collins'"In the Air Tonight" and Frida Lyngstad of Abba's "I Know There's Something Going On."
Hugh Padgham Drums also includes 240 MIDI patterns evocative of the man's classic works. These patterns have been programmed by IK's team of experts to inspire new on-the-spot percussive ideas.
Though its sonic palette makes it ideal for rock and pop productions, Hugh Padgham Drums are also a great fit for metal, EDM and film score music due to each sample's room mic adjustability and the versatility of the samples themselves.
SampleTank 3
SampleTank 3 is IK Multimedia's expandable ultimate sound and groove workstation for Mac and PC. It features an intuitive workflow that allows musicians to quickly and easily get down to the business of making music. Its massive and expandable sound library (with over 33GB of content!) has inspired countless hit songs and recordings. With its constant stream of new content, SampleTank 3 continues to be the industry standard for professional sound.
Perfect control
These new sound libraries have been designed to be experienced with IK's growing range of companion hardware controllers. The new Hugh Padgham Drums are perfect for IK's iRig Pads groove production controller, while traditional keyboard players will find that the portability and universality of IK's iRig Keys or iRig Keys PRO can't be matched when it comes to playing Future Synths.
Pricing and availability
The Future Synths and Hugh Padgham Drums sound libraries for SampleTank 3 are available now via the IK online store and the SampleTank 3 Custom Shop for a special introductory price of just $/€79.99* each.
*All prices excluding taxes
For more information about these new libraries, visit ikmultimedia.com. For more about SampleTank, head here.
Below, check out a preview of former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters’ new film, Roger Waters The Wall.
The film, which captures the sights and sounds of the stage performance of "The Wall Live," will be released September 29.
"The Wall Live" was a multimedia event that toured the world from 2010 to 2013. The film wraps the concert experience within the larger context of Waters’ personal journey as he deals with the death of his father in Italy in 1944 during World War II. That death and its effect on Waters was central to The Wall, Pink Floyd’s landmark 1979 album.
The film will also feature a rare meeting of former Pink Floyd members. Waters and drummer Nick Mason will reunite to discuss the band’s history and music and answer questions from fans.
Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985 over complaints about his bandmates’ lack of creative contributions to The Final Cut, the last album to feature the classic Floyd quartet of Waters, Mason, David Gilmour and Richard Wright.
Responding to the needs of pedalboard users and players whose high-gain effects create difficult-to-ontrol hum and noise, EHX has developed The Silencer, a sophisticated noise gate that can tame a single pedal or an entire effects loop.
The Silencer’s three-control layout provides precise fine-tuning to fit your system, instrument and playing style.
Threshold adjusts how much level is required to open the noise gate and allow a signal to pass thru. Reduction regulates the degree to which the gated signal is reduced and is variable between -70db and +4db. Release controls how long the gate remains open after the signal drops below the Threshold. Release time is variable between 8ms and 4 seconds.
I/O includes ¼ inch Input, Output, Send and Return jacks. The footswitch selects whether the Silencer is engaged or in bypass mode; buffered bypass allows the effects loop to remain in your signal path when the gate is bypassed. A built-in AC jack accepts an EHX9.6DC power supply (optional) and the pedal ships with a 9V battery.
The Silencer has a $76.80 MSRP and will be available this August.
For more Summer NAMM Show news, bookmark GuitarWorld.com's dedicated Summer NAMM 2015 page. And don't forget to follow GW on Twitter for more "live on the NAMM Show floor" coverage.
The brand-new EHX 22500 Dual Stereo Looper is flexible, extensively featured pedal looper that allows for easy operation of two loops at the same time.
Expanding upon EHX’s looping legacy, the 22500 employs two high-quality, uncompressed audio tracks that can be played in parallel or series to enable the player to punch in and out harmonies and rhythms, or use each loop as different sections of a song.
The pedal is capable of recording up to 12 hours with the supplied 8GB SD card.
The 22500’s user interface is intuitive and in depth. Loop A and Loop B footswitches engage recording and toggle between playback and overdubbing for each loop with a single tap or double tap to stop. A third footswitch can be programmed to function as a master Stop, Tap Tempo or Rhythm Start/Stop switch.
Control sections for each loop include individual level control knobs and Reverse and Octave buttons to expand creative possibilities. Three loop status LEDs include Record, Playback and Memory. The multifunction Mode knob gives access to 100 loop banks, control over rhythm options and operational functions of the pedal including Series/Parallel looping, rhythm Quantized/Free Form looping and much more. Input Gain knob controls the level of input. Rhythm button engages the built in drum loops.
The 22500 is completely stereo/mono capable. The Left/Mono Input is switchable between ¼” and XLR MIC inputs with selectable phantom power and a separate microphone gain knob. SDHC memory card slot supports 4GB to 32GB cards. The included 8GB memory card holds up to 12 hours of total recording time. Included USB port enables backup/restore to a PC or MAC. An optional Bank-Up/Bank-Down Foot Controller is available for increased onstage ease (sold separately).
The 22500 Dual Stereo Looper expands EHX’s looper legacy in both form and function. The new 22500 comes in a rugged die-cast chassis and comes standard with an EHX 9.6-Volt/DC200mA AC adapter and carries a U.S. list price of $359.97. The 22500 Foot controller is powered by the main pedal and has a U.S. list price of $117.15.
For more Summer NAMM Show news, bookmark GuitarWorld.com's dedicated Summer NAMM 2015 page. And don't forget to follow GW on Twitter for more "live on the NAMM Show floor" coverage.
Stevie Ray Vaughan’s guitar tone was as dry as a San Antonio summer and as sparkling clean as a Dallas debutante, the product of the natural sound of amps with ample clean headroom.
However, Vaughan occasionally used pedals to augment his sound, mainly to boost the signal, although he occasionally employed a rotating speaker cabinet and wah pedals for added textural flair.
Vaughan’s fierce playing style was the key to his distinctive sound, but it was also very hard on his equipment, and over the years his amps and pedals were heavily modified to withstand the abuse.
AMPS
1980 Marshall model 4140 Club and Country
Most guitarists with multi-amp rigs will use Fender amps for clean tones and Marshalls for distortion and overdrive, but Vaughan did the opposite. However, it made sense that he used a Marshall for clean tones, as his Marshall was a model 4140 Club and Country combo with two 12-inch speakers, which was Marshall’s version of a Fender Twin Reverb. With 100 watts of output and a power amp section driven by KT77 tubes, the Club and Country provides more clean headroom than the typical Marshall design. The amp remained in Vaughan’s rig until early 1984, when a Dumble Steel String Singer replaced it.
1964 Fender Vibroverb
The heart and soul of Vaughan’s live rig for most of the Eighties was a pair of Fender Vibroverb combos. The Vibroverbs, each featuring a single 15-inch speaker, were the source of Vaughan’s cranked-up overdrive tones, and he also used one of the combos to power his Fender Vibratone rotating-speaker cabinet throughout his career. Introduced in 1963, the Vibroverb was Fender’s first amp with built-in reverb.
Fender initially produced the Vibroverb with two 10-inch speakers and brown Tolex covering, but in late 1963 the model’s design switched to a single 15-inch speaker and black Tolex. Vaughan always assumed that his Vibroverbs were one serial number apart from one another based on the numbers “5” and “6” on the tube charts, but those are production run numbers and the actual serial numbers were 36 numbers apart.
Dumble Steel String Singer
Vaughan first discovered the amps of legendary Los Angeles boutique-amp pioneer Alexander “Howard” Dumble when recording Texas Flood at Jackson Browne’s Downtown Studios in 1982, using Browne’s Dumbleland 300-watt bass amp to record most of the tracks during the sessions.
Impressed with the Dumble amp’s ability to maintain crystal-clean tone even when subjected to his aggressive low E string attack, Vaughan custom-ordered a Steel String Singer head, which Dumble beefed up with 6550 tubes and 150 watts of output instead of the model’s usual 6L6 tubes and 100 watts. Vaughan usually used his Dumble head with a custom-built 4x12 cabinet loaded with Electro-Voice speakers.
When delivered in 1984, the Steel String Singer immediately became the main clean amp in Vaughan’s rig, earning the “King Tone Consoul” nickname that Vaughan bestowed upon it. Vaughan acquired a second Dumble Steel String Singer in 1986.
Mid-Sixties Fender Super Reverb
Before Vaughan bought his Marshall Club and Country amp, a mid-Sixties blackface Fender Super Reverb was the source of his clean tone. When Vaughan started playing increasingly larger venues in 1983, he added a pair of Super Reverbs to his rig, which he used along with his Vibroverbs.
Like the Vibroverb, the Super Reverb is powered by two 6L6 tubes and provides 40 watts of output, but because it has four 10-inch speakers (Vaughan loaded Electro-Voice speakers in his Super Reverb amps) instead of a single 15-inch speaker it provided the louder clean headroom Vaughan needed onstage.
Eventually, the Super Reverbs replaced the Vibroverbs as the source of his onstage overdrive tones, although Vaughan kept one Vibroverb in his rig exclusively for driving the Vibratone rotating speaker cabinet. During his 1990 tour, Vaughan replaced the Super Reverbs with a pair of Fender’s newly released ’59 Bassman Reissue amps.
Fender Twin Reverb
For his 1985 Japan tour, Vaughan used a pair of Fender Twin Reverb amps (a mid-Sixties 85-watt blackface model and a late-Seventies 100-watt silverface version with master volume) in place of his Dumble Steel String Singer head. The Twins disappeared from his rig after that tour, only to resurface for a brief period in 1987 when they temporarily replaced his Vibroverb combos.
Early Seventies Marshall model 1967 Major Lead
As Vaughan’s insatiable appetite for power increased, so did the size of his onstage rig, until 1988, when he decided to simplify his multi-amp setup by stripping it down to a pair of high-powered amps: his 150-watt Dumbles and a 200-watt Marshall Major Lead head. Vaughan experimented with a variety of speaker cabinets for the Marshall, including huge 4x15 and 8x10 cabinets designed for bass, before settling on a 4x12 loaded with Electro-Voice speakers like he used with his Dumbles.
If the Marshall Major lasted through the set (this model’s linear design frequently caused intense voltage spikes that arced across adjacent tube sockets and blew tubes), Vaughan would use it to perform a raucous version of “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” to close his set.
In Step session amps
When recording In Step, his last studio album with Double Trouble, Vaughan had 32 different amps at his disposal, including a 1962 Fender Twin, a mint original 1959 Fender Bassman, and vintage Fender Harvard and Magnatone amps, in addition to the Fender Vibroverbs, Dumble Steel String Singers, and various Fenders and Marshalls he used onstage. When recording each song, Vaughan experimented with different combinations of amps and settings until he dialed in the sound he wanted.
EFFECTS
Ibanez Tube Screamer
According to pedal-geek lore, Vaughan was a big fan of the TS808 version of the Ibanez Tube Screamer, but evidence in the form of stage photos, live videos, insurance documents and customs declarations reveal that the TS9 version of the Tube Screamer was his preferred choice from 1982 through most of the Eighties.
Vaughan usually used his TS9 to provide a clean boost to his Fender Vibroverbs for solos, with the level control all the way up and the drive control set to relatively low gain.
In 1988, a new Ibanez TS10 Tube Screamer replaced the TS9 in his pedal board, which Vaughan generally used to generate high-gain distortion (with both the drive and level controls boosted) that wasn’t otherwise available from his Dumble and Marshall Major rig.
Fender Vibratone
The lush rotating-speaker effects heard on Vaughan tracks like “Cold Shot” and “Couldn’t Stand the Weather” were generated by a Fender Vibratone speaker cabinet. Similar to a Leslie Model 16, the Fender Vibratone is designed for gigging guitarists and features a rugged, roadworthy cabinet covered in black Tolex.
More importantly, the Vibratone is also designed for use with a standard guitar amp and features a guitar speaker that emphasizes crucial midrange tones instead of the full-range, two-way woofer and tweeter speaker array found in most Leslie cabinets. Fender sold the Vibratone from 1967 through 1972, and it is still considered one of the best true rotating speaker effects for guitarists.
Roland SDD-320 Dimension D
Although Vaughan didn’t use the Roland Dimension D in his live rig, it was a secret weapon in the studio, where he often added it to his guitar tracks during mixing. Vaughan first discovered the Dimension D while mixing his guitar tracks on David Bowie’s Let’s Dance, and he liked how its subtle chorus effect thickened his guitar sound without changing his natural tone significantly like other chorus effects frequently do.
The Dimension D was used on the solos to “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and “Pride and Joy” on Texas Flood and most of the solos on Couldn’t Stand the Weather. During mixing, Vaughan would add the Dimension D effects himself via the effects send/return controls on the mixing console.
Vox V846 wah
Vaughan’s wah pedal of choice was a Vox V846 from the Sixties that originally belonged to Jimi Hendrix. Jimmie Vaughan, Stevie’s brother, acquired the pedal from Hendrix when Jimmie’s band shared a bill with the Experience in Fort Worth. Vaughan owned several other Vox wah pedals and was allegedly very fond of an early Seventies version with a Japanese TDK inductor.
Vaughan used the Vox wah on his Hendrix covers and “Telephone Song” on the Vaughan Brothers’ Family Style, and he famously used two wahs at once to record “Say What.”
Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face
Vaughan tended to prefer clean tones and natural tube-amp overdrive, but in 1988 he added an original Sixties Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face pedal to his rig when he became obsessed with emulating Jimi Hendrix’s signature sounds.
Unfortunately, the Fuzz Face’s germanium transistors were extremely unreliable when exposed to hot stage lights or the sun during outdoor gigs. Vaughan collected several Fuzz Face pedals, and he would try several during sound check to choose the one he thought sounded best that particular day. Eventually, he got tired of the unreliable transistors in his Fuzz Face pedals, so he had them modified by his amp tech César Diaz, who later used the modifications as the basis for the Diaz Texas Square Face pedal.
Tycobrahe Octavia
Another key effect that Vaughan used to emulate Hendrix tones was an Octavia fuzz pedal that produces octave-up effects. Vaughan initially used Roger Mayer Octavia pedals (housed in distinctive “spaceship” metal boxes), but when Diaz located three New Old Stock Tycobrahe Octavia pedals, Vaughan switched to those.
His guitar tech, Rene Martinez, says that Stevie thought the Tycobrahe pedal produced the best Octavia effect he had ever heard. Vaughan especially liked how the Octavia sounded when used along with a Tube Screamer.
Be sure to pick up the new March 2013 issue of Guitar World magazine, which features SRV on the cover and celebrates the 30th anniversary of Texas Flood. The issue also profiles the amps and effects in Vaughan's arsenal, dissects 10 Vaughan albums and discusses Vaughan's "Number One" Fender Strat. The new issue is available now at the Guitar World Online Store.
One day in late 1995, I was driving to a town at the very top of New York state, just south of the Quebec border.
Suddenly, as I was passing through what seemed like the middle of nowhere (I might've been in the heart of New York's awesome Adirondack Mountains) a strange song came on the radio.
Because the radio reception in the mountains was terrible and full of static, I couldn't hear the song clearly. But it sounded like a "new" Stevie Ray Vaughan song; the guitar playing and the vocals sounded very much like that of the late SRV, who had been dead for five boring years.
I could make out a few of the lyrics, which included stuff like "that Texas sound,""soul to soul" and "I've been gone too long." It was as if SRV was saying howdy from the grave!
I remained confused by the mystery "SRV" song—until a few months later, when I found out (through my brother, who also had heard the song and decided to track it down, pre-Google) that it was written and recorded by a signer-guitarist named Corey Stevens, who is (like me) a huge Vaughan fan.
Feel free to check out the song, "Gone Too Long," below. Hopefully you can see why I was so bewildered that day. Remember, the reception in my car was terrible!
Stevens, a fine guitarist in his own right (with a huge discography, according to Wiki), is able to take on the vocal and guitar characteristics of a host of blues and rock greats, most notably SRV. He also does a fine Eric Clapton.
"Gone Too Long" is available on Stevens' 1995 album Blue Drops of Rain (Eureka Records), which is pictured above. The album also features a cover of SRV's "Lenny" (See the bottom video below for a more recent live performance of "Lenny").
To see what Stevens is up to these days (and to catch one of his shows), visit coreystevens.com.
“I’ve been stealing one of your solos for years; it’s your solo on 'The Crawl' from [the Fabulous Thunderbirds' 1980 album] What’s The Word? I steal that from you about once a week.
Jimmie to me:
“Well, good. I can’t remember, but I think I stole that from Guitar Junior. So don’t feel bad!”
Below, check out a—let's face it—pro-shot yet crappy-quality video of the Fabulous Thunderbirds performing "The Crawl" in what I call the good ol' days of Texas rock and blues (1984), with Jimmie's little brother, Stevie Ray Vaughan, sitting in.
What's particularly cool is that SRV is playing a Fender Telecaster in this clip—something I don't think I've ever seen before. Be sure to stick around for the extended solo at the end of the video!
In case it isn't clear, that's Jimmie on the white Strat and Stevie Ray on the Tele. Kim Wilson sings. Note that both Jimmie and Stevie Ray play the guitar behind their head at various points. Ah, yes, the good ol' days! Enjoy!
As you might've detected from the non-stop TV commercials and internet ads, Minions opened in theaters today.
The animated comedy, which is about gibberish-spewing yellow creatures who are looking for someone to serve, happens to feature a touch of Eddie Van Halen's "Eruption."
As you can see in the video below, one of the main Minions—his name seems to be Stuart—is handed a guitar and told it’s a “super mega ukulele.” As the Van Halen News Desk point out, Stuart “plucks a few tentative notes” before he’s overtaken by the spirit of rock and slays the crowd with his six-string prowess.
Of course, he does this by playing several bars of “Eruption,” the shred-fest against which all other shred fests are judged. He even plays some of it with his tongue and ends by smashing his little red animated guitar, rosewood neck and all.
Virginia-based metal-ers Lamb of God will release their seventh full-length album, VII: Sturm Und Drang, July 24 via Epic Records.
However, the band has premiered a new song from the album, "Erase This." Check it out below.
VII: Sturm Und Drang is available for pre-order via iTunes and Amazon. It includes “Still Echoes” and “512” as instant-grat tracks.
Catch Lamb of God on tour this summer:
NORTH AMERICAN TOUR: LAMB OF GOD W/ Slipknot, Bullet For My Valentine & Motionless In White
7/24 - West Palm Beach, FL @ Cruzan Amphitheatre
7/25 - Tampa, FL @ MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre
7/26 - Atlanta, GA @ Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood
7/28 - Detroit, MI @ DTE Energy MusicTheatre
7/29 - Darien Center, NY @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
7/31 - Saratoga Springs, NY @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center
8/1 - Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
8/2 - Hartford, CT @ XFINITY Theatre
8/4 - Boston, MA @ XFINITY Center
8/5 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
8/6 - Pittsburgh, PA @ First Niagara Pavilion
8/8 - Toronto, ON @ Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
8/9 - Montreal, QC @ Parc Jean-Drapeau - Heavy Montreal
8/11 - Washington, DC @ Jiffy Lube Live
8/12 - Virginia Beach, VA @ Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach
8/14 - Indianapolis, IN @ Klipsch Music Center
8/15 - Chicago, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
8/16 - St. Louis, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
8/19 - Denver, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
8/21 - Salt Lake City, UT @ USANA Amphitheatre
8/23 - Auburn, WA @ White River Amphitheater
8/24 - Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
8/26 - Concord, CA @ Concord Pavilion
8/28 - Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Resort Festival Grounds
8/29 - Phoenix, AZ @ AK-Chin Pavilion
8/30 - Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheater
9/2 - Austin, TX @ Austin360 Amphitheater
9/4 - Houston, TX @ The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
9/5 - Dallas, TX @ Gexa Energy Pavilion
