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Merchant of Menace with Jeff Loomis: Using the Phrygian-Dominant Scale and "The Obsidian Conspiracy" Guitar Solo, Part 1

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In this month’s column, I’d like to initiate a detailed breakdown of the guitar solo on the title track from Nevermore’s latest album, The Obsidian Conspiracy.

This is a fairly complex solo, 14-bar bars in total length, so let’s begin with a look at the first six bars, including both the rhythm and lead guitar parts. The first six bars of the solo are played over a repeating one-bar rhythm guitar part, shown in FIGURE 1.

The tempo of the solo section is relatively slow, and this allows me the “space” to create a rhythm part that consists of a fairly complex syncopation based on 16th-note triplets. Using the seven-string guitar (tuned down one half step, low to high: Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb), I play three-note root/fifth power chords on the bottom three strings.

The “home” chord (the tonal center, or tonic) is Cs5, fretted with the index finger on the seventh string’s second fret and the pinkie barred across the sixth and fifth strings at the fourth fret. The surrounding chords are fretted the same way.

I use alternate strumming throughout this rhythm part to attain an even attack, beginning with a downstroke, and palm-mute the strings to give the part a heavier, harder-driving sound. Palm muting also aids in creating a clearer distinction between each chord.

FIGURE 2 shows the first six bars of the solo. Bars 1-4 are based on the Cs Phrygian-dominant scale (Cs D Es F# G# A B), which is the fifth mode of F# harmonic minor (F# G# A B C# D E#). Phrygian-dominant is a favored scale in neo-classical rock because its structure offers a bittersweet contrast between the “sweetness” of the major third (E# in the key of C#) and the “darkness” of the flatted second, or flatted ninth, (D) and flatted sixth (A).

I’ve included my fret-hand fingerings throughout FIGURE 2 so you can see where I change from one position to another as I play through the solo. I begin in ninth position on B, the b7 (flat seventh), fretted with the pinkie. When I vibrato this note, I line up the ring, middle and index fingers behind the pinkie and shake the string with all four fingers for added support.

At the end of the bar 1, I shift down to seventh position and rely on the first, third and fourth fingers to fret the notes in bar 2. During beat four of bar 2, I shift down one more fret to sixth position to play fast legato lines (lots of hammer-ons and pull-offs) that fall on beats one and two of bar 3.

In bar 3, at the end of beat two, the index finger shifts down to fourth position, wherein I execute the next series of hammers and pulls using the ring finger and pinkie.

The same position shifting technique occurs a few more times as the solo progresses. Bars 5 and 6 feature an ascending and descending B diminished seven arpeggio (B D F G#) played in a rhythm of 16th-note triplets, using string skipping and a wide fret-hand stretch. Notice that I use only the first, second and fourth fingers. Practice this part slowly at first, and make sure your fingers are warmed up before attempting it.

I’ll be back next month with part two of the “Obsidian Conspiracy” guitar solo.



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Additional Content

Betcha Can't Play This: "The Dominizer" by Angus Clark of Trans-Siberian Orchestra

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Here's a fast run up the fretboard that I call "the Dominizer" because it’s based on a dominant seven arpeggio, specifically, A7 [A C# E G].

In the first two bars, I play the arpeggio classical-style through several inversions on the top three strings, four notes up, then four notes down, with a quick position shift every two beats.

Beginning on beat two of bar 3, I reach my final A7 in 17th position and break away from the strict classical approach and segue into a blues lick that descends across the strings, adding some hammer-ons and pull-offs to get a more fluid feel.

I incorporate what are called approach notes. Notice in bar 3 how I precede the major third, C#, with the minor third, C, and the fifth, E, with the sharp fourth, D#. In bar 4, I use D# as a descending approach note to D, the fourth. For the pick hand, I’m using a combination of alternate picking and economy picking in bars 1 and 2 and through beat one of bar 3.

Practice the run slowly at first, using the indicated pick strokes and fingerings and paying careful attention to nailing all the position shifts.”

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Conquering Dystopia — Jeff Loomis and Keith Merrow — Premiere "Ashes of Lesser Men" Play-Through Video

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Conquering Dystopia, the new project featuring Schecter signature artists Jeff Loomis and Keith Merrow, released their self-titled debut album earlier this month.

Now you can check out a guitar play-through video of "Ashes of Lesser Men," a track off the new album, below.

Be sure to tell us what you think of this guitar-heavy instrumental in the comments or on Facebook!

Click here to watch Loomis talk about his new Signature JL-7; head here to watch Merrow discuss his new signature KM-7. Schecter says the guitars are shipping now.

The album is available here.

For more about Conquering Dystopia, follow them on Facebook. For more about Schecter, visit schecterguitars.com.

R.E.M. to Release Limited Edition LPs From MTV Unplugged Performances

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R.E.M. delivered two knockout performances on MTV's Grammy® and Emmy® award-winning "Unplugged" series, the first in 1991 and the other in 2001, giving them the unique distinction of being the only band to headline the series twice.

Surprisingly, audio from both shows has never been available, making these some of the most demanded music in the R.E.M. vaults.

That will all change on Record Store Day 2014, when Rhino releases both performances as a limited edition, four-LP set. The collection includes every performance from the original broadcasts, as well as 11 songs that never aired, from the storied collection of the band's MTV appearances.

Unplugged: The Complete 1991 and 2001 Sessions is packaged in a four-pocket gatefold will be available exclusively at select independent music retailers on April 19. For a list of participating stores, please visit www.recordstoreday.com.

Following their debut on vinyl for Record Store Day 2014, both "Unplugged" performances will be released on CD and digitally on May 20.

The "Unplugged" performances are sonic snapshots that capture the legendary Athens, Georgia band at important points on its journey from alternative-music progenitors to international stars that have sold more than 85 million albums.

Drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and singer Michael Stipe recorded their first "Unplugged" session in 1991, while riding a growing wave of success that began in 1987 with the commercial breakthrough of Document. Much of the performance spotlights songs from R.E.M.'s then-current album Out of Time, which sold over 18 million copies worldwide and was the band's first #1 album in the U.S. From the album, the band performed "Radio Song,""Low" and its biggest American hit, "Losing My Religion."

Watch the band perform "Losing My Religion" from their 1991 MTV Unplugged appearance below:

The remainder of the set list spans eight years of music and touches on five different albums, mixing "Perfect Circle" from R.E.M.'s 1983 debut Murmur and fan-favorites like "Fall On Me" and "Its The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" with a cover of The Troggs'"Love Is All Around." Five songs that never aired can be heard on this set for the first time, including two tracks from the multi-platinum Green - "Get Up" and "World Leader Pretend."

R.E.M. made an extremely rare second appearance on "Unplugged" in 2001, but this time without original drummer Bill Berry, who left the band in 1997. For the show, the band focused mainly on its 12th studio album Reveal - which came out that year - with performances of the singles "Imitation of Life" and "All The Way To Reno (You're Gonna Be A Star)." The song selection draws from eight different albums with "So. Central Rain" from 1984's Reckoning, "Cuyahoga" from 1986's Lifes Rich Pageant and "Find The River," the elegiac album closer from the 1992 classic Automatic For The People.

This collection uncovers six songs from the session that were never broadcasted, including tracks from Reveal and Up (1998), as well as a haunting and tranquil re-imagination of the band's breakthrough single, "The One I Love" from 1987's Document.

Always advocates for independent record stores, on April 19th (Record Store Day), R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills will be signing copies of the limited-edition, four-LP set at Bull Moose record store in Scarborough, Maine.

For more, visit www.remhq.com.

Thrash Course with Dave Davidson: Utilizing Different Picking Techniques, and How to Play "Invidious"

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Hello, everyone, and welcome to my new GW column.

Over the next few months, I’ll be demonstrating many of the techniques and musical devices I employ in my playing and writing with my band, Revocation. I hope the concepts I present will help you become a better musician and inspire you to discover new sounds on the guitar.

I’d like to start off by demonstrating some of the licks I play in the song “Invidious," from our latest, self-titled release. Some of the melodic phrases in the tune are performed using hybrid picking, a technique sometimes referred to as “chicken pickin’,” wherein I combine standard flatpicking with fingerpicking.

Hybrid picking is not usually associated with thrash metal-style guitar playing, but I find the technique to be extremely useful in executing fast, unusual phrases like these.

FIGURE 1 represents the primary melodic lick in “Invidious,” which, as you can see in our video for the song, I originally performed on banjo. I pretty much always play a seven-string guitar, tuned down one half step (low to high, Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb). All of the examples in this column, however, can be easily played on a standard six-string guitar, as the seventh string is not used.

The lick is based on the E blues scale (E G A Bb B D), and I accentuate the flatted fifth, Bf, by repeatedly pulling off from this note to the open G string, followed by E (fourth string, second fret). The lick is built from a repeating three-note pattern played in a rhythm of even, or “straight,” 16th notes, which creates a shift wherein the first note of the three-note pattern falls on each beat.

On beat three, I slide up to the fourth fret on the G string, followed by the open high E, which I pick with my middle finger. I like playing the lick this way—that is, with hybrid picking—because it serves to emphasize that high E note and make it jump out of the pattern. In the tune, this one-bar ostinato (repeated) lick is played 15 times, and the 16th time I end with a staccato Bb that lands squarely on beat three.

FIGURE 2 illustrates the rhythm part that is played under the single-note ostinato lick. Using the exact same rhythmic syncopation throughout, I move from E5 to G5 and Bb5, followed by a C7 chord voicing that is atypical in thrash metal guitar playing. I then repeat the E5-G5-Bb5 progression, ending on E5 and culminating with a single-note riff that, like the single-note melody, ends on Bb squarely on beat three of the final bar.

Later on in the tune, I play a different riff that is based on the exact same fret-hand technique and rhythmic syncopation, as shown in FIGURE 3. This riff begins with a pull-off to the open B string, starting with a high B note, fretted at the 12th fret and followed by the pull-off and then an Fs on the third string’s 11th fret.

The pull-off then moves down to the eighth fret on the B string and then over to the 11th fret of the G string. At the end of the lick, I employ hybrid picking again, picking each F# note on the B string with my middle finger.



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Additional Content

New DVD at Guitar World Store: 'Dale Turner's Guide to Acoustic Rock Guitar, Part 2'

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A new DVD, Dale Turner's Guide to Acoustic Rock Guitar Part 2, is available now at the Guitar World Online Store.

With more than 150 minutes of instruction, it's the ultimate DVD guide for acoustic rock guitar players!

With this DVD, you'll learn the acoustic rock secrets of:

• Randy Rhoads
• Zakk Wylde
• Django Reinhardt
• Steve Morse
• Al Di Meola
... and more!

You'll also be taught:

• Tapped & Slapped Harmonics
• Economy & Hybrid Picking
• Arpeggiated Chords
• Latin-Style Strumming
• Travis Picking
... and much more!

Your instructor, Dale Turner, is a teacher at Hollywood's Musicians Institute and a Guitar World magazine columnist. Turner also is the author of more than 50 instructional books, including Power Plucking: A Rocker's Guide to Acoustic Fingerstyle Guitar. You can hear his masterful playing on his album Mannerisms Magnified, available through Amazon.

Please note: This DVD includes a .pdf file with tabs. To access the .pdf file insert the DVD into your computer. Windows users should access the DVD drive through the 'Computer' folder on their task bar. The DVD name will appear in the DVD drive of this folder. Right click the DVD name and select Open to access the .pdf file with tabs.

Dale Turner's Guide to Acoustic Rock Guitar Part 2 is available now at the Guitar World Online Store for $14.99!

Book Review: Alex Chilton — the Ultimate Cult King of Rock and Roll

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Even if you’ve never heard of the late pioneering indie-rock genius Alex Chilton, chances are you know at least one or two of his songs.

As the 16-year-old lead singer for the Box Tops, he scored an international Number One hit in 1967 with “The Letter,” a gritty slice of R&B that still gets plenty of regular airplay on classic rock stations.

And, unless you’ve been living in a cave, you are no doubt familiar with “In The Street,” the ubiquitous Chilton song covered by Cheap Trick and used as the theme song of That ‘70s Show.

But there is more to the man than those two tunes, as author Holly George-Warren points out in her authoritative new biography, A Man Called Destruction (Viking). Much more.

After Chilton left the Box Tops, he formed Big Star, a legendary cult band who many consider to be Ground Zero for American “power pop,” the melody-driven sub-genre that has been a staple of indie rock for decades. The irony is that despite the group’s fantastic songs and jangly guitar arrangements, Big Star never became big stars.

Due to various record company snafus and poor distribution, the band broke up before an audience was able to discover their three brilliant albums, #1 Record (1972), Radio City (1974) and 3rd/Sister Lovers (1978). It was only years later, through word-of-mouth, enthusiastic music fanzines and groups like R.E.M., who regularly sang their praises, that Big Star eventually received some much-deserved recognition.

But by the time the rock world caught up, Chilton was already heading in a completely different direction—one that he would pursue until his death in 2010. Despite the demand for him to return to the slick, ethereal beauty of Big Star, Chilton almost perversely ran in the opposite direction, playing music so spontaneous, idiosyncratic and minimalist it often bordered on punk.

Holly George-Warren’s book goes a long way in explaining the Memphis musician’s often mystifying left turns. While Chilton has often been dismissed as an “eccentric” or ”bewildering,” A Man Called Destruction suggests there are other reasons for his career choices. Unlike many of his peers, Chilton simply preferred art to commerce—even if it meant having to wash dishes or drive a cab to make ends meet. He had a vision, and it would not be compromised.

As he said in one interview: “Somewhere along the line I figured out that if you only press a hundred copies of a record, then eventually it will find its way to the hundred people in the world who want it the most.”

In recent years, the cult of Chilton has not abated, and with the release of Warren’s thoughtful and fastidiously researched book, those ranks will surely grow. A hundred copies? It was unlike Alex to be conservative, but he could’ve added a couple more zeros to the end of that number.

Brad Tolinksi is the editor-in-chief of Guitar World magazine.

Review: Schecter Hellraiser C VI BCH Baritone Guitar

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With its staggering selection of seven-string, eight-string and baritone guitars, Schecter has become a leading source of alternative instruments that fall between the standard six-string guitar and four-string bass.

Based on the same foundation as Schecter’s acclaimed Hellraiser series guitars, the Hellraiser C VI BCH offers similar shred-worthy features but in a lower register, making it perfect for guitarists who want to redefine the meaning of heavy.

Features

At first glance, the Hellraiser C VI BCH looks like an oversized version of Schecter’s popular Hellraiser C-1. But in addition to heavier strings, the Hellraiser C VI BCH has a 30-inch scale, and it features a TonePros stop tailpiece instead of the guitar version’s string-through-body design.

Beyond that, the features of the two models are identical, including the EMG active 81TW (bridge) and 89R (neck) humbuckers, separate volume controls for each pickup with push/pull coil tapping, master tone control, three-position pickup selector and Schecter locking tuners.

The Hellraiser C VI BCH also has the same mahogany body with abalone binding, three-piece mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard with abalone gothic cross inlays, and comfortable, contoured asymmetrical double-cutaway body shape.

Performance

Strung with Ernie Ball .020–.090 strings (all wound, small ball end) and tuned E A D G B E, the Hellraiser C VI BCH feels more like a six-string bass of the Fender Bass VI variety than a baritone guitar, which makes it perfect for playing that cover of “Back in the Saddle” you’ve always wanted to add to your set.

Despite having a long, 30-inch scale and heavy strings, this guitar is more comfortable to play than most baritones with shorter scales and lighter strings that I’ve tried. Players of standard guitars won’t find it unwieldy to use, and shredding is not out of the question on this impressive beast. The various EMG humbucker and split tones that the Hellraiser produces are all clear as a bell, making this one smooth-sounding Barry White of a baritone.

Cheat Sheet

List Price $1,119

Manufacturer Schecter Guitar Research, schecterguitars.com

The Bottom Line

More six-string bass than baritone, the Schecter Hellraiser C VI BCH produces devastating, heavy tones but has the comfortable, shred-worthy feel of Schecter’s conventional six-string models.


White Lightning: Ode to the Original B-Bender, Clarence White of The Byrds and Kentucky Colonels

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Clarence White was a genuine double threat.

His brilliant, Doc Watson-inspired acoustic flatpicking, which incorporated lightning-fast fiddle lines played on a vintage Martin D-28, helped the bluegrass world recognize the guitar as a lead instrument.

Several masters of the genre, including Tony Rice and Norman Blake, site him as a key influence.

As an electric guitarist, White built the bridge between country and rock in the late Sixties. His work with the Parsons/White StringBender— an ingenious B-string-pulling device invented and installed in White's 1954 Fender Telecaster by fellow Byrd, multi-instrumentalist and machinist Gene Parsons — is legendary.

Whether employing a crisp, bell-like tone (the Byrds'"Tulsa County") or a touch of fuzz (the Flying Burrito Brothers'"The Train Song"), White inserted his dancing, whimsical runs into songs with confidence, knowing that a little can often go a long way.

White, a member of the Byrds, Nashville West, Muleskinner and the Kentucky Colonels (and the New Kentucky Colonels), also was an in-demand session player who recorded with Arlo Guthrie, Wynn Stewart, Wayne Moore, Gary Paxton, the Monkees, Joe Cocker and Jackson Browne, to name just a few. He was killed by a drunk driver after a gig in California on July 14, 1973, never getting to fully grasp the influence he'd have on bluegrass, country and rock.

There really aren't that many "Clarence White in action" videos to be found on YouTube, but I hope I've collected a decent sampling of clips that represent his skills.

Before we get started, if you want to know more about White — before, during and after the Byrds — check out this well-researched and well-compiled site, burritobrother.com. Enjoy!


"You Ain't Going Nowhere," The Byrds

Because the Byrds'Sweetheart of the Rodeo version of this Bob Dylan tune highlights pedal steel guitar (courtesy of the great Lloyd Green, who I'd love to interview), we suggest you check out a slightly later live rendition instead — like this one from a 1968 TV appearance.

It puts the emphasis on White, his still-Nudie-sticker-free Fender Telecaster and his Parsons/White StringBender (not to mention some fine-looking Sixties women).




"I Am a Pilgrim" / "Soldier's Joy," Clarence White, Roland White and Bob Baxter

Here's White (on the left, with the beard) on the Bob Baxter Guitar Workshop, a local LA-area TV show from 1973, performing a — what I consider — mind-blowing medley of "I Am a Pilgrim" and "Soldier's Joy" with his brother, Roland, on mandolin and the show's host, Bob Baxter, on second guitar (later joined by Byron Berline on fiddle and Alan Munde on banjo).

What I can say about this video? First of all, it's rare in that it shows White's fingering and fretwork up close. Second, there's White unusual sense of timing in the first tune ("I Am a Pilgrim"); it's as if he's throwing in chord substitutions like a jazzer, while Roland plays it straight on mandolin. It can be disconcerting and confusing, but I love it.

This performance is from a DVD called Clarence White: Guitar Workshop, which is available through Sierra Records, right here.

To hear White playing more bluegrass, check out the Flatpick album on Amazon.com and the extended Collector's Edition of Flatpick on sierrarecords.goestores.com.




"Nashville West," Nashville West

No Clarence White playlist would be complete without what some would consider his signature song.

Although White recorded the official studio version with the Byrds (plus an earlier studio version under his own name), here's a stripped-down 1968 (several sources say 1967) El Monte, California, club-date version by another of White's bands, Nashville West, which featured Gene Parsons on drums.




"Time Between," The Byrds

Feel free to argue, but if you had to choose one album that best demonstrates White's electric-guitar prowess, it would be Live at the Fillmore: February 1969 by the Byrds.

The musicians on the album are Roger McGuinn on a 12-string Rickenbacker 360, Gene Parsons on drums, John York on bass and Clarence White on the B-Bender Tele. He never puts it down, so there's no escaping it.

While the most impressive guitar track on the album is the band's cover of Buck Owens'"Buckaroo," that song isn't available on YouTube. Here, however, is a Chris Hillman composition, "Time Between," from the same live album. It's a nice coincidence that White appeared on the Byrds' original 1967 version of this song, back when he was an LA session musician.




"Dark Hollow," Muleskinner

Did I mention White could sing? He was actually a fine vocalist with a distinctive, deep voice that was just right for bluegrass and the spaced-out-Americana material the Byrds were recording from 1969 to 1972. Here's another live YouTube appearance by White, this time with Muleskinner, one of his post-Byrds bands, in 1973.




"Hummingbyrd," Marty Stuart

OK, here's a bonus for you. White's legendary B-Bender-equipped Telecaster is still in action, courtesy of country music artist Marty Stuart, who bought the guitar from White's family several years ago.

Check out this live performance of "Hummingbyrd," an instrumental B-bending piece Stuart wrote — and titled — as a tribute to White. The studio version of "Hummingbyrd" can be found on Stuart's 2010 album, Ghost Train: The Studio B Sessions.

"I always felt a little guilty about not having a recital piece for that guitar," Stuart told Guitar Player in 2010. "With 'Hummingbyrd,' I feel like I finally recorded a song that honors that guitar properly."

Damian Fanelli is the online managing editor at Guitar World (and a B-bending guitarist who collects B-bender-equipped guitars; he has three at the moment). Follow him on Twitter.

April 2014 Guitar World: Kiss Celebrate Their 40-Year Dynasty, 15 Hall-of-Fame-Worthy Bands, Best of NAMM, Scorpions, Acoustic Shred and More

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The all-new April 2014 issue of Guitar World is available now!

In the new April issue, we check in with guitarist Paul Stanley and bassist Gene Simmons, who celebrate their upcoming Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction with a pair of revealing interviews about their 40 years in Kiss. Also, Stanley and Simmons rate Kiss guitarists past and present: from Ace to Tommy Thayer.

In addition, we make the case for 15 artists still waiting to be admitted into the Hall of Fame, including Stevie Ray Vaughan, Dimebag Darrell, Ted Nugent and Soundgarden.

Also, read about how a new generation of acoustic guitar fingerstylists is blazing a daring style of percussive, alternate-tuned shred. Then, try it out for yourself! Guitar World presents an instructional guide to the inspired techniques of percussive acoustic guitar playing.

Finally, the Scorpions wrap up their nearly 50-year run with a new Unplugged release and a farewell album of songs from their Eighties heyday.

PLUS: The best gear of the New Year — Guitar World picks the greatest guitars, amps, effects and accessories from the 2014 Winter NAMM Show.

Five Songs with Tabs for Guitar and Bass

• Daryl Kellie - "Bohemian Rhapsody"
• Kiss - "Black Diamond"
• Lamb of God - "Now You've Got Something to Die For"
• Daft Punk - "Get Lucky"
• Arctic Monkeys- "Do I Wanna Know?"

The April 2014 issue of Guitar World is available now at the Guitar World Online Store!

Exclusive Video: Andy McKee Performs "Myth Maker" from His Ernie Ball 'Set Me Up' Session

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In the exclusive video below, acoustic guitar master Andy McKee performs "Myth Maker" as part of his Ernie Ball "Set Me Up" session.

The song is the title track from McKee's upcoming EP. To read Acoustic Nation's recent interview with McKee, where he discusses Myth Maker and more, head here.

Ernie Ball's online "Set Me Up" series focuses on some of today’s most innovative musicians. It delves into how they write their music — and the gear they use to craft their art.

The series, which is filmed in Los Angeles at the Ernie Ball Music Man showroom, goes beyond a typical session performance and brings the viewer into the mind of the writer and performer via an interview and performance, all while testing and experiencing the latest products from Ernie Ball.

New sessions are released monthly at ernieball.com/setmeup.

For more about McKee, visit andymckee.com. For more about Ernie Ball, visit ernieball.com.

Video: Slash in the Studio — Ernie Ball's 'Real to Reel with Slash,' Volume 4

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Ernie Ball's new online series, Real to Reel with Slash, debuted February 25 on Slash's official YouTube channel.

Part 4 of the series, which you can watch below, shows Slash & Co. — better known as "Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators"— at a studio in Los Angeles, hard at work on their next album.

Each clip in the series provides a behind-the-scenes peek at the band's sessions. This episode puts the focus on Slash and producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette.

Be sure to check out Part 1 here, Part 2 here and Part 3 here.

Stay tuned for the next episode and more news about the upcoming album!

Additional Content

Dirty Work: HIM Guitarist Mikko Lindström Talks Gear, Influences and More

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Finnish goth rockers HIM are on a U.S. headline tour, playing songs from their entire catalog, including their new album, Tears On Tape.

The tour began March 7 at the House Of Blues Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. A few hours before the show, guitarist Mikko "Linde" Lindström spoke to Guitar World about his gear setup, his favorite guitarists and cover tunes and more. Check out the conversation below, along with photos from the LA show.

GUITAR WORLD: Tonight is your first show of this tour. How are you feeling today?

A bit jet-lagged! We flew in the day before from Australia, where we did the Soundwave Festival tour for about two weeks. It was kind of a killer flight, so we're hanging in there but very excited for tonight.

Touring in the U.S. with Anathema must be nice, because you've bee trying to make this tour happen for a while.

Yeah, we had to cancel the last time because the singer got sick, but we're back and we've been playing with Anathema quite a bit. They're nice guys and we love the band.

In terms of your set, what exactly are you trying to do?

It's a bit of a mix of everything. We added some really old songs from the first album and little surprises here and there. But, of course, we're playing songs from the latest album too.

Your early catalog is being reissued digitally and is coming out as a deluxe edition. That must be nice for your younger fans who caught on late and can't find the old albums in stores.

Yeah, exactly. They've never been released here properly before, so it should be a good thing.

What's your current gear setup?

I have a double stack with two Laney heads and one Peavey 5150. The 5150 is the main lead sound, and one of the two Laneys has an Octafuzz Multiplexer and the other one has a Pharaoh fuzz pedal. It's a combo, and it's like a big mess basically [laughs]. In the studio we always change a lot of things like small combos and try to get the weirdest possible sounds and mix them. We didn't record too many tracks this time, and I just played with my SG on the left side and on the right side I played with a Fender Tele, using different setups with both amps.

I read that you've simplified your setup for your most recent album.

Yes, I don't play any clean stuff at all anymore. I only have a distorted setting and a distorted mode with all the fuzz pedals on. So I only have one switch and that's it [laughs].

I bet that also kind of unifies your live and studio sounds, correct?

Yes. It's pretty much the same sound.

When you say you're not doing any clean parts anymore, you're not playing acoustic guitar at all?

I'm not. Ville is playing acoustic this time, so he's taking care of that.

How has your role as the guitar player in the band developed and changed over the years?

I'm not sure whether my role has changed that much, but the older I get, the more confident I get. I play more solos and do that kind of shit more now. I guess my main role has always been to create a big wall of fuzzy, distorted shit [laughs].

So you do the dirty work.

Yeah exactly, and I'm happy with that [laughs].

Aside from HIM, have you been pursuing any other projects?

I have a side project called Daniel Lioneye. I've released two albums with that, and the next one is almost ready now. I don't know when it's coming out, but it sounds great!

I believe you were also involved in the all-star project WhoCares; they put out an album to raise money for charity. That project starred Ian Gillan, Tony Iommi, Nicko McBrain and more. How did you get involved, and what was it like to share a creative process with those people?

Well, it was a one-off. Actually, I didn't see any of the guys [laughs]. We weren't like together in the studio hanging around. But I was given just one song and Tony was like, "Do you want to add anything to this?" I said, yeah sure! And then I went into his studio for two hours and that was it.

You don't have to meet anybody anymore. You can just send files around.

Yeah that's the way it goes [laughs]. Of course, it's a different vibe but it's nice to do these little special things this way every now and then.

In terms of your personal favorites, which guitarists would you cite, and how has that developed in terms of what you've been listening to over the years?

Well, there's quite a lot of guitar players I've been listening to. I started with bands like Kiss and stuff like that, but Steve Vai was the first guitar hero to me when I was 13 or 14. Then I got more into Sabbath, and the technical side wasn't as important to me as it was when I started.

I got into Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and then Iggy Pop. He's never been like an awesome, brilliant guitar player or anything, but I love the vibe of the music. And then Jimi Hendrix, obviously. All of that has affected my playing in some way. I used to listen to a lot of blues as well. I'm a blues player at heart.

When you started out as a musician, I'm sure you jammed some cover tunes. What are some of the songs you played on guitar?

Actually when we started out with HIM, our first show was a Type-O Negative cover gig, so we used to play those songs a lot. Of course, we tried other covers as well, like the Wicked Game stuff, and we used to cover Madonna and all these different Eighties songs and turned them into metal. That's what we used to do.

Photo: Andrew Bansal

Andrew Bansal is a writer who has been running his own website, Metal Assault, since early 2010, and has been prolific in covering the hard rock and heavy metal scene by posting interviews, news, reviews and pictures on his website — with the help of a small group of people. He briefly moved away from the Los Angeles scene and explored metal in India, but he is now back in LA continuing from where he left off.

Ozzy Osbourne Bassist Bob Daisley Posts Previously Unheard Randy Rhoads Recordings

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Randy Rhoads died 32 years ago today on March 19, 1982.

To pay tribute to Rhoads, Rainbow/Ozzy Osbourne/Gary Moore bassist Bob Daisley has posted a lengthy Q&A on his website, bobdaisley.com, titled "The Blizzard of Ozz and The Holy Grail."

In the Q&A, Daisley answers questions regarding the seven hours of audio tapes he recorded during the writing, rehearsing and recording sessions for Osbourne's Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman albums.

Even better, Daisley has posted some previously unreleased audio snippets of those recordings on his site, all of which feature Rhoads on guitar.

In the interview, Daisley refers to the recordings as "the Holy Grail."

You can check out the Q&A — and the four recordings — RIGHT HERE.

Here are two questions from the Q&A. For the rest of the interview, be sure to head to bobdaisley.com.

Randy played a different solo in that version of "Crazy Train." Do you have all of the parts of songs that were never used on tape?

Yes, there are many alternate versions of songs and parts of songs that have never been heard before, from both albums. If anyone's familiar with those two albums, it won't be difficult to spot the unused/discarded parts. There aren't any complete unheard songs other than the jam at Ridge Farm.

Have the Osbournes, or the Rhoads family, heard any of your tapes?

Ozzy heard them when we were writing and rehearsing in 1979/'80/'81, the whole band did, but Ozzy hasn't since then. Kelle Rhoads has heard snippets I played him over the phone, and he loved what he heard, he'd love to see the 'Grail' released.

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"Enhanced" Version of Ozzy Osbourne/Randy Rhoads 'After Hours' Video Surfaces Online

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Although most fans of Ozzy Osbourne and the late Randy Rhoads have already seen video of various parts of Osbourne's After Hours TV appearance from the spring of 1981, you might want to check out this new "enhanced" version of one clip.

This new version (top video), which was posted May 17, certainly does look better than other After Hours clips on YouTube, including one that's called "HQ Best Quality - After Hours," which you can check out below (bottom video) to compare and contrast. (NOTE: The performances in the two clips don't match up, but they're from the same After Hours broadcast — so you can still compare the quality of the videos, which is our point.)

Also note that this clip is only four minutes long; perhaps the enhancers (whoever they might be) are still working on the rest of the show. Regardless, enjoy it — and let us know if you think it looks better!

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Listen: Metallica Release "Garage Demo" Version of New Song, "Lords of Summer"

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This past Sunday night, Metallica premiered an epic new song, "Lords of Summer," at a show in Bogotá, Colombia.

Now the band has posted what they're calling the "garage demo" version of the song on their YouTube channel, also known as MetallicaTV.

Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments or on Facebook!

"We promised our fans we'd play a new song, and we've been writing and creating away, and we're going to throw something at them on Sunday," Metallica's Lars Ulrich told Rolling Stone last week.

"We have something lined up that is fairly representative of where our creative headspace is at right now. It's one of those things that's like, 'Here, we're writing and we're creating.'"

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Exclusive Video Premiere: moe. "Blond Hair and Blue Eyes"

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Today we're excited to present you the world premiere of moe.'s music video for "Blond Hair and Blue Eyes."

The song is featured on the band's upcoming album No Guts, No Glory, available May 27, 2014 on Sugar Hill / Vanguard Records.

For nearly 25 years, moe. has let their knack for dynamic, democratic improvisation influence nearly every facet of the band's existence.

In concert, they stretch the boundaries of their source material into intricate, set-long suites where distinct songs seamlessly segue into one another in exhilarating fashion.

Behind the scenes, moe. continues to evolve – to test their musicianship and songwriting while growing as an ensemble – by applying the same resourcefulness and willingness to take risks to their studio recordings.

The fittingly titled No Guts, No Glory finds moe. at their most inventive, infectious, and resilient. The album's eleven songs (fourteen on the deluxe CD, digital, and double vinyl editions) took a winding path into existence, as the band's initial intentions fell victim to logistical hurdles.

"Sometimes you have to adapt on the fly and just improvise," says guitarist and vocalist Chuck Garvey. "We had these songs that were written with an acoustic album in mind. But we ended up making a whole different thing."

Below, check out the bouncing, horn-driven "Blond Hair and Blue Eyes" to get a taste of what's to come on No Guts, No Glory.

Purchase the track here, and find out more about the band at moe.org.

Betcha Can't Play This: Marty Friedman Explores the Phrygian-Dominant Mode

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Here's a fast one one that mostly uses the Phrygian-dominant mode. It’s in the key of C.

I start with a C power chord as a pickup to the first bar. Sometimes I like to include another fifth below the chord itself.

This brings out overtones that give the illusion of a lower root note, especially when you’re using heavy distortion. Even though the tempo marking is shown as "Freely," the lick is meant to be played as fast as you can.

So in bar 1, I ease into it by starting off relatively slow and move into full speed by the third beat, sort of what it would sound like if a snowball started rolling down a steep hill and got larger and faster on the way down.

I like the Phrygian-dominant mode because of its exotic Eastern flavor; you can also think of it as a harmonic minor scale, which in this case would be in the key of F and starts on the fifth scale degree (C).

Notice how I play most of bar 1 legato—there’s nothing wrong with making it easy on yourself. At the end of bar 1 going into bar 2, I go into a series of five sextuplet patterns that gradually descend the neck. The fretboard shapes are a bit more familiar—the first two are minor (C minor and Bb minor), the third is major with an added #4—Ab(#4)—and the last two return to minor (F minor and C minor).

“By the time I get to the third bar, the C minor tonality is firmly established and I riff all the way through until the last beat, where I downward sweep a quick F#• arpeggio (I upstroke the seventh at the end). I use this to lead into the end, which is a bluesy run based on C9 and incorporates the very familiar blues box pattern.”

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Seymour Duncan Releases Dimebag Pickup Set

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Seymour Duncan has released its new Dimebag pickup set.

Although the Dimebucker pickup — which was created for Dimebag Darrell of Pantera and Damageplan — has been available for years, this is the first time it is available as a set with the company's '59 bridge pickup for the neck position (More on that below).

From the company:

The Dimebucker uses a powerful ceramic magnet coupled with stainless steel blades for vulgar attitude.

The secret to the Dimebucker's hard-hitting crunch is the small amount of metal mass in the core of the pickup. This allows the Dimebucker to have high d.c. resistance (16.25k ohms ) and a high resonant peak (5.1k Hz). The result is a pickup with lots of biting treble, punchy bass, immense clarity and eyebrow-raising squeal harmonics.

With such enormous power, it requires a neck pickup that can provide an equal compliment of balance and versatility. The new Dime set comes with a Dimebucker bridge and a '59 bridge for the neck, which is what Dime preferred as the companion to the Dimebucker.

The '59 provides a tone that is warm and smooth and the use of the bridge version in the neck gives increased output for a better balance with the Dimebucker.

In a 2004 interview, Dimebag described the tone of the Dimebucker:

"It's very saturated–not to the point where it's overly fuzzy — but it has a smooth and crunchy distortion tone. It will give you some extra gain, but it won't go so far that your sound breaks up and is going crazy.

"You get that warm tone with the distortion mixed in and it has the low end that's kicking you in the butt while the top end is cutting your face off in the right way, but not ripping your face off. If you ever listen to a Pantera record, that's what you'll hear through this pickup.”

Below, check out a new Dimebucker SH-13 demo video provided by Seymour Duncan.

For more information on the Dimebag set, visit seymourduncan.com.

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Listen: Animals As Leaders Streaming New Album, 'The Joy of Motion'

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Having given the instrumental prog-metal envelope a serious push with their first two records—2009’s Animals as Leaders and 2011’s Weightless—Tosin Abasi and longtime guitar partner Javier Reyes are taking their virtuoso approach to the next level on their latest effort, The Joy of Motion.

Right now, Animals as Leaders are streaming the entire album at their official YouTube channel. You can check out the playlist below.

This is a nice surprise, since the album won't be released until March 25 via Sumerian Records

“Prog as an ideology should be, in essence, a progression,” Abasi says in the April 2014 issue of Guitar World.

“It should be constantly stepping forward and exploring new territory. We really like the essence of what progressive means, so we want to incorporate cutting-edge sounds and maybe bring elements into progressive metal that are really far removed from metal.

"So for The Joy of Motion, we referenced electronic music, jazz and various other genres, because to us, that really contributes to our sound—and that makes it sound progressive to us, because it’s new.” For the rest of this interview, check out the April 2014 issue of GW at the Guitar World Online Store!

Check it out below — and tell us what you think in the comments or on Facebook!

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