Upping The Ante

A Class Of His Own

COVER IMAGE BY ROSS HALFIN; BRUCE FOXTON PHOTO

Cut Above

The well-received and affordable Katana range gets a new top-of-the-line head and matching 2x12 cab. There’s plenty of tech onboard, but does it satisfy the classic tonehounds?

Safe Bet

When it comes to dealing out boost and EQ, the only card you might need is Flattley’s The Ace

Engines Ready

With the latest in MXR’s Super Badass series, you’re set for a dynamic and f lexible drive

the Wishlist

Dream gear to beg, borrow and steal for...

Man On The Moons

The long-anticipated PRS SE DGT – the David Grissom Tremolo – finally lands in the UK. But just how does this dramatically more affordable SE version stack up to the classic Core model?

Long Time Coming

PRS’s SE line has featured numerous signatures over the past two decades, including those from Carlos Santana, Mark Tremonti and Bernie Marsden. David Grissom had to wait…

Sibling Rivalry

Less a copy, more an ‘inspired by’ design, the SE DGT cleverly emulates the USA model but with plenty of differences

Polished Performers

Larrivée’s 44 Legacy Series introduces a range of guitars in a selection of body sizes, each with an upgraded high-gloss finish. Let’s find out exactly how they shine

Rocket Science

Strymon’s excellent first-generation effects have undergone the V2 treatment for added flexibility and even better tone

Gas Supply

Our pick of the month’s most delectable and wallet-bothering new gear

Fretbuzz

A monthly look at must-hear artists from all corners of the guitar world, from the roots of their sound to the tracks that matter most

Tones Behind The Tracks

We talk to Jared James Nichols about how a guitar that fell to earth in a tornado helped him defy blues-rock cliché on his stellar new album

Beck-Ola!

Neville Marten recalls the impact that Jeff Beck had on guitarists of his generation, plus a story or two about his involvement with Guitarist

Draw A Blank

This issue Alex Bishop tackles the fiddly job of crafting a new guitar nut from scratch

Clean Machine

Jamie Dickson and Nick Guppy look back on how Roland’s JC-120 became the rare transistor amp that everyone loved

Soundtrack Chords

Richard Barrett steps back into the golden era of Hollywood with these orchestral-style chord examples

Feedback

Your letters to the Guitarist editor. Drop us a line at guitarist@futurenet.com

SEMI PANIC!

When a local pro’s ES-335 suffers another catastrophic neck break, The Mod Squad offers to help – and Dave Burrluck ends up discovering a forgotten gem in the process

Vintage Strat Pickups

Nobody can deny that Leo Fender revolutionised the

Gibson Les Paul/SG Standard

Gibson’s debut solidbody line got off to a

Beck Jeff

1944 –2023

LIFE OF A PIONEER

From the rebellious square peg of Swinging London to the still-questing elder statesman of the post-millennium, Jeff Beck reimagined the electric guitar as a magic wand in a career that could be both spellbinding and maddening

THERE’S NO OTHER ME

The guitar world has been shaken to the core at the loss of one of its most original voices and many players wanted to share a personal note of loss, an anecdote, or a tribute to a man who played such an important role in their musical lives

HEART FULL OF SOUL

Whitesnake hero Bernie Marsden recalls the Jeff Beck he knew – quick-witted, funny and so brilliant on the guitar that even his peers knew they couldn’t come near to his freedom on the fretboard, only surrender to it

OUT OF THIS WORLD

Guitarist’s senior music editor, Jason Sidwell, shares an unpublished interview with Steve Lukather that was recorded in the early Noughties – where Lukather praises Jeff Beck’s untouchable, “alien” approach to the guitar

BECK ON BECK

Jeff Beck’s playing was unforgettable and unique. Who better than Jeff himself, then, to explain how his approach to guitar evolved? We open the archives to revisit Jeff explaining his art, in his own words, in classic interviews

THE GUITARS

Jeff Beck was a Strat man through and through, but this wasn’t to the avoidance of all other models. Author and guitar historian Tony Bacon recounts his past conversations with Beck as he charts the various six-strings that were instrumental in his career

THAT PICKUP

“I’ve got a Jeff Beck in my guitar” is something many of us have said over the past nearly five decades. And while the classic Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB was never actually a signature pickup, without Jeff it may never have happened…

BRUCE FOXTON

He’s the sharp-suited mod who partnered Paul Weller in The Jam and penned the best basslines in punk. Now, as he keeps the classics alive in From The Jam and releases a fantastic new album of originals with Russell Hastings, Bruce Foxton looks back on burying the hatchet, beating tinnitus and why The Beatles can’t sue him for the Start! bassline…

DJANGO’S LEGACY

ENIGMATIC GYPSY KING DJANGO REINHARDT CONTINUES TO MYSTIFY, ASTONISH AND INSPIRE GUITARISTS – EVEN 70 YEARS AFTER HIS UNTIMELY PASSING. SUCCESSIVE GENERATIONS HAVE FAITHFULLY AND TIRELESSLY KEPT HIS NAME, LEGACY AND EXTRAORDINARY MUSIC ALIVE TO THE EXTENT THAT, TODAY, THERE IS A GLOBAL SCENE DEDICATED TO THE ‘HOT CLUB’ STYLE THAT CONTINUES TO THRIVE SEEMINGLY INDEPENDENT OF CURRENT TRENDS, NO MORE SO THAN IN THE UK WHERE A NEW CREW OF DJANGOPHILES HAVE HAPPILY TAKEN THE MUSICAL BATON THAT DJANGO HIMSELF FORGED BACK IN THE MID-1930S. GUITARIST SPEAKS TO SIX YOUNG PURVEYORS OF ‘LA POMPE’ – ALEXBISHOP, CORNELIUS CORKERY, HARRY DIPLOCK, REMI HARRIS, LEWIS KILVINGTON AND CHRIS QUINN – ABOUT WHAT MAKES DJANGO’S GUITAR SO IMPORTANT, RELEVANT AND VITAL IN THE 21ST CENTURY

HOT TICKET

Dave Friedman has been building boutique amps for more than two decades – we joined him to learn more about his design process

Blues Headlines

Richard Barrett is on a mission to make you a better blues player – with full audio examples and backing tracks

Hear It Here

MOLLY TUTTLE & GOLDEN HIGHWAY CROOKED TREE Molly

Example 1

THE FIRST SIX BARS ARE PREDOMINANTLY HYBRID-PICKED,