The Modern Fender

Lost Music

Our cover feature this month deals with a

Editor’s Highlights

Jimmie Vaughan A lifetime of blues wisdom is

Putting On The Style

The most affordable guitar yet from PJD Guitars plus the company’s take on the classic offset: two new shapes from a new maker, proudly crafted in the UK

Need For Tweed

This 15-watt all-valve combo from tweed specialists Juketone offers vintage vibes with onboard effects on a budget

Moody Blue

Faith extends its Venus range to include this OM/Auditorium style electro-acoustic made from glorious figured mango

Get On ’Board

Spanish pedal wizard Thermion has cooked up a compact stereo power amp that lets you enjoy your pedals any where

theWishlist

Dream gear to beg, borrow and steal for

Moving On Up

Fender’s Mexican-made Standards became the Player Series in 2018. Now, we have a four-guitar extension of that huge‐selling series: the Player Plus. What’s the deal?

UNDER THE HOOD

What about the bits you can’t see? We investigate…

The Next Generation

A quartet of brand-new Gibson acoustic guitars features a parlour, a couple of dreadnoughts and a jumbo, all with player ports that were inspired by a design idea from legendary company president, Ted McCarty, during the early 1960s. Intrigued? We were…

Vapor Trail Deluxe

The pickup maker’s analogue delay pedal gets a deluxe revamp

Comet Interstellar Driver

A new drive pedal enters our orbit. Read on for the Comet’s tale…

Ashdown Pro-FX pedals

Engineered in the UK, these pedals join the ranks among the firm’s amps

Gas Supply

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

The Players

The latest news, views and happenings from the world of your favourite guitarists

Albums

The month’s best guitar music –a hand-picked selection of the finest fretwork on wax

Tones Behind The Tracks

Joachim Cooder, son of slide-guitar legend Ry Cooder, has a new album that reimagines the folk-blues of 1920s banjo king Uncle Dave Macon

Sights & Sounds

Fresh from the studio and the stage for different assignments, Adam Goldsmith discusses the importance of sight-reading

Come Together

As Alex Bishop begins the restoration of an iconic piece of bass guitar history, getting to the root of the problem is as important as the repair

Saddle Up

Paul Reed Smith tells Jamie Dickson why even the most carefully built electrics benefit from the ability to adjust intonation at the bridge

Jazz Made Easy

Inspired by Django Reinhardt’s ingenuity, Richard Barrett explores three-note chords that produce authentic Gypsy jazz voicings

Feedback

STAR LETTER HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH? I found

Sinister Sounds

Trick or treat? Stefan Fast of YouTube channel ThePedalZone shows you how to coax some spine-chilling tones from your ’board

Longtermers

A few months’ gigging, recording and everything that goes with it – welcome to Guitarist ’s longter m test report

STEVE HOWE

The Yes guitar legend reaffirms his love for his Gibson ES-175D, but reveals how he was nearly swayed by a costly 335…

MARSHALL AMPS

From JTMs to JMPs and JCMs, Marshall’s product specialist, Steve Smith, tracks the evolution of these iconic amps

READY OR NOT?

Caught unprepared to tweak another musician’s guitar on a gig, Dave Burrluck considers his tool kit. Or lack of it…

SOME LIKE IT HOT

Not sure how to get your solder flowing? Dave Burrluck has a few tips

ClassicGear

Japanese-made and US-inspired, this hot-rodded solidbody is a moder n classic

Bill Carson’s ’59 Fender Stratocaster

Vintage Icons

Roger Newell

1948 – 2021

CARLOS SANTANA

As the guitar god returns with a new all-star collaboration album, Blessings And Miracles, he joins us to talk about Strats, snakes, improv and acid…

JIMMIE VAUGHAN

He’s the Texas tornado who braved the honky tonks, traded gear with Hendrix and cut heads with his blues heroes. As Jimmie Vaughan releases a new career-spanning boxset, we take a walk with the 70-year-old through first guitars, broken bones and the agony of losing his kid brother

WILD THINGS

IN SEARCH OF JIMI’S STRATS

OLD LOVE

On his new album, John Mayer lives out a very specific rock ’n’ roll fantasy: “What if it’s 1988 and I’d had a band in the late 60s through the 70s, and now I’m my age in the 80s and people are handing me these things called chorus pedals…” The result is Sob Rock, a highly polished, extra-“generous” studio offering that slyly channels the guitarist’s high-school-days’ guitar gods – including Journeyman-era Eric Clapton

RAMP IT UP

Want to play perfect guitar solos? Start building a ramp, says Mayer…

HEART’S DESIRE

An institution of British tone, Laney is bringing production of its boutique-voiced Lionheart amps back to the UK. We caught up with the team to find out how they made these Lions roar even louder

TOP OF THE CLASS

Simon Fraser-Clark of Laney explains the tonal differences between Class A amps and the more common Class A/B designs

Blues Headlines

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