I grew up in a house full of guitars, as my father was forever building electric guitars on the families kitchen table. I spent my teenage years trying to tame a 100 watt Marshall JCM 800 and matching 4 x 12 cab in a bedroom, only just large enough for a bed. I’d bought it not REALLY understanding exactly how loud 100 watts is. At this young age I started to experiment with recording and MIDI and cut my teeth on Pro 24 and Notator on an Atari synced to a Foster R8 with an MTC-1.
Playing in bands and working in recording studios for many years, I learned to mix, record and eventually worked as a sound engineer. I also worked for many of the UKs large pro audio retailers, where I helped to set up DAWs in everything from local studios, music technology colleges all the way through to world famous recording facilities like Air Studios and The Strongroom. As I couldn’t help myself, I even owned my own recording studio in London for a while. There I learnt a lot about recording guitars, dealing with bands and getting quality results anyhow.
Over the years I have acquired a very sizeable guitar collection, which includes many guitars that I have built myself. I’m a total hoarder of effect pedals and valve amps and I’m a certified guitar geek. So there are not many that I have not owned at least once. Whether Parker Fly guitars or Klon Centaur pedals, I’ve had them all. Now running the annual Analogue To Digital music show in the UK, plus the Vintage Guitar Fair, I get to be busy throughout the year and also get to rub shoulders with many other guitar lovers, luthiers, manufacturers and pro players.
My tastes in music includes everything from Dinosaur Jr to Squarepusher.
Write him: jef (at) gearnews (com)
With Slow Rise, Slow Fall, Sine, Square and Harmonic tremolo effects all onboard, this new foot treadle operated tremolo effect looks like a really well thought out pedal design, but how does it sound?
The Walrus has updated the Luminary pedal to V2 - this polyphonic quad octave generator has plenty of tweak-ability and options available, with an expression pedal input.
In this week's Virtual Guitar Amp Roundup I go over IK Multimedia's AmpliTube 4 software and give you an insight into what makes this a very flexible and customisable package for guitarists.
Designed by Gary Hurst, these two vintage-toned, hand-built fuzz boxes revisit a design from the 1970s and could be contenders for the 'King of Fuzz' title in 2018.
It looks like Line 6 has tried to construct the perfect partner for its Helix range of floor pedal modellers - these new powered cabs can simulate six different speakers and deliver plenty of power.
Metallica's James Hetfield is now wielding a unique guitar named Carl and one that has been built from reclaimed timbers from a very special garage indeed!
AUDIO
The new updated BIAS Amp 2 has many strengths and one of those is its unique component level customisation and now with the option of including some very high-quality Celestion speaker IRs that make it really ...
This new Courtney Cox signature model is a seriously tweaked and refined instrument designed to stand out from the crowd - hence the hand-finished Pink Sapphire attire.
Seymour Duncan's latest effects pedal packs in plenty of useful reverb effects and also has a dynamic control that responds to your playing style in realtime.
Which virtual amp software should you buy? In this new series, I give my thoughts and opinions on all the major virtual amp packages. First up on my test bench is Line 6' Helix Native software package
Joe Bonamassa has just announced a new (highly) limited edition signature tweed amp reissue with Fender that you can order exclusively from his website in April.
This simple, single-knob, velcro-style fuzz is heavily gated and designed to give maximum dirt without needing multiple controls to do so. But will the Doomstick get you those heavy stoner riffs?
J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr fame has his signature model Fender Squier Jazzmaster updated to meet CITES regulations worldwide, but will it affect it's sound?
This Paul Stanley signature Ibanez Iceman is fitted out with 1400 super sparkly rhinestones - to wield one of these you'd have to really love that limelight...
A whole new limited edition range of PRS SE models has just started hitting the dealer pages around the UK and they all look very smart with their hand-rubbed grey/black stealth finish and ebony fretboards!
Patrik Jensen of The Haunted gets his own signature model, the E 1.6, on Ola Englund's new Solar Guitars brand, a straight-up metal hardtail guitar that looks the part and comes with some cool hardware.
That John Mayer guitar has caused quite a stir in the guitar world, so much so that John has now made a video addressing the how and why it came about in the first place.
A simple solution to making the guitar plectrum a more flexible solution! You can strum with the best of them or speed pick like an '80s hair metal diva - with the same guitar pick!
Do you suffer from keeping track of guitar tunings, have tuning problems caused by owning multiple guitars or maybe you just love guitar gadgets? Roadie 2 is here to make life easier.
The new Gibson Custom Shop Vivian Campbell Les Paul Custom is one of the few versions of this model to feature jumbo frets, but will you pay an extra grand for his signature?
Malekko is releasing two interesting new effects pedals, the Downer and Thicken, that offer guitarists something a bit different - maybe that's down to the collaboration with Colin Newman from Wire.
This little 15W amplifier packs in an insane amount of effects, amp models and cabinet simulations, yet seems simple to use and easy integrate into your guitar set up.
This new single knob controlled preamp is based on a Tungsram AC125 germanium PNP transistor and is available in limited quantities from the Keeley Custom Shop
That crazy plasma-based distortion/fuzz pedal from NAMM by Gamechanger Audio looks set to explode onto the market later this year, but you can try it out now on your own riffs!
