Pointy Guitar

AD: Madame Tubewah’s Tube Talker

dukewisdom — Sat, 18 May 2013 14:35:02 +0000

“The World’s First Tube Wah Wah Pedal!”

Ahh, what more can be said about Madame Tubewah’s Tube Talker? Not a helluva lot, really. Prior to this post, the only trace of this wah wah pedal on the web was one being offered for sale at Harmony Central in 2007. The manufacturer, Calgary’s Musitech Guitar Products, seems to have had its trademark canceled in 1998.

Scan from Guitar Player, May 1993.

AD: Lita Ford for Alvarez

dukewisdom — Tue, 07 May 2013 09:11:58 +0000

Lita Rossana Ford ca. 1993

Alvarez are mostly known for their excellent acoustic guitars, but, like Ovation, have made electric inroads. Here is Lita Ford with the most pointy Alvarez Dana Scoop, its extreme cutaway hidden here by Lita’s arm. And what was Ms. Ford up to in ’93? Not much in terms of releasing music, as the album Black was still a couple years away.

Scanned from Guitar Player, May 1993.

At Dawn They Sleep: RIP Jeff Hanneman

dukewisdom — Thu, 02 May 2013 22:55:28 +0000

This one has many of us speechless: Slayer guitarist and thrash metal legend Jeff Hanneman is dead at 49. From the band’s Facebook page:

Slayer is devastated to inform that their bandmate and brother, Jeff Hanneman, passed away at about 11AM this morning near his Southern California home. Hanneman was in an area hospital when he suffered liver failure.

Read more and check out a classic Hanneman photo over at Stereogum

Right here.

Scott Henderson on Weather Report, recording guitars at 5:00 a.m. and grooving

dukewisdom — Thu, 02 May 2013 00:31:05 +0000

Fusion master Scott Henderson recently spoke with Jude Gold at Guitar Player, the two discussing Henderson’s tenure with Joe Zawinul, his 18-watt Suhr Badger amp, and his advice to GIT students:

I remind them that they have to constantly work on three things: their time, their phrasing, and their tone. Anyone can tell if you don’t have one of those things together. I try to get my students to understand that it’s not how much you know— it’s how you present what you do know.

Read it all at Guitar Player.

Right here.

Joe Satriani’s 200 stomp boxes

dukewisdom — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 23:58:47 +0000

Joe Satriani is back with his 14th studio album, Unstoppable Momentum. The new collection is typically (and consciously) strong on melody while also indulging Satch’s boundary pushing tendencies. He described the record and the gear used to make it in a new Premier Guitar interview, noting a particular pre-session ritual:

Before recording a new album, I sometimes go out and spend way too much money on pedals. It gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling—I’ve got every possible pedal for any direction, just in case the producer suggests something that I hadn’t thought of. I’ll bring 200 pedals to the sessions and only use four.

Read all of Adam Perlmutter’s excellent piece at PG.

Right here.

AD: Dimebag Darrell for DR Strings

dukewisdom — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:34:05 +0000

Dime

Pantera were still in high gear when this DR ad came out: Far Beyond Driven was in the books and The Great Southern Trendkill was on the horizon. There’s some nice face time for Darrell’s Dean ML here too.

Scanned from Guitar World, March 1995.

Tom Scholz sues Barry Goudreau

dukewisdom — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 12:20:24 +0000

A different sort of story out of Boston: Tom Scholz, mastermind of Boston the rock group, is suing former band mate Barry Goudreau for trademark infringement. From to Boston.com:

According to the lawsuit, Goudreau was a member of Boston for just three years of the band’s 37-year history (and upon leaving the band) signed an agreement giving him 20 percent of royalties from all of the songs on the first two albums but giving him “no interest, right nor title to the name ‘Boston.’ But Goudreau has repeatedly violated that deal.

Scholz also recently attempted to sue a former band manager.

AD: Steve Vai for Ibanez

dukewisdom — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 12:04:27 +0000

Light Without Heat

Here’s Steve Vai at his most Steve-Vai-like, touting the Ibanez Jem 7VWH. Steve was embarking on the Sex & Religion journey at the time this ad appeared in Guitar for the Practicing Musician, September 1993.

The latest from Steve Howe

dukewisdom — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 11:45:00 +0000

Ultimate Classic Rock is running a new interview with Steve Howe. The guitarist touches on many topics including Yes’ return to playing complete albums:

We haven’t done that since 1973 when we used to go out and play the ‘Close To The Edge’ album and then we played ‘Tales From Topographic Oceans’ and that was a huge set. It was a marvelous experience.

And also the effect of his not being able to read music:

Well, it doesn’t bring on any barriers for me, because I don’t know what it is. I don’t like to look at a piece of paper while I’m playing. I’m actually pleased that I didn’t learn how to write music, in most aspects.

Read much more at UCR.

Right here.

AD: Steve Morse for Peavey

dukewisdom — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 00:09:19 +0000

Steven J. Morse

Steve Morse was a busy man around the time this Peavey ad ran in Guitar School, December 1995. He’d joined Deep Purple in ’94 and presumably would’ve been working on material for Purpendicular which was to appear in early ’96. Additionally, he’d released the Steve Morse Band album Structural Damage and Full Circle by the Dixie Dregs (pictured here), as well as making a guest appearance on Carmine Appice’s Guitar Zeus.