General Interest

On Flickering Resonance, the instrumental auteurs throw down a spellbinding slab of post-metal majesty.

To some, a rock band without a singer can seem like a band without a voice. But for Pelican, the lyrical guitar lines of Trevor Shelley de Brauw and Laurent Schroeder-Lebec are not without a point of view. Their self-professed “unconscious melting pot” of influences includes post-hardcore, punk, and doom metal, among others, but their music also often displays the grandeur of cinema, blending a thick sonic backbone with melodic passages and moments of quiet, introspective solemnity. They intentionally press against the heaviness of their preferred drop-tunings and endlessly yearning rhythms to find a musical sweet spot that is as uplifting as it is unrelenting. “I think the music has this exalting, elevating melody to it that could be described as positive or affirming,” describes Schroeder-Lebec. “It was never the intention to be dark or foreboding or menacing.”

The instrumental post-metal band came together in 2001 in Chicago, Illinois, with guitarists Shelley de Brauw and Schroeder-Lebec, along with brothers Bryan Herweg (bass) and Larry Herweg (drums). Known for incorporating expansive, ambient passages that set them apart from their contemporaries, Pelican has released several well-received albums since the early-aughts, starting with their debut EP, Pelican (2001), and subsequent full length, 2003’s Australasia.

Songstream

On their latest album, Flickering Resonance, Pelican takes “as much inspiration from titanic ’90s post-hardcore, space-rock, and emo as they do traditional metal, showing that though Godflesh and Goatsnake records occupied the shelves of Pelican’s songwriters, so too did Quicksand, Christie Front Drive, and Hum,” writes band biographer David Anthony. “Pelican’s foundation was built upon the rule-free, genre-agnostic [’90s] scene synonymous with Chicago’s [legendary] Fireside Bowl.”

Trevor Shelley de Brauw’s Gear

Guitar

• 1972 Gibson SG

Amp

• Sunn Model T
• Emperor 4x12

Effects

• Dunlop DVP Volume
• EarthQuaker Devices Avalanche Run Stereo Reverb & Delay
• EarthQuaker Palisades Mega Ultimate Overdrive
• Line6 DL4 MkII Delay Modeler
• Strymon BigSky Multi Reverb
• TC Electronic ND-1 Nova Delay
• TC Electronic PolyTune 3 Polyphonic Tuner

Strings and Picks

• D’Addario (.013–.056)
• Jim Dunlop USA Tortex Standard (.72 mm)

Most of the songs on Flickering Resonance were written by Shelley de Brauw, Schroeder-Lebec, and Bryan Herweg sitting in a room together. “We’ll get a rough version of a song together, record a voice memo [on a smart phone], send it to Larry, and he’ll compose drum parts around it,” explains Shelley de Brauw. “But the meat of the process is really all four of us being in a room together jamming and figuring out where the songs want to go. Once we’re in a room, we can really edit so that the DNA of all four of us is in there and it flows in a way that feels natural for us as a band.”

A core influence on Pelican’s DNA is post-hardcore progenitors Fugazi, and their indelible creative imprint is all over Flickering Resonance, even if subversively. “Those records were written in a space, jamming together, and somebody’s coming up with something, and somebody else comes up with a counterpoint, and then everything just starts to gel over time,” observes Shelley de Brauw. “For us, it’s a similar process in that the exchange of ideas makes the music feel more organic in a sense.”

“I think the music has this exalting, elevating melody to it that could be described as positive or affirming. It was never the intention to be dark or foreboding or menacing.” —Laurent Schroeder-Lebec

Aside from Shelley de Brauw’s occasional use of Ableton, he and Schroeder-Lebec mostly eschew leaning on DAWs for crafting songs and records, even if that means slowing down some of the productivity. “You can be super productive [with technology] if you’re like, ‘I’ll throw up an arrangement, lay it down to a click tonight, send it to you, and if you’ve got a part that fits pretty good, you lay that down,’ but it sometimes takes away the back and forth that happens when you’re hashing out the riffs in a room together,” explains Schroeder-Lebec. “And that’s what feels familiar and gratifying. It ends up being a better representation of the band in the end.” It took Pelican six years since their last album, Nighttime Stories, to complete Flickering Resonance, a testament to their face-to-face writing ethos.

Pelican recruited Sanford Parker to engineer the Flickering Resonance recording sessions. He’s worked with the band on and off for the past several decades, including for their first album, Australasia. “The idea was to work with somebody in a complementary way rather than a directive way,” explains Schroeder-Lebec. “Recording with Sanford seems to be a combination of miking with the DI out and staying open to the idea of splitting cabs, splitting heads, and trying to maintain the sound that you’re playing out of.”

Laurent Schroeder-Lebec’s Gear

Guitar

• 1981 Gibson Les Paul Custom

Amp

• Orange Rockerverb 100 MkIII
• Orange PPC412 cab

Effects

• Boss CE-2W Waza Craft Chorus
• Boss RE-2 Space Echo
• Boss TU-3W Waza Craft Chromatic Tuner
• EarthQuaker Devices Hizumitas Fuzz
• JHS Kodiak Tremolo
• Orange Two Stroke Boost and Equalizer
• Strymon blueSky V2 Reverb
• Strymon Brigadier dBucket Delay

Strings and Picks

• D’Addario EXL158 XL Nickel Wound Electric Baritone (.013–.062)
• Jim Dunlop USA Gator Grip Standard (1.5 mm)

When he went to record, Schroeder-Lebec says he was attached to his Orange Rockerverb, but he curiously determined that it probably wouldn’t work in the studio. “I thought that it might get too murky at times,” he admits. “We tried a bunch of stuff and Sanford and Trevor were like, ‘It needs to be the Orange. That’s the best sounding one.’ We filled out some of the frequencies with a Triple Rectifier that was adjusted to a low-gain setting and went between the two at varying levels.”

The guitar parts in Pelican songs are orchestrated more like conversations than distinct lead and rhythm roles. At times, Schroeder-Lebec says he will gravitate to foundational things, but what he enjoys most about the band, since returning after a long hiatus, is their openness with each other. “For me, it’s a sign of personal maturity not being super-attached to your awesome mega riff,” he attests. “And that is born of Trevor and I relating [to each other], and then Brian getting into the mix as a bass player.” He says open lines of communication end up informing intricacies within the songs, like picking patterns, especially when deciding if they are playing upstrokes or downstrokes, for example. “Even in the scheme of being instrumental, with as much slowness as there is, and repetition, and the wall of sound, there’s also nuance. The way the riffs are structured, they’re like interlocking pieces of the grander puzzle that I hope translate to the listener.”

“For me, it’s a sign of personal maturity not being super-attached to your awesome mega riff.” —Laurent Schroeder-Lebec

Shelley de Brauw and Schroeder-Lebec gravitate to different tonalities instinctually and find that they are surprisingly complementary of each other. “Trevor and I have known each other for a very long time, and friendship is a key component to the building blocks,” says Schroeder-Lebec. “It’s not infused with conversations like, ‘Hey I’m going to boost my mids,’ or anything technical like that, but we both want each other’s parts to be present, audible, and focused.” He recounts a funny anecdote from Russian Circles’ guitarist Mike Sullivan, with whom they toured recently. “Mike was watching us, and was like, ‘When I hear each of you individually, I’m like, how do these two guitars fit?’ They’re just such different ranges and when you hear the two together, it becomes this tapestry where everything hangs harmonically.”

Channeling all of that sonic 6-string ferocity into live shows means lugging heavy 4x12 cabs and guitar heads to gigs and rocking the same setup that they’ve used since the beginning. No in-ears, modeling amps, or plugins for Pelican. “We need the air at our backs, and we need to feel the sound waves,” attests Shelley de Brauw. “The physical sensation plays a huge part in what the band is about.” Their volume has crept down over the years because they’ve been in pursuit of clarity, and hearing each other on stage has become paramount. “In the beginning, it was just turn it up and pound hard, and it worked,” remembers Schroeder-Lebec. “But we want to play with each other. That’s the goal now and we’re hoping that the combined effort is relatable for people coming to see the show.”

YouTube It

Pelican deliver a crushing take on “Cascading Crescent” from Flickering Resonance.

Get to know the 5-string heartbeat of mariachi ensembles.

For any guitarist captivated by vibrant rhythm and unique sonic textures, the Mexican vihuela is an instrument that demands attention. Its instantly recognizable, bright, percussive strumming is the heartbeat of mariachi music, contributing an undeniable energy to the ensemble. But the vihuela’s story stretches far beyond the iconic mariachi sound we know today, rooted in European ancestry yet blossoming into a distinctly Mexican voice—one every serious string player should explore.

The vihuela’s lineage traces back to the Spanish vihuela de mano, a sophisticated plucked string instrument that thrived in the 15th and 16th centuries. This European ancestor, often boasting six courses of strings and a familiar figure-eight body shape, made its way to the Americas with the Spanish conquistadors. While the Spanish vihuela eventually faded in Europe, it found fertile ground in the New World, particularly in Mexico, where it began its remarkable transformation.

On Mexican soil, its size generally became more compact, and the string count typically settled at five, tuned in re-entrant courses, which is another way of saying the strings aren’t strictly pitched from low to high. The vihuela’s tuning is much like the first five strings of a guitar, but with the lower courses tuned higher. Most notably, the back of the instrument transformed into its characteristic convex shape, affectionately known as la jaroba. This unique curvature isn’t just for aesthetics; it’s a key contributor to the vihuela’s incredibly bright and resonant tone, allowing it to project over other instruments. While the exact reasons for this design shift are debated among historians, it undeniably gave the Mexican vihuela its unique sonic and visual identity—a true testament to organic instrument development.

“The Mexican vihuela remains an indispensable part of mariachi music, its lively strumming instantly evoking the spirit of Mexico.”

By the 19th century, the vihuela was deeply integrated into various forms of Mexican folk music, not solely confined to what we now recognize as mariachi. Historical accounts show it played in diverse regional styles alongside instruments like harps and violins. Its smaller size made it portable and perfectly suited for impromptu sessions and communal music-making—traits that resonate with any gigging guitarist.

The vihuela’s ascendance to international recognition, however, came with the rise of modern mariachi in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As mariachi ensembles solidified their instrumentation, the vihuela became a cornerstone of the armonía (rhythm) section. Its higher register and percussive attack cut through the ensemble, providing rhythmic and harmonic accompaniment with distinctive strumming patterns, complementing the deeper tones of the guitarrón and the melodic lines of the trumpets and violins.

For guitarists, the vihuela’s playing technique is where things get truly interesting. Often played with a powerful strum that uses all the fingernails—a technique called the mánico—it generates a driving and energetic pulse that’s both rhythmic and harmonic. While understanding chord voicings is crucial, the articulation of the mánico is paramount, providing the foundational groove and propelling the music forward. This rhythmic sophistication is so integral that the specific mánico strum pattern is often how experienced listeners identify the style of music a mariachi band is performing.

It’s a common misphrasing to say, “They are playing mariachi music,” when in fact, mariachi is the ensemble, performing various musical styles within its framework. Just as a symphony might play a sonata, rondo, or minuet, a mariachi ensemble performs styles including rancheras, huapangos, waltzes, sones, corridos, boleros, and polkas, to name a few. And the vihuela’s strumming, or mánico, is often the identifying factor.

Today, the Mexican vihuela remains an indispensable part of mariachi music, its lively strumming instantly evoking the spirit of Mexico. It’s a living legacy, a testament to the blend of cultural heritage and musical innovation. In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month and the celebration of Día de los Muertos, I’ve included photos of a custom Mexican vihuela I recently built for Olivia Nuñez, an artist performing with Herencia Mariachi Academy in Corona, CA. It features symbols representing cherished memories of her family members who have passed away—a perfect representation of not only the music it shares, but also the profound importance of Mexican culture and family it embodies.

The vihuela’s journey is a captivating one for any string player. It stands as a powerful example of how instruments evolve and adapt, ultimately finding their own distinct voice within a new cultural landscape. The next time you hear the spirited strum of a vihuela, you’ll appreciate its rich history—a story etched in wood and resonating through generations of captivating Mexican music.

These are uncertain times for brick-and-mortar guitar stores, but Dalporto is leading the fight back against unprecedented competition for guitar stores – and he thinks he’s found a winning formula

A Supercool Swiss-army phaser arrives - but do the sounds match the looks?

While St. Anger often takes the crown as Metallica’s most controversial record, 1996’s Load and the following year’s Reload have certainly caused a stir over the years. Not only did both records shift away from Metallica’s signature thrash in favour of hard rock and bluesy influences, but some fans have considered them to be ‘loaded’ with filler. However, the pair of records could have been even longer.

Speaking on episode 105 of The Metallica Report, producer Bob Rock explains that Metallica were utterly inspired while writing Load and Reload, overflowing with new ideas. “I think we cut 26 tracks,” he recalls. “I think we were a year into it and James Hetfield had, like, three vocals. And I’m going, ‘This is gonna take fucking five years!’ So we made the decision to split the album.”

• READ MORE: Why have we forgotten the greatest female guitar heroes? The pioneering women who shaped guitar history

While the record marked a shift in tone, the pair of albums would also soundtracks huge change in the band’s personal lives. “We had to get out of town because they all just started having kids!” Rock adds. “They married and stuff, and nothing was getting done. So I said, ‘We’ve got to get out of here [to refocus]’.”

The environmental shift would only amp up the inspiration. “We picked New York, and, in New York, it kind of changed,” he explains. “They started experimenting, like Hetfield’s [version of] Lynyrd Skynyrd.”

Because of this shift in location, there’s also “quite a difference” between how Load and Reload were produced; the split also captures a change in production. “They didn’t have the consoles that we used before, the [Solid State Logic, SSL] 6,000,” he says. “All the studios that were available, they had an SSL 9,000… [Recording engineer] Randy Staub and I fucking hated it. It’s an acquired taste – but that’s what we had to finish it.”

“When I listen to Load and when I was asked to write about [the reissue of] both records, and I talked to Lars [Ulrich] about this, I said, ‘They’re completely sonically different,’” he continues. “Reload is aggressive. But some people love Load! They don’t know what I know.”

Despite the controversy around the records, the experimental records were Metallica’s way of reinventing and evolving with the times. According to Rock, drummer Ulrich played a big part in defining Load and Reload’s sound, eager to capture the feeling of the ‘70s and ‘80s.

Particularly inspired by dual guitarist rock bands like Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, and Guns N’ Roses, Metallica would see frontman Hetfield and guitarist Kirk Hammett taking on dual rhythm roles. “Before Load, James did all the rhythms,” Rock says. “So the idea was, Kirk was gonna play rhythms along with James. That changed everything – and some people don’t like it!”

The record also saw former bassist Jason Newsted changing his approach to playing, something he had began to do during the recording of 1991’s The Black Album. “Jason wasn’t playing bass like a bass player,” Rock notes. “He was just doubling the guitar. So I taught him: ‘Dude, be a bass player!’ So there’s points where he’s not playing the guitar riff – he’s playing with the drums… So that opened the door, and it’s my fault that I opened that door to them [during The Black Album]. On Load, they embraced it.”

Despite the controversy, Rock was fully supportive of the shift in tone. “I was glad we weren’t copying The Black Album, ‘cause you can’t make The Black Album again,” he explains. “When you make albums like that, it’s everything coming together – where I was, where they were, where culture was, where music was. And so I embraced the fact that they wanted to be a little freer.”

“Load is a great record,” Rock insists. “Actually, my kids like Load better than Reload… But when you put Fuel on off of Reload, they go, ‘Oh!!’ Sonically, it’s more aggressive. It’s more like [Metallica], so to speak.”

While fans continue to debate whether Load and Reload are quality Metallica records or not, Ulrich is in the same camp as Rock. “I think Load and Reload are great records,” he told Revolver Magazine in 2013 [via Ultimate Guitar]. “They are creatively on par with every other record we’ve made.”

“Obviously, they’re bluesier records, and at that time, we were listening to a lot of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and AC/DC, and we had a different kind of foundation than records before or after,” he continued. “I also understand that there are people who couldn’t quite figure out what was going on with the haircuts and the rest of it, and that’s fine. But, musically, if you strip all that other stuff away, if you just listen to the 27 songs, it’s a great collection. Those records are on par with everything else that we’ve done creatively… I’m very proud of those records.”

The post “They all started having kids and getting married, and nothing was getting done”: Why Metallica’s Load and Reload were split into two albums appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

When you think about the most name-checked guitarist of all time, who do you think of? Hendrix? EVH? Good guesses, but we think it’s gotta be Waukesha, Wisconsin’s own Les Paul. Though his name lies atop one of the most popular guitar models of all time, there’s so much more to Les. His inventions span modern recording history, and with his music—whether with then-wife Mary Ford, solo, with Chet Atkins—he left a mark across genres. And though neither host owns a Les Paul, we’ve both shared space with The Log.

Thanks to Our Sponsor, Gibson!

LEARN MORE! www.gibson.com

Bag yourself a massive saving on a new tube amp or pedal amp with up to 40% off Hughes & Kettner at Thomann

Fortin Amplification has unveiled the Kali pre-amp / distortion pedal, designed to deliver the legendary, brutal tone of the iconic Fortin Cali amplifier.

Fortin Kali Preamp/Distortion pedal

This new pre-amp/distortion pedal allows players to inject the modern rock / metal Cali sound directly into their own rig.

Meticulously crafted by renowned gain specialist Mike Fortin, the Kali pedal has been fine-tuned by Fortin to recreate the amp that came before it. Whether you’re in the studio or on stage, this pedal will provide the precision, power, and clarity that distinguished the original amp.

Key features of the Kali pedal include:

• Active 3-Band EQ: Offering total tonal control to shape your sound
• 3 voicings – Vintage, Raw and Saturated
• Each gain control has a three-way bright switch to provide unlimited tonal options
• Dual Channel Footswitching: Two footswitchable channels for ultimate flexibility

Like the Cali amplifier it is inspired by, the Kali pedal is engineered to deliver the most versatile, most powerful modded tones possible. For guitarists seeking to have complete control of their dirt, this pedal provides the legendary Fortin tone.

Fortin’s Kali pre-amp / distortion pedal carries a street price of $299.00 (USD). For more information visit fortinamps.com.

Guy Pratt – whose résumé includes Roxy Music, Madonna and Michael Jackson, to name a mere few – recalls his awkward first meeting with the Pink Floyd guitarist

Prince’s wildcard symbol guitar might be Lee’s most prized possession

The Yardbirds, and later Led Zeppelin, reworked Jake Holmes’ 1968 song for their own ends, and Holmes believes he wasn’t properly credited

Last month, after it was revealed that 500 of the “finest guitars from the golden age of American guitar making” had been donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, former Rolling Stone Mick Taylor claimed the collection included a 1959 sunburst Gibson Les Paul stolen from him in the early ‘70s.

In a well-documented story, the “Keithburst” Les Paul – which was played by Keith Richards during the band’s 1964 Ed Sullivan Show appearance, as well as by Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page – was taken along with eight other guitars from Villa Nellcôte, the mansion on the French Riviera where the Stones recorded their 1972 album, Exile on Main St.

• READ MORE: “I think he and his band are gonna save rock ‘n’ roll”: Lzzy Hale on why “humble kid” Wolfgang Van Halen is the future of guitar

A source last month said Mick Taylor was “mystified as to how his property found its way into the Met’s collection”.

Now, while it agrees Taylor played the instrument in the past, the Met now contests that he never actually owned it, along with certain elements of his version of events.

We do know some of the guitar’s history. It went up for auction via Christie’s – but failed to sell – and appeared on the cover of its catalogue in 2004, and featured in a Met exhibition in 2019. The rest, however, remains hazy. As Guitar World notes, there were no claims during either of these events from Mick Taylor or his team.

According to the Met’s version of events, the “Keithburst” Les Paul was actually the property of Keith Richards until 1971, and wasn’t one of the nine guitars stolen from Villa Nellcôte.

The Met lists Adrian Miller as the guitar’s owner in 1971, but stops short of mentioning how he acquired the guitar. Miller later sold it to Heavy Metal Kids’ Cosmo Verrico in 1971, who tells the New York Times he “can’t recall how Miller acquired the guitar”.

Also per the Met’s claim, after the Keithburst Les Paul failed to sell at the 2004 Christie’s auction, it was bought in 2006 by Peter Svensson, a music producer from Sweden. It was later bought by billionaire businessman Dirk Ziff, who lent it to the Met in 2019 for its Play it Loud exhibition.

Now, the New York Times says it has received a message from Mick Taylor’s business manager Marlies Damming, which reads: “We would like the Metropolitan Museum to make the guitar available so that we can inspect it, and confirm its provenance one way or the other.”

Guitar.com has reached out to Mick Taylor’s team and the Metropolitan Museum of Art for comment.

The post The Met challenges Mick Taylor’s claim that he once owned the 1959 “Keithburst” Les Paul which appears in new exhibit appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Electro-Harmonix releases its most ambitious reverb pedal to date – and it goes way beyond ’verb to offer myriad sound-sculpting opportunities

Fresh from his spot at Back to the Beginning, Bettencourt is continuing to doff his cap to the Prince of Darkness’ legacy

Skunk Anansie didn’t wait nearly a decade between albums just to rehash the same rock clichés. On The Painful Truth – their first record in nine years – the genre-defying UK quartet returns with a renewed approach to writing and sound design, and a rethinking of what a “guitar band” can be in 2024.

Speaking in a new interview with Blabbermouth, frontwoman Skin says that while the guitar is still “really important”, these days, the band is more interested in telling stories without drowning their songs in recycled riffs.

• READ MORE: Slayer’s Gary Holt thinks that some modern guitarists don’t put enough “conviction” and “passion” into their riffs

“The way we used guitars, we started as a rock band. We’ve developed from there,” she explains. “I think electronics is the most exciting thing on the planet right now, the things that they can do. That’s really exciting.”

“That’s where the creativity is on the planet. It’s not in rock guitar. It’s about, ‘Where do you place the guitars?’ We are essentially a guitar band. It’s really important, but you don’t have to do all the big old fucking riffs.”

In fact, Skin argues that the genre’s biggest sacred cow – the riff – is creatively spent.

“They’ve been done. Really, every single riff in every connotation has already been done. It’s that people like those. It’s things that people like, so that you can offer different flavours, and people will like them. It’s that Led Zeppelin and AC/DC did them, and you can change them a bit, and people still like them because they like that sound. It’s all been fucking done.”

For now, what makes the guitar “exciting”, says Skin, “is that you can place and texture them and juxtapose them with electronic songs. That’s where the excitement lies with me: how can you do what we do, but do it in a different way?”

That said, tearing up the playbook comes with its own set of risks.

“That involves a lot of experimentation,” she admits. “To be honest, you go down a path and at the end, it can be a dead end, and you have to stop and go down a different path. There’s a lot of experimentation in that. [Laughs] It’s not like playing a kick drum to find the right sound for two days. We don’t do that because we have a drummer. It’s about finding ways to tell the story that doesn’t clog it up with riffs.”

The post “Every single riff in every connotation has already been done”: Why this “guitar band” is turning its attention to electronics appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Wolfgang Van Halen might be the son of a rock god, but Lzzy Hale believes that’s far from the only thing that makes him special. In fact, the Halestorm frontwoman says the Mammoth leader is one of the rare few carrying the future of rock on his shoulders – and doing it without ego.

Speaking in the new issue of Classic Rock Magazine, Hale reflects on an early encounter with Wolfgang, and how quickly he stood out from other second-generation rockstars.

• READ MORE: “That might be stupid coming from the son of Eddie Van Halen”: The surprising opinion Wolfgang Van Halen holds about guitar solos

“He’s a humble kid, there’s none of that ‘I’m a rock star’s kid’ stuff,” she says. “I’ve met quite a few of those guys that think that they’re better than everybody else because their dad was famous. That’s never been Wolfie.”

One moment that stuck with Hale was a visit to 5150 Studios – the legendary space built by the late Eddie Van Halen, where many of the band’s seminal albums were recorded.

“He took us to 5150 [Studios] and it still had all the tapes up there. There was Jump, the old analogue tapes, everything marked, everything organised to a T,” she recalls. “And we’re like: ‘Are we supposed to be in here?’ He’s like: ‘Oh yeah, dad won’t mind’ I’m like, this isn’t just anybody’s dad’s garage!”

“I think he and his band are gonna save rock ‘n’ roll,” Hale adds. “He’s a part of that small club of rock stars that are like: ‘Hey, you are more than welcome to be a part of this cool thing that we’re doing, but we don’t need you, we’re gonna do it anyway.”

Meanwhile, Wolfgang himself has opened up about the weight of carrying the Van Halen name – and the balancing act of honouring that legacy while forging his own path:

“Man, is it a fucking tight rope to walk, with the shadow I’m under and the expectations,” says the guitarist. “And it’s, like, I wanna be able to have the opportunity to reference my lineage, but not copy it and just put a flag in it and sit there and play Panama for everybody every night. I wanna be able to be my own person.”

The post “I think he and his band are gonna save rock ‘n’ roll”: Lzzy Hale on why “humble kid” Wolfgang Van Halen is the future of guitar appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Just how does a band follow an album like Hotel California? With great difficulty, is the answer. Don Felder looks back at an triumph from a band that was coming apart at the seams

The Black Keys have opened up about the advice that nearly derailed their career before it even took off.

More than 20 years on from their humble beginnings in Akron, Ohio, guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney are reflecting on the so-called music industry wisdom they were urged to follow – and how ignoring it might’ve been the best decision they ever made as a band.

• READ MORE: “It was very simple: We had lost all of our income for the year”: The Black Keys come clean on cancelled tour and justify controversial cryptocurrency show

“There are a lot of false prophets in this business,” says Auerbach in the August issue of Classic Rock. “People who want to give you advice, and really they have no experience or any fucking idea what they’re talking about. There was this whole indie-rock credibility thing that was rampant in the music industry at the time.”

That scene came with all kinds of unwritten rules – and one in particular stuck with the duo for all the wrong reasons.

“The single worst piece of advice we ever got as a band was basically: don’t allow a song into a commercial,” says Carney.

“It put this whole thing in our heads of worrying about what other people were going to say, rather than paying attention to the fact our music isn’t on the radio, and this was a way for people to hear our shit. And we could also maybe pay some fucking bills.”

The band didn’t wait long to break that so-called rule. After initially refusing to license their music to commercials for fear of being branded ‘sell-outs’, Auerback and Carney soon relented. One of their first major breakthroughs came when their song Set You Free was licensed for a Nissan ad – a move Auerbach later admitted ‘helped immensely’ by putting the Black Keys on the radar of a wider audience.

What followed was a run of high-profile syncs, from Sony Ericsson and Victoria’s Secret to American Express and Zales, that introduced their music to millions around the world.

Looking back on their journey, Carney doesn’t mince words: “There’s a reason the music business is considered a slimy hellhole,” says the drummer, who earlier this year spoke out about the band’s ill-fated North American tour and the fallout that led them to fire their management.

“Be careful who you trust. I wish the work was just making the songs and playing the shows, but it’s also worrying about who you’re working with, and every venue you’re playing, and ticket prices…”

“It all comes down to the band,” he adds. “No one is going to be as passionate about it as the two guys in the band, but you have to maintain a level of hyper-vigilance, or else it’s gonna get fucked up.”

The post Why the Black Keys ignored “the single worst piece of advice we ever got as a band” and made their careers appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

The “pinch-hitter of bassists” explains why she prefers groove over technicality, how she approaches joining an established band, her Spinal Tap audition, and why she can’t release her next solo album

$789/£799, gretschguitars.com

The Gretsch Roots Collection has been around for several years now, offering a variety of affordable rootsy resonator guitars and ukuleles crafted in China. The latest shiny addition to the line is a small batch “Bell Brass” release of their metal body resonator – The Honey Dipper. Tasty.

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The Honey Dipper takes key design points from the legendary National Triolian design of the late 1920s – there’s a single aluminium cone, a 12 fret neck join, a pair of F-holes in the shoulders and a coverplate with cut-out ornamentation. Where the Gretsch instrument differs at first glance is in the use of Padauk for the bound fingerboard and the solid “paddle” headstock rather than the slot head that we might expect to find on a 12-fret guitar.

Frankly I’m all for this – not only does the risk of bleeding out from a viciously sharp string end lessen, but you also get a genuinely attractive (if undeniably kitsch) headstock covered in pearloid plastic with a great big vertical Gretsch logo to let everyone know that you are a free-thinking acoustic balladeer who won’t conform to labels.

Image: Adam Gasson

Gretsch G29202 Honey Dipper – what is it?

Gretsch describes the Honey Dipper as a round-neck guitar – which is technically correct in that it is not a square-neck instrument designed for lap position playing. With me so far? What may cause some confusion, however, is the pronounced V-shape to that same neck. It’s reasonably comfortable if you’re used to a V profile, but may come as a bit of a shock if you’re not. It is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a rounded C or D shape.

Another thing that may surprise players new to the resonator is the relatively high default action. This is not the slinky string height of a modern acoustic guitar and there are several good reasons at play. First of all, the resonator guitar was originally designed for volume and that often means a heavy hand from the player – with or without finger picks.

There is also the fact that the biscuit bridge of a resonator guitar sits in the centre of the cone and the more downward pressure it gets, the better the guitar sounds. Finally, the joy of a resonator guitar is as a slide instrument and, as anyone who has shifted a brass bottleneck across the strings will know, a higher action will allow for a much clearer sound and help avoid rattling the slide against the frets.

Aside from these notes, the usual resonator health and safety guidelines apply. This is a metal-bodied instrument and is considerably heavier than an acoustic guitar of the same size. Also, for the love of Robert Johnson, do not play this naked on a cold day. With those caveats out of the way let’s head down to the crossroads and see if there’s a deal to be made.

Image: Adam Gasson

Gretsch G29202 Honey Dipper – feel and sounds

Kicking off with some exploratory blues in standard tuning, I am greeted with a chunky sound and a particularly pleasing honk on the 3rd and 4th strings. Don’t be fooled into thinking that a metal-bodied guitar has to sound cold and impersonal. It’s brash but in a good way, and comes closer to the sound of a vintage original than anyone might have the right to expect at this price point.

Entry-level resonator guitars can sound a bit watery, especially in the top end, but the Honey Dipper offers a throaty bark and solid trebles. Very nice. Despite the higher action you can still execute some top string bends too if you’re feeling ambitious.

One important feature here is the 12-fret neck. This, coupled with the 25” scale length, makes for a warmer sound than usually encountered on a 14-fret instrument. It also means a more compact guitar that feels very comfortable against the body here. The real test will be dropping the beast into an open tuning – DADF#AD here we go!

Image: Adam Gasson

A quick point but it’s one worth making: A reso guitar can expect to spend time in several different tunings over the course of its lifetime and Gretsch scores points here for the well-cut nut and smooth Grover Sta-Tite tuners.

There is a deep joy to be found in an open-tuned resonator guitar due to the, well, the resonance. In particular, the sympathetic resonance of open strings vibrating together as you play. It’s like the guitar takes off with a delicious internal reverb. And this does happen with the Honey Dipper to some degree as we dig in – it’s not the choir-like response of a Fine Resophonic guitar by Mike Lewis but it is pleasing nonetheless.

With a heavy brass slide we get a touch of the volume that defines a resonator. These instruments were created in the era before amplification and the ability to fill a room with the voice of your instrument was top of the list of requirements for a musician of the time. The guitar sounds full across the fretboard and there is a satisfyingly grunty bass response here.

The only challenge is hitting the octave notes cleanly on the 12 fret neck, especially if you wear your slide on the 3rd finger – but that’s the nature of the beast and takes only minor adjustment. The V-neck is actually a lot more comfortable with a slide and the whole instrument just works at its best in this context.

Image: Adam Gasson

Gretsch G29202 Honey Dipper – should I buy one?

Now, there is an argument to suggest that the horrific living conditions caused by The Great Depression of the 1920s have been romanticised to the point where the pared-back aesthetic of small brown guitars, ukuleles and resonators has become a design language of its own. As such the looks of an instrument carry as much semantic weight as the sound. This certainly looks and sounds the part.

Given that at the time of writing the Gretsch Roots Collection boasts eight different resonator guitar models, there is every chance that if this guitar doesn’t do it for you then Gretsch will be able to provide you with something that will. That said, the Honey Dipper is an impressive, relatively affordable resonator guitar – if you’re new to the blues or looking for some new textures in the studio then have at it!

Image: Adam Gasson

Gretsch G29202 Honey Dipper – alternatives

If you really want to get authentic with your Depression-era resonators, then you can always try and pick up an original 1930s National Triolian – though you’ll be paying the thick end of five grand for the privilege. If you want an even more affordable resonator option, UK brand Gear4Music’s in-house Hartwood Electro Resonator is a snip at $570/£449.99, while a Johnson 995 Biscuit Electro Resonator ($1,223/£999) is another solid mid-priced option.

The post Gretsch G29202 Honey Dipper Special Resonator review: “it comes closer to the sound of a vintage original than anyone might have the right to expect” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.