NAMM 2010: PRS SE sigs: Opeth, Orianthi, Cradle of Filth, Shinedown, Black Label Society

Here’s a run-down of the new Paul Reed Smith SE models released at NAMM this year. I got to see these axes close-up and I really dig the Opeth model and the Zach Myers one. But perhaps the coolest news of the show for me was that Orianthi told me her SE model will also be released with a Floyd Rose not too far down the track.

PRS Announces Signature Artist SE Models at Winter NAMM 2010
January 14, 2010

PRS Guitars is proud to announce that Orianthi, Zach Myers of Shinedown , Paul Allender of Cradle of Filth, Mike Akerfeldt of Opeth and Nick Catanese of Black Label Society will have their signature SE models unveiled at the 2010 Anaheim NAMM show. Built in Korea to signature artist and PRS's specifications by skilled craftsmen, the SE series offers an unmatched combination of incredible quality, sound and price.

PRS has worked closely with each artist to present a guitar that identifies with their style, both musically and visually. Although they have worked with PRS for years, these are debut signature models for Orianthi, Myers, Akerfeldt and Catanese. EMG pick ups as well as old school birds, an appointment that up until this year has been reserved for Maryland made PRS guitars, come standard on several of these new artist models.

SE Orianthi

A classic PRS sound with white pearloid birds and red sparkle finish, the Orianthi SE model is the very first signature model instrument bearing the guitar goddess' name. It comes standard with a Korina back and maple top, 24 fret wide-thin maple neck with 25" scale length and an ebony fretboard featuring white pearloid birds and an "O" at the 12th fret. The model also features PRS designed Tremolo and PRS designed tuners with nickel hardware and two humbucking pickups to give new and seasoned players alike a shiny new ax to grind.

"This PRS is perfect for anyone who wants an awesome quality, versatile rockin' lookin' guitar – at an affordable price – I love it. Try it out." Orianthi

SE Zach Myers of Shinedown

As the lead guitarist of a band with more than six million albums sold worldwide, Zach Myers is certainly no stranger to hard rock licks. In support of his blazing guitar skills, PRS and Zach designed his very first signature model. Silver Sparkleburst and white binding on top edge of body, fretboard and headstock, the SE Zach Myers also features a Singlecut mahogany body, flamed maple veneer, wide-fat mahogany 25" scale length neck and an ebony fretboard with a Fleur-de-lis inlay at 12th fret. Additional features include an adjustable bridge (with large caps on the height adjustment screws), three humbucking pickups with two volume and two tone controls, 3-way toggle.

"When I was approached about doing a signature model with PRS, I knew that in my career I had reached every goal I had wanted to reach. This model is based off of my two favorite PRS guitars, one being the first PRS I ever owned. This SE model holds up to both of those guitars as a players guitar that can take a beating....I have put everything I am into this guitar and can't wait for you to hear it." Zach Myers

Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth

As the lead vocalist and guitarist for the acclaimed death metal band Opeth, Mikael traverses the musical terrain with sounds that are "subject to savage punctuations of death metal fury at any given moment." Akerfeldt once commented on the diversity of Opeth's music. His new model follows suit with a singlecut mahogany body, maple top and flame maple veneer, maple neck with ebony fretboard, 24 jumbo frets, original PRS bird inlays, PRS designed tremolo bridge, gold hardware, HFS and Vintage Bass pickups, volume, tone, 3-way toggle. A Tortoise Shell finish with a Opeth "O" logo on body give this guitar a unique look to compliment a unique voice.

"I'm a writer, a rhythm, lead and acoustic player. I try to be as versatile as possible, that's why I needed a guitar that can match those ambitions both live and in the studio. On top of things, it is proper eye candy too." Mike Akerfeldt

SE Nick Catanese of Black Label Society

Nick Catanese and PRS have created a signature model SE worthy of Nick's "Evil Twin" moniker. Starting with an extra-thick Singlecut mahogany body, the guitar tops off with a Gloss Black finish with red binding on body, neck and headstock, and and "Evil Twin" logo on body. The model also features a mahogany neck, ebony fretboard, 22 jumbo frets, no inlays, TonePros adjustable stoptail bridge, and EMG 81 and 85 pickups with red pickup rings. Other appointments include volume, tone and 3-way toggle on upper bout.

"I have a home that knows how to make an elegant weapon. PRS is a guitar players home." Nick Catanese

Paul Allender of Cradle of Filth

Cradle of Filth guitarist's ever popular model is updated with new pickups and new colors for a filthy new take on Paul Allender's namesake ax. Now available in available in Emerald Green Burst or Scarlet Red Burst, the double-cutaway mahogany body still has a flame maple veneer and a special arm carve. Additional features include rounded edges on the body, maple neck with ebony fretboard, 24 jumbo frets and the bats in flight inlay. New EMG 89 and 81-TW pickups with coil tapping give the guitar an updated sound, and a tremolo bridge, nickel hardware, push-pull volume, push-pull tone and 3-way toggle switch are also featured.

"More metal than your gran's left hip." Paul Allender

LINK: http://www.prsguitars.com/.

INTERVIEW: Zakk Wylde

Zakk Wylde recently burst into town on an international jaunt to show off his three new signature guitars: the Gibson Zakk Wylde Les Paul BFG Buzzsaw and Bullseye and the Epiphone Graveyard Disciple. Zakk's departure from Ozzy Osbourne's band this year has been well documented, so I thought it would be fun to instead focus on Zakk's new axes. Oh and um, warning: if you're offended by salty language, you might wanna skip this interview, ok?

Zakk Wylde: Peter! How ya doin’, brother?

I Heart Guitar: Zakk! How ya been?

Zakk: Everything’s going good, man. We did an instore the other day, now I’m just hanging out with the rest of the Sydney chapter of Black Label. Just chillin’ out today, doing a batch of interviews, hanging out with the guys from Guitarist magazine over here. So everything’s cool, man. Heading back to the States tomorrow, have the holidays with the kids, then fire up the Black Label machine in January, start working on the new album. So that’s about it, brother.

IHG: I saw your posts on Twitter from China. That looked awesome!

Zakk: Oh yeah! We actually had one day that we could actually go sightseeing, so we went up to the Great Wall and then the Forbidden City. But usually there’s never any time to go anywhere because you’re workin’, you know what I mean? Most of the time, especially when I was drinking it was like ‘Let’s go sightseeing,’ but it’s like ‘Dude, if we’ve got a day off you and I are gonna go hit an Irish pub,’ you know what I mean?

IHG: You gave us quite a scare a few months ago!

Zakk: Oh yeah, totally, man. Between the blood clots and all that shit… we were out on the road with Mudvayne and Static-X on the Pedal to the Metal tour and we were having a blast out on that thing. Then next thing you know I’m sitting there hanging out and my leg was friggin’ killing me, my left leg behind my knee. I just figured maybe I’d pulled my calf muscle, I’d pulled something behind my knee. It wasn’t like I fell or anything, like maybe I dislocated my knee or fucked up my ankle up or anything. It wasn’t like I was doing David Lee Roth splits off the drum riser. I’d be icing down my leg and everything like that… just in the middle of the night it was a major production to take a leak. After that, we had like a 24-hour drive and I said ‘Before we do this, I just wanna get an ultrasound…’ the guy goes ‘Dude, you’ve got two huge blood clots behind your knee.’ I was like ‘Dude, you fuckin’ kidding me?’ He says, ‘No, do you do a lot of travel?’ I said ‘Well yeah, of course. I’m either on a tour bus or I’m flying or I’m on a ferry or something. I’m always travelling. I’m a musician, that’s what we do for a living.’ He said usually airline pilots get this shit, or truck drivers, you know what I mean? I said I’m not usually stationary, I can move around on a tour bus – it’s not like I’m driving the damn thing. But he said that’s probably where I got it from. I said ‘Would drinking have anything to do with this?’ He just goes, ‘No dude, if anything drinking was thinning your blood.’ I said ‘Well good, alcohol is a good thing,’ and my wife says ‘You’re fucken’ dreaming, buddy-boy. The bar’s closed for you, jackass.’ So I’m takin’ this Coumadin shit, and I had to get myself shots and everything. I haven’t even been drinking the last three months or whatever. I haven’t even had a beer, because if you drink alcohol on this shit you start pissin’ blood out your ass and your dick.

IHG: You don’t need that!

Zakk: Yeah, I’m like, fuck that, it’s a pain in the ass.
IHG: Well let’s talk about the new guitars. I saw one of the new BFG models the other day at Allans in Melbourne and it seemed like a really cool stripped down axe.

Zakk: About 10 years ago I got a prototype up at the house for the BFG guitars. Mine was more like corrugated cardboard and it wasn’t as chambered out as the ones they have now, but I said it would be killer if it had no binding, no paint, no lacquer, all you’re hearing’s the actual wood of the Les Paul. And it is a different model Les Paul. It’s not just a different top on it. It’s chambered out and it has a different feel than a Standard, and it’s definitely different than a Custom. If anybody said they never played a Les Paul cos it’s too heavy, wait til they play one of these things. It’s more like the weight of an SG. It’s definitely lighter. It’s got more top end and everything. The guitar sounds killer. The wood’s beautiful on it. They did a really killer job with these things.
IHG: And the Graveyard Disciple?

Zakk: I remember talking about the Bo Diddley guitar and the Billy-Bo, Billy Gibbon’s guitar, and I was going, ‘These guitars are so god-awful ugly!’ I just dug ‘em. Then I was looking in Vintage Guitar magazine guitar, the Vox Phantom, the Vox Teardrop, just how butt-ugly these guitars are, when they were doing the surf music and all that type of shit. Then I remember getting a coffin thing… it was a promo item with the Black Label logo on it, and inside was a bunch of lollypops my merch company with all the song titles: Genocide Junkies, Graveyard Disciples, House of Doom, Death March, written on the lollypops. I was just like ‘Dude, you know what’d be cool? To put a guitar neck on it.’ So Epiphone went out and made it for me, and I was like, ‘Dude, this thing’s fucken’ slammin’.’ The body is all mahogany like an SG, and the neck, instead of it being mahogany and rosewood like on an SG it’s maple with Ebony like on my Les Pauls. But the neck is a thinner taper – it’s not as thick as my Les Paul Customs. And the thing plays fucken’ great. When you’re sitting down, when they put the Steinberger kickstand on it, you can sit down and play it, otherwise the thing’ll slide right off your fucken’ leg, you know what I mean? But you can sit down and jam on this fucken’ thing like it’s nobody’s business, so man, the thing plays great. And it’s got the Floyd Rose on it so you can dick around with that thing. They did a good job with the guitar – I really dig it.

IHG: And the cool thing is, it’s Epiphone so it’ll be cheaper and more kids can get their hands on it.

Zakk: You can get it for around 800 bucks US or something like that, because it has the passive EMGs. I always put the active ones in it, because it’s always a money issue with that shit. They’ll put the passive ones in it to keep it under a thousand dollars, and if anyone wants the actives they just buy the active pickups and throw them in. So I understand all that shit – they gotta do it that way because it’s the business side of crap. But the guitar plays fucken’ great. Usually if it’s a cheap model you’ll just got ‘Dude, it’s a cheap piece of shit, I ain’t gonna play the fucken’ thing.’ But the guitar’s slammin’. I jam on it all the fucken’ time now. I play it live.

IHG: The quality of lower-priced guitars has improved so much since I started playing.

Zakk: Yeah, without a doubt. The crazy thing was, in the beginning Epiphone was a bigger company than Gibson back in the day, which a lot of people didn’t know. But the craftsmanship on them is slammin’. Some of my buddies like the Epiphones better than the Gibsons.

IHG: And like you say, you can upgrade them with better pickups later and still use the guitar even when you’ve moved up to more expensive ones.

Zakk: I agree. Like with the Randy Rhoads models, you’ve gotta have the student model, then when the kid’s ready to step up and get the one with the binding on it and the really nice shit, and they’re willing to drop $3,000, $5,000 on a guitar they can get it, you know what I mean?

IHG: I did that with Ibanez – I started out with a cheaper RG and eventually kept getting better ones until I ended up with the Jem.

Zakk: Yeah, and even though you got the cheaper one, it was good and it was still good enough that you can wail on the fucken’ thing, you know what I mean?
IHG: Speaking of wailing, I was watching some videos of you playing the Graveyard Disciple the other day and I find it really interesting to see the way you pick. You seem to get your whole forearm involved. How’d you develop that?

Zakk: I dunno, just years of practice. Some people are all wrist, but I use a bit of everything. The way I pick is pretty aggressive. I know a lot of other people pick really light. Even Randy Rhoads – Rudy Sarzo was telling me Randy Rhoads was the lightest picker he ever saw in his life. A lot of stuff Randy was doing too was real legato. But even when he picked everything, Rudy said Randy’s touch was really like.

IHG: One of my friends gave me something really cool recently – a Guitar World from 1988 where they had an article introducing you as Ozzy’s guitarist. And it said you’d be using Strats on what would become ‘No Rest For The Wicked.’ Did that end up happening?

Zakk: No, I never ended up trying a Strat. I think I might have got one of those Yngwie Strats back in the day. Actually I don’t know what the hell I did with that guitar. I fucken’ couldn’t stand the paint job – it was fucken’ terrible. But the guitar was fucken’ awesome. I wish I still had it around the fucken’ house. I’d take it and just fucken’ strip the fucken’ paint off it. I’ve gotta have it in my lock-up somewhere. I remember that guitar was fucken’ kickass though.

IHG: Do you ever look back on those old magazines for old times’ sake?

Zakk: Oh yeah, without a doubt. I saved all that shit. I’ve got a batch of that shit in the lock-up back in California in the compound. So yeah, with the goofy hair and all that shit.

IHG: Well I’m looking at the magazine right now and 20 years ago you looked pretty much like kids today!

Zakk: Oh yeah man, every 20 years everything old is new again. We were just over in Singapore and a lot of the kids fucken’ love Motley Crue, like when Motley was wearing the big hair like in the beginning. I was like, ‘Dude, that shit is the fucken’ coolest shit.’ Then they were telling me, ‘Dude, we didn’t even know about you until we saw that Rock Star movie.’ I was like, ‘Are you fucken’ kidding me?’ And they’re like, ‘No dude, we know about you through that, and dude, that movie is fucken’ awesome.’ But they fucken’ love that 80s shit, y’know what I mean?

IHG: Speaking of movies, you’re acting in a film called Bones that’s coming out soon? (See the trailer below)

Zakk: I had a great time making it. Whenever I do that kind of stuff I had a great time. It’s about this little kid who’s trying to make it, and I’m like his surrogate dad, and I end up mentoring him and shit like that.

IHG: Well that’s time up. Thanks Zakk!

Zakk: Alright brother, good talkin’ to ya, buddy. You take care brother.

Huge thanks to the mighty fine folks at Gibson for arranging this interview.

LINKS: Gibson.com, Epiphone.com, Riotact.com.au, ZakkWylde.com

REVIEW: EMG-ACS

EMG are rightfully known for their revolutionary active pickups for electric guitar, which are used by players as diverse as David Gilmour, Steve Lukather, Reb Beach, Zakk Wylde and James Hetfield, so it makes sense that they apply their active technology to acoustic pickups too. Active pickups have characteristically high headroom, which is especially handy for maintaining the fidelity of a clean guitar.

I mounted the ACS in a mid-level dreadnaught acoustic guitar. Installation is a cinch with EMG’s very popular Qwik-Connect plug-in connectors: secure the battery bag to the neck block, replace your existing strap pin with the supplied Ultrajak strap pin/output jack (drilling a half-inch hole if you need to), run the cable through the body, pop in the pickup and hook the units up - although in my case, since I was just borrowing the ACS for the purposes of review I secured the output jack to the surface of the body so I didn’t have to rout out the strap pin hole. EMG supplies Velcro to secure the wires to the underside of the guitar’s top, and also so that if you need to temporarily remove the pickup for some reason, you can stash the pickup cable out of sight within the body.

The height of the pickup’s pole pieces can be adjusted with a supplied 3/32” Allen wrench to achieve an even volume level from string to string. This is a distinct advantage over other acoustic pickup designs (and microphones), and it also means you don’t have to squash your dynamic range with a compressor just to even out the volume.

With only a single volume control on the pickup itself, this is a very simple system. There’s no particular need for bells and whistles like EQ, limiting, feedback elimination or a tuner.

The first thing I noticed with this pickup was the healthy dose of high end. This is especially good news for fingerpickers who need absolute note definition, and for strummers who need their pick attack to cut through the mix. If the treble is a bit too much, EMG suggests removing some or all of the pole pieces altogether. I like this very practical and straightforward way of customising the response of the pickup, and it feels a bit more ‘real’ than simply attacking the problem with outboard gear.

I kinda wish I had a guitar on hand with a piezo pickup in the bridge too, because a lot of companies now are combining different kinds of pickup in the one acoustic guitar, and it would be interesting to see how the ACS sounds when combined with the timbre of an undersaddle pickup, and to compare the two, because while piezo pickups are typically very high-end-heavy, it’s a different type of treble and attack to that of the ACS. The ACS definitely sounds more natural and realistic, and doesn’t need a whole bunch of processors and controls to do so.

This pickup is a good option for those who want a more natural sound from their acoustic than a piezo can typically provide, and it’s easy to install and customize. It may not sound as authentic as micing your acoustic up in the studio with top-flight microphones, but in terms of stage use, practicality and reproducibility it’s a very attractive option.

REVIEW: Schecter Hellraiser Solo-6

GRAAR! Did I scare ya? Good, cos this Schecter Hellraiser Solo-6 is one mean son-of-a-fish, and I had to do something to set the mood for the rest of the review. While the Solo-6 Classic reviewed here is a classy, refined instrument which excels at clean voicings, this Hellraiser cousin is built to be a brutal death machine from hell.

I’M SCARED!
First of all, the Hellraiser Solo-6 has a lot of the features you’d expect for a single cutaway solid body guitar: The body is mahogany with a maple top (quilted if you choose the Black Cherry finish, otherwise there’s Gloss Black or Gloss White). The 3-piece mahogany neck has a rosewood fretboard and 24 (not 22 like you might expect) X-Jumbo frets. The inlays are demonically evil gothic crosses, and the body is ringed with abalone binding. That’s right, this guitar is so evil that it sacrifices sea creatures and decorates itself with their remains. Creepy.

However if you’re looking for a stock-standard brutal metal axe design there are a few construction surprises to throw off your preconceptions (and laugh at them derisively from a throne of evil): the scale length is a manly 25.5”; the neck joins the body with a very ergonomic Ultra Access cut which flows through diagonally, and there are a pair of EMG humbuckers. That’s an 81-TW in the bridge and an 89 in the neck. Both are splittable into single coils, if you want to get all pretty for a few bars before unleashing the brutal hellfire once again.

UNLEASH THE BEAST
The first thing I did with the Hellraiser Solo-6 (after stocking up on wooden stakes, silver bullets and garlic) was to set my Marshall to ‘kill’ and make sure the bridge pickup was engaged in full humbucker mode. Of course your Metallica ‘Black Album’ tones are here in abundance, as are your Dethklok death metal sounds. This is a muscular, tough sounding guitar with great note definition, and unlike some axes which seem to beg for mercy if you pick too hard, this one practically pleads for you to give it the walloping of a lifetime. I couldn’t resist adding a little delay and chorus, tuning to C-G-C-G-C-E and blasting out a few Devin Townsend riffs circa Ocean Machine. In fact, the Devin Townsend comparison is a good one because in single coil mode the Hellraiser Solo-6 does a good job of approximating his earthier ‘Terria’ era tones as well.

In humbucker mode the neck pickup lashes out hyperspeed arpeggios with clarity, power and articulation. Flip to single coil mode and the sound becomes sharper and grittier. No matter which mode you select with either pickup, there’s lots of treble and bass, and great sustain.

RUN FOR COVER
That I managed to make it through this review without the Hellraiser Solo-6 stalking me like the dreaded Chupacabra and dragging me into the bushes to feast on my innards is indeed surprising. This is a well-made, intense, brutal, powerful guitar with a voice – nay, a mind – of its own and a lot of musical versatility, especially for those who dwell in the shadows, emerging periodically to murderlize the ears of the weeping masses with an onslaught of metal power.

Music123 shopping links:

Schecter Hellraiser Solo-6 Electric Guitar Black
Schecter Hellraiser Solo-6 Electric Guitar Black Cherry
Schecter Hellraiser Solo-6 Electric Guitar White

CLICK HERE to see Schecter guitars on eBay.

NEWS: EMG Alexi Laiho pickup set

I've been listening to a bit of Children of Bodom lately, and a couple of years ago I had the pleasure of reviewing an ESP Custom Shop Alexi Laiho model guitar which melted my mind (actually I should put that review on the site - it was an amazing guitar). Alexi's choice of passive EMGs is a bit controversial as a lot of players are so used to active EMGs that they consider the passive ones to be lesser pickups, but I've tested them in about a dozen guitars now and have been consistently impressed by their unique growl. So when EMG announced an Alexi signature model, my first thought was 'freaken sweet!' Now you can buy that model in a set with a unique gain boost which adds further flexibility to the pickup.

EMG Releases Alexi Laiho Signature Pickup Set

EMG, Inc. has released The EMG-ALX with ABQ EQ/Boost — the new Alexi Laiho signature model. This is a newly designed EMG passive model — custom wound — and includes the new ABQ EQ/Boost which features a push (to activate) / pull (to deactivate) control. The ABQ has a 3 band EQ which can be adjusted for creating different tone settings. The boost output can be adjusted as well to add or subtract gain.

After extensive discussion with Alexi, EMG's founder, Rob Turner, created a set that was exactly what a true innovator in the world of heavy music was looking for. "This pickup and preamp combo meets Alexi's demands for something unique that includes high gain, solid tone and clarity to enhance his remarkable style"

Now, in one package, a player can get all the reliability and innovation that EMG is renowned for, and all the aggressive guitar tone that Alexi is so well known for. The set is available in a Floyd Rose version (F-ALX) and a standard Tuneamatic version (ALX). The EMG-ALX with ABQ EQ/Boost is only available at Authorized EMG dealers

For more information, visit their web site at http://www.emginc.com/.

NEWS: Ibanez RG2520ZE

Check out this cool EMG-loaded Ibanez Prestige model, RG2520ZE, from the Japanese website. No news yet on whether it will be offered in other markets but if I find out anything I'll let ya know.

I haven't heard yet about what Ibanez is exhibiting at MusikMesse, but if this there I'll update this post so it shows up with the rest of my MusikMesse coverage.

Colours are Galaxy Black or Candy Apple.

neck type: 5pc Maple/Walnut Prestige neck
body: Basswood body
fingerboard: Rosewood fingerboard
fret: Jumbo frets
bridge: Edge-Zero bridge
neck pu: EMG®85 (H) neck
bridge pu: EMG®81 (H) bridge pu
hardware color: Cosmo Black

REVIEW: Fender Jim Root Telecaster

When you think Telecaster, a variety of styles pop up: country twang, dirty classic rock, jangly indie. But it’s certainly not the kind of guitar you think of for punishing metal mayhem. The Jim Root Telecaster changes that perception. While there have been Telecasters with humbuckers for about 40 years now, they’ve typically featured more conservative humbucker models with relatively low output. Not so on this baby. The Jim Root Telecaster is built for face-tearing metal and little else.

THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL
Jim Root is one of two guitarists in both Slipknot and Stone Sour. For his Fender signature model, Root has designed a modern variation on the classic Telecaster without loading it up with graphics of goat skulls, dripping blood packs or any other such metal brutality. Even though that’d be kinda cool … Instead his signature model is simple, restrained, and roadworthy, and while it has its own identity, it’s not so overdone as to make you look like you’re playing in a Slipknot tribute band the second you strap it on.

The body is mahogany, an unusual choice for a Telecaster as it is known for a thicker low end than most Telecaster players desire. The review model was finished in flat white with a matte polyurethane finish. A flat black model is also available.

String meets body via a black 6-saddle string-through hardtail bridge. The pickups are active EMGs: a 60 in the neck and an 81 in the bridge. The 81 is the standard, go-to pickup of metal monsters everywhere, and the 60 is favoured by the likes of Mr James Hetfield for his rare solo moments, due to its smooth, singing tone with a lot of clarity and cut. Battery access for the pickups is through a compartment in the back of the guitar, which is shared by the single volume pot and 3-way pickup selector switch. You have to unscrew the cover plate to change the battery: a separate latched compartment would have been nice.

The maple neck has a modern ‘C’ profile with a satin polyurethane finish. There are 22 medium jumbo frets with a flat-ish 12” radius on the rosewood fretboard. This radius eliminates the danger of bent notes choking out on the frets, while keeping the fretboard curve comfortable. The fret finishing is quite good. Running my hand down the neck, I didn’t feel any rough edges or pointy bits.

The headstock features black hardware and the big chunky Telecaster logo instead of the more traditional smaller one. A decal of Root’s signature is on the back of the headstock. Black Fender/Schaller deluxe cast/sealed locking tuners are a nice touch.

ROOT NOTE
I plugged the Jim Root Telecaster into my Marshall DSL50 set to ‘kill,’ with scooped midrange on the ‘Ultra’ channel, for maximum brutality. With the assistance of the EMG 81 I was able to pull out screaming pinch harmonics and fat sustain with ease, and chunky metal riffs were irresistible. Moving up to the widdly end of the fretboard, higher notes didn’t lose any of the bite and output of the lower notes, making this a lead player’s axe as well as a rhythm guitarist’s buddy. In the middle pickup setting, a trebly edge was added, emphasising pick attack and making for some nice semi-clean sounds, good for strumming or playing arpeggios for a verse before rocking the bridge pickup for a big chorus. The neck pickup sounded full and round, with a high end sparkle not often heard in neck pickups. It's great for atmospheric, sustained notes around the 12th fret, and has nice articulation for mega-fast speed picking. I'm not sure if this is the same pickup used by Brendon Small for his leads on the Dethklok stuff, but it certainly reminds me of that kinda tone.

SO WHAT THIS ALL MEANS IS …
The combination of the neck profile, fret size and radius, and the fret finishing make this guitar very playable, and the restrained yet confident visual design keep it from looking too much like a signature guitar. You can comfortably play this on stage without people thinking you’re a Slipknot stalker. The sounds are great, and the workmanship is flawless.

SPECS:
Body: Mahogany
Neck: Maple
Fretboard: Rosewood, 22 medium jumbo frets, 12” radius
Pickups: EMG 81 (bridge), EMG 60 (neck)
Electronics: I vol, 3-way selector switch.
Options: White with rosewood fretboard, black with maple fretboard.
Extras: Black tweed hardshell case with red interior.

CLICK HERE to buy the Fender Jim Root Artist Series Telecaster Electric Guitar (Black) from Guitar Center for $1199.99

Fender Jim Root Artist Series Telecaster Electric Guitar (White) from Guitar Center for $1199.99

FEATURE: 8 Is Enough… for now - Production 8-string guitars

The 8 string electric guitar isn’t a totally new phenomenon – Meshuggah fans have been lusting after their own readily available version for years now – but since Ibanez made the brave move into the mass-produced world of the low F# string, other companies have stepped up with their own monstrous creations. Here are a few readily available production 8 strings. All feature EMG 808 active pickups, and all are tuned F#-B-E-A-D-G-B-E at the factory, but of course you’re free to come up with your own tunings. Personally, I’d probably drop the F# down to E. You’ve already gone down that far, why not get all the way down to bass territory? Then again, following that philosophy, I’d probably want a 9 string so I can go as low as a 5 string bass… Hehehe.

Ibanez RG2228
SPECS:
basswood body, 5-piece maple/wenge neck w/rosewood fretboard,
24 jumbo frets
27” Scale
Gotoh Tuners
Edge III-8 fixed bridge,
2x EMG 808 pickups

CLICK HERE to see the Ibanez RG2228 on eBay.


ESP LTD FM-418
SPECS:
Neck-Thru-Body
Basswood Body, Maple Neck w/ Rosewood Fretboard
24 XJ Frets
25.5" Scale
Grover Tuners
Hipshot Fixed Bridge
EMG 808 pickups

CLICK HERE to see the ESP LTD FM-418 on eBay.

Schecter Hellraiser C-8
SPECS:
Manhgay body, Mahogany Neck w/Rosewood Fretboard
26.5” Scale
Schecter Locking Tuners
Hipshot Fixed Bridge
EMG 808 Pickups

CLICK HERE to see the Schecter Hellraiser C-8 on eBay.

WILTOTWTWT: Fear Factory, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

So I just realised that if you turn 'What I Listened To On The Train To Work Today' into an acronym, it looks like an onomatopoeic interpretation of the sound a finch makes.

Okay, this morning seems to have been one of polar opposites for me. I started my walk to the train station cranking Fear Factory’s ‘Obsolete’ album. When this one came out, I got to interview Raymond from the band (for Curio, the student magazine for the University of Canberra – I was the News & Reviews editor). Allow me to slip into self-indulgent journo mode for a second…

When Fear Factory toured Australia to promote this album in 1999, I was lucky enough to get a backstage pass and a photo pass to shoot the first 3 songs. The band opened with ‘Shock,’ the first track off ‘Obsolete.’ After getting a bunch of shots of the band (including Dino with an Ibanez UV777BK Universe 7-string with a single EMG active humbucker), I turned around to get some pictures of the mad wall of mosh happening behind me. Suddenly I felt ‘a presence’ and I realised singer Burton C Bell was right behind me, getting the crowd to go extra psycho for my photos. So I turn around and we sing the chorus to ‘Shock’ together into his mic. Awesome. Awesome.

Anyway, ‘Obsolete’ is my favourite Fear Factory album. The production is sharp, hi-fi and aggressive, with monstrously tight grooves and direct songwriting. Dino’s guitar tone is clear even when he plays complex chords on tracks like ‘Descent,’ and Burton strikes the perfect balance between his screamy voice and his singing voice. Fear Factory made other great albums before and after ‘Obsolete,’ but this is the one for me.

Anyway, after getting to the train station and stopping at the kiosk for a coffee this morning, I switched over to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’s ‘Raising Sand,’ which won every single one of the Grammys yesterday, with the exception of the Best Rock Instrumental award which went to Zappa Plays Zappa.

This is a cool, low-key album which reminds me in parts of Page and Plant’s 1998 ‘Walking Into Clarksdale’ album (not only because both albums include the song ‘Please Read The Letter). There’s lots of cool tremolo-drenched guitar playing by T Bone Burnett, and the whole atmosphere is very laid back and real. I would consider this one a bathtub album, or maybe a quiet Sunday afternoon album, sprawled out on the sofa with a sunbeam slowly crossing your bare feet as you read Oliver Sacks’ ’Musicophilia’ or something. Man I wish it was the weekend.

By the way, anyone else notice that T Bone Burnett looks a lot like John Hodgeman (Daily Show correspondent and the PC in those "I'm PC" "And I'm a Mac" commercials)?

NAMM 2009: Schecter 8-string

This just landed in my inbox... now THAT'S the stuff. Want!!!

The new Schecter Hellraiser C-8 has 8 strings (the lowest is tuned down to F#, but I figure that if you're going to go that low anyway, you might as well tune it down to E so you can play octave-down power chords, Drop-D-style.

By the way, check out that ad copy: "A custom designed Hip-Shot bridge that DOES intonate..." Who could they be taking a dig at there? The only other production 8 strings I know of are the
Ibanez RG2228, which has the genius FXEdge bridge, and the ESP/LTD Stephen Carpenter models. Hmmm...

Click the image for a closer look or go to Schecterguitars.com.

CLICK HERE to buy the Ibanez RG2228 Electric Guitar Galaxy Black from Musician's Friend.

CLICK HERE to buy the ESP LTD SC-308B Baritone Stephen Carpenter Electric Guitar Black from Musician's Friend.

NAMM 2009: EMG gold and silver pickup covers

This year at NAMM EMG introduced gold and silver covers for their pickups. Previously the only time I've seen EMG pickups in anything other than black was on Kirk Hammett's Les Paul. Other new goodies include a new line of pickups called the X Series, and an Alexi Laiho set which includes his favoured passive humbucker and a gain boost.

Here's part of EMG's review of NAMM: 

Team EMG is back from the 2009 NAMM Show and without a doubt we had a blast. The reaction to our new products was a resounding success. If you haven't heard we are now offering high quality Chrome and Gold cover caps for our 81, 85 and 60 models which generated considerable excitement.

In addition to this new option, we also have a new line of pickups called the X series which has been highly anticipated and that we are betting will blow players minds with its increased headroom paired with the traditional EMG tone that has become iconic to musicians the world over.

The final new release is Alexi Laiho's shredding new signature set, the ALX w/ABQ gain boost, which is composed of a signature passive HZ humbucker paired with a 3-band EQ/gain boost mounted on a push pull pot. This new set is incredibly versatile and was developed in conjunction with Alexi himself. You want his tone? This will get you that much closer!

Besides featuring EMG's new and existing product lineup, we had some very exciting artist appearances, scheduled and unscheduled, that were just icing on the cake and made our booth THE place to be. Some of the artists hanging out included Kerry King, Alexi Laiho, Steve Lukather, Sergio Vallin, Marcus Henderson and many many others.

Read more here.

NAMM 2009: Michael Kelly upgrades Hex, Vex

The Michael Kelly Guitar Company has upgraded the Hex Deluxe and Vex Deluxe for 2009, adding new active Rockfield pickups. I kinda dig the Hex, with its dark smoky colour and that reverse headstock, but the Vex looks a lot like a Schecter to me, and there are an awful lot of twin-humbucker, string-thru, flamed-maple, abalone-bound guitars out there. For a long time EMG had the whole active pickup thing stitched up, but Seymour Duncan's Livewires are giving them a serious run for their money at the moment. Even Ibanez introduced their own active pickup last year on the ART300 and ART400 models. Perhaps these new Rockfield pickups are further evidence of the active market opening up.

Here's the press release about the new Michael Kelly guitars:

Michael Kelly Guitar Company has announced new versions of its popular Hex Deluxe and Vex Deluxe double cutaway models. The featured upgrade for 2009 is the addition of a scorching new set of active pickups. The Deluxe twins are the first guitars on the market to come equipped with Rockfield Pickups new Black Betty active humbuckers. "Consumers were asking us for a specific tone and performance level for the modern music environment. When Todd Rockfield shared these new pickups with us, we instantly knew that these exactly matched what our users had been asking for," explained Tracy Hoeft, the company's founder.

Another key feature on the Hex Deluxe and Vex Deluxe is their set-thru-body construction. This construction provides the great tone of a set-neck instrument with the added access provided by a neck-through-body construction. Both of the Deluxe models have 24 frets, a custom inlay design, Grover tuners and exotic wood options. The Hex Deluxe boasts an original Floyd Rose tremolo while the Vex Deluxe has a string-through body design and a fully carved top.

CLICK HERE to buy the Ibanez ART300 from Music123.

CLICK HERE to buy the Ibanez ART400H from Musician's Friend.

CLICK HERE to see eBay pickups on eBay.

NAMM 2009: New Godins at NAMM

For quite a while I've felt that Godin guitars are one of the best kept secrets in the guitar world. It seems they've always been in music stores, but with the exception of John McLaughlin and Steve Stevens, you never really see them in the hands of too many players.

I think that might change in 2009 with the expansion of the company's Redline range. Previously only available as a fixed bridge model with a single EMG 81 humbucker in the form of the Redline 1, the line will be beefed up with three new models, the Redline 2, 3 and HB.

The Redline 2 features a super fast 24-fret rock maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, silver leaf maple body and 2 active EMG humbuckers (neck: EMG-85 / bridge: EMG-81).

The Redline 3 is also loaded with active EMG humbuckers and is available with a maple or rosewood 22-fret fingerboard and a Floyd Rose tremolo bridge.

The Redline HB fmodel eatures a rock maple neck with 22-fret rosewood fingerboard and Godin design GHN-1 and GHB-1 humbuckers.

All of these models will be available in various colours and flame tops.

Visually, the Redline series kinda reminds me of ESP's Jon Donais (Shadows Fall) models, and that's good news for players who like the general vibe of Donais' ESPs, but don't want to play a signature guitar, and might want the option of a Floyd Rose.

NEWS: New Schecter V

Schecter has just unveiled the new-for-2009 Damien V-1 (fixed bridge) and Damien V-1FR (Floyd Rose). I couldn't find any specs on these yet, but they appear to have EMG-HZ passive pickups and a matte finish, which leads me to believe they won't be mega-ultra-expensive models. I like the offset carve at the treble side of the neck/body join. I think lot of players are into more traditional V shapes but want modern playability, and this is the perfect way to get it. I'd like to see this model with a pickup upgrade, but ya gotta dig those bat inlays.

HALLOWEEN BRUTALITY: Jackson Demmelition King V

This Halloween, I'll be looking at some of the most evil guitars known to man. This demonic beast, the signature model for Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel, takes the already brutal Jackson King V and adds even deadlier edges.

The Demmelition King V has a sharp alder body, witha  through-body quartersawn maple neck capped with a bound compound-radius ebony fingerboard (12” to 16”) and 24 jumbo frets. Shark fin inlays are one of the most metalworthy accoutrements a guitar can have, so of course they make an appearance on the Demmelistion, in mother-of-pearl form, and the Jackson logo is also inlayed in mother-of-pearl for extra metallic bling factor.

Pickups are an EMG 81 in the bridge and an EMG 60 in the neck position, each with its own CTS volume control. Other brutal features include a Floyd Rose Original double-locking two-point tremolo bridge, black hardware and die-cast tuners. Available in red with black bevels, black with silver bevels and white with black bevels. Grrr.

CLICK HERE to buy the Jackson Phil Demmel Signature King V