NEWS: Rush releases Snakes & Arrows Live, considers final tour?
According to the interview,
… Lee says “Snakes & Arrows Live” will have to hold Rush fans over for a while. The trio is currently “on a break” and “a little burnt out right now,” though he has every confidence there will be another Rush album in the future.
“I think we’re gonna stay quiet for awhile and then start writing — when we’re going to start writing I can’t say just yet,” Lee notes. “It may be in the fall, maybe the spring, maybe the following spring. But eventually we’ll start writing some songs and recording them, and hopefully that will be followed up by another tour down the road a couple years from now.”
Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy has seemingly backed up reports Rush may play one final tour in 2011. Portnoy mentions on his forum that he was at a taping of Eddie Trunk’s ‘The Metal Show’ on VH1 Classic. Mike writes:
I was called once again to bless the audience with my presence at a taping of this new show that will be on VH-1 Classic in Nov/Dec.
Today they shot two shows and the guests on the first show were Geddy and Alex. It was pretty cool, as we were waiting outside a limo pulled up and they both walked out. I think I may have said, “Holy Shit it Geddy!” and some guy behind me thought Alex was Mr. Peart which caused a series of frantic texts and calls to friends.
They were very reserved on the show although they did mention that there would be “one more tour”. Alex made a funny quip about how “there’s drugs backstage… like aspirin, cholesterol medicine, etc.” Geddy mentioned how between sets he “checks on baseball scores”.
It was pretty cool, so I thought I’d share.
CLICK HERE to buy the Rush: Snakes & Arrows Live standard DVD
CLICK HERE to buy the Rush: Snakes and Arrows Live Blu-ray DVD
CLICK HERE to buy the Rush: Snakes & Arrows Live 2 CD Set
NEWS: Deluxe Guitars distributes RJM products in Australia
Guitarist Steve Turner is an RJM endorser, and he talked about his RJM switching system when I interviewed him a few months ago. You can see the full interview here and visit Steve’s site here, but here’s what he had to say about his rig:
At the moment I am using their base model Amp Gizmo. You could think of it as an interface between your midi floor board and your non midi guitar amplifier. RJM make a bunch of different cables to connect the Amp Gizmo to the pedal input of your amp so it can be used with all sorts of guitar amplifiers.
You basically tell the Amp Gizmo what each midi patch will do to your amplifier. When you select a particular patch it triggers your amp mode, solo boost, effects loop or whatever else your amp can do via standard pedal input.
For guys out there struggling with multiple foot controllers this should really be ringing some alarm bells… It also has a ‘midi through’ to connect to whatever other midi gear you are running. From one midi floor board I can control my effects processor as well as the switchable settings on my Mesa Boogie. I don’t need to run the separate Mesa Boogie amp controller floor board anymore as the Amp Gizmo replaces everything it does. I control my amp features via midi. Amp and effects changes that used to take me three or four foot taps now take only one. When I am singing I don’t have the luxury of being able to look at my feet and perform an elaborate tap dance. Actually, dancing is not something I can do at the best of times! I would rather grab a beer and watch the ladies go for it.
I struck up a friendship with Ron from RJM and when I expressed an interest in upgrading to the RG-16 and Mastermind floor board he offered me an artist endorsement. The RG-16 does everything the Amp Gizmo does but also has 8 effects loops through which I will be able to run my analog pedals.
Once I integrate the RG-16 to my live rack I will be able to use my analog pedals and have everything – the amplifier, the effects processor and my individual pedals –controlled via the Mastermind midi controller and RG-16. Allan Holdsworth and Dweezil Zappa use RJM so that has to say something about the quality and design!
NEWS: New releases 24/11/2008
This week is likely to be dominated by Chinese Democracy. At the moment it’s not available to buy on Amazon, but CDJapan.co.jp is selling two versions. I’ve included a Benny Goodman/Charlie Christian album on the list here – I’m trying to include more diverse types of music on the site, so lemmie know if there are any particular jazz artists you’d like to see covered, and I’ll do my best.
Click on any title to buy the CD.
Guns N’ Roses – Chinese Democracy Geffen
Benny Goodman Sextet (featuring Charlie Christian) – Solo Flight
Metallica – Metallica [Deluxe 4 LP Vinyl]
Bryan Beller – Thanks in Advance
Living Colour – The Paris Concert
NEWS: Mike Keneally performs with Dave Gregory
Check out this video of the great Mike Keneally performing with former XTC guitarist Dave Gregory at Riff’s Bar in Swindon, UK, on October 23.
CLICK HERE to buy Mike Keneally’s ‘Wooden Smoke’ from Amazon.com
Photo by Miyuki Tsutsui
NEWS: Buy Glen Drover’s ESP
Former Megadeth/King Diamond guitarist Glen Drover is selling one of his custom ESP Eclipse guitars made for him during his Megadeth days. He used the axe on the second Gigantour festival.
* Custom black finish by ESP for Glen Drover before Gigantour 2
* Kahler locking system
* Two Seymour Duncan pickups
* Distortion in neck and 59 in bridge
* One-piece body
* This is a “custom shop” model — not the “standard series.”
NEWS: Paul Gilbert signature HomeBrew Electronics pedal
I was alerted to this by the Random Chatter Music blog: Paul Gilbert posted the following on the Racer X message boards today.
I am proud to announce my first signature pedal, the DETOX EQ by H.B.E. (HomeBrew Electronics)
I’ve been using this pedal for the last few months and I am officially addicted to it.
Why an EQ? Here’s a detailed answer:
I have always liked to get distortion by playing through a cranked-up tube amp.
I have always liked to get a clean sound by turning my guitar’s volume knob down.
This works really well with some guitars and not so well with others, depending on the pickups and electronics in the guitar. On my Spaceship One tour, my main guitar was an Ibanez Rocket Roll II (Flying V shaped) guitar with two humbuckers. This guitar sounds amazing when it’s cranked up, but it doesn’t get that sparkly clean sound like I can get from the pickups on a PGM (which has a single coil and a 5-way switch).
To solve this problem, I bought a Boss EQ pedal and used it to turn down the “muddy” frequencies as well as turning down the overall gain. The pedal became a virtual “clean channel” and was really useful for cleaning up my sound while performing live.
But the Boss EQ was hissy (even though I wasn’t boosting anything), and the frequencies weren’t set as musically I would have liked.
Recently I have been using several pedals from H.B.E. and liked everything about them. So I contacted the people there to see if they would be interested in building the ultimate EQ pedal for me. And the DETOX EQ was born!
The DETOX EQ is noise-free and has very musically tuned EQ knobs. I used it to make subtle adjustments to my tone on the United States CD, and I’ve road tested it on my European tour. I love it!
If you look at photos of my pedalboard (left), I’m still using my prototype which is a gray box with red tape on it. I got a new one from H.B.E. and let Craig Martini use it for his bass rig. That one is yellow. I’m going to switch to a new one when I get home!
Anyway, whether you use the pedal to clean up, boost, or just tailor your tone, there is no EQ pedal that touches the DETOX in quality in tone. H.B.E. did an awesome job.
CLICK HERE to buy Paul’s new album with Freddie Nelson, ‘United States,’ from CDJapan.co.jp
CLICK HERE to buy the ‘Get Out of My Yard’ instructional DVD
CLICK HERE to buy the ‘Silence Followed by a Deafening Roar Guitar Instructional DVD & Shred Annex’
NEWS: Make your own talkbox
Kudos to Mrs I Heart Guitar for spotting this on the Make blog. Ever wanted to build your own talkbox for a little Peter Frampton or Jerry Cantrell vibe? Or are you in a cover band and you need to play Bon Jovi’s ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’ and/or ‘It’s My Life?’ Then you’re in luck! Everything you need to know to build your own talkbox is right here.
Don’t wanna make your own? Here are a few options:
Danelectro Free Speech Talk Box
Dunlop Heil Talk Box Standard
Rocktron Banshee Talk Box Standard
NEWS: Chinese Democracy hits the streets early
CD REVIEW: Adam Miller – Out of My Hands
Track 2, ‘Traffic,’ would work equally well as an electric rock song, but as an acoustic track it comes across as bluesy, soulful and groovy. There’s an earthy honestness about the playing, whether Miller is blasting out a speedy hammer-on lick or locking in with the band for an unstoppable funk grove. It’s that kind of alternating rhythm/lead playing that Stevie Ray Vaughan was so great at.
The mood cools down a little on the third track, ‘Straight Forward,’ with a cool ascending bassline and bluesy rhythm fills before taking off on a harmonized melody which reminds me of Jeff Beck’s Blow By Blow, recontextualized as an acoustic album.
Track 4 shows the first signs of slowing down, with the tender ‘Finding Home.’ Again Miller gets great mileage out of combining melody and chordal accompaniment. The mood stays quiet for the ethereal ‘Rushing In,’ before things get funky yet spacious on ‘Dinosaurs.’ ‘Out Of My Hands’ hits hyperspeed with fast hammer-on/pull-of licks and a level of energy not often heard in acoustic music. ‘Holding Hearts’ returns to the cool bass and brushed drums of ‘Finding Home,’ and ‘Frankie’ is a quiet guitar/piano duet which reminds me of ‘Follow One Hope’ from Eric Johnson’s ‘Venus Isle’ album.
The CD wraps up with ‘All I Need,’ which suddenly breaks into a tasty, Tommy Emmanuel-like electric guitar solo, with a warm buttery tone and upbeat melodies. It’s a very unpredictable ending to the album, but it works very well.
Miller plays his Cole Clark Angel acoustic guitar on all tracks, and the guitar is always presented clearly and cleanly in the mix. You can hear every little string noise, every finger scrape, like the band is playing right in your living room.
NEWS: New Monte Montgomery CD
CLICK HERE to buy Monte Montgomery’s new self-titled CD from Amazon.com
Here are a few teasers.
Monte’s ‘Could’ve Loved You Better’ from the recording sessions for the new album:
A cover of Hendrix’s ‘Little Wing.’
Hi! I'm Peter Hodgson. I write for Gibson.com, Australian Guitar, Australian Musician, Mixdown Magazine (including my instructional column, 'Unleash Your Inner Rock God,' which has been running since 2007), Blunt, Beat (including their weekly hard rock/metal column Crunch) and The Brag. And I'm Assistant Social Coordinator with Seymour Duncan.
I've been playing guitar since I was 8 years old, and I've been writing for magazines since I was 18. I've also worked as a guitar teacher (up to 50 students a week), a setup tech, a newspaper editor, and I've also dabbled in radio a little bit. I live in Melbourne, Australia, and my hobbies include drinking way too much coffee, and eating way too much Mexican food.
You can check out my guitar playing at Bandcamp or on YouTube, and feel free to email me at iheartguitarblog@gmail.com