Joe Satriani talks Unstoppable Momentum
Joe Satriani’s new album, Unstoppable Momentum, is out now, and it stands as a fresh, kick-in-the-pants reboot of Satch music as we know it. There’s some of the restraint and enhanced focus on phrasing of his last few albums as well as the brash humanity of The Extremist, the fun of Chickenfoot and even some of that clash-of-adventurousness-and-directness that made Surfing With The Alien and Flying In A Blue Dream so memorable. Joe’s band on the album is Mike Keneally (keys), Vinnie Colaiuta (drums) and Chris Chaney (bass), and together these four guys really bring the material to life. Frankly, it’s kickass. Check out this video of Joe talking about the process of making the album. Continue reading
New Dead Daisies Film – A Matter of Life & Death
The Dead Daisies have announced their arrival onto the International rock circuit with the release of a brand new interactive short film to accompany their heavy hitting debut single Lock ‘N’ Load featuring Slash. Jon Stevens’ trademark vocals are plastered powerfully atop signature guitar riffs from Slash, however that’s as far as the familiarity goes. The Lock ‘N’ Load film tells a wrenching post-apocalyptic story using a concept that makes clever use of the interactive capabilities of the YouTube platform. A split ending to the film allows the viewer to dictate the fate of the story’s warrior & protagonist in a style reminiscent of the once popular ‘choose your own ending’ novels. Cllick HERE to see the official Trailer for ‘Lock ‘N’ Load.’ Continue reading
INTERVIEW: Funeral For A Friend’s Gavin Burrough
Funeral For A Friend’s sixth and latest album is Conduit. It’s one of the heaviest records the band has ever done, yet as always the brutality is tempered by some rather complex, almost jazz-like chords. Okay, maybe ‘jazz’ is stretching it a bit but they’re certainly more intricate than the voicings employed by most heavy bands. “It’s funny how other people interpret it,” guitarist Gav Burrough says. “When you’re writing it, it’s organic and it just comes out. So what we try to do is to not think about it. Continue reading
8 Strings – I’m Jonesin’ Bad…
I’m really jonesing bad for an Ibanez 8-string right now. I just feel like there are notes I want to incorporate in my music that aren’t on my fretboard, even on my seven-string. I want to be able to play lower walking basslines for fingerpicked blues. I want to have an extra-beefy G Major chord. I want to be able to extend scales even further for dramatic effect, and mess around with otherwise unreachable chord inversions. In short, I want the damn thing to make music. We’re looking at a few Ibanez 8-strings on the I Heart Guitar Facebook page right now. If you’re on Facebook, come over and join in! Continue reading
Jackson Custom Shop SL2H Dakota Red
Check out this bad boy from the Jackson Custom Shop: the SL2H Dakota Red. I don’t know if it’s purposely designed to recall that cool Soloist Steve Vai used in the film Crossroads – there are a few differences here, particularly the bridge colour and the electronics layout – but they’re similar enough to make me want to pick one up and wail on Eugene’s Trick Bag. As of this writing there’s one on Amazon.com here
Abigail Ybarra Passes The Torch
It’s the end of an era. It’s amazing to think that for the entire history of rock music, pickups by Fender’s Abigail Ybarra have been there. Abigail was personally hired by Leo Fender in the 50s, and her hand-wound pickups are legendary. Abigail has just retired, passing the torch to the very capable Josefina Campos. Josefina has been with Fender since 1991 and has been apprenticing with Abigail for the last three years. Abigail, it was a pleasure to meet you on my visit to Fender and again when you stopped by the Seymour Duncan booth at NAMM this year. And Josefina, I can’t wait for the day when I own your pickups! Continue reading
GUEST POST: Ormsby’s Amazing Synchronicity
There have been many times I’ve felt as though something, someone, has been looking over me as I build or repair an important instrument. The whole Randy Rhoads Tribute bass was an example (one day I’ll tell the stories, they literally freak some people out), but another happened today. I’m doing some work on a vintage guitar, restoring, and relicing (paint touch ups, and cracking, aging, etc) it to its former glory. Unfortunately the owner passed away, but his wife wants it back the way it should be (it had some heavy mods that didn’t do it many favours). Continue reading
GJ2 Guitars Expands
Grover Jackson and Jon Gold’s new guitar company GJ2 was one of the coolest booths at last NAMM. It’s really great to see Grover putting his name to guitars again, and the designs themselves are all at once unique and comfortable, from the Concorde to the Glendora to the 7-string Arete to the more affordable Arete 3 Star. And hey, that Green Meanie Glendora ain’t too shabby either. NAMM obviously went well for the company because now they’re expanding their facilities to meet increased demand. Here’s the press release announcing the sooner-than-expected expansion. Continue reading
Head Returns To Korn
It’s been a long time coming but finally Brian “Head” Welch is back in Korn. Head had popped up on stage a while ago to play Blind with the lads, and had been confirmed to play some shows with them this year, but now he’s officially back as a member and is working on their new album. I’m looking forward to this – I got into Korn well after their first big wave of success, and I really dig Untouchables in particular, as well as the follow-up, Take A Look In The Mirror. And his band Love & Death are pretty bitchen too. Below is a video of Korn in the studio laying down their new album with Head. Continue reading
Fender Spring 2013 Collection
As we’ve already seen today, Fender has just announced a batch of beautiful new Custom Shop models for Spring 2013. But the Custom Shop doesn’t get all the fun: there are plenty of new standard production models too, including a Cabronita Telecaster Thinline – yep, Thinline – as well as the addition of upgraded tops for the Standard series and period-correct nitrocellulose lacquer finishes for the Classic Series. Oh and a really sexy Stratocaster HSS Plus Top with Locking Tremolo that I’d shred the hell out of. Let’s take a look!
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