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The Handle and Adrian Legg – Modern guitar

If you listen to most of the guitar players from the last 50 years you`ll agree that there`s nothing quite like the sound of a strat’ bridge pick up with the tone rolled off through some burning vacuum tubes. Ask Eric.
Can there be any more?
Well, in a world that’s ultimately soaked and aged in the sinlge malt, tried and trusted, eulogised traditions and techniques of the cannon of popular guitar music, recording and performance then the answer must be a resounding “No!”.

Some artists (Jack White) go to great lengths to take their modern song writing performance and bathe it in the holy waters of yesteryear with a penchant for vintage valve amplifiers, 2 and a quarter inch tape, leslie cabinets, and even rusty old strings. Wouldn`t you want to play with some of Hubert’s rusty old castaways from the Wolf Days?

Anyway if you’re not neck deep in the sand and you fancy embracing something a little more modern than maybe designer Peter Solomon’s cutting edge Handle might grab ya. With a single body of carbon fibre “its mono-chassis construction favors direct transmission of acoustic vibrations without sound dampening nor loss. The entire guitar is hollow sectioned, creating a resonance chamber similar to that of a semi-acoustic guitar”.

Guitar Players

I`ve been to plenty of great gigs since back in the day and I`ve seen some hot guitar players – Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Alvin Lee, Carlos Santana, Jeff Healy, Johnny Winter, Jennifer Batten, The Edge, Joe Satriani, Ron Wood (with Bob Dylan), Keith Richards (with The Rolling Stones), Pete Townshend with The Who, Martin Barre (Jethro Tull), Joe Satriani, John MacLaughlin, Jack White

Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson

I said yesterday that I`d write about Robert Johnson; there`s a lot of hoodoo wrapped up around the man, in particular that he sold his soul to the devil down in Clarksdale. Originally, Son House suggested, Johnson was not regarded as a good musician but after the trade with Satan he returned with the blazing skills and blues mastery of a demi-god.