Tag Archives: jeff beck

Eric Johnson

0 comments

Eric Johnson;

there’s something in the water in Texas and it must be talent, melody or some kind of mystical otherworldly pan-galactic musical goodness and Eric Johnson is definitely drinking it.

By the time Johnson released his Capitol Records debut Ah Via Musicom in 1990, he was regularly winning awards for his musicianship in the guitar press. During this period, Eric Johnson was also drawing recognition for the rich, violin-like tone he coaxed from his vintage Fender Stratocaster.

Eric fuses a more classical sense of melody with the a highly accomplished and adult sonic palette blending vibrato, bends, scales and tones in a way that avoids the hair-metal neo-classical plagiarism of guitar for guitar’s sake and the time honoured cliches of the been there, done that blues-rock guitar cannon. Here he is playing “Manhattan” – so, listen up and listen good because it’s said that Eric can tell the difference between the brands of batteries in his effects pedals.

Guitar Players

2 comments

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

Rock and Roll

3 comments

1960 the year in which the Studebaker Hawk I saw this morning was manufactured, was a big year – the U.S. sent troops to Vietnam and Elvis returned from Germany. Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Sam Cooke, Chuck Berry and Duane Eddy all released records. Also featured in 1960 was the great Chester Burnett, or Howlin` Wolf who had been making records for since 1951. Wolf had a great ear and since `55 had been working with the awesome guitarist Hubert Sumlin. It`s likely that Hubert Sumlin`s electric playing brought Chicago across the Atlantic and into the hands of the Great British Blues Players such as the incandescent trio of Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton – all members briefly of The Yardbirds.

Jeff Beck

3 comments

I`ve been lucky enough to spend an entire gig standing next to Jeff Beck, drink a few beers, chat awhile and ask him some questions about tremelo and the performances I`d seen at Hammersmith Odeon. I also saw him at The South Bank in London and he played with John McLaughlin and The White Stripes.

Guitar Effects pedals

6 comments

Kia Ora Jake here. I just wanted to write a quick post in response to a few questions about guitar effects pedals. A boutique guitar effects pedal is most usually a hand built or a limited edition pedal built by electronic enthusiasts, or a modded (modified) pedal. Many people mod their Boss units for example. There`s a whole new world of quantum manipulation opportunities out there once you start buying some of the crazy and often deranged units. Obviously there`s time and a place for everything but if you want to continue along the consciousness bending, sonic roads of Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Tom Morello, Jonny Greenwood, Robert Fripp, Alan Holdsworth, Steve Hillage, Reeves Gabrels here are a few links to help you get really weird.

Future Guitar

7 comments

The future of the guitar – what is it? We`re still using designs that are around 60 years old: Gibson Les Paul, Fender Stratocaster, Flying V, Explorers, Jaguar, Firebird etcetera. Commonalities include double or single cutaways, magnetic pickups, tone selectors, strings, tremelo arms, bridges, frets, tuning pegs.

Choosing Guitar Pickups and amps

1 comment

gold lace sensors used exclusively by Fender from 1987 to 1996. These were used by Eric Clapton for some time, and Jeff Beck also. So if you`re interested, check out the sounds these guys achieve between these dates live. I think they deliver a great sound through a range of amplifiers and I`d recommend them. The options for pick ups are pretty vast these days and Fender are now producing their own Fender Special Design dual-coil ceramic Noiseless™ pick ups so these, which Clapton (using the vintage model) and Beck have in their current signature guitar models.