The latest issue of Guitar Interactive, the free digital guitar magazine has been released and it’s loaded to the brim with new video interviews, interactive guitar lessons and reviews of all the latest guitars, amps and pedals. Also, after the success of last month’s offer, every Guitar Interactive subscriber can still claim a FREE copy of the brilliant TAB editing software package Guitar Pro 6!
American guitar virtuoso Richie Kotzen is this month’s cover star with an in-depth interview at his LA home studio and a special ‘Kotzen Masterclass’ lesson from Tom Quayle. Other interviews include Free bassist Andy Fraser and Guitar Interactive favourite Steve Hackett returns to talk with Michael Casswell about his new album ‘Genesis Revisited ll’ and to perform an exclusive live session!
There’s more exclusive material on offer as Guitar Interactive are invited to the annual LA Amp Show to sample the latest products and find out what’s new in the world of Amplifiers. Pedals and Guitars. With a whole host of interviews with the brains behind the gear you love including Fractal Audio, Matrix Amplification, Suhr Guitars, Eganter + More….
There’s lots of prizes up for grabs in the competitions section of the mag… Gi are giving away two Wampler pedals and two copies of the new Randy Rhoads biography + find out which lucky reader bagged the Ibanez Steve Vai JEM70V Guitar!
Don’t miss the column features as Andy James, Tom Quayle, Rick Graham, Michael Casswell and Giorgio Serci all continue their technique lessons including tips, tricks and licks to help make you a better guitarist and starting this month, Guitar Idol winner Don Alder joins the Guitar Interactive teaching team to begin his ‘Acoustic Percussion’ series.
Included in the magazine is full downloadable tab for all of the lessons in the usual PDF format and now our new Guitar Pro 6 format so you can start using your FREE software right away (For details on how to claim your copy, visit the downloads page in the magazine).
The rest of the issue is jam packed with reviews including the new Tony Iommi Signture T-100 Laney Amp, Washburn, Rickenbacker, PRS, Hiwatt, Wampler, TC Electronic, Danelectro, Stonebridge and an exclusive review of the new Ibanez Roadcore RC230 Guitar!
If that’s not enough, Gi brings you a Quiet Room special with the new ‘Rise Of The Super-Ukes’ feature – Ukelele expert John Howlett explains why the Ukelele is conquering the world and reviews the best models on the market.
All this is available now and it’s completely FREE! Visit http://www.iguitarmag.com/issue13 to read it now!
THE BASSMENT_GUITAR REVIEW
The beast is back! Danelectro’s iconic Longhorn bass - made famous by no lesser mortal
than The Who’s John Entwhistle - has just been reissued. We steered Dan Veall in the right
direction. No Bull.
OK, as Monty Python would have said -
‘now for something completely different’.
And boy, is this different! The Longhorn,
designed by Danelectro founder Nathan
Daniel around 1958 or 9, was one of a series
of instruments so different they almost defy
categorisation. While the big ‘50s and ‘60s
brands like Fender, Gibson, Gretsch and
Rickenbacker prided themselves on making
guitars from the highest quality tonewoods
- Daniel went in another direction. He
wanted to make cheap guitars that anybody
could afford. Cheap, but playable and with a
great sound. And a great sound was certainly
obtainable from Danelectros - as Jimmy Page
proved with his Shorthorn six string and
John Entwhistle demonstrated to a similar
level of perfection with the Longhorn bass.
Entwhistle famously wanted to use one on
these basses for the track ‘My Generation’.
At the time it was difficult to buy the thin
strings fitted to the Longhorn basses and
whilst gigging in the evening to fund day
time recording sessions, he would break
them often. Laughably, It was easier for John
to just buy another Longhorn bass in order
to get the parts recorded! He ended up with
three and some ideas for a flashy bass solo –
STAR RATING CHECK THE SPEC
130 Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 14
but having broken the strings on all of them,
he finally gave in and opted to play the bass
parts on a Jazz bass instead!
Thankfully, things have changed since
then and the Longhorn reissue comes with
standard gauge strings and with the addition
of a truss rod. The rest of the instrument,
however, is much the same in design as the
original.
For the most part, this 30.5” short-scale
instrument is a pretty stock affair when it
comes to the wood ‘ingredients’. A maple neck
with a rosewood fretboard are pretty much
tried and tested. The surprise comes when
we move away from the famous ‘Coke bottle’
headstock with its four small but strangely
cute tuning keys and head down to the body
end. Visually, a rather nice vintage looking
burst finish frames the two single coil ‘lipstick’
pickups under the strings. I love the simple
bridge that doesn’t detract from the uncluttered
playing area. Two concentric ‘stacked’ controls
give you a volume and tone control per pickup.
In the video review, I briefly run through some
of the individual sound settings available,
which for such a simple looking instrument are
wide and varied.
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