Table of contents for May 2024 in Total Guitar

There is power in simplicity. Triads are the foundation of every beautiful song you’ve ever heard. If you can build and connect them, you’ll be able to learn songs more intuitively and open up a treasure trove of new creative ideas of your own. Pickup Music’s lesson examines triads through the lens of the CAGED system – an essential tool for every guitarist, especially if you struggle with music theory or are more of a visual learner. Triads are made of three intervals: the root, 3rd, and 5th. This three-note formula creates the backbone of musical harmony across all genres of Western music. Even the most complex jazz chords usually have a triad at their core. In this lesson, we focus on major triads and their inversions (when the notes…

Born into a family of musicians in Greenville, South Carolina, Marcus King started out on his journey at an astonishingly young age. He first picked up the guitar when he was just three years old, and at eight he had already performed on stage. At the tender age of 11 he made his first studio recording, setting the foundation for his future career. Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, King continued to hone his craft. With The Marcus King Band, he established himself as a formidable live performer, with incendiary jam sets sealing his reputation as a guitarist of the highest stature. His first solo album, 2020’s El Dorado, was produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys and earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Americana…

2024 marks the 70th anniversary of the Stratocaster, and, while Fender has its own celebrations planned, we’re getting in on the action, too. Here, we look at the legacy of a guitar that has shaped popular music like no other – and why Fender’s enduring doublecut remains at the top of the tree, being, as it is, in the hands of countless cutting edge players. The Strat-toting Tash Sultana and Tyler Bryant tell us why Fender’s design remains their axe of choice. We get the lowdown on the tones of two legendary Strat users, David Gilmour and Rory Gallagher, by guitarists who live and breathe their music in tribute bands. We’ll help you choose a Strat with our breakdown of the spec. And, as if that wasn’t enough Strat-y goodness…

With 1.3 million YouTube subscribers and 1.2 million Instagram followers, Tash Sultana is one of the few social media age guitarists best known for making original music. Fender released Tash’s signature Strat in 2020, and the Strat’s become the dominant force in Tash’s sonic arsenal, even for 2022’s questionably-titled Unplugged. How was it working on Fender’s 70th Anniversary campaign? I’d made the decision not to go on tour for the foreseeable future. I’d just gotten back home and I get this email: ‘Hey, not sure if you’re interested in this. You’ll have to fly back to LA. It’s Grammy week, could be fun. Nile Rodgers is doing it on the day that they want you there.’ I was just like, ‘All right!’ I’ve got a love/hate relationship with my guitar…

If you’re a Metallica fan, you’ll know that there’s no shortage of signature models available, especially when it comes to Mr Hammett. But the brand that Kirk and James are most closely associated with for many fans is ESP. Here, we have the latest LTD versions of the Kirk Hammett KH-V and James Hetfield Vulture. While they’re both Vs, they’re quite different. Hammett’s is a korina-bodied, maple-thru-neck asymmetrical shape, while Het has gone with mahogany throughout and a symmetrical V. For an added bonus, the vertices on Het’s Vulture have been profiled to mirror the Metallica logo. Electronically, things get a little closer, with both men opting for their signature EMG pickup sets as standard – the steel-poled (rather than traditional EMG bar magnets) for the Het Set, and Hammett’s…

Not too many bands can say they’ve recorded 19 studio albums, but the mighty Judas Priest is one such act, with new release Invincible Shield marking a full 50 years since their debut. Here, we walk you through the riff from fourth single The Serpent And The King, which features classic Judas Priest-style downstrokes and accented doublestops. Start the riff with your first and third fingers on the 5th and 7th frets and play these notes on the fourth string along with an open fifth string, letting the notes ring together. Next, ascend the middle strings by playing 4th interval shapes at the 5th, 7th and 8th frets before finishing with a slide from the 8th fret to the 7th, then pulling off from the 7th to 5th. Throughout the…

INTERVIEW BLACKBERRY SMOKE It was all set up to be a great year for Blackberry Smoke, with the release of a fine new album, Be Right Here. But just a few days after guitarist and vocalist Charlie Starr spoke to TG about the making of the album, it was announced that the band’s drummer and co-founder Brit Turner had died on March 3 at the age of 57. In this interview, Charlie explained how they had set out to make an intimate-sounding record. Producer Dave Cobb came into the project having just worked on the Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators album 4 – live-recorded with loud Marshall stacks. But with Blackberry Smoke, Cobb encouraged the band to use tiny amps so they could get in tight amongst…

Few British guitar makers have quite the backstory of Manson Guitar Works. It begins with Andy Manson, who built his first acoustic guitar aged 17. In the late ’60s, Andy attended the London College of Furniture, which thanks to its instrument-making classes, became a hotbed for fledging guitar-makers. While Andy focused more on the acoustic side of the tracks, his younger brother Hugh was drawn to the electric guitar and bass, and together they built Manson Guitars into a visible force during the following years, not only making, but also repairing instruments for anyone who asked – not least John Paul Jones, Jack Bruce and Jeff Beck. During the ’80s, the pair decided to concentrate on their own passions and moved to separate workshops in Devon. Hooking up with bass-playing…

ALBUM “I’VE BEEN A GEAR NERD MY WHOLE LIFE!” TALKING TONES AND TECHNOLOGY WITH DRAGONFORCE GUITARIST HERMAN LI – THE MAN WHO CAN SHRED UNDERWATER It takes a certain kind of band to get away with naming an album Warp Speed Warriors. In the case of DragonForce, the title of their ninth full-length is most apt indeed, encapsulating their steely dedication to lightning-fast musical ideas that seem almost humanly impossible. But they also know how to keep it light-hearted, as guitarist Herman Li explains… Your music is known for being very technical, and yet there are clips of you playing your most famous solos underwater! It’s quite a procedure! Especially figuring out how to keep the wireless working, making sure it was floating okay, and then swimming and snorkelling while…

There are certain things to be expected from a Judas Priest album. When it comes to mid-tempo, palm-muted minor riffing, screaming harmonised leads and distorted tones that feel hotter than the sun, you know you’re in safe hands. But even by their own standards, the heavy metal pioneers are truly going for gold on this year’s 19th studio album Invincible Shield – rammed with explosive fretwork, from the rapid-fire brilliance of opening track Panic Attack to the biker blues of finale Giants In The Sky. It will undoubtedly be one of the finest metal albums you’ll hear this year, and more impressively manages to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with classic Priest albums such as Stained Class, British Steel and Screaming For Vengeance. The road to this point has not been easy, however.…

Every guitarist has been told that rhythm guitar is the most important skill, because no one gets a gig playing only solos. But when Phil Collen got the call to play on Def Leppard’s third album Pyromania, it was to do exactly that. “The painting was finished,” he recalls now. “I just threw an extra layer over it.” The band’s first two albums had been recorded with the guitar team of Pete Willis and Steve Clark, but when Willis was dramatically fired late in the Pyromania sessions, Phil was drafted to provide the solos on songs that would become hit singles and deathless rock anthems: Photograph, Rock Of Ages, and Foolin’. It was the gig of a lifetime. Pete Willis made a huge contribution to Pyromania, co-writing four of the…

As Fender celebrates the 70th anniversary of the Stratocaster, a wide-ranging generation of modern players are putting its tonal versatility through its paces like never before. Regardless of who picks one up and what they do with it, the Strat continues to excel in every environment. Super Bowl LVIII proved high-class entertainment on and off the pitch, and H.E.R’s classy halftime show solo was right at the heart of it. The first black female artist to be bestowed with a signature Stratocaster in 2020, her satin-smooth R&B playing has been turning heads for nearly a decade. The Californian musician has cited watching Prince and Lenny Kravitz music videos growing up as life-affirming moments, and speaking to Total Guitar in 2020, she explained how her soloing style is as inspired by…

With over five million tickets sold for performances all across the globe, The Australian Pink Floyd Show are undisputed champions when it comes to recreating the music of the world’s most celebrated prog rock band. And they even come with an official stamp of approval – David Gilmour was so impressed by them, he invited the group to perform at his 50th birthday party. Here, Steve McElroy, the guitarist who helped start the project all the way back in 1988, talks us through the tools needed to emulate those genre-defining sounds and explains why the Pink Floyd guitarist is in a class of his own when it comes to channelling emotion… David Gilmour and Fender Strats are, quite simply, a match made in heaven. Why do you think the formula…

It’s not an over-exaggeration to say that no other effects pedal in recent memory has managed to stir up quite as much hype as JHS Pedals’ Notaklön overdrive did when it was first unveiled last year. Overnight, the internet was flooded with news of the Notaklön – a brand new, £79 Klon clone that you assemble yourself. Every influencer under the sun marched on YouTube, documenting the foolproof building process and demonstrating the JHS-certified Klon tones, which – as expected – looked to be top-notch. Now, the market is in no great need for more Klon Centaur clones – the mythically elusive original unit championed by the likes of John Mayer has been the inspiration behind many off-brand attempts in recent years – but the Notaklön is a different beast…