January 2012 Vol 23 No 04

COVERSTORY

STRAT FEVER

22

Vintage or hot-rodded, USA, Mexican or Far Eastern

– which of Fender’s huge

Stratocaster range is right for you?

Interviews

Bill Nelson

30

An amazing 150-song collection celebrates the tireless guitar innovator’s 40 years in music Steve Cropper 36 The soul guitar great owes his style to the little-known Lowman Pauling of the 5 Royales Chris Spedding & Glen Matlock 42 Take one legendary session player, an ex-Sex Pistol, add mates – and you’ve got King Mob Buddy Whittington 46 After 15 years with the great John Mayall the Texan guitarist was ready for his own blues

Workshops

Gas FX Drive Thru Pedal Build 104 This great boost/overdrive pedal with switchable diodes is available for just £75 as a kit

Play like John Squire

109

With the Stone Roses set to reform once again, Douglas Noble delves into the influential Madchester stylings of guitarist John Squire Chris Squire Bass Workshop 119 With his clangy sound and considerable chops, Squire was the perfect bass player for Yes

30

BILL NELSON 40 years of innovation

Regulars LETTERS 8 NEWS 10 SOUNDTRACK OF MY LIFE 13 TALES FROM THE ROAD 18 ALBUMS 20

6 Guitar & Bass JANUARY 2012 IN THIS ISSUE Contents

78

BREEDLOVE All solid timbers for happy pickers

56

AIRLINE

60

RANDALL

64

ORANGE

84

IBANEZ

Cover Photo:

Gear

PRS Review Special

51

In 25 years PRS has gone from making basically one guitar to a bewildering range. We help you pick your way through the catalogue

Airline ’59 1P

56

Take the wacky JB Hutto model, strip away one pickup and you’ve got Eastwood’s latest killer

Randall RG8040

Thousands cut their teeth on this 75W solid-state workhorse – and now it’s back

60

Orange OPC

64

It looks like an amp, but this clever orange box sets out to be the guitarist’s perfect PC

Dickinson D1 Overdrive pedal 69 A new boutique pedal that provides spookily natural and transparent overdrive – at a price

TC Electronics Flashback Delay 71 Tons of digital echoes, a 40-second looper and downloadable custom artist patches

Electro-Harmonix Ravish Sitar 73 This Shankar-In-a-box won’t please a classical sitar player, but guitar mentalists will love it

Breedlove OM/CRe & C25/CRe 78 These all-solid cedar and rosewood Cascade series cutaway electro-acoustics are gems

Tanglewood T6

83

It looks suspiciously like an AER, but at £400 this acoustic combo is a good deal cheaper

Ibanez Groovebass G104 84 With looks that’ll split the house, the G104 takes the Ibanez bass to a new price level

Fishman bass harmoniser 89 The Fission Bass Powerchord FX lets you make massive bass rock chords – with overdrive

30% OFF and a FREE Gigmate Pro tool kit when you subscribe

PAGE 100

Vintage

Private Collection

92

Graham Oliver rocked the rockin’ world with NWOBHM greats Saxon, and now he takes time out to show us the instruments he uses on stage and in the studio

Hooked On Classics

102

If you wanted to assemble a small selection of classic Gibsons, what models should you choose? Phil Harris has owned gazillions, and he’s got some valuable words of advice

TREASURED POSSESSIONS 46 SUBSCRIPTION OFFER 116 READERS FREE ADS 145 BACKSTAGE 146

JANUARY 2012 Guitar & Bass 7