Music Instruments and Gear
Flying V Guitar Documentary Features Members of Metallica, Judas Priest, Megadeth, Slayer, and More
The Flying V guitar is one of the most iconic instruments in heavy metal history. It’s silhouette alone is enough to warm the blood of headbangers. The guitar will be the subject of a new documentary, Flying V, out on DVD on September 11th. The 67-minute film was directed by Peter Hansen and features interviews with most of the major metal acts that popularized the Flying V over the years, including members of Metallica, Judas Priest, Slayer, Megadeth, and many more. As the cast of the documentary indicates, the guitar, introduced by Gibson in 1958, became a staple of ’80s thrash metal. Slayer’s Kerry King was never without one; it remains the choice axe of Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine; and Metallica’s James Hetfield is appropriately front-and-center on the movie poster, having wielded th...
Producer Bob Rock Finally Explains the Much-Maligned Snare Drum Sound on Metallica’s St. Anger
Metallica’s 2003 album St. Anger is often derided, due in large part to drummer Lars Ulrich’s distinctly off-putting snare drum sound. The butt of many jokes among fans and critics for years, the snare roast reached a fever pitch when one clever YouTuber replaced the snare from “Master of Puppets” with a snare sample from St. Anger, immortalizing its abrasiveness. Many other parodies followed, each replacing the snare of various songs with the way-to-tight, trebly, zero-resonance St. Anger sample. Finally, the album’s producer Bob Rock has explained the story behind the much-maligned snare sound. Not surprisingly, he essentially diverts the blame to Ulrich, who fell in love with the sound of Rock’s Plexi Ludwig snare. As Rock tells it, Metallica were jamming in their “clubhouse” in San Fra...
Jeff Bridges and Breedlove Unveil New Signature Model Acoustic Guitars
Actor and musician Jeff Bridges has teamed with Breedlove for a line of new signature model acoustic guitars. The instruments are sustainably sourced and feature Bridges’ “All in This Together” motto inlayed on the fretboard. As Bridges states in the press release, the elegant acoustic guitars prove “we can build beautiful instruments to make beautiful music that will resonate for all time, and preserve the trees, the lungs of our planet, which temper our climate, replenish our fresh water and provide shelter for our wildlife. We can make our instruments with salvaged or selectively harvested wood from sustainable forests, while still protecting habitat and sustaining the local community. We can make a difference.” The Breedlove Jeff Bridges “All in This Together” premium signature model i...
IK Multimedia Unveils New AXE I/O SOLO Guitar Interface and T-RackS Space Delay Plug-In
IK Multimedia has rolled out a pair of products that will appeal to guitarists looking to cut new tracks in their home studio. The AXE I/O SOLO allows you to interface your electric guitar with your computer or recording device, and the T-RackS Space Delay plug-in offers new production effects. The latest in IK’s AXE I/O line, the SOLO is true to its name — perfect for plugging in your guitar and getting results fast. It can power and ampilfy both a line or XLR input via IK’s Class A PURE mic preamp. In layman’s terms, it means you can use it as a pre-amp for guitars and other instruments, as well as XLR microphones. But as a guitarists’ tool, the SOLO excels, providing what IK calls “tone shaping.” This allows for a single instrument to emit a wide range of tones, which can be dialed...
Fender Launches New Player Offset Electric Guitar Models
Fender has announced new additions to its Player line of entry-level electric guitars. The Offset models are designed especially for aspiring guitarists playing “styles that thrive on nonconformity.” The Offset collection features some of Fender’s most bold and eccentric body styles, featuring the Mustang, Mustang 90, Mustang Bass PJ, and Duo-Sonic. Fender fans will recognize these shapes from the guitar company’s stable of iconic designs, but the Offset series brings a new level of accessibility. With their budget price point and smaller, lightweight bodies, the guitars are targeted toward beginner-to-intermediate level guitarists and female players, according to a Fender representative. “Each model delivers the signature Fender sound that has dominated the guitar scene for more than 70 y...
How to Capture Opeth’s Guitar Sound
Opeth have become one of the most revered bands in modern metal due to an unceasing artistic drive. Chief songwriter and frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt has steered the band through many styles and iterations over a highly successful career, rarely content to settle on any one genre or blanket sound. The death metal of Opeth’s early work gave way to more acoustic, expansive arrangements in latter years. Åkerfeldt would trade his death growls for the beautiful tenor that his new songs demanded. Whether metal or prog, there is always a sense of grandiosity to their performances and albums, a massive theatrical sound encompassing the music, artwork, and universe of Opeth. Opeth are foremost practitioners of sound design, a concept that takes a macro view of the musical whole, each instrument and so...
How to Recreate Phil Collins’ Legendary “In the Air Tonight” Drum Fill
There is arguably no drum fill in pop music that’s more iconic than Phil Collins’ epic break in his ubiquitous 1981 hit “In the Air Tonight”. Behind the huge sound of Collins’ drums is a combination of quality gear, choice effects, and luck. It just might be the ultimate air-drumming song. “In the Air Tonight” marked Collins’ first solo single, having already established himself as a longtime member of Genesis. And with the song, Collins kicked off his solo career with a literal bang. Even Ozzy Osbourne, who fronted Black Sabbath and launched a successful solo career of his own, declared, “That drum fill is the best ever — it still sounds awesome.” While it’s one thing to master air-drumming to “In the Air Tonight”, it’s another thing to conquer it behind the kit. Thanks to a recent instru...
Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith Unveils Upgrade to His Signature Jackson Guitars
Jackson has brought key updates to Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith’s new San Dimas SD and SDM signature models. The physical demands of Smith’s fast and melodic fretwork in Iron Maiden forced Jackson to outfit the signature San Dimas models with a bevy of customizations and mods. Each took into account Smith’s style of playing and even Iron Maiden’s “relentless touring regimen.” The guitar is not only customized to Smith’s technical abilities, but his lifestyle as a busy, traveling musician. Both the SD and SDM models tout lightweight alder bodies and bolt-on maple necks, which feature a hand-rubbed urethane back finish that looks decadent and makes for fluid playability. The neck is also supported by a pair of graphite-reinforcement truss rods that “refuse to budge, no matter the envir...
