editor’s Welcome
This month, the subject of the quest for the ‘perfect’ guitar has come up a few times. For many of us, getting closer to that Holy Grail means tinkering about with guitars that are ‘just about’ right to try to make them an ideal fit. For example, I bought a Gibson ES-335 recently – partly because myself, Nev Marten of Guitar Techniques and Mick Taylor of That Pedal Show are playing a Cream tribute soon. The Gibbo is just over a decade old, sounds great and plays pretty well. As a teenager, I would have probably left it at that and just got happy playing it. But the flip side of increased experience is that it’s also harder to be satisfied. Though it makes no major functional difference, I found myself thinking that it’d be nice if the pickup covers were mellow, aged nickel not flashing, factory-fresh chrome, and the ‘proper’ vintage PAF shape with the rounded-off corners, rather than the squareish factory covers.
This, of course, is the principle of diminishing returns in action – and, while it’s nice to have all the details right, it’s a bit of a distraction from just getting on and enjoying what the guitar is brilliant at already. Sometimes, it’s grounding to remember the teenage self who would have been can’t-sleep excited just to own an electric guitar, of any description... could it be that first giddying sense of pride of ownership is what we’re all trying to get back to when GAS strikes?
One thing that no player ever regrets upgrading, however, is playing ability – and boy did we have a monster player in the studio this month, in the shape of Josh Smith, a man who blends country, blues and jazz together just as easily as ringin’ a bell. If you want to learn some of his superb licks, Josh was kind enought to show us some which are tabbed out on page 70 for your edification. Dive in, it’s great stuff. In fact, we had another wonderful player in at the same time in the shape of Ariel Posen, so look out for an interview and masterclass with him in the next issue. Until then, it’s time to get busy with the toolkit...