The Players
News and happenings from the world of your favourite guitarists
Guitarist was saddened to hear of the passing of Gang Of Four guitarist Andy Gill, aged 64. Gill was the only founder member of the postpunk band to play on all their 10 albums over a 40-year history and was credited as an influence on players ranging from Kurt Cobain to Tom Morello, Michael Stipe and Red Hot Chili Peppers. He would go on to produce the latter band’s 1984 debut, as well as releases by acts including The Stranglers, Killing Joke and Therapy?. His bandmates paid tribute in a statement: “One of the best to ever do it, his influence on guitar music and the creative process was inspiring for us, as well as everyone who worked alongside him and listened to his music. And his albums and production work speak for themselves. Go give ’em a spin for him... Love you mate.”
We were also sad to learn that Funkadelic and Isaac Hayes guitarist Harold Beane passed away on 1 February. He was 73. He first came to prominence with his fuzz solo on Hayes’ 1969 cover of WalkOnBy, and later played on Funkadelic’s 1972 album, America EatsItsYoung.
Scott Henderson’s new signature Maxon pedal tweaks his “best distortion pedal ever”, the SD-9 Sonic Distortion. Maxon’s Tube Screamer designer Susumu Tamura was onboard to work on the SD-9SH, and its additions include reducing the pedal’s treble response and shifting the centre frequency of the shelving filter to accentuate the lower mids. The SD-9SH also features an extra output level to help balance the output signal alongside other pedals on your ’board.
Kirk Hammett recently recorded a version of Fleetwood Mac’s ManOfTheWorld with Mick Fleetwood for a forthcoming tribute album. Hammett sings on it and he got to play the finished article to its writer in person when he visited Green at his London home. And as the current owner of Green’s old ‘Greeny’ ’59 Les Paul, he brought that with him, too. “I didn’t know if he liked it or not,” Hammett admitted during an appearance on the LetThere BeTalk podcast. The guy named Mark, who’s spearheading this whole project, he told me that Peter liked it, and he was able to determine that from Peter’s body language. “I said, ‘What do you mean?’ It looked like he was more interested in the weather.’ [Laughs] And he said that, ‘When he was listening, he was tapping his foot,’ and by the end, he was making kind of guitar movements with his hand, and Mark said that it was a very positive thing.”
In other Mac-related news, Mick Fleetwood has ruled out guitarist Lindsey Buckingham returning to the band. “The situation was no secret,” he told RollingStone. “We were not happy. It was not working and we parted company. And that really is the all of it.”