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January 2011 Letters

January 2011 Letters

Busted— But Redeemed In your “ON/OFF/ STBY” section of the December 2010 issue, you incorrectly claim that Rock Band 3 does not allow use of a guitar with strings. In

Busted—

But Redeemed

In your “ON/OFF/

STBY" section of the

December 2010 issue,

you incorrectly claim

that Rock Band 3

does not allow use of

a guitar with strings.

In fact, Fender and

Harmonix (makers of

the Rock Band game) have made a Squier

Strat Rock Band controller that is a fully

functional stringed guitar (with frets) that

has a standard 1/4" as well as MIDI out,

which can then be used with an Xbox, PS3,

Wii, etc. (Frankly, Rock Band aside, this is a

huge game-changer for guitarists that want

an affordable MIDI option.)



Furthermore, Reaper is working with

Harmonix to allow users to author their

own songs in Reaper and export them to be

played on the Rock Band platform.

Devin Lane

via email



Hi Devin. You're absolutely right. The new

Squier Stratocaster Guitar and Rock Band

Controller hadn't been announced yet when we

went to press with the December issue. However,

we heard about it soon thereafter, and we're

pretty damn stoked to say we're the first guitarcentered

media outlet to get one for review—and

it's in this very issue. Though we're fully prepared

to get emails from a few naysayers expressing dismay

over the fact that we've given a video-game

controller ink and pixels—let alone put it on

our cover—we stand firmly behind the decision.

To see why, check out the review in this month's issue.


A Little Too Edgy

I've been reading guitar mags forever, and PG

is by far the best. Unfortunately, the “Primitive

Cartoon Questionnaire" [Last Call, December 2010] had to be the least tasteful column you've

ever run. Leave the edgy humor to SNL. Really.



P.S. Answer C to the pick question was a direct

quote from Jerry Garcia regarding the pick

he contributed to a feature in an old issue of

Guitar Player. Really.

Ed Dansker

New York, New York


Last Call author John Bohlinger responds: The old

joke about the pick being “all that stands between

me and abject poverty" has been thrown around by

Nashville players for as long as I've been in town. I

didn't say it first, but regrettably, I don't know who

did. However, I can say with absolute conviction

that I blatantly stole every pedal-steel lick I know

directly from Jerry Garcia. RIP, Jerry.



72 and Still GASsing

After buying your great mag for a while, [I] figured

I may as well subscribe. I started playing @

age 65 and now @ 72 can't stop. Also have GAS

(20 guitars, half [a] dozen

amps, etc., etc.). Old dogs

can still learn new tricks.

J.S. Lundquist

Arlington, Washington



Thanks for your handwired,

100-percent analog

note, J.S.! We're thrilled to have

such a breadth of readers and viewers, all doggedly

(sorry—couldn't resist!) pursuing excellence in tone

and playing. We're sure you could teach us all a few

of those tricks, too. Play on!




PG reader Jim Rezac with his “bff" 1954 Fender Champ.

Great Minds Salivate Alike

I'm a junkie for what you guys deliver—the drool

on my stompbox issue [November 2010] is proof

of that. Well, when I read Shawn Hammond's

interview with Ron Wood (great article, even

before the interview!) it hit a chord with me. I

won't waste ink going on and on about how great

I think Ron is, but I will tell you that I realized we

have something in common. OK, something very

slight . . . but it was cool for this long-time fan to

discover. It seemed Mr. Wood's '50s Fender Champ

is a prized possession. Years ago, I did some horsetrading

with a very talented musician and dear

friend of mine. I ended up with a 1954 Fender

Champ. Pretty sure the tube is original, and it is

probably the best all-around example of one I've

seen or heard personally. I don't use it much, but

when I do I get the sweetest tone ever! Thanks for

the great article and the great magazine.

Jim Rezac

Dover, Delaware



Danke to Dirk

Kudos to Dirk Wacker in the Mod Garage. I

had been searching for something to do with my

otherwise useless tone pots when I remembered

that Fender still made the TBX. I did a Bing

search and, to my surprise, there was an article in

Premier Guitar [October 2010]. I read through it

and figured I would send Dirk a note to pick his

brain some more. I didn't really expect a reply, but

was floored when, within the hour, he emailed me

back. Not only was he über-helpful, but he told

me of the additional mods that would show up in

the November issue. Now my otherwise untouched

tone pots are getting a workout as bass cuts on my

Strat, Tele, and Jaguar. Thanks to Dirk for being

such a great guy and to Premier Guitar for letting

him satisfy us gearheads with helpful mods.

Thomas Lhamon

Flat Rock, Michigan


Thanks, Thomas! We're happy to hear your neglected

tone pots now have a new home. We couldn't agree

more about Dirk—he's super helpful and always

dependable.



Corrections

In our December 2010 “Shapes of Things"

story, we incorrectly listed attorney Ron

Bienstock's place of residence and practice

as Atlanta. He lives and works in the New

Jersey/New York City metro area. As astute

reader Nick Plytas points out, in that same

issue we also mistakenly left a digit off the

part number for the Fender Stratocaster Mid

Boost Kit referenced in Mod Garage. The

correct number is 0057577000. We apologize

for these boo-boos.