PG goes behind the scenes on the Experience Hendrix Tour to talk gear with the gods and demigods of guitar
This year marks the fourth that the all-star concert traveled the US to celebrate the short but revolutionary career of James Marshall Hendrix. The first incarnation of the idea was the Jimi Hendrix Electric Guitar Festival, the headlining attraction at Seattleās 1995 Bumbershoot festival. The festival was held again in 1998, and it was followed by two Jimi Hendrix Electric Guitar Competition tours, and then three all-star tribute tours under the Experience Hendrix moniker. This yearās tour included guitarists who inspired HendrixāHubert Sumlin (who gained fame in 1955 as Howlinā Wolfās sideman)āthose who actually knew HendrixāBilly Cox and Ernie Isleyāand big-name ax slingers whose styles simply wouldnāt exist as we know them if it werenāt for Hendrixās influenceāEric Johnson, Joe Satriani, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Jonny Lang, Robert Randolph, Brad Whitford, Vernon Reid, and Susan Tedeschi. But while this whoās-who lineup of guitar gods and demigods joined the tour to honor the original Voodoo Chile, they all did so in true Hendrix fashionāby flying the flag of their own uniqueness high the way Jimi wouldāve wanted them to.
When you combine their incredible playing with the fact that weāand youāare as gaga for gear as they are, it was a no-brainer that PG had to check in with them. So our team packed up the cameras and mics to head north and go behind the scenes at the March 21st show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There we got the lowdown on all the guitars, amps, and effects being used to revere Jimi and his legendary tones.
But we soon realized we had to talk about more than just the gear. It was also about the relationship these guitarists had with their gearāhow they got their known tonesāas well as how they approached the daunting task of covering Hendrix properly. Some used Strats, Marshalls, and vintage effects, while others used the same gear theyāve been using for years. But no matter the formula, the result was original and unique renditions of tunes from Hendrixās illustrious catalog.
The following pages chronicle our fly-on-the-wall encounters during the soundchecks, backstage hangs, and the epic performances that night in Milwaukee. For one night, Jimi was alive and well in the form of 10 guitarists sharing a stage to achieve a single goalāto experience Hendrix:
- Billy Cox
- Ernie Isley
- Hubert Sumlin
- Kenny Wayne Shepherd
- Eric Johnson
- Jonny Lang
- Joe Satriani
- Susan Tedeschi
- Brad Whitford
- Robert Randolph
- Vernon Reid
Billy Cox
Pictured here with his well-worn ā70s Fender Jazz bass, Cox opened the show with the famed Ernie Isley on guitar. Double Trouble drummer Chris Layton joined them for a great rendition of āStone Free.ā
Out of everyone in the 2010 Experience Hendrix lineup, none had a closer relationship to Hendrix than Billy Cox. They met at Fort Campbell in Kentucky in the early ā60s when they enlisted in the US Army. Cox was Hendrixās original choice for the bassist slot in the Experience, but Cox had several other musical projects going at the time so he declined. History would eventually be made when Hendrix and Cox reunited to form Band of Gypsys. The combination of the two, with the late Buddy Miles on drums, gave the world some of Hendrixās best compositions, including āMachine Gunā and āChanges.ā
Cox ripped through the Milwaukee set with cuts like āStone Free,ā āMessage to Love,ā āThem Changes,ā and the closing āRed Houseā using a classic combination of a ā70s Fender Jazz bass rumbling through an Ampeg SVT Classic head and a matching Ampeg 8x10 cabinet. The setup was simple yet legendary, just like Coxās thumping bass work.
Coxās amp setup consisted of an Ampeg SVT Classic tube head with a matching Ampeg 8x10 cabinet.
Ernie Isley
Ernie Isley started off the Milwaukee show by playing āStone Freeā on his Custom Shop Strat. His pedalboard included a Dunlop Rotovibe, Voodoo Lab Proctavia, Boss BF-2 Flanger, ProCo Rat, and a Dunlop Crybaby wah.
Of all the guitarists on the tour, Ernie Isley holds one distinction none of the others can claim. Isleyāwho first found wide exposure as the guitarist for famed R&B/funk band the Isley Brothersāwatched Saturday-morning cartoons with Jimi. As Isley described during his three-song setāwhich included āStone Freeā and āMessage to Loveā with Cox, as well as āManic Depressionāāhe knew Hendrix before all the funky outfits and guitar antics, back when Hendrix was an Isley Brothers sideman. He recalled how he knew Hendrix would become something remarkable.
In fact, before each song in his set, Isley waxed poetic about Hendrix. He first remembered Hendrix getting a white Strat, just after joining his brothersā band, and then he recalled seeing Hendrix after his first stint in England, dressed, as he said, like a carnival performer with bell-bottoms and several rings. But what really struck us was Isleyās last story. He remembered when Hendrix stayed at his familyās house for weeks on end and how heād never be without that white Strat. How Hendrix would hunch over that Strat for endless hours, crafting licks and chord progressions. Isley mimicked a few of the licks on guitar while telling the storyāsome were unfamiliar, others recognizable. Isley then paused, looked up at the heavens, and said he recalled one riff more than the other. Then he launched into one of the most inspiring performances of the show. We wonāt ever hear āManic Depressionā without thinking of that night.
These Fender Custom Shop Strats were commissioned by Isleyās wife as birthday presents. They both feature maple (right) and flamed maple (left) tops and roses handcarved by George Amicay. The rosewood fretboards have several inlays, including a hummingbird, two doves, and the word āZeal.ā Both guitars also feature custom single-coils and gold hardware. The flame maple guitar was built by Art Esparza.
Hubert Sumlin
The legendary Hubert Sumlin donned a Custom Shop Strat for an all-star jam of āKilling Floor,ā in addition to helping close the show with a spectacular rendition of āRed Houseā with Joe Satriani and Robert Randolph. Sumlinās Fender Custom Shop ā56 Relic Stratocaster was given to him by Mike Eldred at the 2007 Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival.
Itās difficult to sum up a player like Hubert Sumlin. Rock ānā roll as we know it would most certainly sound very different if he hadnāt picked up the guitar back in the ā30s. And not just because Jimi was a huge fan.
Meeting him was fascinating. He was raised in a little town called Hughes in eastern Arkansasā an area that spawned a major music revolution, one that is not simply confined to just the great blues that came from there. As Part of Howlinā Wolfās band this man helped change peopleās perception of what music could sound like, and we could definitely feel the energy in the room when we were speaking to him. Sumlin is a walking tome of amazing musical history and knowledge, and we just sat back in awe as he recalled fond memories of Hendrix and his very own modest childhood.
āJimi loved [the famous Howlinā Wolf tune] āKilling Floor,ā and he liked the Wolf,ā Sumlin calmly said. He seemed to replay some memory in his mindās eye for a moment, and then he emphasized the point, āHe recorded Killing Floor!ā He seemed truly honored that Hendrix had covered the tuneāincluding during a BBC session and at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967.
Sumlin then recalled the first time he played with Hendrix, during a gig with Howlinā Wolf in England. āIt was at this really nice, big place. He came up through the front, and the crowd just moved for him.ā Sumlinās hands were pressed together, and he spread them wide to illustrate how the crowd parted like the Red Sea when Hendrix walked to the stage. āYou could drive a car through it down to the bandstand!ā he laughed. The crowd gave the legend a deafening round of applause before heād played a note. Sumlin watched Jimi go on to play āKilling Floorā with his teeth, and only one thing was running through his mind: āIām fired. He played it so beautiful, man. I think he played it better than we recorded it.ā Hendrix got a 15-minute standing ovation after his set.
Being in the presence of a figure as influential was humbling. It was like listening to a living, breathing part of Americaās musical heritage. He shared stories about playing a guitar strung with baling wire and making his brother cry with jealousy because he was so good. He retold road tales and stories of recording with Chuck Berry and the Wolf. But what was most fascinating was his energy. The man is 78 years old and has the drive and passion of a rambunctious teenager. He still lives and breathes guitar like it was the first time he played it. Heās inspiring on and off the stage. And getting to share a few moments of his time to talk about the blues, Arkansas, and Hendrix are moments weāll cherish for the rest of our lives.
Sumlinās amplifier setup was one of extreme simplicity: a tried-and-true Fender Bassman 4x10 combo micād with a Sennheiser e609.
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Kenny Wayne Shepherd digging into his Fender Custom Shop Signature model during āI Donāt Live Today.ā The Strat features an alder body, a thick maple neck with a rosewood fretboard, and custom-voiced single-coils.
Of all the players who took the stage in Milwaukee, Kenny Wayne Shepherd was the most like a man possessed of Hendrixās spirit. He wielded an array of Strats ranging from Custom Shop models based on his ā61 to a replica of Hendrixās Monterey guitar, but it wasnāt his gear choices that were so reminiscent of Jimi. It was the fact that he gave the most provocative and aweinspiring performance of the night.
During his four songs, he plugged his Strats into a handwired Fender ā64 Vibroverb reissue and a Tycobrahe Octavia and played with a passionate, fearless stage presence that dripped with Hendrixian charisma. Others played with their teeth and behind their backāas did Shepherdābut he raised the bar by playing under his leg, squatting down with his headstock pointed skyward (just like Jimi in the liner notes of Axis: Bold As Love), slid on his knees during solos, and covered the gamut of Hendrix-inspired moves without shame or inhibitionāand without coming across as cheesy or schmaltzy.
Tonally, Shepherd lit the place on fire during āVoodoo Child (Slight Return).ā The first five seconds of the song had barely reverberated through the soldout Riverside Theatre before the crowd was on its feet, pleading for him to take it to another level. And he obliged. He worked his Crybaby wah with precision to ensure the proper wah-chuk-a-wah sounds.
The extended solo contained some of the finest guitar playing of the nightāit closely resembled Hendrixās recorded rendition but also had Shepherdās own bent. He ended the tune on his knees, reenacting Hendrixās 1967 Strat burning at the Monterey Pop Festival. The way Shepherd owned the stage was an art form in itself. For his set, KWS was Hendrix.
Shepherd plugged into the first input of his Fender ā64 Vibroverb reissueās Vibrato channel. The mic is a Sennheiser e609.
During āVoodoo Child (Slight Return),ā Shepherd played this Fender Custom Shop Hendrix Monterey Pop Festival Strat, which has a maple neck, rosewood fretboard, and three vintage single-coils. The alder body features a recreation of Jimiās original artwork that was hand-painted by Pamelina H.
To get Hendrix-style tones, Kenny Wayne Shepherd mixed up his pedalboard for this particular tour. He went with a Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner, an Analog Man AR20DL Analog Delay, Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2, an Analog Man BI-CHORUS, a handwired Ibanez TS808HW Tube Screamer, an Analog Man King of Tone overdrive, a Tycobrahe Octavia, and a Dunlop Crybaby wah.
Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson and his signature Fender Stratocaster expertly navigating the classic āAre You Experienced?ā
Striking up a conversation with a player like Eric Johnsonāa guy who personifies flawless toneāwas one of many fantastic moments at the festival. āI donāt know if you can ever build the ārightā sound,ā he explained, āit just has to happen serendipitously. Iāve spent a lot of time trying to manipulate my tone, but sometimes itās like trying to capture wind in a jar. You just have to experience and enjoy it when itās there.ā
Johnson is notorious for his gear obsessionā for stuff like being able to hear the difference between battery brands in his pedals. But while many guitarists know about his guitar and amp proclivities, he spoke to us about less-obvious elements of his tone. āThe way [the gear] sounds is very important, but itās more about how it responds to my picking technique. When the flow and bounce are working together just right, it just facilitates being able to move to different places musically. The amp, for better or for worse, is part of the instrument. It can be a great tool, but also an Achillesā heel. If the amp is matching your picking technique and blooming and interpreting your fingering style well, it just helps you be a better guitarist.ā
Like Hendrix, Johnson is a noted fan of plugging Fender Stratocasters into non-master-volume Marshall stacks. His rhythm tones are often projected from vintage Fender Deluxe Reverbs, but he decided to change it up a little for this tour. āFor rhythm tones, I have two Fender Twins driving a semi-openback Marshall 4x12 cabinet. Iām also using my 50watt Marshalls onstage to keep the volume from getting too out of control.ā
Asked about being on the tour with so many notable guitarists, Johnson couldnāt have sounded happier. āIām so glad they got a hold of me to do it again, because it was such a blast last time when I got to meet Billy Cox and Mitch Mitchell, it was the last tour that he did before he died,ā he said. āThereās a real nice, fraternal vibe to it, where you all get to concentrate together on someone elseās music, which happens to be really wonderful music, too. And the fact that everybody is a really good player, but they all have a different take on Hendrixās music, just showcases how diverse his music is. Everybody has his or her own version of his blues style, or his psychedelic style. Itās just very powerful.ā Johnson was particularly fond of a recent jam with Sacred Steel lapsteel guitarist Aubrey Ghent, who performed with Robert Randolphās band. āWe just did that a few hours ago, and that was one of the highlights of the tour for me. Heās just great, and he taught Robert a lot of stuff. Heās a wonderful player.ā
What struck us most during our time with Johnson was that he is most certainly a tone chaser, but heās not a tone snob. One might have expected him to talk only of his legendary gear and tone, but he was very cordial and personable. He was particularly interested in the vintage Marshall Super Bass head PG associate gear editor Jordan Wagner mentioned owning, and he asked several friendly questions about it during our conversation. It felt like hanging out with a regular Premier Guitar reader.
A true classicāJohnsonās 1962 Fender Stratocaster. This instrument was stolen from him almost three decades ago, but was returned in 2006.
Johnsonās Maestro Echoplex EP-3 tape delay.
The infamous pedalboard of Eric Johnson. In addition to a few custom switchers, the board houses a vintage Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man, a Boss DD-3 Digital Delay, a late ā60s Vox wah, a BK Butler Tube Driver, an early ā70s Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, a TC Electronic Stereo Chorus, a ToadWorks Barracuda Analog Flanger, a Prescription Electronics Experience octave fuzz, and a Maestro Echoplex EP-3.
Johnson ran his mid-ā80s BK Butler Tube Driver and Maestro Echoplex EP-3 through this 1968 Marshall 50-watt Lead head, which drives the lower of two stacked Marshall 4x12 cabinets. Its cab is loaded with 80-watt Celestions. The 50-watt Lead and a Marshall Tremolo head were the core of Johnsonās dirty rhythm tones.
Johnsonā signal hits a Fuzz Face before going into his 1968 Marshall 50-watt Tremolo head. It drives the top Marshall 4x12 in his stack, which is loaded with Celestion 30-watt speakers.
A rear view of the stereo Marshall open-back 4x12 cabinet used for Johnsonās clean tones. Each side of the cabinet was fed by a mid-ā60s Fender Twin Reverb. The cab was loaded with two JBL Lansing D120s and two Electro-Voice EV12Lās.
A frontal view of Johnsonās 1968 Marshall Tremolo head sitting on a specific wooden folding chair positioned at a 90° angle behind the Marshall stack.
Jonny Lang
Wielding his Gibson Custom Shop 1958 Les Paul reissue, Jonny Lang rips through the Hendrix classic āFire.ā
Jonny Lang first got attention for being something of a prodigy. Between the time he picked up the guitar at age 12 and the 2010 Experience Hendrix Tour, heās accomplished more than most musicians twice his age. His aggressive, soulful playing and gritty vocals have earned him a Grammy nomination, tour slots with the likes of the Rolling Stones and Jeff Beck, and even a call from Eric Clapton himself to play at the Crossroads Festival. His obvious Hendrix influence makes him a perfect fit for the Experience Hendrix Tour.
However, of all the guitarists on the tour, Lang was a standout because he didnāt use Strats, single-coils, or Marshalls. āI was thinking about taking out a Fender Strat with a Marshall and a Fuzz Face, but I just couldnāt do it without feeling like I was trying to copy Jimi,ā he confessed. āSo, I just brought out the rig that I would normally use for my own music. It makes me interpret his music in a way that sounds like me. Thatās what makes a tour like this really cool, because everybody interprets Jimiās music in their own way.ā
Still, Lang has a rather traditional rig for a blues-rock guitarist. āFor guitars, I normally use my Custom Shop Fender Thinline Telecaster with humbuckers,ā he said. āIāve recently been using a ā58 Gibson Les Paul Standard reissue that was custom made for me. Iām running them through two Fender Deluxe Reverbs, and the sound of that setup kills me!ā For effects, he turned away from an old friendāthe Ibanez TS808ā and plugged into a Route 66 Overdrive. āTheyāre similar, but the Route 66 has more headroom.ā
Langās pedalboard was a rather simple one: It featured a Boss TU-2 Tuner, a Visual Sound Route 66 Overdrive, a Vox reissue wah, and a Boss DW-3 Dynamic Wah.
Langās amp setup consisted of two handwired Fender Deluxe Reverb reissues. This one is micād with a Shure SM57. He plugged into both the Normal and Vibrato channels simultaneously for extra thickness and texture.
Langās second Deluxe Reverb reissue was micād with a Shure SM27. He prefers to have the amps facing to his left, not directly to his back.
Joe Satriani
Shredder Extraordinaire and major Hendrix enthusiast Joe Satriani was fortunate that the stars aligned so he could do the full Experience Hendrix Tour. He had played the San Francisco date of the first tour, but scheduling conflicts always seemed to prevent him from joining the nationwide festivities. But after finishing the last Chickenfoot tour, Satriani finally had the time to pay homage to the man that inspired him to make guitar his life. And, going through the whole experience facilitated some new gear and tone discoveries.
āAt the start of the Chickenfoot tour, I noticed that my Peavey JSX rig sounded more specialized for someone playing lead guitar all night,ā he said. āI had Marshall send me some different stuff to try out in Vienna, and I ended up using a JVM410 for the rest of the tour. It made such a profound difference, because Iām playing rhythm guitar most of the time in that band.ā After his last stint on the road with Chickenfoot, he decided to have an amp shootout at SIR studios in San Francisco, and there he rediscovered his love for a certain Marshall head. āI was shocked to find that using a Vox Saturator into a Marshall 6100 Anniversary headās clean channel was really the best sound. Part of it was the fact that it was a better 6100 than the older ones I had. Plus, I didnāt have the Saturator back when I was using those amps.ā
Satriani is well known for his dual-humbucker Ibanez guitars. But for the Experience Hendrix tour he decided to bring some single-coils into the picture. āI have some prototype Ibanez JS guitars with three DiMarzio singlecoils, and they sound great combined with the Marshall and Saturator. Those three work together really, really well.ā
Satchās guitar rack cradled the new Ibanez JS2400WH (the first 24-fret Ibanez JS) and two prototype JS series guitars with DiMarzio single-coilsized dual-rail pickups. His set for the night included āThird Stone from the Sun,ā āFoxey Lady,ā āAll Along the Watchtower,ā and the show closer āRed House.ā
Powered by a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus, Satrianiās versatile pedalboard featured a Vox Big Bad Wah, Boss OC-2 Octave, Voodoo Lab Proctavia, Vox Saturator, Zvex Ringtone, Boss DM-2 Analog Delay, and two of the guitaristās signature Vox Time Machine delay units.
Satrianiās Marshall 6100 Anniversary 100-watt head and 4x12 cab. The head and 6101 combo were released in 1992 to commemorate Marshallās 30th year in the amp business.
Susan Tedeschi
Susan Tedeschi playing a DāAngelico NYSD-9 on āSpanish Castle Magic.ā
Before the show began, Tedeschi was bolting back and forth between instruments during soundcheck. Whether it was guitar, guitar and vocals, or drums, if it could make music she was playing it. She made sure everyoneāthe crew and us includedāhad fun and was in a great mood for the show. Later on that night, she owned the stage with her sweet, soulful vocals as she accompanied Eric Johnson on a fantastic rendition of Hendrixās āOne Rainy Wish.ā She also joined in on āKilling Floorā with Hubert Sumlin and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. For her rig, she relied mainly on a DāAngelico NYSD9 loaded with Kent Armstrong humbuckers, though she also had a blue paisley Fender Telecaster in her arsenal.
For Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford, the Experience Hendrix Tour was a family affair. His sons Graham, 18, and Harrison, 14, jammed with Doug Wimbish and Vernon Reid of Living Colour during soundcheck, (both were quite accomplished players) and Graham even joined a jam during the show itself. āWe kind of play together all of the time anyway,ā Whitford explained. āGraham played a few shows on the Hendrix tour in the fall of ā08, and he has played with me in Aerosmith a few times. No fear. Itās just a āget me on the stageā kind of vibe for him, because he just loves to play.ā
Tedeschiās pedalboard housed a Boss TU-2 Tuner, Moollon Overdrive, and Vox wah
As far as rigs paying tribute to Hendrix, Tedeschiās hit the nail on the head with the loud, clean power of a reissue Marshall Super Lead 100- watt head driving a Marshall 1960BX cabinet loaded with Celestion Greenback 25-watt speakers and micād with a Sennheiser e906.
Brad Whitford
Aerosmithās Brad Whitford chose Fender Stratocasters for the tour. Heās pictured here with a Mexican-made Standard.
For the tour, Whitford went with a setup heās used for years. āEver since I can remember playing, a 100-watt Marshall halfstack has been my frame of reference,ā he said. āBeing really young and listening to Eric Clapton in Creamāand, of course, Hendrixāmade me think, thatās what guitar sounds like.āā Whitford drove the amp with a seafoam green Strat recently loaded with Duncan Antiquities. āYou sort of have that journey that you go through, looking for whatever tone that youāre after. Then you realize that you just lost it. Everybodyās got a better mousetrap. Iāve gone through a lot of different stages with guitars and pedals, but I think the minimalistic approach is the best. The more naked it is, the more honest it is.ā Heās even rethought wirelesses. āThe last few shows with Aerosmith I stopped using it. Mentally, itās hard to wrap my head around my guitar signal being some invisible thing in the air.ā
Experience Hendrix has allowed Whitford to not only share the stage with his sons, but other performers he wouldnāt otherwise have had the opportunity to do so with. āUsually the show closes with āRed House,ā and that includes Joe [Satriani], Robert [Randolph], and Billy [Cox],ā he explains. āItās been really fun playing with Joe, heās such a great musician. Itās not one of those competition things with himāitās all about the music.ā
Two Fender Stratocasters belonging to the Whitfords: an American Fat Strat with Gold Lace Sensors and a Mexican-made Standard.
Whitfordās sons, Harrison and Graham, joined him on the Experience Hendrix tour this year. Here Harrison holds his seafoam green Fender ā62 Stratocaster reissue.
The Whitfords depended on the time-testedāand Hendrix-approvedāMarshall Super Lead and a Marshall 4x12. The head is a reissue 100-watt model, and the cabinet is a 1960BX loaded with Celestion Greenbacks. Itās micād with a Shure SM57.
Whitfordās pedalboard features a Dunlop Crybaby wah, Seymour Duncan Tweak Fuzz, Fulltone Deja Vibe, MXR Carbon Copy analog delay, and an original Marshall The Guvānor overdrive.
Robert Randolph
Robert Randolph throwing down on āPurple Hazeā with his Sierra 13-string pedal steel guitar.
Robert Randolphās best friend is a wooden chair. The steel-guitar phenom doesnāt go anywhere without it. Heās even had it flown to China in a special flight case for a single show. It just goes to show that thereās so much more to a playerās tone than meets the eye.
When he sat in that special comfy chair in Milwaukee, Randolph wailed on a 13string Sierra pedal steel running through a two-of-a-kind amplifierāa ā57 Fender Twin reissue thatās one of two originally built for Jeff Beck. During his set, Randolph rocked out passionately through the Twin and an extension cab on āPurple Haze,ā āThem Changes,ā and a barn-burning rendition of āRed House.ā
Randolphās handwired ā57 Fender Twin 2x12 combo stacked on a Fender 2x12 extension cab. The combo is one of two specially made amps that were originally owned by Jeff Beck.
Randolph is so proud of the fact that his ā57 Twin and 2x12 cab were owned by Beck that he left the guitar godās ID tape on back.
Randolphās must-have piece of gearāan old wooden table chair that heāll never do a show without. The chair even has its own custom flight case to ensure utmost security and safety.
Randolphās Sierra 13-string pedal steel and 2x12 extension cab micād with an early Sennheiser Evolution series mic.
Randolphās pedalboard is pretty similar to what he uses with his Family Band. The Experience Hendrix setup included a Peterson VS-F StroboFlip Tuner, Boss FT-2 Dynamic Filter, Crowther Audio Prunes & Custard Harmonic Generator-Intermodulator, and Radial Engineering Tonebone JX-2 Pro Switchbone. The small box in the lower left-hand corner holds spare slides and medium and large Dunlop White Plastic Finger and Thumb picks.
Two additional foot pedals sit under Randolphās pedal steelāa Dunlop Crybaby Multi- Wah and a Goodrich L120 Volume Pedal.
Vernon Reid
Vernon Reid and Living Colour vocalist Corey Glover rocked a high-energy rendition of āPower of Soul.ā Gloverās vigorous stage persona and Reidās articulate style were a highlight of the night. The band also played on āCrosstown Traffic,ā āThird Stone from the Sun,ā āFoxey Lady,ā and āAll Along the Watchtower.ā
If thereās one word to describe Vernon Reidās playing, it would have to be āeclectic.ā The man has a masterful ability to meld musical genres, some of them polar opposites, and end up with a sound that is uniquely Reid. Thatās why itās so fitting that he and his groundbreaking band, Living Colour, were on the Experience Hendrix tour paying tribute to another legendary guitarist who had the same talent and critical ear. For this tour, Reid kept his rig simple. āIām using a Roland VG99 with an FC300 foot controller that has a bunch of custom programs. Itās a device that has kind of a cult following.ā
His axe was a Parker DF824VR Signature Dragonfly. Itās based on the DF824 Dragonfly but the company modified to fit Reidās wild playing style. āItās notable because itās a big change in the Parker design,ā he explained. āThey changed the headstock and the body style, and my signature model is the first Parker with a Floyd Rose. The thing about Parkers is that they have kind of an angularity to their design, and thereās a delicacy there that I like.ā Parker based his Dragonfly on his old Hamer, giving it a shallow V-shaped neck and an ebony fretboard. It also has EMG X pickupsāan 81X in the bridge and two 81 SAX single-coils for the middle and neck positionsāalong with a Roland hex pickup.
As for amps, Reid was the only performer on the tour that wasnāt using a Fender or Marshall. He opted instead for a Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier halfstack. The only other effect he used was an Eventide PitchFactor.
Since heās been on the tour, Reid has noticed the effect that Hendrixās music has had on his fellow tour mates both in terms of playing and gear. āItās very interesting seeing all of these players together, and how they make their sound. Some are more intricate, others less, but weāre all brought together for the love of one cat. Thatās what has always happened because of Hendrix. Whether youāre Robin Trower, Eddie Hazel, Ernie Isley, or Stevie Ray Vaughan, theyāve all had his influence and their own respective sounds.ā
Reidās guitar rig had a much more modern vibe than the other players on the tour. In addition to his signature Parker guitar and Roland processor, it featured a Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier with a matching 4x12 loaded with Celestion Vintage 30s and micād with Sennheiser e906 (left) and a Shure SM57 (right).
Reidās Roland VG-99 V-Guitar System interface, which is fed by the Roland GK pickup on his signature Parker Dragonfly.
An over-the-shoulder view of Reid controlling his VG-99 with a Roland FC-300 MIDI Foot Controller. Also pictured is an Eventide PitchFactor and a Roland expression pedal.
Well-designed pickups. Extremely comfortable contours. Smooth, playable neck.
Middle position could use a bit more mids. Price could scare off some.
$2,999
Ernie Ball Music Man StingRay II
A surprise 6-string collaboration with Cory Wong moves effortlessly between ā70s George Benson and Blink-182 tones.
Announced at the 2025 NAMM show, Cory Wongās new collaboration with Ernie Ball Music Man scratched an itchānamely, the itch for a humbucker-loaded guitar that could appease Wongās rock-and-R&B alter ego and serve as complement to his signature Fender Strat. Inspiration came from no further than a bandmateās namesake instrument. Vulfpeck bassist Joe Dart has a line of signature model EBMM basses, one of which uses the classic StingRay bass body profile. So, when Wong went looking for something distinctive, he wondered if EBMM could create a 6-string guitar using the classic StingRay bass body and headstock profile.
Double the Fun
Wong is, by his own admission, a single-coil devotee. Thatās where the core of his sound lives and it feels like home to him. However, Wong is as inspired by classic Earth, Wind & Fire tones and the pop-punk of the early ā90s as he is by Prince and the Minneapolis funk that he grew up with. The StingRay II is a guitar that can cover all those bases.
Ernie Ball has a history of designing fast-feeling, comfortable necks. And I canāt remember ever struggling to move around an EBMM fretboard. The roasted maple C-shaped neck here is slightly thicker in profile than I expected, but still very comfortable. (I must also mention that the back of the neck has a dazzling, almost holographic look to the grain that morphs in the light). By any measure, the StingRay IIās curves seemed designed for comfort and speed. Now, letās talk about those pickups.Hot or Not?
A few years ago EBMM introduced a line of HT (heat-treated) pickups. The pickups are built with technology the company used to develop their Cobalt and M-Series strings. A fair amount of the process is shrouded in secrecy and must be taken on faith, but EBMM says treating elements of the pickup with heat increases clarity and dynamic response.
To find out for myself, I plugged the StingRay II into a Fender Vibroverb, Mesa/Boogie Mark VII, and a Neural DSP Quad Cortex (Wongās preferred live rig). Right away, it was easy to hear the tight low end and warm highs. Often, I feel like the low end from neck humbuckers can feel too loose or lack definition. Neither was the case here. The HT pickup is beautifully balanced with a bounce thatās rich with ES-335 vibes. Clean tones are punchy and brightāespecially with the Vibroverbāand dirty tones have more room for air. Individual notes were clear and articulate, too.
Any guitar associated with Wong needs a strong middle-position or combined pickup tone, and the StingRay II delivers. I never felt any significant signal loss in the blended signal from the two humbuckers, even if I could use a bit more midrange presence in the voicing. The midrange gap is nothing an EQ or Tube Screamer couldnāt fix, though. And not surprisingly, very Strat-like sounds were easy to achieve for having less midrange bump.
Knowing Wongās love for ā90s alt-rock, I expected the bridge pickup to have real bite, and it does, demonstrating exceptional dynamic range and exceptional high-end response that never approached shrill. Nearly every type of distortion and overdrive I threw at it sounded great, but especially anything with a scooped-mid flavor and plenty of low end.
The Verdict
By any measure, the StingRay II is a top-notch, professional instrument. The fit and finish are immaculate and the feel of the neck makes me wonder if EBMM stashes some kind of secret sandpaper, because I donāt think Iāve ever felt a smoother, more playable neck. Kudos are also due to EBMM and Wong for finding an instrument that can move between ā70s George Benson tones and the hammering power chords of ā90s Blink-182. Admittedly, the nearly $3K price could give some players pause, but considering the overall quality of the instrument, itās not out of line. Wongās involvement and search for distinct sounds makes the StingRay II more than a tired redux of a classic modelāan admirable accomplishment considering EBMMās long and storied history.
Ernie Ball Music Man StingRay II Cory Wong Signature Electric Guitar - Charcoal Blue with Rosewood Fingerboard
StingRay II Cory Wong - Charcoal BlueThe Melvins' Buzz Osborne joins the party to talk about how he helped Kurt Cobain find the right sounds.
Growing up in the small town of Montesano, Washington, Kurt Cobain turned to his older pal Buzz Osborne for musical direction. So on this episode, weāre talking with the Melvins leader about their friendship, from taking Cobain to see Black Flag in ā84 to their shared guitar journey and how they both thought about gear. And in case youāve heard otherwise, Kurt was never a Melvins roadie!
Osborneās latest project is Thunderball from Melvins 1983, something of a side trajectory for the band, which harkens back to this time in Osborneās life. We dig into that and how it all relates and much more.
In challenging times, sometimes elemental music, like the late Jessie Mae Hemphillās raucous Mississippi hill country blues, is the best salve. It reminds us of whatās truly essentialāāmusically, culturally, and emotionally. And provides a restorative and safe place, where we can open up, listen, and experience without judgement. And smile.
Iāve been prowling the backroads, juke joints, urban canyons, and VFW halls for more than 40 years, in search of the rawest, most powerful and authentic American music. And among the many things Iāve learned is that whatās more interesting than the music itself is the people who make it.
One of the most interesting people Iāve met is the late Jessie Mae Hemphill. By the time my wife, Laurie Hoffma, and I met Jessie Mae, on a visit to her trailer in Senatobia, Mississippi, sheād had a stroke and retired from performing, but weād been fortunate to see her years before at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage festival, where she brought a blues style that was like quiet thunder, rumbling with portent and joy and ache, and all the other stuff that makes us human, sung to her own droning, rocking accompaniment on an old Gibson ES-120T.
To say she was from a musical family is an understatement. Her grandfather, Sid, was twice recorded by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress. While Sid played fiddle, banjo, guitar, harmonica, keyboards, and more, he was best known as the leader of a fife-and-drum band that made music that spilled directly from Africaās main artery. Sid was Jessie Maeās teacher, and she learned well. In fact, you can see her leading her own fife-and-drum group in Robert Muggeās wonderful documentary Deep Blues(with the late musician and journalist Robert Palmer as on-screen narrator), where she also performs a mournful-but-hypnotic song about betrayalāsolo, on guitarāin Junior Kimbroughās juke joint.
That movie, a 1982 episode of Mr. Rogersā Neighborhood (on YouTube) where she appears as part of Othar Turnerās Gravel Springs fife-and-drum band, and worldwide festival appearances are as close as Jessie Mae ever got to fame, although that was enough to make her important and influential to Bonnie Raitt, Cat Power, and others. And she made two exceptional albums during her lifetime: 1981ās She-Wolf and 1990ās Feelinā Good. If youāre unfamiliar with North Mississippi blues, their sound will be a revelation. The style, as Jessie Mae essayed it, is a droning, hypnotic joy that bumps along like a freight train full of happily rattling box cars populated by carefree hobos. Often the songs ride on one chord, but that chord is the only one thatās needed to put the musicās joy and conviction across. Feelinā Good, in particular, is essential Jessie Mae. Even the songs about heartbreak, like āGo Back To Your Used To Beā and āShame on You,ā have a propulsion dappled with little bends and other 6-string inflections that wrap the listener in a hypnotic web. Listening to Feelinā Good, itās easy to disappear in the music and to have all your troubles vanish as wellāfor at least as long as its 14 songs last.āShe made it clear that she had a gunāa .44 with a pearl handle that took up the entire length of her handbag.ā
The challenge Iāve long issued to people unfamiliar with Jessie Maeās music is: āListen to Feelinā Good and then tell me if youāre not feeling happier, more cheerful, and relaxed.ā It truly does, as the old clichĆ© would have it, make your backbone slip and your troubles along with it. Especially uptempo songs like the scrappy title track and the charging āStreamline Train.ā Thereās also an appealing live 1984 performance of the latter on YouTube, with Jessie Mae decked out in leopard-print pants and vest, playing a tambourine wedged onto her left high-heel shoeāāone of her stylish signatures.
Jessie Mae was a complex person, caught between the old-school dilemma of playing āthe Devilās musicā and yearning for a spiritual life, sweet as pecan pie with extra molasses but quick to turn mean at any perceived slight. She also spent much of her later years in poverty, in a small trailer with a hole in the floor where mice and other critters got in. And she was as mistrustful of strangers as she was warm once she accepted you into her heart. But watch your step before she did. On our first visit to her home, she made it clear that she had a gunāa .44 with a pearl handle that took up the entire length of her handbag and would make Dirty Harry envious.
Happily, she took us into her heart and we took her into ours, helping as much as we could and talking often. She was inspiring, and I wrote a song about her, and even got to perform it for her in her trailer, which was just a little terrifying, since I knew she would not hold back her criticism if she didn't like it. Instead, she giggled like a kid and blushed, and asked if Iād write one more verse about the artifacts sheād gathered while touring around the world.
Jessie Mae died in 2006, at age 82, and, as happens when every great folk artist dies, we lost many songs and stories, and the wisdom of her experience. But you can still get a whiff of all thatāāif you listen to Feelinā Good.
Intermediate
Intermediate
How David Gilmour masterully employs target notes to make his solos sing.
When I was an undergraduate jazz performance major struggling to get a handle on bebop improvisation, I remember my professor Dave LaLama admonishing me, āIf you think playing over the fast tunes is hard, wait until you try playing over the ballads. What Dr. Lalama was trying to impart was that playing fast scales over fast changes could get you by, but playing melodically over slow tempos, when your note choices are much more exposed, would really test how well you could create meaningful phrases.
Although getting past the āthis scale works over these chordsā approach to improvisation generally requires hours of shedding, aiming for particular target notes (specific notes over specific chords) is an optimum strategy to maximize your practice time. In the realm of rock guitar, I can think of no greater master of the melodic target note technique while playing ballads than David Gilmour.
For the unfamiliar few, Gilmour was first enlisted by fledgling psychedelic rockers Pink Floyd in 1967, when original guitarist/vocalist Syd Barrett began having drug-induced struggles with mental health. The band experimented with various artistic approaches for several years before refining them into a cohesive āart rockā sound by the early ā70s. The result was an unbroken streak of classic, genre-defining conceptual albums that included Meddle, The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Wall. Although bassist/vocalist Roger Waters assumed the role of de facto bandleader and primary songwriter, Gilmour was a significant contributor who was praised for his soulful singing and expertly phrased lead playing that seemed to magically rework pedestrian blues phrases into sublimely evocative melodies. His focus on musicality over excessive displays of technique made him a musicianās musician of sorts and earned him a stellar reputation in guitar circles. When Roger Waters left Pink Floyd in the mid ā80s, Gilmour surprised many by calmly assuming the leadership mantle, leading the band through another decade of chart-topping albums and stadium tours. Although Pink Floyd are not officially broken up (keyboardist and founding member Richard Wright died in 2008 while Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason joined forces with Ukrainian singer Andriy Khlyvnyuk on the one-off single āHey Hey Rise Upā in 2022), Gilmour has mostly spent the last few decades concentrating on his solo career. His latest release, Luck and Strange, features his wife, novelist Polly Sampson, as primary lyricist and daughter Romany Gilmour as vocalist on several tracks. His recent tour filled arenas around the world.
Letās take a page from Gilmourās hallowed playbook and see how incorporating a few well-chosen target notes can give our playing more melody and structure.
For the sake of simplicity, all the examples use the Gm/Bb major pentatonic scale forms. In my experience as a teacher, I find that most students can get a pretty solid handle on the root-position, Form-I minor pentatonic scale but struggle to incorporate the other four shapes while playing lead. One suggestion I give them is to work on playing the scales from the top notes down and focus on the four highest strings only. I believe this is a more logical and useful approach to incorporating these forms into your vocabulary. Try playing through Ex. 1, Ex. 2, Ex. 3, and Ex. 4, which are based on the top-down approach of the Form I, Form II, Form IV, and Form I (up an octave) shapes respectively.
Ex. 1
Ex. 2
Ex. 3
Ex. 4
Once youāve gotten a handle on the scales, try playing Ex. 5, which is loosely based on the extended introduction to Pink Floydās āShine On You Crazy Diamond.ā We begin by soloing over a static Gm chord for four measures. As target notes, Iāve chosen the root and 5th of the G minor chord ( the notes G and D, respectively). In the first measure, weāre starting in a minor pentatonic Form I with a bend up to the root of the Gm chord. A flurry of notes on beat 4 sets us up for the bend to the D in the second measure. The D note is again targeted in measure threeāthis time up an octave via a shift into the minor pentatonic Form II shape. Measure four aims for the G tonic up an octave, but ends with a bend that targets a Cāthe root of the IVm (Cm) chord in the final measure. By focusing on target notes and connecting them with embellishing licks, your lead lines will have a much better sense of direction and melodic narrative. Also, by only targeting the root and 5th of the chord, the target note approach will be easily transferrable to songs in a G blues context (G pentatonic minor over a G major or G dominant tonality).
Ex. 5
A further exploration of this approach, Ex. 6 begins with a two-beat pickup that resolves to the scale tonic G. This time however, the G isnāt serving as the root of the Im chord. Instead, itās the 5th of Cmāthe IVm chord. Employing the root of the pentatonic scale as the fifth of the IVm chord is a textbook Gilmour-ism and you can hear him use it to good effect on the extended intro to āEchoesā from Live in Gdansk. When approaching the C on beat 2 of the second full measure, bend up from the Bb on the 6th fret of the 1st string then slide up to the C on the 8th fret without releasing the bend or picking again. In the final measure, Iāve introduced two Db notes, which serve as the b5 āblue noteā of the scale and provide melodically compelling passing tones on the way to the G target note on beat 4.
Ex. 6
Exclusively positioned in the Form-IV G minor pentatonic shape, Ex. 7 is based on a bluesy lick over the I chord in the first and third measures that alternately targets a resolution to the root of the IV chord (C ) and the root of the V chord (D7#9) in the second and fourth measures. Being able to resolve your lead phrases to the roots of the I, IV, and V chords on the fly is an essential skill ace improvisers like Gilmour have mastered.
Ex. 7
Now letās turn our attention to the Bb major pentatonic scale, which is the relative major of G minor. Play through the Form I and Form II shapes detailed in Ex. 8 and Ex. 9 below. Youāll see Iāve added an Eb to the scale (technically making them hexatonic scales). This allows us a bit more melodic freedom andāmost importantlyāgives us the root note of the IV chord.
Ex. 8
Ex. 9
Channeling the melodic mojo of Gilmourās lead jaunts on Pink Floydās āMotherā and āComfortably Numb,ā Ex. 10 targets chord tones from the I, IV, and V (Bb, Eb, and F) chords.
The muted-string rake in first measure helps āstingā the F note, which is the 5th of the Bb. Measure two targets a G note which is the 3rd of the Eb. This same chord/target note pairing is repeated in the third and fourth measures, although the G is now down an octave. For the F and Eb chords of measures five and six, Iāve mirrored a favorite Gilmour go-to: bending up to the 3rd of a chord then releasing and resolving to the root (an A resolving to an F for the F chord and a G resolving to an Eb for the Eb chord.) The final measure follows a melodic run down the Bb scale that ultimately resolves on the tonic. Be sure to pay attention to the intonation of all your bends, especially the half-step bend on the first beat of measure seven.
As a takeaway from this lesson, letās strive to āBe Like Daveā and pay closer attention to target notes when soloing. Identify the roots of all the chords youāre playing over in your scales and aim for them as the beginning and/or ending notes of your phrases. Think of these target notes as support beams that will provide structure to your lead lines and ultimately make them more melodically compelling.