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GALLERY: Guitar of The Month 2010

A fresh look at the 12 guitars featured in PG''s monthly Guitar of the Month column in 2010.

"In 1966, Tony Acuri competed in the Allegheny Guitar and Accordion Contest. The young guitarist didnуt place and was quite dejected, but there was a silver lining to the defeat. рMy dad said if I won first place overall in 1967, he would buy me any guitar I wanted,с remembers Acuri. рI spent a whole year practicing тMalague√aу and lo and behold, I won the 1967 competition. So the next time I was at my guitar teacherуs studio, I went through his catalogs to pick out a guitar, and I came across Gibsonуs Firebird. The only reason I wanted it was because of the cool emblem on the pickguard!с Acuriуs father put the order in and was charged $291.50яincluding a hardshell case and a $50 up-charge for the custom left-handed setup (shown on the receipt at right). In addition to the left-handed Firebird I, he purchased a Gibson Explorer GA-15RVT amp. It took more than a year for the package to arrive because apparently back in the у60s, the entire production line had to be stopped, shut down, and reset for a left-handed instrument. The best part of this tale is that Acuri still owns and uses both pieces of cherished gear."

Bruce Springsteen: the last man standing.

Photo by Rob DeMartin

On Halloween, the pride of New Jersey rock ’n’ roll shook a Montreal arena with a show that lifted the veil between here and the everafter.

It might not seem like it, but Bruce Springsteen is going to die.

I know; it’s a weird thought. The guy is 75 years old, and still puts on three-hour-plus-long shows, without pauses or intermissions. His stamina and spirit put the millennial work-from-home class, whose backs hurt because we “slept weird” or “forgot to use our ergonomic keyboard,” to absolute shame. He leaps and bolts and howls and throws his Telecasters high in the air. No doubt it helps to have access to the best healthcare money can buy, but still, there’s no denying that he’s a specimen of human physical excellence. And yet, Bruce, like the rest of us, will pass from this plane.

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Want the world to know about your pedalboard? Got a great story to tell about it? Fill out the form below for your shot at being in Premier Guitar's March issue! Not everyone will be used, so be sure to say why your pedalboard stands out. And be sure to include good hi-res photos of your board!

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Gallagher’s road worn Strat in play in the cover of his 1972 concert album.

How the Irish guitar virtuoso got a unique tone with a factory-stock Strat.

Hello and welcome back to Mod Garage. In this column, we’ll take a closer look at the very unique sound of the famous Rory Gallagher Stratocaster and discuss why it sounded so outstandingly good.

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Saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker’s challenging version of a 12-bar blues is one of his most enduring contributions. Learn how to navigate these tricky changes by combining bebop and blues.


Chops: Intermediate
Theory: Intermediate
Lesson Overview:
• Use IIm–V7 progressions to add interest to a blues progression.
• Combine the blues scale with Mixolydian and Dorian to create swinging phrases.
• Increase your rhythmic awareness by using triplets and syncopation.


Click here to download a printable PDF of this lesson's notation.

A big part of the bebop spirit was learning how to navigate through seemingly unrelated chords at speedy tempos. Saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker was a pioneer in the bebop movement and he combined his love of the burgeoning style with a deep appreciation for the blues. It’s easy to look at bebop in 2017 and think of it as a complicated and overly intellectual genre, but adding in a blues sensibility can make the changes a bit more approachable.

When looking at a traditional I–IV–V blues, there’s not all that much harmonic information to outline, so bop players like Parker would add chord substitutions. His composition “Blues for Alice” is an example of what’s become known as “Bird Blues.” The changes Parker used on this tune of become so accepted that other composers have written contrafacts—a different melody written on the same changes.

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