
Ernie Ball Music Man announces a number of new instruments to their 2023 lineup, including the all-new Kaizen 6-string guitar.
Available in 4 finishes, this collaboration with virtuoso guitarist, Tosin Abasi (Animals asLeaders, Abasi Concepts), is welcomed along with the all-new Steve Lukather L4 Collection, the Steve Lukather 30th Anniversary L4, and new finishes for the StringRay Special bass guitar.
This new 6-string guitar incorporates a number of advanced and innovative features like:
- Multi-Scale - 24.75" to 25.5"
- Infinity Radius Neck - Strategically positioned conical radius increases comfort while maintaining enhanced visibility of the fretboard and fret markers.
- Steinberger Gearless Locking Tuners - Accurate, lightweight tuners that feature smooth rotation, and allow for a straight string pull.
- New Music Man Pickups - A custom HT (Heat Treated) humbucker in the bridge position and a slanted mini-humbucker in the neck position have been specifically designed for the Kaizen
- Multi-Scale Tremolo - Super smooth modern Music Man tremolo with spring dampeners to alleviate unwanted overtones and ringing
- āDecidedly Contouredā - Ultra-lightweight design, deliberate body carves for extreme comfort, well-balanced with unrestricted fret access
The Kaizen is offered with an alder body, roasted maple neck, and ebony fingerboard. Both the Kaizen 6-string and the Kaizen 7-string are available now in 4 unique finishes, including ApolloBlack, and 3 limited-to-60 finishes which include Indigo, Mint, and Chalk.
The Steve Lukather line of signature guitars gets an extensive makeover this year with the introduction of the all-new L4. Available in an HT SSS and HT HH configuration, and a limited edition 30th anniversary version featuring an HT HSS pickup configuration with Music ManFloyd Rose bridge. The L4 is the culmination of over 30 years of collaboration with Platinum andGrammy award-winning artist Steve Lukather whose list of accomplishments includes an extensive session career (guitarist on over 1500 recordings), major contributor on the multiplatinum Michael Jackson "Thriller" album, and leader and a significant contributor of the legendary rock band Toto.
Lukather stated, āIn our never-ending quest for tone and fresh sounds, the team at Music Man implemented their new HT pickups that really knocked me out! As we have had three versions of the guitar, the new Luke 4 model is a fresh step forward in tone with their specially designed pickup technology. I love ALL the different MM versions of my guitar and use them all, but this new one is gonna impress! So many new sounds. Please check it out and play and hear one yourself!ā
The all-new L4 Collection will be available this Fall.
āFirst introduced in 1976, the StingRay has been revered as one of the most iconic bass guitars in history. The flagship of the Music Man line, today's StingRay Special retains the same signature features that it had some forty years ago, including a solid roadworthy construction, iconic oval pickguard, 3+1 and 4+1 tuning key configurations, and the ever-popular Music Man humbucker, all of which combine to produce a look, feel, and sound that is remarkably unmistakable.
For 2023, Music Man welcomes 4 new finishes including; Sea Breeze, Laguna Green, PuebloPink, and Butter Cream. Each finish features a Rosewood fretboard and will be available in both 4-string, 5-string, H, and HH configurations. These all-new new colorways will be available this summer.
For more information, please visit music-man.com.
- Ernie Ball Expression Tremolo Review āŗ
- Ernie Ball Ambient Delay Review āŗ
- Ernie Ball Music Man Kaizen Review āŗ
Our columnistās Greco 912, now out of his hands, but fondly remembered.
A flea-market find gave our Wizard of Odd years of squealing, garage-rock bliss in his university days.
Recently, I was touring college campuses with my daughter because sheās about to take the next step in her journey. Looking back, Iāve been writing this column for close to 10 years! When I started, my kids were both small, and now theyāre all in high school, with my oldest about to move out. Iām pretty sure sheās going to choose the same university that I attended, which is really funny because sheās so much like me that the decision would be totally on point.
The campus looks way nicer than it did back in the ā90s, but there are similarities, like bars, shops, and record stores. Man, our visit took me back to when I was there, which was the last time I was active in bands. Many crash-and-burn groups came and went, and it was then that I started to collect cheap guitars, mainly because it was all I could afford at the time, and there were a lot of guitars to find.
In that era, I was using an old Harmony H420 amp (made by Valco), a Univox Super Fuzz, and whatever guitar I was digging at the time. I was so proud to pull out oddball guitars during shows and just have this totally trashy sound. Squealing and squeaking and noisy as heck, my style was reminiscent of Davie Allan, Ron Asheton, and Chuck Berry. Of course, I was way worse than all of them, but I did have a frenetic energy and I covered up my lack of skill with feedback. During the ā90s, there was a great punk revival, and I loved bands like the Mummies, Teengenerate, the Makers, the New Bomb Turks, and a bunch of others. Bands were embracing lo-fi, and I was planted firmly in that vein. Plus, the guitars I liked to use already sounded lo-fi.
āThis was about the trashiest-sounding guitar, but in a good way!ā
For a short spell I was using this Greco guitar and, man, this was about the trashiest-sounding guitar, but in a good way! See, Fujigen pickups (like the ones here) have this echoey voice that I describe as an āempty beer canā sound. My Super Fuzz would just destroy these pickups, and I wish I had some recordings from that era, because it was a real scene! I believe this Greco was a flea-market find but it was much later that I found out it was called a Greco Model 912. This was actually a copy of a German-made Framus guitar, but with a lot more glitz and a crazier headstock. Four pickup selector switches, volume/tone knobs, and a rhythm/lead switch rounded out the electronics. Again, these pickups are instant spaghetti-Western movie tone. Airy and bright, the bridge area is like instant, gnarly surf music. Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine has a similar guitar and John Barrett of Bass Drum of Death was also fond of these pickups. Interestingly enough, these particular Grecos were made in small numbers, ranging between 500 to 600 in total (including all pickup combinations).
The Greco brand was initially owned by the U.S.-based Goya Corporation, but in the late 1960s, Fujigen bought the brand name (for $1,000) and produced a few truly gonzo guitars, including this Model 912. Originally called the GE-4, the four-pickup version sold for $99.50 in 1967. My particular 912 was sold at Sid Kleiner Guitar Studios in Califon, New Jersey (which I learned thanks to the attached store sticker on the headstock).
Aside from the chrome coolness and the four pickups, this model featured a cute little flip-up bridge mute that was all the rage at the time. The body also had some tasteful German carvings around the edges, and as I write this, I am missing this guitar tremendously! But not even close to the way Iām going to miss my girl in a few months. At least I know that she can shop at the same record stores!
Ethnomusicologist Frances Densmore records the song of Mountain Chief, head of the Blackfeet Tribe, on a phonograph for the Bureau of American Ethnology in 1916.
Once used as a way to preserve American indigenous culture, field recording isnāt just for seasoned pros. Here, our columnist breaks down a few methods for you to try it yourself.
The picture associated with this monthās Dojo is one of my all-time favorites. Taken in 1916, it marks the collision of two diverging cultural epochs. Mountain Chief, the head of the Piegan Blackfeet Tribe, sings into a phonograph powered solely by spring-loaded tension outside the Smithsonian. Across from him sits whom I consider the patron saint of American ethnomusicologistsāthe great Frances Densmore.
You can feel the scope and weight of theancient culture of the indigenous American West, and the presence of the then-ongoing womenās suffrage movement, which was three years from succeeding at getting the 19th Amendment passed by Congress. That would later happen on June 4, 1919āthe initiative towards granting all women of this country the right to vote. (All American citizens, including Black women, were not granted suffrage until 1965.)
Densmore traversed the entire breadth of the country, hauling her gramophone wax cylinder recorders into remote tribal lands, capturing songs by the Seminole in southern Florida, the Yuma in California, the Chippewa in Wisconsin, Quinailet songs in Northern Washington, and, of course, Mountain Chief outside the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. Author of more than 20 books and 200 articles, she carefully preserved the rich cultural diversity of Native Americans with over 2,500 field recordings.
Why am I writing about this? Firstly, to pay homage! Secondly, because it serves as a great reminder to seek and cultivate sound outside the studio as well. We live in a time of great technological power and convenience. Every week a new sample pack, plugin, pedal, or software instrument hits the market. For all the joy that these offerings bring, they deprive us of the joy of creating our own instruments from scratch.
This month, Iām advocating for you to make some field recordings of your ownānature, urban, indoor, outdoor, specific locations, animals, or anything that piques your interest! Bring the material back to the studio and make music with it! Iāll show you how to make your own sample libraries to use in your music. Tighten up your belts, a multipart Dojo is now open.
What do you need to get started? Quite simply, you just need any device that is capable of recording. This can range from your cell phone to a dedicated field recorder. The real question is: Do you want to use mics housed in handheld units or have more robust mic pres with the ability to power larger live/studio microphones using XLR connectors found with the larger units? Letās look at three scenarios.
The Cellular Approach
The absolute easiest way to get started is with your cell phone. Take advantage of a voice-memo recording app, or use an app that records multitrack audio like GarageBand on iOS. Phone recordings tend to sound very compressed and slightly lo-fiāwhich might be exactly what you want. However, the method can also introduce unwanted noise artifacts like low-end rumble (from handling the phone) and phasing (moving the mic while recording). I recommend using a tripod to hold your phone still while recording. You might also want to consider using an external mic and some software to edit your sample recordings on the phone. I like using a Koala Sampler ($4.99) on iOS devices.
Upgrade Me
The next step up is to use a portable recorder. These have much better mic pres, and offer true stereo recording with pivoting mic heads. This can give you the added benefit of controlling the width of your stereo image when recording or helping isolate two sound sources that are apart from each other. You sacrifice the ability to easily edit your recordings. You simply import them into your computer and edit the recording(s) from there.
Pro-Level Quality
I would recommend this scenario if you want to record multiple sources at once. These devices also have SMPTE time code, 60+ dB of gain, phantom power (+48 volts), advanced routing, and a 32-bit/192 kHz sampling rate, so youāll never have a distorted recording even when the meter gets unexpectedly pegged into the red from a loud sound source. I recommend the Zoom F8n Pro ($1099). Now you can use your microphones!
Best Practices
Try to safely record as close to the sound source as you can to minimize ambient noise and really scrub through your recordings to find little snippets and sound ānuggetsā that can make great material for creating your own instrument and sample libraryāwhich weāll explore next month! Namaste.
Left to right: Joe Lally. Brandan Canty, and Anthony Pirog
The bassist, now with the Messthetics, has had a long learning journey. Thanks to the online-lesson boom, you can study directly from Lally.
Although itās been years since the beginning of the pandemic, many monumental things can still be explained in a single phrase: It all started because of Covid. One of those is that you can take online bass lessons from Joe Lally, bassist and co-founder of Fugazi, the unyieldingly indie post-hardcore band that raged out of Washington, DCās ever-vibrant punk scene. From 1987 to 2003, over the bandās six studio albums, assorted EPs, and hundreds of live shows, Lally demonstrated his utter mastery of intense, full-throttle bass playing and writing.
So you might be surprised to learn that such an accomplished low-ender didnāt always feel confident about his own musical knowledge. āI spent all that time in Fugazi not formally being able to articulate about music very well with the other people in the band,ā Joe says. āIt was very frustrating at times. There were times I wanted to leave the band because it felt like I couldnāt even talk about what I wanted to do.ā
It was only after Fugazi went on indefinite hiatus that, realizing he wanted to keep making music, Joe decided to get some education. āI took a few lessons at Fleaās school in L.A., the Silverlake Conservatory. I studied with Tree, the dean of the school, who showed me some things about songwriting on piano. I was looking at it like I was getting piano lessons, but really he was showing me the sound of major, the sound of minor, and the sound of the dominant 7 chord. Those three chords are the basic beginnings of learning music theory.ā
As Joe learned it, the major sound was āHere, There, and Everywhere" by the Beatles, the minor was Santanaās āEvil Ways,ā and the dominant 7 was āI Feel Goodā by James Brown. āI learned to play those chord changes on piano, and came to understand more about songs and completing my own song ideas.ā
Joe mainly learned by asking questions. āTo a degree, thatās what I want people to get from the lessons I give,ā he continues. āThereās so much you can go into theory-wise, but you donāt really need to to be able to write music, play music, and figure out other peopleās music.ā
Joe went on to write and release three solo albums, as well as two with Ataxia, his project with Red Hot Chili Pepper guitarists John Frusciante and Josh Klinghoffer. In 2016, he formed instrumental jazz-punk fusion trio the Messthetics with Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty and genre-spanning guitar virtuoso Anthony Pirog. Theyāve since toured heavily and released three full lengths. He also joined Ian MackayeāFugaziās and the Evensās singer-guitaristāalong with Evens drummer Amy Farina to form Coriky.
Lallyās humble online flyer.
āI foolishly never picked up a book because I thought it would ruin what I did know. When I told a friend I was teaching theory, he asked, āHas it ruined your playing yet?āā
When off the road, Joe worked different jobs in DCās independent music scene to pay the bills. But when the pandemic lockdown came, he decided to start giving online lessons. He made flyers and posted them on social media.
āIām not teaching formal theory, which I think is weird and abstract and doesnāt show people everything,ā says Joe. āIt takes years of learning formally to see how everything is connected to see how this thing is part of that other thing we learned years ago. Most of my students are adults who have been playing but now want to know more about what theyāve been doing.ā
But music theory is something we all operate within, says Joe, whether weāre knowledgeable about it or not. āWe are engaged in theory. We just may not know it. When youāre playing or writing a song, you might think āthat note sounds rightā or āthat note sounds wrong.ā It's because we are relating it to something in theory that weāve picked up from all the music weāve listened to.ā
Joe recognizes that some people are apprehensive about learning music theory, and he admits that when he was in Fugazi, he was, too. āI foolishly never picked up a book because I thought it would ruin what I did know. When I told a friend I was teaching theory, he asked, āHas it ruined your playing yet?ā
āBut formal study should use your thinking mind, and when you play, youāre outside of thinking. Creativity is outside of thought. You hear about jazz players who practice scales over and over, and what theyāre really practicing is the sounds of these things that they want to hear. But when they play, they let go of all of that. So I realized my playing is never going to change. Iām always going to write the way I wrote.ā
To immerse yourself in Joeās creative world, check out the Messtheticsās 2024 album, The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis, which adds saxophonist Lewis to the trio, bringing together Fugaziās powerful rhythm section with two players from the creative improv world.
To inquire about bass lessons with Joe Lally, contact him on Instagram at @joelally898.
This year PG landed some elsuive white whales (TOOL, Pantera & Jack White), revisited some revamped setups (Jason Isbell, Foo Fighters & Kingfish), and got introduced to some unusual gear (King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Plus, the hosts share their favorite moments from the last 52 episodes before dropping a few coins into the wishing well for 2025 Rundown guests.
12. Green Day Rig Rundown
The legendary punk band are in the middle of an enormous multi-anniversary tour, celebrating both Dookie and American Idiot. Check out how bassist Mike Dirnt and guitarist Jason White tuned their road rigs to cover decades of sounds.
11. Knocked Loose Rig Rundown
Ungodly, sinister, and maliciously menacing guitar tones erupt from the Kentucky hardcore bandās 7-string Ibanez models, providing the soundtrack to the summerās biggest mosh pits and nastiest breakdowns.
10. Jason Isbell & Sadler Vaden Rig Rundown
With four Grammys, loads of gear, and millions of tour bus miles, Isbell is back for an updated Rig Rundown with his 400 Unit co-guitarist, Sadler Vaden.
9. Extreme's Nuno Bettencourt & Pat Badger Rig Rundown
Guitar legend Nuno Bettencourt crashes his own Rundown to showcase the āBumblebeeā guitar he cooked up to honor Eddie Van Halen, while bassist Pat Badger shares two killer stories about basses that once belonged to members of Van Halen and Aerosmith.
8. Slash's Blues Ball Band Rig Rundown
The rock ānā roll icon brings his blues-rockinā Orgy of The Damned to the people headlining the S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Blues Festival tour.
7. Kingfish Rig Rundown
Kingfish doesnāt play a lot of gear, but with a signature Fender Tele Deluxe, a Chertoff Custom guitar, a pair of road-worthy amps, and a handful of effects, the Clarksdale, Mississippi, native is well on his way to becoming the bluesā newest 6-string ruler. He returns for his second Rundown with a Grammy under his belt, supporting his new Live in London album.
6. Jack White Rig Rundown
Get an up-close look at the tone wizardās rig for his action-packed 2024 tour.
5. Jerry Cantrell Rig Rundown
The legendary Alice in Chains axeman gives us a look at his updated solo touring setup.
4. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Rig Rundown
Just like their records, the Australian rockersā road gear is eclectic and adventurous, ready to cover ground from metal to microtonal Turkish psychedelia.
3. Foo Fightersā Chris Shiflett Rig Rundown
The Foosā guitarist and intrepid Shred With Shifty host opens the guitar garage for his current tour and details his brand-new pedal setup.
2. Pantera's Rex Brown & Zakk Wylde Rig Rundown
The original Cowboys from Hell bassist reclaims his spine-rattling position as the band's charging piston, while his guitar brother brings his fleet of Wylde Audio gear and a few tone sweeteners from Dimebag Darrell's private stash.
1. Tool's Justin Chancellor Rig Rundown
The bass lord morphs and mutates between rhythm and lead parts with a hearty Wal 4-string, Gallien-Krueger crushers, and a pedalboard that could make Adam Jones jealous.