Gibson Band Featuring Slash, Duff McKagan, and Cesar Gueikian Announce Benefit Single
100% of "I Can Breathe" song proceeds to benefit the National Alliance on Mental Illness, NAMI.
On Giving Tuesday, Gibson announces a new release from the Gibson Band--a revolving collective of musicians who join together to make music and raise funds and awareness for worthy causes.. A hard-hitting rock song, the new benefit single “I Can Breathe” features rhythm guitars and piano from Cesar Gueikian, CEO of Gibson, with special guests Duff McKagan on lead vocals and lyrics, and Slash on lead guitar and solos. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of the song “I Can Breathe” will benefit the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), through Gibson Gives. NAMI is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health resource organization that is dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.
On “I Can Breathe” Duff McKagan crafted the lyrics and is featured on lead vocals, Cesar Gueikian wrote the music and played rhythm guitar and piano, and Slash wrote and played thelead guitar and solos, while Jota Morelli (drums), and Seta Von Gravessen (bass) rounded outthe group in the studio. The music was recorded by Cesar at La Roca Power Studio in BuenosAires, Argentina, vocals were recorded by Duff at the Sound Factory in Los Angeles and leadguitars and solos by Slash in Los Angeles. The track was produced by Cesar Gueikian and JorgeRodriguez with collaboration from Pablo Toubes and Francisco Trillini, and mixed and masteredby Greg Gordon. A special thanks goes to Gonzalo Riviera Villatte, Gina Furia, and guitar techLisardo Alvarez for all his work at La Roca Power Studio.
Gibson Records, Duff McKagan, Slash, and Cesar Gueikian, will donate 100% proceeds from thesale of “I Can Breathe,” in addition to all auction funds raised to the National Alliance on MentalIllness (NAMI), through Gibson Gives. NAMI is the nation’s largest grassroots mental healthresource organization that is dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affectedby mental illness. NAMI’s mission is to create a world where all people affected by mentalillness live healthy, fulfilling lives supported by a community that cares.
“It was such a pleasure to work with Cesar and his whole crew on this tune,” says Duff McKagan.“The musical slant and progressive rock-ness of this huge epic pushed me in a whole new direction. Ilove a challenge and Cesar killed it! Most importantly, to be of service for mental health issues andawareness is super important to me at this time. Let’s rock!”
“Cesar and Duff came to me with a really cool piece of music,” adds Slash. “I loved the riff idea, andDuff's vocal, so I felt right at home on the track.”
“Guns N’ Roses had a profound influence on me and my guitar playing, so having the opportunity towrite and record this song with Slash and Duff is a dream come true, and it’s an honor to call themfriends and partners,” says Cesar Gueikian, CEO of Gibson. “’I Can Breathe’ started as aninstrumental track I recorded at La Roca Power Studio in Buenos Aires. Upon listening to the mix thatGreg Gordon put together, Jenny Marsh (Global Director of Cultural Influence at Gibson) suggestedDuff as lyricist and vocalist. Guns N’ Roses had just come off touring when I shared the song withDuff, he loved it and quickly wrote the lyrics and cut the vocals at the Sound Factory in Los Angeles.Having Duff on vocals made the next step obvious, which was asking Slash if he would collaboratewith lead guitars and solos. Both Duff and Slash transformed the track from a collection of riffs to agreat song! While Greg Gordon’s mixing and creativity tied it all together. I am grateful for thecollaboration from Slash, Duff and Greg, and from my friend Serj Tankian’s participation with coverartwork. I’m thrilled we are donating all proceeds from the song to a great and relevant cause.”
Guest columnist Dave Pomeroy, who is also president of Nashville’s musicians union, with some of his friends.
Dave Pomeroy, who’s played on over 500 albums with artists including Emmylou Harris, Elton John, Trisha Yearwood, Earl Scruggs, and Alison Krauss, shares his thoughts on bass playing—and a vision of the future.
From a very young age, I was captivated by music. Our military family was stationed in England from 1961 to 1964, so I got a two-year head start on the Beatles starting at age 6. When Cream came along, for the first time I was able to separate what the different players were doing, and my focus immediately landed on Jack Bruce. He wrote most of the songs, sang wonderfully, and drove the band with his bass. Playing along with Cream’s live recordings was a huge part of my initial self-training, and I never looked back.
The electric bass has a much shorter history than most instruments. I believe that this is a big reason why the evolution of bass playing continues in ways that were literally unimaginable when it began to replace the acoustic bass on pop and R&B recordings. Players like James Jamerson, Joe Osborn, Carol Kaye, Chuck Rainey, and David Hood made great songs even better with their bass lines, pocket, and tone. Playing in bands throughout my teenage years, I took every opportunity I could to learn from musicians who were more experienced than I was. Slowly, I began to understand the power of the bass to make everyone else sound better—or lead the way to a train wreck! That sense of responsibility was not lost on me. As I continued to play, listen, and learn, a gradual awareness of other elements came to the surface, including the three Ts: tone, timing, and taste.
I was ready to rock the world with busy lines and bass solos when I moved to Nashville in the late ’70s, and I was suddenly transported into the land of singer-songwriters. It was a huge awakening when I heard the lyrics of artists like Guy Clark, whose spare yet powerful stories and simple guitar changes opened up a whole new universe in reverse for me. It was a reset for sure, but gradually I found ways to combine my earlier energetic approach in different ways. Playing what’s right for a song is a very subjective thing.
“If the song calls for you to ramp up the energy and lead the way like Chris Squire, Bootsy Collins, Geddy Lee, Sting, Flea, Justin Chancellor, or so many others, trust yourself and go for it.”
Don Williams, whom I worked with for many years, was known as a man of few words, but he gave me some of the best musical advice I ever received. I had been with him for just a few months when he pulled me aside one night after a show, and quietly said, “Dave, you don’t have to play what’s on the records, just don’t throw me off when I’m singing.” In other words: It’s okay to be creative, but listen to what’s going on around you. I never forgot that lesson.
As I gradually got into recording work, in an environment where creativity is combined with efficiency and experimentation is sometimes, but not always, welcome, I focused on tone as a form of expression, trying to make every note count. As drum sounds got much bigger during the ’80s, string bass was pretty much off the table as an option in most situations. Inspired by German bassist Eberhard Weber, I bought an electric upright 5-string built by Harry Fleishman a few years earlier. That theoretically self-indulgent purchase gave me an opportunity to carve out a tone that would work with both big drums and acoustic instruments. It gave me an identifiable sound and led to me playing that bass on records with artists like Keith Whitley, Trisha Yearwood, Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, and the Chieftains.
In a world of constantly evolving and merging musical styles, the options can be almost overwhelming, so it’s important to trust yourself. Ultimately, you are making a series of choices every time you pick up the instrument. Whether it’s pick versus fingers versus thumb, or clean versus overdrive versus distortion, and so on … you are the boss of your role in the song you are playing. When the sonic surroundings you find yourself in change, so can you. It’s all about listening to what is going on around you and finding that sweet spot where you can bring the whole thing together while not attracting too much attention.
On the other hand, if the song calls for you to ramp up the energy and lead the way like Chris Squire, Bootsy Collins, Geddy Lee, Sting, Flea, Justin Chancellor, or so many others, trust yourself and go for it. Newer role models like Tal Wilkenfeld, Thundercat, and MonoNeon have raised the bar yet again. The beauty of it all is that the bass and its role keep evolving.
Right now, I guarantee there are young bassists of all descriptions we have not yet heard who are reinventing the bass and its role in new ways. That’s what bass players do—we are the glue that ties music together. Find your power and use it!
A reverb-based pedal for exploring the far reaches of sound.
Easy to use control set. Wide range of sounds. Crush control is fun to explore. Filter is versatile.
Works best as a stereo effect, which may limit some players.
$299
Old Blood Noise Endeavors Dark Star Stereo
oldbloodnoise.com
The Old Blood Dark Star Stereo (DSS) is one of those pedals that lives beyond simple effect categorization. Yes, it’s a digital reverb. But like other Old Blood designs, it’s such a feature-rich, creative take on that effect that to think of it as a reverb feels not only imprecise but unfair.
The Old Blood Dark Star Stereo (DSS) is one of those pedals that lives beyond simple effect categorization. Yes, it’s a digital reverb. But like other Old Blood designs, it’s such a feature-rich, creative take on that effect that to think of it as a reverb feels not only imprecise but unfair.
In this case, reverb describes how the DSS works more than how it sounds. I’ve come to think of this pedal as a reverb-based synthesizer, where reverb is the jumping-off point for sonic creation. As such, the sounds coming out of the Dark Star can be used as subtle sweetener or sound design textures, opening up worlds that might otherwise be unreachable.
Reverb and Beyond
Functionally speaking, the DSS starts with reverb and applies a high-/low-pass filter, two pitch shifters, each with a two-octave range in each direction, plus bit-crushing and distortion. Controls for lag (pre-delay), multiply (feedback), and decay follow, with mini knobs for volume, mix, and spread. Additional control features include presets, MIDI functionality, plus expression and aux control.
The DSS can be routed in mono, stereo, or mono-in/stereo-out. Both jacks are single TRS, and it’s easy to switch between settings by holding down the bypass switch and selecting via the preset button.
Although it sounds great in mono, stereo is where this iteration of the Dark Star—which follows the mono Dark Star and Dark Star V2—really comes alive. Starting with the filter, both pitch shifters, and crush knobs at noon—all have center detents—affords the most neutral settings. The result is a pad reverb, as synthetic as but less sparkly than a shimmer. The filter control is a fine way to distinguish clean and effect signals. In low-pass mode, the effect signal can easily get dark and spooky while maintaining fidelity and without getting murky. On the other end, high-pass settings are handy for refining those reverb pads and keeping them from washing out the clarity of the clean signal.
Lower fidelity is close at hand when you want it. The crush control, when turned counterclockwise, reduces the bit rate of the effect signal, evoking all kinds of digitally compromised sounds, from early samplers to cell phones, depending on how you flavor it. Counterclockwise applies distortion to the reverb signal. There’s a lot to explore within the wide ranges of the two pitch controls, too. With a four-octave range, quantized in half steps, the combinations can be extreme, and Dark Star takes on a life of its own.
Formless Reflections of Matter
The DSS is easy to get acquainted with, especially for a pedal with so many features, 10 knobs, and two footswitches. I quickly got a feel for the reverb itself at the most neutral filter and pitch settings, where I enjoyed the weight a responsive, textural pad lent to everything I played.
With just the filter and crush controls, there’s plenty to explore. Sitting in the sweet spot between a pair of vintage Fenders, I conjured a Twin Peaks-inspired hazy fog to accompany honeyed diatonic arpeggios, slowly filtering and crushing that sound into a dark, evil low-end whir as chords leaned toward dissonance. Eventually, I cranked the high-pass filter, producing an early MP3-in-a-good-way “shhh” that was fine accompaniment to sparser voicings along my fretboard. It was a true sonic journeyThe pitch controls increase possibilities for both ambience and dissonance. Simple tweaks push the boundaries of possibility in exponentially deeper directions. For more subtle thickening and accompaniment sounds, adding octaves, which are easy to tune by ear, offers precise tone sculpting, dimension, and a wider frequency range. Hearing simple harmonic ideas plucked against celeste- and organ-like reverberations kept me in the Harold Budd and Brian Eno space for long enough to consider new recording projects.
There is as much fun to be had at the highest feedback settings on the DSS. Be forewarned: Spend too much time there and you might need a name for your new ambient band. Cranking the multiply and decay knobs, I’d drop in a few notes, or maybe just a chord, and get to work scanning the pitch knobs and sculpting with the filter. Soon, I conjured bold Ligeti-inspired orchestral sounds fit for a guitar remix of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The Verdict
The Dark Star Stereo strikes a nice balance between deep control, a wide range of sonic rewards, playability, and an always-sounds-great vibe. The controls are easy to use, so it doesn’t take long to get in the zone, and once you do, there’s plenty to explore. Throughout my time with the DSS, I was impressed with its high-fidelity clarity. I attribute that to the filter, which allows clean and reverb signals to perform dry/wet balance and EQ functions. That alone encouraged more adventurous and creative exploration. Though not every player needs this kind of tone tool, the DSS is a must-check-out effect for anyone serious about wild reverb adventures, and it’s simple and intuitive enough to be a good fit for anyone just starting exploration of those zones. However you come to the Dark Star, it’s a unique-sounding pedal that deserves attention. PG
Introducing the new Gibson Acoustic Special models, handcrafted in Bozeman, Montana, featuring solid wood construction, satin nitrocellulose lacquer finishes, and L.R. Baggs electronics.
Solid Wood Construction
Each of the three Acoustic Special models from Gibson are crafted using solid mahogany for the back and sides, solid Sitka spruce for the tops, utile for the necks, and rosewood for the fretboards for a sound that will only get better and better as they age.
Satin Nitrocellulose Lacquer Finishes
All three Gibson Acoustic Special models are finished in satin nitrocellulose lacquer for a finish that breathes, ages gracefully, and lets the natural beauty–both in sound and appearance–of the quality tonewoods come through.
L.R. Baggs Electronics
The Gibson Acoustic Special guitars come with L.R. Baggs Element Bronze under-saddle piezo pickups and active preamps pre-installed, making them stage and studio-ready from the moment you pick them up.
For more information, please visit gibson.com.
Introducing the Gibson Acoustic Specials – J-45, Hummingbird & L-00 Special - YouTube
Great Eastern FX Co. has released the limited-edition OC201 Preamp, featuring vintage Mullard OC201 transistors for a unique fuzz sound. Part of the 'Obsolete Devices' series, this pedal combines classic circuits with modern components for optimal tone and reliability.
Boutique British pedal designers GreatEastern FX Co. have released a new pedal. Limited to just 50 units, the OC201 Preamp is an intriguing twist on the familiar two-transistor fuzz circuit, built around a pair of new-old-stock Mullard OC201 transistors.
“The OC201 is a very early silicon transistor,” company founder David Greeves explains. “It was actually the first silicon transistor made by Mullard, using the same method as their germanium devices. It’s pretty crude by modern standards, with very low gain and limited bandwidth, but that’s exactly what makes it so great in a fuzz pedal.”
This little-known low-gain silicon transistor is responsible for the OC201 Preamp’s palette of sounds, which GreatEastern FX say ranges from dirty boost and garage rock drive sounds up to a raw and richly textured fuzz, all with the excellent volume knob clean-up characteristics this style of fuzz is famous for. The circuit has also been tweaked to deliver a healthy kick of volume to your amp.
This limited-edition pedal is the first in a new series that Great Eastern FX are calling ‘Obsolete Devices’. According to the company, the Obsolete Devices series will feature the company’s take on a range of classic circuits, constructed using a mixture of vintage and modern components. It’s a distinct departure from Great Eastern FX’s main range of pedals.
“With pedals like the Design-a-drive and the XO Variable Crossover, we’re really committed to developing original designs that bring something new to the table,” founder David Greeves explains. “I’m always very conscious of choosing parts that aren’t going to go obsolete so we can go on making the pedals for as long as people want to buy them. But I also love messing around with old parts and classic circuits, which is a totally different mentality. The Obsolete Devices series is basically a way for me to have fun modifying these classic circuits and experimenting with my stash of NOS components, then share the results.
“The name is a little bit of an inside joke,” he continues. “I think what gets labelled as ‘obsolete’ is very subjective. As pedal designers and guitar players, we obsess over obsolete components and what, in any other field, would be considered outdated designs. So the name is a nod to that. I also loved the thought of us coming out with some brand-new Obsolete Devices of our own!”
Alongside the pedal’s new-old-stock Mullard OC201 transistors – which are the reason only 50 of them are being made – the OC201 Preamp uses quality modern components, including high-tolerance Dale metal film resistors and WIMA capacitors. GreatEastern FX say that this hybrid approach, using vintage parts where they make the most difference sonically and low-noise modern parts elsewhere, will deliver the best combination of tone and reliability while also keeping the price from spiralling out of control.
The OC201 Preamp will cost £249 in the UK, $299 in the US and €299 in the EU. It’s available now direct from Great Eastern FX Co. and from the following dealers:
- UK – Andertons
- Europe – Pedaltown.nl
- USA – Sound Shoppe NYC
- Canada – Electric Mojo Guitars
For more information, please visit greateasternfx.com.
