Cracked finishes? Buzzy frets? Don’t let it happen to you!
Wherever you live and whatever the climate, don’t forget to keep your humidity levels in check. Your guitars will thank you!
For guitarists, things get a little crazy twice each year. I’m not talking about the NAMM convention—it’s bigger than that. Both summer and winter bring temperature and humidity extremes to bear on wooden instruments, and if you’re not prepared, things can get ugly. Dry air shrinks wood and splits guitar parts. Humid air swells tops and fretboards, wreaking havoc on setups and finishes. It’s important to know that damage caused by failure to anticipate this natural occurrence is not a defect in the instrument. Many times, trips to the repair shop can be avoided by simple climate control.
It’s a full-time job for guitar builders, but what we do to cope with nature’s swings has lessons for guitar owners as well. Modern indoor climate control means most people live and work in a fairly narrow range of temperatures, regardless of where they reside. We all know not to leave a guitar in the car trunk when temperatures soar or plummet, but inside of your home, the culprit is humidity.
The yearly average humidity in North America (and around the world) provides an incredibly wide range of numbers. Nevada’s 38.30 percent yearly average is a world apart from Alaska’s surprising 77.10 percent, and that’s just the average. But even these numbers don’t tell the whole story. When you factor in temperature, things can get better, or they can get much worse. What we’re interested in is relative humidity (RH), which is the percentage of water vapor in the air at a given temperature.
Different regions require different approaches. Both Arizona and Louisiana can be crazy hot in the summer, but their humidity levels couldn’t be more different. In the Southwest, air conditioning that’s working overtime to cool is also stripping moisture from the air. Whereas in New Orleans, getting things dried out is a constant battle. It’s safe to say that most places need both temperature and humidity control to avoid problems.
Many times, trips to the repair shop can be avoided by simple climate control.
Manufacturers can’t afford the damage that humidity (or lack of it) can bring. When RH drops too quickly, expensive stockpiles of tonewoods can crack, reducing them to firewood. At the very least, swings in humidity can make wooden parts hard to fit, especially when they’re machined to tight tolerances by CNC. In a guitarist’s home, low humidity can split tops and shrink bodies resulting in delamination of bindings or bridges. Fretboards not protected with finish are the first things to react to changing humidity, bowing or warping enough to render an instrument unplayable. High humidity expands the fretboard, forcing the neck into a backwards bow, whereas low humidity shrinkage creates an opposite, forward bow. Shrinking fretboards also reveal fret ends which can be uncomfortable at best. In some cases, expansion and shrinking may cause finish to flake off, especially at sharp corners or fretboard edges. Needless to say, this isn’t what you want happening to your collection.
The good news is that if you keep most of your instruments in a single room, it won’t be too hard to control the humidity. The first step is to get an accurate hygrometer to determine what the current RH is in your space. Most times, the problem is low humidity. In that case, calculate the room size and begin your search for a room humidifier to match your needs. If humidity is high, you’ll need a dehumidifier, and you can use the same method to determine the size. Keep the RH between 35 and 45 percent to be safe. Your room needs to be sealed off. Otherwise your efforts will literally go out the window. I like the type of unit that senses the humidity, and you can just set it and forget it—until it’s time to fill (or empty) the tank. The trick is not to have them both on at once. They’ll just get into a never-ending battle with each other. You’ll have to monitor things to know when to switch over as the seasons change.
At home or in a small studio, you can control your instrument’s environment for a relatively small outlay. A few hundred bucks is way more affordable than crack repairs. It also keeps things comfy, which is a nice bonus. Think of it as a large pedal whose effect is keeping your guitars playing right and protecting your investment.
- Fighting the Humidity Battle - Premier Guitar ›
- Acoustic Soundboard: When Cracks Happen - Premier Guitar ›
- Play It Smart! Must-Know Seasonal Care for Acoustics - Premier Guitar ›
Matteo Mancuso's first headline national tour of North America includes stops in major cities such as Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago, and Denver, showcasing his unique talent and original sound. Don't miss the opportunity to witness this rising guitar virtuoso live in concert.
Matteo Mancuso has announced his first headline national tour of North America. The itinerary brings Mancuso coast to coast in the US, and into Canada for several annual marquee events. The tour begins on May 20 at Boston’s City Winery and wraps on June 30 at Le Festival International de Jazz de Montreal. With the on-sale being staggered, please check local box offices for on-sale details market to market.
Mancuso hails from Sicily, nestled in the Mediterranean Sea to the South of Italy. The island has always had a rich cultural heritage, from poets, writers, philosophers, and architects to painters and musicians. Born in 1996 and raised just outside the capital Palermo, the pedigree runs deep in the veins of those from the region. Had his family relocated to the US, he might be the best-kept secret in the lineage of great Italian-American players like Zappa, Vai, Satriani, Di Meola, Petrucci, and Gambale.
During the 1970s, his father, Vincenzo Mancuso, made a name for himself as a gifted session player on the domestic scene, and the young Matteo looked up to him as a primary source of inspiration. While still in high school (music), he picked up classical guitar and transverse flute. It didn't take long for everyone to understand that a child prodigy was blooming.
At the age of 12, Matteo took his first steps onto the stage at a local jazz festival. Since then, his acquaintance with live performances has seen him blossom and develop through various line-ups and collaborations with the finest local musicians, including a duo with his father, where they explore the complexities of Django Reinhart's repertoire and contemporary jazz classics.
As a multi-faceted player, either classical or electric, what is astounding is his one-of-a-kind technique and use of his fingers instead of regular picking. With an impressive tone, original sound, and humble demeanor, you have the guitarist no one has ever seen and whose talent puts him in a different league. Many of the world's most iconic, ground-breaking, and legendary players are declaring Matteo as a force to be reckoned with, from Joe Bonamassa and Steve Vaito Al Di Meola.
In 2019, Yamaha Guitars became the official endorser of his appearance at the NAMM show in Los Angeles. He was invited as a judge on the panel for the "Young Guitar Festival" in Bangkok and a masterclass tour in Russia – calling through Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Perm. In 2020, Matteo put together a new trio and began developing his solo work, pushing his compositional boundaries and original material. When the pandemic brought the world to a standstill like many, Matteo experienced difficulties as it took a significant toll on the music industry, like many others. In 2021, as soon as live gigs became possible, he hit the road as part of the new trio, culminating in two exhilarating sold-out nights at the Blue Note in Milano. The name Matteo Mancuso was beginning to reach the ears of the most prominent people in the industry and those in the know. Offers came up from the north to the deep south.
In 2022 he played at the Bremen International Festival at the Auditorium Parco Della Musica in Rome. After a short break in June last year to graduate in jazz guitar from the PalermoConservatory of Music with honors and honorable mention, he resumed touring. He shared the stage with Al Di Meola on classical guitar on the closing night of the Eddie Lang Jazz Festival and played at the Lugano Jazz Festival in Switzerland, as a guest with prog-rockers PFM and an incredible performance at the New Ross Guitar Festival in Ireland. He appeared in a major prime-time slot on Italy's national Rai TV, at the Uppsala Jazz Festival in Sweden. Finally, he rounded off the year at the Spoleto Jazz Festival back in Italy.
His debut titled The Journey features nine original songs which were recorded at Fico d'IndiaStudios Casteldaccia, Sicily, by his father, Vincenzo Mancuso – a gifted player who also played on the record and co-wrote two songs, "Polifemo" and "Blues For John." The album also features Stefano India (Bass) and Guiseppe Bruno (Drums), with additional musicians Riccardo Oliva(Bass), Gianluca Pellerito (drums,) and Guiseppe Vasapolli (Piano/Organ).
Mancuso began writing songs for the album around 2020. "I didn't really have a specific concept behind the album, but I wanted to do something that wasn't associated with only one genre, so there are some rock-oriented songs like Drop D and some modern Jazz tunes like Polifemo," he says."Drop D" was one of the first songs written for the album, which pays tribute to his teens' hard rock and prog influences such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, and Dream Theater. "It is a mix of typical rock and prog elements and one of the most fun songs to play live," he says.
In front of the album’s release, he shared, "I just want people to hear it," he enthuses. "Music has always been my favorite form of communication, and the thing I love about instrumental music is that there isn't a language barrier. I'm sure that people who don't usually listen to instrumental music can find something interesting from this album."
Mancuso has become one of the hottest guitarists on the planet following the release of his debut album in 2023, The Journey, which featured the singles "Samba Party," which channels the excitement and jubilation of Rio de Janeiro during carnival – but the song itself is anything but samba. Also, "Silk Road, which was dedicated to his hometown Palermo and his Arab-Norman roots and was the follow-up to the album's lead single "Drop D,"
The YouTube sensation has already adorned the front cover of magazines such as GuitarTechniques, which called him "The Hottest Guitarist on the Planet ", and Total Guitar, which hailed him as the "World's Hottest Virtuoso." He has picked up plaudits from some of the world's most iconic, ground-breaking players who are declaring Matteo as a force to be reckoned with, from Joe Bonamassa and Steve Vai to Al Di Meola. They share:
"The evolution of guitar is firmly secure in the hands of these kind of players... it's just a new level, the tone, the touch, the notes!" - Steve Vai
"An absolute talent; his improvisational ability is light years ahead. It would take two or three lifetimes. It was like when Jacko (Pastorius) came on the scene...how did he get so good and so fast?" - Al Di Meola
"All the kids are talking about it, and I blanked when answering who my new favorite guitarist is... here he is, Matteo Mancuso. I have not seen anyone reinvent like this since Stanley Jordan" - Joe Bonamassa
For more information, please visit matteomancuso.net.
Confirmed Appearances Include:
- 5/20 Boston, MA City Winery Boston
- 5/21 Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Bowl
- 5/22 Ardmore, PA The Ardmore Music Hall
- 5/23 Red Bank, NJ The Vogel
- 5/24 Washington, DC The Hamilton Live
- 5/25 Cumberland, MD Allegany County Fairgrounds
- 5/27 Pittsburgh, PA City Winery Pittsburgh
- 5/28 Lansing, MI Grewal Hall at 224
- 5/29 Ferndale, MI The Magic Bag
- 5/31 Cincinnati, OH The Ludlow Garage
- 6/01 Kent, OH The Kent Stage
- 6/02 Indianapolis, IN The Vogue
- 6/04 Minneapolis, MN The Dakota
- 6/05 Milwaukee, WI Vivarium
- 6/06 Chicago, IL Garcia’s
- 6/07 Chicago, IL Garcia’s
- 6/10 Denver, CO Cervantes’ Other Side
- 6/13 Sante Fe, NM The Bridge at Sante Fe Brewing
- 6/14 Phoenix, AZ MIM
- 6/15 Tucson, AZ The Rialto Theatre
- 6/16 Solana Beach, CA Belly Up Tavern
- 6/17 Highland Park, CA Lodge Room
- 6/18 San Juan Capistrano, CA The Coach House
- 6/20 Berkeley, CA The UC Theatre
- 6/22 Portland, OR Aladdin Theater
- 6/23 Seattle, WA Neptune Theatre
- 6/24 Vancouver, BC Rickshaw
- 6/25 Victoria, BC Wicket Hall
- 6/28 Syracuse, NY Syracuse Jazz Fest
- 6/29 Buffalo, NY Electric City
- 6/30 Montreal, QC Le Festival International de Jazz de Montreal
In this episode of 100 Guitarists, we’re talking all things surf rock, from reverb to tremolo picking and much more. And while “Misirlou” is undisputedly his most influential work, maybe Dale’s best records didn’t come until a few decades later.
“All the kids in all L.A. / Come to hear Dick Dale play,” or so goes the title track from Dick Dale’s Wrecking Crew-heavy 1963 album, King of the Surf Guitar. Immodest though it might seem to proclaim such a status, he was indeed at the top of the heap.
For many, Dale’s legend precedes him. His sound, first heard in a So Cal beach ballroom, created the surf guitar vocabulary and transformed the guitar universe, starting with the 1962 release of his take on the traditional song “Misrlou.” Ever the showman, he worked closely with Leo Fender developing the right gear for the gig as he played his ripping instrumentals to larger and larger audiences. He also inspired a Hendrix lyric and had a late-career renaissance thanks to Quentin Tarantino.
In this episode of 100 Guitarists, we’re talking all things surf rock, from reverb to tremolo picking and much more. And while “Misrlou” is undisputedly his most influential work, maybe Dale’s best records didn’t come until a few decades later.
This episode is sponsored byTraveler Guitar.
Analog modulation guided by a digital brain willing to get weird.
Fun, fluid operation. Capable of vintage-thick textures at heavier gain settings. High headroom for accommodating other effects.
MIDI required to access more than one preset—which you’ll probably long for, given the breadth of voices.
$369
Kernom Elipse
If you love modulation—and lots of it—you can eat up a lot of pedalboard space fast. Modulation effects can be super-idiosyncratic and specialized, which leads to keeping many around, particularly if you favor the analog domain. TheKernom Elipse multi-modulator is pretty big and, at a glance, might not seem the best solution for real estate scarcity. Yet the Elipse is only about 1 1/4" wider than two standard-sized Boss pedals side by side. And by combining an analog signal path with digital control, it makes impressive, efficient use of its size—stuffing fine-sounding harmonic tremolo, phaser, rotary-style, chorus, vibrato, flanger, and Uni-Vibe-style effects into a single hefty enclosure. Many of the effects can also be blended and morphed into one another using a rotary control aptly called “mood.” The Elipse, most certainly, has many of those.
Modulator With Many Masks
Anywhere pedal hounds meet and chat you’ll encounter spirited talk about the way pedals sound relative to a certain gold standard. It makes sense. Benchmarks are useful for understanding anything. But one of the things I like best about the Kernom Elipse is how it eludes easy comparison to such standards, and how the fluidity of its controls make it sound unique. As with any review, I compared the Elipse to as many pedals as I have that are relevant. Here, that included an Ibanez analog chorus, Phase 90 and Small Stone phasers, an optical Uni-Vibe-style pedal, a Boss BF-2,Mu-Tron Phasor II clone, and more. But what made the Elipse stand out in this company was function as much as sound. Operating the Elipse with an open mind, rather than a quest to replicate another pedal’s sound, leads to intriguing, unique, and unusual tones more specialized modulators don’t always offer.
“The Elipse is pretty ambitious for an analog modulator, but doesn’t spread itself too thin.”
Three of the Elipse’s controls—speed, mix, and depth—function predictably. The latter two controls, however, change function depending on the pedal’s mood (or mode). In tremolo mode, setting the mix at noon generates complex, warbly, and elastic harmonic tremolo-like textures. At maximum, it shifts to a more binary, on/off sound akin to optical or bias tremolo. In chorus/vibrato mode, the noon position marks a 50/50 wet/dry mix of pitch shift and dry signal—the ingredients for any chorus. At maximum, the signal is 100 percent wet, yielding pure pitch-shift vibrato. The shape control, meanwhile, adjusts the LFO waveform. In tremolo mode that means moving between triangle- and sine-wave pulses. The swirl control is the wild card of the bunch. It adds big-time dimension to the Elipse in all modes. Through most of its range, it slathers slow phase on whatever modulation is already bubbling and burbling. In the latter third of its range, though, it also adds gain, and by the time you reach maximum, the output is discernibly thickened in the low-midrange zone. The gain and low-mid bump helps compensate for the perceived volume loss intrinsic to modulation. But they also excite different segments of the harmonic spectrum as you manipulate other modulation-shaping parameters—adding expansiveness as well as the thickness you might miss from vintage modulators.
Enunciation Modulation
Compared to many of the modulation pedals I used for contrast, the Elipse has a high-mid-forward voice. This frequency bias has advantages. It lends most of the Elipse’s modulation textures a clear, airy essence that keeps their character present when adding fuzz or big delay and reverb effects. It makes some modulations less chewy, but it’s also easy to imagine such textures slotting easily into a mix where some thicker analog modulators would gobble up harmonic space.
The basic EQ profile also makes it easier to probe the nuances in the “in-between” voices, living in the liminal spaces between pedal moods. When you start to play with these blended textures and various blends of drive, shape, mix, and depth, you encounter many sounds that veer from vintage templates in cool ways. Lathering on gain from the swirl control and lazy depth rates made the hybrid chorus/flange intense, dreamy, and enveloping. Similar blends of slow, heavy harmonic tremolo and rotary speaker sounded massive too.
The Verdict
The Elipse is pretty ambitious for an analog modulator, but doesn’t spread itself too thin. Players looking for one or two very specific modulation sounds might find the interrelationships between the Elipse’s controls too complex. The inability to save more than a single onboard preset without a MIDI switcher might frustrate guitarists used to all-digital pedals’ preset capabilities. Players that already have MIDI switchers in their rigs, however, could fall hard for the ability to switch between Elipse’s myriad, complex, analog-colored textures. With or without MIDI, it is an excellent analog modulator that offers colors galore.
Fabulous neck with just-right fatness. Distinctive tone profile. Smooth, stable vibrato. Ice blue metallic and aluminum look delish together.
Higher output pickups could turn off Fender-geared traditionalists.
$939
Eastman FullerTone DC’62
An affordable version of Eastman’s U.S.-made solidbody rolls with unique, well-executed features—at a price and quality level that rivals very tough competition.
Eastman’s instruments regularly impress in terms ofquality and performance. A few left my PG colleagues downright smitten. But if Eastman isn’t a household name among guitarists, it might be a case of consumer psychology: Relative to most instruments built in China, Eastmans are expensive. So, if you spend your life longing for a Gibson 335 and a comparable (if superficially fancier) Eastman costs just 20 percent less than the least expensive version of the real deal, why not save up for a bit longer and get the guitar of your dreams?
For some players, though, such brand-devotional hang ups are obstacles to getting the best instrument for the best price. Some just like having an alternative to legacy brands and models that live as dreams in a zillion other heads. As Eastman evolved as a company, they’ve paid close attention to both of those market segments—creating refined original designs like the El Rey and Romeo while keeping quality, execution, and playability at an exceptional standard. With the introduction of the FullerTone instruments, a series of Beijing-built guitars modeled after Eastman’s California-built, Otto D’Ambrosio-designed solidbodies, Eastman’s price/performance goals reach a kind of apex. Because the FullerTone guitars aren’t archtops or thinlines and use bolt-on necks, they range from just $799 (for the simpler SC’52) to $899 (for the more full-featured DC’62 reviewed here). That’s a competitive market bracket, to say the least, but Fullertone delivers the goods in ways that count to players.
Somewhere in an Alternate O.C….
You don’t need to be a certified Mensa member to suss the FullerTone’s design benchmarks. The name’s likeness to that of an Orange County locale where historically important electric guitar design took place is a less-than-covert tip of the hat. More tangible evidence of the DC’62’s Stratocaster inspirations exist in the shape of a bolt-on, 25.5"-scale neck, six-on-a-side headstock, a curvaceous double-cut body, and vibrato. (The more Telecaster-like DC’52 uses a T-style bridge and comes sans vibrato).
Many of these design nods, however, are distinguished by Eastman’s refinements. The patented neck joint, for instance, mimics that of the upmarket, U.S.-built Eastman D’Ambrosio. It employs just two screws, bolted into steel anchors in the neck itself. It’s a robust, clever design. The joint, which works in part like a long tenon, provides extra neck-to-body contact, making the effortless access to all 24 medium-jumbo frets all the more remarkable. (The fretwork, by the way, is impeccable).
“The neck’s profile will pique the interest of anyone bored with the sameness of generic, modern C-profiles.”
The neck itself—roasted maple, satin-finished, and capped with a 12"-radius Indian rosewood fretboard—uses an angled headstock design that differs from Fender convention, but the break angle is much shallower than a Gibson, which aids tuning stability. The neck’s profile, though, will pique the interest of anyone bored with the sameness of generic, modern C-profiles. Eastman calls it a medium-round profile, but that doesn’t do justice to its substance, which calls to mind Fender’s chunkier 1960s necks. It’s not a shape for everyone, and shredders and players with really petite hands might be less enthused, but it’s exceptionally comfortable, fills the palm naturally, and, at least for me, induces less fatigue than slimmer necks.
The Strat-style vibrato is a smart, functional evolution of a classic form. The arm sits securely in a rubber sleeve that keeps it precisely where you want, and the bridge itself is fixed to a substantial brass block and features individually intonatable saddles. The vibrato is so smooth and tuning stable that you will want to use it often. Really aggressive, twitchy vibrato technique can produce knocking against the body as you pitch up—at least as it’s set up at the factory. Otherwise, it’s fun and forgiving to use.
I would be remiss, by the way, if I didn’t mention how good the black limba body looks in satin ice blue metallic with a brushed aluminum pickguard. Though the DC’62 is available in black and desert sand (the latter with gold anodized pickguard), this particular combination is beautiful, elegant, and tasteful in a way that accentuates D’Ambrosio’s timeless lines.
Substantially Yours
The DC’62’s pickups are produced by Tonerider, and they include two stacked noiseless alnico 5 single-coils in the center and neck positions (measuring 7.9 ohms) as well as an alnico 2 unit, also measuring 7.9 ohms, that Eastman calls a “soapbar humbucker with gold-foil cover.” That’s a curious mash up of nomenclature. Traditionally, “soapbar” pickups are P-90s, which are single-coils, and though the gold-foil-style cover looks cool, it doesn’t lend any gold-foil-ness in terms of construction. Tone-wise it inhabits a unique place. Some aspects of its response evoke a Stratocaster bridge pickup rendered large. There are also hints of a Telecaster bridge unit’s meatiness. But of all the pickups I compared it to (at one point there was an SG, Telecaster, Wide Range-equipped Telecaster Deluxe, Stratocaster, and J Mascis Jazzmaster strewn about the room), it sounds most like a Rickenbacker Hi-Gain in an ’80s 330. That’s cool. I think Hi-Gains are underrated and sound fabulous. But the Tonerider unit is definitely not an S-type pickup in any traditional sense. The stacked single-coils, too, deviate significantly from the Stratocaster’s sonic mold. They are noiseless, as advertised, but have heat and push that make a vintage S-style pickup sound glassy and comparatively thin.
The Verdict
With a fantastic neck, smooth playability, and tuning stability that keep you glued to the instrument, the top-quality DC’62 is flat-out fun to play, which is good, given that at $899 it’s in a price class with Fender’s excellent Mexico-made Player II guitars and PRS’s superlative SE series, to name a few. But the DC’62 offers a unique palette of tones that don’t fit neatly into any box, and with a shape that breaks from tradition, it’s a competitively priced way to take sonic and stylistic paths much less trodden
