This year we uncovered that Billy Gibbons X-rayed his hands, John 5 celebrated his unsung guitar hero, and why Tommy Shaw has beef with the guitar industry. Now see our most memorable chats from 2021.
10. Red Fang's David Sullivan
Premier GuitarThe sludge-metal aficionado takes the mic on Teles, "Holy Grails," and how he stays chill in the spotlight.
9. Megadeth’s David Ellefson
Premier GuitarMetal's bass icon on his Jackson's P-pickup mod, Kiss' 'Destroyer,' and the owner of his lonely '80s heart.
8. Blackberry Smoke's Charlie Starr
Premier GuitarThe Southern-rock ringleader opens up about his vintage-refin No. 1 and not letting trolls get him down.
7. John 5 on How He Gets Old-School Tones from His Metal-Friendly Tele
Premier GuitarPlus, find out which guitar hero the Rob Zombie sideman “begs and pleads” with you to listen to.
6. Steve Stevens
Premier GuitarBilly Idol’s trusted sideman digs deep on classic prog and even gets a little zen as he takes on our questions.
5. Yngwie Malmsteen
Premier GuitarHow does the same answer apply to three of our five questions? Everyone's favorite sweep-picking Swede loves going against the grain—that's how!
4. Billy F. Gibbons
Premier GuitarThe ZZ Top legend on what makes his "Pearly Gates" Les Paul so special, why he recently had his hands x-rayed, and the "slithering" slide guitarist whose work still inspires him.
3. John Petrucci
Premier GuitarThe Dream Theater legend shares surprising desert-island-album and guitar-hero picks, and remembers finally saying "screw it " to self-consciousness about his "super nerdy" secret weapon.
2. Warren Haynes Reveals His Secret Studio Weapon
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…And it's not his vintage Les Paul. Plus, the Gov't Mule mainstay "cheats" on his desert-island album pick.1. Styx’s Tommy Shaw on What Irks Him About the Guitar Industry
Premier GuitarPlus, how he cried the day Wes Montgomery died, and the surprise family connection with his prized '54 Tele.
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The body shape of this 6-string seems surprisingly ergonomic, but that perception changes when you hold its neck!
And so it goes that I pondered this proliferation of Virgos and Libras, and my hypothesis came into focus. Were we all the result of our parents’ Christmas and New Year’s celebrations?! I have to say, there was a camaraderie discovered among my fellow party babies when I presented my findings to them. Now, being born in the early ’70s also had me thinking of the culture of the times. Hippie life was fading as young people started to realize they had to get a job, and alas, long hair and beards were being replaced by staid 9-to-5 gigs that could slowly suck the life out of you. So, given the cultural mores of that era, I thought that this month I should write about the Sorrento Swinger.
“Hippie life was fading as young people started to realize they had to get a job.”
Born around 1967—maybe in September—these Swingers hailed from the “crazy” design period of the Kawai Co. Kawai produced some of the coolest guitar designs from 1967 to ’69, and there were some very creative guitar designers there on the job. Kawai had poached some of the finest employees from the wreckage of the Shinko Gakki factory (Pleasant, Intermark, etc.) and through the purchase of the Teisco brand. In this era, Kawai usually used three different standard pickups and they all sound great, plus the units are always wired in series, which is just awesome.
For a 25-buck, Japan-made guitar from the ’70s, the Swinger has an elite-looking headstock—and, on this example, most of its tuners.
Now, the Swinger (and similar Kawai-made guitars) came from an era where U.S. importers would order small batches of instruments that were often unique and extremely gonzo. The guitars might have been destined for medium-sized music stores or direct-order catalogs, but whatever the case, the importer usually gave the guitars names. In this instance, it was Jack Westheimer who featured this model as an “exclusive” design. In Westheimer Corporation catalogs from the time, the Swinger carried the A-2T model name (there was another one-pickup model called the A-1) and sold wholesale for $25 in 1967! As the catalog mentioned, these were “priced for the teenaged trade.” This particular guitar featured the Sorrento badge, and was sold through some sort of music store that’s probably long out of business, but all the Swingers were the same.
The Swinger’s large mahogany neck (sans truss rod) is robust and beefy in all the nicest ways. Like, when I was a kid, I was considered a “husky” fit. That’s this neck: husky! The striped pickguard is a Teisco holdover and the controls are as simple as it gets. Two knobs (volume, tone) and two pickup selectors is all there is, but the beauty is in the body. That lower bout is shaped like some sort of 1969 lounge chair. The strap pin is totally in the wrong place, but the big bottom swoop is worth it. Yep, the Swinger was ready to bring in the dawn of the 1970s, but alas, the guitar came and went in a blink.
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