Guitar Player

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Gimme Danger

Guitar Player • Vol. 55 No. 2 FEBRUARY 2021

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Planet-Friendly Player • Adapting to ever-changing CITES regulations, Tom Bartlett updates his Retrospec model with the Retro Mk2.

Balancing Act • Black Stone Cherry’s Ben Wells and Chris Robertson perform a hard rock/country crossover on The Human Condition.

My Career in Five Songs • Kim Thayil never wanted his guitar playing to be about one thing. Here’s a career-spanning assortment of tracks that show him at his diverse best.

High Society • From the lineage of the Country Gent and White Falcon, the 6196 Country Club is an exalted, if lesser known, member of the Gretsch nobility.

‘Smoke’ Machine • Ritchie Blackmore brings the fire on Deep Purple’s 1972 hard-rock masterpiece.

The Phantom Menace • The 1967 Domino Californian was a Vox Phantom doppelgänger — at a quarter of the price!

Rock of Ages • The progenitors of hard rock gave sound and shape to a divergent and ultimately diverse strain of rock and roll.

Jeff Beck • His inventive guitar techniques and use of effects established the template for hard-rock virtuosity and tone.

Pete Townshend • His combative guitar style, theatrical sensibilities and thirst for volume defined the essence of hard rock. He was also behind the creation of every hard-rock guitarist’s favorite piece of kit — the double stack.

John Lennon • As a member of rock and roll’s most popular band, he helped lead the pop masses to harder fare.

Jimmy Page • He single-handedly established the original template for hard-rock guitar tone, production and showmanship.

Jimi Hendrix • From his gear to his sound to his style, he reshaped rock and roll and demonstrated the full scope of what could be expressed with an electric guitar.

Wayne Kramer & Fred "Sonic" Smith • Combining defiant, high-volume rock with jazz and a take-no-prisoners stage show, they heralded a new level of intensity and showmanship.

STONE COLD CRAZY • With In Rock, Deep Purple Mark II carved their place in hard-rock history. And it’s largely thanks to the maniacal mind and guitar mastery of Ritchie Blackmore.

The classic era • As the hard-rock genre diversified and graduated from halls to arenas, these are the guitarists who defined the sounds and styles of the decade.

Brian May • His harmonized, treble-boosted lead guitar lines brought tasteful refinement and pop melodicism to the genre without diminishing its potency.

Ace Frechley • He may not shred, sweep or tap, but the Spaceman launched a thousand future six-stringers.

Joe Perry • Even at 70, the Bad Boy from Boston is still the baddest — and coolest — guitar slinger on the block.

Neal Schon • As Journey’s guitarist, he’s brought a compositional approach to soloing.

Tom Scholz • The Boston musician locked himself in his basement and came up with one of the most stunning albums — and guitar tones — of the past 45 years.

Angus Young • AC/DC’s head honcho is responsible for some of the most towering and enduring riffs and licks in all of rock and roll.

Eddie Van Halen • He didn’t just rewrite the six-string rulebook — he shredded it, changing the sound, style and look of the instrument like no artist before or since.

NEVER SAY DIE • After years of being counted out, Michael Schenker is back at the top of his game and touting a new album rightly titled Immortal.

GEORGE...