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Colin James interview guitar in hand on stage – 2015 Montreal Jazz Festival
Sunday, 20 December 2015
Colin James was part of the 2015 Montreal Jazz Festival to play several nights. We did this interview Guitar in Hand right on the stage of the Théatre du Nouveau Monde (www.tnm.qc.ca) right before the concert. It's always a lot of fun and much more interesting to do the interview Guitar in Hand. The concerts given by Colin James during the festival were excellent, the sound quality was really good and the band behind him was excellent.
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In coordination with David Wallimann who created Guitar Playback, I am happy to announce that we are starting a collaboration with The Guitar Channel by offering a free backing track pack to all the Backstage Pass subscribers. I had the pleasure to do an audio interview 2 years ago with David to talk about his book about mode. You can listen to the full interview here.
Content of the pack
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- 5 backing tracks in different styles
- Beck is Back
- Aelian Thoughts
- Blues in G
- Fusion Funky Vamp In G Dorian
- Fields Of Joy
- 5 PDF with details on what to play on each backing track
Screenshots of the PDF with chords, scales and tips[/caption] [s2If current_user_is(s2member_level1) OR current_user_is(administrator)]
Click here to download the 28MB Zip file
Thanks for checking out this sampler Guitar Playback backing track pack! These five jam tracks are meant to provide you with excellent quality musical beds to develop new musical ideas in various genres. Check out the included PDFs for scale diagrams and improvisation tips.Use promo code BACKSTAGE to get a 30% discount on all the products purchased on Guitar Playback
[/s2If] [s2If !current_user_can(access_s2member_level0)]The download link is available for the Backstage Pass subscribers
Use promo code TGC to get a 20% discount on all the products purchased on Guitar Playback
[/s2If] I hope you enjoy these tracks and find them useful. Please check out www.guitarplayback.com for more! Stay tuned for more good stuff with David. Pierre. [s2If !current_user_can(access_s2member_level0)]
You want to download the free pack? Get the Backstage Pass to watch all the exclusive videos and more! Click here for more info on the Backstage Pass[/s2If]Get a free Guitar Playback pack with your Backstage Pass!
Wednesday, 16 December 2015
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I love when it's possible to do an interview Guitar in Hand, so imagine when I had the opportunity to do one with a harp-guitar player, Muriel Anderson!
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Bamboo Ethiq Electric Alquier Guitars, a sustainable instrument built by a luthier
Friday, 11 December 2015
The guitar tested in this video is the electric model Ethiq range presented in Berlin during the 2nd edition of the Holy Grail Guitar Show by luthier Jean-Yves Alquier. The characteristic of this range is that it is made of bamboo from 65% to 100% as in the case of the guitar tested in this video. So this might be one of the first sustainable guitar from a luthier.
We clearly see in the photo below how the body of the guitar is composed.
The 2015 Holy Grail Guitar Show was held the weekend of October 31 and November 1, 2015 in Berlin. This second edition of the show presented a selection of 115 luthiers from around the world. There was a lot to please the eyes and ears. You only need to watch the 5min video zapping below to be convinced.
2015 Holy Grail Guitar Show video zapping
The list of luthiers interviewed on The Guitar Channel
Here're the luthiers I interviewed during the week-end in Berlin. The full video will be made available to the Backstage Pass owners as soon as they are edited.
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Luthiers Discussion Panel – 2015 EGB Symposium – Holy Grail Guitar Show
Friday, 20 November 2015
Here is a video document recorded during a panel of luthiers at the 2015 Holy Grail Guitar Show in Berlin in the presence of the following luthiers: Andy Manson A.J. Lucas Jean-Yves Alquier A lady from the Austrian Ministry of the Environment (from memory) Fred Pons Jacky Walraet Chris Larkin Video recording of the panel
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Cerbersus overdrive and Utopia delay by Anasounds – Pedal Review
Monday, 16 November 2015
In a previous gear review, The Guitar Channel had you discover the excellent Phase Lag phaser from Anasounds, now here's a double test with two pedals of the same French manufacturer boutique shop: the Utopia delay and Cerberus overdrive pedals.
Anasounds website: www.anasounds.com
Cerbersus overdrive and Utopia delay - Video review
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Overview of Utopia
The Utopia offers a very well done analog delay simulation that works great from a slapback (an echo very short often used in Rockabilly), to a
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The magic of handmade guitars with Kathryn Marie Dudley at the Holy Grail Guitar Show
Sunday, 08 November 2015
The Holy Grail Guitar Show is not only the best luthier guitar show in the world (yes, I mean it) it's also a great opportunity to attend to a great selection of conferences.
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The Guitar Channel in Berlin for the 2nd Holy Grail Guitar Show
Friday, 23 October 2015
In fact it is as if the 2nd edition of the Holy Grail Guitar Show (www.holygrailguitarshow.com) was organized especially for me. Indeed, you cannot help but notice that the visual part of this year is very oriented toward the psychedelic sixties which fit perfectly with my legendary floral shirts and my hair (usually) long!
Here I am last year in Berlin interviewing the legendary Ken Parker with...
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Presentation of the 2016 Gibson acoustic guitars in Paris
Wednesday, 21 October 2015
Yesterday I had the pleasure to spend the afternoon in the private showroom of Gibson France to discover the 2016 range of acoustic guitars from Gibson. For this event two people from the US Acoustic Division were present, Josh Taborski (General Manager) and Jeremy Morton (Product Specialist), see the interview below.
The 2016 guitars in a few photos
From left to right:
A J-45 Vintage (so with the thermally processed top)
A Hummingbird (same comment as above)
A J-200
A J-100
Some others models from the 2016 range:
The Bob Dylan J-200
The signature model is truly a magnificent instrument.
- Published in Gear, Interviews, News
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Two luthiers (re)introduce the fast pickup change electric guitar
Friday, 09 October 2015
Here's an interview with two luthiers Sébastien Gavet and Godefroy Maruejouls who collaborated to develop an electric guitar system with fast interchangeable pickup system. They came to show me the first prototype some time ago, this is the video where they explain everything.
The project continues to progress as they have recently introduced a new version of the guitar with an improved system to change the pickups:
What I think of the project
The guitar interchangeable pickup system that has been tried several times in the past.
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J.S. Bach played on a Jazz Bass by Philippe Bussonnet (Magma)
Friday, 18 September 2015
Here's 2min of pure happiness with some J.S. Bach played on a Jazz Bass by Philippe Bussonnet, bass player for the mythical band Magma. It happened yesterday in The Guitar Channel studio right after we recorded an in-depth interview with Philippe.
Until the next interview, keep on playing the guitar or...
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Anasounds is a French boutique pedal builder based in Nice in the South of France. They have a large range of pedals with fuzz, overdrive, distortion, delay and the Phase Lag pedal, a very cool phaser with some interesting hidden features.
I recently had the opportunity to play a real 1960 Sunburst Les Paul thanks to Matthieu Lucas, a French collector. It gave me the idea to read again The Beauty of the Burst, a book I received a while ago. My first reading was more concentrated on the great pictures of the book, you can really spend hours gazing at all those beauties.
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Here's a audio Jon Gomm interview. Jon is one of the current guitar players who is really pushing the enveloppe in the acoustic guitar world. His latest album "Live in the Acoustic Asylum" was recorded live as the title implies and his full of guitar and yet still avoids the default of being annoying because of pointless technical prowesses.
This interview with Jon is more than 45min long as he is very generous and detailed in his answers.
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Chronicle #13 Spartan Project with Springer Guitars – Paint & finish
Wednesday, 05 August 2015
Here's the 13th episode of the Spartan Project video series. You will see how the luthier Mikaël Springer will do his TV white color on the guitar paint. It's quite fascinating to see how it is done.
#13 Spartan Project with @SpringerGuitars: Guitar paint & finish
A few pics from the video
Previous episodes of the Spartan Project
The goal of the Spartan Project is to document the building of a guitar for me by luthier Mikaël Springer.
Here's the 12th episode of the Spartan Project video series. Mikaël works now on the neck/body ensemble. He finalizes the neck profile, does all the routing for the pickup and electronics and prepares the guitar for the final finish steps.
A few pics from the video
Previous episodes of the Spartan Project
As a reminder, the goal of the Spartan Project is to document the building of a guitar for me by luthier Mikaël Springer.
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Here's the 11th episode of the Spartan Project video series. Watch Mikaël working on the neck of my next guitar. Check out how he works with a knife on the volute of the headstock and the heel: pretty amazing craftmanship.
Previous episodes of the Spartan Project
As a reminder, the goal of the Spartan Project is to document the building of a guitar for me by luthier Mikaël Springer.
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The Guitar Channel will be in Montreal to cover the 2015 Montreal Jazz Festival
Monday, 15 June 2015
After several Musikmesse, a first NAMM show in January, the Holy Grail Guitar Show, and various others guitar shows in France, I am very pleased to announce that for the first time I will cover the Montreal Jazz Festival!
So here I am in full swing to organize the ten days that I will spend there.
On my program
Interviews with musicians programmed on the festival
Meetings with local luthiers, and God knows there are some very very good ones!
Contact catches with professional guitar for business development
And of course concerts!
If you are on site and / or you have
Here's the 10th episode of the Spartan Project video series. Watch Mikaël working on the neck of my next guitar.
Playlist of the episodes of the Spartan Project
As a reminder, the goal of the Spartan Project is to document the building of a guitar for me by luthier Mikaël Springer.
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Here's the 9th episode of the Spartan Project video series. Watch Mikaël gluing the fretboard and starting the work on the frets.
Playlist of the episodes of the Spartan Project
As a reminder, the goal of the Spartan Project is to document the building of a guitar for me by luthier Mikaël Springer.
Video recorded on May 17th 2015 at Guitars Addicts in Paris, France when Nik Huber delivered the Blue Whale #6 to the owner, Didier. Etienne Prieuret, pro guitar player, improvised this demo on this superb guitar on the Rhythm channel of an Imperial amp from Tone King (above) and on the Leach channel (below).
Gear used
Guitar: Blue Whale #6
Luthier: Nik Huber
Amp: Tone King Imperial
Video and sound: Lumix GH2
The Blue Whale guitar is a 25 limited edition run. It is based on the Dolphin model from the Nik Huber catalog.
In this 8th video of the Spartan Project the luthier, Mikaël Springer, continues the work on the neck of the guitar.
Previous episodes of the Spartan Project
As a reminder, the goal of the Spartan Project is to document the building of a guitar for me by luthier Mikaël Springer.
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Here's a Tony Macalpine interview for the release of Concrete Gardens. We did a Skype call to talk about this new release. The album is excellent, the technic is stratospheric as usual but thank God the music is not forgotten! It's always a good thing to see a musician like Tony releasing new material.
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Here's a José Ramos interview. José is a luthier I met during the Salon de la Belle Guitare in Montrouge near Paris in March 2015 during the Guitars au Beffroi festival.
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Here's a Dan Macpherson interview. Dan is a luthier I met during the Salon de la Belle Guitare in Montrouge near Paris in March 2015 during the Guitars au Beffroi festival.
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In this 7th video of the Spartan Project the luthier, Mikaël Springer, continues the work on the neck of the guitar.
Previous episodes of the Spartan Project
As a reminder, the goal of the Spartan Project is to document the building of a guitar for me by luthier Mikaël Springer.
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Interview with Kathryn Marie Dudley, author of the book “Guitar Makers”
Friday, 24 April 2015
I heard about Kathryn Marie Dudley book, Guitar Makers - The Endurance of Artisanal Values in North America, from Austrian luthier Michael Spalt. I contacted the editor and received a copy of the book soon after. Kathryn exposes a fascinating story of the North American guitar builders.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
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In this 6th video of the Spartan Project the luthier, Mikaël Springer, continues the work on the neck of the guitar.
Previous episodes of the Spartan Project
As a reminder, the goal of the Spartan Project is to document the building of a guitar for me by luthier Mikaël Springer.
- Published in News
Here's a double Michael Spalt interview I did during the Salon de la Belle Guitare of the festival Guitares au Beffroi (www.guitaresaubeffroi.com) which took place in Montrouge near Paris in March 2015. Austrian luthier Michael Spalt was there as an exhibitor and as the president of the European Guitar Builders (EGB). One of the main activity of the EGB is the organization of the Holy Grail Guitar Show where I went for the first edition in Berlin last year.
So we did two interviews instead of one! The one above is the one about his life as a luthier.
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