Gate Guitar #047 Spalt Instruments review: a piece of art you can play for good!
The Gate Guitar #047 from the Totem resin top series built by Austrian luthier Michael Spalt is one of the three guitars recently received at our Paris, France showroom. This is part of the service proposed to boutique builders described here in this post. Yes! It is definitely a piece of art but, boy, is
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Jamie Gale, live interview with the Boutique Guitar Showcase founder
Jamie Gale is an important player in the world of boutique guitar. He is the founder of the Boutique Guitar Showcase (boutiqueguitarshowcase.com), which recently toured Europe, making a stop at Guitare Village (huge guitar store North of Paris) last October (see the full story in this article). Here is a live interview recorded with him
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In the live interviews series, here is Andy Timmons (andytimmons.com), an American musician whose sense of melody is always present with a glorious guitar tone. Andy answered all my questions with his guitar in hand, and in particular about his song That Day Came, which was discussed in this article. Andy Timmons guitar in hand
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Isaac Jang live interview from his luthier workshop in Los Angeles, California
Isaac Jang (isaacjangguitars.com) is an American luthier based in Los Angeles who recently moved to a new workshop in the South Pasadena area. During this live interview he showed us around his new working space, talked about his very last build and about his work as a high end boutique acoustic guitar builder. Isaac Jang
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Pierre Danel and Quentin Godet, guitar in hand with the musicians of Kadinja
Pierre Danel and Quentin Godet are the two fine gun slingers of Kadinja (kadinja.bandcamp.com). First met during the Winter NAMM 2019 where they made their debut with the Vola Guitar brand, they came to a gear event organized in September 2019 by us around Vola Guitar and BD Custom amps. It's only one year later
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Michael Spalt live interview with the Austrian luthier from Vienna
The boutique guitar builder Michael Spalt (spaltinstruments.com) was the guest of this live interview from Vienna, Austria where he has his workshop. As there are three of his instruments at the moment in the showroom of The Guitar Channel in Paris, France we made a detailed visit of those guitars and talked about the current
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Unicorn Classic Ruokangas, a super high-end Les Paul type luthier guitar
Ruokangas (ruokangas.com) is a difficult name to pronounce for us but it's a well known name on The Guitar Channel since there have already been several interviews with luthier Juha Ruokangas as well as several luthier chronicles. In the category of high-end luthier guitars, here is the Unicorn Classic, the reinterpretation of the Les Paul
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Simplifier Zero Watt DSM & Humboldt fully analog guitar preamp review
The Simplifier Zero Watt from the Chilean brand DSM & Humboldt (simplifieramp.com) is a fully analog guitar preamp that offers the three standard tube amp types. So we find the Fender Blackface sound, the VOX AC30 sound and finally the Marshall Plexi sound. The unit has a very small footprint since it is just the
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Boutique Guitar Showcase tour 2020 at Guitare Village in Domont near Paris
The 2020 Boutique Guitar Showcase (boutiqueguitarshowcase.com) tour curated by Jamie Gale made its French stop at Guitare Village, a guitar store located 30min North from Paris by train. At a time when guitar shows have disappeared from the face of the earth, it was nice to see about thirty instruments from American and European luthiers.
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Hadrien Feraud interview, bass in hand part 3 with a visit of his Ken Smith
Third and last part of Hadrien Feraud bass in hand interview. Hadrien came to the showroom of The Guitar Channel one fine day in July 2020 to talk about his next projects, his next album and to take a guided tour of his 5-string bass Ken Smith. Hadrien Feraud interview Activate the subtitles in English
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It was a blast to record a gear review of this 1965 Gibson SG Junior. Here is a great Rock'n'Roll machine of a Vintage guitar! This example is in player condition, meaning it is not fully original (the original tremolo is gone, the tuners were replaced, etc.) and it was heavily played. 1965 Gibson SG
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Erlend Krauser interview, German guitarist and great Kemper user
Discovered in a video produced by Kemper where he played The Stand, one of his composition, here is an interview with the German musician Erlend Krauser (erlendkrauser.de). His use of the tone capabilities of the Kemper modeler is awesome and produces a great result in the aforementioned video. Erlend Krauser interview The Guitar Channel podcast
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Hadrien Feraud interview, bass in hand part 2, his work with John MacLaughlin and more
Second part out of three of the in-depth interview with the musician Hadrien Feraud who talks in particular about his integration on the music scene in the United States, his meeting with John McLaughlin, Sylvain Luc and Biréli Lagrène. Hadrien Feraud interview Activate the subtitles in English in the YouTube player Until the next interview,
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Jennifer Batten live interview about Eddie Van Halen legacy, her projects and more
The incredible Jennifer Batten who played for 10 years on stage with Michael Jackson and 3 years with Jeff Beck was the guest of this live interview. It was an opportunity to look back on Eddie Van Halen's recent passing, his legacy and the various times Jennifer met him. The American guitarist also talks about
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The French musician Hadrien Feraud is a world famous bassist who toured with greats like John McLaughlin or Chick Corea. The Covid lockdown interrupted a tour with Frank Gambale. That places you if it was necessary the caliber of Hadrien! Hadrien Feraud interview Activate the subtitles in English in the YouTube player Until the next
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Josh Smith live interview from his Flat Five studio in Los Angeles
The American guitar player and singer Josh Smith (joshsmithguitar.com) was my guest for a live interview from his Flat Five studio in Los Angeles. Here is the full recording of this Skype call. Josh Smith interview The Guitar Channel podcast The audio version of the video is available in the podcast on iTunes, Spotify and below:
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JD Simo interview from Nashville about his 2020 self-titled album
JD Simo, the American Blues guitar player born in Chicago and now in Nashville presents his latest self-titled album in this Skype interview. It is always a pleasure to interview this musician who is always very generous in his answers and full of a communicative energy despite the bleak times we are going through. JD
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Reveho collapsible travel guitar, CEO Alexandre Albisser presents the Slite model
The French startup Reveho (reveho.com) launches a Kickstarter campaign to finance the production and sale of the Slite, their model of collapsible travel guitar. The young team came to our showroom in April 2019 to present me with a prototype that was already promising. As of the recording date of this interview with CEO Alexandre
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Nir Felder interview about his new album II which offers an energetic Jazz
Nir Felder (nirfelder.com) is a New-York City based Jazz musician I interviewed for the first time at the Montreal Jazzfest in 2016. Here is again this time through a Skype interview to talk about his brand new album titled II. If you want to listen to some energetic modern Jazz, you have to check out
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Tora Dahle Aagård interview about her album “Girls” and more
Discovered through her endorsement by French luthier Tom Marceau from Marceau Guitars (marceauguitars.com), Norwegian singer and guitarist Tora Dahle Aagård is the guest of this interview. it was conducted via Skype a few days before the release of her album Girls. In this record she manages to offer an amazing cocktail that mixes a modern
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During the annual X-Jamm 2020 concert organized during Winter NAMM, I had the opportunity to meet several musicians who have worked with Frank Zappa. Here is Zappa's singer and guitarist, Ray White. Ray White interview Until the next interview, keep on playing the guitar! Pierre Journel.
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It's always a pleasure to do an interview with Australian guitarist Adam Miller (adammiller.com.au). The first interview with him dates back to 2014 when he was in Europe to demonstrate Baker guitars and Tone King amps. In 2020 he released a superb instrumental album entitled Unify which he talks about here. Adam Miller interview -
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XTone Pro Xsonic review, 2 input USB audio interface and MIDI pedalboard
In this review I present you the XTone Pro from Xsonic. This is a super cool USB 2 input audio interface which doubles as a MIDI pedalboard! Great piece of gear which works great with your favorite amp emulation software on your computer or mobile device. Disclaimer: this gear was sent to me by the
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Davy Knowles guitar in hand interview at the PRS booth – NAMM 2020
Davy Knowles is a great guitar player who has been endorsed by PRS Guitars for many years now. It was a lot of fun to record this guitar in hand interview during the 2020 Winter NAMM show. Davy Knowles interview The Guitar Channel podcast with Davy Knowles The audio version of the video is available
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Steve Swallow interview with the bass player legend who plays with John Scofield
Steve Swallow is a legendary bassist who plays with pianist Carla Bley and guitarist John Scofield. This interview was conducted in the context of the release of the excellent album titled Swallow Tales featuring compositions by Steve Swallow. Steve Swallow interview The Guitar Channel podcast with Steve Swallow The audio version of the video is available
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Fender Lead II and Lead III, two great guitars from Fender Mexico!
At the Winter NAMM 2020, the Mexican reissues of the Fender Lead models caught my eye. A few weeks later, here is now the complete test of the two Mexican Fender Lead series, the Lead II and the Lead III. To make it simple, the II is equipped with two single-coil pickups and the III
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Vitaly Makukin is an ukrainian guitar player who has an excellent tapping technique on acoustic and electric guitar. Here is in a guitar in hand interview in our Paris showroom. Vitaly Makukin interview Until the next interview, keep on playing the guitar! Pierre Journel.
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