In addition to talking to Gene Baker about his involvement with the boutique consortium of designers at Premier Builders Guild, we go back in time to look at the rise of B.C. Rich-one of the most iconic guitar brands of the 1980s. Dream Theater's John Petrucci and John Myung talk about thriving after the apocalypse of founding drummer Mike Portnoy's departure and their subsequent epic, A Dramatic Turn of Events. We also interview Primus' bass-and-guitar freak show-Les Claypool and Ler LaLonde-to find out how friendship and new tone toys resurrected the most bizarre power trio of the last 25 years. And then we talk to mind-boggling classical guitarist Matt Palmer about his evolution from learning Yngwie tunes to redefining classical guitar with an incredible new nylon-string picking technique. We also take you way outside the box with Avant Guitar 101: Alternate Attacks-a how-to feature that explores the unorthodox playing approaches of iconic experimentalists Keith Rowe and Fred Frith. In the gear-review room this month, we take a look at the new Line 6 POD HD, the Collings 290 DC, the Dingwall Z3 bass, the Blackstar HT-5R, the Amptweaker TightMetal, the Yamaha A3M acoustic, the DV Mark DV40 212, the MXR M87 Bass Compressor, the Hughes & Kettner TubeMeister 18, and the Gretsch G6128T-GH George Harrison Signature Duo Jet.

Series: PREMIER GUITAR
Pages: 208