Link Wray's 1958 song "
Rumble" remains the most dangerous-sounding instrumental blues vamp ever recorded, unmatched in its raw, slinky cool until.
All Wray he needed was his fuzzed-out guitar, soaking in reverb and tremolo, and a rhythm section with the minimalist instincts of Bo Diddley's band, who were making a similar kind of sound at the same time "Rumble" hit the airwaves.
But where Diddley's songs invited listeners to dance, Wray's "ragged, ominous chords, overdriven and dragged to a crawl," wrote Rolling Stone, sounded like an invitation to a knife fight.
The song's title capitalized on fifties panic over juvenile delinquency and gang violence, anxieties responsible for the popularity of entertainments like The Wild One, West Side Story, and Blackboard Jungle.
In order to recreate the raucous, distorted sound of his first night in the studio, Wray famously punched holes in the speaker of his guitar amp and turned it into a fuzzbox, the first of its kind.
The gritty tune is said to be the connecting force between early blues guitarists and the later guitar gods of the 1960s... Hendrix, Clapton and Page. Wray was "the father of distortion and fuzz, the originator of the power chord and the godfather of metal.
Like all the best rock and roll, Wray's brief masterpiece had the power to shock and upset the squares. The song was banned from radio stations in New York and Boston for fear it might actually incite gang violence-the first and only instrumental song to be banned from the air.
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This Modern Jazzmaster in 3-Color Sunburst is available for a limited time only. Made in Japan, the Modern Jazzmaster features a three-piece alder body, while its neck offers a modern C-to-D neck, as well as a compound-radius rosewood fingerboard, contoured neck heel and even glow-in-the-dark side dots. Fourth-generation noiseless humbuckers provide the tones, while there's also a tune-o-matic bridge and locking tuners and a black headstock.
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IN THE BASSMENT
This bass was a custom order that began as a Signature Deluxe with a Buckeye Burl top and back. Aside from the stunning visual effects, it also has a new body shape. The story of the shape was to alter the Balance K shape so that the left-hand reach and lap position to be closer to a Jazz bass. After the body design, we made a full-scale mock-up from scrap wood. Then we sent pictures with one of the luthiers here modeling the bass for approval.
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"Written for the guitarist who has been playing for a while, but is seriously hampered by the feeling that they don't know what they're doing.
Guitar EncycloMedia
provides the perfect solution to this problem by efficiently presenting the theoretical basis of music in a way that is clear, easily applied, and does not require the reading of staff notes or TAB." - Randy Roos, Associate Professor of Guitar, Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA.
"Bass EncycloMedia
is filled with practical and highly musical techniques and information that will benefit bass players of any style and ability level, especially those who have passed beyond the 'beginner' stage. This is a great addition to the library of every bass player. I am very impressed! " - Dr. Robert Cutietta, Dean of the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California.
Dramatically improve your playing by easily learning all the chords, scales, arpeggios and modes necessary to improvise something uniquely different every time with every song. With over 323 pages,
Guitar EncycloMedia and Bass EncycloMedia
offer total fretboard knowledge in one book. They are as essential as your instrument!
Order
Guitar EncycloMedia or
Bass EncycloMedia now through
March 5, 2020 to receive
15% OFF! Only available from the 12 Tone Music
store. No coupon code needed. Domestic orders only. Money back guarantee.
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WATCH THIS
In 1961, Gibson decided it was time to restyle the Les Paul model it had introduced in 1952. With Fender's more modern-looking models eating into its sales, Gibson thought it might gain back some of its market share by giving the Les Paul a sleeker look. That decision didn't sit well with the guitar's namesake. Les Paul never liked the resulting Gibson SG model, with its thin body and twin pointy horns. In this video, the late guitarist and inventor explains exactly what about the guitar bothered him.
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LEARN HERE
Anytime you draw up a list of the greatest guitarists of all time, or in this case most influential, passions are bound to be ignited one way or the other. However, one thing is for certain. If the following musicians are not the 12 most influential guitarists of all time, they are certainly 12 of the most influential. Regardless of their respective styles, all are players who have excited the imagination and kindled the flame to pick up the instrument in countless individuals. By singling them out, we honor their contributions and, at the same time, bring to mind great guitar music we have treasured.
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GREAT GEAR
According to Becos, this peda boasts two independent analog engines, which can operate as a dual-band compressor/limiter with variable crossover point or as a stacked compressor with separate controls for each engine. In either mode, harmonic saturation can be injected separately on each of the dry line bands, and then mixed with the wet compressed line. There's also a separate gain reduction display for easy indication of how hard or soft the lows and highs are being processed.
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ARTIST AWARENESS
Vince Gill has been playing the guitar for 55 of his 62 years. His virtuosic and sweetly expressive solos - whether flatpicked or played fingerstyle - have graced more than 20 genre-spanning studio albums that have earned him 21 Grammy awards and just about every honor the Country Music Association has come up with. Asked if he feels like he has anything more to prove, the easy-going guitarist laughs gently and says, "Probably not. I've had a good run."
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