Joe Bonamassa and Kevin Shirley have a good thing going. Each year they get together for a few weeks and record a new album. I don’t know how they do it, but they’ve got the process down to a science. Which is not to say that the records sound rushed. On the contrary, Shirley seems to be able to push Bonamasssa a little further with each new release, and Bonamassa’s signature sound gets more refined.

Recorded in picturesque Santorini, Greece, Black Rock* is the next chapter of the Shirley/Bonamassa collaboration. At the start of the recording sessions, Shirley had Joe record using a Telecaster directly into small amps to force Bonamassa out of his Les Paul/Marshall comfort zone. Additionally, Greek folk musicians were brought in to play with Joe. You can read more about the recording process here.

Like Bonamassa’s previous solo albums, Black Rock contains a mixture of original tunes and covers. Joe wrote 5 of the 13 tracks on the album. As I’ve mentioned before, Joe has a way of taking songs written by other people and making them his own. On Black Rock, Joe covers songs by Jeff Beck, John Hiatt, Otis Rush, Willie Nelson, Leonard Cohen, Blind Boy Fuller, and James Clark. Joe is also joined by special guest B.B. King on the  Willie Nelson tune “Night Life.”

The album starts off with a couple of heavier blues tunes, “Steal Your Heart Away” followed by “I Know a Place.” These songs set a nice tone for the album. Vocally, Joe seems to be stretching himself further with each album. Musically, Joe’s in excellent form. His recorded guitar tones are some of my favorite, and Black Rock continues that tradition.

I really enjoy Joe’s slide playing, but the slide hasn’t been prominently featured on one of his albums for several years. Fortunately, the third song on the album, “When the Fire Hits the Sea”, changes that by featuring a very nice slide solo.

Next is “Quarryman’s Lament”, which is presumably a response to “Story of a Quarryman” from Joe’s last album The Ballad of John Henry. “Quarryman’s Lament” is a slow, dirge-like number that features some excellent acoustic playing by Joe.

“Spanish Boots” is a Jeff Beck tune, and Bonamassa’s version is quite a bit different than Beck’s version. In my opinion, Beck’s version is more laid back than Bonamassa’s version, which is more upfront and in your face. Both versions are excellent, but I think I like Bonamassa’s version a little better.

I was a little surprised to see Joe cover a Leonard Cohen tune, but his version of “Bird on a Wire” is excellent. I’ve never heard the original, so I can’t compare them, but I really like Joe’s version. It’s probably the slowest song on the album and is a nice bridge between “Spanish Boots” and the bluesier “Three Times a Fool.”

“Three Times a Fool” is one of the more traditional blues songs on the album. To me, this song evokes the blues of the 50s and 60s. Joe seems to be using a 335-style guitar on this track, which contributes to the more classic sound compared to his more rock-oriented tracks. “Night Life” also falls into the category of more traditional blues, even though it’s a cover of a Willie Nelson tune. Of course, B.B. King helps contribute to the more traditional sound. I like their take on the tune. Again, I’ve never heard the original, so I can’t compare this version to the original.

After “Night Life” is “Wandering Earth”, which is a slow, but heavy blues that has some of the best guitar tones on the album. This is an original Bonamassa tune and is one of my favorites on the album.

“Look Over Yonders Wall” is a mid-tempo blues number that is a cover of a James Clark tune. Joe plays a couple of fiery solos in this tune.

“Athens to Athens” is a slow, Greek-infused song that features the Greek musicians more prominently than most of the other songs. I was curious to see how the Greek musicians would fit into Joe’s style of music, and I think Shirley did a good job in where he placed them on the album. A nice touch resulting in an interesting addition to the album.

“Blue and Evil” is the first publicly available song from Black Rock. It starts off with an acoustic riff that morphs into a heavy blues riff. This tune features great guitar tones and another fiery guitar solo from Joe.

The final track on the album is an acoustic blues cover of a Blind Boy Fuller song titled “Baby You Gotta Change Your Mind.” Compared to the rest of the album, this track is a bit of a departure, and I can see why it’s included last. However, I really like Joe’s take on the song, and it’s a fun way to end the album. It’s a more intimate song prominently featuring Joe’s vocals and guitar playing with little other instrumentation.

With Black Rock, Joe Bonamassa and Kevin Shirley have got another great album to add to Bonamassa’s already impressive discography. Very few other modern artists are playing blues/rock music like this, and Bonamassa remains at the top of his game with this album. If you’re already a fan, you’ll love this album. If you’re new to Bonamassa’s music, Black Rock provides a nice introduction to the variety in his music, not to mention the great collection of songs.

The full track listing of Black Rock is:

1. Steal Your Heart Away
2. I Know a Place
3. When the Fire Hits the Sea
4. Quarryman’s Lament
5. Spanish Boots
6. Bird on a Wire
7. Three Times a Fool
8. Night Life
9. Wandering Earth
10. Look Over Yonders Wall
11. Athens to Athens
12. Blue and Evil
13. Baby You Gotta Change Your Mind

Black Rock will be available in the U.S. on March 23, 2010.

* The Amazon.com links within this review are affiliate links. I receive a small commission if you purchase the album through this link, which helps me pay to host this site. That being said, I really like this album and wouldn’t recommend it otherwise.

I have a confession: I’m a bit of a headstock snob, mainly because I’ve always equated quality with the name on the headstock. Additionally, I’ve had mixed experiences with Squier guitars before. As a result, I haven’t paid much attention to Squier guitars over the past few years. However, over the past year after joining The Gear Page forums and The Telecaster forums, I started hearing a lot of very good reviews about the Squier Classic Vibe ’50s Telecaster. The first few times I heard rave reviews, I didn’t pay much attention to them. However, over time after hearing more and more rave reviews, I decided to take a closer look at the Squier Classic Vibe ’50s Telecaster.

The Classic Vibe Telecaster is not meant to be an exact replica of a ’50s Telecaster; it’s meant to evoke the vibe of those guitars, and I think it does a good job of that. This Telecaster features a white polyester finish, a maple neck, a one-ply black pickguard, Alnico III neck and bridge pickups, and one volume and one tone control with a three-way switch. The most intriguing part of this guitar to me is the pine body. I’ve never played a guitar with a pine body, so I was curious to see how the guitar played and sounded.

From what I can tell, the pine body takes a little bit of the “spank” away from what I normally think of when I think of Telecasters. The guitar sounds a little bit darker and maybe a little edgier than some of the other Telecasters I’ve played. I was thinking that I might need to swap out the pickups due to the fact that this is such an inexpensive guitar and I didn’t think they’d sound very good. I may still swap them out at some point in the future, but I actually like the way the pickups sound. Many people think they sound just as good as the pickups in the Made in Mexico Telecasters, and I’d have to agree.

One of the few complaints some people have about this guitar is that the neck is a little too small. I have to disagree, though. I’m used to playing thicker necks, but I find the thin neck of the Classic Vibe ’50s Telecaster to feel great. In fact, after playing my Jimmie Vaughan Strat for a while, my fretting hand often hurts. Not so with the Telecaster. I can play for a long time and experience no pain.

For a relatively inexpensive guitar, the fit and finish of the Classic Vibe ’50s Telecaster exceeds my expectations. The frets are well fitted, and I couldn’t find any flaws in the finish. The guitar feels solid and well-made. I wouldn’t say that the Classic Vibe ’50s Telecaster is as good as USA-made Telecasters (although they can hold their own pretty well), I would say that the Classic Vibe ’50s Telecaster is as good as any Made In Mexico Telecaster I’ve ever played.

If you’re in the market for a well-made, yet inexpensive Telecaster, I highly recommend checking out the Squier Classic Vibe ’50s Telecaster. The street price for the guitar is $350. If you want the same value in a slightly different package, Fender has recently announced two more Classic Vibe Telecasters, the Classic Vibe Custom and the Classic Vibe Thinline.

Low-watt amps have become quite popular over the past few years as people have tried to find great tone at lower volumes. Low-watt amps are not new, though. Fender introduced the 5-watt Champ amp in 1948, and many other manufacturers have offered low-watt amps since. However, it seems that more companies are offering low-watt amps than ever before. Blackheart Engineering is a company that I started hearing about a year or so ago that is making a line of popular low-watt amps. They make a 1-watt amp (Little Ant), a 5-watt amp (Little Giant), and a 15-watt amp (Handsome Devil). Additionally, if you’re looking for a 100-watt head, Blackheart makes one of those too, called the Hothead.

I have the 5-watt Little Giant Combo*, which includes a 12-inch Eminence speaker. The Little Giant combo is a single-ended, class A amp that uses one EL84 tube and one 12Ax7 preamp tube. The amp includes a volume control and three tone controls: Treble, Middle, and Bass. Also included is a Pentode/Triode switch that switches the amp from 5 watts of output to 3 watts. The street price for the Little Giant combo is about $350. The Little Giant is available as a head for about $200. Blackheart amps are distributed by Crate.

First Impressions

After opening the box, I was impressed with the quality of the construction of the amp. Truth be told, I wasn’t expecting much from a $350 amp, but I was pleasantly surprised. The amp is well put together and seems to be well designed. The cabinet seems solid and there aren’t any tears in the covering.

Max Headroom

Many complaints about low-wattage amps center around the fact that many of them don’t have much clean headroom. In other words, the amp begins distorting earlier than desired. However, the Little Giant has much more clean headroom than I expected. In fact, I was actually hoping for a little more distortion at lower volumes! I can’t get natural tube distortion at volumes low enough to be played for long within my home. That being said, when you can turn it up loud enough to get natural distortion, the distortion is very smooth and warm sounding; a very satisfying tone.

Tone

The amp is very warm sounding. I have a Fender Blues Jr. amp, and the Little Giant seems a little darker and warmer than the Blues Jr. However, it’s a very pleasing sound. A Strat sounds very clean through the amp, but not quite as bright as when played through the Blues Jr. The 3 tone controls are fairly responsive on the amp, so it’s easy to adjust the tone to suit your tastes. I prefer a bit of midrange from my amps, and the Little Giant sounds very good with a bit of midrange. One of my favorite settings so far is putting the Treble on 5, the Midrange on 6, and the Bass on 4. This setting works well with my Strat and my PRS SE Singlecut, although I tend to roll off the tone on my Strat a little.

Pentode/Triode Switch

While I like the option of being able to switch the amp down to 3 watts, doing so cuts out some of the top end from the amp. That is, there is a noticeable difference in tone between the 5-watt setting and the 3-watt setting. Other amps that utilize the Pentode/Triode switch combination also suffer from this cut in frequency. There is also an audible pop when switching the wattage. Because the amp is a warmer-sounding amp to begin with, I tend to use the 5 watt setting more than the 3 watt setting. But, if you want to get to the distortion sooner, the 3 watt option helps you get there earlier than the 5 watt setting.

Conclusion

If you’re in the market for a low-watt tube amp, there are a lot of options available to you. However, I think at $350 the Blackheart Engineering Little Giant combo amp provides a good value with a solid construction, well thought-out engineering, and, most importantly, good tone. However, even though it’s only five watts, it’s a loud five watts, so you might need pedals if you want good distorted tones at low volumes. The three watt switch can be used to get to the distorted tones a little faster, but you do lose a little top-end by switching to the three watt setting.

Here’s a video demo of the Little Giant head and cabinet. You can get a feel for the clean and the distorted tones, which are quite pleasing:

* Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a Little Giant combo amp review unit for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Last year, Page Hamilton released a guitar instructional DVD titled Sonic Shapes. I’ve mentioned before that I was a big fan of Hamilton’s and his band Helmet when I first started playing guitar in the 90s. He was one of the first musicians I knew of who tuned to drop-D.

On Sonic Shapes, Hamilton illustrates some of the concepts and approaches he takes when writing music for Helmet. Hamilton is a long-time student of jazz and avant-garde guitar, and it’s interesting to hear him talk about how he builds the chords for Helmet music, which seem deceptively simple at first. However, the chords and scales he uses are fairly atypical for the type of music he plays. Throughout the instructional portion of the DVD, Page plays an ESP guitar without distortion so you can really get a feel for how the chords sound without the effects that he normally uses.

In addition to demonstrating how he goes about composing some of Helmet’s music, the DVD features a section of Hamilton’s tips on practicing. He mentions a routine called “Super Chops,” which was developed by Howard Roberts, that he has adapted for his own use. Hamilton suggests always having material on hand so that you can utilize your time wisely. For example, when he’s on the road, he always has a folder of material that he’s working on. He also suggests keeping a practice log so that you can keep track of your progress and of what you want to work on.

As a bonus, the DVD features some live footage of Helmet, where you can see some of the concepts Hamilton discusses earlier in the DVD in action.

One of the most popular posts on this site is “Build Your Own Pedalboard“, where I link to Rob Hampton’s detailed description of building his pedalboard. It seems that a lot of people are interested in building their own pedalboard. However, not everyone has the time or tools to build their own pedalboard. Enter Pedaltrain.

Pedaltrain makes a series of professional-quality pedalboards used by many guitarists. Pedaltrain’s pedalboards come in various sizes. The largest is the Pedaltrain Pro; the Pedaltrain 1 and 2 are slightly smaller than the Pro, but still hold about a dozen pedals; the Pedaltrain Jr is several inches smaller than the 1 and the 2; and the Pedaltrain Mini is the smallest unit that Pedaltrain sells.

I’d heard about Pedaltrain through the message boards, where many people were praising them, but I’d never used them myself until recently. I had a chance to meet the president of Pedaltrain at last summer’s NAMM show, and he told me more about his company’s products. After looking at the displays, I came away very impressed with the quality that goes into their pedalboards.

I have the Pedaltrain Jr, which is a good size for someone who has about six pedals or so. The Pedaltrain Jr measures in at 17″ x 12.5″ x 2.5″. My initial impression at the NAMM booth have been confirmed by being able to spend some time with the pedalboard. It is built rock-solid and seems like it could hold up to extensive gigging, although I have not gigged it yet.

A few of the nice things about Pedaltrain’s pedalboards are the fact that they are angled and open, making access to the pedals on the top row easy so that you don’t accidentally step on a pedal on the bottom row instead of the intended pedal. Additionally, this design makes cable management fairly easy and leaves room on the bottom of the pedalboard for a power strip or other power supply for your pedals. For example, many people use the Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 to provide power for their pedals, and there is room underneath the pedalboard for this power supply.

Another nice touch by Pedaltrain is the inclusion of all the velcro you’ll need to start adding pedals to the pedalboard. The velcro seems very durable, and instructions are included to help you get started.

You can get Pedaltrain pedalboards with a soft case or a hardshell flight case. My pedalboard came with the hardshell case, and it seems like it could really take a beating. Because the cases were so well received by musicians, the president of Pedaltrain created a sister company called ProStageGear, which makes gig bags and flight cases for instruments and amplifiers. I had a chance to look at these on the floor at NAMM, and they look to be of the same quality as the pedalboard cases, but I haven’t used any of the guitar cases myself.

If you’re looking for a pedalboard and don’t want to build your own, I highly recommend taking a look at Pedaltrain’s pedalboards. If you want to see how your pedals will work on one of Pedaltrain’s pedalboards, you can design your pedalboard at PedalboardPlanner.com. You can select among each of Pedaltrain’s products, and there is a large list of pedals that you can add to the board to see how they’ll fit.

Seattle-based guitar instructor and founder of Heartwood Guitar Instruction Rob Hampton has recently written a book titled Rob’s Totally Awesome Guitar Teaching Handbook. In the book, Hampton provides hard-earned insights into setting up and running a successful guitar teaching business.

I’ve thought several times about becoming a guitar teacher, but I’ve always had questions that have held me back. Rob’s book helps answer many of those questions. For example, one basic question I’ve always had is whether I was a good enough guitarist to start teaching others. Rob had this same question before he started, and he provides some good advice about how good you have to be. Furthermore, he learned that teaching made him play more, which helped him improve as a player himself. Another question he discusses is determining whether you’re a good enough teacher. He provides some good insight into helping you determine that for yourself.

Many people get into guitar teaching because they like playing guitar and they think it’s an easy way to make money. However, when you teach on your own, you also need to be aware of the business side of guitar teaching. Rob’s handbook breaks down many of the details about running a guitar-teaching business. For example, should you rent a studio or teach from your home? What kind of teaching space do you need? Should you make housecalls? Do you need insurance? These are just a few examples of the types of questions that Rob discusses in his book.

Another aspect of guitar teaching is marketing yourself. Rob talks about how to brand yourself and then advertise your services to your community. Rob has a unique perspective on how to market his business, as he’s been able to get his business on the first page of Google when searching for “seattle guitar lessons” and he has a five-year waiting list of students. Suffice it to say, he has some helpful strategies for marketing a guitar-teaching business.

If you’ve been able to answer all of these questions and you still want to be a guitar teacher, Rob provides some guidance on how to teach guitar. He helps you determine the type of teaching philosophy that will be successful for you and your students. He also provides advice on how to structure your lessons to get the maximum benefit for the student. The book even includes detailed information about how to teach a new concept to a beginning student. Rob really spends quite a bit of time in this section providing details and examples about teaching guitar concepts and how to approach lesson planning. He even provides a list of easy songs to teach beginning and intermediate players. This chapter is full of excellent content about the actual act of teaching.

At $30, Rob’s Totally Awesome Guitar Teaching Handbook is a treasure-trove of information for anyone thinking about teaching guitar. It’s really opened my eyes up to a lot of things I’ve never even considered and made me really think about whether or not I’m ready to teach guitar. I highly recommend Rob’s book to anyone thinking about teaching guitar.

On May 4, 2009, Joe Bonamassa played to a sold-out crowd at London’s Royal Albert Hall. This was the culmination of a life-long dream of Bonamassa’s and a celebration of his 20 years in the music business. The performance was recorded and was released on DVD this month.

At the beginning of the DVD, Bonamassa recounts watching Cream’s Farewell Concert, which was recorded at the Royal Albert Hall, and how it made him want to play the Royal Albert Hall one day. Suffice it to say, this was a special day for Bonamassa, and he brought out all the stops.

In addition to his regular touring band, which features Carmine Rojas on bass, Bogie Bowles on drums, and Rick Melick on keys, Bonamassa added a horn section and Anton Fig as a second drummer. I wondered how the additional players would affect the sound because I love the sound he gets from his regular touring band and I was hoping that wouldn’t get lost. My worries were unfounded; the additional musicians really added another dimension to the music making it fuller and bigger sounding.

As Bonamassa starts the show, the camera follows behind him so that you can see his point of view from the stage. And, as he walks out onto the stage playing the intro notes to “Django”, you can see the crowd give him a standing ovation, which must have been a tremendous moment for Joe.

The material Joe selected for the show features songs from his latest album The Ballad of John Henry as well as songs from throughout his solo career, including one of my favorites, “Blues Deluxe.” He also played a few classics, including “Just Got Paid” and “Further On Up the Road”, where he was joined by the person that inspired him to want to play the Royal Albert Hall: Eric Clapton. Another special guest, British radio host Paul Jones, joined Bonamassa to play harmonica on “Your Funeral My Trial.”

Joe’s playing throughout the show is, as usual, incredible. The tones he wrangles out of his Les Pauls and his amp combinations are second to none. The gear he uses includes his signature Les Pauls, a few Les Paul historic models, a Gibson Flying V, an Ernie Ball Musicman John Petrucci Baritone, an Ernie Ball Musicman 25th anniversary, and a Yamaha acoustic. He uses his usual combination of amps, which includes a Marshall Silver Jubilee, a Van Weeldon Twinkleland, a Carol Ann JB model, and a Category 5 Joe Bonamassa model.

The DVD also has a few bonus features, including a performance of “Woke Up Dreaming,” which is an acoustic guitar tour de force. Additionally, a bus interview with Bonamassa is included. In the interview, he discusses some of the songs that he plays in the show and how he came to write or record them. While discussing the songs, he plays some fragments of the songs using the brand-new Marshall Class 5 amp, which sounds great.

Joe Bonamassa has previously released two other DVDs, Live at Rockpalast and A New Day Yesterday Live, both of which are very good and both of which I’d recommend. However, Live at the Royal Albert Hall takes it to a different level. I think this is Joe’s best DVD so far. Not only is the performance top-notch, the production by Kevin Shirley is very well done. I had the chance to see Bonamassa a few months before the Royal Albert Hall show, and this DVD perfectly encapsulates that experience for me. I highly recommend this DVD for any fans of guitar-driven music.

I’ve recently had the chance to use a leather guitar strap from Italia Leather Straps, and I can say that these are very well made guitar straps. The one I have is their black on black model, as shown in the picture. In addition to being very well made, the straps carry a lifetime guarantee, so if anything does go wrong with the strap, they’ll replace it for free. As they say on their website: “An Italia Strap is the last guitar strap or bass guitar strap you will ever need to buy.”

I’m used to using nylon straps that came with my guitars. Immediately upon feeling the leather strap by Italia, you realize that it’s a completely different feel than the nylon straps I’m used to. The strap feels like a much higher quality strap and feels like it’ll last for a long time. The leather is also more comfortable than the nylon straps I’ve been using.

If you’re in the market for a new guitar strap, I’d recommend checking out Italia Leather Straps.

Rich Murray of The Guitar Channel recently posted a review of Wayne Krantz’s new album Krantz Carlock Lefebvre:

One of the trademarks of Krantz’s live performances is the amount of group improvising that takes place. In a wise move, Krantz decided to bring that strength to the studio for Krantz Carlock Lefebvre, and the results are fantastic.

I first heard about Krantz through his work with the excellent Tal Wilkenfield. Krantz is definitely a unique guitarist and, based on Rich’s review, I’m going to have to check out the new album.

Emon at Guitarkadia recently posted a review of It Might Get Loud, the new movie featuring Jimmie Page, The Edge, and Jack White. The movie was released in California and New York last Friday and will be released throughout the rest of the US over the next several months. I’ve been looking forward to the film since I first heard of it several months ago, so I’m looking forward to the September release here in Nashville.