The Guitar Channel - Passion Amplifier

Francisco Rodriguez is a Spanish luthier The Guitar Channel interviewed during the Holy Grail Guitar Show. Here's one of his wonderful instruments he builds under his brand Franfret (www.franfret.net), the Oniric electric guitar, an awesome Rock'n'Roll machine. Franfret Oniric video review Audio version of the review in the podcast: Review setup * Path: guitar > Apollo Twin (Universal Audio) * Plugins used: 55 Fender Tweed Deluxe, Marshall JMP * Reverb: added during the video editing in Final Cul Pro Photo album What I enjoyed the most * Great look * Excellent build quality * The sounds * A strong personality What I enjoyed the least * Nothing! Conclusion With a little family air at the Ibanez Iceman, this luthier guitar has a great look. We have clearly here a very good instrument. Since this Oniric is clearly oriented towards Rock'n'Roll one will not miss too much tonality. With a central part of the body in Ash with Walnut wings and a Mongoy top, the Oniric offers a cocktail that works very well. We find in his guitar the full expertise of the luthier Francisco who proposes this guitar at a very reasonable price at about €2,500. Until the next Gear Review, keep on playing the guitar! Pierre.

Analog Alien (www.analogalien.com) is an American brand of boutique pedal that offers a range of products with a very original look and a beautiful palette of sounds. The Rumble Seat that The Guitar Channel offers you to discover below is a 3-in-1 since this pedal offers you an overdrive, a delay and a reverb in a compact format. Rumble Seat pedal from Analog Alien The Guitar Channel podcast Audio version in the podcast feed: Review setup * Guitar used: Strat Monster Relic * Path: Guitar > Rumble Seat > Apollo Twin (Universal Audio) What I enjoyed the most * The sounds * The compactness of the format * The complementarity of the 3 effects * Manufacturing quality What I enjoyed the least * The reverb can be a bit too present Conclusion In a very compact format, the Rumble Seat offers you a complete kit that can very well play the role of a complete pedalboard. Everything is here! The overdrive sounds great with a nice variety of sounds. The analog delay is perfect. The reverb can become very present as soon as you increase a little the pot nevertheless it gives an excellent result. The acid colors of the look are not necessarily for everyone but at least the pedal will have impact on your pedalboard. Until the next gear review, keep on playing the guitar! Pierre Journel.

Juha Ruokangas is a Finnish luthier well known on The Guitar Channel since he has been the subject of several interviews and has also animated a series of luthier chronicles. Juha (pronounced Yu-A) manufactures with a small team of luthiers instruments of very high quality entirely by hand, without the help of CNC (ie without Computer Numeric Control machine). Thanks to a backstage pass owner of this Mojo Classic, The Guitar Channel got the chance to spend some time with this Telecaster coming from the cold. Mojo Classic Ruokangas Guitars review The Guitar Channel podcast The audio version of the video is available in the podcast on iTunes, Spotify and below: Until the next gear review, keep on playing the guitar! Pierre Journel.

The Dandy Warhols were in Paris for a concert, a perfect opportunity to record this video interview with their guitar player Peter Holmström. Thanks to Serge, one of the luthier from Tao Guitars, I was able to get in touch with Peter to organize this. Peter Holmström interview Audio version of the video available in the podcast: Until the next interview, keep on playing the guitar! Pierre.

Until now Strymon proposed mainly pedals in the delay and modulation field, with the Riverside they are now getting in the overdrive business. The layout is the familiar one already used on the Flint, reviewed in this article, with its double foot switch. Riverside Strymon overdrive pedal video review Audio version of the review available in the podcast: What I enjoyed the most * Manufacturing quality always at the top in Strymon * The variety of sounds * The favorite function for two sounds at the tip of the foot * The interface very well thought out * The ability to control the drive level with an expression pedal What I enjoyed the least * Maybe a slight lack of personality Conclusion Strymon makes a powerful entry into the super congested area of the overdrive pedal. They bring their know-how for a very convincing result. One may just reproach this pedal for a slight lack of personality, although all this is so subjective that it is very relative. The Riverside is able to cover a LOT of grounds and is a true tone powerhouse! Until the next gear review, keep on playing the guitar! Pierre.

During the 2017 NAMM there was no time to record an interview with the one and only Andy Timmons even though we met during the great X-Jamm concert so a couple of weeks later we organized this Skype interview to catch up. Here's the full unedited 1 hour session Guitar in Hand available with the Backstage Pass. Themes discussed in the interview * 2017 NAMM Debrief * Souvenirs of the X-Jamm concert organize by Blue Mouth Promotions * In-depth discussion about his latest album Theme From A Perfect World * Analysis of two songs from the album * The launch of his teaching website www.guitarxperience.net Andy Timmons interview Here's the audio version of part 1 of the 1 hour video interview in the podcast feed: Until the next interview, keep on playing the guitar! Pierre.

The 2017 Guitares au Beffroi (www.guitaresaubeffroi.com) festival and its guitar show the Salon de la Belle Guitare will have its 5th edition from Friday March 24th until Sunday March 26th in Montrouge, right next to Paris. There will be luthiers coming from more than 10 countries, check-out the full list on the festival website. Interview with Armel Amiot - Organizer of the Salon de la Belle Guitare Here's a video recorded with Armel who is in charge of organizing the guitar show in the festival. I asked him all the questions so you can get all the info needed about this awesome guitar event.   The audio version of this interview is available in the podcast or below: What's new for the 2017 edition A great novelty compared to previous years: the entrance of the salon of luthiers will be paying. The price of 5 € for 3 days of access is low enough not to discourage anyone and will ensure a more qualified audience for the luthiers. I think it's a great idea that should improve the visitors experience. Another notable point: the number of room to try the guitars was increased to 8! There will be two rooms at the salon level for acoustic testing and six other rooms upstair equipped with amps for electric guitars and rooms also dedicated to acoustics. In addition to that some headphones listening stations will be available in the salon. The Guitar Channel booth during the show As for the previous four editions, The Guitar Channel will be present onsite to cover the event by doing interviews and shoot videos. Come and say Hi! Many interviews will take place in the booth, so it's a great opportunity to hear the luthiers talk about their work and the musicians about their music. Gear Evening pre-festival Right before the festival, The Guitar Channel organizes a Gear Evening on Thursday March 23rd from 7pm to 10pm at the Music Live studio with exhibitors who will also be present during the show: Maybach, Soultool, IT-11 Audio and Reverb.com. It is a great opportunity to meet these artisans or manufacturers and to test their material in a real rehearsal studio. The pedal manufacturer Anasounds will also be present for this evening. Gear Evening - Thursday March 23rd from 7pm to 10pm FREE ENTRY Playlist of videos from the 2016 edition For a complete report on last year edition, you can read this article with photos and videos. See you in Montrouge on the last week-end of March! Pierre.

Finally a Jazz guitar reviewed on The Guitar Channel! Yes, everything happens. Here is the D'Angelico model EX-SS in a very standard configuration: archtop type guitar with two humbuckers. D'Angelico EX-SS video review The Guitar Channel podcast The audio version of the video is available in the podcast on iTunes, Spotify and below: Until the next gear review, keep on playing your guitar! Pierre Journel.

What better than to ask all the questions we have to one of the guy in charge at Reverb.com in order to understand better how this marketplace works? That's what The Guitar Channel did during the 2017 Winter NAMM with Kevin Drost who is in charge of the international development of Reverb.com. Kevin Drost interview Audio version of the video available in the podcast: Don't miss The Guitar Channel selection of products on Reverb.com: http://theguitarchannel.biz/reverb/ Until the next interview, keep on playing the guitar! Pierre. -

Here's an unusual instrument for a review, the Alteratio model from Tocxic Instruments. It's designed and built in France by a small team of passionate people. This might as well be the Explorer type guitar that Mad Max would use. With its cool design, this guitar has some interesting innovations inside: a strap with an automatic winding system and a wireless transmitter. Alteratio Tocxic Instruments video Guitar Review Audio version of the review: Until the next Gear Review, keep on playing the guitar! Pierre.

Here's a Maneli Jamal (www.manelijamal.com) interview done Guitar in Hand with the iranian born musician now living in Toronto after an epic and long journey. it is through Shaï Sebbag that The Guitar Channel heard about Maneli as they had met during a guitar festival in Mexico. They hit it off so well that Shaï decided to help Maneli organizing a tour in France. It was during Maneli's stay in France that we did this 30min video interview at the worldwide intergalactic headquarters of the show (meaning, my home). As an added bonus we recorded a session where Maneli played some of his beautiful pieces. Maneli Jamal interview The Guitar Channel podcast The audio version of the video is available in the podcast on iTunes, Spotify and below: Until the next interview, keep on playing the guitar! Pierre Journel.

Here's Ivano Icardi Guitare in Hand interview in video this time. Last time we spoke with the italian musician, it was in 2013 to talk about Walking With Giants. Ivano has now a new album out called So Far Away which is full of great melody and incredible guitar playing without ever being boring. The audio version of the video below is available in the podcast feed of The Guitar Channel and can be listened right on this page: Ivano Icardi interview Until the next interview, keep on playing the guitar! Pierre.

At the Montreal Jazz Festival 2016, The Guitar Channel was able to get in touch via guitarist Teddy Kumpel with legendary bassist Joe Jackson: Graham Maby! Yes, bass guitar is in the spotlight again, and it's a very good thing. Joe Jackson's concert that evening was fun from one end to the other, the band behind him is a great, well-oiled machine that magnificently serves the new-yorker songs. Graham Maby video interview Audio version of the interview: Video version of the interview: Until the next interview, keep on playing the guitar! Pierre.

In 2014 I had the opportunity to meet Harry Häussel (Haussel Pickups - www.haeussel.com) at the Holy Grail Guitar Show (see interview below). Harry is a renowned manufacturer of electric guitar pickups whose products are used by Ruokangas, Nik Huber and Springer. At each major guitar event like the Musikmesse or the Holy Grail, Harry was present and we always took time to discuss. That's why I'm very happy to announce that Harry has just taken a Pass Backstage Pro and that we will start several projects. Comparison of the Häussel 59 humbuckers with the PRS McCarty pickups One of these projects will be to do a full comparison between the current pickups of my 2005 PRS McCarty model guitar and the 59 humbuckers built by Harry. The test will be done with the same strings on the instrument and using the same settings on the recording gear. Stay tuned for the review! A pic of my PRS McCarty: Harry Häussel interview - Haussel Pickups An interview done in 2014: Until further news about the collaboration with Harry, keep on playing the guitar! Pierre Journel. The Guitar Channel Pro Partners

Simon Ghnassia is a guitar player who ordered not one, not two but three Telecaster type guitars from the same luthier Didier Duboscq (Eden Lutherie). Here's a video review of the three instruments. Eden Lutherie website: www.edenlutherie.com Simon Ghnassia reviews his Did Telecaster Until the next gear review or interview, keep on playing the guitar! Pierre.