Modern Guitarist

News, Forums & Reviews

Vai: The EVO Premium Experience

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Steve Vai fans will be glad to know that tickets for the “EVO Premium Experience” are currently on sale. This will allow some fans the opportunity to see Steve Vai and his band prepare for a show; along with the ability to ask him questions in an “intimate group discussion” as his site states. Of course, availability is limited for each show, so you better hurry up if you are interested.

The package includes:

  • A ticket to the show
  • Preferred seating where possible
  • The opportunity to attend soundcheck
  • A pre-show group Q&A/Discussion with Steve Vai
  • A special collectable EVO laminate, a limited edition audio CD exclusive to the tour, among other things.

Tickets available for both USA and European tour dates. Visit vai.com for more info.

John Abercrombie: The Third Quartet

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John Abercrombie’s newest album on ECM was released this past April 3, 2007 (The Third Quartet). This is the third album from his current band with Mark Feldman, Marc Johnson and Joey Baron (hence the tittle). The quartet has been playing together for the last seven years. The album contains 10 tunes, 8 of which are Abercrombie originals, plus Bill Evans’s “Epilogue” and Ornette Coleman’s “Round Trip.” This is Abercrombie’s 25th recording as a leader for ECM. According to his website, the quartet will be touring Europe in March 2007 and follow with an East Coast Tour in April.

John Scofield: The Artist Man

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Scofield’s signature guitar, the Ibanez JSM100, is based on his longtime stage and recording guitar (he has been using this axe for more than 20 years), a beautiful 1981 Ibanez Artist AS200 (see a pic here). According to him, these Artist models are some of the best semi-acoustics ever built. The AS200 is also the longest running guitar model in the Ibanez history. These Japanese built guitars have gone pretty much unnoticed for some time, especially other Artist models (the AS200 is pretty well known because of John Scofield), but are starting to be sought after by a growing group of players and collectors (late 70’s and 80’s models seem to be the most popular ones). They are great sounding guitars, and if you are lucky you can still get one for a reasonable price (search on eBay for Ibanez Artist).

Scofield’s standard distortion is a Pro Co RAT stomp box, a black metal box built like a tank, that although not very fancy looking, is a great distortion pedal. An Ibanez CS9 Analog Chorus pedal is also key to his characteristic sound (you can also get these on eBay, both original and reissue). Other effects Scofield uses include: a Line 6 FM4 Filter Modeler (as well as the Delay Modeler) and a Boss EQ pedal. For amp, he uses either a Vox AC-30 or a Mesa Boogie Mark I reissue.