The original Boss Slicer, the SL-20, was one of those pedals that was ahead of its time. Not enough guitarists were into the sequencer style sounds that it was capable of producing. Or, not into it enough to sacrifice the pedalboard space it required. With the release of the SL-2 compact version of the effect, Boss is betting that the increase of forward thinking guitarists, combined with the new compact size, will entice more people to slice.
I worked for Electro-Harmonix three times. Once in the mid 70s, once in the later 70s, and finally when I moved back to New York from San Francisco in the early 2000s. By the last time, DAWS and plugins were a thing and hardware effect companies were cashing in by licensing plugin versions of their products. I suggested to Mike Matthews that he consider turning some of his classic pedals into plugins. He wasn’t into it at the time but apparently has now decided to put a toe in the water. Starting with his flagship effect, the Big Muff, he has launched a hybrid pedal/plugin concept.
While many mainstream guitarists were bemoaning that live gigging was ramping up too slowly, avant-garde picker Seth Andrew Davis was doing 50 gigs in the first six months of 2022. Even more surprising, he is based not in the new music scene of Brooklyn but in Kansas City. How is this possible? Check out our conversation to find out.
See some of Davis’ performances below.
FutureFret: Episode One is the first event in what Vernon Reid and Chris Buono hope to be an ongoing series. The event is this Saturday, May 14th, 2022 and will include a collective of panel discussions, masterclasses and live performances centered around forward-thinking concepts for the modern guitarist. Here is my interview with Vernon about the idea, its possibilities and many other things. Below that is an introductory video and the details.
The 2022 Guthman Musical Instrument Competition started with 26 semifinalists from 16 different countries. After an online showcase of the semifinalists, a committee of Georgia Tech faculty and public voting decided which creators would compete at the final stage. Nine advanced to the competition’s final round. They met on the Georgia Tech campus in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 11 and 12, 2022, to compete for $10,000 in prizes. While none of these won, they do indicate some possible future directions for making music with guitar skills.