GEAR 23_COVER - JHS

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SYNERGYSeries TM The new ‘Synergy Series electro-acoustics from Vintage have proved to be a big success in the shops. With a truly distinctive look that's an attractive hybrid of both electric and acoustic instruments, this new guitar range has been designed to please players of both instrument categories. Pick a Synergy up and feel the smooth universal C-section neck profile, and the fine gauge fretwire on the gently cambered fingerboard. If you're an electric player, this is starting to feel like home. The Synergy's easy to hold while you're playing it, with its lightweight slim, textured finish partial bowl back design. And you can plug it in, because Synergy Series instruments are equipped with a Sonicore undersaddle piezo pickup system from Fishman, mated to an easy-to-operate IonT active preamp system mounted in the top rim of the guitar body, with contour and phase facilities. And this summer, joining the Synergy 6-stringer range is the new 12-string version! Easily capable of providing that glorious 12-string sonic wash that we all love, the VR6RRB-12, to give it its full title, will available in Ruby Redburst and costs £219.00 rrp, which sounds pretty reasonable to us, and then some. www.jhs.co.uk DUNLOP UNVEILS NEWEST ADDITIONS TO STRAP RANGE Dunlop and USA ‘wildcard’ brand Lucky 13 have once again joined forces to bring you a new collection of Lucky 13 straps. This highly successful line of collectable rock and roll icons feature all-new Lucky 13 designs. Each strap is adorned with Lucky 13 original slogans and artwork. Tattoo your soul! £16.99 – £26.99 rrp. Grease, Gas & Glory Tattoo Your Soul Bikes Booze Broads Skull Stars Go from the skate park to centre stage with Dunlop's new SK8 Series guitar straps! Dunlop has taken the iconic styles of skateboard industry giants such as Independent®, Santa Cruz®, Nor-Cal®, and Skateboarding Is Not A Crime®, and dropped them onto our Dunlop gear. Keep your inner skate punk alive and on stage... SK8 series straps are branded with history's most recognisable skateboard logos and images, on authentic Dunlop Straps. £22.99 – £24.99 rrp. Independent Cammo Santa Cruz Screaming Hand Born To Lose Independent Red Cross Crime Independent Vertical Norcal Original Santa Cruz Dot Lots of late nights and guitar playing went into the development of Dunlop guitar straps. The funky D38 Series features easy adjustment custom buckles, comfort edge webbing, extra-long strap lengths, 100% leather ends, bold original jacquard woven and poly-woven designs. Here’s your strap – now go play! £22.99 each. Red Check GI Cammo Black & White Check Khaki Grommet Military Sergeant Grey Grommet 18
As mentioned earlier in this issue of Gear, top guitarist Roy Fulton from Northern Ireland was one of the first players to get into the excellent Fret-King range of guitars. Here’s an update from Roy about his newest guitar purchase! R oy plumped for a twin humbucker-equipped Esprit 5 in Trans Amber, and has been using the guitar constantly since. The guitar was personalised for Roy with his name engraved on the scratchplate – in true showman tradition! Gear thought it was about time we found out exactly what Roy made of his unique looking Fret-King instrument... What was it you liked about the Fret-King Esprit 5 that made you choose it? ‘It just has a great shape to it and looks perfectly balanced. As a guitar player (with more years under my belt that I care to remember) I’ve been lucky enough to own a wide and varied assortment of guitars. I’ve had and played all the obvious ‘big names’, but of late found myself wanting to get a guitar that was not so associated with established name players. I was going through a ‘Billy Gibbons phase’ (legendary guitarist with ZZ Top) and noticed, of late, Billy has been using more quirky-looking guitars and getting away from the mainstream shapes – that really appealed to me as well. For the last few years I’ve been looking (and buying) guitars that are just a little bit different to what is out there and considered the norm. The first moment I saw the Fret-King Esprit, I thought ‘I want one!’’ What does the guitar do for you as an instrument? ‘It delivers! When you’re gigging – and it doesn’t matter if it’s in a pub with 20 people, or in front of 2000 theatre-goers – you need your gear to work, full stop! My guitars have to be fully functional, not let me down and do everything that I need and expect them to do – and the Esprit does the business. Although the Esprit body shape draws its influences from other guitar makes, the guitar still has a unique charm and is different enough to stand up and be counted on its own merits. It’s built like a tank and feels so solid; it certainly has a reassuring feel and touch to it, with a look that ‘turns heads’ at gigs. I’ve lost count the number of times guitarists have approached me after a gig to ask about the guitar – even to the point of wanting to buy it off me!’ How does it play? ‘The guitar plays great. It’s quite heavy but very comfortable to play sitting down or when using a guitar strap, and is really well balanced. The action is perfect and, unlike some other guitars I own, the Esprit required no tweaking whatsoever. As soon as it arrived, it was ready for action straight from the box and I started gigging it right away! It makes it a perfect choice when I’m out playing with any of my own bands, Southbound (Southern Rock Band) and The Roy Fulton Band (Classic Rock & Blues Band). When gigging, I tend to play quite aggressively at times and the guitar holds its tuning lovely. On a practical note, the position of the volume and tone knobs and how they feel when you turn them is super-important to me. I like guitar control pots to be nice and even, both in terms of feel and function and once again, the guitar delivers.’ How does it sound? ‘Excellent! Personally, I like the clarity and brightness sound of single coils but I also love the big sound of humbuckers and Trev Wilkinson’s pickups seem to have captured both these qualities. The pickups have loads of depth and body but also very important to my style is that they have a nice clarity to them. The pick-ups give me great definition and let me use a hybrid picking technique without sounding muddy. In terms of tone – think of it as an S-type guitar on steroids...!’ You’re a highly experienced player with a long list of credits - tell us something of your playing background. ‘I grew up listening to the guitar greats – Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Roy Buchanan and many more! I started playing guitar around 1970 and by the early 80’s I started giving private guitar lessons. (for £2 per hour – a good rate of pay then!) In the mid 90’s I became an RGT guitar tutor and LCM Guitar Grade Examiner. As all this was happening I was playing, playing, playing – anywhere and with anyone! I’ve never specialised in one style of music or another – I love so many different styles of music and guitar playing. Over the last few years my guitar work with solo and band gigs, studio sessions and tours as a sideman have been getting increasingly busier. If anyone is interested, a full list of the bands and artists I’ve played with or have supported are available to check out my website: www.royfulton.co.uk ‘I’ve played thousands of gigs but the highlight for me was meeting (and supporting) singer/guitarist Ritchie Havens and also, hanging out with the legendary TV and radio presenter and fellow music fan, Bob Harris for a couple of days. That was a great weekend!’ • FBES5TA £609.00rrp 19
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GEAR 23_COVER - JHS

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