4.52am Issue: 011 4th December 2016

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WELCOME
Welcome to Issue 010
Well, as I write this it is Black Friday, Amazon
are killing the Guitar Retail Industry with the
cheap Gibsons they couldn’t sell last Black
Friday and if things seem too good to be true,
they usually are.
theFretBoard is a forum for guitarists, and the occasional bassist.
It’s run by guitarists, for guitarists, and covers just about all the “stuff” that interests
guitarists, including guitars (!), amps, fx, learning, playing, buying, selling and anything
else that comes to the minds of thousands of guitarists every day.
Or so conventional wisdom would have you
believe, but then there is nothing conventional
here and precious little wisdom as I introduce
you to issue Ten of 4.52am, the Free, Weekly,
Like-Nothing-Else magazine that, frankly, has
gone a little mad in the readership
department.
It’s completely free to read and free to join – membership allows readers to see
additional areas of the forum which aren’t visible to non-members, to start their own
discussions and post their own comments.
But enough already, this week we have the
Levellers 25 years on from the Battle of the
Beanfield, the hauntingly beautiful Gabrielle
Cohen, and as everybody is talking Westworld,
we are taking the chance to check out the
horrendously undervalued Theatre of Hate.
Best of all, there are NO ADVERTS.
Join the UK’s busiest, most interesting and most diverse guitar related forum for free
(did we mention that it’s free?) at theFretBoard.co.uk.
Now.
As for guitar proper, we have the uber
talented Lady Jo Bear, who paints guitars with
style, beauty and grace, and a home straight
sprint for Sue Foley and her Kickstarter
shenanigans oh, there is even something new
with a guitar build from the 4.52am sheltered
house. It’s all go.
Why not pay us a visit, and check:
The Threads of the week, click if you dare:
1. Legendary Guitarists Who Are Technically Quite Sloppy?
Enjoy
2. Order The FretBoard Guitar Calendar Here
Mark

WELCOME
Welcome to Issue 011
This week sees the launch of Johnny Marr’s
brilliant autobiography, Set The Boy Free, and
we thought that that was as good a reason as
any to celebrate the chap’s career which has
seen him create some of the best and most
iconic guitar music ever, both during and since
his time with The Smiths.
It isn’t all about Johnny though, as we have
Part 2 of our look at the artist Jo Bear and her
wonderful creations, see how Sue Foley’s
Kickstarter Campaign has finished and so
much more, as the saying goes.
Enjoy
Mark

CONTENTS
FEATURES
Johnny Marr
Proper Genius
Diamond Bottlenecks
The Ultimate Slide
Haynes: Paul Balmer
Build Your Own Electric
Guitar
Carrie Brownstein
A Memoir
Tracey Thorn
Naked At The Albert Hall
Sue Foley
Game Over
Jo Bear Guitar Artwork
A Gift For H7
JOHNNY PLAYS GUITAR
Rory's Strat
Heaven Knows I’m
Miserable
Signature Fender Jaguar
Rickenbacker 330
Fender Deluxe '65 Reverb
KILL YOUR TELEVISION
Sunday: Please, Please, Please...
Monday: How Soon Is Now
Tuesday: This Charming Man
Wednesday: Headmaster Ritual
Thursday: Getting Away With It
Friday: Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
Saturday: Barbarism Begins At Home
MUSIC FOR PLEASURE
The Lion & The Wolf
Touring With Kevin Devine
The LaFontaines
Release The Hounds
Rebecca & Fiona
Cold As X-Mas
Dan Owen
Moonlight
OhBoy!
Dirt
The Wave Pictures
Now I Want To Hoover My
Brain Clean
Coldplay
Clocks

FEATURES

JOHNNY MARR
Proper Genius
Since we started all of this 4.52am and
Guitar Quarterly bobbins last Summer, it
has always seemed inevitable that at
some point I would end-up writing about
Johnny Marr.
Not because he has always been the
closest thing to a guitar hero for me (I still
sing No More Heroes in the shower, so I
can never admit that the truth is total
capitulation) but because as time has
gone on and I’ve managed to get a few
interviews with other guys that aren’t
heroes of mine either (but probably are),
it is from his genuine peers that you can’t
help but see the respect they have for
him. In an industry that is filled with cocky
self-importance as a starting point, such
universal respect is not just unlikely, it is
impossible. Or so it would seem.
It started when I spoke to Billy Bragg, my
first interview and all a little tongue-tied.
We talked the early years, first guitars
and all the usual questions he had heard
a hundred times, but then we got to his
‘moment’ the point where he became
recognised as a lot more than a
strumming protest singer and recorded
Talking To The Taxman About Poetry
does he boast about the songs, the
sound the massive step forward? Nope.
He goes glassy eyed himself and tells me
that it was the fact that he got to record
with Kirsty Macoll, and that Johnny
Marr co-wrote and produced songs on
the album. Now Mr Bragg is a proper
geezer and has been around for years,
but the fact he played with Johnny was
the thing that stood out. Intriguing, I
thought.
And if that had been it I’d have
shrugged and moved on, but it wasn’t.
A little later I was talking to Charlie
Burchill of Simple Minds, and we
laughed and went over the whole of his
career, but the moment where he
genuinely glowed was when he told me
about Johnny liking one of his signature
guitars (Johnny was playing with the
Pretenders who were supporting
Simple Minds) and that he gave him
one of the guitars. (An old one he
pointed out, sorry Johnny). But the best
part was that Johnny had shown him
how to play How Soon is Now and he
was in awe about how he got the
sounds out of one guitar. And he
sounded gutted that he instantly forgot
how to play it afterwards.
Totally serious now, I said in passing
that Johnny had put a tutorial on
YouTube where he showed you how to
play it, and Charlie said he was going

to go and check it out. Got rid of me
quick smart, I’m not joking.
But there have been others too – Chris
Spedding, the man who shares Johnny’s
middle-name – Chris Fucking Spedding
- was at pains to tell me about playing
with Johnny with Roxy Music. Not that he
was impressed by playing with Roxy
Music, and to be totally honest when you
read the Chris Spedding interview soon
you’ll realise that he has quite literally
played with everybody – all of them. You
name it. But Johnny Marr, there was a
pause and a recognition of something
special. The same with all of them.
So when I sat down to read Johnny’s
autobiography Set The Boy Free despite
being aware of The Smiths and loving
them thanks to John Peel in my
Birmingham bedroom since Hatful of
Hollow I really didn’t know what to
expect, the guy is clearly something
special but what could it be that
generated this kind of respect in those
sort of people? I mean, I haven’t got to
speak to Nile Rogers yet and Johnny
respects him, so I hate to think what he
would say.
And reading the book, through the story
of The Smiths who without a doubt are
the greatest band the world has ever
seen, never mind British band, and then
the ridiculous list of bands and sessions
he has played on and with since, the key
to it all for me is that there is no
compromise. Whatever he does is
special because whatever he does
matters to the nth degree and his level of
honesty, of self-worth is way above most
other artists out there. It has become a bit
of a cliché that Johnny has always gone
out of his way to make life difficult for
himself. His chords he inverts until they
hurt, his guitars are chosen to limit him so
that he has to find new pathways, an
almost self-mending neural approach,
forces himself to answer new questions
and find answers nobody else realised
were even needed. Don’t even think
about offering him your Blues Scale,
there’d be blood on the walls.
And so he wanders, he creates the best
band ever, writes the best songs ever –
so he splits the band and dissolves the
writing partnership. He works as a
session man, but only a fool gives him his
lines to play, it doesn’t work like that. And
now he is finally out and about with a cool
band once more what is the motivation?
To be the best, to be the best live band
out there, and he does it again. Because
that is what Johnny Marr is, he is a
perfectionist looking for his next
challenge, whether it is improvising in a
darkened room with Jansch and Butler, or
walking cold into sessions that others
would freak over, he is the best and
always will be because there simply isn’t
anybody else like him and there never
has been. Never can be again.
He is Johnny Fucking Marr, and you had
better not forget it.
Buy Set The Boy Free Here it is, without
a doubt, the story of genius.

DIAMOND BOTTLENECKS
Ultimate Slide
I hate to admit that I’m am the definitive,
awful slide guitar player. Oh I can
manage the classic opener to Texas’ I
Don’t Wanna Lover but that is about as
good as it gets.
There is however one advantage my
innate uselessness gives me though and
that is that I have tried just about every
slide that is currently available to
mankind. I’ve tried brass tubes, sockets,
old pig knuckles (that was more of an
accident), pill boxes, you name it, but until
I finally happened upon Diamond
Bottlenecks, there wasn’t even a hope for
me.
And over the years, I have had a few of
their ‘Original’ slides, and really rather
good they were too, but it wasn’t until I
tried their ‘Ultimate’, that I realised I
was missing a trick, as these things
really are amazing. Stunning even.
Not only to look at, although as it
spends quite a bit of time on the
mantelpiece, that doesn’t hurt
politically in local terms, but there is just
something about it that is right. It is
ultra-smooth, which is cool, the weight
is nice too – you can feel it but it never
becomes a problem, but there is that
little indefinable otherness that you can
only truly understand when you try one.
And try one you should.
Find out more, and there are loads of
options to be had, HERE, and thank me
later.

CARRIE BROWNSTEIN
Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl: A Memoir
During the ‘90s when Grunge reigned
supreme, running alongside and if you
looked carefully- many times way ahead
- the girls were in on the act too, with a
movement that came to be known as
Riot Grrrl.
Unsurprisingly Courtney Love’s Hole
and bands like L7 took the headlines in
the UK, but in the U.S and among those
that liked their music 4-Real but
intelligent, it was the quite brilliant
Sleater-Kinney that were stretching
punk-rock in new directions, and the
central writing partnership of Corin
Tucker and Carrie Brownstein who had
a left-leaning political awareness that
threaded through all of their works.
In Hunger Makes a Modern Girl Carrie
Brownstein tells her tale of growing up in
a typically dysfunctional family, the
escape music gave her and then the rise
of Sleater-Kinney into what was
described as ‘Americas Best Rock
Band’. But most of all she tells the story
of an America, a world, where Feminism
and a new kind of radical personal
politics was finally finding a voice, and a
kind of power was shifting to the poets
and the artists in a movement that saw
real change and then further fights to
keep the ground they’d won. Something
that today seems even more important
than ever.
This is a beautifully written story by a
lady with a soul laden with fire and
silk, it is an exquisite book that if you
love music, musicians and the way a
word can change, can be changed,
you really have to own.
Find out more HERE

TRACEY THORN
Naked at the Albert Hall
I’ve tried my best to forget just how many
years it is since I first heard Tracey Thorn
sing – it was in my best friend’s front room,
not that Tracey was there, no, his sister had
a copy of Everything But The Girl’s Eden and
it really did transport me to the left bank of
somewhere exotic. Hull, maybe.
Since then I’ve listened to all of the EBTG
albums, her solo work, collaborations and a
year or so back I read Bedsit Disco Queen a
quite exceptional book, and so when I saw
that Tracey had written a second book, I
couldn’t wait to get hold of it.
And what a treat it is. For a start I should
say that it isn’t a novel, or a self-help guide
in getting over presentation nerves, this is
an in depth look at what it really means to
be a singer, written by somebody who has
been there and has a knack for putting
things simply for those of us that haven’t.
It is a quite beautifully written book, it
doesn’t come as a surprise that Ms. Thorn
has a way with words, we already knew that
years ago, but she has an academics zeal
for getting things right and isn’t ego-laden
and so is happy to interview her peers for
their own experiences or refer to more
academic texts.
For anybody with any designs on becoming
a singerist, this is a perfect place to start,
and if like me you are tone-deaf and happy
to let others provide the music, this is a
fantastic aid in understanding what it is
that they are doing, just a little bit more.
You can find Naked at the Albert Hall
HERE
You really should check out Bedsit Disco
Queen while you are at it too. That can
be found HERE.

Haynes – Paul Balmer
Build Your Own Electric Guitar
Over the last few years, Haynes have
done a fantastic job in expanding their
reach from their traditional Car
Maintenance Guides, and have created
some of the most entertaining and
interesting books around. It takes a
certain, self-awareness to be able to do
that sort of thing, and you have to wish
them well.
Of course being a Guitar Geek, it is their
Guitar books that particularly interest me
(although if anybody local is reading and
thinking Millennium Falcon Workshop
Manual, you wouldn’t be a million miles
away) and having their Gibson SG and
Fender Telecaster books on the shelf, I
was really interested to see how the Build
Your Own Electric Guitar one stood up
against them.
And I have to say from the off it is
beautifully written. Photos of course are
high quality and meaningful, focussing on
the things you will struggle with as well as
the simpler tasks that you probably think
you know how to do already, but will
happily ‘double check’.
I suppose the key question is whether
you could sit down with the book and
nothing else and having bought parts
recommended end up with a working
guitar, and on balance I say that you
could. Would it be the best playing
guitar ever? Probably not, but then
neither are Fenders or Gibsons when
they leave the factory, you always need
them tailored to your own style, after
all, but saying that the book could quite
easily act as a set-up guide, so with
time – why not?
All of which sounds negative, but isn’t
at all, as I honestly think anybody can
make a guitar from parts, and if I had
had this book to hand a few years ago,
I would probably have a lot more hair
and have made a lot better guitars right
from the start.
Go check it out Here – this could well
be the perfect Xmas present for the
guitarist in your life.

SUE FOLEY
Game Over
It seems as though it has been a long and
winding selection of roads, and I have to
say I still can’t believe that Sue Foley
allowed us to follow her campaign so
closely, but as it nears an end I’m more
than pleased to say that the lady reached
her target with days to spare and has
continued to push it in a big way.
In terms of the facts and figures, Sue was
looking for a grand total of $27,500, and
as I write this with 31 hours to go (it is so
very exciting) she has far exceeded that
with a current total of $31,584.
As to how she did it with aplomb, well, you
only have to look at the rewards that were
added and which of them it was that
captured the imagination.
Shows with Billy Gibbons, Jimmy
Vaughan et al. and as that had soon
gone, Sue made a second available,
which too disappeared quite quickly.
In terms of lessons, I guess the main
one is to back a winning streak, but
when you look closer she also had
backers for two VIP Associate
Producer packages too for similar
amounts, so again that is something to
consider.
We will do a proper round-up with Sue
once it is all done and dusted, but what
can I say – if you haven’t joined in yet,
you still have a little time to get in and
amongst it. Just visit Sue Foley’s
campaign Here.
We talked last week about Sue’s Jungle
Guitar, signed and played at the Jungle

Jo Bear Guitar Artwork
A Gift For H7
After last week’s look at Jo Bear’s
stunning artwork, I couldn’t resist going
for a Jo Bear (Slight Return) this week,
and having a sneaky shufty at a couple of
other guitars she has created in recent
times.
The first of these – the Rocky-esque
Telecaster to my right, was made as a
Gift for the enigmatic Harry7, he of the
Crazy-Guitar-Museum in the Midlands,
and what a stunning job it is.
I‘ve deliberately not gone for the work-inprogress
photos, but you can check them
out on Jo’s Facebook page Here and you
really should.
As for the beauty in black and white, I’ll
be honest, all I really know is that this is a
custom-made bass, but what an
incredible design, it truly is something
special.

JOHNNY MARR PLAYS
Rory Gallagher’s Strat

JOHNNY MARR PLAYS
Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now

JOHNNY MARR PLAYS
His Signature Jaguar

JOHNNY MARR PLAYS
His Rickenbacker 330

JOHNNY MARR PLAYS
Fender Deluxe ’65 Reverb

Kill Your Television
Seven Songs in Seven Days
As this is officially our Johnny Marr is a Young God week, we thought we’d give the Kill
Your Television section over to the chap’s genius. So please spend the week learning some
cool bobbins, but good luck with that
So this week we have:
Sunday: Please, Please, Please...
Monday: How Soon Is Now
Tuesday: This Charming Man
Wednesday: Headmaster Ritual
Thursday: Getting Away With It
Friday: Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
Saturday: Barbarism Begins At Home

MUSIC FOR PLEASURE
20 Golden Greats
We thought we’d do something different and take the opportunity to show you some of the
new releases we have loved, a few classics we never stop listening to and the odd
whatever-happened-to moment we have been caught unawares by this week.
The Lion & The Wolf – Touring With Kevin Devine
The LaFontaines – Release The Hounds
Rebecca & Fiona – Cold As X-Mas
Dan Owen - Moonlight
OhBoy! - Dirt
The Wave Pictures – Now I Want To Hoover My Brain Clean
Coldplay - Clocks

THE LION & THE WOLF
Touring With Kevin Devine
We covered The Lion & The Wolf a few
weeks ago in all their wondrous splendour,
and are particularly excited to hear that
they are touring – I’ll be the fat guy at the
bar in the Thekla - with the rather cool in
his own right, Kevin Devine.
Thomas George had to say about it,
"I played one of my first ever shows as
The Lion And The Wolf with Kevin Devine
way back in 2010 or thereabouts, so it's a
huge privilege to be touring with him and
Laura Stevenson next January and
February. I'll be performing solo on this
tour and playing many poignant numbers
from 'The Cardiac Hotel', as well as some
older slices of melancholic pop. I can't
wait to watch Laura and Kevin perform
each night."
Dates:
Sun 29 Jan - Bristol, Thekla
Mon 30 Jan - Nottingham, Bodega
Tue 31 Jan - Manchester, Deaf Institute
Wed 01 Feb - Glasgow, Stereo
Thu 02 Feb - Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
Fri 03 Feb - London, The Dome
Tickets on sale now Here
Find out more about the band Here

THE LAFONTAINES
Release the Hounds
Lord knows we’re not shy about the odd
bit of politics here in 4.52am land, so it
is refreshing to see a young band having
a bit to say about such things. Not least
because they say it in such a brilliantly
cool way, being rather wicked musically.
Release the Hounds heralds a new
album next year for these chaps from
Glasgow and personally I really can’t
wait.
Speaking about the track, Kerr Okan of
the band had to say,
“The overall synopsis of the video is
about the greed of a few taking priority
over the needs of the many. We take
the role of modern day Robin Hood’s,
stealing from the elite and distributing
to the people – in a way only The
LaFontaines would. “
“As much as the video has a poke at
Trump himself, we are really using his
face as a symbol; a signifier of a wider
issue. The change between the
dancers faces and the Trump masks
are there to symbolise people's
inability to see through the media and
PR smoke screens, which distract
them from the real issues.”
The LaFontaines are really something
a little different, refreshing and
perfectly formed.

REBECCA & FIONA
Cold As X-Mas
There are many paths to the Christmas
Number One slot, and Swedish DJs
turned fully-fledged popstars, Rebecca
and Fiona have done the difficult and
managed to turn a clubnight into a fullon
recording career.
Bringing with them the best of electronic
Euro-Pop, their Noddy Holder moment is
surprisingly subtle, with a quietly sweet,
heartstring-tugging sentiment, talking of
loss at Christmas.
Saying that they are going to catch their
death if they go out dressed like that so
a love-lost will be the least of their
problems.
Speaking about the single, Rebecca &
Fiona say,
“After a day playing around in the
studio with our team, we suddenly
realised that we had made the best
fucking Christmas song ever! It is an
ambient ballad that we both feel very
strongly about, musically and
emotionally. This release is our gift to
all of you who stuck with us this year,
through our changes in genres and
through our first live tour. You were
with us all the time, and we wish you a
great holiday season and a Happy New
Year! We love you.”
Who can say more than that – can’t
wait for Top of the Pops this year.
Find out more Here, and why wouldn’t
you, not ‘alf.

DAN OWEN
Moonlight
I’m happy to say that we get to hear a lot
of music here in the 4.52am Shelter, and
Dan Owen is one that regularly tops the
list, so when I heard that Dan was going
to be off an running toward a headline UK
tour in the very nearest of futures, well it
was all rather exciting. To keep things
ticking along until then Dan has released
a new video for Moonlight which I think
you will agree is a rather special song,
from a rather amazing artist.
Do go and check Dan out when he is in
a theatre near you.
Find out more Here

OhBoy!
Dirt
Lord knows we love a bit of dirty birdy
fuzz around here, and OhBoy! Are one of
our favourite new bands, so their
wonderfilled new single Dirt is quite
literally a marriage made in heathen.
But that doesn’t define them totally, as
there is a wonderful humour about their
songs and not least their videos, which
takes them way above a lot of similar
sounding bands. In an odd way (and
maybe it is just that it is National
Johnny Marr week, but they do remind
me of the Vicar In A Tutu style Smiths,
and as you have probably guessed
there is no greater compliment that you
can get from me than that.
Check them out Here

THE WAVE PICTURES
Now I Want To Hoover My Brain Clean
It doesn’t take an Einstein-a-go-go to
realise that we are deeply in love with
The Wave Pictures, their album is one of
our Albums of the year, and if we don’t
get to have a proper chat with the chaps
sometime next year and get to the
bottom of just why they are so awesome
and cool, well I may hold my breath until
they agree.
In Now I Want To Hoover… they have
again reminded us just how brilliant they
are and thrown in a video for good
measure. It really is a time of miracles.
Songwriter & Guitarist Dave Tattersall
describes it thus,
“We Wave Pictures like to learn on the
job, and we release our experiments too.
We’re not going to chicken out now,
though ever since we started our
recklessness, our sheer joie-de-vivre, has
always baffled some people. Some
people even think the guitar solos are
written down in advance. What would be
the point of that? This is largely
improvised music. It’s on the move.
That’s what makes it live. You see,
these days the kids like their music to
be made by machines, even when it
pretends otherwise. The kids don’t
seem to fear the machines (as I do,
having been so profoundly affected at
a young age by the first two Terminator
movies) and so they happily switch on
their computers and listen to robots
singing. Well, one day those robots will
rise up and kill us all. Listen instead,
kids, to The Wave Pictures, the band
that will someday soundtrack the
resistance. We are the real thing, you
know. The only reason the press
haven’t noticed is that they are
besotted with the machine music of
robots, too. Ah, but no robot could
swing the way Franic Rozycki swings
his tugboat bass on this mighty bluesrock
anthem. The resistance starts
here.”
Find out more Here

COLDPLAY
Clocks
Is there a song more winterified than
Clocks by Coldplay?
If so I would imagine it is December by
the Waterboys, but maybe that can be
here next week.
I must admit it has taken a long many
years for me to take Chris and the boys
to heart, but through the ears of my
son I have finally got them, and realise
that they are everything people seem
to think and not just Radiohead-pop.