It’s arduous to consider that 34 years have handed since Trevor Rabin issued a solo album that includes his vocals. But it surely’s true – Can’t Look Away was launched in 1989. His new album, Rio, is stylistically just like his ’80s/’90s work with Sure, and finds the South African multi-tasking, instrumentally, whereas dealing with a lot of the vocal chores. He even provided the album’s cowl artwork.

Why so lengthy between solo albums with vocals?
I began doing movie scores in ’94 – I made 50 movie scores and a whole bunch of TV issues; I look again now and it looks like yesterday. That’s one excuse. The opposite is I had so little time – I used to be writing and getting concepts, and it wasn’t very truncated. The hole definitely wasn’t intentional.

What was your guitar setup for Rio?
I used a Tele with a B-bender, my Stratocaster, and my signature Alvarez from ’84.

And your amplifiers?
I used the Fractal Axe-Fx II fairly a bit as a result of I acquired fairly used to it on the highway once I did the Anderson, Rabin, and Wakeman tour. It’s simply actually handy. There have been tracks the place I simply blasted out a few Marshalls, however for essentially the most half, it wa

Which songs on Rio are you most happy with, guitar-wise?
I actually loved entering into the B-bender – there’s a tune known as “Goodbye,” which was a variety of enjoyable. I attempted to go for the chicken-pickin’ factor, and make it as easy as potential. There’s a tune known as “Oklahoma,” which, guitar-wise, is fairly simple, and I had a variety of enjoyable with it. And “Thandi” is unquestionably guitar-driven from begin to finish, which I used to be more than happy with.

Discuss extra about your Stratocaster.
I’ve heard folks say it was 1962, however I checked the serial quantity and I believe it’s a ’64.

Within the ’70s, I used to be enjoying a semi-acoustic Concord – I beloved Hank Marvin and, clearly, Jimi Hendrix. There was a stunning man, Denis Joint, who labored at a retailer in Johannesburg known as Bothners, and I informed him, “I don’t have some huge cash, however I need to purchase a Stratocaster.” He stated, “We don’t have any new ones, however now we have some very previous inventory.” At the moment, having an previous Fender wasn’t the identical as it’s now. He went into the again room and dusted off this case – there have been a few them – and there was this purple ’64 Strat. He stated, “I can provide you a deal on this.” I stated, “Carried out,” and that’s how I acquired it.

You’ve modded it via the years…
Whereas I used to be on the highway with the band Rabbit, and on the finish of a present, I’d throw my guitar to my tech, and he often caught it. However one time – I might need thrown it too arduous – nevertheless it landed on the ground and the headstock snapped off. I drove again to Johannesburg and an instrument store lent me a Tele neck that match completely. I had that for fairly some time. John Inexperienced fastened it, and it’s by no means been higher.

Later, I used to be having issues with one of many pickups being noisy, so it now has a Invoice Lawrence L250 and DiMarzio FS-1.

What do you recall in regards to the guitar solo in “Proprietor of a Lonely Coronary heart”?
I’ve learn a lot stuff about that – which is generally incorrect. I keep in mind the producer [Trevor Horn] saying I used a 12-string Rickenbacker. There’s no Rickenbacker on the observe. I don’t even know what sort of guitar it was – it was a 12-string constructed for Chris Squire, which I used on sure components, nevertheless it’s largely the Strat. The very fuzzy starting of the tune was on a Strat, however when it goes into the observe and the drums enter, it adjustments to a Les Paul. The verse is the Strat, and the solo is a Strat. I’d used the sound – with a fifth on prime – earlier than, on a Manfred Mann’s Earth Band tune known as “Redemption Tune.”

The solo was completely off the cuff. There’s a bit of flurry simply earlier than the solo ends that I wasn’t very proud of. I stated, “I actually need to drop that,” and Chris was decided to not have one be aware modified. So, I believe we saved it.

This text initially appeared in VG’s December 2023 challenge. All copyrights are by the writer and Classic Guitar journal. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.