Les Paul Customs have always stood apart. While sunburst Standards may be the Holy Grail, Customs have got the job done in every musical setting from Bowie to The Cult. Which is ironic because the Custom was always intended to be the best-of-the-best Les Paul, not the workhorse.

From the split-diamond headstock inlay to the gold hardware and fancier pickup configurations, the Custom was supposed to be a Cadillac to the Goldtop’s Ford, if you will.

In recent years, Gibson has chosen to reflect that historical cachet by producing Les Paul Customs only in the Custom Shop, with no ‘lower-priced’ USA version available.

However, the Custom is very much a working tool for many players, with its own strident character that is typically a little bolder than that of many Standards, especially vintage-voiced ones.

Thankfully, Gibson has now rectified that situation with the Les Paul Custom 70s. In doing so, Gibson is following the same logic behind the company’s existing Les Paul Standard 50s and Les Paul Standard 60s models, which emulate the features and vibe of an era rather than a specific year, a more detailed task that’s left to Custom Shop reissues.

It makes sense, then, that the new Custom slots into the 70s bracket – not only because it fills out the range in a sequential way but also because, throughout the 70s, there was no truly classic sunburst Standard, just a restless assortment of models that were somewhat like one, from the Deluxe onward. Hence, the Custom became the go-to twin-humbucker Les Paul variant in that decade.

But finger-sensitive dynamics and whispery nuance were not what those 70s guitars were about and that’s reflected in the Les Paul Custom 70s – a ballsier guitar by far.

The new release has partly been prompted by the anniversary of Gibson’s move from Kalamazoo to Nashville in 1975 where, we’re told, some of the first guitars to be made were Les Paul Customs.

At that time, Customs were built rather differently to the all-mahogany Customs of the 1950s and had a vertically stacked mahogany/maple/mahogany ‘pancake’ body, while 1975 saw the introduction of a three-piece maple neck, instead of mahogany.

Specs

• Launch price: $3,999/£3,499/€3,999
• Made: USA
• Type: Six-string electric guitar
• Body: Double edge bound mahogany (no weight relief) with carved plain maple (3-piece) top
• Neck: Maple, ‘70s’ profile with volute, glued-in
• Fingerboard: Ebony, 305mm (12”) radius
• Scale length: 628mm (24.75”)
• Nut/width: Graph Tech, 43.2mm
• Frets: 22, medium
• Hardware: Nashville Tune-O-Matic bridge, aluminum tailpiece, Grover Rotomatic tuners, gold-plated
• String spacing at bridge: 52mm
• Electrics: 2x Gibson T-Type covered (gold-plated) humbuckers, 3-way toggle pickup selector switch, individual volume and tone controls
• Weight: 10.25lbs/4.65kg
• Left-handed options: No
• Finishes: Buttercream (as reviewed), Tobacco Burst, Wine Red, Ebony
• Cases: Gibson hardshell case included
• Contact: Gibson

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

Some (but not all) of the quirks of those mid-70s Customs have been replicated here – the broadness of the ‘70s’ moniker allowing for some wriggle room with the spec that Gibson have made sensible use of. First of all, we get a three-piece maple top which was an in-period feature but here it’s fitted to a one-piece mahogany back.

There’s a maple neck, too, with a pronounced volute which was characteristic of the era – but it’s a one-piece neck, not the more elaborate three-piece construction used in some ’70s Customs. Build quality is crisp and clean – the guitar is rather glossy and box-fresh as compared to aged Custom Shop equivalents but that’s reflected in the price and the spanking-new nitro finish is deftly executed.

Fretwork is very tidy, and though the frets could use a touch more of a polish for absolute perfection the general standard of build is high.

The review guitar is clad in a Buttermilk finish with black back and sides that, if you squint a bit, you could take for an aged-looking Alpine White. Era-correct details such as diamond-shaped Posi-Lok strap buttons are also replicated here and actually work rather well, being easier to squeeze into the leather eyelet of a strap than the oversize circular strap buttons that we tend to get these days but still pretty secure. Gold-plated Grovers with 70s style keystone tuners work effectively and look the part.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★☆

The Les Paul Custom has a really interesting aspect to its playability which perhaps explains why the Custom has long been a hard rock and shredders choice, despite its early origins as an upmarket jazz guitar.

Possibly it's the ebony construction and crisp, white binding, but the fingerboard feels, at least in terms of player perception, flatter than the standard 12-inch Gibson radius might suggest. It excels in making linear, single-note runs up and down the neck feel precise, easy and well articulated. Al Di Meola, circa 1977, would probably approve.

Combined with the bite of the Alnico 5 pickups (more on those in a minute), the feel of this guitar in play very much favours sassy, rock-oriented play rather than nuanced, bluesy bends - though it can do those capably enough too.

The neck, with its glossy finish, is perhaps a little less slinky than a worn-in Fender Tele neck, for example, but it provides a nice, positive handful to grip - so doing the traditional thing and letting the strap hang low and having at it feels pretty good here.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★☆

Under the hood, there’s a similar story of thoughtful – though not forensic – attention to period-correct detail. The T-Top humbuckers of the era, with their distinctive biting, mid-forward sound, are represented here by a pair of un-potted ‘T-Type’ pickups.

These are wound with polysol wire over Alnico 5 magnets, like the original T-Tops, with balanced coils that measured out at 7.36 kOhms for the bridge and 7.23kOhms for the neck on this review guitar.

These have been teamed with four Gibson-logo CTS 500k ohms pots with Orange Drop .022µFarads caps on the tone controls. I did find that, straight out of the box, the bridge humbucker on our guitar was a little quieter than the neck. It was the work of a moment to adjust its height, however, which fixed the imbalance.

Plugging in to a Fender Hot Rod Deville, using a J Rockett Calibre 45 overdrive pedal to add dirt, I immediately notice that wiry but beefy voicing that is so typical of a good, rock-focused Les Paul Custom.

The heft of the guitar, which weighs 10.25lbs (4.65kg) here translates into focused, aggressive mids in the initial attack of the note and a smooth, long sustain.

These aren’t the most subtle of humbuckers but they do absolutely deliver that Mick Ronson-esque growl and have an incisive, hot presence when driven harder that reminds me of tracks such as Fire Woman by the Cult.

Played clean, the T-Types show off why this kind of guitar works so well for jazz fusion, with a nice warm and well-defined clarity that articulates notes clearly and accurately.

Verdict

It’s been a while since we’ve had what you might call an attainably priced Les Paul Custom bearing the Gibson name and this 70s slant on a classic is a sensible mix of authentic features and modern workarounds that still delivers the excitement and tonal authority of a 70s Custom.

True, the guitar is a touch on the heavy side but to us it’s part of the guitar’s character and falls well short of backbreaker territory.

Guitar World verdict: Overall, this is a well-judged entry point to owning a ‘real’ Les Paul Custom with fast, precise playability and some riotously evocative sounds.

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“Legendary acoustic bass player Danny Thompson died peacefully yesterday at his home in Rickmansworth, UK,” his team wrote in an Instagram post.

“A musician who was both beloved and admired by everybody he worked with, his body of work is unparalleled in its quality and also in the incredibly varied number of musicians he worked with.

“From Kate Bush and John Martyn, to his role as a founding member of the legendary band Pentangle; from featuring on the Thunderbirds theme tune, and playing bass for Roy Orbison when The Beatles were still the opening act; to collaborations with jazz greats like Tubby Hayes and Stan Tracey, as well as work with Donovan, June Tabor, Nick Drake, Richard Thompson, and The Blind Boys of Alabama.

“Danny was a force of nature,” the statement continues. “A player who served the song and who enriched the lives of every single person he met. He will be sorely missed.”

Born in 1939 in Teignmouth, England, Thompson was a budding multi-instrumentalist by his teen years, but the upright bass became his primary love.

Though he grew up with a love of jazz, it wasn't long before Thompson branched out stylistically, and embarked on a career of extraordinary musical breadth.

According to Louder, (some of) Thompson's CV includes session and stage work with – in addition to the aforementioned Orbison, Bush, Drake, Pentangle, Donovan, and (Richard) Thompson – John Martyn, Talk Talk, Alexis Korner, Tim Buckley, David Sylvian, Dagmar Krause, Peter Gabriel, The The, Gomez, Paul Weller, Tubby Hayes, Everything But The Girl, Mary Coughlan, Sandy Denny, Julian Cope, The Incredible String Band, Moondog, Nigel Kennedy, and Toumani Diabate.

Of particular note was his work in the folk-rock realm. Thompson co-founded Pentangle, bringing to their folk sound a jazzy element. He subsequently brought that exact approach to legendary singer-songwriter Nick Drake's debut album, 1969's Five Leaves Left.

Some of Thompson's best-known work came via his decades-long partnership with eclectic singer-songwriter John Martyn. Together, the two, along with Richard Thompson (who, naturally, the bassist also played with), helped define the unique strain of folk that percolated in the UK in the early- to mid-70s.

Those who heard and were influenced by this often commercially under-appreciated music were eager to draft Thompson, and his fluid, deeply melodic low-end work. One of the more famous of these artists was Kate Bush, who enlisted him on 1982's The Dreaming and 1985's hugely successful Hounds of Love.

When asked about the stylistic breadth of his discography by Louder in a 2010 interview, he said, “I never say I’m not going to play with someone because they’re working in a different kind of music to me. I’ll always have a play, and it’s that which has led into all kinds of different things.

“Back in the 60s I used to get a lot of grief from jazzers, asking me why I was bothering to play all that folk stuff. But I was never bothered what type of music it was. It was music, you know? Plain and simple. The only thing I cared about was if I liked it or not, and if I liked it, then I was going to play it. Simple as that.”

“In 1981, when I was 12 and Igor was 11, we lived in Belo Horizonte near all these shady long-hair characters who were wearing Judas Priest shirts, and we went, ‘Yeah, we want to be like those guys!’” Cavalera relates in an interview with Guitar World.

“We made friends with a couple of them, and they had cool record collections. That’s where we first saw the Judas Priest live album, Unleashed in the East. I saw the cover and thought, ‘Man, these guys look amazing!’ That’s how we discovered Priest, Iron Maiden, and other great metal.”

It wasn't long before he picked up his first guitar, an old acoustic that belonged to his dad, and one that he decided “to pimp out like KISS”.

“I broke a mirror and superglued shards from the mirror onto the guitar [to resemble Paul Stanley’s guitar],” Cavalera remembers. “I did a horrible job, and the shards stuck out and cut my hand. It was total ghetto, but it was bad-ass. I wish I still had that.”

However, it was only when he and his brother witnessed Brazilian thrash metal band and pioneers Dorsal Atlântica in action that Cavalera became hooked on the genre and decided to make the switch to electric. It wasn't a painless transition, though.

“[They] were real aggressive and kind of sounded like Venom that I turned to Igor and said, ‘Hey, those motherfuckers are from Brazil. If they can do it, we can, too.’

“That’s when I bought my first electric guitar,” he reminisces. “There was no brand. I called it “Podrido” which means the rotten [in Spanish]. Every time I slid my hand down the neck, a splinter of wood would stick in my finger, and I would start bleeding. It was a piece of shit, but it was so cool to have an actual guitar.”

Last year, Cavalera revealed that there's no longer any need for a classic-era Sepultura return, despite fans' wishes for the Cavalera brothers to take part in the band's farewell tour.

Guitar World's upcoming interview with Max Cavalera will be published in the coming weeks.

The Bon Jovi guitarist, who has previously worked with Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie, is set for a signature version of his favored Gibson SG model, though it's apparently going to have bit of vintage Les Paul swagger to make it a best-of-both-worlds hybrid.

“We made the body an eighth of an inch thicker for me because I’m a bigger guy,” he reveals in the new issue of Guitarist. “And we put in a ’57 Goldtop neck profile on it. You can’t beat that bargain!”

After two initial prototypes, he hints that it’s a case of third time lucky.

“It’s funny – I’ve had endorsements for so long, and some of the best guitars I’ve owned have been free!” he reflects. “But, really, the truly special one is the one I’m working on with Gibson, which is a signature SG, so my favourite guitar right now is prototype number three.

“In Bon Jovi, I have to play, like, eight or 10 guitars because there are different tunings and sounds,” he expands. “I have that SG in rehearsals and I’ll pick it up and go, ‘Oh, my God… this guitar just feels like home.’”

His words seemingly point towards the unidentified gold SG he’s been seen playing on his Instagram – complete with chrome-covered P-90s – which might just be the guitar in question.

Other notable appointments on that particular custom build include a Maestro Vibrola tailpiece, a 50% reduction of controls – we’re presuming only master Volume and Tone remain – with the knobs looking like they were chiselled off a retro tube amp.

Time will tell if this is the final guitar, or if more tweaks are coming before production – but the collaboration feels close to the finish line

Phil X released a signature J. Rockett overdrive/boost last year. He's also been hard at work writing new Bon Jovi material, and he isn't shying away from guitar solos.

The guitarist has found that the recent Bon Jovi documentary is helping him win over die-hard Sambora fans. Earlier this year, he also explained why he prefers single-pickup guitars – and his one-of-a-kind neck pickup mod.

For the full interview with Phil X – as well as conversations with Mark Knopfler and Don Felder – pick up the new issue of Guitarist at Magazines Direct.

On September 21, Nancy Wilson gave Roan her stamp of approval by joining her onstage at Forest Hills Stadium in New York for a surprise collaborative rendition of the Heart classic.

Armed with her one-of-a-kind purple sparkle baritone Telecaster – which was stolen and later retrieved just a couple of months ago – Wilson, alongside Roan and her band, delivered a powerful rendition of the track, arguably living up to Roan's comments that it is among the greatest songs, perhaps even the greatest song, ever recorded.

“It gives me hope and positive appreciation for where the culture is going,” Wilson tells Vulture. “I was completely honored to do that for Chappell.”

As for how the two met, Wilson continues, “It was one of those things where, when we met, she was the sweetest person on earth. She said, ‘It’s an honor to be here and meet you.’ It was like, Where’s Chappell Roan? I thought she was going to be some big diva, but she’s this wonderful, sweet-hearted person, intelligent and funny.

“We went our separate ways, and she kept doing Barracuda on her tour. My hubby, Jeff said, ‘Well, maybe she’d want you to play with her sometime.’ So we put the idea out there and her team responded, ‘Whoa, would you really do it?’ I never would’ve thought of insinuating myself into her show, but it was natural, since she does Barracuda every night.”

At the show, Roan even mentioned that it's one of the songs she wishes she wrote, which doesn't go unnoticed by Wilson.

“I think she relates to the song for the reason of what it’s all about – the song kicks the asses of slimy guys in the culture,” Wilson observes.

“They’re still everywhere. They haven’t gone away. If anything, it’s worse now than it was in the ’70s. I think she’s really reactionary and intelligent about her own sexuality and her place in a culture regarding her individual personhood. Barracuda speaks to her, and she’s a radical and intelligent thinker.”

As for Barracuda and Heart's legacy, Wilson believes there is currently a shift happening among the younger generation toward rock and the rediscovery of classic rock.

“I’ve seen, even at the Heart shows, 9-year-old kids playing air guitar when we do Barracuda and Crazy on You,” she relates. “There’s a lot of singing along from college kids, and the original Heart fans always show up like the loyal fans they’ve always been. It’s a multigenerational situation.

“In the pop-culture world now with Chappell and Olivia [Rodrigo], a lot of the music had been so mechanized and auto-tuned – spoon-fed that way for a little bit longer than people realize. There’s a feeling of music history that comes from classic rock. It’s not completely disposable. It passes through the generations a bit more.

“There’s a personal story to it. The attention-span theater is growing back a bit longer because of the sense of history and security a classic rock song will give you, as well as unity among the people that love those songs,” she concludes.

Earlier this year, Chappell Roan's guitarist, Andrea Ferrero, spoke to Guitar World about her experience playing a custom mirrorball Gibson Les Paul on Roan’s hit, Pink Pony Club, at the Grammys.

Headlined by Blink-182, Weezer, and Green Day, the Chicago festival was, for rock fans of a certain age, a jaw-dropping nostalgia fest. But the fast-rising British noisemakers weren't going to let those at the top of the bill have all the fun at Douglass Park.

“It is with great honor, I’d like to welcome on stage Jack White the First,” vocalist Joe Talbot had bellowed before the carnage ensued.

Video footage shows White and Kiernan in aptly riotous form, with squealing guitars and angular licks galore – not to mention a dollop or two of Whammy pedal wails. It's glorious pandemonium on stage, with the band clearly savoring the chance to trade off with one of their (ahem) idols.

The band haven’t said much following the performance – it speaks for itself, in truth. But IDLES’ other guitarist, Mark Bowen, posted a picture of White on stage with the group with the caption, “IFKYK.”

Lately, White has been running amok with his signature Telecaster – a model that’s found its way into the hands of Kirk Hammett and Vernon Reid, and his favorite new guitarist – but it’s the Mustang that gets a run out here.

Kiernan only got the guitar after a score of IDLES' preferred Fenders were stolen in the band's early days. That got the band an invite to Fender HQ, where, after a key modification, the Mustang stole his heart. It has since become one of his main axes, and it has the wounds to prove it.

“This was the first guitar I bought for IDLES, and it's been there ever since, and I've smashed it up, reglued it, snapped it... I love growing with it,” he told Andertons earlier this year.

Speaking to Guitarist in 2024, Kiernan dismissed digital amp modelers as “wack” as he dissected the band’s love of “violent, dark tones” and the often hodgepodge electric guitars they use to achieve them.

The band’s guitar tandem was selected to be the poster boys for Fender’s new Player II Modified series as their rise to the top of the contemporary rock pile continues.

Meanwhile, White has shown off the crazy guitar/bass hybrid built for him by Eddie Van Halen's go-to master builder, and we've never seen anything quite like it.

He's also on the hunt for a guitar he regrets letting go of as a teenager, and recently issued a plea to his fans to help him track it down.

The run, which is limited to 700 pieces, doubles down on Paul Reed Smith’s claims that virtually any wood can be used as viable tonewoods, as each instrument is crafted from reclaimed and salvaged materials.

Those include woods taken from old houses in Brazil and salvaged after a hurricane in Puerto Rico. Such a move, PRS says, means each guitar “boasts its own character” and is “rendered unique”.

A sample of 100 to 150-year-old Peroba Rosa – usually utilized as siding in Brazil – is used for the tops, and was selected for its density. These tops partner Cuban mahogany necks and Guaribu fretboards. We’re told to expect tones that are “punchy but also warm,” while some of the neck woods – purchased from Puerto Rico – had been claimed from trees felled by Hurricane Maria in 2017.

The fretboards are sourced from Brazil, where the wood has historically been used for supporting beams in houses. PRS has opted to let their natural colors shine with satin nitro finishes. Holes and wear are reminders of the wood’s respective histories.

Elsewhere, the guitars are very much classic PRS. Built with a 25" scale length, they feature PRS Patented tremolos, Phase II locking tuners with wing buttons, and two humbuckers with its signature Narrowfield humbucker – a hybrid of ’bucker and single-coil sounds – in the middle.

Alongside its Volume and Tone controls, and five-way switch, the guitar sports two additional mini-toggles. These unlock a myriad of tones via 12 different configurations covering everything from cosy cleans to roaring rhythms and spanky split-coil sounds.

The reclaimed woods concept was born after PRS Guitars' Senior Wood Buyer, Michael Reid, embarked on a house-building project using second-hand Brazilian woods, with the first PRS run of its kind coming in 2017.

While his job sounds exhausting – with the preparation of the Peroba Rosa wood “involving the extraction of thousands of small batten nails” completed during the height of summer with sweaty protective gear on – he says the results are more than worth it.

“It is impossible to fool a good guitar player,” Reid admits. “Everyone who has a guitar made from these woods sees them as a legitimate tool for serious players, not as a gimmick.”

The PRS S2 Special Semi-Hollow Reclaimed is available now for $2,699.

Visit PRS for more.

Other noteworthy PRS drops in 2025 include Herman Li’s long-awaited, recipe-skewing signature guitar, a contender for best sub–$1K guitar of the year in the SE NF 53, and an exotic wood makeover for the SE.

Before that, their 2019 EP …An Invocation wore its punker influence with pride. Bassist Jenna Garcia explains: “In our primordial phase, grunge and riot grrrl artists like Babes in Toyland, Hole and L7 were critical to our being a band.”

Their sophomore LP, Labyrinthine, expands their thematic and cinematic vision. “It’s an ingress and egress from the middle to any realm – Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory,” Garcia says. “It’s a personal journey into the depths of the psyche. The minotaur at the centre can stand for the self, desires or personal struggles.”

Guitarist Ari May offers a hint at their inspiration: “I was antiquing a lot, collecting iron keys and distorted old photos, and looking at imagery of abandoned historical places, like overgrown graveyards. That stuck with me – the idea of being abandoned inside yourself.”

While they were both drawn to music at a young age, neither were sure if it was the right path. “I got my first bass when I was 11, a cherry Ibanez,” Garcia sayd. “I never had lessons – I didn’t even know you had to tune the thing! God bless my parents… it probably sounded awful!”

May adds: “I was 14 and heavily into classic rock like Jimi Hendrix and The Grateful Dead. I didn’t take it too seriously; it was just a skill I wanted to learn.”

When they met at a house show in high school, they started to dream big. “I now had friends in bands and realized this was something I could do,” Garcia recalls.

Faetooth’s hypnotic live performances – with the pair often performing in trance-like states – owes a debt to their unlikely emo and pop-punk influences. “I’m a huge My Chemical Romance fan,” says Garcia. “I love Mikey Way’s bass playing, but I was also fixated on Lyn-Z of Minor Self Indulgence.

“It was powerful seeing a woman on bass. She was an amazing performer, doing back-bends and crowdsurfing, wearing cool outfits. I was like, ‘I don’t care what it is – if I can do that, put a bass in my hand!’”

Garcia and May play custom-shop Dunables: a silver flake Gnarwhal bass, and a green R2 baritone. Garcia says: “Sasha Dunable has created this instrument for heavy music, but it doesn’t have to be in doom and sludge. You see people in hardcore playing them. When you’re in a lower tuning like drop A/B Standard, you want something reliable and stable.”

May reports: “Before getting my Dunable, I never felt like a guitar was mine. I started out on a gold 50th anniversary Squier Strat, but I was like, ‘There are a million of these!’ I have a Danelectro ‘67 Hornet and another baritone with humbuckers that I used for Remnants – but the sound wasn’t there yet.”

Garcia’s current ’board consists of two EarthQuaker pedals, an always-on Blumes bass overdrive and a Hizumitas fuzz. “The Blumes gives you that addition oomph,” she says. “You can have the nice low rumble without the growl, or you can add a little sizzle.

“My fun one is my Hizumitas – it just goes crazy. I’ve gone through an array of fuzz pedals; who hasn’t? But being a three-piece, you want the sound to meld so it doesn’t become an incoherent ball of noise.”

In contrast, May confesses they “collect a ton of pedals and it’s hard for me to commit.” But for now they prefer EarthQuakers. The LP features a Palisades overdrive for clean tone, then layers of heavy guitar use an Acapulco Gold pushing a Does It Doom Doomsaw. Live, they use a Cloven Hoof, Afterneath reverb, and a Hizumitas “when it’s crazy chaos time.”

On their last tour, they both used an ABY splitter for two 4x12 cabs each, powered with Hiwatt Custom 100s.

While doom metal is seen as a niche, Faetooth’s “fairy doom” identity has exposed them to a wider audience.

“We have a really amazing range of people coming to our shows, young and old,” Garcia says. “It really warms my heart when trans fans, and fans in general, tell us that our music helped them navigate something difficult in their life.”

The band loved their first time playing Europe. “There were so many amazing people and beautiful historical places,” May says.

Garcia adds: “Our first stop was Mystic Festival in Poland. It was crazy to see people singing our songs – it was just gnarly.”

• Labyrinthine is out now via The Flenser.

What’s more, despite his legacy with Living Colour, a band that does plenty of boundary pushing itself, he’s not afraid to set it all aside and re-label himself as labelless. “Making this record has felt very grounding to me,” Reid tells Guitar World.

“It’s grounded me in the same culture that created me,” he says. “You know, the punk, funk, jazz – the thing that New York is known for being: the crazy melting pot.”

Cuts like The Haunting showcase Reid’s omnivorous nature as a listener and guitarist. There are also social-meets-personal-meets-generally-relatable commentaries, like Beautiful Bastard. Reid has always been good at this sort of thing with Living Colour, but Hoodoo Telemetry is a reminder that he’s got his own vision to that end, too.

“Part of the idea is to learn something about the people you love,” Reid says while reflecting on Beautiful Bastard. “Somebody said romance is always tragic. It either ends in disappointment or marriage. You’re either walking away, or you're taking your vow.”

“But there are subdivisions of that which we won't get into,” he laughs. “But I wanted to speak to all different kinds of feelings.”

On the subject of speaking feelings into existence, Reid has always and still does do this with his guitar. And there’s plenty of that across Hoodoo Telemetry. Reid reports that he brought out guitars old and new while recording, but unsurprisingly leaned heavily on his signature Reverend Talisman guitars.

Reid says that the next – and final – entry into that series is upon us in The Dark, an all-back version of his Talisman. These guitars, like many of Reid’s past six-strings, are littered with important symbolism. “The pickup covers have Adinkra symbols, you know, African symbols,” Reid says.

“They reflect cooperation, determinism, destiny, and providence,” he says. “I wanted an instrument that was really about what would aid in a player's journey.”

As for the journey that he plans to take, Reid is working on new music with Living Colour. There’s no release date in mind, but it’ll be the band’s first record since 2017’s Shade. That aside, he’s got designs to tour behind Hoodoo Telemetry, though he’s taking it one step at a time.

“It really is about taking a trip,” he says. “And it’s about not being afraid to take the road less traveled in what you're doing. That’s the thing that I wanted the design of the guitars to encourage, and also, my music.”

What inspired Hoodoo Telemetry?

“There’s so many different threads. I made a record in the ’90s called Mistaken Identity, which brought together all these different worlds, like hip-hop, jazz, rock, blues, and all these different narratives that had been a part of my life.

“And a lot has happened since then. I made two more records, Known Unknown and Other True Self, and some other projects, along with Living Colour, which were pretty spaced apart. I started to consider making a new solo album, just to look at where I’m at now.”

So, where did you find yourself at, so to speak?

“Interestingly enough, I was also looking at music that I hadn’t released and updating it. And then the pandemic happened, and long story short, I suffered a major personal loss in that my dear friend, the journalist and band leader, Greg Tate, passed on December seventh, 2021.

“We were co-founders of the Black Rock Coalition, so it was a rough loss. I was grappling with it, and I’ve been grappling with it. It made me rethink my impulses, and it started to echo. We used to have long phone conversations about music, culture, politics, and on and on. So, this record is really dedicated to him.”

Coincidentally, I conducted one of the last-ever interviews with Greg, just before he died. He was fascinating to speak with, and he loved the guitar.

“He was a great cultural critic. He was a huge Van Halen fan and loved the instrument on its own merits. We were both big Jeff Beck and Tommy Bolin fans. And also, people like Robert Fripp and Ernie Isley. And, oh my God, Prince was always a topic, you know, his genius, and his ability to remain mysterious.”

It goes without saying that you’re a musical omnivore. How did that inform you as a guitarist and songwriting while making this record?

“It’s all kind of keyed to the songs themselves, as opposed to doing a record of a genre, or a way of approaching it. It’s really tied to individual songs. Like, with my approach to The Haunting, that was very much a little bit of Sly [Stone] and Prince influenced. That kind of stayed with me.”

A common thread behind all of your music is that it has a message behind it. It can be positive, stark, or a commentary, but it’s never arbitrary. What was the overarching message behind this record, and how did you express that through your guitar?

“My old boss, Ronald Shannon Jackson [drummer and composer of The Decoding Society] used to say to me: 'It ain’t what you think it is?' Life has layers. It’s about the people you meet, the people you love, and the weird stuff that comes up. It’s also about being in a space of looking forward, being in the present moment, and dealing with things of the past.”

So, this record encompasses all of those things?

“The record, really… some of the stuff is things that people haven’t heard, but also, things that I didn’t have a context for, like Beautiful Bastard. I was thinking about that track for a Yohimbe Brothers record, but it was too challenging. I thought, ‘You know what? What we associate with language, and when you say ‘bastard,’ you automatically think of a rotten dude,’ right?”

Yep. I’d agree with that.

“But actually, women can be that, too. The word ‘bastard’ is not really gendered, right? It’s like, you were born without the benefit of married parents. I mean… why is that kind of stuff put on people? That’s not your fault, right? But being a bastard also comes up in terms of succession, and who is the King’s proper son. [Laughs] So, with Beautiful Bastard, I wanted to play with the idea of gender there.”

Beyond that, there’s a bit of tragic imagery there.

“It’s kind of like a Nick Cave-inspired murder ballad. It’s a tragic story. I think any person can relate to a person in their life, where it’s like, ‘You’re my disaster.’ In terms of loving people, that’s very much a parent to child, or maybe a man to a woman, a man to a man, a woman to a woman, or whatever in-between.”

It’s fluid.

“The fact is that this person entered your life, and one day, you can say, ‘You’re a disaster.’ But actually, it’s more accurate to say, ‘You’re my disaster.’ [Laughs] I’ve had relationships with women… well, we’re not gonna there… [Laughs] But if you live a life where intimacy has occurred with different people, you learn something.”

There’s another song here called Good Afternoon Everyone that seems to have an interesting message behind it, too.

“That’s about a person who is homeless that I saw in the subway. He’s unfailingly polite in how he addresses people, saying, ‘Good afternoon, everyone. Can anyone help me with something to eat today?’ His rage is just under the surface, but he was polite the entire time.

“And I took my phone out and just recorded him, because he was just someone ranting, he was speaking to a certain situation. And when I got together with the hip-hop artist, Nironic, we co-wrote this. He came up with an interesting lyric of him being the person ignoring the homeless person, and he also took the position of being the homeless person.”

As you were putting this record together, what gear did you lean on most?

“There was a lot happening there. I’ve been using the [Line 6] Helix floor [-based processor]. But gosh, I had Red Panda stuff, Chase Bliss stuff, and the Eventide Rose [delay] was a big part of it. The Rose has this weird sort of analog modulation; it’s a beautiful pedal. And with Eventide, the H9 [Max Multi-Effects Pedal] was a part of this, too. But this record goes back a long way, so there’s a lot of stuff.”

How about your guitars? Is it mostly your signature Reverend gear, or did you use some of your older guitars, too?

“With the guitars, I used my PRS guitars from my signature time with them. I used my old Hamer guitars, and I definitely used my current Reverend Talisman. Those were a big part of it. But I also had a Parker, and I recorded with an Ovation acoustic that I’ve had for years. So, there’s a fair representation of the guitars that I’ve been using over the last 20 or 30 years.”

What’s the latest on your collaboration with Reverend?

“The latest thing is there’s a guitar that’s all-black called The Dark. But you know the Mystery Tramp, the Talisman, and the Shaman are the guitars in the Totem Series. And the final guitar in that series is The Dark. It’s a completely matte black version of the Talisman guitar. And it’s also the model that’s going to be available for lefty players.”

You’ve had a lot of very personal guitars over the years. Would you say that your Reverend guitars represent the culmination of what you’ve been looking for and trying to create?

“Well, they do represent a kind of culmination. Early on, I worked very closely with Jol Dantzig on my classic Hamers from the ’90s. They were all graphic – and I love graphics on guitars.”

What stoked your love for graphics?

“The first time I saw The Fool, you know, the [Eric] Clapton [Gibson] SG, was while it was Todd Rundgren’s. I just loved the idea of the guitar being an art canvas. And even with my ESP guitars, I did my doodles on those instruments, so I’ve always liked the idea of stickering, artwork, and hand paintings on your instrument.”

It’s a means of expression literally adhered to your chosen form of musical and artistic expression. The Reverend guitars feel like a true representation of that for you.

“I even love all the various carvings. I love that as a mode. And this particular Talisman series took me back to that kind of relationship. Working with Joe Naylor and Ken Haas on the symbology of the instrument took me back to my E=MC² Hamer, which I developed with Jol Dantzig. So, it’s been a great collaboration with Joe and Ken in terms of that.

“Like, the dot markers on my Reverend are all derived from hobo signs, you know, the symbols of people who rode he rails. These are symbols that they’d put in train yards to warn other hobos about the dangers or opportunities that were available if you were coming into the yard. It’s like with Vietnam, and the whole thing with lighters. Do you know about that?”

You mean the engravings or slogans that soldiers would put on their Zippo lighters and tuck into their helmets?

“Yes. You know, there were soldiers who would take lighters, and they would etch, you know, well, some of the things they’d say were pretty dark. One of the ones I heard about was, ‘I hope this lighter gives you as much luck as it gave me…’ So, yeah…”

So ultimately, the dot markers on your Reverend are symbolic.

“Yeah. So, the dot marker symbols mean things like ‘Jail,’ ‘Defend Yourself,’ ‘Good Road,’ ‘Police’, ‘Hobos Arrested,’ and ‘Keep Quiet.’ That’s all derived from that symbology. And Reverend were incredibly interested in my ideas, and it was a very real collaboration, where I had the hobo symbols, but I didn’t dictate where they should go.

“Like, I never said, ‘I want this at the first fret,’ or ‘I want that at the 12th fret.’ I didn’t do that. I came up with the chart with all the symbols, and I submitted it to Joe, and said, ‘Hey, man, put them where you think,’ you know? So, I felt good about the fact that it was a real collaboration between artists.”

Hoodoo Telemetry aside, is Living Colour working on its next album?

“Well, we’re engaged in writing and recording. I think our focus for the next couple of months is going to be on that, the writing and recording, and doing that. There is always the odd show here and there to do. But as far as full-on touring, like we did with Extreme, I think we’re going to be focusing a lot on making this record.”

Do you have designs to do some solo shows, too?

“I am putting a band together for Hoodoo Telemetry. Donald McKenzie is going to be the drummer for sure, and Leon Gruenbaum is going to be on keys. We’re going to be playing a show at the Blue Note on September 24, and I would love it if [bassist] Steve Jenkins could do that and be a part of it if a tour materializes. He’s a fabulous player.

“And I’m not sure or not if I’m going to have a saxophone, but if I had my druthers, I would have V. Jeffrey Smith, who plays on the record. He’s also a fabulous multi-instrumentalist, who also plays guitar and keyboards. So, there’s a lot of cool stuff that can happen. I’m kind of excited about where it’ll go and to see how the rest of it goes.”

• Hoodoo Telemetry is out now via Players Club.

On Friday October 10, Gibson Garage London will host a celebratory evening dedicated to all things ’Burst. A collection of famed 1958-1960 Gibson Les Paul Standards – widely and affectionately known as ‘The ’Burst’ – will feature on the night.

There will also be live performances and absorbing insights from a panel made up of ’Burst experts from Gibson, Guitarist and Bonham’s auction house.

Guitar fans will be able to get up close and personal with a host of famed ’Bursts, including historic ’59 models owned by Gary Moore and Gary Grainger of Rod Stewart’s band.

Moore’s ‘Stripe’ and Grainger’s eponymous ‘Grainger’ model will line up alongside a world-famous flame-top ’59 named ‘Minnesota’ and more on the evening.

The ’Burst Experience will feature demonstrations of original, vintage Les Paul Standards from 1958-1960 by guest blues rock guitar star Aynsley Lister. The panel of assembled experts will also give attendees insight into the model’s fascinating history.

Tickets for the unique three-hour event cost £19.50 and places are limited. As well as experiencing the performances and panel, guitar fans will also receive complimentary drinks, an official Gibson x Guitarist goodie bag, and the chance to be photographed alongside the ’Bursts on display.

Further still, fans will also be able to explore the Gibson Garage’s Murphy Lab guitars, from painstaking, aged recreations of classic Les Paul Standards to exquisite Made-To-Measure Custom Shop models.

Doors on the night open at 7pm. The Gibson Garage London is located close to the English capital’s famous Oxford Street at W1W 8NQ.

Tickets are on sale now. To book yours, visit www.futureevents.uk/guitarist.

While King says he learned a lot working with these seasoned pros, he was eager to get back to working with his road band. Emphasizing this back-to-his-roots approach, King recorded Darling Blue at Macon, Georgia’s Capricorn Studios, where the Allman Brothers Band, Marshall Tucker Band, Wet Willie and many others recorded landmark Southern music.

“It was really healing to be back in that room,” King says. “And just to be in Macon, a city with a lot of magic and musical history.”

Darling Blue represents a huge leap in King’s songwriting, with confessional lyrics and earnest love songs that never sound contrived. Musically, it shows King and company leaning into country sounds, with plenty of acoustic guitars and fiddles.

The King band has toured in recent years with Chris Stapleton, the Zac Brown Band, and are hitting the road with Dwight Yoakam and Eric Church. Guests on Darling Blue also include bluegrass king Billy Strings and country crooners Jamey Johnson and Kaitlin Butts. There is also les shredding on Darling Blue, but plenty of tasty playing by both King and guitarist Drew Smithers.

“We just tried to play to fit the songs and I’m proud that everyone did that so well,” King says.

The album’s Americana blend also shows the influence of Motown, Sly and the Family Stone and King’s beloved South Carolina homeboys the Marshall Tucker Band. King’s passion for Tucker is highlighted by his role in the Toy Factory Project, a group put together by MTB founding drummer Paul T. Riddle to pay homage to his original band.

It also features Charlie Starr (Blackberry Smoke), bassist Oteil Burbridge (Dead and Company, Allman Brothers), keyboardist Josh Shilling and fiddler Billy Contreras, who also plays on Darling Blue. The band debuted last summer with a single show, with more to come, as well as an album that also features Derek Trucks.

“I was very excited to breathe new life into this music that I hold so dear and that I've been so influenced and encouraged by,” King says. “and it made recording at Capricorn all that more special.”

Why did you choose to work at Capricorn Studios, an intimate place with an incredible history?

“It was the first time the band and I had been in the studio together in a minute. The band is really me and my drummer, Jack Ryan. We started the band together and it was time for us to get back in the studio together. We settled on Capricorn because we wanted to feel like we were at home, and we wanted to echo the influence that the bands that recorded there had on us.”

Why did you not record together for so long?

“I moved to Nashville and Jack was back in the Carolinas and was working on a side-project. I was working with Dan Auerbach, who likes to have a house band, sort of a Southern fried version of Phil Spector's wall of sound.

“He works with the remaining Memphis boys who played on Dusty Springfield’s Son of a Preacher Man and Elvis’ Suspicious Minds and a lot of other stuff that I love. I grew a lot from the incredible experience of working with all those guys, as well as with the people Rick Rubin brought in for Young Blood, but it’s just different.”

Musically, you've moved towards Americana, with more country influence, more acoustic guitar, different songwriting. Is this just a natural evolution?

“As I've grown as an artist, I've gotten more confident in my songwriting and more meaningful with the lyrics. I have a better chance of articulating what I want to say and I feel the song deserves to be heard in the best light.

“I wouldn't say that the playing was gratuitous on our past works, but it was more instrumentally focused. When we play live, we stretch all these songs out and leave room for improvisational creativity, but the songwriting has progressed and evolved, so we fell in line behind that.”

I think the songs sound very natural.

“Thanks. I'm so proud of this work, and it did happen organically. It’s not contrived in any way. There’s room for pop country and hip-hop country - and there's certainly room for Southern rock country, which is what I think we do. I love the fans that we've met being out with Chris Stapleton and Zac Brown Band. The country community is a strong, loyal fanbase.”

You have some interesting guests here, including Billy Strings.

“Yeah, we have my old neighbor William on there. Me and Bill used to be neighbors over in East Nashville and I love that guy so much. The song is just a cowboy number, inspired by people like Toy Caldwell, but applying some of the real life strife that I've gone through lyrically. I heard Billy on it right away and he was kind enough to give me some of his busy time.”

Your playing has shifted along with your songwriting, with less overdrive and more Tele sounds. Which shift came first?

“That's a fine question. When I'm at home, I don't like to touch the guitar. I play a lot of piano, which I write on. Or I'll sit and I'll play my pedal steel guitar or my fiddle, banjo, ukulele – anything but the guitar. If I do pick up a guitar it's a gut-string fretless number.

“The guitar is something that I'm so familiar with. It's like riding a bike or speaking the English language. If I moved abroad and only spoke Spanish for six months, it's not like I will forget how to speak English. Guitar is so deeply rooted in me. I like to play different instruments, and it helps my playing when I go back to the guitar.

“I read Victor Wooten's book [The Music Lesson] and he harped on the importance of being a musician not a bass player and I have always been influenced by that idea. It’s a holy experience to be able to sit at a guitar and say exactly what I have on my mind.”

You’ve had a second guitar player, Drew Smithers, in your band for a few years, but this is the first you’ve recorded together. I love the way you play together. Is the slide on the album all him?

“He plays most of the slide but Carry Me Home is us playing harmony, which evokes George Harrison. We met when his former band opened for us and we’d always end up hanging out, talking about music and life, and quickly became good friends.

“He’s one of the finest people I’ve ever known and the chemistry of how we played together was just profound right away. He was the only person I considered as a second guitar player and it was a way to take a little pressure off, being a frontman, but it became a whole new tool in our bag.

“We play like one player. Taking a page from Eric Clapton, it's inspiring to have another guitar player on stage and it makes me play better.”

Carolina Honey is an unabashed love song. Is that about meeting your wife?

“It is. It’s one of two songs that form the theme of the record, along with Die Alone, and they are about two days that happened back-to-back, the day before and the day I met my wife. Carolina Honey is about her ability to make me see that life was worth living. She gave me the kick in the ass I needed to start living it.”

Die Alone is a heavy theme.

“I had gone back out on the road with the intention of drinking and drugging myself to death. When I met her, all that changed. Growth is the hardest thing we can do as human beings, but after the fact you're thankful for it.

“My wife doesn’t put up with no bullshit, and I was just baggage. I was in real rough shape, but she saw the potential in me and helped me get back up on my feet. I'm always just floored by that woman and I’m thankful that she took a chance on me like she did.”

It's great that you've been so open about your struggles, because they are so widespread in our world and not everybody is so open about it. And I believe that talking about it is helpful to other people.

“Thanks. I just talk about it like anything else going on. If I'm having mood swings or I'm depressed out on the road, I speak about it openly on stage and with my bandmates. It's just part of our makeup, especially kids in my generation.

“It's a mindfulness practice because you gotta do it every day or you'll fall back into those habits: depression, substance abuse, suicidal tendencies and all of that. It's got many faces and the ability to suck you back in even when you think you're doing all right.”

I love Honky Tonk Hell, which has a Sturgill Simpson vibe, with that country funk and the horns. Has he been a big influence on you?

“Oh yeah. I love Sturgill and I don't think I'm unique in that. He's one of the baddest motherfuckers on two legs and I'm always influenced by him, but it’s the horns that really gave it that Sturgill vibe and I was adamant about that.

“That was one of the very few disagreements I’ve had with my producer. I was so influenced by Sturgill’s magnum opus Metamodern Sounds in Country Music. I just want to do some country funk, man.”

Paul T. Riddle loves the term country funk. You did the Toy Factory Project with him, Charlie Starr and Oteil Burbridge, playing terrific version of Marshall Tucker songs. This feels like a labor of love for everyone.

“Oh yes. The Marshall Tucker Band is the best export we have in South Carolina, second only to peaches. As a kid, them being 30 minutes away from where I was made a big impression. Paul and I were connected by my guitar instructor, Steve Watson, and we immediately hit it off.

“When he asked me to be a part of this project I was honored. It's been a painstakingly slow process with everybody being in different label deals, but everybody's there for the right reasons: for that music and its importance and its cultural impact.

“I say that to my friends at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, because they’re not in there, which is a miscarriage of justice. The Marshall Tucker Band needs to be inducted right away.”

They all knew and respected your father, Marvin. Your grandfather was also a musician. What did he play?

“My grandfather was a country and western musician and a career serviceman in the United States Air Force. He met my grandmother when he was stationed in Munich, Germany. He was head of the culinary arts for the Air Force and was also in charge of the NCO clubs and their dances.

“He hired people like Johnny Cash and Charlie Pride, and they would come over to play, backed by his band, with him on bass. My grandfather was a career musician, a weekend warrior who played every honky tonk between here and the moon. He was one of my greatest influences and supporters.

“And he was just a bad dude. I owe so much to him and the rest of my family too because they always viewed music as an honest way of making a living, not a pipe dream. It was like learning the family trade.”

Your grandpa’s guitar is the Gibson ES-345 you’ve played a lot and now have a Gibson signature guitar based on. Do you still play it on the road?

“It depends. If I'm flying, I usually bring a backup model, but if the bus is leaving from Nashville, I'll bring it with me because nothing plays quite like it. It's a family heirloom and the most inspiring instrument I have in my arsenal.

“It was his dream to play the Grand Ole Opry and he won a fiddle contest to do so but was already overseas when he found out he had won. I always bring his guitar there, because that's the only way I can bring him to the Opry with me.”

What is the Telecaster that you're playing?

“I've been playing a 66 Esquire. I was drinking a lot and forgot that I bought it. The folks at Carter Vintage called me and were like, ‘You gonna come get this guitar?’ It's probably the only good thing that ever came from my drinking.”

Did you use any inspiring vintage gear at Capricorn?

“The Hammond organ and piano we used were Chuck Leavell’s, which is mega-inspiring. Otis Redding's upright piano is also there. It’s unusable, but we sure tried. Just having it there was inspiring. The whole town is.

“We went down to Rose Hill Cemetery [where four members of the Allman Brothers Band are buried] and spent a day visiting our heroes. You got a town where the Allman Brothers lived and Little Richard and Otis Redding grew up on the same street.

“I wanted to put bass on a track and didn’t have an instrument, so I called our good friend Richard Brent at The Big House Allman Brothers Band Museum and asked if he had anything inspiring of the bass guitar variety and he brought me over Gregg Allman’s ’66 Guild Starfire.

“It’s like riding Dale Earnhardt's motorcycle; it's not something that he's really known for, but it's still cool that Gregg Allman played a small part on this record!”

• Darling Blue is out now via Republic.

Instead, that song, which had been mooted as a follow-up to Hotel California, found life outside the confines of The Eagles – and ended up as the theme song for an animated feature film five years later.

Speaking in the new issue of Guitarist, Eagles guitarist Don Felder addressed rumors that his solo hit Heavy Metal had originally been conceived as a song for the band, confirming it had been intended to be another excuse for him and Joe Walsh to let loose on some “dazzling” guitar work befitting a Hotel California sequel.

“It was going to be a follow-up on The Long Run to Hotel California,” he states. “It had a real kind of heavy hand to it and I wrote it so that Joe [Walsh] and I could play even harder than we did, or edgier than we did on Hotel, against each other.

“It had harmony parts, trading-off solos and a much harder rock edge. We went in and recorded the basic track for The Long Run but never got around to finishing the lyrics.”

The track went unfinished, but Felder would bring it out of its early retirement a few years later when he got tapped to write a song for animated sci-fi feature film Heavy Metal. He had the perfect song in mind for the gig.

“We had a basic track, but it just died in the Eagles’ vault until I got a call years later about doing a song for the Heavy Metal movie,” he continues.

“Without the title Heavy Metal, that song could have, and should have, in my opinion, been finished on an Eagles record with Joe and I following up on Hotel with some dazzling guitar solos and stuff.

“It didn’t happen, we just didn’t have time,” Felder continues of Heavy Metal’s fate. “We had a tour booked and planned, and we were just dying to get through this record [The Long Run], the final mixes, cleaning up vocals, mastering, artwork.

“We just didn’t have time to do everything we needed to do. There were a lot of dropped ideas along the way, but I took the idea and turned it into Heavy Metal.”

Back in 2021, Walsh discussed the makings of Hotel California, revealing the iconic lead lines were not pre-planned – and were instead entirely improvised.

Visit Magazines Direct to pick up the latest issue of Guitarist, which also includes an interview with Mark Knopfler and his former guitar tech – who discusses why he convinced Knopfler to swap Strats for Les Pauls.

Jeff Beck’s Oxblood – the most expensive Gibson Les Paul ever sold at an auction – received a headstock repair during its storied history. The headstock of Clapton’s The Fool SG was snapped clean off before Todd Rundgren fixed it up.

But the decades-old issue is receiving renewed attention this month after an Instagram video was posted by guitar tech Luis Munoz, who has worked with Olivia Rodrigo, the Smashing Pumpkins, and Simple Plan.

“Unfortunately, Gibson will never change this,” Munoz wrote on his post, as he showcased how he typically fixes damaged Gibson headstocks.

“Gibson breaks headstocks so often because of their steep headstock angle, soft mahogany wood, and the thin, weakened area behind the nut (thanks to the truss rod cavity). When they fall, all the force hits that weak spot – so they snap.”

Munoz’s video caught the attention of many a Gibson enthusiast, including the company’s Vice President of Product, Mat Koehler.

Koehler gave his two cents, branding Munoz’s video “disinformation” and, in the follow-up comments, suggesting that “less than 1% of Gibson guitars made have ever had a headstock issue” – which is why Guitar World reached out to set the record straight on whether Gibson has done anything to fix what many perceive as an intrinsic structural fault.

“I don’t think there was really a debate,” Koehler tells Guitar World. “I think that it was spun into a debate that I didn’t even really want to participate [in], because, I admit: our headstocks have their quirks – that’s part of what makes it Gibson.”

“But the reason that I had originally reached out as a member of the guitar community and not as a representative of Gibson is just because the original post was very clickbaity, I thought. And then all the comments within were just kind of ragging on Gibson never doing anything. That's when I was like, ‘There have been 60 years of constant attention to this issue.’”

Of his comment on the post, Koehler asserts that, “What I meant was, there’s enough disinformation in this whole thread, not just not the original post. The disinformation is the idea that Gibson is not actively working towards solutions and innovating today.

“R&D [Research and Development] is a tremendous part of what we do every day. There’s [also] the customer adaptation aspect of it, which I think is totally unique to Gibson. So then I was challenged, you know, ‘Okay, if there’s disinformation, then prove us wrong.’”

Although he acknowledges it is difficult to present the whole scope of Gibsons that have ever been made, Koehler claims that headstock breakages are not as common as the general narrative might suggest.

According to private insurance company data from the past five years that Gibson has access to, “the average instances of headstock breaks of insured guitars, privately insured guitars, are 0.2%.

“If you’re extrapolating to broadly all the Gibsons that have been made, I definitely do not think it is a reach at all to think that less than 1% of all Gibsons have had a headstock break,” he continues, also citing Gibson’s own shipping data for guitars damaged in transit.

“And that’s mainly because less than 1% of all Gibsons are probably gigged hard and on stage with a guitarist who’s jumping all over the place or knocking over things. I don’t think that’s a bold claim at all.”

Koehler insists that, even if the “percentage is much greater than that, it's just that the facts can be skewed whichever way you want. And that's not what I was debating. What I was debating is the idea that we don't do anything to address it.”

So what are some of the innovations that address this issue?

“You could go back to 1965 – headstocks go from the 17-degree angle to the 14-degree angle. Many headstocks in the late ’60s changed to multi-piece necks to help reinforce, and of course, in the ’70s, you have the volutes and multi-piece necks.

“All of those solutions, and even the more modern ones, can still result in headstock breaks if you drop your guitar on stage. Guitar playing is one of those things where it's not fun unless you're jumping up and down on stage and dancing all over. If you're in the audience, that's what you want a guitarist to be doing.

“But I think when we've introduced solutions... you could look most recently to 2017, we introduced the Apex headstock, which is a really brilliant idea from our longtime master luthier, Matt Klein, and we rolled that out in a number of models, not only was it panned, but people were like, ‘Oh, you're admitting your headstocks aren't perfect.’ And I think we've never tried to say that. We've just said that the classic headstock style is the original part of the recipe.”

Then why does Gibson continue to build the headstocks the traditional way?

“We want to give buyers a choice. I started in 2016, and it was definitely a very low point in Gibson's history of trying to solve problems that weren't there, and going too far with it, and then doing it across the board.

“So it was a very easy decision once there was regime change and ownership change to offer an Original Collection and a Modern Collection. With the Modern Collection, we have permission to play, permission to innovate new structural things, ergonomic things, [and] new aesthetic things that you wouldn't find in the Original Collection.

“It was really, really important for us to have both the Original Collection and the Modern Collection. That said, people still overwhelmingly prefer the Original Collection and historic reissue designs. The expectation is that we build them like they were built originally.

So which Gibson and Epiphone guitars have reinforced headstocks?

“On the Gibson side, the Custom Les Paul Axcess has the Apex headstock. It's also a custom order opportunity for any of our Custom Shop guitars. We had initially debuted it on what we call the Les Paul Modern Double Cut in 2017, and then it kind of spread its way around that Modern Collection – and then elsewhere in our Modern Collection.

“If you look at the SG Standard – things that are not crazy modern and different from our Original Collection – there are little subtle tweaks that we do on those instruments to pull them more modern leading.

“That's the angle of the headstock, that's the way the heel meets the body on, say, an SG. It's also the increased access 24 frets. It could be a cutaway or deeper cutaway scarf neck joint.

“And then, on Epiphone, we've got different ways of fusing the headstock to the neck. But then the same thing – buyers are like, ‘If this Epiphone only had a single-piece headstock with a 17-degree neck angle.’ So even then, we've continued to try to get them closer in line with Gibson, because that's where the demand lies.”

We were also curious about the warranty policy. Does it address accidental headstock breakage, or is it considered user damage?

“I think there's an understanding when you buy a Gibson guitar that it is a potential fail point if a guitar is dropped. So, we offer strap buttons or strap locks. There are lots of different ways that you can mitigate it. Personally, I'm sorry, but I don't think there's any reason why a warranty should cover user damage for anything.

“We have Gibson Repair and Restoration. Again, I trust the luthier community. They know this is a huge part of their education – fixing headstock breaks, not just for Gibson guitars, but for a variety of different guitars. We have our own channels for repair, but I think a reputable luthier is going to be just as qualified as Gibson to repair headstocks.”

Are replacement necks or structural reinforcement available for owners of older Gibson models who want to reinforce their headstocks?

“I would advise people not to do that. You're going to ruin the value of your guitar, first of all. And secondly, I think it's one of those things that, all right, if it happens, God forbid, there are fixes.

“It's unfortunate, but I don't think there's any reason for people to be alarmed and proactively try to reinforce their headstocks. One thing you could do if you have, [for example] an old, early ’60s SG is ensure that it's properly cased. I think that is definitely something that you could proactively do. Honestly, for any Gibson, make sure it's properly cased. Make sure the case is protective.

“Because even if a guitar falls off a stand, it may not break if it falls over onto the headstock, but if it's been in a shoddy case and kind of been worn down over the years, it's way more likely to be structurally unsound.”

Given how deeply you’re connected to the Gibson brand, how do you balance listening to the luthier community and consumers’ critiques with staying true to the company’s vision?

“It's what make the guitar community so special. My uncle’s a luthier; I grew up around luthiers. My best friends are guitar luthiers. The luthier community is super important to me, to guitars, and to Gibson, because they're the ones keeping guitars alive.

“There's just a tremendous amount of passion for anything regarding repairs and different techniques, even within the luthier community, and a lot of opinions on what Gibson should be doing differently. My root feeling towards all of that is – I'm so happy that people are so passionate about this, right or wrong. I'm just enjoying being a part of that community.”

Since its launch around a decade ago, the BIAS ecosystem has proven to be one of the most respected and used tools for the average guitar player, undergoing a handful of revisions and updates to stay up to date with the needs of modern recording players.

The BIAS X, though, goes wildly above and beyond any precedent that Positive Grid may have set in the past, delivering a platform that might just be the most advanced amps and effects software currently around.

It’s no secret that we’re living in the age of AI, nor is it still a surprise when guitar gear that leverages such tech gets released. The Groundhog Audio OnePedal and Guitar Center’s Rig Advisor shopping assistant are but two examples.

Positive Grid has largely been at the forefront of those advances. Its Spark 2 practice amp debuted Spark AI, which can be used to create guitar tones from prompts.

In a continuation of that work, Positive Grid has now broadened the scope of its AI tech in BIAS X. There’s a lot to dig into, but the biggest advances are, unsurprisingly, concerned with artificial intelligence.

BIAS X offers both ‘text-to-tone’ and ‘music-to-tone’ functions. The former is probably more familiar – insert a text prompt for a guitar tone you have in your head, and the software will attempt to bring that to life. According to Positive Grid, you can get creative with prompts, too: “Try prompts like ‘sunset over Saturn’ and hear them come to life,” it says.

This extends into tone refinement as well. Rather than fiddling with digital parameters, BIAS X is also reportedly capable of making adjustments in real time. “Need more bite or less fuzz?” Positive Grid says. “Just ask for adjustments. Done.”

This streamlined workflow is at the heart of BIAS X, with Positive Grid asserting it represents the culmination of nearly eight decades of accepted tone-tweaking norms.

“The first guitar tone platform that understands musicians,” Positive Grid says of the new launch. “After 80 years of knobs, menus, and guesswork, you can finally just say what you want. Powered by Agentic AI, BIAS X creates tone from your input – fast, accurate, and made to sound like you.”

The ‘music-to-tone’ function mentioned above is even more interesting. With this, players can upload any song or guitar track and BIAS X will apparently recreate the guitar tone. To achieve this level of accuracy, Positive Grid trained its software using, erm, quite a lot of reference tones.

“Trained on over a million tones, BIAS X understands the sound of every genre, era, and technique,” it explains, “so you can explore tone without limits.”

At its core, the BIAS X package comes with 33 amps, 62 effects and all-new cab simulation, which have been crafted using an all-new advanced tone engine. Over 200 amps were analyzed in the making of the software.

This thorough approach "captures circuit-level dynamics like transformer sag and power amp response” – usually the downfall of digital simulations – for a harmonic richness and dynamic response that “traditional modeling can’t match”.

And, like all AI, BIAS X is a fully learning model, which means that the more you play through it, the more accustomed it will reportedly become to your playing style and tonal preferences.

The AI actually works, too. In Guitar World's early review of BIAS X, the software was commended for its tech, concluding, "The AI genuinely streamlines the creative process, without diminishing the ability to tweak manually."

The artificial intelligence aspect of BIAS X only scratches the surface of the wider software, which also features an IR Loader, a new workflow and overhauled UI.

Ultimately, this looks to be the logical and expected next step of AI's assimilation into the world of guitar gear, and while this advancement may have seemed like a novelty five years ago, BIAS X is very much a timely reminder of the age in which we live. Expect more of this in the future.

BIAS X is available now for $149.

Visit Positive Grid for more.

What is it?

You’ll have noticed by now – artificial intelligence has arrived, and apparently it’s here to stay.

There’s no hotter potato than AI in the world of tech; there’s also ongoing discourse about the ethics surrounding its use, especially when it comes to creative pursuits. Is it fundamentally right or wrong to hand over certain onerous tasks to AI, in order to streamline creative processes and, perhaps, achieve interesting end results? More importantly, does it get you closer to the guitar tone you’ve been searching for?

Positive Grid has become a mainstay in amp modeling over the past decade. The Spark desktop amp is now one of the go-to choices for a really capable small amp, its Spark Neo headphones offer silent, wireless practice, and the company’s BIAS amp and effects modeling software pushed boundaries - allowing the user to play ‘amp designer’ and offering component-level tweaking for a truly in-depth experience.

The company’s latest arrival to the guitar plugin party, though, takes things a step further. BIAS X is touted as “the first fully generative, guitar tone design software powered by agentic AI” – this being a type of AI that can perform automated tasks with or without human supervision, requiring minimal intervention in order to achieve results.

In theory, then, this seriously speeds up the process of tweaking and developing your tone.

Inside, we’ve 33 amp models, 63 effects, an IR loader and all-new cab emulation technology. Not an exhaustive list of models compared to some rivals, but still plenty to be going on with. Positive Grid also boasts of enhanced realism due to the use of machine learning and component modeling.

Another headline feature is the new tech behind the ‘Text-to-Tone’ and ‘Music-to-Tone’ features. That generative AI is used to develop settings and create tones based, respectively, on written user prompts, or by analysing music that is fed into the software. From there, the user can write further prompts to tweak the result.

Specs

• Launch price: $149
• Type: Plugin
• Formats: Mac/PC
• System requirements (minimum): macOS 11.7, 8th-generation Intel Core i5, 8GB of RAM Audio Plugin Formats: Audio Units, VST 3, AAX Native, 1GB of available storage space; Windows 10 Version 1903 (10.0.18362, 19H1) Intel Core i5 Processor, 8GB of RAM, Audio Plugin Formats: VST 3, AAX Native, 2GB of available storage space
• Contact: Positive Grid

Usability

To begin with though, I fired up BIAS X and went old-school. As a veteran of Line 6 GearBox, a former Kemper Profiler owner and a current user of a Line 6 HX Stomp and its associated HX Edit software, I’m well used to amp modeling software and thus far, of course, I’ve had to slum it with manual editing.

Over the years though, this has taught me some valuable lessons about dialing in the best possible sounds for my own needs, and regardless of how advanced the AI is, it’s still important to me that I get to adjust settings using my own skill and judgement.

Thankfully, BIAS X makes this a smooth process. I began with a good-sounding default black panel Fender amp model, added one of the selection of compressors, a rotary speaker emulation and a Space Echo, experimenting with mic placement in order to fine-tune the end result.

After only the first few minutes, I'd saved a good-sounding clean patch with some choice effects. The visuals are also good, displaying your signal chain in an easily understood, smart-looking style.

Sounds

There are, as mentioned, lots of amps and effects to get stuck into. As a nerd, it's slightly disappointing not to be able to mess around virtually with component changes and circuit design, but BIAS X's streamlined approach will probably appeal to more users.

And the amp models are on point already – BIAS X is a satisfying-feeling plugin to play through, and valve amp enthusiasts seeking a pleasing response from amp modeling might be pleasantly surprised.

The amps have a fairly standardized control set, so aren’t necessarily true to the originals (the Mark-series Boogie model omits the de rigueur graphic EQ, for example) – but this streamlines the dial-in process and alleviates 'mission creep' – good tones are generally simple to achieve without too much fuss over minutiae. And combined with all the various effects, you'll likely end up where you were aiming.

If you're struggling though, help is at hand. The AI capability of BIAS X is a headline feature, so it's time to find out what it's made of.

As luck would have it, I've some songs to brush up on for one of my projects, a Toto tribute band. Dialing in a Steve Lukather-esque sound is something I already know how to do (the playing is work-in-progress), but why not take the weight off my feet and let BIAS X have a crack at it?

I typed a request for a guitar tone befitting Hold the Line. Around that time, Luke was using a handful of different amps, including a Rivera-modified Fender (many a ‘70s session-slinger's secret weapon), as well as a Marshall amp or two.

To this end, Text-to-Tone calls up a Plexi model, with a Tube Screamer and a Dyna Comp in front, a little reverb afterwards, and straight away the gain level, EQ shape and overall response is impressively close to what you'd hope for.

The same goes for my next request – a cleaner, mix-ready background tone similar to the verses of Rosanna and various other Lukather rhythm parts. A different spread of gear materialized, but with a similarly competent end result.

The AI didn't quite hit the nail on the head when I typed in, simply, “djent” – but it did generate a high-gain metal tone, soon whipped into shape by requesting “tighter” and, then, “even tighter”. If you've a specific tone in your head but don't know where to start, the AI functionality might be very useful to you.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★☆

BIAS X is a very interesting and capable newcomer to the plugin market. It doesn't quite have the tweak-ability, or the mass of amp and effect models some rivals can muster, but there's still enough here to create pretty well any sound you could need.

The flip-side of this is that it's among the easiest amp modeling plugins to get to grips with, and to get great results in very short order. And it sounds excellent – that advanced modeling process has clearly paid dividends.

If you need to generate a variety of useful tones quickly and with minimal fuss, BIAS X might be just the ticket.

Guitar World verdict: Regardless of your feelings on AI as a creative tool, Positive Grid's new foray into generative amp modeling has some serious potential. It's superbly easy to use, has a good spread of features and the sounds are up there with the best in the plugin market.

Hands-on videos

Positive Grid

• Positive Grid Spark Mini review

Waring, who first appeared on the band’s 2005 album Alaska, will not be replaced on a permanent basis. Sometime in February’s Tristan Auman continues as a live member to augment Waggoner, bassist Dan Briggs, vocalist/keyboardist Tommy Giles Rogers and drummer Blake Richardson on stage.

“The fun part was not knowing where everybody’s heads are at,” Waggoner says of moving on. “The first thing Dan sent was what would become Things We Tell Ourselves in the Dark, with the guitar and bass playing hot-potato with all these licks. It really got the creative juices flowing.”

The Blue Nowhere is another technicolor collection of genre-bastardizing songs, presenting another surprise-laden chapter in the band’s ever-evolving, sound. While fragments of their brutal death metal remain, they’re far more panoramic today – and Wagonner says he’s happy to be aging gracefully.

How do you navigate your chaotic blend of genres?

“We try to make sure there’s a musical thread between very different ideas. With Absent Thereafter, we ride the country idea – that bluesy I-IV-V progression – in various formats. We’re not just cramming parts into songs for the hell of it; we really try to get a bang for our buck.

“I’ve always wanted us to be like the metal band that does everything. And now the expectation is that we’re going to bring different influences to the table that don’t traditionally work in heavy music.”

Would you describe yourself as a metal guitarist?

“I’m a rock guitarist who dabbles in a bunch of different stuff. I'm a child of the ’90s; grunge is still at the core of what I do. Over the years I learned how to play metal from a technical standpoint – I really worked on it. But that's just one thing that I've tried to add to my arsenal.

“I’m not the world’s best guitar player, but I try to be well-versed enough in different styles to execute what I hear in my head.”

Did writing without Dustie weigh heavily?

“Once we got into the weeds of writing, the guys had such an abundance of ideas that the back-and-forth felt very inspiring and efficient. Going into the studio, I just needed to wrap my head around the music and have a good handle on all the guitar parts.

“As I get older, I try to see every challenge as an opportunity to prove something to myself. I made sure I was on my game and accountable. I probably did put extra work in, but it was fun.”

Were you always going to remain a two-guitar band post-Dustie?

“The two-guitar thing is very much the crux of the band. The four of us have been writing records together for a long time. We didn't want to mess with that chemistry. Tristan is cool with that; he’s happy to learn the parts. I try to give him a sneak peek when we’re writing so he knows what he’s in for.

“We were all very confident that we could write a kick-ass record with the four of us – and we did. But you never know what the future holds.”

How is Tristan settling in?

“He’s a sponge! He learns so fast and his work ethic is insane. He’s kind of an old soul; he’s 20 years younger than me but he’s wise beyond his years, and just a joy to have around.”

What guitars did you use on the album?

“I’m a pretty simple guy. I like whatever works, and I stick with it. I used my signature guitars – the Ibanez PWM10 and the PWM20 – for most of the leads and rhythms, but I also used the AZS, which is Ibanez’s Tele copy, and I freaking love it.

“I used it on Things We Tell Ourselves in the Dark, Blue Nowhere, and some leads in Psychomanteum and Absent Thereafter to get that spanky Tele sound.

“Live, I do not like switching at all. We’re going to do it a little bit on this next tour, because we wanna use the Tele for those songs, but I’m a minimalist. I want to use the least amount of gear possible.”

What about tones?

“We’re pretty much exclusively using Kemper, although Tristan uses a Quad Cortex. I’m primarily using a profile of my old rack-mount Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier, a Friedman mod profile for some lead and mid-gain stuff, and a Friedman and sometimes a Port City for cleans.

“For rhythm tones, I want something that feels good, has clarity and a lot of warmth. I’ll strum a big minor 9th chord; if I can hear all those notes from the low-end of the spectrum to the high, and it’s relatively even, that’s great.”

What’s the hardest riff to play on the album?

“There’s a whammy dive riff in Psychomanteum that’s diabolically tricky. We haven’t played it live yet, but I’m already panicking about the day I have to! I think it’s one of the hardest BTBAM songs to play – I’ve already warned Tristan about it!”

How important is theory to you?

“I have a pretty in-depth theory knowledge. It’s a great communication tool, and it can provide a nice road map when songwriting, but it doesn’t necessarily tell you where to go. Ultimately you have to trust your gut. What you hear in your head is what you’re trying to execute on the instrument. Then the super-atonal stuff is about capturing an emotion or an energy. Theory doesn’t even equate.”

How would you compare the Paul Waggoner who started BTBAM with the Paul Waggoner of today?

“They’re totally different. I think my style has evolved into a less technical and more melodically and harmonically mature style. There’s still a lot of chaos and technical metal in what I do, but it’s more rooted in musicality now, and that dictates how I’m playing.

“I’m using a lot more hybrid and economy picking; my vibrato used to be very mechanical, but it’s more human now. I’ve kind of become fixated on expression rather than precision.

“There's always going to be somebody faster and cleaner. Why even try to climb that mountain? I never wanted to be a guitar hero – I just wanted to be in a cool band.”

• The Blue Nowhere is out now via InsideOut Music. Head to Between the Buried and Me for more.

While appearing on records by George Strait, Alan Jackson, Shania Twain, Zac Brown, Randy Travis, Tim McGraw, Reba McEntire and Willie Nelson, to name a few, there’s a simple six-string principle that’s guided Mason: “When things get worked out too much,” he tells Guitarist, “they kind of lose their charm. The first takes are usually the best takes.”

Simple as that sounds, Mason’s unparalleled longevity, and habit of ending up on hit albums by iconic country musicians, is anything but.

In short, there are plenty of players who aspire to what Mason doesn’t but few who understand what he learned long ago: “You’re playing to service the artist,” he explains. “You want to complement their record. It’s not about you. You need to get into the head of the artist and try to connect with them. You need to be a real listener and you’ve got to pay attention. It’s like school, you know?”

What’s your secret to being so effective across so many genres?

“Gear-wise, it’s a little bit of everything, along with the education of the different styles of music. I’ll bring in a lot of different guitars when I come in to record. My main arsenal might be an ES-335, a Les Paul and a Fender Tele, of course. But a lot of times, a baritone is real useful in sessions.

“I’ll grab one of those if somebody wants something a little different; it transforms things into something else. But most of the time, it’s the Tele, and mainly it’s just the whole mindset. It’s just about conforming to whatever they’ve got in mind and [what they’re] wanting.”

Specifically, what’s the key to getting into such an open-ended mindset?

“It’s just understanding the character of the artist. Artists bring a certain characteristic to the music, and I’ll say, ‘Okay, I see where he’s coming from.’ But if you join in with them, they still might hear something different, and say, ‘Well, I want to do something a little different…’

“Sometimes you get a heads-up when you walk in – because in Nashville, you really don’t know what you’re going to play till you get into the studio. [That’s] what sets Nashville recording apart from just about anything, really. Somebody just makes out a number chart and you kind of fill in the blanks from there.”

Do you have a tried-and-true method for nailing your parts in one take?

“Just by letting the emotion escape. Right away, when you feel a song, you go, ‘Wow, that’s a great song,’ and sometimes, instead of sitting there and working out a solo note-for-note, you just turn it on. Your thoughts about the song and the emotion and soul just come, and that’s the first take, and you go, ‘Wow, I don’t know if I can top that.’”

And is it that easy to accept that you can’t do better?

“Well, I’ll go, ‘I think you’re right, that’s pretty good…’ but then my perfectionism comes into play [laughs]. Literally, it’s like, ‘I wish I woulda ended it right there,’ you know? Sometimes I’ll paste an ending onto something, maybe on that first take, just because it’s hard to resist. But it’s that first take that really captures that emotion. Any take after that is you trying to play something you like on the first take and duplicate that. You’ll think you did, but it never comes off that way.”

Why do you think that is?

“Oh, you know, it doesn’t have squeaks or the right vibrato. In other words, it sounds ‘worked out’. That starts to get into the sound and it becomes redundant. There are some songs that you need to work out, or some solos if they’re melodic, and you mess up the melody. You’ll want to perfect that.”

Are there any techniques that you needed to master to get to the point you’re at now?

“When I first started doing sessions in Nashville, you needed to have a great sense of timing. I remember a lot of times, I was working up things and didn’t have a metronome – and we all hate metronomes [laughs]. It’s just clicks that are uninspiring. But now, you can set up in your hotel room and practise, so it’s about timing.

“When I first started doing sessions, I found out that I was speeding up a little bit, and guys would go, ‘Hey, you’re on top of the beat, man.’ I always heard that and now I know that it’s about timing and dynamics. Those two things, timing and dynamics, without even bringing up melody or notes, it’s about those things.”

What are some common pitfalls that session players often fall into?

“You gotta watch out when you go in there. Studio musicians like to play a song, jam and get loosened up to check and see if everything is clicking. But sometimes you can play too much. You’ve really gotta listen to the vocalist and mark down on your chart where the fields go, make sure you’re off the vocal point and make sure you understand what the artist wants.”

Is it just a matter of simple communication?

“Yeah, a lot of times, you can ask the artist, ‘Hey, give me your vision of what you’re looking for on this…’ Then you can sit down with a pen and pad of paper and take notes… if you want to look real dignified [laughs]. Or you could just nod your head, and go, ‘Yeah, I got you!’”

We touched on gear a bit earlier, when you mentioned the 335, Les Paul and Tele. Those aside, do you have a very large collection of vintage gear, or do you mostly use newer guitars?

“It’s a little bit of both. I’m always real fond of vintage instruments, you know? But I always have a Gretsch 6120 as a main guitar; it’s not a real vintage one, but it sounds killer. I bought it in the ’80s. And I’ve a ’65 sunburst Strat that I’m pretty fond of. I just make sure that I’ve got the guitars I need, you know?

“It’s good to have some different kinds of guitars that are a little bit off-kilter. I even have a sitar and, like I said, I carry a baritone, which I use a lot. And the Gretsch has got that nice Bigsby, and the Strat, you know, I like to set it up to where I can bend the tremolo bar a little bit. So it’s just carrying different things that inspire you to play a little differently on a song. It helps to have those extra guitars, and I have quite a few different ones.”

Do you find yourself using mostly studio amps, or do you generally use your own?

“I bring my own amps. Lately, I’ve been using a [black-panel] ’67 Deluxe with a lot of reverb. It has some vintage Celestions in it and it’s sturdy. I found myself using that thing a lot because it marries up to pedals really nice, especially different distortions. And I’ve got a Matchless and a Marshall, but it’s mostly that Deluxe lately. It’s surprising what that thing will do.

“So I bring my own amps and I’ll only use the studio amps if mine all blow up or if I see one in the studio that’s cool. I’ll go, ‘Hey, is that an old Vox? You mind if I use that?’ Some studios have a good supply of amps and some you really can’t count on at all, so you want to make sure your amps are working really good and are tubed up.”

In terms of pedals, do you have any particular secret weapons?

“I love those old EHX Memory Man pedals. It’s got one feature that’s really cool, which is that it’s got a gain knob on it, so it’s like you’re taxing an amp. It’s so natural-sounding, and when you start adding a little edge on it and crunch, it’s perfect. And I’ve had the Boss GE-7 seven-band equaliser, the kind of off-white one, since the ’80s.

“Now, when I walk around and see other guitar players, I see one of them stuck to their ’boards and I say, ‘You get that off of me?’ [Laughs.] They go, ‘Yeah, as a matter of fact, I did. Man, you’ve used these for a long time.’”

Your own personal contribution to the tone of many sessions, even ones that you’re not on…

“I kind of puff my chest up and say, ‘Yeah, I can probably take credit for that [laughs].’ But those pedals right there – and they’re just basic pedals – are great. Other than that, I’ve probably got more distortion pedals on my ’board than any other kind of pedal, like a Tube Screamer and my [signature Wampler] Hot Wired pedal.”

What’s the story behind your first signature guitar, the Valley Arts Custom Pro Telecaster?

“That was the first deal that I had with the Valley Arts Custom Shop. It had a bigger neck on it – it really had a lot of wood and it had an oil finish, which made it nice… but it was really big. When they were shaping that neck, I said, ‘Stop right there, it sounds great. It feels good… but the neck is big [laughs].’

“Some guitar players say, ‘That neck is just too frickin’ big,’ and some of them shave it down a little bit. But I haven’t played that guitar in a long time, and then I went to Paul Reed Smith [for the PRS Brent Mason signature], but we weren’t trying to duplicate my Telecaster; it was kind of a three-pickup guitar that had a floating tailpiece and all that.”

It sounds like the Valley Arts Tele was nice but not quite right. Is that why you eventually hooked up with Fender for your Stories Collection signature Tele?

“Yeah, this guitar with Fender, finally it was the right people. And why is that? It’s a Fender Telecaster that I’ve always played, right? It was like the perfect match-up and, finally, with the right company and vendor. They got it perfect for the most part.

“It’s got the Glaser G-Bender, which Glaser showed the guys at the Custom Shop how to work and put together. So that guitar is definitely my favourite. It was a dream come true for me since I was a little youngster to have a signature guitar of my own.”

Why do you prefer the Glaser G-Bender over the B-Bender system?

“With the Glaser, I can set the tension a little bit better. And now, these new signature model Fenders have the new Glaser with the new and improved G-Bender in it. But my original guitar still has the old one in it because I’m just used to it. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks [laughs]!

“With the old Clarence White [B-Bender], I played Marty Stuart’s and you know that he plays the shit outta his. I grabbed it and it was a little too flimsy, but he had it set light. With mine, a lot of guys go, ‘Holy shit, is this working?’ because the tension is so high. I say, ‘Yeah, that’s the way I want it, man. You just gotta muscle it down, so it doesn’t warble.’

“With Marty’s, it’s like having two guitars glued together or something. That’s the whole thing. But with my Tele, I didn’t want to alter it too much and the Glaser only takes out about one per cent of the wood; it’s just a pathway to the saddle from underneath the bottom, right where the neck goes in the body. But everybody likes a different thing. I’m just kind of stuck with my style, so like I said, it’s like trying to teach an old dog new tricks.”

You seem as busy as ever. Will you ever slow down?

“I’m getting more selective about what sessions I do now. Back in the day, I was hitting the sessions until my eyeballs were popping out. I’d go in early in the morning, start at 10 and get home at 11 or midnight. It was starting to wear me down, so I’m happy to say that I don’t have to do that any more. So I don’t hit it that hard any more, but there’s some young guys who do.

“I see them doing it, and there’s some great players out there right now. I see a lot of young guys doing what I used to do and hitting it hard, and they get them big black eyes, you know? It’s like Don Kelley used to say when he saw somebody tired like that, ‘Your eyes look like two piss holes in a snowbank!’ [laughs]”

• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

Now, according to financial information and analytics expert S&P Global, Fender increased prices throughout the first half of the year in an effort “to offset higher costs from tariffs, especially from China, which makes up 40% of purchases (half of which enter the U.S.).”

According to the report, Fender implemented a 5% price increase across its entire portfolio in an effort to weather the storm that has erupted following U.S. tariffs and broader global economic uncertainties.

The S&P Global report also notes that the sell-in (the sales from manufacturers to distributors) has exceeded expectations for retail partners such as Sweetwater, Guitar Center and Amazon, with higher-income consumers continuing to value the prestige of the Fender brand.

However, it adds: “Volumes continue to decline due to lower consumer discretionary spending, which we expect will continue throughout the remainder of the year.” S&P Global uses the example of smaller, locally owned U.S. dealers to illustrate this point, as such dealers continue to tightly manage their inventory amid a “weaker macroeconomic environment,” while consumers turn to the second-hand market or avoid discretionary spending altogether.

In relation to Fender's 5% price rise, S&P Global insists that the firm's approach to tackling such economic uncertainty has had some degree of success, proving to be more effective than some of Fender's closest competitors.

It continues, “Fender’s tariff mitigation strategy is proving more effective than competitors that have avoided price hikes and paused imports from China.”

For its forecast of Fender's immediate and short-term future, S&P Global reflects, “In 2026, we expect improving volume trends from new innovations, though we continue to expect subdued consumer sentiment resulting in minimal revenue growth.

“We expect dealers will remain cautious on increasing inventory levels because of a weak macroeconomic backdrop with lower discretionary spending on big-ticket items like guitars.

“Moreover, since Fender depends on favorable holiday performance, [its] risk volume declines are greater than expected, potentially due to weakening consumer sentiment or greater competition from the secondhand market.”

The report concludes with an expected “negative outlook” for the guitar brand, citing “weaker consumer discretionary spending and some lingering uncertainty around tariffs, which may cause Fender’s operating performance and liquidity over the next 12 months to deteriorate more than we expect” in its assessment.

These findings align with current trends in the musical instrument market. According to a recent study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, from January to July 2025, “U.S. exports of musical instruments were 8.4 percent lower than the average over the same months in 2021–24,” in particular in markets such as Brazil, Canada, and China.

This study emphasizes that this downturn is not primarily the result of retaliatory tariffs – at least so far. However, a mix of “factors linked to tariffs and broader trade policy uncertainty,” increased cost to consumers and decreased demand for leisure goods, and, in cases, “conscious substitution away from U.S. products” has eroded the demand for U.S. musical instrument exports.

In May, NAMM CEO John Mlynczak gave Guitar World an overview of the challenges the American musical instrument market is facing amid the current trade war.

Right after he heard it, Kahn did a deep dive into the band’s catalog, as well as the music of the other Big Four bands Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax, as well as Testament and Exodus. The effect was profound. Kahn stopped playing open chord classic rock and turned his attention toward speedy, muted power chord riffs, unconventional rhythms and rapid-fire legato solos.

“There was just something about that form of music that I loved,” says Kahn, who formed Chained Saint in 2022 with three high school classmates. “There was an ‘it’ factor that drew me in like nothing I’d ever heard. I felt connected to it. It felt like it was my thing, and I thought, ‘This is what I want to do.’”

Kahn and his friends – vocalist Sean Sterling, bassist Sebastian De Avila and drummer Cameron Cottrell – altered their playing styles to accommodate their obsession with thrash. They formed a Metallica cover band but soon began analyzing the structures of their favorite bands to write their own riffs and songs.

Chained Saint’s first couple of originals didn’t make it out of the rehearsal room, but their third song, the nearly six-minute-long Neanderthal, was a winner. The tune starts with an insistent, mid-paced chug before, halfway through, bursting into a feral sprint of piercing riffs and a slashing lead.

“It was the first song we felt really happy about,” Kahn says. “We recorded a video of us playing it up until the fast part, and then we went to get Chipotle to take a little break. We listened to it in the car with the speakers blasting, and we were all smiling and super-proud.

“That was the first moment that we all, cooperatively and collectively, thought we wrote something unique and awesome to us. I think it was the first sign that we could do this in a big way.”

Two years later, Chained Saint have released their debut album, Blindside, an homage to the speed, exhilaration and complexity of ’80s thrash and a validation that teens in the 2020s can play with the authenticity of bands whose biggest albums came out decades before their followers were born.

With precision riffs, ripping solos and an aggressive attack, Kahn sounds like he’s been playing since he was a little kid. Yet he didn’t touch a guitar until he found his older brother’s Stratocaster in a closet during the pandemic.

At the time, Kahn was playing piano at School of Rock, but he wasn’t feeling the instrument. He was much more impressed by the flashy licks of a then-18-year-old peer who rocked a Les Paul.

For that reason, when Kahn found the Strat he immediately plugged in and practiced tirelessly to learn rudimentary chords and basic riffs: his goal was to try to play some of the classic rock he grew up on.

“I was taking all my classes online because of the pandemic, and I had to have my camera on when they taught us,” he says. “So I held my guitar out of the frame of the camera so my teachers wouldn’t see me, and I practiced for hours and hours. I just wanted to play all day.”

Once he’d developed enough as a player to up the ante, Kahn focused on learning high-gain power chords, rapid rhythms, complex signatures and scorching leads. After the pandemic ended, Kahn took a course in guitar at school, where he met Cottrell, who was already a skilled musician.

“The teacher of the class got up on the mic and said, ‘Hey, we got a drummer here,’” Kahn says. “I was just forming the band with the guys, and I was, like, ‘We need a drummer.’ I went to talk to him and noticed he was wearing a ‘Hammer of Justice’ Metallica cut-off, and I was like, ‘This is my guy.’ I knew he’d be the right fit and thankfully I was right.”

Much of Kahn’s guitar work, from his bruising riffs to his searing licks, was inspired by emulating his heroes. He even bought a Jackson Kelly after he found out Marty Friedman played one on Megadeth’s Rust in Peace.

“It sounded so good. When I got it, I was like, ‘Oh my God, I can shred like crazy!’” he says. “The way Marty plays in different scales, not just pentatonic stuff, really stood out to me and inspired me.”

Kahn also gives props to Soulfly’s Max Cavalera, formerly of Sepultura, and Dream Theater’s John Petrucci. But his favorite player at the moment, and one who has inspired him to approach the guitar in a different way, is Rush’s Alex Lifeson.

“His tonality is so creative and spot-on,” Kahn says. “He can shred on songs like La Villa Strangiato, but he also showed me you can make the guitar sound so different than a lot of stuff I was listening to at the time. And there’s something about the scale he uses for solos that I love. I just call it the Alex Lifeson scale. I’ve been trying to replicate it forever.”

Chained Saint spent six months writing songs together every day after school and honing their performance before they started looking for gigs. Since their local metal scene was dominated by metalcore and hardcore, they weren’t sure if they’d be accepted.

However, in late 2022, after a few shows, their youth, energy and heaviness won over the locals and the local bands. In turn, Chained Saint have been inspired by hardcore outfits including Sunami from the Bay Area and Drain from Santa Cruz, California.

“In the beginning, it was a little tough for people to find out about us because they all wanted to hear breakdowns and crazy screaming,” Kahn says.

“But we kept at it and we found our way in there and got accepted. There's definitely a place for us in this scene and I love it. And now, some of the new stuff we’ve been working on is more hardcore and has breakdowns. That, mixed with the thrash stuff, sounds really cool.”

The first time Chained Saint felt they were starting to move beyond the local scene was in 2023, when a concert promoter invited them to drive to a town an hour south of Parkland to perform a showcase for local club owners in an echoey parking garage.

“We were like, ‘If we play great for these people, we’re going to make it,’” Kahn says. “The [promoter] who put on all these shows was there, and that felt like our first big break.”

Soon after, Kahn’s dad Peter Kahn, a longtime friend of Alice In Chains vocalist and guitarist William DuVall, asked his old pal for advice – providing Chained Saint with their biggest break to date.

Over the years, Kahn’s father had sent DuVall pictures of his son playing with School of Rock and jamming with friends, just to keep him updated. This time, he had a purpose. He wanted to get Duvall’s honest opinion on whether or not Chained Saint were good enough to make a living as a band, and sent Duvall demo versions of Neanderthal and Locked Away.

DuVall liked what he heard and urged Ethan to write more songs and send them over. Chained Saint complied, and when Duvall heard the new batch of demos, which were recorded in a local studio, he invited the band to Atlanta to work on a debut album at West End Sound Recording, the studio co-owned by Mastodon’s Bill Kelliher and engineer Tom Tapley.

To capture Chained Saint in their natural environment and help them become more precise and professional, DuVall and Tapley spent six weeks recording and mixing them on analog tape.

DuVall insisted they play every song from start to finish, and anyone who wasn’t perfectly in tempo or performing with the right energy had to stop and start again. And again, and again.

“Since everything was done on tape, we had to be on-point with everything,” Kahn says. “There was no cutting corners, and we worked really hard. It was intimidating at first, but everybody at the studio was so cool and welcoming that coming in to work became something we all looked forward to.”

As surprised as Chained Saint were to record the album on tape, at first Kahn was even more confused when DuVall discouraged him from using his favorite guitars: a Jackson Rhoads Flying V and a modded-out Kramer Pacer.

Instead, DuVall asked Kahn to play his Framus Masterbuilt Talisman, which DuVall designed for the German company. Kahn also used a Gibson 1960 VOS Les Paul Standard, an ESP LTD KH-602 Kirk Hammett Signature Series and an ESP LTD Bill Kelliher Sparrowhawk Vintage Silver Sunburst.

“Not a single EMG pickup was used,” Kahn says. “It’s totally a metal album, but we didn’t record with a single guitar that most people would think is standard metal. It was very different for me to record with these things, but William figured it would give us a real punchy tone – something a little different.”

For amps, Kahn played through a Metropoulos DVL-1, a Friedman Brown Eye and a Marshall JCM800, and his effects were sparse – a basic Ibanez Tube Screamer and an EVH Phase 90.

When Blindside was released, DuVall praised Chained Saint on social media. “It has certainly been a journey since I first met these kids practicing in the garage,” he wrote.

“Raw talent met with a lot of hard work and commitment. Through all the ups and downs, the fundamentals learned and mastered, the obstacles met and overcome, this is the result.

“Recorded and mixed to tape. No computers. No gimmicks. No nonsense. Just four guys thrashing it out, giving everything they got. I couldn’t be more proud of them. Chained Saint are the real deal.”

In an interview with Full Metal Jackie, Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford also praised the band. And he’s not the only one. Kahn’s astronomy teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School wears a Chained Saint cap during class and plays the band’s music before displays at the school’s Astronomy Night educational presentation.

“If I’m a little late to first period in the morning because I had to do an interview or something, my teachers are pretty lenient with me,” Kahn says. “They definitely recognize I've got something big outside of school that could be taking my focus away a little bit.”

With the support of DuVall and the success of Blindside singles such as the chugging blitzfest Animosity and the unrepentant kidney-stab Stronger Than Stone, Chained Saint are developing a fanbase outside of the local scene.

Now that Kahn has graduated from high school, the band will be able to set their sights nationally and even globally, going above and beyond recent mega-milestones, including this year's Welcome to Rockville and Rocklahoma appearances.

“It feels like we’ve got really good momentum,” Kahn says. “We’ve been sticking it out until the summer, when we can tour and play shows. So that’s one thing I’m really looking forward to. There’s a lot of new things on the horizon for Chained Saint.”

• Blindside is out now via Patriark.

The British guitarist had already worked with David Bowie and John Otway, and featured in the Bob Dylan film, Hearts of Fire, by the time he was approached by the famed guitar-smasher.

As Bolton recalls, Townshend had been impressed by his talents when the Who, Atomic Rooster, and Mott the Hoople shared a stage in 1971.

Prior to the 1989 tour, complications with tinnitus meant Townshend decided to pivot to playing acoustic guitar, with Bolton set to handle electric guitar duties. It was a setup that shielded the guitarist's ears from any more damage, but also one that resulted in some slight confusion.

Recounting their relationship with Guitar Player, Bolton says Townshend had told him, “I recognize myself in you,” and he even edged out Joe Walsh for the gig.

To protect Townshend's ears, Bolton experimented with a tiny five-watt amplifier, but soon reverted to what he knew best: a 100-watt Mesa/Boogie one-by-12 combo. That irked Townshend.

“We were in this huge rehearsal room in West London, which had now become small in space due to all of the gear,” Bolton says. “Pete brings along a bunch of minions with him, and one of them says to all of us, ‘Pete would like the band to run over The Overture from Tommy.’”

Townshend was positioned in a protective booth, which Bolton likens to a garden shed. “It had two speakers on the wall and a picture of the Queen. He's in there with a Takamine acoustic,” he explains.

However, when it came to playing the acoustic riff of Pinball Wizard – which Bolton had played on electric guitar during previous rehearsals in Townshend's absence – Bolton believed the returning guitar hero would assume that particular role himself. He was wrong.

“There's nothing, because I'm not playing, and he’s not playing,” Bolton says. “I look diagonally across the room, and Pete's glaring at me. He shouts, ‘Stop!’ And everyone stops.

“He then smashes the Takamine to smithereens, kicks over the front of the shed, and walks right over to me. He’s right in my face and says, ‘What the fuck are you doing?’

“I pulled him by his lapels and said, ‘Listen, I thought, because you were here and you've got your guitar, you would be doing that bit. That's why I didn’t play.’

“And do you know what he said to me? ‘It’s my fucking band. I can do whatever I like!’

“Pete is a very complex character,” Bolton says, musing over his one-time bandmate all these years later. “But that's what makes him who he is.”

Earlier this year, Townsend said he has five years left in the music industry, having opened up on health issues that made preparing for the Who’s final tour a challenge.

Now, the virtuoso has shared the story behind his insane part-guitar, part-keytar Custom Shop build, which had some rather vivid inspirations: Mad Max and Jesus Christ Superstar

The worlds of post-apocalyptic desert carnage and Jesus’ betrayal portrayed in the rock opera format might seem conflicting, but Bettencourt’s vision cannot be questioned – this thing is wonderfully ridiculous.

Washburn's Custom Shop Master Builder Chris Meade was the luthier tasked with realizing the concept, which has been unveiled on the Masters of Shred YouTube channel.

It combines a guitar with a keyboard – “This is a real keytar, not the bullshit keyboardists play that isn’t a guitar,” Bettencourt jokes – and a patchwork Steampunk aesthetic that goes hard on the Mad Max part of the brief.

“Nuno calls me up and says, ‘Picture this. I want Mad Max and Jesus Christ Superstar,’” Meade says of how the concept first began.

As Meade explains, he first sent Bettencourt a picture of a mystery axe he had found online that seemed to fit the bill. Nuno had issued an order to buy it outright, but when the guitar couldn't be tracked down, they took matters into their own hands.

“It's not exact, but one of the things he wanted was a keytar,” Meade explains of the finished product. It’s fully functional and comes with a control board.

“I had no idea where to find all this shit,” he adds of the steampunk paraphernalia, which gives the guitar its distinctive look. But fate was kind to him, and he managed to source some parts close to home.

“Right outside [the Washburn Custom Shop,] they were throwing a boiler away, and all this came off that,” he remembers.

Beneath everything, this is very much a Bettencourt axe, complete with a reverse Fender-style headstock, Floyd Rose trem, and a Bill Lawrence humbucker. But his preferred Strat body has been ousted in favour of a forgotten Washburn gem: the A-20.

“Well, that's the conversation that Nuno and I had before I started it,” Mead reveals, circling back to the mystery model that helped kickstart the project. “That picture I found was of a Washburn.”

Bettencourt’s first impressions of the guitar were, understandably, enthusiastic, and he wasted no time in putting it to action, promising also to play it on stage.

“We're doing a video for every song [on new album SIX] and X Out has a lot of synths in it, so I hit up this mad man,” he says of its origin story. “We talked about a few comps and then the next thing you know, he'd put this thing together. I love it, I'm so pumped for this.”

Somehow, the Mad Max and Jesus Christ Superstar design brief somehow undersells this thing: it's easily the wildest Custom Shop creation of the year.

Earlier this year, another one of Bettencourt’s custom guitars caused a stir after it was unveiled at Back to the Beginning, prompting some to question whether he was about to launch his own guitar brand.

From gritty underground clubs to sold-out arenas, these artists cranked up the volume and rocked with their unforgettable anthems and charismatic personas. But it’s their basic acoustic guitar that sparked the magic and kicked off their careers.

In this feature, we’re diving into our print archives to spotlight the electrifying stories of musicians who launched their journeys with just an acoustic guitar in hand. These tales prove that it doesn’t matter which instrument you start on; what truly counts is your passion and dedication to stick with it. Join us as we uncover their stories in their own words, and hopefully give you a healthy dose of inspiration in the process.

Alex Lifeson

Alex Lifeson is the mastermind behind the iconic Canadian prog rockers, Rush. Lifeson co-founded the band in 1968 alongside Geddy Lee and Neil Peart and is well known for his innovative playing style that masterfully blends mind-bending riffs and intricate melodies.

His impressive use of guitar effects and diverse techniques helped the band explore various musical landscapes, and while he's certainly no stranger to the acoustic, featuring it heavily on the hit track Closer to the Heart, he is more associated with a slew of Gibson models, such as his Floyd Rose-equipped Les Paul, his snow-white ES-355, and the double-necked EDS-1275.

Speaking in Guitarist issue 0358, Lifeson details when he got his first guitar, saying, “My first guitar was a Kent acoustic; I got it for Christmas in 1966. It wasn’t much of a guitar – I think it cost $10, which was a whole lot more money then than it is now. The strings were very high on the neck, and it was pretty difficult to play – but I loved that thing."

But as much as he loved it, it wouldn't be long until he got his first electric model. "The following year, I begged my parents for an electric guitar, and that’s when I got a Canora that was sort of shaped like a Gretsch Country Gentleman. And that was $59, I remember.”

Speaking on the first song he tackled, the Rush guitarist says he took a swing at a Rolling Stones classic. “I think it was learning (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction by The Stones. I used to come straight home from school and play until dinner time, went downstairs and had dinner, then went upstairs and play till I went to sleep! I couldn’t stop playing.”

Peter Frampton

The Les Paul-wielding Peter Frampton is counted among many as the reason they picked up the instrument. Frampton's career began with the band Humble Pie before he embarked on a successful solo career, and he is most definitely a guitar hero in every sense of the word. Now, while many can't separate the guitar icon from his blacked-out three-pickup Les Paul, like the others in this list, it was an affordable acoustic tenor guitar that gave him his start - and not a very good one at that.

“My first guitar was a nasty, old, and cheap – I think they call it a plectrum guitar [a four-string tenor-style guitar]. It was steel-string and cost about four pounds 10 shillings. It didn’t have a name on it – they were too embarrassed to put it on, I think!”

In the same interview with Guitarist, in issue 0372, Frampton says one of his earliest guitar memories was performing for his peers in his Scout troop. “Well, when I was in the Cub Scouts, they had these proficiency badges – hiking, camping, that sort of thing. And there was this music one, and I thought, I should probably go for this one, it’s an easy one! So I had to stand up in front of the whole Scout troop and play Apache by The Shadows and Travellin’ Light by Cliff Richard."

Lenny Kravitz

With his signature blend of rock, funk, and soul, Kravitz has been captivating audiences since the early '90s, effortlessly crossing genres and eras. From the infectious groove of "Are You Gonna Go My Way" to the sultry rhythms of "Fly Away," Lenny’s sound is every bit as iconic as his Flying V, which is usually hanging from his shoulder - but the guitarist didn’t always play such a cool guitar. Sure, it was a solid and reliable acoustic, but it certainly wasn't cool.

“The first guitar that I ever owned was a Yamaha acoustic that my parents bought me from Manny’s in New York in the early 70s," says Kravitz in Total Guitar issue 0220. "It actually had a pickup inside, so you could plug it in,” he continues.

When asked what the first songs were he played on this humble Yamaha, the singer gives a very relatable and rather obvious answer, “The first two things were Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver, and Smoke On The Water, of course!”

Michael Schenker

Many of your metal idols, such as Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield, Randy Rhoads, and Dimebag Darrell, count Michael Schenker as a major influence on their playing. Born in Germany in 1955, he first gained fame as the lead guitarist for the Scorpions before co-founding the groundbreaking band UFO, where his explosive solos and innovative riffs helped define the sound of the '70s and '80s rock scene.

His black and white, two-toned Flying V is legendary, and it has had many imitators, but playing a flat-top in secret was how Schenker first fell in love with the instrument. Schenker told Guitarist in issue 0366, “My first guitar I wasn’t allowed to touch, because it was a birthday present for my brother – he was 16 and I was nine years old. It eventually became my guitar – I wasn’t allowed to play it, but I did secretly, and then when my brother got his next guitar, I got that one. It was a Framus acoustic guitar – but we added a pickup to it later."

Paul Gilbert

This virtuoso is celebrated for his technical prowess, innovative playing style, and seemingly impossible bag of licks. Gilbert rose to fame as the lead guitarist of the iconic band Mr. Big, captivating audiences with his lightning-fast solos and melodic sensibilities - and many of us know him through his incredibly entertaining and downright inspiring educational videos and masterclasses.

But as he tells Guitarist in issue 0303, Gilbert shares that even one of the best shredders on the planet needed to start somewhere, and in Paul's case, it was with an off-brand beginner acoustic guitar. “I had a Stella acoustic guitar that I played for two years. I recently found one just like it on eBay. I realised it was actually a small-scale neck, so it was really great for my little nine-year-old hands.”

Paul continues to tell the story of his early guitar memories, saying, “I figured out the major scale, just using the low E string. Then I figured out the riff from 25 Or 6 To 4 by Chicago, again using only the low E. I learned as many songs as I could, all on the low E. Two years later, I learned about chords. Things began to sound a lot better then.”

Mark Morton

Mark Morton is best known as the guitarist and primary songwriter for the influential American metal band Lamb of God, a force in the heavy music scene since the early 2000s. With his razor-sharp riffs, Morton has played a pivotal role in shaping the band's signature sound, characterized by its blend of groove metal and melodic elements.

Beyond his work with Lamb of God, Morton has ventured into solo music, showcasing his versatility as a guitar player. His solo projects reflect a more personal and diverse musical exploration, blending rock, blues, and even elements of acoustic music.

Now, classical guitar is probably as far away from modern metal as you can get, but that's where the Lamb Of God's riffmaster first started. “It was a nylon-string acoustic – a very cheap version of a classical guitar," he tells Guitarist in issue 0353. "I bought that guitar from an ad in a local paper called Trading Post for $15, and I was 12 years old.”

“Getting that guitar was a major turning point – it was like finding the thing you’ve been looking for your whole life," he states proudly. "But I remember trying to figure out how to make it distorted. I thought that distortion, like I heard on Van Halen records, was a technique! That’s how naive I was."

Well, it's fair to say Morton figured out distortion and used it to devastating effect with metal titans Lamb Of God and beyond.

Matt Schofield

Hailing from the UK, Schofield has carved out a prominent place in the music scene with his soulful playing and innovative approach to guitar work. His distinctive style blends traditional blues influences with modern elements, creating a sound that many of us at Guitar World count as an influence on our own playing.

Schofield's mastery of the guitar is evident in both his electrifying performances and his critically acclaimed albums, which showcase his ability to convey emotion through every note.

Typically seen playing S-style guitars, you may not expect the blues master to have gotten his start on a nylon-strung classical. “It was a 3/4-sized classical, and I was about eight," says Schofield. "When I realised I wanted to play electric guitar, I cut a cheese wedge shape out of the lower bout so I could get up higher! Completely ruined it with a hacksaw.”

The image of a young Schofield mutilating his cheap acoustic is certainly a surprise, but what isn't is the guitarist trying to mimic the lead work of BB King. One of his earliest memories is trying to figure out how BB performed his trademark licks. “I think it was trying to figure out how BB King was playing in the middle of the neck, because I’d only been shown some open chords," he tells Guitarist in issue 0294 "I was watching videos, and there was BB playing in the middle and high up on the guitar, and I thought, 'how do you do that?'”

Beginner acoustic recommendations

So there you have it, that’s the story of how a few of the biggest names in guitar got their start. Now, if you fancy following in their footsteps, we’ve listed a couple of our favorite beginner guitars below that we think will give you the best possible start to your musical journey. You never know, your name may appear in an article like this in the near future.

However, apparently none of those can hold a candle to one Mexican-made model that’s currently sitting in the store’s inventory, because it has amazingly been deemed the best-sounding of all its Strats – even if it’s “ugly as shit”.

The Fender Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster, in an Ultraviolet finish, was released as a limited run in 2018 to celebrate the late guitar hero’s legacy. It features vintage-voiced single-coil pickups, a maple neck and fingerboard, and an Authentic Hendrix neckplate.

There’s even a reverse headstock, and a flipped bridge pickup, as a nod to the fact that the southpaw guitar legend played right-hand axes out of necessity.

Posted to Norman’s Rare Guitars’ ‘secret stash’ Instagram page, its looks have been ridiculed, but its sounds have been praised.

“OK, I know what you’re thinking, and I will agree with you 2000%: it’s ugly as shit,” the post begins. “But if you want probably the best-sounding Stratocaster in the house, then you might wanna get over the look.

“Ask anyone in the store, and they will tell you. The other day, [Michael] Lemmo played it and everyone in the shop agreed this guitar holds up to any Strat we have, even the vintage ones. It’s just special. It has that thing and sounds ridiculous. I guarantee whoever gets this one will be thanking us.”

The guitars were limited edition when they were released, with a price tag of around £799 GBP (approx $1,080). That will likely have inflated a little since then as a result of its rarity. Even then, if the Mexican-made Strat gets close to the hyperbole the store is dropping here, it could be quite the steal.

It’s also a big pat on the back for Fenders made south of the border. Of course, guitars crafted in its Corona, California, factory are the most sought-after, but as Fender Japan continues its hot streak of left-field creations, and more affordable overseas Fenders continue to shine, it shows that not all foreign-made Fenders should be snuffed at.

We don't imagine that Ultraviolet finish will be making a comeback anytime soon, though...

Oddly enough, one of the best DIY hacks came from the world of tennis, thanks to an unassuming $12 racket accessory that sent TikTok into a frenzy. Unfortunately for rubber bridge fans who were too slow to pick one up, that accessory has now been discontinued.

But fear not, because the guitar player who first championed the racket string dampener has made a purpose-built replacement that is even better.

Rubber bridge acoustic guitars were pioneered and popularized by Reuben Cox of Old Style Guitar Shop, who custom-built models for big-name players and casual players alike. The plinky plonk tones of the dampened, muted strings – caused by the presence of a rubber bridge – quickly took the indie (and, later, mainstream) music worlds by storm.

Naturally, the internet – and TikTok in particular – went nuts for rubber bridge guitars, and before long players turned to the Babolat Vibrakill string vibration dampener for a DIY shortcut.

Since that tonal discovery, the original version has sold out, and the next-gen iteration from the sporting goods firm simply no longer works on guitars. As such, popular gear guru AudioHaze has fashioned an alternative – one that is engineered specifically for guitars, not tennis rackets.

“You can't buy them anymore,” AudioHaze explains in a new Instagram video, referencing the Vibrakill. “The internet went crazy and sold out of the things. So when Babolat decided to cancel it, I decided to make one for the musician.”

His answer? Plunk. A small rubber strip with six indents to better sit against the strings of an acoustic. It works in a similar way to the tennis racket accessory, by dampening the strings and reducing vibrations, but the design also has a nifty added benefit.

“It's a softer, more resonant mute, and you can even put it in different spots to have a hybrid mute,” Cox explains.

So, for instance, you could only mute the bottom three strings to dull down the bass notes, and let the high notes ring out with greater chime and resonance. Better still, the instrument doesn’t have to be married to the rubber bridge sound indefinitely, as it can be removed and re-introduced at will.

Moving Plunk closer to the bridge increases the strength of the mute, while doing the opposite makes it more subtle. For $19.99, it could be something of a gateway tool for players wanting to experiment with the rubber bridge aesthetic, without needing a new guitar entirely. And it works on electric guitars, too.

The Plunk is available now. Head to Plunk for more.

In related rubber bridge news, Orangewood’s Juniper aimed to introduce a more budget-friendly option to the market, but later came under fire from some players. Cox has since addressed the controversy.

There are precious few mobile-friendly USB audio interfaces out there that work on both Android and iOS, so when I came across the Blackstar Polar Go, I was intrigued to see what it could do for guitarists looking to quickly and easily create videos for social media. It’s interesting then that the Polar Go’s marketing campaign seems more aimed towards content creators versus guitarists, particularly as the Polar 2 and 4 interfaces were heavily geared towards guitar players.

The idea with the Polar Go is that it can help you quickly and easily create content anywhere you go, just by simply plugging it into your phone or laptop. There’s a companion app that allows you to control the interface's inputs and outputs, and it features a camera mode that lets you record video with your phone camera while capturing your guitar or vocal through the interface.

On paper, it seems like an absolute winner, as creating content with your phone and a traditional audio interface has always been a time-consuming process. Videoing and recording with separate devices has typically been the go-to, but this results in the fiddly editing process of syncing with your video, so the idea of having it all in one app will be very appealing to content creators everywhere.

Specs

• Price: $129.99 | £79 | €89
• Simultaneous I/O: 4 x 4
• A/D Resolution: 24-bit/96kHz
• Built In DSP/FX: Reverb, compression, EQ
• Number of Preamps: 1
• Phantom Power: Yes
• Analog Inputs: 1 x XLR-1/4" combo
• Analog Outputs: 1 x 1/8"
• MIDI: No
• Headphones: 1 x 1/8"
• Power Supply: USB-C or internal rechargeable battery (up to 6 hours)
• Contact: Blackstar

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

The Polar Go is a teeny-tiny interface, no bigger than your average bar of soap. Into this diminutive package it squeezes in a single combi input with a Rean connector, 1/8-inch headphone output, and, intriguingly, two stereo microphones built into the front face of the unit. There are two USB-C connections, one for connecting to a phone or computer and the other for dedicated power.

Like all of the Polar family of interfaces, it’s an extremely good-looking bit of kit, the classy monochrome of its construction accentuated by the backlit symbols that glow gently when you plug it in. The smooth edges of its frame make it look a lot classier than some of the blocky and bulky gear you typically find in the audio sphere.

Despite much prodding and pulling, I can find nothing loose or willing to succumb to pressure across the whole unit, leaving me in no doubt that it will withstand the rigors of being chucked in a backpack and taken on the go. The knobs have a satisfying resistance when I turn them, and the two buttons for powering it on and engaging phantom power click nicely without feeling flimsy.

It’s incredibly lightweight too, weighing no more than my TV remote and less than my Pixel smartphone with its rather bulky protective case. There’s a lot of music gear that claims to be pocket-sized but the Polar Go really can be chucked into your jeans or trackie bottoms and taken anywhere and everywhere.

Usability

Usability rating: ★★★★☆

My first test of the Polar Go’s capabilities is to plug it straight into my Pixel 9 smartphone running Android. In the combi input I plug my Telecaster guitar directly in, and a pair of Sony MDR-M1 headphones go into the headphone out for monitoring. I load up my camera app and am greeted with a pop-up that tells me the phone has detected an external microphone. So far, so good.

Hopping into the settings to switch to the external mic, I prop my phone on my desk, upside down to account for the USB input, to try filming some noodling on the guitar. I’m immediately greeted by a glitchy and distorted sound, which is definitely not the direct sound of my guitar, and something I’ve encountered attempting to use other audio interfaces and guitar amp headphones via a smartphone.

Wondering if it’s because I haven't downloaded the official Polar Go companion app, I head to the Play Store to grab it, and the process of getting it downloaded, installed, and recognizing the interface is absolutely rapid, taking no more than five minutes of my time. Unfortunately, I get the same issue, unwanted distortion with every input I make, whether it’s through the direct input or the onboard stereo mics.

After a little back and forth with Blackstar and a few different iterations of the software, I finally got a beta version that allows me to get a sound free of unwanted noises, and I can continue with my testing. Blackstar themselves state that this is an issue with phones that support up to 96kHz playback, whereby the unit defaults to the higher sample rate. The fix returns the sample rate down to 48kHz, which hopefully should mean no further issues for Android users.

The app features three main tabs, the first of which is called home, and gives you control over the inputs. You can choose to mute the direct input or the mic input, adjust the input and output levels, and delve deeper into the tone by adjusting the sensitivity, silence, body, clarity, and space. The sensitivity control acts as a compressor, while body and clarity are EQ adjustments. Space adjusts the amount of reverb you hear.

There are presets on the direct input for vocal mic and bass guitar, while the stereo mics have acoustic guitar, vocals, and wide vocals presets. You can also save your settings and the Polar Go will remember them next time you power it up. I’m a little surprised to find there’s nothing for electric guitars here, though, especially considering the Polar’s heritage as a guitar audio interface.

The camera tab takes over your phone's camera and allows you to film without having to exit the app. There’s a setting here for removing the built-in reverb, but everything else is as you’d expect from your typical smartphone. Finally, there’s a settings section that lets you adjust the reverb types and EQs, record multi-track, direct monitor, USB loopback, a switch for built-in mics or headset mic, and a power saving mode that auto switches the interface off should you unplug the USB.

I find everything super easy to use, and the touch dials respond really quickly to my inputs. The app has zero lag, making switching between the tabs and scrolling around super smooth. The additional side scroll function, like what you get when editing photos on an Android phone, makes fine movements possible, so you can quickly and accurately set your levels.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

My first test involves plugging a Gretsch semi-hollow guitar into the direct input to see how that sounds. It’s as expected, a clear and crisp but a little lifeless and as there’s no preset for guitar, it doesn’t really make much sense to use it this way. So, I grab my IK Multimedia Tonex One, and use that before the direct input to generate some proper guitar tones.

Loading up the camera portion of the app to film myself playing some Mars Volta-inspired freakout licks, when I watch back it sounds fantastic. There is a little compression that comes when I strum a full chord hard despite having the sensitivity control at the minimum, but for the most part it sounds exactly as the pedal does. The body and clarity controls allow me to tweak the sound to get it how I want, and with that I’m quickly and efficiently able to record myself playing, all without having to edit audio and video together in post.

Switching to a Lowden small-body acoustic guitar and utilising the onboard microphones, I find them to be astonishingly sensitive for something so small. They catch the sound of the rain outside, my partner coughing across the other side of the house, and every little touch on my desk, even the sound of me dragging my finger across the touchpad of my laptop. It’s like having a condenser microphone with the gain whacked up, I can hear every tiny detail of what’s around me.

They're really incredible sounding, picking up the ambient space with rich detail. I can see them getting good use for a wide variety of content creation tasks, whether you're interviewing someone for a podcast or creating a promo video for your band performing an unplugged version of your next hit song.

Strumming some moody chords in DADGAD, I play with the space setting on ‘Cave’ mode, which applies some galactic-sounding reverb to my guitar tones, pinging off the squeak of the strings as I move around the fingerboard. There’s also Hall, Room, Plate, and Vocal reverbs to play with, so there’s plenty of choice if you want something a little less gargantuan.

Verdict

For singer-songwriters and acoustic instrument players, the Polar Go is a great tool whether you’re recording videos for Instagram or just want to quickly put down song ideas. The dual onboard microphones deliver recordings of fantastic quality, augmented by a luscious-sounding set of onboard reverbs. It’s not just musicians it will appeal to either, as podcasters, vloggers, and other content creators are sure to find plenty to love here.

Electric guitarists will probably feel a little underserved though, due to the surprising omission of any onboard amp simulation or even just a preset for DI electric guitar. Paired with an amp modeler however, the Polar Go quickly becomes an excellent tool for creating recordings on the go, as well as guitar videos for social media.

Guitar World verdict: It’s about time Android users got a compact audio interface that works with their devices, having been massively underserved while the iPhone hoarded the vast majority of previous offerings. Regardless of your OS allegiance, the Blackstar Polar Go represents one of the best ways to quickly and easily record your music alongside your smartphone, whilst simultaneously being a powerful tool for curating your online profile via video.

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Absolute Music

Chug Nerd

Originally introduced back in 2019, we last caught up with Fender’s most advanced USA production models earlier this year after they’d received a Mk II refresh that was announced in October 2024. These American Ultra IIs are fine modern-style guitars that top the USA line with a choice of Telecaster, Stratocaster (including a left-hand model), Strat HSS and the more futuristic Meteora.

But you might have missed another modern strand in the form of the American Ultra Luxe models that were actually launched back in 2021: four guitars with stainless-steel frets, the Ultra’s compound radius fingerboard, and an ‘augmented D’ profile neck shape.

The HSS Strat and dual-humbucking Tele featured alder bodies and Floyd Rose vibratos; the Strat and standard Tele used ash bodies with the same hardware as those refreshed Ultra II models.

Now, introduced just a few weeks ago are their replacements: the longer-titled American Ultra Luxe Vintage models (we understand the Ultra II models will be ongoing). This time we get five guitars: a ’50s Stratocaster, ’60s Stratocaster, ’60s Stratocaster HSS, ’50s Telecaster and ’60s Custom Telecaster.

While there are plenty of modern features, the immediate difference – aside from the decade-specific names and headstock logos – is a new ‘Heirloom’ lacquer (aka nitrocellulose) finish with, as Fender states, “a meticulously aged lacquer finish that lets the tone wood breathe as it wears naturally and uniquely”.

There’s no truck with the noise-cancelling single coils of the Ultra II or prior Ultra Luxe models. The Luxe Vintage models return to Fender’s long-running Pure Vintage pickups (with the exception of the Haymaker humbucker, which we first saw on the refreshed Ultra II’s Strat HSS).

But in contrast to this return to the past is a raft of modern features in terms of hardware (but no Floyd Rose vibratos) and stainless-steel frets – like the Ultra Luxe but not the Ultra IIs.

“With the American Ultra Luxe Vintage series, we’ve redefined the balance between heritage and innovation,” says Max Gutnik, chief product officer, FMIC, in the launch PR. “This collection honours our iconic legacy while pushing the boundaries of modern craftsmanship. Every detail is built for exceptional tone, feel and timeless style. We’re proud to offer players an elevated experience that respects tradition and sets a new standard for performance.”

To us, these come across as a ‘greatest hits’ package that clearly pares back the modernism of both the Ultra Luxe and Ultra II models: a vintage-aimed aesthetic and voicing but with modern hardware and playability. Let’s take a look at a couple.

American Ultra Luxe ’50s Telecaster

If the overall old-meets-new concept can hardly be called unique, pulling this one from its tweed guitar case there’s a moment where we wonder if we’ve been sent the right guitar. The classic colour is here, but the Heirloom finish is a duller low-gloss with plenty of quite subtle cracks and a few minor dings; it almost has the appearance of a well-used but not abused instrument.

It appears a similar finish is applied to the neck – because although it feels pretty similar to the satin sheen of the earlier Ultra IIs, there is some cracking around the portion of the neck before it’s screwed in and behind the nut and lower fret positions.

The chrome-plated bridge plate, the electronics control plate and even the neck pickup cover don’t look aged, but they don’t quite look box-fresh, either. And at the start of our test there were no pick marks on the five-screw single-ply black pickguard. Here, too, the pickguard of the Tele and the larger scratchplate on the Strat revert to classic-looking plastic instead of the Ultra II’s anodised aluminium.

Of course, the guitar retains plenty of Ultra-isms. The classic Telecaster slab body is contoured in the usual Strat-like forearm and rib-cut positions, and another cutaway scoop is added behind the treble cutaway, while the heel is both chamfered and has a more rounded nose. You can also see the wavy ash grain through the translucent finish, as you should, and at 3.44kg (7.58lb) it’s no boat anchor.

Like the Ultra IIs, the necks on both our samples aren’t the trendy roasted maple but are lightly tinted, and both are quarter-sawn as opposed to slab-sawn, which in theory should provide a little more stiffness.

The actual hardware choice follows the Ultra II closely and is pretty much the same as the original Ultra models. Although the brass block bridge saddles aren’t chromed here, the rest of the parts look the same as the Ultra IIs: the rear-locking tuners have short posts, and the standard control plate has the angled pickup selector switch with heavily knurled control knobs.

As we said, the pickups change from the more modern Noiseless humbucking style to Pure Vintage ’51 single coils: the push-in S-1 switch adds neck and bridge in series (with the pickup selector in any position) as it does on the Ultra II.

American Ultra Luxe ’60s Stratocaster HSS

The modern antique illusion continues with this rather fetching Strat in the same lower gloss finish with its slightly pinkish hue. It also retains the same contouring of the Ultra II. The body wood swaps to alder with an overall slightly heavier weight of 3.76kg (8.27lb), which, for some of us, will be the top of the weight range for a good Strat.

The hardware continues to follow that of the Ultra II: the rear-lock tuners, the two-post vibrato and its stainless-steel saddles, cold-rolled steel block and push-fit tension adjustable arm.

As with the Tele, the neck and middle pickups swap from Noiseless to Pure Vintage ’61 Strat single coils with aged-looking vintage-stagger poles, while our HSS model has the open zebra-coiled Haymaker full-size humbucker in the bridge position.

The knobs are those nice-feeling ‘Soft Touch’ types, with an S-1 push switch on the volume, which, when engaged (pushed down), simply splits the Haymaker to voice the neck-facing slug coil. No change there, then.

Here, though, the ebony fingerboard of the Ultra II models changes to classic rosewood with subtle orange-hued stripes and almost pinkish clay dots. Another minor bit of ‘modern-ish’ to these models is the glow-in-the-dark Luminlay side dots, first introduced with the Ultra IIs.

Specs

Fender American Ultra Luxe Vintage ’50s Telecaster

• PRICE: $2,999/£2,949 (inc case)
• ORIGIN: USA
• TYPE: Single-cutaway solidbody electric
• BODY: Ash
• NECK: Quarter-sawn maple, modern ‘D’, bolt-on
• SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.”)
• NUT/WIDTH: Graph Tech Tusq/43.2mm
• FINGERBOARD: Maple, black dot markers, Luminlay side dots, 254-356mm (10-14”) compound radius
• FRETS: 22, medium jumbo,
  stainless steel
• HARDWARE: Fender Tele bridge with 6x brass block saddles and through-body stringing, Fender Deluxe rear-locking tuners (short posts); nickel/chromed-plated
• STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 53mm
• ELECTRICS: Fender Pure Vintage ’51 bridge and neck single coils, 3-position lever pickup selector switch, master volume and master tone
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.44/7.58
• OPTIONS: Colour only
• RANGE OPTIONS: The American Ultra Luxe Vintage ’60s Custom Telecaster (£2,949) features top-edge binding to the alder body, rosewood fingerboard and Pure Vintage ’63 single coils in Lake Placid Blue and 3-Color Sunburst
• LEFT-HANDERS: Not at launch
• FINISHES: Butterscotch Blonde (as reviewed), White Blonde – lightly aged ‘Heirloom lacquer’ low gloss to body and headstock, satin neck back

Fender American Ultra Luxe Vintage ’60s Stratocaster HSS

• PRICE: $2,899/£2,949 (inc case)
• ORIGIN: USA
• TYPE: Offset double-cutaway solidbody electric
• BODY: Alder
• NECK: Maple, modern ‘D’, bolt-on
• SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”)
• NUT/WIDTH: Graph Tech Tusq/43.4mm
• FINGERBOARD: Rosewood, ‘clay’ dot markers, Luminlay side dots, 254-356mm (10-14”) compound radius
• FRETS: 22, medium jumbo,
  stainless steel
• HARDWARE: Fender 2-point Deluxe synchronized vibrato with stainless-steel block saddles and cold-rolled steel block with pop-in arm, Fender Deluxe rear-locking tuners (short posts)
• STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 53mm
• ELECTRICS: Fender Pure Vintage ’61 Strat single coils (neck, middle), Haymaker bridge humbucker, 5-position lever pickup selector switch, master volume, tone 1 (neck & middle), no-load tone 2 (bridge)
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.76/8.27
• OPTIONS: Colour only
• RANGE OPTIONS: American Ultra Lux Vintage ’50s Strat with Pure Vintage ’57 Strat single coils and American Ultra Lux Vintage ’60s Strat with 3x Pure Vintage ’61 Strat single coils (both £2,899)
• LEFT-HANDERS: Not at launch
• FINISHES: Fiesta Red (as reviewed), Sea Foam Green – lightly aged ‘Heirloom lacquer’ low gloss to body and headstock, satin neck back
• CONTACT: Fender

Playability and sounds

The Ultra II models, with a wide and quite modern colour choice, are in contrast to not only the finish type but the classic colour palette. So if your audience will think from a few feet away that you’re playing an ‘old’ Fender, your hands will be telling you something different.

Both guitars use a bigger-than-vintage medium jumbo fretwire gauge that’s quite wide and a good height, certainly on the rosewood-’board Strat. Technically, due to the finish on the maple-’board Tele, the fret height is microscopically reduced, but neither feel over-big; it’s a good ‘refretted’ choice.

On both guitars, too, the frets are well fettled and polished, a fairly mainstream modern setup with 0.009s, minimal neck relief and string heights at the 12th fret of 1.53mm on the treble and bass sides on our Tele, and fractionally higher on the bass side of our Strat.

Both guitars have lightly rolled fingerboard edges. The Tele’s maple edges are a little neater; the Strat’s are not as smooth as perhaps you should expect on what is a nearly $/£3k guitar.

While there was some trumpet-blowing about the ‘modern’ compound fingerboard radius of the Ultra IIs, it’s not mentioned in the launch PR here, but it measures the same 254mm to 356mm (10 to 14 inches).

If you only play small-radius vintage-style Fenders with small frets then you’re going to notice a difference, but Fender’s standard ‘modern’ radius is 241mm (9.5 inches), PRS has pretty much exclusively always used 254mm (10 inches) and, of course, Gibson goes for 305mm (12 inches), so this isn’t exactly alien. Both guitars are really clean players.

The necks measure very closely to previous Ultra and Ultra II models that we’ve evaluated and are slightly wider at the nut, which measures just over 43mm on both our guitars, with a very similar depth of 21mm at the 1st fret and 22.4mm by the 12th.

The ‘modern D’ profile could just as easily be called a fuller-shouldered C, which is what it feels like. Nothing radical at all.

If the overall feel of both guitars is obviously very familiar, so are the sounds. As we prefer, we sound-tested both before we checked the pickup specifications and there’s a very present contrast. The Tele isn’t as beefy at the bridge as many early ’50s examples and sounds lighter and considerably brighter.

If you’re looking for that steely Tele-bite and snap, it’s here in spades. And, of course, you can just round-off the spiky high-end with the tone control. It’s quite addictive, not least with a basic overdrive kicked in from our pedalboard. The more refined feel means it’s less of a struggle to produce pretty classic Tele tones, too.

The neck pickup isn’t over-powered, with a smooth top-end and a nice midrange character – the classic dual-pickup parallel mix. Well, that’s why many of us use Telecasters, isn’t it? The extra sound – both pickups in series – adds considerable beef and a lift in output but still retains a more humbucking-like smoothness.

Played clean with a little volume reduction, this series link is great for jazzier, bluesier styles, not to mention big, ringing and fulsome but jangly cleans. Sound-wise, then, it’s not really reinventing any wheel and perhaps it’s better off for that – a good-sounding, quite classic Tele with that extra bit of oomph if you need.

The slightly weightier, beefier feel of our Strat sort of comes over plugged in. There’s a typically different response here with more bounce to the voice that’s subtly less direct than the Tele.

The impression that this HSS is the more powerful starts with the Haymaker: a pretty classic humbucker with good midrange thickness but plenty of definition to the high-end. It suits the hot-rod ‘modded’ style, but it’s not too hot.

In contrast, there’s slightly lower output but good depth to the neck – nice and choppy and with enough depth to clean up the overall voicing after rocking out on the Haymaker. There’s a slight high-end lift to the tougher-sounding middle single coil, and both mixes do their funky job.

Plus you have the choice of the fuller middle and bridge with the full humbucker, or slightly cleaner, snappier sound of the mix with the bridge humbucker split. Voiced in isolation, that coil-split is pretty usable, too – more classic, less rock, and well-balanced output-wise with those Pure Vintage single coils.

On both guitars the volume tapers feel good under the hand and retain clarity as you wind them down without becoming too shrill. Like the guitars themselves, these circuits and the sounds they produce are well sorted.

Overall, tuning stability is very good, too, and the well-proven vibrato on the HSS holds its tuning once everything has settled down.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

Presuming these new Ultras are intended to sit alongside the current Ultra IIs and offer an older aesthetic and more classic sound, they certainly achieve their goal.

The modernisms in terms of hardware, neck and fingerboard profile and overall playability provide a nicely mainstream feel and playability, too, not least with the well-finished stainless-steel frets.

And whereas some of the more modern colour finishes of the Ultra II range might not appeal to all classic rockers, these more familiar hues certainly will.

Guitar World verdict: There is a bit of a price hike over the Ultra II models, and we’d guess the Heirloom finish has plenty to do with that, but these are considerably less money than going down even the light-relic route in the Fender Custom Shop. Ultimately, it’s about choice and that’s not lacking in Fender’s USA production line-up. Which would you go for?

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Fender

Guitar Center

The Guitar Geek

• “Some purists will find the mix of vintage and Ultra spec sacrilegious, but working players will have waited for a Tele exactly like this”: Fender Ultra Luxe Vintage ’60s Telecaster Custom review
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.
  

“You can never take the Paul out of the bass,” he says. “I literally have to fight myself from playing Paul’s licks on sessions. And when I write songs, I have to keep an eye on ripping off a Beatles motif!”

Aside from Macca, it was Bissonette’s parents who kicked off his musical life. “To be totally honest, my mom and dad picked out the bass for me. One day I went to the car and there was a bass in the trunk. I pulled it out and went into the basement in Detroit with my brother,” he says. “We played Smoke on the Water for eight hours.”

He continues: “Within the first five minutes I realized that the bass wasn’t playing the cool intro; it was the guitar. But my brother said, ‘No! You’re the guy that pulses the eighth notes.’

“We listened on the record player, and it hit me that I really liked that. I started with ‘dumb guy’ eighth notes and I’ve been ‘dumb guying’ ever since!”

Bissonette – who’s worked with David Lee Roth, Joe Satriani, Brian Wilson, Peter Frampton and Elton John – is a bass heavyweight, but he keeps it simple. “The song dictates the bass movement, and how much freedom they give me,” he says. “I start with the simplest approach and go from there.

“The key is trying to get inside the head of the artist, knowing the music they’ve already recorded and adapting to that, but doing your own thing. That’s why they called you in the first place.”

He admits that anyone looking to get into his line of work will find it less easy, and less financially rewarding, than he did. “Learn as many skills as possible,” is his advice. “Sing, write, produce, and learn a software program to record on. I think it’s the only way to improve your odds.”

What kicked off III, your new album with The Squirts?

“The album was put together during Covid. We were locked away in our home studios, so we figured we should get off our duffs and do another record. George Bernhardt and I are used to sending files back and forth. He’d bounce an idea and I’d write lyrics.

“Then I’d write something and send it to him, and he’d make it better. Rodger Carter, our drummer, would add different sections. It was a pretty easy process even though we weren’t in the same room.”

The Squirts originated as the backing band for Rick Springfield, right?

“We were Rick’s rhythm section for about 10 years, and Rick and I were writing together for his solo albums. We’d done a couple of Squirts CDs before then, and he really liked them. It kind of steamrolled into Rick and I doing three of his solo albums together after that.”

How helpful was he?

“Rick was awesome about it from the very start. One day, in an airport, we asked him if we could open up for his shows. We dangled the idea that it would sound out the PA so it would be that much better.

“He thought it was a great idea – he let us open up for about seven years. He never blinked an eye when we asked if we could sell CDs, T-shirts and hats. We were double-dipping there for a long time. It was great!”

What was it like replacing Billy Sheehan in David Lee Roth’s band?

“At first it was terrifying! Billy is an amazing player so I didn’t even try to play like him. I just tried to get as close as I could to some of his riffs from a different angle, and it seemed to work.

“It’s always hard taking someone’s place like that. You have to dig deep and hope for the best. You have to realize that not everybody is going to love the way you play, but such is life in general. After I figured that out, it seemed to get a lot easier!”

What gear helped you follow Billy and Michael Anthony into David’s orbit?

“I had the typical Bradshaw monster pedalboard rig like everybody was using back then – tons of distortion, reverbs and delays. We all had mobile studios that were six foot tall that we’d bring to our hotel rooms to write songs. It was truly ’80s excess!

“I still think the greatest bass tone for that kind of gig is when you go straight into an amp. Sometimes all the fluff can get washed away in a big room. Dave was always really cool and supportive, and he was a blast to work with – the ultimate entertainer!”

What are your memories of recording with Jason Becker?

“Jason will always be a great friend. He was the young gunslinger that came into town and blew everybody away. We used to play catch with the football in Dave's backyard on breaks from rehearsing.

“I remember one day he felt a pinch on his leg, and it continued to get worse. He struggled through the recording process, trying to figure out what was going on. He’s an amazing person and he’s still doing amazing music with the help of his parents and all his friends. What a talented guy.”

Did recording with Jason help prepare you for Joe Satriani?

“When you’re playing with a virtuoso like Joe, Jason, or Steve Vai, someone has to be the solid guy laying down a foundation for everyone. There are moments where you can stick your head out and play something, but I always try to support whoever I'm working with.

“And with that much guitar action going on, I figured the best thing was to keep it simple and let them run wild. Sometimes, the more you play, the more cluttered it gets – especially when there’s additional rhythm guitars and sounds.”

How did David’s expectations differ from Joe’s?

“Dave would have ideas and certain things that he wanted, but he basically just let us run wild. He also knew what he liked, so when things went off the rails he’d always bring it back to the simplest idea – a trait I respect from any songwriter.

“Joe knows exactly what he wants from a bass player. He plays bass really well himself, so a lot of times you’re emulating what he played on demos. He lets you do whatever you wanna do when the red light goes on, but when something is good to start with, you don’t want to veer too much off of it.

Did Joe like you to use specific gear?

“He had this amazing ‘60s Fender P-Bass that he used on his demos, and it sounded so good that we used it on a lot of songs. Sometimes, I’d use my Rickenbacker, Fender Jazz Bass, or one of my own P-Basses. Those basses sounded massive with a big SVT mic’d up and blended.

“Sometimes we’d add a touch of distortion; but again, we found that the biggest, most massive straight tone always filled up the tracks best. That was my sound in the late ’80s and ’90s, then the early 2000s when I started working with Joe again. It’s that ‘if it's not broken, don't fix it’ approach.”

What was the key to supporting people like Brian Wilson, Steve Perry and Peter Frampton?

“Unlike playing with guys like Joe, Dave and people I’d known for a while, when you get thrown into a one-day session with an artist you don’t know, you pretty much have to be ready for anything. I bring a fretless, two or five strings, a bunch of P-Basses and Jazz Basses and maybe a Hofner or a Rickenbacker, in case they want to try something different.

“I think being versatile in all styles of music is the only survival mechanism for session players. My brother Gregg and I call it ‘music vocabulary.’ You have to spend a lot of time dissecting records – the sounds, the tones and the players who recorded them – to be able to walk in cold and record.”

How did you end up being involved with the recording of the Friends in-show music? And did it shock you that it blew it up the way that it did?

“Never in a million years did I think that doing those once-a-month Friday Friends sessions would turn into the highest-paying gig I’ve ever had! We’d start recording at 10 o’clock and make up music on the fly in five-second clips; sometimes longer, sometimes shorter.

“Our friend Michael Skloff was the musical director. We had tears in our eyes because it was just one big party – no stress, just a real blast to do. Doug Ryder is an amazing engineer, and he’d get the sounds instantly.

“I’d show up at 9.45, and we’d go until 1.00, taking time to eat in between. I’d try a different bass every session, although usually, for things like that, I’ll come in with a five-string that I know the engineer isn’t going to have to work on. It just sounds good right when you plug it in.

“I used my Music Man StingRay five-string a lot, and I had a Bossa five-string as well as my Bongo Bass. Truly one of the best gigs I've ever had!”

You toured with Elton John for over a decade. What was he like?

“Elton probably only said two things to me in 13 years about wanting me to do something differently. On Take Me to the Pilot, he asked me to play a little bit simpler, and on in the jam section of Rocket Man he did the same. Other than that, it was free rein for everybody.

“I was the nearest person to him on the stage, so he’d look at me and play something like he was challenging me to play back at him. His love for music humbled me – when I started with him, I was kind of falling out of love with music in general. To see someone like Elton love music so much kind of woke me up from my slumber.”

What was your staple rig with Elton?

“I played the Music Man StingRay basses exclusively, all five-strings, and I had a rack and a cabinet, but basically they used the direct sound. Matt Herr is an amazing soundman; he always pumped the bass with that band. My fingers would get blisters every night just because it was fun to play again!”

What inspires you as a bassist today?

“I love that so many great bass players can make the same bass sound completely different, just by the way they use their hands. Engineers tell me that it’s not the bass that makes the sound, but the player’s hands.

“I get inspired by hearing acoustic upright players make a piece of wood sound like a vocalist. I love the sound of a fretless when it's played in tune – which is something I’m working on feverishly.

“And I love bass players that play whatever’s right for the song, no more, no less. That’s why I show up at a session with eight or nine basses – I think the bass tone sets the overall sound for a song.”

What’s next for you?

“I’m looking forward to going home and staying for a while, and diving into a couple of records I’ve been working on. One is a straight-ahead jazz record, where the bass is playing all the melodies and I’m singing along with them, like George Benson.

“I was listening to all my old bass solos and figured I wanted to try some new stuff, so I started singing solos and learning them on the bass, which completely changed my life. If I can play what I hear in my head and play what I’m singing when I’m bopping around, I think I’ll be a much better player.

“After I went to see the Bob Dylan movie, I came home and instantly bought an acoustic guitar and a capo and wrote 10 songs in that vein. That’ll probably come out at the beginning of 2026.”

• The Squirts’ III is out now via Bandcamp.

But in this quickfire interview with Guitar World, reflecting on the first songs he learned, first electric guitar, and the one he would save if the house went on fire, he says he has done all right. And it’s hard to argue with that.

Not to say there hasn’t been some drama along the way – we’ll let him tell you about that hectic night supporting the Scorpions…

What was your first guitar?

“I was around nine when I saw the Rolling Stones and the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. I was instantly attracted to George Harrison and Keith Richards’ guitar playing, so I asked my mom if I could get a guitar. She was working at a handbag company, and her boss gave her a gift – for me – on my birthday, a no-name acoustic.

“That little acoustic was how I first learned to play guitar. The second guitar I got, which was my first electric, didn’t even have a name, but it was from a store called Lafayette Electronics. It looked like a Gibson ES-335, but it was cheap and came with a little amp.”

What was the first song you learned to play?

“The Turtles’ Happy Together, because it had a riff I could learn. I wound up doing a show-and-tell at my public school in the Bronx where I grew up, and I played Happy Together. I noticed the girls were all smiling at me, and being 10, I was like, ‘Well, now – that is interesting!’”

What was your first gig?

“I was in a band called Ruff Stuff, and we started playing in our local neighborhood place that was like a coffee, wine and cheese place. It had a stage in the front, and the gig was for a dance. We played all kinds of British stuff. I don’t think we even got paid.”

Ever had an embarrassing moment on stage?

“There was this one time when I was with Joan Jett. We were opening for the Scorpions at an indoor stadium in Spain, and the crowd got a little rowdy. Something went down as somebody had stolen some equipment from the opening act that played before us.

“Somehow we got blamed for it, so the crowd went crazy and somebody threw a 9-volt battery, and it hit me right above my eye. We stopped the show, and Joan and I just stood in the shadows. I remember me and her looking at each other going, ‘I’m not going back out there.’”

What’s your favorite piece of gear?

“I was a Marshall guy back then with Joan. Now I literally cannot listen to Marshalls. I use a lot of small old Fender amps.

“That all came about after I went to see Jeff Beck play at the Iridium in New York, Les Paul’s old club. Jeff was using two small Fender Pro Junior amps – 15 watts, two knobs – Volume and Tone and that’s it. So I went on eBay and found one. I just mic it up and it’s loud as shit. And I can carry it with two fingers.”

The building is burning down. Which guitar from your collection would you save?

“It’d have to be two guitars, because how could I choose? It would be my ’75 blue sparkle Les Paul Deluxe that I used on the I Hate Myself for Loving You tour I did with Joan Jett – and my ’69 Gibson Hummingbird.”

When was the last time you practiced, and what did you play?

“I have an ’87 Martin HD-28 in my den. I always pick it up and play it, and that’s what I was doing last night. But I don’t call it practice; I just sit there and play blues or anything like that. I also kind of just sit down with the guitar and play stuff that might be something that could turn into a song.

“I really don’t sit down and practice scales; I’ve never been that kind of guy. But I’ll put on an Albert King record and play along with it.”

What aspect of the guitar would you like to be better at?

“Probably practicing, because I’m just lazy with that. But I play how I play. I’ve been playing for 50 years, and though I’m pretty good, I could be better. The blues player, Walter Trout, he played in New York a while ago and I went and jammed on a song with him. But I realized I came up cold.

“I was thinking about what I was going to play next as opposed to just shutting my eyes and playing. And that’s what comes with practicing. It becomes just a natural response. You hear the next beat coming, you know what to play, what not to play.”

What guitar-centric advice would you give your younger self?

“I never learned to read music, so maybe I should’ve learned how to read. I do these big events where there might be charts – but I can’t read the charts! So I write it down and learn the songs on my laptop. I sit in my den and just learn the songs.

“And if I feel it’s something I’ll get confused about, I’ll write a chord chart, a cheat sheet. Over my career, I don’t think I have done too badly. I’ve done well with the ability to not be able to read music, though it could have helped in certain situations.”

• NYC Made is out now via Wicked Cool.
• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

But what about the coulda-beens, shoulda-beens and never-beens? You know – the “close, but no cigar” gang? So many top-notch guitarists have told tales of auditioning for Ozzy and, for one reason or another, weren’t the right fit.

In the spirit of “almost,” GW dials it back to 13 players who were ever-so-nearly the apple of Ozzy’s eye.

George Lynch (auditioned in 1979 and 1982)

The Washington-born future Dokken star auditioned for Ozzy Osbourne not once, but twice. He first tried out in ’79 but lost out to Randy Rhoads. He auditioned again after Rhoads’ death three years later, this time to replace Brad Gillis, who had replaced Rhoads. Lynch insists that he secured the gig but was quickly fired after Ozzy got a load of Jake E. Lee’s look.

“They had two problems with me,” Lynch told Ultimate Guitar last year. “Ozzy had a problem with my short hair. I had short hair at the time. Then his wife [Sharon] had a problem with my green guitar. She said it looked like a booger. [She] didn't care what it sounded like, didn't care what I was playing.”

It’s all a bit hard to believe, given Lynch’s instrumental prowess. That said, Lynch is known as a, shall we say, free spirit. He didn’t jive with Don Dokken, nor did he get on all that well with Oni Logan in Lynch Mob. It’s reasonable to speculate that he might eventually have fallen out with Ozzy.

Richie Ranno (auditioned in 1982)

Back in 2022, the East Coast-raised guitar-slinger Richie Ranno told GW how he met a young Randy Rhoads in 1976 while he was playing with Starz. “Randy was a friend of mine from back in the ’70s,” he told us. “He was a big fan of Starz, and I think he was around 19 when I first met him.”

Fast forward to ’79, and Ranno ran into Rhoads again just before Rhoads left Quiet Riot to join Ozzy’s band. After the fateful plane crash in March 1982, Ozzy called on Ranno for an audition.

“When [the first] two Ozzy solo records came out, I didn’t realize it was that same kid [Rhoads] on guitar,” Ranno says.

“I learned Crazy Train, I Don’t Know, Goodbye to Romance and Over the Mountain. I was trying to play as much like Randy as I could, which wasn’t easy, but it went great. Don Airey told me I was the first person to audition, and I felt like, ‘Fuck, I’m in a bad spot here,’ because you never want to be first.”

Ultimately, Ranno lost out to Bernie Tormé, who wasn’t long for the gig.

Robert Sarzo (nearly asked to join in 1982)

It would have been easy to pivot to guitarist Robert Sarzo, as his brother Rudy was playing bass in Ozzy’s band at the time of Randy Rhoads’ death. In his 2006 memoir, Off the Rails: Aboard the Crazy Train in the Blizzard of Ozz, Rudy wrote that Sharon and Ozzy wanted Robert, nicknamed “the VuDu Man,” to join the band.

Robert would have gotten the job, except for the fact that Sharon’s father, Don Arden – who managed Ozzy at the time – paid Bernie Tormé in advance to replace Rhoads on the Diary of a Madman tour. Ozzy and Sharon reluctantly agreed, and Sarzo missed his chance at stardom.

Vito Bratta (asked to audition in 1982)

One of the less-talked-about would-be Ozzy shredders is New Yorker Vito Bratta, who revealed in 2023 that he had a brush with the Osbournes while Brad Gillis was still in the band.

“Somebody sent a cassette of me doing the Sabbath stuff to Ozzy’s people,” Bratta told GW, revealing this information for the very first time. “And then – if I remember right, it was probably Sharon, but I can’t be sure – called me, saying, ‘Hey, we like your tape, and we want you to come down to the Ritz to play.’”

But Bratta never got the chance to audition properly, as he botched the opportunity over the phone while with Sharon.

“I told her, ’Sure, I can come down. What songs do you want me to play?’ She tells me, ‘Do you know anything from Ozzy’s two solo albums?’ I told her, ‘No, I don’t know anything.’ I did love Randy’s stuff, but I didn't have time to sit at home and learn it. I never got around to it.”

At this point, Bratta knew he’d blown it. “Her voice was getting higher and higher,” he recalled. “I told her, ‘You want me to come down there soon, but I don’t know the stuff yet.’ She said, ‘How long do you need?’ I told her, ‘Give me a week.’ She said, ‘Okay, maybe you’re right, it’s not a good idea.’ And she hangs up, and I bang the phone down.”

Ultimately, Bratta went on to stardom with White Lion, but it sure would have been cool to play with Ozzy. “God almighty,” he says. “I remember being frustrated, you know? I felt like, ‘Fuck… this was the shot.’”

Adrian Vandenberg (asked to join in 1983)

According to Vandenberg’s social media, Ozzy asked the Dutchman to join his band while Jake E. Lee was still with him, during the Speak of the Devil tour. On the day Ozzy died (July 22), Vandenberg said of their first meeting, “I was fortunate to spend time with him, starting with touring the USA with Ozzy and his band in 1983.”

Vandenberg added that “There was never a dull moment” on tour with Ozzy, with “daily practical jokes” and Ozzy giving Vandenberg’s self-titled band “daily soundchecks.”

Those soundchecks are probably where the alleged invitation to join took place, but due to commitments with his own band – not to mention Lee’s presence in Ozzy’s group – Vandenberg declined the offer, which may or may not have been formal.

Jimi Bell (auditioned in 1987)

After Jake E. Lee left Ozzy in 1987, several guitarists auditioned for the gig. One of them was Joan Jett’s guitarist, Jimi Bell. In 2022, Bell recounted the details of that audition on the (Don’t) Quit Your Day Job podcast, saying, “I played on this big soundstage with Ozzy, and it went phenomenal. Ozzy really loved it, and when I got done playing, they sat me down and said it was between me and Zakk Wylde.”

History shows that Wylde was chosen, but it wasn’t all bad for Bell. “After deciding to stay with Zakk, Sharon gave my promo pack to Geezer Butler,” he recalled. “At that point, I was flown to England to work with him.” After that, Bell wrote some music for Sabbath’s Master of Insanity, which appeared on 1992’s Dehumanizer, although he wasn’t credited for it.

Marty Friedman (auditioned in 1987)

Looking back, it seems obvious that a Marty Friedman/Ozzy Osbourne pairing would have been a recipe for disaster, as the guitarist is something of a maverick. We’ll never know, as Friedman “failed miserably” when he took his shot at replacing Jake E. Lee in ’87.

He attributes this to his image, recalling during a Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy Camp Q&A session in 2023: “I was practically homeless at the time, [but] I thought I played everything absolutely just fine, and I thought it sounded great. Everybody was friendly enough.

“But our images were very different. Those guys in the band [were] totally decked out in 1980s Sunset Strip – what do you call it? – skull T-shirts with handcuffs and long necklaces.”

Jennifer Batten (submitted a tape in 1987)

Jennifer Batten can play with anyone; her work with Michael Jackson and Jeff Beck is testament to that. But Ozzy disagreed, as Batten told Ultimate Guitar in 2022.

“I remember before the Michael Jackson thing came up, I was trying to get an audition with Ozzy. They were auditioning everybody in L.A. at the time, and I know my audio got to the right people, and I didn’t even get a chance.”

Batten says the reason was simple: she was a woman. “Looking back, it’s a super-macho gig, and they probably wouldn’t even consider a female for that. Having said that, if it were the same thing today, I think it’d be a whole different story.” The gig ultimately went to Zakk Wylde.

Chris Impellitteri (asked to audition in 1987)

Yet another fleet-fingered guitarist who auditioned to be Jake E. Lee’s replacement in 1987 was Chris Impellitteri. Notoriously, Impellitteri is one of the fastest shredders of them all, but it’s hard to envision his style fitting with Ozzy’s music — which, while shred-heavy, also require a bluesy player with feel.

Impellitteri’s story is similar to Vito Bratta’s in that it began with a phone call. “I came home one night from rehearsal,” he told GW in 2024. “My roommate goes, ‘You’ve got to listen to this message,’ which said, ‘This is Sharon Osbourne. Me and Ozzy have been checking you out, and we really love your guitar playing. We want you to come down and audition.’”

Unlike Bratta, Impellitteri didn’t blow his shot over the phone. Still, he never got past the talking stage. “I talked to Sharon – and, I think, Ozzy – probably three to five times,” he says. “There was some back and forth. The problem was that I’d already signed a deal with Relativity Records.” In this case, business deals rather than image or gender proved to be the impassable obstacle.

Nuno Bettencourt (asked to join in 1995)

On the surface, Extreme guitarist Nuno had everything Ozzy could want in a guitarist. He had singular talent, he could (and can) rip it up with the best of them, and he was a great songwriter.

But like many guitar-playing musos, Nuno is also a maverick whose heart beats strictly to its own drum. This led him to reject an offer to join Ozzy’s band, which was served up on a silver platter in 1995, just before Extreme broke up.

“Nobody says ‘no’ to Ozzy,” Nuno told GW in 2025. “It’s the gig of a lifetime.” So then, why did he? Simple. As iconic as the position is, Nuno never wanted to be known as just Ozzy’s guitarist.

“For better or worse, I’ve always had my sights set on – and I’ll never reach it, probably – becoming Randy or Edward or Brian May or Jimmy Page, and the list goes on. You have this mission to carve your own path, whatever that is.”

Richie Kotzen (auditioned and was asked to join after Steve Vai didn’t work out in 1995)

If the sometime Poison and Mr. Big guitarist Richie Kotzen is to be believed, in 1995 – after Zakk Wylde had departed and an attempt to record with Steve Vai didn’t work out – he was asked aboard the good ship Ozzy.

“I got a phone call from my manager,” Kotzen told Metal Sludge in 2014. “The way it was presented to me was that they had called and wanted to meet with me. Sharon wanted to meet me, and they needed a guitar player. At the time, they had done a lot of work with Steve Vai and, for whatever reason, it didn’t pan out. Zakk wasn’t involved at that point.”

According to Kotzen, he secured the gig but made the mistake of telling a friend, who leaked it to the press. This didn’t sit well with the Osbournes, leading to Joe Holmes taking his place.

“I remember seeing [the report], and I was so fucking pissed,” Kotzen said. “I said, ‘Why the fuck would you go and fucking make this public? I told you this as a friend, and now you’re blabbing it [in public]!’ The whole deal, everything, went dead.”

Buckethead (auditioned around 2005)

Brian “Buckethead” Carroll has never commented on this story, but Ozzy has. According to the singer, he auditioned Buckethead for his solo band just before the 2005 Ozzfest, as he wasn’t quite sure Zakk Wylde would be available. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t really go well.

“I tried out that Buckethead guy,” Ozzy told Revolver in 2005. “I met with him and asked him to work with me, but only if he got rid of the fucking bucket. So I came back a bit later and he’s wearing this green fucking Martian’s hat thing. I haven’t even got out of the room and I’m already playing fucking mind games with the guy.”

Needless to say, Buckethead didn’t get the gig.

Frank Sidoris (auditioned around 2017)

As Osbourne was gearing up for what was to be his “farewell” solo tour, before Zakk Wylde hopped aboard for round three with the Prince of Darkness, he was – once again – auditioning guitar players. One of these was Frank Sidoris.

Ozzy ultimately went with good 'ol Zakk Wylde due to familiarity, but Sidoris – who is now a touring guitarist with Wolfgang Van Halen’s band, Mammoth – left a positive impression. Ozzy later commented in a letter to Sidoris, “I can see why you’ve had success at a young age.”

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

During a time when the concept of “guitar gods” was just beginning to permeate popular culture – and seemingly every A-tier rock band sought to expand the boundaries of their music with lengthy jams and far-out lyrics influenced by psychedelics, non-Judeo/Christian religions about which they had maybe stumbled upon a single book, or what have you – Creedence were religious adherents to the old-school playbook: dishing out classic, fat-free, three-minute hits at an incredible clip.

For that reason, Creedence frontman and creative leader John Fogerty is almost never a name you hear when the great guitarists of the late '60s are discussed. But the guy can shred (we're not being sarcastic)

As he tours behind Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years – a new album of Creedence re-recordings he undertook after finally gaining back the rights to the band's music – Fogerty says his guitar practice regimen is as rigorous as ever.

Speaking to CBS Sunday Morning late last month, the legendary singer-songwriter was asked about the value of practice to someone as he seasoned a player as he is, to which he said, “It just feels really good. I like to practice, because my connection to the guitar makes me feel better. It's kind of therapy.

“It always takes a certain amount of time to work up to where you were yesterday. It doesn't just start right there. You kind of sink back or something. Your muscles have to get warm again, I suppose.”

“What's cool about it is the next day, meaning today, you start practicing, and then you get better at something than you were yesterday,” he continued. “That happens every single day. Sometimes, there's a big chunk I'm trying to get better at, and sometimes it's just some little thing. And the more you do it, the easier it gets, and the more you understand it, and you develop the actual coordination.”

Raw numbers-wise, Fogerty says he puts in two to three hours a day.

“That's ingrained in me, and also when I do that – that's kind of what for other people would be their office, and their meditation space to kind of get it together to do their job.

“I'm practicing, and I do have various things I'm trying to get better at, but it also allows me to mentally and spiritually bond with the music that I love. You know, there's always little bits of stuff that I'm not good at, and I wish I was better at some parts.”

Fogerty added that his “endless quest” to guitar tone nirvana is still very much in progress.

“It's like an orator would be trying to describe an idea to an audience and find just the right words, and in that same way I'm trying to find just the right tone. I feel like if I find that and I'm really happy with it, then they will understand. That might be a musician's false comfort, but that's all I've got.

“If I think it tastes great, hopefully they're gonna think it tastes great. That's all I've got to judge you by.”

Last month, Fogerty revealed why he parted ways the his iconic Acme Rickenbacker – and how he got it back.

From that fertile scene came guitarists who combined Hendrix’s chord-melody approach with P-Funk syncopation and Zeppelin-level riffage. RHCP founder Hillel Slovak created the template, but the seven guitarists who later enjoyed stints in the band all created their own delicate balance of funk grooves and rock aggression.

Here’s a rundown of all eight players, and the other places you might find them.

Hillel Slovak – (1982–1983, 1985–1988)

The Chili Peppers’ founding guitarist left an indelible mark on rock history despite recording only two full albums with the band.

Slovak co-wrote five songs on the band’s 1984 self-titled debut, but left before its recording to focus on his other band, What Is This?, who had signed to MCA Records. After an EP and an album, Slovak asked to return to RHCP, prompting vocalist Anthony Kiedis to tell Flea, “I'd give my firstborn son to get him back in the band.”

Slovak’s influence loomed the largest on a young John Frusciante. He was best known for playing a rosewood-board Strat into a cranked Marshall (a 100 watt Superbass), for a style that was equal parts Hendrix and funk, and for his signature use of fuzz and wah – all elements that Frusciante would make his own trademarks.

Frusciante didn’t even play funk before studying Slovak’s style.

“I learned everything I needed to know about how to sound good with Flea by studying Hillel's playing, and I just took it sideways from there,” he told Guitar Player in 1997.

Slovak’s tragic death by heroin overdose in 1988, aged just 26, cast a long shadow over the band’s history. Multiple RHCP songs have been written in his honor, and when the band were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, Slovak was included.

“He's a beautiful person that picked up a guitar in the 1970s and didn't make it out of the 1980s, and he is getting honored for his beauty,” Kiedis said at the time.

Jack Sherman – (1983–1985)

When Hillel Slovak ditched the Chilis in 1983, Jack Sherman filled the position. He would go on to feature on the band’s self-titled debut album.

Bassist Flea later wrote on social media that Sherman had “played the most wicked guitar part on our song Mommy Where’s Daddy, a thing that influenced the way I heard rhythm forever.”

Although he was fired before the recording of Freaky Styley (1985), seven of the songs he co-wrote still made the album.

Post-Chilis, Sherman recorded with Bob Dylan, Parliament/Funkadelic founder George Clinton, and ex-Undertones frontman Feargal Sharkey. He died of a heart attack in 2020, aged 64.

DeWayne “Blackbyrd” McKnight – (1988)

After Slovak’s death, the Chili Peppers needed an emergency replacement, a role that would be filled by Parliament/Funkadelic guitarist DeWayne “Blackbyrd” McKnight. It further solidified the band’s authentic funk credentials, with P-Funk leader George Clinton having produced Freaky Styley.

McKnight didn’t exactly slot into the band smoothly, however, and they fired him three dates into the next tour. The guitarist was reportedly so unhappy that he threatened to burn down Anthony Kiedis’ house.

McKnight later revealed to Guitar World that he had been asked to fill-in for Slovak multiple times before his death, but each time Slovak came back in time to do the show.

“You might even say that they had gotten me in there to coax Hillel back; at least that's how I saw it. But I don't know how it went, and I don't know what they felt because I never talked about that with them.”

Outside of RHCP and P-Funk, McKnight also has credits with jazz legends Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis, as well as with the fusion band, The Headhunters.

John Frusciante – (1988–1992, 1998–2009, 2019–present)

Despite Hillel Slovak’s immense influence on the band, John Frusciante is for most the defining RHCP guitarist. He has twice left the band, and each time his return has brought a huge boost to the band’s creative and commercial fortunes.

His 1998 reunion with the band produced the 15-million-selling Californication, while his 2022 comeback with the band, Unlimited Love, shot to #1 in the US and ten other countries, a feat that the band had not achieved since before his departure.

But it was 1991's Blood Sugar Sex Magik, the band’s commercial breakthrough, that really secured Frusciante’s place in the guitar pantheon. Frusciante may have been following Slovak’s blueprint, but he made it convincingly his own.

On Under the Bridge, Frusciante appropriated Hendrix’s combined rhythm-and-lead style more convincingly than anyone since Jimi himself, while thumpers like Give It Away and Suck My Kiss had punk levels of aggression without the need for heavily distorted tones. While many bands in the funk-rock explosion sacrificed the funk element to sound heavier, Frusciante didn’t compromise on either.

The success was too much for Frusciante, who became a recluse and developed a heroin addiction. He managed a pair of twisted and experimental solo albums before reuniting with the band to power them to even greater success. He also found time for a side project, Ataxia, with Fugazi bassist Joe Lally and future RHCP guitarist Josh Klinghoffer.

The 2000s were a prolific decade for Frusciante, who released eight solo albums and juggled multiple side projects, as well as releasing By the Way (2002) and Stadium Arcadium (2006) with the Chili Peppers.

Frusciante left the band in 2009 and spent a decade making mainly electronic music, before giving the fans what they wanted in 2019. Whether he will ever leave again remains to be seen, but at this point anyone else who plays with the Red Hot Chili Peppers is just filling in for John Frusciante.

Reflecting on re-joining the band a second time in a 2022 interview with Guitar World, Frusciante said, “There’s an appreciation of the chemistry that I can’t say I really had towards the end of being in the band last time – an appreciation of what we’re capable of. When you get so used to something, you sometimes tend to take things for granted.

“I’d had lots of time making music where I do whatever I want. And that was great. And I continue to do that. But it seemed like a really good step for me as a human being to try to play in a band again. Most of all, I just have a lot of fun playing with those guys.”

Arik Marshall – (1992–1993)

When Frusciante quit abruptly in the middle of the Blood Sugar Sex Magik tour, the band needed a safe pair of hands. Arik Marshall provided those hands, having previously recorded with Tone Loc, Sting, and Etta James.

The band later praised him for learning the set quickly and never letting them down on stage. When it came time to write a follow-up album, however, Marshall quickly got the boot. The band felt he was not the right writer for the job.

Fortunately, Marshall’s stint with the band coincided with their golden-era guest appearance on The Simpsons in the episode Krusty Gets Cancelled, guaranteeing him cool points forever.

Marshall later played with Macy Gray, appearing with her on Saturday Night Live and in the Toby Maguire Spider-Man (2002). Since then he’s been largely quiet, although he was the guitarist in a wedding scene in The Hangover.

Jesse Tobias – (1993)

Anthony Kiedis felt Jesse Tobias was the guitarist to help the band follow up Blood Sugar Sex Magik, and he was hired in 1993 to help write the next album. Unfortunately, the chemistry with the rhythm section just wasn’t there, and Tobias was dumped months later.

It all ended well, though: Tobias joined Alanis Morisette’s band for the Jagged Little Pill tour, and on that jaunt met his wife, Angie Hart, who was singing in support band Frente. The band they formed together, Splendid, which made a cameo appearance on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In 2004, Tobias joined Morrissey’s band, where he is still a member.

Dave Navarro – (1993–1998)

After the arduous audition process for Frusciante’s replacement was over, Dave Navarro finally made himself available in 1993. The band have claimed that Jesse Tobias would have been fired anyway, but Navarro’s interest certainly sealed his fate. The former Jane’s Addiction guitarist made the next Chili Peppers lineup into something of a funk-rock supergroup. The resulting album: 1995's One Hot Minute.

At the time, One Hot Minute was considered a disappointing follow-up to Blood Sugar Sex Magik, but the album certainly has its fans. It went double platinum in the US and sold a million copies in Europe, which is hardly shabby. Pea has become an enduring live favorite, and single Aeroplane was added back to the band’s live set in 2016 because it was one of the favorites of Frusciante's second successor, Josh Klinghoffer.

Outside of the Chilis and Jane’s Addiction, Navarro has had an impressive session career, often getting the call when pop stars want a dose of rock: Alanis Morisette’s You Oughta Know, Christina Aguilera’s Fighter, and live versions of Janet Jackson’s Black Cat have all benefitted from Navarro’s weighty soloing.

In 2001, he released his solo album, Trust No One, and in 2020, along with Jane’s Addiction bassist Chris Chaney and Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, Navarro began the side project NHC (Navarro Hawkins Chaney).

Josh Klinghoffer – (2007, 2009–2019)

Pre-Chilis, Josh Klinghoffer had carved out a career playing with bands like The Bicycle Thief and Golden Shoulders, as well as being a session musician for Gnarls Barkley.

When Frusciante again stepped down in 2009, Klinghoffer – with his experience in the Frusciante side project Ataxia – was a natural choice. At the time Frusciante commented in an interview with Alternative Nation, “In many respects he's the person who is closest to me, and with whom I can speak honestly about everything. His opinion is very important to me and I value it a lot.”

On the Stadium Arcadium tour, Klinghoffer had played additional guitar and keyboards for the final legs. He offered the band a smooth transition.

In Klinghoffer's decade with the band, they released a pair of albums: I’m With You (2011) and The Getaway (2016). While neither of these reached the commercial or creative heights of the band’s work with Frusciante, they were generally well-received.

Klinghoffer struggled to avoid playing too much like Frusciante, while the band were wary of moving too far from their core sound. That tension arguably kept the band’s creativity on a leash.

Klinghoffer said as much in a 2022 interview with Guitar World, saying his decade with the band was “enormously stifling creatively.”

“They’re an established band with an established sound, and I learned over time how little deviating from that was possible,” he explained.

“When I first joined, I wouldn’t use certain chords when I was writing if they sounded like something John would play. Or if it sounded like a choice they would have made on their last album, I purposely went the other way.”

“As much as I thought they were up for experimentation,” he continued, “they generally stayed in their own lane.”

Post-Chili Peppers, Klinghoffer has released three albums under his pseudonym Pluralone. Since 2021, he has been an additional touring musician for Pearl Jam.

He filled in for Dave Navarro on Jane’s Addiction’s 2023 tour as Navarro struggled with Long Covid. Klinghoffer has also recorded with Iggy Pop and Morrissey, although the latter recordings have not been released. Along with RHCP drummer Chad Smith, Klinghoffer played on Who Believes in Angels? (2025), a joint album by Elton John and Brandi Carlisle.

“I had recorded the Foo Fighters at Sound City [Studios, the LA studio which has seen the likes of The Grateful Dead, Johnny Cash, Fleetwood Mac, and Bob Dylan record there],” he tells Rick Beato. “I was an assistant on a session they had done. I was an assistant a couple of times because Dave really loved Sound City, because he recorded there with Nirvana.

“We just kind of became friends. [We come from] very similar backgrounds. He grew up in Virginia, I grew up in Tennessee. We had a lot of the same common interests. So a little budding friendship started along with the recording thing.”

He continues, “I wouldn't see him again for a while, and then he'd come in and record, and we'd have a blast, and then, totally randomly, I ran into him one day, and he was looking to make a record at his house in Virginia, in the basement.

“He had built a basement studio, and coincidentally, I had just finished assistant engineering a record in a house. And I was just like, ‘I'm down.’ He was like, ‘I can't find anybody that wants to come to Virginia to make a record in my basement,’ because he was talking to all the big producer guys, and none of them wanted to do it.

“He was willing to take a chance. Making that record changed everything for me.”

As for Grohl's guitar playing, Raskulinecz agrees with Beato in his conviction that he's “such a tight guitar player.” The producer even asserts that, “I had no idea how good of a guitar player he was when we started recording. I was just blown away at how good of a guitar player he was.

“Most of the guitar is him on the records, and then Chris Shiflett comes in and kind of adds his bits and solos and stuff. But all the core foundation of that stuff is Dave.”

From new electric guitars to amp modeler updates, the guitar industry is never short of fresh releases, and it can sometimes be hard to stay abreast of every new launch that may be of interest to you.

To make things a little easier, we’ve put together an essential must-read guide that will cover the major releases, the boutique drops, and everything in between.

I’m not exaggerating when I say there is a lot to get through, so let’s not waste any time with the preamble. Read on for all new gear from Gibson, Fender, Ernie Ball Music Man, Jackson, Cort, EVH..... *inhales*.... Otera, Ibanez, Walrus Audio, Silktone, and more.

Fender Limited Edition Vintera II Road Worn

Well, Fender's Road Worn guitars are back, but not quite as you remember them. The Big F's Road Worn instruments have become a rarity in recent years, but thanks to drops such as the American Ultra Luxe Vintage and Bruno Mars signature Stratocaster, we've been witnessing something of a Road Worn renaissance.

Now we have some artificially aged Vintera II models to add to that list, but unlike Road Worns of old, these comparatively lean into a far more subtle, 'closet classic' vibe that contrasts heavily with the 'take a chunk out of the paint' approach of previous models.

To be honest, we're all here for it. It gives greater scope for personal aging, with a comfortable head start thrown in for good measure.

For more: Fender

Gibson Les Paul Custom '70s

If, for the last 20 years, you've found yourself hunting for a standard USA 1970s Les Paul Custom, you'd have been bang out of luck: for the past two decades, such models have not been available. If you wanted a Custom-style Les Paul, you'd have to head straight for the Gibson Custom Shop and fork out up to $8,000 – or head to the vintage market.

Fortunately, Gibson has now brought back the Les Paul Custom '70s as a standard-run instrument, and the four new variants look very purdy indeed. Vintage colors, vintage specs, vintage vibe... you name it, it's all there.

For more: Gibson

Jackson American Series Rhoads

A few years back, Jackson established its newly minted American Series as its top-of-the-line guitar lineup, bringing construction to its Corona, California, factory for the first time.

A new model has now been added to the burgeoning collection – which previously boasted the Soloist and Virtuoso – and Jackson has chosen a very appropriate model indeed: the Rhoads V.

For the first time in many, many years, the Rhoads guitar – originally a collaboration between Randy Rhoads and Grover Jackson that launched the Jackson brand – is available as a US-made instrument, having previously been available from the firm's Chinese and Indonesian factories.

Some big-name players have been drafted in for the launch, which says all you need to know about how much Jackson values its iconic Rhoads guitar.

For more: Jackson

Neural DSP Archetype: Misha Mansoor X

Few instrumentalists have had as much of an influence on the modern metal guitar scene as Misha Mansoor – the Periphery powerhouse who single-handedly pushed the boundaries of what had previously been explored in progressive guitar scenes.

His trademark tones – and so much more, we should add – have now been launched as the Quad Cortex-compatible Archetype: Misha Mansoor X by Neural DSP, which is both a celebration of his established tones and an appropriate creative springboard that supplies a bevy of expansive tones befitting Mansoor's toolbox. Heck, there's a laser effect in there.

For more: Neural DSP

EVH 5150 Iconic Series 15W EL34 Head

Clearly not content with having just an 80W head in its Iconic Series EL34 lineup, EVH gear has now added a downsized 15W counterpart to the 5150 amp range. It's smaller, but still promises the “signature sound and growling gain Eddie Van Halen made famous” thanks to its EL34 and ECC83S tubes.

For more: EVH

Ernie Ball Music Man Fluff Iron Swan StingRay

Ryan "Fluff" Bruce has channeled some serious Tom DeLonge energy with the Iron Swan – his latest signature StingRay with Ernie Ball Music Man. It follows the flagship iteration from 2023, as well as the more affordable Sterling variant that was released earlier this year.

We're already licking our lips at the thought of a Sterling Iron Swan. Nothing beats the simplistic charm of a single pickup axe, especially one that has a Custom Shop Seymour Duncan humbucker in situ. Well done, Fluff. Very nice indeed.

For more: Ernie Ball Music Man

Otera TK-1

Steve Onotera became the latest online guitar personality to launch their own gear brand when he unveiled the Otera TK-1 – his first-ever electric guitar design, which had been years in the making.

It puts a distinct contemporary spin on the classic T-type template, giving it a boxy impression that cuts an impressive and visually captivating silhouette. Built by Cort, it's got plenty of impressive specs, too, with Seymour Duncan pickups included.

Only 100 have been made, though, so once they're gone, say goodbye to the TK-1 – and, we imagine, get ready to say hello to the TK-2...

For more: Otera

Gibson B.B. King Lucille

This week we celebrated B.B. King's 100th birthday, so we felt we should give an honorable mention to the Gibson Custom Shop, which produced this absolutely exquisite Lucille to honor the late blues great.

It's a one-of-one creation, with a celebratory gold scratchplate to boot, so don't expect to see it in store shelves. Instead, sit back and marvel at its sheer beauty.

For more: Gibson Custom Instagram

Gibson x Loog

Gibson hasn't just had an eye on the upper echelons of its product line, mind you. It has also turned its attention to the complete opposite end of the spectrum, partnering with infant instrument expert Loog for a range of three-string SGs and Les Paul Juniors.

Fender has already got a Loog collaboration on the books, so we're not surprised to see Gibson get in on the action, too. Few guitars could be cooler to learn on than a single-pickup, pint-sized SG. We can't imagine anyone that young is reading this, but parents will no doubt be taking note.

For more: Loog

Gibson x Marc Jacobs

Blimey, the folks at Gibson have been busy this week, haven't they? If resurrecting the Les Paul Custom '70s, collaborating with Loog, and paying tribute to B.B. King wasn't enough, the firm also debuted its partnership with Marc Jacobs, which has produced four rather extravagant Les Pauls.

Gibson doesn't usually do big-brand collaborations, so this capsule is something of a rarity. Picks and straps have also been included in the limited edition drop.

For more: Gibson

Fender x Chicago Music Exchange Fluorescent models

Speaking of collaborations, Fender has unveiled its latest retailer-exclusive guitars – a crop of Fluorescent Strats, Teles, and Jazzmasters that have been built for Chicago Music Exchange.

Fluorescent NOS Orange and Yellow are the order of business here, with each model heralding from the Fender Custom Shop. Big bucks for bold looks.

For more: Chicago Music Exchange

Cort Smart Earth Go smart acoustic

A few weeks ago, in these very pages, I wrote how the Taylor GS Mini and Martin LX1 needed to look over their shoulders for the Furch Pioneer. Now, the Furch Pioneer needs to watch its back for the Cort Earth Go – a short-scale 'Smart' travel acoustic guitar.

Everything seems to be 'Smart' these days, but at least the Earth Go has the added benefit of looking like a normal acoustic, rather than a spaceship. Despite its unassuming appearance, it offers built-in effects – reverb, chorus, delay, and tremolo among them – as well as Bluetooth for playing along to backing tracks.

The ultimate travel guitar for busking musicians? Very possible indeed.

For more: Cort

Ibanez acoustics

Speaking of acoustics, we'd be remiss not to mention the eye-popping instruments that Ibanez has pushed out this week. A handful of AAM – shorthand for Advanced Acoustic – models have landed, bringing with them some very alluring colorways indeed. Transparent Antique White Ice Blue Open Pore sure as heck doesn't roll of the tongue, but it's certainly easy on the eyes.

For more: Ibanez

Walrus Audio Lüm Texture Engine

Walrus Audio's credentials in the world of ambient effects pedals really need no scrutiny. I mean, c'mon – this is the brand that has the Lore, Slöer, and Fable Granular Generator on its books. Now, it's got another one to throw into the mix – and it combines elements of them all into one compact box.

Further still, the Lüm could be Walrus Audio's most convenient and pedalboard-conscious ambient pedal to date, with the Texture Engine offering a kaleidoscope of otherworldly delay, reverb, and lo-fi granular tones.

Unfortunately, it's a limited-edition drop – and it doesn't come cheap – but we'd wager it's worth the cash. The demo makes it sound sensational.

For more: Walrus Audio

Silktone Expander

Are we in a new era of harmonic overdrive? According to Silktone, we most certainly are, and that's all thanks to its new Expander – a boost/drive box that runs the gamut from "always-on" grit to punchy gain.

It adopts a new approach to harmonic overdrive voicing thanks to its combination of a JFET-based harmonic generator, a germanium PNP stage for “chewy drive” tones, and a final JFET stage for the “tube amp” touch sensitive feel.

It sounds killer, and as someone who swears by on "always-on" drive – the JHS Pedals Morning Glory is my current go-to pedal for that – this has particularly caught my eye with its ability to expand your tone. Geddit?

For more: Silktone

Taras Guitars VP-1 Dark Fang

Another honorable mention needs to go to Taras Guitars' VP-1 Dark Fang, because although this intriguing contraption has been doing the rounds on the internet for a few months now, it only came across Guitar World HQ's desk this week.

What is it? Well, simply put, it's a Super Guitar inspired by Indian sitars and Chinese pipas that introduces the concept of 'Outward String Bending' via its elongated fretboard, which in turn has been engineered following what's called the “Convex Arc Formula”.

There are some cool possibilities here. The low E can now be bent up, creating space between the low strings for some more obscure harmonies, while the high E can be bent down and away from the B and G strings – again, resulting in some cool soundscapes.

For more: Taras Guitars

On February 9th 2025, having taken home five Grammys a week prior, rapper Kendrick Lamar graced the world with the most-viewed halftime show in Super Bowl history, reaching an audience of 133.5 million.

It was the first time that a solo rapper had headlined the Super Bowl, and Lamar brought an elaborate show, full of dancers and special guests including Serena Williams, Samuel L. Jackson and SZA. For his part, Russell has been recognized with a Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction.

“Kendrick and his manager Dave Free are one of the best teams I’ve ever worked with,” Russell told Bass Player. “A lot of artists don’t get close to 10% of what they do in terms of detail. They’re both geniuses, and the Super Bowl show was the result of that partnership. The whole process was amazing.”

Having also manned the bass behind artists of the stature of Jay-Z, Usher and R Kelly, you’ve probably heard Russell’s bass playing more often than you might think. But in addition to being a fine bassist, he’s a prodigiously talented director with a keen ear for tasteful melodic fills.

“For me, it’s about staying true to the music, but still playing with an open mind. It’s not just about learning the set and memorizing the bass parts. It’s about finding a way to bring everything else to life.

“The bass player has to lock in with every part, so we know when the drums aren’t quite right, or if something’s off with the keys. The guitarist will usually go off and do their thing, but the bass player is at the center of everything.

“It’s a big job, but some of the best MDs have been bass players. I’m thinking of people like Ricky Minor and Marcus Miller. Can you even imagine those Luther Vandross records without Marcus?”

When did you first start playing?

"I started out with gospel, RnB and hip-hop. I actually played on a lot of big gospel records in the '90s with people like John P. Kee, Smokie Norful, Yolanda Adams, Marvin Sapp. From there I went to R Kelly, Dave Hollister, TGT, Jamie Foxx, and Usher. I've just kept going!”

Which bass players influenced you?

“I listened to everybody, but my favorites when I was growing up were Anthony Jackson, Marcus and Nathan East. Nathan was on so many records. He was the guy who really set the bar for me.”

What’s your game plan for a typical show with Kendrick Lamar?

“My aim is to give Kendrick exactly what he’s looking for. That might be something really simple, but sometimes the less you play, the more space you can create. There are some moments in the show where you really don’t want to overplay, but you can always play less.

“Playing fast licks to try and impress people is like getting paid in Monopoly money; it’s all good while you’re playing the game, but when the game’s up that money doesn’t matter. That’s been a big lesson for me.”

How much freedom do you have when coming up with new ideas?

“I’ve been with Kendrick for 13 years, and my first job was to really understand what he was looking for. Any artist will want their music to translate in a certain kind of way, and then you can add whatever you need to add. It’s all about making their vision come to life.”

Were the demands of the Usher gig very different?

“With Kendrick it’s just the playback engineer and me. I play all the bass parts live and I’ve got all the other parts programmed in. I’m not onstage because there’s no room for me to be out front, but it still feels like a live stadium show.

“With Usher we had an all-star band that had been playing together for years. I was the new guy, but I understood the music, and I kind of feel like a natural adaptor in those kinds of situations.”

Presumably you have to be very adaptable to each situation you’ve found yourself in?

“It’s about getting comfortable with the environment you’re in and never forcing yourself on the gig. As soon as Usher gave me the green light, that’s when I knew I could start opening up some of those basslines.”

You also toured for many years with Jay-Z.

“I was with Jay-Z for seven years, and it was the first time that he’d ever toured with a band. He named us the Roc Boys, and it was a similar situation to the Usher gig. Once we had it locked in and he gave us the look, then we knew we had the green light to start adding a little more. He’d always be listening and looking to build new things into the set.”

Let’s talk about gear. Did your needs change when you made the switch from Usher to Kendrick Lamar?

“I don’t want to give Kendrick the same sound that I gave Usher. I might have used GK amps, but for this show I play through EBS. I have a signature Schecter bass, but I also have a Music Man, so I like to switch things up.

“One gig might be more hip-hop than RnB. Those genres may be closely related, but they’re also totally different. If it’s a gospel gig then I’d play a Fender Jazz. That’s my gospel sound. For a hip-hop gig, I’d take a Fender Precision with really old strings.”

“Phil was a big entertainer onstage,” said Thin Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham. “He used to joke around and call himself the worst bass player in the business, but he knew that wasn’t true.

“I’ve played with several Class A bass players and each one was amazed at what Phil could do, in terms of the notes he picked out, the strength with which he hit the strings and how he kept the groove going, while singing all of the time.”

Whether or not you're familiar with Lynott's work, you'll have benefited from his career – because the music he made influenced many of today's rockers and, perhaps more importantly, demonstrated that if he could make it, anyone could.

Lynott's background was straight from the school of hard knocks. He was born in 1949 in West Bromwich, the son of a black Brazilian father, Cecil Parris, and a white Irish mother, Philomena Lynott.

His father scarpered back to Brazil when Lynott was only three weeks old, leaving the boy with his mother's surname and an upbringing in a variety of deprived areas, including Moss Side in Manchester and then Crumlin in Dublin.

Lynott began singing in a band called The Black Eagles in the middle of the 1960s: as he later recalled, “There were two ways of making it back in Crumlin. You were either a tough guy who thumped everybody around and pulled the chicks that way, or you played in a band.

“Not wanting the bruises, and being a bit of a coward at heart, I decided to sing in a band. It's the ultimate ego trip to jump up on a stage in front of thousands of people and say, ‘Listen to what I have to say.’”

Moving to Skid Row and taking up the bass guitar, Lynott began to establish a stage persona. Growing a large Afro, dressing in a range of stage gear that varied from military to piratical and all stages in between, he played his Precision at waist height and evolved an instantly recognisable look.

As a bass player Lynott developed fast. Always more extravagant as a songwriter and singer than a bassist – his basslines were solid and heavy rather than flashy – he specialised in a warm, middle-heavy tone that perfectly anchored his fellow guitarists’ playing.

This came to the fore with Thin Lizzy, which he formed with drummer Brian Downey and Eric Bell (the first of a succession of guitarists) in 1970. Three albums were released by this lineup before a spectacular, and wholly unexpected, hit with a version of the old Irish jig Whiskey In The Jar. Gallingly for us, it featured no bass – but this didn't stop it becoming an enormous hit.

After Bell was dismissed through ill-health and his successor Gary Moore – who went on to serious fame and fortune himself – left after a few months to join Colosseum II, Lizzy maintained a fantastic level of success until the end of the 1970s, when the wheel of musical fashion began to change at a perceptible rate.

Before any of that, the band's best-known album Jailbreak became one of the must-have albums from the last days of rock, released just before punk exploded into the public consciousness.

On the album’s quintessential track The Boys Are Back In Town, Lynott confines himself to root notes, driving the song through the verses and providing an expert, almost funky bassline.

Oh, and while we're talking late-’70s Thin Lizzy, you'll probably be familiar with the sleeve of 1978's Live And Dangerous, too – with its still-gobsmacking close-up of Lynott, down on his knees on stage in ecstasy, Fender Precision raised as if in supplication to the gods of rock.

Another much-loved Lizzy tune, Jailbreak, opened the Live and Dangerous album, and with good reason. Lynott’s bass is mixed high enough for his grasp of the role of the bass in the onstage dynamic to reveal itself perfectly.

Although Thin Lizzy had always functioned alongside new music rather than in conflict with it – Lynott and other members of the band played in a one-off act called The Greedies in 1978 alongside Sex Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook, for example – by the 1980s the post-punk, electro and new wave scenes were dominating the charts, and the balls-out rock which had typified so much of the previous decade was beginning to seem a little outdated.

Had they but known it, rock of this style was destined to remain relatively uncommercial until the late 1990s, when it was rebranded ‘classic rock’ and found a whole new fanbase. Perhaps this was a factor in Lynott's decision to embark on a solo career in parallel with Lizzy, releasing Solo In Soho in 1980.

The highlight of the album for many was King's Call, a tribute to the recently deceased Elvis Presley which featured Mark Knopfler on guitar.

Thin Lizzy finally split in September 1983 and Lynott was free to embark on a full-time solo career, but unfortunately he had developed a powerful drug and alcohol habit, which began to affect his health.

Despite this, he still guested on three successful singles before his substance problems went too far: Out In The Fields and Parisienne Walkways with his old sparring partner Gary Moore, and another with Roy Wood called We Are The Boys (Who Make All The Noise).

In 1984 Lynott formed a new band, Grand Slam, but faced some scepticism from the British press about how well it could be expected to perform in the wake of the unmatchable Thin Lizzy.

Before he could prove his detractors wrong, however, his struggle with stimulants caught up with him and he was admitted to hospital on Christmas Day, 1985. He died of heart failure and pneumonia 10 days later, aged only 36.

The legacy of Lynott is effectively synonymous with that of Thin Lizzy, as it was so often a vehicle for the songs he wrote: he often said that the job of the guitarists who passed through the band was to ‘interpret’ his songs in their own way.

Lynott paved the way for the singer/bassist in rock music, with perhaps Brian Wilson, Paul McCartney and Jack Bruce his only real predecessors in that sense.

He also, of course, did much to establish the legitimacy in the eyes of the white rock audience of Black musicians, delivering a set of songs that have endured for five decades and counting.

The regular pilgrimages made by Lizzy fans to Lynott's grave at St. Fintan's cemetery in Sutton, and to the statue of him which was unveiled on Harry Street, next to Grafton Street in Dublin, in 2005, are testimonies to his popularity.

As for we bassists, who worshipped him for his songs and his bass playing in equal measure, remember his famous words: “I only want to be successful for what we are, rather than for what people want us to be.”

Wise words for bass players – as for everyone else.

Loog, the company behind the three-string guitar designed to introduce kids to the instrument, has partnered with Gibson to create child-friendly Les Paul and SG models.

The infant instrument specialist is known for its innovative kids' guitars, downsizing the electric guitar concept for an accessible gateway into music for inquisitive youngsters. It’s now turned towards two of the most famous electric silhouettes of them all, following a collaboration with Fender in 2023 that brought pint-sized Strats and Teles to the fore.

They're built to put future rockstars on their guitar journey, with the three-string concept introducing the basic building blocks of music to a young player's vocabulary. Accompanying tools like an activity book, learning app, flashcards, and game-like exercises aim to incentivize learning in a fun and interactive way.

By using standard tuning, guitar strings and micro-pickups, the transition to six-strings should be a doddle, and they're made from real wood, which “projects a sweet, beautiful sound.” These mini guitars are designed to prepare kids for larger instruments.

It might look like a toy – and Loog's signature, almost Jackson-esque headstock might make Les Paul purists weep – but this is a real guitar through and through.

Priced at $229 each, matching the Fender x Loog prices, they come in a choice of four colorways, including some Gibson classics. There's a one-two of Frost Blue and Shell Pink, as well as TV Yellow and Cardinal Red, which, for the SG especially, gives it a true rock 'n' roll feel. It’s what a pre-school Angus Young would have shredded on. Probably.

“The Gibson x Loog guitars utilize our iconic colors and shapes with Loog’s intuitive 3-string format to inspire young players to begin their musical journeys,” adds Mat Koehler, Vice President of Product at Gibson.

“There’s something deeply emotional about your first guitar. You remember it forever. And for a lot of us, there’s that other moment when you finally get your first Gibson,” says Loog. “This collaboration is about capturing that feeling and channeling it into a guitar that starts a child’s musical journey in the most meaningful way possible.”

“Getting to collaborate with Gibson has been such an incredible experience and honor for us,” Loog continues.

Head to Loog to discover more.

The Stray Cats guitarist turned the rockabilly game on its head with his Gretsch-toting playing style, which gleefully threw jazz, swing, and rock 'n' roll into the mix with unique results.

A few years back, Setzer sold a selection of his guitars, amps and cabs through Reverb, and now his digital store is back in business with an updated crop of vintage gems.

He’s holding on to his main hollow-body Gretsch guitars, but there are some rare vintage gems to be found. The store is headlined by a 1959 D'Angelico New Yorker, although he jokes that “you’ve got to be from New York to play this guitar.”

While its hard case has taken an understandable beating, the guitar is in impressively pristine shape, save for some scratches on its back and what appears to be a small scratch or crack on its headstock. It features split block inlays and a sunburst finish. Another ’59 New Yorker is currently for sale on Reverb for $75,000, so don’t expect this to come any cheaper.

Elsewhere, there’s a 1964 Gibson Firebird in its original Cardinal Red finish, as well as an ES-175 from 1961.

Moving on, a Hot Rod Flag Black brandished with Power Tron pickups and custom pinstriping painted by Tommy Otis, as played on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, is sure to draw attention. There are also three Gretsch acoustic guitars up for grabs: a G Brand Gretsch Rancher used on a variety of tours, and two Black Rancher builds. One was played on his Rockabilly Riot Summer Tour in 2019, the other features a falcon headstock.

A Hiwatt Custom Tape Echo, used when he played on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, rounds out the gear.

“And I’m selling this, why?” Setzer questions himself in the promotional video. For those who aren't interested in a guitar, a collection of stage-worn clothing will also be listed when the store launches on September 24.

Head to Reverb for more.

Back in March, Setzer said he is “getting better day by day” as he issued an update on his “excellent progress” towards full health. His struggles with autoimmune disease, which started with hand cramps while on tour last year, have been well-documented.

“I got a job in a medical facility when I was 14. I lied about my age! I saved up enough money to buy a Gibson SG. It was the shit – I loved it so much, and it made all my dreams come true,” she waxed lyrical.

“My father used to have a Sony reel-to-reel tape recorder, and I used to take it in my room; it was huge – as big as somebody’s oven! I would take it apart and disconnect the speakers, and move the speakers off to one side and the other.

“I would plug my guitar in and slap on the echo, and it just sounded like God. I didn’t have an amplifier back then; I was too young to have all the bits and pieces and bells and whistles. That reel-to-reel just kicked ass. It was as good as a Marshall stack as far as I was concerned!”

Ford went on to admit that she “never segued from that SG”, and it still holds a special place in her heart.

“It just doesn’t happen. It’s like an old pair of jeans, you know?” she said matter-of-factly. “You put them in your closet and come back to them every once in a while, and you love them.

“That SG will always be special. I used to take a patch cord and cross the channels, because there are four. It added a bit more crunch where I didn’t have a preamp on the SG, and that’s why I had it added to the B.C. Rich.”

Speaking of B.C Rich guitars, earlier this year Lita Ford looked back on that time her prized Mockingbird was stolen, only to cross paths with it in the most bizarre circumstances.

Many great guitarists spend pre-stage time warming their hands up in preparation for a full night's worth of riffing and soloing. Gus G is no different, be it with his band Firewind or when he was touring with Ozzy Osbourne.

How to do this well with limited time can be overwhelming, so we asked Gus how he actually does this.

These six warm-ups will help you quickly bond with the guitar as the exercises are designed to isolate techniques such as legato (hammer-ons and pull-offs), alternate picking, sweep picking and one finger-per-fret fingering. In similar ways to sporting athletes, the incentive for warm-ups is to reduce strain and boost overall performance. After these, you'll be hot to go, for sure!

Before you set sail though, it is worth noting that Gus has detuned all his strings by one tone on his signature Jackson Pro Series San Dimas guitar. This means the typical tuning of E-A-D-G-B-E now becomes D-G-C-F-A-D.

This dropped down tuning creates a deep, resonant sound and also decreases string tension, making fretting easier. If you have a whammy bar you may need to take care when altering the string tension as it can drastically affect the setup.

However, you can easily play these exercises in standard E based tuning as they are pattern based and all will sound perfectly fine. The tab/notation shown below reflects exactly what Gus played but if you're in standard tuning, just follow the tab's fret numbers for similar results.

Gus delivers the examples at brisk speeds so this may make them sound more intimidating than they actually are. Watch him play and listen to his explanations then learn the examples in small sections, slowly and carefully. After this, glue the sections together to duplicate Gus's playing duration. You will find they're all logically pattern based and fall well under the fingers.

Once you've done all six, we recommend using Gus’s examples as a springboard for your own warm-up ideas. What do you find easy here? Don't work on this as much. What do you find difficult: is there a string crossing or a fretting finger that is hampering your results? This is what you want to work on. Addressing your technical weaknesses head-on may feel like hard work and require discipline, but it will maximize your progress.

Example 1: Chromatic jumping

This first example is a variation on the classic chromatic warm-up pattern that utilizes all four fretting hand fingers. Instead of simply ascending and descending on a single string though, Gus goes between two strings to ascend then descend. This introduces the need for greater picking accuracy, as you need to cross the strings with great precision.

Gus plays this example with strict alternate picking (down, up, repeat) and also demonstrates a spider-style variation where you move up one fret after each 1-2-3-4 pattern thus creating a diagonal path.

Tip: embedded in this exercise are various options for creating dark sounding riffs as there are a number of diminished 5th intervals (eg the first two notes of G and Db). Explore and be creative!

Example 2: Finger combinations for legato

This is a legato exercise designed to maintain and develop your fretting hand fingers for independence and stamina. There are six notes played per beat and you can see in the notation what fingers to use. This is a well-designed workout as it will highlight which finger groupings are your weakest. Once you've decided, practice these the most.

Example 3: Legato across all strings

This next exercise uses a fingering pattern of the first, second and fourth fingers across all six strings. On the way up you will hammer-on and on the way back down you will pull-off. There is no need to change the fingering pattern as you would do for diatonic scales (ie scales that are in a key such as D major or E natural minor) as this is meant to work just as a symmetrical warm-up exercise.

It’s easy to get carried away with exercises like this that involve stretching so take a break when you feel discomfort or fretting hand 'burn'. Gus likes this exercise when he needs a quick way to get his fretting hand muscles primed to play.

Example 4: Sweep picking

Here you are concentrating on the synchronization between the picking and fretting hands. This warm-up may seem hard to play as it uses sweep picking and one note per string arpeggio shapes, but the symmetrical pattern is logical and straightforward.

You will use all four fingers, moving over to an adjacent string each time you lay down a finger. This creates a diagonal pattern of notes on the fretboard that can be picked with a single sweep across the four upper strings.

The trick here is to time the fretting of the notes with when the pick sweeps across. Alternatively, if the notes are held down with the fretting fingers then there will be no note separation. With a clean tone, this can prove useful as you can concentrate fully on the picking hand's sweep requirements. But to duplicate what Gus plays, the fretting hand fingers will need to fret then quickly come off the strings slightly to stop the note sounding.

Reality check: this is a tricky exercise if you have never used sweep picking before but hopefully you'll discover it's an exciting approach for guitar playing. If so, slow and careful early steps with your practice will create a solid technical foundation.

Example 5: Alternate picking with scales

This next exercise is a good one for maintaining and developing your alternate picking technique. Here, Gus uses a popular rock/metal three notes per string approach in G natural minor (or A minor if you're in standard tuning) and ascends and descends using alternate picking. The key is to start slow to establish accuracy. You may find isolating two string segments (totalling six notes) will help to establish your precision and speed.

Example 6: Finger strengthening with chromatics

This final exercise is excellent for building your fretting hand strength and precision by slurring notes. The legato pattern contains eleven notes so to make the tab easy to read, these eleven notes are grouped within each main beat. This way, you can easily see where the next position starts and ends. We have also written in the fretting hand's fingerings for the first set of eleven notes.

Once you have the pattern down in one position, you will find it easy to transfer it around the fretboard. When played fast, this pattern is reminiscent of chromatic pieces like Flight Of The Bumble Bee.

Hear it here: Gus G – Advent

This instrumental showcases both Gus's burning metal chops (spot some licks that evoke his warm-up exercises!) and melodic phrasing. There's plenty of powerful riffing too, courtesy of his Jackson seven-string.

One More Time is set for release on November 19 and features four brand-new songs on which Tyler and Yungblud share vocal duties. There will also be a 2025 remix of Rocks banger, Back in the Saddle. It's been produced by Matt Schwarz.

It marks the first new music from Aerosmith since 2012’s Music from Another Dimension!. The surprise collaboration had been teased after the band partnered with Yungblud for an all-star Ozzy Osbourne tribute, which was met with derision from Dan Hawkins. His brother, Justin, followed closely behind in criticizing the spot.

Aerosmith was forced to retire from touring last year in light of vocalist Steven Tyler’s health issues, but he’s been on quite the comeback trail since. He linked up with Nuno Bettencourt to play some classics in February before reportedly reuniting with Joe Perry at a benefit show in May. He then took part in Ozzy's farewell show, Back to the Beginning, proving his pipes still pack plenty of power.

So, Aerosmith's first trip to the studio in 13 years will be music to fans' ears, and yet further confirmation that their premature end to touring wasn’t the end, full stop.

As for the new single, after some huge vocal harmonies, Joe Perry’s grooving, slightly off-kilter work is immediately recognizable. Yungblud supplies backing vocals until the second verse, delivering the same snarling attitude with which he stunned fans during his Changes cover at Back to the Beginning. Its bridge section is oozing with Pump-era swagger.

The song – and the project on the whole – will be met with cynicism from some, but with Aerosmith off the road, many others will be thrilled to wrap their ears around new riffs.

“A year ago, I got a call that Yungblud wanted to come to Sarasota to work with me and write some songs and said, ‘Hell yeah, this guy’s got the juice,’” Perry recalls. “[After] four days in the studio, I called Steven and told him, ‘You have to hear this guy Yungblud, he’s the real deal.’ Fast forward to May, and we’re in the studio with Steven recording new music. The result turned out to be an amazing collaboration between Aerosmith and Yungblud. Let the music do the talking.”

“It was like plugging into pure electricity,” adds Tyler. “For Joe and me, it was another cosmic collision to find ourselves in the studio with this outrageously talented and positively wild animal.

“Here’s this kid that lives his life out loud. [He] grew up on our records and the British invasion, and now we’re in the studio together creating something that bridges generations.

“Yungblud wants this next chapter in rock history and asked us to be a part of it. The vibe in the room was epic from the start. We had a blast and were truly honored to write with him.”

“Aerosmith have been such a staple of rock and roll and showmanship for me, so I’ve been ready for this my whole life,” Yungblud returns. “As soon as we entered the studio, the chemistry exploded and the songs just poured out of us. It’s the kind of collaboration that young me wouldn’t even dream of; it is truly blowing my mind.

“Steven and Joe are at the top of their game, and working with them is a huge fucking honor. I’m making records with my heroes.”

Meanwhile, Joe Perry says he hopes Aerosmith will get to play at least one more show together. He’s currently on the road with the Joe Perry Project, having enlisted members of the Black Crowes and Stone Temple Pilots for the cause.

“The Strat is almost like a ballet dancer, whereas the Les Paul has a lot of emotional weight to it and seemed to be the absolute answer for Brothers In Arms,” John Ilsey, Dire Straits' bassist, points out in the new issue with Guitarist. “So it didn’t need 15 notes in a bar. It just needed two or three.”

During that recording period, Knopfler's approach to solos was shifting, which perfectly paved the way for his adoption of the Les Paul. Ron Eve, Knopfler’s guitar tech at the time, credits his own influence – and coaxing – with convincing the guitar great to finally give the Gibson a try.

“As he got into more complex arrangements, he knew the guitar sound needed to fit what he was playing,” he reflects. “And Mark always loved that Les Paul tone, it just wasn’t really his style.

“It was up to him, of course,” Eve clarifies. “But I confess I pushed him more towards the Les Paul sound. I felt a resistance early on. But I persevered. He’d be on the neck setting with the tone rolled off, if I recall. Winding up the sustain. I can see him now, holding those notes.

“I don’t think he could have played those parts on any other guitar, quite frankly. A Strat couldn’t have done it at all. Not with all the pedals in the world.”

Eve was quick to notice the Gibson’s impact on the album’s overall tone, and Knopfler was equally observant of the influence it had on his playing style.

“You start to realize how much real estate there is in a bar – where you can put the notes or, if you have a band of that quality, where you can lean on the timing,” Knopfler says. “But there wasn’t really time to think about it. You’re just moving on. The band had developed.

“It was a lot louder and more powerful, with keyboards becoming more important. That then makes you think in a different way – more inversions, perhaps. But I didn’t force it. I didn’t stop picking on country tunes. I was still doing rootsy things.”

In celebration of Brothers in Arms' 40th anniversary, Knopfler recently reflected on the guitars and riffs that made the album, and the pressure of learning to play in time.

For more from Mark Knopfler, plus exclusive interviews with Don Felder and Nicolas Meiser, pick up issue 529 of Guitarist from Magazines Direct.

Specifically, the new Les Paul Custom ’70s becomes the first standard-run USA guitar of its kind in 20 years. Before today, for two decades it had only been available as a Gibson Custom model, carrying price tags of up to $8,000.

This new model – a more bespoke version of Les Paul’s solidbody electric guitar design – pulls out of Gibson's Nashville factory with “classic-era correct specs”, with the firm marking half a century since it relocated from Kalamazoo.

Those specs include a headstock volute, throwback finishes, and, under those, the preferred tonewood recipe of the period: a mahogany body with a three-piece maple top, ’70s profile maple neck with a ’70s profile, and an ebony fingerboard with mother-of-pearl block inlays.

After Gibson’s move, the Les Paul went through a series of refinements before it landed on that combination, and ’70s Custom builds have since become drool-worthy vintage guitars. Randy Rhoads’ infamous Custom was a mid-’70s build. The Edge is another famous advocate for what they can do.

These new Customs have five-ply top binding and three on the back, while there are 22 medium jumbo frets, a GraphTech nut, and, of course, a 24.75” scale.

Tradition is maintained with an Aluminum Nashville Tune-O-Matic bridge and Stop Bar combo, Grover Rotomatic tuners with Keystone buttons, and Calibrated T-Type humbuckers hand-wired to Orange Drop capacitors.

Finer details include Witch Hat knobs and a black washer with gold text for its three-way pickup selector 'poker chip'. They also come complete with diamond-shaped Posi-Lok strap locks, which are handy.

For ’70s-chic looks, its bound headstock gets a mother-of-pearl Custom Split Diamond headstock inlay, and there are four gloss nitrocellulose lacquer finishes to admire. Choose from Ebony, Tobacco Burst, Wine Red, and a version with a beautiful Buttercream Top that’s sure to whip up (ahem) excitement from vintage enthusiasts.

At $3,999 apiece, these nostalgic riff machines don't come cheap, but that's cheaper than their vintage and Custom Shop counterparts.

“Some of the first Gibson models to come out of the new craftory were Les Paul Customs, which quickly made their way to the heavy metal pioneers and hard-rock icons of the era,” the firm says. “Gibson is proud to reintroduce the legendary Les Paul Custom 70s, making its long-awaited return to the Gibson lineup after two decades.”

Head to Gibson for more.

For more old-school Gibson goodness, check out its latest Certified Vintage drop, and Marcus King's signature ES-345.

Vocalist and guitarist Chris Turpin is describing the breakneck tempo of writing and recording Mirador’s debut album in the humid depths of the night in Savannah, Georgia, under the exacting eye of veteran producer Dave Cobb, a nine-time Grammy Award winner.

The intensity of the story is at odds with the bucolic setting in which it is told. It’s a Sunday afternoon and Chris and Mirador bandmate Jake Kiszka (better known as guitarist with globe-conquering rock band Greta Van Fleet) are sitting in the beer garden of one of the oldest pubs in England, wafting wasps away from their drinks and trying to explain how they captured lightning in a bottle at first attempt with Mirador’s eponymous debut album.

Dark, brooding and twitching with unpredictable energy, the record is the kind we all grew up on – even if we were born too late to be there as it happened. It’s a record whose spiritual home is a live BBC TV soundstage, somewhere in the early ’70s – or perhaps a churned festival field somewhere in Somerset in ’69.

Or maybe a setting older still, somewhere in the dim folkways of pre-war America and pre-industrial Britain.

It has guitar solos that launch out of the speakers like crooked javelins, vocal performances that seem ripped out of the singer’s heart like pages from a profane bible – and its sound is steeped as much in the folk music of a lost England as it is in blues.

Listening to it, you wonder, ‘Why did we stop making records this way?’ Once upon a time, guitarists like Hendrix played from the hip with such complete abandon yet still said something profound with every bar. But ever since then, some might argue, we have traded the intoxicatingly volatile spirit of that kind of rock for increasing precision and replicable virtuosity.

Mirador want to go the other way and, in the best sense, they have succeeded. Yet there are also contemporary textures and sounds, making it a striking beast on the landscape of modern rock music – an album deeply rooted in tradition and made like bands used to do, without a click-track in sight, yet very much of its own time, too.

For Jake Kiszka, the journey is not without risks. Greta Van Fleet are already one of the world’s most acclaimed rock acts and not without reason as their epic, soaring reimagining of the classic rock idiom has gained them a huge and obsessively devoted following around the world.

And Jake’s role as guitarist in Greta has placed him on a pedestal that few ever get to stand on. So when Mirador embarked on their recent debut US tour opening for Greta Van Fleet, Kiszka knew he – and the otherwise all-British Mirador line-up rounded out by Nick Pini on bass and Mikey Sorbello on drums – would be under the microscope.

“I think the scrutiny that we knew we’d be under lent itself to the atmosphere of the record. It was like everybody had their back or backs up against the wall. So we really had to come out swinging,” Jake reflects.

Lest that sound melodramatic, Jake and Chris recall their surprise when they realised that, between their first ever live performance and the second, fans had pieced together the lyrics of Mirador’s songs, despite none being made public as recordings at that stage, well enough to sing them back to the band as they played.

Kiszka and Turpin met when Chris’s roots-rock duo with Stephanie Ward, Ida Mae, were supporting Greta Van Fleet six years ago. A common interest in the folk music of America and Britain brought Kiszka and Turpin together and tour-bus jams gradually coalesced into a conviction that the pair should write and record something together that stood apart from their other work.

The other resolution was that the outcome would fan life back into the embers of rock as it used to be written and performed – spontaneously, almost recklessly, with a match-fit band and an electrifying live feel to the resulting recordings.

So with Kiszka and Turpin back in the UK to promote the debut Mirador album, Guitarist joined Jake and Chris to talk about the increasingly forgotten influence of folk on rock, the crucial importance of playing at high volume, what a great SG can do that no other Gibson electric can, and why working with only minutes to get a take can provide the jolt of pure musical electricity that is missing from all too many recordings today…

You both have successful bands with their own distinctive sounds – so how and why did Mirador spring into life?

Chris Turpin: “Mirador was entirely unplanned. We got friendly and were just hanging out and trading licks. Jake played on an Ida Mae album, and we got to be pals that way and sort of had curry and drank beer and did what friends do.

“And then Jake said, ‘Hey, do you want to do something?’ And I kind of went, probably too arrogantly, ‘Well, if we do something, we do something’ – it has to be good, you know? And then that’s when the writing process began.”

Jake Kiszka: “Chris and I got together, we’re like, ‘Let’s just write a couple songs for fun, you know, in that stage of things.’ And I had this old Victorian house in East Nashville [where] we got together and started writing a few tracks.

“The first day it was like, two or three songs. And I was like, ‘Well, this is quite fast – a matter of a couple hours. So let’s try for some more tomorrow.’ And that process went on, but by the end of the week, we basically had 12 tracks – we had a whole record in a matter of a week. At that point, it was like, ‘There’s something taking shape that is, in some ways, out of our hands.’”

Mirador’s sound has plenty of American folk-blues influences, but you can also hear the influence of seminal British folk guitarists such as Bert Jansch and Martin Carthy in your music, even though it’s very hard-rocking in places. That’s quite an unusual blend in this day and age…

Jake: “So many of my influences growing up were European artists and traditions. I really looked to the UK, specifically, for a lot of that stuff, and Chris looked to America for a lot of those influences.

“So I learned a lot of early English folk music, and some of the bands that I really loved had some elements of that, like Fairport Convention and some of that lineage. So when I was playing with Chris early on, it was a surprise – and something that I really enjoyed – that Chris could do all that stuff.

“I think that was a huge part of getting British players [to form the band] who could come from that influence. Because, you know, you don’t really get that in America. Even with the amount of technology and resources we have to learn and listen to new music. It’s like there’s this sort of built-in thing about British players so they can kind of do that. And I think that was a huge part of what was interesting in making something different [with Mirador].”

Chris: “Yes, growing up in the UK, you take it for granted – what you have around you – and you look to America as so many Brits have, and it’s vastly more exotic and cool and interesting. And that’s why, while my dad was taking me to go and see Bert Jansch and Fairport and all these folkies coming through, growing up with John Martyn and Nick Drake sort of glosses over you.

“But you’re like, ‘What’s that? Is that Bukka White? That’s cool!’ I think because you can’t get it, you can’t find it, you can’t read it, and it just becomes much more intoxicating. As well, I think at the age that I heard that music, I discovered the likes of Free, Fleetwood Mac at the same time as The White Stripes and early Black Keys. So it was all sort of homogenising to the same thing.

“And then I was seeing a lot of acoustic players – Martin Simpson was the first person I saw play slide, for example. I saw Bert Jansch, and I was learning from Stefan Grossman DVDs how to play country blues.

“I was learning the thumb-picking styles and no-one was teaching me that. I was just absorbing it and pulling it off old CDs… Celtic guitar-playing meets country-blues playing, meets ragtime, meets Piedmont blues meets whatever it might be. As soon as you pull anything onto a flat-top acoustic guitar… when you put it into that context, they’re really not that distant from each other.”

“But it was like you say: some British folk elements have been disregarded and I have various theories for why they have been. For example, one morning at 2am, I said, ‘Jake, you’ve got to listen to Martin Carthy. Listen to this.’ I think you thought for a second I was probably insane…

“Anyway, we ended up writing Roving Blade, which is one of my favourite tracks on the album, after listening and diving into those songs. We went to Bradford-on-Avon and saw Martin Carthy just after Jake came over to the UK. We only saw half the show because you’d just stepped off a plane. But we got a picture with him.”

Jake: “I think what was so fascinating to Chris and I was, how can we take this stuff that we were influenced by, that we really love, and inject it into what we’re writing in a fresh, new way? And that was a big part of the challenge. So I think one of the successes of this record – for me, personally – is that we were able to take some of those ancient folk sensibilities and translate them in a very modern way.”

Chris: “I went to see Martin Carthy at the Green Note [in Camden] and he played to about 12 people in the afternoon. He was talking about folk traditionalists and [lampooning them as] very sort of jacketed, intense individuals, telling musicians about ‘the way it should be done,’ and ‘What version is that?’ and ‘You’re playing it wrong. Don’t sing it like that! It’s too inflected’. And Martin Carthy basically said, at the ripe old age he is: ‘Fuck that – pick it up and take it and do whatever you want with it. Just change it. It’s the whole point. It’s a living, cultural moving target.’”

There are some incredible guitar sounds on the album – and in terms of tones, it’s layered up with all kinds of classic guitar sounds. Did the gear you both used stand apart from what you normally use in Greta Van Fleet and Ida Mae respectively?

Jake: “I would say yes, I tried to get further away from the world that I have been living in for some of the previous Greta records. And that’s just guitar selection, amplifier selection, and obviously through what we were doing in our songwriting. I think probably what I end up using on a record is typically what’s closest at that moment.

“But when we were forming Mirador, it was a question of whether I was going to bring in my guitars or my amps, and I decided to try something different and build a new vernacular of different licks and things like that – look at myself as a separate [kind of player] within Mirador.

“So, yeah, I did bring my 1961 Les Paul – the ‘Beloved’ – with me to the studio. And I use that quite a bit. That’s kind of my fallback approach, to use that. But I think there were a handful of guitars that I brought that maybe showed up.

“But Dave Cobb is a guitar player as well and he has quite a significant collection of really beautiful and historic guitars that do very particular things. He had a Telecaster there that I used quite a bit; I think it was a white ’56 Tele. And there was an early ’70s Burgundy Sparkle 12-string 335. And that was actually given to me by Daniel Wagner, Greta’s drummer, as a birthday gift. And so any time I did 12-string stuff that’s what I was using.”

Chris: “Dave also had a Danelectro that once belonged to Daniel Lanois. It had a lipstick pickup in the neck and a Tele pickup in the bridge. That was quite important and it got used for overdubs on Ashes To Earth.”

Jake: “The Danelectros have a very particular sound with those lipstick-tube pickups – great dubbing instruments. With a lot of this stuff, what the material was calling for was humbucking pickups. And then Chris and I would end up layering it up with [further parts recorded with] single-coil lipstick pickups.”

Chris: “On the acoustic side, Dave had an astonishing Martin 000-28 that you used for a lot of the acoustic stuff. We’d just done the end of the first opening tour with Greta, so we had our Martin ‘Mirador’ guitars with us. And so for Must I Go Bound I used my Martin ‘Mirador’ and Jake used a Martin nylon-string.”

Jake: “Yeah, I used that for the solo in Must I Go Bound, so that was interesting. There was also a black 50s J-200 of mine, a really early one, that got used. That was really fun, finally getting to use that for some stuff – because there was a lot of layering of acoustic over electric on the record. There was also a late-60s Flying V that showed up halfway through. You remember that?”

Chris: “Yeah, it’s the really cool one [of the type] that Andy Powell used on Argus by Wishbone Ash. So, for me, on the guitar side, I used my ‘Mirador’ Martin for the acoustic stuff, although I use Jake’s Duolian resonator for the track Ten Thousand More to Ride. And then it was my ’66 Strat for most things – for example, Roving Blade was that ’66 Strat. And then the ’70 Les Paul Custom was used for [the album’s debut single] Feels Like Gold and most of everything else.

“Then the only other thing I used, Dave has a ’57 Sparkle Gretsch Duo Jet, which he got from the Gretsch family, that has that shimmery Gretsch thing. Actually, I tell a lie – I used the black Trini Lopez for overdubs.”

Jake: “That was actually a new Gibson Custom Trini Lopez, but it turned out to be an incredibly good one.”

Sometimes guitarists can go into the studio determined that a certain instrument they love is going to define the sound of a record, but often something completely different emerges as a better option once the music starts flowing – even gear that just happens to be lying about in the studio. Did that happen on this record to any extent?

Chris: “We had that with amps. Jake had just been touring a Selmer Zodiac, but it was a rare Zodiac, like a 30- or 35-watt one with two 12s. And you weren’t quite happy with the sustain on it, but it sounds fucking cool. And I had this ’62 brown Fender Pro, which has a big, rich 15-inch speaker. We were loving the mix of those live, but you put them under the microscope of the studio and we both reverted to different things.”

Jake: “They definitely made for great live performance amplifiers, but they didn’t translate in the same way to the studio. So that was interesting. We really ended up using a lot of combo amps.”

Chris: “Dave had a Marshall Lead and Bass 20 that had been modded by Dumble and Dave had paid him [Alexander Dumble] with a Nutribullet! I used that through a 112 or a 115 Supro cab, a newer one. And I used a [Fender ’62 Princeton Chris Stapleton Edition] for a couple of tunes…”

Jake: “I used the shit out of the Princeton…”

Chris: “You have a silver-panel Princeton that Dave gave you, which is a badass amplifier with a 12-inch speaker. That was the bulk of the tone for Jake. And we used a black-panel Vibrolux Reverb for some of the dubs, too.”

Jake: “It ended up being that Chris was doing the classic Marshall-stack thing to a certain degree, and I would kind of come in with a combo somewhere around that. We used a newer silver-panel Fender Champ, too.”

Chris: “With Heels Of The Hunt, it was the last day of recording, and the engineers had packed down all the mics and the drums, and Dave said, ‘Fuck it. We need another fast one. You’ve got half an hour. Go down, write it and come back.’ So that’s what we did.

“The engineers suddenly panicked and ran around like shit, putting the drum kits back up, rewiring. And Dave, as we were sort of writing and arranging things, he has a black-panel Champ and a silver-panel Champ. They’re normally mic’d up and they sound great – Heels Of The Hunt is just those two Champs cooking…”

Who is it that whoops in triumph at the end of the track?

Jake: “Mikey [laughs]”

Chris: “That song was literally written and finished 10 minutes before we cut it…”

Jake: “It was a stream of consciousness, from thought and completion to record immediately. And if you listen to the end of that track, you can hear Mikey breathing [hard]! That was only, like, two takes or something. That’s all Mikey ever got – or anybody got.”

Jake, you’re one of the highest-profile SG players in rock for decades. What should a good Gibson SG be, in your view?

Jake: “A good SG? Well, the early ’60s ones – which were [branded] Les Pauls at first – with the thinner neck are highly microphonic. If you tap anywhere on the body and it’s making that sound, it’s just very thin lacquer. Mine’s basically been sanded off [by playwear] entirely. So the thing about an SG that differentiates it from other Gibson guitars is that it’s really microphonic, and you can feel every nuance of the guitar.

“And so, for me, that’s highly important because I like to play guitar as if it’s a full-body thing. I really like to play with my body – and even pulling the neck slightly back and moving things and tapping on it. It’s responding in more than just one way. It’s not just the strings and the connection between that and the pickup.

“Obviously, the early humbucking pickups, the Patent Applied For pickups, those are significant to that sound. And I find that early Les Paul/SGs have some of the greatest [examples of that style of] pickups. The thing about those guitars is that they all sound so different from one another – it’s radical and I have yet to find one that sounds like my ‘Number One’, outside of the one Chris has ‘stolen’, right?”

Chris: “The guitar I call ‘the one that got away.’”

Jake: “Yeah, but it didn’t exactly get away…”

Chris: “It was from Vintage ‘n’ Rare Guitars and I may have swiped that guitar from underneath Jake – after he swiped a very nice Park amp from underneath me! [laughs]”

Jake: “Only fair. I’ve swiped a lot of things.”

Chris: “You know, even in Jake’s sphere, you’re lucky if you’re even able to play a lot of those ’61 SGs because Jake hasn’t had backups [for his ‘Number One’]. We were going to guitar shows and every time you’d see one and pick it up to try it – especially those ’61 SGs – you know, acoustically, whether it’s going to do the thing or it’s not going to the thing very quickly. They’re not all the same at all.

“So this particular one that I stole from underneath Jake has some of the thing that Jake’s guitar has, but there’s a nuance to it that is separate. Because Jake’s guitar is very lively. It’s got a real bark and it’s really agile, and there’s a huge amount of dynamics in those pickups, even for fingerpicking.”

Jake: “An SG, I think, is a really dynamic, dynamic guitar…”

Chris: “…which you wouldn’t necessarily think of a humbucker-[equipped] Gibson guitar. But that’s not the case when you get a real one.”

Jake: “That’s the thing – and I value it highly – that you can play soft, but you don’t even have to change the volume or tone knobs. I’ve seen so many people with actual Les Pauls – the Golden Age rock ’n’ roll guitar heroes – who are really controlling the guitar [with volume and tone knobs] a lot, yeah?

“But with the SG for me, I can play really gently and have my amps turned up as loud as they’re going to be for the heavier stuff. Sort of a delicate approach that really makes it more acoustic-like, even with amps turned up all the way. But as soon as you dig into it, it responds like you’d want it to. Being able to take that kind of approach, just based on dynamic range… you don’t see that in a lot of other guitars, period.”

Chris: “When I first played with Jake, he was playing a Marshall-based amplifier and that SG, and I thought, ‘Well, what’s going on on the floor?’ And generally, at those early shows, it was like two Electro-Harmonix Holy Grails and an MXR Micro [Amp ] booster, the white pedal – maybe one or two of those. Then you had another pedal that you didn’t use [laughs]. That was the rig. And that was for playing shows to five-and-a-half thousand people three nights in a row, sold out.

“Having toured for the best part of 10 years up to that point, I’d never seen a guitar player really do that. The thing is, those iconoclastic players that Jake’s talking about… Jake was doing it, and he doesn’t appreciate how spectacularly special that is. That’s partly due to the amplifier, partly due to the player, partly to the guitar.”

Jake: “I think it was just really out of necessity at the time…”

Chris: “But still, Jake, your rig is essentially the same [laughs]. Every time you get something else out to play with, it’s like, ‘No, just amp and guitar.’”

Jake: “It’s interesting. When I had the opportunity to take an amp down and drive it more with a pedal, just for volume and things like that, or to get different preamp and drive sounds, I always prefer to take the pedal out and push the amp up more for some reason. For me, that always just sounds better. I don’t think that I would be a traditionalist or purist by some people’s standards, but I probably end up in that territory just based on the way I’ve approached guitar playing.”

Jake, what does Mirador allow you to express, musically, that you can’t easily do within Greta Van Fleet?

Jake: “You know, there are certain evolutions that Greta has taken. Some of our first or earlier records were maybe on the more primitive side, and maybe reflected more of a blues influence and some early traditional, folk elements that I really felt were worth exploring more. Perhaps we’re [now] at an evolutionary state with our music that wouldn’t necessarily allow that exploration.

“We’ve gone in other directions already, and I have so many different ideas that just wouldn’t get past the filtration system of Sam [Kiszka, bass/keyboard], Josh [Kiszka, lead vocals], some other people in the band, you know… mainly Josh [laughs]. Again, that chemistry with those guys – and obviously being brothers with them – writing with them is different. So when I met Chris that was like finding another brother.

“We were coming from the same world because we grew up on blues music and folk music and cultural music and just scenes from all over the place. And, all of a sudden, it was gonna be possible to explore those territories again in this band, whereas we might have evolved past some of those possibilities in Greta.”

Roving Blade, arguably one of the album’s defining songs, has an incredible solo that really leaps out at the listener. Tell us about tracking that.

Jake: “Yeah, that was loud, wasn’t it? I think there were certain expectations that with two guitar players coming together to do a record, the guitars were going to be loud! Which they definitely were on that solo in particular.

“The way we mixed it was not too dissimilar from the way that you’d mix a classic record. So we’d have the faders and we’d basically be [riding] the volume levels, playing it through, and that’s how it was mixed, very traditionally. When the solo for Roving Blade came up, the fader maybe got knocked a little too high by someone…”

Chris: “I think we can quote Dave as saying, ‘I know it’s fucking stupid, but it’s cool.’ [Laughs]”

Jake: “Absolutely, it’s like – that’s really loud, but it works. Why not? It sounds good. It feels great. Leave it.”

Chris: “That was pretty much the second song we did. And I’m in full British-folky mode on position 4 on the Strat and it’s a Richard Thompson-esque situation. Then there’s the big Roving Blade solo moment, which is Jake.

“You tried to beat that solo, but that [solo that made it onto the record] was live in the take. So the vocals that you’re hearing everything, that’s essentially all live. Other than my slide guitar piece, which had to be cut separately – that solo is live. It’s just the real deal.”

The Mirador record was very much made by tapping into the energy of musicians feeding off each other in a semi-live recording. Looking back at classic rock tracks made in a similar way in the ’60s, you can hear moments when the wheels leave the ground and the whole band starts flying – like just after the ‘Mr Mojo Rising’ section in LA Woman by The Doors. Were there any breakthrough moments like that when you were recording Mirador?

Chris: “Well, arrogantly I would say everything! [Laughs] But I think there was such an intensity with Dave – with how he recorded and how he was pushing us to track at the pace that we did. You could only move on a sort of visceral adrenaline. That was the only way you could cope.”

Jake: “I think the way we approached this record, in terms of tracking it, was such a fever-pitch thing. It was such a frantic approach that, in essence, there was not enough time to psychologically digest what was going on. We were acting purely on instinct. The scrutiny that we knew we’d be under lent itself to the atmosphere of the record. It was like everybody had their backs up against the wall, you know. So we really had to come out swinging.”

Chris: “The other moment I think of like that is with Raider – that’s the first song we tracked in all of those sessions, and it’s an ugly riff, you know? It’s heavy duty and the band is not perfectly together, and it’s heaving and it’s ugly.

“I just think that, for me, was another moment of just falling off the end of this arena tour for the first time – high intensity, where we were thrown in front of Greta’s audience.

“Our first show was in front of 12,000 people and there’s a lot to prove. Then here we were in this studio, late at night in Savannah, after probably too many tequilas. It was like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna lean into this. Here we go.’ And you can feel that energy. You can’t do that to a clicker.”

That spontaneity and playing by instinct can really be heard on Ten Thousand Left To Ride.

Jake: “That was, honestly, one of my favourite guitar solo tones on the record. I was in the control room and that’s typically where I’ll take solos if I get the chance, if they’re not already baked into the track. It was really inspiring. And again, it just comes in loud as shit at the end. That was honestly another good example [of loud guitar parts working]: Dave, Chris and I were looking at each other because it really was too loud [laughs].

“I was laughing and having a childlike moment, really. I couldn’t stop from grinning, because it was so badass. I really loved how it sounded. I was really excited. And it was like, ‘This is the moment.’ Where you hear a guitar and it just makes your life, man.”

• Mirador is out now via Universal.
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

“I have a 1960 [Fender] Stratocaster, which was the guitar – well, pretty much. There were two guitars on Reckless,” he explains in a new Guitar World interview. “One was that Stratocaster, and then, I have a 1980s [Gibson] Les Paul that’s stock off the shelf.

“Those two guitars are really cool. And the interesting thing about the Les Paul is that around the end of the ’80s I sold it. I thought, ‘I’m never going to use this… I mostly use Strats.’ And I also started to fall in love with my ES-295, and I just didn’t play the Les Paul anymore. So, I sold it.”

Fast forward a couple of years, and the regret started to sink in: “The Internet started coming about and I started seeing pictures of myself playing that Les Paul live,” he laughs. “I thought, ‘Shit, I think I sold that…’ and sure enough, I had sold it. It was gone. I had no idea where it was.”

However, things would soon take a turn in 2005, when a record store signing gave him the chance to do right by his long-lost Les Paul. “I was signing records, and this guy comes up, and I’m thinking, ‘Oh, he wants me to sign his guitar.’ He said, ‘Hey, I bought your Les Paul years ago. I’m really in hard times, would you like to buy the guitar back?’

“I was like, ‘Oh, yeah!’ So, we did the deal right then and there, and it had taken a bit of a beating since I’d had it, but the best thing about getting that guitar back was that I re-recorded Summer of ’69 with it!”

Speaking of perhaps his most popular song, Adams recently shared the name of the pop star who he thinks is the “only person I can think of who did a version of Summer of ’69, and did it justice.”

Along with bassist James Fusco and vocalist/keyboard player Jordan Torres, recently added as a full-time member, Phoneboy has been steadily gaining fans over the last five years by putting out melodic yet melancholic albums, including their latest, Heartbreak Designer, supported by consistent touring.

“On this album, we pulled heavily from our pop-punk influences growing up,” Dana says. “A lot of Blink-182, some Weezer. We really tapped into what inspired us to start a band in the first place.”

The new album features a more expansive sound than their first two releases, audible on the leadoff track Wayside, which showcases languid, dream-pop fuzz riffs. “No matter what you do, you’re going to have people saying, ‘I miss the old stuff,’” Barnum says. “But if we just release the same-sounding thing on every album, we’re doing our fans a disservice.”

“One big influence for me is Billy Corgan,” Dana says of the alt-icon. “He uses a lot of octaves, just sliding up and down the guitar. The first time I heard the Smashing Pumpkins’ Cherub Rock, I fell in love. He’s playing rhythm, but it’s about so much more than the rhythm. That falls a lot into my playing, especially on the new record.”

The guys have differing preferences when it comes to guitars.

“Live, I use a Japanese Fender Jaguar,” Dana says. “My parents got it for me for Christmas when I was 16, and I still use it. I love the short neck; it’s easy to fly up and down when playing live.”

Barnum takes a more custom approach. “I built my guitar,” he says. “It’s based on the Fender Tom DeLonge Strat. It just has the bridge pickup and one knob. Mine’s got a ShawBucker humbucker.”

Although their current album is still getting a road workout, the band is already looking ahead.

“I’m itching to get back in and start writing again,” Dana says. “This album has been testing out a new dynamic with four people instead of three. There’s so much gas left in the tank; I’m excited for where we go next.”

• Heartbreak Designer is out now via Diamond City.
• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

On her debut album, All the Pretty Flowers, the now Los Angeles-based musician pulled herself away from a swampy drop-G aesthetic to explore a more harmonically approachable standard tuning. While stripping away her muddiest tendencies, she discovered a skeletal guitar style inspired by Siouxsie and the Banshees/Magazine guitarist John McGeoch and minimal wave music.

“Toward the end of Kylesa we were doing more psychedelic stuff,” she says, adding of the Discussion, which she’d begun in 2017, “I wanted to continue along that journey of heavily-effected psychedelic guitars, but I wanted to streamline my songwriting.”

Accordingly, the new album’s Fade Away is driven more by a brawny post-punk bass rhythm than the leanly-picked guitar spectrality Pleasants shimmers into the piece. That makes sense, she says, because the song is set in a “hollow house” and concerns a general thematic “emptiness.”

That said, by the time she and producer Jason Corbett – of the band Actors – wrapped up the sessions, they realized they’d pruned away quite a bit of Flowers’ overall guitar presence.

“There was a shitload more guitar on this record before. Jason helped me hone my vision,” Pleasants says. “The guitar was maybe a little too proggy, so it was good to restrain myself. The chords and the notes were the same, but I changed the approach.”

Synth-oscillating pieces like Blue Light now find Pleasants harnessing a more textural, string-scraping style. Elsewhere, the focus is on throbbing low‑end melodies conjured from a short‑scale Mustang bass.

Still, some habits die hard. Take the guitar-blaring mid-album standout In Death & Life. This death-rock anthem was initially demoed with every instrument coursing through EarthQuaker Devices’ Life Pedal V3 boost/distortion pedal.

The album version remodels the tones a bit, but retains a wiry, string-stretching solo that Pleasants wanted to sound “triumphant but not cheesy.” It’s the record’s biggest guitar-hero moment.

On top of her tour plans with the Discussion, Pleasants will also spend 2025 playing Kylesa shows for the first time since 2015. The guitarist doesn’t know if the reunion will yield any new metal music (“If we have time, and if the stars align…”), but the return of her heavier band has given fans plenty to talk about.

• All the Pretty Flowers is out now via Artoffact.
• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

The sale is running for just 10 days, which means you don’t have a lot of time to take advantage. With some discounts of Brobdingnagian proportions, there’s a lot of gear here that I can’t see sticking around for long. As well as more budget offerings from brands like Mooer and Thomann’s own Harley Benton, there are plenty of offerings from the big players too, with loads of discounts on ESP, Gibson, PRS, Epiphone, Taylor, and plenty more.

• Score epic discounts of up to 70% off in the Thomann Guitar Days sale

I’ve had a look at every single discount available in the sale, and if you want the biggest discount out of all of them, this PRS Horsemeat pedal has got a massive £176 reduction. Despite being another in long line of Klon clones, the combination of treble, bass, and voice control allow you to make very transparent changes to your tone, whether that’s adding shimmer, body, or fatness to your tone.

It’s also got a bigger range of drive than most of the transparent-style overdrive pedals out there. With the gain knob completely down, you get a clean boost, and from there you can go all the way from light drive to almost distortion. We gave it a full five stars out of five in our PRS Horsemeat review, so in the Thomann sale you’re getting a lot of pedal for relatively little money.

I wanted to include the Epiphone Shinichi Ubukata as my next recommendation, but in the time it took me to write this article someone already bought it! So instead I opted to go for this Epiphone Jimi Hendrix Love Drops V, which has had a ginormous £309 slashed off the regular price.

If you’re a Hendrix fan then you probably won’t need much convincing here, but not only does this guitar look incredible, it also has a pair of Gibson USA humbuckers in it which means it delivers on the sound front. In our Epiphone Jimi Hendrix Love Drop V review we gave it four stars out of five, and our reviewer praised it for its ability to handle low to mid-gain chords and spiky lead work.

Death By Audio pedals make some pretty unique sounds, which means they typically come with a lofty price tag. Not so this DBA Supersonic Fuzz Gun though, which has got massive £157 off, taking it down to just above half price. A decidedly more modern take on the fuzz pedal genre, it offers a dark, heavy fuzz tone perfect for stoner rock and doom.

A toggle switch lets you move between gate and oscillator sounds, with the former giving you plenty of options from thick fuzz to a heavily choked tone. Switching to the oscillator mode leads to some really experimental tones that can create some amazing sounding drones that are unpredictable, great if you like your tones a little less than usual.

Unfortunately, Johnny Marr has himself mixed up in a “missing gear” story at this very moment – and he's been pleading online with UPS to help him recover his lost equipment.

Days before kicking off a run of shows, Marr has taken to X to air that his guitars have gone missing, alleging UPS has misplaced, or even lost, a fair few of his touring instruments.

“Dear UPS where are my guitars?” he wrote on X. “They disappeared a week ago. I’m hearing from you now that they’ve been lost. Explain.”

The guitarist goes on to tag Fender and Gibson – meaning that he had at least a couple of Fenders and Gibsons in the mix. However, the final straw for Marr came when he was asked to provide some, er, visual support.

“Asking me to describe what my guitars look like is not filling me with confidence,” Marr continues. “They look exactly like the ones you put in one of your delivery vans days ago. Remember?”

"Look for one that says ‘80’s Icon’ on the case and another one that says ‘Woke As Fuck,’” he quips.

While UPS is reportedly investigating the matter, as of the time of writing, Marr hasn't issued an update on his missing gear.

Late last year, the Smiths guitarist launched a new signature Martin M-7, whose specs don’t stick to the script.

Samurai Guitarist is one of YouTube’s most prolific and influential personalities, and at the time of writing boasts 1.18 million subscribers on the platform. The rest of his social media following isn’t too shabby, either, with over 120,000 followers on Instagram.

Onotera has built his following off the back of his educational, informative and entertaining content, which spans guitar reviews, deep-dives into quirky gear hacks, lessons, covers, opinion pieces and more.

He can now add “entrepreneur and guitar maker” to his already stacked resume, after Onotera announced the launch of his almost-eponymous gear brand and its first-ever electric guitar, the TK-1.

As Onotera explains, the guitar itself has been a long time coming and its origins can be traced back to well over two years ago when he finally took the first step towards the brand itself and committed to making his dream a reality.

“Like so many guitar players, ever since I picked up the instrument I've been dreaming up my own signature model,” he says of the brand’s beginnings. “However, 10 years into this YouTube thing and no brands have expressed any interest in doing a signature guitar with me. So I figured, you know what, forget them. I’ll do it myself.”

Samurai Guitarist began working with guitar brand guru Tracy Hoeft to get his vision off the ground, with the resulting model going through a number of refinements and prototype phases before being finally signed off earlier this year.

Built by the Cort factory – which also builds guitars for Squier, Ibanez and PRS – the Otera TK-1 puts a distinct spin on the classic Telecaster template, boasting a slightly more boxed-off silhouette that delivers a very tasty contemporary vibe.

Specs include a three-piece maple neck joined to an ash-topped basswood body, as well as a pair of Seymour Duncan pickups – the P90 Silencer Soapbar in the neck, and BG1400 in the bridge.

A 9.5” radius rosewood fingerboard flashes 21 jumbo frets and dot inlays, while the neck has been shaped to a vintage U profile with a semi-gloss finish purposefully selected for playability benefits.

An ashtray bridge plate with three brass saddles a la vintage Teles also makes the cut, as does a stunning turquoise-esque finish. Each TK-1 ships with two pickguards – a standard white one, and another with a Cherry Blossom motif and Onotera’s signature.

"For years, I imagined a guitar that felt different – one that captured everything I love about the classics, but with its own character,” he explains. “I didn’t want perfection. I wanted something real. Otera was born from that idea. The TK1 is the guitar I always wished existed.

“Every detail was chosen for a reason, with the hope that it inspires the same passion in you that it inspires in me.”

It’s a move we’ve been increasingly accustomed to seeing in recent years. Onotera is just the latest in a growing line of professional players and social media guitarists who have sought to branch out into the world of guitar making.

Rob Chapman and Ola Englund are but two names, with the likes of Tosin Abasi and Zakk Wylde also establishing their own brands. All of those players spoke to Guitar World back in 2022 about the rise in artist-led gear companies.

Only 100 TK-1 examples will be made, with each priced at $1,299 apiece. However, there’s a slight twist: “Once they’re gone, this exact guitar will never be made again.”

Indeed, when they’re gone, they are gone – and when that happens Onotera will set about designing a follow-up (the TK-2, perhaps?).

For more info, head over Otera.

Speaking in a new interview with Premier Guitar, Carpenter explains he made the massive overhaul because “the amps never fail.”

“I've had too many fails with my digital world,” he tells Premier Guitar in his latest Rig Rundown. “When I went to the all-digital realm, that's when I took on a world of pain that I was not expecting. I was in a bad place with my equipment, [I] just hated how everything sounded.”

After going through different setups, Carpenter previously settled on a compromise hybrid rig running his Helix into a Fryette power amp. However, one decision in particular revolutionized his love-hate relationship with amp modelers, and consequently, his tone.

“One day, when we were gearing up for the last leg of this tour earlier this year, when we were rehearsing, I reset my amp blocks and all my presets,” he explains.

“I was like, ‘Just put it back to the factory state.’ And it turned out that the factory programming of the amp block itself was perfect. I was like, ‘Don't even touch it.’ And that's been my mentality when it comes to all the equipment.

“For instance, I have the Strymon BigSky, Timeline, and the Mobius. I only use the factory presets and I don't touch any knobs no more.”

His reasoning is simple: “I'll give you all this advice – if your gear ever craps out and you ain't got it backed up, them sounds are gone for life. Factory presets, however, are right there. If anything happens, breaks, act of God, whatever... go get a new one, plug it right back in. Boom!”

Working on Deftones' latest record, private music, also saw the guitarist actually using the “whole pile of amps” he's been collecting over the past decade.

He continues, “When we went to go do this one, I was like, ‘You know what? I think I bring all those down.’ Because I was like, ‘How can you fail?’ These are 100-watt tube amps. I got all the stuff I need.”

“With every take we did, we put on another amp. We just kept going through them. Greg's [Dubinovskiy, his guitar tech] in there [the studio], I'm literally just sitting around playing. I never touched the amp once. Greg did everything on the amps in the studio, and I didn't have no complaints.

“The actual organic sound of these amps, the feel, the whole thing, the response when you're playing,” he gushes. “I was like, ‘Yeah, that's it.’ And that's when we were like, ‘All right, we're rebuilding this shit.’”

Now, his live rig is headed up by Bogner Uber-Ultra heads, loaded with KT88s and paired with a wall of Bogner cabs.

Deftones have just released their highly anticipated 10th album, private music, last month – a record which saw Carpenter and Chino Moreno, in particular, chasing sounds before crafting songs.