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S.I.T. Strings (Stay In Tune) has updated its flagship Power Wound Nickel Electric Guitar Strings with enhanced product protection, premium new packaging, and new Gold, Black, and Silver color-coded ball ends.

The company’s strings were first introduced in 1980, and the new redesign across the entire Power Wound family features a premium black carton, a sealed Vapor Corrosion Inhibitor (VCI) bag to help protect strings during storage and shipping.

Every set continues to be manufactured in Akron, Ohio, using premium American materials and S.I.T.'s proprietary Stay-In-Tune™ process, which reinforces the ball-end twist to help deliver the dependable tuning stability Power Wound is known for.

The Power Wound series features a hex-shaped, high-carbon steel core and precision-wound nickel-plated steel wrap wire, designed to deliver a bright, balanced tone with clear highs, tight lows, and smooth mids.

The updated Power Wound electric guitar line is available in a wide range of string gauges and custom sets, well-suited for almost any musical style including rock, metal, blues, jazz, and country.

Street pricing starts at $8.99 for 6-string sets. For more information visit https://sitstrings.com/product/power-wound-nickel-electric-guitar-strings/

If you’ve never played a Beetronics pedal, the company’s extroverted design ethos might seem like a style-before-substance exercise. Nothing could be further from the truth. For starters, Beetronics’ wares are genuinely substantial in terms of quality. The brand is also inventive—and more than a little irreverent at times—when it comes to sonics.

The Seabee Lite (the “lite” most likely refers to its relatively low weight rather than any reduced functionality) is an analog chorus/vibe and occasionally mutant flange-oid modulator. It might not be the company’s most radical offering, and in many respects, it's downright conventional and accessible. But it finds a unique way to walk that path, using an interesting basic chorus voice as a foundation—and in classic Beetronics fashion, offering many enticing ways to mangle it.

Arcade Acumen

While there are more complex modulators out there, the Seabee Lite is nevertheless not for minimalists or the faint of heart. None of the functions here are terribly esoteric. And the three knobs, three toggles, and two footswitches are, by some standards, positively streamlined. But their interactivity, which is a real creative asset here, can mean it’s easy to get a little lost at times.

The pedal’s preset capacity helps address the problem of a porous user memory, to some extent. There are eight factory presets and eight blank ones to make your own, which opens up all kinds of possibilities for texture shifts from song to song. (Presets can also be managed via MIDI.) But the preset functionality can be a minefield of its own if you tend to prioritize other facets of your performance. Because the Seabee Lite’s footswitches are the responsive soft-relay type, their placement makes it easy to accidentally move from live to preset mode. And if you then activate a preset, you’ll need to scroll through all of your presets to get back to live mode. Your results may differ based on your balletic capacity, concentration, and ease with dancing the preset two-step. Me? Well, I messed up a lot.

“Woblee and vibeee modes mixed together might inhabit pedal’s weirdest, most-seasick depths.”

The good news, of course, is that these complexities are the product of cool options. The Seabee Lite expands on a basic chorus’ usual rate-and-depth control set with a feedback control, which is typically seen on a flanger. It lends a given chorus setting a “vowellier,” more wobbly voice. But you can also alter the basic feel of the chorus by switching to flange or wobble mode. In the former, the sinewave that makes up the chorus is more angular and trapezoidal, and extra delay is added. The resulting tones don’t have the jet-phase intensity of a real flanger, but they can still be deeply strange, and some of the most authentically 1980s-style textures live in this hybrid mode. Wobblee utilizes an even greater delay time range—around 25ms—and features a drifting LFO that randomizes the wave peaks within that range, evoking a less-steady-on-your-feet sensation.

The flangee and wobblee voices also sound awesome with the vibee vibrato mode. Flangee can give the vibrato oscillations an almost tremolo-like pulse, which sounds extra cool in stereo. Woblee and vibee modes mixed together might conjure the pedal’s weirdest, most-seasick sounds. In both mode mixes there are lots of subtle shades to use, too.

Chorus Lane

Perhaps because the Seabee Lite’s basic voice has to accommodate so many accents and inflections, that voice is a little more open than some standard-bearing analog choruses. It’s not as syrupy, chewy, or deep as a Blue Hippo or CE-2, but there’s a lot of upside to that. Again, the airier voice allows more room for detail in the pedal’s more intense modulations. But those older analog choruses can be thick and watery to the point of dark, which doesn’t work for every guitar or amplifier voice. If the Seabee Lite’s voice is comparatively thin and toppy, it sure makes a good fit for a burly PAF’s output. And with the high-pass, bandpass, and flat frequency response toggle settings, you can tailor these sounds in even more specific ways.

The Verdict
How you relate to the Seabee Lite’s video-game riot of color and sound will probably depend on how much need for weird there is in your expression. But the Seabee Lite isn’t all bizarro indulgences. The fundamental analog voice is solid and versatile, even if some might find it lacking a touch of body. And while some features can seem clumsy and cluttered, the pedal also inhabits a real sweet spot between a modulator that creates decision fatigue and a 2-knob vintage-style unit. It’s a place you can live creatively without getting too bogged down, and that might be the Seabee Lite’s real magic.

CFG (Cable Free Guitar) has introduced SonikSphere NEO, its second-generation 5.8 GHz wireless system for guitar and bass. It adds important advances, such as under 2.5 ms latency, more than 10 hours of battery life, a -10 dB PAD for hot-output instruments, six color-coded channels, and visual battery bars.

The Gen-2 system operates at 5.8 GHz and is built for players who want to stay out of the heavily used 2.4 GHz space shared by Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other everyday devices, NEO keeps the clean 24-bit/48 kHz digital audio approach of the original SonikSphere and updates the parts players deal with in real use: response time, battery headroom, hot-signal control, and stage visibility.

SonikSphere NEO delivers under 2.5 ms latency and more than 10 hours of continuous use per charge. Six color-coded channel banks make channel selection easy to see, while a built-in -10 dB PAD gives active, piezo, and other high-output instruments additional input headroom when their signal is hot enough to cause digital clipping.

The system operates in the 5.8 GHz ISM band and uses frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS). Its specified frequency response is 10 Hz to 22 kHz, with a 110 dB signal-to-noise ratio and up to 100 ft / 30 m of clear line-of-sight range. Up to six NEO pairs can be used at the same time, with each pair assigned to a different color-coded channel.

Both the transmitter and receiver include a visual battery bar and PAD indicator. The transmitter is black and the receiver is silver for faster identification on stage. A 270-degree swivel plug helps the units sit cleanly against a wide range of instrument and amp jack positions. The system is designed for standard 1/4-inch mono instrument-level connections, with the receiver feeding an amp, pedalboard, modeler, or audio interface instrument input.

Key Technical Highlights:

• 5.8 GHz ISM wireless with FHSS
• 24-bit / 48 kHz digital audio, 10 Hz to 22 kHz frequency responseUnder 2.5 ms latency and more than 10 hours of continuous battery life
• Built-in -10 dB PAD for active, piezo, and other high-output instruments
• 6 color-coded channels, up to 6 NEO pairs at the same time
• Visual battery bars for monitoring power

Each SonikSphere NEO system includes one transmitter, one receiver, a USB-A to dual USB-C charging cable, and an owner’s manual. SonikSphere NEO includes CFG’s 2-year warranty. Street price in August 2026 is an introductory price of $139.99, compared with the regular $170 price. For more information visit https://www.cablefreeguitar.com/products/soniksphere-neo.

PRS Guitars today announced the Astryx Limited Edition, a Custom 24 turned signature model for Dany Villarreal, guitarist and lead vocalist in The Warning. The Astryx Limited Edition is her twist on a Custom 24, with a custom color fade, custom fretboard inlay (featuring paua, gold, and mother of pearl), her signature on the truss rod cover, and every guitar comes with an autographed backplate. The model will be limited to just 200 guitars in 2026. This is Villarreal’s first ever signature model.

“One of the most important things for me in a guitar is that it feels like an extension of my body and that I can trust it and just do my thing. Ever since I tried my first PRS guitar, it’s been an inseparable relationship. With PRS, I feel powerful and confident — and that’s a feeling that once you find, you don’t want to let go of,” said Dany Villarreal.

This guitar is an ode to Villarreal’s rise as a player and her journey toward finding her identity. The model name, Astryx, stems from the root word for “star,” alluding to divine guidance and a connection to something greater than ourselves. Visually, the guitar is personalized with a unique inlay featuring a sun on the twelfth fret, along with a striking new finish. Continuing the celestial theme while honoring her Mexican heritage, the inlay name – Solecito – translates to “little sun.” The finish, a beautiful fade of purple, pink, orange, and yellow, is named Ocaso, fittingly meaning “sunset.”

The core specifications stay true to the Custom 24: maple top, mahogany back, 24-fret, 25” scale length Pattern Thin neck, PRS Patented Gen III Tremolo, and a pair of DMO humbuckers with one notable difference being the ebony fretboard.

“It has such a beautiful sustain, which I really like,” continued Villarreal. “The neck also feels so comfortable, and it’s not that heavy. As the only guitar player in the band, I love how my PRS takes up a lot of space sonically. It does wonders for our three-piece band.”

The announcement aligns with The Warning’s new album “Everything’s Falling” out on August 28, and global headlining tour.

For all of the latest news, visit www.prsguitars.com and follow @prsguitars on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X, and YouTube.



Bluegrass guitar hero Bryan Sutton joins us this week to talk about his brand-new album, From Roots to Branches, Vol. 1( Mountain Home Music Company).

The album features Sutton in duos with a bevy of friends, including Tommy Emmanuel, Billy Strings, Joe Bonamassa, Sierra Hull, the late Doc Watson, and others. As you’ll hear, the performances range from straight bluegrass to a rather rocking song with Billy Strings.

We also talk about his Blue Ridge Guitar Camp, session work, the joys of downsizing your guitar collection, and the secret studio weapon known as the Epiphone Seville (who knew?). We even brainstorm on a rather hilarious Fretboard Summit golf tournament.

https://www.bryansutton.com
https://www.blueridgeguitarcamp.com

We are brought to you by Peghead Nation: https://www.pegheadnation.com
(Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout).

Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar: https://mmguitarbar.com

Above photo: Ali Hasbach

 

The post Podcast 560: Bryan Sutton first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Jamie Gale is one of the most influential and forward-thinking voices in the guitar world. He is the founder of the Boutique Guitar Showcase, but his perspective goes far beyond guitars. His work has taken him into areas like artificial intelligence and robotics.

For episode 117, we talk about the changing cycles of the guitar industry, the rise of the Boutique Guitar Showcase, and some hard-earned lessons in business. Most importantly, Jamie shares his thoughts on what it takes for an independent guitar maker to build a distinctive identity.

Link: https://www.jamiegale.net

Luthier on Luthier is hosted by Michael Bashkin of Bashkin Guitars and brought to you by the Fretboard Journal. This episode is sponsored by the Looth Group, Dream Guitars, and StewMac.

Want to support Luthier on Luthier? Join our Patreon to get access to exclusive photos and content from Michael and his builds.

 

The post Luthier on Luthier: Jamie Gale first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

PRS Guitars and Guitar Center today announced that the national retailer is inducting Paul Reed Smith into the Hollywood Rockwalk, the handprint-and-signature tribute outside Guitar Center’s flagship Hollywood store on Sunset Boulevard. This pedestrian path and industry-recognized music landmark is dedicated to honoring the musicians and industry pioneers who have made significant and lasting contributions to the growth and evolution of music, through an exceptional level of talent, outstanding innovation and creative ingenuity.

John Mayer will give the induction speech to honor Smith. The handprint ceremony will take place September 26th at the Dell West Plaza Rockwalk Stage at the Moody Center during the Crossroads Guitar Festival in Austin, Texas. The completed handprint will later be installed at Rockwalk outside Guitar Center’s flagship Hollywood store.

“The first time I saw a Rockwalk induction, Ted McCarty was getting inducted and Eddie Van Halen was one of the people in attendance to witness it. I was very pleased for Ted. That I’ll be in the middle of another induction is an honor and leaves me without words. I look forward to seeing everyone,” said Paul Reed Smith, Managing General Partner of PRS Guitars.

“There are very few people in the history of the electric guitar who have pushed the design and perfection of the instrument forward more than Paul,” said Gabe Dalporto, CEO of Guitar Center. “He has inspired generations of musicians and instrument makers and is a living legend in our industry.”

Since its founding in 1985, Rockwalk has celebrated some of the most recognized names in rock, blues, soul and popular music through signature and handprint ceremonies outside the Guitar Center Hollywood. More than 150 artists and innovators have been inducted, including gear pioneers Jim Marshall, Robert Moog and Les Paul, as well as music icons including Eric Clapton, John Lennon, Stevie Wonder, Aerosmith, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Alanis Morissette, Black Sabbath, The Ramones, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. Located at the entrance of Guitar Center’s flagship Hollywood store on Sunset Boulevard, Rockwalk is a permanent public destination where fans and musicians connect with music history year-round.

For all of the latest news, visit www.prsguitars.com and follow @prsguitars on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X, and YouTube.

Reader: Verne Andru

Hometown: Vancouver, British Columbia

Guitar: Mini Jaguar tuned in 5ths

I fell down the alt-tuning rabbit-hole by moving from guitar to mandolin, before landing on extended-range tenor guitar. I wanted a nice electric for that purpose, so I approached the Fender Custom Shop through my dealer for a 5-string Jaguar tenor but was told they couldn't do it. I let the idea slide. But then Fender released their Squier Mini Jazzmaster with a 22.75" scale. I realized it would be the perfect platform for tenor tuning—in 5ths—but across six strings. Making it more Jaguar-like would be up to me and Vancouver luthier Paul Iverson.

I found a used Mini Jazzmaster at Guitar Center, but the action was terrible and the fret ends needed attention. I pulled the neck to level the frets and was puzzled by the fret wire. It didn’t feel like the soft nickel I’m used to finding on inexpensive guitars, and it wasn’t stainless, either—but it still fought me. After leveling, I recrowned the frets, dressed the sharp ends, and polished them with 800- and 1,500-grit sandpaper. I’ve never gotten a fret job right on the first pass, but I can usually get it where I want over time as I get used to the feel of the instrument

While the bridge is nothing fancy, it was high quality and the saddles allow a wide range of adjustments. The bigger surprise was the pickups, which sounded great. Even so, I thought GFS’ lipstick humbuckers would be a better fit, and I love the simplicity of lipstick designs in general. With the style of a 1964 Jaguar in mind, I used a tortoise pickguard, but also painted a matching headstock, over which I laid a Jaguar decal. Cutting the pickguard for the Jaguar control plates took some time, but with the cuts made and the Jaguar plates in hand, I got to work on the switching.

I learned electronics from Gar Gillies of Garnet amp fame, so I was comfortable trying a few things. Each pickup’s coils can now run in series, in parallel, or as a single-coil, and a push/push volume knob puts the two pickups in series or parallel with each other. There’s also a zero-load switch that bypasses the volume and tone controls, a blend knob for the two pickups, and a phase switch where a Jaguar’s “bass strangle” switch would go.

The project came out well, and the guitar has become a reliable daily player. I added Wilkinson tuners with a 19:1 ratio for finer tuning. Their long posts have two string holes, and I use the upper one on the Bb so the string doesn’t kink over the nut and throw off the intonation. The lipstick humbuckers sound great, and the guitar is light and easy to play. Tuned in fifths—Bb–F–C–G–D–A—it covers an enormous range. The low string sits a semitone below the low B on a 7-string, and the top string climbs into mandolin territory. Best of all, the switching options give me that many more ways to work with that range. It’s a small guitar, but it does a lot.

John Mayer has paid tribute to Dolly Parton with an emotional instrumental rendition of I Will Always Love You.

The guitarist performed the country classic during his SiriusXM concert at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, New York, on 26 August, a day after news broke of Parton’s death.

• READ MORE: “Instant sainthood”: Tributes pour in from the music world and beyond as country icon Dolly Parton dies at 80

Mayer worked the song into the intro of Gravity, playing Parton’s familiar melody on his PRS Dead Spec Silver Sky and giving it a bluesy spin of his own before moving into his own song.

Before the show, Mayer also reflected on Parton’s death and the extraordinary reaction to her passing, particularly the way her music brought people together.

Credit: Rick Diamond/ Getty Images

“I think Dolly would be really happy to see that on the day of her passing, the world came together in a way that it hadn’t in a very long time to celebrate someone,” he says.

“I don’t know that there are many people in this world [that are] left that can galvanise a very fractured world to come together and share love for one person. When everyone’s loving one person at the same time, it is everybody loving at the same time, which has this sort of side effect of feeling each other’s love when that happens.”

“This is what a life well-lived looks like, feels like, and sounds like,” Mayer continues, describing her career as a “brilliant, classy, talented, full artistic rendering”.

“This is how you give your life to the thing you love.”

Parton, who died aged 80, was one of the most celebrated songwriters and performers of her generation. I Will Always Love You was written and recorded by Parton in 1973, becoming one of her signature songs before taking on an entirely new life through Whitney Houston’s hugely successful 1992 cover for The Bodyguard.

Watch Mayer’s tribute below.

The post John Mayer honours Dolly Parton with instrumental I Will Always Love You cover appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Blues legend Joe Bonamassa has paid tribute to actor Tim Curry, who died earlier this week at the age of 80.

Curry is well-remembered for his roles as Pennywise the Clown in the original IT movie, as well as in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Clue, and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Bonamassa posted a tribute to Curry on Instagram yesterday (August 26).

View this post on Instagram

He wrote: “Rest in Peace Tim Curry. Many do not know that Tim cut the original version of Sloe Gin on his debut album Read my Lips in 1978. The song was composed by Bob Ezrin and Michael Kamen.

“20 years ago Kevin Shirley rang me and said he found the perfect desperate blues song for me. He was right and our version changed my career trajectory forever. Tim’s version was bold, beautiful and featured the mastery of Dick Wagner on guitar.”

• READ MORE: Joe Bonamassa calls out the guitar community’s “armchair quarterbacks”

Alongside the written tribute is a video of Bonamassa performing Sloe Gin. The song remains one of Bonamassa’s biggest hits to date. He once told Total Guitar: “That song initially came to me via [producer] Kevin Shirley who was born in South Africa. It was a hit there but nowhere else.

“I have to give a special shout out to Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner who played on the original version. They were basically Bob Ezrin’s ringers… What you hear on the record and how we play it live are two different things. That song’s got a life of its own. I’m thrilled with that… sometimes we just have to play it!”

Curry’s 1978 release included not only the Ezrin and Kamen track but also featured covers of work by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, Roy Wood, and Joni Mitchell.

The post “It changed my career”: Joe Bonamassa pays tribute to Tim Curry and recalls their “perfect” connection appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Baritones seems to be all the rage in 2026, with a particularly eye-catching model recently coming from Jackson in partnership with Sleep Token.

It’s been a while since Gibson dipped its toes in the baritone pool – the last time extended-scale guitars among its product catalogue being the early 2010s, with the SG Baritone, Explorer Baritone and Les Paul Studio Baritone.

And while it’s not as radical a model as the new Jackson Monarkh for Sleep Token’s guitarist IV – which ships tuned an entire octave down – Gibson has revived its baritone offering once more, with the all-new Victory Baritone.

• READ MORE: “By far the most meaningful record we’ve ever made”: Polyphia announce new album Be Not Afraid – listen to the first single now
  

Shipping with a B-to-B tuning, made possible and more stable by a longer 28″ scale length (typically, Gibson guitars measure up 24.75″), the Victory Baritone features a double-cutaway mahogany body with “updated Victory contours for enhanced comfort, balance, and stage-ready performance”, as well as a glued-in mahogany neck, and compound-radius ebony fingerboard with 24 medium jumbo frets and acrylic dot inlays.

Credit: Gibson

An extended-scale guitar sort of calls for high-gain, drop-tuned riffs, so the Victory Baritone is equipped with a pair of newly designed Gibson ELEV8 humbuckers, which are said to offer “powerful tone with unmistakable Gibson character”, with alnico 8 magnets and custom-gauge wiring. These electronics also include push-pull controls for coil-splitting as well as inner-outer coil selection.

Credit: Gibson

The new Victory Baritone is just the latest addition to Gibson’s cult classic Victory line, which received a significant revamp back in 2024. We recently got our hands on the line’s Floyd Rose equipped model, and gave it a near-perfect 9/10 review.

Available in British Racing Green and Graphite Metallic, the Victory Baritone is priced at $2,499/£2,149.

Learn more at Gibson.

The post The baritone hype is real – and Gibson’s getting in on the action appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Want to get a little closer to Tom Morello’s guitar tone without, you know, actually being Tom Morello? EMG has just made the pickup combination behind his legendary “Arm the Homeless” guitar available as a signature set.

The new Tom Morello TM Set pairs an EMG 85 in the bridge with an EMG H in the neck, recreating the exact setup that has been at the heart of Morello’s sound for decades.

And this isn’t just a pickup pairing the Rage Against the Machine guitarist happened to like. The EMG 85 and H have been the foundation of Morello’s “Arm the Homeless” guitar since the late ’80s, with the iconic axe appearing on every recording and live show he has played since then.

• READ MORE: “The heavy metal thing was not my first intention”: The creator of EMG pickups never meant for them to become the choice of metal guitarists

So, what are you actually getting? For starters, the set comes with the throwback EMG logos found on the pickups in Morello’s original guitar, along with a commemorative “ATH” Tom Morello guitar pick.

At the bridge is the EMG 85, an active humbucker designed to deliver plenty of output, punch and low-end heft while keeping its highs controlled and articulate. Morello says he chose it specifically for the “hard metal sound” he wanted from his riffs and solos.

The neck pickup is where things get a little more interesting. The EMG H is essentially an EMG S single-coil tucked into a humbucker housing. That means you can drop it into a guitar routed for humbuckers while still getting the kind of single-coil character associated with a Strat.

For Morello, that single-coil character is a big part of what makes a “heavy” guitar sound work. As he puts it: “Some of the greatest riffs of all time are done on a Telecaster with a single-coil pickup.”

“A lot of times, guitar players think they have to have the most manly, alpha, distorted sound in order to be heavy. That’s not the trick,” says Morello. “It’s the tone, and the chemistry of the people you play with. And so with this pickup, there was a springiness to the tone, a funkiness to the tone with the way that I played. It has made fields of people bounce up and down over the course of the last three decades.”

The EMG Tom Morello TM set is available now for $249. Like all EMG products, this set includes the solderless wiring system for simple installation.

Learn more at EMG.

The post Tom Morello’s “Arm the Homeless” guitar pickup combo is now available as an EMG signature set appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi is gearing up to release his first solo album in more than two decades, From The Dark, with longtime friend and Queen guitarist Brian May among its guest contributors.

In a new interview with Loudwire, Iommi opens up about how May ended up on the record – and reveals that he’d actually asked his old friend to play on more than one track.

The collaboration came together pretty casually, with May dropping by Iommi’s house and the two guitar legends doing what they’ve apparently been doing for decades: picking up guitars and having “a little fiddle about”.

• READ MORE: Tony Iommi’s final conversation with Ozzy Osbourne: “He said he wasn’t feeling great”

“He brings a guitar or I’ve got one here and he’ll use that,” says Iommi. “I said, ‘Oh, bring your guitar when you come,’ he brought his guitar and I said, ‘You’re going to be playing on this track here.’ He’s great.”

May ultimately contributes to Death Wake, the sixth track on From The Dark. Iommi, however, had hoped to get a little more out of his old friend.

“I said to him, ‘Play on some other tracks,’ but he went, ‘Oh no, it’s your album,’” Iommi recalls. “That’s the relationship we’ve had with each other for all these years. We’ve played a lot together. He is a great friend.”

Iommi says the pair have known each other for “56, 58 years” and describes May as his best friend, alongside another legendary guitarist – Eddie Van Halen.

“We’ve known each other for 56, 58 years. He’s my best friend. And of course, Eddie Van Halen was. We always stayed in touch a lot. They were the only two I really did stay in touch with.”

Beyond May’s contributions, the rest of From The Dark came together just as smoothly. Despite being his first solo album since 2005, Iommi says there was little pressure in the studio to force things.

“It’s been good fun, there’s no pressure,” he says. “If nothing happened, nothing happened, then we’d do it the next time. But it did, every time we come to record something, it’d work.”

From The Dark is due out on 23 October. Listen to the lead single World Alone below.

The post Tony Iommi wanted Brian May to play on more of his new solo album: “But he went, ‘Oh no, it’s your album!’” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

If you only lived half a mile up the hill from Eddie Van Halen in the ’80s, there was probably only one sensible thing to do: let him come over and talk guitars.

That was the case for RATT frontman Stephen Pearcy, whose house was close enough to Van Halen’s that the guitarist would regularly cruise over on his motorcycle when he knew Pearcy was home.

Speaking on the Mighty VH Podcast, Pearcy recalls how his “three-level, high-tech” house – jokingly dubbed the White House – became something of a hangout for the legendary rocker.

• READ MORE: “Eddie said, ‘I can’t play on that!’” Albert Lee reveals the genre that Eddie Van Halen was reluctant to play

“I had a house we called the White House. It was a three-level, high-tech house. And I was never there. I was always on the road,” Pearcy says. “But when Ed would know I was home, he’d cruise over and, you know, go back up the hill on his motorcycle and get busted for being at my place.”

When Pearcy headed up the hill to return the favour, he’d often find himself in Van Halen’s studio, where the conversation inevitably turned to guitars.

“I’d go up there and check out the studio and hang a bit. I mean, we were trading guitars. It was all about Charvels and guitars,” he recalls.

Pearcy admits he wasn’t particularly interested in Van Halen’s obsession with the whammy bar at first. That changed when he started bringing some of his San Diego friends along, including RATT guitarist Robbin Crosby.

“I wasn’t really into his kind of trip, the whammy, this and that. But the minute I brought Robbin up there – I started bringing my San Diego guys up with me to check Van Halen out – Robbin and Ed became friends.”

That friendship came with a pretty useful perk: one-on-one guitar lessons from Eddie Van Halen.

“We’d literally go to his house, Ed’s house, and he’d have a little workshop in his bedroom or somewhere and he’d tell Robin how to keep in tune with the whammy. There were no lock bars back then,” Pearcy says.

Van Halen’s lessons didn’t just stop there. He also shared tips on keeping strings fresh and getting the most out of the guitars they were constantly tinkering with.

“A lot was going on. How to keep your strings fresh and new,” Pearcy says. “And I’m just taking notes, and these two guitar dummies are taking notes too.”

“You go, you hang with Ed, you’re not going to be talking about, you know, life in general. It’s about gear,” he continues. “Unless he wants to tell you something else.”

Watch the full interview below.

The post “You hang with Ed, you’re not going to be talking about life in general. It’s about gear!” RATT’s Stephen Pearcy on the lessons he learned from his neighbour Eddie Van Halen appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

€299/$289/£249, t-rex-effects.com

The T-Rex TwinBlaze is the kind of stompbox that might just save the world. Okay, a piece of guitar gear isn’t going to do much about climate change or global conflict, but it takes an issue that’s just as polarising – single pedals versus multi-effects processors – and finds a way to combine the best aspects of both sides.

• READ MORE: Source Audio Pathways review: “a pedal that sits comfortably between the worlds of modernity and tradition

In spirit, this is a proper old-school dirt pedal for the purists, made in Europe and powered by a real preamp tube… but it also brings the simplicity and efficiency of having three effects in one: two switchable overdrive/distortion circuits plus a separate clean boost. Maybe that means everyone will love it, and the human race can live in harmony again?

Image: Adam Gasson

What is it?

Proudly bearing the words ‘handcrafted in Denmark’, the TwinBlaze is part of an expanding range of homegrown pedals from a company that used to be pretty much all-in on Chinese production. I’m a big fan of the Danish-made reissue of the Mudhoney distortion, which has been around since 2018, so this neatly designed green metal box certainly has pedigree.

It’s billed as “a tribute to the 1980s golden era of rock” – and while you might struggle to match the word ‘golden’ to the bulk of the music of that decade, you can’t ignore the enduring appeal of the (mostly Marshall) amps that powered it. So what you’re getting here is two channels of old-school rock drive, plus a boost circuit to give it a kick up the jacksy on the way out.

Each channel has a control array that follows the Marshall JCM800 template – preamp gain and output level plus bass, middle, treble and presence – plus a toggle switch for ‘crunch’ or ‘lead’ mode. Both channels are voiced the same, so if you match up the settings there’ll be no difference when you flip between A and B.

As with the new T-Rex RoomMate D’Luxe reverb, a 12v power supply is included in order to supply enough juice to get the JJ ECC83S properly cooking – and again that valve has a slightly silly LED at its base, just in case you feel shortchanged by the low-key orange glow of the real thing.

Image: Adam Gasson

Usability

Look at the control panel of the TwinBlaze when it’s in bypass and you’ll see two rows of six unmarked knobs – what is this, Russian roulette for tone-tweakers? Luckily, once a channel is engaged its corresponding row of markers lights up for easy visibility – in yellow for crunch mode, or orange for lead. It’s a smart system, just as long as you don’t need to make changes while the pedal is off.

The boost circuit gets its own orange light, and beyond that the functionality of this unit is as simple as it could possibly be. Just make sure you use the right output: there’s a second one with speaker cab emulation for plugging directly into an audio interface.

Image: Adam Gasson

Sounds

The obvious place to start is with channel A in crunch mode and channel B set to lead. That gives you a total of five sounds accessible by footswitching alone: crunch, crunch plus boost, lead, lead plus boost, and boost on its own. Nice, although I can’t help wondering why the two channels haven’t been voiced differently – say, Marshall on one side and Fender on the other – for even more flexibility.

Anyway, that JCM-style voice is a pleasing one – and, running through a clean black-panel amp, uncannily accurate. Start chugging away on palm-muted power chords and within a few seconds you’ll feel your hair starting to perm: it is that 80s sound, kicking out plenty of raspy midrange but with enough saturation and compression to avoid any harshness.

In crunch mode you can go from light breakup to moderately hairy overdrive, while the switch to orange lighting brings a corresponding fieriness that sounds superb on attention-grabbing solo runs. The boost switch can prove really useful here, giving a tonally neutral lift of up to 20dB – and it works pretty well on its own if your amp is running anywhere close to the crunchy zone itself.

If anything, it seems T-Rex has copied the classic Marshall template too closely in terms of the EQ controls: they work OK, but somehow never quite as emphatically as you want them to. Don’t expect total tone-sculpting power, then – but if you just need to dial in the right amount of treble and bass for your rig, and maybe give the mids an extra shunt for the heavy stuff, they’ll do the job.

I did give the speaker-emulated output a spin, just to see if this pedal could also serve as a standalone recording preamp, and the results were… well, alright. My guess is there’s nothing more than a simple EQ treatment going on in there, which keeps things balanced but doesn’t stop it sounding DI-ish.

Image: Adam Gasson

Should I buy one?

If you’re still trying to get your head around that “1980s golden era of rock” thing, let it go. Yes, the haircuts were unforgivable, but for guitar tones that rocked harder than the sounds of the 70s, without yet going to the ultra-high-gain extremes of the 90s, this was indeed a perfect moment – and T-Rex has captured it.

For most players, a simpler pedal that can create one or two sounds in that tonal area will probably be enough; but if your idea of classic rock is more Def Lepp than Led Zepp, and you want one unit to cover all levels of dirt, the TwinBlaze is a persuasive candidate.

Image: Adam Gasson

Alternatives

A high-class option that flips the formula by having one drive and two boosts is the Dinosaural Cogmeister (£359.99/$399). If you’re just after a dual overdrive with a Marshall-ish flavour, try the Browne Amplification Protein ($299/£349) or Warm Audio Throne of Tone ($229/£219).

The post T-Rex TwinBlaze review – one tube-driven pedal to cover all your rocking needs? appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Sponsored by Taylor Guitars: Two distinct Taylor voices go head-to-head in the latest episode of Showdown. On one side, the Gold Label 710e delivers an old-soul acoustic experience, pairing a classic square-shoulder Dreadnought body with Indian rosewood back and sides, a torrefied Sitka spruce top, and a deeper body design. Its fanned V-Class bracing produces a rich, […]

Following the success of the original Friedman JOSE 100, Dave Friedman has introduced the JOSE 20 Series. Available as both a compact head and a 1x12 combo, the JOSE 20 Series delivers the unmistakable voice, feel, and touch response of its 100-watt counterpart - now in a smaller watt format ideal for play at home, in the studio or on stage.

Developed by Dave Friedman in close collaboration with Jose Arredondo’s daughter, Marisol Arredondo, the JOSE 20 Series faithfully translates one of the most influential amplifier voices in rock history into a modern production amplifier. Rather than simply recreating Jose Arredondo’s amplifier modifications, Dave set out to capture the essence of Jose’s work - its feel, dynamics, harmonic complexity, and voice and faithfully translate it into the JOSE 20 Series.

Handcrafted in Los Angeles using premium components and custom-made transformers, every JOSE 20 is built to Dave Friedman’s uncompromising standards.

Jose Arredondo’s groundbreaking amplifier modifications helped define the sound of high-gain rock. His hot-rodded British amplifiers delivered greater sustain, richer harmonics, tighter low end, and a more responsive feel than players had ever experienced. They weren’t production amplifiers - they were individually modified instruments that became the secret weapon of countless professional guitarists and inspired generations of players, builders, and tone chasers.

The JOSE 20 Series distills that voice into a compact 20-watt platform. Internally bridged Volume I and Volume II recreate the classic channel-jumping technique players once achieved with patch cables, blending bright attack with warm body to create the rich harmonic foundation at the heart of the Jose sound.

The Plexi/Gain switch introduces a true additional gain stage, seamlessly moving from classic Plexi response into the aggressive saturation that defined Jose’s most celebrated modifications. The Fat switch adds body, low-end authority, and increased punch while preserving the articulation and clarity that make the amp exceptionally responsive.

The unique three-position Gain Style switch further expands the JOSE 20’s tonal palette by repositioning the master volume within the circuit while introducing diode clipping for additional bite and sustain. Rather than simply adding more gain, each position reshapes the amplifier’s response, delivering everything from articulate hot-rodded Plexi crunch to crushing rhythm tones and fluid, harmonically rich lead sounds.

A transparent series effects loop and System Master Volume allow players to experience authentic Jose dynamics at virtually any playing level.

Available as either a 20-watt head or a 1x12 combo loaded with a Celestion G12M-65 Creamback, selected by Dave Friedman for its warm midrange, smooth top end, and dynamic response.

Key features include:

• Available as a 20-watt all-tube head or 1x12 combo
• 2 x EL84 Power Tubes4 x 12AX7 Preamp Tubes
• Combo loaded with a Celestion G12M-65 Creamback speaker
• Developed by Dave Friedman in collaboration with Marisol Arredondo
• Inspired by the legendary amplifier modifications of Jose Arredondo
• Internally bridged Volume I & II recreate classic channel jumping
• Plexi/Gain switch introduces a true additional gain stage
• Fat switch adds body, punch, and low-end authority
• Three-position Gain Style switch revoices the circuit for three distinct Jose-inspired gain structures
• System Master VolumeTransparent series effects loop
• Custom made transformers
• Handcrafted in Los Angeles, California, with Limited 5-Year Warranty
• Head Dimensions: 8.5" (D) x 18" (W) x 8.25" (H)
• Head Weight: 22.5 lbs.
• Combo Dimensions: 11.5" (D) x 18.75" (W) x 16.75" (H)

Friedman’s JOSE 20 amp head carries a $1799.99 street price and the 1x12 combo is street priced at $2099.99. For more information visit friedmanamplification.com.

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Guitar Center today unveiled the 2026 Exclusive Crossroads Guitar Collection (https://t.e2ma.net/click/l4543m/hda7hd/92s4tv), a lineup of signature guitars and accessories created in collaboration with Eric Clapton and industry-leading brands Martin, Fender and Ernie Ball. Launching ahead of the 2026 Crossroads Guitar Festival, the limited-edition collection builds on more than two decades of collaboration between Guitar Center, Clapton and the Crossroads organization. Proceeds from the collection support Crossroads Centre Antigua, the addiction treatment center Clapton founded in 1998.

Guitar Center’s relationship with Eric Clapton began in 2004, when the company purchased several of his most legendary guitars at the 2004 Crossroads Guitar Auction, including his iconic Blackie Fender Stratocaster, the Cream-era Gibson ES-335 and George Harrison’s Martin 00-21. Those historic instruments are now part of Guitar Center’s renowned Legends Collection, a one-of-a-kind archive of historically significant instruments on display at its flagship Hollywood store. Their acquisition laid the foundation for an enduring collaboration with Clapton and many of the world’s most respected guitar manufacturers, resulting in some of Guitar Center’s most coveted artist recreations and exclusive Crossroads Guitar Collections.

“For more than two decades, we’ve partnered with Eric Clapton and the Crossroads organization to create iconic instruments, with powerful stories behind them, and put them in musicians’ hands,” said Gabe Dalporto, CEO of Guitar Center. “The 2026 Crossroads Guitar Collection continues that tradition, with every one sold supporting a cause Eric has championed for decades.”

Guitar Center’s exclusive Eric Clapton collaborations have long been among the company’s most sought-after releases. The recreation of Eric Clapton’s legendary Blackie Stratocaster sold out in just four hours in 2006, becoming the company’s fastest-selling guitar launch at the time. More recently, Guitar Center’s exclusive Gibson Custom Eric Clapton 1958 Les Paul sold out in less than 12 hours following its 2025 debut. Since then, Guitar Center has continued its decades-long partnership with Eric Clapton through a series of exclusive Crossroads Guitar Collections, offering musicians first access to many of the collaboration’s most coveted releases.

Spanning handcrafted acoustic guitars, faithful recreations of Clapton’s most iconic electric instruments, and premium accessories, the 2026 Crossroads Guitar Collection offers something for every type of player – from exquisitely crafted collector pieces to signature models designed for everyday musicians. Developed in collaboration with Martin, Fender and Ernie Ball, each product celebrates a defining chapter of Clapton’s career while supporting the mission of Crossroads Centre Antigua.

“Music has always been my most reliable source of inspiration, or salvation,” said Eric Clapton. “These guitars are sacred things to me.”

As the exclusive retail partner of the 2026 Crossroads Guitar Festival, Guitar Center returns to support the event and its mission to benefit Crossroads Centre Antigua. This year, Guitar Center will bring its presence to life through The Guitar Center Experience, an immersive destination at Austin’s Moody Center where fans can explore the new 2026 Crossroads Guitar Collection, connect with leading guitar brands including Fender, Gibson, Martin, PRS and Ernie Ball, and engage in hands-on interactive experiences throughout the weekend. Guitar Center will also offer on-site retail, giving attendees access to the exclusive 2026 Crossroads Guitar Collection and other festival merchandise.

In addition, PRS Guitars will support the 2026 Crossroads Guitar Collection in partnership with John Mayer, whose limited-edition PRS Silver Sky “Crossroads” model will be available exclusively through Guitar Center and make its first public appearance onstage with Mayer at the 2026 Crossroads Guitar Festival.

Complementing the new Crossroads Guitar Collection, The Guitar Center Experience will also feature a rare showcase of iconic guitars from Guitar Center’s renowned Legends Collection, including Eric Clapton’s legendary original Blackie Stratocaster and his Cream-era Gibson ES-335.

Fans will have a rare opportunity to view two of the most iconic guitars in rock history up close, while Guitar Center continues its legacy of honoring music’s most influential figures by inducting Paul Reed Smith, founder of PRS Guitars, into the famed Guitar Center Rockwalk during the festival.

Crossroads Guitar Collection Highlights

Martin Custom Shop 000-42 Eric Clapton Brazilian ($24,999.99)

The centerpiece of the 2026 Crossroads Guitar Collection, the Martin Custom Shop 000-42 Eric Clapton Brazilian represents the pinnacle of Eric Clapton’s more than 30-year relationship with Martin Guitar. Limited to just five instruments worldwide, the guitar is handcrafted with rare Brazilian rosewood back and sides, a solid Adirondack spruce top and Clapton’s preferred 000 body shape – the same style made famous during his legendary MTV Unplugged performance. Each guitar is personally hand-signed by Clapton and includes a Certificate of Authenticity, making it one of the most exclusive Eric Clapton signature guitars ever offered by Guitar Center.

Martin Custom Shop 000-42 Eric Clapton Ziricote (Natural & Sunburst) (starting at $9,699.99)

Joining the collection’s flagship Brazilian rosewood model, the Martin Custom Shop 000-42 Eric Clapton Ziricote pairs Clapton’s preferred 000 body shape with ziricote tonewood, prized for its rich sound and striking natural grain. Limited to just 50 guitars in each of two finishes, 1935 Sunburst and Clear Natural, the handcrafted Custom Shop model features a solid Adirondack spruce top, Golden Era 42-style appointments and an ebony fingerboard with an “Eric Clapton” signature inlay. Each guitar includes a printed Certificate of Authenticity and is available exclusively through Guitar Center.

Fender Blind Faith Telecaster ($4,999.99)

Inspired by the iconic guitar Eric Clapton assembled on his kitchen table in 1969 and debuted at Blind Faith’s legendary Hyde Park concert, the Fender Eric Clapton Blind Faith Telecaster faithfully recreates one of the most recognizable instruments of his career. Limited to just 130 guitars worldwide, the production model combines a Telecaster Custom body with a replica 1956 “Brownie” Stratocaster neck and period-correct details, while including both modern electronics and a vintage “Woof Tone” wiring kit for players seeking an authentic recreation. Available exclusively through Guitar Center, each guitar features a unique “EPC” serial number honoring Eric Patrick Clapton.

PRS John Mayer Silver Sky ($3,750.00)

Developed in partnership with John Mayer, the limited-edition PRS Silver Sky “Crossroads” features a unique Incline Blue finish, rosewood fretboard with a custom “Crossroads Sun” inlay at the 12th fret and a “Crossroads Guitar Festival 2026” neck plate. Limited to just 70 guitars, the model will make its first public appearance onstage with John Mayer at the 2026 Crossroads Guitar Festival.

Martin 000-13E Eric Clapton (Natural & Sunburst) (starting at $1,899.99)

Designed to bring an authentic Eric Clapton signature Martin to more players, the Martin 000-13E delivers Clapton’s signature acoustic style at the most accessible price point in the collaboration’s history. Inspired by the smaller-bodied 000 guitars Clapton has favored on stage and in the studio for decades, it features a spruce top with ziricote fine veneer back and sides, along with a built-in soundhole tuner and Martin E1 pickup—the first time those features have been offered together on an Eric Clapton signature Martin. Available in Antique Toner Natural and 1935 Sunburst finishes, the guitar is available exclusively through Guitar Center in the U.S. through Jan. 27, 2027.

Ernie Ball Eric Clapton Strings ($29.99)

Celebrating nearly 50 years of Eric Clapton’s relationship with Ernie Ball, the Ernie Ball Eric Clapton Signature Strings mark the first-ever signature string set created in collaboration with the legendary guitarist. Packaged in a collectible commemorative tin containing three sets of Ernie Ball Slinky 10–46 strings—the gauge Clapton has relied on throughout much of his career—the limited-edition release gives players the opportunity to experience the feel and tone trusted by one of music’s most celebrated guitarists. Limited to 5,000 collectible tin sets and available exclusively through Guitar Center, the strings complete the 2026 Crossroads Guitar Collection.

The 2026 Crossroads Guitar Collection will be available beginning August 26 at Guitar Center stores nationwide and online at guitarcenter.com and will also be available for purchase at The Guitar Center Experience during the 2026 Crossroads Guitar Festival.

“It’s a Gibson SG, mint condish.”

Jack Black, as Dewey Finn, in the film School of Rock is the ultimate guitar salesman. Watch the scene where he puts the class band together, and you’ll pick up on his awesome energy. Dewey is so into what he’s teaching; he’s like some sort of a sanctified backwoods preacher on a sunny Sunday morning delivering the gospel. It’s his enthusiasm that sparks the kids into learning how to rock. What is Dewey’s Excalibur, his all-conquering and mighty weapon? It’s that Gibson SG guitar.

The way I see it, the guitar in cinema can be considered a ticket. In most cases, it’s a ticket to a better life for the person playing it. Be it creative expression, a way to escape poverty, or a way to escape the humdrum existence of the suburbs à la Marty McFly, the guitar, and music, can take you there.

Today, we’re going to look at the good, the bad, and the unexpected as far as vintage guitars are concerned in movies. Length constraints for this article dictate that I might miss your favorite guitar movie, and I apologize for that. I’ll talk about a couple of mine and maybe one you’re not familiar with.

First, the not-so-good. The Buddy Holly Story was released in 1978. It’s an excellent story about Buddy’s life, and Gary Busey is absolutely incredible portraying the young singer, songwriter, and guitar slinger from Lubbock, Texas. But man, for a guitar geek, it’s a little hard to watch. It’s like the people in the props department for that film didn’t do their homework at all.

In the beginning of this film, we see our hero playing at a roller rink in Lubbock, just before he finds fame as a recording artist. It’s a sock-hop and the kids are there to have some fun. It’s an infectious scene with great energy. What’s Buddy playing? A Fender Bronco.

Cue the record scratch: a Bronco? Wow, that’s an inspired choice! It’s also a guitar that didn’t make the Fender lineup for a full eight years after Buddy, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper, and their pilot died in a plane crash early in the morning of February 3, 1959 in Clear Lake, Iowa. It’s a cringe moment for guitar aficionados and historians alike.

Not only is Holly playing a guitar that didn’t exist in the ’50s, he’s playing it through an amp made by a company that didn’t exist yet either. In the roller-rink scene, Buddy’s plugged into a Music Man amp. Music Man started production in 1974, a full 15 years after Buddy died. At the end of the movie, they show Holly playing his final show with a ’70s Strat with a large headstock. At least they got the Strat part right. It’s like they didn’t even try with the details!

Don’t get me wrong—I love this film. The story is told in a compelling way, and it gets me every time. I just wish they would’ve paid even a small amount of attention to the musical instruments in the film.

That was the bad; now for the good. La Bamba is my go-to Hollywood film for accuracy in the guitar department—ironically, a story concerning another man killed in the same plane crash, Ritchie Valens. Lou Diamond Phillips plays Ritchie, and does so with aplomb. Every character, every scene, in La Bamba is done with a level of care and attention to detail that seldom come together in a music biopic.

All the musical details in the movie are just about perfect. When pre-fame Ritchie shows up to audition for the Silhouettes, what does he have in tow? A seriously beat-up, single-pickup Harmony Stratotone, and a well-trashed Fender tweed Champ. This was probably the default setup for just about every fledgling rock ’n’ roll hero of the era. Nailed it! Later on in the film, after Ritchie has scored some chart success, we see him out driving around with his girlfriend, Donna. What’s in the back seat of Ritchie’s T’bird? It’s a tweed hardcase, with his Stratocaster inside. It’s a tiny detail, but those details make for a great film.

Later, when they show Ritchie playing on American Bandstand, he’s playing what looks like a lightly used ash-bodied Strat, which he probably picked up for $100 or less at a local pawn shop. Ash Strats were made from ’54 to ’56, so it would’ve been a little early for Ritchie to buy one new. At the end of the film, during his last show, he’s portrayed with yet another Strat. It’s a brand new, shiny, alder-bodied Strat. Ritchie likely received this one at the factory in Fullerton, right before he left for his first big tour in 1959. There’s some serious attention to detail in this film. If you haven’t watched it, do yourself a favor and look it up.

And now for the unexpected: Bell, Book and Candle. Made in 1958, it’s a wonderful rom-com about a witch who wants to experience love. (The film’s also the basis for the iconic TV series, Bewitched.) There’s some serious star power here, with Kim Novak as the witch, James Stewart as the love interest, and Jack Lemon as the troublesome little brother. Bell, Book and Candle has a couple of guitar sightings that will totally blow your mind. I don’t want to spoil them here—you just gotta watch it.

Until next time, happy viewing, and as they say in Tinseltown: Cut! That’s a wrap.

Polyphia has announced their new album, Be Not Afraid, which will be released later this year. The band has not put out a studio album since 2022’s Remember That You Will Die and spent the last two years heading down “pretty dark rabbit holes” to come up with material for their fifth release.

The album announcement also saw the release of lead single, Power in the Blood. Polyphia worked on the album throughout 2024 and 2025 in Miami, Los Angeles, and Dallas.

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Guitarist Tim Henson confirmed the composition of the album changed massively, initially singing lines out loud and then translating them to guitar. He said: “Instead of going wide on Be Not Afraid, we went as deep as we could. There are so many layers to pull back. Every time you listen to it, you’ll notice something new. Thematically, it’s by far the most meaningful record we’ve ever made.”

Guitarist Scott LePage added: “We physically can’t make the same album twice. We have a yearning to evolve. It was so much fun to write this one together too – the writing sessions for past Polyphia records typically looked like us gathering our ideas separately first and bringing them to each other second, so we took a different approach with Be Not Afraid by treating the sessions like an opportunity to create with everybody in the room first before getting into the separate writing.

“It was a much more communal approach that led to us having so much fun making it that the fun itself was the magic being captured.”

Henson added: “The album takes you through the extremes of two different worlds / moods: one being very uplifting and triumphant, the other being spine-chilling and terrifying. There are moments on the record that legitimately scare me when I listen to them.”

Tim Henson, who has been in the band since its founding in 2010, added that the band headed into darker territory and is their response to feeling “disgusted, demoralised, and completely powerless”.

He said: “During the making of this record, we went down some pretty dark rabbit holes. We kept coming across things that were so depraved they sounded insane when you said them out loud. Then some of the very things we had been talking about started appearing in documents released to the public. You can read that stuff and feel disgusted, demoralised, and completely powerless.

“Be Not Afraid is our response to that. Rather than allowing the ugliness of the world to paralyse us, we put everything we had into making something beautiful. We weren’t afraid of whether something was too different or whether people were going to understand it. We just followed what excited us and made what I believe is our best record to date.”

Dates for the band’s European tour, which starts on November 17 at the Halle 622 in Zurich, can be found below:

• Nov 18 – Zurich, CH – Halle 622
• Nov 19 – Lyon, FR – Le Radiant
• Nov 20 – Toulouse, FR – Interference
• Nov 22 – Barcelona, ES – Razzmatazz
• Nov 23 – Madrid, ES – Sala La Riviera
• Nov 25 – Milan, IT – Alcatraz
• Nov 27 – Munich, DE – Zenith
• Nov 28 – Prague, CZ – SaSaZu
• Nov 29 – Warsaw, PL – Progresja
• Nov 30 – Leipzig, DE – Haus Auensee
• Dec 2 – Hamburg, DE – Docks
• Dec 4 – Copenhagen, DK – Amager Bio
• Dec 5 – Berlin, DE – Tempodrom
• Dec 6 – Oberhausen, DE – Turbinenhalle
• Dec 7 – Brussels, BE – Ancienne Belgique
• Dec 8 – Amsterdam, NL – AFAS Live
• Dec 9 – Paris, FR – Zenith Paris
• Dec 11 – Birmingham, UK – O2 Academy Birmingham
• Dec 12 – Manchester, UK – Manchester Academy
• Dec 15 – Leeds, UK – O2 Academy Leeds
• Dec 16 – London, UK – O2 Academy Brixton

Learn more at Polyphia’s official website.

The post “By far the most meaningful record we’ve ever made”: Polyphia announce new album Be Not Afraid – listen to the first single now appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.