Music is the universal language
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“He’s playing guitar like me!”: Dave Mustaine recalls the time he first saw James Hetfield play guitar in Metallica
As Megadeth continue to ride out their final chapter, currently in the thick of their grand farewell tour after releasing one last batch of tracks, frontman Dave Mustaine is feeling nostalgic. With the band’s conclusive 2026 record, Megadeth, honouring the band’s career, most fans went wild over its Ride The Lightning cover in particular – a nod to Mustaine’s history with Metallica.
In a new video, Mustaine reflects on why he felt it was necessary to produce his own cover of Ride The Lightning. As he explains, he helped write the track during his short stint in Metallica between 1981 and 1983, and this is a way of putting his own spit on it. “I wrote with the band on that song, so it just seemed like the natural thing to do,” he says. “[It was a way of] closing the circle. Pay my respects to the band that I got my break in, and let James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich know how I really feel about stuff.”
Over the years, Mustaine and Metallica haven’t exactly seen eye to eye. However, Mustaine insists that this is his way of putting an end to their infamous ‘feud’, noting that all past bitterness is now water under the bridge. “I believe that James is an excellent guitar player and that Lars is an amazing songwriter,” he insists.
He even digs into the first time he ever saw Hetfield perform. As Mustaine explains, he always knew that the Metallica frontman was a very talented chap, right from the first time he saw Hetfield riffing away in rehearsal. “He [wasn’t] playing guitar like somebody in this room would… he’s playing guitar like me,” he recalls. “I thought, ‘No fucking way this guy is that good…’”
Mustaine also notes how the song utilises the Spider Chord, his signature chord that he insists he “invented”. The chord essentially allows the guitarist to switching between power chords on adjacent strings, while minimising the need to move your fret hand – and it’s in Ride The Lightning. “It’s in several songs that I’ve penned,” he explains, noting Megadeth’s 1986 track Wake Up Dead also features it.
Megadeth also made sure to add some extra personality to Ride The Lightning, rather than just producing a cut-and-dry cover. “We sped it up a little bit… and there’s four drum fills at the end,” the frontman explains. “[We thought we’d add] a little bit of our flair to it.”
He also makes a tiny, jestful comment about how the new version tries to sway away from sounding “too much like Kirk Hammett trying to copy [Mustaine’s playing]”. But, all jokes aside, Mustaine insists that the cover is all in good faith. “It honours James playing and singing,” he concludes. “[He’s a] great singer too, fuck! I was trying to sing that song and some of it really pushed my vocal ability!”
Right now, Megadeth’s final tour is in full swing. For more info, head to Megadeth’s official website.
The post “He’s playing guitar like me!”: Dave Mustaine recalls the time he first saw James Hetfield play guitar in Metallica appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
“I wouldn’t know a fraction of what I know without being in the Pumpkins”: Kiki Wong on the “incredible mentorship” of Billy Corgan
![[L-R] Kiki Wong and Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins](https://guitar.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Billy-Corgan-Kiki-Wong@2000x1500.jpg)
While Kiki Wong earned a spot in the Smashing Pumpkins for being a fucking fantastic guitarist, there has been a bit of a learning curve since joining the iconic grunge act in 2024. From tough tracks to getting acquainted with pedals, Wong has taken every challenge in her stride – and having Billy Corgan as a mentor has certainly helped.
In a new interview with Guitar World, Wong admits that the last two years have been a game-changing training camp in terms of technique and tone. “I wouldn’t know a fraction of what I know without being in the Pumpkins,” she says. “Billy Corgan has been an incredible mentor and showed me the ropes of how to dial in tone.”
One particular difference has been her ever-expanding pedal collection. In the past, Wong wasn’t much of a pedal girl – but that’s all changed. “Before I joined the Smashing Pumpkins, I really only used distortion straight from the amp head, and maybe a wah once in a while,” she explains. “In my previous band, Vigil of War, we ran through Kempers, so many of our effects were pre-programmed as well. Now, I feel like I’ve been exposed to a new – yet old-school – world of sound design.”
While Wong admits to being “relatively new to pedals”, she’s not shy when it comes to diving in headfirst and experimenting with new sounds. “[I’ve taken] an open stance on how to approach fusing my style with the Smashing Pumpkins’ sound,” she says.
“I wanted to find a series of pedals that allowed me to add those shoegazey-style twinkles and reverb while retaining my super-heavy metal roots…” she adds. “It’s allowed me to tap into my creativity and expand my songwriting with a wider arsenal of sounds.”
Guided by Corgan’s mentorship and her own experimentation, Wong has landed on pedalboard that “serves a variety of styles [without being] too complex”. Powered by Voodoo Lads Pedal Power 3+, Wong’s board consists of plenty of goodies, from a Dunlop 95Q Cry Baby Wah Wah, a Chase Tone Fuzz Fella, an Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork Plus Polyphonic Pitch Shifter, and more.
Her pièce de résistance, however, is her Interstellar Audio Octonaut Hyperdrive. As she puts it, the overdrive pedal is the one she just can’t live without. “I love the distortion I get from it,” she notes. “It mixes well with my clean channel and works well as a boost!”
And she knows there’s lots more to learn. “I know it’ll be a forever learning process, changing with time as my own creativity changes,” she says. “It’ll probably never be perfect, but that’s the beauty of it. I don’t think there’s a wrong way to do things with pedals.”
After performing at Lollapalooza on 31 July, the Smashing Pumpkins will take two months off, before hitting the road from 30 September for their Rats in a Cage North America tour.
For a full list of dates, head to the band’s official website.
The post “I wouldn’t know a fraction of what I know without being in the Pumpkins”: Kiki Wong on the “incredible mentorship” of Billy Corgan appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
“I could not believe my eyes when it actually showed up”: How a supportive member of a Facebook group gifted Sophie Burrell the PRS of her dreams
While the internet often gets a bad rep for its slew of trolls and negativity, there are plenty of supportive online communities. In fact, guitarist Sophie Burrell has revealed that, if not for the kindness of a stranger on Facebook, she “wouldn’t be the player she was today”.
In a new interview with Guitar World, Burrell explains the “very special and quite unique” story of how she came to acquire her favourite PRS guitar. According to Burrell, she was gifted it at the age of 14… from an encouraging member of Facebook group PRS Guitar Owners Worldwide that saw potential in the young guitarist.
“I was a member of this group on Facebook called PRS Guitar Owners Worldwide, and I used to post little videos of me playing in there,” she says. “I was just playing an SE and [a man named Al] said, ‘I want to support you. You’re great. I think you deserve to be playing on a USA model, not just an SE.’”
At first, when Al was showing the potential options he could ship over to Burrell, the young guitarist wasn’t convinced the guitar would turn up at all. “I was like, ‘Whatever you want, I’ll take it… sounds good,’” she recalls. “I could not believe my eyes when it actually showed up.”
Al proved to be one of Burrell’s first diehard supporters, going so far as to ship her a genuine USA PRS guitar. It’s the same PRS guitar she plays to this day. “I’m endlessly grateful to Al, who gifted this guitar to me,” she says. “I believe I would not be the player I am today without that [support].”
While it’s earned a few “battle scars” along the way, Burrell couldn’t imagine life without the mahogany body and flame maple neck of Burrell’s 2014 PRS Custom 24 Wood Library. “It just feels like an extension of me, as soon as I picked it up the first time,” she explains. “I come up with my best ideas on this guitar… At this point, it kind of feels like it’s part of my soul!”
In a 2021 interview with Guitar.com, Burrell also expressed her soul-tie with PRS guitars: “My love for PRS goes back quite far. I first saw PRS about when I saw one of my idols playing PRS guitars – Mark Tremonti [of Creed and Alter Bridge] – and I was absolutely captivated by the birds on the fretboard.”
“I started looking into it when I was 12, I was going to get a Tremonti signature PRS. After saving up all my lunch money for about a year or two, I got one,” she continued. “That’s where the love started!”
On an unfortunate note, Burrell has recently discovered that an AI ‘influencer’ is regularly generating deepfake replicas of her content, a phenomenon that has also impacted guitarists like Sophie Lloyd.
In a new interview with Guitar World, Burrell explained: “I was scrolling on TikTok and got recommended a video of a ‘girl’ playing guitar,” she says. “It was identical to my setup. Same camera angle, same room, same guitar, same movements. It took me less than a second to realise it was literally my video, except I’d been replaced by an AI-generated character.”
The post “I could not believe my eyes when it actually showed up”: How a supportive member of a Facebook group gifted Sophie Burrell the PRS of her dreams appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Periphery guitarist and djent king Jake Bowen joins Strandberg
Periphery’s Jake Bowen has become the latest guitarist to join Strandberg’s artist roster.
After already incorporating a range of 6-, 7- and 8-string models from the headless guitar specialist into his studio and live rigs, Bowen and Strandberg are now said to be eyeing up “future artist-driven projects”, though it remains to be seen exactly what that’ll entail.
One thing’s for sure though: Jake Bowen’s boundary-pushing djent-style Periphery riffs paired with one of the most innovative guitar companies around right now is something of a match made in heaven, so it’s almost assured a signature model will be on the way.
Strandberg already counts some of the guitar world’s most visionary players among its diverse roster, including Jacob Collier, Dream Theater’s Jordan Rudess and Australian guitarist Plini, all of whom have signature guitars to their names.
“A great guitar should be inspiring the moment you pick it up – they almost beckon you from across the room to play them, and when I picked up a Strandberg for the first time I knew it was going to be special,” said Jake Bowen.
“As a guitarist for 34 years, I’ve had a lot of time to discover what works in the studio and on the road. Strandberg guitars offer a lightweight, ergonomic solution without giving up tone, playability, and most importantly that instant source of inspiration.”
Jake Bowen joined Periphery in 2007, two years after the band’s formation by Misha Mansoor, and has played on all eight of the band’s full-length albums, including, most recently, 2026’s A Pale White Dot.
Learn more about the new partnership at Strandberg.
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“I’m totally a guitar guy” the OG Red Wiggle Murray Cook on Spinal Tap moments, 40s Martins and embracing his blues-rock soul
For 30 years, Australian band The Wiggles have been entertaining young kids (and their parents) with a catalogue of impeccably catchy songs that put real musical instruments and real musicians at the heart of everything – something that any parent of a young child can attest is not exactly common.
The Wiggles have sold over 30 million albums in their career, and gone through various line-up changes over that time, but the most beloved and iconic remains what fans affectionately describe as the OG Wiggles – the original line-up of Greg Page, Anthony Field, Greg Fatt and Murray Cook.
It was this line-up that gave the world legit childhood ragers like Hot Potato, Fruit Salad and of course Toot Toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car, and it was the guitar contributions of Cook – who would call time on his Wiggly career in 2012 – that will catch the eye of any guitar-playing parent.
Watch any of The Wiggles’ classic videos, and your eye will no doubt be drawn to the parade of guitars that Cook uses. In a world where guitars on kids TV are often little more than guitar-shaped props, you’ll see vintage and modern Fenders, Gibsons, Gretsches and more.
It was clear that Cook was no casual guitar guy – a fact further evidenced by the viral Reddit post of his pedalboard a few years back that revealed a smorgasbord of boutique grails, including a Klon, a King Of Tone and a Crowther Hot Cake.
“Oh, yeah,” Cook chuckles when we ask the question. “I’m totally a guitar guy.”
Since calling time on his 21-year stint entertaining millions of families, Cook has continued to pursue his musical muse. He’s guested in the video and on stage with Aussie dance-punks DZ Deathrays, tried his hand at electronic DJing, and played in various musical endeavors on stage and off.
Since 2015 however, his primary musical vehicle has been working with vocalist Lizzie Mack, joining her band The Soul Movers. After a decade writing and working together, Murray stepped into the position of bandleader last year, and the brand rebranded to celebrate their most famous member as Murray & The Movers.
With new music and a tour of Spain marking their first non-Australian sojourn last month, it’s clear that the love of live music and connecting with his audience is what inspires Murray first and foremost.
Murray & The Movers. Image: Jo Forster
What was the moment it all started for you in terms of guitar?
“I was born in this in the 60s, and it was actually The Monkees on television. Music was around in my house, but I wasn’t all that into it. But then I saw The Monkees, and I just thought it was so cool, these guys living in this house together, playing guitars and stuff! And then from then, when I realised that The Monkees were basically a Beatles pastiche, I got into them, and then it got a bit more serious! Then I was about 11, I pestered my parents to buy me a guitar and just got stuck in!”
What’s the one guitar that you couldn’t bear to part with?
“There’s probably a couple, actually. I’ve got a 1964 Strat, which is my go-to. And then I’ve got a late-40s Martin D-28. That used to belong to a session guy in Nashville, who played on Charlie Rich records and stuff, and it’s just beautiful. It doesn’t leave the house very much, unless I’m going to record with it. It just always sounds magical.”
Is there a guitar you’ve lost or sold that you wish you could have back?
“I’ve never had one stolen, touch wood – which is pretty amazing, because most the musicians I know have had that. But I’m pretty careful – I tend not to leave guitars in the van at these hotels and stuff.
“But my first really good guitar was an early 70s Les Paul Custom Sunburst. But then I joined this band, and I decided I was going to play bass, so I sold the Les Paul and bought a fairly crappy Ibanez bass and a bass rig. This was in the 80s, and I always wished I could find it again. Maybe eight years ago I found one that was very similar, so I bought it.”
Murray Cook and Lizzie Mack. Image: Jo Forster
What’s the first thing you play when you pick up a new guitar?
“Often, I just do a combination of a few things – a few pentatonic scales, and then maybe a little rockabilly, fingerpicking, Scotty Moore kind of thing. And then probably Day Tripper!”
What’s the best bit of advice you’ve ever been given?
“I think a lesson that was learned in the Wiggles, was stick to your guns. If you think you know what you’re doing, do it your way. Don’t do it someone else’s way. Early on, you know, we approached an agent, and she said, ‘Ah, I don’t think I could make it work with four people, it’s too many of you.’ And we had like television producers saying, ‘You guys don’t really know what you’re doing!’
“And so we just ran our own race, we made our own TV series, and they had to take notice! Because three of us were teachers, we’d learned a lot about the way children think, and we knew what we were doing was right. And when you’re younger, you’re probably a little bit arrogant too, so it was a bit of ‘us against the world’! But I think it’s served us well.
“And I guess with the guitar – if it’s a 50s Fender, don’t get it refinished!”
Jeff Fatt, Anthony Field, Greg Page and Murray Cook of The Wiggles perform during The Wiggles Celebration Tour in Sydney, 2012. Image: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images
What’s your most memorable “Spinal Tap moment” on stage?
“Well we would do this thing in The Wiggles where we’d go out into the audience to collect the roses that people had brought for Dorothy The Dinosaur, and quite often, if it was in an arena or something, I’d go through a door that I thought would take me back to the stage, and I’d just end up in completely the wrong place, so it really was ‘Hello Cleveland!’.
“There were also a couple of times in the States where we were in a different city each day. And because Americans love it when you say the name of their city, so every night I’d say, ‘It’s so great to be in Dayton, Ohio…’ or something like that. But then Jeff did it once, and he said the totally wrong town – from then on, before we went out in the Big Red Car, we’d turn to one of the crew and check, ‘Where are we?’”
What’s the most important thing on your rider?
“Well, often we don’t have riders, because we’re a little band! So yeah, just a couple of beers afterwards is all we need. But when I do DJ stuff, and I do have a rider for that, and I always have Gatorade on it, because I sweat so much in the sets – you gotta keep hydrated!”
Is there a style or guitar technique that you wish you could master but you’ve never quite managed it?
“I guess that polyphonic fingerpicking style, where you’re playing the melody and the bass all at once. Not so much the Travis picking, because I did immerse myself in that once on a holiday. Learning that has actually served me quite well, because I sometimes do this play about Sun Studios, and so we play a lot of the Sun Sessions Elvis stuff – I can fake the Scotty Moore picking thing. But when I see someone like Richard Thompson do what he does, I just can’t get my head around it.”
What made you want to make music with The Movers, a blues-rock club band is a bit different to your old job…
“I have really eclectic tastes. The great thing in the Wiggles was we could play lots of different types of music, but not so much blues-rock! So it’s really nice to have the freedom, Lizzie and I, to write the songs, and whatever comes out of that, if we like it, we release it!”
And touring overseas is a new experience for the band, though I guess not for you…
“When The Wiggles first went to America, we did it just for the adventure of it. If we’d have never made it there, it didn’t really worry us that much. And I treat it a bit like that still. It’s my favourite thing. I just love getting up on stage and making music. Whether there’s 5,000 people there or 10 people there, it’s still fun.”
Find out more about Murray and the Movers at murrayandthemovers.com
The post “I’m totally a guitar guy” the OG Red Wiggle Murray Cook on Spinal Tap moments, 40s Martins and embracing his blues-rock soul appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Listening to Music Every Day
I was recently listening to an interview with guitarist JD Simo where he expressed surprise that some of the professional guitarists he knew didn’t really seek out new music to listen to or didn’t even listen to much music at all. He said that he listens to new music all the time.
It was surprising to hear that professional guitarists don’t uniformly listen to music all the time. But, after evaluating my own listening habits it may not be that surprising after all. Professional guitarists are no different than the rest of us. And I realized that I don’t listen to much new music either.
Somewhere along the way, music slowly shifted from being something I actively pursued to something that mostly filled the background. I’d put on familiar albums while doing other things, but I rarely sat down with the intention of discovering something new. When I did listen, it was usually to the same artists and records I’d listened to for years.
However, when I first started playing guitar, I did listen to music all the time. I listened to music I loved, but I also actively sought out new and different music to listen to. Finding new music I enjoyed was exciting. It seemed like something inside of me was unlocked when I found new music that really resonated with me.
Back then, finding new music meant listening to the local radio stations and trolling the local record stores. In fact some of my friends from that time period were people I met at the record stores because I was there so much.
Over time, of course, the record stores started closing. That feeling of hanging out with like-minded people and seeing what new music had come out that week kind of got lost. I’m glad to see the vinyl resurgence has helped some of the record stores stay in business, but it isn’t quite the same.
That being said, the ability to find and discover new music is unparalleled today. We have nearly the entirety of recorded music history a few clicks away. So, why are we all not listening to new music all the time?
I think it’s important to continue to seek out new music. As guitar players, we are the sum of what we’ve heard. Listening to the same music over and over will lead to playing the same things over and over. Listening to different genres or different eras of music can lead to some new ideas. I know it often does for me.
After realizing that I haven’t been doing this as much over the past few years, I’ve been trying to get back to that feeling of discovering new music. Each day I’m trying to listen to something I haven’t heard before. It doesn’t have to be brand new music. In fact, I recently went down the rabbit hole of 80s industrial music, much of which I’d never heard before.
I’m trying to actively listen to new music again. I’ve found some of the excitement that I used to have around music, and it’s been a lot of fun.
If you’ve found yourself in the same rut of listening to the same music you always have or not listening to much music at all, I would encourage you to seek out something new. A new artist, a new genre, or even just a new record you haven’t heard from a band you enjoy. Hopefully, it will give you some new inspiration.
Ed Sheeran once gave Myles Smith a guitar – here’s the bizarre item he got in return
![[L-R] Ed Sheeran and Myles Smith](https://guitar.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Ed-Sheeran-Myles-Smith-hero@2000x1500.jpg)
How many guitarists get to say they’ve been personally gifted an instrument by one of the world’s most renowned artists? British singer-songwriter Myles Smith can count himself among this probably-very-tiny group, as one of his most treasured guitars, a Lowden S34C+ made its way into his collection as a gift from none other than Ed Sheeran.
Smith received the gift after attending a football match with Sheeran to watch their respective clubs, Arsenal and Ipswich Town, go head to head. “He invited me down to the game, and we won, of course,” he tells Guitar.com in the latest episode of My Guitars & Me.
“We became friends really quickly. “We had a lot in common, and so not long after meeting him, I went to his house, gave him a pair of custom trainers, and in return he gave me a guitar worth far more than a pair of custom trainers!”
Describing the guitar as the “first reason I fell in love with Lowden”, Smith goes on to explain why it’s such an important part of his studio and stage arsenal (no pun intended).
“For me this guitar plays a big part of both my recording and live,” he says. “Mainly live, because the guitar is lightweight, it’s got the resonance and the body that makes running around on stage a lot of fun. It just suits how I play.”
He goes on: “I think, for me, the reason why this guitar stood out [compared] to other guitars is just the way that it reacts to your playing. It could be really intimate and really loud all at the sound time. And you don’t often find that with guitars… It’s the perfect fun instrument. You can’t go wrong with it. You can’t overplay it and you can’t underplay it. And it just carries itself so well.
“For me, with the low action of the guitar and its playability, it’s just really fun, and it makes the guitar something that you don’t have to think about when you’re trying to play to thousands of people.”
Keep up with all the latest episodes of My Guitars & Me.
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Rolling Stones producer Andrew Watt’s ability to coax the best out of legends explained: “He’s not afraid of being the bad guy”
![Andrew Watt, with Keith Richards [L] and Paul McCartney [R] inset](https://guitar.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Andrew-Watt-Keith-Richards-Paul-McCartney-hero@2000x1500.jpg)
He might be a generation or two younger, but super producer Andrew Watt isn’t afraid to keep some of the legendary artists he works with in line…
Recently, Keith Richards lauded Watt’s no-nonsense approach when it came to the Rolling Stones two most recent albums, Hackney Diamonds (2023) and Foreign Tongues (2026). “[He’s] a breath of fresh air and a kick up the ass,” the guitarist said. “He knows his stuff musically and technically, and he doesn’t put up with any bullshit – he just gets on with it.”
And even Paul McCartney discovered Watt could be a bit “pushy” during the making of his latest solo album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane.
“I came away from the first session thinking, ‘Well, I like him, but he’s a bit pushy,” McCartney said. “But pushy’s not a bad thing in a producer. It’s just enthusiasm from someone who wants to keep making this record. It’s infectious.”
And according to Canadian producer and songwriter Henry Walter – known professionally as Cirkut, and with whom Watt has worked on numerous occasions, including on hits for Lady Gaga – Watt isn’t afraid of being the “bad guy” when it comes to songwriting and production.
“He’s not afraid to speak up in the uncomfortable situation where you don’t want to tell Lady Gaga, ‘Hey, you should try this way instead of that way,’” Walter tells the Washington Post in a new interview. “He’s not afraid of being the bad guy.”
At just 35 years old, Andrew Watt’s CV is about as stacked as they come, having worked with rock legends including Ozzy Obsourne, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Pearl Jam, as well as some of the world’s leading popular artists like Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato and Post Malone.
And even as the Rolling Stones released their 25th studio album Foreign Tongues just days ago, Keith Richards says Andrew Watt might already be eyeing up his third Stones collaboration.
“I’m very glad that we met Andrew when we did because he knows so much about The Stones that I’ve forgotten,” says the 82-year-old musician of Watt’s professional energy. “And his enthusiasm for it, you can’t beat it, it’s great fun to work with.”
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“He was a handful. I wasn’t enjoying it anymore”: How musical differences with Steve Marriott led Peter Frampton to leave Humble Pie and go solo
Peter Frampton’s 1976 live album, Frampton Comes Alive!, remains one of the best-selling live albums of all time. Recorded at several venues across San Francisco, San Rafael and New York between June and November 1975, the album has reportedly sold over 11 million copies worldwide since its release.
But Frampton may have never enjoyed that astounding success had he never left Humble Pie in 1971.
The circumstances surrounding his exit essentially boiled down to growing musical differences with his bandmates, notably frontman Steve Marriott. And in a new interview with Record Collector, the guitarist recalls the fracturing professional relationship that led to his decision to depart.
He explains that his decision came after the release of Humble Pie’s 1971 live album, Performance: Rockin’ the Fillmore.
“It wasn’t just the direction, it was personality-wise, as well,” Frampton says. “Steve and I were not on the same planet anymore, unfortunately. I loved him dearly, but he was a handful. I wasn’t enjoying it anymore.”
Frampton explains how concerns over the band’s sound being “chosen” for them based on the material that appeared on the 1971 live album made him preemptively exit the band.
“We started out doing acoustic without drums, acoustic with drums, electric guitar, pianos, keyboards, and then heavy… we did it all,” he goes on. “That’s what I loved about Humble Pie, to start with. But our direction was kind of chosen for us by what we put on the live record, and I knew that everyone was going to expect that, and only that, from then on, on record.
“So that was why I decided to leave before the record came out. I believed it was going to be a small hit, not knowing it was going to be a much bigger hit than I thought, and then it would be much more difficult for me to leave.”
Last month, Peter Frampton reflected on his affliction with inclusion body myositis (IBM), a progressive degenerative muscle disease which has affected his ability to play guitar. Ever the optimist, the guitarist says he enjoys the “challenge”.
“I can’t complain about my life at all,” he said. “Yes, it’s not the most pleasant thing to have. It changes your life. It’s not going to end it, but yeah, it’s a little difficult. But really I’ve gotten used to it, and I like the challenge of being able to do what I do as it progresses.”
Peter Frampton released his latest solo album Carry the Light in May this year. Listen below:
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That mystery Marshall stack from Green Day’s Super Bowl set is officially here – meet the 1959BJA Billie Joe Armstrong Artist Signature
Remember that mysterious baby blue Marshall stack Billie Joe Armstrong wheeled out at this year’s Super Bowl? As many suspected, it wasn’t a one-off custom build.
After months of speculation, Marshall has officially unveiled the 1959BJA Billie Joe Armstrong Artist Signature, its first artist signature amplifier since the white snakeskin-clad 1959HW Bernie Marsden in 2019. Built in collaboration with the Green Day frontman, the handwired 100W head promises to bottle the snarling, high-gain plexi tone that helped define Dookie and an entire generation of punk rock guitar.
Developed with Armstrong, the 1959BJA builds on Marshall’s handwired 1959HW platform, but incorporates a custom “Dookie Mod” inspired by the tone shaped alongside producer Rob Cavallo during the recording of Green Day’s landmark 1994 album.
The result, says Marshall, is a classic plexi with modern performance flexibility, delivering increased gain, tighter lows and the saturated punch that brings Armstrong’s signature sound into a modern stage-ready format.
Handwired in the UK, the 1959BJA runs on three ECC83 preamp valves and four EL34 power tubes, delivering 100 watts through a single channel with controls for Presence, Gain, Master Volume and a three-band EQ. Around the back are dual speaker outputs with switchable 4, 8 and 16-ohm impedance options.
Credit: Marshall
Visually, it’s every bit as eye-catching as it looked on the Super Bowl stage. The head sports a distinctive baby-blue finish inspired by Blue, Armstrong’s legendary first guitar (a Fernandes Stratocaster copy), complete with brass and silver panels, custom branding and the guitarist’s signature on both the front and rear panels. The unit is sold as a head only, allowing players to pair it with the cabinet of their choice.
“I’m so overjoyed to have my own signature Marshall amp,” says Billie Joe. “These amps have been a part of my musical life, from my heroes down to little old me. Turn it the fuck up!”
“Billie Joe’s guitar sound is instantly recognisable,” says Steph Carter, Culture Marketing Director at Marshall. “From the moment you hear those opening chords on Dookie, you know exactly who it is. Working with Billie to create an amp that captures that punch, aggression and clarity was an incredible project for our team.”
The 1959BJA Billie Joe Armstrong Artist Signature is available from 21 July via authorised Marshall retailers and Marshall’s website for $3,999.99/£3,099.99. Availability will vary by region.
Learn more at Marshall.
The post That mystery Marshall stack from Green Day’s Super Bowl set is officially here – meet the 1959BJA Billie Joe Armstrong Artist Signature appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
“Don’t lecture them”: Why Mick Jagger leaves politics out of his concerts
Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger has spent more than six decades mastering the art of working a crowd. But despite playing to stadiums around the world, there’s one thing he deliberately avoids bringing on stage: politics.
Speaking on the New York Times’ podcast, The Interview, Jagger explains that as a live performer, his role onstage is to help fans escape the outside world rather than “lecture” them.
Asked what his relationship to the audience means to him, Jagger says that every crowd is different depending on the setting.
“Well, first of all, it depends on where you are and what kind of event it is,” he says, pointing to appearances at festivals like the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Glastonbury and BST Hyde Park, where not everyone in attendance is necessarily a die-hard Rolling Stones fan.
“So, they’re not necessarily coming to see – they’re not your biggest fans necessarily. I’m not saying they hate you, otherwise, they probably wouldn’t be there,” Jagger says. “But there’s different levels of these kinds of people, and you have to treat them in a slightly different way.”
That philosophy also informs his approach to politics on stage.
“The bottom line… is that my job in the live music world is to [make sure] those people that come have the best time they possibly can and for two hours forget all their problems and the problems of the world. Their mortgages and whatever. Just so they can have the best time.”
Drawing a comparison to live sports, Jagger adds, “It’s similar to going to a sports event, really. Everything else is shut out. You’re just watching to see who’s going to win. You’re not worried about everything else. You know? Those things are out of your mind.”
He also says performers should read the room rather than force a reaction from the crowd.
“Some audiences want to go completely nuts and so then you encourage them to go more nuts… You don’t want to be trying to churn them up into [getting] frustrated that they’re not being demonstrative. Or, you don’t think they’re having a good time.”
“Your job is to make them go more apeshit [about the festival]. . . . You don’t want to lecture them.”
That said, that doesn’t mean Jagger steers clear of politics altogether. The singer says he’s become more comfortable weaving political observations into his songwriting over the years, albeit sparingly.
Reflecting on the band’s latest album Foreign Tongues, in particular, Jagger says, “You could say that I wouldn’t have written any of these songs when I was 30 maybe.”
“I’ve also gotten into this habit of doing songs that are about personal relationships and then I throw a verse about politics in there. I think that’s a trick that I’ve learned from other songwriters because nobody wants to hear a whole song about politics… or social comment of any kind.”
“Like a blues song like Rough and Twisted is really just stream-of-consciousness, honestly. You talk about women and everything, and then you throw in stuff that’s obviously political. The only club was called Conspiracy . . . / All they wanted was tyranny So, you find yourself using these tricks.
Watch the full interview below.
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“No one wants to see you do that”: Joe Satriani says guitarists shouldn’t waste years “trying to get to 224 beats per minute on the metronome”
Despite being one of rock’s most celebrated shred icons, Joe Satriani believes aspiring players should spend less time chasing impossible metronome tempos and more time learning the musical “tools” that actually make people want to listen.
Speaking with Andy Guitar, Satriani stresses the importance of music theory, arguing that mastering the craft’s musical “tools” will ultimately take players much further than obsessing over technical feats for their own sake.
“Musicians make music for people and music is supposed to accompany their life. It is the soundtrack to the trials and tribulations and all the wonderful times of life. And that’s our job,” Satriani says. “And so if you don’t know the tools, it would be like a carpenter who goes into his shop and has no idea what any of the tools do. How are you going to make anything worthwhile?”
The guitarist says one of the first lessons aspiring players need to learn is that raw speed isn’t a measure of musical ability.
“Right away, musicians have to be told some real realities, which is, you might be fast, you might be slow, that doesn’t really matter,” he explains. “It’s going to come if you practice, or it’s not going to come if you don’t practice. So, that’s settled right away.”
Instead, players should devote that time to understanding why certain notes, scales and modes create particular emotional responses.
“Don’t waste hours, weeks, and years trying to get to 224 beats per minute on the metronome. No one’s ever going to want to come see you do that, so who cares?” Satriani says. “But if you don’t know the psychological impact of a Lydian mode or Lydian dominant mode, and why they’re different, and how they’re going to affect the audience differently, then you can’t really call yourself a composer.”
“When is this note the right note, and when is it a wrong note?” the musician continues. “You know it’s not really right or wrong; it’s cause and effect. It’s a hard thing to teach people. We’re in control, but only if you know the cause and effect of each note and each chord, how they go together, how they work with tempos and texture.”
Satriani’s comments echo a wider conversation about what skills actually matter most for guitarists, though some players like Cory Wong have taken a far firmer stance. Last year, the jazz-funk guitarist divided the internet after arguing that anyone who considers themselves an “advanced guitarist” should be able to locate every note on the fretboard.
“Gentle call out to the folks that consider themselves advanced guitarists,” Wong said in an Instagram Reel. “You should know where all the notes are on a guitar!”
“Can you play me a C on every string? If you can’t do this exercise, I wouldn’t consider you an advanced guitarist,” Wong concluded.
The post “No one wants to see you do that”: Joe Satriani says guitarists shouldn’t waste years “trying to get to 224 beats per minute on the metronome” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Horrothia Effects XYXO review – “way more fun than the words ‘utility pedal’ suggest”
£275, horrothia.com
Pedals like this are a tough sell. The Horrothia Effects XYXO doesn’t create any sounds of its own, and it’s not doing anything that’s obviously essential… but if it enables you to do things with your existing effects pedals that you couldn’t do before, hasn’t that got to be worth investigating?
- READ MORE: ADDAC System Mixology review: “it really can breathe new life and modern utility into old pedals”
What you’re being offered here is a way to expand your mind without the use of illicit substances, by moving beyond the standard linear routing of guitar > pedals > amp. You’re going to need more cables, but the reward is a whole new level of control over how different effects interact – not to mention the potential for some radical stereo soundscaping.
Image: Richard Purvis
Horrothia Effects XYXO – what is it?
At the heart of the XYXO are two effects loops, which can be run in parallel or one into the other. Each has its own controls for send and return levels, plus adjustable high-pass and low-pass filters, and a phase switch.
So, for example, you could put a fuzz pedal in one loop and an overdrive in the other, balance up their relative levels, then maybe cut a little bass from the fuzz to stop it getting flubby, or trim off both highs and lows on the drive for more of a midrange focus. Then you might dial in some dry signal for extra clarity, turn up the master treble to zing things up, and even crank the output to give the whole concoction a boost on the way out.
Now imagine doing all of the above with a delay pedal in one loop and a phaser in the other… or plugging straight into two amps instead of using the return sockets, thus creating an ultra-tweakable stereo rig. You could even take another cable from the XYXO’s output to a third amp for a wet/dry/wet setup of such hugeness that icebergs would flee from its path.
Image: Richard Purvis
Horrothia Effects XYXO – how is it in use?
The XYXO is both easy and difficult to use – which is to say, easy for the brain to navigate but difficult for the fingers. It might look intimidating – 11 knobs, three switches, six jack sockets – but the layout is clear and logical, with no surprises or head-scratching moments where you’re left wondering where all the sound went. Set up one loop at a time, and it’s simply a matter of exploring where different pedal combinations can take you.
This is, however, about the most closely packed stompbox control array I’ve ever seen. The big black footswitch is a work of art in itself but it is perilously close to the knobs, while I found the phase-flipping toggle switches literally impossible to reach with my fingers – which are, for the record, the boniest digits this side of a Halloween decoration.
In practical terms, what this probably means is that the XYXO is going to be more at home in the studio than on the stage – but that’s no great shame, because it feels more like a recording tool anyway. How it actually sounds is, of course, dependent on the other pedals you plug into it, but it’s worth noting that there’s plenty of clean boosting on tap – and the ‘high’ control, while presumably included to let you compensate for the dulling effect of cable capacitance, can also be used as a potent treble booster.
Image: Richard Purvis
Horrothia Effects XYXO – should I buy it?
This feels like the kind of device that every pro recording studio should have in a cupboard, ready to be deployed as soon as someone wants to put down some guitar tracks with an extra dimension of tone-shaping freedom. And as every musician’s spare room is practically a pro recording studio these days, its appeal could be surprisingly broad.
The only question is whether Horrothia can persuade you to drop a fair chunk of cash on something you might regard as a bit of an indulgence. Anyway, it’s a smartly designed piece of kit, robustly built, and way more fun than those dreaded words ‘utility pedal’ suggest.
Image: Richard Purvis
Horrothia Effects XYXO alternatives
The Great Eastern FX Co XO Variable Crossover (£229) is a strong alternative, packing at least some of the XYXO’s tone-blending functionality into a smaller and simpler enclosure. The ADDAC System Mixology (€220) adds more complications, including controllable feedback loops, while the Electro-Harmonix Switchblade Pro ($143/£120) keeps it strictly utilitarian with just three knobs.
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Patreon Song of the Month: “The Roving Gambler”
Totally Guitars Weekly Update July 10, 2026
July 10, 2026 This week I revisited a bunch of Paul Simon’s songs, partly because a couple students were working on his songs. That inspired today’s opening improv, and a couple others later. You should hear parts of The Boxer, Duncan, America, and a little Jackson Browne along the way. Our latest challenge: Learn To […]
The post Totally Guitars Weekly Update July 10, 2026 appeared first on On The Beat with Totally Guitars.
The Sammy Hagar song that could have been on a Van Halen record
Eddie Van Halen may have been the principal songwriter in Van Halen, but that doesn’t mean other members didn’t contribute heavily to the band’s now-iconic discography.
In fact, there are some songs which never made it to the VH discography, only for the band to regret the decision later when they were released outside of the Van Halen brand.
Eagles Fly – which ultimately appeared on Sammy Hagar’s 1987 album I Never Said Goodbye – was one such track.
“When I sing Eagles Fly, it’s about being born,” Hagar tells Total Rock in a new interview discussing his massive body of solo work [via Guitar World].
“And once again, I had a vision. It wasn’t a dream. I was wide awake, and I had a feeling in a special place. I was in a special place.”
He continues, “I showed him [Alex Van Halen] that song, and Eddie’s going, ‘Wow, wow, wow.’ And Alex goes, ‘Yeah, yeah. It sounds like John Denver; it’s cool.’”
The singer says that Alex Van Halen wasn’t too keen on Hagar writing songs for Van Halen, and preferred to let guitarist Eddie Van Halen do most of the legwork when it came to the music.
Eddie Van Halen ultimately ended up playing the solo on Eagles Fly – in addition to co-producing the entire album – and when Alex heard the track for the first time in all its glory, he wondered why he never approved it as a Van Halen song.
“When it came out, and we finished my solo record, Alex heard it, and he goes, ‘Hey, why the fuck didn’t we put that on a Van Halen record!’” Hagar says.
“I went, ‘Well, Al, if you don’t remember, I can remember you said it sounded like John Denver,’ because I was playing it on acoustic guitar!”
Listen to Eagles Fly below.
The post The Sammy Hagar song that could have been on a Van Halen record appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Martin unveils two stunning new Shawn Mendes signature acoustic guitars
Martin has partnered with Canadian singer-songwriter and pop sensation Shawn Mendes on two new signature acoustic guitars, both inspired by a vintage 1920s small-bodied Martin that’s become an integral part of Mendes’s writing and recording process.
Martin’s professional relationship with Shawn Mendes dates back to 2022, when the superstar launched his 000JR-10E custom signature model. We gave the strummer a strong 9/10 in our review…
Now, Mendes’s lineup of signature Martins expands, with two full-sized acoustics, a 000-28 and 000-10E.
The inspiration for both began with the vintage Martin 0-42 Mendes found in a Brooklyn guitar shop, which boasted a compact body, pyramid bridge, distinctive pickguard and slotted headstock design. Martin later built a stage guitar for Shawn based on that instrument, which serves as the inspiration for the two new acoustics.
“Martin guitars are my first go-to guitar to pick up when I’m making a song,” Mendes says. “They feel like they have a story in them. They feel like they have songs in them.”
“It’s super important to me to have more than one option – a more accessible guitar for people and one that is closer to the thing that I play onstage.”
The 000-28 is the more limited of the two, limited to just 88 guitars worldwide, and sporting solid East Indian rosewood back and sides with a solid spruce top, herringbone trim, and Golden Era scalloped X-bracing. Further appointments include a pyramid-style ebony bridge, unique faux tortoise pickguard and slotted headstock with gold Waverly side-mount tuners. A sweet visual touch comes with Shawn’s custom mother-of-pearl eagle inlay on the ebony fingerboard.
Each of these guitars comes with a molded hardshell case plus a signed, individually numbered interior label.
Meanwhile, the 000-10E Shawn Mendes is the more accessible of the two, made entirely using FSC-certified tonewoods, including solid sapele back and sides with a solid spruce top, scalloped X-bracing, the same custom eagle inlay, and the first straightline pyramid bridge offered in Martin’s Road Series.
Credit: Martin
Meanwhile, the guitar features a Performing Artist neck with a high-performance taper, plus Martin E1 electronics with a built-in tuner. This one comes with a softshell case.
“It’s the more accessible version of the two guitars, but it plays so beautifully, so luxuriously, and it sounds really, really nice,” Mendes says.
“Martin guitars are great for a singer-songwriter because you can take them to ten, or they can sit with you at two,” he goes on. “They’re really a companion for a singer-songwriter.”
The 000-28 Shawn Mendes and 000-10E Shawn Mendes are available now, priced at $4,999.99 and $1,099.99, respectively.
Learn more at Martin.
Credit: Martin
The post Martin unveils two stunning new Shawn Mendes signature acoustic guitars appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
“I probably spent $10,000 trying to get it to work”: Joe Satriani recalls his biggest musical mistake
As far as guitar virtuosos go, Joe Satriani is right at the top of the tree. But even a player of his stature isn’t immune to making ill-advised songwriting decisions from time to time.
In a newly resurfaced 2010 interview with Classic Rock [via MusicRadar], Satch recalled trying to make a song work during the recording of 1989’s Flying in a Blue Dream, before realising the task was impossible.
“There was a song I wrote for the Flying In A Blue Dream record,” he said. “I spent hours in the studio, went through three bass players, pummelled it to death! I just couldn’t make this song work until finally I realised it was the worst piece of crap ever.
Satch even revealed he spent “probably $10,000” trying to get the song to work: “That’s a lot of money,” he said.
Elsewhere in the interview, Satriani remembered the worst review he’d ever had, and it was for his landmark 1987 album, Surfing with the Alien, of all things.
“Every morning I’d go for a cappuccino at this little café, and I read a review of my album in a magazine,” he said.
“This guy did not like me, did not like my guitar playing, and did not like the music. He said it was the worst record he’d ever heard, and finished by saying that if you’re one of those people that likes to fill up the back of a pickup truck with a case of cheap beer, drive into a parking lot alone, turn up the music and get drunk, then this is the record for you. When I read that I peered over the top of the magazine to see if anyone knew that I was the culprit!”
Back in May, Joe Satriani recalled tapping into YouTube and the online guitar community when it came to learning Eddie Van Halen’s parts for Sammy Hagar’s Best Of All Worlds project.
“After I learned the song, I’d go and I’d spend an hour or two on YouTube just watching how other people address this immense problem of trying to emulate Ed’s playing,” he explained. “You can’t capture the magic, but you can get pretty close to the fingering, and some players are better than others.”
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Fender Vintera III Mid ’60s Jaguar review: “this is the guitar Jaguar fans have been asking Fender to make for years”
$1,349/£1,149, fender.com
It feels like only a few months ago that I was reviewing a Fender Vintera II guitar, and that’s because, well, it was. But the arrival of the limited edition Road Worn guitars at the tail end of last year was perhaps always destined to be a final hurrah for Fender’s second iteration of its vintage-inclined Mexican – a fun and inspiring way to clear the decks of the last of the previous generation before the new hotness that is Vintera III.
- READ MORE: Fender Studio Pro 8 and Quantum LT 16 interface review: a guitar-recording match made in heaven?
Fender has been on the Vintera train since 2019, with the stated aim of offering a slice of vintage-vibed Fender goodness for a fraction of the price you’d have to drop to get yourself one of the brand’s US models attempting the same trick (in 2026 parlance, that would be the American Vintage II).
It’s barely three years since Fender launched the Vintera II range, which headlined things by reintroducing proper rosewood boards to the mixture after a few years of CITES-induced pau ferro misery.
There’s nothing quite so headline-grabbing about the Vintera III range, but there was very little wrong with the Vintera II, though, cosmetically at least, the Jaguar was the weak link in a strong lineup. Suffice to say, that isn’t going to be a problem with the 2026 model.
Image: Adam Gasson
Fender Vintera III Mid ’60s Jaguar – what is it?
Fender has a real blind spot when it comes to giving the morally correct amount of love to its offset guitars – especially its short-scale models. I’ve grumbled on more than one occasion on this website about the 50s sunburst cul-de-sac that Fender seems determined to leave the Jazzmaster to rot in, and the poor Mustang and Jaguar have received even shorter shrift.
With Vintera II, for example, the only Jaguar offered was a 70s model that was as baffling as it was unappealing. I know that aesthetic is coming back in a big way in guitar circles, but I’ll be amazed if anyone actually bought a vintage white Jaguar with a maple neck, big headstock and black block fretboard inlays on purpose. It was, as we’d say in South Wales, honking.
For 2026, then, Fender has sensibly not gone anywhere near the 1970s with any of its guitar entries, and instead has opted to zero in on specific periods rather than generalisations of decades. It’s even more sensible of them to pick the mid-1960s as the option for the Jaguar.
Straight off the bat, this means that in every way imaginable this is a more beautiful guitar than its predecessor by many, many degrees. Because in addition to the unavoidable sunburst, we get to choose between an upsettingly lovely Shell Pink with matching headstock, or this magnificently attired Sherwood Green Metallic option. There are no wrong answers here, friends.
Image: Adam Gasson
The new colours might be reformulated to be more vintage-accurate, but they are obviously not the sole reason for Fender to stick an extra roman numeral on the model name (which doesn’t appear anywhere on the guitar itself, natch).
If you remember reading any reviews of the Vintera II guitars, you will have probably seen some mention that in the venn diagram of price, quality and appointments, they were perhaps the best guitars Fender made. There really was not a whole lot wrong with them.
So for Vintera III then, the focus here is on details. Whenever Fender releases a vintage-inclined guitar, the internet comment sections soon fill up with a chorus of nays ready to tell the brand all the ways in which they are not quite right, actually.
These are never intended to be perfect vintage repros of course – that’s what the Custom Shop is for – but they do address a lot of the things that some people may have got hot under the collar about in the past.
So, for example, the headstock decals are now placed on top of the finish, rather than under it, making it feel a bit more authentically hand-made and accurate. More meaningfully, the nuts on these guitars are now bone instead of synthetic, as they would have been back in the day. The fingerboard inlays are now period-correct, whether that’s clay, black or in this case, pearloid, while the rosewood board itself is a round-laminated version, rather than a slab (as would have been the case with a 60s Jag).
The pickups across the range have been revamped and revoiced to better reflect the specific era they’re aiming for, while you also get various other period-correct features. In the Jag’s case that includes a vintage-style floating lockable tremolo, “period-correct” rhythm circuit and even a foam mute to lock into place should you be into that sort of thing.
As with the rest of the Vintera range, it comes with Fender’s ‘that’ll do’ soft gigbag, which is about as reassuring as a parasol in a hurricane, but at least it has something for you to bring it home from the guitar shop in.
Image: Adam Gasson
Fender Vintera III Mid ’60s Jaguar – build quality and playability
Sliding the Jaguar out of its gigbag, it’s honestly quite hard not to just end this review and give the thing a 10 purely on looks alone. Your mileage may vary I suppose, but I happen to think that there are few things more downright beautiful in the guitar world than a Fender offset in a non-standard Dupont colour.
The Sherwood Green Metallic here is deep, rich and inviting – Fender says it’s reformulated the colours to look more ‘classic’ and this certainly looks the part. The polyester finish is also expertly applied to both the body and the peghead, without any overspray roughness around the edges, and yes, the decal sticker going on top of the finish might be a little thing, but it does help maintain the illusion that you’re playing something genuinely old.
The only issue with going headlong into the world of vintage accuracy is that the neck does have the full gloss treatment. Some players don’t mind this, of course, but the otherwise supremely comfortable Mid ’60s “C” profile neck is slightly hampered by occasional stickiness as you’re moving around.
Image: Adam Gasson
It’s easily rectified with a bit of wire wool of course, but lots of people won’t want to do that sort of thing to their guitar out of the box, so you’d best be aware of what you’re getting into here before you pull the trigger.
That slight stickiness doesn’t prevent this guitar being a comfortable and fluid player, however, with the Mustang’s shorter scale length making string-bending a breeze – anyone who tells you you can’t bend on a 7.25” fretboard radius hasn’t spent enough time with a properly set-up instrument.
Speaking of set-ups, while the overall factory job is pretty decent, I did raise my eyebrow at the bone nut, and especially the cutting of the high E slot. It’s just about okay, but it really is right on the borderline of being too shallow.
While it didn’t happen in the course of my playtest, the string feels a bit too easy to knock out of its slot, and it doesn’t bode well for overall stability when combined with the thrice-damned (but vintage-correct) barrel saddles if you have a heavy right hand.
Image: Adam Gasson
Sonically, the string sounded broadly as expected (Jaguars aren’t exactly known for their sustain after all), but I did notice an issue when I activated the mute – while the other strings offered a nicely dulled sound, the ‘plonk’ on the high E was pretty unusable – probably something that’s exacerbated by the shallow nut slot.
Again, this is the sort of issue that you can fix with a nut file in about 30 seconds, and is clearly an isolated incident (I’ve tried multiple other Vintera III guitars that have been fine), but this is a $1,300 guitar – you’d hope for the QC to be a bit better at this price point.
If you spend any time on offset forums and subreddits, you’ll hear a lot of chat about even new vintage-style guitars needing a neck shim. In the Jag’s case, I’d say it’s fine for most people’s everyday use – if you’re really going to give it the beans, maybe you’d want to increase the break angle with a shim, but it definitely doesn’t need it out of the box.
Given the amount of metal and hardware involved in a Jag, they’re not always the most svelte of guitars, and this one isn’t featherlight, but at 8.1lbs it’s certainly no dead weight either, and is lighter than some vintage examples I’ve played.
Image: Adam Gasson
Fender Vintera III Mid ’60s Jaguar – sounds
I’ve had conversations with people inside Fender who will admit, off the record, that Johnny Marr’s interpretation of the Jaguar is a significantly better way to make this guitar usable and practical in the real world than Leo Fender’s crack at it… but that sort of tweaking is not what people are coming to Vintera for, and so this is about as stock and classic as you might expect, for good and for ill.
So that means you’re stuck with the legendarily counterintuitive Jaguar switching arrangement here, for good or for ill. In truth, once you spend a few minutes training your brain to remember that the middle switch activates the bridge pickup, and you need to hit two switches at once to cleanly transition between the bridge and neck pickups, it’s not exactly rocket science.
There is an element of this that is absolutely and correctly just part of the unique mojo of a vintage-style Jaguar – to mess with that would have meant this guitar failed at what it’s trying to do, and I’m not gonna damn it for that. If you’ve been charmed by the looks of this guitar without considering the practicalities of it – and look, no judgement here, I’m right there with you – then this is just a reminder to be forewarned and prepared.
In terms of sounds, again I feel like I should remind people that a Jaguar’s single-coil pickups are their own thing and tonally quite a departure from other Fender guitars. The term ‘ice pick’ perhaps doesn’t sound particularly flattering in the metaphor-laden world of describing guitar tones, but with the Jag it’s kinda bang on.
Image: Adam Gasson
There’s an immediacy and punch to the treble on the bridge pickups that is very classically Jaguar but also unapologetic – it requires careful marshalling of the rest of your rig to not sound shrill, but the punchy, jangly quality it affords when you do is wonderful.
Add a bit of dirt to proceedings and you instantly start to understand why Jaguars found common cause with various members of the grunge community – it snarls and cuts through with power and venom, though deployment of the much-maligned strangle switch can take some of the mids down and make it a more conventional rocker.
The neck pickup is a woodier and plummier affair. It doesn’t have the warmth and roundness of a Strat’s, and you feel that sharp attack and lack of sustain more here, especially with gain involved, but it can be an exhilarating place to get fuzzy and unchained in.
The rhythm circuit is a subtle beast here compared to some I’ve played – adding a soupçon of muddiness to the neck pickup, making the bass frequencies that little bit more flappy. It’s not something that many of us will use very often, but it certainly has utility for jazzier sounds and if you want to really make your distorted sound have that 70s bloat to it.
Another feature that’s not going to be getting a huge amount of attention from most users is the string mute. When activated, the foam hugs the strings to give a dulled, decay-free sound to proceedings. You might look at it and expect a rubber bridge-esque tone, but it’s definitely not that, with the foam giving even less chance for the strings to ring.
One unfortunate side-effect of that narrowly cut E-string was that engaging the mute made the string sound like it had very much popped out of the slot – I don’t imagine that was intentional, but it sure isn’t pleasant.
One useful benefit of the mute being in place is that it stops the bridge from moving around so much, which is good news for tuning stability.
Image: Adam Gasson
Fender Vintera III Mid ’60s Jaguar – should I buy one?
In many ways, this is the guitar Jaguar fans have been asking Fender to make for years – a Mexico-made, vintage-appointed Jaguar in a selection of achingly cool colours. For that reason alone, I imagine that Fender will have sold plenty of these guitars without so much as a play-test.
And if what you really want is a vintage Jaguar experience – eccentricities and all – this is a very good and very faithful take on the concept. There’s definitely a question to be asked about whether you really DO want that, however, and hopefully the various foibles I’ve pointed out in this review can help you get to that point.
What’s less acceptable is the QC issue. I’ve played enough of these guitars to know that it’s an isolated case, and it’s the sort of thing that likely wouldn’t cause any issues with a Telecaster… but the Jaguar is a more temperamental feline, and so the need to ensure things are fettled properly is even more important.
That aside, this Jag is a useful example of what Fender is trying to do with Vintera III as a whole. It’s not looking to reinvent the wheel, but in a variety of small ways, it’s nudging the Mexico-made experience ever closer to what the brand is doing in the USA, and that’s pretty exciting, no matter what kind of Fender fan you might be.
Fender Vintera III Mid ’60s Jaguar – alternatives
If you want much of the same sonic mojo but without the various electronic and constructional eccentricities, then Fender’s Player II Jaguar ($879/£819) is a well-sorted option – no weird switching, no wonky bridge, all fun. If you want a similarly ‘fixed’ Jag but with a US build, the American Professional Classic Jaguar ($1,599/£1,529) is not a whole lot more money than this, remarkably. If you want a unique offset with less fiddly switching but some fun and individual sounds, Harmony’s mini-humbucker-loaded Standard Series Silhouette ($1,499/£1,499) is a US-made steal.
The post Fender Vintera III Mid ’60s Jaguar review: “this is the guitar Jaguar fans have been asking Fender to make for years” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Yungblud shares an emotional response to accusations that he is an “industry plant”
Yungblud’s rise through the music industry has been voracious and undeniable, but even as he’s helming his own festivals and reaching Billboard #1s, he is still struggling with mental health.
On June 27, during his headlining set of BLUDFEST, his personally curated festival in Czechia, he shared some words about what he’s been going through: “Lately I have felt so disconnected from everything. I have been trying my best to wake up every day. I have felt in pain a lot, and I don’t know why, for a long time. But every time I find your faces, every time I find your eyes, every time I look at you, I know I belong somewhere.”
Yungblud, real name Dominic Richard Harrison, posted a video saying this at the festival along with some writings that went into the accusations that he is an “industry plant,” or rather, an artist who purports independent success while having considerable industry support from major labels, marketing agencies, and the like.
“The amount of hate and disbelief around me from strangers on the internet or bitter musicians really weighs on my heart,” Harrison writes. “All I’ve been trying to do for the past 10 years is spread love, build something I believe in and unify people in a safe space.”
Blunt Magazine examined the accusations that Harrison is an industry plant, concluding they were not true:
“Yungblud is not an industry plant. He has had real industry backing, including label support and experienced management, but having a team is not the same thing as hidden manufacture,” article author Joel King writes. “The public record shows years of releases, touring, fan-building, alternative scenes and visible development before the Ozzy, Grammy and BLUDFEST moments made him unavoidable.”
“In the past 10 years I’ve been on a million different journeys, tried a million different sounds trying to figure out who I am or what I can mean to the world every day whilst the world shouts back,” Harrison writes in another portion of his post.
In the wake of his confession, many big artists have come to Harrison’s defence. Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian specifically praised Harrison’s performance at Back to the Beginning, Ozzy Osbourne’s final performance. Many haters used that booking as an example of Harrison being an industry plant.
“I stood side stage at BTTB and watched you breathe rarified air the way you elevated ‘Changes,’” Ian says. “You’ve earned it all, Dom. Cheers, brother.”
Titanic hip-hop/R&B vocalist SZA chimed in as well with a brief comment on the post: “Rooting for you.”
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