General Interest

A Fleetwood Mac lyric and chord sheet handwritten by guitarist Peter Green is set to hit the auction block, and could reportedly fetch up to £15,000.

The sheet depicts lyrics for 1969 single Man of the World, which hit Number 2 in the UK later that year. It subsequently stayed in the charts for 14 weeks.

The lyric sheet – written in blue ballpoint pen, with corrections made in black ink – shows Green changed three lyric lines, adding a complete line to the final verse, while finalising each finished line with a tick at the end.

• READ MORE: “Pushing the boundaries of what’s possible for players at every level”: Squier’s 2025 Classic Vibe drop has arrived – with some head-turning new configurations
  

Ewbank’s auction house in Woking, Surrey, is selling the sheet, and hopes it will reach a bid of up to £15,000. At present, there are no bids, and the starting bid is £6,000.

“Green himself said that he wrote the song when he was at his saddest,” says a spokesperson for Ewbank’s.

“The song is particularly significant as band member Mick Fleetwood said it reflected Green’s mental state at the time and helped explain why he quit the band and tragically descended into mental illness.”

“Few musicians can claim to have been as talented and as important to the development of rock music from the blues and folk movements as Peter Green,” adds John Silke, Ewbank’s music specialist.

Peter Green died in 2020 at the age of 73, after leaving an indelible mark on the blues and rock worlds. Once a member of John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers and the original founder and leader of Fleetwood Mac, Green’s unique guitar playing earned him nods from guitar legends Eric Clapton and BB King, as well as adoration from the wider guitar world.

Green – born Peter Allen Greenbaum in 1946 – suffered a series of issues with his mental health in the 1970s, and was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent time in psychiatric hospitals in the mid ‘70s.

He later re-emerged professional at the end of the ‘70s and early ‘80s, and in the late ‘80s attributed his breakdown to his previous abuse of drugs including LSD.

Green’s name is also attached to one of the most famous and iconic guitars in the world, Greeny. The 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard was used by Peter Green throughout his time with John Mayall and Fleetwood Mac, and was later acquired by Gary Moore in the early ‘70s. Now, the guitar is under the custodianship of Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett.

Learn more at Ewbank’s.

The post Fleetwood Mac lyric sheet handwritten by Peter Green hits the auction block – and could fetch up to £15,000 appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Boko Yout’s debut album needs all of three minutes to start falling apart in thrilling fashion. As the opener Volleyball Tournament strolls to its conclusion – one part Seal, another Ghostpoet, vocalist Paul Adamah’s melodies coiled and patient – there’s a sudden burst of noise, a blast of distortion and thudding, relentless percussion. Then it’s something else entirely. “When I first saw them they were very tight as a band, very in the pocket,” guitarist Lionel Turner says. “It felt like the right thing to do to add some chaos into that.”

Circling Adamah’s shapeshifting, concept-driven writing, Gusto makes good on this promise. Underpinned by a loose narrative that finds a fictionalised version of the vocalist in therapy sessions with the titular doctor, one moment it might be discussing identity or gig work, the next it might train its sights on perceptions of art from both inside and outside institutions or the push-pull between openness and self-destruction. It’s pointed and ambitious, reaching for what Adamah has described as “a sonic manifesto for living with love and intention.”

• READ MORE: Meet Essence Martins – the YouTube-taught guitarist who’s choosing to master the instrument on her own terms

The accompanying sounds are a melange of motorik drums, needling bass and guitars that whirr and bite against verses with roots that run all the way back to lo-fi bedroom hip hop experiments and the joyous collaborative music that emanated from jams between local African musicians at Adamah’s childhood home in Örebro, where he was brought up by a Togolese father and Mozambican mother. Turner initially met Adamah through his day job as a cinematographer, but their parallel interests in music soon drew them closer together.

“He was rapping at the time,” Turner recalls. “One day he told me he was done with that and he wanted to start a band. He didn’t recruit me – we just had some sessions and we wrote some songs together, and that was that. We kept on living our lives. I thought he had this band, but it turns out that he had just created it in his head. It was something he was projecting towards the future.”

A musician since his teens, Turner grew up with a guitar in the house and his South American father’s love of 60s rock ‘n’ roll and cumbia ringing in his ears before stretching out into his own esoteric interests. Learning the ropes on bass first, he then tapped into the psychedelic wandering of Dungen’s Raine Fiske, the pedal manipulation of Stereolab’s Tim Gane and the searching ambient work of Tatsuhiko Asano.

From time to time Adamah would send demos his way, asking if he heard a guitar part. “I would try something out at home, and then maybe send him a video,” Turner says. In 2023, Adamah bit the bullet and asked him to be a part of Boko Yout. “He had already recruited some members but they just had one guitar player,” Turner says. “They were going to play in a big venue with Viagra Boys. That’s when I joined.”

Quickly, he fell into a collaborative process that put the songs at the heart of everything. There are multiple voices at play, with each of them bouncing back in a new form once they’ve reached someone else’s ear. Drummer Joel Kiviaho, who produced Gusto, plays some guitar on the record, including a section on 9-2-5 that was lifted straight from an iPhone note and dropped into the finished track, while Adamah’s writing has pushed Turner into spaces he might not have discovered on his own.

“Paul always has ideas,” he says. “He can come up with riffs that sound mad to me, at first, like they don’t make sense. I love that about his mind. We have a song called Teleprompter, which is a really strange riff to me. It doesn’t sit right in my hand, with the way I play. But it’s just fun. He’ll ask me, ‘Shit, should I study music theory?’ And I’m like, ‘Please don’t. Just keep doing what you’re doing.’”

In many ways, Gusto comes to life in the details. It’s about shifts in tempo and melody, with Turner particularly interested in how texture, noise and distortion might alter the way something is perceived by the listener. He’s a keen follower of Arto Lindsay, particularly the manner in which the no wave pioneer finds ways to thread something gnarly between elements that, outwardly at least, appear more conventional.

Here, that comes to the fore in moments such as the choppy, barbed accents on Boyfriend’s riff, or a string of outro solos that drag songs towards unexpected, feverish endings without losing a self-contained sense of directness.

“Texture is a key word to me,” he says. “That’s part of what makes music interesting, it’s tactile, you know? I’ve been going through so many different types of distortions and fuzzes – it’s like a never-ending exploration because there are so many combinations. I discovered so many things recording this album, from just changing cabs and guitars to changing the order things are in.

“I tried to have a clear idea of what I can contribute, and asked what the sound could benefit from. For me, it was texture, grit, and distortion. But it’s also a slippery slope. Once you start cranking up the volume, everyone wants to crank up the volume. I think that’s consumed us in a way. We let that consume us. I think this album has turned into a heavier sound than the first EP.”

Working largely at Kiviaho’s place, which has an “almost extended bedroom studio” feel, Boko Yout had time to delve deeper and deeper into this world. Completed on the album by bassist Kevin Stierne (Damien Kabran plays second guitar live) they spent time finding the right layers of grime to drive home Adamah’s messages. “As excited as I get, I think they all really like to experiment with distortion, too,” Turner says. “Especially Joel, he’s always asking me to put some fuzz on a song.”

Turner started out with an interesting guitar in hand: a Victor SG-18, which was only manufactured for a short time by JVC in Japan during the 1960s. “But we started playing louder and more distorted, it started feeding back a lot live,” Turner laments. He turned instead to a Danelectro Dead-On ‘67. “That worked very well,” he adds. “It didn’t have a whammy bar, which I quite like to use, so I modded it and put one on. But I kept everything else original.”

Amps-wise, it was a case of adapting to their surroundings. When he needed to, while recording on tour or darting between studios away from home, Turner turned to sims such as the Universal Audio Dream ‘65, but the sound he hears in his head is often coming from another characterful piece of kit dating back to the time when the Beatles walked the Earth: a small-but-powerful Hagström 26. “That’s the sound that we prefer,” he says. “It’s like a typewriter, really portable.”

On his live board, he’s been racing through pedals, finding different things to love about equipment that forces him to learn on the fly. “I’ve been going through a lot of distortions but one keeper has been the Basic Audio Zippy,” he says. “That’s been great. Lately on tour I have been using a Fairfield Circuitry Roger That, which has been interesting, too. At times I’ve been trying out something called [Mattoverse] AirTrash – it’s very hard to control. I feel like my research is going towards those kinds of uncontrollable fuzzes. I love to be surprised by gear, to not always be on top of it, and sometimes have something that goes somewhere where I’m not ready for.”

In a project such as Boko Yout, where the music is largely propelled by the vision of one songwriter, the task for their bandmates is to find a way in. Turner takes that job seriously, almost leaning on the interpretive nature of his career in film to challenge and reconstitute concepts that carry great personal weight. That dynamic is one of Gusto’s greatest strengths. “When you get a script or a treatment, you need to find a way to tell that story in effective ways,” Turner says. “The fun part of cinematography is that you get to choose the texture, the media, the format.”

“It is pretty similar, playing guitar, because you have this palette of sounds,” he continues. “I don’t have a go-to way [of doing things]. I’m always thinking, ‘Okay, what should I use now?’

“I try to mix it up as well. I seldom use the same stuff on every song. We talk about the ideas that we want to bring to life to see if it makes us excited. That’s pretty much how you make films as well.”

Boko Yout’s Gusto is out on September 5 through Hoopdiggas Recordings.

The post Meet Boko Yout: Sweden’s most interesting new band who approach guitar chaos with the mindset of a cinematographer appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Despite what the media would have you believe, it’s not easy being a rockstar. Years of effort go into a good album, and, when it comes out, there’s endless travelling, touring, and promotion junkets to endure. Rockstars are human too – and sometimes they need a break.

John Mayer is the latest rocker to admit that he needs a “breather”. While songs are easily “coming out of [Mayer]”, he’s yet to construct the follow up to his 2021’s Sob Rock. “I don’t know when it’s coming out,” he tells People. “But I’ve been going around making music, touring, making music, touring for a lot of years, and I think it would make sense at this stage in my life [to] just take a breather.”

• READ MORE: “You’re adding to the problem”: Warren Haynes says this is the biggest mistake guitarists make when improvising

Considering Dead & Company’s 30 date residency at Last Vegas’ Sphere only wrapped up last month, it makes sense that Mayer wants a break. Rather than running on empty, he’s taking the time to recoup, allowing himself to enjoy the songwriting process without the pressure of deadlines.

“I’m [figuring] out when I want to do it and how I want to do it,” he explains. “So I’m enjoying just taking it day-by-day and doing the projects I love.”

Of course, Mayer is still a songwriting machine, noting that he has “enough songs that [he] could put a record out right now”. However, he’s just not in the mood to tour right now. “If I put a record out right now, I would want to go on the road, and I just want to take a minute and practice this newfound ‘going with the flow’,” he explains.

He clarifies what this means, noting he has to learn to let life and inspiration “happen”, rather than forcing himself down a strict path. It is something he admits he is having to “relearn all the time”.

While Mayer is in no rush to release another record, he already has some festival performances booked in for September and October, including California’s Palm Tree Festival and Nevada’s Rise Festival.

The post “I could put a record out right now”: John Mayer says he’s written enough songs to make a new album – but here’s why he’s not going to do it appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

The TikTok star goes legit on his latest tour with some plum Strats, a Two-Rock, and a masterbuilt pedalboard.

When Ty Myers got injured a few years back and couldn’t play sports, he took to posting videos of himself on TikTok. Before long, his song “Tie That Binds” went viral on the platform, blasting him to overnight-star status. Now, with his debut album, The Select, under his belt, the 18-year-old is taking his songs on the road to packed-out rooms.

PG’s John Bohlinger linked with country’s newest wunderkind at the Egyptian Room in Indianapolis to see how he brings his old-time-meets-new-world country to life onstage.

Brought to you by D’Addario.

San Antonio Strat

This Fender Stratocaster, the first nice guitar Myers bought himself, was purchased from a guy in a Home Depot parking lot in San Antonio, Texas. Myers swapped in Fender Custom Shop Fat ’50s pickups, and he strings it with Stringjoy .010s.

Eye-Catching Custom

If Myers played slide, it’d be with this Custom Shop Master Built Strat, built by Dale Wilson. He went to Carter’s Vintage in Nashville with another instrument in mind, but this one caught his eye, and he had to have it. He kept the pickups it came with, and pretty soon he intends to have the action lowered.

Barry’s Bond

Myers got his first Gibson SJ-200 around the age of 10, and this one, a gift from label executive Barry Weiss, is his current go-to. It’s got an LR Baggs pickup system and goes direct to front-of-house.

Package Deal

Myers’ biggest hero is John Mayer, so it tracks that he went after this Two-Rock Silver Sterling Signature. He saw this one at Carter the same day he bought his Custom Shop Strat, and didn’t even plug it in—he just bought it along with the Master Built.

Ty Myers’ Pedalboard

Myers’ stomp station was built by the pedal professors at XAct Tone Solutions in Nashville. After the Dunlop Volume (X) Mini and the Peterson StroboStomp LE, Myers’ signal hits an Origin Effects Cali76, JHS Pedals Berkeley, Keeley Katana, Analog Man/Boss GE-7, Greer Lightspeed, MXR Duke of Tone, Browne Amplification Protein, Keeley Noble Screamer, Boss VB-2w, Boss TR-2, JHS Flight Delay, and EarthQuaker Devices Dispatch Master. A Strymon Zuma and Strymon Ojai keep the lights on.

Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilt Stratocaster

Fender Stratocaster

Gibson SJ-200

Dunlop Volume (X) Mini

Peterson StroboStomp LE

Origin Effects Cali76

JHS Pedals Berkeley

Keeley Katana

Boss GE-7 7-band EQ Pedal

MXR Duke of Tone

Keeley Noble Screamer

Boss VB-2w

Boss TR-2

JHS Flight Delay

EarthQuaker Devices Dispatch Master

Strymon Zuma

Strymon Ojai

It’s about that time of the year when the family goes “down the shore,” as they say in my part of the world, for our annual vacation. We’ve been all up and down the East Coast shoreline, from Maine to South Carolina, but we usually settle in Delaware and all the quaint little escapes to be found.

Personally, I don’t really do much at the beach except meditate and people watch. Sometimes I don’t even bring a chair. Instead I just scoop out a “recliner” in the sand and ponder all sorts of musings. I’m fascinated by ocean living, and have wondered what it would be like to live at a house where you have to tie down your garbage cans so they don’t float away in a flood. At one point in our vacation we experienced a horrific thunderstorm and I had my son convinced that our car might float out into the ocean since we were right near the water. Good times!

So a few weeks ago, there I was on a Delaware beach thinking about life and how if I could choose to live anywhere or be anything, like a start-over, I think I would’ve enjoyed living along the shores of California and being a surfer. An idealized version, I suppose, but it seems cool in my mind. Of course I’d have to be 30 years younger, 50 pounds lighter, and operate with some semblance of balance, but hey, endless summers, baby!

In 1966 there was an awesome surfer documentary called The Endless Summer that chronicled a global search for the perfect wave. Director Bruce Brown’s film was filled with a cool soundtrack and the whole endeavor created a phenomenon of sorts which featured travel, music, culture, and a lifestyle that I just adore.

“Why would you associate a 12-string with surf music? The ’60s were different times.”

There were already plenty of surf bands at that time, such as the Ventures and Dick Dale, who embraced mostly instrumental music. That really appealed to fans around the world because the language barrier didn’t exist. And of course, there were a plethora of guitar ads that combined surfing with instruments. But sitting there in Delaware, I got to thinking about guitars that had “surf” in their name. There were newer models like the Charvel Surfcaster, but I was having a hard time coming up with vintage guitars. And then, just like a lightning strike during that coastal storm, it hit me … the Intermark Cipher Surfer from 1965!

For about two years, the Shinko Gakki Company in Japan produced electric guitars in the Tatsuno Lake region (which is a great spot to visit). Shinko guitars were mostly sold in Japan but most of the electrics sold in the States were imported by the Intermark Corporation in New York. Intermark imported all sorts of stuff from Japan and often the Cipher name was attached to products. Hence, the long-ish Intermark Cipher guitars. There were all sorts of configurations, such as basses and 12-strings along with a number of pickup configurations and, sometimes, super-cool colors such as yellow, green bursts, and wonderful glitter finishes. Now the rub here is this: They labeled the 12-string the Surfer. Why would you associate a 12-string with surf music? The ’60s were different times.

The Surfer did turn out to be an excellent guitar anyway, mainly because Shinko really tried to make solid instruments when it came to build quality, and especially the great-sounding pickups. Modeled after Italian EKO units, Shinko decided to make these pickups a little stronger with the 12-string. The body shape is reminiscent of a curling wave, I suppose, with its exaggerated offset points. But the first thing I noticed when playing the guitar was that the neck was really robust. On some 12-strings I often find my fingers cramped on the fretboard, but the Intermark Surfer had plenty of room because the fretboard was wide and the neck was deep. I never worried about this guitar going out of tune. Two volumes and one tone knob were paired with simple on/off switches for each pickup, and an overall fine bridge was enough to make the Byrds play surf music!

From The Allman Brothers Band to Gov’t Mule, it’s no secret that Warren Haynes is an axeman to be reckoned with. However, his dynamic blend of blues, rock and jazz has been refined by his fellow guitarists – because the true “magic” of performing is only revealed once you find the perfect collaborative partner.

According to Haynes, a strong guitar partnership brings out the best in both parties. “[You need] the right mix of contrast and similarity,” he tells Classic Rock. “If two guitarists are too similar it gets bland; too different and it can clash. But when there’s that balance, something magic happens.”

• READ MORE: “You’re adding to the problem”: Warren Haynes says this is the biggest mistake guitarists make when improvising
  

Haynes has been lucky enough to find his perfect muse in guitarist Derek Trucks. “Derek and I have been playing together for so long we almost don’t have to think about it,” he explains. “We can finish each other’s musical sentences. There’s trust, respect, shared philosophy about what music is. You need that – and a healthy amount of competition, but not one-upmanship.”

It’s a view Haynes has parroted time and time again; guitarists need to be able to listen to one another and work together. It’s not about being the best and standing out, but about adapting and working with those around you.

“To play music to the best of your ability, you have to learn how to listen to everyone else while you’re playing and adapt to that – even if it’s just from a tuning standpoint, or what register you’re playing in standpoint, or rhythmically,” he told Sweetwater back in March. “That’s the key in improvisational music, without question,”

“If you’re just concentrating on your own part and you don’t realise that the rhythm section is kind of laidback or pushing, then you’re adding to the problem,” he continued. “So, I think musicians that improvise on a certain level are all deeply listening to each other. All the years that I played with The Allman Brothers, that was the key ingredient – being locked in, together.”

Haynes’ upcoming record, The Whisper Sessions is set to drop this September. The record will serve as a “companion piece” to 2024’s Million Voices Whisper, comprised of solo and duet alternative takes on each track. “When I listened back, I thought there was something unique about hearing the songs in that raw, singer-songwriter form,” he tells Classic Rock. “Then Derek and I recorded a version of Melissa – just one take – and someone suggested putting it al out as a release.”

Pre-order The Whisper Sessions now before it arrives 12 September.

The post “If two guitarists are too similar it gets bland”: Warren Haynes on how to create “magic” in a band appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Despite being a founding member, Ace Frehley was nowhere to be seen throughout Kiss’ End Of The Road World Tour – because the glam rockers rescinded his invitation.

According to Frehley, him and founding drummer Peter Criss were both originally set to perform at Kiss’ final Madison Square Garden show in December 2023. “About nine months… both Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons were saying, ‘We’re going to bring everybody out on stage,’” he tells Guitar World. “And then, a few months before the concert, they both changed their tune.”

• READ MORE: “Ace started to indulge in things that went up his nose”: Gene Simmons on the “rebellious” nature of Ace Frehley in Kiss’s early days

Considering Frehley previously reunited with the band in 1996, fans were confused as to why Frehley did not perform at Kiss’ final show. And he would have, if the Stanley and Simmons hadn’t changed their minds.

Some rather rude comments only added insult to injury, too. “Paul went on to say, ‘If Ace and Peter got on stage with us, the band could be called Piss,’” Frehley recalls. “So, I kind of got into an argument with him.”

Following the snub of being uninvited to Kiss’ final show, the guitarist is understandably less keen to involve himself in Kiss-related projects. Most recently, Frehley has declined the invitation to attend Kiss’s Kiss Kruise: Land-Locked in Vegas. “They asked me and I declined,” he explains.

The event in question, which is set to take place this November, pales in comparison to the grand Madison Square Garden send-off. “There’s no way I’m gonna be involved with that, you know?,” he says. “Their biggest mistake is that they should have done that at Madison Square Garden, not in Las Vegas in a 5000-seater, or whatever it is.”

However, Frehley isn’t entirely ruling out working with Kiss in the future. While the invitation to attend Kiss Kruise (which isn’t even a cruise this year) may feel insulting, he still loves his Kiss family. “I’m the kind of guy that never says never,” he says. “I don’t hate Paul or Gene, you know? We’re rock and roll brothers – and Peter, too. So, anything can happen.”

Regardless, Frehley is continuing to focus on his own work. He explains he’s “having too much fun doing my own thing” at the moment. “Maybe I’ll eventually get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist,” he notes.

Kiss are set to perform two unmasked sets over the course of the three day Kiss Kruise: Land-Locked in Vegas event. The sets will feature all but Eric Singer from the final Kiss line-up, with Simmons, Stanley, and Tommy Thayer on lead vocals. But remember – Kiss have broken up. They’ve definitely broken up. Yep.

Kiss Kruise: Land-Locked in Vegas will take place 14-16 November. You can grab tickets now.

The post “They asked me and I declined. There’s no way I’m gonna be involved in that”: Ace Frehley on his current relationship with Kiss appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

When Fender announced its Standard Series – the cheapest new Fenders you can buy – at this year’s NAMM Show, many industry watchers wondered about the future of the Fender-owned Squier brand, which has long made affordable, entry-level alternatives to Fender’s classic guitar designs.

Indeed, earlier this year, Fender’s EVP of Product Justin Norvell revealed the brand had briefly considered replacing the entire Squier line with Fender-branded instruments, but ultimately realising there was “so much equity in the Squier brand name”, so it would have been “crazy to get rid of that”.

• READ MORE: “I was happy if I got 9 hours a day”: Steve Vai on the crazy practice schedule he developed as a teenager

Yep, it certainly doesn’t look like Squier is going anywhere, and the brand has just launched a plethora of new additions to its Classic Vibe line, which offers ‘50s-, ‘60s- and ‘70s-inspired instruments with period-correct aesthetics, tones, neck profiles and more.

There’s 10 new models on offer, with a selection of new finishes and hardware options that are sure to make even the most hardline Fender purist tempted by its budget sister brand.

“At Fender, we’re always pushing the boundaries of what’s possible within the world of instrumentation – for players at every level,” notes Justin Norvell.

“We’ve built this range to inspire creativity and elevate the playing experience in every genre. We’re proud to carry forward our legacy by continuing to shape the future of music whilst also paying homage to our heritage and the traditions that got us here in the first place.”

First to stand out in the drop is the new Custom Telecaster SH outfitted with a Bigsby tailpiece, just below a classic vintage-style Tele bridge plate. The Bigsby, in this case, features a string-through design for easy restringing – welcome, no doubt, for less advanced guitarists – and a floating bridge with barrel saddles for optimal tuning stability.

The Classic Vibe Custom Telecaster SH Bigsby is a tribute to the double-bound body Tele models of the late ’50s and ’60s, complete with Fender-designed alnico single-coil bridge and humbucking pickups.

Two new Stratocasters join the Classic Vibe lineup: a ‘50s-inspired one with a stable hardtail bridge and string-through-body design for “optimal body resonance”, and a ‘70s hardtail bridge-fitted HSS model, with ‘70s-inspired headstock markings, nickel-plated hardware and a slick vintage-tinted gloss neck finish.

There’s also a new Jazzmaster, Esquire and even the return of the Duo-Sonic, an offset design with a single coil/humbucker pickup configuration, complete with a short 24” scale length.

The drop also makes room for the bass players, with a new ‘60s Jazz Bass, Active ‘70s Jazz Bass, Telecaster Bass and Active ‘70s Jazz Bass V. 

For more information on the latest Classic Vibe models, head to Squier.

The post “Pushing the boundaries of what’s possible for players at every level”: Squier’s 2025 Classic Vibe drop has arrived – with some head-turning new configurations appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.