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Polyphia’s Tim Henson is curating a library of impressive guitar videos from Instagram Reels, with hopes to come back to them all and learn from them.

While Polyphia are currently busy releasing new music and preparing for tour, Henson may have put learning new skills on the shelf for now, but he’s determined to push himself beyond his own skillset into what he deems beyond his capabilities in the near future.

• READ MORE: MONO partners with Polyphia guitarist Tim Henson on signature dual-carry guitar case

Speaking to Metal Hammer, he recalls how violin lessons in his early childhood were the “bane of his existence”, despite them providing formative experience with what it takes to build a skill. Asked about the last time he failed at something and abandoned it, he replies, “‘Abandoned’ is not the word I would use, I would use ‘paused.’

“If you were to go through my saved Instagram Reels, I have categories. There’s one called ‘guitar’, and inside it’s every insane, beyond-my-capabilities technique that I’ve come across that I want to come back to later when I have the time,” he shares.

Last month, Polyphia released their fifth album BE NOT AFRAID, made with RJ Pasin. It has a stronger narrative than previous Polyphia albums, leaning into extremes of good and evil.

Upon its announcement, Henson said “Instead of going wide on BE NOT AFRAID, we went as deep as we could. There are so many layers to pull back. Every time you listen to it, you’ll notice something new. Thematically, it’s by far the most meaningful record we’ve ever made.”

In other news, back in September, Tim Henson partnered with guitar accessory company MONO on a new signature dual carry guitar case. “I’m constantly switching between my electric and nylon-string signature guitars, so having one case that carries both and looks exactly the way I want it to is perfect,” he said.

To find out more about BE NOT AFRAID, head over to the Polyphia website.

The post Tim Henson saves “every insane, beyond-my-capabilities” guitar video he sees on Instagram – so that he can one day master them all appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

With the holidays approaching fast, now’s the perfect time to start thinking about guitar gifts the new player in your life will actually use and appreciate.

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, better known as FMIC, has handily rounded up some of its best picks across its family of brands for beginner guitarists this year, with selections from across Gretsch, Jackson and of course, Fender.

• EDITOR’S PICK: Fender American Professional Jaguar review: “If you love the vibe but want to duck the weirdness, this is the Jag for you”

Take a look at the top guitar choices below to learn more about their features and the type of player they’re best suited to. Prices range from as little as £229 to £335, so there’s something for all kinds of budget in mind.

Gretsch Vintage White Jim Dandy Parlor – £229

The Jim Dandy Parlor is a small-bodied acoustic guitar with a short 24” scale length, an X-braced body crafted with select lightweight laminate tonewoods, and a “C”-shape neck. Gretsch says it is “well suited for everything from bluesy porch pickin’ to speakeasy swingin’”, and describes it as “a ramblin’ companion for newbies and old-timers alike”.

Squier Affinity Telecaster – was £245, now £191

A versatile, entry level model, this Squier Telecaster is a great choice for anyone who has dreamed of learning to play guitar. It has a thin and lightweight body for comfort and easy transportation, a slim and comfortable “C”-shaped neck profile, and is fitted with dual Squier single-coil Tele pickups with 3-way switching for tonal variety.

Fender Squier Sonic Stratocaster Pack – £245

For everything you need to get started with electric guitar, this pack comes in under £300 and includes a Squier Sonic Stratocaster, a compact and portable Squier Frontman amplifier with both clean and overdrive channels, two-band EQ for tone control, headphone jack for silent practice and an aux input for connecting a media device. You’ll also get a padded gig bag, instrument cable, strap and picks, and a free three-month subscription to Fender Play.

Gretsch Streamliner CVT – £299

Launched this summer, the Streamliner CVT is described by Gretsch as “a no-nonsense tone machine”. Featuring HotWire humbuckers, a Fast “C” neck profile, Pitch-Perfect head angle and a compensated wraparound bridge, the Streamliner CVT is a budget-friendly model ideal for rock players.

Jackson JS Series King V JS13 – £335

For players who love heavy genres and shreddy playing styles, the JS Series King V JS32 has a classic metal shape with a smaller price tag. It has a bolt-on maple speed neck with graphite reinforcement and scarf joint, dual Jackson high-output humbucking pickups, a Jackson-branded Floyd Rose double-locking tremolo bridge, standard strap buttons and sealed die-cast tuners.

To find out more or shop more guitars, head over to Fender.

The post Looking for the perfect gift for the guitarist in your life? Fender’s Holiday Gift Guide will help appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Harley Benton has made a name for itself for its affordable guitars, but that doesn’t mean you don’t often get some killer spec sheets. Take this new single-cut, for example, which features a pair of Fishman humbuckers – a brand regularly favoured by some of rock and metal’s top players.

Yep, Fishman is chosen by the likes of Matt Heafy, Tim Henson, Mick Thomson and Devin Townsend, and now you can join this ilk of rock elite with a guitar that costs under £500. The SC Custom Plus Fluence also offers a couple of variations of the guitar that edge slightly past the £500 mark, but you get the point: a Fishman-equipped guitar for a very reasonable price…

• EDITOR’S PICK: Wait… an HSS Silver Sky prototype exists?

Active, noiseless pickups with multiple voices are routinely found on higher-end guitars or aftermarket upgrades, however here, they come as standard on a guitar that also boasts stainless steel frets and locking tuners. Each guitar also features two volume pots, one tone control and a three-way toggle switch.

Each Fishman Fluence Classic set offers three voices selected via push/pull pots, meaning no need for any extra switches. Voice 1 is a classic, moderate-output humbucking sound from both pickups. Pull the neck volume pot for Voice 2, which splits the neck into a clear, airy chime while the bridge delivers a hotter, more aggressive sound. And finally, pull the tone pot for Voice 3 and both pickups switch to clean single-coil tones.

A Fishman-loaded Harley Benton is, indeed, exciting, but it’s not the first time the Thomann-owned brand has partnered with the revered pickup brand. Back in September, for example, the company unveiled the Fishman-equipped SC-550 Plus Fluence series.

The new SC Custom Plus Fluence range also offers models with both fixed WSC LP17 Tune-O-Matic-style bridges and Floyd Rose 1000 series locking tremolos.

Meanwhile, the guitars sport okoume bodies with maple tops, nyatoh necks, jatoba fingerboards with white pearloid trapezoid inlays and ivory binding, and modern C-profile necks.

Colourways up for grabs include Vintage Black, Trans Brown Flame, Ocean Flame and Black Cherry Flame, with gold or nickel hardware.

The SC-Custon Plus Fluence is available now through Thomann, with prices starting at £461.

Learn more at Harley Benton, and get yours at Thomann.

The post Affordable heavy riffing… Harley Benton just launched a Fishman Fluence-equipped single-cut appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

The PRS Silver Sky is one of the top-selling electric guitars of the past 10 years, so it makes perfect sense that John Mayer and Paul Reed Smith would constantly be looking to find ways to make the model appeal to new customers.

In a left-field collaboration announced in September, PRS partnered with Jaguar Land Rover to create a limited run of Silver Skys outfitted in finishes inspired by classic Defender colourways. Why? Good question. Because the Silver Sky’s namesake, John Mayer, is a huge Defender fan, and owns several of his own.

Still, that collaboration had somewhat niche appeal, but the next thing PRS and Mayer are cooking up might get the masses’ pulses racing even more: an HSS-configured Silver Sky…

• EDITOR’S PICK: We gave the latest Fender American Professional Jaguar an 8/10 in our review – here’s why

However, calm yourself, because while John Mayer reportedly has an HSS Silver Sky in his possession, it doesn’t look like it’ll see the light of day any time soon.

Speaking to Guitar World, Mayer explains why he and PRS have no plans to release the model in a limited run, saying it would be “too much of a tease”.

“I’m not out to frustrate people. I’m out to excite people,” he explains, acknowledging the fine line between generating excitement and leaving fans disappointed when a guitar is available in extremely limited numbers.

Mayer stresses that any new iteration needs to be developed at the right pace, rather than being rushed out to capitalise on hype. “It’s got to be right,” he says.

He also highlights the challenge of fitting a humbucker alongside two single-coils without disrupting the guitar’s aesthetic or tonal balance. “You have a geometry puzzle on a design level,” Mayer said, explaining how the bridge pickup needs to complement the others rather than overpower them.

He described these as “design-based timelines”, suggesting that an official release isn’t simply a matter of deciding when to put a guitar on sale.

The HSS configuration is one of the most popular modifications among Silver Sky owners, with players including Neal Schon having their guitars retrofitted, so the prospect of an official version was always likely to get fans talking.

For now, the best hope of seeing the HSS in action may be Mayer’s solo residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas next year.

While an official release remains uncertain, the prototype’s existence suggests that a humbucker equipped Silver Sky is firmly on the table. Whether Mayer decides to take it on stage, or eventually make it available to fans, is still an open question.

The post An HSS Silver Sky prototype exists – but John Mayer plays down hopes that it might see the light of day appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

U2 are big fans of another Irish band in particular, one that they believe is encouraging other bands to level up their game, without them even trying.

Chances are that if you like guitar music, you’ll have heard of Fontaines D.C. The Dublin-based band have just released their fifth album, Dopamine Chamber, and are due to play some huge stadium shows in the summer of 2027.

• READ MORE: U2’s With Or Without You was nearly scrapped – until The Edge laid down his guitar parts

Speaking to NME about their own new album, Carnaval de Luz, U2’s Bono and guitarist The Edge were asked what they think of Fontaines, and particularly their reputation as ‘the biggest Irish band since U2’.

“Bands make each other better if they’re any good. I can’t imagine The Beatles being as good as they were without The Stones, I can’t imagine The Stones being as good as they are without The Beatles,” begins Bono.

“Paul [McCartney] writes Let It Be then they put out an album called Let It Bleed you know, All You Need Is Love and then Street Fighting Man. In the ‘90s you had Blur and Oasis. You make each other better. I will admit that when you hear something really unique and original…You have to up your game when people step into the room like Fontaines D.C.,” he declares.

The Edge also celebrate punk duo Lambrini Girls, and the work of Geese – particularly their frontman Cameron Winter: “He’s the man who understands the power of a silhouette,” says Bono. “An original silhouette only comes along every 10 or 20 years.

“I went to see Geese and he was standing with his back to us. He knows about shadows. The band were going at it like Cookie Monster from Sesame Street, the drummer was incredible, but he was pulling some shapes. As a shape-puller, I appreciated that.”

He concludes, “But Grian [Chatten, Fontaines D.C. frontman] has got a very unique spirit. Everyone thinks of singers and songwriters as going around with a diviner, but I think the reason you’re drawn to certain music is like that and you then explain it to yourself later. They just work very well together that band, they’ve got something extraordinary. That was a great song they did with Rosalía [Where Is Gone?].”

In other U2 news, it was recently revealed that The Edge has written a screenplay for a sequel to Elf, the treasured Christmas film starring Will Ferrell. On a recent episode of Obsessed: The Podcast, comedian Andy Richter, who played Morris in the original film, says Elf producer Shauna Robertson received a message saying The Edge had written a script for a sequel and wanted to talk to her about it.

“Somebody reached out to her and said The Edge from U2 has written a sequel to Elf, and he wants to talk to you about it,” Richter explained.

Calling it the “weirdest story”, he added: “Apparently it was fully written. Somewhere in the world, there is an Edge-penned Elf 2 out there. I would love for that to make the light of day. [But] it never happened. She said it’s just one of those things where she’s like, ‘Alright, sure I’ll meet him!’ And then it just petered out and never happened.”

Find out where you can catch Fontaines D.C. on tour, or order U2’s new album, Carnaval de Luz, from their official website.

The post U2 say Fontaines D.C. make them want to up their game: “They’ve got something extraordinary” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix is headed for legal tender. Washington Governor Bob Ferguson has chosen the Seattle-born guitarist as the state’s submission to the US Mint’s American Innovation $1 Coin Program, scheduled for release in 2029.

The programme honours innovators and innovations from across the country, covering every state plus Washington DC and the US territories. Most of the coins so far have marked inventions and achievements, such as the lightbulb, the telephone, the Hubble Space Telescope and the Space Shuttle. A smaller number have honoured people, among them Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, agricultural scientist George Washington Carver and civil rights activist Septima Clarke. Hendrix appears to be the first musician in that group.

• EDITOR’S PICK: Find out why we gave the new Fender American Professional Jaguar an 8/10 in our review…

Washington’s pick came out of a public submissions process run by state Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti, who acts as the state’s liaison to the Mint. An advisory committee of historians and innovation experts unanimously approved five finalists for the governor to choose from. Alongside Hendrix, the shortlist included Billy Frank JR. and treaty rights, Indigenous reef-net fishing and ecosystem management, Bruce Lee and martial arts and the Medic One paramedic programme.

“Washington is one of the most innovative states in the nation,” says Governor Ferguson. “Picking just one example from the most innovative state in the nation was difficult, but Jimi Hendrix’s historic innovation on guitar and his deep roots in Washington make him a great choice to represent our state.”

Naturally, Hendrix’s family has welcomed the news. “To have Jimi honoured on a United States $1 coin representing Washington’s spirit of innovation is an extraordinary honour,” says Janie Hendrix, Jimi’s sister and President and CEO of Experience Hendrix. She recalled Jimi describing himself as “a West Coast Seattle Boy – a magic boy,” who shared this magic through his musical imagination and creativity that continues to inspire new generations.

Nothing yet is final and the design is still to come. It will go through development, consultation with the US Commission of Fine Arts and public review by the CItizens Coinage Advisory Committee, before the Secretary of the Treasury makes the final call.

For guitarists, the choice makes sense. Hendrix helped redefine what the instrument could do, pushing feedback, fuzz and wah from novelty to expressive tools. He also showed what a Stratocaster could do in the hands of someone willing to play it upside down and left handed…

The post Jimi Hendrix’s legacy immortalised on a limited-edition $1 coin appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

$1,899/£1,899, fender.com

You may have noticed that the Jaguar has been enjoying a bit of a cultural renaissance in the last few years. For so long, Fender’s ‘other’ offset has lived in the shadow of its bigger brother. With a shorter scale length, weird-looking pickups and an incredibly fiddly control layout, the Jag was always struggling to win hearts and minds. And then Johnny Marr came along.

• READ MORE: Fairlane Zephyr review – “sell every guitar you own and buy one of these”

It’s maybe overdoing things a little to say that the legendary guitarist ‘fixed’ the Jaguar when his signature model first came out in 2012, but its influence on the original American Professional Jaguar in 2017 was clear.

Then things all went a bit quiet. The original AmPro Jag didn’t exactly set the world on fire popularity-wise, despite incorporating many of the tweaks that had made the Marr Jag so popular, and the absence of any kind of Jaguar in the 2020 American Professional II range at all, made you wonder if Fender had decided that the Jag was best left as a weirdo outsider.

Then a change began – over the last few years we’ve seen Jaguars prominently featured as part of the Player II and Vintera III launches, and we even saw a Jaguar return to the American-made range with the American Professional Classic launch last year.

But now, the Jaguar and Jazzmaster have taken centre stage like never before, as the headline items in Fender’s latest revamp of the standard American Professional range – and with very good reason…

What is it?

The 2026 American Professional lineup is the third iteration of Fender’s flagship standard series. As the name suggests, these guitars are aimed primarily at working musicians and experienced hobbyists.

Instead of the period-accuracy of the American Vintage II range, or the unabashed modernism of the American Ultra, the AmPro range is meant to straddle the two sides – offering some of the fundamental ingredients of classic Fender instruments, but with a host of quality-of-life upgrades for the player.

In practice for this Jaguar, it means that we don’t have many of the vintage annoyances that come with Fender’s most famous short-scale guitar. That means no annoying pickup selection switches, replaced once again with a Johnny Marr-inspired three-way switch.

In the original AmPro Jag, the rhythm circuit was replaced by a single-phase switch, but here it’s been ditched for a new series mode (with its own volume and tone) that gives you the power of both V-Mod III single-coils at once.

That’s not the only electronic tweak in play here too, as there’s a push-push switch on the tone control that activates a more vintage mode on the bridge pickup.

The neck is Fender’s Deep C profile, and it’s a 24” scale length of course. The maple neck itself is finished with what Fender is calling its Super-Natural satin urethane finish on this new series for extra smooth playability, and like most Fender guitars now, the fingerboard edges come factory rolled.

The biggest and most headline-grabbing new addition, however, is found down at the business end of the guitar. While the original AmPro swapped the much-maligned vintage threaded saddles for a Mustang-style set, the 2026 version has added something rather exciting for offset fans.

The new ClassicGear J-Bridge is a brand new type of bridge design that is heavily based on the Fender Custom Shop RSD bridge. The RSD has become something of a legend in the offset community, because it is said to enhance sustain and resonance, while also allowing smooth operation of the tremolo and no pesky intonation issues.

The RSD was never offered as an aftermarket part, so the only way to get one was by buying a Custom Shop offset, which further enhanced its legend – on the rare occasion these things ended up on Reverb, they’d often sell for as much as $800.

The ClassicGear J-Bridge is basically Fender’s answer to the chorus of people who have begged them to create a more affordable and mass-producible version of the RSD, with the fundamental essence of the original intact. For now, it’s exclusive to the new American Professional Jaguar and Jazzmaster models.

Like the RSD bridge, what you have here is a steel plate with a pair of brass saddles, each responsible for three strings each. The bridge itself is set up to rock, with plenty of air either side of the bushings, and each saddle is adjustable for height, but not for intonation – you’re stuck with the compensated layout that Fender has chosen. It’s paired with a Panorama tremolo, which comes with a push-in arm.

The V-Mod III Jaguar pickups have also been retooled from their original V-Mod counterparts, this time with Alnico IV staggered pole pieces. You also get a bunch of interesting finish options for these guitars, including this Dark Night and my personal favourite, Oxblood.

Build quality & usability

In the hands, the Deep C satin neck is noticeably comfortable in the palm. It doesn’t come across as either too chunky or too thin. This, coupled with the more compact 24” scale length and a sculpted heel, makes this one of the most comfortable Jaguars I’ve played in some time – it’s quite possibly the Goldilocks profile of Fender’s current Jaguar offerings in the neck department, though the rolled edges could do with some work. The fret ends aren’t sharp, but there’s friction here – weirdly, more so than the rolled edges on Fender’s Mexico guitars I’ve tried.

Outside of the Mod Shop, this is the first time Fender has shipped a Jaguar with the Panorama trem since the first AmPro, and it’s a welcome addition, especially now that it has a collet design and a stronger spring. The original Panorama trem had a weak spring that caused it to bottom out whenever you put any string gauge heavier than 10s on it – thankfully that’s no longer an issue here.

The new spring and the push-in arm make the vibrato assembly feel less stiff, which results in a system that’s capable of Strat-like dive bombs while still retaining the potential for My Bloody Valentine ‘glide guitar’ trem work that you’d expect from a Fender offset.

The tuning machines here are Fender’s modern staggered units – I personally prefer the look and feel of the more vintage-style tuners, but these work well and are smooth in operation.

Finally then, the much-talked-about ClassicGear J-Bridge. In operation, it works very well with the Panorama trem, allowing for a smooth and even operation with no friction, though the nature of rocking bridges means that tuning stability can be a bit hit or miss if you give it too much wiggle – you might want to invest in some nylon threads to stop it moving if this is proving a long-term issue.

In terms of its function, the intonation out of the box seems pretty spot on – something that is especially important given that the saddles are fixed in place – though I’m still a little on the fence about that as a concept long-term.

It is, however, a huge improvement over the vintage-style saddles, with thick grooves in the brass keeping things rock solid, and it’s also a step forward from the Mustang bridge because the string spacing here is bang on 52mm – not the fretboard-edge troubling 56mm of the old version.

Is this going to convert people away from the Mastery/Staytrem hegemony that dominates the Jazzmaster aftermarket offset bridge world? Well, for some the lack of intonation adjustment will be a deal-breaker, but I really like the simplicity and ease of maintenance – and it looks great, which doesn’t hurt either. Overall, it’s very impressive.

Sounds

To put this new American Professional Jaguar through its paces, I thought it best to couple it with my favourite pedalboard running through a Vox AC15. The first notable thing is how bright and articulate these pickups are. My major complaint on previous V-Mod offerings (both Jazzmaster and Jaguar) was the tonal “Stratification” of the Jazzmaster/Jaguar jangle.

So, noticing that these new V-Mod III pickups capture the Jag jangle, but in a more hi-fi approach, already had this version winning brownie points for me. Speaking of which, the pickups sound punchier than the previous V-Mod offerings too. But with a tonal chime and airiness that is amazingly glassy when clean and a tonal abrasiveness when put through a decent overdrive like the Chase Bliss Brothers AM. Trust me, being able to capture the MEW And The Glass Handed Kites-era jangle of Bo Madsen to surfy Dick Dale Pipeline cleans is no easy task and only serves to reinforce the tonal versatility on tap.

Another high mark in my book is how well the American Professional Jaguar handles effects. Everything from stacked drives to more weird and granular stuff sounded great – retaining enough of the Jaguar characteristic that it never felt like the balance between the tonal characteristics of the guitar and effects was out of whack. In fact, it only further served to enhance them by keeping that near bell-like chime, but never in an overbearing kind of way.

Arguably my favourite position is the new series mode. When engaged, this guitar sounds fuller and much more alive. Clean, it’s a dynamically bigger sound without the tonal restraints of the classic rhythm circuit. When on the edge of breakup, it has the aggressiveness and output of a well-driven humbucker, but it never steers too far away from the single-coil characteristic that the Jaguar is known for.

And unlike the traditional rhythm circuit, it does not sound muddy! This is another idea borrowed from the Johnny Marr model; it’s much more usable and practical than the old rhythm circuit.

If there’s one area I found a bit lacking, it was the push-pull vintage/modern switch of the lead circuit. It doesn’t sound bad per se, but it’s not a particularly noticeable change in sonic characteristics – so much so that I regularly forgot it was even there a lot of the time. It’s hard to really justify it being there when the impact on the tone is so minimal.

Should you buy one?

The American Professional Jaguar is a reminder that Fender doesn’t just do vintage reissues, but has some interesting ideas about how its instruments should evolve and expand for the modern age.

In that, it does a really nice job of being something of a do-it-all Jag – whether you’re going for surfy sounds or angular noise – and with a price tag that’s threatening $2,000, you should hope so.

Unquestionably, this isn’t a guitar for everyone – the traditionalists would be better off looking at the Vintera III range, while there’s an argument to be made that the pickups still don’t sound enough like a Jag to really make it worthy of the name.

But the Jaguar – with all its idiosyncratic features and its unique sound – has never been a mass-appeal instrument. The American Professional Jaguar is much more likely to do that than any other Jag in the Fender lineup. It’s streamlined, refined and versatile – if you love the vibe but want to duck the weirdness, this is the Jag for you.

Alternatives

Fender American Professional Classic Jaguar ($1,599/£1,479) – the other option in the AmPro range, which aims to hew more closely to vintage looks but without the eccentric wiring. It’s got a Mustang bridge, but its also a fair whack cheaper than the guitar here.

Fender Vintera III Mid ‘60s Jaguar ($1,349/£1,029) – if you want a Jaguar that hews as close as possible to vintage spec and feel, this Mexico-made guitar delivers that in spades. But watch out for that bridge!

Fender Limited Edition Johnny Marr Signature Special Jaguar ($2,999/£2,869) – the second edition of Johnny’s revolutionary signature Jag takes things in a very different direction, with the Jaguar pickups swapped out for a trio of lipstick units.

Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar ($1,999/£1,579) – another heavily modded twist on the Jaguar recipe, this recreation of the Nirvana man’s favoured axe has a Tune-O-Matic bridge and a pair of DiMarzio humbuckers.

Specs

• NAME: Fender American Professional Jaguar
• PRICE: $1,899/£1,899
• ORIGIN: USA
• BODY: Alder, solid
• NECK: Maple, bolt-on
• NECK PROFILE: Deep C
• FINGERBOARD: Rosewood, 9.5” radius
• FRETS: 22, narrow-tall
• NUT: Bone
• HARDWARE: ClassicGear J-Bridge, Panorama Trem, ClassicGear tuners
• ELECTRICS: 2x V-Mod III Single-Coil Jaguar pickups, three-way pickup selector, volume and tone (with push-push vintage/modern bridge voicing), normal/series switch (w/ separate volume and tone controls)
• SCALE LENGTH: 610mm/24”
• NECK WIDTH: 43mm at nut, 51.5mm at 12th fret
• NECK DEPTH: 21mm at first fret, 23mm at 12th fret
• STRING SPACING: 36mm at nut, 52mm at bridge
• WEIGHT: 3.9kg/8.4lbs
• FINISH: Gloss polyurethane (body and headstock), satin polyurethane (neck)
• FINISH OPTIONS: Dark Night (shown), 3-Color Sunburst, Olympic White, Black, Oxblood
• EXTRAS: Fender Deluxe Moulded Hard Case

The post Fender American Professional Jaguar review: “if you love the vibe but want to duck the weirdness, this is the Jag for you” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Turns out Dinosaur Jr.’s lead singer and guitarist J Mascis has spent a lot of time in Stars Hollow, the small Connecticut town where Lorelai and Rory Gilmore lived out the ups and downs of mother/daughter life in Gilmore Girls.

On a recent episode of the Bandsplain podcast, Mascis and host Yasi Salek go into their shared fandom of the show. It first comes up when they discuss shirts for the Dinosaur Jr. album, Green Mind. Salek puts the figure for a vintage print at $3,000. This reminds Mascis of when that shirt was seen on Gilmore Girls.

“Somehow the shirt’s making me sad. It’s making me think of Gilmore Girls, which I love. There was an episode where the boyfriend wore that shirt, but it didn’t have the band name on it. It just had the girl bigger,” Mascis says. “I felt so ripped off.”

• EDITOR’S PICK: We speak to bass sensation Blu DeTiger on embracing her roots and inventing new genres

Jess Mariano, played by Milo Ventimiglia, wore a shirt on the show that featured the cover of Green Mind. But the text was obscured by his jacket, so all the viewers could see was the legendary image of a young girl with a cigarette in her mouth.

They stayed on the topic for a bit longer as Salek mentioned Mascis’s good friends and fellow alt idols, Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, who made a cameo on the show. Salek believes Mascis should have been given a cameo as well, but he never was.

“I was mad about that, too,” Mascis says.

However, the producers must have known he was a big fan. When the show came to its conclusion in 2007 after 153 episodes, Mascis received a gift even though a Dinosaur Jr. song was never synced:

“I remember getting these Gilmore Girls sweatpants that they gave away to everyone on the last episode,” Mascis tells Salik, which he can only recall came into his possession because he loved the show.

Dinosaur Jr. released their 13th studio album, There Near, on 28 August, 2026, and have a number of tour dates planned in 2027. For a full list of dates, head to their official website.

The post “I was mad about that”: J Mascis is jealous of his friends Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore for their Gilmore Girls cameo appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

On N.Y. Baby, Blu DeTiger introduces you to your new favourite genre: boogie sleaze. It’s the affectionate name she’s given the sonic world of her second record, one filled with buoyant beats, disco and funk bounce, and slinky bass lines courtesy of DeTiger’s virtuosic playing.

• READ MORE: Matt Bellamy on Manson, why Instagram guitarists are the future, and his desire to build an AI prompt guitar

“I like making genres up,” Blu says with a smile, chatting to Guitar.com ahead of her recently released second record. “It’s a combination of a few things… this funk, soul, boogie, disco sound, and the sleaze is for the New York edge, and the edginess that some of the songs have.”

DeTiger is video calling from her home in New York, the city at the core of her second album. “My whole musical journey started here and still is woven into the city,” the 28-year-old reflects. The iconic city that never sleeps has a major influence not only on the record’s name, but also the way it sounds.

“I wanted the music to feel like what New York represented to me,” she continues. “Which is independence and freedom, potential and possibility. A little chaos, a little desire, a little sexiness, a little main character vibes, and I think all of those themes are what the city brings out in me specifically”. With N.Y. Baby, that mission has been accomplished.

State Of Mind

Born and raised in the city that never sleeps, Blu grew up with a love of NYC icons like Chloë Sevigny, Blondie’s Debbie Harry and Talking Heads’ Tina Weymouth. Picking up the bass in her early years, Blu immersed herself in music – even playing the iconic venue CBGB before she turned ten.

Gigging around the city and playing bass for other artists while she was in middle and high school, as well as DJing, Blu’s name spread via word of mouth. “All these opportunities were coming from me saying yes to things, then being at the next gig and someone there seeing me and booking me for the next thing,” she adds.

In 2019, Blu started releasing music under her own name, racking up listeners with her euphoric funky sonics – and garnering huge viral success for bass covers of tunes by Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion and Prince during the Covid-19 lockdowns. Excellent projects like 2021’s EP How Did We Get Here?, and 2024’s debut album All I Ever Want Is Everything followed; and along the way there’ve been a succession of starry gigs and side quests.

For starters there was a memorable guest appearance in Olivia Rodrigo’s concert film Driving Home 2 U, then she joined Bleachers on Saturday Night Live in 2022 (later this year she’ll join Jack Antonoff on their UK tour), and in 2024 she became the first woman and youngest bassist to release a Fender signature model.

Changing Lanes

N.Y. Baby comes after at a time of change, though; with a period of time with no label or management. Blu reflects that she “really had to go back to [her] roots, go back to New York, and really think about what I wanted to make; and make that without anyone telling me what to make.”

“I think it took a lot of trust within myself and self confidence,” she continues. “To just be like: ‘No, this is what it’s going to be, and I’m making it because I like this type of music. So if I like it, hopefully other people do too.’”

One way Blu kept her creative vision on-track in the studio was with a PowerPoint presentation that she could always refer back to. It outlined how the music should sound (“I was like: I want it to make people dance, I want to be able to play it in DJ sets, I want it to feel sexy and slick,” she explains), as well as ideas for visuals, notes on how it should be produced and beyond. The results are a whip-smart collection of funk and disco fuelled pop.

From the cowbell groove of Makeup, to the psych-flecked flourishes on Rize; the Flavor Flav-featuring sunshine of the record’s title track (an incredibly supportive pal of Blu’s, who reflects that “everything he says feels so iconic”) and house beats of Heat, it’s elegantly crafted and endlessly catchy. It’s a record that sounds effortless, but take a peak behind the curtain and there’s hugely intricate production and instrumental lines that make up each tune.

Bass In The Place

Throughout, DeTiger’s distinctive bass lines bolster each track. “Most of these songs started with the basslines,” she explains. There was a particular focus going into making sure the bass lines could really shine and be the driving force of each song. “To me, good basslines are basslines that can be sung back as much as a vocal melody,” she muses. Each bassline had to check the boxes of “holding the groove down, being memorable as much as a vocal melody, and being catchy enough, and having a driving force and move the song along, and support the song structure.”

“And it had to be fun to play,” she adds with a laugh, and this infectious fun is a thread throughout N.Y. Baby. In the studio, Blu was mostly playing her signature Fender. “I was playing on the back pickup, which is more of a Bernard Edwards type of tone, a little bit more midrangey and punchy,” she says.

It’s now been two years since Blu first released her Fender sig, but the joy at knowing other people can play the instrument hasn’t worn off. “Oh my god, it’s so cool,” she grins, when asked about how it feels to know other people are playing the instrument. “Your instrument is your tool for self expression, so the fact that someone is using something that I made and created to express themselves, is the coolest thing ever.”

Being a prolific player, Blu also receives messages from young people, and especially women, sharing that she inspired them to pick up the bass (and sometimes, that bass is her signature model!) “It feels really cool,” she reflects, adding that Fender have been hugely receptive to working collaboratively on the instrument, with a new colourway in the works for this record.

The instrument is the perfect addition to the sonic sunshine of N.Y. Baby, a dreamy record that’ll be just at home during late nights at clubs, to sun-drenched festival sets. As Blu prepares to take the record on tour, how would she like punters to feel when they see the album live? “I want them to dance, I want them to get out of their head into their body. I want them to feel joy, and to feel good!” With boogie sleaze, it’d be hard not to.

Blu DeTiger’s N.Y. Baby is out now on Warner Bros, she supports Bleachers on their UK tour in November/December 2026.

The post “Your instrument is your tool for self expression” Blu DeTiger on embracing her roots and inventing new genres to follow her musical muse appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

“These guitars strip away everything that doesn’t serve the riff.”

That’s what Fender said when it unveiled its new line of hard rock and metal-focused Player Fusion guitars back in June. The series comprises a quartet of Mexican-made instruments boasting classic Fender designs, while offering something a little different to players of a heavier persuasion.

Shredders and heavy riff purveyors have no doubt been waiting to get their hands on the Player Fusion series, and as of now, they’ve finally arrived, and are now available…

• EDITOR’S PICK: Shopping for Christmas presents for the little ones in your life? These new Fender x Loog guitars might just be the ticket…

If you need a recap, the Player Fusion series features four instruments: an HSS Stratocaster, Baritone Jaguar, Floyd Rose-equipped, double-humbucker Telecaster, and a dual-humbucker Precision Bass.

Let’s take a closer look at each model’s individual specs to whet your appetite…

Player Fusion Stratocaster HSS – $1,149.99 / £1,049

Aiming to strike the balance between “surgical single-coil clarity and full humbucker weight”, the HSS Strat features a high-output humbucker in the bridge position, paired with noiseless single coils in the middle and neck positions. Elsewhere, the guitar features a 12” radius ebony fingerboard, along with a two-point trem with black hardware, and a choice of Black or Olympic Pearl colourways.

Player Fusion Telecaster HH Floyd Rose – $1,399.99 / £1,149

Next up, the Player Fusion HH Floyd Rose trades out the standard Telecaster double single-coil blueprint for a pair of riff-ready high-output humbuckers. The all-black Floyd Rose tremolo system also marks this instrument as a more contemporary Telecaster model. This one comes in either Black or Aura Metallic.

Player Fusion Jaguar Baritone – $1,299.99 / £1,049

Perhaps the most mouth-watering instrument in the Player Fusion lineup, this guitar sports a 27” scale length for comfortable B-to-B tuning. In other words, this one’s made for drop tunings…

It features an upgraded Jaguar rhythm circuit control, now with a “Spin-a-Split” wiring via Fender roller pots that “progressively transform the humbuckers into single coils” for a leaner tone. Additionally, a TBX Tone circuit offers even more tone sculpting options.

The Player Fusion Jaguar Baritone is available in Black and Silverburst.

Player Fusion Precision Bass HH – $1,149.99 / £1,149

And finally, not to leave the bassists feeling left out, the Player Fusion lineup is completed by a double-humbucker-loaded, hard-rock-ready Precision Bass. In addition to two high-output humbuckers, this bass features a thin Jazz Bass neck profile, and a 12” radius ebony fingerboard, and comes in two colour options: Black and Halo Metallic.

You can learn more about the Limited Edition Player Fusion series at Fender.

The post Shredders and heavy riffers: Fender’s Player Fusion series has officially arrived appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Over the years, Liam Gallagher has made his feelings on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame pretty clear; back in 2021, the singer insisted he wasn’t “interested” in that form of recognition, and in 2024 he eloquently branded the institution “a load of bollocks”. However, has his tune changed now Oasis are set to be inducted into the hallowed hall?

…Of course it hasn’t. While Oasis will be joining the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on 14 November, Gallagher won’t be in attendance. His reasoning? Well, in his own words, he’d rather “stack the dishwasher” than fly out to LA. “Everyone’s a soft cunt these days,” Gallagher explains in an X post. “[Award shows are] boring as fuck. Everyone’s up their own arse and far too sensitive. I’d rather stay and stack the dishwasher”

• READ MORE: “Drink a beer and plug into an amp: grow up!”: Joyce Manor guitarist on why it’s “not cool” when bands don’t use real amps on stage

Back in April, Gallagher fooled fans with a rather sarcastic “thank you” to everyone who had voted for Oasis to join the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. “I wanna thank all the people who voted for us it’s a real honour… ever since I was a little kid and singing in the shower I’d dream about 1 day being in the RnR Hall of Fame,” he joked.

“It’s true what they say: anything is possible if you have a dream,” he concluded.

While some didn’t clock the sarcasm, he followed up with another post that made it scathingly clear: “I was speaking to my mummy last night when the news broke, and she thinks I may have been a little hasty with my perception of the organisation. She’s told me to stop being a dick and go to the awards and ‘behave… you never know you might enjoy it.’”

Well I was speaking to my mummy last night when the news broke and she thinks I may have been a little hasty with my perception of the organization she’s told me to stop being a dick and go to the awards and behave and you never know you might enjoy it

— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) April 14, 2026

True to his word, the mardy Manc’s refusal to attend is pretty in line with his 2024 rant against the institution. Just like then, Gallagher doesn’t feel like he needs to be awarded a “wank award” from “some geriatric in a cowboy hat”.

Gallagher also officially confirmed these thoughts with The Sunday Times that same year, claiming the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame seemed to be arbitrarily chosen, thus making any recognition from the institution pointless. He honed in on Mariah Carey’s inclusion as a case in point: “As much as I love Mariah Carey and all that, I want to say: do me a favour and fuck off. It’s like putting me in the rap hall of fame, and I don’t want to be part of anything that mentally disturbed. Besides, I’ve done more for rock n’ roll than half of them clowns on that board.”

Of course, Gallagher does admit he might have been more inclined to attend had the ceremony not been in LA. “If it was in the UK I’d be there,” he admits on X. “For some reason it’s in LA and that’s miles away.”

“It’s too far to be going for the night,” he adds in another tweet. “I got shit to do – it’s Christmas.”

It’s too far to be going for the night I got shit to do it’s Christmas

— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) November 10, 2026

Replying to one fan who felt saddened by Gallagher’s apparent change in attitude, pointing back to Gallagher’s sarcastically ‘enthusiastic’ tweets back in April, Gallagher has some sage advice for anyone gutted that we wont witness the Gallagher brothers swaggering up to accept their Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction: “Stop crying your heart out and go put the kettle on.”

Oasis will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on 14 November.

Lucy you do know your allowed to change your mind stop crying your heart out and go put the kettle on

— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) November 10, 2026

The post “I’d rather stay and stack the dishwasher”: Liam Gallagher explains why Oasis won’t be attending their Rock Hall induction appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Slowly but surely, amp modellers like the Kemper Profiler are winning guitarists over. From AFI’s Jade Puget calling tube amps “constraining” to Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi claiming it’s “hard to tell the difference” between a modeller and a real amplifier, artists from every genre are becoming converts. However, if you’re considering making the switch, Joyce Manor are here to knock some sense into you.

In a new interview with Marshall, punk rock emo revivalists Joyce Manor admit they “judge” anyone that prefers modeller over a real amp. “I’m judging you – get an amp!” lead vocalist, Barry Johnson, laughs. “It’s so un-rock-n-roll. It’s so not cool!”

He even goes so far as to liken a modeller to vaping; it’s a modern shortcut that takes any ‘cool’ factor out of what you’re actually doing. “You’ve got to get cabs – or you’re, like, vaping, y’know?” he laughs. “Just rip a cig! What are you doing?! Plug into an amplifier! Drink a beer and plug into an amp. Grow up already!”

• READ MORE: Laney Prism-Mini review – a sub-£100 desktop amp with sounds that’ll rival your main rig

He closes off his short, humorous rant with a short: “Modelling amp!! Jesus Christ!”

The frustration was spurred on by Johnson and his bandmate, Chase Knobbe, reminiscing about their first amps. “The first amp I bought for myself was a Marshall JCM800,” Johnson recalls. “I bought it from my friend, Eric, and it belonged to a guitar player of Thrice and it was actually modded to be a little more high gain…”

“My first Marshall was a 1987X – the Yngwie Malmsteen one,” Knobbe chimes in. “That was in my era when I did not know what any knob did… and that it still sounded awesome. I’d just kind of turn everything up…”

The experimental approach is how Joyce Manor’s guitarists found their sound – and the conversation is reminiscent of what Analog Man founder Mike Pierra said in a February interview. In his mind, the joy of discovering your personal guitar tone comes from the hands-on experience. If you jump in with a modeller from the get-go, you could be doing yourself a massive disservice.

Appearing on Products of Music, Pierra said: “I don’t personally try out the digital modelling things. I have no interest in them. Because to me, it’s not any fun…I want to play my guitar. I want it to go through real pedals, real amps and real speakers.”

And, to hone in on Joyce Manor’s argument once again – a clean, stackless stage set up is just “not cool”. Even Joe Bonamassa agrees; last year, the legendary guitarist appeared on the No Cover Charge podcast, and he also said that modellers aren’t as “cool” as the real deal. Being a rockstar is about great tone, but it’s also about looking the part with some vintage, rugged gear by your side.

“Imagine if Eddie Van Halen showed up with a Neural [Quad Cortex] and a Suhr.” he said. “Is it as cool? I’m not knocking John Suhr, I’m not knocking Neural… Great invention, but I just pose the question. People hear with their eyes. It’s the whole thing!”

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The post “Drink a beer and plug into an amp: grow up!”: Joyce Manor guitarist on why it’s “not cool” when bands don’t use real amps on stage appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

$395/£425, deathbyaudio.com / raingerfx.com

Sometimes, as a Brit, I find myself looking at Death By Audio’s freakiest pedals and thinking, “These Yanks are crazy!” But equally, I can well imagine American guitarists look at Rainger FX’s freakiest pedals and thinking, “These Limeys are crazy!” So… what if we’re both right?

• READ MORE: Orange Baby Terror review: a minuscule lunchbox head that packs classic Orange punch

The Amp Crash is what happens if the universe is reckless enough to let two of the most eccentric stompbox makers from either side of the Atlantic work together. It’s an ambitious product, with a whole range of uses at home, in the studio and even on stage, but that doesn’t mean it’s some sort of problem-solving utility pedal. In fact, this thing is about as utilitarian as a pet crocodile.

What is it?

Where to even start? I suppose the most obvious use of the Amp Crash is as a 3W analogue practice amplifier, complete with two-inch speaker and built-in digital effects. You get controls for gain and tone, with two mini-knobs for adjusting the ‘SFX’ section according to whether you have it set to chorus, delay or reverb.

The next step from there might be to plug it into an external speaker cabinet (minimum eight ohms) for a considerable upgrade in sonic scale, turning a cutesy bedroom gadget into a viable gigging solution. Or you could use the line output to run the pedal into a standard amp, at which point it becomes a sort of maverick multi-effects unit.

But here’s where things get really fruity. Yes, there really is a little microphone inside this pedal, pointing at the speaker, so you can also use it as an amp and cab sim – but without the ‘sim’ – for direct recording. Naturally this is unlikely to sound like a perfect digital recreation of a top-class studio mic pointing at a pre-CBS Fender Deluxe Reverb, but that was never going to be the point – these Yanks and Limeys are crazy, remember?

All of this functionality is delivered in a stompbox that won’t take up an inordinate amount of pedalboard space, and will run off a standard pedal power supply with at least 300mA of current.

Build quality and usability

DBA and Rainger have done a sterling job of keeping the interface as simple as possible given the number of features on offer here. Plug in a guitar, add nine volts and you’ve got the most basic of practice combos – maybe a master volume control would have been nice, but there is an old-school purity about going gain-only. Likewise there’s no bypass switch for the effects – to turn that section off you simply set the depth to minimum.

Worried about the mic picking up your seismic flatulence and general background chatter? It’s got a noise gate, which has an on/off toggle switch but nothing so fancy as a threshold control; and if you want to mute the speaker entirely – which most people will surely want to do when running into a ‘proper’ amp – you just have to plug something into the speaker output (an unconnected patch cable will do).

These connectivity options can get a tiny bit confusing at the beginning. But it’s all easily mastered with practice, and – as you have every right to demand from two companies with this kind of pedigree – it feels like a solid, well-built piece of gear.

Sounds

The practice combo is first up. I’m expecting lo-fi larks here, in the ultra-punky tradition of those old Smokey amps built into cigarette packets, and that’s very much what the Amp Crash spits out… with two key differences. Firstly, it’s a much more grown-up sound with a decent gain range, from light crunch to sagging splat-fuzz; and secondly, it’s a whole lot louder. If you plan to crank it into the rawk zone, you might want to warn your housemates first.

What you don’t get is any kind of warmth or three-dimensionality, but that’s hardly surprising with a two-inch speaker. So don’t bother playing tasteful chords through this thing – it was born to frighten people, not read them bedtime stories.

The effects section offers up some interesting options for going in a more wild and experimental direction. The reverb and delay both get extremely dense, while the chorus is very wobbly indeed and tends towards the flangey zone. It’s all highly entertaining, and only in delay mode might you wish for a third knob to let you adjust the level and feedback separately.

All of the above applies equally when you plug into an external cab: it’s still ragged and raucous, but now with a far less boxy frequency spread and, above all, a hell of a lot more volume. This will be more than adequate for gigging, though the clean tones remain flat and unrefined so we’re really talking heavy stuff only.

Next up is the ‘normal stompbox’ scenario, and it’s probably the Amp Crash’s strongest suit – letting you enjoy all the gnarliness but now in more well-rounded form, complete with independent control over fuzziness and output level. As a medium-gain overdrive it’s great, as a high-gain fuzz it’s even greater, and as a brutally overloading splurge-beast it’s greatest of all.

The direct recording function is more complicated. Use the DI output on its own and it sounds… well, like a DI: bright and plasticky. Stick with the mic output, however, and you might find you’ve gone too far in the other direction, as it’s oh so scuzzy and dark. But blend the two together, and suddenly you’ve got the best of both worlds and the worst of neither: the DI gives you clarity and edge, while the mic provides natural colour to round it out. It’s far from hi-fi, but there are some surprisingly pleasant and well-balanced tones available here.

The only snag is that, in order to record the mic’s output, you’ll obviously need to leave the speaker unmuted – and as I’ve already mentioned, it can get awfully loud. This is not a problem you have to deal with when using a sim, but at least – unlike a traditional amp and mic setup – the Amp Crash can be hidden away in a cupboard or smothered with cushions.

Should I buy one?

Oh dear, it’s time to get sensible. Because while the Amp Crash is a wondrous piece of work and I love it to bits, this is not the kind of product I’d recommend as a must-have for every guitarist’s arsenal. If you normally play clean, or you’re the kind of tonehound who demands warmly rounded smoothness in everything, it probably isn’t going to make much sense for you.

To be clear, though, this isn’t just about garage-rock shoutiness – the usable sounds range from Screamer-style drive to hyper-compressed filth, the three digital effects are all worthy additions, and above all it’s a genuine multi-purpose device that’s ready to impose its big personality pretty much anywhere in your music-making life.

Alternatives

Acorn Amplifiers Solid State ($299/£289) – good luck finding a true alternative to this thing… but you could have a look at the a Peavey-inspired preamp pedal with a built-in power amp so it can be plugged straight into a speaker cab. I reviewed the preamp-only version ($179/£169) and it was a retro riot.

The MXR Rockman X100 ($245/£229) – this is more of a standard distortion pedal, but it has that compression-heavy 80s thing going on and includes a chorus effect.

Positive Grid Spark GO ($99/£95) – right at the other end of the fidelity spectrum, there’s this thoroughly modern portable amp.

Specs

• NAME: Death By Audio x Rainger FX Amp Crash
• PRICE: $395/£425
• TYPE: Hybrid multi-effects and practice/direct amp
• POWER: 3W
• SPEAKER: 1×2” (internal)
• CONTROLS: DI out level, mic out level, gain, tone, mic gate toggle, effects select toggle, depth, time, power on/off
• INPUTS: 1x standard instrument input
• OUTPUTS: Hybrid DI/mic output (footswitchable), ext speaker out (8-ohm minimum, 3w or greater)
• POWER: 9V centre-negative DC only (300mA current draw)
• WEIGHT: 1.44lbs/0.65kg

The post Death By Audio x Rainger FX Amp Crash review – an amplifier, a speaker, a microphone and multiple effects… all inside one pedal appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Back in 2023, John Mayer said that guitars should “echo” the “world around them”. Most of the time, this echoing is shown in the design elements in his Martin signature models – but, now, Mayer and Martin are considering the current economic climate. A reliable axe doesn’t need to be an expensive luxury – that’s why Mayer’s newest Martin signature is his most accessibly priced to date.

Rather than breaking the bank, Martin’s new OM-13E John Mayer and OMC-13E John Mayer acoustic-electrics come as an affordable luxury in an overpriced world. The new signatures join the brand’s Road Series, which comes as the first time Mayer has released a Road guitar. After working with Martin for over 20 years, a Mayer Road axe has been a long time coming – but better late than never.

• READ MORE: Martin 00-10E Retro Joe Bonamassa review: “Forget the name on the label, this is a great guitar”

Both the OM-13E and OMC-13E bring Mayer’s specific specifications to the Road series, with each capturing the heart and spirit of the iconic guitarist’s signature acoustic tone. In terms of design and sound, the two guitars are nearly identical, bar the OMC-13E’s additional cutaway and multi-stripe top trim.

The pair come in at 25.4 inches, and are constructed with solid Engelmann spruce tops, as well as solid black walnut backs and sides and scalloped spruce X-bracing for enhanced resonance. There are also ebony fingerboards and bridges, and nickel open gear tuners, and Martin E1 electronics with a nifty built-in tuner.

Each guitar also features an interior label with John Mayer’s signature proudly printed on.

As for that accessible price point, both axes will set you back by $1,999.99. It’s a huge drop in price for a Mayer-approved Martin – his last signature offered a cheaper model for $3,999, while the more premium model was $18,499. So it’s about time Mayer repackaged his legendary sonic touch into an axe that more fans can enjoy.

The OM-13E John Mayer and OMC-13E John Mayer are available now for $1,999.99. For more information, head to Martin.

The post John Mayer releases his most affordable Martin signature guitar to date – and it’s just under $2,000 appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

At 83 years old, Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger has no intention of hanging up his boots. In fact, he still spends considerable time penning new material while watching TV, as he explains…

In a new interview in the latest issue of Uncut magazine, Jagger explains how a large part of his creative process now happens in front of the TV while watching “rubbish”.

• EDITOR’S PICK: Matt Bellamy on Manson, why Instagram guitarists are the future, and his desire to build an AI prompt guitar
  

“I was sitting watching the TV last night in my flat,” he says, “then I picked up my acoustic guitar and wrote four different things. I said, ‘Turn the TV off. This is rubbish!’ It was quite late and I was banging out these tunes, then I put the TV back on after I’d done two.”

It turns out having the TV on nearby was a useful conduit for his creativity… “Then I thought, ‘Hang on, I’ve got this idea…’ I turned off the TV and wrote two more.

“I’m not saying they’re finished songs, they’re more like sketches. I thought, ‘Well, this is good going. You’ve got to do this every day.’ That’s what I’ve been doing. I’ve been writing quite a lot, but for what I don’t know.”

Yes, the big question is what will Mick do with those songs, and will they ever see the light of day? Well, he’s already making plans for 2027 and they include the possibility of some Rolling Stones shows. “I’d really like to do some shows,” he said, “so that’s in my head… but if not the Stones then any show!”

In the past few years, the Stones have added two new studio albums to their total of 25, with Hackney Diamonds (2023) and Foreign Tongues (2026) both well-received. Mick’s on a roll, and who would want to stop him?

The post “I picked up my acoustic guitar and wrote four different things”: At 83, Mick Jagger is still writing songs in front of the TV appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Matt Bellamy’s proudest moment as the owner of Manson Guitars might have happened about five minutes ago – when he got it wrong. “They actually tested me, and I failed the test,” the Muse frontman chuckles as we sit in a conference room in Manson’s brand new showroom in its Devon, UK headquarters.

The test in question was telling the difference between his original Manson 007 guitar, and the ding-for-ding, super-limited replica Black Edition version the company brought out last year. Despite Bellamy having used the guitar on stage and in the studio for years, knowing every inch of his most iconic instrument, he couldn’t work it out.

• READ MORE: The Close Up: Muse guitarist Matt Bellamy’s most iconic and beloved guitar, the Manson 007

“They put the two guitars up, and they said, ‘Can you tell which one’s original?’” he explains. “And I picked the wrong one! And I took my time! I was looking at all the looking details, the cracks, and everything – that’s how accurate it was!”

That the company was able to create such a remarkably accurate replica of his original, and sell them out almost instantly despite a five-figure price tag, speaks to the way the brand has evolved in the half a decade since he took ownership of the small guitar brand that had supplied him with custom instruments since he was a young guitarist hanging around Hugh Manson’s Exeter shop.

The fact that we’re sitting down surrounded by various Manson prototypes and legendary instruments represents another milestone. Bellamy is back in his hometown to christen Manson’s brand new showroom, which sits above an expansion to the Ashburton factory that will enable the brand to scale up their UK operation and meet the considerable demand the brand has been battling with in recent years.

Most of that has been driven by Bellamy, of course. Ever since Hugh Manson started building eye-catching t-style guitars for him, embedded with various wild and wonderful technology in the early days of Muse’s rise to fame, player and brand have become intertwined in a rare way – something that was codified when Bellamy took ownership of the company in 2019.

History Lesson

The new artist showroom is a testament to this partnership – dotted around the walls and on stands are a mixture of iconic guitars and rare curios from the archives, everything from an aborted acoustic prototype, to Bellamy’s “GEO” mask guitar.

“Today is the first time I’ve seen it all laid out like that,” he marvels. “I mean, for me, it’s awesome. It’s like a museum of my history. I’ve got a couple of guitars at home actually, not far from here, that I was thinking of bringing in here, like the original DeLorean guitar. I think that was in here at one point, actually. But Adrian [Ashton, Manson MD] asked me to take it home because he’s scared of having something so valuable here!”

As nice as it is to take a tour through his personal guitar history, seeing the showroom in its current form sparks something: “Thinking about the future though,” he muses “I would love to see like a few other guitars on the wall that aren’t mine.”

Bellamy’s ownership of Manson has seen the brand diversify its artist roster outside of the core two that it started with Bellamy and Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones (Manson was Jones’ longtime tech). Recent years have seen signature models for the likes of Skindred’s Mikey Demus and a collaboration with Adam “Nolly” Getgood, the Oryx. Bellamy reveals that the brand is currently working with Blur’s Graham Coxon on a signature model, and are also developing a guitar with online guitar sensation Emi Grace.

“I’m excited about us bringing in these new younger guitarists, who are going to take it to the next level,” he explains. “You know, it can’t just always rely on me. I like the idea of there being another face or two that start to become as associated with the brand as I am. That would be the long-term goal.”

Bellamy name-dropping Grace is not accidental – he was personally involved in getting the 22-year-old into the Manson orbit. “I reached out to her because she kept coming up on my feed on Instagram,” he chuckles. “I was like, who’s this amazing guitarist?!”

It’s a very 2026 way for an artist to be discovered, but it’s one that Bellamy is clearly enthused by – even if it flies in the face of how guitarists would traditionally earn their stripes.

“I see guitarists like her as being the future,” Bellamy notes. “These Instagram-type players. It’s an interesting development, because these people can now actually have a real career as an instrumentalist. For real, without needing to write songs and being a band in the traditional sense. I think that’s actually a good thing for players, you know? They have this new way of monetising what they do.”

Clean Slate

Bellamy, of course, was very much someone who was in a band and wrote songs as the bandleader and frontman of Muse. But his revolutionary and individual approach to gear – particularly his penchant for integrating effects, MIDI controllers and other tech directly into his instruments – was borne out of the limitations of being in a three-piece band that didn’t have a lot of support around it at the start.

“A lot of that digital stuff came from being a singer/guitarist and wanting to be able to do effects on the move rather than being restricted by the pedalboard,” he explains. “This was before I had techs that did stuff for me! So in those early years, I was like, ‘What can I have that’s integrated into the guitar?’”

Bellamy’s earliest Manson creations were notable for their onboard effects, but also because they weren’t quite the normal shape either – Tele-inspired sure, but different enough to be a clean slate to craft his music on.

“It’s got to be something unique. It’s got to be,” Bellamy says of his approach to guitar design. “That is literally how it started for me. Because every time I picked up a Tele, a Strat, a Les Paul, I just found myself playing music associated with those instruments. I always found that I needed my own thing to make my own thing. Otherwise, I’m just weighed down by the history of this instrument.

“So I wanted a fresh start, and that was really why I came up with the shape: as soon as I picked it up, it felt like a blank canvas to me. So that’s really how it started for me in terms of guitar design. Obviously that was when it was with Hugh [Manson], but that attitude is how we got to where we are now I think.”

Back To The Future

For two decades, Bellamy has been unapologetic in his quest to drive the electric guitar forward in technological terms – whether that’s using onboard effects, MIDI controllers or, perhaps most famously of all, mounting a Korg Kaoss Pad right into the body of his guitar. That was quite a long time ago, however, and its clear that Bellamy sees his ownership of Manson as an opportunity to push the boundaries once again.

“I want to update the tech in the guitar a little bit, and come up with some new ideas for that,” he confidently declares. “I like the idea of trying to integrate AI components into guitars, where you can prompt a guitar to sound a certain way. I’d like to explore that. That tech exists already in the pedal world, but I like the idea of trying to integrate some of that into guitar, so you can essentially talk to your guitar and tell it how you want it to sound. I’m not quite sure the tech’s there yet, but we’ll see.”

AI is of course an extremely polarising word to be throwing around in the music world, but Bellamy clearly sees that there’s a place for the technology to be used in the right scenario.

“I’ve got a big bank of synthesisers, and it can sometimes take hours and hours to get a sound out of it,” he explains. “Whereas the prompting synthesiser thing is interesting. The sound quality isn’t as good, but the interface is great, you know? I like the idea of prompting something, but then something analogue happens – that’s interesting to me. I think that’s probably a long way to go before we get that into a guitar, but the idea of it is interesting.”

One thing that isn’t up for debate is the enduring power of the real-life human element in all of this of course – and he can already see the backlash against AI coming from the next generation.

“I’m not that worried about AI music because I can already see a change with my kids,” he reflects. “They’re gravitating towards the real so much more now because half of what they see on their feeds now is AI. So for that reason, I think live music is going to be trending upwards, with real musicians playing. I think that’s what we’re going to be craving more than anything else, because it’s the only thing we know is real.

“Because everything that’s digital now, everything in our phones is starting to be like, ‘Is it AI? I don’t know!’ You know? But when you see it in person, you see it live, you know it’s real. So I think that real life experience of music is definitely trending upwards.”

New Horizons

The second decade of Manson Guitar Works has been characterised by evolution, and trying new things – whether that’s collaborating with Cort on the hugely successful affordable Meta series, getting into the high-end relic game with the Black Edition, or collaborating with ThorpyFX on the brand’s first effects pedal.

The future, Bellamy envisions, will involve more of all of the above, and maybe even some adventures into new territory…

“There are some of my guitars from the early years which were very special, and I think the fans really want. So I think we will keep doing limited runs of some of these early guitars, but at the same time, we’re always looking to create something new, as well.

“The Oryx eight-string, is a new arrival, and we’ve got the Wow! guitar (the red MB that ties in with Muse’s recent The Wow! Signal album) – that’s really nice and we’re going to start selling that soon. We’re also talking about maybe doing a pedal with Graham as well – an experimental one – and we’re going to do a second run of the Supermassive pedal with a couple of minor tweaks, so we’re expanding on the pedal front too.”

There’s also the question of amps – it seems like a logical place for Manson to explore next, but clearly its only a field that Bellamy would want the brand to get into if it was bringing something new to the table – the idea of sticking his name on a generic amp clearly doesn’t appeal.

“It’d have to be something innovative and different,” he affirms. “But that could be two different ways. It could be like the hyper hand-wired tube thing, or it could be something really on the futuristic side, like an AI prompt amp or something like that. I don’t know. We’ll see. But I could see that happening. We haven’t looked into it that deeply, as to how realistic it is on the manufacturing side, and you know it probably would have to be some kind of partnership. But I can see I could see something like that happening.

“I like the idea of getting some really amazing bass players involved with Manson, as well. I’d like to expand the bass side, and acoustic is something we never really tried,” he points to the prototype hanging on the wall in the room. “That one was made for me when I was trying to work out how to incorporate acoustic sounds live. We never sold it, it was the first attempt, but it’s a nice, lightweight electro-acoustic. But yeah, I like the idea that we can open up a little bit more.”

Reflecting on a relationship with Manson that has spanned the bulk of his musical career, and now eight years as an owner, Bellamy still marvels at the enthusiasm and loyalty that this small Devon boutique builder instills in others.

“I just love how the people love these guitars,” he smiles. “You know, I thought it was just my thing! But we have this really loyal fan base, and even when times are rough, the economy is, like they are now, they still have this enthusiasm for the guitars – that’s what keeps us going.”

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Del Casher – the guitarist credited with the invention of the wah wah pedal – has died at the age of 88 following a battle with cancer. His death has just been publicly announced, but he passed away on 1 October, 2026.

A studio guitarist who worked with many influential acts including Elvis Presley, Cher and the Mothers of Invention, Casher was also a keen inventor, and in addition to the first wah-wah pedal, he also notably developed a portable tape echo device called the Ecco-Fonic.

• EDITOR’S PICK: You won’t believe which guitarist wrote a screenplay for an Elf sequel…

While working as a guitarist and consultant for Vox, Casher and engineer Brad Plunkett developed the first wah-wah pedal from the tone control of a UK Vox amplifier. The unit was being adapted for the US market, following Vox’s purchase by the Thomas Organ Company. Likening the sound to a harmonica cupping the instrument around a microphone, Vox preferred the effect for electric trumpets, rather than guitars. By 1967, however, Casher was able to release a record using the wah-wah pedal, but he was not eligible for manufacturing royalties.

In the years since, the wah-wah sound has become as distinctive to rock guitar as harmonics or tremolo dives or right-hand fretting, and employed by prominent guitarists from Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton to Slash, John Frusciante, and the wah king, Kirk Hammett. You could throw Jeff Beck and Joe Walsh in there too – the pedal is in so many guitarists’ repoertoires, whether they take it out on stage or not.

In 2011, Del Casher told the New York Times that no one at Vox saw a future for the device. “I feel gratified that I was there at the beginning,” he said. “I would just like guitar players to think of me once in a while. The only thing I ask is: remember me.”

Following financial hardship due to lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, Casher began selling his collection of instruments to raise income. He is survived by his 89-year-old wife, Eiko, and a GoFundMe has been launched to support her.

The post Del Casher, inventor of the wah-wah pedal, has died appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Everyone has their go-to festive films when getting into the Christmas spirit and for many, Elf is at the top of that list. Buddy has been a seasonal staple since it landed in 2003, and has never needed a sequel to stay in rotation. But that hasn’t stopped U2 guitarist The Edge from apparently writing a screenplay for Elf 2.

On a recent episode of Obsessed: The Podcast, comedian Andy Richter, who played Morris in the original film, says Elf producer Shauna Robertson received a message saying The Edge had written a script for a sequel and wanted to talk to her about it.

• EDITOR’S PICK: Black Friday is a couple of weeks away, but these early deals might tempt you…

“Somebody reached out to her and said The Edge from U2 has written a sequel to Elf, and he wants to talk to you about it,” Richter explains.

Calling it the “weirdest story”, he continues: “Apparently it was fully written. Somewhere in the world, there is an Edge-penned Elf 2 out there. I would love for that to make the light of day. [But] it never happened. She said it’s just one of those things where she’s like, ‘Alright, sure I’ll meet him!’ And then it just petered out and never happened.”

But despite his intrigue at seeing The Edge’s screenplay, Andy Richter touches on how many films are tarnished by their sequels, and that it’s not worth the risk to make an Elf 2.

“I’m on the side of let it stand. Just let Elf be Elf, and just let it be. You don’t have to use every part of the animal. Just let it be. If anyone even attempted a remake… There’s already been an animated version. There’s been a stage version. There have been other versions of it. They have remade the sausage a few times. But they should just let it be. Don’t touch it.”

The Edge’s script wasn’t the only attempt at continuing Buddy the Elf’s story. Richter adds that The Hangover Part II writer Scot Armstrong, who reportedly did uncredited work on the original Elf script, wrote a separate Elf 2 in which angry South Pole elves mentioned by Buddy in the original kidnap Santa Claus. The script never made it to screen.

Of course, it wouldn’t be The Edge’s first venture beyond U2. His résumé includes contributions to many Hollywood soundtracks and one of Broadway’s most troubled productions, the Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark musical he scored with bandmate Bono.

As for The Edge himself, he hasn’t publicly commented on the script. So for now, an Edge-penned Elf 2 exists only as a story told on a podcast.

Still, it’s hard not to wonder what an Edge-penned Christmas movie might have looked like. We can dream…

The post “Somewhere in the world there is an Edge-penned Elf 2”: U2 guitarist has apparently written a screenplay for an Elf sequel appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Richard Lloyd, co-founding guitarist of New York rock band Television, has died at 75 years old.

According to a statement from his family given to Rolling Stone, Lloyd passed away on Saturday, 7 November, at his home in Chattanooga, Tennessee, after a battle with cholangiocarcinoma, a cancer of the bile duct.

After his diagnosis in March this year, by August, a GoFundMe was launched to help cover his medical costs after the illness forced him to stop touring. Bassist Sean Seymour, who played in Lloyd’s solo band, said touring remained his main source of income.

At that time, Seymour also revealed the severity of Lloyd’s condition. “He has tumours in his liver, including one located dangerously close to a major blood vessel,” Seymour said. “Because of its location, doctors cannot safely operate to remove it at this time.”

Born in Pittsburgh on 25 October 1951, Lloyd first started out on the drums before switching to guitar. As a teenager he became a devoted gig-goer, catching greats including Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Jeff Beck Group and The Grateful Dead. He left school early and moved to Boston, where he ended up playing with John Lee Hooker, before spells in Los Angeles and then New York.

In New York in 1973, Richard Lloyd met Tom Verlaine, then still Tom Miller. They formed that year, with Verlaine, bassist Richard Hell and drummer Billy Ficca. They became fixtures at the legendary New York club and punk-rock/new wave epicentre CBGB, alongside the likes of Patti Smith, The Ramones and Blondie. Bassist Fred Smith took over from Richard Hell in 1975, after which their debut single, Little Johnny Jewel, arrived, followed by their debut album, 1977’s Marquee Moon.

Television made one more album, Adventure, in 1978, before splitting amid tensions between Lloyd and Verlaine. Lloyd’s first solo album, Alchemy, followed in 1979.

He went on to release nine solo records in total, the most recent being 2018’s The Countdown and played on records by artists including Matthew Sweet, Stephan Eicher and John Doe of LA punk band X. He also published a memoir in 2018, Everything Is Combustible: Television, CBGB’s and Five Decades of Rock and Roll, a loose run of short pieces that covered his early years, his heroin addiction and his time alongside Hendrix, Keith Richards and the CBGB crowd.

Television reunited in the early ’90s, releasing a self-titled album in 1992 and touring on and off for the next few years. Lloyd left the band in 2007. Verlaine died in 2023, which Lloyd later said made him the last functioning member of the band. He said that gave him a responsibility to the fans and so he returned to playing Television songs live after years of avoiding them.

Lloyd was also candid about what the band meant to him. “I wanted to make a dent in rock history,” he told Guitar World in December last year. “That was my goal, and that came true.”

The post Richard Lloyd, guitarist of New York rock band Television, dies at 75 appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Guitar Center’s pre-Black Friday sale event has officially kicked off, and you can save big on loads of guitars.

Weekly ‘doorbuster’ deals are also landing every Thursday through to Sunday, along with other big bargains on electric and acoustic models, pedals, amps and more.

• READ MORE: The best acoustic guitars under $500: six-string stunners from Guild, Gretsch, Cort, Fender & more

To help you out, we’ve selected some of the best sale finds so far this year.

Save nearly $50 on a Squier Affinity Series Telecaster in Ice Blue Metallic

Squier guitars are typically cheap and cheerful, and you can save even more on this Affinity Series Telecaster. Available in a Guitar Center exclusive Ice Blue Metallic finish, this model is priced under $300 and is highly-reviewed by players, with many praising its playability and factory set-up.

Save $80 on an Epiphone Hummingbird Studio

If you’ve always wanted to own an acoustic guitar with that famous Hummingbird pickguard design, then now’s your chance – this Epiphone Hummingbird Studio is now $419. In a Guitar Center Exclusive Ebony gloss finish, this version has a solid spruce top paired with layered mahogany back and sides, a Rounded C mahogany neck and bound rosewood fingerboard, complete by Fishman electronics.

Save $210 on an Epiphone Les Paul Standard ’60s Quilt in Ocean Water Perimeter

Now $489, this Epiphone Les Paul Standard ’60s Quilt is a limited-edition Guitar Center-exclusive model with a mahogany body, a quilted maple top, a SlimTaper ’60s C neck profile and ProBucker humbuckers.

Save $200 on a Schecter Demon-7 in Vintage White

If you’ve been wanting to try a 7-string model but have been put off by the price, now’s the time to grab one. For under $450, this Schecter Demon-7 is said to be “ready for your most face-melting riffage and heaviest down-tuned rhythms” according to Guitar Center. Fitted with Diamond Active pickups and offering a fast maple neck with smooth wenge fingerboard, it’s a great model to start exploring a heavier playing style with.

To shop all these deals and more, visit Guitar Center.

The post Save on brands like Epiphone, Squier, Schecter and more with these early Black Friday deals from Guitar Center  appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.