Guitar.com

$629/£569, fender.com

Amid the furore surrounding Fender’s Indonesian-made Standard Series launch back in January, the inclusion of a pair of $600 Acoustasonics in the range somewhat got lost, but as our review of the Acoustasonic Standard Telecaster demonstrated, this most accessible route to hybrid acoustic-electric oddness is perhaps its most compelling yet.

• READ MORE: Fender Acoustasonic Standard Telecaster review: “these are sounds you don’t hear in a live context very often”

Of course, many of us will remember Fender’s earlier attempts at electric-shaped inexpensive acoustic guitars – the spectre of the Telecoustic and Stratocoustic weighs heavily on the silhouette of the new Acoustasonic versions in some eyes. The Jazzmaster, however, carries no such baggage, and perhaps that’s why people don’t seem so reflexively put off by it in Acoustasonic form. So can this new more affordable version bring more players into the fold?

Fender Acoustasonic Standard Jazzmaster. Image: Jason Mays

Fender Acoustasonic Standard Jazzmaster – what is it?

Like the rest of the Standard series – including the Acoustasonic Telecaster – this Jazzmaster is crafted in Indonesia by Cor-Tek. Cor-Tek is the brand behind Cort of course, but also produces instruments for various big brands in Asia, most notably PRS’s sensational SE line.

As with the Mexico-made Player version, the Standard does away with the onboard rechargeable battery of the US-made original for a classic nine-volter. It’s worse for the environment perhaps, but certainly more reassuring in a live scenario – if your battery dies you can just swap it and the gig doesn’t have to end.

Like the Telecaster model, the Standard series swaps the mahogany body wood for common substitute nyatoh, while the top is spruce. Here it’s finished in a fetching matt black, but it’s also available in Natural or Honey Burst.

A more notable omission from the Standard is the Fender/Fishman-designed Acoustic Engine – there’s no modelling mixing mic’d acoustic ‘images’ with the piezo pickup signal here, in its place is a single tone knob that blends the sound of the Shawbucker magnetic pickup with the under-saddle Fishman transducer.

Without a doubt this is a more straightforward experience than the more expensive options with their myriad options for blending electric and acoustic sounds – but does it cut things too far? Let’s find out.

Image: Jason Mays

Fender Acoustasonic Standard Jazzmaster – playability and sounds

I’ll admit, ever since the first Acoustasonic Telecaster was first introduced in 2019, I’ve always felt kind of “meh” about the concept – especially in its American guise. Sure, it’s an interesting concept that blurs the line between acoustic and electric in ways that undeniably appeal – but who’s spending $2,000 on a curiosity?

The Player version certainly helped that but was still over a grand, so the Standard version feels a lot more where I’d want this guitar to be – it’s still not Squier cheap of course, but it’s at a level now where I can see people taking a swing and seeing what the fuss is about.

Removing the guitar from its box (there’s no case supplied) and the organic, tactile, unvarnished wood nature of the thing that was so enjoyable about the more expensive Acoustasonics is present and correct.

In hand, the neck is a comfortable if generic Deep C with a 12” radius. That’s a real rosewood board on there too, and the finishing on the top of it is very good with no sharp fret edges and a smooth feel.

When you’re as familiar with the Jazzmaster as I am, you get used to knowing what it feels like when you strap one on – it led me to being pleasantly surprised about how light it is. The stripped-down electronics package may contribute to make this lighter than other Acoustasonics I’ve played and substantially less than a solidbody JM – I almost forgot I even had the guitar on at times.

Given that most people who buy this guitar are probably seeing it as a live tool that can be used to provide both electric and acoustic sounds into one rig, I tailored my review setup appropriately. This means pairing my trusty Strymon Iridium and with my Bose S1 Pro+ with the Iridium serving as a foot in the electric guitar world and the Bose (with some of the acoustic settings engaged in the S1 Pro’s ToneMatch feature) providing a more straightforward acoustic sound.

Image: Jason Mays

With the above in mind, it’s important at this point to consider the kind of rig you have to use with an Acoustasonic because of its piezo and magnetic pickups. The ability to switch between an amp modelling pedal and PA means you can get the best from the Shawbucker and piezo, respectively. You’ll achieve a warmer, fuller acoustic sound through an FRFR speaker while the humbucker will have more presence and cut through a guitar amp – or a modelled one.

The lines begin to blur more as you explore things with the tone control to mix the two pickups, but consider your needs. Units like the Neural DSP Quad Cortex, Fender Tone Master and Line 6 HX Stomp can prove to be great partners to the Acoustastonic for the live stage in this regard – allowing players to switch from an acoustic preamp to a tube amp model with the click of a footswitch.

When I set the tone knob right in the middle to get a balanced sound that didn’t veer too far into either extreme, I was pleasantly surprised by the way it does a very impressive job of reflecting both at the same time without feeling like you’re being short-changed. It’s a unique sound – bold and warm – that’s perfect for jazz enthusiasts looking to channel their inner Jack White.

The presence of just a dreaded under-saddle pickup on the acoustic side is always a bit of a red flag for any budget acoustic, but bypassing the Iridium’s guitar amp models and flipping the blend knob all the way to the Fishman pickup was another enjoyable surprise.

Lush and expansive, the Fishman pickup never sounds too shrill or sterile – whether you’re gently fingerpicking or smashing out some straight-ahead strumming, this is a perfectly credible and usable acoustic tone, especially in a live environment.

The electric side of things should, theoretically, be more straightforward – Tim Shaw knows how to design a pickup and the guitar’s physical dimensions are less impactful when playing through a magnetic pickup.

Sticking a Chase Bliss Brothers AM in front of the Iridium, it’s immediately apparent that this guitar has some very pleasing bite. Though it’s not an ‘electric’ pickup sound that you may be familiar with from traditional Fenders, the Shawbucker has a sense of classic humbucker depth and girth that’s a very appealing voice to switch to. Lead lines sound clear and easily cut through the mix, while chords ring out with just the right amount of grit and low-end presence without losing clarity.

While some of us might be happy to roll out the Acoustasonic for the odd song, the quality of both acoustic and electric sounds on tap here make it a credible option to be your main guitar for the whole set.

Image: Jason Mays

Fender Acoustasonic Standard Jazzmaster – should I buy one?

While the previous Acoustasonic instruments have found their own audiences and user bases, there’s no doubt that the price of entry was a real sticking point for many – and you could argue that they might have been better off starting at this end of the price spectrum.

Because this is a correctly and carefully intentioned instrument that sets a new standard in terms of accessibility and usability in this best-of-both-worlds approach. It’s hard to think of many acoustic guitars that sound better than this plugged in at this price point, and certainly you won’t find an equivalent hybrid option doing the job either – it’s an impressive statement of intent for the Standard Series, and the best Acoustasonic to date.

At a hair over $600, it punches well above its tonal weight class and outperforms any acoustic/electric hybrid guitar this end of the market —not only showcasing one of the strongest offerings in the current Fender catalogue, but also making me even more excited about what Fender Indonesia might release next.

Fender Acoustasonic Standard Jazzmaster – alternatives

There aren’t a lot of true hybrid guitar options at this price point, and what there they tend to be things like Ibanez’s TOD10n ($749/£659) – a thinline nylon-string crossover created for Polyphia man Tim Henson.

If you want both electric and acoustic sounds in a similarly electric-style package, then the PRS SE Hollowbody Standard Piezo ($1,529/£1,299) is more electric than acoustic, but it’ll do in a pinch. Finally, if the vibe of the Acoustasonic appeals but you don’t want the electric stuff, the Fender Highway Series Dreadnought ($999/£849) is an interesting take on the live acoustic recipe.

The post Fender Acoustasonic Standard Jazzmaster review: “this is a wonderful all-round gigging machine” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Yvette Young will throw herself into the deep end – literally. You’ll see from the photoshoot for this Guitar.com Cover that the Californian guitar wizard was not shy about diving into a Los Angeles swimming pool, instrument in hand, so we could get the shot.

But that spirit of throwing caution to the wind and embracing new things also applies to her music career. You probably first witnessed Young through her head-spinning polyphonic tapping in the math-rock band Covet. Lately, she’s been trying other things.

Yvette Young is on the Guitar.com Cover. Image: Aubree Estrella for Guitar.com

The guitar on James Gunn’s new Superman movie soundtrack, including the wonderfully trippy, synthy guitar that lifts its version of that iconic John Williams theme into the stratosphere? That’s her – along with fellow guitarist Andrew Synowiec – but that’s not the half of it. At the tail end of last year, Young began releasing new music under her own name for the first time. As typified by latest single, Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind, it’s a far cry from what fans might have expected: it has vocals, and it’s a pop song… albeit one with some sick guitar work in it. It feels like a bold new direction.

“I like everything, y’know?” Young tells us from a sofa in her home and studio in the mountains outside LA, her rescue dog Bub happily curled up on her lap. “To play it safe is to find the one thing you’re good at and do that the rest of your life. But is that fulfilling? I don’t think so. I would like to explore my own potential as much as I can and try to find out how I can feel fulfilled.”

Image: Aubree Estrella for Guitar.com

And that means not constraining herself to one project, one genre, one anything. Whether it’s composing music for hit movies, video games or even an alarm clock – she’s just finished creating some ambient sounds for use by smart-sleep device maker Hatch.

This varied musical existence is “the key to not becoming cynical,” she reflects. “A lot of people end up at a point in their career where they’re like, ‘I know everything and I figured out everything’. But like, hell no. There’s always new music coming out, and so much to learn and consume and be inspired by. I just want to continue pushing myself to grow and find new sounds, to make myself uncomfortable and challenge myself.”

“I don’t want to be a background character in my own project anymore”

Comfort In Sound

Making yourself uncomfortable creatively is one thing: it’s another to experience that in a professional context. Fans of Covet will know that the trio’s lineup was overhauled in 2022, and that the band hasn’t released any new music since 2023’s pointedly titled Catharsis. The fact that Young is now releasing music as a solo artist doesn’t feel like an accident.

“I’ve had a really rough time with my band,” she admits wearily. “Just getting screwed over. I’ve encountered a lot of really bad situations with all that. So now I really want to carve out a work environment that feels safe and healthy.”

Image: Aubree Estrella for Guitar.com

Part of that involved her reframing her relationship with her artistry, and her band. “I was very shy about even calling myself a musician,” she reveals. “Recently I’ve been more comfortable embracing my own power and embracing that Covet is music that I wrote.”

To outsiders, Young may have always seemed the focal point of Covet, but she never wanted to view it that way.

“This is gonna sound weird, but I wanted it to appear like the illusion of a band,” she explains. “Because I was too shy to be like, ‘This is my project.’ I was very averse to being the frontwoman. I wanted it to be egalitarian. But I don’t want to be a background character in my own project anymore.”

Image: Aubree Estrella for Guitar.com

While she’s going to head out on a short west coast tour with Covet later this year, she’s also keen to defy the pigeonholes that technically exceptional guitar players can often find themselves in. “In this world, it’s so easy to be put in a niche,” she agrees. “And then everyone labels you as that. Like that’s the only thing you’re capable of doing. But I just want to keep on throwing people for loops.

“I want everyone to know that I can write pop songs, but I can also do all the guitar for a film… That’s why, I guess, I put this music out under my name. Because I’m trying to make people more aware that, hey, I’m not just tappy shredder girl!”

“No one’s going to translate the weirdo vision you have in your head better than you”

Surgical Precision

Her trajectory from classically trained violinist and pianist to “tappy shredder girl” and social media phenom is “crazy”, Young says now.

“I was a teacher, and I just made a bunch of technical tapping videos, because that’s the music that I was into at the time,” she recalls. “That’s just kind of how my ADHD brain works, you know? And they went viral.”

But that’s also a version of Yvette Young that’s over a decade old. “I’ve grown a lot. I’ve developed a lot. I’ve consumed a lot of music, I’ve played a bunch of music, and I think I’ve matured a lot as not only as a musician, but as a person.”

Making music of such remarkable technical precision creates its own pressures – one that Young realised was sapping the joy she gets from performing.

Image: Aubree Estrella for Guitar.com

“After touring so much, I do not enjoy sweating bullets, having to nail every little surgical run,” she admits. Smartphones, and the prospect that every gig might live forever online, heaped further pressure on to her, creating sky-high expectations she’s trying to sidestep with her new material.

“Am I the mirthful, hopping around on stage, happy person who’s making playing music look fun, expressive and happy? That’s how I want to be.”

Treating music as a quest for perfection can thoroughly damage the psyche. Young, who entered many classical competitions as a child, knows this better than most.

“The reason why I hated music when I was younger was because it was sold to me as a sport,” she insists. “I was constantly measuring myself up to other people. I think it leads to a lifetime of general unhappiness if you’re always examining yourself relative to other people. Music should be the antithesis of that. Music should be something that uplifts you.

Image: Aubree Estrella for Guitar.com

“I’m here to hammer home that it’s about having fun. It’s about self expression and exploring your identity. It’s about discovering your own voice and trying to carve your own path. And that is the most fulfilling, the most sustainable path you can take in this career.”

Young is at pains to emphasise she’s not ungrateful for the career that social media and fans of her more overtly technical stuff have helped her carve out – “I have what I have because people believed in me” – but she also wants them to respect her need to grow as an artist.

“I need people to know that guitar saved my life,” she explains. “When I was deeply depressed and struggling with mental health, it was the thing that I clung to – my life jacket during that time. So I need to do this for myself. I can’t listen to what people want me to do… I’m a people-pleaser in every aspect of my life, but music is the one thing that I’m like, I’m sorry. I’m not gonna take orders.”

“I’m here to hammer home that music is about having fun”

Where The Heart Is

To do things on her own terms required an uprooting of sorts. Young moved to the woods and with the help of her partner, Welsh musician Novo Amor, built a studio in the loft of her house. It’s a space full of soft light, pale wood and cool gear – and it came along at just the right moment.

“It’s been life-changing for me,” she enthuses. “Through years of experience going to studios now, I realised I am a very particular person. And because I write all the music and I have all these ideas… no one’s going to translate the weirdo vision you have in your head better than you.

“This is the most Californian shit I’ll ever say, but I really do absorb the energy of everyone around me. I’ve been in studios where someone’s grumpy or someone says something that’s kind of mean. People made me cry in studios just by being a bully or misogynistic. That is the least inspiring environment. I know sometimes people benefit from tough love. I don’t. I need a very welcoming environment where I don’t feel judged.”

Image: Aubree Estrella for Guitar.com

Having her own space has not only freed Young up to make the music she wants to, but to take on all kinds of projects, from her own solo material to the Superman recording.

“It’s crazy how life works,” she remarks. “All these jobs that I’m getting, I would not have been able to do in my bedroom. So the fact that I now have a studio, it’s almost like the universe was like, ‘Hell yeah, now you’re ready’. And they released the floodgates.”

And now that those floodgates have been thrown wide open, the natural question is to ask what’s next for Yvette Young. She’s sure about what isn’t – the “relic of the past” that is a typical album-and-tour release cycle – but otherwise, she’s staying open-minded.

“Life throws you surprises,” she says. “I just want to make music I’m excited about now and put that out while I’m excited about it, and then see what happens… I freaking love making things. It makes me feel whole. Maybe it’s dangerous to put my self-worth on that, but unfortunately, that’s just how I’m wired!”

Words: Josh Gardner
Photography: Aubree Estrella
Glam/Styling: Yvette Young

The post “Guitar saved my life… I need to do this for myself” Yvette Young is embracing her own power appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Paying tribute to Ozzy Osbourne – who died earlier this week at the age of 76 – Slash guitarist Frank Sidoris has shared a rejection letter he received when auditioning to be Ozzy’s guitarist in 2017.

Back in 2017, Black Sabbath’s The End reunion tour was just finishing up, and Ozzy felt inspired to hit the road solo. This involved searching for a new guitarist, and as Sidoris recalls in a now-expired Instagram Story: “I was invited to Ozzy’s home to perform two songs for him to audition for his band”. The audition, it turned out, was rather up close and personal.

• READ MORE: “They say never meet your idols, but that’s just not true. Sometimes you get lucky”: M. Shadows reflects on interviewing Ozzy Osbourne in 2017
  

“We loaded my amp, guitar, et cetera, into his movie theatre, and I played Mama, I’m Coming Home and Diary of a Madman while he sat about 10 feet away from a very loud amp – at his request.

“He sang every word over me, playing at concert volume, which was comforting and hilarious, as it was just him and I in the room with his assistant.”

Ultimately, Sidoris didn’t get the job – that went to Ozzy’s tried and tested guitarist Zakk Wylde, who had played alongside the Prince of Darkness for years.

Perhaps feeling guilty about his decision, Ozzy wrote Sidoris a rejection letter.

“Frank, I wanted to thank you for coming by to play for me and taking the time to learn my songs,” the letter read. “You are a talented musician, and it’s obvious to me why you’ve already had success in this business at a young age.

“I’ve decided to work with Zakk Wylde, writing and recording my next studio album as well as playing guitar on my upcoming tour dates this summer. Zakk has been with me a long time, and I know that having him play with me is something my fans really want to see.

“I wish you continued success. God Bless, Ozzy.”

The letter was signed by Ozzy and featured a cartoon of him carrying a large cross that reads “OZZY” in the bottom righthand corner.

Now, Sidoris reflects on how he felt at the rejection, and at receiving the letter from Ozzy.

“It further proves he was truly everything you would hope for as a person,” Sidoris says. About the intimate audition itself, he adds: “It was an honour to be in his welcoming presence and feel his genuine warmth as a person.”

The post “It’s obvious to me why you’ve already had success”: Frank Sidoris shares heartwarming rejection letter he received from Ozzy Osbourne after auditioning to be his solo guitarist appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

As the world reels in the wake of Ozzy’s Osbourne’s death earlier this week, artists from the rock and metal world and far beyond have been sharing their own tributes to the Prince of Darkness, who shaped the music world as we know it today.

Jake E. Lee – who served as Ozzy’s guitarist between 1982 and 1987 – has shared the last text he ever received from Ozzy. Jake E. Lee performed at Black Sabbath’s huge farewell show just a couple of weeks ago, despite admitting he hadn’t spoken to Ozzy in decades.

• READ MORE: “They say never meet your idols, but that’s just not true. Sometimes you get lucky”: M. Shadows reflects on interviewing Ozzy Osbourne in 2017
  

Sharing that the “finality” of Ozzy’s death is hitting him “in waves”, Lee notes that he didn’t properly catch up with Ozzy during the show. Ozzy’s text to him following the event was as follows:

“Hi Jake. I’m so sorry I couldn’t spend more time with you on the weekend but it was really chaotic. I would really like to see you when I eventually get back to LA just to shoot the shit, it’s been so long since we saw each other. Where are you living these days? Because last I heard you were living in Las Vegas. How did the gig go for you on Saturday? I really hope you had fun anyway. I will text you when I eventually get back to LA and we must hook up. Much love and respect, Ozzy.”

 

During his Back to the Beginning appearance, Lee covered tracks like The Ultimate Sin and Shot In The Dark, solo tracks by Ozzy that he featured on during the ’80s. He replaced Ozzy’s previous guitarist Randy Rhoads and played on the 1983 release Bark at the Moon and The Ultimate Sin in 1986. In a 2022 Stereogum interview, Ozzy finally revealed why he fired Lee from the band back in the 80s: “Jake E. Lee was a fucking great guitar player, and the way it went was, Randy Castillo, my old drummer, had started to turn me against him. It was very sad because I had no qualms with the guy. He was a great guitar player.”

Following Ozzy Osbourne’s tragic death earlier this week, his Black Sabbath bandmate Tony Iommi reflected on the band’s final show, noting that “he really just held out to do that show”.

“He’s built up for it for a while now,” Iommi said. “He’s been sort of training and trying to do what he can, so he could do this gig, so he could do it. And that’s really what he wanted to do. I think he must have had something in his head that said, ‘Well, this is gonna be it, the last thing I’m ever gonna do.’ Whether he thought he was gonna die or what, I don’t know. But he really wanted to do it and he was determined to do it. And fair dues, he’d done it.”

The post “I’m so sorry I couldn’t spend more time with you”: Jake E. Lee shares the last text he received from Ozzy Osbourne appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

A guitar once owned by Jimmy Page and given away by the Led Zeppelin man as part of a competition – hosted by none other than our sister title NME in 1974 (then New Musical Express) – is headed to auction.

As the story goes, the guitar – a 1957 Gretsch Chet Atkins 6120 electric – was the prize in a competition titled ‘Win Jimmy Page’s Own Guitar’. That edition of the magazine featured a photo of Page in cricket whites holding the competition guitar like a cricket bat.

• READ MORE: “They say never meet your idols, but that’s just not true. Sometimes you get lucky”: M. Shadows reflects on interviewing Ozzy Osbourne in 2017
  

The guitar was originally bought by Jimmy Page in Nashville in 1972 for £200, approximately £2,373.78 in today’s money, according to the Bank of England.

But the guitar found itself to be the prize of the NME competition two years later. The rules of the competition were such that entrants had to match six iconic guitars with the famous guitarists who owned them. The ultimate winner was Charles Reid of Hornsey, north London.

Credit: Gardiner Houlgate

At the time, Reid was quoted as saying: “Page must be mental giving away such a terrific guitar as this. It’s the kind of instrument that every guitar player dreams of owning but can never really afford.”

After owning the guitar for over 15 years, Reid sold it to Phil O’Donoghue of Chessington, Surrey in 1990 for £2,000. The guitar remained with O’Donoghue until his death earlier this year, and is now being sold by his family.

While £2,000 in 1990 would be worth approx. £4,956.28 today, the guitar’s provenance means it’s expected to fetch quite a bit more than that when it sells in the near future through Gardiner Houlgate. The Corsham auction house estimates that the guitar could sell for between £30,000 and £50,000.

Credit: Gardiner Houlgate

Auctioneer Luke Hobbs explains: “Very few of [Jimmy Page’s] guitars come up for auction and when they do, they attract huge interest from collectors, investors and fans of Led Zeppelin.”

The winning bidder will not only receive the guitar, of course, but also a copy of NME showing a photo of Page giving the guitar to Reid, as well as correspondence and receipts linked to the giveaway.

The auction itself will take place at Gardiner Houlgate, 9 Leafield Way, Corsham, Wiltshire, SN13 9SW on Tuesday, 9 September, but will also be available for public viewing on 5 and 8 September from 9am-5:30pm, too.

For more information, head to Gardiner Houlgate.

The post A Gretsch given away by Jimmy Page in a 1974 NME Magazine competition is headed to auction – and could fetch up to £50,000 appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

While The Beatles’ White Album is often regarded as a pivotal rock record, Piano Man Billy Joel thinks its merely the “half-assed” work of a group of “stoned” lads.

In a recent appearance on Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast, Maher and Joel were picking out classic double albums. When the host namedropped The Beatles’ 1968 self-titled record, Joel was quick to criticise it. “I’m not a big fan of the White Album, but some people love it,” he says.

• READ MORE: A petition has launched to rename Birmingham Airport after Ozzy Osbourne – and it’s gaining momentum

Despite many deeming the record to be a key point in rock history, with the band shifting gear to focus on uber-cool country and blues, a sharp change from the technicolour psychedelia of 1967’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. However, Joel doesn’t seem to think the tonal shift was intentional.

“I hear it as a collection of half-assed songs they didn’t finish writing because they were too stoned, or they didn’t care anymore”, he explains. “I think they had fragments and they put them on the album.”

He goes so far as to admit that he thinks “John [Lennon] was disassociating at that point,” with “Paul [McCartney] carrying the weight”.

That being said, Joel doesn’t believe that the White Album detracts from The Beatles’ legacy. While they “had their ups and downs” in quality, that happens with all bands. “Sometimes they were more prolific and sometimes they weren’t,” he notes. “I hear that in some of those [songs]”.

Joel’s opinion is sure to shock some people. Notably, in 2023 Kiss’ Gene Simmons told Goldmine magazine that the White Album is one of the 10 records that changed his life. “It’s one of my favourites because you’re seeing turmoil within perhaps the greatest band that ever existed that recorded its own music, where each member was a star,” he explained.

While Joel considers the record to be an assortment of “half-assed” and incomplete “fragments”, Simmons appreciates the “disjointed” nature of the record.

“You could hear and feel the disjointed sense of that album, although clearly the songs shined and the playing and the production was terrific,” he said. “It’s interesting that Abbey Road perhaps was the greatest Beatles album, and they were breaking up at that point, but somehow that had a more unified thing. But just for crazy out there music, it’s gotta be the White Album.”

Elsewhere in Joel’s interview with Club Random, he also gives an update on his health. The singer cancelled his entire tour after being diagnosed with a brain disorder, normal pressure hydrocephalus, back in May.

While Joel admits that the diagnosis sounds “a lot worse than what [he’s] feeling”, he does note that it is impacting his balance. “It’s like being on a boat…” he explains.

While he says that the disorder hasn’t quite been “fixed” and is “still being worked on”, he also explains that there’s no clear answer as to how he got it. “They don’t know,” he says. “I thought it must be from drinking… I don’t anymore, but I used to like a fish!”

Earlier this week, Joel released the first half of a two-part documentary, Billy Joel: And So It Goes, which is described as exploring “the love, loss, and struggles that fuel [Joel’s] songwriting”.

The first part of Billy Joel: And So It Goes can be streamed now on HBO Max.

The post “I hear it as a collection of half-assed songs they didn’t finish writing because they were too stoned”: Billy Joel snubs The Beatles’ White Album appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

King Crimson’s 1980s catalogue has long been revered for its rhythmic complexity, and as Adrian Belew now reveals, it can be physically punishing too.

So much so that after performing the band’s material night after night on tour with BEAT – the all-star tribute to Crimson’s ‘80s era – the guitarist needed surgery on his left hand.

The tour, which saw Belew reunite with bassist Tony Levin and join forces with Steve Vai and Tool drummer Danny Carey, paid homage to the prog legends’ trio of wildly intricate albums: Discipline (1981), Beat (1982), and Three of a Perfect Pair (1984). Between the interlocking guitar lines, polyrhythms and relentless odd time signatures, the setlist was far from a stroll in the park.

• READ MORE: Steve Vai calls one of his BEAT tour bandmates a “marvel”, explains why he’s “underrated in the echelons of guitar”

“It would get numb,” Belew tells Guitar World. “And during part of the tour, it would stay numb from the moment that I woke up, all the way until sometime during soundcheck.”

“It was a little scary,” he adds. “I’d be like, ‘Oh, boy, you better wake up soon!’”

As the musician explains, the culprit was carpal tunnel syndrome, which plagued his left hand as the group toured its way across the US. The injury also happened to be one Belew’s guitar partner on tour knew a thing or two about.

“Steve Vai was able to walk me through the process since he’s had it done twice,” he says. “He reassured me that it was a simple operation and that it was not something that was going to go wrong. And on top of that, he introduced me to one of the best surgeons in the United States, who had done this work.”

The procedure went smoothly as Vai assured. “It’s perfect,” Belew says of his hand now. “This was an easy recovery and an easy operation.”

He continues: “I’m back to full use of my left hand. While recovering, you can’t do much with it, and it’s a little tender. And then, you finally work back up to tempo. Now, I’m playing as I always did, except that there’s no more pain.”

Elsewhere, Vai himself has also spoken about the difficulties of playing King Crimson music, saying: “If you come to see Steve Vai in BEAT, you get to see Steve Vai working! You come to my solo shows, it’s another thing entirely.”

“Robert [Fripp] wrote beautiful parts, but the techniques didn’t come naturally [to me]. It’s different [from] what I do,” he admitted. “Some of this BEAT stuff took months to get under my fingers.”

The post “My hand would stay numb from the moment I woke up till soundcheck”: Adrian Belew reveals he needed hand surgery after playing King Crimson guitar parts on BEAT tour appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

System Of A Down’s 2006 hiatus marked a major turning point for the band. In the years since, various members have shared their take on what went down, and what never quite came back together.

Most recently, guitarist Daron Malakian has opened up about the break, admitting it wasn’t a decision he ever fully stood behind. In a new interview with Metal Hammer, the guitarist reflects on how the break impacted him personally and how Scars On Broadway became both an outlet and a lifeline for his creative energy at the time.

• READ MORE: “What the f**k is an Armenian to someone who lives in Kentucky?! We looked like aliens to people”: Daron Malakian on how System Of A Down cracked America to become “the biggest band on the sunset strip” in the mid ’90s

“When System took the hiatus, I’m not gonna lie, it was difficult for me at first because that’s not really what I wanted,” Malakian admits. “But I can’t force other people to do something just because I wanted it. But my first thing was, ‘OK, if I release music, I need an outlet for that’, and Scars became that outlet.”

“I’ll be honest with you, man, I’m just as proud of the Scars stuff as anything I’ve done. I think some of my best shit is on Scars.”

Asked how much unreleased material he’s sitting on, Malakian jokes, “I don’t know about thousands, but I’ve got a few.” Writing music, he explains, is an “itch” he simply has to scratch.

“If I had a nine to five job, I would probably still come back home and write music for myself,” Malakian continues. “But even though we’re not making records with System after all these years, I still do write because it’s an itch and I just got to itch it. It’s like a child plays with his toys. You don’t play with your toys because you’re playing for somebody else, right? You’re playing for your own amusement.”

The guitarist adds that much as he’s well aware of fans’ demands for new SOAD music – the band released just two singles in the last two decades and their last full length album dropped in 2005 – he’s also “kind of lazy” when it comes to actually making a new record.

“Look, I’m very aware that there’s an audience out there and there’s people that want to hear from me and that’s amazing. Honestly, I’m very blessed, my life is fucking like… I got to pinch myself. But I’m also kind of lazy too when it comes to making an album,” says Malakian.

“I tell myself, ‘Dude, you really need to start releasing more music’. I even tell my guitar player in Scars On Broadway, ‘Remind me that I need to start recording, man!’ I just wish that was my motivation, because if that was my motivation, then I would. I get caught up in my own head, in my own world, and it’s not a priority to me. So, I got to make it a priority and start recording my shit. I just need to motivate myself to do it.”

Meanwhile, Scars On Broadway’s new album Addicted to the Violence is now out. Check out the single Killing Spree below.

The post “When System took the hiatus, it was difficult for me at first because that’s not really what I wanted”: Daron Malakian on System Of A Down’s 2006 hiatus appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

If you’ve ever tried to copy Frank Zappa’s playing and ended up looking like a confused poultry wrangler, you’re not alone. According to his son Dweezil Zappa, the late icon’s technique was as eccentric as his compositions, and just as tough to replicate.

In a recent conversation with Marshall, the guitarist shares what made Frank’s playing style so unique and why despite growing up around it, he still struggles to nail it.

• READ MORE: “He had very specific-looking hands – they looked different to other people’s”: Dweezil Zappa recalls the time Eddie Van Halen visited his family home and taught him guitar

“I always described it as the battle between the chicken and the spider,” Dweezil begins [via Ultimate Guitar]. “Because he had this real plucky way of playing, which I still can’t emulate, because it’s not a comfortable way to play. And he would play up close to the neck a lot, and then it would look like this: real plucky stuff happening. But this always looked like the chicken, that was like, trying to get some seeds or whatever.”

“So I would look at that stuff, and I would somehow make a mental note of what was going on. And then I would think, ‘One day I’ll learn to play this stuff. But not yet.’”

While one might assume growing up with Frank Zappa meant being force-fed experimental guitar licks at the dinner table, Dweezil reveals that on the contrary, his father didn’t think his own playing would be helpful for a young guitarist.

“When it was my own guitar playing, and he saw that I was interested in sticking with it, he played in such an idiosyncratic way, he didn’t really think that his playing style or technique was necessarily going to be helpful,” Dweezil says. “Because he played in such a quirky way.”

“So he thought, ‘Well, with the stuff that you’re interested in, maybe you should have Steve show you some stuff. And so Steve Vai [who was a member of Frank’s band at the time] showed me some stuff. Wrote down some pentatonic scales and some stuff like that, which – I still have that notebook. It has, like, four or five exercises and stuff. But he was only 21 or 22 at the time.”

Watch the full interview below.

The post “I always described it as the battle between the chicken and the spider. It’s not a comfortable way to play”: Dweezil Zappa on his father’s strange guitar playing style appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

The K’s frontman Jamie Boyle believes guitar music is having a moment again, and it’s all thanks to the long-awaited Oasis reunion.

Speaking to the Daily Star’s Wired column, Boyle says the return of the Britpop legends has reignited the live music scene, sparking a new wave of excitement and momentum for guitar-driven bands.

• READ MORE: “Get back together. Stop f**king around,” Matty Healy told Oasis in 2023 – now he’s been spotted in the crowd at their Heaton Park gig

“The resurgence of bands is really, really strong and prominent at the minute,” Boyle explains. “We see it ourselves, in ticket sales, the support at gigs, and the buzz whenever we announce something to our ever-growing fan base. People are genuinely chomping at the bit to get into venues and watch bands again.”

The K’s recently caught Oasis live on their reunion tour in Cardiff and will soon be heading to Wembley to catch them again.

“We went to Cardiff and were like, ‘This is amazing’. Then Heaton Park was even better and we’re heading to Wembley too,” he says.

“It’s impossible to ignore the buzz that’s been created for guitar music and it’s no secret that they’re one of the best to ever do it, but the buzz that Oasis has created not just for themselves but for everybody is real.”

“All the excitement, all the press, all everything is back on guitar for the first time in a long time,” Boyle adds.

The frontman also shares how much he’s learned just by watching the Gallagher brothers perform.

“There’s 80,000 people there and every single one of them is just stood not being able to take their eyes off them on stage,” he says. “To get to that level is what everybody dreams about.”

Elsewhere, Liam Gallagher’s son, Gene, has also commented on how the Oasis reunion has accelerated the resurgence of guitar music.

“People have been deprived of guitar music,” the 23-year-old, who fronts his own indie band Villanelle, told W Magazine. “But now it’s coming back, and everyone’s getting excited about it.”

You can view the full list of Oasis Live ‘25 tour dates via their official website.

The post “Everything is back on guitar for the first time in a long time”: The K’s frontman credits Oasis reunion for rescuing guitar music appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Editor’s note: Heritage Guitars and Guitar.com are both part of the Caldecott Music Group.

$699/£599, heritageguitars.com

If you read my review of the stunning H-150 last month, you’ll be aware the Heritage’s new Ascent+ collection is an attempt by the Kalamazoo-based guitar brand to offer a more modern proposition for the brand’s Asian-made affordable models.

• READ MORE: Heritage Ascent+ H-150 review: “if you’re looking for your first serious Les Paul-style guitar, you need to try this”

The regular Ascent electric guitars – and indeed the bulk of Heritage’s excellent USA-made instruments – are generally evoking the vibe of the guitars made at 225 Parson’s St when Gibson’s name was still above the door, but the Ascent+ is a little different.

With interesting colours and a whole lot of heavily figured wood tops, the Ascent+ in some ways sits closer to the traditional PRS vibe in terms of visuals – for good or for ill. It’s something that’s even more evident on the full-size semi-hollow H-535 we have here.

Image: Adam Gasson

Heritage Ascent+ H-535 – what is it?

No prizes will be given for working out the lineage of this particular guitar, but beyond the visual similarities to Gibson’s most famous semi-hollow design, a close examination of the spec sheet is worthwhile.

So for starters we have a good-looking laminated curly maple top, sides and back – here accentuated by a classic golden sunburst that looks right at home. If burst ain’t your bag however, you’re outta luck as the only other finish options are the rather garish Scarlet Red and Royal Blue bursts. It fits in with the ‘modern’ stipulation of the Ascent+ range, perhaps, but I wonder how much more of these guitars Heritage would shift if they borrowed the black and cherry options from the vanilla Ascent range?

The neck is mahogany and comes with a two-way truss rod, a genuine rosewood fingerboard that’s nicely bound and a 12-16” compound radius. It’s also nice to see a more traditional heel design than the H-150’s contoured go-faster take, and the premium feel is further enhanced by pearloid dot inlays, a Graph Tech TUSQ XL nut and jumbo frets.

The pickups are a pair of the same Heritage own-brand units found in the H-150, and again they’re paired with Alpha Split Shaft 500K push-pull pots for coil-splitting purposes. It’s also nice to see a side-access jack input, which should help protect the guitar from the oft-seen mishaps on guitars of this type where a cable gets trodden on and pulled sideways, often damaging the valuable and delicate top of the instrument.

Image: Adam Gasson

Heritage Ascent+ H-535 – feel and sounds

Unboxing the H-535 I once again find myself double-checking the price, as this is one unquestionably good-looking guitar. Removing it from the box I’m struck by the lightweight and nimble feel. Many budget-conscious guitars of this type can feel a bit bulky and unrefined, particularly if they are quite heavy, combined with the design’s considerable dimensions. This H-535 features a correct full-length internal centre block, yet still feels light and resonates well with my first unplugged strum.

The setup is great out of the box and the jumbo frets and Graph Tech TUSQ XL nut combine with that compound radius to create a very inviting playing experience, let’s plug in…

You often hear ES-lovers refer to semis as solidbody killers – and with good cause. In my experience, a good 335 or similar is more than capable of out-punching and out-sustaining its airless brethren – and with a broader range of tones on tap.

This H-535 is no exception, exhibiting many of the virtues that make this type of guitar such a versatile instrument. The unplugged tone is wider and richer than a solidbody, the air inside working in tandem with the solid centre section to give a slightly softer attack to notes and a rounder low end. The H-535 also exhibits none of the boxy midrange you can sometimes get with an all-solid guitar, making it more versatile across a range of genres as a result.

Plugged in to my Deluxe Reverb, the bridge pickup exhibits a sweeter, more rounded tone than found on the solid-body H-150, still with plenty of snap for lead lines, and turning up your treble on a good valve amp really will get you into Freddie King territory if biting blues is your thing.

With the pickup selector set in the middle for both pickups together, careful balancing of the volume pots gives the widest tonal smorgasbords. With both pots set about halfway I’m treated to a warm, sweet tone with hints of hollow midrange that is perfect for rhythmic funk or chordal comping or when hit with a bit of overdrive and winding up the bridge pickup along with neck set to about seven, a rich full rock voice perfect for anything from Foos-esque rock to Cream riffs.

The neck humbucker on its own is warmer and jazzier, and with some of the tone rolled down excels at the classic ‘Woman’ tone – a flutey vocal sound, perfect for blues soloing.

As with the H-150, the coil splits prove to again be the stars of the show, offering a slimline version of the above tones and adding to the myriad of sonic options by combining with the humbucker modes. A standout is both pickups together set to single coil mode, which treats you to a beautiful airy sound with not a hint of mud. It’s an almost-perfect 60s jangle, combined with better sustain than many guitars that are typically blessed with that voice.

This really would be a very versatile guitar in the studio or at a covers gig.

Image: Adam Gasson

Heritage Ascent+ H-535 – should I buy one?

Great looks, decent build quality and superb specs combined with a broad range of tones make the H-535 a superb all-rounder in anyone’s arsenal of guitars – whether it’s as a main guitar or a rock-solid gigging backup.

The presence of a genuine rosewood fingerboard, and mahogany/maple construction is time-honoured for this type of design, and it’s not always seen on similar instruments at this price point from other brands.

Sonically, its semi-acoustic nature delivers a balanced, polished voice that belies its price. It would make a superb studio or live tool with easy access to a huge range of tones.

The only drawbacks are the limited finish options, and the lack of a supplied case – which is always an annoyance when you’re dealing with an instrument that doesn’t conform to the standard electric guitar dimensions, but it’s in line with most Asian-made electrics at this price point.

With many players from Noel Gallagher to Dave Grohl favouring classic semi-acoustic guitars live, there’s no reason why you couldn’t rock up with this at the latest blues jam or covers gig down your local and handle anything thrown at you with ease. It punches far above its weight and offers truly exceptional value for money.

Image: Adam Gasson

Heritage Ascent+ H-535 – alternatives

You can’t escape the spectre of Epiphone in this argument, and the Inspired By Gibson Custom 1962 ES-335 ($1,149/£1,099) reissue certainly ticks all the boxes that you’d want from an ES-335 – this one even has the correct shaped headstock, but you’ll pay a hefty premium for all that. The standard Epi ES-335 ($599/£599) is a well-sorted alternative but it’s a laurel fretboard not rosewood. Threading the needle is the new Marty Schwartz signature Epiphone ES-335 ($899/£899), which offers a similarly upgraded feel to the Ascent+ including rosewood board and even Grover tuners. Away from the Gibson stable, Gretsch also knows a thing or two about making quality vintage-inspired budget semi-hollows, and you should definitely check out the G2622T Streamliner Center block DC ($629/£499) – it’s even got a Bigsby.

The post Heritage Ascent+ H-535 review: “this could easily become your new main guitar” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

While Canadian singer Shawn Mendes is known for his chart-topping pop tunes, he also knocks out a guitar every now and then. In fact, he was seen grabbing a new guitar strap to spruce up his collection just last week.

Pop culture outlet Just Jared papped the 26-year-old pop star leaving a Los Angeles Guitar Center on 15 July. In his hand, he’s holding what appears to be a Perri’s Floral Burst Jacquard guitar strap. The red and yellow strap will surely serve as a nice pop of colour, considering Mendes’ go-to strap is usually an all-black Ernie Ball.

• READ MORE: “It’s a funny feeling to feel like you’re being written about, and maybe the whole picture’s not being expressed”: John Mayer and Shawn Mendes discuss having songs written about them by famous exes

Though Mendes doesn’t wield a guitar throughout an entire live set, he regularly whips out an acoustic and electric guitar onstage. In fact, he often uses his very own Martin signature, the 000JR-10E Shawn Mendes Custom Signature Edition.

Speaking to Guitar.com in 2023, Mendes explained that his custom acoustic Martin “fits like a glove”, thanks to its scaled down body. Medes also opted for the smaller body to encourage younger fans to pick up the instrument. “Getting my first guitar was a big deal, so I wanted the guitar to be as affordable as possible so that young musicians could have something to start their own journeys with,” Mendes said. “ I love the idea that this could be a ton of fans’ first guitar.”

Shawn Mendes with his signature Martin guitar, the 000JR-10E Shawn Mendes. Image: Miranda McDonald

The design was also inspired by one of Mendes’ most prized guitars. “It was partially inspired by a guitar I was gifted for my 21st birthday by John Mayer,” Mendes explained. “That had a custom inlay in the first few frets. I loved the look and just thought it would be a fun and unconventional way to make my signature guitar more unique.”

“I’ve been a fan of Martin guitars for as long as I can remember,” he said. “So having the opportunity to start working with such an iconic and respected brand, and to be able to play and help design my own guitar is truly special.”

Mendes’ choice to get down to his local Guitar Center is also a great way of supporting brick-and-mortar music stores. It’s no secret that physical stores are struggling nowadays, and Guitar Center in particular has recently announced that it has a new three-year plan to extend its loan repayments.

Mendes is set to embark on a European and North American tour this August, kicking things off in Pristina. He’ll be swinging by the UK to perform at London’s O2 Arena on 16 August.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shawn Mendes (@shawnmendes)

The post Shawn Mendes spotted buying a guitar strap at an LA Guitar Center – as he proves even A-list musicians do their own gear shopping appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Terry Marshall, the co-founder of Marshall Amplification, is supporting an initiative to secure the future of grassroots music venues in the UK.

Along with his wife Lesley, the pair have made a generous personal donation of £100,000 to the Own Our Venues funding initiative, launched by Music Venue Properties (MVP). The initiative first kicked off in 2023, and has already raised £2.88 million to secure five grassroots music venues by placing them into community ownership.

• READ MORE: Marshall amps up its home audio output with its first soundbar, the Heston 120

Grassroots venues are essential to the livelihoods of growing bands and artists, but they are closing down at an alarming rate across the country. Music Venue Properties recently announced a new £3 million fundraising Own Our Venues campaign, with the aim of protecting a further seven venues.

This funding round, now backed by Marshall and his partner, is hoping to protect The Joiners (Southampton), Bedford Esquires, The Croft (Bristol), The Sugarmill (Stoke), Peggy’s Skylight (Nottingham), The Pipeline (Brighton), and The Lubber Fiend (Newcastle).

Marshall, who worked on the first ever Marshall amp – the famed JTM45 – states, “Small venues have played a vital role over the years in my long career as a professional sax player, and, of course, created the path to success for countless other musicians too. But so many have closed their doors since I first started out at the age of 14.

“My wife Lesley and I get to grassroots venues whenever we can, as we both appreciate live music close up and personal (I still do the occasional guest appearance at 81). We hope that future generations of musicians and music lovers will be able to have these amazing experiences too. That’s why we’re supporting Own Our Venues with a substantial contribution. With enough support from others in the music industry and fellow artists, Own Our Venues can make that hope a reality. It’s up to you.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Music Venue Properties (@musicvenueproperties)

Matt Otridge, COO of Music Venue Properties, also comments: “Grassroots venues are where careers begin and ensure communities have access to local, live music. They’re rehearsal spaces, testing grounds, and second homes for countless artists. That’s why Terry and Lesley’s incredible £100,000 donation is more than generous, it’s leadership.”

Otridge continues, “It shows the deeply personal impact these spaces have on everyone and reminds the music industry that we all have a role to play. Their contribution builds on the belief already shown by over 1500 community investors, and we’re proud to welcome them into the Music Venue Properties family.”

You can support Own Our Venues by investing via its Crowdfunder page. Investments start from just £50 for under 25s.

The post Co-founder of Marshall and his wife donate £100k to support grassroots venues appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

In light of Ozzy Osbourne passing away on Tuesday, a campaign has been launched to rename Birmingham International Airport in honour of the Prince of Darkness.

Started up by Dan Hudson, one half of the A Gay And A Nongay podcast, the Change.org petition proposes Birmingham’s airport should be rebranded as Ozzy Osbourne International. The campaign currently has over 3,500 signatures, a figure that is steadily rising.

• READ MORE: “We’ve lost our brother”: Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward pay tribute to Ozzy Osbourne

“Ozzy Osbourne was the most important musician ever to hail from Birmingham,” Hudson writes. “He rose to fame as the lead vocalist of the pioneering rock band Black Sabbath, who invented the genre of heavy metal.”

“Ozzy’s influence on music and culture is undeniable,” he explains. “Naming our international airport after him would be a fitting tribute to his extraordinary career and contributions to the arts.”

His argument goes on to note other airports in the UK that honour famous local exports. With Belfast honouring one of its finest footballers with George Best International Airport, and Liverpool having the Beatles-inspired John Lennon Airport in Liverpool, Hudson believes Ozzy deserves to be honoured in the same way.

“Together, we can celebrate the legacy of Ozzy Osbourne and the incredible influence our city has had on the world stage, thanks to him,” he concludes.

Many supporters have left comments, further supporting the legacy Ozzy leaves in his wake. “Ozzy Osbourne’s music saved my life when I was in middle school and suicidal,” one supporter explains. “He was truly a living legend and if not for him, I wouldn’t be here right now. Naming Birmingham Airport after him would be HUGE, and the best nod to him possible.”

“When I was a teen I was guitar player in a band, and I was in horrible explosion,” another backer writes. “As a result I lost 2 finger tips, and believed I could no longer play guitar, and was very depressed. My uncle threw Black Sabbath’s Paranoid album at me and said listen to that, so I did. Later, my uncle said ‘Tony Iommi is the guitar player for that band, he is missing his fingers as well – so get you ass up and start playing!’”

“This was my introduction to Ozzy, who I also had many common grounds with,” he continues. “Ozzy had a way of making you feel understood and less alone in the world. Through his music, he’s the only celebrity I ever shed a tear for. Thank you so much for everything Ozzy, you are loved and will be missed by the world. He will always be with us, just press play.”

“Ozzy and the band felt Birmingham was important enough to them that they finished both Black Sabbath’s final tour there in 2017 and then finished their careers there a few weeks ago,” another person notes. “They loved Birmingham and carried it with them everywhere they went. Now Birmingham can welcome the world through Ozzy, by naming the airport for him.”

A handful of other petitions are also making the rounds on Change.org in honour of Ozzy. One petition is hoping to have a statue of the Prince of Darkness erected near Birmingham’s Children’s Hospital – a reminder of the nearly $200 million raised through the Black Sabbath’s Back To The Beginning benefit gig, with a portion going to the hospital.

Another petition hopes to rename Download Festival’s main stage, changing the name from the Apex Stage to the Ozzy Stage. Considering Black Sabbath quite literally invented heavy metal, it sounds like an absolutely fantastic way of honouring Ozzy’s musical legacy.

You can head to Change.org to sign the Ozzy Osbourne International petition.

The post A petition has launched to rename Birmingham Airport after Ozzy Osbourne – and it’s gaining momentum appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

System Of A Down’s Daron Malakian has taken a trip down memory lane, recalling how the band felt like “aliens” when trying to make it in the US.

Known these days for their structurally-playful and extravagant brand of metal, the Armenian-American band found it pretty tricky in their early years to get signed to a label, as they didn’t fit the typical mould of the nu-metal bands that were gaining popularity at the time.

• READ MORE: “People think, ‘Oh, you’re a rich rock star.’ No. I sell shirts outta my f**king closet”: Gary Holt on the reality of being a metal guitarist in 2025

Despite feeling like outcasts, Malakian feels things worked out for the band due to their sheer resilience. After forming in California in the mid ’90s, they dedicated themselves to turning West Hollywood’s famed Sunset Strip venues upside down.

Speaking to Metal Hammer for its new print edition, Malakian explains, “At first nobody wanted to sign us, because we didn’t sound like Korn or Limp Bizkit, and we were four Armenian guys! I mean, what the fuck is an Armenian to somebody that lives in Kentucky?! They don’t even know what Armenians are!

“We looked like we were just fucking aliens to people, the way our stage presence was and the way our look was at the time. Serj [Tankian, SOAD singer] is a very different, unique kind of frontman, I’m the guitar player who sings and screams and does all the crazy stuff. People didn’t get it at first, but we got it.”

Asked what changed as time went on, Malakian replies, “We just went out and did what we did. We were young and hungry, we believed in what we were doing. You’ve got to understand, we were an army before we were signed, we were fucking tearing down the Sunset Strip.

“Our shows were packed when we weren’t signed,” he adds. “It started with our group of friends, but that shit grew and grew and grew, and we became the biggest band on the Sunset Strip.”

Daron Malakian has just released a new record, Addicted To The Violence, under his Scars On Broadway moniker. It is available to stream or buy now.

The post “What the f**k is an Armenian to someone who lives in Kentucky?! We looked like aliens to people”: Daron Malakian on how System Of A Down cracked America to become “the biggest band on the sunset strip” in the mid ’90s appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

If you’ve ever wanted to learn guitar, Guitar Tricks could be the platform for you. With nearly 30 years of experience, Guitar Tricks’ online library of video lessons and tabs is a comprehensive approach to learning guitar – and a full access subscription is currently 65% off.

Guitar Tricks’ Summer Black Friday sale has been extended up until 29 July, offering budding guitarists the chance to secure a subscription for $29.95 per month, as well as the Ultimate Beginner Bundle and Song Builder’s Toolbox.

• READ MORE: Guitar Tricks review: still a great video-based learning platform in 2025?

The deal will allow users access to a brand new Power Drills video lessons, as well as Guitar Tricks’ classic 100 Essential Licks video series. Users will also be able to access a set of educational e-books, including the Ultimate Beginner Guide, Guitar Setup Guide and Guitar Soloing Guide.

Users will also be able to utilise AmpliTube 5 guitar modeling software, as well as gaining access to the Tape It Pro app to record your new guitar skills for potential tracks.

At the start of this year, we awarded Guitar Tricks 8/10. While the company has been operating since 1998, its old-school design allows you to focus squarely on your guitar skills. Once you’re set up, the site isn’t bloated by a flashy interface – it allows you to grow, with basic tools like online tuners, backing tracks, metronomes and simple fretboards to visualise chords or work through your scales.

The site also boasts a wide range of guitar styles, with its Core Learning System offering you the chance to work through foundational styles like the Blues or Rock, before delving further into more niche flavours. The site has lessons on Jazz, Funk & Soul, Metal, Surf, and more.

There are over 800 song-specific lessons offered across Guitar Tricks, so you’re sure to find something that takes your fancy. And whether you’re still learning the ropes, or hoping to learn a new track, there’s even an app to catch up on lessons on the go.

Guitar Tricks’ 65% off sale is running until 29 July. The 65% discount also applies to gift subscriptions and certificates.

The post Guitar Tricks is currently offering 65% off full access subscriptions – but not for long appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Tony Iommi has opened up about the death of his longtime friend and Black Sabbath brother, Ozzy Osbourne, and the “shock” he still feels in the wake of the metal legend’s passing.

Osbourne’s death earlier this week left a massive hole in the music world. And few feel that loss more deeply than Iommi, who performed alongside Ozzy just weeks ago at Back to the Beginning, Sabbath’s farewell concert in their hometown of Birmingham.

• READ MORE: “We’ve lost our brother”: Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward pay tribute to Ozzy Osbourne

In a new interview with ITV News, the guitarist admits [via Blabbermouth]: “Yeah, it was a shock for us [to find out that Ozzy had died]. I mean, when I heard yesterday, it couldn’t sink in. I thought, ‘It can’t be.’ I only had a text from him the day before. It just seemed unreal, surreal. And it really didn’t sink in. And in the night I started thinking about it: ‘God, am I dreaming all this?’ But as I said before, he’s not looked well through the rehearsals.”

Looking back on it all, Iommi says he believes the final performance at Back To The Beginning might have been Ozzy’s last mission.

“I think he really just held out to do that show. I really feel, and me and Geezer [Butler] were talking about it last night, that we think he held out to do it, and just after that, he’s done it and said goodbye to the fans. And that was the end of it, really.”

He adds that the show meant the world to Ozzy, even if he was physically struggling.

“He’s built up for it for a while now,” says Iommi. “He’s been sort of training and trying to do what he can, so he could do this gig, so he could do it. And that’s really what he wanted to do. I think he must have had something in his head that said, ‘Well, this is gonna be it, the last thing I’m ever gonna do.’ Whether he thought he was gonna die or what, I don’t know. But he really wanted to do it and he was determined to do it. And fair dues, he’d done it.”

Asked whether Ozzy seemed to enjoy being on stage again, Iommi recalls: “I think he was moved and frustrated as well, ‘cause he wanted to stand up. You could see he was trying to get up. But yeah, it meant everything to him. This is what we built up for, for that big ending where he could see all the people and we could all see all the people, and close it in that way. But we didn’t expect to close it so quick with Ozz; we didn’t expect him to go that quick, really. Well, we didn’t expect him to go. So it’s been a shock.”

Still, Iommi says he’s grateful Sabbath had that final moment together: “I’m really glad we did it, ‘cause it was a final thing for everybody. And I think if we hadn’t done it, people couldn’t have seen the band and Ozzy. It would’ve been a shame. But they’ve got a chance to see us all and see Ozz for the last time in that situation.”

Reflecting on Ozzy’s legacy and their decades-long friendship, Iommi says, “There’s never gonna be another Ozzy. He’s the only one – one Ozzy and that’s it. [And he’s] just a special person, just the way he is. He says what he thinks. Many times we said to him, ‘Now, don’t get saying anything.’ And, of course, he does… And we did have a laugh on stage.”

“As much as we were serious about the music, we’d always have this thing, and Ozz would always come over to me and pull faces,” Iommi continues. “Of course, the audience couldn’t see that, and he’d be pulling all these funny faces, and I’d just crack up. Then he’d go over to Geezer and do the same. He was just that sort of person. He was a showman.”

Tributes have flooded in for the Prince of Darkness following the news of his death.

“Goodbye dear friend. Thanks for all those years – we had some great fun,” wrote Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler, while longtime Ozzy guitarist Zakk Wylde thanked the legend for “blessing the world with your kindness and greatness”.

The post “I think he really just held out to do that show”: Tony Iommi speaks on Ozzy Osbourne’s death just weeks after Black Sabbath’s final farewell appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Fender has announced the 2025 Fender Next class, a global artist development program spotlighting the next generation of guitar players “making waves in music and culture.”

Now in its seventh year, Fender Next has supported 175 artists across various genres and geographies since 2019, offering them the tools, visibility, and platform to shape the future of guitar. Past inductees include Sam Fender, Phoebe Bridgers, Wet Leg and more.

• READ MORE: “He was almost offended that I said that”: Eddie Van Halen’s friend reveals how the guitarist would react to praise
  

This year also marks a first, with alumni Omar Apollo and IDLES invited to help handpick the new class.

Curated by Fender’s Artist Marketing team, the 2025 roster spans the US, UK, Mexico, France, Germany, China, Japan and New Zealand. Artists were selected based on guitar ability, artistic influence, fan engagement, and alignment with Fender’s brand, along with industry referrals and data-driven insights from managers, labels, agents, and tastemakers.

“Fender Next has always been about championing the artists who are redefining the role of guitar in music and culture,” says Jason Klein, Fender’s Artist Marketing Lead. “What makes this year especially meaningful is that some of our past Fender Next alumni helped identify and recommend artists of the new class – proof of both Fender and the creative community’s belief in this artist development program and its ability to inspire next generation guitarists.”

This year’s Fender Next artists features 20 artists, which include:

• Aziya (UK)
• Lambrini Girls (UK)
• Balu Brigada (New Zealand)
• Leon Thomas (USA)
• Brandy Senki (Japan)
• Maggie Baugh (USA)
• Chinese Football (China)
• Malcolm Todd (USA)
• Cruza (USA)
• Man/Woman/Chainsaw (UK)
• Darumas (USA)
• Marc Scibilia (USA)
• Flawed Mangoes (USA)
• Oracle Sisters (France)
• Fleshwater (USA)
• otoha (Japan)
• Friko (USA)
• Renee (Mexico)
• Horsegirl (USA)
• wavvyboi (Germany)

Each artist will receive increased visibility via Fender’s global channels and social media, which reach over 17 million followers, plus access to editorial support, brand partnerships and performance opportunities via Lagunitas Brewing Company.

This year’s class will also receive a curated welcome pack with tools for the road and studio, including a Player II Modified Stratocaster with gig bag, Hammertone effects pedal, Mustang Micro Plus headphone amp, PreSonus HD9 headphones, Fender strap, cable, mug and a one-year PreSonus Studio One subscription.

“We are super excited to be part of Fender Next,” says UK punk duo Lambrini Girls. “Time to blast riffs and throw a tv out a hotel window. Thank you to all involved, may the gods of rock smile down on you amen.”

Malcolm Todd also comments, “I’m so excited to be on Fender Next, this is like a dream come true for me. I grew up watching some of my idols do this series so it’s definitely a full circle moment. I hope to inspire more people to pick up the guitar and hopefully fulfill their dreams of being in Fender Next too.”

The post Fender Next Class of 2025 is here: From punk duo Lambrini Girls to TikTok sensation Malcolm Todd, meet the rising stars of guitar appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Rock journalist Steven Rosen isn’t just another writer who interviewed Eddie Van Halen – he was one of the few who could call him a friend.

Over years of conversations, hangouts and studio visits, Rosen gained rare insight into the man behind the guitar. Their connection eventually became the foundation for Tonechaser, Rosen’s intimate book chronicling his friendship with one of rock’s most legendary players.

• READ MORE: “That might be stupid coming from the son of Eddie Van Halen”: The surprising opinion Wolfgang Van Halen holds about guitar solos

In a recent interview with Igor Paspalj, Rosen opens up about the challenges of balancing admiration with friendship and what Eddie really thought about being praised.

“It was that fine line between being his friend, hanging out with him, being a journalist,” says Rosen [via Ultimate Guitar]. “And it was also recognising, even as a friend, that you’re sitting across the table from Edward Van Halen. You know, this guy is changing the world of guitar. He goes out and plays in front of 50,000 people, and he sells millions of records, and he’s married to this [famous] actress, and he’s all those things. It was hard to not go overboard and just be a psychopath and go, ‘My God, Edward, the solo was amazing!’, and just try to be a normal friend around him.”

Still, there were moments Rosen couldn’t help himself, and Eddie didn’t always appreciate it.

“And there were a couple times that I write about in the book where I kind of did go overboard,” he says. “It was one solo that he did on the Fair Warning record. And I forget what it was. Just one of those amazing solos. I go, ‘My God. Edward, it was incredible.’ And he goes, ‘Yeah, it was okay.’ But he was almost offended that I said that.”

Eddie’s humility, Rosen explains, ran deep, even if he was fully aware of his own genius: “He was incredibly sure of who he was as a musician. He knew he was a very good guitar player. But he would never, he would never tell you. ‘Oh man, did you hear my solo on that record? It was fucking great, man. I kick ass.’ He never talked like that.”

“So, when I said that, it was almost like I was demeaning his playing, because I was sort of bringing it down to a level by saying, ‘Oh man, it was fucking great.’ It’s like, he didn’t need to hear it, and it couldn’t be defined in just a couple words.”

But even that dynamic could flip on its head. At times, when Rosen tried to dial back the praise and stay composed, the Van Halen guitarist would unexpectedly look for more.

“I remember one time, it was a song that he was really happy with the way it turned out,” Rosen recalls, “and he played it for me, or he was playing the solo on maybe my guitar not plugged in, which he would do a lot, which you can hear in the audiobook, and that stuff is amazing.”

“He plays like a bunch of stuff on the second record. Oh, my God, that’s amazing, incredible. And I’m thinking, ‘Don’t go crazy. Don’t say, ‘That’s the most amazing thing I ever heard.’ Be cool about it.’ Eventually, I said, ‘Hey man, that’s good.’ And then he says, ‘You didn’t think it was really good yet? I thought it was neat.’ Which was Edward’s way of saying, ‘It’s the best I can do.’”

The post “He was almost offended that I said that”: Eddie Van Halen’s friend reveals how the guitarist would react to praise appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Do a quick search for #guitars on TikTok or Instagram and you’ll soon find yourself witnessing the technical wizardry of Emma Harner. Bringing a splash of math-rock intricate polyphony to her predominately nylon and steel-string acoustic output, the Nebraska-born Boston-based singer-songwriter’s captivating videos have catapulted her to 1.7million likes on TikTok and 225,000 followers on Instagram. She can also count John Mayer, Plini, Mateus Asato and Tosin Abasi among her fans. Even more impressive is that she only properly picked up the guitar at the start of lockdown.

• READ MORE: Meet Orla Gartland, the independent singer-songwriter embracing her instincts

Nonetheless, the 21-year-old’s growing notoriety in the music scene has always felt like a foregone conclusion. Her parents enrolled her in classical violin lessons from the age of two, and she started penning her first songs – with the help of a ukulele and keyboard – during middle school. She would hear a lot of Paul Simon and The Beatles (two of her dad’s favourites), but it was discovering Radiohead while in a high school symphony that proved most “explosive; they made so many really cool melodies happen at the same time… that band really scratched an itch for me.”

Image: Sydney Tate

Lockdown Lessons

Despite her lifelong love for writing and performing, her interest in guitars didn’t come until the global pandemic hit. “I suddenly found myself with a lot of time to do whatever I wanted,” Harner recalls, adding that dad gave her a 1980 Fender Classical he had bought with his first tax return. “I very quickly became obsessed with that guitar,” she says. “I was playing all the time – under the desk, during Zoom school…”

Unlike most aspiring songwriters who would watch other guitarists and then attempt to recreate what they saw, Harner took a different approach when it came to teaching herself how to play. “I wanted to see how far songwriting with the guitar could take me,” she reflects. “I already knew that I really liked to explore instruments and tonality that way,” she says, “and I was just addicted to how the guitar felt to hold and play; the vibration under my fingers was really nice.”

Working at Guitar Center in Omaha during her first year of studying music at university was a learning curve too. “It gave me more of a handle on some really basic things about gear, like the difference between a Strat and a Tele,” she says. “I’m still not a big expert on all the different guitars, but I’m really interested in it and I think that time working there really jump-started my knowledge of all that stuff.”

While she calls her initial technique “iffy at best”, transferring to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston led to an “overhaul”. Her “really cool” teacher Abigail Aronson Zocher (who also taught Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker) pushed this. After buying a classical guitar, she would learn classical pieces and the pair discussed right hand technique and left hand technique. Harner describes this journey as “a really cool marriage” of what she had learned on violin, especially phrasing and lightness of fingers; “‘how can we take this one phrase and play it 200 different ways?’”

Image: Sydney Tate

The Reel Thing

Having landed on a sonic that fuses the intimacy of folk with the complexity of math rock, she started posting videos of her playing her own songs on TikTok. “Just one or two that didn’t do very well,” she says humbly. Undeterred, her fortunes changed when several clips reached 10,000 views each. “I was like ‘Whoa, that’s such a big number. It’s all happening!’”

At the same time, her friends were enjoying similar success – but on Instagram Reels. “To me, Instagram is really public,” she considers. “It’s like my resume, so I was scared to be cringe.” Nonetheless, Harner decided to go for it and started cross-posting: “I thought ‘it wouldn’t be the worst thing to have a couple more followers’.” Greater numbers on TikTok followed: “it was really motivating, and addicting, to write something and get almost instant feedback on it.”

She advises new artists to follow suit: “there’s no harm, especially if you have a TikTok account where no one knows you,” she considers, though struggles to nail down exactly why her videos amassed a large audience. “My most concrete advice is to always have the lyrics on screen… it’s an attention span game; you’ve got to think ‘if I was on a dopamine-seeking phone scroll, would I watch this past one second?’”

Of course, her intricate guitar playing has played a huge part. “The community of people who play guitar really fast on Instagram and TikTok is close-knit,” she says. “We all know each other; I get added in other people’s videos all the time, but everybody is musically different in certain ways”. Her own obsession? Alternate tunings and melody. “And I’m a little more Midwest emo or math-rock in a folk-y way.”

Notes Taking

Describing herself as “the kind of person who really likes to sit with myself and think in my own head”, Harner’s songwriting method is primarily guitar-first. “I’ll come up with a riff that I think is fun to repeat, play and interesting enough for me,” she shares. “Then I’ll go into my Notes app, see what lyric ideas could fit with it and expand on it all in ways that hopefully make sense.”

Despite being in the early stages of her career, Harner has already received support from some big names in the scene, including YouTube-famous guitarist Joshua Lee Turner, whose band – The Bygones – she joined on tour last year. Animals as Leaders guitarist Tosin Abasi and Australian prog-rock guitarist Plini have reached out too. But the biggest – “especially for my mother” – has been John Mayer; “I’ve had a couple of comments from him, which was a big deal.”

Touring with one of her personal guitar heroes, Orla Gartland, was “awesome” too, especially as “some of her songs were really important to me when I was a teenager”. Being so new to the industry, Harner took mental notes and asked lots of questions; “how she makes everything click and all the ends meet is… terrifying actually. I don’t know if I could ever hustle like her.”

An equally special part of her journey has been the messages she’s received, especially from older people who have been inspired to pick up their guitar again after hearing her music or seeing her videos. “It’s so awesome,” Harner says, adding that this feeds into the legacy she hopes to leave: “more people making music and more people playing guitar because I believe, really passionately, in self-expression on guitar.”

Side Hustle

True to her words, flawless debut EP Taking My Side brings her story so far to life. A softly-stunning coming-of-age collection, the oldest of its five songs was written three years ago. “It’s really cool and gratifying to have it out,” she enthuses, “because it has taken such a long time from writing it to the finished product. It took a while but I did it.”

Her patience and persistence paid off. Lead single False Alarm pairs beautiful strummed chords with vulnerable songwriting, while her ethereal vocals on the Bond-soundtrack-manifesting Do It are paired with cinematic strings; the latter doesn’t sound a million miles away from Billie Eilish’s early releases. As if keen to showcase a heavier side of her artistry, midway outlier Yes Man – which starts as a break-up lament – veers closer to Olivia Rodrigo territory with its loud riffs, before simmering down again. A thrilling indication of her potential next direction, it’s followed by the brilliantly-written Lifetimes: ‘You’re the chopping block, I’m the mouldy spot, and we are waiting for the knife’.

In just 14 minutes, Emma Harner has made her mark as not only a compelling songwriter but one of America’s most impressive new guitarists.

‘Taking My Side’ is out now

The post Meet Emma Harner the guitarist thrilling TikTok with math-rock inspired acoustic guitar wizardry appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.