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You can learn Eddie Van Halen’s licks, memorise his solos and even play his music note-for-note. But according to Big Wreck guitarist Ian Thornley, there’s one aspect of Eddie’s playing that cannot be replicated no matter how good your technique is – and that is the feel the late legend brought to his playing.

Reflecting on Van Halen’s influence while discussing Big Wreck’s latest album The Rest of the Story, Thornley explains why Eddie’s playing continues to defy imitation, even among the most technically accomplished guitarists.

• READ MORE: Wolfgang Van Halen says this aspect of his father’s guitar playing is “incredibly underrated”: “Everybody looks at him as Mr. Tap and Mr. Shred, but that’s just a flavour to what he did”

Despite the lasting impact of Van Halen’s style, Thornley admits Eddie wasn’t an early obsession in the way he was for many players of his generation. Asked whether he grew up as an ‘80s metal fan, he’s quick to set the record straight.

“If I’m being honest, not even a little bit,” he tells Guitar World in its new print issue. “That was more Brian [Doherty, Big Wreck’s late co-founding guitarist]’s thing. The heaviest thing I heard growing up was the Beatles’ Helter Skelter.”

Instead, Thornley’s path into heavier music came via Led Zeppelin III, which he counts as his “first personal exposure to heavy, riff-driven stuff.”

“I fell in love with the second side, with That’s the Way and Tangerine, but then I remember flipping it over and it’s Immigrant Song,” says the musician. “Like, ‘OK, what’s this?’ So I didn’t really know that era of metal. The Van Halen song I really liked was Dance the Night Away, you know what I mean?”

When the interviewer points out the chunky, start-stop swing in Big Wreck’s Believer – a feel often associated with early Van Halen, Thornley replies: “Yeah, I could see that. I mean, a lot of that stuff has seeped in over the past 15 to 20 years.”

“I’ve gone back and listened to all the greats,” he continues. “With Eddie Van Halen, you can learn the licks, and you can learn the songs as he was doing it, but it’s still going to be missing a certain bounce or swing. It’s just an innate feel; it sounds like he’s smiling. [Laughs] It sounds like he’s having the best time.”

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Few topics divide guitarists quite like the modern-vs-vintage gear debate. While digital modellers and boutique recreations promise classic tones at the push of a button – with a large and growing cohort of converts – there’s still a devoted camp that insists the real things can’t be replaced. Count Lenny Kravitz firmly among them.

For Kravitz, whose records are steeped in the warmth of analogue gear and vintage instruments, modern technology still falls short – even after years of rapid advancement. Speaking in the new issue of Guitar World, the rock icon explains why he remains unconvinced by digital emulations and newer equipment.

• READ MORE: Slipknot co-founder says AI is like “a professor in my pocket” – and it’s cheaper than a $150k producer who “might not even work with me”

Asked whether he could recreate the sound of his classic albums using modern gear, Kravitz replies: “It ain’t the same, man. It really isn’t the same. I A/B test everything, and while technology has come a long way and some things are very close, they’re just not close enough.”

“Plus, there is the effect of the accumulation of one thing on top of the other, one old piece combined with something else vintage,” he explains. “It begins to build up a sound that modern equipment can’t reproduce. Just look at old guitars – the age of the wood, you know? That’s something almost indefinable.”

His longtime collaborator and guitarist Craig Ross echoes the sentiment, pointing to the physical changes instruments undergo over decades.
“Wood ages and dries; it’s almost like there’s something in the air that imparts a unique sonic effect,” says Ross. “I think you can’t deny that the pickups in old guitars age in a way that is very hard to reproduce.”

The pair were speaking while revisiting Circus, which has recently been reissued as a 30th-anniversary expanded deluxe edition packed with bonus material.

Kravitz, who remains an avid collector of old instruments, also reveals that the Les Paul Goldtop he’s currently using on tour is one of his most recent acquisitions.

“The Goldtop I’m using now on tour. I have several, but this one is a conversion,” he says. “Someone in its history put PAFS on it and took off the tailpiece. It is the most amazing sounding guitar. I think it’s from around ‘54.”

Not every guitarist, however, sees vintage gear through the same lens. While Kravitz swears by the character and tone of older instruments, others argue that age alone doesn’t determine quality. Blues-rock guitarist Chris Buck, for example, has been vocal about his scepticism toward the idea that older guitars are inherently better.

“I don’t subscribe to the idea that all vintage instruments are great,” Buck told Guitar World, “because I’ve definitely played some dogs. Some of my favourite guitars were made after 2020, and some were made in the ‘60s.

“There’s a synergy between you and a great instrument. That could be a $300 Squier or a $5,000 Gibson. It doesn’t matter. If it speaks to you, it’s the one.”

The post “It ain’t the same, man”: Lenny Kravitz thinks modern guitar gear and digital emulations still don’t sound as good as vintage gear appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

£240, horrothia.com

The word ‘preamp’ was invented by Satan in order to sow discord and confusion. Does it mean the front half of an amplifier, a DI device with speaker simulation, or just a glorified overdrive pedal? Take your pick, it’s all of them! So let me make it clear that the Horrothia Effects Triage Deluxe falls into the third category… except that it’s not so much glorified as glorious.

This British boutique stompbox has enough gain on tap to replace your Timmy or ODR-1, but it also has the tone-sculpting power to transform your sound in a number of ways, some of them less orthodox than others.

Horrothia Effects Triage Deluxe – what is it?

There was a non-Deluxe version of the Triage, with just three knobs and a mids switch; this unit has replaced it in the Horrothia line-up, but it’s apparently a whole new design rather than just a more complicated take on the old one. So let’s have a look at what’s going on inside.

The first stage of this preamp is a FET preamp – yes, that’s right, a preamp can also be part of a preamp, when will this madness end!? – which runs into a variable high-pass filter, followed by a discrete op-amp (with adjustable headroom) to bring the grit, and a treble-cutting tone section on the way out.

More importantly than all that, though, did you clock the footswitch? It looks like one of the buttons off an old arcade game, and it’s adorable. This kind of thing should be compulsory on all stompboxes from now on.

Horrothia Effects Triage Deluxe – is it easy to use?

There are no surprises with the lower three knobs: ‘breath’ is for treble, and gain and output are self-explanatory. For the other two, however, you might have to put your brain into reverse.

The HPF’s cut-off frequency ranges from 20Hz all the way up to 1kHz, so as you turn it up you’re effectively turning the bass down; and the headroom sets the voltage in the second gain stage between 6v and 16v, so as you turn this one up you’re actually reducing the drive and compression.

But hang on, how can you run a pedal at 16v with a 9v power supply? Well, in this case you can’t: the Triage Deluxe will work fine with a standard adapter but it really wants 18v, otherwise you’re basically fixing the headroom at minimum. So, out comes the voltage doubler cable (what would we do without you, Voodoo Lab?) and it’s on with the testing…

Horrothia Effects Triage Deluxe – what does it sound like?

It’s always nice when a pedal gives you a starting point of absolutely nothing. With clipping off, the filter at minimum and the headroom at maximum, the Triage Deluxe can produce something very close to total transparency… which might not be terribly useful on its own, but does bode well for when the gain and output levels start heading north.

That brings us quickly to two easy wins: as a clean boost, and as a transparent low-gain overdrive, this thing is just impeccable. If you simply want to hear your clean tone but louder and/or grittier, it’s right here. The drive feels quite fluffy and uncompressed but tonally it remains tight; in this sense it’s unlikely you’ll find the HPF necessary to sharpen things up – not with single-coils anyway – but it does allow you to shift the emphasis to the midrange, Tube Screamer style, with total control over just how lean the bottom end gets.

The effect of reducing the headroom can be a lot more subtle, depending on other settings, but it’s step one on the journey from preamp to proper drive pedal – and step two is the clipping switch. This makes things pretty hairy, but still without any suggestion of raggedness or unwanted bloom. The Triage Deluxe is a wonderfully entertaining pedal for sure, but it’s also a master of self-discipline.

Horrothia Effects Triage Deluxe – should I buy it?

This is not a cheap pedal, but it’s actually something of a bargain by Horrothia standards (the excellent Berkeley vibe is currently going for £370)… and what you’re getting for your money is undoubtedly of the highest quality. Running it off 9v feels a bit like fitting a 50mph limiter to an Aston Martin; but if you have a power supply with 18v outputs, or don’t mind the hassle of using a voltage doubler, it will let you zone in on the exact sound you’re after with a rare level of precision.

Horrothia Effects Triage Deluxe alternatives

Other pedals that trample all over the line between high-class overdrive and tone-shaping preamp include the Hudson Electronics Broadcast (£179) and Origin Effects RevivalDrive Compact (£329). Or for a very different kind of flexibility, you could go for a dual stomper like the Crazy Tube Circuits Crossfire (€218/£178).

The post Horrothia Effects Triage Deluxe review – the ultimate all-in-one gain machine for fussy tonehounds? appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

The role of Artificial Intelligence in music-making has been one of the most debated topics of late – and Slipknot’s Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan is among the few heavy metal musicians speaking openly in its favour.

In a recent interview with The Escapist, the Slipknot co-founder and percussionist praises AI as “a professor in my pocket who only wants to do what I ask it.”

• READ MORE: “I’m not afraid of an AI version of me”: Jason Isbell worries that AI will create “a constant barrage of the most lifeless content imaginable” and drown out real art

“I’m employing AI 190 percent,” Clown says, explaining that he’s been using it “my whole life” as a tool to refine his work. Over the years, he claims to have transformed “thousands and thousands” of poems he’s written since he was young into new creative forms.

Demonstrating how he uses the tech, Clown tells the publication: “Here are my words. Don’t change them. Don’t alter them. But show me some different ways to sing it.”

The musician also points out the financial benefits of AI, comparing it to hiring a big-name producer – which could cost a small fortune:

“What’s the difference between me pulling out my pocket producer… or me trying to get a famous producer that might not even work with me and could potentially cost me $150,000… who will only give me one or two ways – I’m not mentioning any names!”

Still, Clown stresses the human element remains essential: “But it’s still going to take me to sing it. And it will never be like it was,” he adds. “None of it can work without you, the human. It’s a giant oracle… but it needs you.”

Crahan’s embrace of AI comes amid widespread controversy over the technology’s role in music creation. Critics have raised concerns over copyright and the value of human musical expression – a debate that’s seen contributions from rock’s wider community. Guitar legend Brian May, for one, recently warned that AI training on copyrighted material could make music creation ‘unaffordable’ for artists, while blues‑rock guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd said that AI-created music might become the norm even if it lacks the depth of a “fallible human”.

By contrast, not everyone in Slipknot’s orbit shares Clown’s optimism. Frontman Corey Taylor has been openly critical of AI‑generated music, telling Kerrang! in 2023 that he “can’t stand it” and “don’t care for any of that crap”.

The post Slipknot co-founder says AI is like “a professor in my pocket” – and it’s cheaper than a $150k producer who “might not even work with me” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

When people talk about Eddie Van Halen, it’s usually all about the lightning-fast tapping, the jaw-dropping solos, the “Mr. Shred” persona. But, as his son Wolfgang Van Halen points out, that’s only part of the story – there’s another side of the guitar legend that rarely gets its due.

In a recent appearance on The Cody Tucker Show, the Mammoth frontman turns the spotlight on his father’s rhythm playing and songwriting, the very foundation that, according to Wolfgang, allowed those iconic solos to shine.

• READ MORE: “Do you see Taylor Swift shredding scales? I don’t think so”: Wolfgang Van Halen explains why fans who expect him to shred like Eddie are missing the point

“I’ll throw you a different angle at something that I think is really obvious. I think my dad is an incredibly underrated rhythm guitar player and songwriter,” he says [via Blabbermouth].

“I think everybody looks at him as Mr. Tap and he’s Mr. Shred, but I think that’s just like a flavour to what he did. And I think it’s the fact that he was such a good songwriter and rhythm guitar player which allowed him to be the shredder guy on top of it. ‘Cause there are plenty of people who are just great shredders and they’re just running through scales and stuff, and that’s not as interesting.”

The interview also sees Wolfgang name dropping another underrated rhythm player whose contributions are often overlooked onstage: AC/DC’s Malcolm Young.

“But I think in terms of guitar players that are maybe underrated, I’d say one of my favorite underrated guitar players would have to be Malcolm Young from AC/DC,” says Wolfgang.

“Obviously, Angus [Young, AC/DC’s lead guitarist] is very in your face and dancing around while he was just in the back, but I think [Malcolm] is the greatest rhythm guitar player in history. He just had such a grit, and he’s absolutely one of my favourites.”

Beyond that, Wolfgang recently spoke to Guitar.com and shared his five all-time favourite guitar players, offering a glimpse into the influences that shaped his own approach to the instrument.

The post Wolfgang Van Halen says this aspect of his father’s guitar playing is “incredibly underrated”: “Everybody looks at him as Mr. Tap and Mr. Shred, but that’s just a flavour to what he did” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Once upon a time, “progressive” meant breaking boundaries, mixing styles, and bending the rules of rock and metal. These days, according to Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt, it’s often more about how fast you can shred – and the prog-metal veteran isn’t buying it.

In a recent chat with Prog Project, Åkerfeldt opens up about his frustration with how the term “progressive” has evolved, noting that the genre has drifted from its adventurous roots and become something of a cliché.

• READ MORE: “To me, progressive rock is very serious players who can really do their stuff”: David Gilmour “never thought” Pink Floyd were prog rock

“I’m not sure if it’s so important for me to feel that we are progressive, because I don’t really know what it means anymore,” says Åkerfeldt [via Blabbermouth], who juggles the roles of Opeth’s lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter.

“Back in the day, I think that it was easier to define a progressive band because they were mixing styles and stuff like that, but now progressive means fast guitar solos, and it’s become a sound and maybe not so progressive.”

He adds that the genre’s overall direction has him scratching his head: “I think progressive music, especially in rock and metal, has become a bit regressive,” says Åkerfeldt.

“And it’s also, I don’t know if I can decide if we are progressive or not. I think it’s up to the audience to decide, but for me, it’s become less and less important to be labelled progressive because I don’t know what it means anymore.”

When asked whether he tries to consciously be “progressive” when writing Opeth’s music, Åkerfeldt is clear: “No. I don’t wanna repeat myself. Many of our fans want us to maybe repeat what we did in the early 2000s, but I’m not really interested in that. I like for us to progress, but not necessarily just so we fit into the progressive rock/ metal genre.”

For Åkerfeldt, the focus is always on creating music that moves forward in its own terms. Drawing on a wide range of influences and a deep passion for his craft, he says, “when I write music, it’s easy to, I think, make progress for our own music, because I have so many different kinds of influences and I’m very passionate about my music and stuff like that. So I try, but at the end of the day, I just wanna write emotional music.”

The post Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt thinks prog music has “become a bit regressive”: “Now progressive means fast guitar solos” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

While hours of bedroom guitar practice will sharpen your chops, it won’t do much to help you find your musical identity – at least, according to Marty Friedman, who says the real magic begins when you’re forced into a ‘band situation’.

Speaking to English guitarist and YouTuber Bradley Hall, the former Megadeth guitarist explains that practising alone – even for hours a day – can only take you so far when it comes to developing a personal voice on the instrument.

• READ MORE: “I’ve learned so much from classical music”: Marty Friedman on why every rocker should study classical music

“It takes so much to get your own thing down,” Friedman says. “Band situations is the way to get your own thing quicker than practicing. I don’t think there’s anything that you can really practice at home that’s gonna get your identity as well as being in a band, because then you’re forced to [think], ‘Now, this is your part.’ You’re the league. You’re George Harrison, or you’re Paul McCartney.”

The former Megadeth axeman also credits punk rock and Kiss as the major influences that first made him want to pick up a guitar.

“I think, when you start playing, there are things that happen that influence you enough to want to pick up a guitar in the first place,” Friedman explains. “That probably never leaves you, right? As you know, picking up a guitar and then playing it forever, it’s kind of a big [thing] – something big had to happen to make you do that crazy thing, right? So in my case, it was punk rock and Kiss.”

Even now, those early influences continue to shape how he approaches the instrument.

“I gravitate to those types of things when I’m playing rhythm,” says Friedman, noting that it also explains why certain modern techniques don’t feel as instinctive to him.

“Hence, I don’t have all of the modern rhythm chops. I mean, I can do them when necessary, but it’s not always as comfortable as [it is for the] guys [who] grew up in the 2000s, and that’s what made them start playing.”

The post Marty Friedman explains why practicing guitar at home won’t help you find your own sound appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Yungblud has addressed the criticism he routinely faces within rock, warning that “blind negativity” in the genre could be doing lasting damage to its future.

At 28 years old, Yungblud AKA Dom Harrison is one of rock’s most talked-about rising stars, having captured the world’s attention last year with his tribute to Black Sabbath at Back to the Beginning.

But while some see him as a symbol of the genre’s next chapter, others remain unconvinced – with members of The Darkness, for one, recently questioning his place in rock’s lineage.

• READ MORE: Yungblud fires back at The Darkness over Ozzy Osbourne tribute criticism: “They were trying to be doormen at a party that they weren’t invited to”

Speaking to Loudwire, the British artist reflects on the level of criticism he routinely faces online, arguing that the “bitterness” aimed at new rock artists can have a far wider impact than people realise. According to Harrison, constant scrutiny doesn’t just affect established names – it risks discouraging younger musicians from even getting started.

“On my third album, a lot of people had an opinion about me,” he says, adding that being so publicly dissected isn’t always easy to navigate.

“People like me or people don’t and that’s not always easy to handle,” Yungblud admits. “It can make you feel really isolated and it can actually deter you as a young musician.”

“But to be honest, ultimately, I think that’s the reason why I’m fucking here – to take on the bitterness a little bit because people don’t realise that this blind negativity deters young musicians from trying at all.”

Elsewhere in the conversation, Yungblud also reflects on how his love for rock ‘n’ roll was shaped long before all the online discourse. Growing up in the north of England, he spent much of his childhood immersed in his family’s guitar shop.

“It was the coolest adventure,” he recalls. “Me dad and me grandad had a guitar shop in the north of England and I used to go in every day and I was exposed to rock music at four years old, three years old. I got taught guitar by the guys who would work in the shop – I got brought up on the good shit.”

That early exposure, he says, shaped not only his sound but his outlook – including his affinity for artists who divide opinion. Yungblud points to his bond with Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, whom he collaborated with on a reimagined version of his Grammy-nominated song Zombie, connecting over their shared experience of being polarising figures in rock.

“Isn’t it funny that every fucking great rock star was always hated? It almost encourages you more to use it as fuel and fight back,” says Yungblud.

The post Yungblud claims that the “bitterness” and “blind negativity” he experiences is discouraging the next generation of rock artists from “trying at all” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

As reunion tours become increasingly popular, plenty of bands are tempted to return to the stage for one final romp. From Slayer’s 2024 reunion, to Kiss performing on this year’s Kiss Kruise despite calling it quits in 2023, ‘goodbyes’ are apparently temporary nowadays. However, Dave Mustaine insists that Megadeth’s 2026 farewell will truly be the end.

In a new interview with Metal Hammer, Mustaine explains that, unlike his musical peers, Megadeth wont be returning after their 2026 tour. When asked if the band might return, he says “I don’t think so,” adding that Megadeth are a band that “stick to their word”.

“You see the scuttlebutt that is associated with [veteran rock] bands… you know they’ll never follow through with it and stick to their word,” he says. “There’s so many musicians that have come to the end of their career, whether accidental or intentional. Most of them don’t get to go out on their own terms on top, and that’s where I’m at in my life right now.”

• READ MORE: “Don’t be mad, don’t be sad – we changed the world”: Dave Mustaine makes emotional statement as Megadeth announce final album

Megadeth’s goodbye will be marked by a release of a final self-titled record in January. The record will be the band’s 17th full-length release, and will even feature a cover of Metallica’s Ride The Lightning in honour of Mustaine’s stint in Metallica between 1981 and 1983.

However, while Mustaine claims that Megadeth will record “no more studio albums,” he notes that a live album of the band’s final tour could very well be on the cards. “Might there be a live album at the end of all of this?” he teases. “Yeah, it certainly looks that way.”

While Mustaine is firm about 2026 being the end of Megadeth, he does admit that the change will be strange. “I can’t really conceive of an end right now,” he says.

“I think for all of us, we’re always going to be in Megadeth,” he adds. “We’re always going to be brothers now and best friends, and we’re always going to be responsible for making some of the most fun music that bassists and guitarists and drummers will ever want to play.”

When Megadeth first announced that 2026 would see them finally calling it quits, Mustaine encouraged fans to focus on the positives. “Don’t be mad, don’t be sad, be happy for us all, come celebrate with me these next few years,” he wrote in a statement. “We have done something together that’s truly wonderful and will probably never happen again.”

Rather than thinking of the band’s end, Mustaine wants fans to focus on the legacy they are leaving in their wake. “We started a musical style, we started a revolution, we changed the guitar world and how it’s played, and we changed the world,” he explained. “The bands I played in have influenced the world. I love you all for it. Thank you for everything.”

Megadeth’s final album will drop on 23 January. For more info, head to Megadeth’s official website.

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“I thought it was a peculiar track and interesting and people might like it, but I had pretty much excluded the possibility of it being a single of any kind,” exclaims Brendan B Brown, frontman, guitarist and songwriter of Teenage Dirtbag, the 2000 anthem by Brown’s group Wheatus that appeared on the group’s self-titled debut album.

It’s now 25 years since Teenage Dirtbag took Brown from playing to a handful of people to taking to the festival stages around the world. The song hit number one in several countries, including Australia, and made the top 10 in the US and UK. No one is more surprised at the song’s longevity than Brown himself. “I thought it was too long and that it had this kind of character switch in the middle that felt a bit theatrical,” he says.

• READ MORE: Trivium’s Matt Heafy names the five up-and-coming metal bands everyone needs to watch in 2026

Teenage Dirtbag’s instantly recognisable and unmistakable opening riff came about after Brown struggled to figure out Mark Knopfler’s opening guitar riff to Dire Straits’ Money For Nothing.

“I was trying to get my head around Mark Knopfler’s playing of the riff on Money for Nothing,” he explains. “It was such a big single when I was a kid. In the video it had Mark’s pinky sticking out, and I remember thinking, what’s he doing? And I ignorantly stabbed at that for many, many moons.

“Eventually I came up with my own version of it, which was similar, in regards to the shape of the hand. I wasn’t taught to do it by anyone. I just watched him in the video, as the video starts with a big closeup of Mark playing it, and I went from there.”

Brown’s attempt at mastering Knopfler’s legendary ‘clawhammer’ fingerpicking style was further informed by two other unlikely sources.

“I realized that AC/DC’s Malcolm Young did it on Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution too, and also Angus Young on Who Made Who,” he says. “So, I really learned how to play fingerstyle from rock and roll guitarists, which was kind of a little weird. You’re supposed to play fingerstyle with the pinky but I got there with my own incorrect version of it.

“Playing the main riff to Teenage Dirtbag absolutely destroys my fingernails on tour, so much so that I have to put glue on them to keep them together. It’s quirky how I play it too with a sort of thumb, thumb, finger pluck, thumb, thumb, finger pluck pattern. It’s very percussive, like a kick, kick, kick, snare, kick, snare, kind of thing.

“I’m just using a regular standard E major chord which to me, is a big chord. There’s a lot of big rock records that have big sounding opening E chords. For example, you have Back in Black and you have Rush’s Tom Sawyer. And those two songs came out around the same time and were big tunes back then, so, it inspired me to write a song that had a big E chord in it, too, which I did with Teenage Dirtbag.”

Leader Of The Gang

First written and demoed back in 1995, Brown asserts the song was pivotal in his transition from band member to frontman. “Doing the demo was the first exploration for me as to what it would be like to be the leader of a band where my voice was the lead voice,” he says. “And that’s a very nerve wrecking thing to try and do after you’ve only been a guitar player in previous bands, and feeling not very confident about.

“I did the demo on a Tascam Portastudio 424, one of the small four track units, which I still have in the attic. The finished recording was recorded on a Tascam DA-78HR system, which was the front loading ADAT machines from Tascam that you would stack and sync together. We had four of those that we bought with our advance money.”

The song’s change in dynamics, from acoustic driven verses to a choir of distorted electric guitar in the chorus has proved a mystery to many in how Brown achieves those heavily distorted tones. His answer will surprise somewhat.

“There’s no electric guitars whatsoever on the recording,” he reveals. “A hundred percent of the electric guitar that you hear on the record is a Martin 00016 TR. A guitar I picked up from the Guitar Center in Los Angeles. When I first played it, I was like, ‘Yeah, this is the one’. So, I took it home and it’s been with me ever since. It’s also the one that’s in the video, too. It’s retired from the road now as it’s a little too fragile. But it spent a good 15 years on the road with me.”

In order to achieve the distorted tones on the recording, Brown plugged his Martin into a SansAmp PSA-1 preamp, “with some very particular settings”.

“And I doubled-tracked it twice,” he adds. “So, there’s two performances on the right, and two performances on the left. I also took a Mesa/Boogie Subway Blues amp that I had, and put the volume knob just right before the breakup point so that if I played it hard, it gave me a little bit of tube distortion from the power amp tubes. And if I backed off of it, it would give me a sort of chunky clean sound. And I overdubbed one per side, too. When you listen to the Teenage Dirtbag recording, you’re hearing six tracks of six performances of guitars. So, there’s six layers of guitars on there.”

The song has of course become a staple of the band’s set ever since, but replicating that tone in the live environment proved challenging, but Brown found a way around it. “When it came to getting that distorted tone live, I initially was using a little Danelectro Daddy-O pedal for the real fuzz to give me that crunch, and an Ibanez Tube Screamer for just a bit of overdrive,” he says. “And I had it split through a Whirlwind ABY Splitter where I had the acoustic sound going out. Eventually, I put the acoustic sound on a volume pedal, so that it ducked when I played the ‘electric’ part. So, I was initially just tapping on and off the distortion pedal when playing Dirtbag. Then I switched over to expression pedals with the DigiTech 2120s [a rack-based valve amp simulator] which is what I now use.”

It’s an unconventional way of doing things, but one that fits perfectly in with the history of this most eccentrically recorded, but enduringly popular, slice of early 2000s rock.

The post How Wheatus distorted an acoustic guitar to make Teenage Dirtbag an early 2000s classic appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

$1,149/£1,175, martinguitar.com

Martin and Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy have some history. Back in 2012, the pair collaborated on the 00DB Jeff Tweedy – a guitar based very loosely on the 0-18 guitar he’d owned and played extensively on albums since the 90s.

• READ MORE: Martin 000 Jr Sapele review: “a guitar that could easily become a lifelong companion”

People loved that guitar, but such is the nature of endorsement deals and licensing arrangements; it was discontinued in 2019. However, the tail end of 2025 brought happy news. Not only would Martin and Tweedy be renewing their relationship, bringing the 00DB Jeff Tweedy back into the lineup, but it would be joined in the lineup by a new and more affordable signature guitar, enter the 000 Jr E Jeff Tweedy.

000 Jr E Jeff Tweedy – what is it?

Once you’ve managed to work your way through its rather elongated name, the 000 Jr E Jeff Tweedy is a small-bodied electro-acoustic that’s rather different from the 00 model. For a start, this guitar is made in Martin’s Navojoa, Mexico factory – which is why it costs the best part of 3,000 bucks less than the 00DB – but that’s not all.

Rather than a 00 body shape, the Tweedy uses the similar but slightly shallower 000 Jr body shape – as used to great effect in the Shawn Mendes signature as well as the most recent 000 Jr that Josh was so effusively impressed with earlier this year.

Like that 000 Jr, it has a solid Sapele construction, but here instead of the open-pore finish of the Junior series we get a rather handsomely applied Tweedy Burst. Unlike that Junior series, all the woods used in this guitar are FSC-certified, including the ebony fingerboard. That neck is a little shorter in scale than the DB, too – but it’s still ‘full size’ at 24.9 inches.

You also get a set of upgraded nickel Grover open-gear tuners for a vintage look with improved stability. Electronics are provided courtesy of Martin’s trusty E1 system, and you also get a soft shell gigbag for your money, too.

000 Jr E Jeff Tweedy – playability and build

Before we start, a confession – I didn’t really want to review this guitar. When I saw both of the revealed Tweedy models, the guitar I was excited about was the reborn 00DB… so I was kinda bummed out when Editor Josh asked me to check out this one instead.

You hear the word Junior, and you assume that the guitar is going to be… well, junior! A smaller and less robust version of the original? I obviously forgot about all the amazing Les Paul Juniors!

Regardless, this preconceived notion didn’t last long – pretty much from the second I pulled it out of the gig bag and tuned it up. Instantly, it didn’t feel like a small guitar, with that 24.9-inch scale length it has the playing experience of a full-sized instrument, but with the comfort and portability of a travel guitar. I was caught off guard.

The nicely applied burst also makes it feel some distance away from the student guitar I had in my head. The comfortable PA neck shape and graduate Performance Taper carve makes this a very fluid and comfortable instrument to play. While the stripped-down Junior series often feels like ‘My first Martin’ visually, this really does feel elevated to go with that price tag.

000 Jr E Jeff Tweedy – sounds

If I was wrong-footed by how impressive this guitar looks and feels, the first strum of an open E chord was enough to knock me on my behind. Despite its compact body dimensions, the Tweedy has a full, warm and balanced tonality from E to E string – something that’s probably a combination of sapele’s mahogany-like qualities, plus that rather fetchingly striped ebony fingerboard.

There’s no overabundance of anything here – bass, middle or trebles – it’s just impressively and compellingly even and balanced reproduction of each string. It’s a rare and impressive thing for a guitar in this price bracket – I’ve played instruments that cost twice as much that don’t have this level of even tonality. It’s a guitar that’s begging to be taken into the studio and recorded with.

In the studio, you’re likely gonna want to mic this thing up, but if you’re playing out (or lack a good mic at home) you have the option to go direct thanks to the onboard E1 electronics.

Running into my BOSS AC-22LX acoustic amp for testing purposes, I found that the pickup did a nice enough job of replicating that balanced tonality of the unplugged instrument – though it did need a little bit of chorus and reverb added on the amp side to really open it up.

The onboard tuner is fast and accurate, and having that phase switch certainly is handy if you have any issues with amps or PA systems in a live environment.

000 Jr E Jeff Tweedy – should I buy it?

I know when to admit I’m wrong, and in this case Josh was entirely correct in picking this guitar for me to review. I assumed that a budget model would offer a markedly inferior experience to the US version – instead we have something that stands on its own two legs as a compelling guitar in its own right.

This is the most balanced acoustic guitar I’ve played or reviewed that costs less than $3,000 – so while that pricetag might seem a lot compared to other Martin 000 Jr models, you have to realise we’re dealing with a pretty special instrument here.

It’s also a fantastically portable instrument, and it’s the sort of thing I wouldn’t hesitate to take to a songwriter round, a jam session, or even to the studio. It offers the sort of balanced and compelling sound of a full-sized Martin in a travel guitar body – I didn’t think it would be possible, but I’ll say it again, I was wrong!

Martin 000 Jr E Jeff Tweedy alternatives

The basic Martin 000 Jr Sapele is a very impressive guitar for a lot less money ($749/£749), though it lacks some of the visual and sonic refinement of the Tweedy. Another seriously impressive small-bodied guitar is the Taylor GS Mini e-Koa Plus ($1,199 / £1,099), while the Breedlove Oregon Companion CE ($1,999) is a lot more expensive than the Tweedy, but it sounds fantastic.

The post Martin 000 Jr E Jeff Tweedy review – “I’ve played instruments that cost twice as much that don’t have this level of even tonality” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

On the surface, the worlds of rock and classical music couldn’t be further apart. However, former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman insists that listening to classical music could teach all rock and metal musicians a trick or two.

Speaking with interviewer Tobias Le Compte, Friedman reveals that he listens to classical music “all the time”, because he is constantly “learning” new skills from it. “I’ve learned so much from classical music and have played classical music, as a soloist, with many big orchestras,” he explains [as transcribed by Blabbermouth].

• READ MORE: Marty Friedman on his unconventional picking style: “It’s not something I think people should analyse or study”

Rather than restricting yourself to the conventions of one genre, Friedman insists that all musicians should explore different worlds of sound. Rather than simply thinking “the grass is greener on the other side”, classical artists should allow themselves to “rock out, shake their asses and bang their heads”, just as Friedman is allowing himself to embrace the “big crescendos of classical music”.

The difference can sometimes be a challenge, but it’s worth it. He notes that even the nature of a classical performance can push you to your guitar limits. He recalls a recent performance with Antonín Dvořák, which saw him performing non-stop for a solid 25 minutes. “All the cues are so different from a rock band,” he explains.

“It takes so much work to do; it’s a whole different lifestyle,” he adds. “It took a lot of practising, rehearsing and learning in a different way. So I learned a ton from it, and I’ve done that several times now… it’s such a thrill.”

Plenty of other rock and metal guitarists have also cited classical music as a huge inspiration. Tim Henson in particular was classically trained in violin, which has massively informed Polyphia’s expansive, progressive sound. Elsewhere, Randy Rhoads’ complex solos are also classically informed.

Yngwie Malmsteen also praises the influence of classical music on his guitar playing. He has previously claimed that listening to German composer Johann Sebastian Bach had a far greater impact on him than, say, Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore. “I based my guitar playing on classical violin, not guitar,” he revealed at Hellfest in 2024.

“I love Ritchie Blackmore, no doubt about it, but my playing is nothing like his,” he said. “It sounds a bit old fashioned to me when people tell me I was influenced by Blackmore: just listen to how we play!”

On the more experimental end of things, Polish guitarist Marcin Patrzałek’s unique Flamenco-tinged percussive fingerstyle approach to his instrument is also massively influenced by his classical training.

The post “I’ve learned so much from classical music”: Marty Friedman on why every rocker should study classical music appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Black Sabbath’s 1970 self-titled debut famously changed the face of metal forever. Without it, we wouldn’t have heavy metal – but, if you look further back, other artists were also beginning to explore heavier sounds. In fact, Robert Fripp believes that King Crimson’s 1969 debut helped lay the foundations of metal’s heavier sibling.

In a new interview with Guitar World, Fripp notes that King Crimson’s influence on heavy metal is often ignored. He argues that the band’s In the Court of the Crimson King record, and particularly the track 21st Century Schizoid Man, was “about as metal as it gets”.

• READ MORE: Nuno Bettencourt admits debuting his guitar brand at Black Sabbath’s farewell show “was probably a really f**ked-up thing to do”: “Washburn didn’t know I was leaving”

“I saw a recent video on YouTube on the 10 precursors to heavy metal, and 21st Century Schizoid Man wasn’t among them,” Fripp says. “That’s absurd!”

While Crimson are often branded as a prog unit, the essence of metal has always rumbled beneath the surface. “The powerful, metallic element has always been there in Crimson,” the guitarist insists. “For me, it became increasingly articulated in the simple question: What would Jimi Hendrix have sounded like playing a Béla Bartók string quartet?”

“In other words, the sheer power and spirit of the American blues‐rock tradition speaking through Hendrix’s Foxy Lady or Purple Haze,” he adds.

Don’t just take Fripp’s word for it – even the Prince of Darkness himself paid tribute to the track 20 years ago. Ozzy Osbourne’s cover of 21st Century Schizoid Man features on his 2005 solo record, Under Cover, and is comfortably suits Osbourne’s heavy metal edge. “[Ozzy] was always generous enough to acknowledge Crimson,” Fripp notes.

Elsewhere, The Who’s Pete Townshend also acknowledged the track’s heavier textures back in 1969. “21st Century Schizoid Man is everything multitracked a billion times, and when you listen, you get a billion times the impact,” he wrote in a teaser ad prior to the release of Court of the Crimson King [via Rolling Stone].

“Has to be the heaviest riff that has been middle frequencied onto that black vinyl disc since Mahler’s Symphony No. 8,” he added.

While Crimson’s experimental sound has taken on many forms, Fripp argues that the band’s “metal voice” can be found everywhere. From their debut, to 1973’s Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, metal has always played a small part in the Crimson formula.

The post “That track was about as metal as it gets!”: Robert Fripp argues that this King Crimson track laid the foundations of heavy metal appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

$209.99/£198, boss.info

Hey, have you ever considered that maybe you’ve got too many effects pedals? One answer might be to sell some of them – ha, imagine! – but another way to make more space is simply to get smaller ones. Boss knows this, and that’s why the XS-1 Poly Shifter exists.

• READ MORE: Boss XS-100 Poly Shifter review – even better than the squeal thing?

Launched alongside the powerful but slightly enormous XS-100, this is the same kind of multi-function pitch-shifter, powered by the same all-new algorithms, but offered in the standard Boss form factor that’s been ruling stages since the 1980s. So… perhaps you’ve got room in your life for one more pedal after all?

Boss XS-1 – what is it?

By all means have another quick read through my review of the XS-100, because the basics are unchanged (plus I really like the line about the elephant). But here’s a mini-recap anyway: with these two pedals, Boss is making a play for the market currently dominated by DigiTech and its Whammy range of pitch-manipulators. You can shift up or down, from a single semitone to a multi-octave interval, you can blend that sound with your dry signal, and you can also select ‘detune’ mode for more subtle chorus effects.

Obviously the bigger unit has an expression treadle, plus a screen for navigation (including presets) and the option of stomping between two different intervals – none of which is present here. For the record, the maximum interval has also been cut from four octaves to three; but seeing as a three-octave leap is still more than any human could possibly find a genuine use for, that hardly qualifies as a compromise.

Boss XS-1 – is it easy to use?

This being a Boss pedal with two knobs and two switches, it couldn’t be any easier to use unless it had arms that stuck out of the sides and played the guitar for you. We’re talking real ‘don’t bother with the manual’ stuff here, and that’s quite a change from the logical but multi-layered operation of the XS-100.

The first knob controls the balance of the output signal, from all dry to all pitch-shifted; the second controls the shifting interval, which can be anywhere between one and seven semitones (ie: a fifth), or one, two or three octaves. The little toggle switch below that selects up, down or the detune option, while the one on the left lets you set the footswitch to latching or momentary mode. And that really is everything.

Boss XS-1 – what does it sound like?

When it comes to the sounds, it’s all about the algorithms – and so this part of the review could almost be a direct copy of what I wrote about the XS-100. The crucial part is that the latency is impressively low and the processed tones are impressively pure, with barely a hint of the digital scratching and crackling that you might associate with pedals of this type.

The available effects can be divided into four broad categories: down-tuning for baritone-style metal riffing; up-tuning for a virtual capo and/or impossibly high widdling; blending in an up-octave for an approximation of a 12-string sound (you’ll want the balance at around 10 o’clock for this); and blending in any interval for tight-tracking harmonies. Oh, and that’s not counting the detune effect, which is much easier to access here than on the bigger unit thanks to that dedicated switch. It sounds really rather nice in an 80s kind of way, and can be adjusted using the two knobs.

The one thing you can’t do, of course, is Whammy-style soaring and swooping, which depends on foot control… but there is an input for an expression pedal, so even that isn’t completely off the table. Make sure you’ve got one that’s Boss-friendly, though: my Moog EP-3 normally gets on great with every stompbox it sees, but it sounded all sorts of wrong with this one.

Boss XS-1 – should I buy it?

By now the reasons to buy into Boss’s new XS range should be clear: put simply, it’s got the best algorithms. So if you’re after purity and realism above all, then this has to be the first name on your shopping list.

That just leaves the question of which model to get. The XS-100 is a chunk of fun for sure, but I like the XS-1 a lot more. It’s got all the features you need – compatible expression pedal permitting – plus it’s far cheaper, it’s easier to use and it takes up much less space. Just don’t blame me if you end up buying three more pedals to fill the gap.

Boss XS-1 alternatives

The DigiTech HammerOn ($299/£219) is one of three compact pedals in the Whammy family, and offers up/down shifting plus lots more besides. A simpler option is the Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork ($198/£169), and a more complicated one is the full-size Boss XS-100 ($349.99/£299).

The post Boss XS-1 Poly Shifter review – all the magic of the XS-100 in a smaller, smarter format appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Back in the ‘80s, tensions between David Lee Roth and the rest of Van Halen were steadily rising. In 1982, Eddie Van Halen was even prepared to jump ship and abandon Van Halen altogether, begging Gene Simmons to let him join Kiss. However, Simmons rejected the guitar legend’s proposal.

We know what you’re thinking – who would say no to Eddie Van Halen? While the rejection might seem like a slight on Eddie’s talent, it was actually an admission that the Eddie’s guitar playing was a little too bold for Kiss to contain. “There wouldn’t be room for Eddie in Kiss,” he admits in an interview with MusicRadar.

• READ MORE: “I said, ‘Eddie, you can’t go up on stage. This thing’s out of tune.’ He goes, ‘I’ll show you’”: Gene Simmons recalls a backstage moment with Eddie Van Halen

Eddie proposed the idea of joining Kiss in 1982, following the release of Van Halen’s Diver Down record. At the time, Eddie was unsure whether he could continue working with frontman Roth. Aware that Kiss were on the hunt for a new guitarist to replace Ace Frehley, he approached Simmons and asked to join the band.

“Eddie told me, ‘Roth is driving me nuts – I can’t take it!’” Simmons recalls. “He said: ‘I gotta leave. I know you’re looking for a lead guitar player. Do you want me in the band?’”

Despite Eddie’s desperation, Simmons was firm. He gave the Van Halen guitarist some vital advice: “I said, ‘Eddie, a band is worse than a marriage. You’re going to have ups and downs and stuff. But with Van Halen, everything begins and ends with you – it’s all about the guitar. Those riffs, that’s the backbone of what it is. That’s the sound.”

Simmons went on to note that those “backbone” riffs were “not necessarily the point of view of Kiss”. As he puts it, Eddie joining Kiss would have been like “putting Jeff Beck or Jimi Hendrix in AC/DC”.

“Hendrix would suck up all the oxygen,” he explains. “He needed just one bass player and a drummer so he’d got that room without a rhythm guitar player there. Eddie was like Hendrix in that sense. He needed a lot of room.”

While Van Halen had been created with Eddie Van Halen’s riffs in mind, Kiss didn’t have enough space for such gargantuan solos. “With Van Halen, it [allowed] a lot of room for the guitar player to take up,” Simmons notes. “There just wasn’t that room unless we wanted to gut what Kiss was all about. Eddie would have taken over.”

Although we’d love to have seen Eddie Van Halen storming the stage in Kiss makeup, Simmons’ rejection forced Eddie to persevere with Van Halen. And it’s good he did, because the band’s next album, 1984, featured some of Van Halen’s most iconic cuts, including Jump and Panama.

“Morally, I think I did the right thing,” Simmons concludes. “[I told] Eddie, ‘You’ve got to stick it out. No matter what the problems are in the band, you’ve got to hang in there.’”

“It’s never easy! You take a look at Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, who had their ups and downs, or John Lennon and Paul McCartney, who were childhood friends. But you don’t let the band break up, even if it means switching lead singers. And in the end, that’s exactly what Eddie did.”

The post “Eddie would have taken over”: why Gene Simmons rejected Eddie Van Halen’s request to join Kiss appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Globe-trotting can come with a hefty price tag – but what if you got paid to travel the world? That’s exactly what inspired the Haim sisters to pack up their lives and pursue a career in music.

Speaking to The Times, Haim reveal what first inspired them to bind together back in 2007; the trio wanted to break out of Los Angeles and see the world. “It was our evil plan,” Este Haim reveals. “Growing up, we hadn’t seen much of anything. We wanted to discover the music scene in the UK, to visit Japan, but how the fuck are we going to afford it? If we start writing songs together, maybe we can.”

• READ MORE: How Women Are Giving Metal Guitars A Mainstream Moment

From an early age, Haim were weaned on all things musical, aiding in the efforts of their singer of a mother and drumming father. This meant that the trio shared an innate musical connection – something that deserved to be explored. In 2005, sisters Danielle and Este joined with pop group Valli Girls. but it quickly became clear that there was a missing link – their younger sibling, Alana.

When the trio finally joined forces in 2007, everything fell into place. They were adamant they’d be able to take on the world. “Starting Haim, we had blind optimism,” Alana admits. “We just thought it was going to work. Not to be too ‘LA’ about it but it was a form of manifestation.”

Of course, success didn’t come overnight. However, nothing could deter them. “For the first five years we were playing to three or four people,” Danielle recalls. “But something about getting on a stage together made us happy.”

Eventually, Haim would get their big break supporting The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas on his solo tour in 2010. Danielle was performing double duties, performing with her sisters before going out and playing guitar in Casablancas band. Thereon out, it seemed like everything clicked into place.

Their true breakout moment would come in 2013, when the sisters were seemingly everywhere at Glastonbury Festival. They performed sets on both the Pyramid and Park stages, as well as joining Primal Scream onstage as backing vocalists.

With their newest album, I Quit, up for a Grammy for Best Rock Album, its clear that Haim were absolutely correct – they are stronger together. Looking back, the sisters are proud of themselves for committing to the grind. Though Este admits that “when you’re 13, being forced to be in a band with your parents and little sisters is not the coolest thing”, now she fully embraces it. “I think it’s cute,” she notes.

The post The “evil plan” that led the Haim sisters to start playing music together appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

About ten years ago, I started building my own guitars in my garage. I did it in an effort to better understand the instruments that I love so much – and it certainly did that, though perhaps not in the way that I anticipated.

Over many years and many builds, I have realized that I was wrong about a lot of things when it came to guitar construction prior to starting to build my own. These were common preconceptions and misunderstandings, I think – but learning about them the hard way has helped me to understand the gear I own better, and enabled me to make better choices when I’m buying new guitars. Hopefully it can help you too, even if you never have any intention of picking up a fret file!

“Hand Built” Is More Complex a Term Than Many Realise

I had always believed that “hand-built” guitars were superior to standard production line guitars that were carved out using CNC machines. When you build a guitar by hand you get an appreciation for hand-built guitars because of the focus and literal sweat that goes into it, but you also realise that consistency is difficult to achieve, even with using jigs. Over the years, I have developed an appreciation for CNC Machines as they take a lot of the rough cutting work out of guitar building – work that is not all that fun to do.

I’ve learned that the machines used to industrialise the guitar-building process are just as impressive as the instruments they create. Plek machines, for example, are able to level frets down to such an impressive degree that it makes the prospect of doing them by hand seem rather archaic. Even touring the Gibson factory and seeing the old custom hand-built machines and tools that were used to streamline the building process helped me to embrace the idea that hand-built is a more complex term than I had previously imagined.

Everything Matters

Claiming that a guitar is simply the sum of its parts ignores the interplay between those parts. This is a topic that can get really deep into the weeds, but mastering the art of constructing an instrument with a certain sound is a science that I am far from mastering. However, building your own guitars does give a healthy respect for builders out there who carve bracing, chamber specific sections of a body, or use certain metals in the bridge that are designed to create very specific sympathetic frequencies, giving each guitar its own voice.

I’ve learned that when you pluck a string on a guitar, the entire instrument vibrates; those vibrations can sometimes feed back into the string, giving it those sympathetic resonances. A high-end instrument that is tailored to a certain playing style will take every aspect of construction into account when trying to achieve that sound. After building my own guitars, I believe that tonewood matters, I believe that the glue we use to glue the body matters, and I believe that how the neck fits in the neck pocket matters. Everything matters.

I’m certain someone will claim they saw a guitar made out of corkboard that sounds just as good as a vintage Stratocaster, simply because they saw something on YouTube. But I have to ask those people, did you hear it with your own ears, or did you hear it through some computer speakers?

The only way to do such a comparison is to play both with your own hands and listen to it, live, with your own ears. And I’m not going to say that all vintage guitars sound good – they certainly don’t. They were incredibly inconsistent, as anyone who has played a lot of them will tell you.

Some will say that a guitar’s tone is all about the pickups and not much more, but I have learned that is not true either. A guitar is more than the sum of its parts and sometimes the smallest details can be just as important as the “main” features of a guitar. For example, we spend so much time talking about how certain pickups sound, but we far too often ignore that those pickups are subject to the wiring within the guitar, the pots that we use, the wire itself, the shielding, the output jack.

If one of those components is sub-par, then the overall sound of the pickups will be sub-par. Building your own guitars forces you to focus on these small details that casual guitar players overlook when discussing tone. It will force the realization that a guitar’s tone is not the result of one certain thing.

Let’s Talk About Money

When I first started thinking of building my own guitar, I was under the impression that it would be cheaper than buying my own version of that guitar. For the cost of the tools needed to build a guitar alone, one could purchase a pretty nice production-line guitar.

When you start thinking of all the tools needed to build a guitar; routers, sanders, fret saws, files, levelers, drills, bits, sandpaper, fret press, sanding blocks, clamps, various jigs and templates, it can add up very quickly. Just to give you an idea, if you want to do binding on your guitar, you’ll need a router bit and a series of bearings.

StewMac sells this kit for $160-$206 (depending on how many bearing sizes you want), which is about as much as I spent on my router itself.

I was fortunate enough to have a lot of these tools before I started building my own guitars, but there are always some tools that you’ll find makes the job so much easier. A fret slot miter box would be a good example.

Good quality fret files would be another. If you are anything like me, you will try to buy some cheap ones on eBay that suck and end up buying quality files from a reputable company anyway.

I’ve found guitar building to be an incredibly enlightening and rewarding hobby and I encourage anyone who loves guitars to give it a try. As one of my childhood heroes, Red Green, used to say, I’m pulling for you. We’re all in this together.

The post I was wrong: I’ve been building my own guitars for over a decade, and here’s the most important lessons I’ve learned appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Dave Mustaine has revealed that a hand ailment that makes playing “really painful” is the main reason behind Megadeth’s decision to call it quits after their final album and farewell tour.

Earlier this August, the thrash metal legends announced plans to release a final self-titled record in early 2026, followed by a global farewell tour that will take the band across North America, Europe, and back.

• READ MORE: Dave Mustaine wants Megadeth’s last show to be in space: “I think that will be a really fitting climax!”

Speaking with MariskalRockTV about his condition, Mustaine says that he noticed growing discomfort in his hands while working on the band’s new record.

“I just said one day to my management, ‘You know, I don’t know how much longer I’m gonna be able to do this,’” the Megadeth leader recalls. “I didn’t say, ‘Hey, I wanna retire right now.’”

The 62-year-old explains that Dupuytren’s contracture – a condition that causes a thick cord of tissue to form in the palm, bending one or more fingers toward the center of the hand – is affecting his hands to the point where playing the guitar has become extremely difficult.

Holding up his hand for the interviewer, Mustaine showed how the disorder is already affecting him. “It’s gonna make my finger come down like this,” he says. “It’s already started, where it’s kind of bunching up a little bit. And then if you look at the tips of my fingers, they’re severely arthritic. So all those bumps make it really painful to play.”

While he plans to undergo surgery to address the condition, Mustaine is waiting until after the farewell tour to avoid any setbacks.

“If I wait until my hands are causing a problem and I try it and it doesn’t work, well then I’ve toured everywhere, I’ve said farewell everybody and am not leaving stuff unsaid or unfinished,” he says.

Check out the full list of tour dates at the Megadeth website.

The post Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine reveals hand condition making it “really painful to play” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Carving out your own identity in rock is tough – even more so with the Van Halen name hanging over your head.

Wolfgang Van Halen has spent years stepping out of one of rock’s biggest shadows, and in a recent interview with Chile’s Radio Futuro, the Mammoth leader slash Van Halen alum opens up about the challenges and freedoms of forging his own path, and the satisfaction of finally being taken “seriously” as an artist in his own right.

• READ MORE: The legendary guitarist that Wolfgang Van Halen calls “the Malcolm Young of metal”

Asked what it feels like to be recognised for his own musical accomplishments, Wolfgang says [via Blabbermouth], “It’s pretty great. I’m very lucky and happy that people are beginning to take me seriously as my own artist and separate me from my family history. ‘Cause at the end of the day, that’s all I would really like to do, is be taken at face value for what I represent and not for what my family represents. And I think that’s why I’m trying to do something different.”

“I don’t play Van Halen music at my shows,” he adds. “I would rather fail on my own than succeed by playing Van Halen music. So I think it just shows the work that I’ve been putting in and people beginning to see the person I am on my own. So I’m very grateful.”

Still, the musical connection to his father runs deep. As Wolfgang explains, both he and Eddie “started on the drums”, which gave them a “great sort of rhythmic background to the foundation of being a musician”.

“And so I think we both attack guitar playing from a rhythmic perspective,” says Wolfgang. “And so I think that’s a really great thing that my dad and I have in common. And I’m very happy to have that in common with him.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Wolfgang also praises the growing presence of women in rock, saying “It’s awesome… I think it’s an archaic mindset to think that women can’t be in rock and roll.”

“I mean, I think one of my favorites out there right now is a very close friend of mine, Lzzy Hale of Halestorm. I think what she’s doing is incredible, and she’s one of the best singers out there. And also, yeah, the drummer that they’ve got for Rush [Anika Nilles] is incredible. I can’t wait to see what the shows are gonna be like. I remember I watched some of her videos on Drumeo, on the YouTube channel, and she’s just absolutely insane. No wonder they picked her… [Linkin Park’s Emily Armstrong], she’s badass as well,” says Wolfgang.

Mammoth is currently riding the wave of their third album, The End, which they celebrated with a headline tour that wrapped up earlier this month.

The post Wolfgang Van Halen on stepping out of his father’s shadow: “I’m happy that people are beginning to take me seriously as my own artist and separate me from my family history” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Breaking into metal can be brutal, as 39-year-old Matt Heafy will tell you from experience. Long before Trivium settled into their role as one of the genre’s most reliable headliners, the band’s early success made them a target, drawing hostility not just from fans, but from some of the very bands they grew up idolising.

• READ MORE: Trivium’s Matt Heafy names the five up-and-coming metal bands everyone needs to watch in 2026

Speaking to Guitar.com in a new interview, Heafy looks back on the period surrounding 2005’s Ascendancy, the breakout album that positioned Trivium as metal’s next big thing. Despite the magazine covers and blockbuster tours, the band quickly learned that success came with its own harsh lessons.

“It was rough being bullied by our favourite bands, and by their fans,” Heafy recalls. “We got bottles thrown at us [while onstage]. People tried to accost us by our van.”

He adds, “We were on tour with Lamb of God, Machine Head and Gojira in 2006, and we had our sound guy walk out on us. I was going to our bus and some guy said [sarcastically], ‘Good show,’ and flipped me off and walked off.”

Those early battles left Heafy determined to do things differently. Rather than perpetuating the same hazing culture, the frontman is now a vocal supporter of new metal acts, regularly inviting younger bands out on tour with Trivium and using his radio show to spotlight emerging talent.

It’s a mindset that shapes how he views the scene today – and why he believes it’s in a healthier place for newcomers.

Reflecting on the current state of metal, he told Metal Hammer: “It’s a good time to be playing heavy music, man. It’s a good time to be a younger band, too. You’re not having to deal with as much of the bullshit that we had to deal with: there’s not this intense ostracisation, this intense cliquiness.”

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