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Polyphia’s Tim Henson has offered his take on why shred guitar fell out of fashion in the ’90s, noting how an overload of copycats had watered down what made it exciting in the first place.

In a new interview with The Music Zoo, the 31-year-old guitarist explains how the ’80s ‘shred boom’ ultimately sabotaged itself. He says the era became oversaturated with players chasing technical fireworks without the feel that made the original innovators – from Jimi Hendrix to Eddie Van Halen – so compelling.

• READ MORE: “Playing as fast as you can doesn’t really hold much water for me”: Eddie Van Halen pours scorn on shredding in unheard 1991 interview

“I guess the thing is, when somebody does the cool thing, and they do it so well – you think about Hendrix and those cool licks, that came from that awesome, incredible generation, and probably even before Hendrix, where they were probably doing those kinds of licks too… And then, everybody wants to sound like that,” says Henson [via Ultimate Guitar]. “But [only] the 1% are hitting the feel, and everything else is falling flat. And, you know, that’s kind of just what happens, I guess.”

“Like, when somebody like Eddie comes out and does the thing, and it’s the cool thing, and then everybody else wants to sound like the cool thing, but they’re kind of — I don’t want to say bastardising, but they’re watering it down a little. But it takes that; that’s needed, because it pushes things forward.”

According to Henson, the scene had reached a breaking point by the late ‘80s.

“I feel like, around the ’80s, all the shredders kind of ganged up together,” he says. “And when that happened, it was so heavily weighed on the shredder side, that the universe needed to balance itself out and pop out Kurt Cobain. And then, all of a sudden, it’s not cool to shred.”

The post Why shred guitar died in the ’90s, according to Polyphia’s Tim Henson appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Joe Bonamassa has some timeless advice for guitar players – and a few thoughts on the “unappealing” habits that turn jam sessions into ego shows.

In a new interview for Gibson Gear Guide promoting his latest collaboration with Epiphone – the ’59 Les Paul Custom, a recreation of his “extremely rare” Gibson “Black Beauty” LP – Bonamassa lays out what he sees as a common bad habit among guitarists: failing to “read the room.”

• READ MORE: “There’s nothing I can do to change people’s opinions about me”: Joe Bonamassa accepts some people will never appreciate his take on the blues

“As a player, you’ve got to read the room,” says Bonamassa. “If you’re getting called up [onstage] for a jam, or called up for one song, there shouldn’t be a technical team in tow with a pedalboard the size of a Fiat.”

There’s no need, he adds, for an “F1 pit crew” just to play a three-minute jam. “Just plug straight in, man. We’re not making our careers here. Just use the volume and tone controls, and figure it out.”

His interviewer, Dinesh Lekhraj, then notes how Bonamassa practices what he preaches in his own sessions, often plugging straight into whatever amp’s available in the room during shoots.

“I think we get caught up in, ‘Is the tone right? Is the volume right?’” says Lekhraj.

“Exactly,” Bonamassa replies. “And if you want a Tube Screamer or something like that, great. Stick it on the amp and go.”

“If it’s your gig and if it’s your situation and you set it up, then yeah, go down as many rabbit holes plug it all in – because that’s your gig. I mean, if you’re sitting in with somebody, that’s a little different story.”

The guitarist also describes how “unappealing” it is when jam sessions spiral into all-out guitar duels.

“I’ve been onstage plenty of times with five or more guitar players, and the greatest asset you have at your disposal is the volume control,” says Bonamassa. “When somebody’s soloing and there are five guitar players, it shouldn’t be on.”

“Leave some space,” he continues. “And then when they point to you, go for it. You wanna make music for music’s sake and not your sake. The days of those Ralph Macchio and Steve Vai duels are long gone. It is so unappealing to sit there and watch that go down.”

That said, Bonamassa admits there’s one exception to that rule.

“The only time I’ll do it – and it’s fun because I love the man and we have such a mutual respect for one another – is when Eric Gales gets onstage,” he says. “We both know we’re going to get a black eye and a bloody nose. We’re going for it, and the crowd loves it.”

“But it serves a purpose because it’s a spectacle, it’s P.T. Barnum juggling a polar bear on a unicycle. But in other situations, you want to be respectful to your fellow players.”

The post The common guitarist bad habit Joe Bonamassa finds “so unappealing” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

$1,099/£999, martinguitar.com

Martin first debuted the hugely polarising SC acoustic guitar back in 2020 – a radical and bold move for America’s oldest surviving guitar brand that put offset looks and maximum playability at the forefront of things.

• READ MORE: A love letter to the acoustic guitar: thank you from my calloused fingers

Many thought it would be a flash in the pan excursion at the time, but in the five years since, Martin has continued to iterate on the concept, gradually making the SC a more and more accessible and affordable acoustic guitar model.

For 2025, Martin has moved the Mexico-made SC-10E into the Road Series – and in doing so has made it the most affordable and accessible SC model yet.

Martin SC-10E – what is it?

You may remember Guitar.com reviewing a Mexico-made SC-10E a few years ago, and given that you’re well within your rights to enquire as to whether we’re just reviewing the same product twice here – because on the surface the Road Series SC-10E seems pretty damn similar to the previous version

So you get the same super-thin satin natural finish over the body and neck, you get a spruce top and a select hardwood neck (the term Martin uses as a catch-all for Honduran mahogany, Spanish cedar, Sapele, Sipo, and African mahogany – it can be any of these depending on the supply situation), and you get the same ultra-playable Low Profile Velocity neck profile.

You also get that all-important Sure Align Linear Dovetail Neck joint. This means there’s a securing bolt in the back of the body and a neck shim inside the body that allows you to set your own neck height preference for maximum player comfort. Inside you’ll also find the SC-specific Tone Tension X-bracing inside, and the same Fishman MX-T electronics system inside.

So what is different? Well quite a big thing actually – the original SC-10E had a koa laminate back and sides, whereas this guitar sports an all-sapele arrangement. Less importantly, the headstock has been overhauled visually – gone are the black matt tuners and dark-stained fascia, replaced with a more classic rosewood-capped Martin peghead and chrome tuners.

Martin SC-10E – feel and sounds

Obviously, from the sheer look of the thing you can tell from the outset that this is not your traditional Martin guitar, and so it is when you pick it up and start playing. The all-over satin finish makes the guitar instantly more comfortable and playable out of the gate – and what’s more, you aren’t muffling the vibration of the wood with a thick gloss coating either.

In practice, this means that the guitar is vibrant and rings clearly with plenty of midrange. Sapele is a similar wood to mahogany, and so you have that inherent warmth that sets this guitar apart tonally somewhat from the brighter and more direct sound of koa. You don’t get the boominess or higher trebles that you might find in a traditional Martin dread, but the tradeoffs are plain to see.

Because ultimately, the real reason someone picks up an SC model is the playability, and here it really does still feel like no other acoustic guitar on the market. The combination that the body shape, neck join and the profile all combine to make this a guitar that plays like an electric without ever not feeling like an acoustic – you can go to places you’d have never considered on a regular flat-top, but it still keeps the inherent tone, vibration and heft that you don’t get in a crossover or hybrid instrument.

Plugged in, the Fishman system does a nice job of replicating the guitar’s inherent tonality – it’s full and warm plugged in, but still midrange forward, which works great backing up vocalists or yourself. The built-in tuner is also very accurate, and is bright and clear enough to easily see on a dimly-lit stage.

Martin SC-10E – should I buy one?

If you’re looking for a traditional Martin look, sound and feel, obviously the SC-10E is not for you, but provided that you’re not put off by the asymmetrical body style, there are more reasons to try one of these guitars out than not.

I’ve played every iteration of the SC platform that Martin has produced and this one is my favourite. I prefer the warmer frequencies that the sapele wood generates compared to the koa version, and I like the more restrained and traditional cosmetics here. Because when you’re sat playing it, this feels and sounds every inch a classic Martin guitar – but with a level of playability that opens up a whole new musical plain for you to explore.

You also can’t really knock the price – at barely over $1,000 this is the most affordable SC guitar yet, which should help put the guitar in the hands of more curious and experimental players who will truly maximise its potential. And that’s a good thing for everyone.

Martin SC-10E – alternatives

A more overtly hybrid electric option that blends electric playability with acoustic tones is the Taylor T5z Classic ($2,499). Another offset hybrid acoustic-electric guitar is the Fender Acoustasonic Player Jazzmaster ($1,299/£1,049), while the Highway Series Dreadnought ($999/£849) offers a classic shape with an ultra-thin body. If your main concern is sounding great plugged in while having a more ergonomic body design, the LR Baggs AEG-1 ($1,599) is a remarkable amplified acoustic.

The post Martin Road Series SC-10E review: “I’ve played every iteration of the SC platform that Martin has produced and this one is my favourite” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

She might regularly appear in ‘best blues guitarist’ polls, but Samantha Fish doesn’t believe you can really rank musicians. “I feel like being a guitar player is all about self-expression,” she says in conversation with Guitar World. “So when you’re ranking guitar players, it’s tough for me, because I don’t think there’s one better way to do it.”

• READ MORE: Christone “Kingfish” Ingram picks his six most influential blues guitar albums of all time

But everyone has their own personal favourites, and during the interview the Kansas City guitarist name-drops a few. “I just got off the road with [Christone] Kingfish [Ingram], and he’s pretty amazing” she exclaims, before going on to list the other greats in her mind.

“I think Derek Trucks is one of the greatest there is, not just in blues playing but any playing. He’s an alien. I like Gary Clark Jr. – he’s very tasteful, and he’s got a great tone. Eric Gales is incredible. He just blows everybody away. Luther Dickinson is one of my favourite contemporaries, too. He’s awesome.”

UItimately, what matters to Samantha is having a distinctive sound, which she describes to Blues Blast back in October 2024, “I love anybody with a personality…so you can just turn (a song) on and you know exactly who is holding that guitar because they have that personality. I think Keith Richards has that personality. I think (of), obviously, B.B. King. I think Derek Trucks has that personality. Freddie King has that personality. I think Angus Young (of AC/DC), and I think of Jimmy Page.”

Samantha was lucky enough to play with her hero Keith Richards as opener for The Rolling Stones’ on their Hackney Diamonds US tour, which she found “humbling and mind-boggling”.

Slash also asked her to play at his own blues festival, the charity fundraiser S.E.R.P.E.N.T., alongside other giants like Warren Haynes, Keb’ Mo’ and Larkin Poe. She told Louder Sound that she was initially sceptical about the invite, “But then it actually came through and I thought, it’s a cool concept and such a cool lineup. All the acts are really incredible performers and it’s a really great thing to get to be a part of. I was stoked.”

The post Samantha Fish on the top blues players right now, and why one of them is “an alien” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Following Neil Peart’s retirement in 2015 and sad passing in 2020, it looked like Rush would never play again. But in recent months, Alex Lifeson has given plenty of hints that things might not be over for him and bassist Geddy Lee.

That said, few anticipated the shock news this week that Lifeson and Lee would be reuniting for a seven-city tour in 2026 including US, Canada and Mexico dates.

• READ MORE: Alex Lifeson admits he’s “never been very confident as a player”

While playing without Peart might be tricky to navigate, what Alex Lifeson is really concerned with is relearning Rush’s old material. “50-something years” into his service as guitarist, Lifeson admits in a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame interview that their songs are still difficult to play: “When you do it every day, it’s not a big deal, really.”

“You’re used to it. But when you’re away from it, and you are a little more objective about the intense complexity of the music and the feel and the new nuances and all the things that go into making a Rush song and performance”.

Despite this, Lifeson enthuses that: “to be challenged with that again was really, really exciting. And the more we started rehearsing and playing, the more I just fell in love with the idea of playing again.”

A Rush reunion wasn’t always so clearly on the cards, as losing Peart initially made the idea of reuniting difficult. As Geddy Lee admits in the same interview: “First of all, because [of] what it entails in terms of work, but also what had transpired, you know, losing a member like Neil is devastating.”

“It was a very sad time, and it took time for us to even contemplate. This is a relatively recent decision, and I would say it was kind of out of the question for the longest time because of those circumstances – and how do you replace someone who’s irreplaceable?”

Their final decision was endorsed by both Peart’s daughter Olivia Peart and his wife Carrie Nuttall, who shared in a press statement: “We are thrilled to support the Fifty Something tour, celebrating a band whose music has resonated and inspired fans for generations, and to honor Neil’s extraordinary legacy as both a drummer and lyricist.”

“As the band enters this new chapter, it promises to be truly unforgettable. We are excited to see how their new vision unfolds, and to hear this legendary music played live once again.”

German drummer and composer Anika Nilles is now taking over from Peart’s duties, expressing in an Instagram post how “overwhelmed” she is after being thrust into the spotlight by fans of the band.

The post Alex Lifeson reveals the challenges of bringing Rush back for their reunion tour appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Musicians often become sick of their own hits – Robert Plant even claimed he’d “break out in hives” if he’d have to sing Stairway To Heaven at every show. 

Guns N’ Roses’ Slash is a little different however, admitting to Guitar World interview that he didn’t like Sweet Child O’ Mine even before it was a hit. Before its writing, Slash considered Guns N’ Roses a “Motörhead-type hard rock band”. But in hindsight, he thinks this ballad helped them to reach fame, being their only US number one single in 1988.

Some of Slash’s distaste for the track might boil down to how challenging the song’s solo is to play. Particularly live – and drunk – as he reminisces: “We played it one time opening for Ted Nugent, and when it was time to play the song, I was like ‘Oh fuck’. And of course, I had to remember how to play the riff accurately by myself in front of everybody every time.” 

These days, Slash feels more neutral about its inclusion, saying “it’s become one of the big tentpole songs in the set. So it is what it is.”

When it comes to writing solos, Slash finds this more of a stream of consciousness flow rather than something he sets out to do. “All the solos were very spontaneous and at-the-moment the song was written. You figure out what the chord changes are going to be and then just do what you feel.” 

Sweet Child O’ Mine was written in this exact way: “it was just a riff I came up with, and I didn’t know what I was going to do with it. I wasn’t really thinking about it at the time, but it inspired the whole song.” Their 1991 release November Rain’s solo also came about the same way: “It sounds so structured to me now, [but it] was just what happened in the moment.” 

This isn’t the first time that Slash has felt at odds with the band’s creative output. He told Yahoo in 2022 that November Rain’s wedding concept music video went against his values as a “stripped down rock guy”, but being his diplomatic self does think “it came out pretty awesome”. At the end of the day, he “always knew it was a really great song”.

The post Slash confirms that he didn’t like this iconic Guns N’ Roses song: “I have to admit I did have a thing with it” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Lemonheads guitarist Evan Dando is no stranger to rock star excess. From the alt-rock heyday of the early 90s to periods of public absence (and misadventures), the Boston band’s frontman has long earned a reputation for living life on the edge.

In a new interview with The Guardian, the 58-year-old opens up about his past substance use, his current approach to sobriety, and the creative process behind Love Chant, the band’s first album of original material in nearly twenty years.

• READ MORE: “It happens. Especially to those of us horrible drivers”: Gene Simmons recovering at home after Malibu car crash

These days, Dando considers himself “clean”, though his version of the word might surprise some: “I’ll take acid occasionally, maybe mushrooms and I’ll smoke pot.”

For the musician, being clean is about leaving heroin behind, which he claims he hasn’t used in nearly three years. The decision followed a disastrous gig at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in 2021, where he struggled to play through the set.

“I thought: ‘This is not good. The legacy will not bear this type of behaviour,’” says Dando.

He credits Laura Teixeira for helping him quit but stresses he has no regrets about his past: “I think some people were supposed to take drugs and one of them was me.”

Stepping back from substances (mostly) has also brought a new focus to his music.

“When you’re on smack, you’re all: ‘Oh fuck that, and that, and that,” he says. Now, Dando is finally releasing Love Chant, an album that revisits the lyrical and melodic strengths that propelled Lemonheads to indie stardom.

Formed in 1986, Lemonheads earned acclaim for their blend of punk energy and folk-pop melodies, scoring mainstream hits with songs like Into Your Arms and It’s a Shame About Ray. Despite lineup changes and long periods of inactivity, Dando has remained the band’s creative core, carrying its signature songwriting voice through the years.

“I’ve never really heard of this sort of dormancy period [between albums],” he admits. “This is some Rip Van Winkle shit. I do have integrity about what I put out. I wasn’t ready to do anything new until I was ready, and [now] I am.”

Love Chant will arrive on 24 October via Fire Records. Check out the latest single In The Margin below.

The post Lemonheads guitarist claims he doesn’t regret decades of hard drug use: “I think some people were supposed to take drugs” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Martin has teamed up with Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy on two new signature acoustic models, the reissued 00DB Jeff Tweedy and the all-new 000 Jr E Jeff Tweedy

Both guitars bring Tweedy’s preferred features to players — from deep, resonant bodies and long-scale necks to FSC-certified tonewoods and the signature Tweedy Burst finish.

• READ MORE: Martin Junior Series D Jr E StreetLegend review: “this guitar feels Junior in name only”

The 00DB Jeff Tweedy, first introduced in 2012, makes its return with the same “warm, balanced voice” that made it a fan favourite, alongside modern refinements like a certified ebony fingerboard and bridge. Crafted from FSC-certified solid mahogany with scalloped European spruce X-bracing, the model retains its deep 00 body design, long 25.4” scale, and signature Tweedy Burst finish. The guitar also comes detailed with faux tortoise binding and Foden-style inlays.

“The thing I love about my guitar, the deep-body element of it, is that it has a warmth for a smaller body guitar,” says Tweedy. “It’s somewhere between a Dreadnought and an 0-style guitar.”

Joining it is the 000 Jr E Jeff Tweedy, a new, more compact signature designed to bring Tweedy’s tone and feel to a broader range of players. Crafted from FSC-certified sapele with the same satin Tweedy Burst finish, it features a 000 Junior body, full 24.9” scale length, Martin E1 electronics with a built-in tuner, and a Performing Artist neck for greater playability.

“The idea that we could do this again, and then also offer a guitar that may be a little bit more affordable to people starting out, and maybe a little smaller for smaller hands starting out – that’s a thrill to me,” says the guitarist.

Both models trace their inspiration back to the vintage Martin 0-18 Tweedy purchased in the late 90s. It was that guitar that Tweedy used to write the celebrated Mermaid Avenue album with Billy Bragg, setting Woody Guthrie’s then-unheard lyrics to music. That instrument, he says, “became basically part of my writing voice… it’s the main acoustic I’ve had my whole life.”

“Well-made guitars, like the Martin guitars that you make, inspire creativity because they don’t present an obstacle to creativity,” Tweedy adds. “Someone buys a guitar with my name on it and takes it home – I hope it becomes a part of their daily habit of making some music.”

Priced at $3,599 and $1,149 respectively, the 00DB Jeff Tweedy and 000 Jr E Jeff Tweedy are now available through authorised Martin dealers worldwide and on Martin’s website.

Learn more at Martin Guitars.

The post Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy teams up with Martin on two signature acoustics – the all-new, fun-sized 000 Jr E and the returning 00DB appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Warm Audio has unveiled the Throne of Tone and Tube Squealer, two new pedals that pay homage to some of the most iconic overdrive circuits in guitar history.

True to the brand’s reputation, both pedals promise faithful analogue recreations built with premium components, while adding smart, modern touches for today’s players.

“These are two of the most popular styles of overdrive in guitar history, and we’re excited to add them to the Warm lineup,” says Warm Audio founder and president Bryce Young. “We maintained the Warm formula of vintage-accurate tone and premium components, but we went a step further to combine some of the greatest iterations of these tones along with feature-rich functionality into each.”

• READ MORE: Fender expands its Hammertone pedal line with two new offerings: the Breakup Drive and Boost

To start, we’ve got the Tube Squealer, Warm Audio’s spin on one of the most celebrated overdrives ever made — the Tube Screamer. Built with 100% analogue circuitry and loaded with modern, rig-ready features, the pedal offers three selectable voicings that each nail a different era of the original’s tone. 808 delivers the earliest iteration of the classic overdrive, the TS9 captures the most produced and widely recognised version, and the TS10 revives an underrated circuit that’s found new life with modern players.

Beyond the traditional controls, the Tube Squealer adds a Mix knob that lets players blend their clean signal back in with the overdrive, a pickup-voicing selector to optimise the pedal for single-coil or humbucker guitars, as well as an external voltage booster for expanded headroom.

Inside, it’s packed with high-quality JRC4558 op-amps, discrete transistors, diodes, premium JFETs, and asymmetrical clipping for that unmistakable smooth, tube-like breakup.

Next is the Throne of Tone, a dual-sided overdrive inspired by the Marshall Bluesbreaker and the boutique pedals that followed in its wake. Designed for ultimate flexibility, this pedal offers two classic voicings, each with low and high gain levels and three drive modes: boost, overdrive, and distortion.

According to Warm Audio, the Throne of Tone excels at British-style breakup thanks to a symmetrical clipping circuit that captures the feel of classic tube amps cranked beyond their clean limits.

Tone shaping is highly flexible too: each side of the Throne of Tone comes with an independent Presence control (adjustable from 500Hz to 2.3kHz) alongside the standard tone knob. There’s also a rear-panel send/return loop for inserting other pedals between the two sides, plus a voltage doubler that runs internally at 9V or 18V for extra headroom and definition. The pedal also features true-bypass switching.

Under the hood, 24 diodes and premium JRC4580 and TL072 op-amps power two fully analogue circuits, delivering uncompromising tone in a versatile, performance-ready package.

“For the Throne of Tone, we decided to honour the 3-knob vintage pedal that inspired a whole wave of boutique recreations, and added a second side plus alternative voicing to deliver the most unobtainable boutique blues OD,” Young explains. “With these unique voicing options, plus added features for presence, gain structure, and gain amount, you can create dozens of combinations previously unavailable in addition to getting the authentic sound of the originals – all in one stomp box!”

The Tube Squealer is priced at $149/€159/£139 (inc. VAT), and is available exclusively at Guitar Center in the US and authorised retailers worldwide. Meanwhile, the Throne of Tone retails for $229/€249/£219 (inc. VAT) and is available at all authorised Warm Audio retailers.

Learn more at Warm Audio.

The post Warm Audio unveils the Tube Squealer and Throne of Tone – two pedals that capture the soul of legendary overdrives appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

For Wolfgang Van Halen, few instruments carry more emotional weight than his father’s Frankenstein guitar – the iconic red-black-and-white Strat that rewrote the rules of rock.

Built and modded by Eddie Van Halen himself in the late ‘70s, Frankenstein is one of the most recognisable guitars in music history. And decades later, it’s still shaping the sound and story of Van Halen’s legacy, now through Wolfgang’s hands.

Speaking to Guitar World about Mammoth’s upcoming album The End, Wolfgang explains that every time he brings out the guitar, he feels the full gravity of what it represents.

• READ MORE: “I’ll have Frankenstein and my wife, and we’re good”: Wolfgang Van Halen admits he kept his father’s most iconic guitar in the back of his car for three weeks in case they had to evacuate during the LA wildfires

“Any moment I have it in my hands… just being able to hold something that my dad had such a history with is nice, since my dad’s not around anymore,” says Wolfgang. “It’s a little bittersweet, but it’s a nice thing to have on the record with me. I think that’s why I try to bring it out on every record.”

Recording at the famed 5150 studio, he adds, only amplifies that feeling.

“I mean, just the fact I’m recording in 5150 is enough,” says the guitarist. “But because Frankenstein is arguably one of the most famous instruments in music history, let alone guitars… the emotional and historical weight of it all is a lot to handle. You almost have to push it to the side and just enjoy the moment.”

While the Frankenstein makes its presence felt across The End, Wolfgang says the backbone of the album comes from his own signature EVH SA-126 – a guitar he developed alongside Matt Bruck, Eddie’s longtime guitar tech, and EVH masterbuilder Chip Ellis.

“I have a burst – I believe it was the second prototype of the 126 – and that was the backbone of Mammoth II,” he says. “Pretty much everything recorded on The End was the goldtop 126 I have now, other than the Frankenstein guitar parts. It’s just been so fun to have this instrument that Matt Bruck, Chip Ellis and I put together become the defining sound of what Mammoth has become.”

Amp-wise, he’s kept things simple, sticking to what he knows best. “It’s pretty straightforward, and it’s what we’ve been using on tour,” Wolfgang notes. “I have the EVH 5150 III 6L6, and the specific one I have in the studio is the one I used for the Taylor Hawkins tribute shows [in 2022]. The cabinet, too.”

The post Wolfgang Van Halen admits he finds it “bittersweet” to play his father’s iconic Frankenstein guitar appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

$1,499/£1,399, fender.com

Part of the extraordinary success and enduring appeal of the Fender Stratocaster is its malleability. Perhaps more than any other golden era electric guitar design, the Strat’s basic recipe has a receptiveness to tinkering and evolution that has enabled it to be used in every genre imaginable.

• READ MORE: “I’m not a guitar player – I play THAT guitar”: how Khruangbin recreated their unique voice on their first signature instruments

I’ve owned quite a few off-the-shelf Strats myself over the years, and there hasn’t been one that I haven’t tweaked in some way – whether that involves changing the pickups, swapping the bridge, or upgrading the tuners.

All this means that we’re often quite inured to leftfield Strat variants – a Strat is a Strat, right? And yet, this latest Fender signature guitar for Khruangbin guitarist Mark Speer is a very different flavour of Strat to the norm – indeed, it’s one of the most personalised Strats Fender has put out in a while.

Fender Mark Speer Stratocaster – what is it?

This signature model (which arrives alongside a signature bass from bandmate Laura Lee) is heavily modelled on the Strat that Speer has used almost exclusively in his time with Khruangbin – which has been tweaked and modded extensively over that time.

The original guitar is a 2001 Fender Classic Series ’70s Stratocaster, and the spec sheet pulls in a lot of the biggest hits from that much-maligned original era of guitars. So you’ve got the vintage fretboard radius, you’ve got the big 70s headstock, a natural finish and in this case it even comes fitted with flatwound strings.

You probably have your opinions on all of that – I certainly do. As someone who prefers his Strats to have none of the above, you might even describe this as my own personal Fender nightmare, but there is one notorious design feature here that I will forgive it all for.

The Micro-Tilt neck with its three-bolt assembly is often held up as an example of everything wrong with the CBS era, but many of the changes implemented to the core design in this period actually came from Leo Fender himself, who stuck around in a consultancy role for a while before moving on to Music Man in 1979.

The Micro-Tilt is one such innovation; allowing you to tweak the angle of the guitar’s neck in relation to the instrument body via a small hex key hole in the neck plate. It enables extra control over fine-tuning the guitar’s setup as a result. This innovation also led to the introduction of the bullet truss rod and the moving of the adjustment to the top of the neck instead of the bottom. Both of these are genuinely good things for the playability and ease of maintenance of a Strat, no matter what vintage guitar aficionados tell you.

That’s all present and correct on the Speer Strat, and so it’s a big tick from me in that regard, but from there things get a bit more freaky. You’ll notice, for example, the presence of white Graph Tech saddles, which are designed to improve tuning stability by reducing friction on the break angle. These may be a visually jarring appointment but are borne of real-world experience.

“A lot of those adjustments were made from a pragmatic standpoint,” Mark explains. “The Graph Tech saddles were there because I just don’t want strings to break that often. When you’re a struggling working musician, buying strings all the time is not something you like doing.” Fair point.

The graphite additions extend to not one, but two string trees, which not only provide the steeper break angle over the nut but, in the case of the G string, prevents that pesky harmonic that sometimes rings out when not required.

Other breaks from the norm include a pair of DiMarzio Pro Track single-coil-sized rail humbuckers in the bridge and neck. These were chosen mainly because Mark dislikes the hum from single coils – but you can certainly hear their strident tones in Khruangbin’s music.

The original 2001 guitar had an ash body, and so it is here – that in itself is notable because it’s quite rare to see on a production Fender guitar in 2025, with a few Player II chambered Strat and Tele variations proving welcome exceptions on the affordable front. Sadly, the devastating toll that various pests have had on the global ash tree population has made what was once a hugely prevalent wood harder to find, and so the brand began phasing out ash-bodied production guitars in 2020. Clearly, they are back on the scene, though in select model runs. And the transparent nature of the original guitar’s finish meant that ash was the only choice to replicate it properly.

Fender Mark Speer Stratocaster – build and playability

I must admit, the mere sight of an ash body causes my back to spasm, such has been the weight of ash-bodied guitars I’ve owned in the past. However, clearly I’ve just been choosing my guitars unwisely, as pulling the Speer out of its suitably 70s brown-tolex hard case reveals it to be not just light – but 7lbs light. Highly unusual for a Strat in 2025.

I must admit I’ve never loved the natural finish on guitars of this era – they just look thick and sticky, and a bad reminder of when Fender switched to polyurethane finishes. Again, to give it a thin nitro sheen would be deviating from the original guitar, and Speer clearly feels that it’s served him well thus far.

The neck carve has been created in conjunction with Speer and it’s best described as a typical modern ‘C’ shape and very comfortable. The jumbo fretwork is nicely done, and the height gives me some reassurance that the vintage 7.25” radius won’t be too impactful upon playability and the ability to bend.

All in all, it feels a solid, well put together guitar – the sort of thing you’ve come to expect from Fender’s Ensenada-made signature models in recent years.

Fender Mark Speer Stratocaster – sounds

Plugged into my Fender ’64 Deluxe Reverb with the reverb in full effect, emulating Speer’s tone is a cinch. The Dimarzio Protrack bridge pickup is based on a vintage PAF and unsurprisingly doesn’t provide typical single-coil chime, but it sounds quite warm whilst not unpleasantly driving the amp in the manner we expect from rail-style pickups.

My chordal work still has an underlying twang, which isn’t often prominent in bridge humbuckers, and we are thankfully bereft of the often-scathing brightness of a single coil in the bridge position.

Iconic Strat sounds are actually found in position three (middle pickup) via a Fender single coil ‘vintage voiced 70s’ pickup. I find myself spending quite a lot of time here, as it’s a lot fuller-sounding than most middle pickups, and possesses a warmth I wouldn’t normally associate with a middle pickup.

Position two (bridge and middle pickups in phase) provides plenty of quack, and impressively, the volume doesn’t dip dramatically, as can often be the case. The same can’t be said for position four, which is wired with the middle and neck pickups out of phase. The thin hollow tone has its appeal with many famous players but the volume drop is dramatic and the amp’s volume control needs increasing somewhat to compensate.

A signature guitar can’t just be about emulating the sound of its creator, however – the best ones can work in a variety of settings. With that in mind, I load up my Mesa/Boogie Mark IV and dial in a strident lead tone.

I genuinely expected the flatwound strings to sound dull and lifeless with a higher gain setting, but pleasingly this isn’t the case at all. Heavy riffs are still heavy and switching to the neck pickup gives us some wonderful creamy vintage rock tones. What emerges is a versatile and interesting guitar with plenty of sonic real estate to occupy beyond the world of Texan-fried psychedelica.

Fender Mark Speer Stratocaster – should I buy one?

On paper, the Speer Strat is everything I don’t really want in a Strat – the vintage specs, the 70s looks, it’s everything that I tend to struggle with. And yet in practice this is a guitar with a huge palette of onboard sounds contained within that five-way selector. It’s a guitar that can provide a workable tone for practically any genre thrown at it.

Even as someone who spends most of his time at the shreddier end of the guitar pool, I found the playability surprisingly great too. I was expecting the vintage radius and slinky action to lead to choking out bends, but those tall frets make it a much more accommodating experience.

Speer is an unusual and pretty unique guitar player in the modern era, and this is a guitar that befits that traditional-meets-eclectic vibe that he has brought to Khruangbin. A 70s Strat that everyone can enjoy? Try one and tell me I’m wrong…

Fender Mark Speer Stratocaster – alternatives

Another S-type guitar that offers a bunch of handy pro-ready fixes and evolutions is Yamaha’s reimagined Pacifica Standard Plus ($1,349/£1,249). Another S-type guitar with rail-type humbuckers is PRS’s hugely impressive SE NF3 ($799/£799) – it’s one of the finest sub-$1,000 guitars around. Fender also offers a modded take on the Strat in its own line-up, of course, and the Player II Modified HSS Strat ($1,079.99/£999) is a very impressive example.

The post Fender Mark Speer Stratocaster review: “a 70s Strat that everyone can enjoy?” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Fender Japan has unveiled three Godzilla-themed Stratocaster guitars, and one of them even roars with the push of a button.

The lineup has been launched in honour of Godzilla’s 70th anniversary, and consists of three models: a Limited Edition Masterbuilt Godzilla Stratocaster, crafted by Fender Custom Shop Master Builder Andy Hicks (with only units five available), plus two made-in-Japan models – the Godzilla Stratocaster Blue and Godzilla Stratocaster Black.

• READ MORE: Harness the raw tone of ‘50s tweed amps and the mid-’60s cleans with Fender’s new Super 62 combo

These guitars are seriously cool, with the Limited Edition model offering a unique button that plays out Godzilla’s famous roar, marking the first time a button like this has ever been incorporated into a Fender guitar. Hicks designed the model in collaboration with illustrator Tom Neely, and it was unveiled at a special event at Fender’s flagship Tokyo store.

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A post shared by Tom Neely (@iwilldestroytom)

Speaking to Guitar World, Neely explains of its design: “For the front of the guitar, we featured a black-and-white Godzilla with a blue blast to complement the neck inlay, capturing the spirit of the Heisei-era films. For the back, to celebrate Godzilla’s 70th anniversary, we created a montage of seven Godzillas – from the 1954 original to Godzilla Minus One – and added neon paint that glows under black light for a dynamic effect.”

Of course, the most important element of this guitar is its visual design, so its other features are fairly simple, including a single humbucker that is said to be a tweaked version of Hicks’ favoured Sonic Pickups Cult Leader, and a single volume control.

As for the made-in-Japan models, though they are both slightly less pricey, they are not without their flashy appointments. Godzilla is outlined on the pickguard on these models, and players can press the Tone 2 knob to engage a brand new and patent-pending circuit known as G.L.O, or Gain-Linked Optics. This magical onboard distortion circuit illuminates Godzilla’s dorsal fin, and its brightness changes in response to gain levels.

The Blue and Black models are exclusive to Japan, and are each fitted with a Custom Godzilla humbucker that promises a unique, heavy tone. They’re priced at ¥495,000 each (approx $3,250), while the Masterbuilt Strat is a whopping ¥5,500,000 ($36,000). But that’s not all, as a Godzilla-themed distortion pedal will also be made available exclusively in Japan.

Find out more via Fender Japan.

The post These Fender Japan x Godzilla guitars might be the coolest we’ve seen this year – and possibly ever appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Does the fact a guitar is old and worn-in make it better? It’s a debate which continues to rage in the guitar community, particularly among lovers of vintage instruments.

While there are vintage guitar aficionados aplenty, many high-profile players tout the benefits of newer – and importantly, cheaper – instruments, and how they can often beat their vintage counterparts.

• READ MORE: Graham Nash dismisses talk that he might retire from music: “As long as my voice lasts, and so far it’s brilliant, I will be doing this into my 90s”

Take former Steely Dan guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, for example, who recently told the story of how he opted for a $140 Squier Telecaster over its 1958 vintage counterpart. “I compared the two, and the $140 Squier Telecaster, to me, sounded better,” he said.

Now, guitarist Chris Buck has added his voice to the same side of the debate, telling Guitar World in a new interview that older doesn’t always mean better.

“I don’t subscribe to the idea that all vintage instruments are great,” he explains, “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.”

Of course, Chris Buck isn’t saying cheaper guitars always outcompete their vintage counterparts, and has a lot of love for some of the many vintage six-strings he’s had across his lap in his time.

They include the late Bernie Marsden’s ‘59 Gibson Les Paul Standard Burst – “The Beast” – a ‘62 Strat which forms part of his own personal collection, and a ‘62 Gibson ES-335.

“The moment I strummed it, I thought, ‘This is alive,’” he explains, recounting the first time he played the ES-335.

“The guitar’s a mess, but I fell in love with it. It’s got original PAFs and original electronics. It’s been resprayed. The headstock has had a catastrophic break – but it’s just such an amazing instrument.”

The post “I don’t subscribe to the idea that all vintage instruments are great”: Chris Buck on why cheap guitars can be just as effective as expensive ones appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Graham Nash doesn’t plan to retire from music anytime soon, if ever, as he confirms that he’ll continue performing music for as long as he possibly can.

Nash, now in his eighties, is out on the road this October for his More Evenings of Songs and Stories tour across the UK and Europe. The shows do quite literally what is said on the tin – provide an evening of both music and the stories behind the songs that make up Nash’s long and successful career from across the decades.

• READ MORE: “One night he got really stoned and we talked him into showing us” Jason Isbell claims that David Crosby once showed him Joni Mitchell’s ‘secret’ guitar tunings

In a new interview, Nash says he’s not planning to step down from the stage, just as long as he can keep attendees at his gigs happy. He tells Devon Live, “I just want the audience to be completely satisfied. The truth is, as long as my voice lasts, and so far it’s brilliant, I will be doing this into my 90s. There are a lot of people that want to hear it.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Nash also confirms that he’s recently been working his way through forgotten material, including unreleased Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young songs: “I’ve been involved in a lot of the stuff that me and David, Stephen, and Neil made that has never been heard before.”

According to the outlet, he’s been working on this material with Joel Bernstein, a guitar tech who’s worked for Neil Young and Prince. Nash adds, “He and I are putting together 33 songs of Crosby, Stills & Nash that have never been heard. I’ll maybe do them on the tour between those six or seven songs I know people want to hear.”

Tickets are still available for Graham Nash’s Songs and Stories tour – find out more via his official website.

The post Graham Nash dismisses talk that he might retire from music: “As long as my voice lasts, and so far it’s brilliant, I will be doing this into my 90s” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Kiss’s Gene Simmons is reportedly recovering at home after being involved in a car crash in Malibu, California.

According to NBC 4 Los Angeles, the incident took place on Tuesday (7 October) around 1PM local time. The bassist has apparently told authorities that he had passed out while driving. Simmons’ wife Shannon Tweed added that the car passed through several lanes of traffic before crashing into a parked car.

• READ MORE: Joe Bonamassa’s legendary 1959 “Black Beauty” Les Paul Custom is now available as a sub-$1,000 Epiphone model

Per reports, Simmons was briefly hospitalised, before being sent home to finish his recovery.

Following the accident, Simmons took to social media to reassure fans: “Thanks, everybody, for the kind wishes. I’m completely fine. I had a slight fender bender. It happens. Especially to those of us [who are] horrible drivers. And that’s me. All is well.”

Thanks, everybody, for the kind wishes. I’m completely fine. I had a slight fender bender. It happens. Especially to those of us were horrible drivers. And that’s me. All is well.

— Gene Simmons (@genesimmons) October 8, 2025

The 76 year old has had numerous health issues in recent years, including when he suffered dehydration during a Kiss show in Manaus, Brazil in 2023, causing the band to have to pause the show.

Simmons has also reportedly been suffering with a heart condition called atrial fibrillation (AFib) since the 2000s.

“I had never heard of the term AFib, but about 10 years ago, we were on tour someplace, and [on] stage the temperature goes up about a hundred, with all the stage lights and my heart [starts pounding really quickly],” he told The Doctors in a 2016 interview [via Blabbermouth].

“I started to get dizzy and perspire and [get] short of breath. So I called a doctor and he showed up and said, ‘Okay, here’s what’s going on. There’s something called AFib,’ and he went down the list. And it was a lot to take in.”

Kiss played their final show at Madison Square Garden in 2023, and announced the band would live on as digital avatars, with Las Vegas shows due to start in 2027.

The post “It happens. Especially to those of us horrible drivers”: Gene Simmons recovering at home after Malibu car crash appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Have you been browsing your search results of late and wishing they could be a little bit more, well, guitar-y? Well, thanks to a new feature introduced by Google, you can now ensure that Google knows that Guitar.com is your top source for all the latest guitar news, reviews and features.

Available currently only to US- and India-based users, the new Preferred Sources feature lets you tailor your top news stories on Google based on your favourite media outlets – and you can do it in just a few clicks.

By adding Guitar.com to your Preferred Sources, you’ll be kept up to date with all the most important news from the guitar world, as well as our trusted expert reviews, in-depth artist interviews, and handy buyer’s guides. You won’t miss a thing, we’ll have you covered.

If you’re in the US or India, adding Guitar.com to your Preferred Sources is as simple as just clicking on this link right here, and ticking the box next to ‘Guitar.com’ – easy!

Alternatively, you can also do this directly from the Google homepage by following these simple steps:

1. Visit the Google homepage and search for any news story
2. Hit the icon next to ‘Top Stories’ that looks like a box with a star in it
3. Type ‘Guitar.com’ in the search box that then appears
4. When you see Guitar.com show up, check the box to the right
5. Hit the ‘reload results’ button and enjoy more Guitar.com in your searching!

You can add as many other sources as you like, and can remove them at any time via the same method – though why you’d ever want less of Guitar.com in your life we simply cannot imagine.

And rest assured that you won’t only see Guitar.com news in your search results from then on – you’ll still get results from a variety of sources, this is just your way of telling Google that you like what we do and you want to see more of it when it’s appropriate.

As Google itself said in a statement: “When you select your preferred sources, you’ll start to see more of their articles prominently displayed within Top Stories, when those sources have published fresh and relevant content for your search.”

In practice, that means Guitar.com will appear more frequently in the “Top stories” and “From your sources” sections on Google – and what a lovely idea that is.

If you’re not in the US or India, don’t fret – Google is planning to roll this out to other countries in the coming months, so keep an eye out for it. In the meantime you can ensure more Guitar.com in your news feed by following us on Google News – simply click this link and then hit the ‘Follow’ button on the top right.

The post How to get better Google Search results: add Guitar.com as a Preferred Source on Google appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

While the British Invasion saw the arrival of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Kinks to American shores, it also forced the US to crank up the volume – and Blues legend Buddy Guy didn’t take too kindly to it.

In the latest issue of Guitar World, Guy notes that he even considered Jimi Hendrix too loud prior to the British takeover. “You’ll laugh, but I thought he used to play too loud…” he jokes. “But when the British guys started playing, they had stacks of Marshalls!”

Guy goes on to admit he used to leave early Hendrix gigs with sore ears, but the Brits were next level. The spike in volume was a shock for the old-school blues star. “When I first came up, Muddy Waters and those guys had two little speakers at each corner of the blues club, and it was a clean sound,” he recalls.

• READ MORE: “I’m not that fast on the guitar, but I don’t want to be”: David Gilmour explains why speedy solos never interested him

After forming a bond with Hendrix, Guy would even joke about the loutish punch of noise the Brits had to offer. “After I got to know Jimi, I’d go see him and say, ‘Before you go in there, you ain’t gonna hear nothing,’” he says. “That type of sound just took over.”

“That clean sound went away because, with the amplifiers, it was a dogfight,” he continues. “It was just a rat race. And then all the special effects came in, and Jimi, I think he was one of the greatest that ever took advantage of the special effects, because a lot of people used them after him.”

However, regardless of how loud the British guitarists may have sounded, Guy notes that they could never quite replicate the intricacy of his own introspective, more quiet tone. “All the super British guitar players, like Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page… they all looked at me and said ‘Man, I didn’t know that kind of guitar could play the blues,’” he remembers.

“The British guys all say I had something,” he adds. “People used to look at me and ask what [guitar] I had. I’d say ‘I didn’t make it, Leo Fender made it. It’s just a tone.’ That tone is so clear, and I never really paid attention to it. I just turn on the amplifier and play my guitar.”

The post “You ain’t gonna hear nothing”: Buddy Guy admits that when he first saw Jimi Hendrix play live he thought he was “too loud” – but the Brits were next level appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

If you ever find yourself in a room with Militarie Gun, brace yourself for impact. Weaned on the blood, sweat and tears of the American punk scene, the hardcore ethos of visceral, in-your-face catharsis is rooted in the band’s genetic code. Throughout every vulnerable acoustic number, synth-heavy anthem and soaring alt-rock riff, the magic of Militarie Gun lies in that heart-on-sleeve hardcore authenticity.

• READ MORE: Meet Man/Woman/Chainsaw, the London art-punks who love jamming with their dads and chasing the perfect BPM

Even today, the raucous quintet are gearing up to play to 50 people in a venue the size of a living room – the prime setting for a sweaty punk show. Just days ago, they also performed in the tiny Hazheart storefront in Los Angeles. If size matters, the smaller the better; a sweaty, intimate venue is where Militarie Gun thrive in, utterly befitting of their face-kicking, gut-wrenching flavour of alt-rock. “The Hazheart show was crazy,” guitarist Kevin Kiley grins. “There were some technical difficulties, because there was nowhere to stand but on top of my pedalboard.”

The slew of tiny shows are the perfect way to amp up excitement for the band’s sophomore release, God Save The Gun. And the response so far has been electric – Kick’s hilarious wails of “If I kicked you in the face, I’m sorry…” have been lapped up, while the rabble-rousing B A D I D E A has quickly become a new favourite, earning itself two spots on the setlist to close off on a chaotic high. The record amplifies Militarie Gun’s visceral alt-rock bite, both sonically and lyrically; not only does it see frontman Ian Shelton baring his soul, opening with a pained admission that “honestly, things have not been great”, but the instrumental carnage is second-to-none.

Heart Ripper

So how does one piece together a riff that rips your heart out, all before unleashing a string of chords that make your blood pressure spike? Well, according to long-standing guitarist William Acuña, ignorance is bliss. “I don’t know how to play guitar,” he shrugs, nonchalant as ever.

We pause, waiting for the punchline, but Acuña doubles down. “I mean, I know scales and stuff, and I can figure out what sounds good,” he continues. “But I don’t know any songs… I probably don’t even know every Militarie Gun song.”

In a way, the approach yet again falls in line with the hardcore, DIY roots of the project. Acuña’s self-taught approach is homegrown, resulting in a style that relies on pure emotion, instinct and a sound that is uniquely his own. “There’s all types of guitarists or songwriters that have talked about not wanting to ‘learn music’ because they don’t want to fuck up what they’ve got going for them,” he explains. “It’s the same with piano. I can play piano, but I also don’t know a single song.”

As his guitar comrade Kiley backs his claims up (“I’ve heard it, his piano sounds great!”), the pair point to one of the finest drummers of all time: The Who’s Keith Moon. “He was self-taught but he sounded incredible,” Kiley notes. “Most good drummers are people who approach a drum set as a kid and they just had a natural rhythm. And that can often be the same with guitarists.”

Of course, musical literacy isn’t a necessity to carve out a solid sound. “A good riff is catchy, it gets stuck in your head, and it works with the vocal melody,” Acuña says. “And I love a riff with a bend in it… but, yeah, we pretty much nailed all the riffs on this record.”

“What makes a good riff is so mystifying,” Kiley chimes in. “It doesn’t really matter how ‘good’ you are at guitar. It just comes to you, you can’t really plan it out…”

Extra Levels

Having joined just last year, Kiley’s involvement in the band has added an extra level of guitar literacy to the project; “I feel like I am a pretty fluent guitar player,” he laughs. However, Kiley’s initial interest in Militarie Gun was rooted in the band’s overly ambitious, near-impossible riffs. “Before being in the band, I heard the Ain’t No Flowers lead riff and loved how stupid it sounded – and I mean that in the very best way,” he says. “It had that wild feeling that a lot of 80s punk stuff had – you could tell it was kids just getting all their feelings out there, learning as they went along.”

It’s a sentiment that doesn’t insult Acuña, who has served as the band’s rhythm guitarist from day one. “The way we play Militarie Gun songs can sound pretty fucked up because some tracks are written by someone who doesn’t play guitar all that great,” he admits. “I love when Ian writes a riff, because it’s written to convey an emotion, then we have to work out how to play it.”

“With Ain’t No Flowers, I used to stretch my fingers across the neck because there are the near-impossible notes that Ian wrote,” he explains. “Then Kevin came along, and he plays it completely differently because he knows an easier way to do it.”

Keep It Simple

While Militarie Gun may be overly ambitious with some of their riffs, their rig set up is pretty minimal. “A Strat, a RAT and a Twin Reverb,” Acuña lists. “That’s it.”

Even when digging into dream gear, both Acuña and Kiley are reserved with their choices. Militarie Gun were named one of Fender’s Next Class bands of 2024, and they’re more than happy to keep waving the flag for the humble Strat. “I just enjoy a Strat, because it’s light and easy to play,” Acuña shrugs. “For me, it’s always about how it feels to play, how the neck feels, because the sound all goes through a RAT distortion pedal anyway.”

There’s also the worry about durability when you’re known to have particularly chaotic shows. “A Strat is also very sturdy, so you don’t have to worry about the neck snapping or the headstock cracking,” Acuña notes.

“I also prefer a Strat – I’ve played a Strat my whole life,” Kiley says. “In the studio I’ll use a Gibson for leads; I have this Gibson with a certain humbucker on it, and it sounds huge. But, when it comes to a live show, nothing stays in tune as well as my Strat. It’s just reliable.”

With the addition of Kiley’s “fluent” guitar knowledge and a thirst for experimentation, God Save The Gun pushes Militarie Gun’s sound into an entirely new realm. Cuts like Maybe I’ll Burn My Life Down serves up a bold new way of capturing a gritty electric tone, utilising blown-out acoustic in lieu of standard electric guitar. “We played so much acoustic with blown out distortion, so you’d think it was an electric,” he explains. “That track is entirely acoustic guitar.”

“The last song, God Save The Gun, has a lot of blown out acoustic but we did put some electric in there,” he adds. “But originally, the demo was just distorted as fuck acoustic with a tremolo over it.”

Mello Yellow

Sonically, the record is bursting with unique textures. “With God Owes Me Money, the demo was all synths,” Kiley explains. “I wondered if it would become a guitar lead, but nothing sounded as good as the synths on there. It felt right. We don’t shy away from anything, because we never want to put ourselves in a box. If the song would be bigger and benefit from synths, then we do it. If it’s keys, strings… even Mellotron! We used Mellotron all over the record.”

Every sonic decision serves as a way of hammering home Shelton’s candid lyrical journey. “We always let Shelton tell his story,” Kiley says. “The entire tracklist is very intentional; it goes on a journey and it gets pretty deep, dark and poignant. A few people contacted Ian asking if he was okay after listening through the record, actually. But there’s an arc to it…”

Emotionally, I Won’t Murder Your Friend comes in as one of the most powerful of the bunch. It features a sample of David Choe mourning the loss of Anthony Bourdain, who committed suicide in 2018. “We were really throwing everything at the end of that song,” Kiley explains. “Lyrically, I think it is the heaviest on the record.”

Slap Back

After an onslaught of introspection, the pivotal point of God Save The Gun comes in the form of an interlude featuring Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse. “Isaac’s Song is one of my favourite moments on the record,” Kiley explains. “Ian keeps describing the track as a moment where Isaac kind of ‘picks you up, dusts you off and tells you it’s going to be okay’. He just picks you up, slaps you around.”

Acuña quickly pipes up, lightening the mood: “He actually did slap me, once. We were getting really drunk at his studio and I was falling asleep, and he just slapped me to wake me up. He felt bad about it, so he had me slap him, but I slapped him too hard for his liking, so he slapped me again, and then I slapped him back. And then we just started dancing. It’s an honour to be slapped by your musical idol.”

While Kiley has only joined the ranks recently, his history runs pretty parallel to Militarie Gun; his previous band, Lurk, even supported Militarie Gun on their first ever tour. “The first time I met these guys, my band was playing with them in smaller venues, like downstairs in Subterranean in Chicago,” Kiley reminisces. “It was so small all the gear had to go in the kitchen.”

Since joining, he’s been thrown in the deep end. Militarie Gun has become somewhat of a behemoth as of late, falling in line with the recent spike in popularity that Californian punk and alt-rock has mustered. “My first show with the band was at the Daytona Speedway for Welcome To Rockville festival last year,” he explains. “I’ve played in bands my whole life, and that was the biggest show I’ve ever played to date. It was kind of crazy to go from basements to that.”

So, what do the pair of guitarists want from God Save The Gun? “I want a Fiesta Red Strat with a Fiesta Red headstock,” Acuña states, deadly serious. “That’s the Will Acuña Custom Fender, when they’re ready.”

They also hope that Killing Joke like the sample they used on the “apologetic stage-diving” tune Kick. “They approved it, but they didn’t say a word about it,” Kiley admits. “But I guess, if they don’t, it’s their own fault for saying yes…”

The post Mystifying riffs, not knowing your own songs and pining for Fiesta Red Strats: inside the chaotic brilliance of Militarie Gun appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Joe Bonamassa’s gear collection is quite something; it even warrants two museum locations – Nerdville East and West – in Nashville and Los Angeles, respectively. 

One highlight of his collection – of which there are obviously many – is his 1959 Gibson “Black Beauty” Les Paul Custom. As the story goes, the guitar is one of only a “handful” made – “maybe 20 or less in existence,” Bonamassa says.

“My one came from a little old lady in Pennsylvania,” he says. “The family didn’t realise it was a very special, rare variant.”

• READ MORE: PRS launches the SE Chleo – a cut-price version of Herman Li’s radical signature model

JoBo’s “Black Beauty” Les Paul Custom was rare at the time of production for its two-humbucker configuration and Bigsby vibrato, and now it’s been recreated as an Epiphone signature model.

Designed to be “both faithful and accessible”, the Epiphone Joe Bonamassa ‘59 Les Paul Custom sports a solid mahogany body with an Antique Ebony finish, accented by aged multi-ply binding on the top and back.

Its mahogany neck features a 1959 Rounded Medium C profile, and is topped with a bound 22-fret ebony fingerboard and pearloid block inlays.

Elsewhere, the guitar features a multi-ply bound ‘60s Kalamazoo-style headstock with the Epiphone logo and the classic Custom Split Diamond inlay in mother-of-pearl, while there’s also a low-friction Graph Tech nut for tuning stability.

True to the Black Beauty, the Epiphone recreation also features a Bigsby tailpiece. The run of 1959 Gibson Les Paul Customs featured some with Bigsbys and some with Stop Bar tailpieces.

“Bigsbys are great because they have their own unique sound. They’re not like Floyd Roses or Fender trems,” Bonamassa says. “They’re a little brighter; it’s a little more hi-fi, but it will rock.”

The guitar also boasts Grover Imperial tuners – the same that decorate JoBo’s original Black Beauty Les Paul. “The Grover Imperial tuners came stock on my guitar, so they come stock on yours as well,” he explains. “So it gives it a fancier look.”

In terms of electronics, the Joe Bonamassa ‘59 Les Paul Custom features a pair of Epiphone ProBucker Custom pickups, wired to individual volume and tone controls using high-quality CTS potentiometers for “outstanding tonal versatility and reliability”.

Completing the faithful look is a run of gold hardware, including the guitar’s Tune-O-Matic bridge, Grover tuners and Bigsby B70 tailpiece.

Each Joe Bonamassa ‘59 Les Paul Custom comes with both a certificate of authenticity and a hardshell case with “Nerdville” graphics.

The guitar is limited in an initial run to 1,000 units – available via Epiphone, the Gibson Garage and authorised Epiphone dealers. A run of 300 with an exclusive custom fretboard inlay will also be available via Joe Bonamassa’s webstore.

The Joe Bonamassa ‘59 Les Paul Custom is priced at £949 / $999. For more info, head to Epiphone.

The post Joe Bonamassa’s legendary 1959 “Black Beauty” Les Paul Custom is now available as a sub-$1,000 Epiphone model appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

When DragonForce’s Herman Li launched the Chleo – his signature guitar developed in partnership with PRS – earlier this year, the radical and groundbreaking design set pulses in the guitar community racing. Only trouble was, it came with a near-$7,000 price tag.

So if you’re in the camp that was enamoured with the guitar – but without the budget to nab one for yourself – you might be pleased to know PRS has just launched an affordable SE version.

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Like the limited-edition Chleo model that preceded it, the SE Chleo features a spec sheet radically different from what you might traditionally find on a PRS guitar, like a thinner and more lightweight body, and contours including a revised scoop to allow for uninhibited upper fret access.

The SE Chleo – like the Limited Edition Chleo – also sports Eclipse Dragon fretboard inlays, repurposing PRS’s signature bird inlays for the DragonForce shred machine that is Herman Li.

Similar specs also include a mahogany body with a maple top, a carbon fibre-reinforced bolt-on maple neck and 20”-radius ebony fingerboard, and the same Fishman Fluence Signature Series Omniforce Herman Li pickup set, which offers three built-in voices.

These pickups feature copper-free layered PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards) for “consistency and no-hum tones”. The pickups’ three voices and versatile switching system offers up to 13 unique tone combinations.

“With the PRS SE Chleo, we set out to create the best affordable guitar that delivers a unique combination of effortless playability, outstanding craftsmanship, and versatile tonal range,” says Herman Li. 

“It combines modern innovations with classic style, giving players the tools they need to create everything from classic tones to cutting edge new sounds. The SE Chleo proves that a world-class instrument doesn’t have to break the bank – it’s a guitar that brings high-end performance within reach for everyone.”

Adding to the existing Charcoal Purple Burst and Orchid Dusk colourways the original Limited Edition Chleo came in, the SE version introduces a third colour, Mantis Burst.

While PRS’s SE guitars represent the firm’s more affordable offerings, with a $1,999 price tag, the SE Chleo sits at the pricier end of the series.

For more information, head to PRS.

The post PRS launches the SE Chleo – a cut-price version of Herman Li’s radical signature model appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.