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Punk may pride itself on breaking rules, but Violet Grohl thinks some of its male musicians are still playing by old ones. The 19-year-old, daughter of Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, has criticised what she describes as “attitude problems” among male artists of her generation.

Speaking to The Forty-Five ahead of her debut album Be Sweet To Me, Grohl outlines her frustrations with the current state of punk and hardcore scenes, particularly when it comes to how women are treated within them.

On her track Cool Buzz, she points to what she sees as a disconnect between the progressive image some male musicians project and the reality of their behaviour.

• READ MORE: “It was the perfect choice to make fun of guitar heroes”: The story behind Angine de Poitrine’s ridiculous double-neck guitar

“It still feels like an exclusive scene,” says Grohl. “Especially when you wanna listen to really hardcore shit and run around and mosh, there’s a lot of ‘Oh, you’re too delicate, you’re too feminine, this isn’t your place.’ But I do wanna be in that space and I know there are a lot of other girls who want to be there too. So I think more girls should make punk music, if these spaces aren’t gonna allow it.”

While she’s found a sense of community among female artists – including close friend Persia Numan, daughter of Gary Numan, and collaborator on What’s Heaven Without You – Grohl is far less charitable when it comes to her male peers.

“I don’t like male musicians my age,” she says bluntly. “I don’t care. They have attitude problems. They’ve been saying this about us for so fucking long – it’s time that they sit down, be quiet and play their music.”

As a woman in rock, Grohl says learning to set boundaries has been as important as finding confidence in her voice.

“The best advice I’ve been given is that it’s OK to say no or that you don’t want to do something,” she says. “For a lot of women, it took them a really long time to accept and implement that into their lives. It’s inspiring to be around the kinds of people who don’t give a fuck and will say whatever they feel.”

Be Sweet To Me arrives on 29 May. Check out Grohl’s latest single 595 below.

The post Violet Grohl thinks male musicians of her generation have “attitude problems”: “It’s time that they sit down, be quiet and play their music” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Between viral live sessions, a rapidly growing cult following, and even a recent co-sign from Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, Angine de Poitrine’s rise has been hard to ignore. But for a band that looks and sounds this intense, their core idea is surprisingly tongue-in-cheek.

In a recent chat with Cult MTL, guitarist Khn de Poitrine reveals that the project didn’t begin as some grand artistic statement, but as an inside joke that spiralled into something much bigger.

“This project is a culmination of a lot of years of inside jokes,” says Khn. “The names were our alter egos in a 10-minute free jazz project, where I was just fooling around on saxophone and (Klek) was on drums.”

• READ MORE: Slipknot’s Jim Root explains why Fender Telecasters are like sunglasses

That playful, slightly absurd energy also shaped the band’s iconic masked personas, which were originally conceived as a kind of experiment in anonymity.

“At first, the idea for the costumes was to play more shows and play a bit of an Andy Kaufman-esque joke on the crowd and say, ‘Hey, can we start a band without anybody knowing who we are?’ And who is it behind the masks?” drummer Klek de Poitrine explains.

What started as a gag, however, has since become something more practical.

“There’s a comfort to feeling, ‘Oh, I’m this on stage,’ but after that, I’m a normal person,” Klek adds. “We can avoid the, ‘Oh, this is the drummer’ talks, where everyone swarms you after a show when I just want to drink my water.”

Musically, the duo’s sound is just as unconventional. Before releasing their debut single Sherpa in 2024, the band’s signature microtonal approach began with a DIY experiment.

“I took two guitars, and I took the frets from one board, which was kind of rusty and fucked up anyway, and I put them on a second fret board,” Klek recalls.

Early performances saw Khn juggling between a microtonal guitar and bass while looping parts live. But it didn’t take long before the pair began thinking bigger – and stranger.

“We thought it would look fucking sick, and for 15 seconds, we were like, ‘Oh, that’s a funny joke.’ But it became clear that it was a good idea,” Klek says of the now-signature double-neck build.

After fielding eye-watering quotes from luthiers – including one that came in at $12,000 per fretboard – the instrument was eventually built by a “professional friend” of Angine de Poitrine. And it quickly became central to the band’s identity.

“The whole idea of the band was to assume a bit of a satirical approach to rock music in general,” says Khn. “We wanted an exaggeration, so the double-neck guitar was the perfect choice to kind of make fun of guitar heroes.”

“We will have short musical statements in the songs that are actually just jokes, like, this is the boomer lick, and just shout (distortedly) ‘Hail Santana!’ into the microphone. Obviously, we love Santana. It’s a love statement, but also a caricature, because you’ve got to be able to laugh at yourself and say, ‘What we do is ridiculous.’”

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$129, ehx.com

When you think of Electro-Harmonix, you may not think weird, at least, not weird effects. Magnetospheres and cigars aside, EHX’s sonic focus is for the most part gain and utility pedals. But every once in a while, the brand passes what we’ll call the “Chase Bliss Event Horizon” and makes something entirely dedicated to bleeps and bloops, the sort of pedal you’d see in an old Knobs review. The latest effort from EHX in this particular direction is the Atomic Cluster, a “spectral decomposer” – what does that mean? Let’s get into it.

• READ MORE: Twilight Pulse Audioworks Konstante review – a dual dirt pedal that’s faster than the speed of light

What does the Atomic Cluster do?

The Atomic Cluster is, kind of, the filter equivalent of an arpeggiator. It isolates the component frequencies of your signal – the note’s fundamental and its overtones – and then rhythmically steps through them.

Controls include a volume and wet/dry blend, along with two knobs specific to this kind of effect: speed, which determines how quickly the effect steps through the discrete frequency bands, and atoms, which determines how many bands the pedal is chopped into. You also get a mode switch, which decides whether the transitions between the frequency bands are sharp and choppy or smoothed over.

These controls are packed into EHX’s pico form factor. There are undeniable benefits to the Pico platform, mostly in terms of saving pedalboard space – but you may find the controls fiddly to turn, and, as with all mini pedals, they can end up not saving quite as much space as you might hope, as ultimately you still need to leave room for patch cables, and to actually hit the footswitch.

Does the Atomic Cluster sound good?

My initial experiences with the effect are, sonically, pretty hard to square with anything anyone would want to use in any musical setting. In isolation, with an otherwise clean and dry sound, I find the Atomic Cluster fairly useless. The harsh filtering is just kind of unpleasant rather than interesting, and the steps between the atoms are pretty jarring, even on ‘smooth’ mode.

However, as the pedal works using overtones, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that putting a clean guitar sound into the front of the Atomic Cluster is going to be a tonal disaster. The signal that comes straight out of a guitar pickup has a strong fundamental compared to its harmonics – and so the resulting chopped-up sound, with the Atomic Cluster isolating these harmonics, is an unbalanced mess.

Hence, the next thing I do is get a distortion pedal placed ahead of it – this gives a more complex sound for the pedal to work with, a block of full-frequency sound to chop into slices. I then also turn on some reverb and delay – as well as helping evoke a more soundscapey vibe, these effects also help mask the crunchy artefacting from the digital filtering.

With these extra effects engaged, the sound is a lot more intriguing. It kind of sounds like my playing is being automatically accompanied by a weird, complex modular synth setup, pseudo-arpeggiating through the sounds of sustained chords. It does very little to augment the sounds of more traditional shreddy or bluesy playing, but you already knew that. Instead, I spend some time making loops and picking out some sparse, slow chord changes – the Atomic Cluster does indeed add a dimension of interest and depth in this musical mode.

As some people have pointed out in the comments of EHX’s official demo, the Atomic Cluster comes alive best on a synth, and indeed when I plug in a hardware synth I have a much easier time finding strange, crystalline worlds within its tonal universe. This isn’t too surprising, especially with more complex, multi-oscillator sounds, as these provide a fuller-frequency basis for the pedal to work with.

For guitar, though, it does feel like I at the very least need some compression, if not distortion, before the pedal to have it functioning properly – and indeed, this is actually recommended in the pedal’s manual. Which slightly begs the question as to why some compression or distortion weren’t included as part of the effect’s digital signal chain. Perhaps it would have brought the price up too much, or been too much of a lift given its miniscule form-factor and four knobs. However, we’re now in a world awash with all-in-one ambient-in-a-box pedals – which, even if they’re weird and unique effects, can function without too much help from a wider board.

And so the Atomic Cluster remains a difficult pedal to enthusiastically recommend to anyone other than EHX completionists, or those who are happy to compensate for its limitations. Sure, it’s a unique character effect, but it’s so unique and so characterful you may find yourself wrangling your playing – and your signal chain – to be in service of it. This can be cool for bedroom sound-scaping – but it’s a harder sell outside of that context. The good thing about it is its price – it is luckily not a lot of money for a pedal that needs a little signal-chain help.

Electro-Harmonix Atomic Cluster alternatives

The first thing it reminds me of is my dearly departed EQD Arpanoid, which is a more traditional arpeggiator that pitch-shifts your sound rather than slices it up. For a more in-depth and perhaps easier to use lo-fi filter thing, you’ve got a lot of options, of course, but the Old Blood Noise Endeavours Float comes to mind, being a controllable and weird set of filters.

The post EHX Pico Atomic Cluster review – is this whacky and weird filter effect worth it? appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Marshall is celebrating 50 years of the punk rock pioneers the Sex Pistols with a limited-edition pink-and-yellow JCM800 Half Stack.

Inspired by the pink-and-yellow colour scheme of the band’s seminal – and only – album, 1977’s Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, the Sex Pistols 50th Anniversary JCM800 was developed in close collaboration with guitarist Steve Jones.

It offers up 100W of raw British valve tone, and comprises a JCM800 head paired with a 4×12 1960A cabinet with Celestion G12T-75 speakers, helping capture the “aggression and clarity that defined the band’s sound”.

• READ MORE: Epiphone unveils the all-new Futura Series – seven classic Gibson shapes with metal-ready pickups and colour-shifting finishes
  

Each unit is built at Marshall’s Bletchley, UK factory, and comes clad in the same pink-and-yellow colourway as that landmark Pistols record, and features a custom 50th Anniversary badge, making it “as much a collector’s piece as a stage-ready weapon”.

“The JCM800 became a defining voice of British punk,” says Steph Carter, Culture Marketing Director at Marshall. “Working with Steve to reimagine this amp for the band’s 50th Anniversary has been a powerful tribute to the sound that changed everything.”

“I’ve been using Marshall for a long time now and the 800 series for me are my workhorse – always reliable, always consistent,” adds Steve Jones. “I like to keep things simple, as the saying goes. It’s only rock ‘n’ roll.”

Matt Young, President and CEO of Bravado, the Sex Pistols longtime merch partner that was a key driver of the collaboration, adds: “With Never Mind the Bollocks, the Sex Pistols embodied the zeitgeist of punk rock’s sound and aesthetic in a game-changing way. 

“This collaboration with the band and Marshall celebrates that moment in a loud and irreverent way and we think musicians and collectors all over the world are going to love it.

Available from 17 April 2026, the Sex Pistols 50th Anniversary JCM800 Half Stack is limited to just 81 units worldwide.

Learn more at Marshall.

The post This Sex Pistols 50th Anniversary Marshall stack might be the most punk guitar amp ever appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Yuichiro Yokouchi, founder of Japanese instrument manufacturer FujiGen – one of the world’s largest guitar manufacturing firms – has died aged 98, a statement on the brand’s social media confirms.

Since its foundation in 1960 – first as Fujigen Gakki Seizo before rebranding as FujiGen in 1989 – Yokouchi’s company has been an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) for some of the world’s largest guitar brands, including Fender Japan, Ibanez, Orville by Gibson and Greco.

“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our founder, Yuichiro Yokouchi, at the age of 98,” reads the statement on the official FGN Guitars Instagram page.

“With the ambition to become Japan’s finest guitar manufacturer, he named our company after Mt. Fuji – an enduring symbol of the highest standard. Through his dedication and vision, he realised that ambition, laying the foundation for our company to become a world-class guitar manufacturer representing Japan.

“We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all our customers and players around the world for their continued support, which has been an essential part of our journey together. We remain committed to honouring his legacy through our craftsmanship and pursuit of excellence.”

Born on September 18, 1927 – and raised in a farming family with no formal training in music or business – Yuichiro Yokouchi’s introduction to the music world came when a friend, Keikichi Watanabe, and businessman Yutaka Mimura, invited him to manage an ailing violin company in Kiso, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.

“I’m planning to acquire a company affiliated with the Suzuki Violin Company in Kiso, Yokouchi, would you be willing to manage it?” Mimura asked Yokouchi [per Fuzzfaced.net].

The business plan ultimately fell through, but it planted the seed in Yokouchi’s mind that an instrument company was where his future lay.

Yokouchi subsequently partnered with Mimura to start a musical instrument company, reaching out to violin maker Shiro Suzuki, brother of Shinichi Suzuki, founder of the legendary Suzuki Method of music education.

Encountering difficulty pinning down an affordable factory space in Matsumoto, Yokouchi had the idea to repurpose a 100-square-meter cow shed from his family’s farm. To make this happen, he had to sell his cows. “I had to sell all my cows from this farm to start this business,” he once said in a NAMM interview.

Yokouchi started as Vice President, later becoming President in 1969, and then Chairman of FujiGen in 1986. Steering the ship, he nurtured the company into a guitar manufacturing juggernaut. According to Guitar World, his OEM factory was producing over 15,000 guitars per month.

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It’s been a long road, but British heavy metal veterans Iron Maiden have finally been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Bruce Dickinson and co are part of the 2026 cohort of Rock Hall inductees, which also includes Oasis, Billy Idol, Wu-Tang Clan, Joy Division/New Order and Phil Collins. 

While many have argued for Iron Maiden’s induction for years – owing to the indelible mark they’ve placed on the world of heavy metal for the last 50 years – the band themselves have repeatedly alluded to the fact they’re not bothered about receiving the commendation.

• READ MORE: Fender celebrates 50 years of Iron Maiden with new signature guitar collection – including an $11,000 Masterbuilt Strat for Dave Murray
  

Speaking to The Telegraph in 2023 after Maiden were snubbed from the Rock Hall inductions, frontman Bruce Dickinson said: “We don’t give a monkey’s. Because the people that get us are not the people that run the music business establishment, whatever that is. Because that is largely run by people that can’t make a living doing anything else.”

“I don’t want to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” Dickinson added.

And on a spoken word tour in 2018, Dickinson had even stronger words. “I actually think the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is an utter and complete load of bollocks, to be honest with you,” he said [via Consequence of Sound]. He even told The Jerusalem Post in 2018 that he’d “refuse” an induction if offered.

But despite the band’s prior criticism of the institution, 2026 is finally Iron Maiden’s year.

“We’d like to thank the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for including us (and former members who were all part of our story) in the 2026 roll call of inductees,” says Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood.

“Iron Maiden have always been about our relationship with our fans above anything else, including awards and industry accolades. However, having said that, it’s always nice to be recognised and honoured for any achievements within the music industry too!”

He goes on: “It also seems appropriate for the band to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year as we continue our 50th anniversary celebrations with our Run For Your Lives World Tour visiting the Americas and beyond. 

“We would also like to congratulate our fellow 2026 inductees and extend our gratitude as ever to our fans for their loyalty, perseverance and support for over 50 years now! See you all, somewhere on tour.”

But Iron Maiden aren’t the only 2026 Rock Hall inductee with members sceptical of the institution. Oasis – who made waves in the music world in the past couple of years with one of the most widely anticipated tours ever – also join the Rock Hall this year.

But in a new post on X – which we read as ever so slightly sarcastic – Liam Gallagher writes: “I wanna thank all the people who voted for us. It’s a real honour ever since I was a little kid and singing in the shower I’d dream about one day being in the RnR hall of fame. It’s true what they say anything is possible if you have a dream.”

I wanna thank all the people who voted for us it’s a real honour ever since I was a little kid and singing in the shower I’d dream about 1 day being in the RnR hall of fame it’s true what they say anything is possible if you have a dream LG x

— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) April 14, 2026

The 2026 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on 14 November.

For more info on this year’s inductees, head to rockhall.com.

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Epiphone has unveiled its all-new Futura Series, pairing “iconic shapes with all-new attitude”, offering up a number of “killer new features not yet seen before in the Epiphone or Gibson lineup”.

The lineup comprises seven models spanning Gibson/Epiphone’s classic body shapes – there’s a Flying V, SG, ES-355, Firebird, Explorer, Les Paul and an RD – each sporting a striking new Chromashift colour-shifting finish, plus newly developed ProBucker Ignite pickups.

• READ MORE: Slipknot’s Jim Root explains why Fender Telecasters are like sunglasses

Those fresh ProBucker Ignite humbuckers appear to be aimed squarely at metal players, offering “clarity and punch for lead and rhythm without ever getting muddy”. They’re also wired for push/pull coil splitting plus additional phase options, meaning a “huge range of tones” is available via the Futura Series.

Further features present on each Futura Series guitar include ebony fingerboards with Super 400-style pearloid inlays, bound Modern C neck profiles and 10”-14” compound radius fingerboards for “super-smooth playability across all positions” of the neck.

Each guitar also sports Grover locking Rotomatic tuners with kidney buttons, a LockTone bridge and Stop Bar tailpiece, and Posi-Lok strap buttons. All Futura Series guitars feature a 24.75” scale length, but the RD Custom bumps that up to 25.5”, thus increasing string tension and positioning it as a great instrument for drop tunings.

Also, by going for a Futura RD Custom you could follow in the footsteps of a line of rock and metal greats, including Dave Grohl, Lee Malia of Bring Me The Horizon, Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic, and the Nameless Ghouls of Ghost…

“The Futura Series opens new worlds of possibility for players who don’t stand still – they’re built to move, pushing feel, sound, and style forward in a way that’s undeniably bold by design,” says Lewis McKinney III, Brand Manager of Epiphone.

There’s a variety of colour-shifting finishes on offer, too:

• Epiphone Futura Les Paul Custom – Twilight Shift, Firestorm Shift, Midnight Ember Shift
• Epiphone Futura RD Custom – Midnight Ember Shift, Twilight Shift, Firestorm Shift
• Epiphone Futura Explorer Custom – Dragonfly Shift, Firestorm Shift
• Epiphone Futura SG Custom – Nitro Shift, Midnight Ember Shift, Dragonfly Shift
• Epiphone Futura Flying V Custom – Solaris Shift, Quicksilver Shift
• Epiphone Futura ES-355 – Firestorm Shift, Dragonfly Shift, Midnight Ember Shift
• Epiphone Futura Firebird Custom – Firestorm Shift, Quicksilver Shift, Midnight Ember Shift, plus Guitar Center-exclusive Glacier Shift

Each Futura Series guitar is priced at $899 / 849. For more information, head to Gibson.com.

The post Epiphone unveils the all-new Futura Series – seven classic Gibson shapes with metal-ready pickups and colour-shifting finishes appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

While many metal guitarists might reach for a Jackson, Charvel, or an ESP, Jim Root has consistently made the case that Fenders also belong in the metal conversation. A longtime Fender signature artist, the Slipknot guitarist currently has a signature Stratocaster, Telecaster and Jazzmaster to his name, all loaded with EMG pickups and characteristically minimal, metal-ready spec sheets.

And as he explains in a new video, it was precisely the fact Fender guitars weren’t typically associated with metal that drew him to the brand in the first place.

• READ MORE: Fender’s Vintera III Series has landed, with “a targeted focus on iconic moments in Fender history”

“The aesthetic of seeing all these legendary rock icons with a Telecaster, sort of mixed with… wanting to go against the grain of being in a band that was labelled as nu metal or metal…” he says.

“But I thought it would be cool to have something that’s just not even close to being associated with metal in a band like that. There’s sort of a juxtaposition to that, that to me is kind of like a ‘Fuck you.’

“…And that’s kind of the whole metal, punk rock, rock and roll attitude. It’s anti, and going against the grain. And if somebody tells you to do something, you’re gonna do the opposite.

“Everybody thought I should be coming out with some pointy metal guitar that’s got 12 points or whatever. No, how about we just do a classic slab iconic guitar? Guitars, in my opinion, are like sunglasses. The classics never go out of style. They’ll always be there. People will make their version of it, but there’s only one Fender Telecaster.

In 2026, Fender is celebrating 75 years of the Telecaster, after the now-legendary model was launched back in 1951. In fact, the Telecaster started life in late 1950 as the Broadcaster, but due to a trademark conflict with Gretsch over its Broadkaster drum kit, the Broadcaster was renamed the Telecaster the following year.

Just last month, Fender unveiled its line of limited-edition 75th Anniversary Telecasters, comprising five models across the brand’s Player II, American Professional and American Ultra II ranges, and including a Cabronita model.

The post Slipknot’s Jim Root explains why Fender Telecasters are like sunglasses appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Just last year, Mason Stoops was on a manhunt for his stolen vintage gear. Unfortunately, it seems like his misfortune is colouring 2026 too; the Californian guitarist has had two of his most important guitars stolen from the back of his van.

Stoops shares the shocking news across a number of Instagram stories, explaining that his favourite 1965 Fender Jazzmaster and an ultra-rare 1961 Gretsch Corvette are “long gone”. The thief has also swiped a pair of Highland Dynamics Delta 4-7 mini preamplifiers, a 1970s Guyatone Wah-Fuzz and Stoops’ favourite green hat.

• READ MORE: The Real Riot Women: the Gen Xers discovering punk and embracing guitar

The guitarist isn’t taking the loss lying down, however. He’s shared plenty of specific details about each guitar to sabotage any plans of the culprit selling on his gear. “Pretty please keep an eye out for these stolen guitars, last seen in Highland Park Neighbourhood, Los Angeles,” he writes, before sharing a slew of photos of his cherished guitars.

In terms of the Jazzmaster, the guitar is already a pretty unique, thanks to its shellac ‘snake-fly green’ finish. Stoops also notes that it has a Mastery bridge, a broken rhythm switch, as well as a “cute lil’ apple sticker” on the headstock. The serial is 110229, while the neck is stamped with 4OCT64B.

“I used on nearly every record I’ve been part of over the last five plus years,” he adds. “It’s a very good Jazzmaster that I will miss very much.”

Then, there’s the “mega rare” Gretsch Corvette, which Stoops explains was “used extensively on the most recent Mumford & Sons tour”. The guitar has a Fink Instruments steel bridge, as well as a ‘Mason’ branded sticker by the control knobs. The series number is 42736.

Stoops has asked anyone with information to come forward. And he’s being supported on his mission to reunite with his lost guitars; Joe Bonamassa has also shared the news of Stoops’ loss, urging his followers to keep an eye out.

“Los Angeles!” Bonamassa writes. “Let’s help our friend Stoops get his two beloved guitars back. This 65 Fender Jazzmaster and 61 Gretsch Corvette were stolen in the Highland Park area this morning… Please share because time is of the essence.”

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Fender’s vintage-inspired Vintera line just got a major overhaul with the introduction of the sprawling new Vintera III Series.

Like the previous Vintera and Vintera II lines, the new lineup captures the sounds, aesthetics and playability of ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s-era instruments, while this time zeroing in more precisely on specific periods and models from within those decades.

“Designed for players seeking true vintage character, the Vintera III Series introduces an all-new philosophy: a targeted focus on iconic moments in Fender history,” the brand says.

• READ MORE: Massive trove of random rock memorabilia – including Eddie Van Halen’s 6th grade history homework – headed for auction

This refined direction, Fender says, marks a “significant evolution” from the previous Vintera and Vintera II lines, this time focusing on “distinct, era-defining designs”.

Each instrument in the range is made with “painstaking attention to detail”, capturing period-correct aesthetics and colours, and implementing carefully reconstructed necks and pickups.

Those faithfully recreated necks include classic V and D shapes of the mid- and late-’50s to the comfortable medium C profiles of the early ‘60s, plus the slimmer C shapes of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s.

The pickups in each Vintera III guitar were created by Fender’s in-house engineers, who revisited the brand’s original archives for an accurate, period-correct tone.

Finally, each model is complete with an era-specific headstock, decals, fingerboard inlays, stamps and finishes.

“With the Vintera III Series, we set out to capture the defining moments that shaped Fender’s legacy,” says Max Gutnik, Fender’s Chief Product Officer.

“Rather than broadly representing entire decades, we focused on the most iconic specifications that players continue to seek out today. By zeroing in on these historic designs – from era-correct pickups and neck profiles to period-accurate aesthetics – we’re giving today’s musicians an authentic connection to the instruments that helped define modern music.”

The Vintera III Series is made up of 14 models in total: 10 electric guitars (four Stratocasters, three Telecasters, and a Jaguar, Jazzmaster and Mustang); plus two Jazz Basses, a Precision Bass and a Bass VI. Price-wise, they range between $1,249 and $1499. Take a look at a full list of models on offer below:

• Vintera III Late ‘50s Stratocaster
• Limited Edition Vintera III Late ‘50s Stratocaster
• Vintera III Early ‘60s Stratocaster
• Vintera III Late ‘60s Stratocaster
• Limited Edition Vintera III Early ‘60s Custom Telecaster
• Vintera III Late ‘50s Telecaster
• Vintera III Mid ‘60s Telecaster
• Vintera III Mid ‘60s Jazzmaster
• Vintera III Mid ‘60s Jaguar
• Vintera III Mid ‘60s Mustang
• Vintera III Early ‘60s Jazz Bass
• Vintera III Early ‘70s Jazz Bass
• Vintera III Late ‘60s Precision Bass
• Vintera III Early ‘60s Bass V

Learn more about the all-new Vintera III Series at Fender.

The post Fender’s Vintera III Series has landed, with “a targeted focus on iconic moments in Fender history” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

When Rush’s Geddy Lee was 13, he was a pretty innocent young lad – until he met Alex Lifeson. Despite Lee now being in his 70s, he can clearly recall the day Lifeson first introduced him to the world of marijuana… and ultimately sabotaged his gig in a local band.

In a new interview with Prog magazine, Lee laughs when he remembers his first time getting stoned. “[Lifeson] was the one who introduced me to it,” Lee says. “I was playing in this other band whose drummer was a Who freak – he dreamed of being in The Who. Me and Al were hanging out… and he gave me my first joint. I got so fucking stoned.”

• READ MORE: “Twice a night we’ll pick a song to play for him”: Geddy Lee reveals how Rush will pay tribute to Neil Peart on reunion tour

Unfortunately, it was only after getting thoroughly high that the penny dropped – Lee had somewhere to be. “Suddenly I went, ‘Shit, I have to go to rehearsal!’” he says.

Aware that he had been the one to corrupt Lee, tempting him to get stoned in the middle of the day, Lifeson offered to walk with Lee to his rehearsal. “Al came with me, and we were walking in slow motion across the park,” Lee remembers. “I got to the guy’s house, and he looked at me and went: ‘Look at your eyes, man. Are you stoned?’ He was freaking out like you’d expect your parents to freak out.”

“I was like, ‘This is a bummer, man! Al, this guy’s a drag!’” Lee laughs. “I said, ‘I gotta go home. How do I come down from this stuff?’ And [Lifeson] went, ‘You gotta drink Coca Cola. It brings you down.’ So, yeah, we kind of bonded over marijuana.”

While Lee adds that he’s “never touched the stuff since”, it’s a comment clearly made in jest. In the band’s 2010 documentary, Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, Lee admitted that Rush “were pretty high” while recording their 1975 record, Caress of Steel, adding that it clearly “sounds like it” too. He has even gone on record acknowledging that Rush fans are also prone to enjoy getting stoned. During the band’s appearance on Classic Albums series, he proudly labelled Rush crowds  “the most aromatic audience” he knows of.

Lifeson has also been very vocal about his appreciation of marijuana. In fact, he even spoke to High Times in 2012 and revealed that a few Rush tracks were inspired by the ol’ hazy jane – namely the 1976 track Passage to Bangkok, which documents the best places to go to bag high-grade cannabis.

“It’s about a fun little journey to all the good places you could go to have a puff,” Lifeson explained. “We thought it would be kind of fun to write a song about that, and Neil [Peart] did it in a very eloquent way, I think. That song was probably written in a farmhouse, on an acoustic guitar, in front of a little cassette player of some sort. We would record like that and then go down in the basement and rehearse it.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Lifeson reflected on his relationship with the drug. “Do things go better with pot? Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t,” he said. “I find that you can be very imaginative when stoned, you can be very creative – but implementation is sometimes difficult. In the past, there have been times when I’ve been really inspired in writing and came up with things that I would never otherwise think up. But the actual playing can be obstructed a little bit.”

He also recalled how him the band’s legendary drummer, the late Neil Peart, sometimes used to smoke before going out onstage. “In the very, very early days, occasionally – well, more than ‘occasionally’ – Neil and I would smoke a joint before going on,” he admitted. “I mean, this is in the mid-‘70s; I would never, ever do something like that now! I won’’ even have a sip of beer before a show, because I need to be extremely clear-headed.”

Now, the Rush pair are a bit more responsible. And they wont be high onstage during their Fifty Something Tour, which kicks off in Los Angeles on June 7. The group will perform in North America, South America, the UK, and Europe, finishing the tour on April 10, 2027, in Helsinki.

Head to Rush.com for full dates and ticket information.

The post “Alex gave me my first joint, and I got so f**king stoned”: Rush’s Geddy Lee recalls the first time he smoked marijuana at 13 – and he got so high it sabotaged his band rehearsal appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Blood-vessel popping post-hardcore. Sweeping orchestral movements. Technicolour industrial dubstep. Those are just a few of the flavours that hybrid rockers Enter Shikari have worked their way through over the last 25 years – yet, somehow, they’ve still got more tricks up their sleeve. Like… writing, recording and producing an entire record in secret, only to drop it totally out of the blue on a random Friday? That’s a pretty impressive trick, and one the band pulled off last week.

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When we speak to guitarist Rory Clewlow, it’s the calm before the storm. He’s giddily aware of the chaos that will await when Shikari’s seventh studio album, Lose Your Self, drops outta nowhere in a few weeks time – but he’s also optimistic that fans will love it. “Our last album, A Kiss For The Whole World [2023] had such a big build up, and it even reached number one in the UK charts, which was amazing,” he reflects. “But this time we wanted to do something a bit more fun. Keep people on their toes.”

While the release comes as a surprise for fans, the contents certainly will not. With the ferocity of The Prodigy tousling with a bear, this latest instalment is just as frenetic, synthetic and politically charged as ever. From Lose Your Self’s opening slap of big beat drum and bass, to the bare-boned punk rock attitude of Can’t Keep My Hands Clean, it’s a one-stop-shop of all your Shikari essentials. And it’s all tied together by its desperate howl for unity in a divided world.

Together Stronger

The decision to release the record in one chunk is a symbolic reflection of the unifying power it contains. It carries the same vital torch Shikari have waved as far back as 2009’s Common Dreads cut Solidarity, certain that standing together against adversity is the best way to combat prejudice, challenge governing bodies and heal nations.

In order to rile up the masses, Lose Your Self embodies the old Shikari …Meltdown adage: “countries are just lines drawn in the sand with a stick”. The interconnectivity of humanity lies at the core of this record, with the band decrying baselessly divisive rhetoric and emphasising how “we are all one”, a fact that Find Out The Hard Way proudly proclaims with gusto.

As frontman Rou Reynolds quickly chips in to explain, the title is a twist on the phrase ‘lose yourself’, pointedly splitting the tie between ‘your’ and ‘self’ to highlight how society needs to shake its selfish, self-focused mentality to make progress. “‘Lose Yourself’ often simply means “switch off”, “go crazy”, “lose your mind” – Lose Your Self means almost the opposite,” he muses.

“The title encourages you to notice our shared reality, notice how you are connected to others, and to the natural world,” the singer continues. “It drops the idea that you are nothing but a self-interested individual — an idea relentlessly reinforced by our modern system.”

Mass Effect

As a result Lose Your Self is rendered a command. And it’s a command that transcends the group’s records; even in the flesh, their live shows serve as a vital hub of community, allowing people to ‘lose their self’ and become a unified mass of eager, sweaty bodies.

Their tight-knit, impassioned community serves as one of the band’s crowning achievements, and guitarist Clewlow is filled with pride when he reflects on it. “We often hear that Shikari shows feel like a safe space for people, a chance to mix and make loads of friends,” he says. “That’s been a theme throughout our whole career – that sense of unity and community. Seeing that first hand, it makes you viscerally feel the importance of live music.”

It’s exactly why the group kicked off this new era with a show at Manchester’s Satan’s Hollow, a tiny 400-cap venue that allowed them to get up close and personal with their fanbase. In November, they’ll be kicking off their boldest arena tour yet, but each ticket comes with a small levy towards the Music Venue Trust in support of those smaller independent venues.

“The world is becoming so disconnected because of social media, but music venues are a great space for connecting in the real world, realising what we all have in common and building a community,” Clewlow reflects. “It’s crucial for young people to have a place they can go and experience ‘analogue’ things like live music.”

Hard Graft

Of course, this new record is the perfect excuse to lure people out to a live show. From the chunky metallic guitars of Find Out The Hard Way to the climactic Dead In The Water, it’s a total home-run for the Shikari lads. They also wanted to throw in a few features to amplify Lose Your Self’s message of unity – namely Architects’ Sam Carter – but plans fell through.

“We originally asked Sam to be a guest vocalist on Dead In The Water in particular, and he was keen,” Clewlow recalls. “But he ultimately came back and said ‘Oh, dude, I shouldn’t – I’ve been doing too many features recently…’ His vocals would have been perfect, but maybe he can sing on it live later down the line.”

Though, there is somewhat of an elephant in the room. As Shikari continue to pioneer their own realm of politically-charged, future-thinking sound, it’s crucial to remain one step ahead of the curve – and, in the band’s case, that has meant decentralising the humble riff. As Clewlow explains, if a track doesn’t need guitar, there’s no point forcing it into the mix. “

“I’m actually constantly checking myself to make sure that my ego is not getting in the way of making good music,” Clewlow laughs. “In the past I might have protested, but now I can tell what’s best for the song. If that means no guitar, leave it out.”

Shifting Priorities

However, if you can’t hear a guitar on a Shikari track, that doesn’t mean it’s not buried in there. In order to evolve along with his band, Clewlow has learned to adapt his instrument.

“I love keeping up with new technologies, and my Kemper Profiler means that I can play my guitar like a synth,” he explains. “I always use the Kemper’s Formant Shift effect, which changes the form of the sound in a really interesting way. You can get some wild sounds that you’d never, ever guess came from a guitar.”

Take The Flick Of A Switch I, for example. The track has a constant synthetic presence – but it’s actually Clewlow working his Kemper magic. “I use it in almost every song on the album, but that track really stands out,” the guitarist notes, illustrating his point by performing his part acapella.

He nods his head in time, imagining each hit of the EDM-infused beat, while sounding out the thump of his foundational synth layer. “Before the drop, when you can really hear the synth hit, that’s actually me!”

Clewlow jokes about the irony of being a guitarist who “really enjoys not sounding like [he] plays guitar”, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love his instrument. In fact, he’s ridiculously excited by the potential of the guitar, ever fascinated by how versatile it proves to be. And technology is a massive help.

In the past, that came with hoarding countless pedals to explore new sounds. “My setup used to be a Gibson SG Standard, a Peavey 5150, and a crazy pedalboard,” he recalls. “It just kept growing, every year. I’d be tap-dancing around on my pedals like crazy.”

While he does occasionally miss the tap-dancing sessions, a particularly wistful air colouring his tone when he recalls his Boss DD-3T (“it made an almost machine gun stutter, it was so much fun!”), he doesn’t regret shifting his set up to a Fender Telecaster American Ultra and a Kemper Profiler.

The change happened during the recording of 2015’s The Mindsweep, and it has allowed him to explore far more sonic ground with a fraction of the gear. “All the pedals were getting so complicated,” he admits. “I’ve still got the pedals in storage, and I’ve got a load of guitars, but that set up does it for me. I like to keep things minimal, as simple as possible, with the least points of potential failure as possible.”

Keep It Simple

As simple as it is, Clewlow insists that the Tele and Kemper combo is a total killer. A few extras sometimes play their part (“I throw in a DigiTech Whammy for good measure,” he grins), but he’s confident in his setup. It’s all he tours with, and it’s never let him down.

Though, he was sceptical about switching to a profiler at first. “It sounds ridiculous now, but when it first came out, I was certain it wouldn’t be as good as a real amp,” he admits. “But when I first profiled my 5150, it was excellent. That’s actually still the main sound I use – I just love the attack, there’s something about it that’s so satisfying.

“But I also love the Peavey 6505 profile, and, paired with my Tele, that’s one of my favourite sounds. It’s great having the option to flick between the Peavey profiles so easily… I’m very satisfied with my wacky Kemper!”

It’s not the first time Clewlow’s scepticism has been proved wrong. Even his switch to a Tele was dubious. “The first guitar I ever bought was a Tele – and I didn’t know anything about guitars at the time,” he explains. “Because of that, I just thought of it as a ‘beginner’ guitar. It was never on my radar for Enter Shikari. When our producer Dan Weller encouraged me to try out a 70s Telecaster during the recording of The Mindsweep, I realised how wrong I’d been.”

Captivated by the Tele’s “gnarly” tone, Clewlow was instantly hooked. “It just gave me so much satisfaction, cranking the game, going for a neck pickup and playing properly heavy stuff,” he smiles. “It was one of those moments where I just realised I wanted to just use this all the time. It’s just a really unique sounding guitar. For me, no other guitar has a more distinctive sound than playing a Tele on a neck pickup.”

Group Effort

Across the entirety of Lose Your Self, Clewlow has plenty of stand-out moments, from the grandiose trilogy of Spaceship Earth tracks, waltzing between orchestral marvel and bounding riffs, to the gritty riffs of Shipwrecked!. However, he’s particularly fond of Dead In The Water, due to how it captures the Shikari family in action.

The track pops in a burst of fan gang vocals recorded at a gig. It’s yet another emblem of Shikari’s community, capturing the sound of their Shikari family nestled into the fabric of the record – and it also serves as a fun reminder of the band’s last jaunt around Japan. “We wanted a gang vocal just before the last chorus hits, so we got the whole of the Japanese audience to shout ‘DEAD!’ – but we did it quite sneakily,” Clewlow explains. “Rou just made a few weird noises into the mic to rile people up, then held the mic out to the crowd so everyone would parrot the noise back each time. One of them was ‘DEAD!’”

Though, Clewlow is most proud of how far the band have come sonically over the years. Back in the day, Shikari’s most ambitious technological feat was strapping torches to the end of their guitars; “it was very ‘futuristic’, like our own lightsabers… very handy for checking your set list between songs,” he laughs. Nowadays, they’re constantly treading new ground, grappling with new synthetic breakdowns and pushing for new sounds.

With such an unpredictable track record, Clewlow isn’t sure what’s next. But he’s always eager to get stuck in. “I think it’s good to explore different palettes – there’s no such thing as a ‘correct guitar part’, for example,” he explains. “There’s a million things you could play, a million ways a track can sound, and they’d all be interesting in their own ways. It’s bad to stress over ‘perfection’, because it limits you.”

“You can’t please everyone, you just need to please yourself and make music you love,” he concludes. “Which sounds like the equivalent of me sitting here saying “live, laugh, love”… but it’s true!”

The post “We wanted to do something a bit more fun. Keep people on their toes” Enter Shikari on surprise dropping their new record, and the importance of real live music appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Japan’s 65-year-old conservative prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, told Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice “you are my god” ahead of the band’s show at Tokyo’s legendary Budokan Hall on Saturday.

Takaichi, who became Japan’s first-ever female prime minister in October last year, played keyboards in a Deep Purple tribute band and drums for a heavy metal group at university. She has reportedly been a fan of the group since grade school, which children in Japan attend until the age of 12, when she purchased their 1972 album, Machine Head.

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“I can’t believe Deep Purple are here,” she beamed as she greeted the London metal five piece. “I have the deepest respect for the way you continue to make rock history while embracing new challenges and creating captivating music to this day.”

She added that she hopes the tour will promote cultural exchange between the UK and Japan and that their show will excite fans all over the country.

Meeting the band at Tokyo’s tourism office, she gifted Paice a pair of signed Japanese-made drumsticks, to which Paice told her: “You’re a drummer: we are friends!”.

Deep Purple are in Japan for their on-going world tour, which included a show at Budokan Hall, Tokyo. The legendary arena has welcomed the likes of The Beatles, Bob Dylan and ABBA, who performed their last-ever show at the venue in March 1980.

In 1972, Deep Purple released their Made in Japan live double album to critical acclaim, which included recordings from Budokan Hall, a venue the band have described as one of their favourites to play.

“It’s always a pleasure to come to Japan,” said Paice, “and this time we have an added bonus.”

Takaichi, who enjoyed a 92 per cent approval rating among young Japanese voters as recently as December, has repeatedly flexed her musical background and acumen.

In January, a clip of her drumming K-pop super-group BTS’s track “Dynamite” and the song “Golden” from hit Netflix film KPop Demon Hunters with South Korean president Lee Jae Myung went viral.

Takaichi also made multiple appearances on Babymetal’s Metal Radio, a Tokyo FM show hosted by members of the all-female Japanese metal band Babymetal, prior to her election.

She told them: “When I get irritated by my husband’s choice of words or behaviour, I play the electronic drums after he’s gone to bed. ‘Burn’ by Deep Purple is a staple. I play songs like this to let off steam.”

She repeated the anecdote to Deep Purple, joking: “These days, when I fight with my husband I drum to ‘Burn’ and cast a curse on him.”

Takaichi has been called Japan’s ‘Iron Lady’ for her adulation of Margaret Thatcher and her conservative social and economic views. She is also a member of the Nippon Kaigi, a nationalist lobby group, and is considered the protege of the country’s assassinated nationalist ex-prime minister, Shinzo Abe.

The post “You are my god”: Japan’s self-described “rocker” prime minister meets with Deep Purple ahead of Budokan Hall show appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Despite serving as Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist for 8 years, Gus G wasn’t surprised when he was asked to hand back guitar duties to his predecessor, Zakk Wylde, in 2017. Considering Wylde and Ozzy’s history, he considered their reunion “inevitable” – and, while there was no bad blood, he’s adamant he’ll never accept another gig that feels temporary.

While Gus doesn’t regret his years serving in Ozzy’s band, nowadays he only involves himself with his own band, Firewind, or projects that guarantee a level of job security. Speaking to The Metal Voice, the guitarist explains that, even if it means turning down big opportunities, he never wants to feel “expendable” again.

“It was a conscious decision for me after the Ozzy gig to not join other bands,” he says [via Blabbermouth]. “I’ve had offers to audition [and] potentially join much bigger bands than mine, but I didn’t want to go into that situation again where you are an expendable guy, and you don’t get to call the shots.”

• READ MORE: “Being a hired gun for a band – you’re disposable”: Gus G on why he turned down auditions for Megadeth and Machine Head

He goes on to admit that all work post-Ozzy “is probably gonna be a downgrade anyway”, adding: “if you’re gonna downgrade, you might as well do it on your own terms… And I really enjoy calling my own shots!”

Of course, turning down big offers wasn’t always easy; in the past, he’s revealed in the past that he could have auditioned for Megadeth and Machine Head. However, it was crucial to stick to his guns. “I almost had to prove a point again,” the guitarist reflects. “I had my career pre-Ozzy with Firewind, and then, after Ozzy, I had to start from scratch again… I thought I would just pick it up wherever I left off, but it wasn’t like that.”

“I really had to go out there and play with smaller fees than before, grind for it, invest in it…” he adds. “[But] we’re in a good position now… and I love that freedom of calling the shots, having a great team [where] we can communicate, create our own future and our own opportunities.”

When Wylde was reinstated as Ozzy’s guitarist back in 2017, Gus could have easily kicked up a fuss. However, he’s always sang Ozzy and Wylde’s praises in the press. “I was bummed ‘cause I knew I’d probably never see [Ozzy] or play with him again… [but] it totally made sense,” he told Guitar World last year. “Ozzy and Zakk have so much history together; those guys had to get back at some point. It was inevitable.”

“Ozzy was always in my thoughts, and I hoped he’d get through [his illness],” Gus continues, reflecting on Ozzy’s unfortunate passing last year. “As for Zakk, I bumped into him at a festival in France a couple of years ago and we spoke a bit. He’s always been very nice to me.”

Gus is set to drop his fifth solo record, Steel Burner, On 24 April.

The post “I didn’t want to go into that situation again where you are an expendable guy”: Gus G on why he turned down all auditions following his stint in Ozzy Osbourne’s band appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

A massive auction of over 1,000 pieces of rock and roll history has gone live, offering items owned and played by the likes of Eddie Van Halen, Eric Clapton and Elvis Presley.

Now open for bidding, the 2026 April Rock & Roll Auction by Backstage Auctions is predicted to fetch upwards of seven figures overall, with a cumulative estimate of up to $1.5 million.

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There are guitars aplenty, including an Italian-made acoustic Eko Ranger signed by Bob Dylan himself and two formerly owned by Keith Richards: a classic Gibson bearing his felt-tip signature, and a bespoke 2005 Duesenberg Starplayer Outlaw electric guitar custom–made for the Rolling Stone. The guitar, which Richards gave to McLagan as a birthday gift, features rhinestones, skull-shaped knobs and a pearlescent yellow mosaic finish on the body.

In fact, several museum-worthy pieces are up for grabs. There’s the custom 1994 Don Musser acoustic guitar played by Eddie Van Halen, which was a “key component” of Van Halen’s Billboard-topping 1995 album Balance, recorded at 5150 Studios.

The instrument was also used in a couple of tracks on follow-up Van Halen III, namely “Without You” and “New World”.

For the cinematically inclined, there’s Elvis Presley’s iconic sunburst Gibson acoustic which co-starred in his smash-hit 1964 film Viva Las Vegas. The movie, regarded as one of the King’s best, sees him play a race-car driver competing for the affection of Rusty, played by Ann-Margret. It was during filming that the pair first met and began a torrid affair. The couple were even rumoured to have briefly considered elopement.

But the standout of the collection is a stripped woodgrain 1965 Fender Telecaster with a Stratocaster neck, which the auction house describes as a “singular piece of rock and roll history”.

As well as the Stratocaster neck, part of an exchange with mod icon Steve Marriott, the chimeric guitar features a humbucker salvaged from a Gibson SG that Pete Townshend smashed to pieces during one of The Who’s iconic Marquee Club performances. The object was among McLagan’s prized possessions and was his “primary soulmate in his musical journey”.

Other notable pieces for sale include a 1974 black Fender Stratocaster owned and played on-stage by Eric Clapton and a Chinese-style Paiste gong extensively used by Keith Moon until his death in 1976.

Among the wonderfully niche and downright weird items of rock memorabilia is Eddie Van Halen’s 6th grade history homework on the Soviet Union, which earned the legendary guitarist to-be a solid B+ from his teacher Mrs Burton. And it could be yours for $500.

There’s also an “avant-garde” safety-pinned leather thong worn by Fee Waybill of The Tubes going for the same price. Or a purple felt-tip doodle by the late Kurt Cobain, which depicts a stick figure – “presumably himself”, as notes the auction house – about to be hit by a bus is commanding a lean $2,000. The scribble, says Backstage Auctions, “provide[s] insight into his creative mind”.

The collection chiefly comes from the personal archives of Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Ian McLagan, who passed away in Austin in December 2014. Best known for his work with the seminal English rock bands Small Faces and Faces, McLagan also toured with Bob Dylan and worked as a sideman for the Rolling Stones.

Learn more at Backstage Auctions.

The post Massive trove of random rock memorabilia – including Eddie Van Halen’s 6th grade history homework – headed for auction appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

What’s the secret to eternal youth? Former Van Halen vocalist Sammy Hagar, 78, reckons the answer is simple: stem cell treatment.

Speaking with the Daily Express US ahead of a six-show UK solo tour in July, his first in three decades, Hagar shared that he stays healthy and preserves his powerhouse voice through a regime of regular exercise, daily vitamins and stem cell therapy – an anti-aging treatment that uses specialised cells to repair and regenerate body tissue.

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The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer explained: “I take things that stop my body from getting stiff – anti-inflammatories and vitamins, nutrition that you need in your body as you get older.

“I do stem cell therapy with an IV. I do it every six months. I put young stem cells in my body. And I feel the difference.”

Hagar first joined Van Halen in 1985 after David Lee Roth’s departure, and played with the band throughout the ’80s and ’90s before departing in 1996.

This means his arrival coincided with some of the band’s most debaucherous years, a lifestyle that had, in part, pushed his predecessor to quit the band at its pinnacle. During the aptly named “Van Hagar” era, Van Halen developed a more anthemic, synth-oriented sound.

Hagar conceded that he was down to party in his Van Halen years: “I was guilty as everyone else.” But, even then, he insisted on putting his health and work first. “I had a job to do. My job was more important than anything.”

He even told his managers to lock him in hotel rooms to remove him from the “undisciplined” partying of his bandmates. “It’s worked for me. I’ve run my life like this from day one. I used to never even drink and do any drugs of any kind.

“People say the most important thing is family, but it’s your job because if you don’t have a job and can’t support your family, then you’re an asshole. A singer cannot get trashed and still pull off shows.”

Hagar would rejoin Van Halen in 2003, before leaving for good two years later.

Hagar vocalist isn’t the only legendary rocker who has turned to stem cell treatment in their older age. The late Ozzy Osbourne publicly used experimental stem cells to manage his Parkinson’s disease. His Black Sabbath bandmate Tony Iommi also enlisted stem cells to repair damaged cartilage in his hand.

The post Sammy Hagar claims he undergoes stem cell treatment to keep him in performing shape: “A singer cannot get trashed and still pull off shows” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

It wouldn’t be Coachella Festival without a few surprises – and this year was no exception. From the legendary Jack White’s last minute addition to the line-up to Billy Corgan hopping onstage to sing with alt-popstar Sombr, Coachella had some great treats for rock fans this year.

One particular standout came during R&B star Teddy Swims’ set on Friday (10 April). With a stage designed to look like an apartment, surprise guests would sporadically ‘ring the doorbell’, only for Swims to welcome them out to perform a track. While his other guests included singer-songwriter Vanessa Carlton and a pop-rocking Jonas Brother, Joe Jonas, one such guest happened to be the iconic Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth.

• READ MORE: The Real Riot Women: the Gen Xers discovering punk and embracing guitar

Swims was clearly honoured to be performing with Roth, considering his grand introduction. “Oh my God – it’s David Lee Roth from the best fucking band of all time, Van Halen!” he yells out into the audience. Then, with Roth by his side, Swims kicked into a hearty version of Van Halen’s timeless track, Jump.

And Roth certainly dressed up for the occasion. At age 71, he’s showing no signs of toning down the showmanship, decked out in an intricately beaded waistcoat, cravat and tight silver and black trousers. Throughout the set, he’s the vision of some kind of futuristic cowboy as he hypes up the crowd with glee.

Though the performance had a minor hiccup, with the pair missing a timing cue, it serves as a testament of how different generations of music can co-exist. Sombr’s performance with The Smashing Pumpkins’ Corgan also had a minor mic malfunction, but their performance of the Pumpkins’ marvellous 1979 went down a treat.

Last year, Olivia Rodrigo had a similar experience when Robert Smith emerged during her Coachella headline set, with the pair duetting their way through The Cure’s Friday I’m in Love and Just Like Heaven.

The post David Lee Roth made a surprise appearance during Teddy Swims’ Coachella Festival set – and the pair covered Van Halen’s Jump appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Teruya Guitars founder Micah Teruya has just completed his most personal build to date. Following a long battle with leukaemia, Teruya’s wife Karrah sadly passed away last August – but the luthier is ensuring that her spirit lives on through this beautiful custom-made electric guitar.

Rather than merely stowing Karrah’s ashes in an urn, Teruya has transformed his wife into something beautiful. The pastel pink Matriarch guitar serves as poignant one-of-a-kind axe in honour of Teruya’s late wife – and it’s even got Karrah’s ashes inlaid on the headstock, and her wedding ring embedded in the fretboard.

• READ MORE: The Real Riot Women: the Gen Xers discovering punk and embracing guitar

While Teruya often documents the entire process of his guitar builds, this project was kept under wraps until the final reveal. However, the craftsman did film the two most meaningful moments, when he is delicately inlaying Karrah’s ashes and her ring. He has shared the clips alongside some of his most cherished videos and memories of his wife. “The process was incredibly painful for me but I wanted to share this with you because of how much it means to me,” he writes on Instagram.

“Having to deal with the technical aspects of building a guitar colliding with the emotional weight of who I lost was unbearable,” he continues. “Often I could only work for 10-30 minutes on this before being physically and emotionally drained.”

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Despite the pain, finishing the Matriarch guitar was a crucial part of processing his grief. “This guitar needed to be finished before I could continue on any other projects – it took me over 6 months to finish,” he admits. “Going through my camera roll for these clips of Karrah brought me to tears several times. She was so magnificent and beautiful. I wish all of you could have gotten to know her, she would have changed your world for the better.”

In another post, Teruya explains why he opted for the Matriarch name. “Karrah was the Matriarch of our family and friends, she dedicated everything in her life to bring all of us closer together…” he writes. “Nobody tells you that you can continue to love someone more even after they leave this life. I built this guitar to honour her life and her legacy in a way that is personal and sacred to me.”

In terms of the wedding ring on the fretboard, he also explains that its positioning holds a special, personal meaning. “Traditionally it would be placed in the 12th fret to mark the octave, however, we were married for 10 years, 11 months and 14 days, therefore I decided to place the ring between the 10th and 11th fret to symbolise how long we had been married,” he explains.

“This was the most painful experience I ever had building an instrument… but now she is in every note I play,” he concludes.

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The post “She is in every note I play”: How a widower used his wife’s ashes and wedding ring to craft the most beautifully poignant custom guitar appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Lyndon Laney – founder of legendary British amp brand Laney Amplification – has died aged 77.

In a statement shared with Guitar.com, the brand confirms Laney’s passing, calling him a “creator, innovator and trusted figure whose passion for the industry was at the heart of his working life”.

Lyndon Laney founded Laney Amplification in 1967 at just 19 years old. The brand would become internationally respected in the decades following, and has helped shape the sound of many high-profile guitar players, including Lyndon Laney’s longtime friend, Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath.

Though perhaps primarily associated with Laney Amplification, Lyndon Laney was a successful industry veteran elsewhere, having developed several ventures which ultimately became what is now the Headstock Group.

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The group first expanded into the Pro Audio sector with the acquisition of HH Audio, followed by the development of Headstock Distribution, representing brands like Ibanez, Tama, Zildjian, Vic Firth and DiMarzio.

“Lyndon’s influence extended far beyond business success; he was admired for his warmth, integrity, humour and quiet determination,” Laney Brand Director Lee Wrathe says.

“Lyndon was not only a founder, but also a creator, innovator and trusted figure whose passion for industry was at the heart of his working life. His legacy continues through the business he built and through his son, James Laney, who proudly carries that vision forward.

“He will be greatly missed by his family, friends, colleagues and the wider music community.”

Among those who have paid tribute to Lyndon Laney is Tony Iommi, who says he is “absolutely devastated” at his friend’s passing.

“I’m so sad to say that I lost my very dear friend Lyndon Laney to cancer on Friday,” Iommi writes in a post on X. “I am absolutely devastated. We go back to the late ‘60s when I first met him and I started using his Laney amps. He was a really lovely guy and his great passion was building valve amps. He also loved his cars as I did as well, we had so much in common. 

“We’d sit talking about ideas and what to build into my amplifiers. I am so honoured to have known him and his family. James, his son, has been running the company for some years now and he has carried on the business and has pushed it forward with some brilliant ideas. My deepest condolences go out to Lyndon’s wife Jan and son James.”

I’m so sad to say that I lost my very dear friend Lyndon Laney to Cancer on Friday. I am absolutely devastated. We go back to the late sixties when I first met him and I started using his Laney amps. He was a really lovely guy and his great passion was building valve amps. He… pic.twitter.com/qEXJChknLO

— Tony Iommi (@tonyiommi) April 13, 2026

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While many CEOs of international instrument makers take the reins of a heritage company already decades or even centuries in existence, Emerald Guitars founder Alistair Hay came to the acoustic guitar via a very different route. His previous career in the high-adrenaline sport of Formula 1 powerboat racing established him as one of the world’s leading experts in the use of carbon fibre. But how did he come to start making guitars out of them?

Waiting for a delayed flight in 1999, Hay bought a guitar magazine, and while he flicked through the pages the idea came to him: take his expertise with carbon fibre, apply it to the acoustic guitar, and expand the sonic, aesthetic and ergonomic experience of players around the world.

The question you’re probably asking yourself here is, ‘Aren’t guitars made of wood?’ Well, most of the time – but not always. People have been trying to make electric guitars out of alternative materials for decades, but acoustic guitars are often a sticking point – after all, so much of their tone is created by the sympathetic vibrations of various bits of wood.

But there have been various attempts to make guitars out of carbon fibre over the years, some more successful than others. And if you wanted to know if the characteristics that make the material perfect for a world-championship carbon fibre motorboat can also make a good guitar, Alistair Hay is the man to ask.

“A racing boat has to actually work with the vibrations of the water: to flex and move. That really is the essence of a really good quality acoustic guitar too”

“That is a very interesting question,” Hay muses. “In actual fact, there’s a lot of similarities. When I worked for the raceboat champion, Bill Seebold, he would talk about tuning the boat and how a boat should flex and how it should move.

“A racing boat isn’t just about being super rigid. It has to actually work with the vibrations of the water, to flex and move. It’s a delicate balance. And let’s face it, that really is the essence of a really good quality acoustic guitar too.”

Pushing The Envelope

Since setting up Emerald in a workshop in Donegal, in the north west of Ireland, the brand has become known for building guitars with radical and striking designs that would be all but impossible to execute in wood.

Ergonomic curves and contours, bevelled edges and offset soundholes are all hallmarks of the brand. If you’ve been scrolling through the guitar-based corners of Tiktok and Instagram over the last few years, chances are you’ve done a double-take at one of these unconventional guitars in the hands of some of the most impressive players out there.

Social media has been a key driver in the recent success Emerald has enjoyed across the globe. So much so that last year the brand opened a US-based warehouse and showroom – run by Alistair’s brother Chris – to cope with the demand from across the pond, allowing the brand to reach more players than ever.

“A lot of the people that tell you to do something more conservative will actually have no interest in buying your work even if you do follow their advice”

But when you see someone like Nathaniel Murphy make effortless magic on an Emerald, it becomes abundantly clear that these designs are not just pieces to be enjoyed visually. Their wonderfully rich sound is also a vital component of Emerald’s success – even though finding that voice has been a process.

“Initially I just wanted these guitars to sound musical and sweet, and not sound synthetic or plastic,” Hay recalls.

“A lot of it was trial and error to begin with – seeing what made a carbon fibre guitar too bright or too dark, too quiet or just not musical. We started to learn the parameters and how things worked within our own designs. Essentially, these days our priorities are clarity of note with richness and warmth and power.”

Hole In One

In the quarter of a century that Emerald has been pushing the envelope, the brand has explored varied territory – from dreadnoughts and parlors to Weissenborn lap guitars, hybrid electric-acoustics and basses.

One common thread both sonically and visually to nearly all of these designs is the presence of an offset soundhole – positioned not in the traditional place beneath the strings, but on the guitar’s top horn right below the player’s ear. This design hallmark came about through trial and error.

“The very first guitar that I ever made was a dreadnought with a centre soundhole,” Hay explains. “I just made a mould from my own existing acoustic guitar as the basis, and to start with our designs were kind of traditional in that regard. They still had the shaped back and some nice details, but funnily enough at that time I had people telling me that our designs needed to be more traditional – like a straight copy of a Martin Dreadnought or a Gibson SJ-200, just in carbon fibre – honestly!

“It was at that point that I realised that a lot of the people that tell you to do something more conservative will actually have no interest in buying your work even if you do follow their advice.”

“Carbon fibre has allowed us to do things that would be unviable in wood”

Hay’s first two models, which had centre soundholes, “were nice guitars but just horrible flops from a commercial point of view”. Then he designed the X20 model, “which was a total game changer”: “It was the first guitar where I really started to look at ergonomics and designing a guitar that played to the strengths of carbon fibre rather than pandering to tradition.”

But even as Hay gained confidence in his abilities as a luthier, he was still second-guessing himself as a businessman.

“I knew I had something special with the X20, but you know what? After I made the first one, I had it sitting there for a year and a half before I was brave enough to actually put it onto the market,” he reveals.

“I was thinking it was too radical. That people weren’t going to take this right. And then we put it out there and it was a huge success. That was the pivotal moment for Emerald. That was the guitar that influenced everything else that we designed from then on.”

Comfort In Sound

This is what sets Emerald apart from other makers of carbon fibre guitars: this focus on designing an instrument that exploits the inherent advantages of the material to better accommodate the player.

Whether you’re holding an X20 dreadnought or a Virtuo hybrid, the contours and curves of the instrument fit around you more like an electric guitar than a traditional acoustic, enabling a different physical connection.

“Ergonomics is a huge part of what we do and how people feel and experience these guitars,” Hay agrees. “It’s definitely one of the things that we get the best feedback on.

“People just love to sit down and play our guitars for hours on end. Carbon fibre has allowed us to do things that would be unviable in wood. Some people think it’s all done in a computer but our design process is actually a lot more hands-on.”

“There’s a different mindset when you’re buying a carbon guitar. You can just think a little bit more creatively”

That process is both untraditional and more organic than you might expect in this era of CAD design.

“I start off with an outline on a big slab of household insulation foam,” he says. “It’s a cheap material and it’s very easy to manipulate. I cut it into shape with a jigsaw or a hand saw and then start to sand it into shape. So it’s a very tactile process, and something that I wouldn’t know how to even start to do on a computer.

“It allows me to make these little adjustments and then a solid physical shape that we’ll start to cast moulds from. That’s my design process: just feeling my way through it.”

Brace Yourself

Anyone steeped in the lore of acoustic guitars understands that the voicing of a traditional instrument revolves around the pattern of braces used to give the guitar’s top and back stability as they vibrate under tension. This is irrelevant with a carbon fibre guitar, so how does one voice an instrument in this way?

“We do control the stiffness of our soundboards, which is created by using different layers of carbon fibre,” Hay reveals. “If you were to look inside, you’re not going to see any bracing. It looks totally flat, but the top of an Emerald guitar can contain anything from two to eight layers of carbon in different areas of the top.

“Carbon fibre has a grain pattern and a stiffness to it that can be manipulated in just the same way as wood. The thing with carbon fibre is that we can repeat that pattern many times, whereas every piece of wood is unique.”

Wood And Steel

For a carbon fibre guitar company, Emerald still keeps quite an extensive wood library in its Donegal factory. This is because one of the company’s aesthetic calling cards is to embed a thin veneer of elaborately figured wood into the soundboard of the instrument.

Usually, these woods are the sort of elaborately figured materials other makers would keep to the back and sides – such as cocobolo, ziricote, royal ebony and quilted maple – but Emerald puts them front and centre, in a fan-driven flourish.

“Our clients have led so many of our decisions over the years,” Hay says. “Choosing a wood veneer allows each Emerald guitar to be unique, and that does matter. I’m always looking for a way to make our instruments eye-catching, and a spectacular slice of mother nature on the front definitely does that.

“That’s my design process: just feeling my way through it”

“Figured woods are often used on the back and sides of guitars but no-one can see them there. That seems a bit of a shame to me. We enjoy showing all that beauty on the front of our guitars. The veneers are so thin they make no difference sonically – they’re just there for aesthetics. We have used spruce and cedar in the past but you know – where’s the fun in that?”

Emerald Guitars sprung from one man’s curiosity and career expertise in carbon fibre – and after 25 years of hard work and dedication to craft, it’s poetic that others have come on board, not just as customers but as enthusiasts whose own design ideas help make the journey fun.

“It’s amazing how imaginative our customers are,” Hay marvels. “They’ve designed instruments that we just never would have thought of that have been a pleasure to make. I think there’s a different mindset when you’re buying a carbon guitar. You can just think a little bit more creatively.”

Words: Michael Watts
Photography: Andy Ford

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