Norse Guitar Feeds

Over the past year, Taylor Guitars has worked in tandem with talented artists across multiple genres to create instruments that reflect their unique musical styles — including GRAMMY winners Jacob Collier and Zedd.

As Taylor expands its acclaimed Gold Label series — first introduced in January 2025 — it’s only natural that the company has partnered with a beloved member of the Taylor family: Trey Hensley.

The powerhouse new Gold Label 510e dreadnought, Taylor’s first collaborative Gold Label guitar, channels Hensley’s signature style. The Nashville virtuoso, a longtime Taylor player who has wowed audiences and industry peers alike, is known for his fiery flatpicking and thoughtful songwriting.

The collaboration comes as both Taylor and Hensley are hitting new highs in their respective journeys. Named Guitar Player of the Year at the 2025 IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards (his second win after 2023), Hensley also won a GRAMMY for Best Traditional Blues Album in 2025 as part of the Taj Mahal Sextet. His 2015 album with Rob Ickes, Before the Sun Goes Down, earned a GRAMMY nomination, and he has collaborated with legends including Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Dolly Parton and Earl Scruggs.

A Guitar as Unique as Its Signature Artist

Hensley’s artistic fervor is matched by his enthusiasm for his new dreadnought. "I’m beyond honored to have my name associated with what I believe to be a perfect guitar,” says Hensley. “I’ve been a fan of the Gold Label Taylors since the inception, and to be able to work with Taylor on the introduction of a square-shoulder dreadnought into the Gold Label lineup is insanely cool!”

The new Trey Hensley Gold Label 510e celebrates Hensley’s artistry with aunique set of features, starting with a deeper version of Taylor’s classic square-shoulderDreadnought body shape. This model is crafted with back and sides of solid mahoganypaired with a torrefied Sitka spruce top. Fanned V-Class bracing delivers a warm, woodymidrange with outstanding power and sustain, especially in the low end. The long-tenonAction Control Neck offers enhanced resonance and allows fast, easy adjustability todial in the ideal string height for any scenario or playing style. Hensley helped fine-tune theguitar’s response, opting for medium-gauge D’Addario Nickel Bronze strings.

An Acoustic Voice Suited to a Broad Range of Players

The Gold Label 510e is designed around Hensley’s playing style like a well-fitted glove, but its inviting shape and classic sound possesses a broader appeal. “I believe every player at every skill level within every style will love this guitar as much as I do,” says Hensley. “It’ll excel at anything and everything. I’ve never played a better guitar than this new 510 Gold Label…thank you, Taylor, for knocking this out of the park!"

A key element to the model’s wide-ranging tonal allure: the guitar is outfitted with Hensley’s preferred pickup system for performance — the Baggs Anthem SL — combining an Element under-saddle piezo pickup with a TRU·MIC condenser microphone and an endpin preamp. The system includes a soundhole-mounted volume control for ease and simplicity. The result? A guitar ideally suited for the concert stage, with a natural, organic sound and user-friendly electronics.

Instilling Beauty in Every Detail

Blending Gold Label’s distinctive heritage-flavored aesthetic with understated elegance, this model features an Antique Blond torrefied spruce top that glows with warm, golden-brown hues. Other details include a Honduran rosewood Curve Wing bridge with bone pins, cream binding with black/white purfling, a matching rosette, and Crest inlays in cream. A double-layer pickguard (ivoroid and faux tortoise) and a Trey Hensley Gold Label interior label complete the look. And each guitar ships in a deluxe hardshell case with a British Cocoa exterior.

Together, Hensley and Taylor have meticulously crafted an instrument that delivers a fully satisfying experience in just about every way: feel, looks and tone. If you’re looking for a stage-ready workhorse to inspire your next live performance, or if you simply want to bond with a sumptuous guitar in your living room, you’ll find it in the Trey Hensley Gold Label 510e by Taylor.

The first 100 guitars will be offered as Special Edition models that include a certificate of authenticity hand-signed by Hensley.

For more information visit https://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/acoustic/trey-hensley-gold-label-510e-se .

Spector unveils the Limited Euro LX Series, a striking new take on the beloved Euro LX bass formula. Drawing inspiration from the Spector Custom Shop, each bass features a maple fingerboard, adding brightness and that signature maple “pop”, a rarity for the Euro line. Other standout features include a matching figured maple headstock and three stunning gloss finishes.

Crafted with precision, these limited models boast a fully curved figured maple top with European alder back, paired with a neck-thru 3-piece North American maple neck and fingerboard, adorned with Spector’s signature Mother of Pearl Crown Inlays.

“This Limited Euro LX series is a celebration of our legacy and a bold step forward,” said John Stippell at Spector. “These basses combine the craftsmanship our players expect with fresh design elements that make a statement on stage and in the studio.”

At the heart of this bass is the Spector Legacy preamp, developed in collaboration with Darkglass Electronics. This preamp, paired with EMG pickups, captures the legendary “Spector growl” heard on countless iconic recordings, while offering modern tonal flexibility.

Available in four (34”) and five-string (35”) configurations, with three eye-catching gloss finishes – Black Cherry, Ultra Violet, and Black Stain – topped off with a matching headstock for a cohesive, high-end look. Gold hardware adds a touch of elegance, staying true to the classic Spector aesthetic.

The Black Cherry and Ultra Violet Limited Euro LX basses are available now at select authorized Spector dealers. The Black Stain basses are available exclusively at Sweetwater.

Experience a new take on a classic with the Limited Euro LX basses from Spector.

To learn more, please visit www.spectorbass.com

Street price:

$3,779.99 USD for 4-string models

$3,899.99 USD for 5-string models

10 Packs of Strings from Goldbird + 2 of the best damn cables you’ll ever use. Enter before December 2, 2025.

Best Damn Cables Company Giveaway

The Prize Package

One winner will receive 10 sets of strings form Goldbird and 2 cables of your choice from Best Damn Cable Co.

The Best Damn Instrument Cable

Durable as all hell and guaranteed to have people looking. Available in multiple different sleeving options with either straight or right-angled Neutrik connectors, the Best Damn Cable Co. is the industry standard when it comes to reliability.

Goldbird Electric Guitar Strings

Goldbird electric guitar strings are crafted from premium nickel-plated steel, giving guitarists a balanced tone with clear highs, punchy mids, and tight low end. Designed for durability and tuning stability, these strings hold up for dozens of hours of playing. That means more time making music and less time changing strings.

Epiphone has launched the Mike Dirnt Grabber G-3, a signature bass created in collaboration with legendary Green Day co-founder and bassist Mike Dirnt. This modern revival of the legendary Gibson Grabber G-3 pays homage to the instrument that helped shape the sound of punk rock’s explosion from the underground—including its iconic role in Green Day’s landmark 1994 album, Dookie, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary.

Mike Dirnt continues to perform with his favorite, beloved bass, most recently on Green Day’s The Saviors World Tour in front of millions of fans.

The Epiphone Mike Dirnt Grabber G-3 is available worldwide in Silverburst finish at authorized Epiphone dealers, Gibson Garage locations in London and Nashville, and online at Epiphone.com. A Natural finish is also available globally, exclusively through the Gibson Garage, and online at Epiphone.com.

Known for his punchy bass lines, dynamic vocals, and electrifying stage presence, Dirnt has been a driving force behind one of music’s most influential and long-running bands. The new Grabber G-3 reflects his legacy with a design that blends classic construction and modern performance features.

Crafted with a double-cutaway maple body and a 34-inch scale three-piece maple neck, the Grabber G-3 offers smooth playability and solid resonance. Depending on the finish—available in Silverburst or Natural—players can choose between an ebony or maple fretboard, each adorned with black abalone dot inlays and 20 medium jumbo frets.

The headstock features the classic Grabber “V™” shape, paired with open-gear bass tuners and historic clover buttons. A bone nut enhances resonance, while the Leo Quan® Badass II™ bridge delivers powerful attack, sustain, and full adjustability. Strings run through the body and are anchored with ferrules on the back, contributing to the bass’s rich tone and lasting sustain.

At the heart of the Grabber G-3 are three Gibson G-3 pickups, handcrafted in Nashville, TN, at the Gibson Pickup Shop. Wired in a unique “buck-and-a-half” configuration, the pickups offer versatile humbucking combinations via a three-way toggle switch—neck and middle, all three engaged, or middle and bridge—alongside master volume and tone controls for a wide palette of noise-free tones.

The Epiphone Mike Dirnt Grabber G-3 bass arrives with a hardshell case, making it road-ready for studio sessions or global tours. Whether you’re a die-hard Green Day fan or a bassist seeking a bold, versatile instrument, the Grabber G-3 delivers the punch, style, and legacy of a punk rock legend.

The Epiphone Mike Dirnt Grabber G-3 bass carries a street price of $1299.00. The Silverburst finish mode is available worldwide. The Natural finish is available only through Gibson Garages and Epiphone.com.

Oh, another Tube Screamer clone? We know, big surprise. But this Tube Screamer isn’t a clone; it’s an evolution – and it was redesigned from the ground up by the Tube Screamer’s original inventor, Susumu Tamura.

While Tamura has worked on replica models of his original design, with Godlyke releasing the Tamura-Mod TS808 back in 2023, the TWA Source Code is something fresh. The pedal promises to be a “next-gen 808-style” overdrive wrapped in a sparkling green shell, re-imagining the pedalboard staple for a new era.

• READ MORE: Cause & Effects: Tube Screamer season has arrived – but why do guitarists love this pedal so much?

While the first Tube Screamer originally served as competition to Boss’ OD-1, it has made an indelible mark on guitar history, and remains one of the most sought-after overdrives on the planet. Now, the TWA Source Code is set to push the original pedal into a “new dimension” of tonal clarity, enhanced headroom and sonic richness, with a reimagined design consisting of not three, but four knobs.

The pedal consists of the usual Level, Drive, and Tone knows, but there’s a brand new Bite dial to toy with. As TWA explains, the dial allows you to adjust your balance of “even-order harmonics”, to achieve a whole slew of clipping “from smooth singing leads to aggressive, cutting drive”. Essentially, it that should allow you to muster tones and saturation not unlike a high-gain tube amp.

The amp-like feel is also heightened by the Magic IC OpAmp, while the multi-transistor input buffer ensures your guitar’s natural tone remains unscathed. The pedal also has top-mounted jacks and true bypass switching, making it easy and convenient to slot into your pedalboard or take out on the road.

In terms of headroom, the TWA Source Code can be run on 9V DC supply or battery, but it can also be pushed to take 18V if you’re keen for a little something extra. There’s also an onboard +6dB boost, if you’re wanting that extra kick without impacting your guitar tone.

If you’re keen to hear what the next evolution of the Tube Screamer sounds like, the demo videos are sure to do the trick. It sounds pretty ace, if you ask us.

The TWA Source Code is available to order now for £234, with plans to start shipping in mid-November.

The post The Tube Screamer’s original inventor teams up with TWA for the next evolution of his iconic drive pedal appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

With Megadeth’s final record set to drop next year, fans are expecting the band to go out with a bang – but they might be taking things a step further. In a new interview, Dave Mustaine has revealed that the ideal finale would see the band blasting off into the stratosphere.

Considering the band’s 40-year career has defined the face of thrash metal – and indeed the wider metal world – Mustaine’s ambitious plot would be one last push, taking the genre to bold new heights, literally. “I hope we’ll be playing up in space,” he tells Metal Hammer. “I think that will be a really fitting climax.”

Specifically, Mustaine has his sights set on a very particular stage – the face of the Moon. “I’m not talking about on the side of a vomit comet!” he insists. “A gig on the Moon, a full Moon landing. That would be cool.”

• READ MORE: Megadeth – Ride the Lightning CONFIRMED: “I wanted to pay my respects to where my career first started,” says Dave Mustaine

Of course, Mustaine joins a long list of artists hoping to pull off the first ever performance in space. Back in 2017, Metallica’s Lars Ulrich told SiriusXM Radio that the band wanted to be the first band to pull off a zero-gravity metal gig. If Metallica were to get up there, it would be another achievement to add to their belt; in 2013, they set a world record after performing in all seven continents within one year, including Antarctica.

Muse have also voiced similar dreams of an intergalactic performance. Rather unsurprisingly, frontman Matt Bellamy was very keen on the idea in 2011: “We’ve had some discussions about playing in space,” he told The Sun [via NME]. “I’m thinking of approaching Richard Branson to see if we could do it on his spacecraft.”

“I do think it will be possible in the future and I’m sure it will happen in my lifetime,” the Muse singer concluded. “We’d love to be part of that.”

While Matt Bellamy’s words are well over a decade old, we’re only just entering an era where space gigs might actually be within our grasp. Back in September, Ed Sheeran told BBC Radio 2 that he could have been the first artist to ever perform in space. However, he turned the opportunity down.

“I was offered to go to space a while ago… and it terrified me,” he explained [via The Independent]. “I want to go to space when it’s like flying to France and 40,000 people have done it – I don’t want to be a guinea pig. It’s still dangerous.”

“It was talk about doing the first gig in space… [but] I’ve got kids!,” he said. “I’m not going to risk that for a Guinness World Record.”

Megadeth, however, aren’t as worried about the risks. With celebrities like popstar Katy Perry jetting up to space, Mustaine is pretty sure it would be safe. “I saw they sent up a bunch of celebrities into space and I thought ‘Well, if them, why not me?’, you know?” he tells Metal Hammer.

Though, rest assured – Megadeth would eventually want to return to Earth after their grand performance. In the words of Sesame Street’s Ernie, Mustaine doesn’t want to live on the Moon. “Personally, I’d never want to live on a planet away from the world we live in,” he says. “People were talking about a trip to Mars, but all I can imagine is somebody suddenly going ‘Oh! I forgot my toothbrush!’ That would be the longest flight ever!”

Set to drop in January, Megadeth’s 17th record will be their last. The album is set to feature a cover of Metallica‘s Ride the Lightning – which Mustaine co-wrote alongside James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Cliff Burton in the ’80s. As for what other Easter eggs it may hold, only time will tell.

The album release will also be accompanied with a huge worldwide farewell tour – though there’s no confirmation of any out-of-this-world tour stops just yet.

View this post on Instagram

The band’s retirement was announced by their usually voiceless mascot, Vic Rattlehead. “For over four decades, I’ve been chained in silence, but the end demands my voice,” he explained. “It is confirmed, the next Megadeth studio album will be the last 40 years of metal, forged in steel, ending in fire, and when the New Year rises, the global farewell tour.”

“You’ve heard the warning, now prepare yourself, cyber arm,” he added. “Stay loud, stay tuned and meet me on the front lines.”

In a statement, Mustaine told fans “don’t be mad, don’t be sad, be happy for us all”. He welcomed fans to “celebrate” what the band has achieved over the years. “We started a musical style, we started a revolution, we changed the guitar world and how it’s played, and we changed the world,” he said.

“The bands I played in have influenced the world. I love you all for it. Thank you for everything.”

Megadeth’s self-titled final album will be released on 23 January 2026. For more information, head over to the band’s official website.

The post Dave Mustaine wants Megadeth’s last show to be in space: “I think that will be a really fitting climax!” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Ad feature with Elixir 

There’s an argument to be made that no company has been more influential and important in the guitar world over the last three decades than Elixir®. That’s a big claim, but one that holds up when you look closely.

Here in 2025, coated guitar strings are everywhere. Pretty much every major brand produces its own version of the technology – though Elixir remains the only one that fully coats the entire string protecting not only the outer string surface, but also the gaps between the windings.

But the reason other brands have followed suit is because Elixir Strings were so impactful that players now expect the benefits that come from a coated guitar string – Elixir showed that our strings can last longer, can sound better, they set the standard.

Elixir created that expectation, and it remains the master of string innovation to this day. Since the company’s first strings were launched, the brand has been relentless in pushing their revolutionary technology forward all the time, responding keenly to the needs and demands of real guitar players to produce better strings for every situation.

Image: Elixir

We’ve seen this with the company’s remarkable ultra-thin NANOWEB® Technology, which kept all the great features players loved about the traditional Elixir POLYWEB® Technology, while giving a less slick but a smooth, comfortable feel.

Then came the OPTIWEB® Technology for electric strings, which gives the strings a more natural feel to ensure you’re always in control of your bends and vibrato. While the feel of the strings may differ depending on the technology, a greater playability and corrosion protection remain unchanged.

Now, the brand is ready to change the string game yet again with the launch of its brand new Elixir® Attune Strings.

Guitarists are a complex and varied bunch – if you’re reading this you probably know that your tastes and preferences differ dramatically from the other guys in your band or at your jam night. There are no right or wrong answers – just different needs, tastes and use cases.

For the last three decades, a huge number of acoustic guitar players have found their home with Elixir Strings – the feel, tone and sound of the remarkable POLYWEB and NANOWEB Technologies are transformative enough that many players simply never go back after trying their first set of Elixir Strings.

But there are others for whom the Elixir tone and feel hasn’t quite meshed in the past – there’s something about traditional strings that they just prefer. But all that might be about to change.

The new Elixir Attune Acoustic Phosphor Bronze Strings offer the long life and corrosion resistance you’d expect from Elixir, but with a new voice and improved playability that challenges what was thought possible with coated strings.

Image: Elixir

The Attune Strings offer a crisp, clear tone and natural feel that will leave you wondering if you’re even playing a coated string at all. While many players love the slinky smooth feel of a POLYWEB Technology, the Attune Strings offer a firm and more traditional grip under the fingers, so you’re fully in control of your bends and vibrato.

But that’s not all – in addition to being the brand’s most natural-feeling strings yet, they’re also its most durable. The Attune Strings are capable of dealing with the most heavy-handed picking attacks with ease, with a tone that will outlast any other string on the market.

The Attune Strings aren’t meant to replace the POLYWEB and NANOWEB Technology strings in the market – millions of players have found their home with these strings and they’ll remain a part of the line-up. Attune is about offering the magic of Elixir Strings to a broader audience of players, so more of us can enjoy the benefits of longest-lasting tone.

The Attune Strings also speak to Elixir’s commitment to R&D and improving on their technology year after year. The brand says that its internal cycle of testing, refinement and testing is so rigorous that they may go through 100 prototypes to find the one that meets their high internal performance standards.

The Attune Strings are the proof of this commitment to excellence and innovation – bringing a game-changing new tone and feel to Elixir Strings that will win over new fans with a captivating playing experience that you know will last longer than any other. It’s what Elixir has done since 1997, and Attune shows they’re showing no signs of slowing down.

Shop Attune Strings at elixirstrings.com/attune

Image: Elixir

The post Everything you need to know about the game-changing new Elixir Attune Strings appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

€272/£299/$329, gamechangeraudio.com

Chorus is an effect that most people use to add subtle movement to a sound, like creating pretty ripples on a still pond. The Gamechanger Audio Auto Chorus wants to transform those ripples into rogue waves so intense they pose a danger to shipping – and it’ll let you automate the whole process with your playing.

• READ MORE: Gamechanger Audio Auto Delay review – a dynamic delay that lets you wire it up how you want it

So if you like the idea of a modulation pedal that can dramatically change its behaviour depending on how hard you hit the strings or how high up the neck you play, this could be for you… that is, as long as you’re prepared for some serious tinkering.

Gamechanger Audio Auto Chorus – what is it?

Perhaps you’ve already basked in the literary magnificence of my review of Gamechanger’s Auto Delay. This is essentially the same deal but with modulation.

So it starts off as a standard stereo chorus with controls for effect level, rate, depth and feedback, plus a couple of three-way mode switches: one for wave shape (up, down or sine wave) and one for modulation type (chorus, ensemble or flanger). Stick to the bypass footswitch on the right side and that’s more or less the whole story.

However, like the Auto Delay, this pedal has a patchbay in the middle and comes with a bunch of cables to stick into it. These allow you to set up dynamic effects when the left footswitch is engaged, morphing to secondary settings (selected via the four mini-knobs) when your signal crosses a threshold of volume or pitch. And that’s where things start getting weird.

Image: Press

Gamechanger Audio Auto Chorus – is it easy to use?

I was going to say yes, it’s easy enough… but then I watched a demo of this pedal on a YouTube channel with tens of thousands of subscribers and the guy clearly hadn’t understood it at all. So maybe not, then. If you’re easily thrown off by complex controls, you might struggle here.

The primary controls, as mentioned above, are straightforward. The more advanced stuff is not, but it’s really just a matter of getting your head around the ‘if this then that’ principle at the heart of the Auto Series. Once that’s clicked, it’s mostly quite intuitive – aided by the twin LED strips, and six handy diagrams of suggested settings in the manual.

There’s more to explore beyond that if you want to – notably external CV and MIDI control plus, included in the box, a splitter that allows the Auto Chorus to track a clean signal even if it’s placed after a bunch of other pedals in your chain. But let’s just get to the sounds, shall we?

Image: Press

Gamechanger Audio Auto Chorus – what does it sound like?

There are plenty of nice traditional chorus sounds available with the depth set low, especially in stereo, and you can also get close to pure pitch vibrato with the level at maximum. Things turn a bit clangy when you flip to ensemble mode, though – and even more so when the flanger gets its whine on. Maybe some sort of tone control would have been useful here to soften the edges?

Anyway the depth, rate and feedback dials are all capable of pushing deep into unhinged territory, and that’s where the patch cables come in handy – letting you go there only under certain conditions, before jumping straight back to normality. All you have to do is set up those conditions beforehand, using the relevant controls and cables.

As with the Auto Delay, this doesn’t always work out quite as well as you might imagine it in your head; but with Gamechanger’s suggested settings as a starting point, I did come up with a handful of dynamic effects that qualified as both unique and potentially useful. A woozy chorus that only comes on when you play above (or below) a certain volume level? A flanger that morphs into a freaky ring modulator when you hit a particular note range? Something like both of the above at the same time? It’s all in here somewhere.

Gamechanger Audio Auto Chorus – should I buy it?

If you’re looking for something that sounds just like your old Boss CE-2 or EHX Small Clone, don’t go anywhere near this thing – it will bite your leg. But if you’re keen to explore just how un-mellow the sound of a chorus pedal can be, and are prepared to spend a lot of time playing around with knobs and cables to get there, the Auto Chorus might just be worth having in your armoury.

Gamechanger Audio Auto Chorus alternatives

The Beetronics Seabee ($349/£409) is about as close as any other chorus pedal comes to this level of wildness. The Death By Audio Space Bender ($270/£319) is a fruity modulation pedal with an envelope-following option; and while it’s a flanger, not a chorus, the EarthQuaker Devices Pyramids ($349/£369) has some similarly kooky tricks in its locker, facilitated by a ‘trigger’ footswitch.

The post Gamechanger Audio Auto Chorus review – do you need dynamic modulation in your life? appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Black Friday 2025 is still a little over a week away, but we’re already seeing an abundance of deals cropping up at all the big music retailers and marketplaces – so you needn’t wait to give your Gear Acquisition Syndrome its latest fix.

This year’s big sales event lands on 28 November, with Cyber Monday landing on 1 December, though to stay competitive, most online retailers offer huge discounts well in advance of Black Friday, and often for the week following Cyber Monday, too.

• READ MORE: Black Friday 2025: the best early deals are already here!

Over at Reverb, we’ve spotted a number of killer pre-Black Friday guitar deals you might wanna take note of. There’s massive savings to be had on electric guitars, amps and effects pedals, so without further ado…

Charvel MJ So-Cal Style 1 HSS FR M – was $1,679, now $899

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Courtesy of Franklin Guitar Works, this Charvel MJ So-Cal Style 1 HSS FR M is now discounted by almost $800 at Reverb. This Superstrat-style electric guitar is loaded with a trio of Seymour Duncan pickups – a humbucker in the bridge position and single coils in the middle and neck position – as well as a Gotoh double-locking tremolo for those juicy divebombs. And at an original price of $1,679 that’s a humungous 47% saving, so it would be rude not to…

MXR TBM1 Tom Morello Power 50 Overdrive – nearly 70% off

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The MXR Power 50 is a signature overdrive for Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, so you can bet your bottom dollar (which you won’t be reduced to with this killer deal) that it’ll provide all the gnarly gain flavourings you’re after. Its circuitry even uses the same MOSFET technology to recreate the preamp stages of Morello’s own amp. It’s usually priced at $199.99, but it’s now just $64.99 (a 68% saving!). Get yours now.

Squier Limited Edition Paranormal Jazzmaster XII – only $299

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Let’s face it, every guitarist needs a 12-string in their collection – those jangly natural chorus-type tones are just indispensable. And right now at Reverb, you can get this Squier Limited Edition Paranormal Jazzmaster XII in Sherwood Green at over 40% off, meaning you pay just $299 instead of $517. That’s a bargain if ever we saw one.

Electro-Harmonix JHS Pedals Lizard Queen Octave Fuzz – just $45

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Perhaps you’re looking for a stocking filler ahead of Christmas? Well, a sub-$50 effects pedal is sure to do the trick, isn’t it? This Lizard Queen Octave Fuzz from Electro-Harmonix and JHS Pedals is just $44.95, and is based on a unique transistor-based octave fuzz distortion circuit designed by JHS head honcho Josh Scott.

View all the latest deals on guitar gear at Reverb.

The post Black Friday has started early at Reverb… save hundreds on Charvel Superstrats, signature drive pedals and more! appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Grab a Mystery Stocking starting on November 24, 2025 at 10 AM Central.

For best results, open this form in a new tab! (Click Here)

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About Mystery Stocking

Each year, Premier Guitar puts out these mystery boxes as a part of bringing some fun to the holiday season. Each box contains guitar goodies ranging from picks, strings, and straps to pedals, guitars, and amps! Remember, this is supposed to be a fun holiday treat! If the contents of this box will ruin your holiday, deplete the last of your bank account, or end your ability to see the good in humanity, it may not be for you.

• This year's Mystery Stocking will cost $44.95. ($39.95 + $5 Flat shipping)
• Each box will be guaranteed to contain $40 or more MSRP.
• US only. (Sorry World.)
• Make sure your shipping address is correct.
• Have your credit card ready to go before you refresh the page. Paypal is not available. Autofill may not fill in your information.
• There will be NO REFUNDS given.
• There has been a huge demand for these in the past. When they are gone, they are gone.
• One per household, one per person.

Q: What's in the Mystery Stocking?
A: It wouldn't be much of a surprise if we told you, now would it?

Q: Will I definitely get my money worth?

A: Yep.

Q: Can I return it if I don't like it?
A: Nope. All sales final.

Q: What if I live outside the US?
A: Sorry, US only.

Q. How much is it?
A. $39.95 Plus $5 shipping

Q. When will it ship?
A. On or before December 5, 2025.

Q. What form of payment do you accept?
A. Credit cards only. Sorry, no Paypal for this.

Q. Can I ship to a different location than my billing address?
A. Yes

Q. I tried last year and didn't get one. Will I get one this year?
A. There is an overwhelming demand for Mystery Stocking. Be sure you have a fast internet connection and be ready when they go on sale.

Q. I want to buy 5. How can I buy 5?
A. You can't. This year, we're limiting to one per household, one per person, so more people can get in on the fun!

Though best known as a Rolling Stone – he’s been a member of the British rock juggernaut since 1975, in fact – Ronnie Wood’s ventures extend well beyond music, and his passion for painting is well documented.

And to celebrate the massive milestone of 50 years with The Rolling Stones, the guitarist has revealed a series of new paintings depicting Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and late drummer Charlie Watts, as well as a new self-portrait.

• READ MORE: “I just can’t set them right”: Jared James Nichols admits he doesn’t know how to use delay pedals

Coinciding with the Stones’ reissue of Black and Blue, the band’s cult classic album which saw Ronnie Wood made a permanent member of the band – and which featured the likes of Miss You, Beast of Burden and Start It Up – the four portraits comprise the Paint It Black collection, with limited-edition prints available, each signed by Ronnie Wood with a message of the buyer’s choice.

Credit: Ronnie Wood

Ronnie Wood’s passion for painting goes back further than his success as a musician; he first started painting as a child after finding his older brother’s paints and falling in love with it.

“It’s hard to believe it’s been 50 years since I joined The Rolling Stones,” says Ronnie Wood. “In these portraits I wanted to capture the spirit of Mick, Keith, me, our late friend Charlie Watts, and the live shows we’ve been lucky enough to play together. Art has defined my life, and I’ve been painting even longer than I’ve been playing music.”

“I paint to music, and sometimes when I’m playing, in my head I’m doing it to a painting. Art fills my life, art is my life, and art will continue to be my life,” he continues.

Limited-edition prints of the Paint It Black collection are available now, while the Paint It Black Series can also be viewed in person at the RedHouse Originals Gallery at 15 Cheltenham Mount, Harrogate, HG1 1DW.

For more info, head to the official Ronnie Wood shop.

The post Ronnie Wood celebrates 50 years as a Rolling Stone with new paintings of bandmates Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Julien’s Auctions, the industry-leading pop culture memorabilia auction house, announces their event with one of the most fabled, beloved and respected rock icons in the world, JOE WALSH. The “Life’s Been Good” collection features an extraordinary array of unique guitars, cars, amps, ham radios, stage wardrobe, and historic rock and roll ephemera. Bidding begins today at JuliensAuctions.com.

In advance of the upcoming auction, “Life’s Been Good: Joe Walsh” set for December 16th and 17th in West Hollywood at the historic music venue the Troubadour, Julien’s is proud to announce that a selection of highlights from the collection will be on view to the public for a very special event in New York City. Beginning on November 12th, at Hard Rock® Cafe in Times Square, New York, the exhibit will continue through December 3rd.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to VetsAid, a non-profit 501(c)(3) charity which, since 2017, has directly supported a variety of national and regional veterans-based charities. Now in its ninth year, the annual VetsAid music event will take place in Walsh’s birthplace, Wichita, Kansas on November 15th and stream live via VEEPS. As always, Walsh will perform with a star-studded lineup including Vince Gill, Nathaniel Rateliff, Susan Tedeschi & Derek Trucks and Ryan Bingham and the Texas Gentlemen. To date, VetsAid has disbursed over four million dollars in grants (go to www.VetsAid.org for more information).

“One thing you find about human nature is we collect things and I have acquired too much stuff. I wanted people to have a chance to get a guitar or get something of mine that they may think is valuable. So, it's my way of giving back. And this will help veterans as a portion of the proceeds from the auction will go to VetsAid." And then Joe added with his trademark humor, "And now I will have more room in my warehouse so I can go get more stuff!”

“We’re thrilled to announce that bidding is now open for ‘Life’s Been Good: Joe Walsh,’” said Martin Nolan, Executive Director & Co-Founder of Julien’s Auctions. “It’s an honor to present these extraordinary pieces celebrating Joe Walsh’s life and career to fans and collectors worldwide and to support VetsAid through this historic auction.”

One of the many incredible highlights of the sale and a true monumental artifact of music history is the Record Plant and Design FX Location Truck Recording Console. The soundboard stands as a symbol of an era when live performance and studio innovation forever merged. Originally housed in one of The Record Plant’s legendary mobile trucks—renowned for capturing the energy of rock’s greatest moments—this console played a pivotal role in recording live sets and broadcasts that defined generations. From The Rolling Stones, Eagles, and Elton John to Metallica, Neil Young, and Michael Jackson’s iconic 1993 Super Bowl Halftime Show, its faders preserved some of the most electrifying performances in modern music. Beyond the stage, it was employed to mix historic broadcasts including the Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, and VH1 Storytellers sessions for artists such as Tom Petty and Sarah McLachlan. Owned and used by Joe Walsh, this storied console is more than recording equipment—it is a living chronicle of rock and pop’s most unforgettable moments, representing the unparalleled legacy of The Record Plant’s engineering excellence and creative daring which exemplified its pioneering role in music production.

Highlights from “Life’s Been Good: Joe Walsh” include:

Record Plant and Design FX Location Truck API Recording Console

An API recording and mixing console, formerly installed in one of The Record Plant’s mobile recording trucks, with the number 2395 inscribed on one side. This particular console –– along with its associated rack mounted equipment –– has recorded many live performances by world-famous artists including Eagles, Blues Traveler, Bonnie Raitt, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Metallica, Neil Young, Willie Nelson, Green Day, Michael Jackson’s 1993 Super Bowl Halftime performance. This console was also used to record for broadcast including The 1992-1995 Academy Awards, The 1993 Grammy Awards, VH1 Storytellers for Tom Petty, Tom Waits, and Sarah McLachlan.

Estimate: $250,000–$500,000

Joe Walsh | Barnstorm Debut Album - 1966 Framus Strato Gold De Luxe 12-String Electric Guitar, Sunburst

A 1966 Framus Strato Gold De Luxe 12-string electric guitar, serial #7638 66B, in sunburst finish. According to Walsh, this guitar was heavily used on Barnstorm’s debut solo album.

Made in February of 1966, this Framus Strato Gold De Luxe features a 24.5 inch scale length plywood neck with a bound 21 fret rosewood fretboard, a zero fret, pearloid dot inlays, and 12 aftermarket chrome Grover tuners. The two piece birdseye maple body is finished in sunburst and decorated with large gold control plates and a striped brown, black, and pearl celluloid pickguard, all of which takes up the majority of the available space on the body. It wears a chrome bridge and vibrato tailpiece, the mechanism hidden beneath a gold plated body plate, two original gold plated Framus pickups, and simplified electronics featuring a single volume control and pickup on-off switches. The guitar includes a black hardshell case with “Barnstorm Joe Walsh” stenciled on the lid, with a light blue-grey interior and bridge and tailpiece covers in the storage compartment.

Estimate: $15,000–$20,000

Joe Walsh | Stage Played Duesenberg Joe Walsh Signature Guitar, Gold Burst with Image

A 2014 Duesenberg Joe Walsh Signature semi-hollowbody electric guitar, serial #142361, in Walsh Gold Burst finish. Stage played by Joe Walsh on tour in 2014-2015, including at Kenny Chesney's The Big Revival 2015 Tour kick-off on March 26th, 2015 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN. A 25.5 inch scale length set maple neck with a bound 22 fret rosewood fretboard, Morse code inlays that spell "Joe Walsh", and locking Duesenberg tuners. The body has a laminate spruce top finished in gold burst, laminated maple back and sides finished in transparent brown, and multi-ply binding throughout. A mix of hardware plating on this model with gold plated pickup covers and nickel for the Tune-O-Matic style bridge, Duesenberg vibrato, knobs, and pickguard accent strip. A Duesenberg HSC Single Twin pickup in the neck position and a Little Toaster in the bridge position. Unlike most production versions, this one does not have the Tibetan knot design placed between the pickups, which makes it easy to identify in photographs and concert footage (click here). Includes original black Duesenberg hardshell case with black interior, string package sleeve, a Duesenberg first aid kit, extra neck pickup, strap, and an image of Joe with the guitar.

Estimate: $4,000–$6,000

This landmark sale from a true titan of Rock and Roll promises to electrify music fans and collectors around the globe. Visit JuliensAuctions.com to register for this historic event on December 16th–17th, live in West Hollywood at the famed Troubadour and online.

“Life’s Been Good: Joe Walsh” EXHIBITION

Wednesday, November 12th - December 3rd

New York: Hard Rock® Cafe New York 1501 Broadway-Times Square New York 10036

Free to the Public: Daily: 11:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time

LIVE AND ONLINE AUCTION

“Life’s Been Good: Joe Walsh”

December 16th-17th

Troubadour, West Hollywood

9081 N Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069

10am PT/1pm ET

REGISTERING TO BID
Registration is required to bid in this auction and can be done in person on the day of the auction, or online before the sale at Julien's Auctions.

For inquiries, please email info@juliensauctions.com or call 310-836-1818.

Placing Bids
There are four ways to bid in Live Auctions:

1. Bid with Julien's Auctions online.

2. Bid over the telephone through an auction house representative.

3. Bid in person in the room at our auction events.

4. Bid in advance by absentee bid. Absentee bid forms are available by calling 310-836-1818

Julien’s Auctions accepts payments with cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, DAI, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin and USD Coin.

Press Release

Source: SKH Music

LYNYRD SKYNYRD and Foreigner have announced 19 co-headline appearances across North America confirmed for Summer, 2026. Produced by Live Nation, the Double Trouble Double Vision Tour begins on July 23 in Atlanta at the Ameris Bank Amphitheatre with a final performance planned on August 29 in Rogers, AR at the Walmart AMP.

The artist pre-sale begins on Tuesday, November 18 at Noon local time.  The general on-sale goes live on Friday, November 21 at 10AM local time. For tickets visit foreigneronline.com or lynyrdskynyrd.com.

The tour will also offer a variety of different VIP packages and experiences for fans to take their concert experience to the next level. Packages vary but include premium tickets, access to an intimate behind the scenes backstage tour, photo op with members of the band, exclusive merch pack & more. VIP package contents vary based on the offer selected. For more information, visit vipnation.com.

Just prior to the co-headline tour with Foreigner, Lynyrd Skynyrd will make two appearances in Florida. On July 17 in West Palm Beach at the iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre and on July 18 in Tampa at MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre. Tickets will be available simultaneously with the on-sale for the nineteen co-headline events. Six Gun Sally will open all appearances across all dates. Very Special Guest Loverboy will appear as direct support for Lynyrd Skynyrd in West Palm Beach, Tampa and Tinley Park. Additionally, on August 11, Lynyrd Skynyrd returns to the Legendary Sturgis Buffalo Chip for the annual rally and on July 17 in Elk Grove Village, IL, Foreigner will appear at the Mid-Summer Classics Concert Series.

Foreigner’s Jeff Pilson shares, “The energy the band has felt knowing we’ll be touring with Skynyrd this coming summer has been electric! Two bands with plenty of iconic songs, dueling guitars, double trouble and double vision are gonna set each and every stage on fire! No question this will be THE go-to event of the summer!”

Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Johnny Van Zant states, “I’m excited to share the stage with Foreigner and hear all their amazing hits! I’ve always been a fan, and I believe the audience will love this tour. Lynyrd Skynyrd and Foreigner together — it doesn’t get much better than that. See y’all in 2026!”

LYNYRD SKYNRD & FOREIGNER: DOUBLE TROUBLE DOUBLE VISION DATES:

7/23     Atlanta, GA                                                   Ameris Bank Amphitheatre

7/24     Charlotte, NC                                                PNC Music Pavilion

7/25     Bristow, VA                                                    Jiffy Lube Live

7/26     Holmdel, NJ                                                  PNC Bank Arts Center

7/30     Toronto, ON                                                   RBC Amphitheatre

7/31     Clarkston, MI                                                 Pine Knob Music Theatre

8/01     Grand Rapids, MI                                         Acrisure Amphitheater

8/06     Saint Louis, MO                                            Hollywood Casino Amphitheater

8/07     Noblesville, IN                                               Ruoff Music Center

8/08     Cincinnati, OH                                               Riverbend Music Center

8/14     Kansas City, MO                                            Morton Amphitheater

8/16     Shakopee, MN                                                Mystic Lake Amphitheater

8/20     Camden, NJ                                                    Freedom Mortgage Pavilion

8/21     Wantagh, NY                                                  Northwell at Jones Beach Theater

8/22     Mansfield, MA                                               Xfinity Center

8/23     Saratoga Springs, NY                                   Saratoga Performing Arts Center

8/27     Houston, TX                                                   Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion

8/28     Dallas, TX                                                      Dos Equis Pavilion

8/29     Rogers, AR                                                     Walmart AMP

LYNYRD SKYNYRD HEADLINE APPEARANCES WITHOUT FOREIGNER:

7/17     West Palm Beach, FL                                     iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre

7/18     Tampa, FL                                                              MIDFLORIDA CU Amphitheatre

8/11     Sturgis, SD                                                      The Legendary Sturgis Buffalo Chip

8/15     Tinley Park, IL                                               Credit 1 Union Amphitheatre

FOREIGNER HEADLINE APPEARANCE WITHOUT LYNYRD SKYNYRD:

7/17     Elk Grove Village, IL                                     Mid-Summer Classics Concert Series

ABOUT FOREIGNER

With more Top 10 hits than Journey, and as many as Fleetwood Mac, FOREIGNER features strongly in every category in Billboard’s “Greatest of All Time” listing. At times, the band’s weekly catalog sales have eclipsed those of Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, the Rolling Stones, the Who, Def Leppard, Van Halen, Aerosmith and most of their Classic Rock peers (Source: Nielsen SoundScan). With 10 multi-platinum albums and 16 Top 30 hits, FOREIGNER is universally hailed as one of the most popular rock acts in the world with a formidable musical arsenal that continues to propel sold-out tours and album sales, now exceeding 80 million. Responsible for some of rock and roll’s most enduring anthems including “Juke Box Hero,” “Cold As Ice,” “Hot Blooded,” “Waiting For A Girl Like You,” “Feels Like The First Time,” “Urgent,” “Head Games,” “Say You Will,” “Dirty White Boy,” “Long, Long Way From Home” and the worldwide #1 hit and member of Spotify’s exclusive Billions Club, “I Want To Know What Love Is,” Rock & Roll Hall of Famers FOREIGNER still rock the charts almost 50 years into the game with massive airplay and continued Billboard album chart success. Audio and video streams of FOREIGNER’s hits are approaching 20 million per week. FOREIGNER‘s catalog sales were recently celebrated in Business Insider as hitting the Top 40 among the Best Selling Music Artists of All Time.

ABOUT LYNYRD SKYNYRD

More than a half century after the release of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s critically acclaimed debut album ‘Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd,’ they resonate as deeply with their multi-generational fan base today as when they first emerged out of Jacksonville, Florida in 1973.  Few ensembles have had the deep impact in creating a lifestyle as Skynyrd has. The band travels forward with a primary mission of celebrating a legacy that honors all whom have had a resonating contribution to the lives of hundreds of millions of fans globally. Former members Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, Allen Collins, Steve Gaines, Ed King, Billy Powell, Bob Burns, and Leon Wilkeson alongside others will forever remain significant contributors to this indelible repertoire and the band’s colorful history. Today, Lynyrd Skynyrd rocks on with a current line-up featuring Johnny Van Zant, Rickey Medlocke, Damon Johnson, Mark “Sparky” Matejka, Michael Cartellone, Robbie Harrington, Peter Keys, Carol Chase and Stacy Plunk.

The rock and roll powerhouse continually tours, and as Van Zant shares, “It’s about the legacy of Lynyrd Skynyrd, and what it stands for, what the fans are all about. There’s nothing like getting out there playing a great show with Skynyrd and seeing people love this music.”

With a catalog of over 60 albums, billions of streams, tens of millions of records sold, and the introduction of Hell House whiskey, Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Lynyrd Skynyrd remain a cultural icon that appeal to all generations.

 

 

In the heat of a performance, even the greatest guitarists can stumble – and Eddie Van Halen was no exception. The Van Halen legend relied on a solid rhythm section to keep him in check; without the backbone of his brother Alex’s drumming, and later his son Wolfgang’s bass lines, the show might have unravelled into chaos.

When a 16-year-old Wolfgang Van Halen first joined the Van Halen ranks in 2006, there was a lot of pressure – but he knew his role was vital. Fully aware that the “big hits were about the groove”, Wolfgang knew that creating a “great rhythmic base” was integral. “I had to keep dad in check whenever he made a mistake,” he tells Guitarist.

• READ MORE: The best effect pedals for all styles and budgets

While Wolfgang stepped up to replace Michael Anthony on bass, his first love was drumming. In his own words, this h given him an innate sense of rhythm. “Being a drummer first helped, because I could understand what was needed,” he explains.

Even when more complex tracks were thrown into the mix, like 1981 B-side Dirty Movies, Wolfgang knew how to keep everyone in check. “Michael Anthony was doing these interesting harmonies for that intro… [it was] really experimental,” he says. “Dirty Movies was one of those tracks where I had to… check myself every time in order to ensure I didn’t mess it up.”

Ever since joining the Van Halen ranks, Wolfgang knew was committed to the rhythm. Even in a 2008 interview with Guitar World he explains his role: “I just like to be there to groove and keep the song going.”

And his father was more than happy to follow the groove of his teenage son. “Every now and then when we’re onstage playing, I’ll look at him and go, ‘God, that’s my son,’” Eddie smiled. “He’s only 16, but he’s not ‘16’. He’s an equal. Age doesn’t matter.”

While his Van Halen days are long behind him, Wolfgang has committed his sense of rhythm and multi-instrumental talents to carve out his own sound. Mammoth’s latest record, The End, is proof of that.

Speaking about the album’s title track, Wolfgang explains how his musical adaptability helped carve out its sound; the foundational groove began as a slap bass part, but Wolfgang translated it over to guitar. “I was showing [producer Michael Baskette] this idea but only had a guitar,” he tells Guitarist. “I asked him to imagine it on bass, and he told me it sounded cool on guitar.”

The End is out now.

The post “I had to keep dad in check whenever he made a mistake”: Wolfgang Van Halen on his role in Van Halen appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

With his mastery of the fretboard and unrivalled command of the pentatonic scale, you’d probably expect blues ace Jared James Nichols to have a similar skill in programming guitar gear. But there’s one area he readily admits he hasn’t been able to grasp yet: delay pedals.

In an interview in the latest issue of Guitarist magazine, Nichols explains his relationship with delay pedals – and pedals in general – and says he was inspired by the relatively simplistic setups of his guitar heroes as a young guitarist.

• READ MORE: “A Line 6 Spider III got me where I am today!”: Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Kiki Wong thinks it’s more important to have an expensive guitar than a pricey amp

“When I was younger, I’d watch videos of Stevie Ray Vaughan and [Jimi] Hendrix, any of the old blues guys, and I could see they had basic setups,” he recalls. “I quickly realised the difference was in how they were playing. I was inspired to learn all those little nuances through touch.”

Nichols, like all guitarists at some point, dabbled with pedals, but preferred leaning on the nuances of his playing to define his sound.

“I dipped my toes into pedal land, but I never went far because I’d feel like the pedal was controlling me, rather than the other way round,” he goes on. “To this day, I cannot use a delay pedal. I just can’t set them right. I don’t like it when the emphasis shifts from the notes I play to the gear I’m using.”

For many guitarists, having more gear on hand gives them more options to fine-tune their perfect tone. But for Jared James Nichols, “needing less gear sets me free”. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t dabbled in more complicated pedalboard setups in the past…

“When I first started touring, I’d build pedalboards with a wah, tuner, fuzz and various drives on there,” he says. “Things would go wrong, probably down to my own stupidity. So that pedalboard got smaller and smaller. 

“By the end of the tour, it would be just a Tube Screamer into the amp because I knew I could play a whole set without any problems. I didn’t need all the extra crap. Just give me a single-P-90 guitar and a Tube Screamer and I’m ready to play the Royal Albert Hall. It’s like sink or swim.

“I’ve started backing off the dirt because you get extra clarity with more volume and less drive. Some players don’t realise that – they stack a bunch of pedals, which is cool and I’ve done that myself, occasionally. But sometimes a good guitar and amp pushed to the limits will get you the fattest tones.”

The post “I just can’t set them right”: Jared James Nichols admits he doesn’t know how to use delay pedals appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Rock ‘n’ roll mythology tends to glamorise chaos – the impulsive jams, late nights, and lightning-in-a-bottle moments. But Tom Morello argues that the secret ingredient behind any lasting rock star legacy is something far less romantic: being relentlessly dependable.

It’s a belief only reinforced by his recent work with Måneskin’s Thomas Raggi on the guitarist’s new solo album Masquerade. Sitting down with Kerrang! to discuss their first fully-fledged collaborative project, Morello reflects on the quality he believes every successful rock musician needs: professionalism.

• READ MORE: “The guitar tones alone were worth the price of admission!”: Jon Bon Jovi claims Oasis’s tour reignited the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll

“Thomas is just a pro,” says the Rage Against The Machine guitarist, who’s also the producer of Masquerade. “I’ve been around a lot of bands in my life, and Thomas is a young man who is tremendously professional. He goes out there and he nails those takes.”

For all its mythology, Morello argues, rock ‘n’ roll still requires showing up and delivering when it counts.

“There’s an element to rock ‘n’ roll that should be wild and free and crazy, but eventually you’ve got to go to the studio and record your song,” he says with a laugh. “There’s creativity to happen, and there’s a job to get done, and Thomas was so great and dependable and reliable in being able in the takes. He’s able to harness his inspiration through the talent in his fingers in a way that made it a real pleasure.”

That balance became the heartbeat of Masquerade. Though released under Raggi’s own name, the album is far from a solitary effort and more a supercharged gathering of rock’s extended family.

The month-long sessions in Los Angeles saw a revolving door of legends: Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith and Guns N’ Roses’ Matt Sorum dropped in to track drums, Hama Okamoto handled bass duties, while vocal contributions came from Kasabian’s Serge Pizzorno, Jet’s Nic Chester, The Struts’ Luke Spiller, Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos, The Prodigy’s Maxim and alt-pop standout UPSAHL. Morello himself picks up the six-string too, trading riffs with Raggi across the eight-track set.

As Tom explains, the project also serves as a chance to help usher the next generation of guitar fans into the fold.

“You know that the younger audience that Måneskin has have already been exposed to the glory, the power, the sexiness, the appeal of rock ‘n’ roll,” he says. “This project takes that even one step further in helping Thomas to forge a record that honours his influences and brings new, exciting rock into 2025 and beyond.”

“It’s an opportunity,” he continues, “to be a missionary for rock ‘n’ roll.”

Masquerade is due for release on 5 December.

The post “There’s creativity to happen, and there’s a job to get done”: Tom Morello says you have to be “professional” to be a successful rock star appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Kiki Wong is living proof that you don’t need boutique gear to make a big impact online – or to land the gig of a lifetime. In fact, she says her entire career was built on a humble Line 6 practice amp and a belief that the guitar itself matters far more than whatever you’re plugging into.

• READ MORE: The best affordable guitar amplifiers: perfect practice amps and gig-ready options

Appearing in the new issue of Guitarist, Wong – who landed a spot in the Pumpkins after a 2024 open call that drew over 10,000 applicants – is presented with the classic gear dilemma: if forced to choose, would she rather have a great guitar and a cheap amp, or a cheap guitar and a top-tier amp? Her answer is immediate.

“I am 1,000 per cent onboard with a great guitar and a cheap amp,” she says. “Now, this obviously applies to me being home and playing. I’ve been playing out of a Line 6 Spider III 15-watt amp that I purchased in 2007. I’ve made about half of my TikTok videos with that amp, which is essentially where it got me today.”

“People talk a lot of poo about my tone,” she adds. “But, honestly, it’s what I love and have loved since I was a kid. Now, on tour, it’s definitely a different story – you’ve gotta have all cylinders running. But, overall, I love a great guitar.”

When it comes to pickups, Wong’s stance is equally definitive. Asked whether she’d choose humbuckers or single coils for the rest of her career, she says, “1,000 per cent humbuckers. Again, it goes off of how much I like the dirty, grungy metal tone. You really can’t achieve it without those humbies.”

It’s a belief that places her firmly on one side of one of the guitar world’s oldest debates: does great tone come from the instrument itself, or from the amplifier behind it? Covet frontwoman Yvette Young, meanwhile, represents the opposite camp, arguing that a great amp is the true foundation of great tone.

Speaking to Guitarist, Young insisted that even an expensive guitar can sound lacklustre through a poor amplifier: “It’s like ruining a really nice audio file with… I don’t know… something that’s going to degrade it a lot,” she said. “There’s no point, right? I’d rather go for the expensive amp.”

The post “A Line 6 Spider III got me where I am today!”: Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Kiki Wong thinks it’s more important to have an expensive guitar than a pricey amp appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

As he launched into an improvised mid-show guitar solo during a recent sold-out performance at the Georgia Theatre in Athens, GA, Ty Myers confidently exclaimed, “Let me play this guitar!”

It was reminiscent of Prince’s iconic declaration from his legendary 2007 Super Bowl performance. Later, Ty will admit it was not an intentional homage, “but maybe it should have been,” he beams.

Ty Myers on the Guitar.com Cover. Image: Chris Buck for Guitar.com

And this is why the young upstart from Dripping Springs, Texas is such an interesting and exciting young artist. On the one hand he’s a rapidly rising young songwriter with nearly five million listeners monthly on Spotify and very nearly 17 million likes on TikTok. But he’s also a guitar obsessive who holds up Stevie Ray Vaughan and John Mayer as his north stars – so much so that the Strat-toting teen even wears a jade necklace as a nod to SRV.

And in an era where social media often supplants the old-fashioned business of learning your craft in a live environment, Myers is also refreshingly committed to the grind. By year’s end, he will have played just over 100 shows in support of his debut album The Select, with the bulk of his 2026 already mapped out.

It’s quite some commitment for a kid who only turned 18 in July – but he’s no rookie. This writer first encountered Myers opening for country heavyweight Dylan Gossett when he was just 16 years old. And it should be no surprise he understands what it takes to make it in the business – his father Michael is a well-known musician in his native Texas, while his uncle Dean Sams is a member of the platinum-selling country outlet Lonestar, and his great uncle Ronnie Huckaby an integral member of George Strait’s ensemble.

“There’s a sense of culture, of importance, about the guitar player. I just care a lot about it.”

The Odyssey

It was only natural then, that Myers would find his way into the family business, but his guitar odyssey actually started out courtesy of another Texan guitar great. The fire that still burns bright for Stevie Ray began when an elementary-aged Myers encountered the legendary film Live at the El Mocambo.

“I can visualize it,” he says. “It was a smoky, small bar. Stevie’s sitting on a stool, smoking a cigarette, wearing a hat that’s casting a shadow half over his face, and starts playing the most complex, beautiful, melodic thing on the guitar. I was like, ‘This is it!’ It’s like he was hovering… sucking the power from the nicotine of that cigarette, and it came out in his fingers.”

It was only natural then that Myers chose a pair of Strats as his go-to electrics, plus a Gibson SJ-200 and a Gallagher Ragtime Special to handle acoustic stuff. His favourite Strat is a Custom Shop relic built by revered Master Builder Dennis Galuszka. It was a guitar that Myers first encountered at Nashville’s renowned Carter Vintage store – and he knew instantly it had to be his.

“I looked down this long aisle, and on this little stage, there’s a guitar sitting on a stand, and it was like doves flew out of it,” Myers recalls with a glimmer in his eye. “I didn’t even play it, I just knew I was going to get it.”

Image: Chris Buck for Guitar.com

The Guitar Sceptic

Ty is selective about the guitars he plays, but even once an instrument earns his affection, he still finds himself constantly critiquing whether it’s doing the job for him.

“The first uptake will hit you or it won’t,” he explains. “Once I find the one I want, I’ll play it for a while and try to find imperfections. I’m kind of a sceptic. If you can criticise the guitar enough and still like it, it’s a good guitar.”

That doesn’t mean he’s a gear snob, however – despite owning a variety of high-end guitars, another of his favourites is a humble Squier that was passed down from a family member that he kept tinkering with until he managed to unlock the guitar’s magic.

“When someone compliments my guitar playing, I’ll never be happier.”

“It’s a Squier, it’s from a storage unit!” he exclaims with as much exasperated judgement as he can muster. “I picked it up six months ago… and I debated bringing it out on the road to beat it up a little. I almost tried to ‘relic’ it myself, but I didn’t.”

This approach to self-critique is equally applied to his own playing and performances – it’s something that’s helped Myers flourish and thrive at such a young age.

“That’s a rut a lot of guitar players get into,” he continues. “I critique my playing the same way I critique a guitar. It has caused me to get better. It’s because there’s a sense of culture, of importance, about the guitar player. I just care a lot about it. When someone compliments my guitar playing, I’ll never be happier.”

Image: Chris Buck for Guitar.com

Undeniable Talent

Of course, Myers’ guitar skills are only part of the equation – he’s also a compelling and engaging singer and performer. It’s the sort of rare combination that has caused some of the older heads in the scene to take notice. Just last month, he collaborated with Marcus King on a rendition of Little Feat’s Two Trains. And to country crooner and fellow Texan William Beckmann, who is now friends with Myers, it was immediately apparent what a talent he is.

“The first time I saw him play, I was immediately impressed by him,” Beckmann tells us. “His ability to play guitar and weave unique melodies into his songs is rare for an artist at his age. Some people are just born with undeniable talent, and he is one of them.”

Those unique guitar melodies make their way into Myers’ recordings, though are extremely prevalent in his live set. He extends intros and outros at will, plays behind his head, and often lets his piercing notes linger in the air as he stares out into the crowd in a brooding, calculated fashion.

“A concert is supposed to be an experience,” Myers affirms. “It’s just as much a show as if you go to a Broadway play. I love to begin a song with a different musical element. That’s my favorite part of the show, cause I can escape my own mind. Sometimes I just keep going. It’s almost autopilot. I am thinking about what I’m playing… but I’m not sitting there thinking, ‘Okay, major third… use the scale.’ My fingers are just livin’ their own life.”

“A concert is supposed to be an experience… That’s my favorite part of the show, cause I can escape my own mind.”

Teen Idol

Perhaps the elephant in the room is if Myers’ youthful crowd are interested in, or able to identify with, the musicality occurring in front of them. There’s no escaping the fact that he has the looks and charisma of a pop star, after all.

“People comment, ‘People are going to forget about his music cause he’s such a…’” he begins, failing to come up with a definitive description. “People can think what they want, but I hope they don’t think of me as just some playboy. My musicianship isn’t going away.”

He does, however, understand his audience’s mentality. It was hard to escape it amid that Athens crowd, as the audience swayed with collective desperation during Myers’ performance Through A Screen – a prescient ballad about navigating romance via online communication. But Myers is keen to remind us that his audience’s youth and enthusiasm doesn’t make them any less authentic.

“Let’s say my audience is from age 15 to 25,” he explains. “The teenagers are in this angsty and emotional stage. It doesn’t make the feelings any less real because they’re young. Especially on a song like Through A Screen. That was a true story from my life that everyone my age has had.”

Image: Chris Buck for Guitar.com

Business Brain

The stage is set for Myers to build on his current success even further – with new material likely in 2026, and a huge opportunity opening for Luke Combs on his upcoming stadium tour.

“My brain works faster than the music business,” he chuckles at the prospect of his next album, before revealing that he writes at least a song a week, but has “a problem” finishing the ones he doesn’t like.

“That’s amazing until you’re way ahead, but we’re releasing stuff from way back when. We finished recording the second album, and now I’m writing for another album that I definitely can’t say much about. I haven’t been this excited about writing new stuff in a long time.”

Image: Chris Buck for Guitar.com

All the while, Myers seeks to pave his own lane. Not as, simply, a country artist, but beyond.

“We categorise things because it’s easy to comprehend,” he reflects when asked if he’s wary of being pigeonholed by genre. “It’s great for the audience, but not so great for the artist. The audience can find a special connection… when they can be like, ‘He’s my favourite country artist.’ As an artist, when you say, ‘I’m really passionate about this,’ then you go and try it and people say, ‘That’s not what you were playing before!’ It’s like… this is music!

“It’s hard to compare a rock song from 1950 with a new pop song by Olivia Dean. How do I pick which is better? I want people to think of me as a musician. That’s what I’m here for. I could care less about anything else than that the music I’m making is appreciated, and that people know that it’s my purpose.”

Words: Noah Wade
Photography: Chris Buck
Styling/Hair & Makeup: Kelly Henderson
Location: Telephone

The post “I want people to think of me as a musician. That’s what I’m here for” Country upstart Ty Myers is championing guitar for a new generation appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

By: Rick Landers

A masterful and prolific singer-songwriter, author, workshop lecturer, and noted music history presenter, Rod MacDonald, is one of the most creative, hard working and entertaining entrepreneur you’re likely to meet.  His songs are catchy, whether they are light-hearted or heartfelt with sincere intent, informing us and melodically nudging us to be better, choose smarter and contribute more to society.

As he pursued a career in the U.S. Navy, he honored and reflected his core values, becoming a conscious objector to become a creator and singer of folk music.

In our interview we covered his songwriting, collaborations with others, and his perspectives on what it means to be a musician. With several fine albums in his quiver, he offered up how he pulled together his most recent release, Rants and Romance (2023), with Rod on both acoustic and electric guitars, harmonica, mandolin and vocals. And, from his early days performing and recording, he’s made his mark with a song that decades later still resonates and captures us still, “American Jerusalem”

When asked about his life decisions, Rod replied:

“Well, I suppose the biggest ones were to follow my dream and move to Greenwich Village and try to find a place in the arena of the music that I had loved, that I loved so much. And that paid off in a lot of ways. One of which was that in Greenwich Village, you weren’t asked to play cover music. You were asked to play your own songs.”

Rod’s decision followed his vision as he eventually served as a co-producer of the Greenwich. Village Folk Festival (1987 – 1994), with Ray Micek, Jay Rosen and Gerry Hinson. And today, the festival has gone virtual, featuring the best of folk musicians, as well as  paying tribute to past generations of traditional music. In 2025, the festival paid tribute to the legendary folkie, Phil Ochs.

MacDonald’s been performing since the 1970’s and has 14 albums to his name, as well as 21 of his songs honored by being accepted into the Smithsonian museum’s Folkways Collection. Since 2006, Rod has served a Music Americana lecturer with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) – Florida Atlantic University. In 2012, Rod was named Distinguished Faculty Member.

McDonald’s music career has taken him around the world and on stage with such icons as: Pete Seeger, Peter Yarrow, Odetta, Tom Paxton, the Violent Femmes, Suzanne Vega, Shawn Colvin, Dave Van Ronk, Emmylou Harris, Richie Havens, Ani DiFranco, Tom Chapin, Jack Hardy, David Massengill, Joe Jencks and more.

Rod honed his skills early, writing for Fast Folk Musical Magazine, and publishing 21 songs. And steadily gained solid performance experience at major festivals, including: Kerrville, Falcon Ridge, Summerfest Port Fairy (Australia) and Friulh (Italy).and more.

And in 2025, he scheduled three lectures, Music Americana: Protest Songs; Bob Dylan: The First Ten Years; and The Sound of Her Voice: Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris.

And in keeping with his penchant for storytelling, Rod’s authored two books, The American Guerrillas and Open Mic.

Along with being one of the top musicians in today’s Americana scene, Rod’s music has been covered by others, including: Dave Van Ronk, Jonathan Edwards, Shawn Colvin, Garnet Rogers, Joe Jencks, 4 Bitchin’ Babes and Renaissance Fair artists. He also penned and presented, Songwriting for Self-Expression, at the New York Center and Common Ground on the Hill.

Guitar International is honored to include Rod MacDonald’s interview in our magazine for our valued readers and we’re certain they’ll look forward to Part 2 of our conversation with him.

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Rick: Let’s start with your latest album release, Rants and Romance. Are the tracks new songs that you’ve written, or are some of them songs that you wrote sometime ago and you just got around to putting on this album?

Rod MacDonald: I’ve got to think for a second about a question like that, because the weird part of it is you record 15 songs for a cd, but you probably only play four or five or six of them live very often, after 14 CDs. So, I think they’re all pretty new.

Several of ’em I wrote during the Pandemic, and it was my first CD of new songs since 2018, when it came out in 2023. So it had been, and we recorded most of it in 2022. It had been four years. I had a lot of the songs I wrote during the Pandemic. A few of them had been things that I’d worked on over time.

My work process in writing songs isn’t always that immediate. I mean, sometimes it is. Sometimes you wake up in the morning, write something down, grab your guitar and go, “Yep, this goes just like this.” But it’s not always that way. Sometimes I write words on a piece of paper or even type ’em into the computer, and then I go back and look at ’em weeks, months later. But, I think most of the songs, I think there are three covers on Ran and Romance by other people. 

I think all of the songs that are my own, were pretty new at the time. Off the top of my head I’m not recalling anything that was laying around for a long time or anything like that. 

Rick: I was a bit surprised to hear and I wasn’t expecting it, that you have some songs where you’re not singing, but you’re speaking. I think it’s only two tracks. I didn’t get a chance to hear the whole thing, “Cry Freedom’. That was great. I’m going, oh, that’s pretty cool. So did you find that more challenging than writing songs for singing, trying to get the cadence right, or the way you presented the words? 

Rod MacDonald: I’m not sure I think that consciously about it. It’s something I also did on my 1996 cd, Then He Woke Up. There’s a couple spoken word pieces on that, two or three. I think every once in a while it just feels like the right way to go. I don’t suppose it’s that formal  of a process. It’s more like, this just feels like the way to do this song. A melody would almost be worse than whatever it is.

In the case of “Cry Freedom”.it started out as a guitar piece. It was a guitar piece for a long time during the Pandemic. I’ve got my wife, Nicole, in, and at the time, two teenagers living here, and we have a small two bedroom condo. 

Click here to view the embedded video.

So we kind of took shifts in a way. The kids were going to school online, virtually on the computer. They both had laptops. One would be upstairs and one downstairs. But one of my kids and I started staying up very late at night, and the other started going to bed very early, at the same time as my wife. And I guess we did this, not so deliberately, but we found that doing this made it easier for me to get my work done. Otherwise we’d all four be in the same room at the same time, and you can’t see it where we are.

But in our house, my office setup, where I’m sitting right now, is actually part of the living room. And so if we were all sitting around together, I don’t like to work on music when everybody’s hanging around me. I like to have some solitude. 

I started sitting on the couch late at night with a cheap electric guitar that I have that I love to play with my fingers and just not plugging it in. And I started playing that piece of music. And then I had that whole guitar arrangement. I had the whole piece of music all worked out musically before I ever wrote any words to it.

And then I started thinking, “Well, what is this? What am I doing with this?” It was just a kind of guitar doodle for a long time. But then at some point, I wrote the poem of “Cry Freedom” without even thinking about music, really, just as a poem.

I do occasionally do that. And then at some point I just had the words in front of me and the guitar doodle going on at the same time, and I started thinking, “Can I do this?”And it fit, it worked out, and then I had to learn. The difficult part of it was learning the spacing of the words.

Despite being a spoken word piece, it’s very precise in terms of timing, how you phrase it, at least it seems to me that way. And so I had to learn it that way. And then once I got it, the next time I was up in Woodstock at Mark Dann’s place, I recorded the song with him, and it was the first thing we released from Rants and Romance. We put it out as a single several months beforehand.

I don’t know, I guess that’s sort of the process. I don’t have a formal process for writing all that much. I kind of do whatever works and that worked for that song.

Rick: So, if you find that normal, you would come up with a melody, play with some chords, then you come up with the words afterwards? 

Rod MacDonald: I almost have to say there is no normally, I kind of do whatever. That’s one way that I like to work. If I have a piece of music, I’ll just work on the music until it feels right. 

I have several of those even now laying around with no words. And then I have words that have no music sometimes. And then sometimes when I write something, it just all feels I can hear the melody of the words when I’m writing it, and then that becomes more simple to execute, in a way. I’m trying to think if there’s a good example of that on Rant and Romance.

In the latter half of the cd, there’s a song called, “The King of Tomorrow”. When I wrote it I very much had the music in my head as I was writing the words, and then I just kind of had to learn to play it. I probably even had the guitar in my hands a lot of times. So that would be a case of where the words in the music were more, I dunno, unitary or more simultaneous in a way. 

Click here to view the embedded video.

Rick: When you do that, do you come up with some words, and I know that Sting called some of his initial lyrics, “rubbish lyrics,” and I’ve called them trash lyrics. 

Rod MacDonald: Dummy lyrics is a phrase that I’ve heard used. 

Rick: Yeah, that’s kinder. And so do you come up with those and hen you fit in the right words and come up with a theme, and that sort of drives you to the end of this, basically a story?

Rod MacDonald: I don’t really work much with dummy lyrics. I will occasionally write music to an entire lyric and then use the music for something else, that’s not that unusual. But I don’t generally sit with my guitar and write out a melody while singing banana pancakes or anything like that. I just really work on the music first. But if I’m writing music to a lyric, then usually it’s because I already like the lyric and want to keep it. 

Rick:. Paul McCartney started out “Yesterday” with the title “Scrambled Eggs”. 

Rod MacDonald: Yeah. That’s a famous example of a dummy lyric. I don’t really know, but I think that part of their process was collaborative, and I believe that he brought that into the studio and played it for the other guys, and they all said, “Great piece of music, but the word’s got to get better than that”.

I saw an interview with McCartney one time. I thought it was very interesting. I think it was Conan (O’Brien) He asked him what he thought of himself as a lyricist or something like that, because McCartney among guys that are, I suppose, on my end of the songwriting spectrum, where we tend to write long and evolved songs, sometimes McCartney’s reputation as a lyric writer is middling and he looked at Conan and he said, “I’m not a great lyricist”, or something like that.

He said, I think, “if you and I were to sit here and each have an idea for a song and go out into another room and write it and then come back and meet, you would go out and write words, and I would go out and write music.” And then he said, “I think I’ve written some good words, but I’m really, I’m not a lyricist instinctively. I’m much more a musician.”

Which makes total sense to me. He’s a brilliant composer of music.  He presented some great songs and some great riffing of the melody to some others, something totally different. And then he comes back to the melody and “Band on the Run” and a few other songs like, “Live and Let Die”, an awesome recording. But it’s got what, three lines of lyrics. It’s really great music, a great piece of music. 

Rick: Yeah, A great legend I suppose. I love the title of Rant and Romance. wonder if you recall when and how you pulled that phrase together? I haven’t heard the phrase before, but it does sound great.

Rod MacDonald:  I don’t remember, but I remember joking around probably with Mark Dann, who’s kind of my collaborator in the studio end of a lot of this kind of stuff. 

And I think there was originally a different title for the album, and I ran it by him and he said, “Nah, that doesn’t really say it.” And then I started and he said, “How would you describe this record?”

And I said, “Oh, it’s a bunch of rants, and then there’s some romance.” And then we both left and kind of went, “Well, I think that might be it.”

It’s clever at some point, I think it was during the early Pandemic, I started describing in a sort of off-hand funny manner, some of my songs as rants, and they are. “Cry Freedom” is really a rant. 

But I mean, you can do a rant artistically, and I try to do that. I’m always conscious when writing a song like “Cry Freedom”, that it has to make sense in and of itself. It has to hold together as a piece of writing. You just can’t vent and expect anybody to make any sense of it for you. You have to make it clear

Rick: Artful. You make it artful to some degree, I suppose, 

Rod MacDonald: To some degree. Yeah. I sometimes teach songwriting. I teach songwriting workshops. 

Rick: Yeah, I took two of yours. 

Rod MacDonald: That’s right, I remember. Yes. Sometimes guys write political rants, and it’s largely just two lines at a time that rhyme. And a lot of the things that they say are kind of clinched lines, like “The Emperor has no Clothes” is one of that kind of stuff. And those are almost like dummy lyrics in a way to say, “The emperor has no clothes”. Yes, of course, everybody knows what you mean, but it’s kind of a cliche and almost like a dummy lyric. You have to sort of, I think, be more artful, as you said, 

Rick: Or unpredictable. 

Rod MacDonald: Or unpredictable. Yeah. Yeah. That’s a little bit of that. You want to explore it. Writing a rant is Dave Van Ronk. Do you know who Dave Van Rink was? 

Rick: I’ve heard of him. I don’t know much. 

Rod MacDonald: Dave Van Ronk was a big influence on a lot of us in Greenwich Village for a couple generations. Dylan, Phil Ochs, on down through guys like me, and quite a few younger guys that I know now that are in their forties that started playing guitar by learning with Dave. And Dave used to say, “It’s really hard to write a good political song, but it’s really easy to write a bad one.”

And I totally get that. I believe that’s true. And so you have to make a point of, somehow at the end of the day, you got to feel like, this is really what I want to say. That you’re willing to stand there and perform it for people for however many people are out in that room.

And they may have different political persuasions than yourself or among themselves, and it has to hold together. You’ve got to be able to stand there and say, “Well, I don’t care what you say. This is how I see it.”

Rick: Yeah. Are you familiar, you mentioned Phil Ochs, and I saw him at the, I dunno if you’re familiar with the John Sinclair concert at the University of Michigan. 

Rod MacDonald: You were at that?

Rick: Yeah, I was there.

Rod MacDonald: I was in Ann Arbor this summer. 

Rick: Were you? What a great town.!

Rod MacDonald: Yeah, it is a great town. A good friend of mine from my childhood, actually one of my best pals of my life lives there. And we visited him, him, and it was really fun. We walked by the spot where they did that concert, and he mentioned it to me. No, I didn’t get to go to that, but I was aware of it when it happened,

Rick: It was great. John Lennon was there with Yoko and Bob Seger, who I’d actually seen before at a small club called The Club, for like a buck, in Monroe, Michigan.

Rod MacDonald: Phil was an ideal performer for that concert. 

Rick: Yeah, he was really good. And there were other people there. Alan Ginsberg was there. He did “Howl” and Black Panthers were there, was pretty interesting. 

Rod MacDonald: What year was that? 

Rick: 1971.

Rod MacDonald: There were three of ’em, Phil, Sonny, and Michael. Michael just passed away, I think. I’m not sure who was older between Michael and Phil, but Sonny, who’s still alive, is a good friend of mine, and she’s the oldest of them.

Rick: I saw the list with some of the other folks that are on the album and was wondering how did you decide that they were the right fit for this particular album? Was there a process? Were they buddies, or how did you actually come up with them? As far as for, Rants and Romance? 

Rod MacDonald: Well, I guess there are people that I’ve worked with or are friends with, mostly for some of my CDs. Most of my work has been recorded in Woodstock, New York. 

And I work with Mark Dann at his studio there. And so sometimes some of the musicians are local Woodstock guys. They’re not even necessarily people that I know very well, but I know of ’em. A couple drummers I’ve worked with were like that. Sometimes they’re guys that Mark has worked with on other sessions and thinks would be a good fit. And sometimes they’re friends on Rants and Romance…Robin Batteau,  so we were hanging around and playing music for each other a lot. And I’ve always loved his playing. He’s a wonderful violinist and a really good guy.

He was going in and out of Woodstock himself, working at Mark Dann’s studio on another project. So he was around. We did a lengthy session; four or five of the songs with the violin live.

And then the drummer, Bill Meredith, I work with here in South Florida in a band called Big Brass Bed. We do mostly Bob Dylan songs. We’re kind of a sort of a side project. We’ve been working together for almost 25 years, and Mark played bass. I also used a fiddler for the two Celtic songs. I used a local fiddler player down here named Ian Wilkinson, a very, very good fiddler because I didn’t want a violinist who was going to jam through the songs. I wanted somebody who was going to play very specific parts. 

Rick: Yeah. What do you use to record?

Rod MacDonald: Pro Tools. A regular Pro Tools interface. I’m not using a lot of outboard gear, trying to hype up the sound or anything. I’m leaving that to the mixing process. I pretty much record people clean. I recorded some of Bill and Meredith’s drum parts here too in my living room. 

And then we fixed them up. So those are the principle guys, the electric guitar parts on “Cry Freedom”, I played myself. 

We didn’t really hire a lot of outside musicians for that cd. Sometimes I’ve used more, sometimes less. I guess that’s pretty much it. 

Rick: So you decided on those fellas just because not so much of proximity to you locally, but because you knew ’em. And how did that work? 

Rod MacDonald: I played with Robin Batteau, the violinist in certain other contexts, like past folk shows or all-star things where there’s tons of folkies on stage, kind of stuff like that. And very memorably, back in the 1970s, we had done a live broadcast on WBAI together, and a bunch of people had been in that one, and I had always remembered how much I loved his playing. 

When he was hanging out on the couch here, I used every excuse I could to get him to play with me. And I had a couple gigs and a festival appearance. He was up for it. He just said, “Sure, I’ll come with you and play whatever you want.” So we got to making some music together. And then we did a couple of shows together too.

We learned some of each other’s songs that way, and that was fun. But yeah, I tend to hire people for specific things. Sometimes I’ll hire them because I really just like they’re playing and I trust that they’re pretty good at working with me on fairly fast basis.

I mean, in working with musicians in the recording process, what you need to have is, unless you’ve yourself written out a part for them, you want somebody that can hear your song and add something to it that really gives it something interesting, add it to it, not just playing along in the background. I don’t really need that all that much. And with drummers, you want somebody who has really good time and kind of a creative approach to drumming. So I’ve used several different drummers. 

And I’ve also used some keyboard players that were really seriously good players. Professor Louis plays on one of my CDs; he produced the band, and he played organ and piano on one of ’em. And I love Louis. He’s great to work with. He’s a good guy. And Pete Levin, who’s not that well known to the general public, but he’s played keyboards with people like Miles Davis and Paul Simon. 

He’s a really good piano player. And he played piano on my 2018 CD, Beginning Again. And I just loved working with him.

Sometimes you want to just turn people loose and let ’em do what they do. That’s really the best thing. If you can get somebody involved on one of your songs or even all of your songs that brings his own level of creativity to the project, then you’ve really got something going on.

Rick: So, Rant and Romance is one of several that you’ve produced. How did the recording engineering and the production, how did that differ than say, your first album? And I know there’s a lot of changes in technology, but was it that much different? 

Rod MacDonald: My first album was back in 1983. I’d never really had much studio experience. I used the studio in New York City. It’s the only one I didn’t do with Mark Dan. 

Though he was involved in it as a bass player, but I didn’t have much studio experience, and I just kind of went in there and we didn’t have a producer, although I did get some help from a longtime friend of mine who was executive for Capital Records out in L.A. at the time, Steven Powers, and he was in New York visiting and staying at my place.

So he came into the studio and helped me out on one session, but I had to produce it myself, which really, I was not especially qualified for that. But what I wanted to do was try to record everything, live as much as possible.

I think we did 17 takes of one song and still didn’t get it, but every once in a while we’d really nail something. And then it was just a question of mixing it, but we played live as a band for almost everything in that recording. And White Buffalo, the one after that we played live as a band. Then we’d touch it up, add an instrument here and there.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Then you are in a vocal booth, so your vocals not bleeding onto everything else anyway. So, then if you get a really good band recording, but you didn’t sing it that well, you put the headphones on and you sing it with the band track. And really, if you close your eyes, it’s the same experience. It’s not really that different.

The only thing that’s slightly different is that the way you sing it might slightly impact the way the band plays it. You lose that if you’re singing to a track. Of course, you have to sing it to the way they played it. 

Rick: Yeah. I found that when I was in the studio, what worked best for me is I’d go in, I’d play my guitar and I’d sing the song, and then all the others would come in and they’d do their instrumentation.

Rod MacDonald: A lot of guys work that way. When we recorded later that night back in 2014, Mark and I came back from a gig and we just started playing in the studio late at night for our own enjoyment. And he said, “Got any new songs?” And I said, “Yeah, well, here’s one.” And then he says, “We should record this.”

And he set up a couple of mics and we discovered a different working method that really has worked fairly well since that time, which was to record the songs mostly because they were new songs that we hadn’t been playing in front of audiences. They weren’t totally formulated in a way musically. And we would sit across from each other and we’d record them, bass, guitar, and voice, and we’d do two, three, four, takes until I could say, “Okay, that’s the exact arrangement.” And then we would do one more take doing the same tempo and the same arrangement, but not singing.

We’d have a guitar and bass track, and then sometimes we’d even just not use the bass track, use the guitar track, and then we’d bring in the other musicians and then I would sing it again. And the reason I liked doing it, I found that to be very productive way to work for two good reasons, particularly the drummer and keyboard players. If you work with a fixed track, they can really hone in on it, and by the second or third take, they’ve really got it down. 

Whereas if you’re doing it live from scratch each time, each track has a slightly different feel and they’re still kind of trying to find it. So if you have a fixed guitar track that you think is good, that’s just the way you want to play it and that it’s comfortable to sing it to, then you can bring in the other instruments and play to it. And they can play to that same track and each time they’ll get it more precisely until finally, usually around the third or fourth take, because these guys are pros. We wouldn’t use my original vocal, but I would sing it with them live each time so that I was instinctively in tune with what was going on live and that 

We’d kind of get a bit of that live chemistry that way. And I found that to be a good way to work.

Rick: As a songwriter, have you ever felt that you ran out of steam with ideas or do you, do they just sort of percolate along as you’re living your life? 

Rod MacDonald: It’s funny. I sometimes feel like, “Wow, I’m supposed to be this big deal songwriter and I haven’t written anything in months. And then I’ll go to Woodstock and I’ll be having dinner with Mark Dann, and he’s kind of been my musical partner behind the scenes for 50 years. 

And he’ll say to me, “So what’s your problem? Anyway? All this stuff’s going on in the world in your life, and you’re living your life and you haven’t written anything. What’s your problem? Are you just like falling asleep at the wheel here?”

And then I’ll go, “Okay, and I’ll say, well, I’ll tell you what, I got some stuff in my laptop. Why don’t you turn me loose in the studio? And I’ll see what I can do.” And then once or twice I’ve gone into the studio, I dunno, midnight, and he’ll set me up and he’ll say, “Good, I’m going to bed after at one o’clock, and I’ll just go through my computer and start making up music to the words that are in there, and I’ll end up with seven or eight songs and then we’ll start working on a new cd. And then while we’re working on it, I’ll write a few more. I don’t know what started, I think Rants and Romance really, by the time we started recording I had pretty much written most of the songs. 

BONUS VIDEO!

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PART TWO SOON!

 

Fender’s new American Ultra Luxe Telecaster and Stratocaster have an intriguing mission: Retain the essence of two platforms so iconic that some see them as the guitar equivalent of Coke and Levi’s and win over players tempted by modernized variations on the Strat and Tele themes.

The American Ultra Luxe Vintage Stratocaster and Telecaster each appear in ’50s- and ’60s-inspired versions. I did not get to play the bound ’60s Custom Telecaster or the maple-fretboard ’50s Stratocaster. But I tested the $2,899 Vintage ’50s Telecaster and the $2,899 ’60s Stratocaster HSS with a vintage Ampeg Gemini II and a modified Fender Vibro-Champ with an extra gain stage and a tone-bypass for tweed gain levels.

Both instruments feature quartersawn maple necks with 10"-14" compound radius fretboard, 22 stainless-steel jumbo frets, and what Fender calls a modern D profile. Other modern touches include low-profile neck joints, lacquer finish, locking tuners, and advanced switching and controls. Each guitar comes with a deluxe hard case.

Ultra Luxe Vintage ’50s Telecaster

Effects of the American Ultra Luxe Vintage makeover are most obvious on the ’50s Telecaster. There’s the contoured body (something Strats have had since day one), an angled pickup-selector switch, and individual string saddles for more precise intonation than on a three-saddle Tele bridge. There’s plenty of vintage flavor, though. The ash body looks great and the butterscotch finish really pops the grain. The weight, on the test guitar at least, is neither especially hefty nor light—a little heavier than my own 1974, though that guitar has had its finish stripped off for decades.

The vintage-ness extends to the playability too—it has a broken-in feel right out of the case. I’m used to compound radius fretboards, so I did not have to adjust to the 10-14" shift (versus the 10-16" I’m used to) and it will probably feel more natural to players new to compound radii. Upper fret access was effortless. The build is super tight, giving the guitar a strong unplugged sound that offers the pickups lots of resonance to work with.

I admit, I was initially resistant to the angled switch. Somehow, as a guy who’s wrestled with a traditional straight switch angle for decades, I think of it like driving a manual. Once you learn it, you love it—until you’re in heavy traffic. But like a high-performance automatic with paddle shifters, the angled switch is a blessing that gets you in gear faster. If you play a Strat, the angle will be very familiar. The three-position blade switch gives you the traditional Tele combo of neck, bridge and both in parallel. A subtle push/push S-1 switch mounted in the volume knob bypasses the switch settings to give you the two pickups in series for some extra oomph—way easier than four-way blade switches wired to accomplish the same goal. In real world performance situations, the combined switching system is a godsend, especially if you want to kick in the series setting for leads.

Strength in Series

Overall, the Pure Vintage single-coil pickups deliver the Tele spank you’d expect. I’ve always thought the traditional Tele neck pickup underrated and Fender nailed it here. Through the clean Ampeg, the guitar delivered twang and detail. I was able to go from country to jazz tonalities without adjusting the amplifier, and I especially like the way that rolling back the volume doesn’t come at the expense of detail.

- YouTube

“Telecasters are so good at that specific combination of detail mixed with grit—those singing overtones that are so hard to find in other designs. Not all Teles get there. This one does.”

Those qualities were even more apparent with the Vibro-Champ, which took the Tele from clean to scream. The neck pickup was clear but not overly thin; the middle-setting offered that classic Tele jangle. I was impressed by how much body the bridge pickup delivered on its own. It cut but it wasn’t strident or papery, which some Tele bridge pickups can be. Telecasters are so good at that specific combination of detail mixed with grit—those singing overtones that are so hard to find in other designs. Not all Teles get there. This one does.

Activating the series mode takes the guitar a step farther—it’s hotter and fatter than the lead pickup on its own but doesn’t sound dark or humbucker-like. And thanks to the balance between the pickups, the series mode isn’t an extreme step up in volume from all the other settings.

While the playable neck and great tone might get the headlines, it’s worth noting the contours, which made this guitar way more comfortable to play than a standard blocky Tele, especially sitting. The finish is way cooler up close than it is in the pictures, with vintage-style checking giving the lacquer a broken-in look to go with the broken-in feel.

American Ultra Luxe Vintage ’60s Stratocaster HSS

Like the Telecaster, the American Ultra Luxe Vintage ’60s Stratocaster HSS combines vintage cues and modern features. The most obvious non-vintage addition is the Haymaker humbucker, but this guitar also features a two-post vibrato bridge with a pop-in arm (as opposed to the six-screw vintage design), and shares the Luxe Vintage Telecaster’s 22-fret, compound-radius fretboard and contoured neck joint.

Like the Tele, the Strat feels broken in from the start. The neck’s smooth satin finish made for easy movement. Access to the 22nd fret was easy, and the rosewood fretboard looks great and contributes a lot to the guitar’s authentic ’60s-era look.

Multitude of Tones

I was especially impressed with the pickups. The single-coils had that sought-after bell-like quality, and while humbucker-equipped Strats can sound imbalanced, the pickups here work well together. The S-1 switch on the Stratocaster splits the humbucker into single-coil mode, and it actually sounds good on its own that way. Moreover, it gives you a couple of nice variations with the middle/bridge combo. Single/single for “Wind Cries Mary”-style chime; single/bucker for a Clapton-esque lead tone.

“A Strat begs for a great vibrato system and the action on this unit feels smooth and light.”

Through the Ampeg, the single-coils’ detail reigned—think the rhythm guitar on Steve Miller’s “Take the Money and Run” with its carved out middle, punchy bass, and crisp top. Clean, the humbucker sounded fine, but I found myself liking the combined pickup position with it more than on its own. Through the Champ, however, the humbucker comes into its own as a lead pickup. It’s rich but not dark, and drives the amp considerably more than the single-coils. As with the Telecaster, the tone controls worked well. Sensibly, the neck and middle pickups mate to the front tone pot, and the bridge pickup to the second. When the middle/humbucker are engaged, the front pot is in control.

A Strat begs for a great vibrato system and the action on this unit feels smooth and light. I really like the pop-in arm, which offers a nice direct feeling of control with no extra play, and the locking tuners keep the guitar in tune when you cut loose.

Overall, the Ultra Luxe Vintage ’60s Stratocaster HSS has a luxury-workhorse vibe—like a Porsche SUV that can pop the radar gun on the freeway but also hit the trail from time to time. As cool as the hidden coil-split switch was, I would have loved a second one to activate the neck or bridge pickup in any position. That would add two more combinations—neck-plus-bridge and a combination of all three. It’s one of my favorite Strat mods because the neck-plus-bridge mix adds a hint of Tele flavor, and with split humbuckers, those two extra options would really expand the tonal palette. That’s much less traditional, but then again, so is having a humbucker in the bridge, and none of the genuine improvements here detract from how beautifully ’60s this guitar looks.