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Gibson continues to set the benchmark for craftsmanship, quality, innovation, and sound excellence, honoring the trailblazing mandolin virtuoso Sierra Hull with her very first signature F-5 Master Model and F-5G mandolins.

Gibson has shaped the sound of music since 1894, when Orville Gibson first designed and built mandolins in his workshop. 130 years on, the groundbreaking and forward-thinking carved top design that revolutionized the mandolin and guitar world, delivering a louder, more durable, more playable instrument, remains the DNA of every Gibson.

To honor this journey, Gibson is proud to celebrate the groundbreaking two-time GRAMMY®-nominated mandolin virtuoso, singer, guitarist, and songwriter, Sierra Hull, who is now the first-ever female artist to have a signature Gibson mandolin. On October 7, Gibson will debut the Sierra Hull F-5 Master Model and the Sierra Hull F-5G mandolins worldwide. Both mandolins will arrive in a Sierra Burst VOS Varnish finish and come with unique case candy in a package worthy of this trailblazing artist who has taken the mandolin and bluegrass communities by storm.

“We spent about two years talking and dreaming about what this mandolin would become,” says Hull. “The exciting thing for me is that the mandolin that I have played exclusively since 2009 was signed by Master Luthier David Harvey. It’s become my voice after so many years of playing it. Being able to work on this project with David personally gave me the confidence that we’d be able to achieve something unique, while still honoring the legacy and history of those beloved Master Model mandolins. It’s exciting and full circle to see these new mandolins with my name on them and his signature inside.

“When I finally played the prototype for the first time, I knew these instruments would be something that I could be proud of. They are hand-built with the highest level of quality by the team at Gibson—many folks who have worked there for years. Mandolins can also be very expensive. They take a lot of time and care to build right. If I’m going to put my name on something with that kind of price tag, it needs to be a great instrument and something long-lasting. I truly believe these mandolins are, and I’m really proud of that.”

“Sierra Hull is one of the most gifted mandolin players and singer-songwriters of our time,” says Mat Koehler, Vice President of Product at Gibson. “She has redefined what’s possible on the mandolin and across the many genres she explores. Her signature models reflect her passion for the instrument and her uncompromising approach to tone and feel. Each one is built with pride, authenticity, and soul at the Gibson Custom Shop, and we’re honored to have worked with Sierra to bring them to life.”

"Sierra's music transcends traditional bluegrass - she strikes a beautiful balance between old-time sounds and contemporary Americana, pioneering and shaping the sound of modern acoustic music and inspiring a whole new generation of music lovers,” adds Codey Allen, Gibson Cultural Influence-North America. “Sierra has inspired all of us at Gibson, and it has been a joy to share the creative process with her. She has poured so much time, love, and attention into every detail of her signature mandolins, and we are grateful to share in this celebration of her art."

Explore the current Gibson mandolins HERE, as well as the Epiphone Bluegrass Collection HERE.

Sierra Hull - "Lord, That's A Long Way" 

“This was the first time I’ve gotten to see the process of building mandolins up close and personal, which has been such a beautiful and fun thing to witness,” continues Hull. “To see a mandolin go from simply a piece of wood to the final product of an amazing instrument is kind of mind-blowing. I’ve never been one to know a lot about the ins and outs of wood types, or real specs of instruments, but I am really connected to what I feel and hear from an instrument—even if I don’t always have the language to discuss it. I’ve learned, and continue to learn, a lot about this tiny instrument I love so much through this process. It’s been so fun.”

Currently nominated for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s “Female Vocalist of the Year” and “Mandolin Player of the Year,” Sierra is also the only woman to have been nominated for, let alone win, six International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) “Mandolin Player of the Year” awards, Sierra Hull is world-renowned for her exceptional technical proficiency and genre-bending musical style. Sierra started playing mandolin at age eight, and by age 10, made her Grand Ole Opry debut. Her fusion of bluegrass, Americana, folk, jazz, and modern progressive acoustic music attracted the attention of other highly skilled bluegrass musicians, and she has collaborated with and received accolades from Eric Clapton, Dolly Parton, Brandi Carlile, Cory Wong, Billy Strings, Dave Matthews, Bill Kreutzmann, Sturgill, Simpson Gillian Welch, Béla Fleck, and Alison Krauss. Hailing from Byrdstown, Tennessee, Hull’s innovative sound is deeply rooted in bluegrass yet continually pushes boundaries.

Crafty use of subtractive equalization can define the old adage “less is more.”

One of the earliest revelations for guitarists learning to record themselves at home is that what sounds good soloed doesn’t always translate well in the mix. Many instinctively reach for EQ with a boost-first mentality—more presence, more warmth, more punch. But a more effective and musical approach often lies in the art of subtraction. When we remove the right things, space emerges for the character of the guitar to shine without fighting for attention. This month, I’m going to give you some EQ techniques to help make your recordings sound professional. Tighten up your belts, the Dojo is now open.

When EQing guitars, especially multiple layers of electric (and/or acoustic) parts, the first step is identifying where frequencies are clashing or clouding the arrangement. That usually means isolating your track and listening closely for signs of muddiness, boxiness, or harshness. These problems tend to gather in generally predictable frequency ranges. For example, mud and boominess often live between 200 and 400 Hz. Boxiness can lurk from 400 to 800 Hz. And the harsh nasal presence that makes a guitar feel brittle or grating usually hovers in the 2.5 to 4 kHz region.

Try this: Temporarily boost an EQ band by +10 dB with a medium Q and sweep through these frequencies until you locate the ugliest resonance(s), then gently reduce it/them with a tighter Q and a lighter touch, often just 2 to 4 dB. You’ll be amazed how the entire performance opens up when you remove the right junk.

Once the trouble frequencies are addressed, EQ becomes a more graceful tool for shaping tone. Subtractive EQ clears the canvas, letting you gently reintroduce body or presence where needed. This is where shelving EQ comes into play. A low shelf can bring warmth or fullness to a guitar that now feels thin from all the midrange cleanup. A modest bump at 80 to 120 Hz—just a dB or two—can fill out the sound, but it’s only effective if you’ve already dealt with masking around 200 to 300 Hz. Likewise, a high shelf can help lift a track into clarity and air, especially if you’ve trimmed that harsh upper-midrange build-up. Once the 2.5 to 4 kHz range has been smoothed out, a high shelf boost from 3 to 6 kHz will add shimmer and definition without aggression.

“Your ears should always be calibrating to the ensemble, not just the isolated signal.”

One of the greatest EQ challenges comes when stacking multiple layers of guitar. While it’s tempting to think that more is more, each additional track adds weight to overlapping frequencies, quickly turning rich textures into a blurry wall of noise. To prevent this, it’s helpful to think of EQ as a way of assigning each part its own lane. Maybe one rhythm track gets a small cut around 300 Hz, while the second has a dip at 500. One lead might have a bit less bite at 4 kHz, while another leans into a little high-end sheen. These are subtle moves, but when layered thoughtfully, they allow the listener to perceive each track distinctly, rather than as a blend of midrange congestion.

All of this assumes you’re frequently toggling between soloed and full-mix listening. It’s easy to over-EQ when listening in isolation, especially with midrange cuts. What feels like a relief to the ear in solo may rob a part of its edge or personality in the context of a full arrangement. A useful rule of thumb in the Dojo is: Solo to find the problem, mix to determine the solution. Your ears should always be calibrating to the ensemble, not just the isolated signal.

For those encountering intermittent harshness—say, a strummed acoustic guitar that only gets brittle during certain attacks—dynamic EQ is an elegant solution. Instead of making a static cut that dulls the track, a dynamic band can be set to tame harsh peaks only when they occur, such as around 3.5 kHz. This preserves the life and detail of the performance while reigning in the discomfort.

Ultimately, EQ should be approached like a sculptor working with stone: The goal is not to pile on more material, but to reveal what’s already there by removing what isn’t serving the final form. By focusing on reduction first, and only adding when it enhances clarity or emotional presence, home recordists can achieve mixes that sound more professional, more intentional, and less fatiguing. Until next month, namaste.

Blackstar Amplification has unveiled Polar Go, an ultra-portable audio solution for musicians and content producers who demand pro-level sound without the hassle of a full studio setup.

Polar Go is more than a mobile interface; it’s a complete, pocket-sized studio designed for the modern creator. With a built-in stereo mic system powered by Blackstar’s exclusive ProCapture™ technology, Polar Go delivers crystal-clear, professional-grade sound straight from your phone, tablet, or laptop, no studio or experience required. Whether you’re a singer-songwriter, podcaster, livestreamer or filmmaker, Polar Go transforms your audio from phone-quality to studio-ready instantly. Guitarists and bassists can plug in their instrument or use the built-in stereo mics to record anywhere, anytime.

Key Features:

• ProCapture™ Stereo Mics: Capture vocals and instruments with stunning depth and clarity
• Combo XLR / ¼” Input: For mic, line or instrument, with +48V phantom power for condenser mics
• Rechargeable Battery: Up to 6 hours of portable recording power
• Works with iOS, Android, macOS, Windows
• Dual USB-C Ports: One for power, one for data
• 3.5mm Headphone Output: Loud and clear monitoring, even on noisy sets
• Compatible with GarageBand, BandLab, Zoom, and all major recording apps

The Polar Go App:

• Available free on iOS, Android, Mac and PC, the Polar Go app gives creators powerful tools to polish and share their content with ease:
• Magic Wand Tool: Auto-enhance audio with one tap
• Built-In Video Recording: Sync sound and video in a single app
• Presets for Vocals, Guitar, Podcasts, and More
• Zero Learning Curve: Simple, intuitive UI

Blackstar’s Polar Go carries a street price of $129. For more information visit blackstaramps.com.

By: Rick Landers

Jon Butcher

The explosive guitar work of Jon Butcher ripped through the airwaves when he arrived on the music scene. And his heavy hitting vocals tied to his hard driving melodies offered, and still offer his fans a full force musical gale to get them pumped and rockin’.

Early on in the ’70s, Jon toured with Johanna Wild, then later hit the road again, accompanying the J. Geils Band’s Freeze Frame Tour At the time, the buzz focused on the Stratocaster playing Butcher as a musician with the guitar licks and flare of the late Jimi Hendrix, although Jon didn’t embrace the notion, but he did pay homage to Jimi, by naming his group, Jon Butcher Axis. The group became the opening act for KISS and Jon’s star continued to rise.

Jon’s group picked up an international record deal with the Polygram label and worked with producer-engineer, Pat Moran who worked with other top acts, including: Rush, Iggy Pop, Queen, Robert Plan, Big Country and Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians.

In 1982, Jon Butcher Axis released its self-titled debut album, that featured the track, “Life Takes A Life,” and the album reached Billboard’s 91 spot for pop albums. And Jon’s Life Takes A Life music video caught the attention of MTV, a success that was a bit of a coup when few Black artists were able to get such traction, other than very few like, Prince, Tina Turner and Michael Jackson.

Having signed with Capitol Records in the early ’80s, the Jon Butcher Axis crew released its album, Along The Axis, nailed down Grammy nominations (Best Rock Instrumental Performance) for the instrumental track, “Rituals”. Other songs gathered well-deserved attention and one, “The Sounds of Your Voice,” hit the Billboard chart reaching the 94 slot, that led to the band being invited on tour with INXS.

During the late ’80s, Jon released two albums, Wishes (1987) and Pictures from the Front (1989), and cuts from the albums were highlighted on the popular MTV show;  “Holy War”, “Goodbye Saving Grace” and “Wishes”.

During the ’90s Jon began to work in the multi-media field, as well as continued to compose and record his music, most notably starting a new group, Barefoot Servants, working with the legendary bassist, Leland Sklar. Butcher continued to be a prolific songwriter-producer, releasing a number of albums during the ’90s and developing expertise as a multi-media/video aficionado. By 2004, he was ready to release his first DVD, Live at the Casbah, a compilation of video from one of his concerts, as well as several songs from his earlier career.

More recently, Jon established his company, Electric Factory Music, where he works on a variety of projects for other musicians and artists, as well as has ventured into the synch arena, music production, film/television work and computer gaming. His work includes developing music for such well-known projects as HBO’S Deadwood series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, My Name is Earl, Hendrix: The Movie and more.

Guitar International caught up with Jon to talk about his multi-faceted career and entrepreneurism, perspectives and lessons learned he’s gathered along the way, his current projects including his recent release, Nuthin’ but SOU, and of course, his select choice of guitars and gear. We are pleased to present to our readers, one of the hardest working and most creative musicians around.

******

Rick Landers: Your work ethic looks to be pretty formidable, not so much that you’ve got your hands in so many pots, but the work you’ve chosen is labor intensive; composing music, developing videos for yourself and others, recording and production, and performing. Although, the work looks like fun, there’s also the tedious administrative and managerial side. What are the most challenging aspects of your work that demand disciplines that may not be part of your creative calling and how do you drive projects home to completion? 

Jon Butcher: That’s a good word, discipline. I’ve met many great players who never had enough discipline to make natural talent into marketable business. It’s probably the left and right sides of the brain in conflict! The truth is, I’ve always had focus – on becoming a better song writer, a better guitarist, a better music producer. I think I get that focus from my Mom, the career drive and craft focus.

Jon Butcher

Rick: I see you’ve recorded 21 albums, with over 230 tracks. What were some of the toughest lessons to learn in the area of engineering and production, as well as keeping up with technological changes along the way?

Jon Butcher: Learning how to produce myself was and is an ongoing process that requires insight and a measure of self-reflection that takes some getting used to. Also, knowing when not to mess something up! On my new album I re-wrote songs sometimes as many as ten times or more. Not because rhyming is hard, but because expressing complex feelings- in simple and digestible ways is a challenge. 

Rick: Let’s get to your latest project. Nuthin’ but Soul, as far as how did you select the songs for the album, who’s on board in the studio with you and what did they bring above and beyond their talents that helped you enjoy the process involved? 

Jon Butcher: I recorded most of Nuthin’ but SOUL by myself, in my own home studio before taking the tracks to Bang-s-Song in Gloucester Massachusetts, my home town.

I have a profound creative relationship with my engineer of the last decade, Warren Babson. We’ve formed a creative partnership which has created at least, at least six albums. But I record all the tracks- guitars, vocals, keys, bass, drums and more alone in my basement.

This record also features some great guest vocalists in Chris Pierce (L.A. singer/ songwriter ), Debby Holiday, Rene Dupuis all contributed their wonderful voices. I also had Danny Borgers and Sandy MacDonald contribute piano and B3 (Hammond Organ) on a couple of songs.

Rick: Did you stick with the Strat on the cover or grab other instruments for Nuthin’ but Soul?

Jon Butcher: That ’63 Fender Stratocaster affectionately named ‘The Fat Man’ has been with me a long time, it’s been used on all of my records since the ’90s. I also use several others; a 1953 Fender Telecaster ‘black guard’, a 2018 Gibson ES-335 and an Epiphone ES-355, a ’63 Fender Precision bass and my fav acoustic guitar, a Martin D-28.

Rick: For newbies to your music, do you have a recommendation of one of your albums you think would prove to be a good introduction to your music? 

Jon Butcher: For anyone stumbling across me I’d immediately suggest Nuthin’ but SOUL as an introduction and then works backwards from there, to Barefoot Servants with Lee Sklar and then to Holy War and Life Takes a Life by my first band, the Jon Butcher Axis.

Rick: Early on a few folks were comparing you to Jimi Hendrix. I’d imagine that it was important to get attention, but did that kind of hype distract from your own creative intentions or did you just ride it for what it was worth, then move to define your own work about your own style(s)?

Jon Butcher: Yes. At first you want to diminish comparisons, especially when they seem so lazy and unthought out. Then you get to a place where you realize there’s no point in trying to reshape someone else’s impressions. You just do what you do and hope that’ll eventually connect with someone, then one day you realize that you found your own authentic voice.

Rick: Many of our readers are musicians who are at various stages of their career ambitions, and I’d think you may be able to categorize your own career in stages and pivotal moments from playing open mics to paid gigs, then other stages of success and set-backs? What might those be and how do you handle success, as well as set-backs? 

Jon Butcher: It’s just life. If you’re a bricklayer or train conductor or musician, there’s going to be some disappointment. Maybe a lot of disappointment. That comes with being alive. It’s the dues we pay to be able to wake up, see the Sun and smell the air. Some of us may develop cancer or heart disease or other health challenges during the journey. The key is to just keep on keepin’ on, as my brother Chris Pierce says. Keep your compass pointed North, toward the music. Failure and success are flip sides of the same coin. In my opinion failure is a much better teacher.

Rick: Has your choice of guitars evolved over time and have you settled on a “go to” guitar while at home practicing, as opposed to studio work? And, what about effects, any favorites or new ones that you’re now experimenting with? 

Jon Butcher: When I was a kid I thought the Fender Stratocaster in it’s factory form was pure genius. Then I got distracted by the ’80s, playing Strat-types with hot humbucker bridge pickups, Floyd Rose trem for super gain, overly processed guitar sounds. At the time I thought that and a couple of Marshall JCM-800’s made for a pretty awesome noise. Which it did.

Then one day on a tour bus I saw Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Live at El Mocambo video tape. It blew me away, not just his playing, but his tone. And I remembered all the things a good Strat and amp platform could do. Gear-wise it brought me back to more traditional guitar tones, pedals, etcetera.

(EDITOR: Jon was kind enough to send me a complete list of his gear, below.)

GUITARS

’63 OLY WHITE STRATOCASTER

’63 FCS SUNBURST STRATOCASTER

’53 TELECASTER w/ a newer neck

’63 GIBSON CS ES-335

EPIPHONE INSPIRED BY GIBSON ES-355

GIBSON CS ’58 LES PAUL

MARTIN D25 1935 model

FENDER ’63 P-BASS

AMPS

MARSHALL 100 PLEXI w/ Marshall 2X12 CAB

FENDER ’63 PRINCETON

FENDER VIBROLUX 

’90s FENDER ’59 BASSMAN

FENDER TONE MASTER PRO

PEDALS

’60s VOX 848 CLYDE WAH

2010 TEESE RMC3 WAH

2012 LANDGRAF DYNAMIC OD

THE ‘UNKNOWN FUZZ’ SILICON FUZZ, no idea who made it

KING TONE miniFUZZ

CHASE TONE SECRET PRE AMP

STRYMON EC-1

R WEAVER FX MIDNIGHT VIBE

Rick: Did you grow up in a family that supported your music ambitions or did you find you had to fight against a tide of traditional expectations to “find a real job” to survive or thrive?

Jon Butcher: My mother saw something in me and supported it, I think my Dad’s thought I was losing my mind. That was all through high school, then I chose Boston almost on a whim as a place to go to college, to ‘have something to fall back on.’ One day I announced to my parents visiting my Boston dorm room that I was leaving school to become a professional musician. This was not met well by Bill Butcher. Several blows landed, Mom trying to pull him off and the rest of my college career pretty much ended there. But, it was the beginning of my Boston adventure…which led to everything.

Rick: Were you surprised to be nominated for the New England Hall of Fame and/or the Grammy nomination? 

Jon Butcher: I think I was just grateful for being recognized. 

Rick: I see you have a video production side of your “brand”. What video services do you offer and do you target various budget interests of clients? For example, straight lyric videos versus videos with story lines demanding more complexity and higher pricing? 

Jon Butcher: My company Electric Factory Music was born out of a tv show commercial I was hired to provide music for in the early ’90s. That show was The Simpsons and the commercial was seen by millions. Since that beginning we’ve provided music for a litany of Network and Cable programming, from Ugly Betty for ABC to Star Trek for FOX. In recent years our focus is on making video for budget conscious clients who understand  how important it is to visualize your message. These don’t have a proscribed script and I think more can be accomplished than just lyric videos for those on a budget. 

Rick: Early on were you hoping for or chasing labels or did you have more interest in having your own company, to develop multiple revenue streams? And, is there any need to keep your identity as a creative versus a businessman separately or is this dicing your personal interests up unnecessarily? 

Jon Butcher: Early on we were desperate to get on a major label, like all of my musical colleagues were at that time. To us that was how we’d ‘make it’, the door through which all hopeful rock stars passed. Nowadays that right of passage is mostly gone. The Internet, from the perspective of releasing, distributing and monetizing music is both the good news and the bad news.

We’ve all learned that simply posting your new song at your website means almost nothing without a plan to bring vast numbers of people to your website. I don’t think I consciously identify as a creative, I feel like I am one and make no separation from a public perspective. This of course doesn’t negate being ready and equipped to do the business at hand.

Jon Butcher

Rick: Where are you generally happiest, studio, stage, or at home noodling to get some creative traction?  

Jon Butcher: Yes!

Rick: After writing, doing the studio work and you’re ready to package an album, I’m finding it hard to come up with an album cover design. What process or feel do you go by to nail down the cover art and format of your albums? 

Jon Butcher: It might be different for others, but I find marketing myself,  in other words my visual image to be the best avenue for getting my message out. I’ve chosen to be on the cover for many of my albums so music seekers know immediately what and who they’re looking at. There are certainly iconic artists who’ve chosen different images for their album covers, Led Zeppelin comes to mind. But, those Led Zeppelin album covers were created in a time where the artistic pallet was the size of an LP. These days this is often not the case.

Rick: Have you ever had a need to find a session player from afar, like from the FIVERR site? Is it important to actually know the session players personally? 

Jon Butcher: I think it helps to have close relationships with those you work with, particularly on the road and in the studio. Those environments can be tough physically and psychologically. I don’t think I’ve ever hired a stranger or solicited someone online for a project I was working on. It’s always among my list of colleagues and friends.

Rick: When tough or awkward decisions need to be made, what have been some of your toughest ones and the outcomes, especially when it comes to relationships with others? 

Jon Butcher: There’s a musician in the Boston area who I’ve known personally for many years, worked with that person on records and generally had a positive and rewarding relationship with until recently. That relationship appears to now be on hold and I’m not exactly sure why. I think these things happen sometimes and I don’t think there is a good way to avoid awkwardness. No one likes it, we all struggle with trying to find balance in our relationships, but sometimes *#&# happens”. How to successfully navigate that ? I honestly don’t know the answer.

Rick: I saw you were once looking for someone to draw stick figures for a project. A few weeks ago I suggested to one member of my songwriter circle to watch Nick Drake’s “The Shed” video, so the guy could develop an inexpensive yet effective video. I’ve also suggested Elliott Smith’s bathroom video for “Between the Bars” with over 10 million views, as a way to focus on the song first – What was the result of your stick figure idea and where do you get your ideas for various kinds of videos?  

Jon Butcher

Jon Butcher: Great question! Before I started Nuthin’ but SOUL I had a record completed and in the can ready for release. That album was called Electric HollowHead, a character I dreamed up to describe how I was feeling at that time in 2022-23. I began to develop some artistic ideas to represent that character. Anyway the Electric Hollowed album was mixed, mastered and ready to send to replication… and then I pulled the plug. I’d spent dozens of hours writing, recording, re-recording and on and on. But it wasn’t right. It wasn’t the message I was prepared to underwrite and promote. So, just as I was looking at stick figure drawings to represent the character I was realizing it was time to start over.

Rick: What can people expect from your live shows? And do you ever offer unplugged shows where you rely solely on an acoustic guitar? 

Jon Butcher: In my opinion my electric shows speak for themselves, meaning I think we present a very engaging and dramatic live electric show. I also do a number of acoustic shows a year and I really think that’s where I shine best these days. There’s something truthful in an acoustic performance. There’s a connection that can be made that can be deeply personal. I’d like to do more acoustic shows a year.

Rick: With the release of Nuthin’ but Soul, knowing artists tend to have many ideas or projects in the fire, what’s next for you and do you have many more projects you’ve been planning, but finding it challenging to begin? 

Jon Butcher: I’m going to promote Nuthin’ but SOUL until the wheels fall off the wagon for the foreseeable future! Recently I recorded a version of, “All Along The Watchtower,”  which turned out really well, but I’m not sure what I’ll do with it yet. I’m hoping and encouraging all Indie film makers reading this to reach out to me. I love the relationship of film and music and have always been interested in expanding those lines of collaboration. Film makers hit me up!

BONUS VIDEO!

Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones might be having a blast with the band’s new frontman Frank Carter, but the guitarist assures he’s got “nothing but love” for their former vocalist Johnny Rotten.

Though John Lydon has certainly dished out a fair bit of criticism regarding the band’s decision to reunite with Carter in tow, it seems Jones isn’t holding it against him. Carter, of Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, joined the reunited band in 2024, and has been performing with them ever since.

• READ MORE: “With them Marshall 800s? There honestly ain’t a lot to it”: Steve Jones reveals the secrets of his Sex Pistols guitar tone

In an interview for the print edition of Guitar World, Jones explains the differences between the vocalists, noting a difference in energy between the two: “Frank’s a lot younger, so he’s got a lot more energy. He’s literally the best; I call him the ringmaster. He loves getting the crowd going; he goes crowd surfing and just takes the heat off of me, [Paul Cook] Cookie and Glen [Matlock].

“I’m 70, so I’m definitely not jumping into the crowd. [Laughs] He’s great – and he’s definitely not trying to be Johnny Rotten. He’s really something else, and he’s made it a lot of fun,” he states.

Asked if he ever feels sad that Lydon is missing out on their fun, he replies, “I’ve got nothing but love for John. He was brilliant back in the day, and I never would take that away from him. I would never deny it; he was fantastic. But I think we’ve just grown apart.

He adds, “He’s going somewhere else, and we’re going somewhere else. It’s just the way it is. But you never know. l’ll never shut the door, but I don’t think he’d have the energy like Frank does, to be honest with you.”

Sex Pistols and Frank Carter are touring across the US and Canada in September and October – you can grab tickets to see them live now.

The post “I’ll never shut the door, but I don’t think John would have the energy like Frank does”: Steve Jones says he’s got “nothing but love” for former Sex Pistols bandmate John Lydon appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Paul Reed Smith, PRS founder and tonewood connoisseur, thinks there’s nothing more important when it comes to making guitars than the neck.

While some may argue that pickups, body shape, or weight matter more, Reed Smith thinks that how the neck feels and how its wood resonates is far more key: after all, that’s where most of the action happens in-play.

• READ MORE: PRS celebrates 40 years with the McCarty SC56 Limited Edition: “We started with our take on a classic late ‘50s singlecut body”

In a new video on the PRS Guitars YouTube channel for the brand’s Rules Of Tone series, Reed Smith explains, “Neck making in my mind is fundamental to guitar making. You’re a guitar maker, you’re a neck maker – there’s nothing more important on the guitar.

“You could argue that the pickups are the most important thing or the weight of it, but in the end, how it feels, how you change the length of the strings, how it resonates [prevails]. There’s this sound that the neck makes as a raw blank that makes a big difference,” he adds.

“You have the body of the guitar and then you have this [part] sticking out and it’s a-weighted. It has tuning pegs at one end, there’s more frets at one end than the other; it’s not evenly weighted like a tuning fork is. So, the strength of the neck has a huge impact on how it rings. One of the things that is important from the rules of tone is not putting the neck under a huge amount of tension, unless it’s from the strings.”

Reed Smith goes on to give an analogy of a bell to better explain his argument, stating that if you were to drill a hole in a bell, put a piece of thread through it and start to tighten down the nuts on each side, the sound of it would be far more flat and dull, and it would lose its crystal clear ring.

“When you have to tighten the truss rod too much, it adds that kind of lack of sustain load mid-range to the instrument. The truss rod’s there as a safety. If you’re going to put really heavy gauge strings on it and tune it up, you’re going to need a truss rod. That’s just the way it is. But the more guitars we make for artists, the more we learn that the stronger the neck is, the better the guitar sounds,” he states.

You can watch the full episode below:

PRS, famous for its bird-decorated fretboards, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Reed Smith often shares his passionate views on guitar craft, with his opinions on topics like tonewood and his unique business practices often garnering a lot of attention.

In a column shared last year, he expressed why wood is another key part to building a great-sounding axe: “A magic guitar can be made of many different types of wood, but those woods need to have certain qualities and need to be handled correctly throughout the manufacturing process. So to me, woods matter.”

He added, “To me, if wood doesn’t matter, then logically it follows that the material the bridge is made of doesn’t matter and the material the nut is made of doesn’t matter. What I believe, because of scores of experiences, is that if we make two identical guitars out of different woods, the guitars will sound different from each other.”

Find out more about the brand or shop its full product range at PRS Guitars.

The post Paul Reed Smith says there’s “nothing more important” to guitar making than this appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

If you’ve lost track of the current status of The Who’s lineup, you’re not alone. But let us try and catch you up.

Back in April, following a choppy performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend fired Zak Starkey, who was the then-touring drummer of the band. Starkey quickly put out a statement in response, saying: “I’m surprised anyone would have an issue with my performance that night, but what can you do?”

• READ MORE: “I’ve never liked the way that little man runs that band”: Ringo Starr slams Roger Daltrey for firing his son from The Who

Just days after, Townshend and Daltrey announced that Starkey was back in the band, on the condition that he would “tighten up”. However, it was not to last, as a month later, it was announced that Starkey had been fired again.

Starkey later suggested that his firing was primarily the work of Roger Daltrey, saying “Pete had to go along with it because he’s had 60 years of arguing with Roger”.

Now, in a new interview with The Times, Daltrey has had his say, going as far as to accuse Starkey of “character assassination”.

Starkey told Rolling Stone in June that he was not to blame for the Royal Albert Hall slip up, and instead accused Daltrey of “getting lost”. “He blamed it on the drums being too loud, and then it got made into this huge social media thing,” he said.

Now, Daltrey describes the whole situation and fallout with Zak Starkey as “incredibly upsetting”.

He explains of the incident at the Royal Albert Hall: “It is controlled by a guy on the side, and we had so much sub-bass on the sound of the drums that I couldn’t pitch.

“I was pointing to the bass drum and screaming at [Starkey] because it was like flying a plane without seeing the horizon. So when Zak thought I was having a go at him, I wasn’t. That’s all that happened. Pete and I retain the right to be The Who. Everyone else is a session player.”

You can see the Royal Albert Hall incident in the video below:

As it currently stands, Zak Starkey is out of The Who, and drummer Scott Devours is handling drums for the band’s upcoming farewell tour.

You can view a full list of dates via the band’s official website.

The post “Pete and I retain the right to be The Who. Everyone else is a session player”: Roger Daltrey comments on firing of drummer Zak Starkey appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

If one thing’s for sure, it’s that anyone who passes through King Crimson’s ranks is as technically proficient as they come.

In a new interview with Prog, bass player Peter Giles recalls his first impression of guitarist Robert Fripp, and how practicing reading music together nurtured their budding friendship in the late ‘60s.

• READ MORE: The real story of The Final Countdown: John Norum explains why Europe’s biggest hit made him quit the band in disgust

“He had a nice, droll sense of humour, and his chops were really good, his chords and stuff. He was hot,” Giles recalls when asked about his first impression of Fripp.

“He’d been playing with some older musicians at the Majestic Hotel in Bournemouth, and you learn a lot from those people. We thought London was the place to be. It’s a lot easier to do it from London than bloody Bournemouth.”

Giles goes on to recall Giles, Giles and Fripp, the short-lived rock group consisting of himself, his brother Michael on drums, and Robert Fripp on guitar between 1967 and 1968.

“My brother was working in the evenings in dinner dance stuff, covering the Top 40,” Peter remembers.

“I used to work in Frith Street in the heart of the West End in a restaurant with an Argentinian guitarist and blind organist who used to play everything in F sharp. Fripp was teaching. But Gile, Giles and Fripp never did any gigs together.”

Giles also remembers making a habit of sourcing old pieces of sheet music with Fripp, with the pair going over them together to hone their musical skills.

“We used to go to the La Gioconda Café in Denmark Street where all the music publishers were. We’d go into some of them and ask if they’d any old sheet music. We used to get handfuls of this bloody stuff and then go back home and stick it up with Fripp reading the top line and the chords, and I used to read the bass parts. We’d have a go at it.

“We used to spend hours doing this! [laughs]. That’s what we did all day apart from writing and recording. Whenever one of us had a song or an idea, the three of us would chip in. My brother is a very good ideas man, not just a drummer. I mean, he has a lot of brilliant ideas, melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic.”

King Crimson fans got excited recently when guitarist Jakko Jakszyk revealed they were recording their first new album in 20 years. But Crimson manager David Singleton was quick to dispel the rumours – at least partially – when he said “getting excited is somewhat premature”.

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Europe’s The Final Countdown is one of the most iconic and beloved anthems of the 1980s. Its synth- laden riff, underscored by hard driving guitars, bass and drums features a melodic guitar solo that shreds like no other courtesy of Norwegian born guitarist John Norum, who laid the solo down in 15 minutes. The song went on to become the Swedish group’s calling card, while the album of the same name, has remained the group’s most enduring and most commercially successful to date. Not bad for a song that Norum initially at first hated, but later came to embrace it.

• READ MORE: Why have we forgotten the greatest female guitar heroes? The pioneering women who shaped guitar history

Both the song and album’s birth went back a number of years prior to the group entering the studio. The group’s vocalist Joey Tempest had earlier recorded a bare bones demo of the track on a cassette tape with plans to use it as an opening piece of music to open the group’s concerts. Having filed it away in the cupboard, it was only when the group were undertaking writing sessions for the album, that Tempest revisited his old demo and brought it to the band.

The group also shared an admiration for the arena rock of Journey, which came to play a major role in the musical direction of the album. “We’d been listening to Journey a lot, and we loved the sound of their albums,” recalls John Norum today. “And Neal Schon is one of my favourite guitar players too. And because of that, we wanted to work with producer Kevin Elson who produced those Journey albums in the late Seventies and early Eighties. We thought Kevin Elson would be perfect for us because we wanted to get that kind of Journey sound.

“At the time Joey and I were doing demos of the songs at his house. We had maybe four or five songs, and I was putting down some guitar solos and stuff like that with one of those little Rockmans. After that, we got Kevin to come out to Sweden and we did pre-production for the album for about two weeks, and then we moved to Zurich, Switzerland to begin recording at Powerplay Studios.”

Swiss Precision

The Swiss picturesque environs provided the perfect setting for the group to focus on the music and for Norum, capturing his guitar sound at its best. “We were there for about five weeks, and it was great,” he says. “It was out in the countryside, and we were living there too as they had bedrooms and stuff so we were working constantly just focusing on the music with no outside distractions. I remember pretty much just playing guitar all the time and Kevin got me a great guitar sound too.

“Because I didn’t really have that much knowledge about how to dial in a good guitar sound, he kind of dialed it in for me. For the album, I used my 1965 Fender Stratocaster and plugged it into a rental amp, a Marshall JCM800, 100-watt. I used a Boss Super Overdrive and a Boss DS-1 Distortion together. Though we mixed them together, most of the gain came from the amp. And using those two Boss pedals together proved to be a good combination. We did try using each pedal separately, but it just didn’t seem to work in giving me the sound we wanted to achieve.”

Journey On

Once Norum’s guitar sound was put to tape, and recording sessions ended, the band along with producer made their way over to the west coast of America to begin mixing, which again, had ties to Journey. “We went to San Francisco and mixed it at the same place where Kevin had mixed the Journey stuff, at Fantasy Studios in San Francisco,” says Norum. “And because that was the first time we, as a band, had been in the States – it was very exciting. After the album got released, it just exploded. It became number one in 25 countries, and we quickly started touring.”

But success became a double-edged sword for Norum. While the commercial success gave the band the world at its feet, for Norum though everything had become less about the guitar, and more about fame and its excesses. Instead of solidifying its standing as a hard rock group, with the guitar as its primary driving force, Europe had now morphed into purveyors of synth-pop rock. This led to Norum facing a career crossroads.

“When you get success that quick, it goes so fast, and you don’t really know how it works, how the business works and everything,” he explains. “Suddenly it’s like you have to get up and do the interviews every day from morning till night, and TV shows and get on early flights and all that stuff. And the fact that the keyboards were taking over a lot more, we had become more like a pop band.

“I hated that whole bubblegum image with the big hair and the spandex pants and that whole eighties image. Then some guys in the band got really big headed, and just doing the sex and drugs and rock and roll thing way too much and drinking every day, all the time. I was constantly waking up with a hangover, and finally came to the realization that this life was not for me. It’s not what I wanted to do and it wasn’t me and I didn’t want any part of it. So, I quit.”

Norum went on to enjoy a prolific solo career though, while Europe would soldier on until 1992. A decade later in 2003 the band reunited with Norum back in its ranks, and far-removed from the excess of their 80s pomp, the band remains active today on the touring circuit with plans for a new album, and a reputed return to their classic sound, currently in the works for a late 2025 release.

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