Guitar Lifestyle

A new Fender Tone Master model isn’t generally all that notable these days, but I think today’s new release is notable. This is because Joe Bonamassa is putting his name on the new Joe Bonamassa Fender Tone Master ’59 Twin model.

Joe made some waves a few months ago when he stated that he was using the Tone Master Twins in his touring rig. He is very well known for being a purist when it comes to vintage equipment, but he also has to face the realities of touring all year long. He now seems to be going all in with digital, at least as far as the Tweed Twin models he uses in his amp rig.

In the amp introduction video below he talks about how with the original tube models, the amp can start sagging by the end of a gig. The Tone Master amps don’t do that. He say the attack remains quick even after a few hours of use.

I’m not sure I’m quite ready to make the leap to an all digital rig, but I think this is testament to the fact that whether we like or not, digital gear is getting ever so closer to the sounds we loved growing up.

I haven’t posted much on here lately primarily because I’ve been working on a lot of new designs over at Steady Strum. If you’re looking for some guitar-themed apparel, I’m currently running a 20% off sale for Halloween with code OCT20. The sale ends on Monday, October 12th at midnight CST.

There are a number of Halloween-themed shirts currently available.

My favorite design is still one of my first designs, and that’s actually the guitar that serves as the Steady Strum logo.

I tend to like simple, clean designs and many of my designs reflect that. But, I’ve also tried to add designs that would appeal to just about any guitar lover. I’d love for you to check them out and let me know what you think!

I recently revisited the 2024 instrumental album In Stereo from Tom Bukovac and Guthrie Trapp and thought I’d write a quick review here.

If you’re not already familiar with Bukovac and/or Trapp, they are both Nashville players with a long pedigree of live and studio playing. They have also been pretty active on YouTube over the past few years. Bukovac has a popular long-running “Homeskoolin’” series, while Trapp also regularly posts educational content on his channel.

The album features a lot of great guitar tones. My understanding is that Tom used a vintage Les Paul and a vintage Stratocaster while Guthrie used his main Danocaster guitar. The amps were primarily Fenders with minimal effects on top. Both players primarily use clean and mildly overdriven tones throughout the record. It’s really a beautifully recorded album.

You might expect an album featuring two of the top Nashville session players to feature a lot of country guitar shredding, but that’s not what this album is. Sure, there is plenty of great guitar playing here, but I wouldn’t categorize many of the songs as country songs.

Instead, I would describe this album as atmospheric with some country elements, some jazz elements, and some rock elements, which all meld together nicely.

From what I can tell, Tom and Guthrie have been friends for a long time. I think this leads to a relaxed-feeling album without the need to overplay for one another. Both players are tasteful and their playing fits well within the context of each song. It sounds like they are having a musical conversation within the songs.

What I like about the record is that it works well as background music while I’m working as the playing doesn’t overwhelm the listener. But, the record also rewards a closer active listening session where you can really take into account the wonderful guitar playing from both of them.

If you’re looking for an instrumental album that isn’t all about shredding but still has plenty of great guitar playing, I’d recommend checking out In Stereo:

You can also check out a few behind the scenes moments in the video below:

Jared James Nichols is one of those artists you like rooting for. I had a chance to meet him several years ago at a Gibson event, and he was as nice and genuine as he seems online.

Twenty twenty-six has been a big year for Jared so far. His No Cover Charge video podcast that he co-hosts with Tyler Larson hit 100,000 Youtube subscribers, which seems like a big accomplishment for a relatively new podcast. He also recently became a Marshall endorsee.

In June, he released his latest album Louder Than Fate, which I have been enjoying. He somehow manages to combine the hard rock music of the 80s and 90s into a blend that sounds of those eras, but also modern at the same time.

Finally, he was also featured in a documentary produced by Gibson TV called The Long Road: Jared James Nichols. The documentary covers how he got started playing guitar near Alpine Valley, Wisconsin up until recording his latest album. I really enjoyed it, and I’m glad to see him getting broader recognition. Check out the documentary:

I was recently listening to an interview with guitarist JD Simo where he expressed surprise that some of the professional guitarists he knew didn’t really seek out new music to listen to or didn’t even listen to much music at all. He said that he listens to new music all the time.

It was surprising to hear that professional guitarists don’t uniformly listen to music all the time. But, after evaluating my own listening habits it may not be that surprising after all. Professional guitarists are no different than the rest of us. And I realized that I don’t listen to much new music either.

Somewhere along the way, music slowly shifted from being something I actively pursued to something that mostly filled the background. I’d put on familiar albums while doing other things, but I rarely sat down with the intention of discovering something new. When I did listen, it was usually to the same artists and records I’d listened to for years.

However, when I first started playing guitar, I did listen to music all the time. I listened to music I loved, but I also actively sought out new and different music to listen to. Finding new music I enjoyed was exciting. It seemed like something inside of me was unlocked when I found new music that really resonated with me.

Back then, finding new music meant listening to the local radio stations and trolling the local record stores. In fact some of my friends from that time period were people I met at the record stores because I was there so much.

Over time, of course, the record stores started closing. That feeling of hanging out with like-minded people and seeing what new music had come out that week kind of got lost. I’m glad to see the vinyl resurgence has helped some of the record stores stay in business, but it isn’t quite the same.

That being said, the ability to find and discover new music is unparalleled today. We have nearly the entirety of recorded music history a few clicks away. So, why are we all not listening to new music all the time?

I think it’s important to continue to seek out new music. As guitar players, we are the sum of what we’ve heard. Listening to the same music over and over will lead to playing the same things over and over. Listening to different genres or different eras of music can lead to some new ideas. I know it often does for me.

After realizing that I haven’t been doing this as much over the past few years, I’ve been trying to get back to that feeling of discovering new music. Each day I’m trying to listen to something I haven’t heard before. It doesn’t have to be brand new music. In fact, I recently went down the rabbit hole of 80s industrial music, much of which I’d never heard before.

I’m trying to actively listen to new music again. I’ve found some of the excitement that I used to have around music, and it’s been a lot of fun.

If you’ve found yourself in the same rut of listening to the same music you always have or not listening to much music at all, I would encourage you to seek out something new. A new artist, a new genre, or even just a new record you haven’t heard from a band you enjoy. Hopefully, it will give you some new inspiration.