Music is the universal language
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” - Luke 2:14
Norse Guitar Feeds
Fender Introduces Limited-Edition Player Fusion Series
Fender has launched the Fusion Series, a limited-edition line aimed at heavier styles. The series debuts with four models that pair high-output humbuckers with noiseless single-coils: the LE Player Fusion Stratocaster HSS, LE Player Fusion Telecaster HH Floyd Rose, LE Player Fusion Baritone Jaguar, and LE Player Fusion Precision Bass HH. Each model has sleek all-black hardware and a 12"-radius ebony fingerboard for clean note bending.
- Limited Edition Player Fusion Stratocaster HSS ($1,149.99 USD, £1,049 GBP, €1,249 EUR, $1,999.00 AUD, ¥176,000 JPY)
The Fusion Stratocaster HSS pairs a high-output bridge humbucker with noiseless single-coils in the middle and neck positions. It also has a 12"-radius ebony fingerboard and a 2-point tremolo with black hardware. Available in Black and Olympic Pearl.
- Limited Edition Player Fusion Telecaster HH Floyd Rose ($1,399.99 USD, £1,149 GBP, €1,349 EUR, $2,299.00 AUD, ¥192,500 JPY)
The Fusion Telecaster HH Floyd Rose has two high-output humbuckers, an all-black Floyd Rose tremolo system, and a 12"-radius ebony fingerboard. Available in Black and Aura Metallic.
- Limited Edition Player Fusion Jaguar Baritone ($1,299.99 USD, £1,049 GBP, €1,249 EUR, $2,199.00 AUD, ¥181,500 JPY)
The Fusion Baritone Jaguar has a 27" scale and is tuned B to B for drop tunings and extended-range playing. Its Jaguar rhythm-circuit control section adds Spin-a-Split wiring via Fender roller pots, which gradually turns the humbuckers into single-coils, along with a TBX tone circuit. It also has high-output humbuckers and a 12"-radius ebony fingerboard. Available in Black and Silverburst.
- Limited Edition Player Fusion Precision Bass HH ($1,149.99 USD, £1,149 GBP, €1,349 EUR, $1,999.00 AUD, ¥176,000 JPY)
The Fusion Precision Bass HH has two high-output humbuckers, a thin Jazz Bass neck profile, and a 12"-radius ebony fingerboard. Available in Black and Halo Metallic.
For more information visit fender.com.
Limited Edition Player Fusion Series
Fender has launched the Fusion Series, a limited-edition line aimed at heavier styles. The series debuts with four models that pair high-output humbuckers with noiseless single-coils: the LE Player Fusion Stratocaster HSS, LE Player Fusion Telecaster HH Floyd Rose, LE Player Fusion Baritone Jaguar, and LE Player Fusion Precision Bass HH. Each model has sleek all-black hardware and a 12"-radius ebony fingerboard for clean note-bending.
Reader Guitar of the Month: A Playable Heirloom That Honors a Family History
Reader: Eddie Heinzelman
Hometown: West Harrison, IN Guitar: Barncaster
This month, our reader is Americana musician, luthier, and guitar tech Eddie Heinzelman, who toured with Radney Foster and fronts his own trio, the Rebellious Sons.
My family bought our West Harrison, Indiana farm in 1917. It was a working family farm for decades that belonged to my grandparents when I was a kid. I spent every Saturday morning at their house watching TV westerns and every Saturday night watching Hee Haw. My grandma got me my first guitar, from Sears, when I was eight years old, and we listened to the Grand Ole Opry and WSM AM radio every time we milked cows or worked in that barn. The farm had been in our family 100 years, but after my grandfather passed away a few years ago, we couldn’t continue to farm it ourselves. We sold it to a neighbor that I went to school with who kept on farming it.
I moved to Nashville after college and became a musician, songwriter, and luthier. I got the idea to build a Barncaster guitar so I’d have something from the farm that I could keep and pass down to family. I went back to the farm and pulled some boards from the old barn, which has been standing since at least the ’30s. Impressively, it was built with wooden pegs in the beams, rather than nails or bolts.
A friend of mine in Murfreesboro, Patrick Johnson, planed and cut the boards to make the body. The barn wood is poplar, which he used for the top, while a piece of striped sassafras makes up the back. This combination results in a very light guitar—in fact, my Barncaster has many of the qualities of a pine T-style instrument. We decided to also cut a wood pickguard from the barn wood (which includes all of the original worm holes), and then applied a light finish to seal the guitar, without laying it on too thick.
“The old barn has been standing since at least the ’30s. Impressively, it was built with wooden pegs in the beams, rather than nails or bolts.”
I didn’t have a vintage-style Telecaster, so I went with a Fender vintage-spec maple neck. It has an Oak Grigsby 4-way switch, Bourns 250k pots with a treble bleed circuit, an .047 uF Emerson Paper In Oil tone capacitor, compensated brass saddles, and Porter Vintage Tele pickups. It’s a really special heirloom that plays and sounds so good! In 2022, I used it on tour with Radney Foster for his Del Rio, TX 1959 30th anniversary tour, and in a tribute to my grandparents, I played it on the Grand Ole Opry, which sort of brings the story full circle.
Anthrax Unlocks Boss Level
Forty-five years after their formation, Anthrax continues to be one of the most influential and beloved bands in heavy music. Coming together in New York City, the group released a pair of albums—1984’s Fistful of Metal and the following year’s Spreading the Disease—that, along with a ferocious live show (they supported Black Sabbath and Metallica early on), established the five-piece as one of the forefathers of thrash metal.
Anthrax’s third album, 1987’s Among the Living, was the breakthrough that put them in the pantheon of thrash greats. The critically acclaimed record, which eventually went gold, helped the band graduate from clubs to arena stages and cemented their place in the Big Four of American thrash alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer.
“It's been the fucking privilege of a lifetime to get to do this,” guitarist and co-founder Scott Ian tells PG. “We connected deep enough into the planet with Among the Living that essentially we’ve been able to have a career for 40 years since.”
In the years that followed, Anthrax zagged when other bands zigged. But remaining true to their own musical ideals is what allowed them to stand out from the metal pack. After being name-checked by Public Enemy on 1987’s “Bring the Noise,” Anthrax eventually recorded a version of that song with the Long Islanders in 1991 and followed with a joint tour, one of the landmark early metal-rap crossover pairings. In 1992, the band appeared on the Fox sitcom Married… with Children, playing a show at the Bundy residence, which replicated a 1989 MTV stunt where they trashed a contest winner’s (if you want to call them that) own house.
Those years alone would secure Anthrax’s legacy. But the band is nowhere near the nostalgia circuit. Now, a decade after For All Kings, their 11th and most recent studio album, Anthrax have finally followed it up, with the new Cursum Perficio.
Bringing Cursum Perficio to life took nearly six years. Anthrax wrapped the three-year touring cycle for For All Kings in November 2019, a run that included shows celebrating the 30th anniversary of Among the Living. Over dinner after their final show, at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, the band agreed to take some time off before starting on the follow-up. Drummer Charlie Benante had some rough demos, and the plan was for him, Ian, and bassist Frank Bello to get together in early 2020 and jam out instrumentals. First, Ian was going to finish a new album with Motor Sister, his side project with Joey Vera of Armored Saint, Jim Wilson of Mother Superior, John Tempesta (White Zombie, The Cult) and his wife, vocalist Pearl Aday. Instead, Covid hit, and like nearly everyone else in the world, he was stuck at home. For the next few years, the band worked remotely, zapping files and parts back and forth online.
“Not since the band started touring in 1984 have I ever been literally in one place for that long, let alone my house with my wife and my son,” Ian says. “Nobody knew anything. Nobody knew if we were ever going to play again.”
There was also plenty of anxiety about the unknown, the horrors of school shootings, partisan division, and cutthroat capitalism, as well as the tragedy of losing his father-in-law, the artist known as Meat Loaf, who passed away in 2022. All of it informed Ian’s lyrics.
“If you want to put it in gamer speak, we beat some final boss and we got to the next level of who we are as songwriters." —Scott Ian”
“So much of that is certainly where I was at the time when I was writing lyrics for the record and my energy making the record, and I would have to think the same as for Charlie,” Ian says. “About 90 percent of the music is from his demos, and Frankie came in with fully realized stuff as well, and is also amazing at writing melody ideas. But most of it starts with Charlie.”
In early 2022, the trio finally got together at Dave Grohl’s Studio 606 in the San Fernando Valley. Immediately, they realized they were onto something bigger than just another late-career album. They’d begin with one of Benante’s riffs or rough arrangements, which would quickly turn into a skeleton of a song.
“I remember that demo for ‘The Edge of Perfection,’” Ian says, “and I was thinking, ‘Holy fuck!’ If this is all we have, we're in good shape.’”
He’s not wrong. The song, built on Benante’s original demo, Bello’s chorus melody and groove-heavy bass line, and Ian’s words, runs for nearly seven minutes, with an atmospheric instrumental opening that explodes in a blast of metal riffing, aided by Joey Belladonna’s towering vocals. Benante has compared the song to Anthrax classics like “Only” and “Indians,” and Ian agrees with that sentiment, saying it ranks among the top tunes in the Anthrax catalog.
“I think it's the best song we've ever written,” he says. “That's my hot take on my own song that I'm a part of. When people ask, ‘What's your favorite Anthrax song?’ I usually say "Caught in a Mosh,’ based on the fact that it’s the one that's never been out of our set since that record [Among the Living] came out. But I just think on ‘Edge of Perfection’ we got to some other level, you know? Or, if you want to put it in gamer speak, we beat some final boss and we got to the next level of who we are as songwriters.”
Once the trio had the songs where they wanted them, they sent them to lead guitarist Jon Donais. Stuck at his home in Massachusetts, away from his bandmates, Donais had used the downtime to practice, and he says it made him a better player. When it came time to cut his parts, he’d get the tracks back with timestamps marking where the others wanted him to play. He’d cut a demo, take notes from Benante and Ian, then record a final version. Because the songs were already so strong, he says, he had room to get creative. “Right off the bat, I knew it was going to be great and I had to have something great cooking,” Donias recalls.
Far from cramping his creativity, the isolation felt familiar to Donais. He says the process was much the same on For All Kings, his first album with the band. Now 13 years in, making him the longest-tenured lead guitarist in Anthrax history, he was at ease with the setup, and he quickly heard how the new songs connected to the band’s classic material.
“It has some old-school Anthrax vibes to it, and is a well-rounded record,” he says, then adds, “It’s got some curveballs too.” One he didn't see coming: the black metal influence on “The Edge of Perfection.”
“It has some old-school Anthrax vibes to it, and is a well-rounded record. It’s got some curveballs, too." —Jon Donais”
One early fan of that song was Dave Grohl. After mixing it at Grohl’s Studio 606, and with Grohl having played Ian the new Foo Fighters album before its release, Ian returned the favor.
“I sent him ‘The Edge of Perfection’ and ‘It’s for the Kids,’ which is a love letter to Anthrax fans,” Ian says. “He wrote me back the next day—I'm paraphrasing—‘Dude, like, holy shit! Oh my God, ‘Kids’ is classic Anthrax.” And about ‘Edge,’ he said, ‘It’s so you guys, and so new at the same time.’”
The reception has proved Grohl right. On social media, fans hailed the song as unmistakably Anthrax, and some called it one of the best releases from any of the Big Four in years. Benante’s pulsating drums, Ian and Donais’ guitars, and Belladonna’s vocals all contribute, but what seems to be connecting most is Ian’s lyric. The song, he says, is about choosing to live by love rather than fear, and sticking with that choice for the long haul. It also argues that perfection is boring and that real beauty is in facing life’s challenges, having empathy, and constantly working to keep yourself in a good place.
Navigating the intricacies of that song gave Anthrax confidence, fueling a heavy and urgent sound that permeates the entire album.
“Listening to it, I know where we were mentally when we were working on the demos,” Ian says. “How happy we were with the material we had… it’s all over the record. We've never had a moment like that, ever, in the history of the band. This is bigger than us. This one is special.”
The album’s title, when translated from Latin, has several meanings: My journey has come to an end; My journey is over; I complete my journey. But have no fear—it’s not a sign that Anthrax is ready to call it quits.
“We're not necessarily coy about it because we answer the question,” Ian says. “When people ask us, ‘Is it the last record?’ ‘Are you saying goodbye?’ I don't sit there and go, ‘Well, maybe…’ That’s not us.”
In fact, the title came from an unexpected place.
“Nobody knew anything. Nobody knew if we were ever going to play again.” —Scott Ian”
“Charlie came up with the idea after he read that a stone at Marilyn Monroe’s [home] had it,” Ian says. “He found out what it meant, and he just really loved the meaning and the feeling of the phrase. So much of it has to do with the journey to make this record.”
If you need more proof that the band isn’t done, the music makes the case. The 11-song album packs as powerful a punch as any Anthrax album in recent memory. In addition to previously released tracks, the tone-setting instrumental “Persistence of Memory” and the ferocious “Everybody’s Got a Plan” are sonically adventurous indicators of a group that isn’t ready to take a victory lap quite yet.
The response so far has been incredibly strong. Anthrax played a small club gig at Brooklyn’s Saint Vitus ahead of a stadium show with Iron Maiden and Megadeth, and on the band’s European run this past summer, Donais says, “It's for the Kids” went over big with crowds.
At a time when they could be winding down, Anthrax continue to play hard and loud. "Their journey to Cursum Perficio hasn't been easy, but as Ian considers where they've arrived after 45 years, he's very aware of the payoff."
“Nobody hands you this,” Ian says of the band’s career. “I wasn't this person in another life. I wasn't this person in two other lives. Growing up in my life, it's been a road to get here.”
Anthrax Gear
Scott Ian
Guitars
- Jackson X Series Signature Scott Ian King V (primary guitar, for rhythm parts; “white, the first one they built me”)
Overdubs done with
- Gretsch Malcolm Young “Salute” Jet
- Jackson American Series soloist (pink)
- Gibson Les Paul Custom
Amps
- Marshall JCM800
- EVH 5150IIIS EL34 100W
Effects
- KHDK Scott Ian Sgt D
- TC Electronic Booster + Distortion
- Gamechanger Audio Plasma
- Strymon Cloudburst
- MXR EVH Phase 90
- Beetronics Zzombee Filtremulator
“The KHDK and the TC Electronic were used in front of a Marshall JCM800 as part of my main rhythm tone. That was combined with the EVH EL34. The rest of the pedals were used for sounds and overdubs.”
Picks
- Dunlop
Jon Donais
Guitar
- Dean Exile Jon Donais
Amp
- Kemper Profiler
Effects
- Dunlop Cry Baby switchless wah
Strings
- DR
Sundragon Dragonette Review
I don’t have many pleasant memories from the early months of the 2020 pandemic, but one bright spot was blowing the doors off my lockdown hideout with Sundragon’s stellar Standard combo. A collaboration between amp Jedi Mitch Colby, noted guitar collector and producer Perry Margouleff, and none other than Jimmy Page, the Sundragon was designed to replicate every design facet and idiosyncrasy of the heavily modified late-’50s Supro Coronado that Page used as a session player and on the entirety of Led Zeppelin’s epochal 1969 debut.
Both the prohibitively priced and Page-signed Limited version, as well as the Standard iteration of the amp, sold out almost immediately (the Standard is available again). Sundragon followed the success of the Standard with short runs of the Super Dragon, a recreation of Page’s go-to modified 1968 Marshall Super Bass, and the Nymph, a one-watt, 1x8 combo.
Enter the Dragonette
The partnership’s newest offering, the Dragonette, recasts the Nymph as a more muscular 6-watt, 1x10 combo. A limited, Page-signed edition featuring all new-old-stock tubes will be available. But we reviewed the slightly more accessible standard edition, which still features the same super-swanky solid phenolic knobs and grey and white vinyl wrap (inspired by vintage Supro amp style) that make the Limited edition such a looker.
The handsome enclosure is home to a pair of 12AX7 tubes in the preamp section and a duet of 6V6s that drive the 10" Celestion Alnico Gold speaker—all of which can be seen clearly via the port in the open-back cabinet. The control panel is simple—featuring just volume and tone controls and a 3-way rotary switch that moves between attenuated mode, full power mode, and full power with a treble booster. Mode 1 is the cleanest, while mode 2, which is structured like the original Sundragon’s input stage, is significantly hotter. The attenuated mode, at four watts, is just two watts less than full power—but it’s much cleaner and gets dirty at more neighbor-friendly volumes.
Colby’s design means the amp always sees a speaker load, too, so the amp functions safely when the internal speaker is disconnected. And by using the line-out jack and dedicated volume control, you could run the Dragonette silently into a mixer or DAW with speaker simulation or an IR plugin.
“There’s no fizz, no midrange slop, no flabby lows, and not a sign of mechanical noise or cabinet rattle, even when the amp is dimed.”
Bring It On Home
In the spirit of Mr. Page, I hooked up the Dragonette with a Gibson Murphy Lab 1957 Les Paul and a T-style equipped with DiMarzio Area T noiseless pickups. In attenuated mode, with the amp’s volume set just below the 11-o’clock position, the Dragonette produces glassy, almost three-dimensional clean sounds. Pushing the volume to 1 o’clock and beyond brings equally delicious edge-of-breakup tones that can be shaped extensively using guitar volume and tone controls. In full-power mode, the Dragonette begins to breathe fire, delivering tight classic-rock crunch at low amp-volume settings. Pushing the volume past the 2 o’clock position, meanwhile, yields a wide array of saturated high-gain tones that are modern, tight, and rich—there’s no fizz, no midrange slop, no flabby lows, and perhaps most importantly for recording applications, not a sign of mechanical noise or cabinet rattle, even when the amp is dimed.
Given the range of sounds available from the attenuated and full-power modes, the treble boost circuit seemed almost superfluous. It yields groovy Yardbirdsian sustain and Sabbathian sludge, but it’s probably a fair supposition that players who gravitate towards this amp will also have curated arsenals of boutique boosts and fuzzes to throw at it. The treble booster sounds fantastic, nonetheless. And minimalists will love having the option to use it without adding pedals to the mix.
Just for good measure, I also connected the Dragonette’s speaker output to an early-’70s Marshall 4x12 cabinet with “black back” 30-watt Celestions (the manual states that you can run the amp into 4-, 8- or 16-ohm loads without harming it). While the big cabinet moved more air, I preferred the focus and texture delivered by the Dragonette’s single Celestion.
The Verdict
Unless dead-clean, high-headroom Bakersfield country twang is your primary goal, the Dragonette is an amp that anyone with the means should investigate—especially if recording rock and blues is on the agenda. It performs well with single-coils and humbuckers, and this agreeability, plus the amp’s simple, intuitive controls, mean that you have to work really hard to make the Dragonette sound bad. The line out, meanwhile, creates possibilities for silent recording if you have a good speaker simulation on the other end. Obviously, a price-pushing $4K is an awful lot for a 6-watt amp. But if Jimmy Page signs off on it, who are we mere mortals to argue the price? And if you’re a studio hound, it might just be the only amp you'll ever need.
Sundragon Dragonette
Seymour Duncan Unveils EVH Striped Custom Shop Frankenstein Pickups
Seymour Duncan has announced their Custom Shop Frankenstein Pickup Collection is now available with new EVH stripe options.
Seymour Duncan and Eddie Van Halen share a collaboration stretching back to the late 1970s. After years of tone exploration together, in early 2000’s the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop meticulously reproduced the pickup in Eddie's iconic Frankenstein guitar, then developed two additional variations representing distinct eras of Eddie's tone progression. All three were approved by Eddie himself and have been available for years in a range of options through the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop as the Frankenstein pickup collection.
Seymour Duncan is now introducing eye-grabbing new looks to our Custom Shop Frankenstein Pickups inspired by the iconic striped designs of Eddie Van Halen’s early instruments. The Seymour Duncan Custom Shop now offers four versions: Red, Black & White; Grey & Black; Black & White; and Bumble Bee.
The new designs are available for all three versions of the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop Frankenstein pickup. The Frankenstein Custom is a faithful reproduction of the pickup in Eddie’s legendary Frankenstein guitar from 2006. The Frankenstein Plus is a hot-rodded version of the original, developed and approved by Eddie in 2013, offering heightened output with increased harmonics and sustain. And the Frankenstein Classic, also developed and approved by Eddie in later years, draws its inspiration from his early P.A.F. pickup tone that characterized the first six Van Halen records.
Street price for each model is $199. For more information visit seymourduncan.com.
EVH Striped Custom Shop Frankenstein Pickups
Seymour Duncan has announced their Custom Shop Frankenstein Pickup Collection is now available with new EVH stripe options.
Celebrating David Bowie Plans 80th Birthday Concerts in London’s and LA (Bonus Video!)
Press Release
Source: SKH Music
It’s been ten years since Celebrating David Bowie embarked on their first international tour to honor David Bowie after he passed away in 2016. What was supposed to be a one night affair has since turned into the most successful, far reaching Bowie show in The World.
For Tickets Visit: https://CelebratingDavidBowie.com
Countless variations of the original Celebrating David Bowie show have been performed to devoted Bowie fans in seventeen countries on five continents with guest appearances along the way by Sting, G
ary Oldman, Todd Rundgren, Thomas Dolby, Joe Bonamassa, Seal, Perry Farrell, Kate Pierson, Lady Blackbird, Ewan McGregor, Simon Le Bon, Gavin Rossdale, La Roux, Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott, Spandau Ballet’s Tony Hadley, Corey Taylor, Ian Astbury, Darren Criss, The Tubes’ Fee Waybill, Living Colour, orchestras, choirs, and a long list of Bowie friends & former band members.
These Special Events will Benefit Local Youth Arts Charities that Include Create in The U.K. and Flea’s non-profit the Silverlake Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles
The Los Angeles show features Eagles of Death Metal’s Jesse Hughes, Devo’s Jerry Casale, Everclear’s Art Alexakis, Fishbone’s Angelo Moore, Phantom Planet’s Alex Greenwald, Baby Snufkin’s Scrote, Lady Blackbird, and more with former Bowie collaborators, former Iggy Pop band members, and other top touring and recording musicians benefitting Flea’s non-profit the Silverlake Conservatory of Music (https://silverlakeconservatory.org) who provide music scholarships to children whose families would otherwise would be unable to afford a music education. In London, the beneficiary will be Create (https://createarts.org.uk/), the UK’s leading creative arts charity for disadvantaged children and young people. Both planned appearances will be filled with special guests and an all star ensemble of performers.
Celebrating David Bowie creator/producer Angelo “Scrote” Bundini is at the helm again to bring these massive shows together. Since 2017, he has gone on to create/produce other successful international tours such as BEAT featuring Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Steve Vai, and Tool’s Danny Carey performing 80s King Crimson repertoire and WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW performing the music of Burt Bacharach with longtime former Bacharach music director/arranger Rob Shirakbari and a myriad of star performers.
Scrote shares, “I’m thrilled to honor David again with this new explosive collection of truly unique and brilliant artists and musicians who span various genres and periods. With these shows we are going BIG with the biggest songs and arrangements of David’s songs that we have ever performed. The song list stretches across all five decades of David’s incredible catalogue.”
Jesse Hughes says, “I was lucky enough to perform on this tour and I couldn’t be more proud to have been a part of it”.
“Honored to have sang in celebration of the one and only David Bowie! Thank you to the beautiful souls who put these shows together to help honor a legend,” chimes Lady Blackbird.
Angelo Moore offers, “One of the things that stuck out while abroad was our group visit to the David Bowie Is… exhibit in Tokyo and how they cover so much of his life, music, fashion, and creative processes. I’m excited we will be doing more of his unique aesthetic in our upcoming shows.”
Announced appearances are:
JAN 09 – O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN, LONDON, UK
JAN 16 – THE WILTERN, LOS ANGELES, CA
MORE DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED!
BONUS VIDEO
Click here to view the embedded video.
Martin Guitar Brings John Mayer Signature Models to the Road Series
C. F. Martin & Co. is expanding its longstanding partnership with seven-time GRAMMY Award-winning artist John Mayer with the introduction of two new acoustic-electric guitars: the OM-13E John Mayer and OMC-13E John Mayer. Joining Martin's popular Road Series, these new Signature Artist Editions bring Mayer's preferred specifications, distinctive design details, and signature acoustic style to a more accessible price point, allowing more players to experience a John Mayer signature Martin.
The new OM-13E John Mayer & OMC-13E John Mayer make more than 20 years of signature sound, style & collaboration accessible to more players.
The launch marks a new chapter in a partnership that began in 2003 with the limited-edition OM-28 John Mayer, the artist's first signature Martin. Since then, the collaboration has grown to include a variety of celebrated models, including the popular OMJM John Mayer, which remains in Martin's lineup today. More than 20 years later, these new Road Series additions build on that legacy while making the signature John Mayer experience available to a broader audience.
Premium Tonewoods and Mayer-Inspired Details
Both models feature a solid Engelmann spruce top with aging toner, an exciting addition to the Road Series that delivers a warm, responsive voice with exceptional nuance and clarity. Solid black walnut back and sides provide balanced tone, rich midrange character, and a distinctive natural appearance, while scalloped spruce X-bracing enhances resonance and projection.
Inspired by Mayer's longstanding preferences, both guitars feature a 25.4-inch scale length, narrower 1 11/16-inch nut width, and Performing Artist neck profile with standard taper for smooth, comfortable playability. Premium appointments include a gloss body, ebony fingerboard and bridge, antique white binding, faux abalone rosette reminiscent of the OMJM, nickel open gear tuners, and custom faux mother-of-pearl fingerboard inlays incorporating John's signature. Each guitar also features an interior label with his pre-printed signature.
Martin E1 electronics with a built-in tuner make both models performance-ready, and each includes a softshell case.
Two Distinct Takes on a Signature OM
The OM-13E John Mayer offers the traditional, non-cutaway Orchestra Model body, delivering balanced projection and versatility for fingerpicking, strumming, and songwriting. Bold herringbone top trim adds a classic Martin aesthetic.
The OMC-13E John Mayer features a comfortable 14-fret cutaway body for easier access to the higher frets, offering additional versatility for lead playing and performance. Multi-stripe top trim distinguishes it from its non-cutaway counterpart.
Together, these two models expand Martin's Road Series with new artist-inspired OM options, combining premium solid tonewoods, performance-ready features, and unmistakable John Mayer style at an approachable price point.
Availability
The OM-13E John Mayer ($1,999.99 USD) and OMC-13E John Mayer ($1,999.99 USD) are available through authorized Martin dealers and at martinguitar.com.
OM-13E John Mayer and OMC-13E John Mayer
C. F. Martin & Co. (Martin Guitar) is expanding its longstanding partnership with seven-time GRAMMY Award-winning artist John Mayer (https://t.e2ma.net/click/9vinlk/1pw7am/1ldek8) with the introduction of two new acoustic-electric guitars: the OM-13E John Mayer and OMC-13E John Mayer. Joining Martin's popular Road Series (https://t.e2ma.net/click/9vinlk/1pw7am/heeek8), these new Signature Artist Editions (https://t.e2ma.net/click/9vinlk/1pw7am/x6eek8) bring Mayer's preferred specifications, distinctive design details, and signature acoustic style to a more accessible price point, allowing more players to experience a John Mayer signature Martin.
John Mayer releases his most affordable Martin signature guitar to date – and it’s just under $2,000
Back in 2023, John Mayer said that guitars should “echo” the “world around them”. Most of the time, this echoing is shown in the design elements in his Martin signature models – but, now, Mayer and Martin are considering the current economic climate. A reliable axe doesn’t need to be an expensive luxury – that’s why Mayer’s newest Martin signature is his most accessibly priced to date.
Rather than breaking the bank, Martin’s new OM-13E John Mayer and OMC-13E John Mayer acoustic-electrics come as an affordable luxury in an overpriced world. The new signatures join the brand’s Road Series, which comes as the first time Mayer has released a Road guitar. After working with Martin for over 20 years, a Mayer Road axe has been a long time coming – but better late than never.
- READ MORE: Martin 00-10E Retro Joe Bonamassa review: “Forget the name on the label, this is a great guitar”
Both the OM-13E and OMC-13E bring Mayer’s specific specifications to the Road series, with each capturing the heart and spirit of the iconic guitarist’s signature acoustic tone. In terms of design and sound, the two guitars are nearly identical, bar the OMC-13E’s additional cutaway and multi-stripe top trim.
The pair come in at 25.4 inches, and are constructed with solid Engelmann spruce tops, as well as solid black walnut backs and sides and scalloped spruce X-bracing for enhanced resonance. There are also ebony fingerboards and bridges, and nickel open gear tuners, and Martin E1 electronics with a nifty built-in tuner.
Each guitar also features an interior label with John Mayer’s signature proudly printed on.
As for that accessible price point, both axes will set you back by $1,999.99. It’s a huge drop in price for a Mayer-approved Martin – his last signature offered a cheaper model for $3,999, while the more premium model was $18,499. So it’s about time Mayer repackaged his legendary sonic touch into an axe that more fans can enjoy.
The OM-13E John Mayer and OMC-13E John Mayer are available now for $1,999.99. For more information, head to Martin.
The post John Mayer releases his most affordable Martin signature guitar to date – and it’s just under $2,000 appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
“I picked up my acoustic guitar and wrote four different things”: At 83, Mick Jagger is still writing songs in front of the TV
At 83 years old, Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger has no intention of hanging up his boots. In fact, he still spends considerable time penning new material while watching TV, as he explains…
In a new interview in the latest issue of Uncut magazine, Jagger explains how a large part of his creative process now happens in front of the TV while watching “rubbish”.
- EDITOR’S PICK: Matt Bellamy on Manson, why Instagram guitarists are the future, and his desire to build an AI prompt guitar
“I was sitting watching the TV last night in my flat,” he says, “then I picked up my acoustic guitar and wrote four different things. I said, ‘Turn the TV off. This is rubbish!’ It was quite late and I was banging out these tunes, then I put the TV back on after I’d done two.”
It turns out having the TV on nearby was a useful conduit for his creativity… “Then I thought, ‘Hang on, I’ve got this idea…’ I turned off the TV and wrote two more.
“I’m not saying they’re finished songs, they’re more like sketches. I thought, ‘Well, this is good going. You’ve got to do this every day.’ That’s what I’ve been doing. I’ve been writing quite a lot, but for what I don’t know.”
Yes, the big question is what will Mick do with those songs, and will they ever see the light of day? Well, he’s already making plans for 2027 and they include the possibility of some Rolling Stones shows. “I’d really like to do some shows,” he said, “so that’s in my head… but if not the Stones then any show!”
In the past few years, the Stones have added two new studio albums to their total of 25, with Hackney Diamonds (2023) and Foreign Tongues (2026) both well-received. Mick’s on a roll, and who would want to stop him?
The post “I picked up my acoustic guitar and wrote four different things”: At 83, Mick Jagger is still writing songs in front of the TV appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Matt Bellamy on Manson, why Instagram guitarists are the future, and his desire to build an AI prompt guitar
Matt Bellamy’s proudest moment as the owner of Manson Guitars might have happened about five minutes ago – when he got it wrong. “They actually tested me, and I failed the test,” the Muse frontman chuckles as we sit in a conference room in Manson’s brand new showroom in its Devon, UK headquarters.
The test in question was telling the difference between his original Manson 007 guitar, and the ding-for-ding, super-limited replica Black Edition version the company brought out last year. Despite Bellamy having used the guitar on stage and in the studio for years, knowing every inch of his most iconic instrument, he couldn’t work it out.
- READ MORE: The Close Up: Muse guitarist Matt Bellamy’s most iconic and beloved guitar, the Manson 007
“They put the two guitars up, and they said, ‘Can you tell which one’s original?’” he explains. “And I picked the wrong one! And I took my time! I was looking at all the looking details, the cracks, and everything – that’s how accurate it was!”
That the company was able to create such a remarkably accurate replica of his original, and sell them out almost instantly despite a five-figure price tag, speaks to the way the brand has evolved in the half a decade since he took ownership of the small guitar brand that had supplied him with custom instruments since he was a young guitarist hanging around Hugh Manson’s Exeter shop.
The fact that we’re sitting down surrounded by various Manson prototypes and legendary instruments represents another milestone. Bellamy is back in his hometown to christen Manson’s brand new showroom, which sits above an expansion to the Ashburton factory that will enable the brand to scale up their UK operation and meet the considerable demand the brand has been battling with in recent years.
Most of that has been driven by Bellamy, of course. Ever since Hugh Manson started building eye-catching t-style guitars for him, embedded with various wild and wonderful technology in the early days of Muse’s rise to fame, player and brand have become intertwined in a rare way – something that was codified when Bellamy took ownership of the company in 2019.
Image: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartRadio
History Lesson
The new artist showroom is a testament to this partnership – dotted around the walls and on stands are a mixture of iconic guitars and rare curios from the archives, everything from an aborted acoustic prototype, to Bellamy’s “GEO” mask guitar.
“Today is the first time I’ve seen it all laid out like that,” he marvels. “I mean, for me, it’s awesome. It’s like a museum of my history. I’ve got a couple of guitars at home actually, not far from here, that I was thinking of bringing in here, like the original DeLorean guitar. I think that was in here at one point, actually. But Adrian [Ashton, Manson MD] asked me to take it home because he’s scared of having something so valuable here!”
As nice as it is to take a tour through his personal guitar history, seeing the showroom in its current form sparks something: “Thinking about the future though,” he muses “I would love to see like a few other guitars on the wall that aren’t mine.”
Bellamy’s ownership of Manson has seen the brand diversify its artist roster outside of the core two that it started with Bellamy and Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones (Manson was Jones’ longtime tech). Recent years have seen signature models for the likes of Skindred’s Mikey Demus and a collaboration with Adam “Nolly” Getgood, the Oryx. Bellamy reveals that the brand is currently working with Blur’s Graham Coxon on a signature model, and are also developing a guitar with online guitar sensation Emi Grace.
“I’m excited about us bringing in these new younger guitarists, who are going to take it to the next level,” he explains. “You know, it can’t just always rely on me. I like the idea of there being another face or two that start to become as associated with the brand as I am. That would be the long-term goal.”
Bellamy name-dropping Grace is not accidental – he was personally involved in getting the 22-year-old into the Manson orbit. “I reached out to her because she kept coming up on my feed on Instagram,” he chuckles. “I was like, who’s this amazing guitarist?!”
It’s a very 2026 way for an artist to be discovered, but it’s one that Bellamy is clearly enthused by – even if it flies in the face of how guitarists would traditionally earn their stripes.
“I see guitarists like her as being the future,” Bellamy notes. “These Instagram-type players. It’s an interesting development, because these people can now actually have a real career as an instrumentalist. For real, without needing to write songs and being a band in the traditional sense. I think that’s actually a good thing for players, you know? They have this new way of monetising what they do.”
Image: Press
Clean Slate
Bellamy, of course, was very much someone who was in a band and wrote songs as the bandleader and frontman of Muse. But his revolutionary and individual approach to gear – particularly his penchant for integrating effects, MIDI controllers and other tech directly into his instruments – was borne out of the limitations of being in a three-piece band that didn’t have a lot of support around it at the start.
“A lot of that digital stuff came from being a singer/guitarist and wanting to be able to do effects on the move rather than being restricted by the pedalboard,” he explains. “This was before I had techs that did stuff for me! So in those early years, I was like, ‘What can I have that’s integrated into the guitar?’”
Bellamy’s earliest Manson creations were notable for their onboard effects, but also because they weren’t quite the normal shape either – Tele-inspired sure, but different enough to be a clean slate to craft his music on.
“It’s got to be something unique. It’s got to be,” Bellamy says of his approach to guitar design. “That is literally how it started for me. Because every time I picked up a Tele, a Strat, a Les Paul, I just found myself playing music associated with those instruments. I always found that I needed my own thing to make my own thing. Otherwise, I’m just weighed down by the history of this instrument.
“So I wanted a fresh start, and that was really why I came up with the shape: as soon as I picked it up, it felt like a blank canvas to me. So that’s really how it started for me in terms of guitar design. Obviously that was when it was with Hugh [Manson], but that attitude is how we got to where we are now I think.”
Image: Press
Back To The Future
For two decades, Bellamy has been unapologetic in his quest to drive the electric guitar forward in technological terms – whether that’s using onboard effects, MIDI controllers or, perhaps most famously of all, mounting a Korg Kaoss Pad right into the body of his guitar. That was quite a long time ago, however, and its clear that Bellamy sees his ownership of Manson as an opportunity to push the boundaries once again.
“I want to update the tech in the guitar a little bit, and come up with some new ideas for that,” he confidently declares. “I like the idea of trying to integrate AI components into guitars, where you can prompt a guitar to sound a certain way. I’d like to explore that. That tech exists already in the pedal world, but I like the idea of trying to integrate some of that into guitar, so you can essentially talk to your guitar and tell it how you want it to sound. I’m not quite sure the tech’s there yet, but we’ll see.”
AI is of course an extremely polarising word to be throwing around in the music world, but Bellamy clearly sees that there’s a place for the technology to be used in the right scenario.
“I’ve got a big bank of synthesisers, and it can sometimes take hours and hours to get a sound out of it,” he explains. “Whereas the prompting synthesiser thing is interesting. The sound quality isn’t as good, but the interface is great, you know? I like the idea of prompting something, but then something analogue happens – that’s interesting to me. I think that’s probably a long way to go before we get that into a guitar, but the idea of it is interesting.”
One thing that isn’t up for debate is the enduring power of the real-life human element in all of this of course – and he can already see the backlash against AI coming from the next generation.
“I’m not that worried about AI music because I can already see a change with my kids,” he reflects. “They’re gravitating towards the real so much more now because half of what they see on their feeds now is AI. So for that reason, I think live music is going to be trending upwards, with real musicians playing. I think that’s what we’re going to be craving more than anything else, because it’s the only thing we know is real.
“Because everything that’s digital now, everything in our phones is starting to be like, ‘Is it AI? I don’t know!’ You know? But when you see it in person, you see it live, you know it’s real. So I think that real life experience of music is definitely trending upwards.”
Image: Press
New Horizons
The second decade of Manson Guitar Works has been characterised by evolution, and trying new things – whether that’s collaborating with Cort on the hugely successful affordable Meta series, getting into the high-end relic game with the Black Edition, or collaborating with ThorpyFX on the brand’s first effects pedal.
The future, Bellamy envisions, will involve more of all of the above, and maybe even some adventures into new territory…
“There are some of my guitars from the early years which were very special, and I think the fans really want. So I think we will keep doing limited runs of some of these early guitars, but at the same time, we’re always looking to create something new, as well.
“The Oryx eight-string, is a new arrival, and we’ve got the Wow! guitar (the red MB that ties in with Muse’s recent The Wow! Signal album) – that’s really nice and we’re going to start selling that soon. We’re also talking about maybe doing a pedal with Graham as well – an experimental one – and we’re going to do a second run of the Supermassive pedal with a couple of minor tweaks, so we’re expanding on the pedal front too.”
There’s also the question of amps – it seems like a logical place for Manson to explore next, but clearly its only a field that Bellamy would want the brand to get into if it was bringing something new to the table – the idea of sticking his name on a generic amp clearly doesn’t appeal.
“It’d have to be something innovative and different,” he affirms. “But that could be two different ways. It could be like the hyper hand-wired tube thing, or it could be something really on the futuristic side, like an AI prompt amp or something like that. I don’t know. We’ll see. But I could see that happening. We haven’t looked into it that deeply, as to how realistic it is on the manufacturing side, and you know it probably would have to be some kind of partnership. But I can see I could see something like that happening.
“I like the idea of getting some really amazing bass players involved with Manson, as well. I’d like to expand the bass side, and acoustic is something we never really tried,” he points to the prototype hanging on the wall in the room. “That one was made for me when I was trying to work out how to incorporate acoustic sounds live. We never sold it, it was the first attempt, but it’s a nice, lightweight electro-acoustic. But yeah, I like the idea that we can open up a little bit more.”
Reflecting on a relationship with Manson that has spanned the bulk of his musical career, and now eight years as an owner, Bellamy still marvels at the enthusiasm and loyalty that this small Devon boutique builder instills in others.
“I just love how the people love these guitars,” he smiles. “You know, I thought it was just my thing! But we have this really loyal fan base, and even when times are rough, the economy is, like they are now, they still have this enthusiasm for the guitars – that’s what keeps us going.”
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Accessories For Ambient Guitar Textures
Wintergrass Sessions: Väsen
Swedish folk group Väsen performs “Byriln,” “Tändkulan” and “Kvarnbo kvarn” at Wintergrass 2026.
A companion video on our YouTube channel showcases the stories behind the duo’s fascinating instruments.
Register now for Wintergrass 2027. The lineup in 2027 will include Sierra Hull, Jerry Douglas Band, East Nash Grass and other bluegrass favorites.
Video by Brad Wagner, audio by Juan M Soria.
We’ll be sharing more highlights from Wintergrass 2026 on a weekly basis here and on our YouTube channel.
The post Wintergrass Sessions: Väsen first appeared on Fretboard Journal.
Journey Instruments Introduces New Comfort Elevate Models
Journey Instruments has launched a new line of Comfort Elevate models, bringing the company’s ergonomic wedge-body and arm-bevel design to full-sized acoustic guitars with traditional dreadnought and grand auditorium shapes.
Journey Instruments developed the Comfort Series for players who prefer the familiar sound and proportions of traditional acoustic guitars but want an instrument that is easier to hold and play for extended sessions. The company’s wedge design angles the guitar into the player’s body, while the arm bevel softens the point of contact along the upper bout. Built around torrefied solid-wood tops, premium passive electronics, and upgraded appointments, the new models are particularly well-suited for players who experience wrist or shoulder discomfort while playing acoustic guitars.
GD480AG Guitar Goddess Comfort Wave: The first model in the new line is an ultra-comfortable dreadnought created in collaboration with Guitar Goddess. Its surf-inspired design pairs a hand-selected torrefied solid spruce top with an aquamarine/sea-glass glitter finish, layered acacia koa back and sides, maple binding and arm bevel, and pearl-themed appointments. The guitar retains the traditional dreadnought body shape while using Journey’s wedge construction to increase playing comfort at a street price of $589.
JCA470CBB / JCA780C Comfort Grand Auditorium: These new Comfort models bring the same ergonomic concept to Journey’s versatile Grand Auditorium format. The JCA470CBB features a torrefied charcoal burst solid spruce top, figured mahogany back and sides, rosewood binding and arm bevel, rosewood bridge and fingerboard, 18:1 precision tuners, and a full-gloss body and headstock with a matte neck. The model is offered in charcoal burst as well as an upcoming natural spruce-top finish identified as the JCA780C. Street price is $569.
Comfort Series Elevate features include:
- Ergonomic full-sized design—traditional guitar shapes combined with Journey’s wedged body and arm-bevel geometry for a more comfortable playing position.
- Torrefied solid-wood tops—torrefied spruce soundboards provide improved tonal character and responsiveness.
- Premium passive electronics—Journey EP001K passive pickup with volume wheel provides simple, transparent amplification without a large onboard preamp.
- Upgraded appointments—including18:1 precision tuners, wood binding, and rosewood bridge and fingerboard.
- Player-focused finish—full gloss on the body and headstock is paired with a matte neck for a smooth, understated hand feel.
- Ready to play and protect—each model includes a quality thick-padded gig bag for convenient storage and transport.
For more information, visit journeyinstruments.com.
Comfort Elevate
Journey Instruments had launched a new line of Comfort Elevate models, bringing the company’s ergonomic wedge-body and arm-bevel design to full-sized acoustic guitars with traditional dreadnought and grand auditorium shapes.
Del Casher, inventor of the wah-wah pedal, has died
Del Casher – the guitarist credited with the invention of the wah wah pedal – has died at the age of 88 following a battle with cancer. His death has just been publicly announced, but he passed away on 1 October, 2026.
A studio guitarist who worked with many influential acts including Elvis Presley, Cher and the Mothers of Invention, Casher was also a keen inventor, and in addition to the first wah-wah pedal, he also notably developed a portable tape echo device called the Ecco-Fonic.
While working as a guitarist and consultant for Vox, Casher and engineer Brad Plunkett developed the first wah-wah pedal from the tone control of a UK Vox amplifier. The unit was being adapted for the US market, following Vox’s purchase by the Thomas Organ Company. Likening the sound to a harmonica cupping the instrument around a microphone, Vox preferred the effect for electric trumpets, rather than guitars. By 1967, however, Casher was able to release a record using the wah-wah pedal, but he was not eligible for manufacturing royalties.
In the years since, the wah-wah sound has become as distinctive to rock guitar as harmonics or tremolo dives or right-hand fretting, and employed by prominent guitarists from Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton to Slash, John Frusciante, and the wah king, Kirk Hammett. You could throw Jeff Beck and Joe Walsh in there too – the pedal is in so many guitarists’ repoertoires, whether they take it out on stage or not.
In 2011, Del Casher told the New York Times that no one at Vox saw a future for the device. “I feel gratified that I was there at the beginning,” he said. “I would just like guitar players to think of me once in a while. The only thing I ask is: remember me.”
Following financial hardship due to lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, Casher began selling his collection of instruments to raise income. He is survived by his 89-year-old wife, Eiko, and a GoFundMe has been launched to support her.
The post Del Casher, inventor of the wah-wah pedal, has died appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
“Somewhere in the world there is an Edge-penned Elf 2”: U2 guitarist has apparently written a screenplay for an Elf sequel
Everyone has their go-to festive films when getting into the Christmas spirit and for many, Elf is at the top of that list. Buddy has been a seasonal staple since it landed in 2003, and has never needed a sequel to stay in rotation. But that hasn’t stopped U2 guitarist The Edge from apparently writing a screenplay for Elf 2.
On a recent episode of Obsessed: The Podcast, comedian Andy Richter, who played Morris in the original film, says Elf producer Shauna Robertson received a message saying The Edge had written a script for a sequel and wanted to talk to her about it.
“Somebody reached out to her and said The Edge from U2 has written a sequel to Elf, and he wants to talk to you about it,” Richter explains.
Calling it the “weirdest story”, he continues: “Apparently it was fully written. Somewhere in the world, there is an Edge-penned Elf 2 out there. I would love for that to make the light of day. [But] it never happened. She said it’s just one of those things where she’s like, ‘Alright, sure I’ll meet him!’ And then it just petered out and never happened.”
But despite his intrigue at seeing The Edge’s screenplay, Andy Richter touches on how many films are tarnished by their sequels, and that it’s not worth the risk to make an Elf 2.
“I’m on the side of let it stand. Just let Elf be Elf, and just let it be. You don’t have to use every part of the animal. Just let it be. If anyone even attempted a remake… There’s already been an animated version. There’s been a stage version. There have been other versions of it. They have remade the sausage a few times. But they should just let it be. Don’t touch it.”
The Edge’s script wasn’t the only attempt at continuing Buddy the Elf’s story. Richter adds that The Hangover Part II writer Scot Armstrong, who reportedly did uncredited work on the original Elf script, wrote a separate Elf 2 in which angry South Pole elves mentioned by Buddy in the original kidnap Santa Claus. The script never made it to screen.
Of course, it wouldn’t be The Edge’s first venture beyond U2. His résumé includes contributions to many Hollywood soundtracks and one of Broadway’s most troubled productions, the Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark musical he scored with bandmate Bono.
As for The Edge himself, he hasn’t publicly commented on the script. So for now, an Edge-penned Elf 2 exists only as a story told on a podcast.
Still, it’s hard not to wonder what an Edge-penned Christmas movie might have looked like. We can dream…
The post “Somewhere in the world there is an Edge-penned Elf 2”: U2 guitarist has apparently written a screenplay for an Elf sequel appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Richard Lloyd, guitarist of New York rock band Television, dies at 75
Richard Lloyd, co-founding guitarist of New York rock band Television, has died at 75 years old.
According to a statement from his family given to Rolling Stone, Lloyd passed away on Saturday, 7 November, at his home in Chattanooga, Tennessee, after a battle with cholangiocarcinoma, a cancer of the bile duct.
After his diagnosis in March this year, by August, a GoFundMe was launched to help cover his medical costs after the illness forced him to stop touring. Bassist Sean Seymour, who played in Lloyd’s solo band, said touring remained his main source of income.
At that time, Seymour also revealed the severity of Lloyd’s condition. “He has tumours in his liver, including one located dangerously close to a major blood vessel,” Seymour said. “Because of its location, doctors cannot safely operate to remove it at this time.”
Born in Pittsburgh on 25 October 1951, Lloyd first started out on the drums before switching to guitar. As a teenager he became a devoted gig-goer, catching greats including Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Jeff Beck Group and The Grateful Dead. He left school early and moved to Boston, where he ended up playing with John Lee Hooker, before spells in Los Angeles and then New York.
In New York in 1973, Richard Lloyd met Tom Verlaine, then still Tom Miller. They formed that year, with Verlaine, bassist Richard Hell and drummer Billy Ficca. They became fixtures at the legendary New York club and punk-rock/new wave epicentre CBGB, alongside the likes of Patti Smith, The Ramones and Blondie. Bassist Fred Smith took over from Richard Hell in 1975, after which their debut single, Little Johnny Jewel, arrived, followed by their debut album, 1977’s Marquee Moon.
Television made one more album, Adventure, in 1978, before splitting amid tensions between Lloyd and Verlaine. Lloyd’s first solo album, Alchemy, followed in 1979.
He went on to release nine solo records in total, the most recent being 2018’s The Countdown and played on records by artists including Matthew Sweet, Stephan Eicher and John Doe of LA punk band X. He also published a memoir in 2018, Everything Is Combustible: Television, CBGB’s and Five Decades of Rock and Roll, a loose run of short pieces that covered his early years, his heroin addiction and his time alongside Hendrix, Keith Richards and the CBGB crowd.
Television reunited in the early ’90s, releasing a self-titled album in 1992 and touring on and off for the next few years. Lloyd left the band in 2007. Verlaine died in 2023, which Lloyd later said made him the last functioning member of the band. He said that gave him a responsibility to the fans and so he returned to playing Television songs live after years of avoiding them.
Lloyd was also candid about what the band meant to him. “I wanted to make a dent in rock history,” he told Guitar World in December last year. “That was my goal, and that came true.”
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Save on brands like Epiphone, Squier, Schecter and more with these early Black Friday deals from Guitar Center
Guitar Center’s pre-Black Friday sale event has officially kicked off, and you can save big on loads of guitars.
Weekly ‘doorbuster’ deals are also landing every Thursday through to Sunday, along with other big bargains on electric and acoustic models, pedals, amps and more.
- READ MORE: The best acoustic guitars under $500: six-string stunners from Guild, Gretsch, Cort, Fender & more
To help you out, we’ve selected some of the best sale finds so far this year.
Save nearly $50 on a Squier Affinity Series Telecaster in Ice Blue Metallic
Squier guitars are typically cheap and cheerful, and you can save even more on this Affinity Series Telecaster. Available in a Guitar Center exclusive Ice Blue Metallic finish, this model is priced under $300 and is highly-reviewed by players, with many praising its playability and factory set-up.
Save $80 on an Epiphone Hummingbird Studio
If you’ve always wanted to own an acoustic guitar with that famous Hummingbird pickguard design, then now’s your chance – this Epiphone Hummingbird Studio is now $419. In a Guitar Center Exclusive Ebony gloss finish, this version has a solid spruce top paired with layered mahogany back and sides, a Rounded C mahogany neck and bound rosewood fingerboard, complete by Fishman electronics.
Save $210 on an Epiphone Les Paul Standard ’60s Quilt in Ocean Water Perimeter
Now $489, this Epiphone Les Paul Standard ’60s Quilt is a limited-edition Guitar Center-exclusive model with a mahogany body, a quilted maple top, a SlimTaper ’60s C neck profile and ProBucker humbuckers.
Save $200 on a Schecter Demon-7 in Vintage White
If you’ve been wanting to try a 7-string model but have been put off by the price, now’s the time to grab one. For under $450, this Schecter Demon-7 is said to be “ready for your most face-melting riffage and heaviest down-tuned rhythms” according to Guitar Center. Fitted with Diamond Active pickups and offering a fast maple neck with smooth wenge fingerboard, it’s a great model to start exploring a heavier playing style with.
To shop all these deals and more, visit Guitar Center.
The post Save on brands like Epiphone, Squier, Schecter and more with these early Black Friday deals from Guitar Center appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Martin 00L-16E review: “this is not your grandaddy’s Martin”
$2,499/£2,499, martinguitar.com
When you think about a Martin guitar, you probably have a pretty set image in your head. Very likely, you’re imagining a classic square-shouldered dreadnought guitar with a natural top and dark-stained back and sides. And that’s fair enough: Martin invented the dreadnought after all, and as such they are more than entitled to lay claim to this most iconic and imitated guitar configurations.
- READ MORE: Martin 00-10E Retro Joe Bonamassa review: “Forget the name on the label, this is a great guitar”
The thing about being iconic however, is that it’s not exactly something that stands out from the crowd. I could happily fill the rest of the word count of this review listing the names of legendary artists of literally every genre imaginable who have at one time or another sat down with a natural-finished Martin on their laps and made brilliant music.
For a lot of us, that’s part of the appeal – but clearly not everyone feels that way. If you’ve been paying attention to festival stages over the last few years, you’ll have noticed that artists – especially younger ones – seem to want their acoustic guitars to deviate from the norm. Where once practically anyone who was anyone would stride out with a natural-topped acoustic, increasingly we’re seeing painted tops and Gibson-adjacent body shapes favoured over the old faithfuls.
Martin has clearly noticed too, as its recently revamped 16 Series attests. This new range has brought a bunch of rather unconventional-for-Martin shapes to the party – including a slope-shouldered dread, a jumbo and the 00 you see here. Even more striking, however, are the tops – which in what must be a first for the brand, aren’t even available in natural finishes. Bright reds, blues, blacks and whites abound here – this is not your grandaddy’s Martin.
Image: Adam Gasson
What is it?
The 16 Series has been around since the 1980s, and in that time the range has existed to offer something a little different – the focus was always on providing instruments that catered to evolving player needs and tried something a bit different. The old D-16E for example, had a shallower body depth than standard, to make it a more comfortable player, while the 16 series was also the place where Martin’s controversial Streetmaster factory-worn shade top first arrived – it has long been a place where the brand has felt comfortable taking big swings.
The new 00L-16E certainly feels like a bigger swing than most however. Fundamentally, it’s a 14-fret sloped shoulder guitar, and it’s quite impossible to continue in this review without mentioning the Gibson-shaped elephant in the room. In contrast to say, the Joe Bonamassa 00 that we featured recently, the slope-shouldered design is very, very familiar to fans of Gibson’s 1930s small-bodied classic.
Of course, Gibson doesn’t own the exclusive rights to this shape any more than Martin does the dreadnought or auditorium. And, like the slope-shouldered DSS-16E, this is far from the first time that Martin has made guitars with this body shape in its long history. All that being said, it does make you do a double-take when you pair that headstock with that body – it’s a bit like seeing Lebron in a Phillies jersey… it doesn’t look bad per se, but it is a little jarring.
On closer inspection however, there’s plenty to differentiate it from an L-00. For starters, the neck has a 14th fret join and a 24.9” scale length – slightly longer than the 24.75” of a Gibson – which should make for an intimate but not cramped playing experience.
Image: Adam Gasson
It also sports Martin’s High Performance Taper neck, which means a roomy 1.75” at the nut, while my calipers register a roomier 2.13” at the 12th fret. The neck profile is Martin’s modified low-oval type, which means it has a little more shoulder than a vintage V-shape, with a little more general thickness all round.
In terms of build, we’re getting a spruce top with mahogany back and sides (another contrast to an L-00), with an ebony bridge and fingerboard. The neck itself is our old friend “select hardwood” – Martin uses this catch-all term to cover its bases around wood supply chain issues, and in practice that means it’s usually either tropical mahogany or Spanish cedar. The grain on this one looks like mahogany to me, but you will get whatever was available on the day the guitar was made!
The most striking thing about these new 16 Series guitars are the finishes. For the 00L-16E, you can choose between the shade topped 1935 Burst, or one of two solid colours – Black Smoke and this Blue Denim. This isn’t the first blue Martin guitar – Eric Clapton had a limited-run ‘Jersey Blues’ model a while back – but it is still quite an unusual colour to see on an acoustic. Interestingly, both of the solid colours are not really solid at all – they’re semi-transparent, allowing you to see the full grain pattern beneath the stain, at least up close. This does also head off the oft-repeated accusation that a painted top was just a convenient way to hide inferior quality wood – there’s no hiding place here.
The tops are all gloss-finished, which makes the decision to make the neck and sides (which are stained dark) in matt slightly confusing. I could understand doing the neck in satin from a playability perspective, but it does make the guitar look a little cheap from behind.
Elsewhere it’s all pretty restrained and stripped back – the binding is simple white plastic with a multi-stripe rosette, bridge pins are black plastic, while at the other end you’ll find a TUSQ nut and simple abalone dots.
Plugged in sounds are courtesy of a trusty Baggs Element system, and you also get Martin’s softshell case into the bargain – a reassuringly padded, semi-rigid affair that will protect your guitar from everyday bumps and thumps, but isn’t the sort of thing you’d want to check at an airport or toss into the back of a van with a load of other gear.
Image: Adam Gasson
Build Quality and Playability
Talking about ‘value’ when you’re dealing with a $2,499 guitar seems slightly churlish in this economy, but there’s no escaping the reality that these are the cheapest spruce-topped guitars that Martin currently makes in Nazareth, Pa. The only cheaper USA-made Martins are the all-mahogany 15 and 17 series, and you’ll need to stump up another 100 bucks to get an all-satin Standard Series D-18, for example.
All of which is to say that efficiencies have had to be made to get a guitar with this level of spec and materials made in the USA for this price, but pleasingly very few of them appear to be reflected in the build. On the outside, that Blue Denim finish had better be done well given how eye-catching it is, and it has a nicely even stain across the top, one that nicely showcases the spruce grain underneath. The satin-finished neck and headstock are equally nicely applied, and feel smooth and comfortable to the touch – there’s no stickiness here.
The neck has a nice middle-ground feel – it’s not so chunky that you’re going to struggle to grip it with smaller hands, but it doesn’t disappear in the way that some vintage Martin V-neck does either. It’s supportive in the right areas.
The body is compact without feeling too toy-like, even for someone as big as me, but it still feels very accessible. The slope-shouldered dimensions definitely help in this regard, with the svelte upper section and narrow waist giving way to a more substantive lower bout.
Peeking inside, and it’s all very neat and tidy – the spruce scalloped X-bracing and purfling is expertly cut and installed with no excess glue or any rough bits.
Image: Adam Gasson
Sounds
I’m always pleasantly surprised by the grunt and projection that a small-bodied Martin can present in the right circumstances. I will forever remember the speed at which my jaw hit the floor when I strummed Joan Baez’s 1880 Martin 0-40 in the Nazareth museum a few years ago – it was an absolute canon of a guitar.
Maybe this guitar will sound similarly life-changing when it has had 140-plus years to age, but there’s still plenty to be impressed about this little guy even in its earliest knockings out of the Martin factory.
Played with pick or fingers, it reveals a surprisingly versatile sonic character – more so than most small-bodied Martins I’ve experienced. It’s warm, with a focused mid-ranged and clear top-end, a fact that is no doubt helped by the mahogany back and sides – making it a rather charming and intimate strummer, but one that can really snarl if you dig in and give it some bluesy lines to work with.
Given my previous comments above, I wouldn’t say that I’m surprised by the projection on offer here, but it is still notable. While it’s not going to shout above a band without plugging in, it’s pokey and muscular in a way that is extremely enjoyable.
If you do need to shout over a band, however, the Baggs Element unit is a well-travelled performer. It’s simple and sounds good – avoiding any unpleasant piezo quack while giving a perfectly cromulent impersonation of the unplugged sound. It’s not going to change your life, but anyone expecting that from a plugged-in acoustic sound at this point is probably kidding themselves.
Image: Adam Gasson
Should I buy one?
Trying to work out the sort of person that might buy this guitar is an interesting conundrum. Because by and large, my impression of the average Martin customer is someone who is drawn in by the classic looks and unimpeachable heritage of the brand and its instruments. That’s not to say that Martin hasn’t been actively trying to innovate and try new things over the last 100-odd years, often with rather impressive results, but the perception is there.
The question for many of these new 16 Series guitars is, ‘Why would you buy this over a Gibson?’ – a brand for whom the slope-shouldered thing is much more familiar in the eyes of most musicians – and it’s one I’ve been wrestling with myself.
Visually, these guitars stand out in ways that may or may not pique your interest. If you want a Martin that stands out from the rank and file, there’s no better option than this – but that limited finish palette is unquestionably going to alienate a lot of players who don’t want their guitars to present in primary colours.
In terms of sonics and playability, the 00L-16E is a much easier sell. Its interesting blend of Martin and Gibson features makes it an interesting greatest hits package of smaller-bodied American acoustics, with projection, articulation and versatility that could make it a perfect songwriter’s guitar. It’s this, much more than the garish finish, that makes the 00L-16E a worthy and interesting new addition to the Martin canon, whatever colour it happens to be in.
Alternatives
Gibson’s L-00 Century ($2,299) – this is a fine alternative to the 00L-16E. It’s a tried and true Gibson classic for a reason, though the 12-fret configuration does make it a more compact playing experience.
Taylor Ben Harper Gold Label 512e ($2,999) – Taylor has always known a thing or two about making great small-bodied guitars, but the new signature model is a lovely vintage-vibed bit of kit that has pretty unique looks itself.
Martin 0-17 Standard ($2,399) – all-mahogany Martins are a bit of a cheat code to getting wonderfully expressive Nazareth-made guitars for a bit less money than the spruce-topped versions, and this 0-style instrument is a nice compact but not too compact option.
Image: Adam Gasson
Specs
- Model name: Martin 00L-16E
- Price: $2,499/£2,499
- Type: 14-fret slope-shouldered 00
- Top: Spruce
- Back & Sides: Mahogany
- Neck: Select hardwood
- Fingerboard: Ebony w/ abalone dots
- Scale length: 24.9″ (632mm)
- Nut width (1st fret): 1.75” (45.45mm)
- Neck depth (1st fret): 19mm (0.75″)
- Neck profile: Modified Low Oval
- Body depth: 100mm (3.94″)
- Bridge: Ebony w/ black plastic pins
- Nut: TUSQ
- Tuners: Martin nickel open-gear
- Electronics: Baggs Element
- Weight: 1.7kg (3.7lb)
- Finish: Blue Denim gloss top, satin mahogany-stain back, sides & neck
- Alternative finishes: Black Smoke, 1935 Burst
- Extras: Martin soft shell gigbag
The post Martin 00L-16E review: “this is not your grandaddy’s Martin” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Ear Training, Perfect Pitch, And Why You Should Stop Reading Chords Over Lyrics
Friday, November 6th. I’m practicing for a wedding next Saturday, and it turned into a week about listening. Stand By Me The couple asked for a few processional songs. Two I knew well. Stand By Me I’d never really played. My first sloppy version just mimicked the melody. Then I did what I always do: […]
The post Ear Training, Perfect Pitch, And Why You Should Stop Reading Chords Over Lyrics appeared first on On The Beat with Totally Guitars.
Electro-Harmonix Pico Shimmer Cosmic Reverb Review
I usually take on reviews of anything called “shimmer reverb” with a mild sense of trepidation. I like the effect in certain measures and settings, and many artists I adore use it (or some more primitive version of harmonizing reverb, anyway) on songs I love. But it goes without saying, perhaps, that shimmer 'verb can be used and abused in ways that are a bit cloying.
Leave it to Electro-Harmonix to create a tiny, affordable shimmer 'verb that even shimmer verb skeptics can embrace. It does everything a good shimmer ‘verb should, which is to say it’s killer for scoring romantic dramas about fictional undersea civilizations. But it also offers alternative “scenes” or algorithms that can turn the shimmer ‘verb formula on its head, as well as a versatile, wide-ranging control set, and secondary controls that widen the possibilities of each scene—enabling subtle or seismic-scale variations on a given sound.
Reflections On Deep Space
The Pico Shimmer, to some extent, builds on voices that some of you will know well—namely those from the POG, Oceans 11, and Canyon—so there are some familiar textures here. But the most enticing of the sounds here—like the glitchy etherdust effect, which fractures the signal with randomized delay times, to very compelling ends—can feel very novel and tread well outside known shimmer zone boundaries. Etherdust is one of three basic scenes. The other two are the more traditionally shimmery intergalactic mode and the smoother off-world scene, which uses hazier contours in the voice to conjure very effective vintage synth-like tonalities.
For all the variation in possible sounds here, EHX did a great job of keeping the controls streamlined and full of range. Some of the controls, the blend and tone, for instance, are self-explanatory. Others keep surprises in store. The time control, for example, ranges all the way to infinite reverb, which enables you to create endlessly droning sound beds and synth-like pads (you can literally hit a note, put your guitar down, go for a walk, and return to your guitar singing, mantra-like, on the floor). The voice control, meanwhile, enables you to dial out the shimmer effect completely, leaving a very useful and pretty plate reverb effect that extends the pedal’s practicality in a big way. At the secondary function level (which you activate by holding the scene button), you can also adjust the delay time of discrete echoes and alter modulation depth and rate.
“The bizarre, almost reverse-reverb effects I got by reducing the discrete delay time to a minimum were a total surprise.”
Take a Left Turn at Cygnus 6
Considering the reticence with which I approached the Pico Shimmer (I have not been in what you would call an ethereal mood), boy, did I have a blast. I loved the ease with which I could put the plate reverb voice to work and how well it worked with drive tones to create familiar but jarring, even lo-fi colors. The synth-like effects I could extract from the off-world voice compelled me to use the lowest three strings of the guitar in low registers to craft ominous pads that could be made doubly creepy by adding a touch of distortion downstream.
But the bizarre, almost reverse-reverb effects I got by reducing the discrete delay time to a minimum in the same mode were a total surprise, and I went missing for a while playing arpeggios with active vibrato arm technique and a bit of low-gain distortion to activate the clattering, downward-spiraling overtones. Everything that was strange and unsettling in that off-world environment was extra weird in the more fractured etherdust mode. And even at mellow wet/dry blend settings, these shards of deconstructed tone and time were enough to make me wonder, at times, if I was hearing phantasmal voices amid the wobbly din.
The Verdict
The Pico Shimmer Cosmic Reverb, as the name suggests, excels at doing classically shimmery things. But for me at least, it’s the many sound tangents extending out from that shimmer core that make this little pedal so interesting. It’s a breeze to use to unlock its full potential once you get a feel for the secondary controls. And while you can get deep into extraordinary and alien sound worlds, extracting yourself is easy if you stray too far. That quality, along with its compact size, makes this a very practical gigging tool and a deeply engaging and intuitive means of experimenting with exploded and enhanced reverb textures.
Electro-Harmonix Pico Shimmer Cosmic Reverb
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