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
General Interest
This Taylor Swift-vibed Epiphone acoustic is over $400 off at Sweetwater – and that’s a steal whether you’re a Swiftie or not
While Taylor Swift’s 2023-2024 Eras Tour was a global phenomenon, her arsenal of guitars was equally as staggering. However, one guitar stood head and shoulders above the rest in her grandiose collection: the Gibson J-180. The J-180 was the true star of the show, with the superstar wielding multiple versions of the acoustic-electric, from pastel pink to rhinestone-adorned.
With Swift asserting herself as a modern guitar hero, her favoured guitar is certainly worth considering if you’re in the market. Thankfully, Sweetwater currently has a sweet deal on Gibson’s sister brand, Epiphone – meaning you can get an Epiphone J-180 LS for over $400 off.
While Gibson quickly jumped on the hype of Swift’s Eras tour, releasing a Gibson Custom Everly Brothers version of the J-180, that model will set you back by over $4,000. The Epiphone edition was a much more realistic $1,299 at launch, but that’s now been slashed to an even more appealing $899 – and it packs plenty of charm and quality into that price.
The Epiphone J-180 LS is a great way to capture Swiftie tones. Though there isn’t a silver, rhinestone-studded edition, you can get the same $400-off deal on both the lovely pastel pink and classy ebony black options. Both also feature a C-shaped mahogany neck, with popstar-worthy mother-of-pearl star inlays across a laurel fingerboard.
Credit: Sweetwater
With a classic Gibson 25.5-inch scale it’s a comfortable player for anyone, and the classic J-style body shape means much of the guitar’s mass is away from the player’s body, with that svelte waist offering easy access even for smaller frames. It also has onboard LR Baggs Element Bronze VTC preamp electronics for to help amplify and maintain a strong, warm acoustic tone.
While the Eras Tour saw Swift run through the full gamut of guitars she’s used and loved throughout her career, the J-180 was clearly her current favourite squeeze. If it’s good enough for Swift, it’s well worth your time.
While last year saw Swift releasing her album The Life of a Showgirl, this year has seen slightly less musical output from the pop superstar. Though, she did have a feature on the new Toy Story 5 soundtrack, releasing the country pop, acoustic-sprinkled I Knew It, I Knew You.
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“If you have a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and an eighth of speed – I’ll be there” Lemmy’s amazing response when Billy Morrison asked him to play a show
What exactly do you need to get Motörhead legend Lemmy Kilmister to play your gig? If you’re Billy Morrison, apparently just a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and an eighth of speed.
As Morrison recalls in the new issue of Classic Rock, Ozzy Osbourne had given him Lemmy’s number with the assurance that the singer was “easy to deal with”.
“I do these occasional all-star shows in LA, where we play covers with a bunch of famous people,” says the guitarist. “About twenty-five years ago, Ozzy gave me Lemmy’s cell number and said: ‘Drop him a line, he’s easy to deal with.’ So I cold-texted Lemmy Kilmister. And I’m terrified. Because I don’t know how this legend of debauchery is going to respond.”
Morrison kept the message simple, asking Lemmy if he would come down to the Roxy and play Motörhead classics Ace Of Spades and Bomber.
“Within seconds, he responded: ‘If you have a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and an eighth of Beryl’ – that’s Beryl Reid, which is Cockney rhyming slang for speed ‘I’ll be there.’”
True to his word, Lemmy turned up, bringing all the ingredients Morrison had apparently been promised. His guitar tech also brought along the Motörhead frontman’s famously enormous Marshall rig.
“At that show he was everything you would want Lemmy to be,” Morrison says. “His tech brought down his famous Marshall amp. It was ridiculously loud. The cowboy hat, the voice, the volume – he killed it.”
The experience also left Morrison with a unique perspective on Lemmy’s ability to perform through the excesses that had become synonymous with his image.
“I don’t think [playing under the influence] made any difference,” he says. “This is where everyone goes wrong in the music business, me included. You think you’re great, but you’re shit. There are precious few – Keith Richards being one, Lemmy being another – where, actually, it makes no difference. I’ve seen the man drink a bottle of Jack and snort three grams of speed, then I’d have a conversation with him.”
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“It could be the last time we see each other”: Ritchie Blackmore on his “very emotional” Deep Purple reunion
For anyone who thought Ritchie Blackmore and Deep Purple would never share a stage again, last Wednesday night at Jones Beach proved that time really does heal all wounds. More than three decades after his last gig with the band in 1993, the guitarist surprised fans when he walked out onstage to perform Smoke on the Water.
Speaking to Guitar Player, 81-year-old Blackmore reveals that the surprise jam was, in fact, entirely his idea.
“I woke up one morning thinking, the day before their show, ‘You know it would be good for the fans if I just got up for one song, probably ‘Smoke’ and just show that we’re not at each other’s throats and don’t hate each other,’” he explains.
Blackmore’s wife and Blackmore’s Night bandmate Candice Night then got in touch with Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan, who gave the idea his approval.
“I said, ‘What do you think about me getting up for ‘Smoke?’ His exact words were, ‘It made me smile.’ He then put it to the band and it was thumbs-up all around.”
That said, stepping back into a Deep Purple rock show came with some understandable nerves for Blackmore – the guitarist hasn’t played a full-on rock gig since performing with Rainbow in 2019, and he wasn’t sure how he would fit into the band’s current setup alongside guitarist Simon McBride.
“I had my misgivings at first, as I didn’t know if I would be heard or too quiet or whatever,” he admits. “I could see the guitarist [Simon McBride], who is very good, had a big amplifier, and I thought I’ll just bring a 50-watt amp, but luckily it all worked.
The performance itself was deliberately stripped back. Blackmore says he didn’t want to overplay, given the short preparation time he had.
“It was very moving because I went on very quickly and had to play immediately,” he says. “I couldn’t warm up, but I wasn’t there to be playing correct notes. I was there to see old friends. I hadn’t seen in 40 years and we’re all getting older. I think we realised it could be the last time we see each other, maybe.”
“It was tricky; I didn’t play anything too technical, as I felt I should stick to the rudiments of being simple. I still lost my place at one point, but it’s not why I was there. I was there to heal any wounds – but there weren’t any wounds. Everyone was like, we were in the army, all along the Western front and we were all getting together again. Very emotional moment.”
Gillan appeared to feel much the same way. After the performance, he turned to address the New York crowd: “I tell you, it was an absolute pleasure to have back on stage the founder member, the great legend, the immortal Ritchie Blackmore… I’ll see you in the bar.”
McBride also shared a backstage photo with Blackmore, describing it as an “absolute pleasure” to share the stage with the guitarist, whom he called “an inspiration to all.”
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Jimi Hendrix believed guitars were possessed by spirits, and he smashed them up to “set the spirit free”
We often hear guitarists talk about the ‘soul’ of an instrument, but Jimi Hendrix apparently took the idea quite literally. The guitarist believed that different guitars carried different spirits, and according to his former roadie Eric Barrett, he would sometimes smash an instrument to “set the spirit free” once it had given him everything it could.
In a new interview with Uncut, Barrett – who earlier this month released his memoir Experienced: On the Road with Jimi Hendrix and Beyond – recalls one particularly memorable example. Asked about Hendrix’s belief that the spirit of a guitar could depend on the wood it was made from, Barrett explains that the guitarist had certain instruments he would never destroy.
“Jimi believed that. Certain guitars he’d never smash because of the wood they were made from. One time, he smashed up a beautiful brand-new guitar. After the show I said, ‘Why that one, Jimi?’ He told me he couldn’t squeeze one more note out of it. It had given him everything it could, so he smashed it to set the spirit free.”
As dramatic as Hendrix’s guitar-smashing habit was onstage, it also led to some rather amusing moments when the band took its collection of instruments through customs.
“When we travelled we had to fill out a carnet,” Barrett explains, referring to the document used for transporting equipment across international borders. “You’d write down whatever you were taking out of the country. One time we were coming back into America and the customs official said he could only count 12 guitars but there were 22 on the carnet.”
“I opened a case and it was full of pieces of guitar. I said, ‘There’s your other 10.’ I’ll never forget his face.”
The spirit of Hendrix’s guitars wasn’t the only thing Barrett remembers from life on the road. The roadie also has some less-than-glowing memories of Woodstock, despite the festival’s legendary status.
“I was not crazy about Woodstock. It was not The Jimi Hendrix Experience,” he says. “We had to put up with some attitude from one or two of the new musicians, who looked down on Gerry and I – we were just the help. That left a bitter taste in the mouth.”
“We also went on so late,” Barrett continues. “After the show we were due to play The Dick Cavett Show. The band got some sleep in the house in Woodstock while I set up at the TV studio. I got a call saying that Jimi’s not coming. Mitch told me that the network sent a helicopter. Jimi had looked at the chopper and said, ‘I can’t get on that, it doesn’t have enough blades,’ and went back to bed.”
Released on 4 August, Experienced: On the Road with Jimi Hendrix and Beyond offers a firsthand account of Barrett’s years alongside Hendrix during the guitarist’s rise in the late ‘60s.
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What guitar does Taylor Swift use? The varied and unique instruments of The Eras Tour
The most famous person in the world is a guitar player. Yep it’s easy to forget that long before Taylor Swift became perhaps the defining cultural icon of the 2020s, Time’s Person Of The Year and an artist so universally popular that she can single-handedly boost NFL TV ratings and jersey sales, she was an aspiring songwriter with a guitar and a dream. But what guitars did Taylor Swift use?
And like any other guitar lover, the more famous and successful Tay-Tay has become, the more interesting and unique guitars she’s added to to her collection – mainly some acoustics but also a fair few interesting electrics along the way.
The epoch-defining Eras Tour has revealed the full gamut of Taylor’s unique and interesting guitar collection, and also showcased it to a wider audience than ever before – it is of course the highest grossing tour of all time, a $200-million cinema box office smash, and the sort of cultural event that defines an entire generation of music fandom.
Taylor with her baby blue Gibson J-180 (Photo by Fernando Leon/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)
The Eras Tour is a three and a half hour trip through Taylor’s entire career to date – from her self-titled 2006 debut all the through to Midnights – and most interestingly of all from a Guitar.com perspective, the tour has seen her showcase many of the guitars she used to write and perform those songs at the time.
As such, The Eras Tour gives us a definitive picture of what guitars Taylor Swift uses – many of which are custom-versions of standard models, or rare limited-run designs – read on to find out more about Taylor’s guitar history, and your best options to capture Taylor Swift guitar tones in the real world.
Taylor’s Taylors
Taylor with her diamante-clad Taylor GS6, which was retired in about 2007 (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images)
It’s perhaps not shocking that going all the way back to her earliest records, Taylor Swift has been a fan of Californian acoustic guitar company Taylor Guitars – after all, who needs a signature model when your name is already right there on the headstock!
Taylor’s Taylor guitars are clearly very sentimental to her, as she’s used them constantly throughout her career, and brought out some of her most cherished examples on the Eras Tour – they’re also some of her most iconic instruments, including her custom red Taylor 614ce that was the main acoustic on the Red Tour, and a diamante-encrusted GS6 that was used on the Fearless Tour in 2008.
Taylor Presentation Series PS-24ce Grand Auditorium
Taylor’s Taylor PS24 (Photo by Scott Eisen/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)
If there’s one guitar that we think might be Taylor’s most sentimental instrument, it’s this one – this stunning guitar has a flamed koa body with a distinctive matching soundhole cover and a ‘Taylor Swift’ in what Taylor calls a ‘Byzantine inlay’ on the fingerboard.
A custom-build, this is based on Taylor’s super-high end Presentation Series PS-24ce Grand Auditorium model, but with a very unconventional ‘Florentine’ cutaway, which has a sharp point, unlike a regular GA model. The guitar also has an ebony peghead and bridge, Gotoh tuners and ivoroid binding.
Taylor started using the guitar around 2007, but it’s clearly a meaningful one as she’s been using it for several songs on The Eras Tour, and displaying it proudly on a stand in front of the audience when she’s not using it.
Get the sound: Taylor’s 214ce is an affordable route to a similar kind of look and sound, with Grand Auditorium body style and koa top
Taylor Grand Symphony “Living Jewels” Series
Taylor’s ‘Living Jewels’ Taylor Guitar (Photo by Ashok Kumar/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)
This guitar is often referred to as the “Living Jewels” Guitar or the “Koi Guitar”, and is one of the most distinctive and unique instruments seen on The Eras Tour. She first began using the Living Jewels guitar around 2011-2012 during the Speak Now Tour, famously performing songs like Last Kiss. She also used it in 2022 for the music video Anti-Hero, and even put the guitar on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame until it was removed in 2023 for use on the Eras Tour.
This particular guitar came from a very limited series of acoustics designed by Pete Davies Jr. around the year 2000. Only around 100 of these guitars were made, in different designs – one featuring a grey whale, one with a sea turtle, and one with koi fish that Taylor owns. Each of the guitars features beautifully ornate inlay work of the aforementioned sea creatures on the body and fretboard.
Get the sound: Original Living Jewels guitars are almost impossible to find as they were made in very limited numbers and Taylor’s association with them has made them even more collectable, however if you’re not too worried about price, Taylor released a tribute to the guitar back in 2025 that, while not much cheaper, is a little more widely available on the used market.
If seventeen thousand dollars seems a bit rich for a guitar but you’re still in the market for a Taylor Swift-approved Taylor, well you’re in luck – the company has for some time made a Taylor Swift signature version of its entry-level Baby Taylor model. It’s a great starter guitar even without the various Swiftian embellishments.
The Gibson Eras
Taylor with her pink Gibson J-180 (Photo by TAS2023 via Getty Images)
As befits any country star worth her salt, Taylor has had a long love affair with Gibson guitars – particularly the brand’s acoustic instruments. However, the Eras Tour has seen Gibsons replace Taylors as her primary instruments, with a whole host of new and bespoke instruments of various types that often have colours and customisations that reflect the various albums that she’s referencing in that portion of the show.
While none of these guitars have become actual signature models for Taylor (yet!) they have quickly become as iconic as the popularity of the Eras Tour has exploded, with each of the unique instruments telling its own story about a period in Taylor’s glittering music career.
Gibson J-180
Taylor’s diamante-clad Gibson J-180 (Photo by Christopher Jue/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management )
While several of the guitars used on The Eras Tour are instruments she’s pulled out of the rack from the period in question, she’s also brought out several new instruments that are themselves designed to nod to those eras, but with her 2024 sonic preferences.
Key amongst these are a series of Gibson guitars derived from the company’s iconic SJ-200 model – first introduced back in 1937 and used by everyone from The Everly Brothers and Jimmy Page to Billie Joe Armstrong and Justin Timberlake.
Swift recreated her crystal rhinestone-encrusted Taylor Guitars GS6 that was used on the Fearless Tour for The Eras Tour, only this time she used a Gibson J-180 (a thinner-depthed version of the J-200). The GS6 was retired sometime around 2013, but the new guitar featured around 5,400 Swarovski Lead Crystals attached with silicone epoxy by Taylor and her family just days before the tour – the original GS6 was apparently also blinged out by Taylor and her mom.
One notable difference between the new guitar and the original – the addition of a “13” (Swift’s favourite number) rhinestone pattern just behind the bridge.
Taylor clearly really loves the J-180 body shape, as she’s also got several other customised versions of the guitar, including pink and powder blue examples, plus a black one that she auctioned off for charity in 2020 – the guitars are notable for having star inlays on the fretboard as opposed to the usual dots or blocks.
Get the sound: While Taylor still makes the only actual Taylor Swift signature model guitar, Gibson sensibly jumped on the hype train and quickly not only released a Gibson Custom version of the J-180, but also added a trio of more affordable Epiphone models into the line. Conspicuously, these guitars came in hues that were very similar to the custom colour J-180s Taylor used on the Eras tour including pink and blue. It’s a signature model in everything but name.
Gibson J-45
Taylor’s black sparkle Gibson J-45 (Photo by Christopher Jue/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management )
While the J-180 might be her preferred instrument, The Eras Tour also sees Swift playing two different versions of Gibson’s J-45 model – one in a deep red colour and one in a black sparkle finish. Unlike the J-180s these guitars just have standard dot inlays and feel a bit more restrained.
As with pretty much all of Taylor’s guitars though, these J-45s are certainly custom builds, given that they use non-standard finishes, and do not feature pickguards.
Get the sound: Thankfully, Gibson’s J-45 is still in production, though it’s certainly not cheap you can get it in both Cherry Red and Black. If your budget doesn’t stretch to that however, the Epiphone J-45 might be more up your street.
Gibson Hummingbird
Taylor’s Gibson Hummingbird (Photo by Scott Eisen/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)
Most of the guitars we’ve seen Taylor use on The Eras Tour have been heavily customised and personalised, but there’s one guitar that has the distinction of being stock – a Cherry Sunburst Gibson Hummingbird. Asides from the soundhole plug to prevent feedback (which is common with all her guitars) this instrument is pretty much identical to the guitar you could walk into a store and buy today – including that iconic hummingbird motif on the pickguard.
Get the sound: As mentioned, Taylor’s Hummingbird seems pretty much stock, which means you can buy one from Gibson’s Original Collection today. If you’re not up for spending thousands however, there’s an Epiphone Inspired By version that even comes in the right colour.
Taylor’s Electrics
Taylor with her diamanté-clad Les Paul (Photo by Larry Busacca/TAS/Getty Images for TAS)
The Eras Tour sees Swift relying mostly on her acoustic guitar collection, and leaving the electric guitar work to her backing band – that said, she has been known to use a variety of electric guitars over the years, including a red-sparkle Les Paul Standard, a similar guitar with mini-humbuckers, a Les Paul Studio with red diamante finish, and even Taylor T5 and a Johnny Marr Jaguar back in the day.
The Red Sparkle Les Paul Studio even got a run-out on the opening night of The Eras Tour, though the other guitars have yet to make an appearance – they’re all pretty stock spec-wise however.
Get the sound: Taylor has generally been drawn to Gibson-style single-cut guitars over the years, particularly the Les Paul – while her guitars are custom, the recently revived Gibson Les Paul Studio might be your closest bet here.
Taylor’s Gibson Les Paul with mini-humbuckers (Photo by Mike Marsland/WireImage)
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Red Panda RD-1 Pitch Delay review – a clever compact delay with multiple note-manipulating tricks
$229/£224, redpandalab.com
The job of a delay pedal is simple: to listen to what you play then repeat it back to you a few times. Some of them do this job very well – but the really good ones do it extremely badly.
The Red Panda RD-1 Pitch Delay is here to wreck stuff, and that word ‘pitch’ is your big clue as to how: from detuned weirdness to cascading octave screeches, this is all about digital manipulation of notes. Not everything it does is strange and discombobulating – there’s a nice reverse function, and plenty of scope for more standard delay sounds too – but that just means you can lower yourself into the madness gently.
Image: Richard Purvis
What is it?
The RD-1 has been designed as an alternative to the Red Panda Raster 2 for more compact pedalboards (and more compact bank accounts). If you’re familiar with that pedal, you’ll have a decent idea of what to expect here; if you’re not, let me just begin by telling you it’s a gem.
The Raster 2 is a stereo pedal with lots of multi-function knobs, a second footswitch for layered effects, and the ability to store and recall presets. You’re not getting any of that with its diddy sibling, but you are getting three different pitch-altering modes and an input for an expression pedal, plus a hidden tap-tempo option.
Those modes are called ‘frequency shift’, ‘detune’ and ‘chromatic transpose’, and they have a radical effect on what happens when you tweak the shift knob on the left. Like, radically radical…
Image: Richard Purvis
Sounds
The shift dial pitches downwards to the left and upwards to the right, naturally, so when it’s pointing straight up the RD-1 becomes a simple, non-mangling digital delay with standard controls for time, feedback and dry/wet blend. While this sound is nothing special it is pleasant, and you only have to tap the reverse button to turn it into something much more fluid and ambient.
But we’re all here for the pitch effects, so let’s get a shift on. The first one is the most out-there of the three, with strangely metallic repeats that can sound something like church bells run through a ring modulator. It’s extreme, but again the reverse function is a great sweetener; and while the pitch-shifting is cumulative, so that each repeat jumps off from the shoulders of the one before, hitting the ‘once’ button means it will only shift the first time – a very different, much more manageable effect.
The second mode measures its shifting in cents and only goes a couple of notes in either direction; the best use I found for this was setting the knob just a tiny twist beyond noon, with the ‘once’ button engaged, for subtle thickening with a hint of modulation.
But the third mode is the one that I suspect most people will end up sticking with. This offers fixed semitone intervals, so perfect harmonies – delivered with a pleasing hint of lo-fi jitteriness – are now in play. With a single shift of a fifth or an octave up, this can sound creepily pretty; now start dabbling with those two buttons and the feedback knob (plus an expression pedal if you have one), and you might just find yourself in glitchy pitchy noise-scape nirvana.
Image: Richard Purvis
Should I buy one?
Ideally, no, you shouldn’t buy the RD-1 – you should get the Raster 2. But what’s impressive here is how much of that pedal’s unique magic has survived the transition into a properly compact stompbox.
Of course it’s not as good, but it’s closer than I was expecting; and for some players – those who only ever play in mono and don’t need instant access to more than one or two unorthodox delay sounds – the smaller footprint and cleaner interface might even make it more appealing.
Image: Richard Purvis
Alternatives
It’s infinitely more fiddly than the RD-1, but the Gamechanger Audio Auto Delay (€272/£299/$329) can do extreme pitch swoops among its many digital tricks. A more simple option is the Dreadbox Raindrops (€214/£229/$299) – or you could keep it old-school with the Beetronics BeeBeeDee ($299/£289), an analogue delay with digital control.
The post Red Panda RD-1 Pitch Delay review – a clever compact delay with multiple note-manipulating tricks appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Sully Guitars Adds 24-Fret Version of Singlecut ‘71 Trella
Sully Guitars is now offering a 24-fret version of its set-neck ‘71 Trella singlecut model. Builder Jon "Sully" Sullivan said, "The '71 addresses the issues I had with the classic singlecut while adding my own flair. The design celebrates its 15th birthday this year, and it's been rewarding to see it grow."
The new version adds two frets to the original 22-fret design. According to Sully Guitars, the upper-fret access and neck-to-body balance of the original have been maintained in the update. A '71 Trella 24 prototype has been used on tour by Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Kiki Wong, including on songs such as "1979."
Wong said: "The Trella is by far a work of art embodying all the beauty, versatility, and charisma I need from an instrument. It truly became one of my favorite guitars of all time."
Sully Guitars '71 Trella 24 specs:
- Body/top: Set-neck singlecut with carved top, now available with 24 frets (previously 22).
- Neck: Slim C profile, 24 stainless steel frets, contoured neck heel for upper-fret access.
- Hardware: Hipshot locking tuners; choice of Hipshot, TonePros, or Floyd Rose bridge; Sully's USA-wound pickups.
- Custom options: Sparkle finishes, heavy relic aging, custom inlays, and baritone scale lengths available.
- Build: USA Custom Series instruments are built by a small team in Texas, PLEK'd, and shipped with a handwritten certificate of authenticity from Sullivan.
Sully Guitars’ '71 Trella 24 has a straight price starting at $3,839. For more information visit sullyguitars.com.
On Bass: Are You Playing With Your Ears or Your Eyes?
I was plugging away in my home studio recently and realized I needed to tune my bass. Within arm’s reach I have a rack tuner, a pedal tuner, and even a few clip-on tuners, but since my hand was on the mouse, I pulled up a tuner plugin within my DAW. The aesthetics on the tuner were great, from the pseudo brushed steel “housing” to the wide, beautifully visible strobe that danced nicely until I found my pitch. It was clear that out of the several DAW tuners I have, this one felt like someone wanted to give it a little more design attention than the others.
It’s a tuner. I get it.
What I also understand is marketing. My degree happens to be in marketing (world-traveling bass player was not one of the options at my college - I had to conquer that on my own), and as I spent many hours filling the plastic seats of my classrooms, I gained an understanding of how we are “nudged” toward certain products and when it comes to buying things, our eyes tend to drown out our other senses.
The MI (musical instrument) business is no different. Bass, amp, and pedal companies are all vying for your cash. They know what you are into. Or at least they think they know. They spend a lot of time designing products, sometimes for themselves, sometimes for the consumer. Either way, they are looking for an edge. There is a lot of trial and error, of course, and sometimes our eyes choose a product over all our other senses. Every company wants their product to stand out. Some follow trends and design for the current market (remember the relic’d guitar war of ‘14?), while others stick to their look forever (much like my dad’s haircut), come hell or high water.
“How many times have you turned your nose up at a particular amp based on the name plate or a guitar for its headstock shape?”
How many times have you turned your nose up at a particular amp based on the name plate or a guitar for its headstock shape? How often are we brand-biased and not sonically driven? Often, I think.
When I moved to Nashville two decades ago, I auditioned for a touring indie artist, and thankfully landed the gig. Before the tour, the MD took me aside and said he wanted to see a P-bass in my hands, not the active 5-string I used in the audition. I had other passive 4-strings that were great, but no, he wanted a P. After settling in town, I also learned that producers were looking to see a certain name on the headstock, no matter the tone or pedigree of the bass being played.
There is certainly an argument for a “tried and true” tone formula; however, I know some bass players that can track master recordings with a broom handle and twine, headstock shape be damned. We shouldn’t let a logo run our lives. I like certain features, I like certain tones, and I also like to root for the underdog. We certainly should give all instruments a fair trial before finding them guilty of not being ‘good’.
I have a $10 no-name garage sale bass that I have used on recording sessions. I’ve seen your favorite bands filling arenas running original red Line 6 “bean” PODs and dummy cabinets onstage. If you are using your ears instead of your eyes, you may free yourself a bit.
Variety is the spice of life. No doubt. We aren’t in a Henry Ford era where all the guitars are simply one design, one pickup, and painted black (and thankfully so). We have different musical needs and tonal requirements, so we inevitably search for “the sound,” or the workhorse, or the feature-packed entity that will quench our thirst. We have limitless wood/electronic configurations at our mail-order beck and call, and in the same breath, it is very easy to become a trail horse and only see what we want to see.
Do yourself a favor: go to a local store and pick up an instrument or try a brand you have ignored in the past. Close your eyes and listen. You may be surprised.
The Truth About Vintage Amps, Ep. 169
It’s the 169th episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps, the call-in show where amp tech Skip Simmons fields all of your tube amp and life questions. This week, returning guest Steve Soest joins us for a chat about the vintage days of vintage guitar buying; playing alongside Chuck Berry and Dick Dale; Leo Fender’s dining habits; and more.
Thank you to our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars; and Amplified Parts / Mod Electronics.
Some of the topics discussed this week:
:55 What’s on Skip’s Bench: A messed-up Masco MA-17
4:06 Special guest: Guitar and amp legend Steve Soest (Soest Guitars)! A meeting of the amp minds, Danelectro tales, Standel heads, David Lindley, G&L, consulting for Fender, Dick Dale tales, and so much more!
1:16:25 A possessed Ampeg, redux
1:18:26 Skip’s Disney picks
1:20:57 The Tone Quest Report
1:22:58 Woodinville in the WSJ
1:24:43 Gain knob/master volume 101, cleaning Tolex
1:34:02 Hollywood Bob’s Bandmaster
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The post The Truth About Vintage Amps, Ep. 169 first appeared on Fretboard Journal.
Eric Gales Goes Months Without Playing Guitar
The blues-rock guitar star sits down with PG's Nikos Arvanitis discussing his growth as a player (including prioritizing time away from the instrument), finding inspiration in figures outside of music, engaging with the social-media phenoms for a motivational challenge, and explaining why his partnership with Kiesel is a perfect fit. Sponsored by: https://stewmac.sjv.io/APO2ED
Tokai Hard Puncher Review
When my editor approached me about reviewing this bass, I had a very visceral sensation of being 12 years old again. That’s when I started playing bass—and perusing basses in a Swedish mail order catalog that had everything from home improvement tools to musical instruments. I distinctly remember scanning that catalog, once upon a time, and spotting a Precision Bass lookalike called the “Hard Puncher,” which, I suppose, sounded much more heroic to a non-native, beginning-English speaker than “P-Bass.”
The Hard Puncher, as it turns out, was made by Tokai, a Japanese manufacturer of what are now known colloquially among collectors as “lawsuit guitars.” Tokai’s instruments were more than just catalog eye candy for European and American players that couldn’t afford a real Fender or Gibson. Most Tokais of the ’70s and ’80s were also exceptionally well-made instruments. So, when the company ceased exporting instruments in the ’90s, it left behind a dedicated cult of fans. That cult is bigger these days, and Tokais are no longer cheap, secret sleepers among the collector set. Good ones fetch pretty hefty prices. So, it’s little mystery that Tokai is having a go at exporting these Japan-made gems again—this time with a push from Audio Collective Group, a distribution company founded by Warm Audio.
Picking Up Where They Left Off
The quality that makes original Tokais minor treasures is recognizable here by feel alone. Fretwork, the neck joint, and the bone nut seat are all tight and solid. The gloss polyester finish is rich and very well executed in a deep dakota red with hints of brown and oxblood that looks fantastic against the red tortoiseshell pickguard. Options abound, though—the new Hard Puncher is available in seven different finishes, and Tokai even offers a choice between alder and ash for bodies, and maple and rosewood for fretboards. (You can select these options on the Tokai website, which, in turn, directs you to a dealer with an instrument that matches your order.)
The 1-piece maple neck is U-shaped and employs a fairly thin slice of rosewood for the fretboard, if you opt for one. The neck has a very nice profile for those of us without large hands, and the compound 7.25" – 10.25" radius lends a natural feel under the fingers. But the neck is also reminiscent of real 1960s-vintage Fender Precisions I have known. As nice as that vintage familiarity is, I wouldn’t complain if Tokai opted to eschew authenticity and use a satin finish on the neck instead of the glossy one on our test instrument. But thanks to the general profile, the feel is fast.
More Extra Effort
Though the basic fit and finish on our Hard Puncher was easy to observe, I was impressed by deeper details—like how carefully the pickups were set up. The E-string side of the P-bass pickup was screwed deeper into the body than you tend to see from most manufacturers. This is the very first adjustment I perform on any bass I buy to compensate for naturally louder low E-strings. The move suggests to me that the folks at Tokai are hip to real-world performance challenges as well as pure aesthetics. It’s a nice thing to see.
The action was great, too—neither too low nor too buzzy. And like the pickups, the careful adjustment meant one less change to make before I took the Hard Puncher on the road or to a session. It’s easy to imagine living with the instrument onstage in most other practical respects, too. It’s comfortable, the medium weight feels good, and it’s very well balanced. Perhaps the only disappointment with the design is that the truss-rod access is a little too much like a vintage P-Bass. You can’t make an adjustment without removing the pickguard first. That’s not a big deal for many players, but as a touring professional who travels between drastically different climates, frequent and easy truss rod adjustment is pretty important.
Force and Flexibility
Rumbling through an amp with tone and volume wide open, the Hard Puncher rewards with a rich, punchy, classically P-bass sound. It’s free of the upper-midrange honk that plagues some P-styles, but retains the immediacy and low-mid emphasis in transient notes that a great P-style should have. Just as importantly, the upper notes on the neck have real body and strong sustain, while the lower notes never feel muddy or too big. The output is just very balanced.
It’s very easy to shape the output from that foundation, too. The tone control has a very usable sweep that allowed me to carefully shape the top end I wanted to tame, rather than just going fully bright or completely dark, which happens in some affordable basses. Dark tones still exhibited great sustain, by the way, which perfectly suited my reggae experiments with the Hard Puncher.
As a player who performs a lot of rock shows, I want to know that a P-style instrument will sound big, warm, and almost piano-like in that setting—particularly with a pick. To find out if this was the case with the Hard Puncher, I swapped the nickel-coated strings that came with the bass for steels. The new set really made the Tokai come alive, without sounding too bright—even on the thinner strings. As you might have suspected, it’s a great rock machine
The Verdict
The Hard Puncher’s $1,499 street price puts it in a very competitive bracket. But I think there’s room there for a high-quality, Japan-made instrument like this. The tones are super solid. The feel inspires confidence from a playability and quality standpoint. Plus, there’s just something hip about a Tokai. It’s a cool way to break from the pack, but it’s also just a great performer with a familiar, even vintage-like feel. Even in a crowded product space, the Hard Puncher screams “contender!”
“It’s what we’ve been looking forward to for 21 hours of the day”: Slash on why Guns N’ Roses still love touring and have no plans to stop
For a band that has spent decades on the road, Guns N’ Roses still sound pretty enthusiastic about the prospect of getting onstage. And according to Slash, that enthusiasm comes down to keeping things fresh and, above all, making sure the band still enjoys what it does.
Speaking to New York rock station Q104.3, the guitarist was asked how Guns N’ Roses keep fans engaged after all these years. His answer was refreshingly simple: “We just sort of do what we do.”
“We throw different things in,” Slash continues. “[But] I think we’re more about keeping ourselves, you know, sort of inspired and having a good time and keeping it fresh for us and then we just come out there and do our thing.”
That enthusiasm becomes particularly apparent once the band reaches the venue. Slash explains that while the travelling and waiting that comes with touring isn’t exactly exciting, once they’re there and ready to play, it’s a different story.
“We’re one of those bands that has been around for a long time, but really loves what we do,” he says. “We spend most of our time humming and hawing about traveling until we get to the venue and then we finally get to get unleashed, and, you know, it’s what we’ve been looking forward to for 21 hours out of the day.”
The band also leaves plenty of room for spontaneity in its setlists. Instead of locking themselves into the exact same sequence every night, Guns N’ Roses keep a large pool of songs ready to go and decide what to play as they go.
“We don’t really have what you call a setlist either,” Slash says. “We have an opening song, we have an ending song, and we have a lot of tentpole songs that we’re going to play. And then we mix a lot of stuff up.”
He adds that the band has around 50 songs to choose from, pulling from across their catalogue each night.
In other news, Slash recently revealed that Guns N’ Roses are have been working towards the long-awaited follow-up to 2008’s Chinese Democracy.
“There’s a lot of writing going on with Guns,” the guitarist told Rolling Stone Australia. “So after I get back from [touring with The Conspirators], we’ll see if [Guns N’ Roses] can start putting some stuff together and getting in the studio.”
The post “It’s what we’ve been looking forward to for 21 hours of the day”: Slash on why Guns N’ Roses still love touring and have no plans to stop appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Guitar Center CEO says they’ve turned their stores into “a theme park for musicians”
Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto wants its stores to be “a theme park for musicians”. It might sound like a fairly ambitious way to describe a chain of music shops, but the company has been putting that idea into practice, creating spaces where musicians can stick around, try out gear and connect with other players.
And so far, the numbers suggest the strategy is working. Guitar Center has recorded nine consecutive quarters of positive growth, with its most recent quarterly sales up 5.2% to $635 million [via Bloomberg]. Time spent across the brand’s roughly 300 stores is also up 16% year over year, while foot traffic has increased for the first time in more than a decade.
Much of that turnaround comes down to a fairly simple idea: make Guitar Center a place where people “want to come and play”.
Speaking to Modern Retail, Dalporto – a guitarist himself – says the company had drifted away from its core audience before he became CEO in 2023. Around 70% of its merchandise was made up of lower-end, entry-level products, despite its most dedicated customers being musicians for whom playing music is “a big part of their identity”.
Guitar Center has since flipped that ratio, with around 70% of its inventory now aimed at “serious musicians”. But it isn’t just about filling the stores with more expensive gear. The company has also made its instruments easier to try, moving guitars and keyboards to eye level, unlocking them and setting them up so customers can actually play.
“If you’re trying guitars, you’re going to try 10 or 15 of them before you find the one you like,” Dalporto says. “Imagine just the terrible experience that is [when products aren’t immediately available].”
The retailer has also put more emphasis on knowledgeable staff after previously scaling back employee training. The result, says Dalporto, is an “experiential environment, with knowledgeable people and great products”.
That experience doesn’t stop at the guitar wall. Guitar Center now runs monthly workshops covering subjects such as modifying guitars and building pedalboards, while individual stores have hosted events with musicians and producers including Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Kiki Wong and producer Zaytoven.
For Dalporto, those events are also a way to make Guitar Center feel like a local music shop rather than a standardised retail chain.
“What we’re trying to do is to engage with all the incredible local musicians in all of our markets locally and provide a national stage for them,” the exec says. “The last thing we want to be is Best Buy – a completely and utterly standardised national box retailer. We want to feel like the local music store who has deep personal connections with local artists.”
That same musician-first approach is now feeding into Guitar Center’s own gear. The retailer is developing a new private-label guitar, but Dalporto isn’t interested in simply slapping the Guitar Center name on another familiar design.
Staffers initially suggested making a version of a Fender Telecaster but Dalporto believes “the last thing the world needs is another Telecaster.”
Instead, the company is asking guitarists what they actually want from a modern instrument through its r/GuitarLab subreddit, where Dalporto and Guitar Center engineers have been gathering feedback on everything from hardware and controls to players’ frustrations with existing guitars.
The retailer is also experimenting with AI, although again with the aim of supporting musicians rather than replacing the human element. Earlier this year, Guitar Center launched Rig Advisor, an AI tool that can answer questions such as, “I want to sound like Jimi Hendrix on Purple Haze. What should I play?” The company is also giving employees access to ChatGPT and using AI to help train staff and improve its guitar-lesson operations.
Still, Guitar Center’s turnaround is far from complete. The company continues to carry significant debt and while the wider guitar market is dealing with pressure from tariffs and shifting consumer spending. But Dalporto believes the retailer has an advantage that online stores can’t easily replicate: giving musicians somewhere to try gear, meet other players and simply hang out.
“We don’t want to be the place where you just come and buy your string instruments and leave,” he says. “We want to be the place where you feel comfortable hanging out, playing [guitar], forming bands. … We’ve invested hugely in making Guitar Center a theme park for musicians.”
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Guitarist apologises after guitar-throwing stunt sends audience member to hospital
Japanese punk outfit Otoboke Beaver have apologised after guitarist Yoyoyoshie threw a guitar into the crowd at a show earlier this year, accidentally striking and injuring an audience member.
The incident happened during the band’s April show at Umeda Club Quattro in Osaka, Japan. The audience member was taken to the hospital by ambulance, where they were treated for a forehead laceration requiring seven stitches, as well as a cervical sprain.
Otoboke Beaver addressed the incident publicly on 11 August, writing on Instagram that they “wish the injured person a full recovery” and acknowledging: “we caused this accident.”
Beyond the physical injuries, the band said the incident had also caused the fan “significant emotional distress”.
The group – comprising singer Accorinrin, guitarist Yoyoyoshie, bassist Hirochan and drummer Leo – also admit that their response in the aftermath was not as swift as it should have been.
“Coordination between us and the staff member entrusted to act as the point of contact that day, as well as our follow-up response, was not prompt, resulting in a delay to both our direct apology and public statement.”
They added that the apology was being made “in good faith” before concluding: “We are truly sorry.”
The Osaka show was a significant one for Otoboke Beaver beyond the incident, as it marked a farewell to former drummer Kahokiss, who stepped away from the band to go on maternity leave. She was subsequently replaced by Leo.
The post Guitarist apologises after guitar-throwing stunt sends audience member to hospital appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil says it’s “emotionally draining” working on new material using vocals Chris Cornell recorded before he died
Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil says working on new material featuring Chris Cornell’s vocals has been a draining experience, but feels it would be a “disservice” to the fans and the band for them not to release them.
Cornell died by suicide in May 2017. Thayil revealed last year that the bwere planning to release the final album they worked on with Cornell before his passing, and that it had always been a goal for them to complete the record as a gift to the fans, and to Cornell too.
Now, speaking to Guitar World, Thayil shares that the process has been challenging emotionally, but exciting at the same time. Though he confirms they do not have a release date in mind yet, he does say it will “definitely sound like Soundgarden”.
“It’s emotionally draining and there are things about it that are sad and melancholic. But at the same time, it’s exciting to finish the work that we started with Chris. It’s a tribute to Soundgarden and a tribute to Chris. To not do this would be a great disservice to everyone, including the fans who knew we were in a writing cycle while we were touring,” he states.
“I made an aphorism earlier about having too many cooks in the kitchen. Well, now we have one less. But we have these recordings Chris is on, and we all have a strong understanding of Chris’ identity within the band, so we are going to honour that completely, even though Chris isn’t there to throw in his two cents. So, yes, it will definitely sound like Soundgarden and I’m going to sound like me.”
Last month, Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless shared her thoughts on Cornell’s work, and how it had impacted her life. The Pretty Reckless supported Soundgarden on their final tour with Cornell.
“I’ve listened to his solo work and to Soundgarden so many times, but every time I listen to them, it evokes something different in me,” she told NME.
“There is the sheer amount of depth and sensitivity and aggression… [but] also, it’s so smart. It’s musically exquisite and complex — like this never-ending onion where you discover something new about it and about yourself every time you listen to it. I think that is so powerful and so fucking rare. It’s coming from a place that’s so deep and so powerful that it touches your soul.”
The post Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil says it’s “emotionally draining” working on new material using vocals Chris Cornell recorded before he died appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
“I think you should stay there”: The great reason why Joe Bonamassa changed his mind about Jared James Nichols borrowing his guitar gear
![Jared James Nichols [main image] and Joe Bonamassa [inset]. Both are photographed on stage playing guitars.](https://guitar.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/jared-james-joe-bonamassa@2000x1500-2.jpg)
Jared James Nichols has been offering fans a peek behind the curtain on his new album, Louder Than Fate, and how a visit from Joe Bonamassa reframed both of their views on the amount of gear that should be used on a track.
Bonamassa has quite the reputation as a gear connoisseur, as his mighty Nerdville museum proves, but when he bought an entire rig over for Nichols to use on a track for his new album, the pair eventually settled on a less is more mind set, with a minimal set up.
- READ MORE: “Those amps are part of the DNA of rock music”: Jared James Nichols on becoming a Marshall endorsee
In an interview with Guitar World, Nichols says his use of gear forms not much of a long list “beyond the cable”. Though small and concise, he definitely utilised some pretty cool gems within his rig.
“I had the plexi and this special amp from Blackstar that’s a one-of-one, point-to-point handwired Series One. They’d made it for Jeff Beck but never got it to him. It’s more aggressive than the plexi, like an old JCM800. I used my Tube Screamer and for Runnin’ Hot I borrowed this [Electro-Harmonix Small Stone] big box phaser from the early ’80s,” he shares.
“The main guitars were Dorothy [his 1952 Les Paul Goldtop] and this Korina Futura for all the big-ass humbucker parts. I didn’t have to search when it came to tone. It’s funny; I remember doing this track with Joe Bonamassa, and he brought his whole rig over, saying to use whatever I needed. I brought my Marshall head, Dorothy and my Klon and started testing out tones with my stuff before asking him what I should try. His answer was, ‘I think you should stay there.’ That was it. I try not to overcomplicate things.”
Further speaking on his bond with Bonamassa and the Blues Titan’s connection to rare gear, Nichols looks back on the time he went to Bonamassa’s house to film a video on Gary Moore’s 1989 Soldano SLO-100 amp head (which you can watch below).
“Joe must have balls of steel because the amp hadn’t been serviced or even turned on. It literally just showed up in a shipping crate. It was like finding a classic muscle car, sticking some gas in and firing it up. Joe was cranking it right away with a 1959 Les Paul. In the video you can see the power sizzle down, shut off, then come back. It did that a few times. It’s like we were feeling Gary Moore’s spirit in the room,” he remembers.
Jared James Nichols’ Louder Than Fate is out now. Head over to his official website to find out where you can stream the album or buy a copy.
The post “I think you should stay there”: The great reason why Joe Bonamassa changed his mind about Jared James Nichols borrowing his guitar gear appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Gretsch G2622TG Streamliner Ltd Ed Center Block Double-Cut with Bigsby review: “there are a million and one songs trapped inside this guitar, impatiently waiting to be unleashed”
$739/£549, gretschguitars.com
Gretsch guitars have always stood in a fascinating corner of the guitar world. Even music aficionados without a guitar-playing background know what a Stratocaster is, what it does, how it looks, and the fact Hendrix played one upside down. Similarly, fans with a penchant for the heavier side of the rock spectrum know the Les Paul ‘Burst in the gifted hands of Slash and Jimmy Page.
Gretsch guitars, however, have always seemed to exist in their own lane. From George Harrison’s early Merseybeat-jangle, to Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ signature songcraft, and Neil Young’s raw, jagged riffs, Gretsch guitars have become the choice for players who prioritise character over familiarity.
Into this comes the new Limited Edition G2622TG Streamliner – a guitar that seemingly offers a very affordable route to that rich heritage, with visuals that lean towards the most famous Gretsch big-bodied guitars, but will the reality match up to the first impression?
Image: Adam Gasson
What is it?
The Streamliner designation of the ever-catchily named G2622TG means that it sits at the bottom of Gretsch’s three-tier production range after the Electromatic and premium Professional, but in truth you’d never notice from a distance. This is a beautiful instrument with the fancy elegance that has set the brand apart from the more utilitarian charms of its competitors.
In practice, that means a beautifully measured double-cutaway design finished in Vintage White (though the Midnight Sapphire option is also lovely), and paired with all the shiny gold hardware you could ask for. Some would say that a Gretsch is never fully dressed without a Bigsby, and here we get a lovely licensed B70 wobbler to pull the whole thing together.
The iconic “G” arrow logo on the control knobs never fails to make me smile, and the master volume knob includes a push/pull coil split option for extra Beatle-y twang when needed.
Image: Adam Gasson
Usability and build quality
When the G2622TG landed in my hands, before I even played a note, I had an immediate sense that Gretsch might have hit a home run. It looks, feels, and sounds far more premium than its asking price would suggest.
The laminated body feels solid, and is wonderfully resonant, providing that airy sound that semi-hollow body players expect. The soft ‘C’ shaped neck nests comfortably in the hand, and the 22 nicely finished medium-jumbo frets give a sense of familiarity to the fingers for long-time Gretsch-heads. Combined with a low, comfortable action out of the box, they never get in the way and are an ideal bed for a wide-style of approaches.
Then, there’s the golden elephant in the room: the Bigsby B70. Many guitar purists still shoot a side-eye towards the B70, and other die-cast, affordable Bigsby ‘licensed’ models. After all, the B70s are manufactured overseas and cost a fraction of their US-made B7 counterpart. However, as we sit here in 2026, I think the B70 and B7 are almost identical in use.
Yes, the B7 is a touch heavier, and feels a tad more solid, but I barely notice a difference when comparing the two. The fact that a vibrato of this quality is bolted on to the G2622TG at this price point is still staggering to me. That expressive wobble is synonymous with thousands of classic recordings and should not be seen as merely an afterthought. It provides exactly what you’d hope – some slight shimmer and movement, without turning tuning into your new full-time job.
The controls are laid out in the typical Gretsch fashion, which is to say slightly different to the classic Gibson four-knob method. What you get instead is a volume knob per pickup, a master tone knob, and the previously mentioned, and extremely welcome push/pull coil splitting master volume knob.
In practice this means that the two pickup volumes are only really needed for blending, or if you want to use the volume to roll some of the gain off a sound on one pickup. The master volume is likely all you’ll need for actually controlling volume.
Image: Adam Gasson
Sounds
This guitar’s tonal palette is fairly wide, whilst never sacrificing its character. That semi-hollow resonance instantly makes itself heard when plugging in – chords ring with authority, and lead lines are clear and articulate, with some satisfying snap about them in coil-split mode. To put it bluntly, this guitar sounds incredible. It just oozes Gretsch DNA and character.
The Broad’Tron BT-3S humbucking pickups are versatile, to a point, offering suitably punchy mids and predictably sparkling highs. Provided that you’re not going to push this thing into high gain territory, it can cover a lot of the rock-adjacent bases with aplomb.
The bridge pickup is clear, bright and spanky, with the sort of cutting midrange that makes it a usable clean twanger while also having plenty of ability to cut through when you start piling on the gain. Again, don’t expect to have your mind blown by the clarity and punch with excessive gain here, but everything up to this point sounds fantastic.
The neck pickup is a much thicker, more rounded affair that really shows its mettle when you add some distortion to proceedings – it’s chewy and meaty, and really suits bluesy lead lines.
The middle pickup offers a nice blend of both worlds that seems to be begging you to lean into the Hermanos Gutierrez vibes, add a bit of reverb and slapback, and start putting the Bigsby through its paces. It’s got a nice compressed quality when you add a bit of fuzz into the mix too.
Speaking of the Bigsby, provided that you don’t throw yourself too recklessly into extreme wangling, it stays in pitch nicely enough, though the nature of the beast means that its best suited to polite wobbles if you want to keep things in tune.
The coil-split does what you’d expect it to, bringing even more spank and twang on the bridge pickup, though you do lose a lot of the low-end – you have to be careful how and when you deploy it because there’s a real risk of things getting a little shrill here.
The middle and neck positions are more forgiving, and the blended sound in particular really opens up the sound, adding in some single-coil airyness to proceedings that can work really well as a contrast. Nobody is going to be mistaking this for a Strat any time soon, but it’s a nice extra option to have.
Image: Adam Gasson
Should I buy one?
The Gretsch G2622TG Streamliner won’t be for players angling for tonal neutrality, or an ultra-modern feel and aesthetic. Instead, those wanting to immerse themselves into the world of Gretsch, with an instrument that is bold in character and elegant in design, this is the guitar for you.
Above all else, this just feels like it has the raw materials to take you on a journey as a musician and a songwriter. It’s a cliche to say that this guitar feels like it has songs in it, but that was my experience every time I picked it up to play.
The quality of its tones, the playability, and the versatility here means that you can easily find yourself coming across fresh inspiration, and there’s something so refreshing about that – especially for a guitar that is so competitively priced.
The $799 outlay not only gets you a guitar that looks, sounds and feels high-quality, but also grants you a lifetime membership into the Gretsch players club. The G2622TG doesn’t just make you want to play it over and over – it reminds you exactly why you fell in love with guitar in the first place.
Image: Adam Gasson
Alternatives
The natural semi-hollow competitor for the G2622TG is, of course, the ES-335, and Epiphone’s version ($599/£599) is a very good guitar for the money. Another affordable take on the semi-hollow with bags of vintage pedigree is Guild’s Starfire I DC ($599/£659), while D’Angelico Premier DC ($799/£699) is another semi with a name from the annals of guitar history.
The post Gretsch G2622TG Streamliner Ltd Ed Center Block Double-Cut with Bigsby review: “there are a million and one songs trapped inside this guitar, impatiently waiting to be unleashed” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
MXR Flanger/Doubler Returns As A Stompbox
Esoterica Electrica: What a Neck Joint Says About Your Guitar
The history of the bolt-on guitar neck joint is often told as a Leo Fender story, but it’s really about how replaceability and modularity came to the guitar sphere. Despite that, beneath every argument about sustain and resonance lies a deeper question: what kind of object is a guitar supposed to be?
For centuries, the answer seemed obvious. Long before the electric guitar existed, stringed instruments were built around the assumption that neck and body belonged together. Violins, cellos, lutes, and classical guitars employed mortise-and-tenon or dovetail joints secured with hide glue, creating an intimate union between the instrument’s major structural (and tone producing) components. Early steel-string acoustics and carved archtops inherited this tradition without question. The glued neck was not merely a construction method; it was part of an entire philosophy of instrument making. A guitar was conceived as a singular object, born whole and expected to age as such. Even the cast aluminum Rickenbacker “Frying Pan” from 1932 was a single piece, taking the concept to the max.
In that world, repair itself reinforced the idea. Neck resets and delicate joint work were accepted rites of passage in an instrument’s life. A neck might be removed, but only through a skilled and somewhat invasive process. The relationship between neck and body resembled marriage more than assembly—with all the benefits and arguments.
Then came Leo Fender.
To be clear, guitars with screw or bolt-on necks had been marketed as early as the 1920s. The Stromberg‑Voisinet/Kay Kraft archtops from the 1930s even featured adjustable neck pitch. But when Fender introduced the Telecaster, it introduced a radically different understanding of guitar manufacturing. It was not conceived as an acoustic ideal. It emerged from the practical logic of Detroit industry. Bodies and necks could be fabricated separately, finished separately, inventoried separately, and united at the final stage of production. Repairs became simpler and cheaper. Variability became manageable. Most importantly, the neck ceased to be a permanent partner and became a module. This conceptual shift is difficult to overstate. Fender transformed one of the guitar’s defining structural elements into a replaceable component. Four screws and a neck pocket accomplished what centuries of instrument-making tradition had never contemplated.
The industry soon divided into two distinct cultural camps. Bolt-on instruments became associated with practicality, clarity, and twang. Elsewhere, companies like Gibson, Gretsch, Guild, and Rickenbacker doubled down on set-neck construction. There, the fixed neck remained a symbol of continuity with violin-making traditions, craftsmanship, and legitimacy. Over time, these manufacturing decisions hardened into mythology. But whether or not the physical reality justified such certainty is debatable, the cultural meanings endured and became codified.
As decades passed, both approaches have evolved. Early bolt-ons were bluntly functional: flat pockets, wood screws, and steel neck plates. Still, builders set about refining the concept. CNC machining produced neck pockets of remarkable precision. Sculpted heels softened the once-abrupt transition between neck and body. Machine screws threaded into metal inserts pushed mechanical consistency beyond what Leo Fender (and vintage purists) felt necessary.
Set-neck construction has evolved as well. Traditional dovetails have given way in many production environments to more standardized mortise-and-tenon joints. Technology brought unprecedented consistency to neck angles and joint geometry. As both systems matured, many of the practical differences narrowed. A well-executed bolt-on could feel seamless. A precisely fitted set-neck could be astonishingly consistent. The old assumptions survive largely because they have become part of guitar culture itself.
Repair reveals the deepest distinction. A bolt-on remains fundamentally serviceable. Neck replacements, profile changes, and even scale-length experiments can be relatively straightforward. A set-neck guitar, meanwhile, remains committed to permanence—its repairs are often more invasive, and potentially more expensive.
Existing in the background of this long-standing debate is the neck-through design, the logical endpoint of continuity. Here, the neck is no longer attached to the body in the traditional way. It becomes part of the body, extending uninterrupted beneath the bridge and pickups. Utilized by makers like Rickenbacker, and later embraced by builders in the 1970s and 1980s, neck-through construction represents maximum integration and minimum modularity. If the bolt-on celebrates replaceability, the neck-through celebrates unity. Heaven help you if you need repairs.
Seen from this perspective, neck joints might not be categories, but points along a spectrum. At one end lies serviceability, at the other lies permanence. Today, no approach occupies a higher evolutionary rung. Each method is also at the mercy of a hundred other decisions a builder must make. So, the choice is rarely about quality or sound alone. Instead, the construction choice reflects a builder’s (and therefore the player’s) assumptions about identity, maintenance, sound, and the relationship between parts and the whole. In this subjective battle, where do you stand, and why?
Martin Guitar Launches Two Joe Bonamassa Signature Models
C. F. Martin & Co. has introduced the 00-18 Joe Bonamassa and 00-10E Retro Joe Bonamassa, two new signature acoustic guitars inspired by Bonamassa's treasured 1937 Martin 00-18 shade-top.
The 00-18 Joe Bonamassa and 00-10E Retro Joe Bonamassa recreate the look and character of his prized 1937 Martin 00-18
Marking Martin's second collaboration with the blues-rock superstar, the collection includes a handcrafted Nazareth-built model alongside a more accessible version produced at Martin's Navojoa, Mexico facility. Both feature a custom 1937-style sunburst and carefully replicated top wear based on Bonamassa's original guitar, capturing the appearance of an instrument that has spent decades making music.
"If you told me when I was a kid that I'd be sitting here in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, with not one, but two signature guitars, I'd be like, 'You're out of your mind,'" Bonamassa said.
Handcrafted in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, the 00-18 Joe Bonamassa pairs a solid spruce top with genuine mahogany back and sides for a warm, clear, and responsive voice. Its compact 00 body offers balanced tone and comfortable playability equally well suited to blues, folk, fingerstyle playing, and songwriting.
Golden Era scalloped X-bracing delivers an open, dynamic response, while faux tortoise binding, the custom 1937-style sunburst, and replicated top wear faithfully reflect the appearance of Bonamassa's original pre-war instrument. A Golden Era Modified Low Oval neck profile with a standard taper provides a comfortable vintage-inspired feel.
Bonamassa brought an early prototype into the studio and compared it directly against his original 1937 Martin. "When we put the mic in front of it, my producer said, 'I like that one better,'" Bonamassa recalled of the Nazareth-built model.
Each 00-18 Joe Bonamassa includes a hardshell case and carries a $3,999.99 street price.
Crafted in Martin's Navojoa facility, the 00-10E Retro Joe Bonamassa brings the look, feel, and spirit of Bonamassa's pre-war 00 to a wider range of players.
It pairs a solid spruce top with solid sapele back and sides for balanced tone, warmth, and focused projection. Its custom 1937-style sunburst and visually replicated top wear mirror the distinctive character of Bonamassa's original guitar. Scalloped spruce X-bracing supports a responsive acoustic voice, while a Performing Artist neck with a high-performance taper offers smooth, approachable playability.
The model also features Martin E1 electronics with volume, tone, and phase controls, along with a built-in chromatic tuner, making it equally at home onstage, in the studio, or around the house. Bonamassa personally tested the onboard electronics in live performance before approving the final production model.
Each 00-10E Retro Joe Bonamassa includes a softshell case and carries a street price of $1,299.99.
Widely regarded as one of the world's foremost vintage guitar collectors and historians, Bonamassa has built a reputation that extends well beyond the concert stage. His extraordinary collection of historically significant instruments has made him a trusted authority among players and collectors alike, while each of his signature collaborations has become an opportunity to faithfully recreate some of the rarest and most coveted guitars ever built. With these new models, Bonamassa and Martin turn their attention to one of the most personal instruments in his collection, giving players two ways to experience the sound, feel, and visual character of his beloved pre-war 00-18.
The 00-18 Joe Bonamassa and 00-10E Retro Joe Bonamassa are available through authorized Martin dealers and at martinguitar.com.
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