General Interest

We recently traveled an hour from our shop to a small town (and down at least half a mile of actual dirt road) to the hilltop home of Buford, a man interested in selling a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Junior, a gift from his mother to his father back when it was new. We had seen snapshots, but were unprepared for the glory that awaited us when he opened the original alligator grain chipboard case. Even a spotlight couldn’t have made the glossy, unfaded, cherry-red lacquer finish shine much brighter. We have seen, played, and even owned a lot of Les Paul Juniors—single cutaway, double cutaway, 3/4, sunburst, cherry, TV yellow, refinished, lacking any finish at all, wraparound tailpiece, Bigsby, you name it. To collectors, they aren’t and haven’t ever been the brightest-shining Gibson star of the 1950s. While very well made, the variations of this model were built simply and offered at an affordable price. It has always been an underrated, championship-level workhorse, but once these instruments transitioned to being “used” guitars, they found their way to clubs more often than arenas.

But in addition to being well cared for and clean as a whistle, this particular guitar has a combination of specs many players (and collectors, who admittedly may also be players) want. This Junior’s six-digit serial number shows it was made in late 1959 (a stamped 9 xxxx with a space between the 9 and other 4 digits would have been done earlier in the year). The mahogany body is lightly and very deliberately contoured, unlike the slab mahogany with squared-off edges that this model would have had the year prior. It has a nice chunky neck paired with larger frets than would have been found on most made before 1960. Plus, it has a surprisingly robust “dog-ear” P-90, probably due to it saving up all its energetic magnetism for the 21st century. Unlike many Juniors, the bridge posts are tip-top straight, and the tortoiseshell pickguard is flat, with no cracks, chips, or even, well, picks. The buttons on the Kluson single-line tuners are still a stark white and every piece of metal looks virtually new. The red anodyne dye Gibson used back then reacts to being exposed to both light and hands, but the neck on this Junior is just as cherry red as the body. The vintage strings (a wound third!) didn’t even have the appearance of being played.

That all being said, just because a vintage guitar is in near-mint condition doesn’t mean it’s great overall. Some are super clean because they must have always been somewhat uninspiring. We’ve played stunningly beautiful bursts that didn’t have “the thing,” and over the years we’ve come to realize that some of the guitars that have been played to within an inch of their lives are like that for a very distinct reason: They brought out the best in the people who owned them.

In this case, it seems both Bufords were hardworking men who just plain didn’t pick up the guitar and play it. Buford Sr. kept it safe (it was a gift, after all), and then Buford Jr. did the same because it was his dad’s. Considering this particular Gibson era, Buford Jr.’s mother could have just as easily purchased a 1959, 1960, or even a “brand-new” 1958 Les Paul Standard. Seeing such a clean, glossy, bright cherry Junior gives us hope that one of those Standards is still waiting in a closet somewhere, barely played and awaiting its second life in someone else’s hands (and preferably not in their closet, or sitting unused in a display case). To us, uncirculated vintage guitars, and more particularly the stories from the people ready to part with them, really are the most interesting vintage guitars these days. The pleasant drives out in the country are a nice bonus, too.

When news of Rush’s 2026 Fifty Something reunion tour surfaced, prog fans were in a frenzy – the ‘rush’ for tickets lead to Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson expanding the sold-out tour within days, announcing a further 17 dates. Now, Rush are giving fans another reason to get excited: new music may be on the horizon

In a MusicRadar interview, Lee reveals that he and Lifeson have been brainstorming new Rush tracks. However, fans will have to wait until after tour before anything is finished. “My intent, before we got into this celebration of Rush’s history, was to put some music together,” he says [via Blabbermouth]. “I assumed I would be doing that on my own, not with Alex. When we started jamming, I started seeing the possibility of doing something. But that went on hold, because there’s too much work.”

• READ MORE: “I like grabbing something that I don’t think is the ‘right’ thing and seeing how that works”: Why Alex Lifeson still reaches for the $57 Japanese guitar his parents got him

“If we manage to survive the tour, go back to Canada, and have a rest, who knows what will happen,” he teases. “But I suspect some music will eventually come out.”

Following on from drummer Neil Peart’s death in 2020, it seemed the Rush days were over; Lifeson was adamantly “not interested” in a Rush reunion back in 2024. Hell, even last January Lifeson told Classic Rock that he didn’t want to reunite and tarnish Rush’s “legacy” by sounding like a “bad Rush tribute band”.

Considering how adamant Lifeson seemed to oppose a reunion, it made the news of the 50-year celebration an even greater surprise to fans – news of new music is just an extra cherry to top things off.

While Peart’s iconic shoes are impossible to fill, German drummer, composer and producer Anika Nilles is stepping up to the plate to join the remaining Rush duo on tour. And, according to Lee, she might even be involved in crafting new Rush tracks.

“It would be fun to see what [Nilles] can do in a creative situation,” he tells MusicRadar. “That would be fun. But it’s all speculation until it isn’t, so…”

When news of Nilles joining the band broke, Lee and Lifeson emphasised how challenging it was to find a drummer that would honour Peart’s memory. “Life is full of surprises, and we have been introduced to another remarkable person; an incredible drummer and musician who is adding another chapter to our story while continuing her own fascinating musical journey,” they explained.

“Her name is Anika Nilles, and we could not be more excited to introduce her to our loyal and dedicated Rush fanbase, whom, we know, will give her every chance to live up to that near impossible role… No small task, because as we all know Neil was irreplaceable.”

The post “If we manage to survive the tour, who knows what will happen”: Geddy Lee says new Rush music could be on the cards soon appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

JBL has launched its new line of BandBox Bluetooth speakers/practice amps – and with on-board AI-powered stem separation technology, they might just supercharge your guitar practice sessions.

While the BandBox line – comprising the Solo and more powerful Trio – will no doubt find an audience among Bluetooth speaker fans and general audiophiles, onboard stem separation makes them an alluring prospect for musicians looking to upgrade their practice. Ever wished you could remove the solo from your favourite track so you can play along yourself? With BandBox, you can.

• READ MORE: Looking for an affordable floor-based amp modeller? This one from Harley Benton is now under £200

That’s the general principle, but let’s dive a bit deeper into the specs on offer with both the BandBox Solo and Trio.

BandBox Solo

Credit: JBL

Aimed at individual musicians looking for a raft of practice-friendly features, the 30W BandBox Solo features a single guitar/mic input, and allows guitarists to stream songs via Bluetooth, and use JBL’s Stem AI feature to reduce or even completely remove specific elements of a track.

The Solo also sports a built-in looper, pitch shifter, tuner and integrated LED screen, as well as a range of amp models and effects including phaser, chorus and reverb, all controllable via the companion JBL ONE app.

There’s also a headphone in for quiet practice sessions, plus a USB-C output for recording straight into your DAW.

BandBox Trio

Credit: JBL

The 135W BandBox Trio offers a more powerful option, with four instrument inputs, as well as a 6.5” woofer and two 1” tweeters.

Perfect for group sessions of band setups, the four-channel mixer allows you to balance levels while crafting tones and applying effects, while a replaceable battery means you can undertake longer practice sessions without fear of running out of charge.

As with the Solo, the Trio is loaded with a built-in tuner, metronome, looper and integrated LCD colour screen, as well as steam separation capabilities, JBL ONE app compatibility and a USB-C output for DAW recording.

“JBL BandBox is created with musicians’ needs in mind, and made possible by cutting-edge technology,” says Carsten Olesen, President of Consumer Audio at HARMAN, JBL’s parent company. 

“This is the first speaker to feature an on-device Stem AI algorithm capable of removing vocals or instruments, without the need for cloud processing or an internet connection. With this breakthrough, it’s easier than ever to practice, improve and enjoy playing music either on your own or with friends.”

Pricing and availability

Available from February, the BandBox Solo is priced at £199, while the BandBox Trio is £529.

For more info, head to JBL.

The post These Bluetooth practice amps from JBL have AI stem separation – and might just change the way you practice guitar appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

The first Guitar.com Magazine of the year is out this week – and comes in a bundle with NME Magazine! Here’s how you can get a copy of the January/February 2026 issue.

Last April, we announced the relaunch of the Guitar.com print edition after a four-year hiatus, featuring Mateus Asato and Yvette Young on the covers of the first two issues. This Thursday, you’ll be able to get your hands on the third issue of Guitar.com Magazine, featuring unmissable features and reviews, which comes with a copy of the January/February 2026 issue of NME Magazine.

Mark your calendars for Thursday January 29 at 2pm GMT – that’s when the cover stars of both magazines will be revealed and the mags go on sale exclusively via retailer Dawsons. The waiting room is open, so check it out now.

Besides Guitar.com, MusicTech has also returned to print. Guitar.com, MusicTech and NME are sister publications under NME Networks. The new Guitar.com and MusicTech print editions alternate with every bi-monthly edition of NME Magazine – which itself was relaunched in 2023 – meaning three print editions per calendar year for each brand.

Subscribe here for more information about Guitar.com Magazine and to receive an exclusive queue jump opportunity, where readers can get their hands on a copy before anyone else. Guitar.com will send out queue jump tickets shortly before the magazine goes on sale to subscribers on the mailing list.

The post Guitar.com Magazine: how to get your copy of the January/February 2026 issue appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

It’s Mei Semones’ world and we’re all just living in it. Well, it certainly feels that way when you’re at one of her concerts and the room erupts in a vortex of jazz, indie pop, accompanying scat singing and threads of bossa nova. It’s funny, feeling so overwhelmed by the technical prowess blasting from stage yet melting totally into its magnetism.

• READ MORE: “My job is to imagine things worth existing, and then making them real as an artist”: Jacob Collier is championing a new way to play guitar

But this Brooklyn-based guitar enthusiast embodies genre fusion in its truest form, wielding her usual PRS McCarty 594 to produce spellbinding jazz-adjacent songs that build from the foundation Chet Baker laid down. And with her full-length debut album Animaru a raging success, this Berklee alumna is well on her way.

“One of the things I love about jazz is that it values the individual voice of a musician, and you really need to have your own voice and your own sound,” Semones tells us from her home in New York. “It’s a tradition that people are learning from, and transcribing what other people have played and taking that language to make it your own… I don’t know, I just really like that part of it.”

But it wasn’t always jazz guitar for Semones. In fact, it wasn’t always guitar at all. At four years old she’d picked up the piano – a gift from Grandma to Semones and her sister. But it didn’t feel quite… right. “I switched to guitar when I was 11,” says Semones.

“I just wasn’t enjoying piano as much anymore, and I watched this movie called Back to the Future.” A sly smile tugs knowingly on her lips before she continues: “There’s that scene where Marty McFly plays a Chuck Berry song and I thought it was really cool. I wanted to play electric guitar because of that.”

Image: Alec Hirata

Shining Light

Still, it took a little longer to find the area of guitar where Semones now feels most comfortable. Although she’d expressed a new interest in learning guitar, she first had to try nylon-stringed models, classical guitar and rock before she settled on jazz in high school. “My school had a really good jazz program, so that’s when I got into it and started writing my own songs,” she says. Her songwriting and immediate talent for the instrument shone right through, earning Semones a place at Berklee shortly afterwards, which is when she moved from her home town in Michigan to New York to start a blossoming music career.

When Guitar.com speaks to Mei Semones now, she’s just finished a busy tour in Europe and is gearing up to perform in Japan before ending the show run in the US. One of the things her fans adore about her style is how you can hear grains of rock and chamber pop in every third or fourth bar when Semones’ PRS and her bandmate’s drums marry at just the right volume and ferocity. But the next bar might fall into this intoxicating jazz scale that Semones effortlessly mimics with her weightless, dainty vocal. In truth, you never know what you’re going to get at a Mei Semones gig.

“Writing this way comes pretty naturally to me,” says Semones after a pause. “I’m not necessarily thinking about blending different genres to go from bossa nova to rock, say, because I don’t really think of that. I just happen to enjoy these different types of music and they’re also my influences. That’s what I’ve listened to and that’s what I’ve studied, so what comes out is just a blend of those things together.”

Image: Dan Hureira

Tools For The Job

But as much as you can credit the songwriter and performer for creating such charismatic music, the player must also pick the right instrument and equipment that works best for their style to get the most attuned result. Semones is no exception to this rule:

“My primary guitar is the PRS McCarty 594, semi hollow body, mostly because of how it feels to play, the tone and how comfortable it is. But my first electric guitar was an Epiphone Les Paul, which my dad got me. Not long after that I went to a guitar building camp and made my own Stratocaster-style guitar, which was my second one. Then I got my first acoustic steel string guitar, which was a Hohner, and I still have it now.

“My dad then got me an Ibanez Artcore guitar for high school jazz before I got my PRS for college as a professional-grade guitar. We picked it up from Sweetwater at their headquarters in Indiana, which we drove to from Michigan, and we were there for around eight hours because I tried out so many guitars.

“At first, I didn’t like the bird inlays on the neck of the PRS because I thought it was a bit too flashy. But I just fell in love with it as soon as I played it. Now, it’s probably my favourite guitar I’ve ever had.”

It’s no wonder Semones loves her PRS so much – it’s taken her from being a humble college student to a rising innovator, known for writing original work orchestrated to fit both English and Japanese lyrics.

Since her debut EP Kabutomushi came out in 2024, it’s been clear the 25-year-old is brilliant at conveying feelings of platonic love in both languages. “Both feel pretty natural, because I feel like I’ve been writing songs with lyrics in both languages for a good while now,” she says. “Whatever pops into my head first or fits the melody better in that moment is what I go for.”

Everything Semones releases feels entirely original, and it’s pretty difficult to find another artist she directly sounds like. And when that’s the case with a musician, it can be pretty hard to guess who their inspirations were growing up.

Semones has a good think about her answer for this question before she delves into one: “When I was younger, it was definitely Nirvana for me,” she begins. “But when the Smashing Pumpkins came about, I’d say they were the first band I got into that were directly similar to my own taste. But other than that, I listen to a lot of jazz grades. I really like [Thelonious] Monk and Charlie Parker and Wes Montgomery. There are those classic [musicians] that a lot of people love like Jim Hall or Wayne Shorter as well, but on the flip side I really enjoy João Gilbertoi who’s a Brazilian artist and a huge influence for me.”

Image: Katherine M. Salvador

Needless to say, there’s certainly an amalgam of inspiration swirling around the music industry. There are the classic trailblazers Semones so aptly credits, plus new performers alike who are inventing their own pocket of genre, but it’s hard to imagine any jazz performer or similar going without crediting Chet Baker at some point. In 2025, Semones contributed towards a collaborative album, Chet Baker Re:imagined, which featured various other young, inspirational musicians like Matilda Mann and dodie covering some of Baker’s greatest hits.

“It was great because I actually love Chet Baker so much,” says Semones of her experience covering My Ideal for the record. “In terms of vocal inspiration, Chet Baker is one of the big ones. Alongside Gilbertoi, they’re my two main vocal inspirations, I would say. So, I was so happy when they reached out to me about [contributing to this record]. I had three options for the songs I wanted to pick, and My Ideal happened to be one of them. It’s actually my favourite song on Chet Baker Sings, so I was really happy about that.”

Having achieved so much in her short career so far, Semones wants to continue reaching for the stars. But, at the same time, she doesn’t have too many expectations as of yet. “I just want to keep going this way and developing as a songwriter,” she says. “I guess the main focus and my long-term goal would be to continue practicing guitar and getting better at it. I want to be the best guitarist that I can be in my lifetime. Hopefully one day I’ll get to the point where I’m good enough at guitar to record a jazz trio album or something like that, because I would love to do that. Or, although it’s definitely not time yet, maybe one day I’ll get to do a jazz standards album and have friends come on and feature on it with me.

“I just hope everyone can listen to and enjoy my music. What makes me really happy is seeing kids at my show who are there with their parents, because I think that’s really sweet. And sometimes I’ll get to meet fans who are learning the guitar and say my music is inspiring them to do it, and that makes me really happy. Music can be interesting to everyone, of all ages too, and I just love it.”

The post Meet Mei Semones, the jazz-founded guitar virtuoso whose genre-defying music knows no bounds appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Touring musicians often bond over simple things: Favorite restaurants, hotel hacks, inside jokes, or a good book.

When Tyler Ramsey and Carl Broemel first met on the road over a decade ago (Tyler was in Band of Horses; Carl is in My Morning Jacket), they connected over a shared love for instrumental guitar records. “Isn’t it fun to find an old reissue of a cool guitar record that has a bunch of mystery to it?” Broemel asks. “There’s a mysterious guy who only made one record and it’s from the ‘70s and then he went off and he was a carpenter or whatever. I love that mystery.”

Having played together over the ensuing years, Ramsey and Broemel have just released Celestun, their first duo record. During the COVID lockdown, they exchanged tracks back and forth through the internet. When restrictions were lifted, they recorded the remaining parts at Broemel’s Nashville studio.

Like some of those mysterious private press recordings they love, it’s a throwback of sorts, a beautifully subdued record of intricate guitar interplay, a soundtrack for a movie that doesn’t exist. The tracks with vocals – “Nevermind,” “Flying Things,” and “Sail Away” – evoke a bit of a Topanga Canyon vibe, but listen closely and you’ll hear another big influence, bluegrass great Clarence White.

Fretboard Journal: When did you guys first meet?

Tyler Ramsey: Back when I played in Band of Horses, we opened some shows for My Morning Jacket. I’m not even sure how many shows, maybe 10 shows? So we got to know each other a little bit then, but not a ton. I was trying to stay out of their way most of the time! And then we reconnected. Carl was coming through town here while touring.

It was [Broemel’s 2018 solo album] Wished Out.  His backing band was Steeleism from Nashville and I went to go see him play and we talked afterwards. That’s when the little spark of like, “Hey, we should try and do something together at some point.”

We ended up just booking a tour together before we even had a chance to really know what was going to happen. It happened just quickly. It worked out pretty good.

FJ: And was that tour more singer-songwriter song-based or did you know what you were getting into with the instrumentals?

TR: The plan was we’d play on each other’s songs. We’d go back and forth between Carl’s songs and my songs and accompany each other and sing harmonies. We brought a bunch of different instruments out. I basically just drove to Nashville to Carl’s place and we rehearsed for maybe a day or two and then hit the road with all of our stuff. It was pretty magical.

Carl Broemel: We were already playing “Elizabeth Brown,” one of the songs on Celestun. That became part of the show. We also started doing a flatpicking bluegrass thing just to make the show have more variety.

The album was spawned from those things, trying instrumentals and being like, “Hey, every song doesn’t need to have vocals.” And it was fun to play.

FJ: Carl, on one of your Instagram posts you talk about Tompkins Square records. Were you listening to that sort of music – John Fahey, Robbie Basho, etc. – before you and Tyler collaborated?

CB: A little bit. Tyler was opening my eyes to it. He’s more steeped in that genre than I am. One of my favorite acoustic guitar players is Clarence White. I love Clarence White. He’s the guy that I’ve studied the most and tried to learn his approach to the acoustic guitar, which is crazy. To me, he’s like Eddie Van Halen. I love Eddie Van Halen as much as I love Clarence White as much as I love Nick Drake.

TR: I’ve known Tompkins Square for a long time. For my first-ever solo self-released, self-titled solo record, I went up to New York City and met [Tompkins Square founder Josh Rosenthal] at a record store. I was really gunning for that record to maybe come out with him. So we met and I handed him some copies of this CD that I had burned myself. He liked it, but he didn’t put it out. We’ve stayed friends over the years.

My guitar path has been that kind of [fingerstyle] music. I came across a Michael Hedges cassette in some random New Age store in Brentwood, Tennessee and my mom bought it for me.

And then my uncle gave me a copy of Leo Kottke’s A Shout Toward Noon with Guitar Music on the other side of the cassette. From there, it was all in, finding all this weird stuff. Josh at Tompkins Square is great at digging stuff up and the compilations he puts together are good starting points for finding whole catalogs of people that I wouldn’t have known about.

FJ: Fingerstyle comes in many forms, from Michael Hedges to Kottke to Robbie Basho’s sprawling output and more. Tyler, what style do you gravitate towards?

TR: I gravitate towards more concise, composed lyrical instrumentals. Composition is part of what I try to do with it. I love sitting around and I could play for an hour just noodling on a theme or whatever, trying to play a raga-y kind of thing, but that’s not normally what I present to people that would want to come see me play. I’d rather play a concise, written out, or not technically written out, but a little composed piece of music. I do a lot of alternate tunings as well, so that always leads to new territory and stuff.

FJ: Did you record Celestun at Carl’s studio?

TR: We did. I think the first thing that was the song, “Celestun.” I recorded it here at my place and sent it to him. It was unplanned, but he sent back his pass over the top of it, and then all of a sudden, we were like, “Oh, let’s do this.”

CB: Yeah. Half the record we did in the same room and half was during the pandemic, long distance. He sent me “Celestun” and I sat with it. It made me realize that sometimes sitting with something and working on it for a while and getting the arrangement right is really cool. Also, doing things live is also a great way to record, as well, and we can do both. It was really a unique experience to get “Celestun” and listen to it a bunch of times and just sit with a guitar, try to play along to it, come back to it the next day, try to beat that, maybe do a couple edits here and there.

So I was learning where he left space for me to elaborate or just accompany. I really love that mindset. Should I step out? Do I need to accompany?

I think we both do that naturally and we’re trying to build that skill as we play more and more together. Then, he sent me “Elizabeth Brown” and I sent him one. Thankfully, things were wrapping up with the pandemic and we were able to schedule a time to get together. Originally, it was all going to be instrumentals. We didn’t even know we’re going to release it.

It was just something to do. It’s cool for me being in the music business for this long and strip things back and just start over again. Guitars, no equipment, no tour, no expectations, nothing.

FJ: I have to imagine that it was a lot easier to make spaces for each other when you finally were in the same room for the second half of songs?

CB: Oh, yeah. And then it does become a live action back and forth, stepping up or accompanying. We sat and played “Sail Away” front to back and that was it. I was like, “Wow, this is taking way less time. This is amazing.”

TR: My recording technique is based on my limitations. As a person who can operate any kind of recording program, I end up doing everything front-to-back mostly. If I’m recording a guitar piece, it’s like “press” and “record” on a tape recorder. I don’t even know how to go back and edit. If I don’t get it right, I have to do it over again.

What I was sending Carl might’ve taken me 15 passes, but finally, I got it right. And then when he was talking about filling in the spaces or leaving the spaces in the songs, it was fun to get them back. How much they were elevated by Carl’s playing just blew me away and made me so happy. Everything we’ve passed back and forth has come back better, elevated by us joining forces.

FJ: What kind of guitars did you use for this effort?

TR: My favorite acoustic guitar is a Harmony H162. I believe it’s from the ’50s, from [luthier and conversion guru] Scott Baxendale…

CB: I have two of them, too. Scott got his hooks in me when he had his store in Athens, Georgia. If you walked in there, you left with a guitar because they’re so inviting…these old beat-up instruments, but he makes them so you can actually use them. I have three of his guitars.

TR: Carl’s to blame for me having three of his guitars as well. When we did that first tour together, Carl was letting me use one of his Baxendale conversion guitars and I absolutely fell in love with it. Then we got done with that tour and somehow I accidentally ended up in Athens on my way back from a tour and stopped by Scott’s shop. I was like, “I’m getting one of these.” So that’s the one that I was just talking about.

FJ: How do you separate the sound of two acoustic guitars in a duo setting?

TR: They’re different styles. I think mine’s the H162. It’s a small body, like a 000. Do you have two of the [Roy] Smecks, Carl?

CB: No, one’s a Sovereign, like the Jimmy Page acoustic. And the other one is the Roy Smeck model. It’s interesting. We recorded one song on the record where we did it around one microphone and that was just supposed to be a demo. We were like, “You know what’s amazing? I can’t tell who’s doing what.”

To me, I want to make one big guitar. I don’t want it to be like, “Oh, that’s definitely Carl and that’s definitely Tyler.” I’m like, “Fuck it. Everything’s blending together.”

FJ: Do you know what Baxendale did to modify these old Harmonys for you?

CB: I believe he resets the neck and re-frets the guitars usually and then he re-braces the insides. And then he puts a K&K pickup in there, which I like because I never have to worry about the battery.

For me, instruments are a funny thing. I would love to have a vintage Martin. I have an old Gibson small acoustic because it’s great. But for what we’re doing, these guitars seem to work. They’re interesting sounding. You can’t put your finger on it. They don’t sound necessarily like a Gibson or a Martin. They’re in between. They’re a little rough and ready and I like that about these guitars.

FJ: And how did you record them? What microphone did you use or did it change from track to track?

CB: When we were together, we used KM84s and I think Tyler recorded some of his stuff which was a [Shure] SM57. I would record with a ribbon mic to have a slightly different sound, but that’s basically it.

TR: I’ve got a couple of the mics, but once again, I’m not a proper engineer and this isn’t a proper studio, but I’m able to capture things that are passable. So, yeah, the 57 and I’m not even sure what else.

CB: A lot of the songs ended up going on to my four-track. We didn’t record to the four-track most of the time, but I did dump stuff on and off of there to try to achieve a little bit of that lost acoustic guitar record sound.

I really enjoy what tape does to an acoustic guitar. A lot of times people talk about recording the tape and it’s all about the low end and the bass and the drums. For me, it’s all about the acoustic guitar sound because the very highest part of the acoustic guitar sometimes is irritating to me. And if I put it on cassette, it gets a little mangled up there and I think that’s how we’re supposed to hear it, honestly. Either in-person or off a cassette to me is how you’re supposed to hear an acoustic guitar.

FJ: I love that you guys were just doing this to get through the pandemic. At what point did you know you had an album?

TR: That’s a good question. We had a few things that we started out with. Then, we were like, “Well, let’s just finish, round it out.” But it’s wild because this is the easiest album I’ve ever made in my life. The songs are definitely challenging, but the whole process of making the album just breezed by in this really relaxed way. It just felt like no effort to me.

FJ: And are you guys still trading songs back and forth like before?

CB: There are a couple already in the folder, a couple demos. I’m just stoked.

FJ: Carl, you were talking about Clarence White. Who are your living acoustic guitar heroes?

CB: I just got hip to Cameron Knowler. There’s a playlist of stuff that Tyler made that’s amazing, but Clarence is really my guiding light. Once I started trying learning bass intro to flatpicking and then I heard him do it, I was like, “I really like his approach to it.” He made all these cool little tapes for his students that are amazing to listen to. So I’m trying to slim down who I’m studying. I’m studying Clarence and Eddie Van Halen right now. That’s my thing.

FJ: You could spend the rest of your life doing that.

CB: Exactly. It’s fun to play “Hot for Teacher” and then “Black Mountain Rag.” They’re both great. I’m accepting myself that I am an ’80s rock guy. We just played some metal songs on tour and I was like, “Man, I’m feeling real comfortable right now.” And so I can’t deny that that’s part of who I am, so I’m leaning into that nowadays.

FJ: What about you, Tyler? Who are you listening to?

TR: I definitely have been following Cameron on social media for a while and really enjoying what he’s doing, but I tend to go backwards a little bit. I still will put on Michael Hedges’ Breakfast in the Field or those Leo Kottke records. I’m fully embracing my New Age nerd status.

I still have a huge love for country blues and ragtime, too. I spent a lot of time learning Mississippi John Hurt stuff.

FJ: Well, you did it. Even with your differing music tastes, you made a really cool, mostly instrumental acoustic guitar record. It’s almost unheard of to pull that off.

CB: Yeah, we were joking with someone else that we made the record we knew no one wanted, but we wanted to do. When I play with Tyler, I feel that spark and that challenge always and I get energy out of it. I’m just excited for people to hear the album and they can make what they want out of it.

Listen to Celestun here.

The post Interview: Tyler Ramsey and My Morning Jacket’s Carl Broemel on ‘Celestun’ first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

The amp modeller market is ever-expanding, especially hot on the heels of NAMM, but their high cost means a large number of players are often priced out of getting their hands on one.

Harley Benton offers a super-affordable amp modeller unit, and you can get one for just under £200 via Thomann. The DNAfx GiT Pro offers over 50 amp models, more than 40 effects, and 31 IR cab sims that can be configured and stored as patches in up to 200 memory slots using its colour display.

• READ MORE: Boss makes a splash ahead of NAMM with new GX-1 and GX-1B multi-effects units, plus a new busker-friendly Roland Cube Street amp

Now just £199, this Pro version is the flagship model in Harley Benton’s DNAfx GiT line, which also features a standard version and streamlined core version, both of which are also reduced over at Thomann down to £111 and £77 respectively. It’s low price point and wide array of tones make it great for beginners or those looking to try out a modeller for the first time.

The 51 amp models included with this Pro version offer reproductions of a wide range of well-loved rock amplifiers, from the warm, clean sound of Californian vintage amps and to the rugged overdrive of British amps, and more. These can be combined with its cab simulations and effects such as a compressor, EQ, wah, distortion, reverb, and delay.

Its five inch display is accompanied by five controllers located directly below the screen, which allow users to create and organise their patches, control a built-in looper, and check the tuning of their guitar with the integrated tuner.

Hear it in action below:

Shop this deal and more via Thomann.

The post Looking for an affordable floor-based amp modeller? This one from Harley Benton is now under £200 appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

It’s been a landmark few days in the world of heavy metal, as genre titans Megadeth have just dropped their final-ever album. As you might expect, Dave Mustaine’s swansong is chock-full of abrasive riffs and searing solos (try Let There Be Shred on for size).

One of the biggest things that’s got people talking in the runup to the album’s release, though, is the inclusion of Ride the Lightning, a cover of the Metallica classic which Mustaine helped write all the way back in the early ‘80s.

• READ MORE: NAMM 2026 is done and dusted – and loads of the gear debuted is already available at Sweetwater

But Mustaine helped write a number of Metallica songs before he was fired in 1983, including a selection from the band’s debut album, Kill ‘Em All. So why did he choose Ride the Lightning for Megadeth’s final record?

“We were working on the album and my son, Justis, said, ‘Why don’t you do a Metallica song, Dad?’” he recalls in a new interview with Record Collector.“I thought, ‘I don’t think so.’ 

“Then I thought about it more and the idea just felt good, so I agreed. I wanted to close the circle and pay my respects to James [Hetfield, Metallica frontman] and Lars [Ulrich, Metallica drummer]. I personally have always thought James was an excellent guitarist, so I think it was the right thing to do.

“Panic [Mustaine’s first band] was never solidified as a real band, so my first real band was Metallica. Now that I’m going into retirement, I think it’s the right way to pay my respects.” 

While it was important to pay his respects to his former band, Mustaine says he was also conscious not to make the cover too similar to the original.

“When the time came to actually do the song, we thought, ‘Do we want to make it a little longer? Do we want to make it a little fast? Do we want to extend the solo section?’ We started working on it and everything came together nicely. We did speed it up a bit and we did try to do a couple of things a little different from the original version. It was a great song to play.

“Because I wrote music in that song, it just makes sense. It’s not a cover song. It’s a song that I wrote part of, and it just feels different. It doesn’t feel like we’re doing a song by another band.”

Asked whether he’d ever consider recording covers of the other Metallica songs he had a writing credit on, Mustaine replies: “Not anymore. No. I think I said what I wanted to. Unless something gigantic happens, I don’t know that I’ll be going into the studio again. If I do, it probably won’t be for a very long time.

“With my hands the way that they are, it’s hard to sit in the studio all day long and play guitar. Nine months we were in the studio working [on Megadeth], every day, from the morning hours up until seven o’clock at night. My hands got roasted.”

Megadeth’s last-ever album is out now. The band will embark on a massive final world tour from February. See the official Megadeth website for tickets and details.

The post “It’s not a cover song. It’s a song I wrote part of… It doesn’t feel like we’re doing a song by another band”: Dave Mustaine on Megadeth’s Ride the Lightning appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Have you ever dreamt of a pedal with Dr. Phil’s face on it? Maybe you’d enjoy a Fuzztin Bieber or a Splitney Spears? Well, look no further than this bizarre lineup of stompboxes from Celebrity Pedals that are straight out of a fever dream.

Handmade and all-analogue, these pedals take inspiration from celebs and meme stars, and have incredibly great punny names and designs. Not just for laughs, these weird delights have been used by some pretty huge musicians who have played with artists like Beyoncé, John Mayer, Phoebe Bridgers, Miley Cyrus, and more.

• READ MORE: RhPf Electronics Mosrawr review – a noise-bringer that’s designed for post-rock and shoegaze

Rated five stars on Reverb no less, the Celebrity Pedals catalogue includes some real highlights, one being the Taylor Shift octave pedal, which is available in three variations. Also right at the top of its listing is the Millie Wah-bie Brown: a wah inspired by Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown and her character Eleven, complete with glowing eyes.

This one is an envelope filter loosely based on the Mutron with an added volume knob to prevent the volume boost that sometimes occurs with old school envelope filters. It also has a low pass switch to keep the warmth and bass frequencies present, and a handy sensitivity control.

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Some of these celeb names work just great – you can also get an Adam Driver (yep, an overdrive) or a Distorsean Paul distortion pedal, both of which are priced at £160 respectively. Most pedals are priced between £100-300, though there are some great deals across the Celebrity Pedals range.

The Djent Reznor – described as a combination of a BB Preamp and a Tube Screamer, with symmetrical and asymmetrical clipping switch – is now reduced to £150. You can also grab a Hocktave (based on the ‘hawk tuah’ meme) with 21 percent off, or a Splitney Spears II signal splitter for just £89.

Find out more or shop now via the Celebrity Pedals Reverb shop. 

The post Djent Reznor and Millie Wah-bie Brown: check out these unhinged celeb-inspired pedals appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

The Guitar.com team is heading home after an action-packed visit to the Anaheim Convention Center for NAMM 2026. This year’s show saw groundbreaking new guitar gear innovations and exciting launches from Gibson, PRS, Neural DSP, and so many more, and loads of that gear is already available to buy at Sweetwater. So if you wanna stay ahead of the curve, well, now you can…

One of the biggest launches from NAMM came from Neural DSP, when the brand launched a downsized version of its flagship amp modeller with the Quad Cortex Mini. It offers the full sound and processing power of its flagship Quad Cortex amp modeller in a significantly smaller unit, measuring just 22.8 x 11.8 x 6.5 cm, and weighing just 1.5 kg. You can order it right now through Sweetwater, and you’ll even get a free Eminence IR Sampler Pack thrown in.

[deals ids=”5fnT7eeWJnc5H7fKGSRasA”]

Also listed on Sweetwater is the new PRS Silver Sky Limited Edition Wild Blue model, and Ed Sheeran’s new PRS SE Hollowbody I Piezo Baritone in Cosmic Splash (the latter is available for pre-order). This limited signature model features eye-catching artwork created by Sheeran himself, and there are only 1,000 available worldwide.

• READ MORE: In pictures: check out the coolest new guitars from Gibson and Epiphone at NAMM 2026

Yamaha’s new single-cut Pacifica guitars are also listed, and its new Chris Buck signature Revstar. Developed in close collaboration with Buck to faithfully reproduce the sound and feel of his custom REVSTAR, it features P90 style pickups tuned to his preferences, a wrap-around bridge, a chambered body and a carbon-reinforced neck.

View the full range of NAMM launches now available through Sweetwater, or catch up on all the biggest highlights from our live blog.

The post NAMM 2026 is done and dusted – and loads of the gear debuted is already available at Sweetwater appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

CHF149/€159/$179, rhpfelectronics.com

Some people believe guitar pedals sound better when they’re pink. Some believe they sound better when they have dinosaurs on them. These theories require further research, but if they’re both right then things are looking seriously good for the RhPf Electronics Mosrawr.

Vibrantly pink and fiercely dinosaury, this compact fuzz box is handmade in the cauldron of rock’n’roll that is Basel, Switzerland. It’s an original circuit, designed in collaboration with Loopy Demos, and claims to be the ultimate summoner of mids-focused rage.

• READ MORE: Gamechanger Audio Motor Pedal review – a radical synth pedal for sonic extremists

Image: Richard Purvis

RhPf Electronics Mosrawr – what is it?

According to RhPf, this MOSFET-powered pedal “delivers dense walls of fuzz” and “speaks the language of shoegaze, noise rock and post-rock”. This tells us two things: firstly, that it’s not just another Fuzz Face or Big Muff clone; and secondly, that it’s been designed to work with other pedals for creating layered textures of immersive noise.

RhPf is a fairly new operation and this is the first of its pedals I’ve tried. The others in the range look very nice too, but the graphic design by Sketchy Pedals has given the Mosrawr a distinct lift… that is, as long as you’re OK with cartoony artwork and candy-store colours. You won’t want to look at it too long while hungover.

Image: Richard Purvis

RhPf Electronics Mosrawr – what does it sound like?

The first challenge is to get a handle on the controls. They seem simple enough – basically gain, level, bass, middle and treble – but the way they work is not always predictable. For a start, it never gets very bassy even with ‘low’ at maximum, and it never gets very dark, even with ‘hi’ at minimum. The good news is, it sounds glorious with everything set to halfway so that’s a safe place to start.

Used on its own as a simple fuzz, the Mosrawr lives up to the second part of its name (in the sense of both ‘raw’ and ‘roar’) with the force of a hungry Jurassic carnivore ripping the bars off your protective cage. In EQ terms it’s something like a Tone Bender, but high gain and a pronounced lack of headroom give it an edge of splatty delinquency, almost like an extra-gnarly octave fuzz.

RhPf says this pedal can go from sticky velcro tones to something much more smooth and open; in practice it doesn’t get very far along that road, but that’s no tragedy as a million other fuzzes cover that stuff already. What you can do is manipulate the controls to accentuate the features that are already present: the biting treble, the lower-midrange grunt, the soaring sustain.

For the real test, though, this lonely dinosaur needs to find some friends. My live pedalboard includes a phaser, a flanger, a Leslie simulator and two delays (one of them set to reverse mode), and the power that’s unleashed when they all join forces with the Mosrawr is really quite spectacular. It sounds enormous, just as you’d expect, but also has a midrange focus that keeps it commandingly present in a band mix. If you think fuzzy soundscapes have to be soft and washy, this pedal might make you think again.

Image: Richard Purvis

RhPf Electronics Mosrawr – should I buy it?

First things first: if you’re a classic rock or blues player looking for velvety fuzz textures, please turn back, you’re lost. But for those of a more shoegazey disposition, things get a little more complicated.

The Mosrawr will be too boisterous for some tastes, even within the parameters of alternative rock – it is a great textural tool, but the textures in question are more gravel than silk. Where it will find a place – at least, where it certainly deserves to find one – is on the pedalboards of noise-scapers with attitude.

Image: Richard Purvis

RhPf Electronics Mosrawr alternatives

The Fender Shields Blender ($346.99/£235) is a multi-layered distortion unit with My Bloody Valentine pedigree; or if you want to get your whole wall of noise from one box, try the combined fuzz and reverb of the Keeley Loomer ($299/£315). Just need to make wild noise? It doesn’t come any wilder than the Ritual Devices Grimalkin Fuzz (£195).

The post RhPf Electronics Mosrawr review – a noise-bringer that’s designed for post-rock and shoegaze appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

John Bohlinger chats with Sacha Dunable about the new Minotaur DE, available in iterations with EMG 81/85 pickups and with passive Cthulhu pickups. Also showcased: the Will Putney signature Cyclops with built-in Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork pedal and single EMG 81, plus new custom shop seven-string models across all Dunable platforms with in-house pickups and Hipshot hardware.

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Dunlop's Bryan Kehoe takes us on a tour of some fantastic new gear, including the MXR EVH Modern High Gain pedal developed with Eddie Van Halen, featuring input/output boost, smart noise gate, and bass shift switch. Also on the docket: the Way Huge Jumbo Fuzz Swollen Pickle XXX with silicon/LED clipping switch and high-output volume and the limited-edition Iron Maiden Killers Cry Baby.

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Silvertone's Rick Taylor takes us through the new 1446 Semi-Hollow, updating the 1962 classic with center-block construction, set neck, modern neck profile, and era-specific mini-humbuckers reverse-engineered from original Gibson P13 pickups with Alnico 5s. Available with Bigsby or trapeze tailpiece, the pickups are also offered as a standalone matched set.

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You know that feeling of deep shame when you’re playing guitar and you realize that you’re just repeating patterns you’ve played hundreds of times? I’m pretty sure that’s happened to everybody … except maybe Jeff Beck. In Eric Clapton’s 2007 book, Clapton: The Autobiography, E.C. wrote: “Jeff Beck once said to me, ‘Try to play something you’ve never played before.’ And that really stuck with me.”

So how do we do that? How do we break out of ruts, not just on the fretboard, but in life? How do we live more creatively—or at least more interestingly?

Creativity isn’t about waiting for a lightning bolt of inspiration. It’s about showing up consistently and doing the work. It’s a skill anyone can cultivate through deliberate practice and curiosity. After six decades of trial and error (plus a quick dip into some actual research), here’s my distilled guide to getting better at it:

1. Curate Your Inputs Creativity feeds on diverse raw material. Read outside your wheelhouse—novels, science, history, whatever. Watch films from different cultures, listen to genres you’d normally skip, wander through museums. Travel if you can; if not, explore a new neighborhood. The broader your influences, the more unexpected connections you’ll make. Lately, I’ve been working my way through all 349 tracks the Nat King Cole Trio recorded for Capitol between 1943 and 1951. It’s reshaping how I hear everything.

2. Practice Regularly Creativity is a muscle—use it or lose it. Carve out time for deliberate creative play: journaling, sketching, brainstorming. Try morning pages (three stream-of-consciousness pages, first thing) or random prompts. Consistency breeds fluency. That’s why I started this column 15 years ago—to force myself to create outside of music. Every month it’s like handing in a term paper. It’s torture, but it’s good for me.

3. Embrace Constraints Limits breed ingenuity. I once watched Jared James Nichols play a three-note phrase 10 different ways, and each one got more interesting. A creative player can make the most vanilla song interesting by thinking outside the box. There are no boring songs—just boring players.

4. Practice Divergent Thinking Train yourself to generate options. List 20 ways to use a brick, or 10 different endings to a story. Don’t edit early; quantity eventually yields quality.

5. Take Breaks and Incubate Step away. The best ideas often arrive when you’re not chasing them. Mine come when I’m mowing my lawn, riding my bike, or taking a shower. Your subconscious keeps working while you’re off the clock.

6. Collaborate and Cross-Pollinate Do things outside of your wheelhouse. In Japan, big companies practice jinji idō—regular personnel rotation across departments. An accountant might move to production, then sales. It builds empathy, kills boredom, and sparks fresh perspectives. Borrow that idea in your own life: jam with musicians from different scenes, trade ideas with non-musicians.
   
7. Embrace Failure and Experiment Risk looking dumb. Every missed note or bad idea is data. Edison didn’t fail 1,000 times; he discovered 1,000 ways how not to make a light bulb.
   
8. Cultivate Curiosity Stay in a permanent state of “What if?” and “Why?” Keep a notebook for stray thoughts and questions.
   
9. Optimize Your Environment Surround yourself with stimuli that spark you—art on the walls, plants, good light. Declutter the rest. Find the spaces where your brain hums.

10. Shift Your Mindset Drop the “I’m not creative” story. Everyone is; some just haven’t found their medium yet. Confidence is half the battle.
11. You Must Be Present to Win Mindfulness isn’t an empty hippie cliché—it’s the price of admission. Get off your screen and pay attention to what’s happening.

“Aimless curiosity will take you places meticulous planning never could.”

Quick Boosters

• Meditate daily, even for five minutes.
• Play like a kid—puzzles, improv, anything without a goal.
• Learn something completely new (pottery, coding, tango).
• Take care of yourself. Get sleep, eat real food, and move your body. A foggy brain can’t create.

In a world where AI will soon handle most of the “building,” human creativity will be our most valuable currency. Creativity is gardening, not architecture. You don’t force it into rigid blueprints. You plant seeds, give them light and water, nudge them gently, and let them grow in their own wild direction. Aimless curiosity will take you places meticulous planning never could.

So remember: Stay curious, and keep experimenting. And the next time you pick up your guitar, try playing something you’ve never played before.

Gibson's Dinesh Lekhraj walks us through the brand's new ES-335 models offering '50s and '60s options—the '50s featuring a chunky neck profile, dot inlays, and Alnico 3 pickups, and the '60s with a slimmer taper, block inlays, and hotter T-Type pickups. We also check out cool Custom Shop ES-330 reissues in '59 and '62 specs, with dog-ear P-90s, trapeze bridges, and full-hollow construction. Also new: the Victory offset, now available with longer 24 3/4" scale, 24 frets, ebony fretboard, and Floyd Rose (or fixed bridge), with baritone and seven-string versions coming soon.

We met up with Gibson's VP of Product, Mat Koehler, to check out the new Century Collection, celebrating 100 years of flat-top guitars with three 12-fret body styles (L-00, J-45, J-185) featuring featherweight construction, thin satin nitrocellulose lacquer, Gibson's 24¾" scale length, and Art Deco tweed cases. On the Epiphone side, a lineup of new models headlined by the Futura series, boasting color-shifting finishes, hot pickups, and stainless steel frets.

Chris Kies heads to Blackstar to take in a demo of the Beam Mini, a USB-C rechargeable desktop amp with 18 hours of battery life and a companion app featuring amp models, effects, IR speaker simulation, YouTube integration for practice, and upcoming neural amp model support via Tone 3000 with access to over 200,000 captures. Also new: the ID:X Floor series modelers with 18 voices, over 35 effects, all parameters controllable on-unit, and the Artist FR active FRFR cabinets in 50-watt and 100-watt versions.

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Vox came fully stocked to NAMM '26. During our visit we checked out the new hand-wired AC30 head and 2x12 cabinet with Celestion Alnico Blues, plus the Treble Booster and Fuzz pedals featuring silicon transistors voiced for AC30s. Also new: the VT20X and VT40X Valvetronix amps celebrating the series' 25th anniversary with circuit-level modeling, deeper 12AX7 tube integration, Class A/AB switching, and (very cool) vintage-style Classic Blue grille cloth.

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We met up with Boss' Matt Knight to dive deep into the GX-1, an ultra-portable multi-effects unit with intuitive one-touch controls, 23 amps, and 140 effects featuring Gear Suite for saving individual effect presets within your patches. The unit includes built-in Bluetooth for app connectivity with librarian and session player, looper, stereo outs, USB-C audio interface, IR import capability, and battery power for up to six hours of use.

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