General Interest

Ed Sheeran’s collaboration for the upcoming F1: The Movie with Foo Fighters’ frontman Dave Grohl and John Mayer has finally been released – and the track has seen him collaborating with with PRS Guitars, too.

Drive’s music video showcases Sheeran’s one-off PRS model. Suitably racing red, the guitar reimagines PRS’ SE Hollowbody Baritone, adopting a unique fretboard design of yellow birds and a gear stick icon on the 12th fret.

• READ MORE: The gear used by Dave Grohl on the Foo Fighters’ legendary debut album

Sheeran isn’t taking the collaboration lightly. He’s already road-tested it, and he’s keen to play it at even more shows down the line. “I wanted to create a bespoke guitar with PRS for F1: The Movie and song I did,” Sheeran explains.

Since 2018, Sheeran has been a firm PRS supported. The brand is his go-to for electric guitars, with his current favourite model being the Hollowbody II in a Prism Dragon’s Breath finish with cherries on the fretboard, a one-off purple Silver Sky gifted to him by his Drive collaborator, Mayer, and a stock Custom 22.

“This has been an exciting project to work on with Ed,” PRS Guitars Director of Artist and Community Relations, Bev Fowler, adds. “From his years of playing our electrics, he knew exactly what he wanted in terms of look, sound and feel. This unique creation will be incredibly memorable.”

Sheeran, Grohl and Mayer’s thumping rock tune sees Grohl on percussion like during his Nirvana days, with Mayer and Sheeran knocking out guitar. Sheeran takes vocal responsibilities.

The release of the music video comes days before F1: The Movie’s 25 June release in the UK, before releasing worldwide on 27 June. The full soundtrack will also be released on streaming services the same day.

Sheeran will be releasing his new album Play on 12 September, with singles Old Phone, Azizam and Sapphire already out. Alongside his new record, Sheeran is also embarking on a European tour at the end of this month.

Drummer Grohl will be continuing to embrace F1, with the Foo Fighters set to headline day two of the F1 Singapore Grand Prix this October.

The post Ed Sheeran’s track on the F1 movie soundtrack sees him collaborating with PRS for racing red exclusive guitar appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Billy Idol has reflected on the volatile crowds that attended Generation X shows, noting that his manager would later pick up large shards of glass on stage that had nearly hit him mid-performance.

Generation X, which was fronted by Idol, formed during the 1970s in London. The punk band released three albums together before he moved to New York in 1981 to pursue his own solo project alongside Steve Stevens, and clashes among subcultures at some of their shows led to some brushes with danger for Idol.

• READ MORE: “That song bought you your house and got you your hot wife”: Billy Idol guitarist Steve Stevens says artists shouldn’t complain about having to play their biggest hits

Responding to a reader question in the print edition of Uncut regarding these hectic Generation X shows, and whether or not they influenced his decision to go solo and head over to the US, Idol responds, “It was par for the course, yeah.

“There were a few shows like that where people were throwing beer, pint glasses, and the road manager would show me great big shards that just missed my head. But it was really more that Derwood [Andrews, lead guitarist] and Mark [Laff, drummer] left the group. That’s what began the dissolution of Generation X.”

He adds, “Once a group’s not going in the same direction, it’s a nightmare – you might as well end it. So if I was going to start up on my own, it made sense to go somewhere else, because if you stayed in England you might end up propping up a bar – people feel that you’re over.

“I had an American manager by that time, and he was saying, ‘You should come to New York – this city’s bankrupt, anything goes. It’s a hell of a lot of fun at the moment.’ And it was,” Idol concludes.

Billy Idol is touring throughout June-September – you can grab tickets to see him live via his official website.

The post “The road manager would show me great big shards that just missed my head”: Billy Idol recalls the chaos of early Generation X shows appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Every year, the NAMM Show in California brings the music industry together under one very large roof to check out the newest and most interesting instruments. In 2025, one piece of gear that turned an inordinate number of heads was the latest creation from Verso Instruments. And with good reason: it looks less like a guitar than something yanked straight from the pages of a mid-century furniture catalogue.

A sleek mix of wood and metal, bold colours and minimalist approach, the new Sine is not of any mainstream guitar-design lineage – but one spawned by a one-man company in Germany that embraces the unexpected. What’s Verso’s design philosophy? “Building funky stuff and not rejecting the errors is a big part of what I’m interested in,” says founder Robin Stummvoll.

Stummvoll’s path to building his own instruments under the Verso name began as a deliberate leap away from tradition. A lifelong guitarist who started his first punk band at 13, he’d found himself neglecting the instrument while studying for his degree in industrial design. “I found it interesting to look at why I was abandoning it more and more, and how to make it more appealing to me again,” he explains. He decided to use his degree’s final project to re-enter the world of guitar – his own way.

“I started doing a lot of research, and I found that the guitar – the electric guitar especially – is carrying this burden of the iconography of big rock stars,” he explains. “And I totally get that. I’m a fanboy of many guitar heroes, Hendrix and so on. But on the other hand, I feel it’s a big difference to, say, the violin or piano, where you just have this archetypal instrument: people don’t really expect you to play any one specific thing.”

“Building funky stuff and not rejecting the errors is a big part of what I’m interested in” – Robin Stummvoll, founder of Verso Instruments

Stummvoll started to look at how that archetype might be expressed for the electric guitar. “A ridiculous thought,” he says, “as that’s basically what Leo Fender did with the Telecaster. But I thought it would be interesting to start with the most minimalist guitar that I could and go from there.”

The centerpiece of Verso Instruments’ first three guitars is a curved sheet of steel, which takes the place of a traditional body. The pickups, being magnetic, aren’t attached in any one place. Instead, you’re free to move them around underneath the strings as you see fit. Moveable pickups are not totally new, but this approach to achieving them certainly is.

This ever so slightly bouncy bent steel body was introduced with Verso’s first guitar, Cosmo, launched in 2020. Two variations came in the years following, the Gravis and Orbit, a bass and baritone respectively. But Sine redefines the formula once more with the Sine Pad, one of those rare genuine innovations on the electric guitar’s design.

Happy accident

Sine’s main body is now wood, and the steel plate with moveable pickups is now independent from the neck and bridge. And so when you press down on this pad, you increase the pickup-to-string distance for an interactive volume reduction. You can volume swell, you can do manual tremolo, and, thanks to a collaboration with renowned utility pedal manufacturer Lehle, you can output this bending motion as expression, CV or MIDI to control synths and pedals. The possibilities quickly start to boggle the mind.

The flexible pickup pad was inspired by the slight springiness of Cosmo’s body – something many would have considered a problem. “Maybe someone [else] would have screwed Cosmo together to keep it still,” Stummvoll adds. But after he seriously contemplated what use the springiness could bring, one man’s design flaw turned into Sine’s defining feature. “It was a quality you could dive into more. With Sine, that was the case – it was another happy accident.”

“I thought it would be interesting to start with the most minimalist guitar that I could” – Robin Stummvoll, founder of Verso Instruments

Stummvoll loved the idea for the Sine Pad from the beginning, but it wasn’t always going to be an actual Verso product. It was in 2024 when he actually decided to make Sine official. One of its most intriguing features also came about relatively late in the process: the electronics module, a collaboration with Lehle. Using a hall effect sensor, the Sine Pad’s motion is translated to your choice of CV, MIDI or expression – opening up endless control options for pedals, synths and more. “It is such a versatile and interesting instrument because of it,” Stummvoll says admiringly.

The result of using the expression outputs only get more complex when combined with the physical effects of using the Sine Pad. It is in some ways a volume control, but the effect it creates isn’t just a linear drop in signal. All sorts of tonal interactions happen as you move the pickups towards and away from the strings, including a slight signal created by the movement itself. Combine this with the MIDI and expression outputs and the guitar is perfect for tone-chasing far beyond the traditional.

Fittingly, then, one player who has been testing Sine out is Scott Harper, AKA Knobs, who you may know from his own excellent demos of outré pedals and his collaborative design work with Chase Bliss. “I think he’s the perfect person for it,” Stummvoll says. “He really dove deep into what’s possible – he’s still not figured out everything, but he definitely surprised me with certain combinations.”

Elements of surprise

An interesting consequence of attaching pickups to a big steel plate is that it ends up creating a pretty big microphone. “When you knock on the body, you really hear it,” Stummvoll says. “And if you record something and there’s a drummer in the same room, you can hear the drums in the guitar track.”

While this means that Sine isn’t technically recommended for high-gain, high-volume playing, Stummvoll doesn’t rule anything out. “People have proved me wrong before. I have players who use Cosmo for death metal. I don’t limit my guitars anymore, they’re really open for anything.”

The lively, microphonic sound was, like many other aspects of Sine, one more “happy little accident” that ended up informing a large part of the guitar’s personality. “It contributes to the sound of the guitar – the microphonic character is what I like about it,” says Stummvoll. “It’s funny, it sounds very wooden, ironically, and very open. And it’s really a shapeshifter in sound, of course, thanks to the moveable pickups.”

“It’s funny that we think of ‘play’ as something childish” – Robin Stummvoll, founder of Verso Instruments

But perhaps that woody, open sound isn’t so ironic. Despite the steel being a central element, Verso guitars feature wooden necks and, in the case of Sine, a mostly wooden body underneath that steel Sine Pad. “The warmth and feel of an instrument is very important,” Stummvoll says. “You don’t want to get rid of the heart of the guitar! If the body is sheet metal, you’ve got to be careful not to make it headless, or add an aluminium neck and make it too alien.”

And so Verso Instruments guitars do still display a lot of traditional guitar-making techniques, despite their out-there appearance. “The mixture of tradition and then something different is what’s appealing to me. That’s why I’m using very very traditional surface finishes for the necks, like oil and shellac polish.”

Time to play

Stummvoll had to deal with the odd cynical internet comment dismissing Sine as a “toy” or a “gimmick” – such is the lot of anyone who makes something new and weird, of course. But this sentiment can be particularly potent in the world of electric guitar, where 70-year-old designs are still broadly held up as the gold standard.

“It’s funny, as the electric guitar is a symbol of freedom and for breaking out of restrictions,” Stummvoll muses. “But in some ways it’s not that open. It can be conservative. Not all guitarists are conservative – but I find it very funny when I see some people comment on the work I do who are offended by certain guitars.”

Stummvoll isn’t insulted by comparisons to toys, either. “It’s funny that we think of ‘play’ as something childish,” he says. “Playing an instrument is a perfect example of how you can ‘play’ very seriously. I’m always wondering when we start to not play anymore and become adults. I try myself to keep that spark alive – and I think many artists do that.”

What will Verso do next to keep that spark alive, now that Sine is out? “I have an idea for a lap-steel guitar,” Stummvoll says. “I’m really not sure where it will lead me – maybe it’s more like a tabletop instrument for synthesiser geeks, maybe it’s more like a traditional lap steel. What I’m curious about is making something a bit more industrial, something I can assemble a bit more quickly and a bit more affordable. I haven’t built a prototype yet, so I’m curious if it will work!”

Whether it works or not is perhaps besides the point – instead, it’s Robin Stummvoll’s unending curiosity that remains the engine of Verso Instruments. Sine is a testament to what you can achieve when you turn tradition on its head and take that leap into the unknown.

This story appeared in the Guitar.com Magazine May/June 2025 issue.

Words: Cillian Breathnach
Photography: Rachel Billings

The post Sine is Verso Instruments’ latest and greatest experimental guitar appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

 Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound, funny, but it's still rock and roll to me.

Here is a photo me (sorry for the poor quality, it’s a scan of the original) from August 1980 at the Christopher Parkening master class at Montana State University, Bozeman. My guitar teacher at the time had studied extensively with Mr. Parkening and thought it would be good for me to audition for the class, he was certain I would be accepted. I was and somewhere I have the acceptance letter from Mr. Parkening. Talk about a dream come true!  I remember that I played an etude by Sor and a lute piece, Wilson's Wilde and maybe an etude by Giuliani, I need to look for the end of class recital program, I think I played in the second or third spot. It was quite the experience and I got to met several wonderful players. 

My parents drove me to Bozeman in our 1963 Plymouth Belvedere station wagon. Somewhere around Idaho Falls, Idaho, the radio station we were listening to played Still Rock and Roll to Me, it was the first time I heard it and it made an impression on me. It made more sense to me when I started my college freshman year one month later, there I discovered punk rock and that kids my age were dying their hair pink and spiking it. I thought that Still Rock and Roll to Me was an anthem for those of us who were 18 years old at the time. 

The guitar I am playing in the photo I still have, it is a Hernandis Model 1, imported by Sherry-Brenner of Chicago from Japan. The label states that it was made February 1973, has a western red cedar top, the back and sides are Indian rosewood plywood. It is a Japanese made copy of the José Ramirez that were so popular among classical guitarists in the 1970’s and 1980’s. My parents bought if for me in 1979, I think it cost $620 with tax, that equates to about $3000 in today’s dollar. Despite the plywood back and sides it is a well made guitar.

Update 06/2025: I recently replaced the top and neck on that old Hernandis guitar. It now has a gorgeous redwood top and a Spanish cedar neck, unlike the original which was mahogany. I tuned the back braces a little to get more depth from the back and the top has a bracing system that has proven very successful for making a loud guitar with a beautiful voice. I am currently in the middle of French polishing it, when it is done I will offer it for sale.

Moths and butterflies are admirably, amazingly adaptable in flight. I mean, imagine you weigh mere milligrams. You’re trucking along, minding your own business, and a 45 mph gust blows you straight into the path of a garbage truck. As a moth, you have to be ready for anything. I’ve been in a lot of jams like that. The Moth Electric C. Regalis would have been a perfect companion.

The C. Regalis (the name honors the largest moth, by mass, found north of Mexico, making the moth in my earlier metaphor seem pretty lame) derives its own adaptability from blendable drive and clean tones. There’s nothing revolutionary about that idea. But the C. Regalis has a drive section that sounds great and is very versatile by itself and makes the whole very special. It has a flexible +/-15dB treble-and-bass EQ and a smooth/crunch switch that functions, more or less, exactly as advertised by adding even-order harmonics. The many possible tones from the drive section can, in turn, be compounded exponentially with the dirty/clean blend. All this room to roam in the controls means C. Regalis isn’t encumbered by a rigid agenda. It cares little about whether you use a Jaguar or an SG, a Fender Deluxe Reverb or a Marshall. The C. Regalis is eager to please. And it’s hard to imagine a player that couldn’t find a sound, or 30, to love in this pedal.

Master of Metamorphosis

Overdrive pedals, even lovable, essential, invaluable ones, can be pretty boring. And I can’t remember the last time I thought of an overdrive as a songwriting machine. But the C. Regalis is varied, forgiving, and intuitive in ways that facilitate fast movement between tones and make morphing between mere sounds and more concrete musical ideas fluid and effortless. There are many springboards and templates to work from too: Randomly choosing pedal settings, I bounced between sweet, toppy clean boost, hot treble-boosted tones, tweed Deluxe haze, Stonesy grime (’60s and ’70s versions), Dinosaur Jr. grind, and Sabbath sludge—and that was with a single guitar and amp.

Not surprisingly, for an overdrive and distortion with a clean blend control, there are strong hints of Klon, and I found many comparable tones in the C. Regalis and my fave klone at many settings. But the C. Regalis is also generally airer and less compressed than the klone, which translates to a lot of headroom and range. That range can reveal potential in the amps and guitars you already have. A few examples: I turned a raspy P-90 and Marshall combination into deep, pillowy Kevin Shields smoke. A Telecaster and vintage Vibrolux bellowed like a plexi, then ripped lines of treble-boosted acid twang. Curtis Novak Wide Range pickups in a Telecaster Deluxe plus the Moth sounded good with … everything. And I don’t remember encountering undesirable combinations that couldn’t be fixed with a simple, quick adjustment to the pedal or guitar controls (the C. Regalis is also highly responsive to guitar volume and tone attenuation).

The Verdict

Moth Electric’s C. Regalis is a really lovely, thoughtfully designed drive unit. At $179, it’s also a deal. The controls are smooth, precise, and situated in a clean, clear, and straightforward layout. And the simple, spacious design makes it easy to move between drastically different tones, mid-performance, without feet or presets. (Yes, bending over mid-jam kinda sucks, but if you don’t have enough time to pull this off, you’re probably playing too many notes.)

There are, of course, specific drive sounds that the C. Regalis can’t recreate. But it was hard to find any sizable holes in its performance envelope. And it can convincingly approximate almost any pedal, and many amps, at anywhere along the clean-boost to mid-gain distortion spectrum. If you chase specific pedal tones at super-granular levels, the C. Regalis might not always hit the mark. But if you’re out to craft a tone of your own that’s rooted in the organic, analog, vintage realm, C. Regalis has a very high likelihood of delivering.

Ad feature with Martin Guitar

How do you pack the classic Martin tone into a smaller instrument better suited for portability? The answer lies in Martin’s Junior Series, which pairs a familiar 24.9” scale length with smaller bodies across the brand’s Dreadnought and 000 blueprints, meaning more portable instruments with the same iconic – and big – Martin sound.

The newly overhauled Junior Series arrives nine years after Martin made its beloved Dreadnought smaller with the Dreadnought Junior, and sits in the brand’s lineup as its most accessible range of acoustic guitars.

• READ MORE: Learn how Martin guitars are shaped by the iconic musicians who play them in the 2025 Martin Journal

The series comprises seven models in total, three 000s, three Dreadnoughts and even an acoustic bass. I’ve been fortunate enough to check out two of them – the D Jr E and 000 Jr E Sapele – and I can confirm that that ‘small guitar, big sound’ ethos certainly checks out.

Both guitars, like the rest of the Junior Series, feature 24.9-inch scale lengths for a familiar Martin acoustic feel, but with a slightly smaller-than-usual body which saves both space and weight, perfect if you’re someone who takes your guitar on the move regularly.

Elsewhere, every guitar in the Junior Series is crafted with a bevelled fingerboard edge, so whether you’re playing chords in the lower registers or intricate leads in the upper, this feature contributes to a truly comfortable playing experience.

In the interest of portability, each Junior Series acoustic comes with a built-in tuner, as part of a Martin-designed E1 electronics system. This also includes volume and tone controls, and an option to reverse the phase by 180 degrees, which can decrease feedback and increase bass response, if so desired.

First of the two guitars I’m demoing in the video above, the D Jr E offers the power and timeless aesthetic of a Martin Dreadnought in a more travel-friendly size, and one better suited to people with smaller frames. In terms of build, this guitar features a sapele back and sides for warmth, punchy mids and clear trebles, paired with a spruce top for crisp tone and superior dynamic range.

Meanwhile the other guitar you see here is the 000 Jr E Sapele, which sports an all-sapele build for a more vintage-inspired look. Further visual appointments include a sleek satin finish, as well as faux abalone inlays.

Of course, guitars marketed as travel guitars would be no good without a bag for safekeeping, so you’ll be glad to know that each Junior Series model comes with its own softshell case.

So whether you’re looking for the perfect acoustic guitar to take on the go, or simply an instrument with a smaller form factor to add to your collection, Martin’s Junior Series is certainly the way to go.

For more information on the Junior Series, head to Martin.

The post Meet the new Martin Junior Series: small guitars, big Martin sound appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Oasis engineer Nick Brine has revealed how he acquired the legendary Takamine Acoustic that Noel Gallagher wrote Wonderwall on. The fateful moment was back in the ’90s when Oasis were working on Be Here Now, and Brine was working closely with the band as a mix engineer at Abbey Road’s Studio Two.

According to the BBC, the incident that led to Brine acquiring the instrument was a fight that broke out between the two Gallagher brothers, allegedly over a comment that Noel had made about Liam in the news. Liam Gallagher was reportedly hungover from the night before: “I’m in Abbey Road’s Studio Two setting up equipment and hungover myself, then looking up I saw a guitar come flying over from the control room” Brine recalls.

• READ MORE: Matt Bellamy’s signature Manson Meta MBM-2H returns in Red Sparkle, adds Satin Olive Green and new hardware options
  

Nick had worked with Oasis on (What’s The Story) Morning Glory, and knew to leave Liam alone if such “flashpoints” occurred. However, chaos ensued well before Noel Gallagher had entered the building, and Liam was causing some real damage in the studio: “Noel’s Fender Jag [was] smashed to bits. I run to the control room and Liam also made a big dent in Abbey Road’s mixing desk.”

Oasis’s Abbey Road mix engineer says he also witnessed firsthand the moment when his own acoustic guitar went “flying over the top and [lay] in a thousand pieces on the floor…” It was shortly after that Noel Gallagher came in and asked “what the hell is going on?”

The two brothers argued over whose acoustic guitar was smashed, before Nick sheepishly admitted to Liam it was his. “Then there was a big argument about who was going to buy me a new one. I told them it’s not valuable but it has quite sentimental value as my mum gave it to me”, Nick says. Liam offered to take Nick to Denmark Street for a replacement, but Noel was not having any of it. “What do you know about guitars?” he quipped.

After some heated discussion, and even an apologetic phone call to Nick’s own mother, Noel handed him the Takamine Acoustic that he had not only played Wonderwall on, but had also played at the Knebworth and MTV Unplugged concerts. “I was gobsmacked, I said ‘it’s OK, it’s fine’ but Noel insisted I take it…”

Since then, Nick has had to insure the guitar, and according to the BBC, some auction houses estimate that it would command around £100,000 if he were to ever sell it.

Oasis will begin their highly anticipated 2025 run of shows in early July. For more info, head to their official website.

The post “That’s the one I played Wonderwall on!”: How a guitar-smashing bust-up between Liam and Noel Gallagher led to a studio engineer owning an iconic Oasis guitar appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

An automatic tuner uses robotics to sense the pitch of a plucked guitar string and automatically tune it to the correct note. Several brands have developed their take on the technology, but Band Industries reckons its developed the best yet with its Roadie 4.

Designed with “completely re-engineered algorithms and upgraded audio circuitry”, the fourth generation of the brand’s Roadie tuner tunes up your strings with one pluck, no fuss.

• READ MORE: Matt Bellamy’s signature Manson Meta MBM-2H returns in Red Sparkle, adds Satin Olive Green and new hardware options
  

All you need to do is place the tuner on one of your tuning pegs, pluck a string, and the device will do the work for you, based on the tuning you tell it to set it to prior.

Using its built-in contact microphone, the Roadie 4 analyses pitch through vibrations, and is essentially noise-immune, allowing you to tune up without worrying about your environment’s noise levels.

A demo video shows the tuner in action, with Roadie’s CTO and co-founder Bassam Jalgha tuning up his guitar. After selecting an open D tuning, the Roadie 4 has him fully tuned up in around 30 seconds – and it probably would have taken less time were he not explaining the tech at the same time.

As well as the tuning precision improvements, the Roadie 4 also has an anti-slip backing and a bigger 1.9” LCD display screen. The new scroll wheel also allows users to navigate through features with ease, meaning you can quickly flick through the 150+ built-in tunings styles.

The Roadie 4 also has a wider selection of instrumental tuning options available, now able to tune acoustic, electric, mandolins, banjos, ukeleles, and lap guitars. This is possible thanks to the re-designed peg connector, now upgraded to grip both bigger and smaller pegs. However, it still can’t tune a bass – but the company does have a specialised Roadie Bass tuner for that.

The device also has a built-in metronome with optional beep and vibration modes, as well as a battery that should last for months at a time.

“Roadie 4 is our most powerful and user-friendly tuner to date, built to make tuning faster, more precise, and effortless,” Band Industries explains. “With cutting-edge vibration detection, completely revamped audio circuitry and algorithms, a high-torque motor, and improved resistance to background noise, Roadie 4 delivers flawless, reliable tuning, whether you’re at home, on stage, or in the studio.”

The Roadie Tuner app has also had a bit of an upgrade to help you log each string change. It’s a perfect way of keeping tabs on what strings and gauges you’ve been using, or just a good way of setting reminders for when you might need to swap your strings out for new ones.

While the product’s Kickstarter campaign has far exceeded its initial £7,458 goal, currently sitting at £118,480, you can still back the project. You can pledge $39 to simply back the project and receive Roadie T-shirt, but you’ll have to pay $109 to get a Roadie 4 – which is $30 cheaper than the retail value of the tuner.

For more information, head to the Roadie 4 Kickstarter campaign.

The post The automatic Roadie 4 makes tuning “faster, more precise and more effortless” than ever before appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Distinctive signature versions of the Stratocaster and Jazz Bass are as vibey as Khruangbin’s jams.