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PG brings you a hands-on look at some of the gear that the late Skynyrd guitarist used to change rock history.

While our Rundown team was in Chicago in November, they spent some time at Chicago Music Exchange with CEO Andrew Yonke and vintage inventory and purchasing manager Daniel Escauriza. In 2023, they were contacted by Gary’s daughter Mary Rossington to help manage the gear that belonged to her late father, the legendary Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington. With the help of friends and crowd-sourced knowledge, Yonke and Escauriza embarked on a months-long saga to learn about Rossington’s guitars and amps.

PG’s John Bohlinger met up with Yonke and Escauriza inside CME’s Vault to learn about the adventure, and to get up close and personal with some of Rossington’s most treasured pieces of kit. Check out some of the highlights below, and after the photos, we have an exclusive interview with Mary Rossington, so keep scrolling!

Brought to you by D’Addario.

Rossington’s Reds

Rossington’s iconic Gibson SGs, some of which he owned from high school, were among the most prized and recognizable instruments in his arsenal. They’re gathered together on display now at CME.

Bernice’s Twin

This is the first prototype of Gibson Custom Shop’s Gary Rossington '59 Les Paul Standard, a replica of his infamous 1959 LP named “Bernice,” dated to the early 2000s.

Southern Sounds

When word got out that Rossington’s rig had resurfaced, Yonke fielded calls from dozens of guitarists wondering one thing: Were his Peavey Maces going to be going on the market? These old Mississippi Marshalls were a cornerstone of Rossington’s tone.

A Bit of British

This Hiwatt Custom 100 and non-master-volume 1959 Marshall Super Lead head were also key components of Rossington’s sound.

We spoke with Gary’s daughter, Mary Rossington, about her father’s legacy, the importance of honoring his influential impact through the Collection, and how Chicago Music Exchange became the ambassadors to this awesome musical history.

Did Gary ever speak about what he’d want done with his instruments after he was gone?

Rossington: Gary never spoke about what his wishes were as far as his collection. These were his tools he used and was as humble a man as there ever was. I don’t think he really even grasped how truly special he was and how impactful his contribution to the music was (and always will be). He was just doing what he loved and knew how to do it.

Gary was known for valuing guitars as tools rather than trophies. How did that philosophy shape your decisions when evaluating how to preserve his gear? I know Rickey Medlocke made the suggestion/introduction, but when did CME seem like the right fit for your vision?
Rossington: Two weeks after dad’s passing we asked Rickey following the CMT tribute what on earth were we to do now? He directed us to Andrew Yonke and the CME family having every faith they would be the one to guide us in the next steps. Upon speaking with Andrew, which honestly is a blur for us due to the timing, we went about setting up the first meeting for Andrew and Daniel to come down to Atlanta and go through the collection with us. We had no idea where we wanted to go with anything but knew we needed help in every way.

We instantly fell in love with their passion and energy for the project. We just stood in the doorway and watched as they meticulously and carefully opened each and every case and examined each guitar. At times we didn’t have a clue as to what they were saying, and at one point after about two pots of coffee, they paused and said ‘Ok, we're really trying to be cool but this is blowing us away!’

Mom and dad had sat down a few years prior and wrote a little note for each one describing where each guitar came from and the story behind it. Their enthusiasm for what we could potentially do with all these instruments and their knowledge made us feel so comforted and we trusted them. All dad ever wanted to do was keep the music alive for his brothers that passed and we feel the need to do the same for him.

We want to share his legacy with the world and that starts with the instruments that made the music come alive. They had met dad over the years and respected him as not only an artist but as the amazing man he was—that was all we needed to know to this was the right fit. Andrew never made mention of money or selling anything, so we knew he was in this to assist in preserving his legacy and it was not about a payday for him.

What part of the process brought you the most comfort?

Rossington: We knew very little about dad’s collection, but it was very apparent they knew exactly what they were talking about. We prayed on it and knew this was God putting us with exactly who we were meant to be paired with. Their dedication, knowledge, and enthusiasm to preserve the pieces and further dad’s legacy meant the world to us. Many people would’ve only been interested in selling the collection and that’s never been a concern with Andrew, Daniel, and CME.

Allowing other players to use these instruments is a powerful gesture. How did you arrive at that decision?

Rossington: We again just want to keep his music and legacy alive and by allowing others artists to touch a piece of history while furthering his name and contribution to music that has shaped and inspired generations. I'll never forget how excited dad was when he got to hold Duane's guitar and we want that for other musicians as well.

Was there one guitar that symbolized Gary to you more than any other? Why?

Rossington: Of course Bernice was the standout guitar and dad thought it was the coolest thing ever that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame would want to not only house the piece, but that it was displayed right next to Duane's. It blew his mind!

All of his Les Pauls were so special and the SGs were the sound of “Freebird.” Every time we hear the guitars played it resonates in our hearts and souls.

Were there any specific guitars that Gary insisted should continue to be played? Why?

Rossington: Dad never really discussed his instruments with us. When he was home it was all about the family and he kept most of that knowledge to himself.

You’ve mentioned hoping younger musicians feel inspired when they hold or hear these guitars. What do you hope they learn about Gary from this collection? Is there a message Gary tried to pass down to the next generation that CME is helping carry forward?

Rossington: Our hope is that through the continued exposure of his collection and hearing the guitars onstage that those experiences will inspire others to explore not only what an amazing musician and songwriter he was, but what a humble and beautiful man he was. He would have given the shirt off his back to anyone in need. He would’ve said to always work hard and never give up no matter what life may throw your way.

He tried every day of his life to honor and further the music the guys wrote together when they were so young. Those songs were written from the heart and performed with such accuracy and dedication that they will stand the test of time.

Do you envision the CME vault becoming a long-term home, or is it the beginning of a larger legacy project—documentaries, books, exhibitions?

Rossington: For now we are so very pleased that his collection survived the early days in the Hell House in Florida and everything that happened, and they are protected, secure, and in loving hands. We have hopes in the future for documentaries and are exploring the possibility of an exhibition in the future.

We would love to see a portion of his collection travel the world so more people could enjoy them and feel that they were a piece of this amazing history, too. It will come down to logistics and safety ensuring that the instruments remain in their current condition so there’s peace of mind for everyone.

The guitar showed up first in an Instagram video. Nuno Bettencourt in the back of a cab on his way to Villa Park in Birmingham, England, for Black Sabbath’s Back to the Beginning benefit concert on July 5, playing the solo to Ozzy Osbourne’s “Bark at the Moon” on an instrument nobody recognized. Dark wood body with light stripes running through it. And on the headstock: NUNO.

Then he brought it onstage at the event in front of 45,000 people, serving as one of the MVPs in an all-star supergroup that tackled Ozzy and Sabbath classics. The instrument was clearly visible in videos that hit the internet immediately afterward, and the guitar community began speculating about what they’d just seen. But Bettencourt stayed quiet.

A few months later at the MTV Video Music Awards, where he appeared alongside Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, and Yungblud in an Ozzy tribute, he performed with two versions of the unidentified model—the dark one for “Crazy Train,” and a blonde variant for “Changes.” Another high-profile moment, more online chatter, but no further details on the guitars.

Finally, on September 30th, the speculation ended. Bettencourt announced the launch of Nuno Guitars, his own company, marking the end of a 35-year partnership with Washburn. The brand included the Dark Horse and White Stallion—the mystery models from the taxi video and the shows—along with the N4, his signature design that has defined his sound since the early ’90s. For the first time, the N4 would carry his name instead of Washburn’s. (For Bettencourt's full rundown of the Nuno Guitars line, head here.)

It’s a significant move for a guitarist whose influence has stretched across multiple generations. Bettencourt first turned heads in 1989 with Extreme’s self-titled debut album and 1990’s Pornograffitti, albums that showcased both his funky, acrobatic playing and his songwriting versatility. While the latter’s “More Than Words” became an acoustic phenomenon, it was his electric work that made him a guitar hero. He was an explosive guitarist who recalled the best of Eddie Van Halen—incredible rhythm chops, lightning-fast technical dazzle, and genuine melodic songcraft. He could blend funk grooves with shred-level technique, throwing in tapped runs, off-time phrases, and blistering alternate picking lines without ever losing the pocket. He could match any virtuoso, but had the taste to know when to serve the track and when to let loose.

Decades later, that guitar-hero status was reaffirmed when Extreme released Six, their first album in 15 years. The opening track, “Rise,” featured a solo that stopped the guitar universe cold—not an easy thing to do in 2023. YouTubers analyzed it, guitar legends called to congratulate him, and forums lit up with players trying to decode the insane runs that capped the performance. It wasn’t just technical—it was emotional, physical, and undeniably fun. Once again, Bettencourt had reminded people what guitar playing could be.

Through it all, the N4 was his constant. Introduced in the early ’90s, it became one of the most recognizable and longest-running signature guitars in the industry. The design was distinct: a Strat-inspired body with a unique curved cutaway neck joint, fitted with dual humbuckers and a no-frills control layout. It was a workhorse—a term Bettencourt used repeatedly over the years—built for players craving versatility, speed, reliability, and tone. The N4 wasn’t just his guitar; it became the guitar for countless players who grew up idolizing his sound and style.

Which makes the move to his own company significant. The N4 has been in production for over three decades, and walking away from the Washburn partnership means taking full responsibility for everything: design, production, quality control, and the relationship with guitarists who’ve played his signature instrument for years.

The new brand is structured around three lines: the Thoroughbred Series (Masterbuilt guitars with exotic woods and custom shop-level craftsmanship), the Stable Series (U.S.-made instruments), and the Colt Series (import models). Currently, it’s a direct-to-consumer operation, cutting out traditional retail in favor of a model that lets Bettencourt communicate directly with the people buying his guitars. And he wants every one of those guitars, regardless of price point, to feel like something he’d play himself.

At 59, after four decades of playing, touring, and recording—from Extreme’s platinum records to Generation Axe tours with Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Zakk Wylde, and Tosin Abasi, from the Super Bowl halftime show with Rihanna to Black Sabbath’s final concert—Bettencourt is, in one respect, starting over. Not out of necessity, but because he wants to pursue his unfiltered vision and foster a closer connection to the people playing his instruments.

What follows is an exclusive conversation—Bettencourt’s first about Nuno Guitars—about why he finally made the leap, what went into designing these instruments, and what it means to put your name, literally, on what you believe in.

Let’s start with that moment everyone noticed—you were in the cab on the way to the Sabbath show, playing a guitar nobody had seen before. Was that part of a planned rollout?

Nuno Bettencourt: Not at all. To be honest with you, it probably wasn’t a good idea to play that guitar at all. I’d been thinking about this for a long time, and Washburn didn’t know I was leaving. So for them to see not only a guitar they’d never seen, but then to see not their name on the headstock—to see mine—was probably a really fucked up thing to do. [laughs]

But I didn’t really have a contract with them. It was more of a gentleman’s agreement that had been up for so long. After a while, especially after Six came out, I just felt nothing from them. Guitars were back ordered, no press, nothing.

“When someone buys one of these guitars, I want them to feel like it’s something that’s directly from me.”

But the reason I pulled the guitar out that day is because when I got it, I played it and was like, this feels like the best N4 I’ve ever played. I was super excited. I just wanted to play it onstage. It wasn’t marketing or teasing. I was just authentically excited. I was blown away by how the neck felt. It just felt right.

Even if you were leaving Washburn, you could have gone to another established company. What made you decide to start your own?

I’ve always wanted to do it. When Washburn first called, I stayed loyal to them because nobody else gave a shit about me when I first came out. It was only after “More Than Words” that other companies started asking.

But I didn’t want to endorse. I love Les Pauls, I love Strats. I sat down with B.C. Rich, many companies through the years, and it wasn’t because they weren’t great—it just never felt like “me.” So it felt natural to do my own thing now. And without sounding like a hippie, it was time. Everything was happening organically—the Six album, the attention with “Rise,” that solo, the Back to the Beginning concert—all these dominoes were tipping. I felt like the universe was saying, “Here are a few opportunities for you. You’ve worked your ass off, you’ve hustled for 40 years. This is it.”

Walk us through the different lines you’re offering—the Thoroughbred Series, the U.S.-made Stable Series, and the import Colt Series.

I’ve always played lighter woods—alder mostly, which I’ve always had in the N4. But with the Masterbuilts, which we’re calling the Thoroughbred Series, I wanted something fresh. I started searching for woods that looked cool, especially darker woods. I found ziricote, and the cool thing about ziricote is every guitar can look a little different. Very personalized. But the wood happened to be really heavy. So we did it as a top. And so the Dark Horse is an alder body, black stained, with a ziricote top. The White Stallion is a white mahogany body with a curly maple top.

And you know, once you get involved in your own company, you’re not just like, “Okay, put out my guitars, good luck.” I’m actually going to these factories. I got sent Stable Series guitars, the U.S. models, and I have to tell you, if you hand me that guitar on stage, no problem. Obviously, once you go into the Thoroughbred Series, yeah, okay, I feel that difference of why it costs this much and not that much, but man, it’s close. It’s so well done.

So even in the Stable Series, I still want it to feel like the Masterbuilts. Don’t fuck around. Don’t give me frets that are all jaggedy. I want it to be smooth. I’m going in and tweaking. I’m not trying to set a world record of selling as many guitars as possible. I don’t want anybody to be bummed and think, “Ah, I gotta pay an extra thousand bucks just for the frets to not hurt my fingers.”

How about the Colt series?

The same thing. I wanna believe that if I’m playing at Back to the Beginning and my guitars don’t make it, and somebody has one of the imports, I better be able to bring that up on stage and still sound like me. That neck better feel like me. That’s the bar. I don’t want it to be like, “Oh, Nuno is just using those expensive ones and the rest are garbage.” That is not the case. And if anybody knows me and the way I work, they know that’s not the case.

“It felt natural to do my own thing now. And without sounding like a hippie, it was time.”

The N4 is part of this new chapter as well. What does that model mean to you now?

I really want it to be what it always was for anybody who wants that guitar. I want people to be able to say, “I want the one that Nuno played, the one that got him everywhere.” I don’t want that to go away.

The Stephen’s Extended Cutaway, which allows greater access to the upper frets on the neck, has always been a signature feature of your guitars. Will it still be present on the N4 and new models?

Yes. We actually reached out to Stephen [Davies, the original designer] about it, and he told us he’s not doing it anymore. The patent, everything about it—he’s moved on. But we asked, “Are you okay if we use the cutaway?” And he said, “Have at it.” So it won’t have his logo or his name or his patent on it, but it’s there as part of the guitar.

One of the things you’re doing with Nuno Guitars is going direct to consumer. What’s the thinking behind that?

I feel there’s a disconnect when you go through traditional channels. There are these platforms and people talking about the guitars amongst themselves. I felt like an outsider. I’m like, I want to get in on that. It’s my guitar. I want to hear what people are talking about. I want to put something up on the website where I can hear what they think. I want them to post videos of them playing—the good, the bad, the ugly.

I’ve always wanted to engage more. I used to ask Washburn, why am I touring all over the world and there are no music stores I’m going to, to play or talk or meet dealers? I always loved having conversations with people, and I felt like nobody else was interested.

“With the Masterbuilts, which we’re calling the Thoroughbred Series, I wanted something fresh.”

Eddie Van Halen has always been one of your idols, and he made his name with a guitar that he built himself, one that became almost an extension of his creative being. While you’re not literally hand-building every Nuno guitar, you are forging a more direct line between your ideas and the guitars themselves.

You actually just made me realize something about Edward. Like him, I did make my first guitar. I put it together from parts. I didn’t buy a company guitar. It was Warmoth parts, and it had a Bill Lawrence pickup that was just a blade. So in a way, you’re right. It’s come full circle where I’m like, “Well, I want to be involved in putting the pieces together.” That’s what I did from the beginning. That’s what I’ve been selling from the beginning, even though somebody else has been manufacturing it. It’s always been Nuno guitars. Now it just has a cool logo. [laughs]

Chris Meade built your Washburn signature model for years, and he now handles your Masterbuilt line. Why was he the guy for this?

It had to be him. The good news was, I didn’t steal Chris from Washburn. Chris was a third-party hire, and all he made was my guitars. I just said to him, “Man, I’m leaving Washburn, and I think that means you might not have a chunk of work anyway.” And Chris is the best. He’s meticulous. He makes guitars that players want to play, not just guitars that look good. It’s like an old baseball glove you put on.

So I’m so excited that he agreed to continue working with me. When I sent him my ideas and I got the guitar back, he surpassed what I imagined. When you get that guitar and it’s not only visual, but the playing and quality are there, you’re like, “Oh, hell yeah.” Chris is amazing. I wouldn’t want anybody else there. It would’ve been hard to find somebody as mental as I am about detail.

“I don’t want it to be like, ‘Nuno is just using those expensive ones and the rest are garbage.’ If anybody knows me and the way I work, they know that’s not the case.”

When you first saw your name on the headstock of these guitars, how did it feel?

It was wild. I felt like, you play Gibsons, you play Fenders—you don’t play your own. I felt uncomfortable with it for a while. Because everybody was like, “Well, what are you gonna call it? Is it gonna be Bettencourt guitars?” And I thought, yeah, maybe it should be Bettencourt Guitars. I almost felt better about that, because that didn’t feel so first-person. That feels like a guitar company. We could write it in cursive, like Fender and Gibson. But then everybody looked at me and said, “No, no, your name is Nuno. There’s nobody else named Nuno. It’s gotta be Nuno.”

What did you think about that?

It took me a minute to wrap my head around it. But then I was like, you know what? You’re 59 years old. Everybody knows who’ve you played with and what’s been going on with you. It should be Nuno. It felt right. It felt like me. And when someone buys one of these guitars, I want them to feel like it’s something that’s directly from me.

In this column, I’d like to focus on one of the fundamental guitar tones, the sound of a Fender Telecaster plugged into a vintage Fender amplifier. I’m most interested in the sound of a Telecaster’s bridge pickup and the bridge/middle position. For me, these are immediately recognizable. I like how the relatively hot-wound pickups and the metal bridge construction make single notes sound strong and stingy while chords and licks involving multiple strings are “creamy” and saturated.

Let’s start with a simple live stage scenario with a single guitar amp. Let’s assume the venue and stage is large enough for us to crank the amp. I’d like to nominate the Fender Vibrolux Reverb as a great Telecaster match. The strong mids from the Telecaster’s bridge pickup pair nicely with the scooped Fender black-panel tone from the two 10" speakers. At 35-watts, it’ll deliver both firm lows and enough sparkle to cut through, which is critical for the mid position to not sound muddy. It’s essential that we can set the volume high enough to achieve beautiful dynamics, compression, sag, and hairy, distorted tones when we hit the strings hard. Depending on the treble response from the speakers, guitar string gauge, pickup-style, and proximity to the strings, I carefully decide if the amp’s bright switch needs to be enabled. By disabling it, I can turn up the treble knob and get more upper mids, which is essential for clear rhythm chords. For solos and lead guitar parts, I sometimes use a delay and an OD pedal that adds a little more volume, treble, and dirt.

Let’s take it up a notch and add a second amp. A 2x12" Pro Reverb is a nice complement to a Vibrolux Reverb. I recommend warm-sounding speakers and flipping the bright switch off.

A well-known mod with the Pro Reverb is to install a 25k mid pot mod for more distortion and mids. I would dial the 25k mids high and the bass to zero, and if the volume gets too loud, I’d disengage one of the speakers. The role of this amp is to provide warm, sustaining cranked tones with burning mids and just a little reverb. The Vibrolux will be dialed into clean operation to provide clarity and attack with firm, modest bass and clearly pronounced treble. If the song requires reverb, it comes mainly from the Vibrolux.

“The strong mids from the Telecaster’s bridge pickup pair nicely with the scooped Fender black-panel tone from the two 10" speakers.”

For recording, the first problem is: What you hear in the room is not necessarily how the guitar sounds on tape. You therefore need to dial in your amp(s) based on how the guitar track will sound on tape and not in the room. Second problem: The guitar will sound different depending on your listening device. And problem number three: What sounds good on its own does not necessarily sound good in the mix. I am often surprised how narrow, trebly, and nasal a well-mixed guitar tone sounds on its own. Given all those obstacles, you need to listen to the final end result, and then go back and change what needs to be changed, pedals, amp EQ, microphone techniques, mixing, effects, compressors, EQ, and mastering. Since you can never re-create something that wasn’t there from the beginning—for example a clean tone, a particular overdriven tone, attack or nuances from finger tips—my strategy is to have amps that provide enough of these things.

My primary Telecaster amp for studio purposes is my 1966 Princeton Reverb with a bright cap mod. The added 47–100 pF bright cap brings back the top-end frequencies that I want for clean fingerstyle tone. On recordings, my Princeton Reverb’s clean tone sounds like a big 4x10" Super Reverb but with the practicality and breakup level of a small 12-watt amp.

As a second amp for cranked tones, I bring my Pro Reverb with only one speaker enabled. I spend some time EQing and mixing the guitar tracks in the entire mix. It’s important to be careful with high bass settings on the amp, because it can lead to muddiness that’s impossible to clean up afterwards. Same goes with reverb—I use only a little from the amp. It’s better to add more reverb and delay afterwards. The amps are traditionally miked up in front and further away and above for ambience. Having different amp tracks, clean and dirty, I can tweak the balance and tone afterwards. If I want more dirt I increase the level of the dirt amp track, or vice versa.

I hope this was inspiring for you to find your favorite Telecaster tones with Fender amps.

PG contributor Tom Butwin demos the new Fishman Fluence Acoustic multivoice pickups, breaking down the nondestructive design, dual-voice control, and three distinct models built for everything from solo fingerstyle to full-band stages.

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The Aqueous Chorus is our take on the best of both worlds — vintage bucket brigade character andmodern watery tones” says Chris Van Tassel. Chris continues, “We wanted a chorus that didn’t just soundgood, but felt good to play. With added controls for EQ and gain makeup, it gives players a huge palette ofsounds from subtle vibe textures to full-on rotating speaker effects, vintage and modern chorus soundsthanks to its tilt EQ.”

Aqueous Chorus Features:

• Vintage to modern chorus tones with Tilt EQ shaping (wet signal only)
• Preamp section for gain makeup and added feel not typically found in modulation pedals
• Mix control blends chorus and vibe modes, with vibe-only in the last 1/4 rotation
• Depth and Speed controls for subtle movement to extreme modulation
• Rotary-style sounds and lush modulation effects are available with creative settings
• Built with rugged construction and vintage-inspired looks Specifications:
• 9VDC Negative Tip Power (no internal battery option)
• 28mA Current Draw

The Aqueous Chorus will be available November 6th, 2025 via select dealers for $229.99

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To celebrate the late great Space Ace, we called up PG’s favorite Kiss fan, Chris Shiflett.

On at least one of your 100 Guitarists hosts’ favorite episode of Shred with Shifty, the Foo guitarist sat down with Ace to talk about his guitar playing on “Shock Me.” It’s a fun interview with lots of great anecdotes and killer vibes. But Shiflett has a lot more perspective on Ace, going way back to meeting the members of Kiss without their makeup as a kid.

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All it takes is a minute or so of listening to Just Mustard’s music—a bewitching and unruly blend of fuzzy, guitar-driven post-punk and shoegaze-y noise rock—to make one thing abundantly clear: They’re not exactly aiming to challenge Taylor Swift for chart supremacy. “No, we’re not really interested in having pop singles,” says David Noonan, who, along with fellow guitarist Mete Kalyon, delights in creating cavernous, atmospheric walls of sound for the Irish quintet. “We’ve always been trying to make music that’s more avant-garde. I know it’s a cliché, but we like to push boundaries.”

He pauses for a second, then adds, “Which isn’t to say that we don’t want to be popular, because that would be great. We just want to do it our way.”

Just Mustard (which also includes singer Katie Ball, bassist Rob Clarke, and drummer Shane Maguire) have a doozy of an album with their new We Were Just Here, which builds on the strengths of its predecessors, 2018’s Wednesday and 2022’s Heart Under. Like those records, it’s an immersive sonic extravaganza, brimming with walloping, cavernous soundscapes and gnarly, twisted guitar lines that dart off in all kinds of directions. At the same time, it ventures into warmer, friendlier territory. Lead single “Pollyanna” is one of the band’s most cheerful efforts to date—Ball’s enchanting, ethereal vocals float though its feedback-laden textures—and the propulsive, synth-like title track has an irresistible early-’80s peppiness to it.

“It’s interesting—people have said that song reminds them of early New Order, which isn’t what we were going for,” Kalyon says. “I think when you try to make guitars sound like synths it actually works sometimes. But I never want to disguise the sound of the guitars entirely. I’d rather have people say, ‘Wow, that’s a cool guitar sound,’ not ‘Are you playing a synth there?’”

Unconventional as they may be in their guitar approaches, both Noonan and Kalyon came by their love of music by way of bands like the Beatles, Queen, and Led Zeppelin. “I wanted to be a saxophone player and a drummer at first, but they were too loud, so my parents got me a guitar,” Noonan says. His first guitar—a Squier Strat—practically became firewood when he discovered Nirvana. “The music was so exciting, and I thought that’s how you were supposed to play guitar, by throwing it around your bedroom and breaking things,” he says.

"I think when you try to make guitars sound like synths it actually works sometimes. But I never want to disguise the sound of the guitars entirely."—Mete Kalyon

It was also Nirvana that ignited the spark for Kalyon. “I used to listen to their greatest hits album, and that made me go, ‘All right, I need to learn how to play guitar,’” he says. “I got a crap guitar and played the hell out of it.” However, Kurt Cobain wasn’t the only Seattle guitarist who excited him: “I used to play loads of Jimi Hendrix’s stuff on guitar, but I can’t do it anymore,” he says.

Noonan laughs and says, “The first thing I remember about Mete was that he could play Hendrix’s ‘Little Wing.’ We were so impressed that he could break something like that out.”

Gear

David Noonan’s Gear

Guitars

Fender Jaguar Special HH

Fender Player II Jazzmaster (live)

Amp

Fender Hot Rod DeVille 212 IV

Effects

Fender Expression pedal

JHS Electro-Harmonix Soul Food with “Meat & 3” Mod

Electro-Harmonix Cathedral stereo reverb

Z.Vex Fat Fuzz Factory

Crowther Audio Hot Cake

DigiTech X-Series DigiDelay

Montreal Assembly Count to 5 delay/sampler

Hologram Effects Dream Sequence

Strings, Picks and Cables

Ernie Ball Super Slinky

Dunlop Max-Grip nylon .60mm

Fender cables

Mete Kalyon’s Gear

Guitar

Fender Telecaster

Amp

Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus

Effects

Pro Co Turbo RAT distortion

Way Huge Swollen Pickle Fuzz

Z.Vex Machine Oscillator

Electro-Harmonix Cathedral stereo reverb

DigiTech Polara Reverberator

Boss DD-7 Digital Delay

Moog MF Moogerfooger Ring Modulator

Montreal Assembly Count to 5 delay/sampler

Strings, Picks and Cables

Ernie Ball Super Slinky

“Whatever picks I can get my hands on”

“I haven’t a clue what cables I use”

Noonan met Kalyon in the college town of Dundalk, where he and pal Clarke, enthralled by electronica and groups like the Pixies and Sonic Youth, had moved in the hopes of starting a band. Hooking up with Ball put things in motion, but they soon realized they needed a second guitarist to fill out their sound. “It wasn’t quite an abduction, but I guessed they had heard that I played guitar and was into their kind of music,” Kalyon recalls. “I just remember David grabbing me off the street and saying, ‘Quick—you’re joining our band.’ It was quite shocking, really. Just like that, I was in.”

After a few jam sessions, it became apparent to both guitarists that their experimental approaches to sound complemented each other perfectly. “We grew up with traditional rock and blues, but we did away with that once we formed the band,” Noonan says. “The idea was to sound like electronica, but with guitars making all the noise.”

“The idea was to sound like electronica, but with guitars making all the noise.”—David Noonan

Over the course of their first two self-produced albums, the duo created abrasive sheets of pedal-driven textures—loud then soft, continuing the Nirvana template—with Noonan driving home sparky lead lines wherever they seemed to fit. But the two insist that there’s no dedicated “lead player” in the group. “We’re quite capable of swapping roles,” Kalyon says. “If I’m making one sound, David does the other, and vice versa.”

Noonan graduated to producer on We Were Just Here, and his basic approach involved recording the band live and then adding numerous guitar tracks—Noonan on a Fender Jaguar, Kalyon on a Fender Telecaster—to heighten the overall impact. “Silver” is an unnerving yet wondrous full-frontal assault on which Noonan piles tracks of pitch-shifting noise, enhanced by a Hologram Effects Dream Sequence. He and Kalyon ratchet up the chaos on “Endless Death”—its engulfing sonic boom is spiked with jagged melody lines that seem to escape at random times, shrieking and sputtering from all ends of the frequency range.

“We kind of came at that one with everything we had,” Noonan says. “There was a lot of tinkering that went into that song, and now we have to figure out how to play it live.”

The matter of transferring their new material to the stage is a task that the band is now pondering, and Noonan admits that it’s going to be a harder nut to crack than before. “On some level, we just have to do what feels right at the moment, which is what we’ve always done,” he says. “Here’s a guitar melody that sounds right, but then you’ve got to slip back into the sonic happening and play something that’s not necessarily a lead part.”

He continues, “When we’re in the studio, there’s a lot of constructing bits that can make everything sound overproduced, but we don’t want to get to the level with some bands where you go to see them live and they have to have backing tracks or add these session musicians who go on tour with them. When you come see us, we want you to experience what you’re hearing on the record, which is us playing everything.”

The Electro-Harmonix story is long and complex with more untold stories beneath the surface than most could imagine. Part of that untold story is all of the pedal ideas that never got made for one reason or another. EHX aficionados Josh Scott and Daniel Danger had been digging through all of the EHX’s history when they came upon an old schematic at the home of original Big Muff Pi designer, Bob Myer. Initially passed over by EHX Founder, Mike Matthews, for what would become the Op-Amp Big Muff Pi back in the late 70’s, this schematic serves as a window into that untold story of forgotten pedals, so Josh went to work to bring this circuit to life in collaboration with Electro-Harmonix. The result, a Dual Op-Amp fuzz that’s very much Big Muff with its own character dubbed the Big Muff Pi 2.

The Big Muff Pi 2 is a slight detour from the usual Big Muff tone. Slightly lower gain, slightly less refined edges with a unique feel, but with the signature sustain and full-bodied BMP tone known and loved by countless players. Housed in EHX’s Nano-sized chassis in a vibrant refinish with graphics by Daniel Danger, the pedal features the familiar SUSTAIN, TONE, and VOL controls. SUSTAIN controls the amount of distortion from heavy crunch to full speaker pounding saturation. The TONE knob is a classic BMP-style tone control, boosting treble and cutting bass as it’s turned up, from wooly to searing. VOL adjusts the overall output of the effects.

This lost piece of the pi ships a 9 Volt battery (power supply optional), is available now and has a U.S. Street Price of $122.00.

J Rockett Audio Designs announces the release of the Aqueous Chorus, a versatile chorus pedalthat can live in both the vintage era and the modern era with its unique features.

“The Aqueous Chorus is our take on the best of both worlds — vintage bucket brigade character andmodern watery tones” says Chris Van Tassel. Chris continues, “We wanted a chorus that didn’t just soundgood, but felt good to play. With added controls for EQ and gain makeup, it gives players a huge palette ofsounds from subtle vibe textures to full-on rotating speaker effects, vintage and modern chorus soundsthanks to its tilt EQ.”

Aqueous Chorus Features:

• Vintage to modern chorus tones with Tilt EQ shaping (wet signal only)
• Pre-amp section for gain makeup and added feel not typically found in modulation pedals
• Mix control blends chorus and vibe modes, with vibe-only in the last 1/4 rotation
• Depth and Speed controls for subtle movement to extreme modulation
• Rotary-style sounds and lush modulation effects are available with creative settings
• Built with rugged construction and vintage-inspired looks

Specifications:

• 9VDC Negative Tip Power (no internal battery option)
• 28mA Current Draw

The Aqueous Chorus will be available November 6th, 2025 via select dealers for $229.99

Andy Timmons' own one-stop reverb shop gets expansive with spring, plate, and more ethereal sounds.

Developed in collaboration with Andy Timmons, the NOCTURNE showcases a brand new reverb space based on our unique Halo delay algorithm. From subtle ambience to cinematic space, the NOCTURNE allows players to create that same expressive, touch-sensitive bloom that trails effortlessly behind every note, without the cross-talk rom echoes.

The NOCTURNE pedal gives you three new reverb modes — Nocturne, Spring, and Plate — each designed to be the guitar and amp’s perfect companion. The Plate reverb is based on our extensive analysis and modeling of the stereo tube plate reverb that was in Austin City Limits studio since the mid-1970s. The Nocturne’s Spring reverb features our finest sounds based on both stand alone reverb tanks and tube amplifier combos. The simple four-knob layout of Tone, Level, Decay, and Modulation makes it easy to shape each gorgeous reverb space. Each reverb mode can be made a preset so you can store your favorite sounds. Alt features include our first pre-delay time control, allowing you to create slapback echo effects.

The NOCTURNE offers a flexible signal path with True or Buffered Bypass, Expression Pedal control, Remote Switching, and MIDI compatibility for up to 72 presets. Whether you’re running mono or stereo, wet/dry, or full wet for parallel rigs, the NOCTURNE adapts easily to any setup. Built on Keeley’s award-winning Core architecture, every component and line of code is tuned to make this reverb feel musical and alive. Operation is easy with the Nocturne – if the indicator LED is blue then it's 'wysiwyg'; the knobs set the tone or level of each reverb mode. If the LED is red, each reverb is a favorite or preset, where you can save the settings for each reverb mode.

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Effects pioneer Robert Keeley and guitar adventurer Andy Timmons reveal their newest collaboration.

Keeley Electronics’ new Nocturne reverb marks the latest chapter in an ongoing and expanding partnership between Andy Timmons, Robert Keeley, and the Keeley Electronics design group. They first teamed up in 2020 and have since developed effects such as the HALO Dual Echo (which captured Timmons' dual delay sound in a compact pedal) and Timmons’ signature Mk3 Drive. The new Nocturne reverb represents a fascinating new direction in the collaboration.

At its core, the Nocturne offers three distinct reverb modes in a single unit. Its Plate and Spring reverbs are based on bona fide classic sounds, while its titular Nocturne mode takes a fresh approach to reverb and delivers an otherworldly playing experience. It’s incredibly user-friendly, with a simple four-knob control set—Tone, Level, Decay, and Modulation—that makes it easy to shape your reverb space. Each reverb mode can be saved as a preset, so you can store your favorite sounds.

It’s an approachable, powerful pedal that offers instant gratification for just about any guitarist… even players who don’t normally use reverb. And that’s the biggest plot twist in the Nocturne story.

You see, Timmons doesn’t even consider himself a “reverb guy.”

“I've always used echo and delay instead of reverb. That's my ambience, that's my space,” Timmons admits. “Until now, there was never really a reverb that worked for me. I would use delays and try to curate them in the right way. But I had a different sound in my head, and I approached Robert to see if we could make it a reality. Now, my wall has come down for reverb. I just had to wait for the ‘Mr. Right reverb’ I guess,” he laughs.

Timmons’ “Mr. Right” reverb has arrived, and its calling card is the Nocturne reverb mode.

Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door

Amid the pedal’s offerings, many players will view the Nocturne mode as the belle of the ball. It’s an immersive, almost heavenly reverb that sounds great when used sparingly—and sounds even better when it’s generously applied to clean, arpeggiated phrases or textural chords.

The brand-new reverb space is based on Keeley’s unique Halo delay algorithm. From subtle ambience to cinematic space, the Nocturne allows players to create that same expressive, touch-sensitive bloom that trails effortlessly behind every note, without the cross talk from echoes. It features a pre-delay echo that transforms into an expansive and engulfing reverb space. It’s difficult to describe—it simply sounds like it’s from another planet.

As Timmons says, “it creates a reverb from a different perspective. It’s not a usual reverb algorithm. It’s a fresh and different angle. I just want to sit and play in this dreamlike sound all day.”

Not surprisingly, Timmons has immediately put the pedal to creative use: “I've got a collection of songs that I've written—solo pieces called ‘The Outlier Nocturnes’—so I was basically waiting for this pedal. I'm already using it in the studio now that I have the right sound.”

Spring Fever

In designing the Nocturne, Robert Keeley and his team were determined to create a pedal that could satisfy a broad range of tastes. And for many guitarists, the first thing that comes to mind when they think of reverb is the classic reverb-drenched amp tones of the 1960s.

That includes Andy Timmons himself. “I’ll admit that I'm a closet surf guitarist,” he laughs. “I even have a surf record that's been in the can for years… I just haven't released it.When I run the Nocturne in spring mode into my dual showman and a 2x15 Fender cab, it’s just got that sound, man. It’s Dick Dale incarnate.”

Timmons’ personal passion for spring reverb and surf music helped spur the design process—but spring reverbs are fickle beasts, and notoriously difficult to replicate. To fine-tune the pedal’s Spring mode, Keeley worked closely with Aaron Pierce, a key partner in Robert’s design team at Keeley Electronics, and relied on modern technology to capture the vintage spring reverb mojo. “Aaron and I purchased a spring reverb or two and we put them through our audio analyzer. We worked hard to make it sound realistic and very drippy, just like the originals. When it comes to the iconic reverb sounds that we were searching for, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to make it happen. But we finally got some awesome drip going with one, and that's the one I'm most in love with.”

Having harnessed the elusive, authentic spring reverb sound he had been seeking, Keeley and his team were determined to capture another essential reverb flavor for the Nocturne’s third mode: vintage tube-driven plate reverb.

The chase led them to Austin, Texas….

Keeley Electronics Nocturne Reverb with Robert Keeley and Andy Timmons | A REVERB YOU’VE NEVER HEARD BEFORE! 

Join Robert Keeley, Andy Timmons, and Aaron Pierce for a deep dive into the creation of the Keeley Electronics Nocturne Reverb—a design shaped by collaboration, experimentation, and a completely new approach to ambient space. In this panel-style conversation, the team breaks down the ideas, sounds, and engineering choices that led to a reverb unlike anything in the Keeley lineup.

Hear the stories, explore the process, and discover why the Nocturne truly is a reverb you’ve never heard before.

A Plateful of History

Tube-driven plate reverb is one of the defining sonic characteristics of classic recordings from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Beginning with the 1957 introduction of the EMT 140 by the German company Elektromesstechnik (EMT), plate reverb quickly became ubiquitous in popular music. Each individual plate reverb has its own subtle flavor—a unique sonic fingerprint. If you’re going to create a modern digital effect based on a vintage unit, it’s crucial to find a great-sounding original specimen.

“The plate is a really exciting part of the story for me,” Keeley admits. “My plate is (based on) the one that they used at Austin City Limits since the mid-’70s. About 10 years ago (Mike Daane) got a hold of it. They (ACL) decided to stop using it to go to a digital system and it was at that point in time where we got to go down with our audio analyzer, the APX 515B, and we could study its frequency response and measure the reverb trails. We modified the frequency response of our reverb so it more closely matched the Austin City Limits plate reverb. Reverbs have a certain resonance. And if you play something percussive like a tom or a snare, you can hear the resonance in the Austin City Limits reverb—it’s a lower frequency than typical.”

This particular plate reverb boasts its own historic provenance. Beginning with an October 1974 performance by Willie Nelson, the Austin City Limits TV program has hosted the crème-de-la-crème of blues, rock and country music artists for decades. Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King, Johnny Cash, Lyle Lovett, George Strait, Emmylou Harris, Wilco, Los Lobos, and Dolly Parton are just a few of the artists whose performances were channeled through this very reverb unit.

Timmons was enthused that the Austin City Limits reverb provided the basis for the Nocturne’s plate mode. “Every stereo tube plate reverb is gonna sound a little different, and it’s such an amazing opportunity to have the specific plate that was used on all the Austin City Limits shows for so many years. The design team could do a molecular level study of it with the amazing gear that Robert's got. I think that’s the one that took the most effort and revisions. But once Aaron [Tackett] figured out how to approach the plate, it was really exciting to hear how it turned out.”

HALO AND NOCTURNE—TOGETHER

For all of the technology and analysis that went into creating the pedal, the Nocturne is dead-simple to use: just three easily selectable reverb modes, four control knobs, plus some alt functions if you’re inclined to use them.

“And I'm not one of those that's inclined to do much tweaking,” Timmons admits. “I just want to turn something on and have it inspire me really quickly. That's what this format does so eloquently. It's encouraging, not daunting, and you feel it as soon as you plug in.”

Even though it’s an outgrowth of the Halo delay that Timmons and Keeley collaborated on earlier, Timmons says the Nocturne is designed to be used in conjunction with the Halo. “It's not meant to replace my Halo, but they work incredibly well together. I basically keep the Nocturne always on and I'm blending in the Halo occasionally. I was in the studio three days ago: I’m playing through my Keeley Mark 3 drive, the Halo, then the Nocturne into 2 vintage Marshalls. All the effects are being printed, and I'm listening back to the monitors and thinking, this is the best sound I've ever had! It's such a wonderful place to be, to be that happy with what's happening sonically. So now all I have to do is try to play to the level that the sound is allowing me to play. It's a dreamscape that I have never heard before.”

DIVE DEEPER IF YOU WANT TO

For players that do enjoy tweaking their settings, the Nocturne offers a flexible signal path with True or Buffered Bypass, Expression Pedal control, Remote Switching, and MIDI compatibility for up to 72 presets. Whether you’re running mono or stereo outputs, wet/dry, or full wet for parallel rigs, the Nocturne adapts easily to any setup.

Operation is intuitive with the Nocturne. If the indicator LED is blue then it's “wysiwyg”; the knobs set the tone or level of each reverb mode. If the LED is red, each reverb is a favorite or preset, where you can save the settings for each reverb mode. You can store and recall presets with a dedicated footswitch, and turn trails on/off.

Ultimately, Keeley and his team get the greatest satisfaction from seeing a player focus on playing, rather than tweaking. “These pedals are really near and dear to my heart,” he notes, “especially when it becomes a new platform like the Nocturne. We put a lot of time and effort into making sure that you could just walk up to this unit and not feel intimidated. just go out and have fun making music.”

With the arrival of Keeley’s Nocturne, you might have finally found your own “Mr. Right” reverb. Hear it and feel it for yourself. Plug into a Nocturne, turn up your amp and get inspired.

Keeley Electronics NOCTURNE Reverb Developed in collaboration with Andy Timmons, the NOCTURNE showcases a brand new reverb space based on our unique Halo delay algorithm. From subtle ambience to cinematic space, the NOCTURNE allows players to create that same expressive, touch-sensitive bloom that trails effortlessly behind every note, without the cross-talk from echoes.

The NOCTURNE pedal gives you three new reverb modes — Nocturne, Spring, and Plate — each designed to be the guitar and amp’s perfect companion. The Plate reverb is based on our extensive analysis and modeling of the stereo tube plate reverb that was in Austin City Limits studio since the mid-1970s. The Nocturne’s Spring reverb features our finest sounds based on both stand alone reverb tanks and tube amplifier combos. The simple four-knob layout of Tone, Level, Decay, and Modulation makes it easy to shape each gorgeous reverb space. Each reverb mode can be made a preset so you can store your favorite sounds. Alt features include our first pre-delay time control, allowing you to create slapback echo effects.

- YouTube

The NOCTURNE offers a flexible signal path with True or Buffered Bypass, Expression Pedal control, Remote Switching, and MIDI compatibility for up to 72 presets. Whether you’re running mono or stereo, wet/dry, or full wet for parallel rigs, the NOCTURNE adapts easily to any setup. Built on Keeley’s award-winning Core architecture, every component and line of code is tuned to make this reverb feel musical and alive.

Operation is easy with the Nocturne – if the indicator LED is blue then it's 'wysiwyg'; the knobs set the tone or level of each reverb mode. If the LED is red, each reverb is a favorite or preset, where you can save the settings for each reverb mode.

Like every Keeley pedal, the NOCTURNE Andy Timmons Reverb is designed and manufactured in Oklahoma, USA. Engineered for the working musician, and voiced for inspiration.

Features

• A Brand New Reverb -’Nocturne’ based on the Andy Timmons’ signature HALO sound
• Three reverb modes: Nocturne, Spring, Plate
• Intuitive four-knob control layout: Tone, Level, Decay, Modulation
• Store and recall presets with dedicated footswitch
• Trails on/off, True or Buffered Bypass selectable
• Expression and MIDI control with up to 72 preset locations
• Stereo outputs with Wet+Dry or Wet-only operation
• Made in the USA
• $269 USD

Dealer Contact:

Danny Black, Sales Director • Phone: 1-405-341-2025 • Email: dealer@rkfx.com Visit the Keeley Electronics website, on YouTube and on Facebook and Instagram.

If you were reading guitar magazines in the ’90s, you’re familiar with Steve Morse’s “Open Ear” column. Running for many years in Guitar (née Guitar for the Practicing Musician), Morse shared his thoughts on session work, practice routines, practical tips for guitarists, and various other parts of his life. For years before I’d ever heard a note of his playing, I read his wisdom monthly.

With every column was a short bio that began, “Steve Morse is one of the busiest guitarists in the industry.” At the time, that busy-ness played out in his writing—Steve was very active. Eventually digging into his background, I learned just how prolific he really was.

Morse first caught ears with the Dixie Dregs—whose origin story reached back to their time as students at the University of Miami (alongside luminaries like Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, and Hiram Bullock), where wunderkind headed after leaving high school early. Together, they assembled a barn-burning blend of ’70s Southern rock, jazz, and bluegrass.

When the Dregs ran their course, Morse joined Kansas. And after that, he joined Deep Purple. (By the time they parted ways in 2022, he was Purple’s longest-running guitarist.) In 1985, he introduced the Steve Morse Band, along the way racking up a list of collabs and guest spots that’ll make your head spin.

Offstage and amidst musical globetrotting, his drive has kept him working well beyond the fretboard, and he has, at times, pursued a career as a commercial airline pilot—he still flies to this day—and he currently owns and oversees the daily operations of a small Florida hay farm.

All the while, the music never stopped. His latest Steve Morse Band release, Triangulation, featuring bassist Dave LaRue and drummer Van Romaine, is a high-flying shredathon that treats glorious rock melody and proggy twists and turns with equally explosive abandon. Below the surface, there’s a heavier backstory, the album’s origin tracing back to the passing of Morse’s wife Janine in 2024, and Morse in a physical battle with arthritis that has been slowly deteriorating his technique. So it is, then, that his first solo record since 2009’s Out Standing in Their Field stands as a testament to the power of music, of the human spirit, and, ultimately, of Morse’s hard work and perseverance. It’s also a coming together of sorts for the band as well as for the friends the guitarist has gathered as guests, which include Eric Johnson, John Petrucci, and Morse’s son, Kevin.

We caught up with Morse while he was on tour in New Jersey to have an inspiring talk about Triangulation, his guitar habits, and the importance of hard work.

​Steve Morse’s Gear

Guitars

• Ernie Ball Music Man Steve Morse Signature
• Buscarino custom classical guitar

Amps

• Engl Steve Morse Signature E656 100-watt head
• Engl Steve Morse Signature 20 E658 20-watt combo

Strings and Picks

• Ernie Ball Paradigm Slinky strings (.009–.042)
• Ernie Ball Heavy Nylon picks

Effects

• TC Electronic Polytune
• Keeley Compressor
• TC Electronic Flashback (x3) with Steve Morse Delay TonePrint
• GigRig Wetter Box
• Ernie Ball volume pedal
• Roland GK-3 pickup
• Roland GR-55 Guitar Synthesizer

So this is the first new music you put your name on since 2009. You’re back with Dave LaRue and Van Romaine, and then you have a couple collaborators on here. And let’s start by talking about the collabs. You’ve got Eric Johnson, John Petrucci, and, of course, your son, Kevin. How did those collaborators end up on the record?

Steve Morse: It was kind of late in the game. We’d already been recording the album. I felt like, at this rate of putting out one every 16 years, that I was going to be pretty old by the time the next one rolls around, so that could be it. I have some old friends that’re just amazing guitar players, and I hate to ask them for favors, but I finally broke down and did. When it comes to favors from friends, even if it’s not convenient for them, they will probably say yes, so I felt guilty about doing it. But it turned out everybody, I think, had a good time.

The Eric Johnson tune, “TexUS,” I wrote in the style of that late-’70s sound that I heard him playing—melodic rock, not jazzy at all, just straight down the middle but with a lot of melody.

“Triangulation,” the John Petrucci tune, was also arranged for him, like “you play this part, I’ll play this part.” John doesn’t do anything halfway. He was playing the song super perfect, as usual, right in the middle of just being as busy as he’s ever been with Portnoy back in the band.

The third tune with my son, Kevin, we played at my wife's memorial. He, on his own, volunteered to make a recording of it. It grew organically. It starts off real lonely and minor key, I was imitating an oboe with the electric guitar and playing classical at the very beginning, and then Kevin comes in and it keeps slowly growing from there.

Obviously there’s a much greater significance on that song, but this isn't the first time you collaborated with Kevin. What’s it like to have your son as part of your records? How did he get involved?

Morse: Well, it’s the biggest deal. I’ve been one of those people that never pushed music on him. Of course, if I owned a 7-Eleven, I would have him come in and learn by working here. Yes, you’re my son, but you still have to work, you know? That’s what dads do.

I think it really pushed him to have his own identity. But we’re planning on doing more music in the future.

Why was now the time to make a new record?

Morse: I always have ideas, and I’m always working on ideas. After my wife died, there was no big project coming up. There was nothing. I was stuck in this sort of limbo. I just decided to start working on an album. Dave [LaRue] lives in the same town as I do. He would come over and be the guinea pig for the new bass and guitar parts.

We made a template of each song by working on the parts, sitting next to each other in the studio, and making fine adjustments and constant editing. Everybody had the same template and tempo to work on their parts.

When you were on Rick Beato’s podcast, something that caught my attention was you were talking about coping with arthritis. When did that first start affecting you?

Morse: I was in Purple, and it was killing me then, probably eight or 10 years ago. It just got to the point where I’ve tried every cure there is. In fact, I just did a bunch of radiation treatments; it’s supposed to help the inflammation and pain.

I just have a genetic predisposition, but I’m doing more things. I’m eating better and concentrating on an anti-inflammatory diet and all these cures, plasma injections and cortisone injections, the radiation, every supplement known to man. Obviously, you can’t cure it.

“Imagine writing, and they say, ‘You’ve got a six-year-old’s vocabulary.’ How do you do it? With music, it involves making artful placement of things.”

On the record, you sound like you have full control of your technique. I think it’s great that you talk about it because it’s something that so many players deal with.

Morse: It reduces my vocabulary, and I hate that, but there’s nothing I can do. Imagine writing, and they say, “You’ve got a six-year-old’s vocabulary.” How do you do it? With music, it involves making artful placement of things. So there’s a lot of time spent finding the ideal phrase.

Something that’s really interested me about your career is that you’ve had other professional trajectories. You were a commercial airline pilot. Is that something you still do?

Morse: Yeah, I fly all the time. I’ve never stopped flying.

And you also own a farm, right? Is that an active business?

Morse: Yeah, it’s small, like 56 acres. It’s open grass hayfields. I also have a little runway for the airplanes.

I had helpers when I first took this over, but it just didn’t go well, so I just do everything myself. I’ve scaled down to a manageable level of hay production. I cut the hay first, then ted it with a fluffer, then rake it into rows, and then bail it into square bales and round bales. I have to pick up the bales and put them all in my hay barn to keep them from spoiling when the rains come. And then I deliver them over the winter to my customers that are nearby using my tractor and big wagons. The people on my road hate me because I go slow—I can’t go fast.

How do these parts of your life—flying and running your farm—influence your art? And how important is it to have a life outside of music?

Morse: That’s cool that you’re touching on that. I think it’s very important, because you have more to say with the music if you have a life outside of it.

The biggest part of my extracurricular thing is fixing stuff because I’ve got old hay equipment, old machines—like my lifts that I use to cut the trees, it puts me 70 feet in the air and it’s got a whole level of maintenance that it needs—and I have to learn the systems for each one. So, a lot of my life is spent looking for manuals and looking for sources of parts and learning hydraulics and learning the way that electrical systems work, so that I can basically fix everything.

Every once in a while, I have to ask for help. Like, if I’m rebuilding a cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder is really big, I can’t do it. I have to take it to the shop, and that bugs me.

But my main thing is just that I’m known as the handyman. I’ve fixed stuff all around the farm. Two other families live there—my wife’s mother and my stepdaughter—and they live in the other two houses on the farm, so I have to keep those up and then cut the grass for everybody.

“A lot of my life is spent looking for manuals and looking for sources of parts.”

So I work all day, basically. I don’t wake up early, but when I do wake up, I just go straight outside and start working until dark. Then I’ll work on music after dinner.

I think it’s super important, because when I’m doing laps in the tractor, cutting weeds or whatever, I’m thinking about stuff. And I’m always experimenting with things in my mind. Melodies and parts come to mind that I've been working on recently, and I just kick it around.

I’ve never been bored. I remember it as a kid. When I was trapped somewhere, in school or something, I remember that it was a horrible, horrible feeling.

When I’m at a gig and I walk by and see a guy welding something in back, I stop and ask questions: How are you doing that? Did you preheat that? Does that make it crack? I’m a student of everything.

Have you always been into fixing things?

Morse: Well, it’s necessity. I’d see my dad doing his thing in the workshop, and part of me paying off my guitar and amplifier was to paint the house and do manual labor outside—cutting the lawn and shoveling snow. So there was always stuff to do that gets you familiar with the real world.

But I wasn’t good at mechanic-ing until it became a matter of necessity. My first car, the radiator hose blew and I was out on the interstate and I hiked over to a store. I bought a radiator return hose, and I was like, “Wow, I fixed my car and made it home.”

“Everything that breaks gives you an opportunity to learn.”

After that, it was me pulling the band trailer with my station wagon forever and never having a trip without a mechanical problem, so I got more and more used to that and more and more interested in the science of things. And as an airplane pilot, I think the safest way to fly is to understand every system on the aircraft. Part of me getting ready for my airline career involved getting my mechanic’s license for working on aircrafts—that made me more employable, just one of the things you had to put in your resume back then.

Everything that breaks gives you an opportunity to learn. But man it feels good when it works right.

With all this work on your plate everyday, it makes me very curious about your daily guitar habits.

Morse: It depends on the day. I try to rotate things. People that are in training, they might do cardio one day and heavy lifting the next day and cross training another day. I do a mix between technique, discovery and writing—discovery could be transcribing if you’re not into composing—and, of course, playing for gratification, which means playing along with something and exercising what you’re doing. But the technical part is probably what I concentrate the most on, because it gets harder and harder to make things work. And now I have to keep up a technique where I pick with two fingers and a thumb and flex a little bit of my wrist, and a technique holding the pick the same way with a stiff wrist when that starts to really hurt. And when I can’t grasp the pick any more, I hold it with the side of my thumb using a stiff wrist also. There’s a lot of challenges, but I have a strong desire to keep playing as long as possible.

John Scofield is an absolute titan of jazz guitar. He’s had an illustrious solo career spanning over four decades and he’s shared the stage with the most important musicians of our time. In this lesson we’ll look at his brilliant single-line approach that endears him to jazz audiences around the globe.

Ex. 1 is about as Scofield as we can get without consulting a patent lawyer, though a good case could be made that he took this idea from pianist Thelonious Monk. You can hear this descending whole-tone-based lick in many of Sco’s solos. The notes impart a strong Bb7#11 sound and the final note is pushed off the fingerboard and returned in a vibrato-like motion. That’s another great Scofield-ism that just can’t be ignored.

Ex. 1

Turn up that chorus pedal and hone your string-skipping chops with Ex. 2, a 1980s-style 16th-note funk lick. The basic sound is G7, but with a host of alterations. The G half/whole diminished scale (G–Ab–Bb–B–C#–D–E–F) is clearly important, but it doesn’t explain everything Scofield plays. As Scofield has mentioned regarding playing over vamps like this one, “I’m not really sure what I’m doing. It’s just an in-and-out bop style.” Feel free to include chromatic approaches and blues licks as done here as well.

Ex. 2

The IIm–V–I lick in Ex. 3 shows how Scofield could extend basic bebop mannerisms into something distinctly original. It’s clear that the thinking is F Lydian dominant (F–G–A–B–C–D–Eb) over both the Cm7 and the F7 chords. Scofield would occasionally “summarize” both chords as simply F7.

Ex. 3

Scofield’s now-classic albums with Medeski, Martin, and Wood have garnered mass appeal among funk and jam band enthusiasts over recent decades. Most of his playing on these records is roots-based and you’ll hear plenty of straightforward, blues-inspired licks like this one (Ex. 4) in B minor.

Ex. 4

The B Dorian (B–C#–D–E–F#–G#–A) lick in Ex. 5 is a good example of how Scofield develops a simple motive and answers it with contrasting material. Pinch harmonics can always be used in Scofield’s style. Don’t be concerned with these harmonics generating a specific pitch or even getting them to sound perfect—the randomness is all part of the charm.

Ex. 5

Superimposing ideas in novel ways is important to Sco’s approach and a great way to generate interest over static harmonies. Ex. 6 begins with a simple root/fifth figure in Bb that’s shifted up a half-step to B, and finally resolving back to Bb at the end. It’s an effective way to establish tension and release in a line.

Ex. 6

In recent years, Scofield has embraced a cleaner tone on some of his straight-ahead recordings. Think Vox amp and no RAT. Ex. 7 is an ever-flowing line that he might play over the first phrase of an F blues. Notice how the pickup bar is a G7 idea over the C7 and the first part of measure 1 is actually a C7 line over the F7. This kind of “misalignment” is something that intermediate players often miss, trying to faithfully match the chords all the time. Before long, the music is back on track and matching the chords in a more predictable manner, at least until the eclectic use of an A major line leading into the Bb7. Finish everything up with a Sco trademark major seventh double-stop.

Ex. 7

Ex. 8 is a particularly guitaristic way to play over the second phrase of an F blues. Even though the line is fingered in the 6th position, why not use an open string? The open high E (a #11) gives us the opportunity to get a cool angular sound to the Bb7 line that would otherwise be impossible.

Ex. 8

This phrase (Ex. 9), which begins in the 8th measure of the blues, shows Scofield’s mastery of bebop language. The D7b9 lick pushes into Gm7, which begins the final phrase of the 12-bar form. The IIm–V is clearly a simple sequence from C Lydian dominant (C–D–E–F#–G–A–Bb). The big lesson here is the importance of knowing your bebop fundamentals.

Ex. 9

Now that we’ve broken out the nuts and bolts of this lesson, let’s listen to few essential Scofield tracks to get our ears right. Even jazzers were making music videos in the 1980s.

John Scofield Protocol

“Protocol” from Still Warm, has a classic fusion groove thanks to drummer Omar Hakim and bassist Darryl Jones (both of whom played with Scofield in Miles Davis’ group). Sco’s tone is wide thanks to his signature chorus sound, an often-imitated element of his style.

Wee

When Enroute landed in 2004 it instantly became a classic guitar trio album. Recorded live at the Blue Note, it featured Sco’s longtime trio of drummer Bill Stewart and mentor/electric bassist Steve Swallow. “Wee” is a “rhythm changes” tune, which isn’t that groundbreaking, but the playing takes Denzil Best’s most well-known composition to another planet.

Chicken Dog

In 1998, Scofield teamed up with funk-jazz stalwarts Medeski, Martin, and Wood for A-Go-Go, which is a standout in Sco’s discography. This was the album that introduced him to the jam band scene and informed many of his more recent albums.

Back in August, at Cory Wong’s Syncopated Summer Camp in Nashville, Wong hosted a late-night interview and hang session with Italian guitar hero Matteo Mancuso. If you weren’t there, you’re in luck: This week’s episode of Wong Notes features that exclusive rendezvous in its entirety, recorded live in front of an audience of camp attendees.Mancuso unearths his roots on the guitar, from starting on the electric guitar to learning Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, and Jimi Hendrix while using his father’s finger-picking style. “Later on, I discovered about the pick, but I was too lazy to start again,” says Mancuso, who shouts out other fingerstyle players like Wes Montgomery and Django Reinhardt.

Mancuso credits his unique playing vocabulary to his atypical approach to the instrument, which meant he had to “find some solutions to some technical problems” that he encountered while learning to play. What kind of warm-ups does he turn to when he wants to get his fingers and brain moving? Mancuso has a few thoughts, but it all has to be “goal-oriented.”

Mancuso and Wong, both veteran bandleaders at this point, swap advice and techniques on heading your own band, arranging, and writing, plus scores of other obscure tricks of the trade. Tune in and listen to get the goods.

Back in August, at Cory Wong’s Syncopated Summer Camp in Nashville, Wong hosted a late-night interview and hang session with Italian guitar hero Matteo Mancuso. If you weren’t there, you’re in luck: This week’s episode of Wong Notes features that exclusive rendezvous in its entirety, recorded live in front of an audience of camp attendees.Mancuso unearths his roots on the guitar, from starting on the electric guitar to learning Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, and Jimi Hendrix while using his father’s finger-picking style. “Later on, I discovered about the pick, but I was too lazy to start again,” says Mancuso, who shouts out other fingerstyle players like Wes Montgomery and Django Reinhardt.

Mancuso credits his unique playing vocabulary to his atypical approach to the instrument, which meant he had to “find some solutions to some technical problems” that he encountered while learning to play. What kind of warm-ups does he turn to when he wants to get his fingers and brain moving? Mancuso has a few thoughts, but it all has to be “goal-oriented.”

Mancuso and Wong, both veteran bandleaders at this point, swap advice and techniques on heading your own band, arranging, and writing, plus scores of other obscure tricks of the trade. Tune in and listen to get the goods.

A new Google feature lets you prioritize the guitar content you trust most—here's how to set it up.

Google has rolled out a feature that gives you more control over what you see when searching for news. Called Preferred Sources, it allows you to customize which outlets appear most prominently in your search results—and for guitarists, that means ensuring Premier Guitar's gear reviews, artist interviews, and playing tips stay front and center.

Once you’ve added Premier Guitar as a preferred source, our articles will show up more prominently in Google's Top Stories section whenever we've published fresh, relevant content on the topic you're searching for. You might also see a dedicated "From Your Sources" section featuring our stories.

How to Set It Up

Getting started takes just a few seconds. To set Premier Guitar as a preferred source, just click this link. Or, go to Google’s homepage and search for any topic in the news. When the Top Stories section appears in your results, look for the icon that resembles two overlapping cards with a star on top.

Click that icon, and a pop-up will prompt you to choose your preferred sources. Type “Premier Guitar” into the search field, select us from the list, and hit “Reload results.”

You can add as many preferred sources as you'd like by repeating the process. Managing your list is simple, too—just return to the same menu to add or remove sources at any time.

What You'll See

Once Premier Guitar is set as a preferred source, our articles will be prioritized when you search for guitar-related topics. You'll still see content from other outlets, but our stories will appear more prominently when we have fresh coverage on what you're looking for.

Whether you're researching new pedals, diving into player profiles, or looking for lesson content, this feature ensures Premier Guitar stays at the top of your search results.

D’Addario expands its XPND Pedalboard Series with two new products designed to simplify, strengthen, and elevate modern pedalboard setups: the XPND Core Pedalboards and the Backline Core Pedalboard Transport Bags.

XPND Core Pedalboards

Available in both compact 2-rail and larger 4-rail sizes, XPND Core Pedalboards include pre-applied hook-and-loop strips and an integrated cable management system for clean, secure setups. Players can easily upgrade with XPND Expansion Kits, transforming Core Pedalboards into a fully adjustable XPND Pedalboard that grows with their style and musical needs. XPND Core is the non-adjustable version of our revolutionary expanding pedalboard and designed for players who want a simple, ready-to-build layout with no setup time.

Highlights

• Durable Construction: Aluminum frame built for stage and studio.
• Organized Setup: Integrated cable management for clean signal chains.
• Ready to Go: Pre-applied hook-and-loop for secure pedal placement.

Expandable: Compatible with XPND Expansion Kits.

Availability & Pricing

XPND Core Pedalboards are available now through daddario.com and authorized retailers.

• XPND Core Small: $69.99
• XPND Core Large: $129.99
• Expansion Kits: $64.99–$111.99

For more information, visit: ddar.io/xpndcoreboard-pr

Backline Core Pedalboard Transport Bags

Designed as the perfect companion to the Core Pedalboards, the new Backline Core Pedalboard Transport Bags offer players a tough, lightweight, gig-ready solution for transporting pedalboard systems. Each bag is tailored specifically to fit the Core 1 (single-row) and Core 2 (double-row) pedalboard sizes.

Featuring rugged exterior construction, reinforced handles, soft padded interior protection, and dedicated storage compartments for accessories and cables, Backline Core Bags deliver dependable protection and convenience for musicians on the move.

Highlights

• Tailored Fit: Designed specifically for Core 1 and Core 2 pedalboards.
• Durable Exterior: Heavy-duty fabric with reinforced straps.
• Padded Interior: Soft liner safeguards pedals and gear.
• Extra Storage: Interior/exterior compartments for cables and accessories.
• Lightweight & Gig-Ready: Built for easy transport without added bulk.

Availability & Pricing
Available now through daddario.com and authorized retailers.

• Small: $45.99
• Large: $79.99

For more information, visit ddar.io/backlinecorebags-pr

How session ace, producer and Pat Benatar guitarist Neil Giraldo took over the ‘80s airwaves and earned a spot in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Neil Giraldo joins the Axe Lords for a deep dive into the guitars, amps, and outboard gear behind mega-hits like Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” and Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl,” on which he nailed the legendary solo in one take, thank you very much.

The Ohio native (just like Dave!) walks us through his go-to BC Rich Eagle and Marshall 2x12 combo rig, how a Schaefer-Vega wireless feeding an Eventide H949 became his signature stereo sound, and why he leans on heavy strings, aggressive muting, and low gain instead of shred-style distortion. Neil also talks about how music grounded him as a kid, discusses his touring rig, and shares some of the secret recording tricks he uses to shape his tone in the studio.

Along with his musical partner and wife Pat Benatar, Neil is also the author of best-selling children’s book My Grandma and Grandpa Rock!

Follow @neilgiraldoofficial and @benatargiraldo for news, tour dates, and more.

Axe Lords is presented in partnership with Premier Guitar. Hosted by Dave Hill, Cindy Hulej and Tom Beaujour. Produced by Studio Kairos. Executive Producer is Kirsten Cluthe. Edited by Justin Thomas at Revoice Media. Engineered by Patrick Samaha. Recorded at Kensaltown East. Artwork by Mark Dowd. Theme music by Valley Lodge.

Follow @axelordspod for updates, news, and cool stuff.

New Pop Album w/Vocalists Out in Feb 26

GRAMMY® Award-nominated genre-defying songwriter, producer, podcast host, and guitarist extraordinaire Cory Wong has shared his new single, “Blame It On The Moon (Feat. Magic City Hippies).” The jazzy disco track in collaboration with the Miami-based indie-funk trio Magic City Hippies is the third song released from his upcoming album, Lost In The Wonder, set to arrive on February 3, 2026. “Blame It On The Moon (Feat. Magic City Hippies)” is streaming everywhere now.

“This is the first time that Magic City Hippies and I have worked together,” says Cory Wong. “I randomly met some of the guys in Japan during my last tour. They came out to one of my Tokyo shows and, at the end of the night, said, ‘We should do something sometime.’ That usually means something along the lines of, ‘I respect your artistry and think you’re cool, ’ but rarely means ever getting together to actually ‘do something sometime.’ I have made it a point in the last couple of years to really mean it when I say ‘let’s write together.’

“I got home from Japan and sent over a demo of a song I was working on. The guys in the band said, ‘Yep, we know what to do with this.’ They flipped the arrangement around and added new parts, and sent back what was the majority of what you hear in the final song. We did a few rounds of remote feedback on the writing, and I polished off the arrangement with some added horns and keyboards, and it was done! It’s always more fun to work in a room together on something creative like this, but it works really well to work on remote collaboration projects when both parties are really comfortable in their artistry and also the craft of recording/ collaborating. This, to me, felt like the pinnacle of remote collaboration.”

Lost In The Wonder was initially heralded with the release of the album’s hook-heavy and irresistibly catchy first single “Tongue Tied (Feat. Stephen Day).” The crisp yet dreamy mid-tempo title track, “Lost In The Wonder,” followed last week. A national headlining tour, featuring special guests Devon Gilfillian, Stephen Day, and Marc Scibilia, is set to begin in April, with confirmed performances in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Austin, and more. The full itinerary is below.

Lost In The Wonder spotlights Wong’s remarkable gifts as a producer, writer, arranger, band leader, and master of modern pop craftsmanship, while of course never losing sight of his trademark guitar virtuosity. The album further affirms Wong’s enduring love of musical collaboration, boasting a truly eclectic range of guest artists, including Taylor Hanson, Devon Gilfillian, Cody Fry, Yam Haus, Louis Cato, Ellis, Elysia Biro, Theo Katzman, and Magic City Hippies.

“There are lots of sides to me as an artist,” says Wong. “A lot of people know me as a guitar guy, or even more specifically, ‘rhythm guitar guy’. That’s an accurate description, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. I see the guitar as just one of the avenues for my music and creativity. It’s been an absolute joy to develop and form a signature sound as a guitarist, but a huge part of my artistry is in my production/writing/arranging/band-leading. I’ve worked on and honed those skills just as much as my guitar playing, so I wanted to make an album that really showcased that side of my creative expression. Does that mean there’s less guitar on this album than on others? No! It’s actually quite the opposite. I feel like some of my best guitar work is done on this album. There’s everything from my classic rhythm guitar sound to multiple layers of orchestrally arranged guitar to blistering solos when the music calls for it.

“I think anyone who’s a great producer/writer/arranger also really likes to collaborate with other people because it gives you different colors and textures to ‘paint’ with. My aim is to showcase different sides of my artistry by putting several collaborators in front of the music and having me build the world that it lives in.”

Wong – who just wrapped up a series of historic live performances in China and South Korea – will celebrate Lost In The Wonder with a non-stop global live schedule that includes headline shows, top-billed festival sets, and more. Highlights include performances in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Austin, as well as a one-night-only concert event at Toronto, ON’s Koerner Hall at The Royal Conservatory of Music backed by the Royal Conservatory Orchestra (December 11); a headline performance at Tucson, AZ’s historic Fox Tucson Theatre as part of the annual Tucson Jazz Festival (January 24, 2026); Dave Koz and Friends at Sea 2026, an eight-night musical cruise adventure making stops in Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina (March 22-30, 2026); a co-headline festival appearance alongside Snarky Puppy at Charlotte, NC’s The Spring Mix (April 26, 2026); and a visit to San José del Cabo, Mexico for Goose’s three-day destination festival, Viva El Gonzo (May 7-9, 2026). Additional dates will be announced.

For complete details and ticket availability, please see www.corywongmusic.com/tour.

CORY WONG ON TOUR 2025-26

DECEMBER

11 – Toronto, ON – Koerner Hall at The Royal Conservatory of Music ^

JANUARY 2026

24 – Tucson, AZ – Fox Tucson Theatre

MARCH 2026

21 – São Paulo, Brazil – Casa Natura

22-30 – São Paulo, Brazil – Dave Koz and Friends at Sea 2026 †

29 – Buenos Aires, Argentina – C Art Media

APRIL 2026

11 – Charlotte, NC – The Spring Mix at The Amp Ballantyne †

15 - Kansas City, MO - The Truman (Devon Gilfillian, Marc Scibilia)

17 - Denver, CO - The Mission Ballroom (Devon Gilfillian, Marc Scibilia)

18 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot Devon Gilfillian, Marc Scibilia

20 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom (Devon Gilfillian, Marc Scibilia)

21 - Seattle, WA - The Paramount (Devon Gilfillian, Marc Scibilia)

23 - Sacramento, CA - Channel 24 (Devon Gilfillian, Stephen Day)

24 - San Francisco, CA - The Warfield (Devon Gilfillian, Stephen Day)

25 - Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern (Devon Gilfillian, Stephen Day)

26 - Del Mar, CA - The Sound (Devon Gilfillian, Stephen Day)

27 - Las Vegas, NV - Brooklyn Bowl (Devon Gilfillian, Stephen Day)

30 - Houston, TX - White Oak Downstairs (Devon Gilfillian, Stephen Day)

MAY 2026

1 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues (Devon Gilfillian, Stephen Day)

2 - Austin, TX - Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater (Devon Gilfillian, Stephen Day)

7-9 – San José del Cabo, México – Viva El Gonzo †

† Festival Appearance

^ w/ the Royal Conservatory Orchestra